cranberry

The Festival of Lights, a celebration of life, prosperity, and the triumph of good over evil, light over darkness, and knowledge over ignorance. The first day, Dhanvantari Triodasi, honors Lakshmi, the Goddess of Wealth, Good Fortune, and Splendor, and Yama, Lord of Death and the Keeper of the Book of Destiny. The second day, Narak-Chaturdashi, celebrates Lord Krishna's victory over the demon lord, Narkasur. On this day, fierce Kali, the Great and Terrible Mother, is venerated, and she is entreated to grant her children strength. Narak-Chaturdashi also commemorates the birth of Hanuman, the vanara who helped Lord Rama rescue Sita from Ravana, the Rakshasa king. The third day, called Diwali, is wholly devoted to the worship and propitiation of Lakshmi, She Who is as Beautiful as a Lotus. The fourth day, Annakut, is the first day of the lunar New Year. Old accounts are settled, new ventures begin. On the fifth and final day of Diwali, Bhayiduj, sibling love is celebrated. It is a time to banish ignorance and hate, and to dissolve jealousy. It is a time to renew our spirits through light and understanding, and to ask for blessings of prosperity and joy for the upcoming year. It is a time where we embrace our friends and forgive our enemies. Lotus root, mogra, mango, tamarind, cardamom, clove, almond milk, cashew, rice flower, coconut, supari, raisins, and incense crafted from aloeswood, red sandalwood, cedar, and spikenard In the bottle this smells of sweet fruit and amber. On the skin, this is reminding me strongly of how I remember Hymn to Proserpine – sweet fruit and amber. Comparing the two, Hymn to Proserpine is much sweeter and stronger on the amber, but they are similar. This is a bit tarter and I can tell that it’s mango now and not pomegranate. There’s a touch of coconut but it’s very faint and something green and very fresh. This is a very well blended scent and everything is meshing together so well. There’s something similar here to Hungry Ghost Moon – I’m thinking it must be the rice flower. As it wears the incense comes out and mixes with the amber and fruit. After it’s been on a bit, the spices are starting to come out – not in an overpowering way, but in a way that just hints at them. They are very soft but definitely there in the background adding so nicely to the incense, amber and fruits. If I had to summarize in a sentence, I’d say rich dark fruits, amber, and incense. I’m so glad that I got a bottle of this – it’s beautiful. eta: OMG - I just tried this again and it's reminding me of Feminite du Bois (which I adore!)! It's not exact, but I think it may be better in fact. Woods, incense, amber and fruit. I have to get another bottle before this goes away.

I think I really like Stargazer lily but I'm not really sure what exactly it smells like. I'm getting it mixed up with other florals, and moonflower in particular, as many of the floral scents I like have both. Can anyone recommend a really true stargazer lily scent, or at least one where it's really prominent? Thanks!

Pumpkin with tobacco, champa flower, carnation, and tonka. In the bottle, this is pumpkin with a touch of spice. On the skin, it's pumpkin with a touch of something fruity and almost juicy. There's still a bit of spice there so that must be the carnation, but it's blending well with the rest of the notes -- just adding a spicy warmth to the blend. The longer it wears the less pumpkin it is -- when it was first applied, in the first few seconds it was PUMPKIN. Now, it's much quieter and blending with the rest of notes. This is reminding me a lot of Pumpkin Queen which is fantastic as I adore Pumpkin Queen. It sticks close and doesn't have a lot of throw. Sniffing my wrist from a bit farther away the tobacco and carnation are more apparent, whereas if I have my nose plastered against my arm it is all spicy warmth and I can smell the pumpkin. The longer it wears, the more the spice is coming out on me. It just smells damn good! Not super foody, just spicy and warm - delicious. I have to get another bottle of this.

thank you! :wub2: I remember looking at that one! I've got a wee bit of VQ left and tried it on last night. All i could think was that I could not be without it (or the like) in my life!

Looking for the closest scent to Voodoo Queen. It is my Holy Grail, along with Snake Charmer. Old school I know but there you go. Grateful for input. I've been out of the BPAL world for quite a while, but still love my favorites and would love to find something comparable to VQ

Sheer Glitter Nearly sheer glittery glow-in-the-dark polish! Utilize for some gloriously ghoulish layering. Despite what the name implies, this formula, like all the others we offer, does not contain formaldehyde. I just got my box and had to try the polish. In the bottle, it's a light creamy mint - lime color, with glitter! I love glitter polishes so I was happy to see this. Applied, it dries quick. Really quick. One coat will put some glitter down, but to get the full effect, you really need to apply a couple more. The glitter is the iridescent shell type -not just limited to a single color. There's silver, light pink, light purple, light green, gold etc. Even with multiple coats applied, it is essentially sheer - there is a faint whisper of a pearly polish but it's just a suggestion. So there's a light shimmer to your nails but nothing over the top, so it's a good office polish. I wasn't quite expecting the texture - I usually expect polishes, even if they have glitter, to be smooth. This has texture. You can feel the glitter when you run your fingertips over it. So it has a bit of a rough texture. And then I can't forget, there IS that glow in the dark thing. It's a faint glow, but a glow nonetheless. Love it!

what a pretty tart green apple scent! maybe with a bit of aloe and a sweet floral way in the background. as it wears spice comes out. love it!

at first the clove reminded me of ecstasy of passion but that passed quickly (in a mini-sec). now this smells very much like cologne and very masculine.

this reminds me of sugared aged patchouli. yum! maybe with a hint of tea.

so gorgeous! first it's all about the leather - clean, smooth and then immediately a sweet fruitiness. the leather and vanilla orchid are most dominant on me at first, with hints of moss and sweet amber. the tonka adds sweetness. lovely. thank you so much Twilight Eyes for the chance to try this!

I don't want to get the drama going again, but I do want to add a couple points. first, there is the title of this thread "are bpal blends made from 100% undiluted EOs." so I don't think it is unreasonable do expect discussion about what is in the oils - natural, synthetic, vegan, etc. second, that was a great post by Beth. third, I do not think that Jayne was or has been a troll. Beth answered some of her questions but not all of her questions. so yes, I agree, asking the lab direct would be the best way to go, however, in keeping with the topic at hand, it is not out of line to question it here. or to continue to question what the oils are composed of here. Beth, in her post, did not address the question of synthetics, molecules or not. vegan does not equal not synthetic. synthetic was addressed a while back but it clearly was not most recently. that raises what I think to be a legitimate question. I think aine summed it up pretty well. eta quote

there's something here that reminds of the tricks - I'm thinking magnolia. this is a dark, sweet scent, not vanilla sweet by any means, but more softly subdued sweet, sensous and slinky. not overtly musky but I would believe it's a base note grounding it. I'm also getting a whiff of cherry. dragon's blood too I think. I like it.

first sniff, this smelled sour and somewhat fruity. sniffing deeply, that could be cognac or if not, most certainly some sort of wine scent. It's a very light blend, quiet and close to the skin with not a lot of throw. Now the sour wine smell is gone and there's an artifical smooth oily note along with a soft sweet scent, perhaps fake strawberry. now something vaguely floral emerges and blends with the fruity-oily scent. now after it's been on about 20 minutes or so, this is a sweet, slightly floral, slightly fruity scent that really smells most like sweet powdered sugar candy. it's still a light scent that is unnoticeable unless my nose is pressed straight to my skin.

At first this smelled like artificial bananas. That quickly went away and now it smells like orris, something slightly astringent and bright – maybe gardenia? Tobacco for sure, maybe a spash of something green. Very interesting scent. Now the green is gone and it smells of tobacco, orris, light musk, and a faint juicy sweetness. It’s similar to the tobacco-orris-musk notes in Smoky Moon or Black Lace, without the dry sandalwood or rich velvety vanilla, respectively.

This is a very light in tone, fresh, clean type scent. Rather high pitched – this could have a white tea, ozone, linen…it is in the vein of Embalming Fluid and some of the other very clean, light fresh scents. I don’t wear this sort of scent so I can’t tell one note from another here, just that it’s that sort of scent.

Very sweet, fruity. This is sugar and fruit no doubt about it. Some of the sugar has turned to toffee. The toffee adds a depth and this is pretty yummy really.

Oh yum! Light frankincense and sandalwood – this is wonderful! This scent is not very strong but it smells really good. This is one of my very favorite incense blends – simply stunning!!! Thank you TwilightEyes to try all these protos!!

Slightly aquatic with predominant thick heady flowers. Some resins too underneath and supporting. This blend brings to mind the color purple and lushness, richness. Ah, now it’s becoming more clear, I smell petitgrain, maybe a bit of orange blossom….the aquatic note that I smelled in the beginning has disappeared, and this doesn’t smell purple to me any more. Though it does still retain the lush quality. It’s more a shimmer of color, rich jewel tones. This is a very pretty, sensual scent. Now that it’s been on a while, the bitterness and brightness that characterizes petitgrain really comes out. The color has changed yet again, and instead of being rich jewel tones, this is lighter, more ethereal colors. Backbone of golden amber. I really like this scent.

Very bright, sweet fruity floral, smells candy sweet.

Very bright and lemony. Could be a blend of listea and lemon, there maybe a titch of patch too, but just enough to anchor the blend. Ah wait, maybe not lemon but orange. This is quite lovely. Fresh and bright. It fades quickly but it’s lovely while it lasts.

Oh this is quite lovely! This is a very green scent, with a slightly bitter edge. I would say there’s aloe, lily, green tea, crushed stems in here, now something sweeter and floral. Gorgeous! That’s rose for sure peeking out, and getting stronger. It’s playing nice though. This reminds me somewhat of Her Voice, and there’s another similar scent too that I can’t place right now. This is right in that vein of green, stem-cut flower scents. Beautiful.

Sweet florals, a blast of ozone/aquatic to give lift and brightness. After it’s dry, sniffing deeply I smell some sort of citrus – grapefruit maybe – sitting on top of the pretty florals. This is a very bright, sweet, cheery sort of blend.

Smells like sleet and snow – ozone and slushy snow. Something cooling and minty underneath the sleet and slush. That sharpness of the ozone-slush is dominant here. A bit of citrus too – maybe lemon with a drizzle of sugar – not sweet by any means but sweetened.

Wow, fruity – apples for sure. This is very bright, cheery, slightly floral….I like this better than how I remember the released version. The apple in here is lovely and fits so wells with the soft flowers. Maybe a titch of amber too to provide a base to the fruit and flowers. Gorgeous!

Wet – dry spice, there’s a heat here but it’s very dry. It reminds me of cumin or coriander. More coriander I think. Maybe a touch of pepper. As it dries, it’s clearly not cumin I’m smelling. There’s something a bit sour underneath the spice and heat. This is a very odd scent, not something to wear as perfume but more an exercise in expressing a concept or idea. Now that it’s completely dry and been on a while, there is very clearly spice – coriander or even caraway – I can’t say, but that the strongest to me. I get no clay or mineral smell.