darharper

Has anyone ever had that thing where Paypal refuses to process your payment? I called my credit card company and it is fine. I called my bank and that is fine. So, I called Paypal. Apparently the system is stopping my payment to the lab because my payment pattern is different. I have done payments up to $24 and now I am trying to send a payment for more than $100 and it is stopping me. And Paypal can't lift the freaking thing off of the system. Their answer? Wait for a couple of hours. AHHHH! And if that doesn't work the advice is: submit half the payment in one transaction and the other half in another transaction. Arg! I don't want to do that to the lab! I am so sick of paypal I could just scream. But, I have no choice because I am in the UK and that is all that we can use!

I got this scent as a frimp from Megara (thank you!). In the imp: Spicy! Woah! Wet: A little sharp, but, I am starting to smell the musk and some of the spices. Dry: Very warm with a bit of sweetness teasing in the background. I really like this! It is transporting me to another place where the sun warms the earth and people speak in melodic strains of Arabic. God, this is gorgeous! After 30 minutes: Wow! This just keeps getting better! It is beautiful, warm, damn sexy! I think I put too much on as it is rather strong (just a swipe on wrists and neck), so, I will have to tone it down next time. Still, it is lovely and it is on the bottle list!

Just an update for those that have packages that haven't arrived. Bill told me, via email, that they only consider a package lost a month after leaving their office. If you don't have it in a month, email the lab. Thankfully, mine arrived last Thursday! YAY! And now, I am placing another order.

Can someone recommend a scent similar to White Tea and Ginger? They only carry it once a year now and since I am no longer living in the states, I can't obsessively pop into the store to check (besides, I like BPAL quality better anyway, but, I really miss this scent). ETA: I found one! Kumiho! Added it to my next order and am so excited!

In the bottle: Yuck! It is really acidic. Very strong. Smells slightly of bad body odor. Hopefully, it will change when on. The colour is beautiful, though! Skin test: smelled very acidic and strong while wet and when dry. My chemistry is not liking this because it is amping up the acidic notes. It is starting to smell oddly like cat pee. I scrubbed it off after 20 minute because it made me itchy and gave me a headache. I really wanted to like this, but, it hated me.

In the vial, I hated this. It smelled astringent, cloying, and not at all like the ginger I was expecting. I closed the imp and put it in the swap pile. After reading descriptions, I finally decided on the skin test. Wet: Ugh! This is disgusting. Gag. It smells like medicine. Dry: What a transformation! It smells of spicy ginger tamed with just a bit of jasmine and the gentle sweetness of vanilla. I had my husband smell it and instead of his quick usual sniff, he practically buried his nose into my wrist and said, "That smells really nice! Sexy!" Verdict: This is a keeper! The dry bit is wonderful! I am lucky that my skin warms the ginger and kills whatever was making it smell like medicine. I love ginger so I am now a very happy girl! I have never had a scent change so drastically on my skin! I am amazed! ETA: A matter of 10 minutes after I posted this review, the scent turned into a waxy crayon smell on me (like other reviewers described). Now, I am terribly disappointed. 30 minutes after that, it disappeared and went back to the wonderful smell that it was before! And it has stayed there! The morphing is so strange, but, it is overall a gorgeous scent and I am keeping it. Definitely on the list for a big bottle.

Arg! PayPal! I moved from the USA to the UK. My PayPal account is in the US and I wanted to add a shipping address in the UK. My last order, I just listed my shipping address, but, was asked to have it the proper way for the next order to avoid confusion. No worries, I thought! Anything to help out the lab. Well, I can't add the UK address, so I cancelled the account. I opened a new account located in the UK and it KEPT SWITCHING IT BACK TO THE US! ARG! So, now, I have another US account. I have emailed PayPal to ask them to add my UK address to that account because I can't do it! This is REALLY frustrating. I just want to place my order! Grrrr! Has anyone else had this issue? How did you resolve it?

I tried my imp of Bess this morning. I have been looking forward to trying it as I am rather intrigued by Elizabeth I (she is the subject of my masters dissertation). In the vial: Rosemary and oranges but there is something else slightly warm under there. I can't quite tell what it is. Wet: Wow! All citrus! Hmmm, not so sure because I smell like I bathed in orange juice. Dry: The rosemary has reappeared as well as that warm smell that I can't identify. Dry after 15 minutes: This is utterly gorgeous! It is the perfect mix of citrus and herbs. I just get slight hints of a grape note, which tempers the entire scent just a wee bit. It has blended perfectly on my skin and I feel really confident, but, feminine wearing this scent. Yet, I don't feel overly girly (which is important as I am not much of a girly girl). Throw: Pretty good. Not overpowering. Just a nice amount. Staying power: This has stayed on me for quite some time. I put it on at 8 this morning and now that it is nearly 2 in the afternoon, it is still quite noticeably there. You don't need much of it. I just did a swipe on one wrist and then rubbed my wrists together and one swipe on my neck. While at the store, I had someone ask me what I was wearing because I smelled so unique and lovely. My first BPAL compliment! This does have a bit of a commanding sense to it that you associate more with an older woman. Despite not being an older woman, I still love this enough to wear it. I think that the freshness of it allows people of all ages to pull it off. This is a definite big bottle buy!

I got October from a forum member and it was my first bottle purchase unsniffed. I adore this fragrance! I now have another bottle on the way from another lovely forum member! In the bottle: leafy, smokey, woodsy Wet: definitely the smell of autumn. It went on very masculine, but, I still loved it. It conjured happy memories of frolicking through leaves, wood fires, and the crispness of the season. Dry: it changed, but, in a good way! It now has a spicy scent that is both commanding and gentle. I now smell autumn rain and tree scented breezes. The notes combine into a gorgeous celebration of the season. My husband said it smelled "damn sexy" on me. I have to agree. I feel warm, fuzzy, confident, and sexy. I want to walk in the woods now. Too bad it is June! I must try it on the husband! Definitely a keeper! I wish it was still made.

This is the first BPAL scent I tried and my first review, so, here it goes. In the vial: Wow! Very citrusy and herbal. Lovely. I really want to like this. Please skin, be kind. Wet on skin: Lots of herby, lemony, bright notes. The lemon makes it a bit to sharp. I am not sure about it. Dry down: I LOVE it. On me, it turned into a musky, green, herbal scent with just a wee hint of lemon which seems to add the right amount of balance. I tried this after a very long business trip and very little sleep. When I got to the office, this lovely scent is wafted about me and kept me energised. It is a clean, fresh scent that reminds me of the herbs drying in my grandma's kitchen during the summer. I kept smelling my wrist and smiling. The staying power was fabulous (4 hours in and it still smelled lovely and there was a bit of scent left the next morning) and the throw was great. Definitely a big bottle. I want to bathe in this perfect scent!

Does anyone know when an order is considered lost after you receive a CnS? Mine is an International order that was shipped to the UK on May 15. Other UK people have received theirs and I am still waiting. I would go ahead and email CS. They are absolutely wonderful in trying to help out. My order from 4/23 went missing and now they are sending a replacement. Is that the customerservice@blackphoenixalchemylab.com address?

I finally got in touch with someone at Royal Mail. They said it would be delivered by Parcel Force and a card would always be left. No sign of my package at all.

Does anyone know when an order is considered lost after you receive a CnS? Mine is an International order that was shipped to the UK on May 15. Other UK people have received theirs and I am still waiting.

Mine usually takes about a week. Is the 15th when you got your CnS or did you click on the link on your CnS to see the day it actually shipped? Sometimes the CnS comes a day or two earlier than the package is scheduled to ship. You might also want to ask your local delivery office in case they just haven't left you the "sorry you were out" slip - the package would be too big for a letterbox. I received the CnS and the link said it was accepted for shipment on 5 p.m. on 15 May. I will check with my local delivery office. Thanks! ETA: I can't find a number for my local delivery office. All I get is an automated number for redelivery! ARG!

Mine usually takes around five days to a week (to Liverpool), but I have heard of them taking longer - plus we've had a bank holiday so that's a day to add on, too. I'd say 12 days is a long time *consoles*, but not over-long. ... woah. I've been waiting since the 7th for mine... I wasn't worrying, but I might start now... Ajila's 15-day rule seems reasonable... so I'll leave it until Friday before I panic. Our postman doesn't bother to turn up when it rains, so that's probably why I haven't got it yet ;.; Looks like we are in the same boat! I am thinking good thoughts that both of ours arrive by Friday!

Must be! Grrrrrrr.........

That is good to know! Thanks! I am just so impatient to get my lovely imps (so I can then decide what I will get in bottle form!).

Mine usually takes around five days to a week (to Liverpool), but I have heard of them taking longer - plus we've had a bank holiday so that's a day to add on, too. I'd say 12 days is a long time *consoles*, but not over-long. According to USPS, it is truly only 8 days as they say 6-10 working days. Sigh. Maybe it will arrive today. I got worried when others whose orders were shipped to the UK on 15 May arrived already. Hopefully soon or I may have to contact the Lab, which I would rather not do because they are so busy.

How long does it take for an order to arrive? My order was shipped on 15 May, but, I still don't have it. Should I worry?