copyshopclerk

In the decant: Tonka, something "perfumy" On: The sparkle/spice of ginger over tonka. This is a bit too heavy on the ginger for me, and I don't like how it pairs with the tonka - they just don't blend well together on my skin. Dry: Once the ginger fades off, this is almost straightforward tonka, and I can smell the benzoin as well, which I've noticed usually takes a while to develop on my skin. I don't notice any of the other notes, which is a little disappointing as I really like apricot and was hoping it'd be more prominent in here. I like the dry stage of this more than the wet stage as the ginger was a bit much for me, but it's quite lovely when dry.

In the decant: Very strong clove with a little bit of earthiness underneath On: All clove, all the time! Dry: As it dries, it's quite masculine. I can't pick out rose at all and that usually amps to an uncomfortable level on me. For that matter, I can't pick out benzoin which is a note I love - usually that develops more when the blends that it's in dry, but this is so heavy on the clove, patchouli, and opoponax that I can't smell anything else. This isn't a "me" scent but it was fascinating to try.

In the decant: The dampness I associate with oakmoss, and, oddly enough, the inside of a bell pepper On: It's a somewhat sweet but dark aquatic. Nothing is super-prominent but I can get whiffs of the violet leaf. Not very strong on me though. Dry: Hmm, this goes a bit unpleasant on me as it dries. It's too perfumy for my preferences, an almost-but-not-quite rose and something almost peppery/spicy? Aquatics are one of my favorite groups but the flowers in this are heavier than I usually go for.

In the imp: quite floral, I can smell the rose On: Powdery rose, which I was afraid of - when rose is in a blend it tends to overwhelm everything else on my skin! Dry: Rose kept getting stronger and stronger - I wish dry leaves were prominent, or even noticeable in something called Autumn, but this wasn't meant to be!

This is lovely, and I think the most strongly scented BPTP soap I've tried so far (it scents not only my bathroom but my bedroom as well) and I just unwrapped it about a week ago so I'm impressed it stayed this vibrant even though the Yule soaps came out last December! I actually think the coffee aspect comes out more strongly in the soap than it did in the oil. I think the scent lingers a bit after washing with it, but with no throw and it doesn't stick around forever, which is good because it is a nice light scent if I decide to not wear an oil, but isn't so heavy that I can't put on anything other than El Dia afterwards! I really love the Trading Post soaps & can't wait to get more!

In the bottle: Vibrant floral, plumeria, lily. I did not look at the notes listed for this when I did my sniff test, so I find it interesting that I used the word "vibrant" which is part of the description. But it is - this isn't a soft, gentle floral. It's very bright! On: Smells like a bright bouquet of flowers. I would've guessed carnation but it's not listed - but there's that little bit of spice. Plumeria & mum present (not like Crysanthemum Moon though) and something borderline fruity. This may sound odd but I'd describe this as something of a "thirst quenching" scent - it's luscious like that. Dry: I sort of love/hate how Beth creates blends that make me question my "work/don't work" blends (love because it's fun finding surprise hits, hate because I don't know what I don't like anymore - must.. try... everything!!) I don't like most florals - a few flowers I really like (gardenia, violet, sometimes carnation) but generally I write off floral blends as "ones I don't need to try because they probably won't work." I can usually categorize florals into two groups - the "This smells like something my grandmother would wear" and "This smells like something that would be stunning on a woman who is classy and dressed up and ready for anything" - a sharp contrast with my usual jeans & a ponytail ensemble But Noche Buena is really gorgeous and a floral that doesn't feel too old for me or too dressy for me - maybe because it's a floral incense instead of a straight up floral? It's fresh, lush, a little spicy - sweet & vibrant incense + flowers. I only have the little bit left over in the bottle from decanting 6 imps, but this will end up being another bottle purchase for me! Similar to how people said Midnight Mass smelled like Catholic church incense (which I didn't get but wish I did!), I wonder how similar this is to incense used in the Mexican celebration of the midnight mass. Much love for Noche Buena!

This one is fascinating! In the bottle: Woods and coconut On: The cardamom and clove start to come out as this warms on my skin - never too strong or overpowering, but just giving a nice feeling of warmth. The woods become more subdued and the rice flower comes out more. There is a sweetness to this blend, but the spices and incense give a nice base to the scent to keep it from going too sweet. The coconut is lovely too - a very crisp and fresh coconut, not sweetened or dessert-like. Dry: This is almost soothing when it dries! I think the clove lingers the longest, but it's just very calming and well-blended. It's really unique - I don't think I've ever tried anything that smells like this, and it's really beautiful!

In the bottle: A candy cane. Spot on - more so than either of the previous Lick It incarnations. Unwrap a candy cane and sniff - that's what this smells like in the bottle. On: Oh dear, this is the first Lick It variation that doesn't work on my skin! The peppermint, which was somewhat of a softened scent in the bottle goes a bit harsh on me, and the sugar amps up. Sugar is a note that is very hit or miss for me - sometimes it's great, othertimes it's really not good on me. Unfortunately this one just isn't right for me - it's no longer the lovely candy cane it was from the bottle - now it's clashing harsh peppermint and sugar. Dry: It's not until it's dry that the vanilla comes out. Oddly enough, it reminds me of the vanilla in Dorian, which also doesn't work on me (it smells almost "stale"). Sad! This was beautiful in the bottle but not right at all on my skin. It'll be wonderful on people where it keeps smelling like a candy cane though!

Hot cocoa with cinnamon, coffee, and brown sugar. I am in love and I did not expect it with this one! No BPAL chocolate has worked properly on my skin, so I didn't think this one would either. I couldn't have been more wrong - this is phenomenal! In the bottle: Rich, dark, hot cocoa On: This is amazing. My mouth is watering - I am not kidding. It's a gorgeous rich hot chocolate - like really good hot chocolate in a nice coffeehouse, so the scent of coffee is there but not at the foreground. This gives me a visual of stepping in from a cold, snowy winter day into a warm, friendly little cafe, ordering hot chocolate with a dash of cinnamon for myself while my partner gets a coffee. Dry: Not a morpher, which is fine by me because this is just so perfectly delicious. I'm going to need lots of this! I want to find some Marshmallow Poof to see how they wear together! One thing to note which I find odd - I'd expect this to be dark, like Boomslang, but the oil is pale. I prefer that, because Boomslang left marks on my skin but this one doesn't stain at all. (edited for description)

I didn't base a costume off of anything, but I wore my Treat shirt and carved a BPTP pumpkin that the folks in the BPAL thread of the LUSH board said I should share here http://img144.imageshack.us/img144/3919/pumpkinwk7.jpg

Oh, I'd be the same - Shelldoo would be sick of me! I'd show up like clockwork on payday! All I meant was that having this line is an incentive for brick-and-mortar retailers to carry BPAL - because it's something people can't get via mail order so the fans will have to go to the stores, so the retailers will get something of a built-in market - and that having brick-and-morter retailers carry BPAL is a good thing for the lab, because they can then attract people who *don't* already know about it, don't have internet access, or who are leery of buying perfume online ("how do you know what it smells like???"). So I don't think it's about attracting more current BPAL fans to the retailers, as much as it is having the retailers carry BPAL to get more new customers/fans. Gotcha I think I misread you as saying it was the BPALers who needed the incentive to go. If this will possibly lead to more brick-and-mortar retailers carrying BPAL, then rock on

But I think that actually, there aren't that many BPALers who live near retail locations - b/c the Lab isn't an open-for-business store, right? Shelldoo sells the GC in Hershey, and they'd just added Harry's Whole Foods in Georgia, but that's not a lot of retailers. And so the only chance most people get to buy direct is in Will Calls, and while I know that people here who live close enough definitely go to/buy from Will Calls, that's only once a month, so I think the vast majority of the lab's business has to be mail order. Especially when you figure that retailers don't carry LEs (except at Will Calls). So this way, yeah, the Lab does encourage retailers to carry the line by giving people a reason to go to these spaces rather than tack on GC bottles to an LE order. Not that I'm not bummed that I don't live anywhere near LA or Hershey! Oh, maybe I wasn't very clear when I said that! I know there aren't many BPALers who live near the retail locations since there are only 2 places that people can go. But I was assuming (based on my personal experience living near non-BPAL retail stores that are popular through mail order) that for those people who live near one of the retail stores - even though there aren't many - they would be likely to go to those stores to buy what they carry instead of going through mail order. (in other words, if I lived near Shelldoo's shop, she'd probably have to forcibly peel me away from the shelves and kick me out at closing time ) I would be more inclined to go to a BPAL store than through mail order given the opportunity - I like the instant gratification of going through a retail store! So all I meant was that I was wondering if BPALers even needed more of an incentive to go to a store that carries BPAL - the fact that it'd carry any BPAL is all the incentive I think a lot of us would need, judging by the squees in the thread when the Georgia Whole Foods became a seller of even a few GCs! I hope that makes more sense

Really? Hmm.. I actually would've thought that BPALers who live near retail locations would be more likely to buy from the retail location than from the website - instant gratification, no shipping cost and all that (just in my own experience, I live by a LUSH store and so I always bought from there & never through mail order). This is great for the retailers, not so great for those of us who don't live anywhere near the retailers. Now, if this is followed up with an announcement that all neighborhood corner stores will start carrying BPAL, that'd be pretty fantastic In the meantime though, I'll just keep an eye on the swaps boards for decant circles and CP offers and the like.

In the bottle - Dark, luscious fruits - raspberry, plum, pomegranate, and I'd swear there was something citrus in here, like blood orange, but there doesn't seem to be. On - Briefly, about 20 seconds or so, it's gum - cherry flavored. Thankfully that settles down, and it smells more like it did in the bottle - fruit, but sensual. I can't pick out the patchouli or pepper at all, and there's a little bit of the rose (a note I generally don't care for) but it's behaving. Dry - Here's an oddity: On my right hand, this is still the gorgeous fruit blend with a bit of pepper - really, really nice. On my left hand, it's rose and nothing else. Love it on my right hand, not so enthusiastic about the left. Must figure out how to keep it to the fruity side rather than the rose!

My labels. Let me show you them. (picture of Hunter Moon, October, & Perilous Parlor labels. Perilous Parlor is very cool

In the bottle: Wow, there's a lot going on! Woods, something sweet, red wine... On: Wait, pears? *sniffs skin, compares it against bottle of Perilous Parlor* Yep. Pears. Way to go, skin of mine, you make no sense. (I'm testing this on my right knee, and Perilous Parlor was on my left wrist, so it's definitely not from mixing the oils on my skin!) Anyway, I'm enjoying this one very much - under the fruit, there's musk which is sweet over the darkness of evergreens and woodsmoke. Very sexy, very evocative of autumn. Dry: Unusual for my skin which tends to sweeten oils as they dry, this one actually goes less sweet. The musk & wine are still there, but the woods become more prominent. Overall - a beautiful blend, definitely makes me crave some cold autumn nights!

In the bottle: Very wet, very green. Masculine, and a bit soapy. On: I was thinking "This isn't good with my skin chemistry at all!" - nothing like what I expected, it was similar to how it was in the bottle - wet, green men's soap, or maybe aftershave. I was hoping for that cold dry wind and red leaves, and this seemed about as far as I could get from there. Dry: I had almost entirely given up hope on this one when something clicked - I don't know what changed exactly, as it'd been dry for a while (I applied only a tiny bit from the cap), but I got the promised dry leaves and hint of woodsmoke. The green, soapy quality is gone. This is like being outside on an autumn night, with the scent of a bonfire in the distance carried to you by a chilly breeze. Much better! I'm glad I stuck it out instead of washing it off - I didn't care for it for a while there but it does deliver on the cool air, leaves, and smoke. I'm curious to see how it develops as it ages.

In the bottle: Sweet and juicy pear, but with a hint of something medicinal - kind of like the cherry Triaminic I got for colds when I was a kid. On: Medicinal quality is only in the bottle - this is predominantly pear, ripe, juicy. Very sweet, but not sugary or candy-like. It's sweet and fruity. It takes a while, maybe 10 minutes, before the vanilla kicks in - and it's a lovely, creamy vanilla (and vanilla can sometimes get plastic on me but this one behaves). I'm getting something like almond in here too - kind of like Dana O'Shee. Dry: Where'd the pear go? When this was wet I was very pleased, as the rest of my autumn fruity scents are apple or pumpkin and the pear was a nice addition, but I think my skin ate all the pear and I'm left with the vanilla. It's a nice vanilla, to be sure, but I was hoping the pear would be hanging around more! I think this is one to test in the scent locket to keep the pear longer! Edit: I put this in my oil burner today to see how it'd turn out and - it's phenomenally good! The pear and vanilla balance each other perfectly and it makes for a great room scent that'll be gorgeous and comforting on cold fall days. (and the label looks so cool, this might warrant a second bottle!)

Okay, scent memory time. In the early-to-mid 80s, my grandmother drank a lot of Red Rose Tea, and each box came with a little ceramic animal that she'd keep for me and they'd always still smell strongly of the tea. I hadn't thought about those animals in *years*, but when I got my Pruno/Privilege box from the lab, the inside smelled just like the those animals, with that lingering tea scent, and it was coming from the Pruno bottle. Nothing leaked, but even in the closed bottle all I could think of with this was that tea! Moving on... In the bottle: A combination of Red Rose tea and orange drink - not orange juice, but that corn syrup artificial orange drink. On: No ketchup or apples (sadly, since I love the scent of apples), but it smells like ginger ale mixed with orange drink. Dry: Unfortunately this one is not wearable for me - the oranges (more often a miss than a hit note for me) smell fake. Sometimes they work on me and I hoped the apples would come out more prominently, but this one isn't a very good match for me.

*grin* Shameless and without substance? I wonder what it says about me that I actually kind of like this one! I wasn't expecting to - I thought it would be all floral, especially with that rose in there, and the lemon blossom had me worried since I usually don't care for lemon. Turns out I can't pick out either from the blend. In the bottle: It's damp! Not aquatic, which I usually associate with ozone or salt, but this is more like a stream in a field or the woods. Pleasantly surprising, and all the florals are nowhere to be found. On: Keeps that damp feeling (is that the oakmoss?) Again, I thought this would be flowery but instead it's more watery - NOT the salt of aquatic, but it really puts in my mind the image of a stream flowing through lush greenery. Didn't expect this! Dry: When dry, there's a little bit of floral spice, almost, and that watery feeling is still lingering. I actually like it as far as florals go since it's more wet than floral, but I'm not sure it's one that I want a whole bottle of since I don't know how often I'd be reaching for it. I noticed some people said this is very commercial, but I don't think it's commercial at all - I think it's unique and very pretty. (edited to add description)

This was a lab frimp that I frimped off to someone else last week not long before the discontinuation announcement. I kind of wish I could try it again for a better review, but if I loved it enough I would've kept it! In the imp - This was a dark, sweet almond scent. On - Almond keeping it sweet, but there is an earthiness underneath - can detect the patchouli & moss, not so much the pine or honeysuckle though. Dry - Not unpleasant at all, but too masculine for my preferences - patchouli will do that sometimes.

In the bottle: OZONE. Wow. OOOOZZZOOONNNEEE. Kind of bitter and somewhat sour. On: Sharp ozone, sourness. The ozone is so strong I can't really make out anything underneath. I did some house-cleaning yesterday and this reminds me of that sharp cleaning smell. Dry: As it starts to dry, the other notes come out - I can pick out the amber, something softer and sweeter underneath as the ozone fades. There is a toasty scent, and something that reminds me of being in a cornfield in September after all of the cornstalks have gone gold and dry. My husband thinks it smells really nice. I don't dislike this, but it's not quite what I expected - the ozone is a bit much for me in the early stages (and I usually really like ozone!) I think I'm going to hang on to the bottle for now (the label art is lovely) and see if it ends up settling down.

Just opened this one up 2 days ago. It smells *amazing*. This is important to note because I cannot wear Snake Oil as an oil - it's heavily smoky incense on me with barely any vanilla. But the soap is what I wish the oil was - a gorgeous vanilla with enough incense to give it an interesting kick. Though it's not scented as strongly as the Shub soap, the Snake Oil soap is making my bathroom smell fantastic. It doesn't linger on my skin long and I wish the fragrance did because this is what I wanted Snake Oil the oil to be! But as a soap, it's fantastic, creamy, non-drying, and smells great. Most definitely worth every penny!

In the decant: A foody, cake-like vanilla with a bit of a twang On: Powdery grapefruit with a springlike floral. There's jasmine, yes, but it's how jasmine *should* smell, not the motor oil weirdness it usually is on my skin. Unfortunately as the vanilla comes out as it dries, it smells a bit plastic on me. Dry: 5 vanillas in this, hm? Well there is at least one vanilla that does not work on my skin. I don't know which specific vanilla it is, but it's in here and makes this unwearable, almost plastic on me. The jasmine is okay (not great, but not bad), but it's the plasticky vanilla seals this as a "no" Too bad, it was pretty (and I can see why people say it's fuzzy) in the bottle!

Definitely a neat little memory of a very fun event! In the imp: Cinnamon! Not candied though, just a spicy cinnamon. On: After the initial cinnamon blast, it does get sweeter, kind of a creamy sweetness along with the cinnamon spice. I can smell the dragon's blood, but it's almost sugared. Dry: An almost refreshing combination of sweet and spice. I don't quite get root beer, but it does have a creamy fizziness to it. I know it's a joke blend, but it's actually really pretty!