joseybird

Holy spicy cinnamon marzipan, batman!! I don't smell any of the neroli at first impact, and only a hint later on in the drydown, when it sweetens up slightly. Inferno reminds me more of a hot-tempered little matchstick than its namesake but that's all well and good : wouldn't want to scare the boys away, now would we? Inferno is a very simple, straightfoward scent, but nicely constructed; not for me, a I could see a Red Hots fan loving this.

Mmmmmm!! Green tea, lemon and honeysuckle!! The lab's lemon note on me is sweet and creamy, which makes Shanghai smell delicious instead of sharp. Shanghai has almost a candied smell (proly due to the lemon--it does that to Phantasm for me too) which I really enjoy and which makes it slightly more gourmand than fresh for me. Love!

Mmmm...NUTELLA!!! Seriously--this is an exact dupe! It definately smells better upon slight drydown than it does initially, but you have to want to smell of chocolate-hazelnut in order to want a full bottle. This actually reminds me of pure cocoa absolute, which also has a nutty smell to my nose.

A very musty herbal scent, quickly turning to sawdust and powder . The florals beneath it all are lovely, but the dustiness really gets to me. Not one of my favorites =( ::huggles her Samhain bottle::

When first applied to my skin: very strong green tea. This quickly becomes extremely "perfumey" and starts "scraping" at my nose, like Ophelia did . It's a very heavy-handed green scent without any airy freshness...gahh...

When first applied to my skin, Snow White smells like my beloved BBW Apple Martini candle--like a glass of sparkling water with a twist of apple. I can definately smell the "chilliness" here...it must be the closest thing to a "snow" scent I've ever smelled. As it mellows, the coconut pops out nicely, as well as the delicate white flowers. This is one of the lab's beautifully complex "semi-gourmand" fragrances, like Samhain. I love it! (It also layers beautifully with Rose Red)

My first thought was Samhain, but it's not really feminine...more unisex...still gorgeous! How about Baobhan Sidhe? Reminiscent of misty woods to me... Are you looking for scent that remind you of the woods or only ones that smell like the woods?

Marzipan, carnation, and milk! A little girl's birthday party =) The carnation notes pop out immediately, but the milky notes prevent the scent from going powdery, like so many BPALs go on me. This is what I wanted Maiden to be, and I love it! It's a very proper little's girl's scent. No mischief or bubbles--just a quiet, gentle, proper innocence, and very comforting. Very true to its namesake =) just not *quiet* so...stuffy It also reminds me of old fashioned soap, like your grandmother might be fond of--not to imply that Alice is at all old-ladyish! But it's reminiscent of a faded era...

Sandalwood, jasmine, and rose are the notes I get from Queen Mab. It's a delicate scent and doesn't scrape at my nose like many BPAL florals do. It is like...the memories of a faerie bath lingering in the air seconds after a mortal has stumbled upon the faeries only to see them vanish. I would love to smell this scent mixed with more "woodsy" notes!

*sigh* I really wanted to like this but...no go. The pomegranate was extremely bold and fruity with an almost astringant bitterness that did NOT blend well with the rose. After sticking my nose in my (fermenting...) bottle of POMS pure pomegranate juice, I realized that it smelled very much like that...rotting pomegranates =( with some wilting blooms. I think fruits work with rose only when both are light and unobtrusive...this scent for me was the olfactory equivalent of wearing maroon and purple.

In the bottle, Gingerbread Poppet was pure gingerbread with a drizzle of molassas. But on me...it smelled JUST like Scentual Pleasures Pumpkin Pie Cupcakes (which, now that I think about it, smells like gingerbread...)! I got a lot of "breadiness", which soon dried down to...baking spices. No more cookie =( If only this had smelled on me like it smelled in the bottle!!

Vixen is a spicy, astringent, slightly bitter orange blossom. At first sniff it smells a lot like Aveda's Shampure--a very sophisticated, "adult," clean smell, but slightly twisted. I'm not sure it's a scent that matches the name, as "vixen" brings to mind a more impulsive, sensuous, "warm" scent, but it is a well-contructed fragrance, and one I can easily appreciate.

I couldn't stand Old Morocco, so I was a bit hesitant about Scheherazade. But I was enabled *sigh*... In the vial this smells very "headshoppy" and I was worrying that it would smell like a New Age store on my skin...but the saffron pops out almost immediately, giving it a lovely sunny warmth. I like this one, but I still need to try it a few more times to make sure it's bottle-worthy.

WOW. Vanilla is by nature a pretty light note, and yet this vanilla...omg...it lasts 10 hours on me! And the THROW! :icon_eek: This is like fresh, sweet cream with a few drops of vanilla whipped in it's creamy and "round" and sweet and incredibly delicious...think of full-fat, high-quality vanilla ice cream I love this to death--it's my favorite BPAL E-V-E-R!

Spicey, heady lilac. Lilac. I was wierded out, since I associate the name "dragon's blood" with something hotter, stronger, and drier. But this isn't a "purple", misty lilac, and although it's a floral, it's an unexpected one. Definately not a scent for me, but one I can appreciate.

I'm usually reaaaaaaally iffy about florals, as so many smell sharp and powdery on me. But the jasmine note in Phantasm is balanced by a strong, almost foody lemon note and undercurrents of tea, and I love it. I've never tried jasmine tea, but I suppose one could liken Phantasm to it. I'm more inclined to say jasmine-lemon candy. I never thought I'd smell a foody-floral, but this is it!

Ahhh...oh well =( Well, if anyone could suggest anything a samhain fan would like, I'm all ears!

But they both have pumpkin bits, right? =) I meant more like, since I like Samhain, I'll like ____. I don't want a substitute for Samhain, but other scents that would appeal in a similar way ^^;;; Although, not having smelled Jack...I'm just going by description X);;

Hmmm...I *love* Samhain, and although I'm not in imminant danger of running out, I'd love to know of any similar scents that I can try. Jack sounds like it would be good for a Samhain fan, though I've never tried it...

I know it's not the season at all, but... Samhain IS autumn. Specifically, it is a dark, breezy-but-humid autumn night of revelries and mystery. Did I mention I love Samhain?? Josey

In the bottle, Samhain is dark, sweet patchouli...like the distant sounds of midnight revels on a warm, black night. On my skin.... Well, I tried it once then went on a desperate search for another bottle X) Tart apples, pumpkin, a touch of smokiness (amazing use of patchouli) and wine...some beautifully blended "green" notes... How I wish I could have discovered this in the autumn, when it was fresh and crisp and dark out =( I have a feeling I'll be saving this beauty for colder days! Edit: Well, it's still cold out, and I find myself reaching for Samhain all the time! =)

Cats, it must be awful and difficult for you to avoid synthetics X_X I hope this is an alright question to ask ^^; but how does one avoid manmade chemicals when they're practically everywhere? Even Lush products contain certain amounts of safe synthetics ( Lush). Or does the type of product matter?

Oh, I don't think BPAL oils are dangerous! ^^;; I didn't mean to imply that at all...I'm merely curious about general formulation =3 Judging from what I know about EOs, and from the samples I have of EOs, i would say that the blends couldn't be 100% EOs. Besides a 100% EO blend not being skin-safe, EOs are insanely pungent--waaay to pungent to wear as perfume, imo (my skin EATS fragrances, including BPALs--everything lasts at most a few hours on me, even pure parfums; I accidently got a bit of undiluted EO residue on my finger one morning--it was still going strong 36 hours later). If BPALs were 100% pure EO, I would think they'd smell waaay stronger than they do (which would be BAD! lol). I have a blend called "Carnation Memories" from Naturesgift.com that smells like real pinks to me... they made it by combining ylang ylang, clove, basil, and some other essential oils... It's pretty impressive. I'm also really interested in how she makes her musks. We know they aren't synthetic, and they aren't genuine (from the animal), so how does she do it??? Maybe Beth will write a book one day... <{POST_SNAPBACK}> The more books on perfumes and natural essences and perfume-making the BETTER! Go Beth Go! Hmmm...well, I know that in order to perfectly replicate the scent of a whole flower, one usually must rely on more than just the absolute. I've also heard of perfumer's replicating the "idea" of a flower or the "experiance" of a flower without replicating the flower's EO smell. But whether the flower's EO is included in the blend I have no idea.

Essence and Alchemy is not the only book about natural essences that say that there are plants/flowers which resist scent harvesting, so I believe her. I believe, also, that there are some floral EOs that are so obscenely pricey to make that they'll never be available natural oil form--I'm talking about several thousand $ an ounce or more. I'm interested in the idea of recreating certain floral scents by combining other EOs...I had never heard of this before. I've read through several books on perfumes and perfume-making, though not as many as I wish, so maybe I just haven't encountered it yet. Books on perfumes are so hard to find in library systems =( Even my college library and the New York Public Library have practically nothing!! I think it's really odd that the author states these flowers resist any form of scent harvesting. While it may be impossible to extract essential oils from them through distillation, it's certainly not impossible to extract their scents through other methods. For example, enfleurage is a technique where you layer purified fat and blossoms between glass plates, and the fat absorbs the flower scent (which can then be washed with a solvent, etc, to get the scent out). I've read you can use high proof alcohol and blossoms to make a tincture (of lilacs, for example). You can also extract scents into oil by gently heating them. So, I have no idea why Aftel said that... I guess she was talking only about essential oils? If Beth is using stuff from her garden occasionally, I would almost guarantee she's using one of the above methods or something similar at least part of the time, since she'd have to have quite a plot of land to grow enough botanicals to extract essential oils through distillation. The ratio by weight of plant matter to essential oil extracted is usually something like 50-2000:1. <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I'm sure I'll get a response soon The BPAL CS people have been really great about answering my questions =) (like asking if they'll bring back Rose Red, what the Trading Post was about, etc). I think only their response could clear up the confusion, as from everything I hear it's unsafe to apply 100% essential oils directly to the skin. BPAL doesn't divulge ingrediants and seems pretty vague about them (like most other perfumers--secret recipies I guess...) so I can only go by EO info already out there. But I do want to reiterate that synthetic does not = shoddy or cheap =) Synthetics can be even more expensive than their natural counterparts, and the choice to use synthetics is often (certainly not always, or most of the time, but often) made because the natural essence would react badly in a specific blend. My confusion and curiosity are just that--confusion and curiosity. I'm not trying to imply that the lab is lying to use or not producing the best product it possibly can. I just like things to jive in my my head