Why are LEs limited? Will they come back?

[concrescence]

the lunacy scents, as well as those that have accompanied them this past year (the zodiac and shapechangers), are available to buy during the full moon (or two full moons, we got ahead of ourselves when there was a blue moon in may) prior to when that moon/zodiac would occur so that you will have them in your hot little hands and be able to actually wear them at the appropriate time.

 

if you post an in-search-of post for capricorn in the swaps area, you'll probably be able to find some.

[mazikeen]

the lunacy scents, as well as those that have accompanied them this past year (the zodiac and shapechangers), are available to buy during the full moon (or two full moons, we got ahead of ourselves when there was a blue moon in may) prior to when that moon/zodiac would occur so that you will have them in your hot little hands and be able to actually wear them at the appropriate time.

 

if you post an in-search-of post for capricorn in the swaps area, you'll probably be able to find some.

 

Hmm. Thanks for your reply.

 

That makes buying zodiac scents tricky! I've got to plan in November to get a scent in time for January! Alas. I'll go check the swaps page-- thanks for the suggestion.

[delicate_fangs]

the lunacy scents, as well as those that have accompanied them this past year (the zodiac and shapechangers), are available to buy during the full moon (or two full moons, we got ahead of ourselves when there was a blue moon in may) prior to when that moon/zodiac would occur so that you will have them in your hot little hands and be able to actually wear them at the appropriate time.

 

if you post an in-search-of post for capricorn in the swaps area, you'll probably be able to find some.

 

Hmm. Thanks for your reply.

 

That makes buying zodiac scents tricky! I've got to plan in November to get a scent in time for January! Alas. I'll go check the swaps page-- thanks for the suggestion.

 

Don't give up hope. And if you don't find it in Swaps, you could post in the Wanted section there, so somebody with an extra bottle might see you need some.

[olive]

You'd think if LE's had to be made in such limited amounts due to exotic ingredients that they wouldn't strictly sell bottles only. Selling imps of LE's would allow more people a chance to enjoy them rather than resorting to decant circles. Of course, I understand that bpal is a business and any business' focus is to make money so it makes sense that bpal would capitalize on that natural tendency to want to blindly jump for a 5ml out of fear it'll be the only chance to get it.

 

I also think it would be a bad idea for bpal to start selling single notes again. That's sorta like Coca Cola selling their ingredients, then posting their highly secretive recipe (ie bpal note lists) on a website. It'd be a terribly unwise business move, which is undoubtedly why bpal no longer sells single notes.

 

So with my commentary out of the way, here is another one that was touched upon slightly a few responses earlier. Sure, LE's are rereleased each year in slightly different formulations (Sugar Skull, Samhain, Krampus, etc) -- but what about GC? What about stuff like Djinn? I love Djinn, but how does this stuff survive while Asphodel dies? Djinn gets such poor reviews on this forum, I see very little praise for it and I cannot imagine there is much of a demand for something that smells so acrid. I'd imagine one formulation of Djinn would be all you'd ever need to make.

 

If you look at the reviews for Dracul, you'll see most of the posts seem to sing the same song, but the last page of reviews starts to mention an overpowering mint smell. My Dracul (older) has no mint. This leads me to believe Dracul was recently reformulated and a little too much mint got thrown in?

[joseybird]

You'd think if LE's had to be made in such limited amounts due to exotic ingredients that they wouldn't strictly sell bottles only. Selling imps of LE's would allow more people a chance to enjoy them rather than resorting to decant circles. Of course, I understand that bpal is a business and any business' focus is to make money so it makes sense that bpal would capitalize on that natural tendency to want to blindly jump for a 5ml out of fear it'll be the only chance to get it.

 

From what I've heard, the lab makes more money per item on bottles than on imps. I guess they could just sell pricier imps of LE scents, but honestly I don't know much about BPAL's business model.

 

Personally I find it hard to believe that *every single LE blend* is LE because of its ingredients, but frankly they're not marketed as if they were, so I don't care too much .

I also think it would be a bad idea for bpal to start selling single notes again. That's sorta like Coca Cola selling their ingredients, then posting their highly secretive recipe (ie bpal note lists) on a website. It'd be a terribly unwise business move, which is undoubtedly why bpal no longer sells single notes.

 

Notes lists aren't recipes. Very, very far from it. Look up any perfume on the internet and you'll find a note list to go along with it, many quite detailed. Notes =/= ingredients.

 

I also highly doubt that one of us could just buy a bunch of BPAL single notes and recreate Beth's blends. First of all, I strongly doubt that she made available *every single ingredient* she used in her blends when the single notes were available. Second, mixing oils is more than just dumping several nice-smelling ingredients together. I have a few very lovely books on creating one's own perfume oils, and it isn't an easy task for a beginner, especially if you want to create something that actually smells nice.

 

If you look at the reviews for Dracul, you'll see most of the posts seem to sing the same song, but the last page of reviews starts to mention an overpowering mint smell. My Dracul (older) has no mint. This leads me to believe Dracul was recently reformulated and a little too much mint got thrown in?

 

Makes me wish I'd tested my brand-new bottle of Dracul (before I sold it) and compared it to my old 10 ml. And it might simply have been a batch difference. Take Morocco, for example--there's a standard creamy "Antique Lace-esque" variety and the occasional "OMG CEDAR" variety. Just batch differences.

[GypsyRoseRed]

I guess I just don't see why the Lab *would* sell single notes. If you're looking for essential oils, accords or absolutes, there are plenty of places where you can buy them - the Lab is all about unique creations, so those two things don't seem to exactly go hand in hand, IMHO. I could be totally wrong, though. And not to be totally paranoid, if I were Beth, I wouldn't want to have any amount of my individual ingredients out there on the offchance that another perfumer would maybe say, "Oh, so THAT's the X she uses!" Ya know? It's not that it's a bad idea, just.. why would you want to do it?

Edited February 16, 2008 by GypsyRoseRed

[joseybird]

I guess I just don't see why the Lab *would* sell single notes. If you're looking for essential oils, accords or absolutes, there are plenty of places where you can buy them - the Lab is all about unique creations, so those two things don't seem to exactly go hand in hand, IMHO. I could be totally wrong, though. And not to be totally paranoid, if I were Beth, I wouldn't want to have any amount of my individual ingredients out there on the offchance that another perfumer would maybe say, "Oh, so THAT's the X she uses!" Ya know? It's not that it's a bad idea, just.. why would you want to do it?

 

If a perfumer could identify an oil's supplier simply by sniffing the single note, they 1) have mad skillz beyond the realm of normal science and or 2) they already know who the supplier is and have thus already explored that venue.

 

And if they went so far as to do a chemical analysis, well...you can do a chemical analysis on blends, too.

[olive]

If a perfumer could identify an oil's supplier simply by sniffing the single note, they 1) have mad skillz beyond the realm of normal science and or 2) they already know who the supplier is and have thus already explored that venue.

 

And if they went so far as to do a chemical analysis, well...you can do a chemical analysis on blends, too.

 

 

I'd imagine Beth weighed the risk of selling single notes vs the possible profit and made a decision. I think it is a sound decision for any business owner. Regardless of what market you're in, the fewer options people have to buy from, the better. Of course, the customer wants the most options, because the more options you have, the lower the prices go, and the harder the struggle is to improve quality.

 

Sure, Beth doesn't list exact recipes... but why make it easy for someone who may actually possess the skill to blend oils to elbow their way into her market? I've really not seen any company that does anything similar to what bpal does, however I could easily see a competitor or two popping up and cutting into an otherwise solidified fanbase. I can't imagine Beth woke up one day and was like "I'm just going to stop selling every single note for the fun of it!"

 

I'm sure there was a justifiable cause to pull them from the site and I'd be very surprised if they were ever put back up for sale by Beth.

[joseybird]

If a perfumer could identify an oil's supplier simply by sniffing the single note, they 1) have mad skillz beyond the realm of normal science and or 2) they already know who the supplier is and have thus already explored that venue.

 

And if they went so far as to do a chemical analysis, well...you can do a chemical analysis on blends, too.

 

 

I'd imagine Beth weighed the risk of selling single notes vs the possible profit and made a decision. I think it is a sound decision for any business owner. Regardless of what market you're in, the fewer options people have to buy from, the better. Of course, the customer wants the most options, because the more options you have, the lower the prices go, and the harder the struggle is to improve quality.

 

Sure, Beth doesn't list exact recipes... but why make it easy for someone who may actually possess the skill to blend oils to elbow their way into her market? I've really not seen any company that does anything similar to what bpal does, however I could easily see a competitor or two popping up and cutting into an otherwise solidified fanbase. I can't imagine Beth woke up one day and was like "I'm just going to stop selling every single note for the fun of it!"

 

I'm sure there was a justifiable cause to pull them from the site and I'd be very surprised if they were ever put back up for sale by Beth.

 

I'm sure there's a good reason. I'm just not ready to say "This MUST be the reason" without any situational facts. I believe that Beth stated the desire to focus on her blends as the reason for taking down the single notes; if there are other reasons, we do nothing but speculate vaguely unless Beth decides to tell us.

[dzurlady]

Actually, I'd heard that there just wasn't the demand for the single notes.

[grashopper8]

Regardless of what market you're in, the fewer options people have to buy from, the better. Of course, the customer wants the most options, because the more options you have, the lower the prices go, and the harder the struggle is to improve quality.

 

Hi olive!

 

I think that I understand that you're speaking in general and business terms, and when you refer to 'options' you are talking GC blends, LE blends, and single notes as options.

I found your comment particularly curious because I see BPAL from the opposite perspective, which is that they have so many damn options that I'll never ever have a chance to try half of everything. Between all of the limited blends, the hundreds of GC perfumes, the Trading Post, and TAL, I think that the overwhelming array of choices is a huge part of what attracted me to BPAL in the first place.

 

I hope to be optioned till the day I die from BPAL....hopefully Beth and Ted's little angel-bibby will carry on the tradition!

[olive]

AEris -- I completely agree with you. When I talked about businesses wanting the fewest options I mean the fewest options of available vendors. If there were 10-20 companies similar to bpal it wouldn't be as financially prosperous as it would be were it the only vendor of its kind, as bpal is now. I'm not in any way frowning upon this either as it is a very wise business practice and I commend Beth's style which is exactly what you said, creating quality products in vast lines. I doubt anyone here aside from Beth has tried every bpal blend and that alone just goes to show how much hard work has gone into the seemingly infinite number of blends. By creating such a vast world of oils, few of us have any desire to look elsewhere for other perfume companies that might dabble in the same ilk. Of course, I only speak for myself. Bpal is completely satisfying for me. Beth might as well hook my debit card up for an auto-monthly charge each update.

 

joseybird: I hope not to convey in any way that my opinion is fact or that I'm suggesting I know why Beth does certain things. For all I know this entire company of hers could be completely accidental and every business move done on a whim without any thought... for all we know zombiefied magical rabbits concoct all of these oils under Beth's direction... but I have my doubts

Edited February 16, 2008 by olive

[voix]

Oh my, i just LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE purple phoenix. It's moody, yet beautifully so. It's really the most perfect "purple" scent for me and silly me only got one bottle of it. Will i ever be able to get another untainted bottle of purple phoenix again?

[concrescence]

probably unlikely. the lab has occasionally resurrected limited edition scents before, usually for their anniversary. however, purple phoenix was an anniversary scent itself, and it would seem weird to bring it back. maybe the lab will at some point resurrect *all* the phoenixes. that would be cool (and very phoenix-like ).

 

your best bet for getting an "untainted" fresh-from-the-lab bottle would be to stalk lab ebay sales. you never know what they're going to dig out of storage and put up for auction.

[Czarina]

The Lab has a bottle of Purple Phoenix up for sale on eBay right now, in fact.

[dzurlady]

Oh my, i just LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE purple phoenix. It's moody, yet beautifully so. It's really the most perfect "purple" scent for me and silly me only got one bottle of it. Will i ever be able to get another untainted bottle of purple phoenix again?

I don't know exactly what you classify as 'untainted' but I know many BPALers cleanly test their oils with toothpicks etc, so you could try searching for cleanly tested bottles.

[voix]

thanks! the bottle on ebay was sold before i got to bid on it. so purple phoenix is lost on me.

 

i think i'll just look for cleanly tested bottles. though the hoarder in me(i do so love purple phoenix. so much it's not funny anymore) want every last bit i can find. pelase please make it a GC scent if it's not because the ingredients are too expensive.

 

i dab it on everything seriously. my clothes, my paper in the study, my burner, my curtains, i diluted a little bit and spray it round the room.

[Numanoid]

So, I have a question that maybe some of you BPAL veterans can answer...So, being less than a year old BPALer myself, trying to get a hold of a very hard to find scents (like Candy Butcher, Monsterbaits, VILF, Storyville, Cake Smah, etc etc), does the lab ever re-release these for the public to buy? I understand that they are hard to find and also understand that when someone here has a bottle, they only want to swap for a HTF one, OR when the Lab put outs bottles on Ebay, I rarely win any because the bids go over $60 and I just can't afford that...so, do any of these old scents ever come back so semi-newbies like me can maybe buy a bottle or two at the regular lab price?? I would hate to think that I would never be able to get my hands on some of the older, wonderful scents that I would LOVE to try...any info??

[elka_knits]

So, I have a question that maybe some of you BPAL veterans can answer...So, being less than a year old BPALer myself, trying to get a hold of a very hard to find scents (like Candy Butcher, Monsterbaits, VILF, Storyville, Cake Smah, etc etc), does the lab ever re-release these for the public to buy? I understand that they are hard to find and also understand that when someone here has a bottle, they only want to swap for a HTF one, OR when the Lab put outs bottles on Ebay, I rarely win any because the bids go over $60 and I just can't afford that...so, do any of these old scents ever come back so semi-newbies like me can maybe buy a bottle or two at the regular lab price?? I would hate to think that I would never be able to get my hands on some of the older, wonderful scents that I would LOVE to try...any info??

 

 

Occasionally the lab will resurrect a scent and there may be a slight reformulation. I personally think of the reformulations as batch differences and those have been known to happen for any scent, LE or otherwise, over the course of a small period. Although I do have less than a handful of LE or D/c scents that I am always on the lookout new favorites can overshadow the old. For example Bakeneko is a favorite but I parted with my back up bottle because something new came along that I liked better. Right now I am all over Shroomy Chocolates when I was all over Gluttony. Yeah both are no longer available but when I ordered the Shroomy I did so because I had just gone over the notes of Gluttony {crying over not having any} and noticed a similarity.

 

I know that might not be helpful. I too am insanely curious about Cake Smash and Cabaret Goth cus it seems nobody will part with it and I was inactive during the time they came out but over the years, and there have been quite a few with BPAL, I would say that there really is something wonderful on the horizon despite it sounding like a 'there there' whilst clutching the precious

[maewitch]

The lab does sometimes release Resurrected blends, but that has become more difficult in the last few years. Most of the time a blend is discontinued because of a component sourcing issue. In those cases, the likelihood of a blend coming back is much lower.

 

In the case of Storyville, I wouldn't bank on it coming back, as only a small batch was created in a singular moment of inspiration.

[Numanoid]

Thanks for the replies....helps, but then makes my hope falter! But yeah, I figure there will be wonderful new things on the horizon, but still....would be nice if sometimes they can bring back what seems to be real popular scents. I understand the component issue as well...at the same time, it would be nice to be informed if a certain scent will "never" come back so I can stop dreaming!!

[Altaira]

Thanks for the replies....helps, but then makes my hope falter! But yeah, I figure there will be wonderful new things on the horizon, but still....would be nice if sometimes they can bring back what seems to be real popular scents. I understand the component issue as well...at the same time, it would be nice to be informed if a certain scent will "never" come back so I can stop dreaming!!

 

One thing to keep in mind is that several of the HTFs were made to commemorate specific events. Storyville was for one of the Convergences and Gothabilly was for a Bat's Day, I believe. Others have been for things like Comicon. Very small batches are produced because they are only meant to be purchased by people who physically go to the event. They are not available on-line to anyone, ever. Very small batches also mean the Lab can use rare ingredients that they may only have a limited supply of and may never get again. This is why resurecteds are rare, the ingredients for the recipe just don't exist (and in some cases, the recipes themselves were lost).

 

And some things, like Candy Butcher and VILF weren't meant to be limited, but an ingredient is no longer available, so they were discontinued before their time.

Edited March 5, 2012 by Altaira

[Innocuousmold]

I think that this is probably the best place to put this question, and if it's not I'm sorry in advance!

 

Anyway, I was just wondering what the LE cycle is- which ones are reoccurring throughout the year. I know of course about Lunacy, Lupercalia, Weenies and Yule, but what about other things like the Moths and Butterflies or the Bards? Are those annual as well? If someone could write up a little thing of the LE cycle I would really appreciate it.

[Altaira]

The Bards are usually in March, but some years none are released. The Metamorphosis series (moths and butterflies) have come out in the summer the last 2 years, but didn't exist before then and haven't been promised for the future. "Phobia" scents are often released around April first. The other scent collections are mostly one-offs; they just show up from time to time, then go away never to return.

[Innocuousmold]

Thanks, Altaira!