Jenesis

Bottle: A light, refreshing floral (oh dear, florals = soap) Wet: Smells like my Mum's shower gel, an inoffensive yet plasticky flowery smell. Drydown: More like soap than gel. I should have learned my lesson about flowers by now. Dry: Nope, afraid the piggy just doesn't like me! I'm sure this would smell far better on someone who likes florals. It seems to be a very light, refreshing and energising scent for those it works on. Final verdict: Flowers hate me, and this was no exception. Given an extra point for not making me want to vomit like peony usually does. Rating: 2/5

Bright, intoxicating, hectic notes masking a twisted, corrupted core: sweet wild berry, spicy carnation and heliotrope layered over deep amber and musk. Bottle: All I get from this is "cheap cologne". Wet: Very sweet, sticky berry, rather like candyfloss. I feel like my nose will become stuck to my wrist if I get too close! Drydown: Still the sweet berry, but with an undertone of florals. I must admit I was scared by the carnation in the description (flowers hate me), but it seems to be working out so far. Dry: As always on me, the musk appears. No spices, but the florals are behaving, and that's all I ask! The sweet fruity note is still top of the heap, and the whole thing definitely reminds me of a carnival or fair. Or a sweet shop. Not exactly an everyday scent, but definitely one for Hallow's Eve, Christmas or other Winter festival! (Or just for when I'm feeling indulgent ) Final verdict: Rich, sensual and sweet, this is truly a decadent scent. Rating: 4/5 Review

Bottle: All I get from this is "cheap cologne". Wet: Very sweet, sticky berry, rather like candyfloss. I feel like my nose will become stuck to my wrist if I get too close! Drydown: Still the sweet berry, but with an undertone of florals. I must admit I was scared by the carnation in the description (flowers hate me), but it seems to be working out so far. Dry: As always on me, the musk appears. No spices, but the florals are behaving, and that's all I ask! The sweet fruity note is still top of the heap, and the whole thing definitely reminds me of a carnival or fair. Or a sweet shop. Not exactly an everyday scent, but definitely one for Hallow's Eve, Christmas or other Winter festival! (Or just for when I'm feeling indulgent ) Final verdict: Rich, sensual and sweet, this is truly a decadent scent. Rating: 4/5

Wet: Rather nice cherries, not very sweet, more "real" cherries than those glace ones drenched in syrup. Drydown: A weird mix of sour, tart currants and cherries. Dry: Sadly, it was not meant to be. It's not an "Eugh!" scent, but it's nowhere near as nice as, say, Bloody Mary. The cherries remain, but there is no sign of the rich woods, and the currants smell like they could use a few more spoonfuls of sugar on top. Final Verdict: Fruity, slightly tart pie with no sugar. Rating: 3/5

Deep mahogany and rich, velvety woods lacquered with sweet, black-red cherries and currant. Wet: Rather nice cherries, not very sweet, more "real" cherries than those glace ones drenched in syrup. Drydown: A weird mix of sour, tart currants and cherries. Dry: Sadly, it was not meant to be. It's not an "Eugh!" scent, but it's nowhere near as nice as, say, Bloody Mary. The cherries remain, but there is no sign of the rich woods, and the currants smell like they could use a few more spoonfuls of sugar on top. Final Verdict: Fruity, slightly tart pie with no sugar. Rating: 3/5 Review

Why waste time chanting her name in the mirror 13 times? Bedevil your next slumber party the easy way! Chunky, glistening red fruits with sweet cream accord, black clotted cherry, and powdered sugar! Wet: Cherry cough medicine. Drydown: Getting more interesting, a cherry scent (real cherries, so not too sweet) with a creaminess underneath. Dry: What every summer fruits pudding aspires to be! A gorgeous, sexy blend of cherries, lifted by the sugar and warmed by the cream. Yum yum. It's like a less sweet version of Vice (which suits me just fine!). Final Verdict: After the drydown, a cherry pudding sweetened by sugar and drizzled over with cream. Rating: 4.5/5 (Loses half a point for the bad wet smell ) Review

Wet: Cherry cough medicine. Drydown: Getting more interesting, a cherry scent (real cherries, so not too sweet) with a creaminess underneath. Dry: What every summer fruits pudding aspires to be! A gorgeous, sexy blend of cherries, lifted by the sugar and warmed by the cream. Yum yum. It's like a less sweet version of Vice (which suits me just fine!). Final Verdict: After the drydown, a cherry pudding sweetened by sugar and drizzled over with cream. Rating: 4.5/5 (Loses half a point for the bad wet smell )

Wet: Smells like paint. Oh dear. Drydown: Smells like cheap shampoo. Equally, oh dear. Dry: Oh, thank goodness for that! The musk (always good on me) and the coconut come out to play. The sweet coconut balances the dryness of the woods, and the mellow musk and spicy incense add complexity to the blend. Not an everyday scent, but definitely one for when I feel particularly enigmatic! I also agree with the above review that it's very warm and comforting, not at all like its namesake! Final Verdict: Once it dries, it's a sweet, musky blend complicated by spices and woods. Gorgeous and comforting. Rating: 4.5/5 ETA: This has great staying power, albeit in a softer, muskier way than the initial coconut and wood mix.

A small, furry, sharp-toothed scent that will nuzzle you curiously in the black hours before dawn: dusty white sandalwood and orris root, dry coconut husk, creeping musk, and the residue of ceremonial incense. Wet: Smells like paint. Oh dear. Drydown: Smells like cheap shampoo. Equally, oh dear. Dry: Oh, thank goodness for that! The musk (always good on me) and the coconut come out to play. The sweet coconut balances the dryness of the woods, and the mellow musk and spicy incense add complexity to the blend. Not an everyday scent, but definitely one for when I feel particularly engimatic! Final Verdict: Once it dries, it's a sweet, musky blend complicated by spices and woods. Gorgeous and sexy, although not an everyday scent. Rating: 4.5/5 Review

So I got home yesterday to find a box of BPAL waiting for me! My Mum (bless her heart) obeyed my instruction to the letter and not only did she put the bottles upright in the Lab box and leave it in a dark place, she put all my other bottles in it too! So well done Mum! Anyway, one of mine was a 5ml of Geek with about 1ml left in it. My review as up on the forums goes like this: --------------------------------- Geek A snarling, feral scent, ever-so-slightly deranged: hot leather, opoponax, cedar, pine needle, mosses, dry grass, patchouli and cinnamon bark. Wet: Smells like aftershave. Not unpleasant, but I'm questioning the long-term use of this scent. Patchouli AMPS on me so that's all I can smell at the moment. Drydown: Ooh this is getting lovely! A warm scent, green and plant-y but without being herbal. Dry: Hubba hubba! Sexy woods lifted by a little spice. A rather more masculine scent than I'm used to, but perfect for when I'm either PMSing or just in the mood to feel powerful. Rawr! Final verdict: 5/5 A sexy cedar and pine blend, made fun by cinnamon bark, and darkened by opopanax. Review --------------------------------- I mainly put this on this morning as I'm building my new PC this afternoon

Wet: Smells like aftershave. Not unpleasant, but I'm questioning the long-term use of this scent. Patchouli AMPS on me so that's all I can smell at the moment. Drydown: Ooh this is getting lovely! A warm scent, green and plant-y but without being herbal. Dry: Hubba hubba! Sexy woods lifted by a little spice. A rather more masculine scent than I'm used to, but perfect for when I'm either PMSing or just in the mood to feel powerful. Rawr! Final verdict: 5/5 A sexy cedar and pine blend, made fun by cinnamon bark, and darkened by opopanax. Edit: Just wanted to say that this has become my favourite scent ever. Period. I guard my bottle-and-a-bit with my life.

Just wanted to say and I know how you feel! I fight with my mother when I'm at home too. I'm afraid I don't have any experience or advice to offer you, but your parents will still love and respect you even when you think you've disappointed them. Suddenly blurting out that you're moving to a new state won't help matters, explain to them that you need new opportunities in life and independence, and bring into that the fact that you're moving. Just my 2c Good luck!

And that's official! Whether I'll have to come back to resit any of course remains to be seen, but oh well, that's not for a few months I'm off home tomorrow, which is bad in the sense that I'm leaving a week before everyone else so they'll all be partying without me, and also that my Mum and I fight a lot when I'm home (we get along fine at opposite ends of the country, strangely...). However it is good in the sense of BPAL! I've had all my orders/purchases/swaps from after May 10th sent there rather than here, so when I get home there should be Geek, Bloody Mary and The Red Queen waiting for me!* Not to mention all the components for my gorgeous new PC *ETA: Plus Imps of Brown Jenkins, Shub, Imp, Vice, Fire Pig...

Me too I placed an order May 10th, no news as yet, but they tend to send out Internationals in one big bunch. Hopefully that'll be soon! (I neeeeed my 5ml of Imp )

As anyone who knows me or has seen me around the forums can tell, I LOVE Imp. The blend of peach and a musk works very well on me. I also like the spiciness of Shub and Chimera, which I guess means I like cinnamon and ginger. So my question is this: Are there any BPAL blends people could recommend which give a sort of spicy-fruity scent? The idea of peach or something and cinnamon sounds divine on me. I tried layering Imp, but alas, the musk in Imp drowns everything else out

It took more time putting in all the data than it did to make the database, once I'd mastered the art of drop-down lists in databases! I had to spend a day or so reading through the OO.org forums for help on that one, but if you'd rather just type the collection every time (rather than create a separate form like I did and use it as a drop-down list) you don't need to worry about that. As for the text on the bottom and right of the screen, that's static and remains there no matter what record is showing. I have to edit that text in the same editor that can edit the form itself - text boxes, check boxes, lists, mouse-over labels, etc. I've found that for organisation, when simply browsing or reading records I sort them alphabetically, by Collection primarily and Name secondarily. This puts them in the order they appear on the BPAL website, so it's a bit easier to check for updates/discons/additions in the general catalog. And yes, I believe OpenOffice will run on a Mac Hop over to OpenOffice.org to download!

Just pimping my Wishlist Wishlist Highlights: Fire Pig Enraged Groundhog Musk Cheshire Cat Eat Me March Hare

I just had to post a picture of this as I'm so proud of it I don't get on with Excel, I prefer databases. I don't have the MS Office database program, so I used the OpenOffice (a completely free suite) one. Here is an image showing a day's solid work. Just a thought if you don't like Excel! Although I do admire all the work people put into spreadsheets! ETA: The database has all the GC collections plus the Carousel and Carnaval Diabolique. I've included LEs only if I have them myself - no use filling up disk space with the Lunacies as I never buy them It needs updating actually, haven't put the last two updates in yet. Oh well, after exams...

I Got My Order! W00t, my 29th April order came! My Mum, rather bemused by the sudden avalanche of boxes, parcels and packets for me, called me and told me. I asked her to open it and put the Bloody Mary upright somewhere dark. I can't remember what she said the frimps were (although her pronunciation of Shub-Niggurath was amusing), but I'm pretty sure one of them was Phantom (maybe Phantasm). The Imps that I ordered were: 2 x Brown Jenkins, 2 x Vice, Imp and Shub-Niggurath. Can't wait to get home on Saturday now Tenochtitlan Wow, I can finally spell that right! In my package with the 5ml of Ventriloquist Dummy (see previous post for the tragedy of that one ), lorajc kindly included a frimp of Tenochtitlan. My review of it is here. To sum up, it's not unpleasant, it just doesn't quite work on me. Oh well . New PC Components I really shouldn't start squeeing about this until I get home, but oh well I got a call from my Mum earlier today: All my computer bits have arrived at home! I'll be building it next Sunday, after I go and get a monitor (I already have an AWESOME keyboard - the Logitech G15 Gamer - and a great Razer Diamondback mouse). My poor Mum sounded very bemused when she said "There are four large boxes here for you - one says 'X-Cruiser Chassis' on it. Are you building a car?"

I would absolutely love this if I could get the spiced pear that others get On me, it's not offensive, it's not bad-smelling, it's just... meh. A pleasant scent, but it neither matches my character nor captures my imagination. I'm getting a bright, yellow fruitness from this, with a green, slightly floral background.

Well, in good accordance with Murphy's Law, the missing bottle of Ventriloquist Dummy was waiting on my doorstep for me this morning! So I'm happy about that (annoyed at Royal Mail though!). The problem came when I first wore the Dummy. I don't usually go for hyperbole, but this is just: AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARGH! The Dummy really hates me most woods and things go lovely on me but with this one all I can smell is dust, decay, rot and a pile of ancient, rotting potpourri. And the worst part is, I'll have two bottles, as I ordered another one thinking the first one was lost. So now I'll have to sell or swap them both, which always makes me feel guilty, as I put other people to effort packing and sending them to me, and then I'm just getting rid of them. I always stay well under the price caps in the swap forum, though. Whyyyyy ETA: Oh no! I have a decant on the way as well! I'll feel soooo guilty about putting 2 bottles and a decant up for sale at once, it looks like I'm trying to profit, but at the same time I don't want to hang on to them for six months then sell them, for the same reason

Two words: OH NO! Because this goes immediately to dry, dusty, choking woods (even my eyes started watering after a big sniff). See my blog for details, but I basically ended up getting two bottles of this. Now both of them are going to have to go on the swap pile I feel like such a tool...

ETA: SEE MORE RECENT POST! I think I may have to bite the bullet and admit that, for the first time in all my BPAL buying, selling and swapping, the Royal Mail has lost one of my parcels. I had a bottle of Monsterbait: Ventriloquist Dummy on the way from lorajc. She shipped it on the 8th of May - nearly 2 weeks ago - and it still hasn't shown up. Every other purchase I made from the 7th - 10th of May has turned up apart from that one. That is in no way her fault or my fault, just the stupid Post Office losing packages I haven't had a problem before, but as I've bought literally hundreds of things off the Internet in the past few years, statistics indicate that at least one or two of them would be lost. Why oh why did it have to be a bottle of BPAL though especially a discontinued LE! I'm going to go and cry have a big cup of hot chocolate now

Thank you for the encouragement! The big sad clincher is though that I'm leaving this address permanently on Saturday 26th, as the Uni term is ending. If it does come before then I'll be very happy. If it comes after I've gone, I don't think it will be returned to sender - I can ask my flatmates to return to sender if anything comes for me but they're not usually very co-operative about nice gestures like that (and not using other people's food and crockery... but that's another story ). If it doesn't come at all then it's lost in the void that is Royal Mail. I'll hold off the PM until Saturday then, but after that I'm really going to have to consider it lost forever. ETA: I did ask the PO about mail redirection, but I need (apart from my passport, which I don't have here) a utility bill with this address on it. As it's a Hall of Residence, I obviously don't have any bills or official documents that would be considered proof of address. Grrr

This is just a general post whingeing about exams and end of term stuff that's bringing me down. I noticed this because, even though I personally don't get stressed out the way some people do, my body does! My insomnia has been worse in this past fortnight than it has been for a year, plus I have three lovely mouth ulcers and a cold sore, all brought on by my general tiredness. I felt a little coldey and fluey yesterday but thankfully it just seemed to be a bad day rather than illness. I was a little worried as my boyfriend's housemate currently has the flu, poor chap. Another lovely side-effect is a mild depression and aching/tired muscles. At this point, I just want to go home I have one week of University left, with two exams - one tomorrow and one Friday - which I know I'll either scrape past or fail completely. To make matters worse, my father is coming to pick me and all my stuff up on Saturday morning so not only can I not go out on Friday night to celebrate with my friends, but I somehow have to pack an entire year's worth of stuff, including books, folders, bedding, saucepans, plates etcetera (not to mention my BPAL, securely bubble-wrapped!) while I'm revising for my last exam. My father has to pick me up then as it's the only weekend in about a month when he's home. I know it's very selfish, but sometimes I wish the office would stop sending him overseas all the time, especially over the weekend He's been working for them for thirty years and is retiring in December, give him a break! I didn't see him very much when I was home, and now I can barely see him at all. Mum resents all his trips too, but she knows he gets paid extra for it so she can live with it. I have a bad feeling about my father's imminent retirement. I'll be happy to see him stop working and be less stressed, however I also know he's the kind of person who needs something to do in their lives. I predict my Mum will be able to put up with him under her feet for a week, tops, before they start screaming and shouting at each other. I wouldn't be at all surprised if he goes and gets a part-time job or goes and works in the Library on his book or something. Sometimes I wonder how they're still married.