filigree_shadow

Well, I guess I should say that even with all the stuff I wrote in my post, I don't think Michele is a bad person. As a couple of other people have written in their blogs, she was probably just using the sort of business practices she's learned in the corporate world that she's been a part of for so long. I don't happen to like those practices, but some people have posted in my blog that it doesn't bother them and they don't see what the big deal is. Also, not everyone here gets as upset when other business owners are disrespectful to Beth as I do. Plus... how well do you really know anyone you buy from? I mean, for all I know maybe the owner of Arcana Soaps or Ava Luxe (I've bought from both of them several times) is in here looking at all the posts too. Maybe one of them is selling somebody else's oil on eBay for an even bigger profit than what Michele was selling BPAL bottles for. Who knows? Maybe the only difference is that the other owners didn't post here. I honestly have no way of knowing. I don't and won't think anyone who buys products from Michele is wrong for doing so. You know, there are several people who have said that Arcana oils seem like poor quality to them. And I bet they probably are. I mean, they make soaps with those fragrances. I doubt that they use really high quality ingredients for a soap fragrance. But I like several of them. They may be poor quality, but it's my choice to spend my money on them. If someone said "Hey I just found out Arcana uses oils that cost like $2 for 100mls and are totally cheap!" I'd think, "Hmm, yeah, well I thought that might be the case." And then I'd order another 10ml of Devilish. It's your choice to spend your money on whatever you like, and I don't think you should worry about what anyone else thinks of your decisions.

"Spread bile." Interesting choice of words. You know, I was quite careful to include in my original post only what Michele herself wrote and did here in this forum so that my opinions would not be viewed as merely malicious gossip. If Michele didn't want people to notice what she was doing in this forum, she should have been more careful.

I didn't say she was doing something illegal. I specifically avoided talking about the IP infringement issue that was raised in the H&EE thread because I don't know anything about law. I just pointed out what Michele was doing, explained how I interpreted it, and said I didn't like it. OK, so having said that, I wanted to thank you for posting your reply here because you brought up something that I should have clarified earlier. I make purchase decisions based on factors that are important to me, but I know that the same factors are not important to other people. I don't think those other people are wrong or dumb. I'll give you an example: I have shopped at OfficeMax twice. Both times the sales clerks were rude. When I complained about it to my friend Lynn, she said, "Oh, I could have told you that. I never shop there any more." At that point, I wished she'd told me that before I ever set foot in the OfficeMax. If I had known her opinion beforehand, I would have just driven the extra mile to Office Depot and saved myself some frustration. On the other hand, my friend Ron shops at OfficeMax all the time and doesn't care one whit about the personality of the sales clerks. Do I think Ron is dumb for shopping at OfficeMax? NO. Not at all. But what I'm looking for in a shopping experience is what Lynn's looking for. We like to be treated nicely. Ron doesn't care about that, he just wants the best prices. With my original post, I was trying to put my experience out there for other people to see because I didn't see the entirety of Michele's post history until after I'd bought from her twice, and at that point I regretted ever spending money at her site. I was hoping to save like-minded people the same frustration. I didn't expect everyone to agree with me, and as you can see from the replies to my post, not everyone does. That's fine with me. However, if anyone reading it IS the type of person who would be put off by the same things that put me off, I thought it was important to let them know my opinions and why I feel this way.

Okay, as long as you realize you don't need to leave. See, the problem is that you're taking this issue personally, and you're obviously very emotionally involved. But you can't come in here and be that upset because eventually you're going to upset me, and then I'll fly off the handle, and an enraged filigree_shadow is not pleasant for anyone. (Trust me.) Also, it seems like you desperately want people to agree with things you say, and when they don't you raise the same point again to see if you get any takers the second time. Not saying I blame you for that, but when I feel like I'm reading the same thing over and over I stop paying attention to it. In this blog you've disagreed with nearly everything I said, you tried to poke holes in my logic, you've called me out on pedantic details that were really too trivial to matter, and you said that my arguments don't make sense. In the H&EE thread, you said you don't think I'm right. I get it. You don't need to say it again. And by now I'm willing to stipulate that whenever anyone new in this blog brings up something else that casts Michele/H&EE in an even remotely negative light, you don't believe it and you don't agree. (ETA: I was using the legal definition of stipulate there, in case that wasn't clear.)

In what way is that not an announcement? I was even using your word. I did read what you wrote in the Official WHY Thread, and it was about freebies. And a lot of what you have written in this blog has been stuff that you have already said in the H&EE thread. If you've already said something somewhere else, you don't need to re-state it here. Assume that anyone interested in this discussion has seen it. This blog does not need to re-hash every piece of drama from the H&EE thread and elsewhere. You don't need to censor yourself, you need to tone it down. That's all I'm asking.

PK, I'm not really interested in listening to the same thing from you over and over. You've had your say. Repeatedly. I don't know when you decided that this H&EE issue is your personal fight with the entire forum, but it's time for that to stop now. Don't post again until you have something new to say. And yes, I feel that I am perfectly well within my rights to say this since you took it upon yourself to make an announcement in one of your earlier posts here that you don't want any more people coming into the H&EE thread to stir up drama. You don't even own that thread. But this is my blog.

PK, I'm trying really hard to be fair. I am. Believe me. I feel like I'm at a poker game and I'm the only one who knows that the cards are marked. It would be very difficult to try to play that poker game fairly when you have access to information that others don't have, and when you can't tell anyone else what that information is so that everyone would have an equal advantage. Since I came forward with my opinions of Michele/H&EE, several other forumites have told me about their personal experiences/conversations with Michele. I'm trying really hard to NOT let that factor into my opnions... but I'm failing miserably. I'm afraid I'm just not objective any more. I know too much now, and there's no way I'll ever be able to give Michele a fair shot at redeeming herself, no matter what. I think that at this point it would be dishonest of me to continue participating in this discussion, so I think I should recuse myself. I have said that my opinions of Michele were based on her own posts and her own public words, and that's not true any more. I hope that you will all understand.

Also, I wanted to mention something else regarding this issue and this blog entry. I am INCREDIBLY impressed with the thoughtful and mature responses I have gotten, both in this blog and in PMs. Seriously. One of the reasons I got so attached to this community is the level of fairness and understanding found in the members here, and I am beyond delighted that even when it's been put to the test, that maturity level is still there. I haven't gotten a single insulting, flaming, hate-filled response... and to be honest I was pretty much expecting it. Thank you.

PilotKitten, Your personal experience with Michele has guided your opinions of her and helped shape your idea of the kind of person she is. I have no problem with that. I hope you understand, though, that my experience with Michele has been a lot different from yours.... which is why I have a different opinion. On the issue of selling BPAL for a profit... of course lots of people sell BPAL in the forums. The difference I was trying to make clear with that example is that MICHELE IS A BPAL COMPETITOR and the rest of us are BPAL FANS. Please just think about this for a second. I have no idea whether people sell stuff on Michele's forum because I'm not a member there (I'm not an H&EE fan, so it would be pretty strange for me to join the H&EE fan forum)... but I want you to think for a second how you'd feel if Beth was over in Michele's forum selling Michele's own products for $2 more each than what Michele charges. For one, I have a feeling that Michele wouldn't stand for it for a second, and I also have a feeling that people who feel loyalty to Michele would be incensed. That's exactly what's going on here. This is the BPAL fan forum, Michele is a BPAL competitor, and I am loyal to BPAL. I'm not demanding that you agree with me, I'm only asking you to understand why I feel this way. That's all. Regarding the rest of your comments, especially the comparisons to olympia301 -- Michele has established a pattern of behavior that makes people not trust her. Oly hasn't. For me, that's what it boils down to. If Michele wanted to be treated with respect on her competitor's fan forum, she should have been more careful with her behavior here. She invited this criticism of her, in my opinion, with her own words and actions. Please notice that the owners of Ava Luxe, DSH, Wylde Ivy, Arcana Soaps, etc. are not in this forum stirring up drama and then complaining that they are being mistreated. Only Michele has done that. And I don't need or want to get Michele's side of the story because by this time I am personally convinced that it would just be lies -- what's the point of hearing someone's side of the story if you already believe going into it that whatever it is it's not true? (And again, that opinion is based on her pattern of behavior in the past.) Also I want to point out something here that people who are Michele's fans seem to be forgetting: This is a forum for BPAL fans, created by BPAL fans, and paid for by BPAL fans. This is NOT a generic non-company-specific bath & body message board. Not even in the Retail Therapy section. First and foremost, everybody here is a BPAL fan. That's why they came to this forum. As far as I'm concerned nobody should be a bit surprised if direct BPAL competitors are scrutinized here more carefully than other members are. As for the Voodoo Punani/Thirteen issues, I see your point. I don't agree with you, but I do understand why the feel the way you do. Look, with my post, I was trying to explain to you why I think she is not trustworthy and why I think people should be careful doing business with her. If you've considered everything and you think she's a great person, that's fine. Really. If you're happy with her and her products, that's cool with me.

I had a Far Side desk calendar in the 90s, and this particular one was my favorite: It was drawn in quadrants, with people saying "The glass is half full," "The glass is half empty," [insert the one I can't remember here], and the last guy with his hands on his hips in a very Larsen-esque fashion saying "Hey, I ordered a cheeseburger!" I ripped out that one and stuck it to my cube wall at work. Several months later I went to my sister's office to meet her for lunch and she had the exact same cartoon stuck to her cube wall. Heh. I thought that was funny.

Awww, I'm sad that this drama is making you feel bad. I'm not sure if you read my blog entry, but I hope I'm not responsible for you feeling that way.

Thanks for your comments -- and thank you for reading what I wrote, to anyone who has read my blog entry but hasn't commented. I certainly do not think that anyone is in the wrong for buying Michele's products. I ordered from her myself. Twice. But that was before I looked at the entirety of her post history here and not just the H&EE thread. I know that a different person could look at exactly the same set of posts and form an entirely different opinion. Interpretation of any post is up to the reader. That's why I posted my opinions and my interpretations here rather than in the H&EE thread.

Argh, it's been a crappy week. Sort of. Mostly due to this damn cold. I hate being sick. It makes me mad to be sick. I don't know how to stop getting angry about it, but I wish I could. I think that if I spent my mental energy concentrating on getting better rather than perpetuating my foul mood I might recover more quickly. I am the whiniest, rottenest, most annoying sick person you've ever met. But! At least it's starting to go away. Probably by next week I'll be fine. And next week is more important than this week because next week it's my birthday. Ye gods, 35 years old. Holy crap. Wasn't it just a few weeks ago that I was 25? It sure seems like it. I remember once when I was little complaining to my dad that time goes so slow (when you're little the time just drags on and on until the fun things happen), and he got this funny smile on his face and said something like, "When you get older, it'll go by a lot faster." As usual, Daddy was right. One of the things that bugs me about being this old is that I have just started to realize that I can say things like, "Yeah, but that happened 20 years ago" to my friends from high school. Twenty years ago. TWENTY. I'm starting to remember 30 years ago with increasing clarity. I don't feel old when I look in the mirror, or even when I overhear teenagers talking and their inane conversations drive me up the wall. I always thought that would make me feel old, when I realized that I didn't have anything in common with teenagers any more. But nope, that's not it. It's that I used to feel like I had so much of life ahead of me. Now there's a huge swath BEHIND me, 35 years' worth... that's what gets to me. Don't get me wrong, looking back doesn't make me feel like I regret anything. I might not have the life I imagined I'd have, but it's pretty damn good. In fact as I've gotten older I've taken care of myself better -- I actually look better now than when I was 28. I'm definitely more financially comfortable. And I'd like to think I'm wiser, too. All in all not too shabby. Anyhoo, enough of that. Mostly I wanted to write about my week, so I don't know how I ended up with that birthday-related nostalgia. This week, I submitted two more Trick or Treat pleas. I was really hoping to be able to do four, and hopefully (maybe) get all the different ones, or at least have something to swap for any I didn't get. But it doesn't look like I'm going to be able to afford one more submission before the deadline. Alas! I keep telling myself I have too much perfume oil as it is -- I need to do a serious reduction of my collection. But I've been at this BPAL thing for 8 months now, and the oils are still coming in at a much faster rate than they're going out. The good news is that I haven't been buying from eBay in quite a while; mostly I'm just ordering from the Lab. The bad news is that the reason I don't want to buy any of the older scents is because I've already tried nearly all of them. And now I'm tired and I'm going to bed. Good night!

I'm going to see the Pet Shop Boys on Friday! I haven't seen them since the Performance tour in about 1991.

It's nobody's business how you handle your finances, and it's definitely no one's business to tell you you're doing it wrong! I would have been highly irritated if someone had tried to tell me I was less married because I don't share all my money with my husband and vice versa. I tried the combining money thing a long time ago. It sucked! My ex assumed that all money in the combined account was HIS, even though I made twice as much money as he did. He even said something like "Man, being married is great! I never used to be able to afford to live this well!" No shit. He put me in the poorhouse. I will never do that again. I know a lot of people prefer the combined way, and that's just fine for them. I wouldn't try to convince them otherwise. But for me? No way.

This is very floral, not that I was expecting anything different. Mostly I smell lily with a bit of lilac. At first it's quite a lot stronger than I prefer for a floral, but it gets softer as it dries. It gets a little bit green, too. It's very pretty, one of the nicer floral scents I've smelled. It doesn't suit me personally because I don't wear perfumes that are this floral, but I think it's very well done. ETA: I feel like I need to add something to this review, four days later. I've worn White Moon three times since writing that first review, and I think I like it more every time I wear it. It feels odd -- even my husband commented that it's a strange scent for me because I don't usually smell like flowers -- but I'm drawn to it. I just keep wanting to put it on. ETA #2: Confessions of a White Moon junkie: I have worn this at some point in each day since my last ETA. I am starting to worry. I am not a floral person, yet this is the only thing I want to wear. I think I'm going to have to hide my bottle.

I made the awful mistake of returning to MySpace after an absence of several months. The MySpace group for my little group of college friends apparently had people flocking to it in droves while I was away, and now it's full of people I knew 15 years ago in college. Clicked on the picture of a girl who didn't like me because she thought I caused her boyfriend to break up with her. She's gorgeous now. Clicked on the picture of a guy I dated on and off for a few years but lost touch with. He's a damn fine-looking man. Clicked on the picture of a guy who was full of himself and was a dick to me. Still looks like he's a dick. Clicked on the picture of a guy I dated for a couple of years. He's been hitting the gym. He never looked that good when he was with me. And what do you see if you click on my photo? A dumpy-looking middle-aged woman with a stupid hairstyle who has gained 25 pounds since college and looks like a mess. Niiiiice. I was feeling pretty embarrassed about the whole thing and ranting about it in an exaggerated fashion to my husband -- he pointed out that it is impossible for everyone I knew in college to be better-looking now than they were then. I know that. It's not everyone. Just everyone I dated. And the girls who were catty to me because I went out with the lovely sensitive goth boys that they were all swooning over. I would not be at all surprised if some of them looked at my photos and thought, "HA! She got fat and ugly. Good." I usually don't think I look that bad. I think for whatever reason people often tend to be close to people who are more or less at the same level of attractiveness, and in my current circle of RL friends I don't feel out of my league with any of them. But when I was in college, I paid a lot more attention to my appearance. (These days I'm lucky if I'm wearing two shoes from the same pair half the time.) If there was such a thing as a beautiful people goth/skater clique at my university, I was probably in it. Those people wouldn't give me the time of day right now. They don't let you back into the beautiful goth people club if you gain 25 pounds and move to the suburbs. In a couple of days this probably won't bother me any more, but right now I'm unhappy that I thought I was comfortable with my appearance and where I am in my life right now... and apparently I'm not. Apparently I am embarrassed by it. This revelation is unsettling to me.

I was just thinking earlier today about how I used to think about blends/notes back in February when I was waiting on my first imp packs from the Lab. I read tons of reviews and entered comments into my spreadsheet like "A lot of people say this smells strongly of jasmine. I don't know what jasmine smells like though." I do know what it smells like now (in perfume, anyway)... along with a slew of other things, many of which I'd never heard of before. Benzoin? Neroli? Tonka? I would have guessed those were pharmaceutical products. But anyway, I remember reading reviews in which the reviewer described the exact notes she smelled in order from the wet stage to drydown, and I thought that this forum must be full of bizarre people with strangely precise noses. But with a little practice, I turned into one of those bizarre people too. A few of my friends/family think I'm absolutely nuts to have about 600 samples and 200 bottles of perfume. They point out I can't wear it all. They scoff at the money I spend. I point out that my husband has several boxes of comic books he never reads and spent a lot of money on. This happens to be what I like to collect. I get as much enjoyment from a truly beautiful scent as I get from a really good book -- just in a different way.

A bright citrus scent, but it doesn't smell acidic. More sugary than acidic. It is crisp and clean smelling. There's something almost creamy underneath the citrus, too. I know that other reviewers have gotten a lot of lime out of this, but I'm not getting solely lime. I don't know enough about perfume to know whether lime is a top note, but that's exactly how it always acts on me -- anything with lime in it smells strongly of lime for the first ten minutes and then it's gone. The citrus scent lasts long enough here that I know there's another citrus note in Detox too. Not sure exactly what it is, but it's not yuzu. (Yuzu SHOUTS on me.) Maybe grapefruit. Anyway, I do usually like the lime blends because they are the softest citrus scents. I don't like anything too sharp or strong. I think Detox is my favorite Panacea blend.

Here's what I got imps of: BLACK LILY -- This is beautiful, one of my favorite BPAL florals. I already have a bottle, but I need the imp for my "entire GC" imp collection. DEVIL'S CLAW -- I have no idea what to expect from this, smoky brown-black sounds good... not sure about the yellow-bright. LOVE-LIES-BLEEDING -- Really, really looking forward to this. Beth does "velvety" really well. SLOBBERING PINE -- I don't usually like pine scents, but this one sounds different. Also I like the word slobbering. THE REAPER AND THE FLOWERS -- I haven't had much luck with the Funereal Oils, but I'm interested in this because of the cemetery grass and lilies. LILIUM INTER SPINAS -- I usually like fig, but green fig might be a little too strong for me. Not sure about this one. THE TEMPTATION -- Not sure about this one either -- might be too floral for me. MANIA -- I can't imagine what this might smell like. I think I might like it, though. A lot. HORREUR SYMPATHIQUE -- I expect I'm going to love this one. Here's what I got bottles of: BLACK ICE -- Sleet, vetiver, cold wind, and smoke? Yes please! THE DARKLING THRUSH -- Everything in this sounds good to me except maybe the violet. We'll see. HALÔA -- Frankincense sometimes makes the whole blend too sweet for me, but everything else in it sounds good, so I took a chance. KNECHT RUPRECHT -- This might be a little too woodsy for me but I like the poem so I'll give it a shot. KRAMPUS -- This one sounds the BEST. I always like red musk and leather. SNOW-FLAKES -- Not entirely sure what this is going to smell like, but I just have this good feeling about it. I love snow flakes. SOL INVICTUS -- This is the one that most worries me from my order. I think I haven't worn Et Lux Fuit even one time after testing it, and this one could be similar. I like amber, saffron, and heliotrope, but everything else in it could be iffy. THE WINTER OF OUR DISCONTENT -- This one sounds pretty good. It might be a little too spicy for me, but I have to try anything with myrrh and dark musk. These are the ones I hope to find decants of: HERR DROSSELMEYER 2006 -- My husband has 4 bottles of last year's version, so we probably don't need any more. I wouldn't mind getting an imp to compare though. JACOB'S LADDER 2006 -- I've had a bottle of last year's version for almost 8 months and I've worn it exactly twice. I like it, but I never seem to reach for it. I'd like a new decant of it to see if it smells any different aged though. JÓLASVEINAR -- The dealbreaker in this one was the dirt and moss. They go bad on me more often than not, and dirt always overpowers every other note. I'd try a decant or sniffie, but I don't expect this to work. LICK IT AGAIN -- Didn't really like Lick It because I don't care for peppermint scents. I'd try it to make sure, but I have big doubts. MIDNIGHT MASS 2006 -- I had a bottle of last year's version, swapped it, had second thoughts and got another bottle, then swapped that one too. I think it's just too sweet an incense scent for me. I like darker incense like Al Azif better. THE SNOW MAIDEN -- This just sounded a little too young and innocent for me personally. I'd like to try it, but from the description I don't think I'll like it. STARDUST 2006 -- Still have a bottle of last year's version, and I never wear it. YULE -- Holly berry, mistletoe, thyme, verbena, evergreen, frankincense, and juniper are ALL usually no-nos for me. I highly doubt I would like this. And I'm going to have to make another order and get a bottle of 13 because I completely forgot to order it. I have sent a crapload of money to the Lab in the past three months. Seriously. Way too much. I've been saying for the past month or so that I need to do some serious reducing of my collection, but I barely did any. Now it has become a dire need. I have no more room for more BPAL bottles, yet more will be on their way soon.

Hooo boy, what a perfect scent for when the weather is turning cold! On me it smells mainly like patchouli and pine pitch, with some vanilla. There really is a smokiness to it, too. It doesn't smell like firewood burning (the vanilla and slightly fruity sweetness keeps it from smelling like that), but for some reason that's the image I get in my head when I sniff it. A big autumn bonfire with lots of dry wood and leaves on it. Definitely the right scent for a cool, crisp fall day. Wasn't sure if I would like the pine pitch (Jersey Devil wasn't a fave for me), but I like it a lot with patchouli. It gives the whole scent a great earthy quality. Fantastic!

*sniff* Aaaaaaah! What a scent!! I love that leather combined with the sweet pear. It smells wonderful. When I first read the description of this scent on the BPAL website, I could not imagine what it would smell like. I thought I could make a good guess with leather, tobacco, musk, cedar, and even vanilla... but the pear threw me off entirely. But wow, this is something else. It kinda smells like your all-around rugged cowboy... but a clean one, who maybe bakes cookies when he's not out cowboying. There's an unexpected little "oooo, what is that?!" element to this scent. I love a manly man who's just a little bit sensitive, and that's exactly what this smells like. Beautiful. I mean, I really love this. My husband loves to wear Geek and Dead Man's Hand, and this is going to be another swoonworthy scent on him.

OK, I think I'm finally ready to review this scent. I've had the bottle for about a month now, and I've been wearing Mme. Moriarty exclusively for the past three days. (I even had a dream about it two nights ago!) I've been having a hard time figuring out what I'd say in a review of this scent. When I wore it on my wrists and put my nose to my wrist, I really didn't think it smelled much like the Snake Charmer or Snake Oil scent I was expecting. There's a leafiness to it that makes it a little drier. (At times I thought the leafiness made it smell a bit musty, too.) Plus I could smell the pomegranate when I got close to my wrists, and that's not one of my favorite notes because it tends to smell artificial on me. Also it's not as strong as Snake Charmer is; it's more subtle. The first couple of times I tried it, I only put it on my wrists. I wasn't all that thrilled with it, to tell you the truth. I thought it was nice, but it wasn't the OMG scent I was expecting. But then one day I decided to WEAR it, rather than just test it, and I gave myself a good-going over with it (neck, cleavage, arms, wrists). That's when I realized the OMG aspect of it. One small test didn't do it for me, I had to practically envelop myself in the scent. See, up close it's not what I was wanting. But the scent this oil throws is amazing. When I put it on my throat, the scent that wafts up to my nose is an enchanting blend of red musk and vanilla -- two of my favorite notes. There's a tiny bit of plum in there too, giving it an extra juiciness. I can definitely see the similarity to Snake Charmer, but I think this is a little darker. A little more mysterious. And wow, does it ever last. For hours! And that's why I've been wearing it nonstop for three days.

Beautiful!!!!

One time I tried to enable a friend this way (by buying her 3 imp packs), and I basically picked all my favorites. Now I can see that was kind of silly because everyone likes different ones, and it would probably be better to choose a wide variety. 1. Snake Oil 2. Dorian 3. Bathsheba 4. Two Monsters 5. Bordello 6. Dragon's Reverie 7. Scherezade 8. Jazz Funeral 9. Loviatar 10. Endymion 11. R'Lyeh 12. Tamora But I'd mention that the Lab has hundreds of different ones, so this is a really small sample. Even if the person didn't love any of these (which I'd find hard to believe), I think she'd at least be intrigued by the quality and want to try more.