Morrighana

Beth uses sources like this, and bouquets of other natural oils, to recreate the scent of things like musks.

While I completely agree with you---in that there are still dangerous natural components and someone with severe health issues should still contact the lab directly just in case---I have to point out that I am not just making random speculations. I have it straight from Beth's mouth (well, keyboard at least) that she does not use synthetics.

That's kinda ironic, eh?

Beth does not use synthetics, period. No worries.

Just on this front---a lot of the "mystery" about components isn't an attempt to make the descriptions prettier, it is an attempt to prevent people from stealing Beth's recipies and selling them as their own(which, sadly enough, has been attempted several times in the past). Anyway, as others have mentioned already, your best bet is always to email the lab directly. Beth definitely doesn't want any dead clients, and as such is usually quite happy to oblige in providing you with a list of blends to avoid if you send her a list of your particular allergens. That said, to all those misfortunate enough to be allergic to stuff like this, especially those with longer lists like MG's. That has got to suck.

I ordered a 5mL of this immediately because of the pear note, and once again, I have not been dissapointed! In the bottle: Delicious sweet pear. It is softer and sweeter than Beth's D'Anjou Pear single note, though...it may be a different pear, or it could just be the other notes rounding out the crisp pear sharpness. I can detect a hint of the rose and magnolia, but in the bottle, the pear dominates. Wet: The moment it touches my skin, the rose leaps to the forefront of this blend, as roses have a tendancy to do on me. Dry: After a few moments, the rose settles down nicely---in fact, it almost fades completely---and the blend becomes anchored by the magnolia. The pear is very much in the background, but it brings a mellow sweetness to the whole affair that is quite refreshing. Other reviewers have compared La Belle au Bois Dormant to Titiana, and I while do detect a logical comparison in the bottle, once dry this scent is a bit less sweet and has more floral notes on my skin. Overall: I this blend! The pear note has much more strength and staying-power when I scent my hair with it, but the drydown on my skin is utterly lovely as well. Of course, the teensiest dab of D'Anjou Pear single note does wonders to amp up the pear, but I think I will end up wearing this scent both ways.

Okay, in honour of the rerelease of this delectable blend, I'm going to crack open my imp and use up the tiiiiiny drop of Spooky that I've been hoarding in order to review it. Whee! In the imp: Totally minty, as others have mentioned. The mint has a sharp herbiness that may have come with age, but it works to remind me of a minty, coconutty Snow White, if that makes any sense. Wet: The mint actually grows in intensity the moment it hits my skin. I can barely smell the cocoa, but it is there, and it blends nicely with the rum note to give the mint a strong foundation, keeping it from being overpowering. Dry: Mmm...the mint calms down and loses its sharpness as it dries, and Spooky becomes a much more cohesive blend. Absolutely scrumptious. It is foody enough to satisfy a craving, but light enough to avoid offending the anti-gourmand crowd, and it has a remarkable chill to it despite being utterly creamy and warm. Beth really outdid herself with this one!

If you can find it, I'm sure you will love it. I have a wee imp, and it is absolutely spectacular for amping up clovey blends or just wearing on its own. I adore it!

Two things: The "questions" section is for forum help, not order help! The BPAL FAQ and the BPAL Chatter sections are the best places to check for advice of this sort. And, orders with BPAL are final once they are placed---no changes---so unfortunately you are out of luck. Check out the swaps forum, though! You'll probably be able to find the three you want there.

That's probably a really good idea. I know that ApCat (the Lab's UK retailer) had more shipping and customs problems due to the size of their orders than the average consumer...

Blue Moon is pretty damn unique...but the closest that I've found is Empyreal Mist. It's not as complex, but it has a very similar light, airy quality...

I'm moving this to recommendations, although because it is LE specific, it could probably stay a seperate thread, though I'll leave that up to Kate. One LE that hasn't been mentioned here yet is Formula 54, which I find quite similar in mood (though not exactly in notes) to Perversion. Less leather and more smoke, but they are both heady with a touch of sweetness.

Mine hasn't arrived yet, either...customs is sitting on it! I'll post here when it does, though. *crosses fingers for this week or early next!* re: emails: I know the Lab had a problem or two with Tedwin's outgoing email server not sending stuff, so that is probably the cause of that particular problem.

Wanda, Perversion, and Tintagel are the sweetest leather scents I've tried. Wanda is very rosey, so if roses don't work for you you may not like it, but I do adore it. Tintagel doesn't have *much* leather in it, but it is sweet on the whole (without being candy-sweet, which personally I appreciate). Really, Perversion is the best leather scent I've tried. It is sweet, due to the tonka, but really very leathery and warm too.

I didn't receive a Puddin-n-Ship, but I know that my order from the same date is en route as of yesterday. Also, a little birdie told me (or perhaps Beth said it somewhere on the forums, but I don't remember where) that all of the "Xmas Rush" orders will have left the Labrats' hands by tomorrow (barring unforseen circumstances, of course), so I'm sure yours is in there somewhere! It might've already been shipped, even, and you'll get it sooner than you think!

As for the actual question, I would guess that it probably will be the new standard. I don't have any authoritative word on it at the mo, but I can certainly see the new lids reducing packaging times for the Lab, as well as reducing transit leakage, so it would make sense. I'm sure that you could still request reducers if you wanted them, though.

For stains of all sorts (food, blood, oil, etcetera), I use Dr. Bronner's Hemp Lavender soap. I fill a sink with warm(ish) water, put a few squirts of soap in, and let the whole mix soak for a few hours...with fresh stains, it doesn't even require scrubbing! The only thing I *can't* use this method for is dryclean only fabrics, and even then I sometimes do anyway...

There is something...odd...about French Creole. I can't quite put my finger on it, but I think I like it. In the imp, I detect a very brown-green scent...not brown like, dirt...but...like...coca cola and fresh green herbs and spices. Odd is definately the right word for it. Upon application, the herbs take the fore, with the clove that other people have mentioned peeking its head out in the open for the first time. There is a tinge of something that I just can't manage to place...it is nutmeggy, but there is something else, something greener and with more bite. It's not a perfumey scent at all, but that's not really a bad thing... As French Creole settles in on my skin, it becomes more of the hot, spicy clove scent that others have described. It is definately not *just* clove, though, as I have an imp of Beth's clove single note, and this is wildly different. This is a primal clove, stalking its sweaty prey through the jungle in the middle of the night. The more I sniff this, the more I am wholly glad I ordered 10mLs of this before it was discontinued! I have the same visceral reaction to this blend as I do to Bloodlust---it makes me want to bite things ---but French Creole is more of a lusty bite, wheras Bloodlust is, true to its name, just out for blood.

I agree. If it is in your paypal log thing, it will be in the Lab's too.

Everyone else has pretty much described this scent to a T...so, I'll just say that, in my experience, there are a few scents out there that I find myself absolutely craving sometimes, and Sugar Skull happens to be one of them. I find myself reaching for its little cobalt bottle more and more lately, whenever I am jonesing for something sweet, and damn, does it ever satisfy!

Ugh. Cedar HATES me. The only scent I've ever had in which it has behaved is Alecto, which I love to death, but on me it is much more Raspberry leaf than cedar. Have you tried Fire of Love? I tried it this morning, and it is VERY cedary on me, so it went straight to my swaps pile. Other than that, one that you haven't mentioned is Cathedral, which was very cedary on me, as well. I almost kept that one, too, because several hours after application I was left with the most GORGEOUS hot candle wax scent, but I couldn't abide by the cedar in the end. Sounds like it might be your cup o' tea!

Wow. I can't believe how many people didn't like this one! It actually smells pretty darn okay on me. Civet and I have an amicable relationship...I think we each understand the other's animalistic nature, and so we don't feel the need to display it so much when we're around each other. On my skin, Puck is a nice mix of sweet and earthy notes, with the sage and berries contributing much more to the sweet end than the grape. The oakmoss is a lovely base, as well...it really makes the scent appropriate for its namesake, methinks. This is certainly more of a guy's scent, though, than one I would actually wear out (due again to the oakmoss, not the civet), so I'll probably swap it away, but I have to say that I don't think Puck deserved all of the bad press!

Woody notes are the only notes, including the normally troublesome vetiver and civet, that do not behave on me. I can see how some people get sensual vibes from this blend when I sniff it in the bottle, but on me it is all old, dry cedar.

Hmm. I can't really add much to what's already been said...Bliss is a fairly straightforward scent. It starts out a bitter dark chocolate and then melts into pure, buttery milk chocolate on my skin. I LOVE chocolate, but I don't neccessarily love smelling it for some reason, so I think I'll swap this one away, but if you're looking for a chocolate note, either on its own or for layering purposes, this is certainly a good choice!

Hmm...I just realized I didn't review this before. I was lucky enough to recieve about a fourth of an imp from another forumite, and gods, it is freaking gorgeous. It is a cool, sweet scent with an entirely unexpected bite...like frostbite nipping at your cheeks while you take in a beautiful winter landscape while someone in a house nearby is doing their Christmas baking...in short, . I can't wait to sniff my new bottle of Snow White...I wonder if it will be different from the aged version I've got now?