How do you apply your BPAL oils?

[Babylon]

Cocktail stirrers for me. I use a pink one for Mi-Go and one with a red lobster on it for Cthulhu.

[kitten]

wanted to know will the hard plastic cocktail stirrers absorb the perfume scent ? or can you just wash and reuse , and what is a pipette ?

[laochodia]

I believe that if you give it a quick rinse with rubbing alcohol you can reuse (or you can buy a big box of 100 for 99 cents).

A pipette is a, well, tiny pipe made of glass or plastic- kind of like a very thin straw with a bulb on one end. (wow, that description sucks)

[Tess]

You know, I hadn't thought of the cocktail stirrer idea, but seeing as there's a set of glass ones that I ADORE at work, I may try them out. They'd look delicious in a martini glass when not in use, right next to my BPAL boxes, and they'd be easily cleaned for reuse! Yum!

 

...I'm a decorating nut. =D

[lookingglass]

I keep some in an imp vial...

[sixthsentinel]

I just got some of those little amber vials with droppers & have been transferring some of my scents into those. I think I got the idea from reading someone else's post on this thread who said they liked this method too. I used to just put my finger over the mouth of the bottle, tilt it, then apply, repeat, but I really like the idea of keeping the oil pristine, & this way it is never really touched by human hands. Also, I've been having a blast making little labels for them. <---dork

[kitten]

glass swizzle sticks have been mentioned , what about metal ones, or is metal + perfume = realy bad

[ivyandpeony]

I have heard metal is a no-no. I think many metals can react with the oil and cause it to go "off." I think glass daubers are best, since it's the only thing that you can safely store the oils in for a long time.

 

Since imp wands are plastic and obviously stay in the oil without causing problems, some plastics must be alright too. Personally, I'm wary of plastics though, due to some of my disastrous home cosmetics experiments over the years. Like the time that I wanted to mix two nail polishes, but one bottle was too full, so I poured a bit into a Solo plastic cup to throw it away. The polish literally dissolved the cup and made a huge mess in the bottom of my bathroom wastebasket! My husband cringes any time I start acting like a mad scientist in the bathroom...

[Mrs.Black]

2) press finger against bottle, tilt, brush neck with fingertip, and hair ends with last of the oil.

Voila, me scented with BPAL.

 

 

This is the gist of what I do as well. I can see that my approach is too simple.

[herongale]

I have a Q-Tip suggestion for you all.

 

Every day, I am fated to use at least one Q-Tip to clean out my ears. BEFORE I use it on the ears, I crack the Q-Tip in half and use the hard end for applying BPAL... and then I turn it around and put the cotton part in my ears. I find this to be economical and environmentally friendly, because I'm actually getting double use out of the Q-Tips I was using anyway.

[Duck Mountain]

Depending on how heavy/light the scent is, I'll either just tip the bottle over, cap on, and use what's on the nub (inside the cap) and on the lip of the bottle...or, I'll stick my finger over the opening and tip it over, then right it and shake lightly to dislodge excess.

[Alchemy21599]

Thanks for all the hints on how to apply BPAL! I am waiting for my first order and I am planning (fantasizing?) about how I am going to wear the oils. I have a couple of questions. Is perfumer's alcohol the same as grain neutral spirits? Should I use both perfumer's oil and water to dilute the solution after mixing a few drops of the perfume oil in a carrier (jojoba) oil? Thanks!

[WidgetAlley]

Aaah, Delphinine, the eternal questions.... for those, this is the forum section for you. It has all the answers if you just poke around a little bit. (Here's the one about parfum sprays and dilution... if you can't find the answers you're looking for, feel free to ask over there, too.)

Edited December 2, 2005 by WidgetAlley

[Alchemy21599]

Thank you so much. I was able to find great info on ratios and ingredients. I would hate to waste BPAL on the ol' trial and error method.

[DarkMouse]

I use the applicator inside the imp vials for all of my scents. When I get a new bottle I just decant about half an imp's worth and use that until its gone, then just refill. I like imps because I can carry them around, leave them on my desk.. etc without having to worry about ruining or contaminating my entire bottles. This and I'm a clutz.. so I always worry about spilling an entire 5ml while applying.

[cranberry]

I like decanting a bit into 5/8 or 1/3 dram containers and carrying those around with me. I used to carry around bottles and rollerballs, but I've had leakyness problems with rollerballs. I've had some problems with carrying imps around (issues with the top) so I really like the X dram containers as the tops screw on and are very secure. I don't worry at all about leaking, can carry around a whole mess of scents in a little container, and each contains only about an imp or two, so I can feel free to gift them away or if something happens it's not like I'm risking a whole bottle.

[satine]

This is a bit odd. It looks to me from this thread as though the oils are being made, default, with reducer caps. I just received my first order and not one of my oils has a reducer cap, which means I shall have to go on the hunt for an alternative way of applying. I wonder why this is?

 

From the sound of it I may be better off without a reducer anyway, but it'd make it easier not to flood the gorgeous oil everywhere when I put it on.

[Macha]

Bottles direct from the lab no longer come with reducer caps. I believe they discontinued that practice in late 2004.

[Merlu]

Mmm... I've never gotten a bottle with a reducer cap.

I use these for my 5ml's:

http://shop.essentialsupplies.com/cgi/disp...APP45&dept=Caps

They're really great!

[Wrenlet]

This is a bit odd. It looks to me from this thread as though the oils are being made, default, with reducer caps. I just received my first order and not one of my oils has a reducer cap, which means I shall have to go on the hunt for an alternative way of applying. I wonder why this is?

 

From the sound of it I may be better off without a reducer anyway, but it'd make it easier not to flood the gorgeous oil everywhere when I put it on.

 

If you started reading at the beginning of the thread, it dates back to February of 2004 The Lab stopped including reducer caps at some point between then and June 2005 (date chosen because there were no reducers in my first order )

[aedes]

If I'm in a hurry to try scents in bottles to find out if I want to keep them, I always use coffee stirrers or de-cottoned q-tips... well... always, unless I don't have either of those handy. Then I tip the bottle upside down (with the cap on) and then take a little bit off the top of the rim. Still a narrow chance some of my skin oils get on the perfume if/when the bottle is tipped again. But, eh, it's close enough for jazz.

 

If I determine that I'm going to keep it, I'll decant an imp for myself to carry around in one of my little pouchies and I save the rest. Or sometimes I'll dump the rest into a 1 oz. cobalt bottle, fill the rest up with Perfumer's Alcohol, and slap a spray cap on it. I love the sprays I make, though sadly that kind of means I can't swap them if I find I'm not using them a lot.

[maewitch]

If it's a scent I'm keeping (which is usually the case with bottles - unless it's an LE, then I usually use a q-tip), I just press my wrist to the bottle opening, tip it and that leaves a little puddle that I then rub btw my wrists and on my neck.

[jazlyn]

I apply from a decant of my big bottle which I'll refill whenever it needs refilling.

 

I've been transferring oil from the big bottles back into the original imps with a plastic syringe, then washing the syringe thoroughly with soap and water.  My logic is that if I contaminate the imp when I apply (with skin oils, body lotion, whatever), then it's just the imp ... but the big bottle remains pristine.

Chin:

 

If you want to keep your oils REALLY pristine, try using Iso Alcohol to clean the dropper instead of soap and water. I use that to clean everything I use to transfer oils, and I soak old bottles in it and everything. It really does the trick. I learned this from a friend of mine who works at a University Lab. He was fascinated with the whole blended oil thing, and he shook a finger at me for using soap and water because he said 'Soap will ALWAYS leave a residue of some kind", whereas the alcohol will not. It's worth the extra few bucks, trust me.

 

 

-Leslie

I believe that if you give it a quick rinse with rubbing alcohol you can reuse (or you can buy a big box of 100 for 99 cents).

A pipette is a, well, tiny pipe made of glass or plastic- kind of like a very thin straw with a bulb on one end. (wow, that description sucks)

 

Is iso alcohol and rubbing alcohol the same thing?

[Tess]

I use these. They're glass and are color coded to match the little labels I put on the tops of my bottles. Granted, the ball at the end tends to grab quite a bit of oil (I'm a slatherer, though, so I don't mind) and there probably aren't enough colors for many of you, but I highly recommend them.

 

*unofficial Pier 1 pimp*

[Natch]

I am going to be placing my first "big bottle" order in the next few days, and I'm a bit confused. Do you need to ask to have reducers or do you need to ask not to have them?

 

Also... best/cheapest supplier for small rollerballs? I've been reading through the thread but it's a bit overwhelming and many of the links no longer work. Thanks

 

eep, didn't mean to revive an old thread if that was bad... I was just looking through the bottle post guide/faq...

Edited June 22, 2006 by Natch