olive

Agreed.. anything that progresses sustainable oil production is a great thing in my book. I equate sustainable oil production to electric/hybrid cars.. the technology is there, but the cheaper price of the standard makes paying a premium for an environmentally safer alternative a difficult decision, especially in this economic climate. Though, with oils, you basically have to take the vendors word that the oil came from a sustainable source.

I respectfully disagree with Martin Watt's opinion on many issues related to essential oil usage. I will also suggest that there are sites that contain updated information about the fact that there are, indeed, sources of rosewood (also known as Aniba rosaeodora or bois de rose) that are now ethically harvested from sustainable sources. I also think it's probably an oversimplification (and possibly incorrect) to state that 'naturals' (aromatic molecules) are environmentally unfriendly. It is also not accurate to infer that it takes a high volume of plant/leaf/roots needed to procure tiny amounts of EOs! It is certainly true of the more precious fragrance materials such as jasmine, rose or osmanthus for instance, but others such as the citrus oils (expressed or distilled), leaf (such as patchouli) or needles oils are readily available. BTW, linalool occurs naturally (rosewood is rich in it) and while, yes, a synthetic linalool may be a "perfectly suitable and convincing synthetic", you may not want to apply it to you body. A synthetic linalool is also dihydro linalool, not the same molecule at all. I've applied several perfumes with linalool and had no problems whatsoever. It's quite a common ingredient in many modern perfumes so I'm not sure why you wouldn't want to apply it? While it's true not all naturals are environmentally harsh, it seems somewhat arrogant to adamantly insist on soley using EOs based on principle alone. Luckily, with exception of some Chinese perfumers, people have become wise to the ways of authentic deer musk. Hopefully, eventually, people will also become wise to the ways of other life forms which, while not having a heartbeat, are still crucial and important aspects to the ecology of our planet. Also, I'm going to respectfully disagree with your opinion that rosewood oil is now ethically harvested from sustainable sources. Granted, many who harvest and trade the oil will say such a thing, but evidence shows to the contrary. This link (http://www.mongabay.com/external/pau_rosa.html) has some good information on the dominance of illegal rosewood suppliers, their product trickles through the hands of countless EO dealers until they end up in the hands of most mom & pop EO suppliers on the internet who have been told the product was ethically harvested and, thus, advertise it as so. Very few EO suppliers/perfumers can trace their ingredients all the way back to the Brazilian harvesters themselves, so these people have to rely on what the seller tells them, and the seller is going to tell them what they want to hear. When the Brazilian EPA put the Rosewood on its endangered species list which didn't help, it just sent the rosewood trade underground. Granted, there are true sustainable harvesters in Brazil but the quantity of their oil production in comparison with what the estimated illegal Rosewood trade produces each year is so off balance that one can clearly infer that every website out there claiming they're selling truly sustainable Rosewood oil results in numbers that don't add up. Maybe that's why Ananda Apothecary removed the "sustainable source" mention from their rosewood oil page. I wish others would as well. All I'm saying is, insisting on using natural -everything- just to say you're using all natural seems irresponsible. Not every EO is harmful to the environment, but few perfumes can be made with all natural ingredients without several (if not many) of the EO's being derived by means of environmentally unfriendly methods.

Personally I'm leaning more and more against naturals. They are very environmentally unfriendly, especially given the high volume of plant/leaf/tree/root needed to procure such tiny amounts of EO. Deforestation wasn't that big of a deal back in the glory days of modern perfumery, but really we as consumers should be mindful of our responsibility to the planet. For example, Rosewood Oil (Bois De Rose) comes from the rosewood tree, most of which is categorized in the global threat (endangered status) category. Linalool, a perfectly suitable and convincing synthetic, is my preference these days. I know this is a touchy subject, but I think the whole "natural is better" thing is a bit overdone. Technically, no perfume is natural.. even perfumes made from "all natural oils" produce a manmade scent that is not naturally found in our environment, thus making it a synthetic byproduct of natural ingredients. Edit: for more info on the Rosewood fiasco: http://www.aromamedical.com/articles/rosewood.htm

So good! This is less of a review and more of mere praise. Reminds me of Schwarzer Mond in a way, but much better. I've been wearing this bpal exclusively for about the last month. This stuff is good!

Your last paragraph is great! I agree completely. I think sometimes people get carried away with perfumes being 'all natural'. All natural is great with things like food, but with perfume? I think part of the reason so many perfumers use synthetics is because they are so damn stable and reliable, whereas naturals will change from batch to batch (which is why I notice many bpal blends will change and you can tell when a new batch has been made because the smell can be different -- just one of the pitfalls of all natural). Synthetic scents are not bad at all, they won't eat your arm away or poison you or anything. I also admit to being picky and hate putting on an oil that smells good at first then 3 hours later when I'm out and about it has morphed to something unfavorable. Synthetics tend to be more uniform in their scent body, more dependable in that aspect.

Great thread, I almost started one like this but wasn't sure if it existed. I'm trying to find something like the Medicine Show spray. The oil, to me, smells nothing like the spray. The spray almost reminds me Isaac. Anyone with a sharp nose have any other comparisons? The smell is sooooooooooo good! I spray the goblin squirt on myself sometimes, 'tis a shame I don't know of an oil that can replicate such a great smell

Malediction. A REALLY thick, oozy patchouli resin straight from the lab. It's like Carlie Simon's song in the old Heinz 57 sauce commercial....anticipation ha! I just found my old imp of Malediction.. it's pretty dark and mega-thick! Thanks for the reminder

My Satyr is a medium red-brown color. I definitely think that with those, it all comes down to aging—the longer the better, especially if you want the thickest and darkest that you can get. Fenris Wolf didn't take long at all to age for me, but then it is in an imp—and those seem to age faster. My bottle of Satyr still looks pretty fresh, despite being a good few months old. Hopefully the longer it sits the better it'll get. On the same note, if you still have than new Fenris Wolf, and if it's in a bottle, it may be worth decanting so that the aging process speeds up a bit. No, the Fenris Wolf is in imp form. I grabbed both my Satyr and Fenris Wolf imps after making my first post. My Fenris Wolf imp is about 1/3rd full (I gave 2/3rds away) so it should've aged fast but it's still an orange-ish/pink translucent color, not at all the dark red that my first imp was. It also smells different too (the light colored stuff has the pencil shavings smell, never got it from the original formula I had). The Satyr imp looks almost identical to blood.. basically black with a glowing crimson around the edges where light peaks through - and super super thick, not "Average to thin" as another poster's Satyr oil is. Makes me nervous to invest in a full bottle :/

That's my biggest problem with these 'dark red' scents from the lab.. you say your Satyr is average to thin whereas my older imp of it is some of the thickest, slowest moving liquid ever. Also, my first imp of Fenris Wolf was deep dark red and thick but I frimp'd it and ordered another from the lab, only this one was borderline PINK and very thin. Consistency with these doesn't seem to be a strong point, unfortunately. Is your Satyr a deep dark red color? And yes, how could I have forgotten aged Snake Oil?

Help me find some oils that are thick and dark like molasses.. so far I only know of Satyr (at least my old stuff - not sure if it has changed) and Boomslang. Any others? Again, I'm referring to physical consistency and not smell. Thanks

Are there any GCs like Geek? My Geek bottle is getting very low (just a few applications left) and finding a bottle is basically impossible these days.

The reviews above are spot on... this is what I had hoped John Barleycorn would be like. Leather and tobacco, seamlessly combined. An oddly menacing sophistication going on here, it's great stuff.

Cedar wood, dry stout, twigs, boot leather, vanilla-infused benzoin, patchouli, and coal dust. Fantastic! This smells like December at midnight, pitch silence, just snow falling. This has a really "big" and serious feel to it, icy and dark, a bit like Troll meets Laudanum but this is far more intriguing than either of those on their own. Leather, dust, and really unique spices (you'll know what I mean when you smell this). I'll go through this room spray bottle in no time.

Vanilla licorice. Ohhhhh I'm *SO* happy with Humbug! To me it smells like a boozy version of the vanilla from Snake Oil + Black Annis. Anise and vanilla are my two favorite notes so demanding Humbug was a no-brainer -- but I expected something more simple.. a clear vanilla smell and a clear anise smell and maybe something to sweeten it, but Humbug surprisingly has an unspoken complexity to it. There is a spicy-ish/root beer thing going on that kind of reminds me of Snake Oil, and the anise here is really in overdrive which I love! SO SO happy with this one. ETA: 2 hours later, the anise is gone and what I'm left with is probably the closest you can get to the lab's vanilla singlenote... this is too good for words.. I want to devour my wrist! I can't wait to see what this is like once it has aged a bit...

This one is really impressive! I can't even put into words how good this is. This is the biggest surprise of all the yules this year.. This smells just like a blown out candle to me (not the candle smoke, but the candle itself - warm wax as it sets). I can't stop sniffing.. it's so light but it has a definite presence, a warm skin scent. When it's first wet (mostly just sniffing from the bottle) I get the orange scent others mention, but to me it smells more like the color orange than an actual orange, if that makes sense. It's very mild and goes away almost right away for me. Well here I am, three hours later and after a serious workout and the Hanerot Halalu I applied earlier to my wrist is still there, smelling the exact same (though more faint) if not a tinge resinous and earthy. This stuff is soooooooo good! I think this will be a highly coveted blend and one that the lab will (should!) revisit yearly. It's so warm to cozy up to, a very unique bpal that has no real comparison.