emzebel

Uh, wow?

 

The first 13, I wanted to love, but it was just too sweet and chocolate and something.

 

But this. This is the big grown up sophistocated older sister, 13. This is the bean, not the processed stuff, and the rooibos and the sandalwood and the florals and the fruit...my god. This knocks my socks off. Seriously.

Wow.

 

A lot of times the sort of wintery aquatic scents don't really work for me. But this is not one of those.

 

Jolasveinar is cold and wet and herbal (I don't really get pine, per se), with just enough sweet bakery scent to give the hint of something warm and comforting to come. It is just lovely.

 

Anyone waffling? Go buy a bottle. Seriously.

Oh, how I wanted to love this one...I love all of the listed notes, but something goes sour on my skin...the almond milk? the sasparilla? It is a pleasant scent, very light on me, actually, but with a bite of something that almost curdles - not quite coconut (I like coconut), not quite describable.

 

Mr. Grinder is very nice layered with Ms. Butcher, though...her creamy chocolate is the perfect antidote to whatever makes him turn on me.

Fruity musk.

 

Since I love both fruits and musk, I had high high hopes for this blend, but was a little surprised by the sweetness - I guess I was hoping for a little more musk and a little less fruit (having forgotten the actual fruits, i.e., strawberry, by the time my bottle arrived).

 

But this is definitely the blend for people who want to love strawberry but who are often disappointed to try - as it dries and mellows a bit on my skin, the OMG SWEET FRUITness of the blend is settling, and the musks are beginning to shine, making this a really beautiful soft scream of a blend.

So, my niece is evidently in love with this perfume, which I have never smelled, but is described as

This sparkling fragrance blends tropical fruits and a floral bouquet with soft spices, bringing a burst of freshness to awaken your senses.

 

Anyone who is familiar with it know of any BPAL scent that I could enable her with offhand? I am not opposed to buying her a bottle of the stuff for X-mas, but I would love to be able to send along an imp of the good stuff as well, you know?

Morocco is spicy vanilla amber-musk on my skin. It has decent staying power, nice throw, and may just require a bottle...

Yeah, in big generalizations, I'd say Oro is right--the thing about Gemini is that there is a love of change and the unexpected; so something that morphed, that had unexpected nuances, would be nice.

 

But...you might want to find out more about your Gemini's chart (cause I suspect our scent preferences have lots to do with lots of things: Saturn (what we need for security); Venus (what makes us feel loved); Mars (what ignites our passions); Moon (what speaks to our inner self)...and so on.

 

this gemini is inclined to say that what would attract me is a different scent every day. it would intrigue me and keep me interested. it's part of what attracts me to bpal overall, the sheer variety to play with.

 

Ditto. I do love the morphing scents, and ones that have a lot of complexity - that don't necessarily morph, but that are multi layered, so that each time I bring my wrist to my nose, I get something just a little different.

 

I do not like light florals or "sparkly" scents, though, for the most part. Except when I do (because I'm a Gemini, dammit! ;-)

Oo yes, the Bandersnatch is a good suggestion.

 

Based on the title, I was thinking Carnivale (spicy berries), but I'm not sure how much of that is still floating around.

By now I think I should pretty much know that Beth's red musk + patchouli = Emz Nirvana...because this is absolutely flipping amazing. Even better than Trick 2, which I would not have thought possible from sniffing the bottles.

 

In the bottle this is a dark floral scent (which sort of had me worried), but on my skin, my god, this just blossoms, for lack of a better non-pun-laden word, into something dark and mysterious and musky and sensual with a swipe of floral, but so much more...I don't really get any leather from this, but everything else is wafting beautifully...this is a truly beautiful blend.

Oh, wow...in the bottle, this is a very rich, complex dark sort of scent, which carries over to the skin, but with the vanilla and the fruit, the pine pitch and dark woods are very nicely balanced. And that shot of sweet patchouli just gives the perfect kick. I am loving this. Lovelovelove!!!!! Thanks Puddin!!!

Just wanted to let everyone know that there are some new "official", hopefully pretty common sense guidelines for the Politics forum up here. Please check 'em out, especially if you frequent that section.

Thanks!

Rose and wood.

 

A nice blend really - there is a hint of something else that reminds me a bit of Sol in here as well, but one I probably will not get a lot of use out of.

Melisande is a crafty one, she is. In the bottle, she is powerfully jasmine laden. But on my skin, a rich vanilla sweetness comes out, and this is actually a very pretty, not migraine inducing blend on my skin.

 

Still, it is not something that I will regularly wear, so, in the interest of enabling, I've gifted my bottle, which was itself a wonderful gift to a friend in the hopes of bringing her into the fold...

This is wonderful - richly spicy and just sweet and creamy enough to sit well on the skin. This is what I had hoped Three Witches might be, and it's in the general catalogue - what could be better?

I am a sucker for anything with honey as a prominent note, so I was really looking forward to my bottle of Cockaigne.

 

This is a very very sweet scent - the honey, cake, and sweet wine make for a very cloying sugary perfume that is just a little too much for my tastes. It's something about the cake, I think. I want to love it, but something about the food scent just doesn't sit well with me. Ah well...plenty to love.

I tried a decant of Ice Queen on a whim, thinking it would be too...something. Floraly? Icy? Piney? All things that have, er, chilled me on some winter blends in the past.

 

In the vial it smelled of very cold florals, like ice perfume. Not really me.

 

But on my skin, the Queen blossoms into a winter cornucopia of petals and fruits, ice tinged with just enough pine bough to keep it earth bound.

I have loved this scent since it first came out and have not reviewed it, in part, I think, because it is so hard for me to capture it in words.

 

Luperci is the woods, the wild, the crisp musky air of the hunt. It is sweet, it is rich, it is savory. When I sniff it directly on my wrists it smells manly and dark, but the scent that wafts in little breezes as I wander through the day when I wear it is soft and alluring and sensual.

 

There is no way that I could begin to describe the notes. That would destry Luperci's mystery.

ApCat used to be a licensed BPAL wholesaler. At this point, they are just selling off the last of their backstock, so this is okay, if a tad confusing.

Sweet, cloying skin musk - absolutely sensual and delightful, with a drop of honeyed vanilla.

 

On me, at least. So glad I bought a bottle.

I know this has been said before, but it really cannot be said enough - for questions about the safety of specific blends it really is best to email the Lab (answers @ blackphoenixalchemylab . com), since it is not necessarily possible to go by the listed notes when determining safety.

 

I am absolutely positive that Beth would have no problem with letting anyone know if their favorite oil was counterindicated for pregnancy or breastfeeding.

GothHobbit - I've never had any problems emailing the answers @ email addy from gmail. I have, however, had emails from the Lab *to* my gmail account that I have been unable to respond to for some reason - it's not a consistent problem, and it's not clear to me whether it's a gmail glitch or a Lab-based glitch.

 

Either way, it appears to be temporary, at least for me. Did you get a response to your follow up?

Cirtus, herbal, very light and fresh - this seems almost autumnal to me, like fresh fallen leaves, or fresh cut herbs with a squeeze of lemon and a hint of fresh musk. A real gem and definite keeper.

In the bottle, Xanthe smells like candy banana to me - which realistically probably just means sweet candy tropical.

 

On my skin, however, she transforms, like the spirits she is associated with, into something rich and almost sophistocated - not candy-like at all, per se. She is sweet and fruity, don't get me wrong, but the pepper adds a sharpness that keeps this from being...jolly.

 

I would venture to guess that the listed notes are incomplete, to be honest, and that there is something else savory and grounding in here...or else, this is just the type of blend that is made for my chemistry...because I am not a member of the lollipop guild, and I adore this scent.

First off, I don't get *any* jasmine out of this, thank goodness, as the night blooming variety is almost certain to bring on an instant migraine.

What I do get is a collection of florals that are sort of similar to Cheoptera, richly coated with something akin to incense and cotton candy. Which sounds sort of weird, but is really quite lovely.

The Candy Butcher is rich and creamy - like the best hot cocoa made from real dark chocolate melted in condensed milk. The creamy note is enough to bump this out of the Bliss category for me, which is one of those "nice, but not interesting enough to keep me entertained" sort of blends. But the slithering chocolate snakes are divine.