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BPAL Madness!
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About this blog

Astrophysics, Lovecraft, BPAL, computers. If that 'aint a weird mix I don't know what is.

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Computers and World of Warcraft

Meh. Simple harmonic motion is SO BORING. And the word "simple" is a very inaccurate description. So I've come on here to rant about World of Warcraft and computers instead   World of Warcraft   I play World of Warcraft. I play it a lot, but it's not the only thing in my life. And no, I don't mind paying for the subscription because it's so good.   I play in the Aggramar realm. I'm a gnome Warlock called Jenesis, currently level 37 (trying to level fast though), specialising in Demonology (I want a Felguard!). I was looking around the WoW-Europe site earlier and I found the High-Level Armour Sets - these have given me a new incentive to get to Level 70 and go do some instances! I particularly like the Felheart armour set, a Tier 1 Raid set that can be obtained from mobs in Molten Core. So when I get to Searing Gorge, off to Molten Core I go   If any other BPALers are WoW (EU) players, whisper me and say hello!   ETA: Molten Core is in Searing Gorge, not Outland. Oops   Computers   I can't wait to get home on the 26th. Why? Because I will be building my new computer after that I'm aiming to have all the components arrive at my house the following Monday so I can build it/test it/tweak it/swear at it when it doesn't work all that week. Not that any of you are at all interested in this, but check out the specs:   Case - This is a sexy case Processor: AMD 64 X2 5200+ Dual-Core 2.6GHz Motherboard: MSI K9N nForce 590 SLI-Ready 8-Channel Audio with Creative Audigy soundcard OS: Vista Ultimate   The other specs like hard drive (500GB SATA), memory (2GB at least) and things are all a bit more changeable and so not concrete yet. Total cost: About £900, or $1750. Not bad for a from-scratch dual-core system. A bit annoyed about the graphics card though; I can't afford a new 8800 yet (check out this sexy beast *dribble* ) so I'm using the boyfriend's old 6600 card until I can! He got an 8800 for his machine and gave the old card to me. So I'm gonna have this lightning fast rig bottlenecked by an almost outdated graphics card   ETA: Must... resist... getting... credit... card... out... I WANT an 8800!
Jenesis

Jenesis

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Bored of this now.

He doesn't think about me at all. He thinks that a hug is a substitute for understanding me and paying attention to my needs. He never thinks about what I might want at all. But if I say anything, he acts like I've run over his dog or something.   I don't want to end it and be alone but as time goes on it seems like I should more and more...
Jenesis

Jenesis

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World of Warcraft

Just in case any forumites are also WoW players and fancy having a lil' virtual chat some time!   Realm: Aggramar (EU) Character: Jenesis, Warlock, level 80 (Gnome), Jenyria, Death Knight, level 60 (Gnome), Namaron, Druid, level 60 (Night Elf)   My guild is Magisters, I enjoy raiding and solo questing/levelling, but I hate PVP - both battlegrounds and world combat. I'm just not cut out for it!
Jenesis

Jenesis

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Introductions

Where to start..? Well, explaining the title for those who don't know would be a good idea! Yuggoth is the name given to the ninth planet (Pluto, to us) in the works of H.P. Lovecraft*. In some of his stories a race of monstrous alien beings from another solar system have a base in our own solar system on the ninth planet, as they call it, Yuggoth ...Not that Pluto is technically a planet anymore. While I do understand the reason for the reclassification (i.e. some asteroids are bigger than Pluto) it still tugs at my heartstrings a little. If Pluto had feelings (and indeed a personality and a brain etc.) it would be very upset. My Astronomy lecturer expressed the sentiment: "When I was young, Pluto was a planet!"   Anyway, I guess introductions are in order! Hi there everyone, I'm Jenny and I've been a member of this forum since December of last year (06). I got into BPAL when I saw "BPAL" referred to on the Lush UK forums, had no idea what it was and Googled it, coming up with the Lab's pages! I was intrigued and placed a small order (Hell's Belle 5ml and a couple of Imps) before joining the forum. I began to buy on the For Sale forum to further my collection. I placed another Lab order in January and I've continued to be a BPAL addict since!   Notes   My first order of Hell's Belle has since dropped off my "Likes" list, as my tastes have changed somewhat. I (now) love foody scents, especially fruit. Florals and I really don't get on; they go straight to "old lady nasty cloying soap" on me, and citrus and I have declared all-out war. I cannot wear a citrus blend without either gagging or spending the whole day with a nagging feeling I should have my hands in a bowl of artificial-lemon-scent washing up water. As I do enough washing up already as a student, this is a bad thing.   Layering   I don't wear layered scents exclusively, but I do layer some of mine. As far as layering goes, I'll try anything once! My favourite layering is Vice with Velvet or The Candy Butcher - sweet cherries rounded by the dark cocoa. I also layer Shub and Xanthe sometimes. Thankfully, foody scents tend to layer well, and as 90% of my BPAL chest is foody stuff this works quite well for me!   Favourites   See my signature link or the link on the right for my current Top Ten, but suffice to say, I will crawl over hot coals for Imp, run through a lion's cage for Xanthe, and maybe suffer a small paper cut for Shub or Chimera. Well, I would, if I didn't already have bottles of them   Thanks for reading this far, and keep watching for the updates of the BPAL-obsessed-physicist-gamer-violist-computer-geek!   *It should also be pointed out that BPAL is soley and wholly responsible for my Lovecraft fandom. I looked up "Arkham" after seeing it on the BPAL site and the rest, as they say, is history!
Jenesis

Jenesis

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My Precious

My Bottles   LE/Discon.   Black Lace Candy Phoenix Enraged Groundhog Musk Frederic Geek The Perilous Parlor Rose Red 2008 Samhain 07 Snake Charmer Resurrected   GC/Salon/Carnaval Diabolique   Black Opal Eat Me March Hare Schrodinger's Cat Snake Oil
Jenesis

Jenesis

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Why...?

Why can't she see she has a problem? Screaming at someone because they used the wrong roasting tin is not normal behaviour. She is my mother and I hate to see someone turn into a raging screaming maniac for something trivial happening. When pressed she shrugs it off and says "I've always had a bad temper." Hum, yes, an ordinary, everyday short fuse that turns her into a homicidal maniac I'm terrified to be around.   I've had enough. I've done my best, I've tried to make her see a doctor, I've tried to remain calm while she's throwing things at me, and I can't take it anymore. I can't even make her get help, as I'd have to go with her, and she would kill me. (Only a very slight exaggeration there. When she goes into a rage I fear for my, and her, safety, she has thrown things at me and struck me before now, and she has severely hurt herself more than once.)
Jenesis

Jenesis

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Pending Orders

Pending Orders   -------------------------------------   None   ------------------------------------- Past Orders   -------------------------------------   8th May 2009   5ml Strawberry Moon 5ml Velvet Nudie   CnS: 15th May Received: 22nd May   18th November 2008   5ml Candy Phoenix 5ml Snake Charmer   CnS: None (Was sent during USPS weirdness period) Received: Dec 20th   24th October 2008 (Trading Post)   Clockwork Scent Locket Samhain Room Spray   CnS: 4th November Received: 10th November   3rd September 2008   5ml Lilith Victoria 5ml Graveyard Dirt Resurrected 5ml Pumpkin II 5ml Pumpkin IV   CnS: 20th September Received: 26th September   29th July 2008 (Trading Post)   Explorer's Society Tee Imp Case: Witches Dancing on the Sabbath 2 Notepads Keychain: Triple Dagger Goblin Squirt: Dungeon   CnS: August 13th Received: August 19th   29th July 2008   5ml Schwarzer Mond 5ml Inez 5ml Doc Constantine   Imp Pack:   1 Antique Lace 2 Fae 3 Tweedledee 4 Nostrum Remedium 5 Stimulating Sassafras Strengthener 6 Eden   CnS: 2nd August Received: 9th August   18th May 2008   5ml Hand of Glory 5ml The Illustrated Woman 5ml Pickled Imp   CnS: 10th June Received: 17th June   22nd May 2008 (Lab eBay Auction)   5ml Geek   CnS: May 24th Received: May 30th   22nd April 2008   5ml Rangoon Riptide 5ml The Antikythera Mechanism CnS: May 7th Received: May 13th   18th April 2008 (Trading Post)   Dragon Moon tee Phoenix Steamworks tee Hell's Belle Claw Polish   CnS: May 17th Received: May 22nd     17th April 2008   5ml Te Po 5ml Theodesius, the Ledgerman CnS: April 25th Received: May 1st   25th March 2008   5ml Tiki King 5ml Upa Upa 5ml March Hare CnS: April 20th Received: April 28th   15th February 2008   5ml Love's Philosophy 5ml Ebisu Making Love as Two Octopuses Look on 5ml Mme. Moriarty, Misfortune Teller 5ml Severin CnS: March Received: March   19th January 2008   5ml Khajuraho 08 5ml Luperci 08 5ml Smut 08 CnS: February Received: February   7th November 2007   5ml Samhain 2007 5ml Plunder CnS: November 30th Received: December 14th   25th October 2007   5ml Ivanushka 5ml Samhain 2007 5ml The Perilous Parlor 5ml Gingerbread Poppet 2007 5ml El Dia de Reyes 5ml Vampire Tears 5ml March Hare   Imp pack #1 1. Schrodinger's Cat 2. Katharina 3. Event Horizon 4. Embalming Fluid 5. Iago 6. Sudha Segara   Imp pack #2 1. Bastet 2. De Sade 3. Fire of Love 4. Goblin 5. Whip 6. Incubus CnS: November 14th Received: November 20th   30th October 2007   5ml Black Forest 5ml The Lurid Library 5ml The Snow Storm CnS: November 14th Received: November 19th   13th July 2007   5ml 13 5ml Eat Me   CnS: July 28th Received: August 4th     11th June 2007   5ml March Hare 5ml Saw-Scaled Viper   CnS: June 25th Received: July 3rd     10th May 2007   5ml Imp 5ml Brown Jenkins   Imp: The Red Queen   CnS: June 6th Received: June 13th     29th April 2007   5ml Monsterbait: Bloody Mary   Imp Pack: 2 x Brown Jenkins 2 x Vice Imp Shub-Niggurath   CnS: May 11th Received: May 21st -------------------------------------
Jenesis

Jenesis

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BPAL Postage Price Rise 2

Why oh why do I have this incredible inability to get out of bed before 1030? It's really messing my work/revision schedules up. I guess it's related to my insomnia but I don't know where that comes from either. Oh joy of joys. (And before you recommend Somnus, all that did was give me a migraine .)   More Shipping Thoughts   I've had some more thoughts on the postage price hikes. This will not stop me buying BPAL altogether, as some of the other UK people seem to be rather dramatically going towards, it will just make me a little more thoughtful with my orders. Here is my reasoning (done in bullet points 'cause I'm a scientist and I like things to be simple):   - Postage before was $9-$11, or about £6. This was an AMAZINGLY low rate for a Priority box from the US. I've paid three times that for things from within the UK. - Postage now is $22-$25, or about £14. - This is indeed double, BUT it's only an extra £8. - I can live with that, especially in a "large" order... - ...Because for me, a large order is between 4 and 6 items.   - Thus, if we make a theoretical order using four items from the current catalog and compare the new and old prices:   -------------------------------   Old Postage   1 x 5ml [A Carnaval Diaboliqe] $20 1 x 5ml [A GC] $15 1 x 5ml [A GC] $15   Imp Set $19.50   Total: $69.50   Postage: $9 (four items)   Total: $78.50 or about £40.   New Postage   Same order: $69.50   Postage: $22.00   Total: $91.50 or about £48.   -------------------------------   Also, bear in mind that I've probably overestimated the pounds part, by assuming an exchange rate of $1.9 = £1.00. It's actually more like $1.999 or even $2.00 = £1 at the moment.   Now, this is an extra £8 on the order. Assuming that I could afford the previous price alright, all I have to do to afford the new price is not go drinking for one week or stop buying coffee for a week or something. (Or even save up all my coppers!) Certainly doable, especially if (like I already mentioned) I only order when I have enough wants to justify an order, which would be once every few months at the most. Also, I don't order lunacies or really Limited Editions (i.e. not long-term LEs) so there's no problem there. For this particular order mentioned here, that is a larger order than I've ever made with the Lab, and I think it would take about 8 weeks to save for that by putting £6-7 a week away.   So there we have it an objective, scientific analysis of the new shipping costs as related to BPAL buyers in the UK. By the way, I am a student, so I know how being poor feels besides, if you save up for your BPAL rather than just buy it on a whim, doesn't it smell sweeter?   ETA: Another thought. BPAL is a luxury. Maybe this will make me think of it as such and not just another thing I bought off the Internet.
Jenesis

Jenesis

4
 

Sterilisation for a 21-year-old

I don't want children. I don't ever want to be pregnant, to give birth, to take care of a baby. The idea of being pregnant and labour and looking after a baby is terrifying to me.   I've felt like this ever since I started my periods at 11. When I first started, I asked my mother if I could have my ovaries removed. That was 10 years ago, and my view hasn't changed at all.   However, I understand there are people who do want, and deserve, children and can't have them for whatever reason. I wish I could give my fully-functioning ovaries to them. I know there are egg donation programmes, I wish there was an ovary donation one!   I can't give my uterus, as although it's in fairly healthy shape I suffered from Oligomenorrhea (highly irregular periods), although I don't think suffered is the right word as it didn't cause me any problems. Apart from wanting to stop ovulating and stop bleeding altogether, of course.   I don't hate my own body. I just wish I had more control over it, and perhaps more relevantly, I wish that the NHS wasn't so closed-minded. They actually believe that every woman wants children. No exceptions. They won't even give me a consultation to have my tubes tied because I am OBVIOUSLY too young to understand the implications and I will DEFINITELY change my mind and start a family. I won't, of course, but all that matters to them is that I am young and without children. Therefore, their logic is that I will certainly regret it. Hah...
Jenesis

Jenesis

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How would you define "cheating"..?

There are 5 of us in my house - me, my boyfriend, a guy (M) who my boyfriend knows and who is now my good friend too, and a girl (J) and guy (A) who are on our course. We are all friends. Or at least we were at the beginning of the year.   I get on fine with M and A. They are nice, considerate guys. Usually I get on with boyf too, no major problems living together until recently. It's become apparent that he prefers hanging out with J instead of me. They like the same shows (I tend not to like the same shows he does), they have lively conversations that stop the minute I enter the room and they get on really well together.   I have been crying myself to sleep for 3 nights in a row. It's blindingly obvious that he would be better off with her than with me, and it looks like he sees it too. I really thought he was the one. I guess that the temptation of watching Battlestar Galactica with her was too much for him. They're in her room now, with the door closed when she always props it open usually, and they've been in there for 2 hours.   I am tempted to just walk out of the house and time how long it takes for him to even notice that I'm gone. If he doesn't call me within an hour or so (bear in mind my room is right next to hers...) I am going to confront him with this.
Jenesis

Jenesis

0
 

The Poor Lost Dummy

ETA: SEE MORE RECENT POST!   I think I may have to bite the bullet and admit that, for the first time in all my BPAL buying, selling and swapping, the Royal Mail has lost one of my parcels.     I had a bottle of Monsterbait: Ventriloquist Dummy on the way from lorajc. She shipped it on the 8th of May - nearly 2 weeks ago - and it still hasn't shown up. Every other purchase I made from the 7th - 10th of May has turned up apart from that one. That is in no way her fault or my fault, just the stupid Post Office losing packages   I haven't had a problem before, but as I've bought literally hundreds of things off the Internet in the past few years, statistics indicate that at least one or two of them would be lost. Why oh why did it have to be a bottle of BPAL though especially a discontinued LE!   I'm going to go and cry have a big cup of hot chocolate now
Jenesis

Jenesis

3
 

Why is he being an ass...?

So my boyfriend went out with his mates last night. Without telling me. After I had planned a cosy evening in.   I don't mind him going out with them (I don't like them very much, but who am I to tell him who to be friends with..?), what I do mind is not knowing about it. Is it wrong to want to know where your loved one is?   Upon further questioning this morning, as far as he could answer questions in his hungover state, it turns out "Tim was around and I haven't seen him for ages". Alright, fine, he wanted to see his friend. That's fine, I'd like to see my friends if they came to visit too. What is NOT FINE is how he managed to stretch "just a pint down at Scholars" into "out for six hours, get paralytically drunk, then come home at 2am and expect me to be there to go to bed with". Um, NO WAY.   What's so sad is that when he's with just me or with our mutual friends, he is fine and nice and polite and normal. It's just when he's with his group of friends that he gets swept up in their macho, sexist philosophies.   I don't know what to do.
Jenesis

Jenesis

0
 

Boyf's Family Event: Am I Evil?

I really need to get my thoughts in order about this.   I met the boy at the beginning of last year, as he's in my Physics class. We started going out in February. In about March (while we were still at Uni), his mum emailed him about his grandfather's 80th birthday event thing, which is today. She also invited me, in a "Does Jenny want to come too?" sense. I turned down the offer, for these reasons: - I hadn't even met his family yet, let alone got to know them. - I didn't want to intrude on a family event. - It's very selfish I know, but I didn't want to be the "outsider", where I wouldn't know anybody and everyone would be laughing at in-jokes and talking about people I don't know and whatnot.   So I politely declined, saying that I didn't want to intrude. However, apparently all the other girlfriends/boyfriends/partners of the family are going. And I'm the only one who hasn't. So I seem like the unsociable scrooge who isn't interested in his family. What if they hate me forever because of this?   I should also say that, having met them last month, I would definitely go to a family event if invited now. One of the cousins is getting married soon, and I'm hoping to be invited to that so I can meet some more of his family (if they're as lovely as his parents, I can't wait!), and also hopefully patch up this little boo boo.   But anyway, I guess I'm confused. I felt justified in my decision not to go at the time, but I'm not so sure now. And it's too late anyway. So I'm beating myself up about it, because I'm worried that his parents won't like me any more, and they're such nice people that I don't want to upset them (and as I'm hoping they'll become my in-laws in the future, I definitely want to start on the right foot!).   Any thoughts/advice..?
Jenesis

Jenesis

2
 

Death Adder on its way!

The left hand of God, or shelldoo as everyone else knows her, responded to my ISO! A bottle of the Adder will be winging its way to me tomorrow. I'm very excited about this one actually.   I didn't like Snake Oil when I first tried it, because it was just so bland on me. It was slightly sour vanilla, not unpleasant, but very bland, and too strong - I got a headache from sniffing my wrist too hard! (But then I get scent headaches very easily.)   Lately, after finding that I actually quite like vanilla (helloooo, Dorian!), I have considered giving the Snake another try. However, I'm (obviously) not willing to make a Lab order for one Imp, and I don't want to buy a bottle, have to wait a month, pay $13 shipping and find it doesn't work. Same logic for the Swaps forum, I know how awkward it can get when people only buy single Imps! I also forgot to add an Imp of SO to my 13 order. D'oh...   My solution? After trying and (mostly) liking Saw-Scaled Viper, I started investigating the Snake Pit more closely. You know how when you first get into BPAL and have tried your first few scents you go through the catalogue and think "That will never work on me"? I did that with the Snake Pit at first. I thought that since SO was bland, any scent based on it would too. Thankfully, I got SSV as a frimp in a swap because it was late (aww!), and found a new love for the vanilla of SO! So I looked through the Pit and checked out the notes. I'm terrified of florals as 99% of floral blends turn to rank old-lady-soap on me, but the one that got my attention was Death Adder: Snake Oil with vetiver, black coconut, vanilla, and opoponax.   The key attention-grabbing note there was opopanax. I LOVE opopanax. Before I got into BPAL I wore Dior Poison, in which the base note was opopanar, and my favourite BPAL ever is Geek, which has opopanax listed as a main note. I love the sultry, sexy, musky smell of it, and it smells faaaaaaabulous on moi! The fact that the Adder has vanilla and coconut only (literally) sweetened the deal. I was a little worried about the vetiver, which is a rather finicky note on me; it can be lovely and tangily refreshing, or it can smell like fag ash, but then it occurred to me that without it, the blend would be so sweet that even I wouldn't be able to wear it. And I have a sweet tooth the size of China.   I really hope that after all that I like it!
Jenesis

Jenesis

0
 

BPAL Reviews

BPAL Reviews   Whenever I review a scent, I'll post a link to my post in the review thread here. This is also partly for me so I can keep track of all my reviews   13 (July 2007) Aziraphale Black Pearl Bon Vivant Brown Jenkins The Candy Butcher Carnivale Creepy Crowley Death Adder Death of the Grave Digger Delousing Powder Dorian Eat Me Enraged Groundhog Musk Fire Pig Geek Gennivre Imp Kumiho Lampades Mania Monster Bait: Bloody Mary Monster Bait: Ventriloquist Dummy Obatala Odin The Red Queen Saw-Scaled Viper Shub-Niggurath Spooky Tanin'iver Tenochtitlan Two Monsters White Rabbit Xanthe
Jenesis

Jenesis

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Graphics Cards, Frames per Second, Memory, Core Clocks, oh my!

W00tage! I have found the graphics card I want   The XFX 8800GTS 320MB. The brand is XFX, a reputable brand, and as mentioned in this article on MadShrimps, the XFX 320MB 8800GTS gives the best "frames per penny" rate of the bunch of similar cards they tested. This means that I'm paying the best money/performance ratio for it, which can't be bad! It's also under £200 on Scan, which I should be able to afford at some point this year   There is also another article on the same site, testing the 320MB and 640MB versions of the same card. To be honest, people, there isn't really that much difference at all, and certainly not £100-worth of difference. The 640MB can run at a few more frames per second (i.e. single-digit amounts more) on higher settings than the 320MB, and that's about it. The core clock speeds are the same and they overclock (if that's your thing) the same as well. Besides, very few games use more than 300MB of memory, let alone 600MB. I get the feeling this is just another attempt, and probably a successful one, judging by the sales, to appeal to the "mine is bigger than yours!" market of teenage computer nerds. Y'know, the kind who run their games on the highest possible resolution with 16x Anti-Aliasing because it makes them feel big and important.* Now, I'm not too fussed about AA above 4x (there's no discernible increase in image/texture quality above that), and I game at the most convenient resolution for my monitor. As said new monitor will be no bigger than 19", I think the 320MB will be fine.   My current card, a 256MB laptop version of the 6800, manages to run most things pretty well. It can manage The Sims 2 on mostly high settings with a couple of mediums, and it can run Half-Life 2 with no problems. It's in games like Oblivion and F.E.A.R. that the age of the card begins to show. It just can't handle AA at all, and only by turning the physics and detail settings down to minimum can these two games be played at framerates of more than about 10fps**. However, it should be noted that Oblivion is notorious for being a very demanding game graphically: It was released last year, before the 8800 chips were developed for consumer use, and very few gamers were able to manage it on the higher settings. It also uses a complicated rendering/shadow engine that, again, is notorious for being very demanding. F.E.A.R. is also quite demanding, for the physics and texture detail, and both of these games are often used in benchmark tests such as in the articles above. Tomb Raider: Legend is another benchmarker, a rather newer game that actually runs quite well on older systems thanks to an options/setting set that's a bit more customisable. I could run the demo of that with no problems on the lower or medium settings.   I think my processor may have something to add to this as well: It's a Centrino (Intel, uuuurgh) 1.8GHz single-core. Veeery slow and a bit clunky at times. It can't be bottlenecking the system, as the rest of the components are about the same standard, but it isn't helping. Thank the almighty that my new PC will be a dual-core! Having said that, I am quite attached to my laptop. I've had it nearly 2 years now, and for a laptop, it's done very well. When I bought it (or rather, when Daddy bought it for me ) it was the bees' knees, now it's a crap-but-still-above-par-for-a-laptop rig. It will do for work, the Internet and World of Warcraft, but for newer games I'll be using my new system. Watch this space for more rants, musings, thoughts and comparisons of hardware   Oh, and a review of Windows Vista, coming soon!   *I know, I used to date one. **Which is a pain in the behind because when played on a good rig, F.E.A.R. is a beautiful game.
Jenesis

Jenesis

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BPAL Postage Price Rise 1

Today's Scent   So today I got my bottle of Shub that I swapped with naughteblonde for my backup Gennivre bottle. On first sniff I thought "Oh no!" but on application it mellowed. It takes a while to mellow on me so I had to be patient, but it was worth it in the end: Lovely spicy ginger! This is going to be my "spicy" scent. I don't have any yet, Chimera is just barely spicy enough, and all my other blends are creamy-foody or light. So all in all good. And by the way: DON'T LAYER SHUB WITH CHIMERA. I tried it out of curiosity, and oh boy did I regret it. I was scrubbing my wrists for ten minutes after that gaffe Smelt like baby sick   ETA: It does work well with Xanthe though! The uplifting fruitiness of the Clown is darkened and sweetened by the herbal ginger of Shub. Worth a try if you have both   USPS Price Hike   And so we move onto the main story of the day: The huge increase in International shipping prices by USPS. I started a thread about it myself here, but it's more expertly covered in this thread here. To US customers of BPAL that's not much, but for us UK citizens (and indeed Canada, Australia and the whole of Western Europe) it's crippling.   [ETA: The threads have been split, the main one discussing the prices as directly related to BPAL and possible solutions is here. The other thread mentioned above is mainly discussing the hike in general.]   The cost of shipping an order from the Lab to me is now $22.00, up from $9. That's over double the price. I don't know about you but this is seriously going to limit my orders. Good for my bank balance maybe, but not so good for the Lab, and definitely not good for new customers and newly enabled peeps. I really hope we can get a UK group order circle going. I don't order LEs much anyway (and certainly no Lunacies), but I definitely won't now. I can't justify spending $20-25 on a bottle and $20 for shipping of something that might not work on me.   So my plan is to plan my orders way in advance - say 3 months before I order - and make it at least two or three (GC or long-term LE) bottles and some Imps or other things of equivalent value. That's the only way I can justify spending $20 on shipping, where before I was happy to order one 5ml and a couple of Imps.   Such a shame
Jenesis

Jenesis

0
 

Hexennacht 2008: Not sweaty at all!

The Night of the Witches. In the Teutonic calendar, April 30, not October 31, was the night that the witches congregated to celebrate their Work through ecstatic dance, wild music and revelry. The witches fêted with spirits, fairies, and a bevy of otherworldy creatures atop Brockenberg peak in the Harz region of Germany, where they lit an enormous bonfire and cavorted naked until midnight... at which point they donned their robes, boarded their brooms, flying rams and sacred goats, scooped up their cat familiars, and sped off into the night. In later days, it was believed that on this night the witches conjured the devil, who would then select one of them for his bride. This perfume is the scent of the witches' revel: German fir and forest herbs, incense and bonfire smoke, infernal flora, glowing amber, and the wet, glimmering scent of skin warmed by dance.

I definitely get the fir from this when I first put it on. It's a sharp, bright, "clean" scent when wet.
The fir mellows after a few minutes to be much warmer, and less artificial. It's a very pleasant "green" scent at this point.
It stays like this for a half-hour or so and then... disappears. All that's left is a light, slightly musky scent which is hard to place.

Odd behaviour, but very nice!
Jenesis

Jenesis

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IGMO!... Well, my Mum did!

As I'm at University at the moment, I get my BPAL orders (the Lab ones, at least) sent home, for a couple of reasons, mainly the shipping time fluctuations, but also housemates here are useless and never answer the door for post so I'd have to collect it from the PO every time. So every time a Lab order arrives home I get a bewildered email of "Some Alchemy potions have arrived for you"   European Order! Ordered: October 30thCnS: November 14th Received: November 19th   Black Forest The Lurid Library The Snow Storm - with a picture label, as far as my Mum described it to me.   ...and seven frimps! (Namaste, Vampire Tears, Villain, Juke Joint, Seance and Oberon.)   My Mum said that she liked The Snow Storm, and that it "smells wintery". I won't get to smell any of these until December 1st, when the parents are coming up to see my concert and bringing a few things, like a warm dressing gown, and smellies!
Jenesis

Jenesis

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IGMO! (Yay for birthdays!)

Well, again, my Mum got my order She confessed she's been trying them all on! Go Mum   European Order! Ordered: 25th OctoberCnS: 14th November Delivered: 20th November   Ivanushka Samhain Perilous Parlor Gingerbread Poppet El dia de Reyes Vampire Tears March Hare   Imp pack #1 1. Schrodinger's Cat 2. Katharina 3. Event Horizon 4. Embalming Fluid 5. Iago 6. Sudha Segara   Imp pack #2 1. Bastet 2. De Sade 3. Fire of Love 4. Goblin 5. Whip 6. Incubus   ...and (from the sound of my Mum's email) about twenty frimps! Hoorah!   It's not actually my birthday until Dec. 14th, and I won't get these smellies until Dec. 1st, when Mum brings them up with her when she comes to my concert. I need my Samhain!
Jenesis

Jenesis

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Feeling Miserable

This is just a general post whingeing about exams and end of term stuff that's bringing me down. I noticed this because, even though I personally don't get stressed out the way some people do, my body does! My insomnia has been worse in this past fortnight than it has been for a year, plus I have three lovely mouth ulcers and a cold sore, all brought on by my general tiredness. I felt a little coldey and fluey yesterday but thankfully it just seemed to be a bad day rather than illness. I was a little worried as my boyfriend's housemate currently has the flu, poor chap. Another lovely side-effect is a mild depression and aching/tired muscles.   At this point, I just want to go home I have one week of University left, with two exams - one tomorrow and one Friday - which I know I'll either scrape past or fail completely. To make matters worse, my father is coming to pick me and all my stuff up on Saturday morning so not only can I not go out on Friday night to celebrate with my friends, but I somehow have to pack an entire year's worth of stuff, including books, folders, bedding, saucepans, plates etcetera (not to mention my BPAL, securely bubble-wrapped!) while I'm revising for my last exam. My father has to pick me up then as it's the only weekend in about a month when he's home. I know it's very selfish, but sometimes I wish the office would stop sending him overseas all the time, especially over the weekend He's been working for them for thirty years and is retiring in December, give him a break! I didn't see him very much when I was home, and now I can barely see him at all. Mum resents all his trips too, but she knows he gets paid extra for it so she can live with it.   I have a bad feeling about my father's imminent retirement. I'll be happy to see him stop working and be less stressed, however I also know he's the kind of person who needs something to do in their lives. I predict my Mum will be able to put up with him under her feet for a week, tops, before they start screaming and shouting at each other. I wouldn't be at all surprised if he goes and gets a part-time job or goes and works in the Library on his book or something. Sometimes I wonder how they're still married.
Jenesis

Jenesis

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Three Witches: Nom Nom Nom

Warm cinnamon, husky clove and white pepper.

I was lucky enough to acquire a bottle of the Resurrected incarnation.

In the vial and wet, this is all CINNAMON. Spicy spicy spice with no sign of the clove or pepper - it's like I upended a pot of cinnamon onto my wrist. As nice as cinnamon is, it's very strong.

On the drydown, the overwhelming cinnamon thankfully fades a little. I can detect a whiff of the clove, and the smooth pepper is coming out to play.

Dry, this is a stunning scent. The cinnamon and clove are still there, over the smooth sweetness of white pepper. So glad I managed to get a bottle!
Jenesis

Jenesis

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Paris Update: To Buy or Not to Buy?

I am completely at a loss For those who've missed it, there's a new LE update to help "celebrate" Paris Hilton's jail term for drunk driving. Just because her family has money, she thinks she can get away with anything, and this little prison sentence will hopefully grow her up a little. But I digress.   ------------------------   Privilege   Polished party-girl sleaze. This is a shameless scent, devoid of caution, regret, or introspection. This perfume reeks of tabloid glamour, and has no substance whatsoever. Armoise, tuberose, white citrus, rose absolute, oakmoss, tiare, tuberose, vanilla, linden, and lemon tree blossom.   Although this scent originated with fine plants and the pure essences, the final result is a grotesque, eerily empty caricature of a debauched, narcissistic would-be débutante.   Pruno   Jailhouse hooch. Distilled in toilets, this vintage is comprised of chow line droppings, including oranges, apples, ketchup, and sugar.   ------------------------   Now, I think we all know Privilege would hate me (rose absolute, linden and citrus?? Aaargh!) but Pruno is a little more interesting. According to Beth's comment in the Update discussion thread, the scent smells a little nicer than the drink thankfully! I'd really like to try this one, but unfortunately I really can't justify $40 on BPAL at the moment - and that's for *just* the Pruno and shipping. It'd be a little more worth it if I had another 5ml or two and some Imps, but at the moment I'm working my way through my smellies box! Hopefully the spoiled brat will stay in jail long enough for me to decide
Jenesis

Jenesis

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Spooky: Good Enough to Eat

Spooky 05: A maddeningly festive blend of warm, buttery rum, cocoa, coconut, vanilla and a jolt of peppermint. It’s a sweet, decadent, slightly silly scent, reminiscent of rum-laced holiday cookies.   Bottle: ARGH! A blast of pure "perfume" smell.   Wet: A strong pepperminty smell with a sticky sweetness (maybe the rum?) behind it.   Drydown: Still very minty, but not unpleasantly so. Refreshing and "light" in a scent way - but definitely not in a throw way! This is very strong on me.   Dry (Immediate): Sticky peppermint. Nice but nothing to write home about.   Dry (60 mins): I'm so happy! After about an hour, this turns into sweet vanilla with hints of coconut, splashed over with mint rum. Definitely a foody, and going into my top ten. The only reason it doesn't get 5/5 from me is the "waiting" period before it turns gorgeous.   Last: This is the other downer about Spooky! After it's mellowed, it lasts about an hour, tops. And that's with slathering. So two hours total after slathering. I'm going to get through my bottle so fast My skin obviously thinks this is as tasty as it smells, because it eats it!   Throw: Again, after it's mellowed, there's hardly any throw at all. Definitely a skin scent, and a very pleasant one, but someone sitting near me on a train probably wouldn't be able to smell it.   Final Verdict: Vanilla ice cream, topped with sprinkles of coconut and a drizzle of mint rum. Not much throw or lasting power, though.   Rating: 4/5   Review
Jenesis

Jenesis

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