Wwindy

In the Swaps section, there is a forum called Decant Circles and Group Orders. Most decant circles are posted right after an update, and it can be very hard to find spots in bottles that you want if you don't jump on them right away. Good luck finding what you want! There are also several LJ communities where decanters post announcements for their circles, and I've noticed that often (not always!) those circles are larger and thus easier to get into. YMMV, and not everyone wants to go outside the forum, but at least you have the information if you want to try that.

On me this is basically all sandalwood all the time -- but fortunately, it's a sandalwood note that I particularly love. Dry, woody, very yummy. I only get a tiny hint of warm musk and maybe just a touch of beeswax; I can't pick out tea or oud here at all. After drydown this reminds me a lot of the sandalwood soap that Ten Thousand Villages carries. ETA: I'm currently having a rather dramatic chemistry shift due to some medication changes, and all of a sudden I understand where people are coming from with the "patchouli" comments! This never used to smell like patchouli on me, but it sure does now...

As others have said, this is a gorgeous, luminous, red-gold smoky haze of a scent. It reminds me a little of Virginia, but this is... uh... more warm and glow-y than Virginia (hee, it's so hard to write anything that makes sense about scents!); it's also a little reminiscent of Scheherazade, but more refined, more elegant, not at all head-shoppy. Red musk sometimes gets almost cloying on my skin -- here it's staying under control, which is nice. The overall impression is of a lovely warm cloud of incense-y but surprisingly sweet (temperament-wise, not necessarily actual sugariness) and gentle musk.

Scent-wise, I'm getting lemon balm, frankincense, and something dusty-herbal that reminds me of chamomile. The overall impression is of a slightly citrus-y herbal tea with a bit of sharp, clean frankincense underneath. I applied this with intent both yesterday and today for Rosh Hashanah (seemed like the perfect time for "serious and profound reflection," confronting self-delusion, and starting out on a new path); I haven't noticed any major effect yet, but am wondering if I might be misusing this blend... Regardless, much like Triple Benevolent Conjunction, this is a definite mood-lifter.

This is definitely the L'Autunno bath oil scent -- I've got both and they're identical, at least on my skin. In the bottle I get an initial blast of buttery foodiness, but that burns off almost immediately. What's left is a *gorgeous* combination of grassy, slightly smoky hay, a bit of sweet molasses, and faint hints of the rich patchouli/myrrh combination lurking in the background. The sage and cedar come out a little more after drydown, increasing the autumnal dry woodiness factor. I love this, and it combines *really* well with the L'Autunno perfume oil. The two together are quintessential Fall! ETA: Great throw and nice long duration on this. I have to be a little careful to get the proportions right when I'm wearing this together with L'Autunno, as the throw is noticeably stronger on this blend.

If you're willing to branch out into TAL, you could also try Charisma...

I don't know what happened with that store, and the guy who told you that was smoking something! frankincense is a tree resin, and it doesn't smell anything like flowers. Here's one description of the scent: "characterized by a balsamic-spicy, slightly lemon, and typical fragrance of incense, with a slightly conifer-like undertone." And here's another: "At first, it is reminiscent of freshly ground black pepper, with a twist of lemon peel in the background. As the oil dries down, it reveals its dry woody character, which lies halfway between balsamic richness and flinty mineral crispness." At the store, were they selling lumps of resin or something else?

You could also look for a decant of Gunpowder ("Carrot peelings, hay, chaff, molasses, maple oats, red apples, stable wood, and musk") -- I think that one might depend a lot on your skin chemistry, but maybe worth a try? On me it smells almost exactly like oatmeal cookies.

Hooray for dark incense-y scents! In keeping with your S theme, I recommend Sri Lanka ("Indian sandalwood and cedar, and the dry incense smoke of olibanum, gum mastic, patchouli and myrrh") and Scales of Deprivation ("lemon peel, white sage, frankincense, lavender fougere, sandalwood, vetiver and labdanum"). You might also like Anne Bonny ("Indonesian red patchouli, red sandalwood, and frankincense"), Oblivion ("Dark musk, wood spice, labdanum, patchouli, dark African woods, and saffron"), and Dance of Death ("Dry, bone-white orris, black musk, serpentine patchouli and our murkiest myrrh"). ETA: Oh, I forgot Snake Oil!!! "Magnetic, mysterious, and exceedingly sexual in nature. A blend of exotic Indonesian oils sugared with vanilla." It's a must-try -- some people love it and some hate it, but give it a go.

This is *so* strongly evocative of a rack of belts in a department store, but in a really good way! I can't stop smelling myself. This oakmoss note works better on my skin than any other BPAL oakmoss I've tried yet -- ages ago I used to love The Gap's Oakmoss scent (one of the ones they meant for layering), and the oakmoss here reminds me of that. Unisex and intriguing, with good throw and duration.

Wow, this is a tough one -- these notes are difficult to pin down! I definitely smell artemisia or wormwood of some sort here; I just spent a bunch of time pruning the giant overgrowth of artemisia southernwood in my garden, and that scent is unmistakable. It comes out more strongly on some applications than others, though -- sometimes I barely get it at all. I also agree that there seems to be a good amount of lemon balm present. I'm *not* getting true rose at all, but maaayyyybe tentatively I'll agree with the rose geranium? There's also something slightly cream and spicy underneath here; magnolia does seem a likely candidate given its association with Venus. Overall scent-wise, this is a bracing, vigorous herbal blend with a pleasant smoothness underneath. In terms of its effectiveness, I have to say the blend does seem to be very supportive -- I'm finding myself reaching for it when I want to feel strengthened and reinforced (a lot of what I do relates to communication, creativity, and inspiration, so that makes perfect sense!). I'm very glad to have my bottle. ETA: Gum mastic! Could there be gum mastic here?

Soap soap soap. In fact, this smells remarkably like Ivory on me. In the imp I can just barely pick up on the green edge, but once applied this blend goes straight to clean white soapy death on my skin. If I let it dry down thoroughly, it might be more of a toss-up between Ivory and Irish Springs, but... still not working for me.

Hey, nobody's mentioned Pyramus! It's lighter and fresher than you might think from the list of notes -- the tea really comes out on my skin.

I'm so glad I got to try this before the discontinuation takes effect! I agree with previous reviewers that it is on the perfume-y side -- it does read as poised and upscale to me, although not aggressively so. What I *don't* agree with is the "chilly" some people are talking about, but possibly that's because my skin loves patchouli and thus is warming the scent up. It's coming across almost like a cleaner, lighter, still elegant but wearable-all-the-time version of Romanti.Goth, which is a fantastic idea as far as I'm concerned! The duration and throw aren't great right now, but given that this is the height of summer and *none* of my BPALS are holding on my skin at all, I'll reserve judgment on that front until we hit cooler weather...

Apples and the barest whiff of cologne -- that's it. Clearly this is the apple-y revised version and not the original. Very, very disappointing.

Ahhh, I know exactly what this is. It's either a prototype of or else *very* close to Pomegranate III (Pomegranate, Tamil Nadu sandalwood, lavender, tamarind, hazelnut, Atlas cedarwood, sugar date, bitter clove, and Arabian myrrh). On my skin SDPU1 is a little more sweet-fruity in the upper notes and a bit more powdery overall, with something darker lurking underneath (I agree that possibly it's a very, very faint hint of vetiver or something else smoky -- not obtrusive, though). In the bottle and on initial application SDPU1 also has that odd buttery note I sometimes get from the 'Weenie pumpkin blends, but that aspect goes away fairly quickly. After drydown, the two are *very* similar. Pom III is a little brighter and tarter overall, SDPU a little darker and deeper.

An exotic South Asian musk blended with white sandalwood, tobacco absolute, white sage, caramel, black orchid, tonka bean, frankincense, muguet, and juniper. More Virginia love here! I should note that my oil is *definitely* not opaque -- it's a mostly clear bright gold. Looking at this color, I'm not convinced that there's really any red musk... but yes, the scent note does resemble it. I don't really notice the caramel here at all (and I disliked the caramel in both Red Lantern and Now Winter Nights Enlarge, for whatever that's worth). What I do notice is a drop-dead glorious slightly floral incense scent that gets me more compliments than virtually any other BPAL blend I've ever worn! Seriously, this shot to the top of my "unsolicited compliments" list the first day I wore it. The overwhelming reaction from other people was "Beautiful incense smell!" There's something about this that reminds me a little bit of Panther Moon after drydown, honestly -- it's a very hippie kind of musky scent -- but elegant and slinky nonetheless. And I couldn't tell you what it is to save my life, but there's *one note* here that makes my nose/brain/something go absolutely bonkers (in a good way!). I keep sticking my nose in my arm and being very, very happy.

Yep!

Carlin is my absolute favorite for deep dark greenery. I know the notes might not look that promising, but on me it really is just a very deep leafy, natural, outdoorsy green with no other extra stuff. I also really like País de la Canela, but it's a pain in the neck trying to find, and it does have the cinnamon and orchid notes in there too.

I'm astonished how much I love this! I don't know how old this imp is, but the label is in quite good condition, so I'm assuming it can't be *too* ancient. In the imp, the oil smells resinous and sandalwood-y with a clean herbal edge.On my skin I'm really only getting the notes from the center of the description -- the frankincense, lavender, and sandalwood, with no lemon anywhere that I can detect. I sometimes find the Lab's lavender notes either too sweet (i.e., TKO) or else too harshly eucalyptus-like, but this one seems very traditional Yardley English Lavender to me, which is a good thing because I grew up loving that stuff. And who knew frankincense and lavender was such a good combination?!? Seriously, every time I catch a whiff my eyes just about roll back in my head from pleasure. As others have said, this is a quick fade, but I don't mind because it's so damn good! Frankincense, lavender, and sandalwood deliciousness. Bottle-worthy ASAP, and I'll just have to hope I don't wind up with surprise citrus!

Thanks for the reminder! I'd never even tried my poor little decant of St. John's Eve out before, but I'm wearing it today. I loooooove being calendrically appropriate...

That *would* be perfect, and totally awesome. Anybody besides me wearing Litha today, in honor of the solstice?

I've had bottles come from the Lab barely above the top of the label -- in fact, several of my early purchases came that way. I was astonished the first time I heard someone specify that "full" to them meant that the oil level was into the neck, as I've only had a pretty small percentage of my purchases show up like that. *shrug* Happens with imps, too... (sorry, posted too soon! I meant to add that yes, I agree that a level like that is something that should be mentioned, even if that was how it came in the first place.)

No worries! Welcome to the madness. The Lab usually tries to mention anything that's backordered in the "Announcements" section, but I don't see anything there at the moment -- and I know from discussion on other threads that at least one or two things are being held up at the moment, so I don't even have a guess as to what the status of Bones is. Sorry! You should hear back from their customer service quickly, though; if they don't answer within a couple of days, that almost certainly means there's some sort of technical issue.

Nope. I'd write again, possibly sending from a different email address if you have one. Is your missing item something that's been announced as being on backorder?