YoakeNoKami

ETA: I see that your order is mostly stuff from the recent update, so I expect you actually mean 08/05/2009. I ordered fairly soon after the update went up and just got my order today, so if you still haven't received your CnS, be on the lookout over the next week or so. They probably have a massive influx of orders when posting a HUGE update like that-- just remember that sometimes the time from order date to arrival can vary. Two weeks (so far) isn't so much, considering that the wait time from order to shipping listed on their website is actually listed as (exceeding 14-21 days), and they've been getting things shipped super quick. I got my CnS Friday, and my order today. Also.... have you checked your spam folder? Sometimes e-mail will randomly start sorting CnS notices to spam, even if they haven't before. Also, it can sometimes take upwards of a month for the Lab to fill orders-- maybe check the BPAL CnS/IGMO threads to check out the dates on the orders being received at the moment, and what exactly those orders are. They're probably going to have a backlog considering the recent update, as well. You could also e-mail the Lab if you start getting really worried about where your oils have gotten to... but I would give it a bit more time before I started worrying.

In bottle: Pretty much just straight fresh violet, very much so. On/wet: Sweet, fresh, sugared violets. It's really, really gorgeous-- this isn't the same sort of sugared violets in Faith, though-- this is a more full, rounded violet. Drydown: Violet pastilles!!! It's sweet and sugary... without being sugary. It's not something that morphs too much when it hits my skin, either, which is a wonderful change for me with a violet scent-- quite often they go soapy or green on me, and this doesn't. Overall, it's really a gorgeous scent and I wish that more violet notes would turn out like this on me.

In imp: Cocoa-mint. Yummy! On/wet: It's very cocoa, so far. A hint of that oakmoss, which is very interesting, but also of the mint. Drydown: I have to say that in some aspects, this very much reminds me of MB: Tokyo Stomp. However, I think that this blend, overall, is fuller, richer in some ways. On drydown, it's primarily cocoa-mint (rather than vanilla mint) and smells very much like actual Thin Mint Cookies, but I'm definitely getting the pistachio out of this as well as the oakmoss. The chocolate not is stranded somewhere between Bliss and El Dia De Reyes, and is really quite lovely, and I adore the way it interacts with the mint and pistachio. I think I'm going to need a bottle of this.

Imp: Sort of a funny tangerine. Like soda-water (oh! The seltzer!) with tangerine rind in it. Weird. On/wet: SELTZER LIKE WHOA. The tangerine is still there, though I think I'm getting some of the floral as well. Drydown: Okay. Definitely, definitely odd. Tangerine, then apricot, then strangely warm and slightly crushed flowers. Then the seltzer. I'm not really getting much of the amber, which is okay, as I suspect that it would do strange things on my skin in this blend. Not really any pineapple either. It's an interesting scent, but I think I need to consider it for a while longer-- trying to figure out if it's something I like well enough to wear repeatedly.

In imp: Faintyl melony On/wet: MELON. Ripe melon, most likely cantaloupe? It's very yummy. Not really getting anything else from it yet, as this melon is trying to mug me. Drydown: Overall, I have to agree that this is very similar to Yemaya on me, but not so much sticky-sweet melon juice as sliced, ripe melon, still on the rind. There's green tea in the background, drawn out behind the melon note, and they smell awesome together. There's also some sort of dry woodsy-herby things in the background (maybe the toadflax?), including a hint of the lemonbalm. Lovely! This is probably one of the few blends I've tried which has had a "green tea" note that actually smells like green tea on me.

In the bottle: Super fruity! Very much currant and honey. On/wet: Still currant, but it's a bit more grounded here. Less sharp, more sweet. Faintly peppery honey coats it, really, which is very interesting. It's sweet, yes, but still very fresh and maybe a little sharp. Drydown: Still very curranty, though the light bit of blackberry has definitely jumped in. It's a little softer, too-- the amber and then honey conspiring, I expect. They're very interesting together in this, and they sort of soften an buoy the currant and blackberry. The pepper is in there still, but more like an afterthought, a little taste, than a focal note. Overall: Really gorgeous, with good throw. It's very bright, and even a bit bold. I don't think it'll do for super-warm days, but it seems like a good fit for the summer anyways. Gorgeous.

In imp: Sweet, light melon. How pretty! There's a trace of aquatic here, though, so we'll have to see how that turns out. On/wet: Interesting. Not so much of the melon, a little bit of a floral. It smells a bit like a bath shop, really. Drydown: At first sniff, like one of those commercial cucumber-melon scents, which also tend to smell sort of salty to me. Final impression: Contemplating for a moment, it's still the melony smell, with a little bit of aquatic. I think what I'm reading as a salty aquatic here is actually eucalyptus of all things, which is very odd, but also very interesting. The base notes are sweeter and more rounded under the eucalyptus-- perfectly ripe melon of an indeterminate sort, served with crisp sliced cucumbers in a sweetened vinaigrette. Totally a late afternoon snack of cubed melon and salad near the water, the scent of eucalyptus drifting in on the breeze.

Okay, so I have a question about The Feast For the Greatly Revered Ones: Has anyone else got this going on? One of the bottles of it that I've got quickly separates out into half light colored oil and half dark, and the other is mostly the lighter oil with a teensy bit of the darker stuff at the bottom. I mean, a gentle roll blends it back together, but the scent of the oil is also noticably different-- fruitier in one, and more cocoa in the other. Is it just that the oils weren't blended together all the way when they were bottled...? I wouldn't be concerned, except that it's a rather large variance in the contents of the bottles. Anyone else? EDIT: Ahh, I'd heard a while back that they were using an automated filling system! Thanks-- I can totally see how that would cause this!

Imp: Definitely pink scented! Faintly reminiscent of both Marshmallow Poof and Beaver Moon-- More fruity than Marshmallow Poof, and more sugary than Beaver Moon. Tantalizing! On/wet: Oddly enough, faintly cocoa-buttery sugar. Definitely getting a hint of dandelion, though for now I'm going to say it's a hint of dandelion sap from the cut stem, faintly sticky, sweet smelling (though I'm afraid the sap tastes nothing like this smells) . Drydown: Creamy, lovely, faintly fruity marshmallows! It's really an amazing scent, because it retains the sugar note and the fruit hint that I first noticed, but becomes a smooth vanilla-strawberry marshmallow, with just a hint of that dandelion sap in the background. Overall: Eating strawberry marshmallows on the back porch in springtime, maybe very early summer, after the lawn has come back to life enough that somebody went over it with a mower, but no one's bothered trying to pull weeds (read: multitude millions of dandelions) out of it yet.

Imp: bitter herbs, some sort of piney resin On/wet: Huh. Powedery bitter herbs, still. Resin is still there, but a bit drier now. Odd. Drydown: Whoa, hey, resin-baby powder, wtf? Oddly like laying under the shrubs in grandma's garden. Overall, still with that *sneeze* yeah, that's the chamomile, alright. Not really getting the saffron, the amber's there but gone to powder. Basically: Baby-powdery resin-- amber & frankincense + dried up chamomile flowers. Floral, and not in a good way, but in an allergy0inducing way.

So at first it was amazing-- vanilla, pineapple, frangipani. Delicious! I was so sure I was going to need a bottle... Then. After a while, I started thinking it smelled kinda familiar. Kinda... summery. Like the beach. Like-- oh no! argh, it went for tropical sunblock after half an hour, without fail. Even in the scent locket.

Um... well... In bottle: Metallic, slightly cologne-y, and faintly reminiscent of Phoenix Steamworks. It differs a bit-- rather than sun- and heat- warmed metal, it's more of a cool metal. Definitely getting the "gold" aspect. On/wet: The "gold" note, for the most part... then a little citrus. Cool water. Hmm... musk of some kind? Not sure, but a pale one... Drydown: Gold, WHITE MUSK ( ???? ack ). What???? Apparently not enough " white musk " pr whatever this note is to set off my allergies.... but... in conjunction with the other notes, definitely enough to turn it utterly to soap. ARGH. NO, please! Guest soap-- expensive guest soap, granted, but, um, yeah. No. Overall: I was really hoping this one would work out-- right off the bat it smelled lovely, like a cooler and lighter version of Phoenix Steamworks (which I love, even if it does sometimes wear a bit cologne-y), but the whole turning to soap thing is a dealbreaker. Gah. I waited an hour and a half and it did not turn back, so likely not keeping this.

Bottle: Sweet pumpkin/mango. Mostly mango. On/wet: mango/pumpkin/COCONUT. Like a fresh mango and coconut salad, with a cut pumpkin nearby. Drydown: Way sweet pumpkin-persimmon with a little mango and a bit of coconut. Really, really sweet, with this hint of flair to the persimmon which could be amazing if the pumpkin would move over and let it take the stage with the coconut.

Bottle: Like cranberry-carnation-Jack. Huh? On/wet: General fruit, butter. Red musk. Drydown: Cloying but swiftly vanishing pumpkin and candle-shop cranberry. No pumpkin, no anything else. But closely followed by: Later drydown/Overall: Overwhelmingly squished currants, cranberries, and some general warm fruit juice smell. Not a keeper for me.

Bottle: Honey, some kind of deep dark vanilla yum, a rich and smoky something-or other. On/wet: Smokey roast pumpkin, having been buried in coals to cook. Honey again. And a bit of the lovely sage. Drydown: Ooooh, this one I can keep! Slightly spicy honeyed pumpkin, the faint bit of sage, and some of that cherry tobacco, I think. Pine is in there, too, in a warmed-wood kind of way, like the firewood stacked up next to the woodstove, but not blaringly so--I think that it's probably the cedar that I'm interpreting as "spicy", but it's not really one of the top notes I'm getting out of this. Overall: Very warm and definitely wearable. I'm glad I aged this one, for sure. Though it did wear off rather quickly, but my weird skin chemistry tends to do that to blends with cherry tobacco, for some reeason. Hmmm. Might need to slather a bit.

Pumpkin with black musk, leather accord, tonka, teak, orange wood, and opoponax. Another one that languished in a drawer after the first testing, only to be dragged out for one last testing. Bottle: Pumpkin. Something savory-- this is going to sound weird, but sage. Maybe it's the musk? On/Wet: Wet pumpkiny leather like somebody slathered Jack and came back with their coat soaked by the rain. A little humid, a little dark. Sorta yummy. Drydown: Bleargh. What happened? I think that dark musk rose up and swallowed my leather and had some kind of unnatural ceremony with my pumpkin. Broken pumpkins, water... dark damp dirt and cold. There's something in here which smells like Shattered Pumpkin, which soooo did not work for me. Overall: A bit disappointed. Pumpkin/leather or pumpkin/sage I could have dealt with, but that funny Shattered Pumpkin-like note sorta killed it for me. In fact, if not for the remaining sweetness underneath, it would smell almost exactly like Shattered Pumpkin on me (just not quite as strong).

In imp: Lime. Citrus salsa. WTF? On/wet: Citrus again-- lime, maybe a little grapefruit. Parsley? Uh. What. Really? Isn't this supposed to be a pumpkin blend? Drydown: Some underlying sweetness, but mostly it's like a very citrusy salsa--no onions, but lots of parsley, more like that fresh-cut salsa stuff that you get a dish of in addition to regular when the restaurant serves fresh tortilla chips. Nice, but hunger inducing, this smells a bit green, and very fresh. EDIT: A bit odd. I have a bottle of this, also, that's been languishing in a drawer. I might have to keep it for summertime.

I was looking forward to seeing how the satsuma in this one would come out, so I took a chance with the vetiver and got a decant. So. Imp -- Vetiver: Hi, I am vetiver. I'll be your scent today, and I've brought my friend amber with me. Teak is around here somewhere, lemme know if you catch a whiff. On/wet -- Vetiver:HI! I'm Vetiver! And this is my friend, TEAK. Say hello, teak! Teak: HeLLO. Vetiver: Okay, that's enough out of you, teak. Take a hike. Drydown -- Vetiver: O HAI! I BE VETIVER. AND I BE ON YOUR SKIN. ALL YOUR SKIN IS BELONG TO US. * noms the bare hint of cinnamon down to nothing * Me: *dies* Overall: This smells like vetiver and that white powder bathtub cleanser on me. Augh. * dies again * Make it go away.... !

They won't? I checked the TSA site and it says "Air travelers may now carry liquids, gels and aerosols in their carry-on bag when going through security checkpoints" (with size limits), so if anything they seem to be getting less strict. There was no reference at all to limits on checked baggage, unless the liquid is flammable. So I don't think you need to worry. Does BPAL count as flammable? Airport Security tends to vary from airport to airport. Some of them will wave you by, others will get iffy about it. :/ OH well, I guess I'll find out on the way back from LA... You should probably make sure to put them in a plastic bag inside your carryon as well-- like a ziploc-- just in case they ask you to show them to them. From what I recall, sometimes the security people will ask to see liquids, etc. Whatever you do, don't just say "perfume" because that implies perfumer's alcohol content, and that's a definite no-go. One thing to keep in mind is that they're natural perfumes, and so have no alcohol content. To quote breadwoman, further up the thread This is pretty normal for US airports at the moment, sooo... Another thing to keep in mind is that USPS allows BPAL to be shipped airmail, which is not acceptable for perfumes with alcohol content (because of the flash point, etc.) so apparently they consider it non-flammable. Not that this guarantees anything as far as the airport, but technically they are essential oils. Here's the liquids-specific guidelines for the US. http://www.tsa.gov/311/index.shtm Looks like as long as the containers are less than 3 oz, and all fit into one 1-quart ziploc, it can go in carry-ons. (shouldn't be a problem for BPAL!) and over that amount should go in checked baggage. (It looks like this system is also in place in Australia, which should make things a bit simpler! -- http://www.tsa.gov/press/happenings/311_intl_acceptance.shtm ) Oh!!! and anything like nail clippers or pointy stuff needs to be in checked baggage.

Initial reaction: Mmmmm, gummy bears! Good, made-with-real-fruit juice fresh gummy bears. As I was on my way out the door, I put it aside to test later (and promptly forgot about it for several weeks). This evening's results: In the imp: Mmm. Nommeh. I want some gummy bears! No late night shopping trip for me, though, so let's try it out. On/wet: Maybe a little pomegranate, but definitely fruity candies. A little odd, though--what is this toasted sugar doing here? Drydown: Glargh. OMGWTFBBQ -- Where are my gummy bears???! I think they're still in here somewhere, but definitely not in a tasty "Eat-us-please!" kind of way. This is more like a... hmmm... The Gummy Bears got high on pure sugar syrup and some sort of clear fizzy pomegranate mixer and then had a knock-down, drag-out fight with the Blackcurrant Gummy Gang in the lit-by-a-single-streetlight parking lot of their local dive along the side of a two-lane highway. It wasn't a pretty fight, and even though nobody died, everybody's all scuffed around and they've got gravel and black, slightly grimy motor oil scratched into their little gummy bodies and leather jackets. Naughty Boy Gummy Bears, who get in scuffles because it seems like a good idea at the time, but who are actually borderline Nice Boy Gummy Bears who look after their mamas and work on cars in white t-shirts even though it's impractical, and always get almost-but-not-quite jumped by Nice Girl Gummy Bears by accident. * drool * Overall... The aforementioned candies. Leather. And what I can only really describe as "His Car", though I really have no point of reference for that. Maybe a side of "blue raspberry" (and frankly I would probably jump someone who smelled of blue raspberry...). Yummy. Debating whether I need to track down a bottle and drag it back to my house to have my wicked way with it or not.

In the Bottle: Metallic; sweet, with a hint of sage. Hello, sage. On/wet: Nom nom. Still sweet, slightly less metallic, though. The sweetness might be incense, but I'm not entirely sure. The sage is floating around in there somewhere, but generally this is sweetly golden. Drydown: This has got to be one of the most subtly gorgeous things I have ever worn. It's still got that metallic note to in, but it's like well-loved, well-cared-for, sunlit and polished metal. There's a gentle sweetness to the entire thing, a distantly warm brightness that could be coming from the incense, and there's the lovely sage to keep the entire thing from being too far-flown. It's got lovely wear for me, too-- I put this on about twelve hours ago, and still that gentle sweetness lingers. Final thoughts: Quiet but stately, dignified, serious... but lit by odd and brilliantly sweet turns of mind, and born of quietly amused thought, manic creation, wistful revision--one who loves the possibilities of the world simply for existing. This is the inventor who lives for the joy of invention and the thrill of the work, one who thrives in the quiet hours of darkness and the golden, sunlit mornings where the light catches in the airborn dust of the workshop and makes it glow in a million different ways... This is beautiful.

Bottle: Spicy-sweet wildflower honey with a clean hint of citrus. On/wet: Hi, lemongrass! I see you're throwing a party with damply minty honey and ...flowers? Oh, dear... Drydown: *nom nom* The wildflower honey regains a bit of the spicyness that it starts out with, and the mint dries down and becomes a sort of sweet background note. The flowers are mostly gone, though, and the lemongrass sweetens a little and sort of floats on top of everything else. It doesn't have as much throw as some of the other blends, but if you want a scent that stays pretty close to your skin, it's very nice. LOL it puts me in a strange sort of creative mood, though...

Bottle: Musky-spicy something. slightly sour. Hrmmm.... On/wet: o.0;; Cinnamon/ginger. Mostly strong cinnamon... uh oh... Drydown: *Saw-scaled viper: *NOMS HER ARM* Ow, ow, ow. So... uh, usually I don't have a reaction to cinnamon but... wow... I kinda like the way it smells, sorta hot cinnamon and this slightly sweet gingery note under it... but I really don't want to risk slathering with the way this welt looks. Off to wash off this viper before it eats my whole arm.

In the bottle: Tea and something citrus... Bergamot, perhaps? I had the opportunity to meet a freshly cut bergamot at a tea shop, and there's something in it which makes me think of that, peel and all. On/wet: o.0 Hello, my citrus friend. Look, you've brought your friends, Earl Grey and vanilla, though vanilla seems to be a bit more shy. Drydown: Well, as it dries the citrus seems to mellow out a bit, and the Earl Grey becomes very, very deep. There might be just the teensiest waft of something floral (jasmine?) mixed in with a sort of dry vanilla in the background, but mostly it's evilly bright, somehow. It does remind me a bit of some aged Dorian I've tried, only without that sugary note throughout--and I am waaay thankful that the white musk doesn't pop up at all for me in this one, as any readily detectable amount of the stuff sends me into sneezing fits.

Imp: Vanilla and sweet pea. On: Vanilla--rich, deep, velvety vanilla, with wonderfully smooth amber--it's sweet, but oddly enough, it's tempered just enough by the fruityness of the sweet pea (if that makes any sense at all) Drydown: This dries down to sweetpea +sandalwood on me for the most part, with this light wash of that amber warming it. It's not overtly floral on me, or foody--just a lovely warm scent all around.