Silvertree

Mmm. I first tried Fae a while ago, and wasn't too fond of it. I don't know if it's a weather thing, a skin chemistry phenomenon, or what, but now I quite like it. Peach, tea (the bergamot), musk... this is Dorian and Aglaea having a romp outdoors in a remote corner of the gardens on a warm spring day. I don't know if I'll get a bottle, but I will enjoy my imp!

Out of the bottle, before I can even identify the scents I'm smelling, something comes rushing out and hits me in the brain. It's sharp and biting and my head actually hurts. Then, astonishingly, my sinuses clear. Better than Claritin or Benadryl (and I didn't even realize that I had a stuffed head). I can now smell Phantasm's lovely lemon herbiness, which is sharp and refreshing. It's lemon balm, not the lemon citrus fruit, and is clean and pure and busily clearing away all the cobwebs in my head. Even if I didn't like this for the fragrance, I would definitely appreciate it for the effect it's having on me! I feel more awake and aware of my surroundings. Good morning! ETA: having tried this, I can't wait to compare it to other lemon blends so that I can flesh out my reviews a bit. Yay!

Alice is the shy little girl hiding behind the teapot and floral arrangements at a tea party. On my skin, the scent is sweet and soft and all but invisible. I smell a little whiff of something milky- the smell of a clean, happy newborn who just fed. It is comforting and pleasant, but I practically need to stuff my wrist straight up my nose to smell anything at all.

Another Convergence bottle, by way of the fiendishly enabling (and oh-so-generous) chopchica! Miskatonic University arrives in a pretty amber bottle, but I really think it would be more appropriate decanted into a hip flask. Especially since I want to carry this around with me and have it available at all times. Much as St. Bernards traditionally carried barrels of brandy to fortify and revive lost skiers and hikers, this scent could perk up all but the completely comatose. Student zombies, take note! I love the aroma of coffee even better than the taste, but the caffeine rush is the best thing about these tiny brown beans. After my first sniff of the bottle I wonder if Beth has managed to include caffeine molecules along with the coffee notes, as I feel much more energized and awake. The creaminess and whiskey waft out, like an utterly decadent oversized mug of Irish Coffee. On my skin, the oil stays pretty true to its bottle scent. I don't get too much of the dusty books or wood notes. It's like sitting in Caffe Reggio in the West Village drinking a huge mug of coffee, where the wood paneling just gives off the slightest tinge of something. It's the smell of the librarian's office, where the book wranglers need all the help they can get to stay awake (because you don't want to fall asleep around some of these tomes).... It's more of an atmosphere than a wood smell, if that makes any sense. As it dries, however, the different notes blend into a beautiful and exciting combination. Miskatonic University is the Dorian of the coffee scents! I'm not sure how this scent made the progression from waking me up to turning me on, but I can easily see how that all-nighter in the rare books wing could become a caffeine-fueled encounter in a remote corner of the stacks. Mmmmm.

In the bottle: The Ides of March is very fresh and crisp- clean and green and a bit medicinal in the sense that these aren't cooking herbs, but healing plants. Wet, on skin: The lemon rind makes an appearance, but it's still herbal and fresh. I get more lemon balm than the citrusy lemon fruit. My skin starts to bring out the amber and cardamom, so a warm spiciness mingles in with the fresh green herbs. I'm getting a little bit of the rosemary, and maybe just the slightest hint of the florals. Dry, on skin: Fresh and very spring-like, The Ides of March is a lovely youth standing in an herb garden with a crown of greenery and amber jewelry. I spilled a bit of the bottle on the table right before reviewing this, so I ended up slathering on more than I would normally apply. However, it's not overwhelming, so I suspect that if I used a smaller amount, it would be fainter. The Ides of March is one of my favorite days- my friends and I love saying, "Beware the Ides of March!" I'm so glad I ordered this- coolness quotient aside, it's a beautiful and refreshing scent that's perfect for spring and summer. I will cherish my bottle!

I had fun playing photographer last night... enjoy!

Graveyard Dirt's label has a gray border and "RIP" in an unusual font. It's cute in a Nightmare Before Christmas kinda way.

I love it! As my (gay) friend Kev would say, "it's all fruit!" I *really* want a Miriam scent now.

I thought I'd submit this to the owners of noses more experienced than my own. This Saturday, my family is hosting the Seder for the first night of Passover. For those of you not familiar with Judaism, Seder means "order" in Hebrew, and is a combination of service and meal with many symbols and traditions. Passover is observed to remember the children of Israel's freedom from slavery and subsequent exodus from Egypt. For about a week (depending on your level of observance), Jews abstain from eating leavened bread and most grains to remember the flat bread (Matzah) our ancestors carried out of Egypt. Additionally, Passover brings in aspects of regrowth and renewal, as Spring comes back to the world. I think I remember hearing somewhere that the Last Supper was actually a Passover seder (feel free to correct me if I'm wrong), and Easter and Passover are usually very close to one another in terms of calendar dates. The only reason Passover is almost a month later this year is that the Hebrew calendar, a lunar calendar, periodically inserts an extra month to keep the dates from slipping too far out of season. Anyway, I could babble on about this for a while, but I'll get to the point! I have a fair amount of scents to choose from, but I'm rather at a loss as to what I should wear. I have Tzadikim Nistarim and several Sephiroth scents, to go for one connection, but I mostly want to get away from the darker, spicier scents I usually reach for. After all, one of the over-arching themes of Passover (and one of the Four Questions) is "Why is this night different from all other nights?" There will be about 15 people at our house, and a lot of food, so another reason I don't want to wear something heavy or spicy is that it will quickly become overpowering as the room heats up. Any suggestions would be appreciated!

Voodoobaby, that would be great! I'll post those recipes tomorrow morning for you. Oh, our table is covered with frogs! In fact, the table isn't considred set until we make sure that the Plagues are well represented! I like your mom's sense of humor- it sounds very familiar. I put the orange on the plate half-way through dinner, as we had forgotten it. When we went to the 2nd night Seder, at my parents' friends' house, there was a lot of discussion about its meaning, but I didn't want to blurt out the story in front of 20 or so older people. You never know how they'd take it... I'll have to swipe Tintagel back from the boy. I wore Ides of March on Saturday, though. Mmm!

The emphasis would go: Tsa DEE keem Nees TA reem. The "tza" sound has a soft "s" rather than a hard "z"; it's like the "ts" in "tse-tse".

I'm finding this thread even more fascinating than I originally imagined it could be! I like reading about the ties between religions- even though I identify mainly as a Reform Jew, I love reading about other faiths. I'm especially intrigued by symbols that are important to people across the lines of religion, like the Tree of Life (looks at forum name). Voodoobaby, I'm curious as to what your thoughts might be on Jews for Jesus. Are their beliefs similar to those who follow the Messianic tradition? If you want to take this to e-mail or PM, please let me know! Keeping this on topic, I may go with the Apothecary. It's nice and herbal. Or maybe an apply scent, although apples belong to Rosh Hashanah. I would love to have a scent for Miriam! Strong and a bit mysterious, but warm and caring and joyous. Maybe a little aquatic (for Miriam's well, and her involvement in putting Moses into the river), or citrusy (for the orange on the Seder plate). Actually, I would love a spicy citrus scent (does anybody know of any others?). I'm imagining clove and star anise and orange, like the orange pomanders you make by sticking cloves into an orange and letting it dry. Yum! It could also have some pomegranate, because those taste like Israel to me. Also, I wants me some Pomelo. Citrus from the Holy Land, anyone? ETA: For those not familiar with the orange on the Seder plate, I had heard a story from my congregation's Rabbit that apparently during a talk given by Susanna Heschel, there was some guy who griped about female Rabbis. He said that having a woman on the Bimah was like having bread on the Seder plate. In answer to his comment, she supposedly answered, "No, a female Rabbi is like an *orange* on the Seder plate. It doesn't traditionally belong there, but it is not forbidden. So now some put oranges on the Seder plate to show that they're in favor of having women be Rabbis. Incidentally, my Rabbi is female. Oh, and further ETA: I found this link explaining the orange story... which is vastly different from the one I heard. Further explanation is here. I also like having Miriam's Well represented on the table, but I can't remember if we do that at my house or not.

Wow- thank you, guys, for the great suggestions! It's definitely nice to see other MoT (Members of the Tribe ) here, although I hope nobody thought I was asking for responses from Jews only. I hope people didn't feel excluded... I love the Ten Plagues idea. FROGS! My mom loves frogs, and we always put out her (fake) frog collection on the Seder table. It's almost as entertaining as my cousin and me slumping or falling off of our chairs to represent the Tenth Plague. Hey, we were 10 and 8, respectively. We thought we were funny. Speaking of the Tenth Plague, I don't think I have it in my collection, but Wings of Azrael would probably be appropriate. Hmm, special Passover scents- Hillel Sandwich? Apples, sweet red wine, cinnamon, and bitter herbs, grounded by the weight of unleavened bread. I'm definitely going to miss carbs. Voodoobaby, the annointing oil sounds fantastic! Could the "cane" you mentioned be cane sugar? I love myrrh and cinnamon. In terms of Passover birthdays, (Happy Birthday, by the way!) my family has some great Kosher-for-Passover dessert recipes; my mom will be making Mississippi Praline Meringues (brown sugar & pecans. I eat these things by the bucketful), and I'm tackling a Chocolate Oblivion Truffle Torte (four ingredients: chocolate, butter, eggs, and sugar. GUH.) with a fresh raspberry sauce. My sister's Bat Mitzvah was during Passover, so we came up with a bunch of great dishes and desserts to have at the reception. The only thing we missed was my mom's amazing challah! I'll post the recipes in Eat, Drink, and Be Merry sometime in the next couple of days. Chag Sameach, everyone! (p.s. I find myself wishing that we could have a BPAL Seder! How much fun would that be?!?!)

Hmm, I don't have either of the two you mentioned, but I definitely have some herbal scents. Don't want any bitter Maror, although I'll probably smell like the Charoset I'm making! I like the "soft and comfy" idea, too! Hmm. Chaste Moon is incredibly comforting to me, like mint buttercream frosting. So many beautiful choices! Thanks for your input! I'll resmell those tonight. Cleaning is not even close to being done! My parents are staying home from work on Friday to give the house a thorough going-over, I'm in charge of a couple of the rooms, and then we'll do the traditional chametz sweep that night. Chag Sameach, ladies! Next year in Jerusalem!

And it's neat that it's Temperance of all things... isn't that usually related to restraint? Anyway, to keep this on topic, my guy is very supportive/appreciative of my BPAL obsession. He'll usually sniff my wrists, ask me what I'm wearing (if he doesn't already recognize it), and apparently finds a large percentage of the scent catalog pounce-worthy! I think the last scent that really sparked his interest was Dublin. While it's one of my favorites, I wouldn't call it sexy, so it was a pleasant surprise. I can't wait until Sin and Red Devil arrive!

I think that was my post on the lj community... here's the link, although the pertinent part was: Hello, my fellow BPAL enthusiasts. While I wait for my forum access to go through, I thought I'd ask a question here. I've hopped around the reviews section of the forum as well as the main BPAL website, and haven't found any specific references to a scent that evokes old books. I was lucky enough to get to attend a sniffing party, and we discussed how much we would all like something that has that particular association. Does anybody get that impression- paper, leather, a little dust- from any scent or scents? I bet BPAL could do a great Hell's Librarian oil. Thanks! I was waiting for my forum request to be approved but couldn't contain my curiousity. Supervillainess, thanks for bringing this up here- it totally slipped my mind. Recommendations from the lj thread included Ouija, Hellfire, The Apothecary, Arcana, Severin, The Hermit, Seance, Gaukeo, Scherezade, and Le Serpent Qui Danse. A big thank you for all those recommendations! I can't wait to smell like a Library- any will make me happy, although I have a special fondness for Lucien's collection, The Beast's (from Robin McKinley's Beauty) and the Library of Unseen University. No bananas, though, please. (Ook.)