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Jenesis

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  1. Jenesis

    New Sales Post

    By Jenesis,

    Just a bit of pimpage for my Sales post
     
    Some highlights:
     
    - 5ml of Ventriloquist Dummy (He hates me)
    - 5ml of Xanthe (My backup that I won't use, never opened)
    - 5ml The Red Queen (Bloody Mary and I get on much better!)
    - 5ml Velvet (Can't compete with Candy Butcher)
     
    - Decants of: Mama-Ji, Mr Jaquel, Carnival Diabolique and Harvest Moon
    - Loads of GC Imps such as Brown Jenkins, Eris, Delphi, Sin, Wrath...
  2. Jenesis
    Three white cakes, vanilla, and red and black currants.

    Bottle: Nothing in particular, quite strong.

    Wet: Fruity, tart berries.

    Dry & Drydown: Smells similar - warm, sweet cake with slightly bitter undertones of berry. Sorry I can't be more specific - this is one of those mellow, all-purpose, warm, comforting scents, and on my chemistry, it smells divine!

    Throw: Everyone I asked "Do you like this smell?" loved it. It lasted about 8 hours before vanishing.

    Verdict: Warm, sweet and foody. A 6-part chord of notes rather than an octave.

    Rating: A delectable 5/5!

    Review
  3. Jenesis
    A new year's blessing! Peony, China's national flower, with bamboo for flexibility, plum blossom for perseverance, courage, and hope, tangerine for wealth, orange for happiness, lychee for household peace, pine resin for constancy, golden kumquat, pussy willow, and quince for prosperity, narcissus and King mandarin for good fortune, and peach blossom for longevity, with a splash of blazing red of dragon's blood… to help you scare away the rampaging Nian.
     
    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
     
    Review
  4. Jenesis
    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
  5. Jenesis
    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
  6. Jenesis
    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
  7. Jenesis
    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
  8. Jenesis
    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
  9. Jenesis

    Exams are over!

    By Jenesis,

    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...
  11. Jenesis
    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?"
     

  12. Jenesis
    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
  13. Jenesis

    IGMO! (13, Eat Me)

    By Jenesis,

    My 13 order has arrived!
     
    Ordered: 13th July
    CnS: 31st July
    Arrived: 4th August
     
    5ml 13
    5ml Eat Me
     
    Frimpies of King of Hearts, Incantation, Erato and Harlot. I swear Harlot is following me about. Incantation sounds interesting though!
     
    I'm quite impressed that this order got here so fast, due to the stupid postal strikes in the UK. I'm waiting on two swap/decant packages as well, both mailed before or around the time of my CnS, so here's to hoping RM don't eat my decants...
  14. Jenesis

    Pending Orders

    By Jenesis,

    Pending Orders
     
    -------------------------------------
     
    None
     
    -------------------------------------
    Past Orders
     
    -------------------------------------
     
    8th May 2009
     
    5ml Strawberry Moon
    5ml Velvet Nudie
     
    CnS: 15th May
    Received: 22nd May
     
    18th November 2008
     
    5ml Candy Phoenix
    5ml Snake Charmer
     
    CnS: None (Was sent during USPS weirdness period)
    Received: Dec 20th
     
    24th October 2008 (Trading Post)
     
    Clockwork Scent Locket
    Samhain Room Spray
     
    CnS: 4th November
    Received: 10th November
     
    3rd September 2008
     
    5ml Lilith Victoria
    5ml Graveyard Dirt Resurrected
    5ml Pumpkin II
    5ml Pumpkin IV
     
    CnS: 20th September
    Received: 26th September
     
    29th July 2008 (Trading Post)
     
    Explorer's Society Tee
    Imp Case: Witches Dancing on the Sabbath
    2 Notepads
    Keychain: Triple Dagger
    Goblin Squirt: Dungeon
     
    CnS: August 13th
    Received: August 19th
     
    29th July 2008
     
    5ml Schwarzer Mond
    5ml Inez
    5ml Doc Constantine
     
    Imp Pack:
     
    1 Antique Lace
    2 Fae
    3 Tweedledee
    4 Nostrum Remedium
    5 Stimulating Sassafras Strengthener
    6 Eden
     
    CnS: 2nd August
    Received: 9th August
     
    18th May 2008
     
    5ml Hand of Glory
    5ml The Illustrated Woman
    5ml Pickled Imp
     
    CnS: 10th June
    Received: 17th June
     
    22nd May 2008 (Lab eBay Auction)
     
    5ml Geek
     
    CnS: May 24th
    Received: May 30th
     
    22nd April 2008
     
    5ml Rangoon Riptide
    5ml The Antikythera Mechanism
    CnS: May 7th
    Received: May 13th
     
    18th April 2008 (Trading Post)
     
    Dragon Moon tee
    Phoenix Steamworks tee
    Hell's Belle Claw Polish
     
    CnS: May 17th
    Received: May 22nd
     
     
    17th April 2008
     
    5ml Te Po
    5ml Theodesius, the Ledgerman
    CnS: April 25th
    Received: May 1st
     
    25th March 2008
     
    5ml Tiki King
    5ml Upa Upa
    5ml March Hare
    CnS: April 20th
    Received: April 28th
     
    15th February 2008
     
    5ml Love's Philosophy
    5ml Ebisu Making Love as Two Octopuses Look on
    5ml Mme. Moriarty, Misfortune Teller
    5ml Severin
    CnS: March
    Received: March
     
    19th January 2008
     
    5ml Khajuraho 08
    5ml Luperci 08
    5ml Smut 08
    CnS: February
    Received: February
     
    7th November 2007
     
    5ml Samhain 2007
    5ml Plunder
    CnS: November 30th
    Received: December 14th
     
    25th October 2007
     
    5ml Ivanushka
    5ml Samhain 2007
    5ml The Perilous Parlor
    5ml Gingerbread Poppet 2007
    5ml El Dia de Reyes
    5ml Vampire Tears
    5ml March Hare
     
    Imp pack #1
    1. Schrodinger's Cat
    2. Katharina
    3. Event Horizon
    4. Embalming Fluid
    5. Iago
    6. Sudha Segara
     
    Imp pack #2
    1. Bastet
    2. De Sade
    3. Fire of Love
    4. Goblin
    5. Whip
    6. Incubus
    CnS: November 14th
    Received: November 20th
     
    30th October 2007
     
    5ml Black Forest
    5ml The Lurid Library
    5ml The Snow Storm
    CnS: November 14th
    Received: November 19th
     
    13th July 2007
     
    5ml 13
    5ml Eat Me
     
    CnS: July 28th
    Received: August 4th
     
     
    11th June 2007
     
    5ml March Hare
    5ml Saw-Scaled Viper
     
    CnS: June 25th
    Received: July 3rd
     
     
    10th May 2007
     
    5ml Imp
    5ml Brown Jenkins
     
    Imp: The Red Queen
     
    CnS: June 6th
    Received: June 13th
     
     
    29th April 2007
     
    5ml Monsterbait: Bloody Mary
     
    Imp Pack:
    2 x Brown Jenkins
    2 x Vice
    Imp
    Shub-Niggurath
     
    CnS: May 11th
    Received: May 21st
    -------------------------------------
  15. Jenesis
    W00tage! I have found the graphics card I want
     
    The XFX 8800GTS 320MB. The brand is XFX, a reputable brand, and as mentioned in this article on MadShrimps, the XFX 320MB 8800GTS gives the best "frames per penny" rate of the bunch of similar cards they tested. This means that I'm paying the best money/performance ratio for it, which can't be bad! It's also under £200 on Scan, which I should be able to afford at some point this year
     
    There is also another article on the same site, testing the 320MB and 640MB versions of the same card. To be honest, people, there isn't really that much difference at all, and certainly not £100-worth of difference. The 640MB can run at a few more frames per second (i.e. single-digit amounts more) on higher settings than the 320MB, and that's about it. The core clock speeds are the same and they overclock (if that's your thing) the same as well. Besides, very few games use more than 300MB of memory, let alone 600MB. I get the feeling this is just another attempt, and probably a successful one, judging by the sales, to appeal to the "mine is bigger than yours!" market of teenage computer nerds. Y'know, the kind who run their games on the highest possible resolution with 16x Anti-Aliasing because it makes them feel big and important.* Now, I'm not too fussed about AA above 4x (there's no discernible increase in image/texture quality above that), and I game at the most convenient resolution for my monitor. As said new monitor will be no bigger than 19", I think the 320MB will be fine.
     
    My current card, a 256MB laptop version of the 6800, manages to run most things pretty well. It can manage The Sims 2 on mostly high settings with a couple of mediums, and it can run Half-Life 2 with no problems. It's in games like Oblivion and F.E.A.R. that the age of the card begins to show. It just can't handle AA at all, and only by turning the physics and detail settings down to minimum can these two games be played at framerates of more than about 10fps**. However, it should be noted that Oblivion is notorious for being a very demanding game graphically: It was released last year, before the 8800 chips were developed for consumer use, and very few gamers were able to manage it on the higher settings. It also uses a complicated rendering/shadow engine that, again, is notorious for being very demanding. F.E.A.R. is also quite demanding, for the physics and texture detail, and both of these games are often used in benchmark tests such as in the articles above. Tomb Raider: Legend is another benchmarker, a rather newer game that actually runs quite well on older systems thanks to an options/setting set that's a bit more customisable. I could run the demo of that with no problems on the lower or medium settings.
     
    I think my processor may have something to add to this as well: It's a Centrino (Intel, uuuurgh) 1.8GHz single-core. Veeery slow and a bit clunky at times. It can't be bottlenecking the system, as the rest of the components are about the same standard, but it isn't helping. Thank the almighty that my new PC will be a dual-core! Having said that, I am quite attached to my laptop. I've had it nearly 2 years now, and for a laptop, it's done very well. When I bought it (or rather, when Daddy bought it for me ) it was the bees' knees, now it's a crap-but-still-above-par-for-a-laptop rig. It will do for work, the Internet and World of Warcraft, but for newer games I'll be using my new system. Watch this space for more rants, musings, thoughts and comparisons of hardware
     
    Oh, and a review of Windows Vista, coming soon!
     
    *I know, I used to date one.
    **Which is a pain in the behind because when played on a good rig, F.E.A.R. is a beautiful game.
  16. Jenesis

    Layering Thoughts

    By Jenesis,

    This isn't turning into a blog so much as an extension of my BPAL database. Oh well!
     
    Layering
     
    Vice & Velvet/Candy Butcher
     
    I recently started experimenting with layering my BPAL. It started with Vice - I liked it, but it didn't really wow me, just a simple (if a little plasticy) cherry scent. After receiving Velvet and finding the same thing only with chocolate, I had the bright idea of layering them. The result? Sweet cherries rounded off by chocolate. The resultant blend can be a little too sweet sometimes, so I swap in The Candy Butcher (a slightly more bitter cocoa) for Velvet when that happens. With the Butcher and Vice I smell like a box of those hellishly expensive dark chocolate cherry liqueur chocolates. Yum yum!
     
    I'm also going to try it with Bloody Mary when I get home on the 26th. As that's a cherry scent too this could work quite well! I will post how that goes.
     
    Shub-Niggurath & Xanthe
     
    This one's a bit more tricky to pull off. While in theory the scents work very well together, the sweet fruit of Xanthe drawn to Earth by the herbal ginger of Shub, the two scents have such radically different strengths and throws that it took me a whole day of experimenting, and I'm still nervous about doing it! My basic finding was that ginger AMPS on me. A LOT. The people in the opposite block of flats could smell me when I wore Shub. So, I apply a tiny, tiny bit of Shub first - using an Imp wand or a toothpick or something - and rub that in. I let it sit for about 30 minutes or so, and then I apply Xanthe as liberally as I do when I wear just that. That's a dab from the cap on one wrist, rub wrists together, re-soak cap, a small dab on each side of the neck, and rub wrists on neck. Quite a lot for some scents, but just the right amount for the shy clown.
     
    After the Xanthe enters the drydown stage, the ginger of Shub comes back into play, and wowee! A gorgeous, fruity blend with spicy ginger in the background. The sweet sexiness of Xanthe with the uniqueness and individual spice of Shub. Just like me really
     
    As an aside, I have an Imp of Shub coming from the Lab in the Bloody Mary order. I might (since I have two bottles of Xanthe) try putting a custom Imp together of 1/4 Shub, 3/4 Xanthe and see what happens. Just a thought
  17. Jenesis
    Meh. Simple harmonic motion is SO BORING. And the word "simple" is a very inaccurate description. So I've come on here to rant about World of Warcraft and computers instead
     
    World of Warcraft
     
    I play World of Warcraft. I play it a lot, but it's not the only thing in my life. And no, I don't mind paying for the subscription because it's so good.
     
    I play in the Aggramar realm. I'm a gnome Warlock called Jenesis, currently level 37 (trying to level fast though), specialising in Demonology (I want a Felguard!). I was looking around the WoW-Europe site earlier and I found the High-Level Armour Sets - these have given me a new incentive to get to Level 70 and go do some instances! I particularly like the Felheart armour set, a Tier 1 Raid set that can be obtained from mobs in Molten Core. So when I get to Searing Gorge, off to Molten Core I go
     
    If any other BPALers are WoW (EU) players, whisper me and say hello!
     
    ETA: Molten Core is in Searing Gorge, not Outland. Oops
     
    Computers
     
    I can't wait to get home on the 26th. Why? Because I will be building my new computer after that I'm aiming to have all the components arrive at my house the following Monday so I can build it/test it/tweak it/swear at it when it doesn't work all that week. Not that any of you are at all interested in this, but check out the specs:
     
    Case - This is a sexy case
    Processor: AMD 64 X2 5200+ Dual-Core 2.6GHz
    Motherboard: MSI K9N nForce 590 SLI-Ready 8-Channel Audio with Creative Audigy soundcard
    OS: Vista Ultimate
     
    The other specs like hard drive (500GB SATA), memory (2GB at least) and things are all a bit more changeable and so not concrete yet. Total cost: About £900, or $1750. Not bad for a from-scratch dual-core system. A bit annoyed about the graphics card though; I can't afford a new 8800 yet (check out this sexy beast *dribble* ) so I'm using the boyfriend's old 6600 card until I can! He got an 8800 for his machine and gave the old card to me. So I'm gonna have this lightning fast rig bottlenecked by an almost outdated graphics card
     
    ETA: Must... resist... getting... credit... card... out... I WANT an 8800!
  18. Jenesis
    Today's Scent
     
    So today I got my bottle of Shub that I swapped with naughteblonde for my backup Gennivre bottle. On first sniff I thought "Oh no!" but on application it mellowed. It takes a while to mellow on me so I had to be patient, but it was worth it in the end: Lovely spicy ginger! This is going to be my "spicy" scent. I don't have any yet, Chimera is just barely spicy enough, and all my other blends are creamy-foody or light. So all in all good.
    And by the way: DON'T LAYER SHUB WITH CHIMERA. I tried it out of curiosity, and oh boy did I regret it. I was scrubbing my wrists for ten minutes after that gaffe Smelt like baby sick
     
    ETA: It does work well with Xanthe though! The uplifting fruitiness of the Clown is darkened and sweetened by the herbal ginger of Shub. Worth a try if you have both
     
    USPS Price Hike
     
    And so we move onto the main story of the day: The huge increase in International shipping prices by USPS. I started a thread about it myself here, but it's more expertly covered in this thread here. To US customers of BPAL that's not much, but for us UK citizens (and indeed Canada, Australia and the whole of Western Europe) it's crippling.
     
    [ETA: The threads have been split, the main one discussing the prices as directly related to BPAL and possible solutions is here. The other thread mentioned above is mainly discussing the hike in general.]
     
    The cost of shipping an order from the Lab to me is now $22.00, up from $9. That's over double the price. I don't know about you but this is seriously going to limit my orders. Good for my bank balance maybe, but not so good for the Lab, and definitely not good for new customers and newly enabled peeps. I really hope we can get a UK group order circle going. I don't order LEs much anyway (and certainly no Lunacies), but I definitely won't now. I can't justify spending $20-25 on a bottle and $20 for shipping of something that might not work on me.
     
    So my plan is to plan my orders way in advance - say 3 months before I order - and make it at least two or three (GC or long-term LE) bottles and some Imps or other things of equivalent value. That's the only way I can justify spending $20 on shipping, where before I was happy to order one 5ml and a couple of Imps.
     
    Such a shame
  19. Jenesis

    BPAL Reviews

    By Jenesis,

    BPAL Reviews
     
    Whenever I review a scent, I'll post a link to my post in the review thread here. This is also partly for me so I can keep track of all my reviews
     
    13 (July 2007)
    Aziraphale
    Black Pearl
    Bon Vivant
    Brown Jenkins
    The Candy Butcher
    Carnivale
    Creepy
    Crowley
    Death Adder
    Death of the Grave Digger
    Delousing Powder
    Dorian
    Eat Me
    Enraged Groundhog Musk
    Fire Pig
    Geek
    Gennivre
    Imp
    Kumiho
    Lampades
    Mania
    Monster Bait: Bloody Mary
    Monster Bait: Ventriloquist Dummy
    Obatala
    Odin
    The Red Queen
    Saw-Scaled Viper
    Shub-Niggurath
    Spooky
    Tanin'iver
    Tenochtitlan
    Two Monsters
    White Rabbit
    Xanthe
  20. Jenesis

    My Precious

    By Jenesis,

    My Bottles
     
    LE/Discon.
     
    Black Lace
    Candy Phoenix
    Enraged Groundhog Musk
    Frederic
    Geek
    The Perilous Parlor
    Rose Red 2008
    Samhain 07
    Snake Charmer Resurrected
     
    GC/Salon/Carnaval Diabolique
     
    Black Opal
    Eat Me
    March Hare
    Schrodinger's Cat
    Snake Oil
  21. Jenesis

    Feeling Miserable

    By Jenesis,

    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.
  22. Jenesis
    You know that bottle of Geek that was up on eBay UK? I won it! I can't wait for it to get here. It's all paid for and is being sent First Class, but there was no indication of when it would actually be posted. I've bought a bottle off the seller before (waaaaaaay back in 2006) and that was fine.
     
    I also got my CnS for my last (and for once, only pending) Lab order! March Hare and Saw-Scaled Viper, both second bottles - March Hare because I just love it so much, and SSV because it fades fast so needs lots of reapplications. I didn't order Pruno in the end, I couldn't justify the cost of three bottles + shipping
  23. Jenesis
    Ethereal musk, blonde woods, and dusty Bible accord.

    Bottle: Aaack. Alcoholic cologne.

    Wet: Still alcoholic cologne.

    Drydown: Weird, dusty, woody cologne.

    Dry (10 mins): Slightly more interesting. I can smell cedar, sandalwood (I think) and other light, as it says, blonde woods. No "dust" as yet. I think the "cologne" scent must be the musk.

    Dry (20 mins): Glad I left this, it's lovely now! Sweet, light musks and bright woods. Very sophisticated and fitting of the character. If I ever have a spare $25 I'll grab a bottle of this!

    Verdict: Leave this to mellow! Smart, sophisticated and uplifting. Sit there with your gold-rimmed spectacles and browse your old books.

    Rating: 4.5/5

    Review
  24. Jenesis
    So here I am back at University for my second year. The work isn't too bad, although the lecturers seem bent on giving us assignments that have to all be handed in at once. My house is... interesting. Suffice to say I am never living with some of these people ever again. Leaving milk out on the counter for two weeks doesn't exactly put them in my good books.
     
    Anyway, happy stuff: I made my birthday Lab order! I thought "Oh, screw it" and pretty much ordered my entire wishlist. Here goes:
     
    What a great box that will be to open! I was going to go for Saggitarius, but the Chamomile was a deal-breaker for me - the scent of that just reminds me of pond water. I'm really excited about Samhain and Gingerbread Poppet especially, and I look forward to trying Iago and De Sade (leather... mmm!).
     
    Luckily my birthday isn't until December 14th, and hopefully it will be delivered before then! I know the Lab will be very busy over the next few weeks, what with the wedding and everything, and I just hope they get round to my order in time.
  25. Jenesis
    Darkly seductive and lethally compelling: sinuous opponax, galbanum, dark wild berries, a drop of lush jasmine and a sliver of lime.
    As we all know, Venom is one of the oldest and most sought-after BPALs. It was discontinued in 2005. With that in mind...

    I was frimped a sniffie of this, and I must admit that I'm glad I don't like it. All I get out of it is "feet covered in hair dye". Don't ask me where I get that from, but to me I can smell sweaty-feet-stink with the pervading chemical tang of ammonia-based hair dye. Oh well!
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