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Notes to myself and anyone else

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Grrrr

I am an idiot.   My lease is over at the end of this month (October, not November). It's too late for me to move out. And the landlady already told me she won't go month-to-month.   The reason I got confused, is because the last time I moved, I got sick in the middle of the process. I spent 2 or 3 weeks recovering, and had to stop the whole moving process, which means I stayed over a couple weeks at my old apartment. I actually should have paid them another month's rent, but they let it slide.   Anyway, looks like I'm staying put for another year after all.
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Ginger

Ginger is a hit-or-miss note for me. I love Shub-Niggurath, but I don't like the ginger note in Saw Scaled Viper and War. I like Sudha Segara, but I don't love it, and I'm not sure I can smell the ginger in it. It smells more like sparkly lemon and lime to me. I have a wee sample of ginger essential oil from Nature's Gift, and I really like how it smells. Oh and I do like Pumpkin Queen, but I don't love it (wait.....PQ does have ginger, doesn't it?).   I was reading reviews for Shub-Niggurath and couldn't believe all the variations people are smelling. I don't smell lemon at all when I wear it. And were there really different 'versions' of Shub? I always wonder if that's true or if it's just people's different perceptions of the same scent. I have a decant of pre-resurrection Shub, and also a bottle of the resurrected Shub, and they smell exactly alike to me. Of course, I don't know how old the decant is.
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fun, fun, fun

High drama in the ED tonight, but nothing new. We get homeless and/or destitute people who come in with a minor complaint, then after they are discharged they want to stay here in the waiting room for the rest of the night. It's cold outside and they either don't have anywhere to go, or don't have a way to get there. We do have cab vouchers for people, but the charge nurse is usually particular about giving them. I understand their point of view, because once you start giving them out, people want them all the time, every time they come here. So sometimes, people are told no, you cannot have a cab voucher. But then they want to stay in our waiting area, which they can't do. So security gets involved, and they will give a cab voucher to anyone, going anywhere. Another issue is they are only supposed to go to the address listed in their account (their home address). And some of them don't have a home address. So it becomes like a big puzzle. And I am kind of stuck in the middle of it, getting complained at by all sides. I am okay with whatever they decide, but it's not really up to me, so I just sit here looking kind of dumb.
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Fourreau Noir-Serge Lutens

Fourreau Noir by Serge Lutens......tonka bean, lavender, musk, almond, smoky accents   When I first put this on I could tell right away that it's an unusual, striking creation. I wasn't sure if I actually liked it but, like many other Lutens perfumes, that didn't seem to matter.....just the experience of trying it reminds me of why I got into this habit.   So, up close, Fourreau Noir is a little scary, almost harsh and chemical smelling. It reminds me of hot rubber or maybe leather. But the throw is quite beautiful and I think I mostly get the lavender, but the musk is very nice too. It's almost like what I wanted from Miel de Bois, but in the end couldn't love that one. But I do love this. It also reminds me a bit of the tonka in my beloved Chene but this is more.....what's the word....not really sinister, but more like this has a dark secret. This is more of a dressy occasion type of scent.   *sigh* Only problem is, there are already at least 3 other Lutens that I want full bottles of! Guess I have to add this to the list!
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for Bonnie (my stepmom)

Okay, I found the gardenia thread. I'm adding Euphrosyne to the list, and maybe Pele. I absolutely cannot imagine giving my stepmom something called The Sacred Whore of Babylon, though. Maybe a decant with just 'Babylon' on the label. I wonder....if she ended up liking it, and I told her what it's called, would she still wear it?
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Fille en Aiguilles...Serge Lutens

Finally got a bottle of this, one of my favorites! Gave myself a pretty intensive application today to get the full experience, as before I only had a 2.5 ml sample.   Well, what to say, how to describe this. It's a very 'me' scent, woody, spicy, kind of sweet, also deep, dark and....almost smoldering. Not really an incense, but it has a quality of incense about it. The notes listed are "pine needles, vetiver, incense, fruit, spices, fir balsam, amber". So yeah.....there is a feeling of pine but in no way sharp or cleanser-like. Add to it sugary fruits, but not candy-like....more of a sweetened boozy fruitcake with pine and resins, maybe frankincense? I dunno it just smells damn good.   I applied pretty heavily and this seems to be a scent that stays close to the skin. There aren't any "high pitched" notes. According to the box it is eau de parfum strength and in my experience, the stronger concentration of scents seem to stay closer to the skin. That's what my Bois des Iles does, anyway. It's somewhat closer to the way perfume oil behaves on the skin and in the air around me. I love this so much and it just hums in a quiet way....I can't imagine ever feeling like I put on too much. I don't think I'd fill up a whole room with this one, sillage-wise.   Anyway, so glad to finally have a bottle! Just in time for late summer going into fall. Beautiful.
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Falling Leaf Moon.....first impressions

First applied, this is lovely! Right away it's very sweet to me, and I don't really know which note is so sweet unless it's the opoponax. Anyway.....I can also smell the rain note, and it's the most lovely, delicate aquatic scent that I have experienced. It's so light and fragile that it's almost lost in the blend, but just strong enough that it stands out if you're 'looking' for it. I love aquatics and this aspect is stunning, but overall I don't consider this an aquatic scent.   After the scent warms and dries on my skin, it seems to actually get stronger. It loses a little bit of the complexity of the very first stage, and the sweetness starts to get to me a little bit. I don't like honey in perfume, and this starts to remind me of honey somewhat.....a little cloying. And this stuff really has staying power and strength!   I can really understand the comparisons to Samhain, but this reminds me even more of Autumn, except without the rose in that scent. I'm going to try applying with a lighter touch, and I refuse to give up on this scent, even though it turns too strong and a little cloying with the honey sweetness. What I learned from Samhain is that after 3 years, the sweetness balanced out with the other notes and it became something almost heartbreakingly beautiful. I hope for the same thing to happen with Falling Leaf Moon!
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fall madness/perfume overload

I have so many different perfumes now, that sometimes wearing just one isn't enough. I get too impatient to try something else. So I end up smelling like 2 or 3 different ones, and it kind of turns into perfume overload. Like they all just get lost in a cloud of too much smelliness. I'm getting better lately, though, and trying to be patient and just wear one for a while before trying another one. I still have quite a few new scents that I haven't reviewed or even tried yet. It's a little out of control, and when I look at my wish list, I kind of think to myself "you're kidding, right? you need MORE??".   On a different note....I already knew that I like fall scents year-round, including in the heat of summer. Lately, though, I've noticed that I don't reach for the 'red' summer scents, now that I'm in a fall mood. Red Moon and Corazon are two examples, I just haven't felt like wearing them at all lately. Maybe that's because I'm sooo hyped about the fall scents right now. I do sometimes like the winter scents in different seasons. I wore Jolasveinar and Midnight Mass a few times over the summer.   Speaking of fall scents, I'm starting to wonder just a little about my decants. I've bought from this gal before so I'm not too worried, I'm just wondering what stage we're at......has the CnS come yet? Has she actually got the package yet? Are they on the way to us (doubt it)?? I'm just so impatient for these, so I can go ahead and place another order. Also, when I look at which Pumpkin Patch decants I ordered, I kind of wonder what I was thinking. I ordered 2, 4 and 5. Now I wish I could try 3 also. I'm pretty sure without sniffing that I'll like 3 and 5. I think I ordered 2 just to see how the champaca or champa plays out in it. It's a note that I like but it sometimes takes over a scent for me.   I'm also really really excited about the Possets fall update, coming soon. One more week! I know I need to set aside at least $50 or $60 for that, probably more..... *sigh*
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Excited

I am so excited about Bioshock 2! I hope it doesn't suck. I pre-ordered the special edition, which has some nifty extras like a soundtrack CD, and also the orchestral soundtrack from the first game on vinyl. My turntable currently needs a new stylus but that's neither here nor there. It also has an art book of some sort. Kind of an impulsive purchase but there ya go. Now the only bad part is, it will take a few days for it to be delivered, and meanwhile other people will be playing the game already......   But....I've waited this long, I can wait a while longer.
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Egg Nog (2007 I think)

I tried this today, after the decant sat for a long time untouched. I was a little dismayed because it was barely there, and I thought it had aged badly or something. Then I read other reviews and I guess I'm not the only one! There is a little bit of throw, just a faint, sweet vanilla type of scent, with no spices or rum or anything like that. It's a cakey sort of scent, and I can barely pick up what might be some spices, only when I sniff up close.
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ebay and other stuff

I can't seem to resist making outrageous bids on ebay, for bpal scents that I've been wanting for a while. I guess I shouldn't feel guilty.....some of these things I've really wanted for a long time, and they never seem to come up in swaps around here. Of course, it doesn't matter in the end, when I'm outbid less than 12 hours after I place my starting bid (this was for the Holly King proto)! And the winning bid is more than twice what I was willing to pay. I was kind of surprised at that one, I guess I'm not the only one who wanted it badly!   But now I have another auction that I placed a bid on, and we'll see how high that goes. I'm not going to raise my highest bid, because I've already bid more than I really should spend. So, we'll see. It's actually a scent that I already have half a bottle of, and this would be a back-up bottle (something nearly unheard of in my collection, except for Snake Oil which is for aging).   In other news........I'm in the middle of my long stretch of work, interrupted only by being off Tuesday night, until the weekend. I'm looking forward to Tuesday and really looking forward to the weekend, although it's pretty far off. I bought an annual pass to the Newport Aquarium, because I miss the Zoo's aquarium, which was made into the manitee exhibit. The manatees are pretty cool, but the aquarium was always my favorite part of the Zoo. And the Newport Aquarium is not even that great.....there are some cool parts, though. I only have to go once more to make up for the cost of my annual pass (and I'm pretty sure I'll go more than once more in the next year).   Anyway, yeah.....spending lots of money when I should be concentrating on credit card debt. Oh well, gotta have fun somehow, right??   Oh and speaking of spending money, I made an order with Nature's Gift. I bought their Sacred emotional synergy for a room scent. I wanted something for a sort of peaceful meditation blend, although I already have their Meditation blend....and it's pretty awesome.....but I wanted another spiritual blend, too. I also bought some jojoba oil and something for my occasional dermatitis/eczema.....now I can't even remember which oil, LOL.....oh yeah, calendula oil for skin care. And I asked for some samples of their fir/pine essential oils. Can't wait to see what they send me! They're always really nice about sending free samples when I ask for them.
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Duh....

I just realized I have 2 entries about custom scents that start out almost exactly the same! I totally forgot I had already written about that. *smacks forehead*
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draft for ISO post

Decants/imps would be perfect, even if they're not completely full.   And There Was A Great Cry In Egypt The Chapel Isaac, The Living Skeleton Knucklebones Three Gorgons
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Divine L'homme Sage

Notes: saffron, mandarin, cardamom, lychee, aromatic woods, immortelle (or everlasting flower), patchouli, oak moss, amber, incense   This smells good, but it's kind of a hyper-dude-fume to me. I admit that it softens somewhat after it's been on the skin for a little while. I love this kind of scent, but this particular one is just not for me. It smells good but it's way too butch for my liking. It's warm and woodsy, a little spicy, just a little powdery amber, and something almost like leather which might be saffron playing tricks on my nose.   Frank Los Angeles 2 is my go-to scent for woods and spices, and luckily I have a full bottle of that, so I don't need more of this.   Edit: This does sweeten up considerably after a few hours, and I think what I'm smelling now is mostly the immortelle and incense. It's much nicer now but takes a long time to get there.
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Decisions, decisions.....

I have to narrow these down at least a little bit! Unless I decide to just go crazy and have a huge order, which is not out of the question. Maybe if I get my thoughts down, it would help me decide.   Lambs-Wool.....this is a really nice scent, and wears kind of light, so a bottle might be a good thing. I already have one apple scent, Fearful Pleasure, but to me that is a much different kind of scent. FP is more musky and smokey, whereas Lambs-Wool is bright and springy. It's complex and unusual. If I get a bottle, I almost certainly wouldn't need any more apple scents!   Sarah.....I loved this at first, and I want to make sure it's not a false alarm, that I really do love it, before getting a bottle. At first I thought I hadn't smelled anything like it before, but now it is starting to remind me of things like On Darkness, Ghulheim, and one other dark scent that I can't put a name to right now. I still like Sarah, though. I'm just not sure if I need a whole bottle or not.   Julia Stone.....I love this one! When I first discovered Bpal, Dirty was one of the first scents I tried, and in the end, I just didn't like the linen note. So from then on, I thought linen wasn't for me. Well guess what. Julia Stone is a linen-y scent that I actually can wear! I'll have to try it a couple more times to be sure, and as long as it doesn't turn powdery, I would love a bottle. It's really fun to discover that I can wear linen after all!   Feeding The Dead.......I love this one too (damn it)!! The one drawback to this one is there is a limit on where I would wear it. For example, I don't think I'd wear it to work, not just because of the beer, but because I usually avoid the more incense-y blends at work (I just don't think it's real appropriate for my job). But....I really enjoy smelling this, even just wearing it at home, as a comfort scent. I've discovered that I like cake scents to wear around the house, but I'm even more drawn to the ones that have some interesting twist, which this definitely has.   Knock A Dolly......This sounds sensational, and I have a feeling I must have it. I already have a million kinds of incense and tarts that I haven't been using, but this would be my first BPTP room spray. I do have a couple of little samples of their room sprays, and I do like them. So, I may end up kicking myself later if I let this one pass by.   A couple of the late summer scents are calling to me too, but so many of them have rose, which could turn soapy or powdery, so I may pass those up (even though I might regret it). I just have to accept that I can't get everything, and I think the Halloween scents are more important to me.   So......that didn't really help. All I did was come closer to buying all of them instead of narrowing down my choices!
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decant or bottle......

......the inner debate continues.   I want Old Moon. I really do. All of this 'pining' I've been doing for a wintery/pine/fir scent (sorry, could not resist the pun).....and now people are saying this is the perfect one. On the one hand, I already have decants of Yuletide, Ice Queen, Death Of The Grave Digger, Jolasveinar, The Snow Storm, Mistletoe......Shivering Boy......Cloister Graveyard......in other words, many many wintery blends that I really like. More than I could use up in quite a long time. On the other hand.......that addition of 'lunar herbs and flowers' sounds soooo promising....makes me really lustful for Old Moon.......so I just don't know. I can't imagine that decants are going to be hard to find once people start getting this. But I haven't had a pending lab order in so long!   Bottom line.....I have way too many bills right now. I just better sit this one out. : (
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Damn.

So now I'm kicking myself, because I just tried Brom Bones, and holy-mother-of-pearl......this is beyond sexy. I'm definitely going to need a whole bottle of this, rather than a puny decant. I already loved Quincey Morris, and this is close but even better. Just incredible. This should have been my bottle choice, rather than Chant D'Autumne (which I like, but nothing like B. Bones......).
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custom scents

Today I was perusing the CB I Hate Perfume website, and thinking about custom scents. It's something I would love to do, but it almost seems like getting a tattoo.....I would want to make sure I had the perfect idea, and that it came out just right. I know that's kind of a stretch, but I think it's rather pricey to have him do it, and I would want to get my money's worth, definitely.   So, I was trying to think of a custom scent for myself. Lately I've been in the mood for snowy scents, floral, and woodsy with fir and/or pine sap. Jolasveinar is very, very good. And I'm real hopeful about Christmas Rose. That's almost the image I had in my head........the description of Christmas Rose, which is: "Bruise-tinted hellebore blossoms pushing through snowdrifts". I don't know what hellebore smells like.   The image I had is of a small bouquet of flowers on an icy/snowy mountaintop. The blossoms are perfect and covered with a delicate layer of frost. There are fir trees all around, and a light hint of woodsmoke in the air. And there's a teasing hint of pie and spice in the air, like someone is baking their Christmas desserts and opened their window for a little fresh air. So yeah, I guess that's pretty close to Jolasveinar. I'd like to smell a version of Jolasveinar that's more centered around the smushed buttercups, and with more flowers added, like rose. Maybe I'll try wearing Jolasveinar on one wrist and Rose Red or Peacock Queen on the other, when I get my decants.
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Custom scent

Not that I'll likely ever get a custom scent, but I've been thinking about one in the last few days. It's kind of like a song I can't get out of my head.   It would be like a more masculine version of Snow White. I'm imagining a pure white mixture of rice cream (is there such a thing?) and coconut milk, infused with ginger, with a dash of nutmeg and cardamom on top, possibly a hint of clove. It's in a wooden bowl with a scattering of pine boughs around it. All of this is outside on a blustery, snowy day. Snow, rice cream, coconut, almond, ginger, spices, turbinado sugar, balsam fir. Maybe some woodsmoke, or frankincense, just a hint of something to give it a bit of a rugged edge. Ooh, maybe some cherry too? Just a little bit, not enough to stand out a whole lot. It's possible some kind of floral would be good, but I don't know florals well enough to say which one.   It would be something between Snow White, Jolasveinar, and Cloister Graveyard In The Snow.
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Current Events

Well, here's what I think....   I first came to bpal.org to read reviews and shipping updates. What I have found has been much, much more. I've made friends here from my own city as well as around the world, as well as finding a 'hobby' if that's what you want to call our collections. The people here and the oils we collect have enriched my life and opened my mind, and I've been through several big life-changes since coming around here. I can always find advice or just a shoulder to cry on when I'm here, and I know it goes even deeper for others in this community....some have mentioned that their sanity and their lives have been saved by their friends here, and I believe that is not an exaggeration.   I do not blame anyone who is still friends with fairnymph, or who decides to sell to her when (if) all this is resolved. Let's face it....she's going to get the perfumes that she wants. She will find a way. Her posts that I've read strike me as coming from someone who is.....maybe the ultimate control freak? Self will run riot? I don't know, this probably isn't the place for it. My point is that she will find ways to get the oils that she wants and nobody here should lose sleep if she finds ways around the things we do to block her. She kind of reminds me of a little kid who wants all the toys for herself and then finds herself all alone with her toys because nobody wants to play with her any more. In a way that's sad because she's brought her own punishment on herself, worse than anything we can do by blocking her from buying stuff. She's cut herself off from a lot of potential friends and rich opportunities, and she did it to herself. I bet there are people around here who still would forgive her, and give her a chance, and be friends with her, and I don't find anything wrong with that at all.   *sigh*......I don't even know where I was going with this or what my point is.....I think I'll just leave it at that.
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Conclusion

So, after all that fuss, it turns out I was right after all.....my current lease is from December to December. With a little more planning and communication, I could have avoided that whole awkward situation.   The good news is that I'm moving next month. My new apartment is almost exactly halfway between work and school (a mile and a half to either one). In a pinch if my car broke down, I could walk to either work or school. It also has: off street parking, secure entry/building, laundry in the basement, and paid heat and water. I am really excited.   Now for the big pain in the ass of moving again. Once again, I should just throw a lot of stuff away, useless junk that I tend to hold onto. Time to look for boxes!
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Chene, revisited

You just never know, sometimes I end up loving the ones I didn't like at first. I'm talking about Serge Lutens Chene. I wore it a few more times and pretty quickly fell in love, and now I have a full bottle on the way. Way to splurge! No more big perfume purchases for me for a while! (yeah, right....)
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Chaos Theory V!

I squeed my pants when I saw this:   "For this series, we decided to try a different type of chaotic experimentation. Each CT:5 scent has a base of one of the following scents, in wildly varying proportions:   Dorian O Penitence Snake Oil"   ....I totally was not expecting a new round of Chaos Theory!! All my bottle purchasing plans just went out the window in favor of CT. I love it so much, because each one is on-of-a-kind. My tentative plans for purchasing this round:   Snake Oil.....will 2 be enough? I dunno, I already bought the whole Snake Pit, how many Snake Oil variants can one person hoard?? I did trade away a few of my Snake Pit scents, though. I'll say 2 of these, for now.   Dorian......at least 2, maybe 3......not because I'm crazy about the scent, really, but I think this one has the most exciting potential to be something great with other notes added (did that make sense? I know I'm rambling now).   Penitence.....at least one, maybe 2.....Penitence itself goes just a bit powdery on me, but I like it enough that I want to try one or two variations, just for the hell of it!   O.....no thank you! I am glad there is one that I can safely skip. I never have tried it, and honey usually is not my thing.   So, screw it, I should just get 1 of each (of the first 3) now, then another one of each (maybe 2 more of Snake Oil) before they go away. Sounds like a plan! I'm already impatient!
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Chaos Theory IV.....I forget the number

.....and the bottle is at home. I'll edit later with the Roman numeral.   Herbs? Licorice, black leather? Eucalyptus?   This is scent is weird. Very weird. It starts out herbal and..........jeez, I can't even think of a word. It reminds me of chemicals, magic markers, or maybe hairspray, with eucalyptus.   After it dries for a while, I would still call it herbal, but the nearly menthol quality fades. It changes to something like black jelly beans with no sugar, more synthetic, not like anise the herb. I also smell asphalt, and something that reminds me of sleet. The slightly sour hairspray note can still be detected.   This reminds me strongly of a conceptual scent, an H.R. Giger painting, maybe? Grey pipes hissing with mist......cold, not hot. The colors would be all grays and blacks. There is not a drop or ounce of color in this scent. It could be called Black Ice if there weren't already a Black Ice. This one has no flowers or sweetness whatsoever (unlike the existing Black Ice scent). I'll be honest, at first I hated it, but I have to admit that it's strangely compelling.
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Cerberus

This scent is warm, fuzzy, fruity, and musky, all at the same time. The juniper berry doesn't stand out like it normally would in my nose, but it might be adding to the fruity aspect of the scent. I think I can smell almost all of the notes, actually. I've never really decided if I like this, and I've had my decant for quite a while. I think it's just a strange combination of notes. If I was going to enjoy this, it would be as a comfort scent, on a chilly fall day. Maybe something to wear to the zoo! : )
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