Silvertree

Reviews are absolutely encouraged! The Reviews forum is split into different categories, so it's helpful to know if the blend is a Bewitching Brew or from Diabolus, etc., but you can also search by name. I definitely echo Dawn: Cernunnos and Robin Goodfellow, and I think you chose a great assortment. If you end up wanting to try more scents, Yggdrasil (Bewitching Brews) might be a good fit for what you're looking for: The World Ash. Nine woods, nine leaves, and three herbs each for Ratatosk and Vidofnir, with three final herbs to placate Nidhogg. There's also The Apothecary (Illyria): Tea leaf with three mosses, green grass, a medley of herbal notes, and a drop of ginger and fig.

GOP was one of the free imps given with a purchase of Tabella or E Pluribus Unum, I believe. There were also some bottle-sized testers given out as contest prizes, so you've got one of those. Congrats, it's a great scent!

Wow, that's a great list! I might argue that since Ivanushka is about a man transformed into a stag, that would be a better scent for James Potter/Prongs/Harry's Patronus. Maybe Parliament of Monsters for Hagrid or his charges? And there is actually a SakuraCon scent called Giant Squid! Finally, since I love the Marauders: Hellhound on My Trail could work for Sirius/Padfoot; Wulric the Wolfman for Lupin/Moony; Rat or The Rat King for Peter Pettigrew/Wormtail.

I think the Godfather Death scents from Marchen wouldn't be too much of a stretch for the Hallows: Godfather Death: Olibanum, elemi, Bulgarian rose, yew, and oppoponax. Thy Godfather's Present: A bruised purple bundle of herbs with hyssop and life-everlasting. The Lights of Men's Lives: The wax and smoke of millions upon millions of candles illuminating the walls of Death's shadowy cave: some tall, straight, and strong, blazing with the fire of life, others dim and guttering.

I think sensitivities are different than allergies. I sometimes have my skin turn pink from an oil with a lot of cassia or ginger, but I can use those spices in cooking without experiencing an allergic response. You could try putting the scent in a spot where the skin is less sensitive (tops of the wrists rather than inside, for example), or, if you have no plan to ever sell or swap Inferno, you could try diluting it a bit with a carrier oil. You might also find that your skin is more sensitive right after a shower, and wait to apply scents until you've dried off. One final thing-- it sometimes helps to moisturize the areas you want to apply scent to with an unscented lotion, then wait a little while to let that sink in before putting on the perfume oil. That might keep your skin from absorbing the oil and reacting. And, of course, there's always a scent locket!

My first thought was Nanny Ashtoreth: Middle Eastern flowers, amber, honey, blood red-berries, whip leather, and polished paddle wood. Although Agnes Nutter (Gunpowder, charred wood, smoke, and rusty nails) might have more of the demolitions expert feel you're going for.

My recent Lab order was shipped in a flat-rate box (bottles wrapped in bubble wrap, etc.) and then the whole shebang was sealed in a flat-rate envelope.

2stoats-- did you place your order via CCNow? If so, the April 29 ship date was when the Lab harvested (or picked up) your order. The actual shipping notification is the click'n'ship email from USPS. So your package is on its way!

Sadly, I live nowhere near California, so I can't answer directly, but you could try asking your questions in the Retail Exclusives thread in the Chatter forum!

We've got a new way to report new decant circles! Post in this thread once you've created your new thread(s), then report your post to have it brought to the attention of the mod squad.

Midwinter's Eve?

This one may be out of left field, but my fella LOVES Shub-Niggurath on me. It's the one scent he can recognize without hesitation, and when I'm trying to decide what scent to wear, he always oh-so-casually suggests, "What about Shub-Niggurath?"

While we cannot allow group orders to be posted in advance for the sake of logistics and availability, ISO posts are permitted. The person who posts an ISO for an event exclusive should keep in mind that their request may end up going unfulfilled, and should choose a method of payment accordingly (i.e, one that is relatively easy to refund, like a PayPal transaction for goods, NOT a personal payment). Anyone choosing to fulfill an ISO post should be aware of potential per-person maximums when deciding how many pick-ups to arrange. Additionally, forum price caps apply for all pick-ups. Asking for additional pick-up fees or surcharges is not allowed. As always, please use your best judgment!

I'm reposting QS's announcement, as we have this issue each time event exclusives are announced. Just a rules clarification: There are no "pre-sales" or early sign-ups for decant circles and group orders, especially for conventions and special events. This includes pick up offers (which are considered by us to be group orders). We don't know what will or will not come, how much will come, how much it will cost, if it will be available in imps, or how much will be unavailable, which means that we cannot tell if it meets the criteria for our decant circles or group orders. You cannot start a decant circle or group orders, or allow sign-ups, for one that you are planning to do here, until it is LIVE (meaning, can be purchased at the time you start the circle's thread).

As you've probably noticed, decant circles are no longer visible to their authors once they've been posted (but not yet approved). Rest assured that the mods can still see them! If you are posting a decant circle and it vanishes, please do not post it again. Instead, please send me a PM to ask me to look for your circle and I will review it as soon as I can. There is no need to PM me regarding Halloween circles that were already posted at the time of this announcement-- I'm making my way through them and will send PMs if edits are required. If I have not approved your circle by 5 pm EST, and haven't contacted you with a reason, please feel free to PM me.

If that's the case, I would think you'd be able to find some reassurance in how affordable BPAL's scents are, compared to many other high-end perfumes. Not only do most oils age well (I have many bottles that date back to 2004, and they all smell fantastic), but a little bit goes a looong way. I know that any one bottle I'll buy will last me at least a year (although, to be fair, I rotate scents a fair amount, and am also fairly sparing with my application). I'd be far more worried about being cheated if something were incredibly expensive. I also think that "prolific production of a new perfume every other day" does not apply to BPAL. Yes, we are blessed with large updates several times a year, as well as monthly lunar blends and other random LEs (and additions to the general catalog), but I would guess that 99% of those are the end result of plenty of time and effort on Beth's part. Researching concepts, deciding on note combinations, blending, testing of prototypes... all of these steps take a lot of time. And while the written descriptions are just as beautiful as the scents, I don't think it's meant to fool or deceive anyone. And for that matter, most of the high-end perfume companies devote a large budget to glossy, compelling advertisements and commercials. Both are intended to intrigue and inform the customer base, as the internets, as far as I know, do not yet have a scratch 'n' sniff platform. Finally, my thoughts on the "you smell like a candle" phenomenon: a large percentage of people are not familiar with perfume, especially fragrance oils. The easiest way to relate to a scent that a friend is wearing is to compare it with something you're already familiar with, yes? I wouldn't expect any of my non-BPAL friends to be able to pick out the notes of my scent of the day, simply because they don't have the exposure to orris, or ambergris, or benzoin. So they reach for something they have been exposed to. I've had the weirdest guesses as to what I'm wearing. "Marshmallows!" was my favorite, for a blend that certainly did not contain any marshmallow bouquet, or, for that matter, smell even remotely like marshmallows to me.

I'm so pleased that Beth was able to release this beautiful blend! In the bottle, Ded Moroz is very mossy and green. On my skin, it morphs into the crisp cold scent of a perfectly cloudless winter's night, when the stars are brilliant in the sky and the air is as clear as crystal. The ambers and woods ground and warm the cold notes, making the overall scent comforting rather than chilling. I can see myself wearing this year-round, both in the winter and in warmer months, when I'm longing for snow.

In the bottle, this scent is dark and warm, all rich, luscious chocolate with a little swirl of the slightly earthy note that I associate with black musk. No dirt or soil, just something deep and a little bit furry. It's hard to describe-- earthy but not dirt, furry but not animalistic; just a little bit... prickly, maybe. There's a faint hint of sweet tobacco, which blooms once I've tested it on my wrist. Drying down, it smooths out into a balancing act of golden tobacco and bittersweet chocolate, over a subtle background of musk, like a skilled troupe of dancers twirling in unison to a strong, steady beat. Lovely!

Two of my favorite Gaiman scents are also two of my favorite scents in the whole catalog: Mr. Jacquel and Crowley. The listed notes are: golden amber, hyssop, North African patchouli, and embalming spices (Jacquel) and infernal musk, red patchouli, lilac cologne, mahogany, lemon rind, oakmoss, leather, and vanilla husk (Crowley). They're not terribly similar, but they are both warm and resiny/spicy. If that's your thing (as it might be, based on your forum handle!), you may very well enjoy either, or both.

The announcement says that "orders through 4/13 have been packed and will be shipped within the next few days," so it's entirely possible that your order is all packed up, but hasn't been shipped/entered in the USPS system yet. I placed an order on 4/11 and am still waiting for a CnS, if that helps!

I'm testing Bensiabel (plum juice, lilac, leather, and a smattering of herbs) today, and on me it's a lot of lilac, a little leather, and maybe a faint whisper of greenery (no plum to be found!). It reminds me of His Station and Four Aces, minus that lovely starry white musk. I like it!

Vibrant with the joy and sweetness of life in death! A blend of five sugars, lightly dusted with candied fruits. Water, saponified organic fair-trade palm kernal oil, coconut oil, soybean oil, organic fair-trade shea butter, castor bean oil, jojoba oil, Sugar Skull fragrance, and crushed vanilla bean. Now, I've received many a good-smelling package from Black Phoenix”” both the Lab and the Trading Post. The box my soap arrived in smelled better than anything I can describe. Sugar Skull is one of my favorite scents, a fragrance that never fails to put me in a good mood. Naturally, I couldn't wait to have it in soap form! The wrapper is what you'd expect and hope for from the soap gurus at Silk Road: beautiful and perfectly appropriate. Pink and red hearts adorn a black background, interspersed with cheerfully grinning skulls. When I carefully slit open one side of the packaging, the delicious smell wafting out intensified, and I decided to take the soap for a test wash. Sugar Skull soap is a lovely creamy brown, like pale coffee, with a milky white core. Little flecks of ground vanilla bean pepper the soap and provide the perfect scrubby texture to really clean your skin without rubbing you the wrong way. I lathered myself with extreme enthusiasm, and was rewarded with soft clouds of lather. The familiar, comforting aroma of rich brown sugar and just-ripe fruits filled the shower; there's no way this little bar could pass for unscented. The tiny silken bubbles washed clean, so that I felt neither oily nor too dried-out and squeaky-clean. The scent doesn't linger too much post-shower. There's just a whiff of sweetness, a gentle breath of fruity fragrance. Sugar Skull perfume would go quite well with this, of course, but I don't think another perfume would clash, either. Bathe and scent with abandon!

Have you tried The Smiling Spider (Salon Exhibit Three)? The ingredients listed are bitter clove, black musk, mahogany wood, and patchouli. No tobacco, but the wood/musk/patchouli gives the impression of smokiness. I looove it.

Like the insides of your elbows, the skin at your cleavage area tends to be more sensitive/delicate. I've definitely felt the burn from oils in my decolletage, where the same fragrance won't trouble my wrists.

While I usually go for spicy, earthy scents in everything from soap to perfume to body lotion, something about Aquae's description caught my attention. My fella and I could both stand to have some stress alleviated, and it was with that end in mind that I decided to try Aquae last night— as the massager, not the massagee. (This time!) My experience with Aquae massage oil was love at first sniff. While I primarily smelled lavender, the geranium and sandalwood added a lovely soft resiny quality that kept the lavender from being too overpowering. The oil was light and smooth in my hands, not greasy or sticky. It went on like liquid silk and absorbed quickly, soothing parched skin whereever it went. Even though I was on the giving end of the massage, I felt calmed and soothed as I worked with the oil. I could feel a sense of peacefulness creep back in, as the stress of the day gradually drained away. I should pause here to note that my fella is a bit of an insomniac at the best of times, and currently has quite a bit of trouble falling asleep. After an Aquae back rub, he drifted off at once, no tossing or turning. I am very much looking forward to taking a turn on the receiving end of an Aquae massage. I imagine that my stress will simply flow away under Aquae's influence.