artemisia

[No additional description provided.] Imagine you’ve invited your 3 favorite people to eat dinner with you on Hallowe’en. All three are smart, interesting and attractive and you’re excited because you’re sure they’re going to love each other. But unexpectedly something goes awry! When the three arrive, not only are they not talking, they aren’t even acknowledging the others. OMG! Is the moon in Mercury? No. You’ve just sniffed your bottle of Dead Leaves, Lemon Verbena & Cedar. At least that’s how the blend affected me. Individually, the 3 notes are among my Top 10, especially the BPAL earthy, green-spiced dead leaves (as in Pile of Fallen Leaves). It can be mid-August with temps in the hundreds and murderous humidity but a sniff of the SN tricks my brain into imagining mushrooms, rain-soaked earth and drifts of maple leaves outside. The smooth, soothing, spicy warmth of cedar seemed like a natural complement to the bite of green, maybe adding a subtly darker spice to the base. I wasn’t so sure about the Lemon Verbena, even though L’Occitane Lemon Verbena soap is almost always in a soap dish somewhere in my house. At best, I reasoned, it would work with the green spice of the leaves to enhance their invigorating rush. At worst I worried it might sink the boat. I’m not savvy enough to know if that’s where this Dead Leaves blend veered off course. But that’s my guess since I “got” the references to Lemon Pledge I remember from reviews of other blends. Color me Sad. Hoping time would encourage the notes to cooperate, I was about to store my bottle. Then, on a whim, I decided to try a 50/50 mix with some of my beloved Pile of Dead Leaves. The result is a greener, spicier fragrance that seems more grounded (or rounded) than either blend alone. I’m completely delighted with my serendipitous concoction. Earlier, I had tried layering the two but being in the same bottle enables them to enjoy each other’s company more fully.

I keep wondering if it's safe to order a bottle again in the hopes of getting the oil I actually wanted. This dark one seems like an error no one will cop to, frankly. It doesn't match the description at all, while the older one did. It would be nice if someone would acknowledge an official change and alter the scent description to reflect it, or acknowledge the mistake and fix it. I don't even begrudge the money, frankly, I just want the bubbly ginger. This sounds like the issue I had with Dee last year. I have an ancient 4oz bottle and a 5ml from 2012 that smell amazing, and 2 bottles from 2013 that don't remotely smell the same. I've only been back about 8 mos. after a yearlong sabbatical and already have had huge discrepancies in Antique and 2 other 5ml. So, naturally I was interested in this thread. I decided to write you since Dee is an old fave and it's about time to buy a bottle but now ... ??? I dunno. Has anyone every asked for a refund or talked to Beth about this expensive and disheartening problem? If so, I'd love to hear the outcome.

My problems so far have been Antique and Tisiphone, a relatively new fragrance and a classic from the Lab's early days.The difference is the same -- there's a mellow Antique and Tisi and a sharp, almost unpleasant version of each. Is the difference due to using different sources for the components when the original sources run out? Do batches of the same oils from the same suppliers also vary? Or both? If so and they smell different, I thought that's when particular BPAL blends are discontinued temporarily or altogether. As far as yearly variations go, I always assumed that Beth was experimenting, tweaking last year's blend to improve on it. Now, I'm not so sure. Raven Moon, for instance, was made in 2009 and 2012. The 2009 version has depth and mystery and is IMO one of the most successful blends BPAL has ever produced. When I ran out of my first bottle, someone encouraged me to take a chance on the 2012 version since "the ingredients are the same." Yes, they are but without looking at the label I wouldn't have known my second purchase was Raven Moon. I can understand that an older imp of Tisi might have lost some of its freshness but how do we explain the older blend smelling better? It's disappointing because BPAL oils, on my small budget and those of lots of us, are expensive. Not saying it costs more than it's worth when it's consistent. Definitely not. But when it isn't, I understand why people look to other small companies (Conjure Oils, Blooddrop, Solstice Scents) for what's sometimes lacking in BPAL. Has Beth ever addressed this issue in any way? If so, I'd be very interested in her reponse.