Hi! I'm kind of new to Arcana and BPAL, but I ordered Caffeinated Death as a present for a friend over the holidays, and really liked it. It struck me as somewhat boozy, but in a nice way. You can order a sample vial from Soapbox Company now, they've just started offering a few new perfumes in sample size. If you like coffee and foody scents and aren't put off by a whiff of booziness, I say order a sample!
I ordered a full bottle of Tess, hoping it'd be mostly sweet cream/slightly foody with violets, but all I get on my skin is VIOLET. It's really, really gorgeous but not what I was hoping for, so I think I may need to part with it.
The only other Arcana I have tried was Love, which was a freebie from Soapbox, and I would never ever have picked for myself and didn't like on first trial. Now it's one of my favorites; it's a very creamy, soft, vanilla sort of scent. My son thinks it smells like cupcakes, and my sister thinks it smells like the head of a cabbage patch preemie doll (you might be too young to remember those!).
What's your favorite Arcana blend? DEVILISH!!!!!!!!!!! its a very nice cool/smoky vanilla. I've never gotten even the tiniest of hints of plastic from it.. and yes.. its just so nice. I also like Burlesque as well, but its not a holy grail.
What are some really popular Arcana blends? What I've heard the most about is burlesque, frilly underpinnings, caffeinated death, morphine.
What does Arcana do very well (ie - citrus blends, foodie blends, etc). I think Arcana is focused on really well balanced blends. But what I enjoy most from them, are the resin-y musky blends. They are resins and musks that feel a lot more appropriate for everyday wear. I guess, they are not so dark, and hippy-ish (note, I am totally down with being hippy-ish, but sometimes its still nice to have the lighter resin smells).
Is Devilish too smoky? With some of the Arcana blends I worry that some of the elements like pepper or smoke are more prevalent? Do I need to worry about that?
I'd say its possible in some blends, with the pepper at least. But I have never seen where she had too heavy a hand with smoke.
As for Devilish.. its really not at all what I imagined from the description. its not really a dark smoky blend at all to me. I mean there is a smoky aspect, but its a cold smoke, and its definitely a secondary note to the vanilla (which as i mentioned is really nice!). Actually, I think a better description would be vanilla and cool brimstone. I think its that cool stone smell is what makes me love this perfume. It really is nice.
You know what, I'll include a tester in with the alice decants (they should be arriving today).
Like was said below, the soaps are very good. I'm more of a soap collector than perfume and have tried many different makers, hers are at the top of my list. They are well-scented, and although I've only tried a few bars from Villainess I prefer Arcana.
I also agree on the sugar scrubs also, the consistency is the best I've tried. I have a couple of 2 oz scrub decants in Solstice Sugar and Dia de los Muertos if you want to try them.
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I ordered a full bottle of Tess, hoping it'd be mostly sweet cream/slightly foody with violets, but all I get on my skin is VIOLET. It's really, really gorgeous but not what I was hoping for, so I think I may need to part with it.
The only other Arcana I have tried was Love, which was a freebie from Soapbox, and I would never ever have picked for myself and didn't like on first trial. Now it's one of my favorites; it's a very creamy, soft, vanilla sort of scent. My son thinks it smells like cupcakes, and my sister thinks it smells like the head of a cabbage patch preemie doll (you might be too young to remember those!).
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I also like Burlesque as well, but its not a holy grail.
What are some really popular Arcana blends? What I've heard the most about is burlesque, frilly underpinnings, caffeinated death, morphine.
What does Arcana do very well (ie - citrus blends, foodie blends, etc). I think Arcana is focused on really well balanced blends. But what I enjoy most from them, are the resin-y musky blends. They are resins and musks that feel a lot more appropriate for everyday wear. I guess, they are not so dark, and hippy-ish (note, I am totally down with being hippy-ish, but sometimes its still nice to have the lighter resin smells).
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As for Devilish.. its really not at all what I imagined from the description. its not really a dark smoky blend at all to me. I mean there is a smoky aspect, but its a cold smoke, and its definitely a secondary note to the vanilla (which as i mentioned is really nice!). Actually, I think a better description would be vanilla and cool brimstone. I think its that cool stone smell is what makes me love this perfume. It really is nice.
You know what, I'll include a tester in with the alice decants (they should be arriving today).
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You do make the best enabling boyfriend. Ever.
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Is there BPAL you'd take in swap for it?
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I have an empty bottle of Caffeinated Death and a bar & a half of Honey Vanilla soap, if you want a slice or more.
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I also agree on the sugar scrubs also, the consistency is the best I've tried. I have a couple of 2 oz scrub decants in Solstice Sugar and Dia de los Muertos if you want to try them.
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