Delirium1009

Thank you! The label is so pretty.

Does anyone have a picture of the Parentalia label? Someone mentioned it's pretty and I don't think anyone on this thread posted a pic of that one.

Just in case, have you called the bank? I once had someone try to use my credit card and my bank canceled it and next time I went to buy something, the person who put through my purchase got a message like the one you're saying. It didn't say anything online; I had to talk to them on the phone. They had called me but I hadn't gotten the message in time; I had to get a new card issued. Edited to clarify.

Congratulations! My favorite sophisticated scents are Dark Delicacies (deep, smoky, dark and resinous with a gorgeous floral tone) and the Emathides (resin and lavender... very deep and not too floral, with a nice sweetness to it). Maybe Black Lace would be a good choice if you have it, or can find it (smoky and deep with a nice subtle musky vanilla sweetness). Whatever you choose, I hope you find something that's a perfect fit.

With PayPal, you get charged immediately. If you use c/c through ccnow, I think you get charged a little closer to your order being completed.. The turn around time for the lab varies... it's been as short as a week and a half right after Christmas, or it can be 3-4 weeks. It depends on the number of orders and availability of the scents you ordered. I just look on the CnS thread on the bpal chatter part of the forum to estimate when my CnS will come through. Usually international orders are a little later than domestic ones. You don't get a receipt from the lab when paying via paypal; just the one immediately after from PayPal. You will get a CnS email from the US postal service when your package goes out, however. Hope this helps

Selkie is the quintessential mermaid-sunning-on-the-coast scent. It's crisp and almost salty, with a fresh aquatic feel and soft bright florals that just mesh perfectly with the salty sea air. It's sweet, but not overly so. Most of the listed plant notes in this are a mystery to me alone, though there is a hint of the primrose. In actuality, this is one of those blends from bpal that are so well blended, you can't really separate the notes; you just have to sniff it and take it all in together. This is the blend that started my bpal love, and is a very happy scent. It's especially nice in warmer weather and always lasts a good long time on me, though it seems to sit closer to the skin.

In bottle/imp: Floral, but also quite musky/smoky. I can smell the fougere and gardenia most strongly. Immediately on skin: This is a very complex scent with a lot of different notes going on. The gardenia is strong and I get a hint of the coriander. It seems to be a strong white floral fragrance with a bit of cologne and herbs, but it has a very sharp feel to it. After a little while: This has settled into a deeper floral fragrance with a honeyed feel and a touch of the fougere and some herbal and earthy undertones. I think it’s the tobacco flower and ebony that are giving it an almost musky or earthy floral feel. I don’t know if there’s any lurking, but I almost smell osmanthus in this, adding a fruity floral note. It is probably the orange blossom (a fruity floral on me). It’s very complex though… there’s a lot going on here. Overall Impressions: This scent was a lot sharper at first. I know I use that a lot in my reviews and I guess what I mean is that I can feel the scent in my nose, and it’s almost a “high” note, or dominated by notes like that. That was how this one started, but it settled down rather quickly. It’s very complex with a bit of a floral tone, but also a unisex feel from the fougere and wood and an earthy muskiness. I really think this could smell great on a man or a woman.

In bottle/imp: Citrus! Lime and tangerine mostly. Immediately on skin: This is a very bright, tart citrus scent. I can smell the lime and tangerine, but there’s also some lingering lavender and the smooth feel that oakmoss gives on me when it’s in a blend. After a little while: After only an hour or so, all that’s left on my skin is the smallest breath of oakmoss. Where did it go??? Overall Impressions: This is nice and citrusy at first, but I was hoping more complexity would come out when it dried. Instead, it almost completely disappeared. Too bad…

In bottle/imp: Dry red musk with a bit of subtle spiciness. Immediately on skin: The red musk is very strong, but not sharp. On me, this type of musk is almost fruity sometimes, or floral like dragon’s blood. Here it’s just lightly sweet. The saffron is blending in nicely, and adds a warm spiced feeling that blends in very well. This blend right now smells of lightly spiced red musk. After a little while: This has gotten a little sweeter, and the spiciness has separated a little from the red musk. It’s a soft spiciness though… not harsh at all. Overall Impressions: The red musk and spices are nice, but not fantastic on me. But this blend has a nice subtle sweetness and a very warm, comfy feel.

In bottle/imp: Bitter, dry, and strong… with a bit of hay perhaps? Immediately on skin: This smells so herbal and sharp. And almost oily, too. It has a very acrid, bitter feel to it. It definitely has a very heavy cleaning product vibe. After a little while: This has improved a lot. It no longer smells of cleaning fluid… instead there’s a dry hay feeling to it mixed with the smell of a well-kept machine and men’s cologne. It’s hard to explain, but it’s a masculine scent for sure, and smells mechanical rather than desolate. Overall Impressions: This starts out absolutely horrid, but morphs after a little while into something quite masculine and wearable. It doesn’t remind me of a scarecrow as much as the scent of the machines that till those desolate fields and the cologne-wearing sun warmed man that drives them. Well, there is the bit of hay that could belong to the scarecrow, but there’s a lot more going on than just that.

In bottle/imp: Soap and apple incense. Immediately on skin: This is a smoky and soapy scent on me. As I smell this, it almost takes a moment of inhaling the scent for it to feel like apple… almost like it was something I’m drinking and it needs to sit in my mouth for a moment to get the feel of it. It’s a little sharp, bitter, and smoky, with a very distinct apple undertone. After a few minutes: This is a chilly apple… more like a cold apple vapor than the fruit; something tempting but sinister drifting on the wind perhaps. It’s a dark, corrupted, cold scent, but crisp at the same time. It is still going through stages with every sniff, which I love. It’s not your average apple scent, but it is lovely all the same. Overall Impressions: This is a very unique, sensory type of scent. It’s like it changes as I sniff it. It goes from smoky to apple and then drifts away to something almost bitter and quite sinister. It’s a corrupted, dark scent, but it’s still very pretty and wearable. It has a very airy quality to it that really makes it a great perfume scent.

In bottle/imp: Biting juniper and the warm thick scent of myrrh. Immediately on skin: This is an interesting scent. The patchouli and myrrh are blending together creating a spicy dirty incense fragrance. Normally I wouldn’t like that, BUT the oakmoss is really smoothing this blend out and giving it a thick, glassy feel. It’s like the oakmoss is blending the other notes together. There’s just a small hint of the juniper berry. After a little while: This is a very thick, rich patchouli and myrrh scent with the oakmoss lying over everything, giving a smooth richness. The juniper berry is no longer present, but the other notes blend together very well. It’s like warm, resinous patchouli. And it’s not a gritty patchouli anymore at all… more like a dark, dirt-like incense note. Overall Impressions: This is the smoothest patchouli scent I’ve tried. Well, besided Dark Delicacies where I can barely smell it. Anyway, this blend impresses me… the oakmoss, myrrh, and patchouli are blended together seamlessly; I get the feel of each contributing to the scent, but I don’t smell them individually at all.

In bottle/imp: Harsh lavender plus a very sweet and peppery floral… wisteria? Immediately on skin: This is a chilly and slightly herbal floral scent. The lavender and wisteria create something sweet but herbal at the same time. The white musk is very harsh in this, and doesn’t seem to be blending well. After a little while: This is now a cold but sweet floral blend and it has really blended together well. The wisteria pairs so beautifully with the lavender… the sweetness really balances the almost herbal quality of the lavender. The white musk adds just a dryer musk background to the scent, and the white sandalwood adds a slight spiciness. Overall Impressions: This is a very interesting scent… I don’t know if it’s me, but I definitely like it. It has an interesting play on herbal/sweet and cold/spicy going on. It feels very rich though… it’s not an airy, wafting fragrance. It seems to be staying very close to my skin, but the scent itself is very vibrant.

... This oil blend is a serene, soothing Indian blend, created to bring calm and joy to the heart and peace to the spirit. Sandalwood, jasmine, rose, patchouli, cedarwood and lemongrass. In bottle/imp: Very tart lemon over cedar and patchouli. Immediately on skin: This is OMG lemony. It’s so tart and not sweet at all… then there’s the patchouli in the background, very light, but still gritty and present. The sandalwood (I think it’s the sandalwood) is pushing its way in, giving everything a blended and rubbery feel almost. It’s very weird. After a little while: This has morphed into a very patchouli dominated scent with a hint of lemongrass, and a lot of rubbery smokiness from the jasmine. It’s not sweet, and it’s very dark. It’s a very smooth fragrance though. Overall Impressions: I don’t enjoy this at all. The patchouli and jasmine are very strong and together they smell both dirty and plastic-y. The lemongrass adds a freshness, but overall this blend does nothing for me.

In bottle/imp: Jasmine and violet. Immediately on skin: This doesn’t smell very complex… it’s a smoky mix of jasmine and a hint of violet on me. The violet seems to give a watery feel to the jasmine, which is usually very thick on me, so that’s nice. After a little while: I was so afraid that the jasmine would become very strong in this, but that’s not what happened at all. Other floral notes seem to have come out and joined the jasmine and violet, as well as a hint of the “purple fruits.” This is a very light floral scent now with hints of jasmine, violet, some other bluer feeling flowers, a hint of berry-like fruit, and something a little soapy. Overall Impressions: This is a nice light floral. The jasmine behaves itself, and the violet blends in nicely (I tend to have problems with those notes overtaking other blends). It faded very fast though… within an hour and a half or so, it was so light I couldn’t smell it until I put my nose right up to my skin.

In bottle/imp: Lots and lots of ozone. Immediately on skin: This reminds me of Irish Spring, or other soaps with that fresh spring scent claim. It’s very clean and crisp with a crackling ozone feel and an airy quality. It’s strong though… and it has a hint of warmth, which is interesting. After a little while: This has smoothed a little on my skin… it’s become much more blended. It’s still all ozone and maybe a little hint of harsh rain on stone now. There’s something solid to the scent that wasn’t there before. Overall Impressions: This is a great experience scent… it really does bring lightning strikes and wind swept rain on stones to mind. It’s very unisex and almost even on the masculine side. It was fun to try it, but it isn’t a scent for me.

In bottle/imp: Dark, sweet, musky cranberries. Immediately on skin: The cranberry is the strongest but there’s also something a little bit dusty. It’s a musky, sweet fruity scent but the ginger adds a little kick. After a little while: The fresh berry quality of the cranberry has died down a little and it’s darkened… the dusty quality is still present and it’s gotten a little stronger. The ginger is what’s giving me the dusty feel, when it’s usually very nice and spicy to me in blends; maybe the blending here is giving it this darker feel, especially with the musk. Overall Impressions: This is a sweet, berry scent corrupted by dark musk and dusty ginger and spices. It’s nice, but I’d imagine it’s a lot better on others. It has the same dustiness that I got from Crypt Queen; a tickling, dry dark note that bothers my nose. Nope, not for me.

In bottle/imp: Bitter, burned wood and caramel. Immediately on skin: This is a very bitter, burned scent with an undercurrent of sugary sweetness. The bitterness smells like burned wood, but there’s also a herbal feel to this. Maybe sage? Then there’s the caramel/honey/butterscotch which is mixed in there too. Not pleasant on me at all… After a little while: I think the burned scent I’m getting is supposed to be the molasses and oak wood, since it’s settled down. But without over analyzing this scent, I would describe it as a burned wood and herb scent with caramel poured over it. Overall Impressions: I don’t enjoy this, if you couldn’t already tell. The notes smell bitter and burnt on me with a large amount of sugary, sweet caramel poured over the top. It’s slightly foody, but not overly so.

In bottle/imp: Smoky sweet booze with a hint of mint. It sort of reminds me of the smell of hotel rooms when you first walk in. Immediately on skin: I get the bourbon in this but it’s not really that boozy… it actually smells similar to cola to me. The mint is powdery, and I swear I get some patchouli in this too; there’s a gritty dirt scent in this blending with the cola-bourbon and powdery mint. After a little while: This has gotten a bit grittier and earthier. It smells like smooth patchouli plus spices and mint. The combo of the patchouli and spice is what gives me a bit of a cola feel, but it’s gritty as well. This is a very sweet scent though… the sugar and mint definitely come out. Overall Impressions: I don’t really get booze from this… more like a gritty and sweet cola scent plus mint. It’s quite an experience to smell, though not something I would necessarily wear.

In bottle/imp: Pine with a sweet and woody undertone. Immediately on skin: This is a thick, deep pine blend. It’s green and cold, but there’s a bit of depth to it. There’s definitely a light wood note, though it doesn’t smell of cedar that much, and a slightly spicy green note as well as an underlying tart berry scent. After a little while: This has turned into a nicely blended slightly earthy and berry-sweet pine scent. The pine has receded a little, and the other notes have come out to play. There’s a sweet berry quality, but also something a little earthy and green, which I guess is the blackberry or tomato leaf. Overall Impressions: I don’t usually like pine scents, so this isn’t me, but I think it’s a very interesting blend. The pine is strong at first, but then recedes to let a nice sweetness come out as well as an interesting earthiness. This is very well blended and morphs nicely on the skin. It’s slightly chilly and more on the unisex side in my opinion.

In bottle/imp: Buttery and fruity pumpkin with a hint of spice. Immediately on skin: There’s a slight foody feel to this immediately on my skin… I think it’s the buttery quality of the pumpkin, which I don’t really like. Under that is a very fresh, juicy (but not too sweet) peach note, and a base of light clove and nutmeg. After a little while: The buttery note has died down in this and what I’m left with is a fragrant and not overly sweet fruity pumpkin blend with a hint of clove. The peach comes through, but it backs up the pumpkin and gives it a fruity base as opposed to overpowering it. Overall Impressions: This is a nice fruity and slightly spiced pumpkin blend. If you enjoy the lab’s pumpkin note, you will probably like this. Unfortunately I don’t find them to be very wearable (the pumpkin scents just don’t seem “me”), but I do like the scent of this one.

In bottle/imp: A deep and resinous (though not overly sweet) floral and lush moss scent. Immediately on skin: This is a very dry scent on my skin. The ylang ylang and violet mix creates a very interesting sweet but deep and smoky floral feel, while the frankincense in the background adds a resinous depth to the blend. There’s a sharp top note in this… I can feel it in my nose as I sniff. I can’t really tell what it is, though. After a little while: This transformed after a few minutes into a very perfume-y fragrance. It’s very floral with hints of resin and a deep and sweet smokiness. The ylang ylang and violet are identifiable, but blend together almost totally. Overall Impressions: This blend very much surprised me. I was expecting something a bit more unisex, but this is actually quite feminine on me. The ylang ylang and violet blend together beautifully, and mix well with the other notes. It’s mysterious, dark, slightly sweet and floral, and a bit smoky and resinous. I don’t get any moss from this after it dries, but it’s still a nice fragrance.

In bottle/imp: Very VERY smoky vetiver and leather. Almost jerky-ish and savory. Immediately on skin: This scent is all super smoky vetiver and leather. Like it was in the imp, it has an almost savory smoky quality to me, like jerky or other smoked meat. I can’t smell any other notes at all. After a little while: This has settled down to a VERY smoky (but no longer jerky-esque) vetiver and leather blend with a hint of florals. It took over an hour before I got anything floral out of this. I want to say it’s gardenia with a hint of jasmine, but it’s still very overpowered by the vetiver and leather. There’s just a hint of spices as well… very dry and dusty. Overall Impressions: This blend scared me at first; it really smelled almost like beef jerky. The vetiver and leather combo died down slightly and left something a bit more unisex and wearable, though definitely not for me.

In bottle/imp: Soft wood, light moss, and an herbal undertone. Immediately on skin: This seems very soothing at first, but there’s a dark, burned wood undertone to it. It’s aquatic florals plus refreshing moss. There’s something almost creamy about it, or vapor-like. But the wood underneath these pleasant notes is distracting; it smells bitter and burnt. After a few minutes: This starts to have a very fresh, clean scent upon drydown. There’s a clean mossy feel to it, and some light floral notes. It reminds me of a scent of shampoo though; just very clean and refreshing. That annoying wood note vanished pretty quickly, which is very good. Overall Impressions: This is a mossy, refreshing scent. I don’t get spearmint like others do, but I definitely understand why the notes combined would give that impression. It’s mossy and slightly floral, but really well blended. The blackened wood note I get from this at first lingers in the background, but fades nicely.

In bottle/imp: Crisp, juicy lemon with hints of apple and wafting rose. Immediately on skin: This scent is a very airy blend, and I can’t smell it as much as feel it. The lemon is very strong, but the rose grounds it a bit and there’s a hint of crisp green apple. Even though the notes hint at it, the blend isn’t very sweet. After a little while: The lemon has settled down after a while, and now I would describe this as a very airy rose and apple scent. This scent isn’t heavy at all… it’s very light and wafting. The rose is light and fresh with no heaviness about it, and the apple is crisp and light. The feel of the lemon still penetrates this scent, but it is mixed extremely well with the other notes. Overall Impressions: I love apple, though bpal’s apple note seems to turn almost floral on me. This was no exception, though it’s still a very pretty, airy blend. The rose is nice and fresh and feminine, but not overly perfume-y in fell. The apple is crisp and light, and the lemon adds a bright freshness through the blend. It’s not the most complex scent, but it’s pretty and blended nicely. All of the notes are very well balanced in this.