Seismogenic

Things like this are why I should never under any circumstances look at reviews of past LEs that I may never be able to get my hands on beyond a decant or two. I saw the words "volcanic ash" in the description, I knew my geo-nerd sensibilities would not let me get away without trying this somehow. Many thanks to Tempest Teapot for the decant! (Also, the Easter Island heads are just plain cool, even without the volcano factor. But I found out that the name Moai not only refers to the statues, but also to a rapidly growing seamount that went from zero to volcano in only a couple hundred thousand years - a blink of the eye geologically.) Here is the part, though, where I admit that I don't actually know what volcano smells like. I have read descriptions, but my own nose has not experienced the reality. I'll see if this lines up with what I think from reading. In the imp: A very sharp scent, almost acrid, which falls in line with what I'd expect for volcanic fumes. There is also a green sharpness that is distinct from the other sharpness. I assume this is the palm. Wet on skin: If anything, this is sharper on my skin than in the vial. There is immediately more of the fumey smell, and less of the palm. It makes my nose tingle, not in an allergy way, but in a, "Wow, that is a strong smell!" way - even though there doesn't seem to be much throw at this point. I'm definitely getting something that smells like wet rock, too. Pretty much a dead ringer for wet rock, actually. Whoa! Drydown: Freshly dry, this is all acrid sulphurous rocks still. At the one hour mark, it has become less strong, but is still all about the rocks and volcanic gases. Either I have no clue what palm actually smells like, or I amp geology like crazy, to the point of excluding many other notes. (Not that this would surprise me.) Five hours later: The scent is much fainter now, and also much less biting. It is still predominantly rocky, though more like a soft ash than recently-cooled lava still spewing sulfur. Maybe the palm is peeking out a little now, since I'm getting a bit of something less mineral. This progression makes sense to me - after the eruption, plants reap the benefit of the fertile volcanic soil. End of the day: Gone. Overall: This is an amazingly artistically evocative scent. I may have never smelled a volcano in action, but the wet rocks and moist ash are so very true to life, and I would actually be surprised if the sulfuric smoke in this blend is different from the smell of a real volcano in anything but the most superficial of ways. I am so very impressed that the scent of the active earth itself can be put into a little bottle in this way. Much much love! I cannot, however, think of many occasions that would call for volcano perfume. Geophysics conferences are probably some of the few places for which it makes sense, luckily for me! I think Moai complements my Mt. St. Helens t-shirt nicely... I'm also trying to convince myself that I don't need to find more of this, even though the principle in and of itself makes me gleeful, and the actual smell is so accurate. But I also need to make sure there is enough of this left for me to compare with the way Kilauea smells, since I miiiight get to go there in the spring. EDIT: Just looked at some of the other reviews. Vetiver? Seriously?! But it didn't make my airway close off or my nose itch incessantly! Perhaps I maligned it prematurely on account of its relation to citronella. Maybe the allergen in The Coiled Serpent was patchouli after all, rather than vetiver.

Cue massive compilation post! This will be updated as more questions are added. Favorite Pumpkin thing? Pumpkin lattes/cappuccinos. Or Trader Joe's pumpkin butter. Favorite thing about fall? The colors, and the air temperature that is not quite warm, not quite cold, but not just in the middle either. Favorite Office supplies? Fineliner pens in assorted colors. Armed and ready to doodle! Favorite Halloween Candy? Probably Twizzlers or Whoppers. Will you be participating NaNoWriMo? Not this year, I don't think. I have a partial idea for a novel, but unless there is a stroke of sudden inspiration - and a gap of sudden free time - it won't be doable in/by November. I may try to do another chapter of my graphic novel in that time, though. Any period of time that you love? Turn of the 20th century. The year 1906 is important with so many of the different things that interest me that it's actually pretty weird. Right or left handed? Righty. Favorite craft supply? Do prismacolor markers count? Reduce - REUSE - recycle. Do others feel the same? Definitely! Tattoos! Do you have em? Do you want em? Whatcha got or getting? I don't have any, and while I don't actively want one now, I haven't ruled out the possibility if I think of a design I'd want to have on me forever and ever. Right now, I think some sort of waveform could be appropriate, to represent both seismic and sound waves, but again, I'm not sure how I would feel about that in the future. What about the Halloween scents? I ordered a bottle of Fearful Pleasure, but that's it. I was also intrigued by Meditation In Autumn, Pumpkins II and IV, and Ichabod Crane, but I knew I was only going to order one, and I kept thinking back to Fearful Pleasure, so that it was. What is one item that you've wanted forever, could have afforded, but have never gotten and why (haven't you gotten it!)? I've wanted an iPhone since they came out, but I can't justify it because my normal cell phone works fine, my iPod works fine, and my parents haven't kicked me off the family cell phone plan yet, so I'm actually not paying phone bills right now. I could afford the phone bills (and, of course, the actual phone, since the TA salary is pretty decent), but the longer I can go without having to pay them, the better. Who here prefers stylus and ink to ballpoint? Anyone invested time and effort into calligraphy or proper Victorian writing? I mostly have ballpoints, but I like fountain pens, too. I have this really awesome little fountain pen that I bought in Germany. I have not put in effort for fancy handwriting, though. My handwriting, when I am not trying hard, is horrid. It baffles me when people say they think it looks cool, though this has happened. What about stationery? Need some? What styles do you like? I have fallen out of the habit of writing actual letters, so I don't use stationery. I do, however, like blank books with nice paper in which to write/draw. Do you decorate for Halloween? Nothing beyond a carved pumpkin, and I haven't had time to do that for a couple of years. This is sad! Maybe this year... Bats, cats, skeletons, monsters, vampires, witches or what other ghoulies do you prefer? I am partial to cats, bats, werewolves, and unusual/creative monsters. Do you dress up? I like to! I haven't been able to for the past two years, no thanks to school and work, but Halloween is a Friday this year... Do you like horror flicks? Not particularly, unless they are tongue-in-cheek. If you have a garden/planter box, what do you grow? Don't have one. I had a tangerine bonsai tree at one point, but it croaked and I was sad. I think there is not enough light in my apartment. If I ever have a house with a yard, I so want fruit trees in it. Incense? I've never used it. Bugs? I like them on four conditions: 1)They are not in my apartment, 2)They are not in my food, 3)They are not trying to bite me, 4)They are not mosquitoes, even if they are not actively biting me Favorite campfire ghost story? When I was little and was in scouts, we made up a story about a haunted latrine. I can't remember the actual story, but that is probably just secondary to the fact that it's a haunted latrine. Imp storage? Right now, they're just on in a row on one of my desk shelves. There are only eight of them, so it is not like they're crowding anything out. (The rock collection still dominates that shelf.) I guess I could go the Altoids box route. Candy corn? In moderation! Once a year counts as moderation. I get in the mood for it, eat too much of it, and then don't want it again until the next October. Are there any of y'all who are allergic/sensitive to having natural fibers on your skin? I have never had problems with this. What keywords do you use when searching for items for yourself on Etsy? I've actually never poked around on Etsy. I probably should; it seems like the kind of place I could sell some of my own stuff. Halloween. Do you like it kooky or creepy? A good combination of both. Reserved or Raunchy? Deeefinitely reserved. Other people being raunchy makes me embarrassed. Earth, Wind, Fire or Water? All of those personality test thingies online I've done for elements - and apparently my zodiac sign as well - say I'm Wind. It fits well. But, as a geologist, I have a very strong interest in/attachment to Earth! Tea or Coffee in the morning? Coffee in the morning, tea in the afternoon. Fruity snacks or chocolate? Depends entirely on my mood. Would you accept art? YES! I will also likely draw things for people. Antiques or Brand New? Both are cool. Crossword puzzles? Other pencil puzzles? Sudoku! Favorite artist? Hmmmm. I really like the art deco/art noveau/jugendstil style of the turn of the 20th century. Klimt is awesome. I also tend to like impressionism. Jeez, I gotta go to more art museums. Am I allowed to say any photographers? Because Ansel Adams is awesome. What about comics artists? P. Craig Russell! Favorite poet? Eichendorff is good. Goethe, too. I've set some of Stephen Vincent Benet's work to music. Should also read more poetry, really. What is your favorite autumnal-seasonal drink? Gonna have to go with that pumpkin latte again. Though I love hot mulled apple cider, too. What's your favorite book? Oh GAH. May I abstain, for the inability to narrow it down? Meaningful symbols? Alto clef, music notes in general, string instrument f-hole, seismograms, those half-arrows used to show the direction of fault motion on a geologic map, cat paw prints, the constellation Orion What's your favorite type of music to hear live, rather than recorded? (I figure I should answer my own question, yeah?) Symphonic music. I can always hear so many more details in the orchestration and texture in a live concert than on a recording. Also, the sheer volume that can come out of a full orchestra may get lost in the transfer to CD. What size socks do you wear? How about hat size? Small socks! A large from the boys' section fits better than a small from the men's section. I haven't a clue about my hat size, since the only pieces of headwear I currently own are an adjustable Steelers cap and a Civil War soldier cap with no size printed on it. I would say small hats, to play it safe. Do you read comics? Which ones do you love and which can't you stand? Heck yes! In terms of published graphic novels/comic books, some favorites are Neil Gaiman's Sandman, Bill Willingham's Fables, Alan Moore's Top Ten, Peter David's X-Factor, and Hayao Miyazaki's Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind, and P. Craig Russell's adaptions of operas. I've also been meaning to pick up Hellboy. In terms of webcomics, I follow Ozy and Milllie (SO sad this is ending soon!), Wondermark, Wapsi Square, Zebra Girl, XKCD, and Khaos Komix. If something looks like I'm not going to stand it, I generally don't pick it up. Haven't really run into anything like that yet. I guess I'm not a huge fan of the brand of superhero comic that's just one-shot vanquishing of villains, one per issue, without any overarching plot. I like plot. By nature are you a morning lark or a night owl? Night owl, no question. My thesis advisor, however, is a morning lark. This could make for interesting scheduling of meetings once the school year starts. Vanilla Creme Kisses? If this is, in fact, candy, then yes! BoiWitches? Question for you both.....Hath any of thou own a Kilt? I don't have one, and it really wouldn't be practical for fieldwork. However, if I'd been a band geek instead of an orchestra dork, I would've had to wear one in undergrad. Our mascot was the Tartans, and the marching band was called the Kiltie Band. (Now I'm at a grad school where the mascot is the Highlanders, but only the actual bagpipe corps wears kilts.) Are you a soap addict? I use soap! (I'm sure you're all glad!) But as a practical thing, not as a thing of particular interest. If it kills germs and doesn't make my hands get all dry and cracked, we're good. What is one (only one) object that you collect, that totally goes against your personality or beliefs? Hahahaha, probably BPAL! I've honestly never been someone who puts a whole lot of effort into my appearance or grooming ritual. I do functional and comfortable. I actually surprised myself with how much the BPAL scent descriptions intrigued me, and was even more shocked with how much I'm enjoying the actual scents so far. (I smell like Tenochtitlan right now. It is nice. It also is a good distraction from the smell of the building being under construction.) Needless to say, this speaks quite highly of BPAL. Some of my favorite places? Carrizo Plain National Monument, California Parkfield, California San Francisco, California (Lots of people seem to think I'm from there. It's kind of weird.) Back to the Grind, a coffeeshop in downtown Riverside, California Antietam National Battlefield, Maryland Squirrel Hill, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Caliban Used Books, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Fenwick Island, Delaware (ahh, the nostalgia!) Mary Riley Stiles Public Library, Falls Church, Virginia (more nostalgia) The Smithsonian, Washington, DC (I was a docent in the Natural History museum for nine months) Munich, Germany Steinbach am Attersee, Austria Toblach (AKA Dobbiaco), Italy Fall birthday? Nope. June. If you had one minute of fame, what would you do/say in the spotlight? Uhh. I think this would depend on the reason for the fame. Either way, I think I would not be all that articulate. (I actually might be in some newspapers in the near future, as part of a story about laptop seismometers. The Associated Press wants to take pictures of my computer in its "setup." This means I have to CLEAN MY DESK. AHHHH!) What would you tell yourself 6 months in the past about 2008 so far? You are not going to explode. You are going to make it just fine. All the school things you hope will happen actually will. Robots versus zombies: who wins? Robots. They don't have brains, so the zombies can't eat them. Metal is good for bashing in zombie brains. Therefore, robots win. (If the robots were Wall-E and EVE, though, they would be so adorable that the zombies would just plain forget themselves.) What would zombie say? Uh, "Ciirrrrrrrrcuits"? How many of mah fellow witchies play video games? Platform? Do you like used games? I've never owned a game console. What kind of music (genres, please) do you like? Classical (particularly late 19th and early 20th century stuff), "Oldies," Javanese gamelan, bluegrass, mariachi, silly music Have any of you ever received a book from a Witchy and loved it so much you ended up buying a copy for a later Witchee? This is my first ever SW round, so this has not had a chance to happen yet! But I will often give other people copies of books I received as gifts, if I think they will like the book. What kinds of eye shadows do we all like? I don't wear it. Do you like lip balm? If so, do you like tinted, glossy, sparkly, pearly or just plain lip balm? Just plain. No colors or sparkles, please. I wear it for the purpose of not having chapped and bleeding lips. What are some of the SW gifts/finds from past rounds (or you can just name a gift in general that you found for someone if this is your first round!) that you are the most proud of in terms of your sleuthing skills? I guess it doesn't count as sleuthing, but I like to make things for people based on inside jokes we have. They don't expect it, and crack up immediately from both the surprise and the joke. And, secondly, what is something you've been searching for but just can't find? Men's jeans with inseams shorter than 30 inches. Favorite Halloween song? Overplayed though it is, I do love The Monster Mash. What's the scariest thing that's ever happened to you? When I flipped my car off the freeway and rolled down an embankment. I didn't think I would make it until the car stopped moving. Who here is a complete, over the top, Alice In Wonderland fanatic? I'm not an over-the-top fanatic for it, but I enjoyed the book when I read it. I should reread it, though; the last time was probably ten years ago! Are you a Trekkie? If so, which series do you prefer? Do you have a favorite character? I've never even seen a full episode of any of the series straight through. Do you have phobias? Heart disease, cancer, roads that are narrow and winding and unpaved and on the edges of cliffs (never mind that the road I actually fell of of was straight and paved and only raised by 15 feet) How do you like your mix CDs? Random? Stuff you know you'll like? I like them to include songs I don't already have, but clearly no Witch is going to know every song I have! That said, I think a good rule of thumb for making mix CDs is to base them largely off what the recipient likes, but then throw in a few things that are further afield. Would you rather get food or jewellery? Food, since the only item of jewelry I own is a woven black bracelet thingie from Indonesia, and I usually don't wear it. Do you like children's toys, such as jacks, those little things you tilt around to get the ball in the right hold (wtf are those called?), the aforementioned caplet dinosaurs, cap guns, etc?: Caplet dinosaurs! So awesome! They would probably live on my desk and have epic battles, a la Wash from Firefly. Seriously, though, I don't really play with little kid toys anymore, and even if I did, the cats would probably steal them and hide them. English candy/tea/marmite or other stuff that you love and can't easily get outside of England? English tea == yes plz. Marmite scares me a little, though. The teacher of the field geology class I took this spring is from England, and he tried to get everyone in the class to eat some marmite before the quarter was over. I wasn't sure whether or not I liked it, but I was not thrilled that it overpowered the avocado. Fanfic as a gift* - yay or nay? Your fandom? Slash preferences?* I used to read and write Redwall fanfic, but that was ages ago. I don't really follow any fandoms seriously anymore, and have never been into slash, so it might be lost on me. Original fiction, however, is excellent. Any beaders here? Need beading supplies? I don't bead. Do you like making up your SW packages around a theme, or prefer to mix it all up? I'm not sure yet! I will see what my witchee's questionnaire inspires me to do. Band-aids: do you like the fun and funky ones? Fortunately, I rarely need band aids. I have a box of them that will probably last me a good few years yet. They are the boring skin colored ones, though. Livejournal? Username is dsch. I've been very lax about updating lately. It's friends-only, but I tend to add whoever asks. How do people feel about receiving baked goods/kits to make said goods? Or other cooking items? I will never argue with the concept of free baked goods or food. As for kits and recipes, I am good with those, too, though the instructions will have to be kind of idiot-proof. I think my smoke detector gets secret evil glee out of going off when I cook. (I have not made actual flames in a long time, though. I am improving!) Would you enjoy oil or vinegar flavored with herbs grown at home? Strange and exotic spices with recipes to try? Cookies made with carnation petals? Flavored oil and vinegar are excellent. Interesting spices are good, too, though as with above, recipes will need to be idiot-proof. I have never had a carnation petal cookie, so I don't know whether or not I like them, but I certainly wouldn't refuse one if offered. What are your pet's names, and what are they named for? I have two one-year-old cats. Andreas is a classic tabby, black and sort of tan-gray, with a cream colored belly and amber eyes. Garlock is all black, with yellow eyes. Both are named after fault lines. The San Andreas runs through most of the length of California, marking the boundary between the Pacific and North American plates; it's responsible for, among others, the 1906 San Francisco earthquake. Andreas the cat is far more benign - he is my big purring furmonster. The Garlock fault intersects the San Andreas near Gorman and cuts widthwise across the state, marking the northern boundary of the Mojave Desert and the southern end of the Sierra Nevada. It is not a very active fault, which makes sense for a very vert timid (read: he is the biggest coward on four paws, afraid of everything except me and Andreas) cat. Andreas and Garlock were born in my apartment, and are only two out of a litter of six. The other four were also named after faults, though their new owners may have changed that. How do you scent yourself? Do you layer soaps, moisturizers, etc. or do you go straight to slathering your bod with BPAL? BPAL is pretty much the only scented stuff I use. I guess my handsoap and shampoo and stuff smell like something, but I didn't choose them for their scent, so they don't count. (Actually, the handsoap smells kind of gross, but it fades quickly.) Do you/how do you scent your world? Candles, incense, diffusers, potpourri? None of the above? I've never really put any scent into my living space. I spray anti-pet-odor stuff around, but that doesn't have a smell in and of itself! I have been thinking about venturing unsteadily forth into the realm of scented room spray, though, to mask any residual eau de litterbox. BPAL is such a scent-ual experience. What are your other tactile, aural, or olfactory pleasures (I was going to say, "And let's keep it clean", but what's the use fun in that?!?) Scent: I love the smell of coffee, though smelling it usually leads to me wanting to actually drink some. I will sometimes just sniff the bag of coffee beans, though. I also love the smell of woodsmoke, providing it is fireplace woodsmoke (or barbecue woodsmoke) and not entire-mountain-range-on-fire woodsmoke. Sound: I love music of many kinds. Generally, listening to music of my choosing makes me feel good. There are some particular pieces, like Mahler's Third Symphony, that never fail to cheer me up. In terms of nonmusical sound, purring is such a wonderful thing, and I fortunately get to hear it pretty often! Touch: My kitties are so soft and cuddly. I also like the sensation of using a nice pen to write (or draw) on nice paper. The fuzzy feeling of the inside of a brand new sweatshirt is also nice, even though it makes me reluctant to wash new sweatshirts. Oops! If you drink coffee (and make it yourself) do you use a French Press, regular filter basket coffee maker, Espresso Machine, Percolator? I grind the beans as fine as they'll go (practically to a powder), then put them straight in the cup and pour water on top. The grounds sink to the bottom when stirred if the coffee is ready. According to the gamelan teacher at school, this is how they prepare coffee in Java, and I think it gives extra flavor (and extra caffeine) when compared to filtered coffee. What movie soundtracks (or scores) do you love? All of the recent Pixar movie soundtracks (I thiiink Michael Gioacchino is responsible for most of those), much of Danny Elfman's work, the original Star Wars trilogy (John Williams has gone drastically downhill since then)...Funny thing is, I tend to notice bad soundtracks more than good ones, often because they stick out like a sore thumb, rather than blending in seamlessly with the overall effect of the film, like good soundtracks do. What kind of indulgences do you really really want, but can't seem to make yourself buy? Maybe out of character, or a part of yourself you're busy denying? I have been eyeing the iPod touch for a while. (Well, actually, the iPhone, but I just had to replace my regular cell phone today, since the old one died spectacularly. I did not get an iPhone this time. The iPod touch does almost all the same things, though, just not the phone part.) I also admire the MacBook Pro from afar. But the fact stands that I do not need either of these, since my regular iPod and my regular MacBook (both acquired in 2006) work fine. I simply could not justify spending the money when I do not need these things on account of having entirely functional alternatives. I have also been looking at turn-of-the-20th-century/vaguely steampunky outfits online, but I'm sure I'll never add any of these things to my actual wardrobe. A lot of it is expense, but I've also never been one to focus a lot of attention on my clothes, or to spend a lot of money on them. It'd be very out of character for me to suddenly be spending a lot on such things. My questionnaire is chock-a-block with ideas for Witching me on the cheap, and without sending "stuff for stuff's sake". And I just came up with another one--make me a Pandora, Finetune, or Last.fm station you think I might like! What manner of affordable Witchery might you covet? Homemade things are fantastic! Baked goods and other edible things are also great. I have never used Pandora, Last.fm., or Finetune, but were I to receive a playlist, I would figure out how those sites work! Mix CDs and used books are also great. Does your cell phone have a place to attach charms? I just got a new cell phone. It has lots of little holes, though most of them look like places to plug things in. Of those that are not obvious plugs, I am suspecting they're speakers, since this is a music phone. So I would guess no on the place for charms. Forum buddies? I haven't really been active here long enough to have gotten to know anyone really well yet. This is, in my book, an excellent reason for doing Switch Witch - getting to know more people. What is your favorite art movement and/or style? ie impressionist, surrealist, art nouveau, etc. I really like art noveau/art deco/jugendstil, and other turn-of-the-20th-century shininess. Do you have a case for your mp3 player/digital camera? If you would want one, what size is your digital device? I have a case for my digital camera, but not for my iPod. It's a black 30GB from early 2006, and it's so scratched up already that it would almost seem silly to put a protective case on it now. But hey, it survived being thrown through the back windshield of my car as it was rolling down a hill, so I am not irked by the scratches it received from that incident. For tea drinkers, do you bag it or prefer loose? Either one is good! Though I'm currently without an infuser for loose leaf, since my cats broke the old one. Does the weather change where you are, as in, does it get cold in the winter? Anyone need homegrown scarves, hats, mittens, etc? I live in southern California. We have four seasons: summer, fires, rain, and mudslides! Seriously, winter here generally means 60 degrees Fahrenheit during the day. It usually isn't even cloudy, though the clouds that do happen bring rain rather than snow. Because I'm basically in the desert, it can get into the 40s or sometimes the 30s at night. That said, if I end up doing fieldwork in the winter, I know it gets really cold in the mountains. Are you planning on buying anything off your BPAL and/or other wishlists during the round? Nope. Do you wear a watch? If so, what kind/style? I got out of the habit of doing so, since my cell phone has a clock and all. How do you feel about having a donation made in your name to something? If you like that idea, what types of organizations/groups would you want the donation to go to? That'd be great! Animal adoption/care/advocacy is good (I volunteer for a group called TLC of the Inland Empire), as is autism awareness. Donations to natural disaster relief groups are also good, providing the group will actually use it for what they claim it's for. If you could have dinner/drinks/coffee with any 3 living people that are not your family/friends already, who would they be? Hrmmmm. Michael Tilson-Thomas, Brad Bird, and John McPhee Re: the Lilith Victoria scents . . . Honestly, though I love the concept of scents to celebrate the baby, none of them jumped out at me as must haves. Heck, I haven't tried regular Dorian or regular Snake Oil yet! If you could bring back any TV show, what would it be? Firefly. Ayup. I wonder if my witchee would like a blanket type thing. Would you? Blankets are awesome. I can't sleep without one, even if it's stupid hot in my apartment. Even if I try to sleep without it, I wake up and it's on again. With that in mind, if my witch is inclined to send blankets, lighter weight ones are better for the climate where I live. It seldom gets actually cold. What's your favorite "I know it's bad for me but I can't help myself" treat? Ice cream. Though I have just discovered pumpkin spice Hershey's kisses, and they are also reeeeally dangerous. What one (or two, if you really must) BPAL bottles are you most longing for? Hrm. I know it's only a matter of time before I buy bottles of Tombstone and Coyote. What's your favorite animal? Hard question! Hm. Foxes, cats (of all sizes), pine martens, dogs (and wild canids), otters... Funky chocolates? Definitely good, for the most part. I don't think I could bring myself to eat chocolate with meat in it. Tarts? No ides. Say, witches, I have a question about birthdays: do you expect/rely on other people to plan birthday outings and activities? I generally don't like to make a big deal about my birthday. Other people usually end up making it a bigger deal than I ever would have. What think you about receiving tea accessories and/or miscellany (like mugs, cups, saucers, strainers/filters, honey, natural sweeteners [like stevia])? These are good things! Well, maybe not so much on the saucers, since I've never been in the habit of using one, but the rest of the things on this list are excellent. Munsters or Addams Family, y'all? Addams Family! What's your ringtone? An excerpt from an east Javanese gamelan piece. No chance of me confusing my ringtone with someone else's! If you have pets, is there a SPECIFIC toy they like to play with; brand and size? Is there a treat/cookie they eat? What brand and size? Andreas and Garlock like catnip mice, just the regular cheap ones they have at PetSmart. They also loved these 9Lives yellow and orange rubber balls with sticky out bits. In terms of treats, they are surprisingly finicky, as they are total pigs about actual food. They seem to like Pounce pretty well. Burned CDs/ DVDs / &c. Fine by me! Pirates: ARR! Dia de los Muertos: I don't know a huge amount about it, but it seems awesome enough that I really ought to learn more. Nightmare before Christmas: It has been entirely too long since I last watched this, because it's awesome. Sending melty stuff: It is still pretty darn hot here! Chocolate might liquefy, but oh well. Do not take this as a reason to not send chocolate! Odds are that the package would sit in the apartment office if I wasn't home to accept it anyway, and it's air conditioned in there. Melty should be fine. If candy is sent, would you prefer small amounts to a Halloween sized bag? I...do not know how to answer this. Because if it is a big bag, I will eat all of it, which is probably not good for me, but will make me happy at the time. Do you like floral bath soaps, shower gels, etc? I am not really into florals. How do you feel about trinkets? I enjoy small silly things designed for the easily amused! Though they will probably end up getting lost on my desk sooner than later. What do you think of Irrelevant Disturbing and Surreal Crawdad Dream? Love it? Hate it? Kicking yourself for not getting a bottle? I never tried it. I was intrigued, based on the name alone, but not enough to cough up the cash. How do y'all feel about honey and maple? And different flavored honey, not just the standard kind? Excellent on all accounts! Do you play a musical instrument? Long answer time! I play viola, violin, piano, tenor viol, recorder, guitarron, and many of the instruments in a Javanese gamelan. I also sing badly and compose decently. Stance on Joss Whedon and his enterprises? Firefly and Dr. Horrible are the only Whedon things I've seen, and I like them both. Has anyone tried ice wine before? Do/did they enjoy it? I've never tried it. What other perfume companies (besides bpal) have you been curious about? I have never worn scent until finding BPAL, and haven't really looked into anything other than it. I received a freebie Possets decant in a forum order recently, so I looked at their site, and I admit to being intrigued by some of the States, but I haven't actually contemplated ordering. I plan on sticking to BPAL for now! Does anyone here do anything with grave rubbings? Nope. Would you enjoy art based on original Graveyard photography? I don't think now would be the best time for this for me. A close friend of mine died earlier this year, and I suspect it would make me think of her more, but not for the right reasons. What's in your Netflix or Blockbuster queue, do you want any new Netflix/Blockbuster friends, if so how do we find you on there? I don't have a Netflix account or a Blockbuster queue. Do you like Mystery Science Theater 3000? Have you tried out (and if not, would you be interested in doing so) its weird little brother, RiffTrax? I've only seen a couple of MST3Ks, but I thought they were funny. I've never even heard of RiffTrax before. What will you like from Singapore? Candies? Food? Asian crafts/toys? I admittedly know very little about Singaporean products, but if my Witch happens to be over there, send something that is representative and cool? Also, I never ever object to candy. What is everyone's "luck" item? I don't really have one. I can't bring myself to get rid of the key to the car I totaled, but that's not for the sake of warding off bad road luck, even though I have not had bad road luck since then. Do you like art deco/nouveau - style prints? Yes! Particular appeal points if they also relate to music somehow. What is one thing that, if you received it in the middle of all the hubbub, would make you smile and take your mind off of all you have to do for a bit? The mere concept of expecting something in the mail is making me smile! All the more so since I don't know what or when it will be. How do you feel about Hello Kitty? Really not my thing. What makes everyone stand out from the Switch Witch herd? Uhm. I can detect the word "earthquake" from across the room? I dunno. Maybe the number of instruments I can play. If you are into the original Nintendo system, what 3 games would you want that you don't have? I never had a Nintendo. What is your favorite category of the GC? At this point, I have not tried enough things to have an overwhelming favorite, but as I peruse the catalogue, the descriptions in the Wanderlust category jump out the most. Probably because I want to travel to all kinds of places. What would a perfume based on me smell like? Jeez, I dunno! Rocks, coffee, books, and viola rosin. Do you often drink take away coffee in paper mugs? Probably about once a week, more often during finals. Blood Moon update? Despite the fact that the Blood Moon description uses the word "earthquake," I don't think I'll be ordering it, simply because a single word that is tangential to the meaning of the oil on the whole should not be the entire reason that I order something! Not that I didn't think about it... (Now, if it'd been an actual earthquake scent, that would've been a different story.) How does everyone feel about really green gifties? I was thinking of giving my witchee some of my handy-dandy "paper" towels (hand-sized, washable muslin squares--kinda like ultra-cheapo cloth napkins) in a kitchen-friendly decorative box, but I didn't want to seem preachy ("Stop using paper towels, you environment destroyer!"). Would y'all use something like that? That'd be awesome. What craft (or crafts) have you been wanting to try but have no idea where to start? I don't know if it really counts as crafty, but I would like to try doing some animation. I draw a lot, and I'd like to see if I could make those drawings move. I haven't the foggiest idea of how to get started with that, though. Would you appreciate some tunes in future packages? And if so, do you care if you get any CDs or mp3s you might have all ready? Or would you be able to find a way to post a list of things you're (a) looking for, or ( b ) all ready have? Tunes are good! I do not object to receiving things I already have, though, of course, new things are exciting. I admittedly do not have a list of things that I already have on the internet, but I will think about making one. Polish goodies! Who wants them? Baked goods, candies, kielbasa, pirogies, magazines, you name it? The edible goodies would be a good thing! Magazines not so much, since I don't speak/read Polish and would therefore be left confused. How do you avoid popping an item for yourself into an order you're placing for your witchie? I remind myself very firmly of my financial status (ie largely broke grad student). I also try to go to places or use search terms that rule out some things I would personally want. Underpants? Do you like them? What's your style? Size? I wear them! I would probably be a bit weirded out to receive some from someone I don't know, though. BPTP Room Sprays...your thoughts? I haven't tried any of them. They were all sitting there at Will Call, and I looked at them, but did not actually sniff, and I'm not sure why. Would you like to receive baked goods from your Witch? And if so, are there things you WOULDN'T like? Baked goods are always welcome! Though not ones with cherries, because I'm allergic to cherries. Tea? I have not met a flavor of tea I didn't like. Any tea would be most welcome, whether a classic flavor (I've always loved Earl Grey) or something unusual/hard to find. My current tea stash ranges from Lapsang Souchong to Darjeeling to genmaicha to peony white, among others. I made a mess the other day trying to put ketchup on a hot dog. I could've just wiped the ketchip on the forum! What sort of (makeup) colors do you currently wear? Do you want to branch outside that? What would you like to try? I don't wear any. About incense: do you like sticks or lose incense? Incense and my allergies don't really play well together. Even if they did, I suspect my cats would cause problems with the incense anyway. What's everyone's favorite fairytale and what are your favorite versions of it? When I was little, there was this picture book of a Russian fairy tale called "Little Sister and the Month Brothers" that I absolutely adored. I don't know who did the illustrations, and I don't even remember the details of the story, but it involved this little girl coming upon a meeting of people who were the personifications of the twelve months of the year. Looking back now, I am sure this partly influenced my own graphic novel involving personified days of the year, even though I wasn't thinking of The Month Brothers when I started work on my project. So how many imps/decants is officially 'you have gone overboard and your Witchee is going to expire from scent overload'? This question is making me worry that I haven't included enough! Who needs a recipe box? Not I. ANYONE ELSE want a home-made cookbook? If it is a fairly idiot-proof cookbook geared toward someone with simple kitchen tools, that would be fantastic! Favorite cartoons or animated films? So far, I have adored every single Pixar film. As far as I can tell, they can do no wrong, and they are concrete proof that animation is an art in and of itself, rather than just a storytelling medium. I am soooo excited by the prospect of them possibly doing effects for that 1906 earthquake movie... I also like the Shrek trilogy, The Triplets of Belleville, and some of the older Disney movies. I was completely obsessed with Oliver and Company when I was three. As for TV shows, stuff like Animaniacs, Pinky and the Brain, Histeria, and Freakazoid were favorites. I also liked The Magic School Bus; I was a PBS kid! Your take on the election? In other words, would you enjoy campaign related gifts, or prefer to stay neutral? I am absolutely without a question voting for Obama, but I think I'd like to keep politics out of fun/recreational activities for now. Maybe that's residual from growing up in DC - politics is srs bzness, but also crazy-making. Villians you sympathise with? I tend to not sympathize with the villain, even if I find that villain to be an interesting character. I have this gut feeling that sympathizing with the villain, no matter how fictional, makes me a less-than-good person, and then I'd feel all guilty and weird. Your stance on the all important peanut butter issue: crunchy? creamy? allergic? chocolate? maple? go directly to nuttella, do not pass go? Peanut butter of all types is good. Nutella is fantastic. Who here likes to read historical fiction? If you do, what eras/people/countries intrigue you the most? In the rare event that I have time to read fiction, I do enjoy historical fiction very much. I particularly enjoy stuff set at the turn of the 20th century in general (though, in terms of actual history, I know more about the US and Europe than I know about the rest of the world), and also American Civil War stuff. Dried fruit? Yes! This is a good thing, just so long as it is not cherries. I'm allergic to cherries. Apples are fantastic. What kind of tea (or coffee) puts you in a fall/Halloween mood? And where do you get it? In terms of coffee, I'm going to have to go with pumpkin spice lattes, though I think I'd drink these year round if they were available. Pumpkin is one of my favorite flavors! I just know it's fall when I start being able to get pumpkin stuff. The ones at Starbucks are good, but there are some local coffee places around here that have better ones. As for tea, hrm. I guess fall is when I start drinking tea hot instead of iced! I don't have anything explicitly autumnal, though I guess the smoky aspect of Lapsang Souchong sort of counts. But again, that's a tea I'd drink much more often if I knew where I could get a regular supply. Also, hot spiced apple cider. Haven't found any around yet, which makes me sad. Are you interested in Tarot cards? And if so, are there particular decks you like (or don't or already have or whatever)? I know next to nothing about this. I've never had a reading done, and certainly couldn't do one myself. If I were given a deck, I would probably admire the artwork, but have no idea what to do from there. Betty Page? I had to look up who this is. Aheh. That said, I'm not into pinups. Star Trek? I've never even seen an entire episode of any of the incarnations of this show. (Shocking, I know!) Apple butter? YES PLZ NOM NOM NOM. Villainess Retrograde? Sounds awesome, until it gets to the part about the flowers. I am wary of the flowers. But holy crud, there's a lapsang souchong soap? Whoa. Now that is tempting. Lush? Never tried anything of theirs. Maple? One of my very favorite flavors! (My cats seem to agree, when it comes to maple yogurt. They always try to steal it.) Gold vs silver vs copper vs brass etc? Well, I know who isn't my witch now, since I know I answered that question as "makes no difference to me, since I don't wear jewelry." For what it's worth, I've had silver glasses frames and copper-ish-brown-ish glasses frames in the past, but never gold ones. One BPAL only forever and ever? Even for a n00b such as myself, that's a hard question. The variety of the catalogue is one of the things that makes BPAL really cool. I'd be really hard pressed to pick between Tombstone and Coyote, but I'm leaning toward Tombstone, if only because I'm wearing that right now and I love it. Halloween costume? I'm going as the anthropomorphic personification of the Hayward Fault. Earlier this year, I drew a whole bunch of characters who are personified fault lines, and a few friends and I are going as a handful of them. Because we are nerds.

So after making a massive post of questions today, I realized they are not This Round questions. I'll stick the old questions here instead. Scarves? Southern California does not get cold enough for scarves. Or at least it hasn't since I've lived here. If you could design your own perfume oil, which notes would it have? Uhh, I dunno. I would loooove to see a set of oils based on Mahler's "Das Lied von der Erde," though, and I've been thinking about what might go into those. Purses? Nope. If you were to get earrings from your SW, what kind would you prefer? My ears aren't pierced, and I'm not looking to get extra holes put into my body at any time in the foreseeable future. Anyone need scent lockets? Not really. Strange Fondness for: Terrible disaster movies. Like "Volcano" or "The Day after Tomorrow." I keep joking about making my own sometime. Song on repeat? Lately, it has been Janet Beazley's "Run Away, Sally Ann," which is creepy and awesome. This changes from week to week, though. Anyone here like pecan brittle? OM NOM NOM NOM MOAR PLZ. What BPAL didn't work on you? The Coiled Serpent gave me a wheezing and sneezing allergic reaction within 20 minutes. Schrödinger's Cat disappeared in a very short amount of time. What chat/im capabilities do you have, or would you be able/willing to chat up your witch? I mostly stick to AIM, and I'm on it pretty often. I'm up for chatting, though wouldn't that give the surprise of who is whose witch/witchee away? What sorts of things--products, foods, household items--do you absolutely love and constantly try to enable people with? There is this frozen yogurt place near where I live. There are all kinds of flavors and toppings, and you get to mix them together yourself. They are priced by weight. It is easy to rack up a $6 sundae, and it is SO tasty. I have been enabling all of my friends to this place. What is your favorite beverage (adult bev. if you are of age)? Proooobably tea. Board games? Scrabble! And Apples to Apples, which isn't technically a board game, but is so much fun. How do people feel about feet? Mine are flat. They are so flat that they screw up my gait, which screws up my knees. I went to a physical therapist for the pain, and he said I had the flattest feet he'd ever seen, except for possibly my dad's feet. Curse you, genetics! So what's everyone's favorite BPTP nail color? I don't wear nail polish. How do you feel about leather/leather scraps? No objections. Do you like spicy/Asian food? YES! Yes, yes. How adventurous are you when it comes to food/candies? I have to know what's in it (not going to eat bugs or intestines or something), but within that, I am pretty adventurous. When it comes to stuff like ice cream, I will sometimes order a new flavor that I don't have a clue what it is, just to see what it's like. What websites MUST everyone visit at least daily? I assume we all visit the BPAL forum every day! I personally check the Recent Earthquakes In California page daily. Also LOLcats, and Cake Wrecks. Tarot Decks? Never had one, nor have I had a reading done. My Space: Don't have one. My appearance in general: Short, average weight, short brown hair, brown eyes, glasses, usually wearing jeans and nerdy t-shirts, often carrying some sort of musical instrument. Dreams I have for the future: Living in the Bay Area, with a job that allowed me to both do research and teach and paid enough that I did not have to stress out over finances all the time (and could occasionally travel), and with music to play in my spare time. Issues that I will get on my soapbox about: Natural disaster preparedness, how cleaning up after past disasters should be handled, arts and science education, how patriotic bandwagoning scares me... What are the general patterns in your house / bedroom? Light wood or white furniture (except for the black chairs), white walls, gray carpet. My bedsheets are green, tan, white, and blue. How important is BPAL in your Switch Witch packages? I'd be surprised if it wasn't involved, considering the venue is the BPAL forum, but it isn't vital at all. Whatever items my Witch thinks would fit will be awesome! "Used" BPAL? Ugly BPAL? Empties? No problem. Deadly sin? It has definitely been sloth this summer. Song that when it comes on the radio, you look around guiltily, roll up the windows, and then sing along to at top volume? I, uh. Sing along to German art songs in the car. Sometimes with the windows open. What did you sing along to in the shower this morning? I don't generally sing in the shower, though. TV shows you wish hadn't been canceled: Firefly If you could take on an existing superhero identity... I dunno! On an online X-Men roleplaying game, I play Rictor, who causes earthquakes. Does that count? Did you ever attend a midnight showing of the Rocky Horror Picture Show? Do you know the callbacks? Did you come dressed as a particular character? It wasn't midnight, but I went to a performance of the RHPS stage play on my 18th birthday. The guy playing Frank was a friend of the person who got me the tickets to the show. I was not dressed up, but the Narrator made me get up and do the Time Warp anyway. If you could meet anyone living and anyone dead, who would it be? Living: Jeez. Uh. I don't know! Dead: Gustav Mahler, my favorite composer Webcomics: Ozy and Millie, Zebra Girl, Wapsi Square, Wondermark, Khaos Komix, XKCD Fun fact about me: I have studied three non-English languages (Spanish, Russian, and German, though I've pretty much forgotten the Spanish. I'm hoping to start on a fourth (Indonesian) soon. How much personal swapping/purchasing do you plan on doing this round? Enough to make for a good package and complement the stuff that I'm going to make. What if your witch gets you something you've already ordered? Cool by me! Hard Candies: Excellent! Unless they're grape flavored, since that reminds me of this allergy medicine I had to take daily when I was little. Other Mailable Food Items: Food is good. If Your Job had no Dress Code: The nerdy t-shirts would come to work with me. I will totally be able to get away with nerdy shirts as a TA in the Earth Sciences department, but my retail lackey job has very specific color and style guidelines. Scent diffusers? I've never owned one. Could be nice for obscuring the litterbox a little better, but also could be something cats could knock over. Genetic brushes with celebrity? None that I know of. what is your favorite time waster? TEH INTARWEBZ!!11!!one! How do you feel about Gaelic Storm and other Irish folk/drinking song bands? Fun! How do you feel about homemade pet treats? You'd have to ask my cats! (I suspect they'd approve.) Gifts for SO? I don't have one. Lush you are lusting after? My only experience with Lush, if you could even call it experience, is walking past the store at the mall on the way to work. Are you lusting after any of the new limited summer releases from Villainess? I've never looked at their site either. Though in the Summer Switch Witch thread, I think I saw something that said Villainess and Krakatoa. Javanese volcano soap? Bubble bars or bath bombs? Both? Neither? Never tried either one. Probably wouldn't be helpful either, since I usually shower rather than take a full bath. How you feel about the single mug tea filters? The kind that have a mesh or ceramic filter that fit right it the mug? I had one. It was great. And then certain cats decided it would look better in several pieces on the floor. (I suppose it could have been certain earthquakes in July, since I noticed it was broken that week, but considering the only other thing the quake knocked down in my apartment were some imps, I think the cats are the more likely culprits.) Favorite GCs? Tombstone! Coyote! Also Robin Goodfellow, Lightning, and Tenochtitlan. Yeah, my first imp pack was full of winners. I have a question: What's your most often overlooked scent in your bpals? Hm. Probably Tenochtitlan. It was the first one I tried, and I liked it, but I don't reach for the imp as much as with Tombstone, Coyote, and Robin. When I do reach for it, I remember why I like it. What's your favorite theme or characters? For example, do you like gothic looking items or classical? Do you love Hello Kitty, Harry Potter, etc? I admit to still enjoying Redwall immensely. What's hanging on your walls? What do you want hanging on your walls? Many of my walls are bare, but the ones that aren't contain photos I took of various places in California. There are a lot of the Carrizo Plain (So pretty! And Coyote smells like the Carrizo smells. I think this is why I love Coyote.), and also a panorama of the San Bernardino Mountains that spans a good hundred miles or so. I also have a print of a 1904-ish poster advertising Puccini's opera Madama Butterfly. What are you? CORSET or CAMI??? And....why? Neither! Just t-shirts. Yep. Maple syrup: Y/N? Yes! Undies: Briefs, if you must know. Most Coveted BPAL: Not quite sure! Still too new to narrow in on one. Anything you really absolutely don't want to get? No makeup, hair stuff, nail polish, earrings - I won't use these things. How conventional/weird are you comfortable with? Weird is good! First concert: A community theatre production of Menotti's opera Amahl and the Night Visitors What sort of crafties do you do and what sort of crafty supplies do you like? I do a lot of drawing and painting. My weapons of choice here are Prismacolor markers, Pitt pens, and watercolors. I also like to design t-shirts. Are they up to being gifted with anime? I've never been into anime. But if there's a story you think I'd like, I don't object to anime in the least. I guess I just don't get the whole liking it because it's anime thing, rather than liking it for a good story. For those of you who play video games, what consoles do you own? I've never had a video game console. Mailbox situation: I have a small mailbox at my building. The box from my first BPAL order, which was a single imp pack, fit in there, but that's not a huge box. If I'm not home when a package is delivered, it goes to the building manager's office, and I can pick it up the next day. What’s your favorite genre of books to read? Nonfiction (particularly science and history), historical fiction, some classic literature, humorous stuff, real-world-with-fantasy-elements How much do you still enjoy playing with toys? I don't really have toys anymore. Unless things like my laptop and iPod count! What practical goals to you have for the upcoming season? Work my butt off in school, to help get caught up on the geophysics/math background for my degree. Try not to let that overcome every second of free time, though. Some non-work time is required for sanity! How would you describe your sense of humor? Easily amused, punny, geeky. Phobias? Cancer, heart disease, anaphylactic shock, really narrow and badly-paved roads that are on the edges of cliffs or dropoffs of some sort Witch remain a secret? This is at the Witch's discretion, but I would eventually like to know who to thank! Do you play online games? I do a lot of text-based roleplay, though I haven't done as much lately as I used to. Do you prefer one large package, a couple of medium packages or a handful small ones spaced out? However my Witch wants to approach it! Favorite Beatle? George Hair things/sticks/barrettes: Nope. Floyd or Zeppelin? Uh. Can't decide. New question....Beatles or Stones? Beatles! Platforms? No. Do you have pictures of your art? http://mitya.deviantart.com

Dry, cold autumn wind. A rustle of red leaves, a touch of smoke and sap in the air. I grew up on the east coast, and only moved to southern California two years ago. While I really love living here, I do admittedly miss east coast autumns. I miss the not-quite-warm, not-quite-cold feeling of the air, the colors of the leaves, and the smell of the first fireplace in the neighborhood adding smoke to the rest of the atmosphere. For this reason, when I read the description of October, I knew I wanted to try it. I was initially wary to spring for a bottle unsniffed, but good deals on the forum and curiosity about the notes won over. In the bottle: Very very leafy green, with a cologney character. These leaves are still very much alive. I get some of the sap, too. Interestingly, when I smell just the cap of the bottle, it's a tad different. Still leaves, but much dryer, and not cologney in the least. I take this as a good sign for the applied scent. Wet on skin: I was right - the smell in the cap is like the wet-on-my-wrists smell. Leaves that are drying out, plus some sap. No smoke yet, but I'm hoping it shows up eventually. Drydown: I am getting just the faintest tickle of smoke at the back of my nose, so to speak. If I concentrate on it, it's not there. When I don't focus on it, it serves to warm up the leaf smell, which is still nice and dry. There's still sap, but it's not quite as prominent as before. I get the impression of wood too, but that might also be due to the smoke. After about a hour or so, the same general combination has sweetened slightly. The leaves are not completely crispy dry, but they have fallen off the tree and still have color. Five hours later: The scent has become faint, but has not entirely disappeared, and it's been subtle for a while now. The leafpile smell is still the most prominent thing, and it's still warmed by a bit of the smoke. I'm still getting a little wood/bark, but I can't really detect sap anymore. End of the day: Gone. Overall: October is a much warmer and sweeter scent than I would have guessed based on the description. I didn't get any chilly wind, though it might not be totally fair of me to say that at this point, since it was 98 degrees outside today and therefore would have required more than some oil on my wrists to remind me what chill feels like. I'll have to keep a nose out for the chilly air component on a day that's not such a complete scorcher. That said, this is still a very evocative autumn scent. It's piles of leaves and twigs warmed by the sun in a cloudless deep blue sky. It's earlier in the month, rather than the end. It's definitely bringing back memories of raking piles of leaves, then promptly scattering then again by way of jumping in them. October is a fairly subtle and mellow scent, and quite pleasant. I'm glad to have it, and I'm glad it brings to mind some of the things I hoped it would. Edit: added lab description

This is the last imp from my order! Nooo! I don't think it'll be a case of last as least - at least, I hope not! The cap on this imp is a tad loose, so some got on my hand when I was opening the box containing my order. I thought it smelled wonderful, so I figured I'd try to send this order out out on a good note. (Though, fortunately, most of the things in this order would've been ending on a good note!) In the imp: Strong, warm, and sweet. The vanilla is dominant, but I get a whiff of the sassafras under there, and the wood adds a dusty element in the background. Wet on skin: Pretty much the same as in the imp. (Yay!) The wood is maaaybe a bit more prominent. Drydown: Whoa, this is taking much longer to dry than anything else I've tried so far. I can still see the oil glistening on my wrists a little at nearly ten minutes in. At half an hour in, this still really isn't changing very much from the smell in the imp, except for a small increase in the prominence of the wood notes. Five hours later: The scent is still very present, even with my walking around outside in hot weather and sweating. The sassafras is much more prominent now than it was in the wet and early dry stages, and the wood has somewhat faded in comparison. This is vanilla root beer on a hot and dusty day. Nice! End of the day: This has't faded much more than it had at five hours. There is more wood relative to sassafras again, but the whole blend is still very smooth and warm and dusty. Overall: This? Smells SO GOOD. I enjoyed each of the stages this went through over the course of the day, and the repeated sniffs of my wrist were just as much because I wanted to keep smelling it as for the sake of writing a good thorough review. In the stages where the wood notes are more prominent, this reminds me of the open desert, with heat surrounding and steeping soft sandy soil; it reminds me of one of the places I did geologic mapping, which is, interestingly enough, very close to another silver mining ghost town. And the vanilla sarsparilla smell at other times? Very Old West. Seriously, though, connotations aside, I think this smells great. A bottle is a distinct possibility, when I have funds. ETA: I didn't wash this off at night, just to see what would happen. I woke up this morning and can still smell dusty cedary vanilla sassafras. Now that is staying power.

I figured I owed it to my two purring furmonsters to try at least one scent with the word "cat" in the name somewhere. I decided to go with this particular Cat mostly because of the physics aspect. Nerd cat! I love the very idea that there is a scent based on this paradox. Also, I like citrus, mint, and chocolate all quite well on their own, so the mix will be an interesting experience. In the imp: Citrus - predominantly grapefruit, with a little lime - on top, with a flash of mint chasing it. There's also something a little more herbal under there. Is that zdravetz? I have no clue what zdravetz is. Wet on skin: This immediately becomes more herbal and minty, though the citrus is still there. I am reminded a bit of Ricola cough drops. Drydown: That cough drop streak has faded away quickly, within ten minutes. What's there is something bright but surprisingly soft compared to the strength of the smell in the imp. It reminds me of an herb-citrus tisane. I'm not getting any chocolate, only a very little lavender, no discernible moss, and I still don't know what zdravetz is. After about an hour, the smell has faded to a level where my wrist has to be sniffed pretty hard for it to be noticed. It is only at this point, though, that I'm starting to get any chocolate in there. Five hours later: This hasn't faded further since the one hour mark, but considering how subtle it was then, that's not saying much. The chocolate is definitely noticeable within that faint smell, though, with the barest hint of citrus and with something faintly green (could be the moss, or is that the elusive zdravetz?) grounding it. End of the day: Completely gone, without a trace. Overall: It seems like my body chemistry let loose that particle of radiation, since the Cat really didn't stick around for very long. I liked the citrus-mint-tea smell that came shortly after drying, but it was so very fleeting. I really wish that stage had lasted longer, and that the whole thing had better staying power on me. I am not about to write off Schrödinger's Cat yet - I'll try it again when it's not so stupidly hot out, to see if that makes a difference in wear length and in what my skin does, and to see if aging effects the oil at all. But the present experiment did not yield expected results!

My reasons for ordering this imp were twofold: that I wanted to try something that would, in color terms, be a deep dusty gray-green (this is a color I use a lot when I draw), and that A Midsummer Night's Dream was one of the first Shakespeare plays I ever saw, and I loved it immediately. In the imp: Musky, with an undertone of something dark green. It may just be that I'm uneducated with regards to notes, but at this point, I can't really distinguish much yet. Wet on skin: Some woody notes pull forward, and something that I am pretty sure is the oakmoss. The musk still overlies all of this. Drydown: I'm definitely starting to get sage now, and I'm almost certain now that the notes I smelled in the wet stage are the moss and wood. The musk is diminishing, but that's letting me get a better whiff of the greenery. There's something a little sweet, too; from skimming the rest of the thread, I'm guessing that's the heather. I haven't a clue what ragwort smells like. Five hours later: Definitely still present. Robin Goodfellow has gone soft and gentle on me. It's a bit sweet with a spiced undertone: moss, wood, and sage. The sweetness may be the heather. The musk has either blended in seamlessly with the other notes, or is mostly gone. End of the day: There's still a definite sweet mossy smell on my wrists. Overall: Based on the smell in the imp alone, I didn't think I was going to like this as much as I do. It's a soft and gentle foresty smell, as if during the night after a long hot day, when the air has cooled but there's still residual warmth in the soil and greenery. (Like, uh. On Midsummer's Night. There we go!) It also reminds me Coyote, which I also like very much, in that it's warm, soft, woody, and musky. But where Coyote leaves behind the scent of dried grass, Robin Goodfellow leaves moss and maybe heather. Coyote is golden tan, and Robin really does leave that gray-green I'd hoped for. Keeper!

This was the other frimp in my first order, and it's also something I didn't even consider for myself based on the description. Broken heart? Never had one! Maybe because I've never dated, either... Anyhow! Since I'm in no position to be evaluating this based on any voodoo properties, I'm going to describe how it goes based on scent alone. In the imp: Light and floral. There's definitely lavender in there, maybe also violet. To my nose, it's pretty typically perfumey, though without the part of most commercial perfumes that makes me sneeze. Wet on skin: Still pretty perfumey and decidedly floral. Lavender still dominates, and I thiiink there may be a tiny bit of rose lurking in the background, though that may also be my uneducated nose playing tricks on me. Drydown: A few minutes in, I'm getting some lilies along with the other flowers. Maybe something a tad aquatic, like all of the petals are dripping with dew. What's interesting about this is that the throw of this scent smells different from how it does on my wrists. I'm getting mostly rose in the throw (which reminds me of a longtime family friend), but much more lavender when I actually sniff my wrist. Either way, it smells less perfumey and more like the flowers themselves as it dries. Five hours later: Gone. If I sniff my wrist really hard, there's the tiiiiniest whiff of lavender, but essentially, it's gone. End of the day: Even if it wasn't gone at five hours, it's most certainly gone now. Overall: This is a very pretty floral blend, and it is a comforting smell. It is, however, extremely feminine with no qualms or excuses, which rules it out from the list of things I'd wear. It's the kind of thing that would work nicely in a room, though; if anything, that would be more evocative of walking into a dewy garden than having a little patch of scent on the wrists. I'm hoping I have no need to test the voodoo properties of this oil anytime soon, so I'm not sure yet whether or not I'll be hanging on to this imp.

This was one of the frimps in my first order, and it's certainly not something I would have thought to try on my own, since I know nothing about chakras and have never done yoga. But I am certainly someone who could benefit from some grounding - particularly around finals time! My evaluation of this will be based purely on scent, though, rather than suggested purpose, if only because I don't know better. In the imp: This smells like walking into an Indian grocery store. It's warm and spicy and sharp. I can distinguish patchouli, maybe something a little woody, and there are background notes that, in this context, remind me of pepper and curry powder. Wet on skin: Very strong! I don't think I smell curry anymore, though patchouli is definitely still there. It's giving me an impression of wet black soil. Drydown: There is something in here that's making my nose itch a little. Uh oh! I wonder if that might be vetiver, since I know vetiver is related to citronella, and I'm very allergic to citronella. But I'm not sneezing or wheezing yet, so the test goes on. It's not soil anymore as it's drying. It's pretty much just vaguely woody patchouli incense, and it's not quite as strong when it's not wet. Okay, this has only been on for half an hour, but my throat is getting swollen and scratchy and my nose has become stuffy enough that I can't really smell much anymore. I have to wash this off. ...which is apparently easier said than done. I'm actually pretty disappointed by this allergic reaction, since I rather like the in-vial scent of The Coiled Serpent. Were I not itching and sneezing, I'd consider trying this as a room scent, since I like that Indian grocery store vibe and since the room doesn't have weird chemistry. But as things stand now, I'm going to have to swap this. I'm not going to write off the allergen as definitively being vetiver yet, since I haven't tried any other vetiver things, and since the specific notes aren't actually listed for The Coiled Serpent. A repeat performance, no matter how undesirable, from another blend will be what proves that point.

This is another scent that struck me as particularly intriguing and unusual based on the Lab's description. I love the smell of the air during a thunderstorm (and it's not something I get to smell often where I live!), and I was curious as to how well such a full-atmosphere smell like that can be put into a tiny bottle. In the imp: Very sharp and fresh, wet and clean. There's a bit of lemon in there, and something that I assume is the ozone. I can see how some other reviews mention cleaning fluid, but it's not bothering me. Wet on skin: The scent immediately gets a little heavier, and that heaviness is watery. Otherwise, the lemon and ozone remain distinct so far. Drydown: As this dries, the lemon and ozone become increasingly homogenous, rather than two separate notes. I'm definitely starting to get an impression of electricity. Within an hour or so, the scent has settled into something that really does smell like heavy wet air, maybe a little salty, with the promise of thunder and lightning. Five hours later: I'm left with the scent of salt water. The heavier fresher water aspect is gone, and the electricity has pretty much discharged. This is absolutely convincing salt water, though! End of the day: Completely gone. Maybe the tiniest bit of salt left on my skin, but it takes repeated sniffing to detect. The five hour mark was pretty much the last gasp, really. Overall: I was a little bit skeptical based on the scent in the bottle alone and on the wet phase, but once given time to dry, Lightning really did get that elusive storm smell. It was still strange to get that smell from a small spot on my wrist rather than from the whole atmosphere, but that's a good thing. This is great for hot weather, especially for someone who grew up where hot weather meant thunderstorms, but is now living in a place where it's even hotter but with far fewer storms.

The description of this scent was one of the things that made me finally take the plunge and order from BPAL. I saw it on the site a pretty long time ago, and though I was dithering over whether or not I really needed oils, I finally figured that Coyote was one that simply could not go unsmelled. In the imp: Very warm and soft. Not particularly strong, but in a good gentle way. I'm recognizing amber now (the imp I tried yesterday had that in there as well, and that's the only common note between these two), and partially-dried grasses. Wet on skin: I get more of the grass and dust now, a little less of the amber, but it's still very warm and soft. Drydown: Immediately after drying, he grass and dust continue to hold the foreground. Something a little sharper is starting to come through, and my uneducated nose is not sure whether this is the musk or the doeskin. Either way, it's more of a background note. The amber has faded even more. About an hour after putting it on, though, the sharpness has faded back a bit, and the whole blend is a bit more homogenous, in a good way. I can smell the amber again. At this point, it's pretty close to what it was in the imp, which is very nice. Five hours later: Nearly the same combination of smells as at the one hour mark, and close to the same intensity (even with the SoCal Outside In July test!). Once Coyote settles, it stays. End of the day: A good twelve hours after I put this on, I still get a whiff of soft dried grasses when I sniff my wrists. Overall: I am indeed very glad to have taken the BPAL plunge for this scent (and others)! Coyote is fantastically evocative. It really smells like a grassy plain in the process of drying out over the course of a hot summer. For that reason, it reminds me a lot of Carrizo Plain National Monument in central California, which is gorgeous and one of my favorite places. I also like how Coyote is a scent that's present even when I'm not actively sniffing my wrist, but it's not too strong or brash or distracting in the least. I am glad this trickster's description rang true, rather than being a trick in and of itself!

First review from my first order! Woo! So many of the contents of that box were begging to be tried first, but Tenochtitlan won, since I had plans to go to a concert of Mexican music tonight. In the imp: The very first sniff is bright and fruity - the predominant note is, I assume, the prickly pear. It's almost fruit gum, by how sweet it is. But on a second sniff, the herbier/spicer notes become more evident. It's very warm, and I like it so far. Wet on skin: The herbs become much more prominent, though the fruit is still there. It's still warm and sweet, but not gummy anymore. Drydown: I'm definitely recognizing the sage among the spices now, and I think the coriander, too. Pear is still there, as more of a sweet backdrop. Interestingly, I think the whole scent is a little stronger dry than wet. I am admittedly not entirely sure what amber smells like on its own, so I can't tell if it's there or not. Five hours later: It's practically gone. The fading went in stages. At first, the pear became more prominent again, but what's left behind last of all is more dry and herbal. I don't think it's entirely fair of me to say this always fades fast, though, since I was wearing it outside in southern California in July. That's heat enough to stifle anything! End of the day: It's at pretty much the same stage of "practically" gone as it was on the five hour mark. It hasn't really faded any more than that, nor has it changed character. Overall: This is very very nice - I couldn't stop sniffing my wrists all day! The fruit and herbs combination seems absolutely natural and fresh. The combination of herbs smells very much like the desert to me (there was tons of sage in one of my mapping areas in the Mojave!), and the fruit contributes the heat, but also the breeze. This scent also did go quite well with the son jarocho music of the concert I went to - warm and bright, with plenty of spice.