mermaidsdream

I didn't get much from sniffing the bottle. Applied, it initially smells like nail polish remover. Then it constantly morphs with something astringent, something floral, and I'm so very glad I didn't wear this to work because ugh. Definitely not a favourite, and not something I'd be keeping.

I almost passed on this, after the sniff test, but let it sit for a couple of months. I kept coming back to it, unsure, and today decided to give it a shot.

 

In the bottle, it's almost a little too sharp. Applied, it goes turns into this soft scent that's reminiscent of snow, with a hint of vanilla undertone. As it dries, I get a bit more of the apricot, but it still stays soft, and sweet. It's the perfect winter comfort scent.

First on this one? That's new!

In bottle: It's a lot of patchouli, very woodsy.

Applied, Wet: Very, very woodsy and almost all patchouli. I'm not getting much of the honey, but the leather is underneath trying to cut through the patch. It's almost a little tangy. It's not unpleasant, but it's not me.

This is definitely a more masculine scent, and I'll be honest, I bought it to try & be somewhat ironic - I work at a company filled with men & their hipster beards. I would *love* to smell it on one, in particular ...

 

Editing to add: Aaah ... there's the honey. It's finally come out of hiding, tempering everything else blending quite nicely. The drydown is really quite wonderful.

In the bottle: Deep and complex, almost plum/musk-like.

 

Applied: still a bit of the musk, but it fades quickly. There is a hint of resin (the amber), but it gets overwhelmed by the Dragon's Blood ...

 

Dry-down: I'd forgotten how much Dragon's Blood Resin smells like roses. And that's pretty much all I got. All day. On the plus side, unlike rose scents, it doesn't turn to baby powder on me, but it overwhelmed everything else in there :\

 

I do suspect this one will age well, but with the Dragon's Blood being the predominant note in this on me, I'm likely not keeping this bottle.

Cinnamon & cardamom for me can cause lovely red welts (seriously, I put on Spanked Revisited, and my arms are ridiculously red for the next hour or so), but I haven't had anything that's produced hives (yet). I do know that rose, carnation, and some forms of patchouli can cause nasal allergies to kick in, and violet is apparently a migraine-trigger for me, but I only discovered that by trying out different scents that contained them.

Black moths has some notes but not all.

 

Oooh ... that's probably closer than what I'd found, but I was looking at my own collection and came up with: Mme. Moriarty, Red Phoenix, Pillar of Flame, and Snake Charmer (mostly looking for the plum note.

 

 

 

Alright folks .... I'm looking for something similar to Montale Dark Purple for a friend of mine, and I swear the scent notes read just like a BPAL LE I have (but I'm at work and can't go through my spreadsheet right now).

 

Scent Notes for Dark Purple, from Fragrantica.com

 

Top: greedy plum, fresh orange

Heart: rose petals, geranium bourbon, patchouli, red fruit cocktail

Base: grey amber, teak wood, white musk

 

I swear this reads like one of the Lupers ....

Shares some notes but not all:

Purple Spotted Swallowtail

Purple Phoenix

Red Phoenix

Phoenix at Dawn

Penumbra

Hellion

Fire Pig

Lunar Eclipse

Queen of Spades

 

 

Red Phoenix was on the list I found (and I have it in my collection, so it's easier for her to try it out). I'll check out the others, too.

Alright folks .... I'm looking for something similar to Montale Dark Purple for a friend of mine, and I swear the scent notes read just like a BPAL LE I have (but I'm at work and can't go through my spreadsheet right now).

 

Scent Notes for Dark Purple, from Fragrantica.com

 

Top: greedy plum, fresh orange

Heart: rose petals, geranium bourbon, patchouli, red fruit cocktail
Base: grey amber, teak wood, white musk

 

I swear this reads like one of the Lupers ....

It's very chocolaty in the bottle, with something sweet underneath. Unfortunately, once applied it turns into something sickly-sweet-floral that I amp like *crazy* within seconds of application, losing any hint of the chocolate. I can't wear this.

I may have received an off bottle, because I get next to no cinnamon out of this at all. In the bottle, wet, and dry-down, all I got was red, wet fruit. There's a slight hint of something smokey, and I definitely get "red" out of this, but this is really cinnamon-light for me. I normally have issue with cinnamon & cardamom causing a skin reaction, and I had none of that with this.

I get a mix of things on first sniff, out of the bottle.

 

Applied, wet, it's straight up leather. Leather & nothing but leather.

 

Dry-down: I get something almost maple syrup-y. The leather dies down, and there's something deep: hints of the patchouli & vetiver. I get 0 red musk, 0 jasmine, no champaca, and no cardamom.

According to the email I received, my bottles are #14 & #15. No idea which is which, so I've randomly assigned them.

 

So far, I've only tested #14, and that was due to a labeling error on my part - I'd mixed up the label I put on the top of the bottle with one of the Orientals. That's what I get for not paying more attention!

 

#14: Not sure what I get in the bottle, but it turns into way strong, men's soap on me. Whatever is in it, I amp, and not in a good way. Possibly violet? Because that's the only thing I can think of that punches me in the face like that. I only applied to my left wrist, with a toothpick, and OMG. I had to wash it off. Instant trade pile.

According to an email I received, my Oriental Bottles are #55 & #56. I don't know which is which, so I've assigned them randomly.

 

#55: in the bottle: Not really sure what I'm getting. I'm having a difficult time discerning notes in this bottle. I keep getting hints of something wet & green, with maybe a hint of floral, and some deep … plum?. Applied: Nothing strong, but still a hint of greenness. Unfortunately, my skin eats this right up. Dry down, I get a hint of baby powder and not much else. No spice, no … nothing. It's pretty, but not one I see myself reaching for with any regularity. I'll probably trade it.

#56: In the bottle: vanilla base, barely noticeable underneath something slightly tart, with a hint of floral. Applied, wet: I get the faint hint of red vines. This isn't a bad thing! I'm thinking there's some lavender in this, because I'm getting a slight medicinal undertone that I normally associate with lavender. There's a slight hint of something “soapy”. It'll be interesting to see how this dries down & morphs in a few hours. Right now, I can't stop huffing my wrist. I can't decide how well I like this one, but it's not an insta-trade.

At first, I was hesitant. Cinnamon usually burns like crazy, but I took a chance.

 

Then, I was uncertain. At first sniff, this is powdery. Baby powdery. Not something I normally like, but I applied anyway.

 

Then clove & cinnamon came out to play. The scent retained a lot of the baby powder I noticed earlier, but it never overpowered the other scents.

 

Like others have said, I like this, but I think this may do better with some aging.

Men of BPAL rejoice, for this is the Hair Gloss for you.

 

Seriously, all I got out of this was men's cologne, all.day.long. It never morphed. This should have worked, given the notes, but not so much in my hair this time around. Way, WAY too masculine. Alas. It's the first HG that hasn't worked for me.

In the imp: floral cinnamon.

 

Applied, wet: I'm loving this. It smells of firey Red Hots.

 

Dry-down: After 5 minutes, OMG THE BURN. Cinnamon burn. Fire burn. I wish it didn't burn, because I'd buy a bottle in a heartbeat. :(

In the imp: soft, but spicy

Applied, wet: creamy, soapy, spicy.

Drydown: Sadly, this fades on me after about 2 hours, but I'm loving the spice note in this. I imagine it'd make a fantastic hair gloss (scent there seems to last longer). That said, I definitely see what the fuss is about.

This was one of three bottles (2 separate orders) I purchased after Forest restocked. Love & Money are definitely two areas I need help with right now, so I figured why not.

 

I decanted a tiny bit (about an imp's worth) into a small roller-ball bottle, for easier application to myself, and decided I was feeling brave last night, so I tried a little.

 

In the bottle, I get something ... green, almost like grass. I don't know how else to describe the scent. Applied? I get the green, mixed with a little spice. After a bit, it becomes apparent that there's either cinnamon or cardamom in this, because I start getting the tingle/burn I get with either of those oils. As I didn't get the red streaks that normally come with cardamom, I'm going to guess cinnamon.

 

I held my arms to my nose, and breathed in the scent. There was still that hint of green, but I started to get more of the cinnamony goodness. It was the warm smell of red-hots, warm, soothing, and a little stimulating. I can understand why this would help with increasing your chances for love!

 

I haven't had a chance to test it out in the world yet. It did make me feel better about myself (which was much needed), and lord knows, it worked on my cat - I'm almost wondering if the green-component isn't catnip, because I've never seen her so affectionate. I woke up with her on my chest this morning, and she *never* sleeps there. She would not leave my side all morning.

 

In the imp: fruity but fresh, with a hint of spice. Wet, applied: Very fruity, but not over-powering. Still fresh, happy scent. Dried: soft powder, with a hint of fruit. I like this one, too.

In the imp: fruity but fresh, with a hint of spice.

 

Wet, applied: Very fruity, but not over-powering. Still fresh, happy scent.

 

Dried: soft powder, with a hint of fruit. I like this one, too.

 

Side note: Some of it soaked into my sweat shirt, and it's still overpoweringly fruity. I like it, but I don't see myself reaching for it much.

 

In the Imp: sweet, resiny, with a hint of smoke underneath.

 

Wet, applied: same as in the imp. I'm getting a hint of red musk in this, but it's a fainter red musk than I'm used to.

 

Drydown: It fades fast (which I may attribute to it being winter, and my skin being much, MUCH dryer than usual), but leaves a lingering sweetness I really like. Even the next day, I'm still finding I really dig this one.

 

This scent didn't even cross my radar when I made my initial Lupercalia wish list, and it's the one bottle I ordered.

The only thing that keeps coming to mind with this scent, on me, is: fizzy pink lemonade. I'm not really sure why I'm getting that, but ... sadly, not a fan. Normally, I'm good with the musky scents, but this one's not so much a winner on me.

I decided to give this one a go, not realizing it was discontinued (because I frimped away the imp I had -- more on that in a minute).

 

In the Imp: woodsy, warm, inviting. It wants me to try it. It's begging me.

Wet, applied: Mm ... okay, I'm really digging on this. Still with the woodsy vibe, but now I'm starting to get where people talk about how this is a more masculine scent.

 

Dried, several hours later: I can't stop huffing my wrist. I really wish this was on a guy, because I'm pretty sure I'd jump him right about now.

 

Definitely too masculine for me to wear (hence why it was frimped), but DAMN. I need a moment; or three.

I just sent an email regarding my Butterflies order placed 8/16. I know DragonCon coincided & everything gets crazy, and I'd asked to combine when I placed my order on 8/24, but both are still listed as "In Process", with no update one way or another.

 

ETA: Or at least, I tried to from my phone (to the customerservice@blackphoenixalchemylab.com email address mentioned earlier in this thread), and it bounced back as "unknown" ... so I'll try again tonight from home.

 

*shakes fist at the full-moon wackiness*

I had both a decant & a partial bottle of this, and decided to try the bottle (mostly because I'd forgotten about the decant).

 

In the bottle, I'm not really sure what I'm getting out of it. I can't pick out any particular note. I think I was expecting something earthy, dark and almost loathing, and this was opposite. There's something a little sharp, but it's faint.

 

Applied, wet: Again, not really sure what notes I'm getting from this. Something slightly sharp, but non-descript.

 

Drydown: This is magic. On me, it turns creamy, sweet, almost a vanilla floral. It borders on powder, but it's much more cream, soothing, sweet, and comforting. I'd put it on earlier in the day to test it, and then ended up with a reapplication before going out for the evening, but it likely wouldn't have been necessary; it has some good staying power.

 

I checked the decant I have, and noticed it seems like the components separate a little: it seems a little darker at the bottom than it does towards the top. I gave it a quick shake, and it mixed together just fine, so it looks like this may be another one of those scents that needs a good roll, flick of the wrist, and/or whatnot to mix properly.

 

All in all, this is another one I'm going to purchase a full-bottle of next paycheck.

 

.oO(editing to add: After reading the other reviews, I'm glad to see I'm not the only one surprised by how this scent turned out. It's absolute perfection).

This is my first review of a TAL oil, so please bear with me -- I'm still very new to using TAL oils at all, let alone for ritual work.

 

If anyone's read my posts in the last several months, you've seen that my world has turned completely upside down in many aspects. I've had more than one person suggest I give TAL a try, and after perusing the website, I opted for 3 blends, White Light being one of them.

 

After a major panic attack last night, I decided to give White Light a try tonight. I anointed my head & heart chakras, applied to my palms, anointed a white chime candle, and a quartz stone I found the other day (that I frequently pick up and play with), and then sat to do a little "homework". I'm not sure if it's the TAL or the candles I have burning, but I definitely feel much more calm, and more centered. Whether it will last remains to be seen, but I definitely think my stone will be coming to work with me tomorrow.

 

The scent ... how do I describe the scent? It's almost like jasmine & rose, neither of which I can wear, but they're very pleasant in this, and neither has turned to baby powder on me, like the scents usually do. I know this isn't a perfume blend, but it's light & sweet enough, I could see myself wearing it as a spring evening blend.

Smells just like what the name and label suggest. A Fallen Woman who is happier for the fall. Definitely smells a lot like the French Tobacco single note, but you can also really smell the honey. But this isn't a fresh, innocent honey, this is a honey that has seen some things, and would be willing to tell you these things with it's red-stained lips, if you sit with her long enough and she takes a shine to you.

 

I realized I never did a review for this, and I've been using it fairly regularly I think this may replace Mid-Orgies as a favourite; it was a last minute decision, and I'm so glad I went with a bottle.

 

... and then Persianmouse's review hit a chord with me. "A Fallen Woman who is happier for the fall." The honey ... this is the same honey note (or very similar) as in Hair Loosened & Soiled in Mid-Orgies, sweetened by the Camellia, dirtied by the French Tobacco. Yes, indeed -- this [is] the Fallen Woman who let let her hair down during the orgy, got a lil dirty, and is now fully satiated, basking in warm bodies, taking a lazy drag on her expensive cigarette.