ravenfeathers

oh. my. goodness. in the bottle dark, smoky, and heavy wet on skin throw is strong and instantaneous and freaking gorgeous. the myrrh and patchouli are the main players here, having filthy, depraved hot sex all over my arm. the amber adds a sullen glow and there's something dry and woody here, too. the musk is black as night, but standing back in the shadows. dry on skin the sex is all over now, but the afterglow remains. patchouli is perhaps not fully sated and keeps the party going, but languidly. i should add that this patchouli is everything that is great about patchouli and nothing that's not. it never once smells like bong water and dirt on me, not even once. on extreme dry down, there's a little bit of soapiness going on, but the darkness of the blend overall can support a little soapiness. amazing, gorgeous scent.

in the bottle dragon's blood *yawn*. wet on skin peppermint, lavender, and bergamot beat back the dragon a little bit and round the sweetness of DB off nicely dry on skin just a touch of sappy cedar to augment mint & co. it's fresh and heady all at once. i'm a dragon's blood hater, unfortunately, so this blend was never for me, but for a dragon's blood blend, it's very pretty. if you're at all a fan of DB resin, this blend is a must have.

this is very, very hard for me to describe! in the bottle generic incense, unlit. wet on skin dusty and damp, but still almost spicy with exotic incense. the mildew note is vetiver, i think, very faint and un-vetiver-like in its reticence. dry on skini sweet, dusty, masculine, it reminds me of aziraphale, but more manly and darker. it's not really reminding me much of the buggre alle this bible. this is more of a crowley scent, to be honest. although i love BPAL's crowley and think it's very appropriate, this would be another very valid interpretation of the character. the tobacco seems to want the last word in this blend and it retains that exotic spiciness to offset the dryness of the tobacco leaf. this is a gorgeous scent, sinuous and darkly sexy.

like others, i was surprised about how this scent finally played out based on the notes. in the bottle somewhat muddled, but i'm getting amber and a sharp wood. wet on skin sweet, sweet, sweet, but it doesn't smell like honey, oddly. the leather is pronounced and there's something vaguely musky lurking around underneath which i really like. dry on skin throw is negligible, but it's sort of a dark, musky floral now with the tiniest trace of something that smells a bit licorice-y at the tail end of each whiff, sort of bakeneko-like, flat root-beer. i like the drier, more masculine notes, but the amber and florals aren't really doing it for me and i could wish for more of the blood-red berries.

in the bottle dragon's blood wet on skin dragon's blood dry on skin musk comes and elbow's dragon's blood out of the way, bringing ginger and tobacco along. there's something almost... amber-y here, something that brings hexennacht 08 to mind in the warmth of its underpinings. this is not a dry, spicy scent like i was expecting, it's moist and warm and dusky and sexy. dragon's blood is starting to bloom upward again now. i like the sweetness that the DB imparts, but it's really taking over this scent, which is a shame. edit and just fifteen minutes later? musky powder with a little bit of a greasy feel. the spicies have all fled.

my kid figured out this one last night: crushed whipped and monsterbait: bloody mary. it works! somehow i think the smooch would be too sandalwood-y, though.

the oil, if taken internally, is toxic to all animals, including people and will result in severe damage to the internal organs, especially the kidneys, but the amount you might have on your wrist or neck in a perfume blend is safe. of course, internally or externally, pennyroyal is a pretty powerful abortifactant and shouldn't be used by or around anyone who is or may be pregnant, including the kittehs.

you may be right, but postage rates, including international rates, i believe, just went up in the US last week, so something has changed. i just don't know if it will impact on international shipping from the lab or not. i think hadaverde's advice was sound. when in doubt, order as usual but shoot an email to customer service for confirmation of rates. they're super helpful and understanding and we love them.

as someone who also works with rescued animals (cats, dogs, horses, cattle, goats, rabbits, etc.), i'd suggest going to your volunteer work "clean". while a vast majority of scents won't bother a vast majority of cats, it's not really worth the risk, IMO. i have one cat in particular (my five are all rescues) who will run from me when i'm wearing perfume. she is extremely offended by every scent i've ever worn around her. i have another one who pretty much loves everything i wear. guess which one loves me and sleeps in my bed and which one slinks away whenever i pass her in the house? animals of all types rely more heavily on their senses of smell to figure out the world around them. i've found that abused, neglected, and abandoned animals tend to be more sensitive to body language and pheromones. your best bet is to leave BPAL out of your volunteering altogether. *i am not an animal behaviouralist, nor do i play one on t.v.

i tested this many moons ago and loathed it, so i never wrote a review. i passed the imp on to my mother and thankfully she's never worn it around me. i had such a visceral ick reaction from it that when i riffle through her imp box, i cringe away from kabuki. i've never liked licorice, but i thought i'd give it a whirl in a BPAL blend. in the bottle sweet anise and sweeter cherry wet on skin it's all anise all the time, sweetened to cloying pitch by the cherry (almond?) dry on skin time to wash this off before i heave i am a true licorice hater. anise will forevermore be an absolute dealbreaker note for me.

yep, they do. at least, all of mine do.

i tested this and reviewed it in my blog a long time ago and didn't bother posting it here (i'm apt to do that with frimps, for some reason; it's like my brain won't admit they exist because i didn't order them). sniff this is... sniffffff... cranberry and evergreen! it's CHRISTMAS!! *reads lab description* A hellishly dark aquatic scent, evocative of fathomless oceanic deeps, the mysteries of madness buried under crushing black waters, and the brooding eternal evil that lies beneath the waves. ... ... orrr.... CHRISTMAS!!

the hype! it does not lie! this is SO. INSANELY. FANTASTIC. in the bottle soft and butter-rum-y wet on skin sandalwood! vanilla! saffron! it's the beautiful bastard love child of haloes and love's philosophy. dry on skin sandalwood is the uppermost note for me for a good long while, nicely tempered by the soft, sweet bits. it's soft and fading fast. if i could bathe in it, i would. edit for tears of blood: nooooo! it turns into sour milk and snow white on me. THIS SO SUCKS IN A MILLION DIFFERENT WAYS!!!

in the bottle soft, tropical floral and something fruity wet on skin oh. hm. okay, it's green bananas, then. unripe, generic supermarket bananas. dry on skin unremarkable, syrupy floral with a side of green banana.

it's mad sweeney all over again. in the bottle sharp and sour. wet on skin vomit and mildew? dry on skin it becomes more vomit-like the longer i wear it. how charming. i scrubbed and scrubbed and scrubbed to get this off. it had superior wearlength. the spot on my skin where i tested it still had a slight eau-de-puke the next day after loofah, three soaps, and a nail brush.

in the bottle wet, sloppy roses, ones that have been ground into the earth. wet on skin swampy and still rose-y. it's an earthy rose, but rose nevertheless. dry on skin rose, rose, rose. i was hoping for more dirt and less rose. fortunately, worm moon came out right after zombi disappointed me and that's all dirt.

in the bottle gingerbread, straight up. it's a dead ringer for gingerbread poppet, only not quite as dry and crumbly. wet on skin a moist, hot ginger, very comforting and almost foody. dry on skin no morphing, it stays a warm, sweet ginger. this is so much softer, warmer, and more cozy than gingerbread poppet, which i traded away a while ago. it also layers beautifully with some of my spicier lotions. this came as a frimp from a recent lab purchase and i'm glad it did. this'll be a bottle in my future.

in the bottle fizzy, watermelon-y candy, pink and green. mountains of sugar, indeed. wet on skin amp, thou watermelon! fruity, cheerful, and really, really shiny smelling. dry on skin the effervescent quality disappears on drydown and the fruit slowly morphs over time until a couple of hours later, it's just a hint of strawberry-ish fruit. super fun and it intrigues the masses.

without going into a long and personal story, i didn't find siren to be particularly effective in my particular case. i did my utmost to be open and respectful with good intent, despite siren being labeled as a dark spellwork oil. i really did try to use it as a nudge rather than a binding tool. i had a fairly negative result and found a new home for this volatile lady. for those interested in this scent-wise (although i'm not sure that's a great idea), i found it to be a dark, wet, almost swampy rose that i continued to smell on my hands for two days after i'd used it to anoint candles and other items. it can outlast the hottest shower and the strongest soap.

in the bottle boozy caramel, a little burnt smelling. it's the base caramel note of creepy without the juicy background. wet on skin still a bit boozy smelling, less maple-y than creepy now with a slightly dry nutty backdrop. dry on skin the nuttiness continues to amp, but otherwise stays pretty much the same as wet. throw is negligible and sugary. the nuttiness stays very close to the skin. i like it a lot, it's brilliant, but i'm not sure how much i'd wear it. time will tell! edit i put some of this on the kids without telling them what it was and they said "OMG CARAMEL CORN!"

oh. my. god. in the bottle potting soil! no! greenhouse!! wet on skin wow. this is... nearly making me speechless. it's moist soil, yep, it's humus, my goodness. and there's also some really crusty, dessicated dusty soil, too. then there's something that really smells like wilted plant matter and a faint whiff of fruit. dry no morphing at all, just the same as the wet stage. it's odd because it instantly says "greenhouse" and is completely unmistakable, but at the same time, there's something nigglingly perfume-y about it, too. like singing moon, this is incredibly, fiercely evocative and i'm madly in love with it just for that alone. wow. thank you so much, beth! (and i'd just like to say that the label, which i found laughably grateful dead-ish originally has really grown on me, too. cute little skeleman....)

in the bottle bright, tangy-but-still-sweet floral wet on skin cheerful, sharp and still quite floral, almost a false green apple smell to my nose dry on skin this softens nicely and is summery, fresh, and just a liiiiiittle bit languid and vanilla-y. it remains sweet and pale yellow-ish conceptually. no spiciness whatsoever. this is somehow not what i was expecting at all, even though it's very pretty. i'm wearing love's philosophy today and tested this on the back of my hand because i couldn't wait. i think my nose is fairly dead to vanilla right now, though, because of LP, so i'm going to retest this another time. edit this just plain doesn't work on me. i tried it last night and it still smelled sort of... sour. not unpleasant, but sort of candyish and green apple-y. i asked one daughter what it smelled like and she took a big whiff, grinned and said "SOAP!" a few minutes later, i asked the other daughter (who hadn't been in the room when i asked the first one) and she sniffed, sniffed, sniffed and said "SOAP!" she asked me what it was supposed to smell like and i told her vanilla flowers and ginger flowers. she nodded and said "yep, vanilla and ginger flower... soap!" *sigh*

i just got my very first villainess order a week or so ago. because i wasn't sure i'd like any of it, i ordered very light. let me tell you how much fun i'm having, though, matching BPALs to jai mahal whipped! so far, i've loved it with the phantom calliope, liked it with shub, and found that it really deepened and sweetened my beloved samhain. lots of fun and i'm looking forward to more whippeds.

in the bottle it's yule! well, that's not what i was looking for at all. i'm also getting flashbacks of old moon, which was so pretty until it turned into cheap candle on my skin. wet on skin fir, fir, and fir. ho, boy. dry on skin holy morphing! as soon as this starts to sink into my skin, it starts doing all kinds of bizarre things. the first thing is that the amber starts amping until that's all i can smell for a while. after a while, the floral and incense start to heat up with just a suggestion of woodsmoke that's really evocative, really cool, especially with the fir lurking around again under the amber. after another hour, though, it goes incredibly weird on me and starts to smell like something warm and very greasy, almost foody. it makes me feel a little bit nauseated, to be honest. finally, an hour after that, what's left is the incense and the fir which is bringing christmas back to mind in a big way. i've struck out so far with every evergreen scent from the lab to date. maybe it's just not a suitable note with my body chemistry, although my near unreasonable love of samhain wouldn't seem to bear that out. at any rate, i'm willing to let this age for a little bit and see what happens, just out of curiosity. it's a wild ride and it interests me enough to keep watching.

in the bottle certainly metallic, but warm and undeniably golden. very cologne-y in a good way wet on skin this is the more aggressive, more butch version of et lux fuit to me. it's golden and glowing and just amazingly warm. dry on skin not a morpher, this stays gold and gorgeous. the sage gives it a slightly soapy feel on me, but it's tucked way, way down under the metallic luminescence. this is SO gorgeous, quite formal and elegant, but somehow gritty, too. phoenix steamworks might be too fancy for little ol' me, but i'm going to try to pull it off anyway. spectacular.