Pretty Baby Soap (www.prettybabysoap.com/store/...lt.asp) makes a Belly Dancer fragrance; I think it's a Bay Rum blend. (I haven't actually tried it; I just think the name is cute.)

I often have perfume made by someone that mixes oils for that just for me scent and they add glitter and you get to name it. I like clean scents. Keep in mind that you will sweat...you don't want anything to heavy, it could knock you and your audiance out. Things from Bath and Body Works are cool too. They are having a 5 for $25 sale here in Cincinnati of their Pleasures line. I go Coutry Apple, Fresh Linen, White Tea and Ginger and Juniper. I am so sexy...watch out now.

On the topic of perfume, my belly dance teacher recommends that, when you're performing under those big spot lights NOT to wear perfume because the heat from those lights can transform your perfume into something utterly different. She also advised us not to wear perfume while performing in restaurants because you never know who is allergic to what.

But that doesn't mean that you should absolutely adhere to that... or that you can't smell good at other times... ;op

There was one fragrance that I used when I was in Quebec. It was something that I bought in a health store. It was called "Eau des 4 Voleurs" (which translates to "Water of the 4 Thieves"). It smelled somewhat spicy. There is also a cute story behind it. Allegedly, when there was a wave of the plague in the middle ages, 4 thieves applied this mix of spices on themselves and escaped the plague that way. I found that L'Occitane has a fragrance called like that but it's in the men section and I haven't smelled it so I don't know if it's the same or similar or whatnot. www.loccitane.ca/ranges/men/152/

Also, I usually like anything that has amber or sandalwood.

Ooh, and I also like Victoria's Secret Very Sexy for Her 2. As the name implies, it makes me feel very sexy... it's not exactly an exotic smell but, hey, you gotta love it when you feel sexy! ;op www2.victoriassecret.com/colle...ex.cfm

As someone who is very allergic to synthetic perfumes and scents, I will get up and leave a restaurant that has performers/staff that are wearing perfume. I just can't take it. So I would recommend you stay away from smelling when performing close to people.

And if you are on stage, no one will smell you anyways.

That being said, my students have commented that I do have a distinctive scent. It is tiger balm :) When I make my tiger balm I add a bit of patchouli, so it smells musky and spicy, and helps my joints. :) JMHO, YMMV

I am not a huge fan of perfumes, but I have gone for Narcissis by Chloi, and the Queen of the Night oil (one dab will do for the entire day). Usually I wear oils because I have reactions to some perfumes, and too many of the over the counter ones all smell the same or just out right offensive. Plus, too much of the citris scents and I get a migraine.

My husband loves the lilac oil I use, he says it suits me perfectly, but I will mix it at times with gardenia to give it a little kick.

If you ever do a tribal show, I think the perfect fragrance is one i found out the outlet mall in Camarillo. It is called "dirt" and it smells exactly like potting soil. There is also one called "wet garden" that smells like a freshly watered garden. They are GREAT!

Jasmine -- I use scented oil. Got the idea from another dancer -- when she danced by, you could just catch the smell of jasmine. I've found you can use lots and it covers the sweat perfect.

There's also a great site with phermone oils (I love the plumeria) -- they're expensive, but last and a little goes a long way.

www.attractionoil.com/

several options at: www.blackphoenixalchemylab.com/new.html bear i mind I believe they are made with perfume oils not essentials but I keep hearing rave reviews.

i think that whenever I smell Nag Champa, I'm reminded of dance festivals. It definitely says "Belly dancer" to me.

I love V'Tae's Sacred Fire, I wear it a lot. I also like Ecco Bella's Vanilla Ambrosia. Hard to find but worth it! They are both more oil based and therefore don't bother my nose like alcohol based commercial perfumes do. And they soften to a nice tone when your skin warms up.

I have made my own heady musk flavor by mixing walnut oil, rose oil, sandlewood, and a few other spices. Also a major player of patchouli.

If anyone is interested in exotic organic products of the highest quality, I recommend ZUM by Indigo Wild. A bit expensive but worth every penny!

www.indigowild.com/

awwww fun...my troupe wears their own scent called "Hipnotica"

One of the lovely ladies is a blender of fragrances/oils and it is one I can actually wear. (I am terribly allergic to perfumes, floral scents, etc.)

My teacher gave me some essential oil that's patachouli and musk, for my birthday. It smells warm and exotic at the same time, and it suits me so well I wear it always.

You might also try new agey or imports shops that sell those Indian solid perfumes. I've seen them in health food stores, and often they come in a little bottle.

Blending your own perfume, however, is easy and really fun! You can guarantee that nobody else smells like you.

Just blend your essential oils with vodka. Since it's alcohol that has no scent, people use it for this all the time.

Get a mini bottle of the cheapest vodka you can find, and add a few drops of the essential oils you like. You can do one note (wow, that lady smells like roses!) or blend. A good, exotic-seeming blend might have some exotic florals (jasmine and ylang ylang, etc) maybe a weeensy bit of animal scent like musk or civet (don't worry about animal cruelty, get a synthetic one) and/or something woody like sandalwood, cedar, patchouli, etc, and then add top notes of something spicy. Kick it around, see what you like, and when somebody goes, "Oooh, you smell so good!" just say brightly, "I blended my own signiature scent!"

Word to the wise: once you find a blend you like, be sure to write down the proportions of oils you used; X drops of this, Y drops of that, etc, because when you run out, you'll want to blend more and it's nearly impossible to recreate unless you wrote down the numbers exactly.

I like to wear a scented lotion, helps my body glitter stick also. I like to use one Avon has called Secrets of India, that has sandalwood, lotus, and Indian Basil. They may have discontinued it though =( glad i have a spare bottle.

You REALLY need to go check out: www.blackphoenixalchemylab.com - I have hundreds of their oils, many of which I wear specifically for dance (like Eden, Salome, Gypsy Queen, Sri Lanka, and a few others).


-L

I use Egyptian Musk and have had many compliments with that. Try an essential oils, they last longer and are more powerful. You can find them in any of your favorite scents.
I have also used Jasmine Vanilla that's in Bath & Body Works, it's very sexy to me!

Or try something new, an exotic flowering scent.....there are lots of choices out there.

Have fun with it!

Jess!

I'll tell you what I wear...

I get perfume oil blends from 'Dragonfly Blue' ... and I think their Nag Champa is what a bellydancer smells like...

Nag Champa: Travel to far away lands where they burn this aroma daily hour after hour. It's neutral yet distinct. Almost everyone loves it, even people who don't like incense. It's the Jamaican blue mountain of incense.

I am also a HUGE fan of 'Goth Rosary' perfumes... like...

DERVISH ... Mysterious, Enchanting... smell the rich blend of ancient spices... Earthy musk, Soulful sandalwood & Velvety vanilla beans!

and...

HEATHEN™ ... Soft, Warm & Earthy... The smell of cannabis swirled with patchouli & sandalwood incense...

DON'T SMOKE CIGARETTES!!! thats just icky...
Hugs!
Karen

Hit me off-line if your looking to quit...

Damascus Rose.

Patchouli.

Rose.

Mix your own.

As you've discovered, a scent is different on you -- mixed with your unique body chemistry -- than it smells in a bottle. My husband is the expert on what I smell like, so he tells me what scents he likes on me. Then I mix my own perfume using those scents. So much more distinctive than wearing something someone else mixed that lots of other people wear.

auric blends (i get it at longs) has these roll on body oil. Black Opium and Majick are absolutely lovely. Earthy and mucky and lovely smelling!!

My absolute favourites are Dragon's Blood and Nag Champra. -But it makes me sad cause I can only seem to find these at Ren Faires. Anyone know a good (reasonably priced) place to order them from? I saw that black phoenix alchemy lab had dragon's blood, so I might just have to order from there. (Though $15 seems like a lot....)

I second Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab. As a present, my hubby bought a sampler pack, so I've many to choose from. Lately, I've been favoring "Dance of Death" and "Embalming Fluid". They smell wonderful, and ya' gotta love the names.

I don't normally wear perfume, but I LOVE "Snakecharmer" by Sacred Earth Ancient Ways - it's actually made by a local bellydancer here in San Jose, CA. See sacredearthancientways.tribe.net/ or www.sacredearthancientways.com/pr...ml. To me it smells earthy and exotic.

Because I dance in some places that are heavy with Hookah smoke, I douse myself heavily before each performance with bath and body works perfume spray. I like to use winter candy apple (left over from christmas time) and brown sugar and fig.

If I am dancing in a place without hookah, I use a lot less, and instead of b&bw, I use vanilla madagascar perfume.

I have to resond as somebody that can't wear perfume.. I have actually NOT bought costumes because they smelled so highly of somebody elses perfume...
Please ladies, don't over do it.. When you are dancing, and sweating, a little perfume goes along way.. I have had to leave rooms, take the next elevator and basically have told people at retreats to leave the smellies at home.. But with that being said.. When i wore perfume one of favortes was Oscar de La Renta... And Poison.. Yes i know that was along time ago.
I have friend, that instead of perfume, she uses a tiny drop of essential oil on an inside part of her clothing. She usually has a nice soft smell.. Almost like a baby!
Sorry if i have insulted anyone but for alot of us it is a big issue. I would rather not get a migraine because somebody wears too much scent.
TTYS, KathleenA

I have an orange and patchouli spray by Aura Cacia from my local health food store that is my all-time favorite. I, too, can't wear commercial perfumes with synthetic fragrances in them, so it's essential oils all the way, baby. I like this particular spray because the orange cuts the scent of the patchouli, but the patchouli is 'heavy' enough to mask my delightful dance BO. It also got rave reviews from a male friend who happened to stand very near to me - he noticed it out of the blue and said I smelled fantastic!

i personally love the smell of amber and think its very appropriate for bellydancers.
my fav commercial scent though is Classique by Jean Paul Gaultier.

My very favorite perfume is Annick Goutal's Eau de Hadrian. Not sure how bellydance worthy it is, but It's a lovely, refreshing, light lemon/grapefruit scent. It's not overpowering at all, but it does cling well to skin. It's one of those perfumes that you need to be close to someone to smell. I've never danced with it on... I'm almost out, so I'm being super stingy... So, I don't really know how well it handles when sweating and BO. :/ But it is sooo loverly!

A note for the person who can't get scents to 'stick.' To be double sure, check with a friend and ask them if they can smell the perfume on you once you can't smell it any more. Our olfactory organs can only smell a scent for about 5 minutes (I think), after that it overloads and you cease to smell it. You might very well be retaining the scent more than you think. (And to me, overloading perfume should be against the law, lol.)
For instance, everyone comments about how stuff from my store still smells like the store years later, or about how wonderful it smells when they walk in. *I* can't smell a thing there. But I can pick up any foreign scent that enters in.

Most of my costuming attire is line dry. I hang my clothes up to dry and burn my fav incense below them. You can also step over incense, letting it 'fill your skirts'.. very sensual but not overpowering.

I don't remember who posted it, but there was a post about Pretty Baby Soaps and their scent Belly Dancer. I have tried this scent, and it's very pleasing to the nose. It smells spicey, and earthy, and exotic, which in my view is perfect for a belly dancer. I used it and a picture of a desert or pretty much any middle eastern sort of place popped into my mind. It was just perfect.

Another one that is nice is Moorea Passion Fruit, which isn't really a perfume, but you can get it in lotions, and sea salt exfoliating body polishes from Victoria's secret. It's not so spicey, but it brings up images of the orient and exoctic locales. I also checked out the Bali version, but it smelt like a branch that had been snapped in half, so not so nice. Anyways, those are just my faves.

I also second the Auric Blends!

I third or fifth or whatever Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab. www.blackphoenixalchemylab.com

This particular bellydancers smells like Khajuraho... here is the description:
honey, date palm, tuberose, davana blossom, amber, white sandalwood, vanilla bean, Damask rose, and champaca flower.

If you do decide to give BPAL a go, the imp packs (six sample vials from the General Catalog for $19.50) are a great way to go. You can also join their forum at www.bpal.org to read reviews, buy from other forum members and generally chatter about the world. Forum purchases are nice because they usually arrive very quickly... instant gratification =)

So I posed this question to my husband....and here is his answer.
"Rose, Lilac, Mimosa with alittle sweet musk....It has to be slightly sweet and spicy." Sounds like he's describing all dancers personalities *grin* I Love my hubby. He's the best.

Depending on my mood and the location, I like:

Demeter's Earl Grey
BPAL's Haunted

And Taxeem, which I bought from an etsy.com seller who makes perfumes:
www.etsy.com/shop.php
(it's a bit stong at first, but fades nicely)

Like many of you who have posted here - I too am allergic to most perfumes/colognes. Even some of the higher end stuff will set my eyes to watering and erupt in a fit of sneezing.
So I make my own scent out of essential oils. It has been described as exotic/erotic, enticing and compelling (WooHoo!).

But whatever smell you decide to exude - PLEASE use sparingly.
Scent should be personal, and therefore meant to be shared/experienced within you own personal space, or when someone is standing right next to or leaning in... It is both overwhelming and nauseating to smell someones fragrance well before or well after the person has passed by you.

I agree with whoever said white tea and ginger... I had that lotion for a long time and it makes me think exotic.

I also bought something from a vendor at a ren faire once. They were selling soaps and things but also had a sort of... "perfume stick" i guess. It was like a really fat glue stick lol. but anyways, if you have a ren faire around you maybe check out things they make and sell. It will almost always have a kind of exotic smell. I don't know what scent the one I got was exactly.. but i like it.


also... i have some jasmine insence and i don't know if it's the smell or the name jasmine(I automatically think of aladdin) that makes me think exotic... but just a thought.

Sin by Urban Decay... it's strange and exotic and delicious!

I smoke my costumes with frankincence resin. I hang them on an ironing rack and put a ceramic bowl with a self burning charcoal tab and a lump of frankincence, underneath. the incense drifts up through the fabrics.

Leaves a faint pleasantly musty/musky scent in them, without damaging the fabrics.

I don't know about anyone else, but *this* bellydancer smells of Warm Vanilla Sugar by Bath and Body Works.

It's my fave!

Agent Provocateur. OH DELICIOUS.

Actually, fuddy-duddy old Youth Dew is a great scent for belly dancers, I reckon. Can't go past those warm orientals.

Hopefully clean. BO is bad, but so is fragrance that makes other folks sneeze... Sometimes less really is more. ;-)

Wow, great post!

I find that subtle is better. I've gotten addicted to my Kama Sutra Clove shower gel (YUM!) which leaves a gentle scent.

I also powder up with the Kama Sutra Honey Dust, which is natural, edible, in 4 flavors, and smells oh-so-sweet without being gross. Absorbs sweat and glows a bit, too.

They have a line of massage oils, creams, and butters that are incredible, but not overpowering. Just rub in a bit and you can get a sweet, fruity, spicy , or earthy scent of your choice.

If you have any trouble finding any of this, I also sell the Kama Sutra line, so you can drop me a PM if you're interested.

I use a mix of white amber and vanilla myself :)

THERE IS NOTHING MORE ENCHANTING THAN WEARING A SOFT, WAKE UP YOUR SENSES PERFUME. I USUALLY WEAR, CHANEL, MADEMOISELLE COCO. IT HAS A LIGHT LILAC, SOFT SMELL. I SPRAY A DAB ON MY VEIL, BEFORE I MAKE AN ENTRANCE. PEOPLE OFTEN COMMENT AND ASK. WHAT THAT BEAUTIFUL SCENT WAS. AND WHILE YOUR TWIRLING YOUR VEIL, THEY ARE ENTRANCED. TRY IT!

I don't know if anyone mentioned this (and I am not going to read through 138 previous posts. lol) but there is a fragrance that, to me, totally says "Belly Dancer."

It is called Egyptian Garden. Here is a link: www.victoriantradingco.com/stor....html

It smells like spices and incense. I love it and wearing it always puts me in a dancing mood.

Guerlain Samsara. I always (and only) wear it for dancing, so it's really Nadira's perfume. I highly recommend picking a dance fragrance - it gets you into character, and definitely sets the mood for your audience. Just be sure that you don't wear too much; my rule for performance is that you should only be smellable within about an arm's length (or maaaaybe an arm and a half). This is especially important when food is being served; your audience needs to be able to taste their dinner!

Some other good options:
- Shalimar
(Emeraude is a much cheaper version. It doesn't have as good-quality a base, so it doesn't have the same addictive quality, but should be fine for non-close contact.)
- Opium

These are both a little expensive, but really nice, and most makeup counters will have them for you to try on. You can also get minis of a lot of them. I've had good luck with minis at:
perfumeemporium.com
fragrancenet.com

Sandalwood...
100% pure essential oil

Yum....