shriekingviolet

Hi everyone! Sorry this took longer than expected. I naively assumed that the differences in the code and naming conventions for 2.0 (what I had been working on to test things out) and 2.0.1 would be minimal, but they turned out to be enough that I had to rebuild the new skin. Which is mostly what I've been doing today. Plus you guys are so chatty that it took a lot longer to back up all of the posts last night than I thought it would. The table JUST containing the posts was 75 mb zipped, which is over ten times the size of what the entire database for the forum was 7 months ago. So that took an extra hour that I didn't expect and sent me to bed last night with less done that I had anticipated. There's still some things that are unfinished, but they're things I can do later as I think the board has been closed for long enough. You'll notice that the option to choose your own font and post color are gone from the user control panel. They're coming back, but the old mod I did doesn't work on the new code, and another mod I tried to do the same thing turned out to be complete crap so I abandoned it. I figured it could be one of those little things I could work on in the wee hours on the morning in the near future when the forum is at its low point traffic-wise. The mood feature has gone text-only for the moment, because the old images looked bad with this skin. They'll come back when I have time to make them (i.e. within the two week or so). And yes we have a new skin! Thought it was time, and I wanted something that sort of fit the season. The old skin will be coming back as an additional option, as well as another skin I have half-finished as well. There's also still the forum default option (the one that came with the software) available if you want the most work-friendly option. You can find a drop-box to allow you to switch skins on the bottom of every page. If you have any questions on the new features, if you think something's missing or moved and don't know where it went, you find a bug, etc. PM me, don't start a new thread about it. I'm happy to answer any questions or concerns you all might have, but I really get irritated if I have to field lots of chatter from the peanut gallery when I'm trying to work on stuff. Soon as we (the mods & I) can manage, we'll put something together outlying the new features as well as updating the board guidelines, at which point, you can start using the questions & forum ideas areas for this sort talk. But I really prefer one-on-one communication for questions. Again thanks for your patience guys! I appreciate it!

Due to a lot of aesthetic stubborness on my part, some pretty big changes in the way the new version of the software handles skins, and its neuroses in the way it reinterprets html, I'm behind on what I need to have done to upgrade tomorrow (err today). The upgrade's still happening this weekend, but I'm not sure when exactly. Could be tomorrow night, could be Saturday. We'll see. So if you come to find the board down sometime this weekend, that's what's happening. I'll be working as fast as I can, but it still will take a few hours at least once I close the board to upgrade everything. So be patient. I will post my email address in which you can reach me during the event, but I wouldn't encourage you to use it unless the board has been down for more than 8 hours.

There was already a thread about this, back on the second page of the bpal faq area of this board, so I'm merging it. The search feature will be your friend in the future, yeah?

Just giving everyone some advanced warning, the boards will be down during part of the day on Friday October 29th. Not sure for how long, though by conservative estimates I'm betting on 5 hours but it could be all day, or what time I'll begin. Though I suspect I'll either start in the wee hours of the morning when board traffic is at its lowest or it'll be right after I get home from class which is about 1 pm CST. Depends on how prepared I am or industrious I'm feeling. I know this is a bit of a pain as this will come on the heels of an update, but the lab staff (at least the ones who post here regularly) will be gone on vacation that day anyway so it's a good time for it in that it can't interfere with the customer relations aspect of the forum. Plus I'm off from work that day. But the good news is that after the board is back up, we'll be running on upgraded software and ipb 2.0 has some really fun/useful new features. BUT if it starts taking longer than you think it should, do start praying for my sanity. I'll probably be sitting here very frazzled and angry and in need of good energy to smooth out the kinks of the upgrade progress.

some how I don't think freezing oils would be a great idea. I would think it'd mess up the consistency either when you froze the, or during the thawing process.

Initial Impression: Lovely wood base that smells sweet and robust around the edges. Very round. After Wearing It: I smell a lot of dragon's blood in this blend. It's not as sweet or as berryish as it smells in other oils, but rather a burnt red variety. It's warm and rusty core to a very outdoorsy blend. There's smoke and fire here, but it's gentle, subtle. The scent of a bonfire fueled by autumn leaves burning upwind caught on the air. The scent overall reminds me of what I'd think the personification of memory would smell like. It's tone is dusty and distant, but it keeps pulling up a whisper of something else familiar from its depths. Wildfire is passingly sweet, blazing hot at times, sometimes rustic and sentimental... It flickers constantly yet it doesn't seem to change much. It's paradoxical in nature. Final Thoughts: This is a really interesting scent, but I'm not sure it's really me as a perfume. I enjoyed it though, so I will try to find a better use for it.

Initial Impression: Similar to his queen, but stronger, bolder. A sweet banquet of notes laid over more masculine outdoorsy notes. So gorgeous! After Wearing It: Wet and slightly beyond, King of Spades was all wood notes. The tone of it was fluid, shifting from dusty and dry to dark and piercing, but all woody. Not unpleasant, but definitely more masculine than I had been expecting from the note list. After about an hour and a half the vetivert and other woody notes retreated a bit, not much, but just enough for some of the sweeter notes to make their presence known. The vanilla and coconut were very soft here, and ultimately transparent. It was a very "grandfatherly" type of scent: warm and kind with its sweet touches, but full of masculinity, knowledge, and sometimes discipline. It wasn't until hour four that the fruit notes came out at all, and even then it was only little by little. But the progress was rather constant. By hour seven, I was surprised to find that King of Spades now smelled predominantly of sweet plums and berries, sweetened with vanilla and coconut, but kept from smelling candylike at all mostly by the white musk with the wood notes then just whispers of their earlier presence. It was amazing, and I totally loved it. I wish this stage hadn't taken so long to reach and that it stayed around longer. But sadly, this was the last leg of the fragrance, and two hours after THAT, I could hardly smell the King at all. Final Thoughts: This oil was a real surprise for me. It morphed more on me than most oils, and I felt differently about each stage. From the note list, I was expecting to like this one more than Queen of Spades, but now I'm not as sure. I need to wear this a few more times to really get a feel for it, because this King is a real tricky one.

Initial Impression: Smells of the fresh outdoors, but more like fields than forests, blended with ripe apples and sweet wine. After Wearing It: The scent smelled a lot grasser on me that expected. When I read the description I thought the myrrh and blackberry wine notes would stick out more, but it didn't. Instead, what I got was more of an earthy blend that was heavy on the "herbal" notes like sage & hops, with the apple cider component glazing the entire thing. I reminded me of the hayrides at twilight, drinking cider with friends and hanging out in barns. Very appropriate for a fall scent! The sage and hops back off as time wears on, and the final hours of Mabon's lifespan smell predominantly of apple cider, though with less spice. Final Thoughts: This scent is a nice mood setter, very golden and dusty, but not really me. I think it'd work much better as a room scent.

just merged an older "long lasting oil" thread with one SilverGarland started.

Initial Impression: Sweet, soft and refined, but there's a definite edge. Like a dagger sheathed in velvet. After Wearing It: Though I loved this in the bottle, when I first applied this, I was a bit taken a back. Wet this was a really strong, slightly bitter floral that smelled a bit intimidating. The myrrh and opoponax gave the oil a menacing start, portraying the Queen of the Spades as a cut throat type of monarch. While the scent was decidely feminine, this made me think a lady of times past who's had to burn out or at least hide her feminine side to ascend and maintain her power. Nothing soft, just poised and ruthless. After the oil dried and settled with my body chemistry though, things changed. The scent warmed up and became softer, yet more bold and lively. The amber asserts itself, giving the blend a rich depth, while the plum and berry notes show the Queen's more playful side. At one point, I remember thinking that this new side of the Queen ever felt maternal and gentle. The fruit notes where sweet and juicy, but not at all candy-like. They cast a mysterious, yet mischievous light onto the experience. I also kept thinking I was smelling jasmine here. During the final stages of the fragrance, the plum and blackberry notes are the most dominant. The wood and resins add weight and balance, so the fruit notes stick fast rather than fading and don't become TOO sweet. Overall the experience shapes the queen's image as one of a lady who gives off the aura of fierceness but has a really good soul once you get behind her walls, which I find appropriate for the scent. It lasts too. I applied the oil 12 hours ago, but I can still smell it clearly. Final Thoughts: This scent reminds me a lot of Noir, particularly in its opening sequence, though it's lighter over all. I didn't get a chance to pick up a bottle of Noir before it was discontinued, so I was quite happy to find that this would be a good or even better substitute for it. Queen of Spades is so lovely, changeable and fullbodied, I'm glad to have 2 bottles of it! A great sophisticated lady's blend. Rave!

maybe you'd be better off wearing snake oil in some sort of scent locket? I was about to say "dab it on your sleeves" but then I remembered that snake oil was one of those oils that can stain!

I think you mean that they've been receiving their harvest moon order before orders they made previous to the full moon order. In any case yes, or at least that's what *I* meant when I posted in the "I got my order!" thread. In any case, I've never heard of the lab combining orders. I think they "harvest" in big bunches, so even if they were taken at the same time, they could be filled hours or even a day or two part.

Ok now I want everyone to bear with me for a moment. I made the mistake of thinking that I'd only have to scan the boards a bit tonight before popping off to bed, so I stupidly took a sleeping pill before logging on and now my mental facilities are eroding. I've only half read a lot of the posts I needed to get through so pardon me for not being too specific or for not covering your particular concern. Now I've been at work since 5:30 CST and didn't get home until around 2, so most of what happened came as a big of a surprise to me as it did to most of you. I'm sorry that Quantum Spice's removal of the post count and the new word censoring caused so much distress. I haven't had the chance to discuss what happened or what we should do from here with her, but for now, I'm reversing the changes that were made. The moderators have discussed from time to time the idea of changing the way the post count/rewarding is handled, but we hadn't reached any sort of conclusion and hadn't touched on the subject in a while. In the event that a change like that occurs (and it probably will, though probably not for a while), the reasoning behind it will be made public and (hopefully) it'll be done in a way that would feel reasonable and beneficial to the majority, if not everyone all together. That said, I have to work in the morning and won't be available to further sort through this mess until tomorrow evening, so if everyone could put their concerns and arguments on hold until such time I'd be grateful as I'm already quite behind. Those of you who have specific concerns (such as shrinking PM boxes, I have no idea what that's about but I will look into it), do PM me and I'll see what I can do about them tomorrow. Thanks for your patience.

Bayou's fab. It reminded me more of my time in New Orleans than Old New Orleans did. And maybe I'm nuts, but a lot of the foody scents make me think of the South. Maybe it's just because Southerners know how to eat so well!

Initial Impression: Smells like vanilla scented pipe tobacco and whiskey. After Wearing It: Wet, this reminded me strongly of those whiskey filled/flavored chocolated you can buy. The notes were all coming on strong at once and the affect was slightly dizzying. After it dried, it mellowed a bit, the sassafras and cedar notes coming to the foreground while being sweeted by the vanilla. It was dry and sweet, and reminded me of a candy store we used to go to right before being dropped off at camp for a week. The shop had a rustic decor and felt like the last stop before the end of civilization. It was a vaguely exciting memory, jovial in a way. I can definitely see where the idea of a frontier saloon could have inspired this. Final Thoughts: This scent is masculine, but not overly so, as I think a girl could pull it off. It's sexy too, but not really for me. While I enjoy it, the smell of sassafras is just disconcerting on my skin. It's something I'd rather smell on someone else.

Initial Impression: Light, sweet and pale. Suggestions of lemon, vanilla and something else... After Wearing It: First on this smells like a clean sweet breeze, very faint traces of lemon topped with sweet flowers and vanilla. It was utterly enchanting in its light, airy texture. However the sweet vanilla edge faded back pretty quickly, while the lemon note gained more strength. It was still light and fresh, but I missed the sweeter edge. I got bored pretty quickly. I was in a pretty decadent mood that day, having gotten tarted up that day for fun, and wearing Zephyr (which felt like the "anti-perfume" on me at this point) just was suiting my mood. I ended up layering O over this because I just felt rather naked wearing such a light scent that day. Final Thoughts: Might have to try this again, but seeing as how I do generally prefer heavier blends this probably isn't for me. I'll probably keep the imp though as it smells like it'd make a lovely linen spray.

Debauchery is the only scent I found that uses Egyptian musk (try using the search function on BPAL's site. quantumspice did a fab job). Haven't tried it though so I can't say how dominant that note is in it.

Someone wrote in a Vixen review that it was similar to Shalimar. Same with Snake oil. Might try either!

OK I'm finished editing code for the night. I don't think there are any bugs in the new stuff, but that usually means there is. So let me know if you run into any new problems involving the following areas. Posting colors and font: Your settings are now in a different spot. You'll have to reset them to what they were before (or would like them to be now), but after that, there should be no more resetting of your text prefs anytime you edit your profile info as those fields no longer exist on the same form. Go to My Controls -> Edit Posting Options to play with your font faces and colors! Topic Flagging: Make a topic you're following stand out more by "flagging it." In every topic, there's a link towards the top of the thread to "flag this topic." Once clicked a little red flag will appear next to the topic title on the forum view. To unflag the topic, just click the unflag link (which will be in place of the flag link on flagged topics). Hopefully you'll find that useful! Lastly, there's a small cosmetic change on the way subforums look because I thought they looked bare up top before. Have other things to do, but I'm sleepy so that's all I'm doing for tonight.

It does do that, but they *are* saved Amber, so just ignore it. Amy, yes it can be done. I'll work on it soon.

Update to that. I think I've successfully finished changing the way your text preferences are done. They've been reset, but if you go into your CP and reset them in the new spot (click edit post options, its right above edit profile info), it should be all good. There'll be no resetting of your posting options now every time you update profile info, since it's in another form entirely. Sorry for any inconveniences, but I think this is probably worth it.

Seeing as how this is the time of day when the forum receives the least traffic, I'm using it to play around with some of the forums PHP files. If you run into any errors, don't be alarmed, just be patient. I'm also playing with the posting text options, trying to see if I make it more efficient without massive rewriting of code, so that, at least, will definitely see some bumps as the night rolls on. So if your text loses its formatting, leave it be for the moment! That's all.

Orders mailed on June 10th, placed in May Rose. Because Brian mentioned in another thread that it'll take them most of next week just to get through the June 1 orders.

Thanks doll.

I use them straight, but if your skin is senstive, you might dilute them with a carrier or a lotion. If it isn't, don't worry about it. I think the majority of the girls here wear at least some of the oils straight, so with the exception of the cinnamon blends, I don't think they get to most people. Mercury and Dove's Heart are the only ones that ever stung on me (and I've tried @ 125 oils), and neither left a mark and the sting was temporary. Only bothered me on my neck too, so it hasn't stopped me from wearing either on their own. I just avoid the neck area.