Morrighana

In the bottle: Hmm...I can smell the raspberry leaves, which is very promising, but also the cedar, which usually hates me, so... Wet: Mmm, pure raspberry leaves! I'm trying to not get my hopes up, here, though, as this could go south pretty quickly. Dry: *dies* This is SO GOOD. The cedar is even behaving!!! A sharp green scent has appeared, which I assume to be the olive leaf, but my lovely raspberry leaves are still detectable! Overall: I almost can't believe it (though, considering Beth's talent, it's not that hard to believe) but I've actually found a wood scent that I can wear! I don't think I'll be ordering a large bottle of it anytime soon, but my imp has migrated over to the "permanent" side of the impbox.

In the bottle: Herbs with just the faintest kick of...spice? Wet: Neroli, with the faintest kick of herbs. Dry: Hmm. This is a lot sweeter than I expected it to be. Not to say that it is sweet, per se, but from my initial sniff I expected more...bite...from this one. The neroli is no longer distinguishable, sadly, but the patchouli has come out a bit more. Overall: Sadly, the end result of Tisiphone on my skin reminds me of sunscreen. Very nice sunscreen, but sunscreen nonetheless. I'm not sure if that is the Oleander's contribution, as I'm not exactly sure what Oleander smells like on its own, but I am familiar with the other listed notes, and they certainly aren't what I am smelling now. It is not at all unpleasant, and probably just a quirk of my chemistry, but there you go. Off to the swap pile, methinks!

In the bottle: *nose crinkles* What is that? It's not unpleasant, really, it's just...something that I can't put my finger on...that I'm not sure I like. Wet: Ugh. Wood, and that other note. Again, what the heck? Even looking at the description, I cannot figure out what, exactly, I am smelling here. Perhaps it is a combination of moss and the dust from the pepper, but...whatever it is, it certainly doesn't agree with me. Dry: This one fades quickly on me. I've found that a lot of the scents that I dislike do so, much to my relief. The trace that is left on my skin is actually quite nice---nothing like what I was smelling before!---but I have to get my nose right up to my skin and sniff to detect it. Overall: I can see this one performing a lot better on someone else. Woody scents just don't like my skin, it seems. *shrugs*

I have, and adore, the following spicy scents: Bloodlust(just a hint of cinnamon, but it is worth getting anyway, as it is AMAZING) Serpent's Kiss(A lot more cinnamon than, and not as dark as, Bloodlust) Chimera(Cinnamon/honeysuckle GORGEOUSNESS) Three Witches(Haven't worn much, but is very, VERY spicy) Tintagel(A light, refreshing, but still very present cinnamon) Red Devil(I'm not 100% sure there is cinnamon in this, but on me it is a gorgeous melon/herbal/spicy scent) And Sweet Clove single note(Which, although not cinnamon, is so delightfully spicy that I highly recommend getting at least an imp of it!)

I seem to recall there being a warning on the Lab site about the blends being pure essential oils, and thus a potential irritant for sensitive skin. I can't find it now, but I know it's there somewhere.

:D:D

I don't like peaches. Never have; doubful I ever will. I love this singlenote. It is all of the wonderful appetizing sweetness of the ripest peach you've ever laid eyes on without the nastiness of having to eat it! Utterly gorgeous.

Even on my skin, I get such a wholly Cedar smell from the Red Sandalwood that I might've actually doubted that it had been labeled properly had Ladylatemar not mentioned the woody smell too! I also get a little bit of the spicy/powdery scent that she mentioned, but the wood is still very much there. My skin seems to like to amplify wood scents, though, and I do not particularly like wood scents, , so I'm a little biased here, but I didn't really like it. It won't make me shy away from blends that contain Red Sandalwood, though, given Beth's genius!

Beth&Co gifted me with a handful of singlenotes in one of my recent orders , and this was the first that I tried. It immediately surprised me how very true this scent is, and at the same time, how much better it is than any of the pears I've ever encountered! Crisp is certainly the word for it, and cool, but it still has the sweetness of a perfectly ripened fruit. Most excellent.

I accidentally got Chimera on my lip once---no, I wasn't trying to drink the oil, I swear!---and, like your experience, it really, REALLY hurt. I can wear it on the rest of me, though, without problems, so it's not really a big deal. If you still want to perfume your cleavage, you might want to try mixing a little Follow Me Boy into some unscented lotion and using that instead. It won't be as strong, thus it will not irritate so much, or, likely at all.

The only time I've re-used an imp, it was for the same scent that originally came in it, so there was no chance of scent contamination. Also, I did let the person know that it was an old imp.

In the bottle: Sniffing my imp, I could swear that there is a sweet melon note in this one, but as nobody else has mentioned it, it is entirely possible that I am just mislabeling one of the other notes. In any case, it is underscored by a soft, sweet spice, a dash of orange, and a faint herbal note. The combined effect makes me want to drink my impful of oil! On my skin: Red Devil quickly deepens into a dark, lush herbal scent. The cinnamon is still prominent, but it never really becomes the focal point; instead, it supports and accents the herbal base. The melon-esque note is still present, but it alternates ducking behind and soaring above the spicy herbal notes. Overall: This has immediately landed on my MUST HAVE 5mL list. It is soft and understated, to be sure, but the darkness of the herbal notes lends Red Devil an edgy, powerful undercurrent that is utterly irresistible! I've yet to test its effect on others, but in my own reactions I can certainly see evidence of the truth in Beth's statement of purpose for this blend!

In the bottle, and Wet on my skin: Oh crap. It's that damn cedar again! Out of the bottle this one smells *just* like Cathedral to me. But, I'm going to wait it out, because that one calmed down quite nicely, and hopefully this one will too. Drydown: Is that...mint? Couldn't be. The cedar is still predominant, but there is a lighter, fresher feel behind it than there was in Cathedral. As the cedar receeds just a tad, I think I'm smelling the saffron there too, but I'm not entirely sure. I'm not getting any of the spices at this point, either. Dry: I think my nose is playing tricks on me, but I'm still getting a cedar/mint blend. I can detect the lotus now, but it is soft, in the background, supporting the cedar and keeping its sharpness in check. Overall: Surprisingly enough, to me anyway, I like this blend. It's actually quite nice, but I don't think it is something I would wear. It could be quite a lovely room scent, though, as someone mentioned earlier. Edited to add: About an hour after my initial application, the cedar has moved to the background, allowing a delicate wisp of lotus to slip out in front. The scent still carries the feel of mint, to me anyway, but it isn't as predominant as before. Not a bad thing, at all. In fact, I think I'll have to try this again before I discount it as a personal scent.

Nah, I'm a Pisces. I probably have some Virgo in my chart somewhere, though. I'm currently studying German, and hope to do French as well, but my degree will focus on English, I think. As far as Szepasszony: You were close, though!

that is hard to describe, but you did a good job! my family is Hungarian and my mom guesses Szepasszony is pronounced: zhea-pash-ohn with the emphasis on the first syllable. thats not entirely correct but I'll get her to repeat it and edit this later. I'm a bad girl and didnt learn much of my home language. My family is Hungarian, too! Continuing on the pronunciation: There may be a dialectic difference between pronouncing the consonant sz as versus [zh]...if there is, I'd love to hear about it! (I'm a lingusitics major, can you tell?)

I use the oxymoron that is MSWorks for mine. My categories are: Name Category Sizes owned Like/Dislike Buy More? Comments Status (swap list, to be tested, permanent collection, etc) Reviewed? and Travel (To or from whom) I my spreadsheet.

I still think they are pure...that's one of the reasons Beth sells carriers on the site, so that if you are sensitive to a particular oil/all oils, you can dilute.

I don't think BPAL uses a carrier. I think the one year approximation for shelflife is taking into account things like blend stability...

It's really easy, Diabolique---and don't worry about sounding silly! You can't find out if nobody tells you, right? To order using paypal, you just tally up the amount you owe for everything you're buying, plus the shipping amount (If you're local, just use CCNOW to tally and then hit the "pay and finish" thing to get your shipping amount...if you're international you have to get a quote from the Lab or use the shipping template Nella posted). Then, send that amount with a note detailing everything that you are ordering to paypal at blackphoenixalchemylab dot com. And Voila, you're done! It really is easy, and it helps the Lab in that Paypal doesn't charge nearly as much in fees per transaction as CCNOW.

Diabolique-it will say the same thing forever and a day. It doesn't change when the Lab ships it.

Snake Oil layered with Bloodlust is quite amazing, IMHO. It's hard to describe exactly what the combination smells like on me, as there are SO many notes, but overall it is sweeter than either on their own (but not too sweet) and lighter/cheerier than Bloodlust on its own, but more resinous and spicy than Snake Oil on its own. I would certainly recommend giving it a go!

Those little change of address cards are actually quite effective. Make sure you fill one out right away, and it'll get to you pretty much on time. That's the one department of Canada Post that is actually efficient and doesn't scew up much, lol.

There was a post around here somewhere about which scents had the greatest effect on the sexes (of all scents, not just BPALs) and the thing that I remember being the most effective with guys is the foody scents. From your list, I'd say that Dana O'Shee, O, Snake Oil (this one I can personally back up, as I've tried it and it really gets noticed!), Hellcat, and possibly Black Phoenix would be the ones I'd reccomend you try first for this purpose. I don't know all of the scents' notes offhand, though, so there may be a couple that you can add to this list. Basically anything that smells like food gets a nice nose-to-groin response!

In the Bottle and Wet: Fresh, cool, lovely. The mint and lime are certainly present in the wet stage. Dry: The lavender reigns supreme once more! Now, if you like lavender, this will be great on you. Personally, I don't like lavender as a perfume. In bath products, Envy would be amazing. Envigorating and refreshing, it really is lovely.

Initial: Mmm...minty. Very promising. Wet to Dry: Unfortunately, the lovely mint is gradually taken over by the lavender. Don't get me wrong, this isn't a bad thing! It turns into quite a nice, herbal scent---it's just not what I am looking for in a perfume. I wish the mint had stayed to play a bit more; that would've made it a great summer scent for me. That said, it would still make a great spring/summer scent for someone else!