antimony

water is the only thing that expands when it becomes solid. everything else contracts, making water bloody goddamn miraculous*, actually

 

*or unusual if you want to be all prosaic about chemistry...

 

Sorry to be pedantic, but water is not actually the only substance whose solid/liquid line on a phase diagram has negative slope (i.e. expands when it freezes) pure Bismuth does too. In the process of looking up phase diagrams, I read that apparently silicon and Gallium are thought to as well, though complete phase diagrams have not been created for either one.

Samhain '05 simeels exactly like I remember Samhain '04 smelling when I first got it.

 

That said, I didn't really like Samhain '04 when I first got it, it took a couple of months of sitting in the dark getting to know itself before it became the gorgeous perfume I love now.

 

I've decided to continue to wear Samhain '04 this fall (I've got about half a bottle left) and let Samhain '05 age until I'm done with the older one.

This is a funny one, it kind-of layers.

 

All around me there is a cloud of thouroughly Jack-smelling pumpkin, but if I sniff my wrist directly, there's very little pumpkin, and it smells a lot like gourmet pumpkin cocoa mix... there's a kind of dry-ness to it.

I love fig and clove, so I wanted to love this...

 

But the honey was super-super sweet, and it clashed with the patchouli. Ylang-Ylang is preretty on other people, but it makes me think of Prell. This is definately a super-yummy scent for anyone whose skin doesn't over-amp honey (unless you like that kind of thing, of course)

On me the juniper really digs in, puts down roots. The scent is really grounding. That said, it's a lot more, um, lively than Zombi. It's a hiking smell, and it definately captures the smell of a forest stringly enough to make me a little nostalgic. The moist soil is prominent, but not dominating.

It's definately related to Zombi. Also, it shares a little bit of feel with Anne Bonny. (Though I like Anne Bonny a lot better). The patchouli is very earthy, for sure, and the civet is not gross and pee-like but it is really heavy. It's a very grounded scent, like digging your toes into moist dirt plus roses.

It's totally sweet, white florals, which are not my thing. There is definately a little vanilla, tonka, or something like that underneath the florals to round them out. However, I agree with others who have said it's a lot like more commercial floral perfumes than other BPAL. In that respect, it would certainly make a good gift for someone who you think might not be ready to make a big change from their department store perfume to get them hooked on BPAL.

I ordered an imp because I'm Polish, and I felt like I just couldn't pass it up.

 

Unfortunately, I really can't pull off the woodsy, piney scents. This is a really unusual scent though, and I have to say I am very blown away by it. First of all, it dead on captures the scent of walking through an evergreen forrest. I can almost feel the fir trees. Then, mixed in with that, there's this sweet scent of berries, like poziomki (wild strawberries) and maybe something like lingonberries? If you can wear forest scents, this one is *awesome*.

On me it was plumeria and cucumber. Or maybe sugar and "fresh breeze" laundry detergent. No citrus to my nose. It's a sweet summertime scent that's neither citrusy nor "perfumey", and would be good for hot weather.

I didn't really get chocolate from Vice. There was a slightly tootsie-roll-ish undertone (good description, Eros!) but I think it's the cherry that overpowers it. I'km not sure. Mostly it just smelled really, really dry and woody. Actually, can something be cloying and woody at the same time? Vice seems to be.

Incense flavored jelly beans. Cloyingly sweet, dark and spicy, but mostly sugar sugar. (Obviously from the lotus) a good choice for anyonr who is all about the sweet.

I love currants, but medea was really heavy on the florals on me. The cyprus is there, but it feels like the scent is primarily orchid, and everything else is trying to fight its way into the scent, but failing.

I've had this forever, why did I never review it before?

It's woodsy and mossy and masculine. Overall, it's like getting hit in the nose with a brick of moss. On me the cedar takes a back seat to the mossiness. This blend has great staying power, I'd gusee 6-8 hours of noticibleness and a whisper for the entire rest of the day.

Mmmm... lavender and herbiness. Pretty.

 

I definately think of this as a relaxing scent. The lavender smells just like the lavender in the sleep blends, and overall, it has a very similar feel.

Dragon's Blood resin on me is exactly cinnamon candy, and the cherry hits hard too. There's a clovy spiciness to it, but mostly, it's just crazy headache-y sweet.

jasmine. JasmineJasmineJasmine JASMINE!

 

Heavy, thick, sticky flowers. It smells like the feel of getting jam on your hands, kinda icky-sticky. Definately only for people who like flowers. A lot.

I love love love the scent of Bay... but I really don't want to smell like honey.

 

Unlike O, this honey scent actually smells like honey, but it's too foody. It smells kinda herby, like organic wild honey. I think it would be nice in a burner as a room scent

I got a huge kick of ylang-ylang from this, and I also got that tropical note other people have mentioned....

 

Basically I got bananas and Prell shampoo. oof.

I think Beth said something at the time about them not being profitable because the oils themselves were too expensive.

 

I know a lot of people bought imps of them, but few people bought bottles, and if the contents were usually more expensive than the normal oils, then they'd probably not even be breaking even on the single note imps.

 

That and since their primary business is offering perfume blends, if selling single notes wasn't profitable, it would be a natural thing to jettison.

Wow, this one was *sweet*, like heavy, teeth-achingly sweet orange (not like Beth's sugar notes) the herbs are trying to get in, but mostly it's just super sweet orange. The herbs keep morphing, trying to regroup and battle the orange, but it's just too big, they don't stand a chance.

I'm going to be a dissenter here... to me Sea of Glass smells like a light yellowy-orange. maybe with some green accents, but definately no blue.

 

I'm getting lemon and maybe a litle tangerine mixed with lily of the valley. there's a salty note, but it's really, really overpowered by the lily. The citrus fades quickly, so after the first few minutes, this one is all lily.

Grr, I'm of two minds about this one.

 

I hate neroli, so I'm not excited about that. I love the smell of rosemary, so that's a plus. The rose holds it all togethe quite well, so that's neutral.

 

It so green, and sophisticated and sexy. Woody, slightly bitter rose. If you like green rose scents, this is it.

There are some Ebay listings for Pavi Elle... (unless you're looking for a BPAL version)

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It got discontinued years ago, so we're doubting the stuff on ebay would still be good. Idealy, we're looking for a similar bpal scent, though we'd be happy with a suggestion from any perfume company that uses natural ingredients.

In the 80's, Avon made a perfume called Pavi Elle. It smelled like cheap shampoo on everyone except my mom. On her, it smelled so good people would stop her in public to ask what she was wearing. It was discontinued years ago.

 

I found a listing of notes online: ylang-ylang, rose, lily, musk, & amber.

 

The most similar BPAL I can think of is Spellbound, but most scents with musk and amber are kinda dark and incensy, but my mom is more a floral kinda person. (She doesn't do fruity, either)

 

So, does anyone remember Pavi Elle? Any ideas?

My boyfriend and I are both cuddlers, but... Both my sister and her husband, and my mom and dad have decided on the same solution to not being cudlers... both couples have queen beds, and instead of using queen size blankets, they have two sets of twin size covers. I know my dad has a light comforter, and my mom has a much heavier one. I know it sounds kindof odd, but they're coming up on their 40th wedding anniversary and still sleep together in the same room/bed, so they must be doing something right.

 

So that this is not a total hijack, you probably want to pick one scent and use it both when you sleep alone and with your boyfriend so that it becomes associated in your mind with sleepng.