Yule update and Frost Moon now live.

[kebechet]

I know that I’m going to get razzed by some for posting the update while Halloween is still cranking out, but I’m sticking with our schedule, damn it, and that’s that. I want to make sure that the Yule scents go live with enough time so we can ensure they get out by the holidays.

 

Two scents are being offered to BPAL Forum members only: The King & Queen of Diamonds. They will be available until November 15th, 2004.

 

KING OF DIAMONDS

Blindingly handsome, imperious, and gleaming with crystalline light. The perfect mate to the Queen’s shimmering hauteur: a white chypre shot through with shards of translucent musk.

 

QUEEN OF DIAMONDS

A glittering icicle of a woman, regal, proud and cold: shimmering white grapefruit, pale flowers and lemon bark with orchid, rose and a dash of mandarin.

 

You can pick these puppies up here.

 

 

 

The rest is verbatim from the Shiny & New portion of our site:

 

Site update: 27 October 2004, 12.20am.

 

First, a notice: BPAL will be silent from 10/28 til Election Day. Four of the Lab rats will be travelling to New Orleans for Halloween, so we will not be answering emails during that time. You will be greeted by a friendly autoresponder goblin during our absence. Orders will still be processed, packed and shipped, as the Lab itself is not closed. This trip only affects communication.

 

Thanks to everyone for their patience!

 

Surprise! The Frost Moon update is live. Due to circumstances way, way, WAY beyond our control, the update had to go live just under twelve hours ahead of schedule. The Lunacy blend will vanish at midnight.

 

Quite a few changes have occured this month, and, as it is late and I am borderline babbling, I will commence with a stream of consciousness: there are two new Lab Rats, Julie and Alan, who we truly adore, who have been Heaven-sent to help your harried, frazzled narrator and crew get the holiday orders out as quickly as possible. Black Broom of Noth Hollywood, California and The Apothecary's Cat in the UK will be carrying BPAL blends in the very near future. I have a metric [blarp!] ton of new links to add, but those will have to go up when I have time to catch my breath! Two categories have been added: Ars Draconis and Oblation, which I'll blather about in detail later in this posting. An aesthetic choice was made, and the 'Old' has been taken out of the Wanderlust altogether. You will still be receiving bottles and imps with the old labels [OLD! GET IT!?] while we phase them out. Single Notes and Celestials have been discontinued along with the following blends:

 

 Allegory

 Arkham

 Azazel

 Bacchanalia

 Banshee

 Bat’s Blood

 Bruja

 Cabaret

 Calliope

 Carnivale

 Chypre

 Circe

 Crucible of Courage

 Damnation

 Deimos

 Despair

 Dissipation

 Entropy

 Erato

 Feu Follet

 French Creole

 Glasya

 Goona Goona

 Haitian Lover

 Hakkotsu

 India Bouquet

 Juju

 Ligeia

 Lobban

 Melpomene

 Morella

 Mystery

 Naiad

 Pandora

 Phobos

 Puck

 Pulse Points

 Sepulcher

 Silentium Amoris

 Spectre

 Storm

 Swallow’s Blood

 Tears

 Three Jacks

 Torment

 Typhon

 Yuki-Onna

 

It was akin to cutting off a limb, but it had to be done. RIP, my smellies.

 

Now, let's go with our usual nose-dive into the new scents:

 

Starting this month, Black Phoenix is introducing Oblation, a section devoted to our most beloved causes. A portion of the profit from each 5ml bottle sale goes to the scent's corresponding charity. More will be added as resources become available. We are starting with...

 

OBLATION: SCENTS WITH A CONSCIENCE

• CHIROPTERA -- Proceeds go to Bat Conservation International. A bat-friendly bouquet! Evening primrose, night-scented stock, moonflower, night phlox, lemon balm, lavender, honeysuckle, sweet sage, salvia and thyme.

• OISÍN -- Proceeds go to the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund. A legendary warrior bard from Irish lore and a renowned member of the Fianna. His saga is detailed in two of the four great Cycles of Celtic legend: the Fenian and Ossianic Cycles. A lyric, wistful blend of summertime Irish blossoms and herbs, glistening with vibrant white musk.

• THUNDERBIRD -- Proceeds go to The Adopt-A-Native-Elder Program. Wakinyan, Hohoq, Kw-Uhnx-Wa. With eyes of fire, its glance is lightning, and thunder erupts as the great, sacred bird claps its mighty wings. A willing guardian and protector of mankind, a wise and benevolent teacher, and the creator of life-giving storms. The sharp tang of ozone and the deep bass growl of thunder over mountain trees.

• CERBERUS -- Proceeds go to the Animal Assistance League of Orange County. Cerberus, the Three-Headed watchdog that guards the gate to Hades. Loyal, dutiful and ferocious to its master’s enemies, but possessed of a distracting fondness for honey cakes and the song of the lyre. A deep, rumbling scent, warm, soft and as cozy as a dog by a hearthfire, but with a fierce and feral soul: deep chocolate, deeper musks, with a dash of fig, bittersweet walnut, and the wild essences of juniper berry, cubeb and rum.

 

The Yule Limited Edition scents have also whirled their way into this update to ensure that we are able to get them out in time for the holidays:

 

LIMITED EDITION: YULE BLENDS

• EGG NOG -- Sweet brandy, dark rum, heavy cream, sugar, and a dash of nutmeg.

• GINGERBREAD POPPET -- Warm, cozy gingerbread spiced with nutmeg, clove and cinnamon.

• HEARTH -- Sweet pipe tobacco, cherry wood, the warm, worn leather of an easy chair and a pleasant, subtle waft of fireplace smoke.

• ICE QUEEN -- A majestic blend of precious pale musks, brittle winter blossoms, spruce, and frozen winter fruits.

• MIDWINTER'S EVE -- A melancholy, deep scent, poignant and brimming with nostalgia. The perfume of sugared plums over a breeze of winter flowers.

• MISTLETOE -- The plant of peace in Norse tradition. If enemies met in the forest and came upon a sprig, they laid down their arms and observed a truce until the next sunrise.

• ROSE RED -- The perfected winter rose, dew covered and freshly cut.

• SKADI -- The Snow-Shoe Goddess, Giantess, the Norse embodiment of winter. Frost-rimed winter berries, crisp pine needle, and a slush of bright snowy notes.

• SNOW WHITE -- A chilly, bright perfume: flurries of virgin snow, crisp winter wind and the faintest breath of night-blooming flowers.

• SUGAR COOKIE -- Affectionately nicknamed 'The Devil's Bake Sale'.

• YULETIDE -- The juice of ripe, bursting, blood red holly berries.

 

More new stuff has also been squeezed into the General Catalogue...

 

BEWITCHING BREWS

• ANTIQUE LACE -- Nostalgia encapsulated. A soft, wistful blend of dry flowers, aged linens, and the faint breath of long-faded perfumes.

• ARACHNE -- A victim of her own arrogance, conceit and hubris, Arachne, the greatest mortal weaver, had the temerity to claim herself superior to Athena. Arachne was truly gifted: not only was her art astoundingly beautiful, but the vision of her in the act of weaving was a joy to behold. When one observer commented that her skill was so great that she must have been trained by the goddess Athena herself, the proud woman scoffed: she was insulted, and proclaimed aloud that the goddess could do no better than she. Athena heard this, and, as she is not a vindictive or jealous goddess, gave Arachne the opportunity to redeem herself. Disguised as an elderly woman, she came to Arachne and warned her against hubris. She laughed at the old woman and declared that she would welcome a contest with Athena. The goddess accepted the challenge. Athena wove a stunning tapestry depicting her victory over Poseidon, thus gaining patronage over the city of Athens. Arachne, who couldn’t leave well enough alone, wove a vulgar piece that depicted Zeus’ dalliances with Leda, Europa and Danae. Appalled at the woman’s audacity and blasphemy, Athena tore Arachne’s tapestry to shreds, crushed her loom, and bonked the mortal on the head, forcing her to feel remorse for her actions. In guilt and grief, Arachne hung herself. Again, because the goddess is merciful, she took pity on the woman and, after sprinkling aconite upon her corpse, transformed her into the first spider. A gossamer scent, as light as a spider’s footfall, touched with sighing mists: pallid flowers, dusty woods and soft herbs.

• BASTET -- Bast, Ubasti, Ailuros, Ba-en-Aset. Represented as both a domestic cat and a fierce lioness, she truly evidences traits of both. She is the Mother of All Cats, Goddess of Sensuality, Fertility, and a guardian and protector of women. She is also one of the Eyes of Ra, and in that aspect is an Avenging Goddess, seeking retribution and punishing enemies of her people. Luxuriant amber, warm Egyptian musk, fierce saffron and soft myrrh, almond, cardamom and golden lotus.

• BELLE ÉPOQUE -- “The Pretty Era”, France’s Golden Time: an age of beauty, innovation and peace in France that lasted from the 19th Century through the first World War and gave birth to the cabaret, the cancan, and the cinema as well as the Impressionist and Art Nouveau movements. Sweet opium, Lily of the Valley, vanilla, mandarin and red sandalwood.

• CENTZON TOTOCHTIN -- The Four Hundred divine rabbits of the Aztec pantheon that preside over parties and drunkenness. Bittersweet Mexican cocoa with rum, red wine, and a scent redolent of sacrificial blood.

• EOS -- The Rising Sun. She is Ostara, Easter, the Anglo-Saxon goddess of fertility and the dawn. She is a protector and friend to all children. Her scent is that of softly glowing skin, jasmine, buttercup and honeysuckle.

• GRANDMOTHER OF GHOSTS -- Mania, Roman Goddess of the Dead, Matron of Madness, Governess of the Ancestral Spirits, Bestower of Divine Frenzy. Her scent swirls with a high-pitched tumult of laurel, stargazer lily, splintered woods, peony, mandarin and white musk, and is spiked with pale pepper.

• GROG -- Arrr! Avast ye, matey! This be the scent of pirate rum!

• HIGHWAYMAN --

A brace of loaded pistols

He carried night and day;

He never robbed a poor man

Upon the king's highway;

But what he'd taken from the rich,

Like Turpin and Black Bess,

He always did divide it

With the widow in distress.

 

Stand and deliver! Vetiver with gardenia, blood red rose, night-blooming jasmine, a dash of cinnamon and a faint hint of leather.

• IAMBE -- Daughter of Pan and Echo and dear friend to Demeter. When Demeter was mourning the abduction of her daughter, Iambe was the only creature in heaven and earth that was able to lend cheer and laughter to the grieving mother. Her scent is one of comfort, beauty and joy: Sudanese amber, patchouli, rose, gardenia, gladiola and white tea.

• MANTIS -- Crushed herbs and sweet amber resin with a streak of patchouli, neroli and golden musk.

• NIFLHEIM -- The House of Mists, a land of icy fog, shadowy darkness and soul-chilling cold. Dark, damp blossoms winding through an impenetrable, murky gloom.

• SOPHIA -- The Gnostic goddess of Wisdom. A solemn, deeply profound draught of lavender, soft musks, star jasmine, black rose, delphinium, and gentle spice.

• YGGDRASIL -- The World Ash. Nine woods, nine leaves, and three herbs each for Ratatosk and Vidofnir, with three final herbs to placate Nidhogg.

 

FUNEREAL OILS

• ANUBIS -- He Who Counts the Hearts, Jackal Ruler of the Bows, He Who Is In the Place of Embalming. Jackal-headed guardian, protector and psychopomp of Egypt’s dead, he guides souls to the underworld and holds steady the scales upon which the deceased’s heart is weighed against Ma’at’s Feather of Truth. He is the creator and master of funereal rites, He Who Opens the Mouth of the Dead, and is the sentinel that watches over the sanctity of tombs and the virtue and privacy of his charges. His scent is a blend of holy myrrh, storax, balsam, and embalming herbs.

 

SIN AND SALVATION

• FALLEN -- Better to reign in Hell than serve in Heav'n. This is our song to Lucifer, Lucis Ferre, Heosphoros, the Morning Star, the Brilliant One and the Son of the Morning. He is equated with Samhazai, the Heaven-Seizer, and Azazel, one of the 200 Fallen Angels of Enoch. The essence of overweening pride and unearthly angelic beauty. A regal scent, glowing darkly, elegant and patrician, but unfathomably desolate. Cherubic white sandalwood and golden musk with a dark halo of amber, a breath of imperial florals, unbending woods, and the shadow cast by vetiver and violet.

 

LOVE POTIONS

• BATHSHEBA -- The Seventh Daughter, Daughter of the Oath. She was King David’s lover, and the mother of King Solomon. Her scent is breathtakingly lovely, exotic and powerfully sensual in its innocence: carnation, sensual plum, and Arabian musk.

• KURUKULLA -- The Tibetan goddess of love and wealth. Her scent is a harmonious, sweet, enchanting blend of three lotus blooms and three roses.

• NEFERTITI -- “The Beautiful One Is Come”. Egyptian iris and olibanum with red and white sandalwood, soft myrrh and a breath of North African herbs.

• WHIP -- Agony and ecstasy: black leather and damp red rose.

 

DIABOLUS

• BLOOD COUNTESS -- Elizabeth Báthory, also called Erzsébet Báthory in Hungarian and Alžbeta Bátoriová-Nádašdy in Slovak, was the Bloody Lady of Hungary. In order to preserve her youth and loveliness, the brutal and incomparably savage countess captured, tortured and slaughtered innumerable young women and bathed in their blood as part of her beauty regimen. Ah, vanity. Corrupted black plum, smoky opium and crumbling dead roses covered by a deceptive veil of Hungarian lilac, white gardenia and wild berry.

• MARQUISE de MERTEUIL -- Stately, bold, aristocratic and cruel. Opulent galbanum and amber, glistening peach, and a bouquet of French florals, with a merciless undertone of jonquil and heartless vetiver.

 

WANDERLUST

• DELPHI -- The smoke of Sacred Incense of Apollo twined through laurel branches, bay, and honey wine.

• FLORENCE -- The pearl of the Italian Renaissance. Elegant iris, bright berries, gilded amber and velvety spices.

• MANILA -- A tropical, humid, lush scent, with a faint echo of Pacific breezes, jungle blossoms, and deep wet woods. Sampaguita blossoms, banana leaf, palm, and narra.

• TENOCHTITLAN -- The greatest of all Aztec cities, and capital of their empire. Amber, hyssop, coriander, epazote, Mexican sage, prickly pear and Mexican tulip poppy.

 

Ars Draconis has been added so that we can consolidate the Dragonny smells!