Lumina

In imp: Mmm, Whiskey! Not quite as smoky and oak-y as the Mad Sweeney (which was single note expensive woodsmoked booze on me - with an emphasis on the smouldery smokiness - and amped like all heck broke loose!) There's also plenty of barley and a smidgen of something tangy, almost coppery. If that's the blood accord, it's pretty darn good. Want it in more blends, please! *is a vegan with vamipiric urges*

On wrist, hair, and bosom ...I slathered!: Well, colour me surprised - this sweetens up quite a bit on the skin, compared to its in-the-imp smell. If anything I'd have expected it to go the way of the Sweeney and turn into intimidating alcoholic smog. But in fact I'm getting a slightly sweet barley musk, snifter on the side, and just the barest tantalizing waft of still-warm gore. <-- It's a good thing! It's a much gentler scent than I was expecting, with no harshness or aggression. My skin chem also seems to approve, since I'm still getting wafts a couple of hours after I put it on.

There's something captivating about this blend, a real sense of a story behind it. I'm getting, not images, but a wyrd feeling of actually being present in that story. It's a warm dark night almost at the end of the summer, the heat haze of the day has ebbed away, but the rich bare earth is still warm beneath my feet. The barleyfields reach up almost to the back porch, and a gentle breeze ripples the tops of the grasses. The night is full of ripeness and anticipation, and the barley is calling to me with whispers of foreboding...

Comments: You know, this is what I wanted Hellhound to smell like. Er, despite the fact that the listed notes are completely different *Still grumpy that the Hounds had to be unleashed, i.e. sent to new and better homes!* And seriously, I the blood accord! Also I'm really drawn to this blend as an inspirational scent; when I want to sit down and get a story written, I'll be reaching for John to whisper in my ear

Wear length: 4.1/5 The wear length is a little less than I'd like, but it's really not at all bad considering that a] my skin is the black hole of complete annihilation for a shocking number of scents, and b] that goes double at this particular time of the month, if you catch my drift.

Throw: 3.6/5 Teasing little wafts keep reminding me that I smell good!

Keep the imp? You're mine now, Johnny boy. All mine... forever!

Upgrade to a bottle? This is my top pick from the 'Weenies, and probably the only one I'll get a bottle of. More than just the one bottle, I should think.

This is for the '08 version. After reading the reviews of SM's earlier incarnations, I went ahead and bought 3 bottles unsniffed My order arrived at the end of the summer, I tore open the box excitedly and grabbed a bottle, sniffed it and...

Review mark one:

In bottle: WTF is this?! This is sugared marzipan and it's nasty! Do not like. Do not want. Where the :bleep: is my ambery patchouli-myrrh musk, please?

On skin: It's still the nasty marzipan, only the mound of sugar on top just got even bigger. I think that I would like it to go away now

Comments: Look, I know my skin chem is kind of evil, but this time it is really not me that is making things go wrong. According to the notes this is practically my perfect can't-go-wrong scent, why the heck else would I have ordered a 3 bottle stash without sniffing first? Patchouli, amber and myrrh just never go wrong on me, so I don't understand how this has happened

Now my instinct was to put my bottles up for swap/sale right away, because SM was just not working for me. But I didn't do it, because so many people posted rave reviews that I just thought, hmm, there's got to be a reason for all the fuss. So the bottles went into a drawer to see if ageing would help. And it does! Testing again today:

Review mark two:

In bottle: Medicinal, and I now see how people are getting a cola smell. There's also a touch of almond, but it's not sugar-coated marzipan any more!

On skin: It's earthy-resinous, warm and spicy. The myrrh in here is fantastic, lovely and dry/warm. After about 5 minutes the musk starts taking over, and it's a nice deep dark musk but I'm glad when it settles down again and lets the full richness of the blend show through without overwhelming it.

Comments: Now I understand what the fuss is about! This is It's perfect for autumn/winter, when you want some warmth and coziness. For me, scents with myrrh have a very comforting quality, and SM is no exception. It sort of entwines itself around me like a warm blanket. At the same time, SM is a slightly subversive scent, hinting at hidden depths and mystery. It makes me think of standing around the bonfire with the flames high and flickering, and feeling that there's something lurking in the shadows just beyond the edge of the light, just out of sight.

I actually think this blend will benefit from even more ageing, so I'll probably review again in a couple of months!

Frimped as part of a swap!

In the imp: Oh, this is going to be good. Yes it is There's no mistaking the vanilla, but right now the woodiness is the strongest element. To my nose the cedar smells smooth and fresh, and it's coupled here with another woody element - balsam, according to the notes (which I've never knowingly smelled before) - which is adding body to the cedar and giving a lovely warm/dry aroma to the blend. I confess I would not know what sassafras is if you smacked me over the skull with it. Probably we don't have any in England

Wet on skin: First few seconds: okay, the vanilla-bomb has landed!.... No, wait a minute... there comes the cedar/balsam again. And then there's a new smell, which is kind of very slightly bitter/spicy and oddly familiar. And deep rusty-orange coloured. It's not very prominent - just a hint that plays around the edges. I know what it smells like: Angostura bitters, which my mother used to put in her tonic water. ?!? That's weird.

Drydown: I agree with Seismogenic, this one does take its time in the drying - oil sheen is visible on skin for quite a while! As far as the scent goes, it does change somewhat during the first ten minutes. The vanilla becomes nicely rounded: it's not too rich or sweet, but has a strong presence. The woods remain more prominent, which is very much as I prefer it. The warm dryness of this scent is really fantastic - it's kind of like the feeling of somebody's warm breath on your neck, if that makes sense. And, um, I mean that in a good way! Personally I wouldn't call it outdoors-y, but I strongly suspect that's because I've not yet encountered quite the right sort of outdoors (living in England, here!). Myself, I'd say it's like being in a log cabin surrounded by cedars, snuggled up with a creamy vanilla tea and a sexy cowboy guy who has just been riding through the woods, dressed in leathers. (There's not actually a smell of leather, but it does fit in with the overall impression!)

Wear length: 4.5/5 This lasts all day. And I keep catching wafts of it.

Overall: 4.5/5 I confess that I have issues with vanilla: I want to like it but hate smelling too sweet/cloying, which is how it usually comes out on me. Tombstone is pretty much my perfect vanilla scent, because it doesn't come out sticky-sweet but just mellow and smooth. I also confess that I am a massive fan of cedar, and of woods in general. This is a vanilla-woodsy-warm scent, gender-neutral but it would be utterly lovely on a man.

Keep the imp? I'll give this imp to the first person who can prise it from my cold dead fingers. Mine! Keeping! You no can have!

Bottle? Heck, yes!

In imp: Yikes, that's lavender! Hm. I don't dislike lavender, but I'm not in love with it as a perfume scent. Still, it may be one of those blends that will smell totally different on the skin than in the imp?

On skin: Peppery lavender on initial application, then the scent played dead for 5mins After that, the rose came out to play and I began to get whiffs. A rose background, plus orchid, maybe – I'm getting a slight hint of hothouse? My nose interprets certain musks as powder, and that’s what happens with the white musk in here. I get no sign of frankincense, which is a pity because it's one of my favourite notes.

Unfortunately for me, my skin makes this blend smell like rose-scented powder/soap. Don’t get me wrong, it’s a beautiful, top quality rose powder/soap, and it’s not the least bit artificial-smelling. It's very feminine, but in a way that is elegant woman-y rather than girly. (If someone gave me a soap that smelled like this I'd love it to bits!) Nonetheless, powdery soap isn’t something I especially wish to wear as a skin perfume. It seems this won’t be a problem, since after another 5mins, it’s mostly faded away!

Comments: I can see why people love this, and I do find it very likeable - but it just isn't for me. I think the lavender and the musk are what's making me find it soapy. As a general remark: this was my second rose blend from Bpal, and I've been very impressed with the quality of the rose note. I've tested much more expensive scents from other companies that have used poorer quality rose. So I'm sad that this particular blend didn't work for me but I expect to remain a fan of Bpal roses in general.

Throw: 2.9 / 5

Wear length: 2.0 / 5

Overall score: 2.8 / 5

Bottle? Nope. I'll make sure the imp finds a good home

I received Event Horizon as a super-generous frimp from a wishlist-checking!forumite It was one of my most-wanted imps, so yay!

In imp: warm, somewhat dry-smelling resin; unidentified floral. Slight woodsiness.

On skin: Wet: slightly peppery and peculiar, I think that’s the orchid. Sweet labdanum is the only note I'm picking out for sure. The blend tends towards acrid, but not in a big way.

As it settles into drydown, I get the impression of faintly lingering incense, or possibly dusty wood. A very familiar smell. I’d associate this with either a church or a library.

After an hour or so, it has morphed, becoming more defined, and I finally get something a little more like opium but a lot more like a particular church I used to go to as a child. Exactly like that church, in fact. The thing is though, I’ve never been to another church that smelled quite like that one. Hey, you think they burned opium there? I can tell this blend is heavy on the opoponax. I do love opoponax/myrrh, so this makes me happy. It isn’t too acrid and the labdanum & benzoin means it’s not at all bitter.

Colour association: clear/transparent at first; white smoke on drydown. So, not so much a black hole!

Texture association: feather-light drizzly rainfall at first; later, smooth (not gritty) smoke.

Comments: A strange scent, not what I expected. It did morph quite a bit from beginning to end. It was only okay in the first and middle stages, but in the final stage it was pretty compelling. My major quibble is that I got very little throw. As a side note: if I ever meet a man who smells like this, there is a strong possibility that I shall jump him.

Throw: 1.2 / 5

Wear length: 4.0 / 5

Bottle? Quite possibly. The imp stays with me, and is queued for testing in scent locket.

Lumina, the Lab tends to undervalue the contents on the customs label and marks them as a gift. I've ordered about 6 times myself and never got caught out by customs. I've also been a part of big UK group orders and we've never had customs fees charged. So chances are you won't get charged any customs fees.

 

And if you happened to get a charge, you will get a letter from Royal Mail about it first, the postie won't charge you on delivery or anything, so it won't be a surprise.

Thanks for replying! It's really cool of the lab to help us out like that - I'll remember for next time I order. (I would've ordered a load little more this time if I'd known. Still, at least this way my budget remains partially intact ) I'm glad Royal Mail lets people know in advance if there's fees, too. Good to know I won't be put on the spot

Lumina - I put through a MASSIVE BPTP order, and 1 box got grabbed by Customs. It contained 7 L'Autunno sets and 1 Inverno set (to give you an idea). The customs charge was £10.81 (plus the Parcelforce 'handling fee' of £8).

WOW! - that's a lot of goodies I'd have thought for that much stuff the customs charge would be higher, so I feel a lot more reassured about my own (comparatively puny) order now.

Thank you for your help!

Since I'm realising my chances of ever finding a bottle are next to zero, can anyone recommend a GC (or even an easy to find LE) equivalent for Tarot: Death? I searched this thread and there was only the one suggestion so far:

The retail exclusive Salon blend Lucifer is a ringer for Tarot: Death on me.

Does anyone agree? Disagree? Have any other recs?

...And are the retail-only salons still available? I thought they'd gone away? Sorry to be ignorant

First off, apologies if this is repetitive or in the wrong place!

I'm wondering what people's experiences with UK customs have been lately, because I've just placed an order with the lab for 5 lunacy bottles (my second ever order, and the first with bottles in! Yay!) My total came to just over $100 including shipping. Can anyone tell me the probability of customs men swooping on my package, and what kind of fees I'm looking at if they do? I know the Royal Mail will rip me off for a flat fee of £8.00 , but I can't for the life of me understand how the customs/import fees are calculated.

I'm not bitching about having to pay the fees (well, except the Royal Rip-off bastards!) 'cos the way I see it I've benefitted from the exchange rate, so fair enough. I would just like to know how much the fees are likely to come to so that I can have the cash to hand. (It's been a while since I felt the customs pinch - I'm assuming the posties still collect the fees on delivering one's mail?)

Thanks in advance for your help, guys!

Received as part of a lucky dip imp pack from ebay. I've been wanting to try this one, so was pleased to get it.

In imp: Eau de nil. Nothing. Absolute zero. Umm...

On skin: Actually I tried it in my locket first, because having read previous reviews I knew of this blend's reputation for doing the vanishing act. And yay, in the locket I can smell something! But, um, that something appears to be sweet fennel (a definite anise smell).

And nothing else, until around 12 hours later - and yes, it has lasted this long and we're still going strong! - when I can detect a lemony citrus mingled in there. (Bergamot, but in a very convincing lemony disguise ) How anyone gets a leather note from this is quite beyond me. I don't even get tea, unless it's fennel tea.

I did a skin test for comparative purposes, with quite different results. The bergamot turned up first and was clearly not a lemon but gave a lovely true Earl Grey smell. After about a minute the fennel made itself known and tried to take over the show, but ended up in a nice balance with the bergamot instead.

If I squint sideways, I can now understand where people get this leather idea, because there is a suggestion of it in the way the notes interact. For me though, they are too clearly differentiated to give that impression.

Unfortunately, my skin is the kiss of death for quite a few of the Bpal blends, and so it is for Severin. Five minutes in and it's gone.

Wear length/throw: On skin, zero points for endurance and maybe 1.8 for throw - my wrist had to be up close to my nose. In the locket, a completely different and much happier story: it gives enough throw to reach my nose, and lasts over 12 hours without losing too much intensity.

Summary: Well, it's all fennel to me, since I'll only ever be able to wear this blend in a locket. But... I like fennel It's not a love, but it's a nice unusual scent that I'd happily wear. And did I mention the wear length in the locket? I'm going to nitpick, though: this isn't a scent I'd associate with a male sub, and for me it didn't match the lab's description. So, um not quite the Sev of my dreams...

Buy a bottle? I'm not parting with the imp, and when it runs out I might get another, but it doesn't scream "Bottle! Now!" at me.

I have Asperger's, and as a child I had some pretty bad anxiety/social issues; also my sensory hypersensitivities were bad to the extent that they caused me to have an eating disorder and to frequently self-harm (partially from anxiety, but mostly due to tactile sensitivity inducing compulsive scratching to get rid of irritating sensation.) I could never tolerate most commercial perfumes, and I still have to walk really quickly with my breath held if I'm heading past perfume counters in a shop. I'm pretty sure it's the alcohol and synthetics in the commercial stuff that causes me trouble, because I'm absolutely fine with the Bpal blends.

So far I've found a couple of Bpal scents that have a soothing/calming effect. The first is Wings of Azrael, which has an incredibly profound effect on me. It's comforting and very mentally and sensually soothing: kind of like a sedative without the drowsiness, if that makes any sense. Of the notes in it, I know myrrh, cypress and cajeput are helpful for me; and I like the juniper but don't know whether or not it has therapeutic value.

Midnight Mass is another one that works well for me. It seems to help me to focus and have better control over my thought & behaviour patterns. That's because of the resins. Heavenly Love & Earthly Love, which smells very similar to Midnight Mass, doesn't have the same effect.

Aziraphale has a noticeable grounding/stabilising influence, and is comforting because I can smell it around me like an aura. I guess I'd have to say it feels protective.

I also have a very strong reaction to Frankincense, Myrrh and the incense blends used in churches. They just sort of put me into a meditative state, the sort of meditation that gives you clarity and relaxed awareness. The thing I've found about that is that once you've induced that state, you really need to be in a calm environment; otherwise you risk worse-than-usual reactions to stressors. A frankincense/myrrh/wood blend is better than frankincense on its own because the myrrh and woods ground it.

Tomato leaf, strangely enough, is comforting for me even though I can't eat raw tomatoes.

I don't mind lavender as a scent, and obviously it does help skin & sore muscles, so may be fine for physical relaxation, but it doesn't have a relaxing/soothing effect on me mentally. Similarly rose, which I've heard recommended for anxiety, does nothing for me (although again I like the smell). Vanilla is just a nice food flavouring. Benzoin resinoid (smells vanilla-like) is quite grounding.

[Edit: I totally retract the above comment re: rose, since I got an imp of Pride in a swap and omg I now need a bottle. Not want, need. I had a bad episode and went non-verbal for a bit, which really scared me. Immediately I applied that scent it made me cry, which was a good thing as I needed the emotional release before I could get my head working again. I then wore it when I had to go for physio to unlock my muscles, and it soothed me a lot. I can see myself getting through tons of this.]

As a person experiencing life with Asperger's I'd say that while sensory issues can be a real nuisance, they can also enhance your life in some respects if dealt with in the right way. Having more profound reactions to scents than other people can be great if you discover which blends are therapeutic to you and which situations to use them in. Each person is unique in their reactions to any given scent or blend, so trust in your instincts to discover what's right for you.

Best of luck to everybody, I hope you all find your comfort-scents!

I don't hate the violet, but the violet hates me.

Worst offenders:

Fallen - violet and vetiver all the way. I think I must amp them, 'cos I can't smell any other notes. Pissed me off because I badly wanted to love this scent and really didn't. Oddly enough I found this blend to be the most 'perfumey', i.e. commercial-smelling Bpal I've tried. I swear it is similar to one of the chanel scents which my mother used to wear and I hated.

Saturnalia - Violet/vetiver as above. Only worse. Way, way worse. I personally don't find this a likeable combination. A very strong and tenacious scent. On the plus side, I didn't notice if the violet turned to pee; on the minus, that's because the vetiver was going crazy. Didn't smell like a commercial perfume. Didn't smell like anything I've ever encountered. Peculiar.

Not so bad

Le Serpent Qui Danse - very floral violet, not overly sweet. the vanilla takes the edge off things, but the violet still turns to pee on me. I'd recommend this to anyone who CAN wear violet, because it has great throw and pretty good wear length.

Versailles - Beautiful sweet sugared violets. I even dared to hope it would work out. Then it turned on me: old lady & cat pee smell. I only used a teeny tiny dab on a fingertip, but it clung on through several handwashes.

Chickened out of testing

Bruised Violet Compound - I sniffed the imp: strong violet smell. This one won't be getting a skin test. Hopefully it'll go to a better home soon, where it will be loved.

...And the one that worked:

Wings of Azrael - I was incredulous when I found out this had violet in it, because I somehow didn't pick it out (probably because it failed to turn to pee!) I couldn't recommend this to someone looking specifically for a purely violet scent, because this isn't it, but it is absolutely lovely overall. White floral/woody-green with a gentle veil of myrrh, in a very indescribable kind of way.

Heavenly Love & Earthly Love

smells very similar on my skin to

Midnight Mass ('06)

Not an exact match - Heavenly Love is woodier and has the ambergris accord, Midnight Mass is sweeter and more resinous. But still, very very close imo.

Okay, so I told myself I’m not allowed to order anything else from the lab until I’ve put a bunch of reviews up. So Aziraphale gets to be first ‘cos it was a Good Omens community on lj that first pointed me towards Bpal!

Snagged a 5ml of this on ebay (but missed out on Crowley. )

In the bottle: Wow, those are strong woods! The sharp woods are hurting my nose. There’s something else, sure, but it’s buried under the woodpile.

On skin:

Notes: The scent yields clean woods, nice and rounded. Cedar and sandalwood. I don’t get the ‘dusty Bible accord’, for which I am not altogether sorry. ‘Ethereal musk’ is listed. Now, I’ve never really thought of myself as a musk-wearer, but this is actually rather excellent. It’s giving the blend a lovely creamy glow, and preventing the woods from being pencil shavings. The resins in this scent don’t stand out strongly in themselves, but are at work in the blend. I’m getting frankincense and possibly benzoin.

There’s something in Aziraphale that’s looking at me slightly aslant as if it knows it could, in other circumstances, eat me for breakfast.

I think this may be what other reviewers’ are experiencing as a cat pee/BO smell? It’s in with the woods on first application and it wants to make me smell like fresh mildew, but fortunately it doesn’t develop and it buggers off after a minute or so. I can’t ID the note that’s responsible, which makes it hard to be properly suspicious of it in future.

Throw/wear length:

Aziraphale is a fairly light scent in spite of the woods, and I steeled myself for the possibility of it disappearing after the first half hour, but it surprised me and kept going for most of the day. Aziraphale’s a lingerer, in the best possible way: the throw is not going to leap around and batter everybody around the sinuses (I’m looking at you, Samhain!) but it just creates a lovely personal aura that wafts around you gently and is very comforting. I anointed my hair with some and the effect was rather like having my own personal halo.

Overall impression:

This is very much a unisex scent, and it is English, without a doubt. It’s hard to pinpoint what it is precisely, but there is a quintessential English factor in this scent. It’s evocative of damp summer/autumn weather, and secondhand bookshops, and it’s making me want a cup of tea and plate of scones. (There goes the diet!)

Rating: Based on my general scent preferences, I wouldn’t have gone for this one at all. I’ve been preferring spicy, warm, smoky, incensey blends, which really isn’t Aziraphale. So I’m kind of shocked that this is my favourite Bpal scent so far and I’m giving it 5/5. What I love about Aziraphale is that it’s very complete, balanced and serene. It’s a perfect match for it’s namesake. And it doesn’t smell ‘perfumey’ on me. I also love that it has a calming/comforting effect on me, which only one other scent has done so far. (Another) bottle required!

:D

Couldn't find an existing thread for this (...no, really?! ) I guess it is just a little unusual. Well, here goes:

Okay, so I'm going to my Aunt's house for Christmas and I'm going to be wearing a new dress. Now my Aunt has this dog, and he's a great dog and everything, but do I want my new dress pawed on by a mutt? NO! And no, Auntie does not discipline this dog so that he doesn't jump on people. She thinks he's being cute. She also does not seem to believe in canine bathing or manicures, so clothes do get clawed up!

So I'd love to get some recs for dog-repelling bpals. My stipulations are:

1. It needs to work quickly - the beast gets excited when people come in the door and for the first couple of minutes they are in the house. So I'd like for the dog to catch the scent really early on and just keep away from it.

2. It needs to be one of the scents I already own, since it's too late now for a lab order. I have varying amounts of:

Samhain '05, Herr Drosselmeyer '06, Jacob's Ladder '06, Inferno, Saturnalia, Fallen, Mag Mell, Ulalume, Horreur Sympathique, Hellfire, Hades, Elegba, Danse Macabre, Le Serpent Qui Danse, The Red Queen, Hellion, Tweedledee.

I also have (non-bpal) single notes of: Frankincense, Myrrh, Vetivert, Lavender, Ylang-Ylang, Coffee, and Cedar.

My best guesses from the above would be Samhain (in which something amps all the way up on me), or Saturnalia, which even I find a little stinky (in a good way, but WOW STRONG!) But I would so much appreciate some help with this, so please give me your recs!

P.S. I hope it doesn't come across like I'm dog-bashing. I do love dogs, I just don't need them wrecking my clothes, y'know.