sophie-au

I've never had a blueberry cream pie, so I don't know how true to life this is. Using 4-5 sprays of the well-shaken decant, I get a powerful blast of juicy, sweet blueberry pie filling... which disappears in a matter of seconds. The dry crust smells very nice, and lasts a few hours, but without much throw, and the blueberry scent doesn't return. I had to re-spritz to experience it again, and again, it only lasted seconds before vanishing. I'm not having much luck with the Pie Debate hair glosses.

This is the first of The Great Pie Debate bath oils that I've used, and I was hoping for a better experience than many of the Pie Debate hair glosses I've tried. I tried my decant of this both in the bath and as an after-bath moisturiser. In the bath, this lasts and lasts, which was a nice surprise, as the fruit notes in the Pie Debate hair glosses all vanished on me very, very quickly. There is no pie crust I can detect, just sweet, fresh peaches that have been marinating in their own juices. Used on the skin, I can detect the spices, though it becomes faint very quickly and even the peaches don't have much throw. However, it's the middle of winter here in Oz, so I expect this would do better when used in the warmer months of the year. I think this is my favourite of the Pie Debate, and I'm definitely going to seek out the Peach Pie hair gloss and perfume oil. I'll have to try this again at a later date.

So I've yet to actually spray this one, because I had a hard enough time even handling Bone Orchard for my decant circle. A bit of background: I can't stand mushrooms, because they smell and taste like rot and dirt in the worst possible way, and I'm not keen on gardening because of the moist, yucky side of it, (and my intense dislike of creepy crawlies.) I only wish this smelled like dry, white sandalwood and purple fruits! Instead, all I detected was rich, rotting, stomach-churning soil. Even just opening the bottle was a horrendous experience for me. I'll give it some time and try again another day, but I'll almost certainly be swapping this one away. If you can't stand the smell of soil, STAY FAR AWAY from this one! <insert vomiting smiley>

I think this is the first Dead Leaves scent I've tried both from the Lab's and the Post's offerings, and if this one is typical, I'm definitely going to seek more out, I just don't know if I'll try to get more of this particular one, because there's so many I want to try. To me it smells like a Dead Leaves single note, as there is only the merest hint of any other notes. That said, this is totally not what I expected, which was a dry, brown, crunchy leaf scent. Instead, this is a very green, almost juicy fragrance. It's dead leaves only because they've just been snapped off and thus are no longer attached to the living tree. It's a vibrant, leafy green scent, and I can see how some people get a cologne vibe, because I get that also, except... I love it! Fresh, green fragrances which may come off as traditionally "masculine" are *totally* my thing. It's possible I'm getting something different than others have, due to having a decant, but I've been shaking it well before each use. (I have thick, long, dry hair, so I use 4-5 sprays each time.) This has moderate longevity (I estimate 3-6 hours,) but not much throw, so after about an hour I can only smell it if I bring my ponytail up for a sniff. In summary: Dead Leaves, White Cedar and Cinnamon Incense Smoke is a divine, leafy green cologne for your hair, and if that's to your taste, give this a try!

When I saw the description mentioned cucumber and blue musk, and reviews made references to spas and Roman baths, I jumped at the chance to get a decant of this because I love aquatic fragrances. When this arrived, I'd forgotten it was a bath oil, and because it was mislabelled as a hair gloss, I slathered it in my hair, wondering why it felt heavier than the previous glosses. Oops. So when the scent disappeared quickly, I just figured it was because I was using it wrong. Then I tried using it as a body moisturiser on dry skin, and again, it faded very quickly. After that, I tried using it in the bath, and it definitely needs the heat to intensify the release of the scent. Sadly, i got mostly sweet almond and blackcurrant and a hint of something else. I tried pouring more in the bath, but no joy. Finally, I slathered it on post-bath to see how it went, but it was still primarily sweet almond with a hint of blackcurrant. Again, it faded quickly, though using it during and after the bath meant the longevity was a little better, but not by much. I really tried with this one (and each time shook the decant really well) as I really wanted to experience the spring-like, watery scent the other reviewers got, but no such luck.

I've never had a marshmallow cookie pie, so I don't know how true to scent this is. Despite the presence of chocolate and marshmallow, the coffee note in here dominates them, and I don't detect the marshmallow at all. My decant ends up smelling more like coffee and chocolate chip cookie pie base. This lasted several hours. The throw alternated between moderate and faint. Every so often I would think this had faded, then I'd catch another whiff of this. It's pleasant, but I think the coffee note prevents this from being the spectacular foody scent I was hoping for. I prefer Banana Cream Pie HG to this.

I've never had a banana cream pie, so I don't know how true to scent this is. Nevertheless, it starts off with a delicious blast of sweet, almost caramelised, banana, though sadly, that note only lasts a minute. After that the cream comes in and soon gives way to the foody, sweet, golden crust. This lasts several hours, though the throw is only strong for the first few minutes. After that it gives off moderate sillage. Despite the banana disappearing so quickly, I love this, and it's my favourite of the The Great Pie Debate Hair Glosses, so far.

As other reviewers have stated, Exhibit Hall Fatigue is a working or an aromatherapy type oil rather than a perfume one. It's very invigorating, and I often swipe this on my wrists, neck and the soles of my feet when I'm tired and need to stay awake. I do wish it lasted longer, but citrus tends to be very fleeting. I'd initially bought this from etsy as it's full of citrus notes that I love. Sadly, the peppermint drowns them out. But I still love its effects and would buy more if I could.

Like Mattie, I bought this to use for anointing my Absolution conjure bag. I wish I had bought this years ago! It's a lavender-dominant scent and the variety of lavender used is light, soothing and calming, rather than heavy and soporific, (though this could well be used as a sleep blend if one is tightly wound up and can't sleep.) There are some medicinal herbs underneath, possibly chamomile? Definitely something camphorated, but that could well be the lavender. I'm definitely going to enjoy working with Peace.

I only have a decant, and despite shaking it thoroughly prior to use, every time I try this, all I get is the smell of dry pie crust. Nothing else. Even with slathering this on, I don't get any lime, and the whole scent fades very fast when other hair glosses last hours on me. So disappointed as I was really looking forward to the limey lusciousness everyone else gets.

I'm glad I've only got a decant of this. For me, this is almost a single note, old-fashioned rose scent, as everything else stays in the background and somehow intensifies the rose. The rose is heavy, rich and thick, and reminds me of Turkish Delight minus the chocolate coating, (and I'm not a fan of TD.) It has moderate throw and lasts for almost 12 hours. (I have long, dry hair and dry skin, so I use 4 or 5 squirts of the hair glosses.) I'm not sure I'll be keeping this as it's not really me.

I received a decant of a mystery oil sunqist received when she ran a BPTP decant circle in 2016. It's called Karen's Mystery Oil. http://www.bpal.org/topic/88042-pie-its-sunqists-pie-decant-circle-shipped-16/?p=2592654 Anyone know anything about it?

I have a decant of this I acquired secondhand. It's a rather sweet and syrupy, peachy floral, and sadly i couldn't detect the hay. I don't get any vanilla from this either, not that I've ever smelt a vanilla orchid. Like Phox's experience, I think the dried rose is giving me the impression of canned peaches, instead of fresh, juicy ones, and it does become a bit cloying. I found this hair gloss to have incredible staying power and decent throw. I can easily detect the scent even without smelling my hair directly, and it lasted more than 24 hours before it faded away. I won't seek out more of this, but I'll probably hang onto my decant.

I first used STFU about ten years ago, when I was being bullied at work by someone who felt threatened by me and was determined to drive me out. In a different state, away from family and friends for support, I was miserable and heavily used Anthelion to help me get through it. I don't remember what I did as my ritual as it was so long ago, but I do remember anointing the chair and keyboard of the person bullying me, and to a lesser extent my colleagues to get them to stop being so negative towards me. It worked, though it took some time. The bully was being "performance managed" out of his job and took a job somewhere else. I found out he later regretted leaving and asked to rejoin our organisation and the management, not surprisingly, refused. Ten years on he is divorced (again), doesn't see his kids much and has had a relatively poor career trajectory, whereas my bosses have always been sad to see me go and I'm happily married with two kids. STFU helped to keep a lid on his mouth and to stop attacking me directly and my colleagues refrained from joining in his BS. I had a much better relationship with them after he left. And rather than quitting in despair, I left on good terms at a time of my choosing to move interstate with my husband. IIRC, STFU has a cool, almost citrus scent to it, though I'd need to dig out my decant and retest it to be sure.

If I could only choose one TAL for the rest of my life, it would be Anthelion. I would even forgo all my BPAL with the exception of Whitechapel if I had to (though I’m glad I don’t.) Anthelion is just that special. Anthelion has helped get me through some dark days and tough times and makes me feel like the universe has just given me a big, comforting hug to try and soothe me of my worries. I often use this before going to sleep. I was going through a period where I was being bullied at work on a daily basis by someone who felt threatened by me and was determined that they would drive me out. Not a good way to start a new job, especially when you’ve moved away from your family and friends. I used Anthelion daily to anoint myself and an amethyst crystal I kept in my pocket as a talisman. As the situation got more severe, I used it on a conjure bag I wore when at work. I ended up using STFU in a ritual on the bully’s keyboard and chair, and kept myself grounded, determined not to be driven out of my job, even when in the depths of despair. (Unknown to me, the management were on a path to “performance managing” the bully out of his job, but I didn’t find this out until much later.) Anthelion gave me the strength to hang in there, even when I was so distressed and wanted to quit. It gave me hope and support, which I sorely needed. (I finally did leave the job, but on a good note and on my terms, as my husband and I were moving interstate.) On top of all that, Anthelion smells amazing! The only things I can pick out are lavender and possibly clove. Like cinnamonmel noted, I am also reminded of Dove’s Heart (which I used for similar soothing purposes before I acquired Anthelion) but where Dove’s Heart is a soft white floral, Anthelion is creamy lavender and spice, with something that contains a bit of menthol. If White Light didn’t do it for you, or even if it does, get some. Seriously. Do yourself a favour: run, don’t walk to get yourself some Anthelion. Thank you so much Beth for creating it and putting it out there to share with us. (edited for typo)

My first BPAL single note! The only sandalwood single note I have to compare to this is Madini's Santal Blanc which is a white sandalwood. Australian Sandalwood does not smell like white sandalwood to me because it lacks the cool, smooth "whiteness" of white sandalwood, if that makes sense. To my nose, it's richer, but not rich. Deeper, but not deep. If white sandalwood is fresh and cool and red sandalwood is deep and rich, Australian Sandalwood SN seems to occupy a classic, almost neutral middle-ground. This stays close to my skin, but did not rapidly disappear on my skin like I was afraid it would.

Just got confirmation from BPAL customer service: Thank you for your inquiry. Unfortunately, Rosalind was discontinued some time ago. I apologize for any disappointment or inconvenience this may cause. Damn. I was hoping it had just been overlooked. I wonder when it happened, because I can't find a discontinuation date...

Apologies if this is in the wrong place, but what happened to the Illyria scent Rosalind? People mention it as being discontinued: http://www.bpal.org/topic/7204-discontinued-and-limited-edition-scents/page__hl__rosalind__st__2525 http://www.bpal.org/topic/783-rosalind/page__st__175 but I've scoured the forum and all my emails from the lab and can't find any reference to it being officially discontinued. The review thread for it is still located in the Illyria sub-forum, but AFAIK it's been missing from the lab's Illyria page for at least four years: http://blackphoenixalchemylab.com/product-category/illyria/ The wayback machine last captured it as live on 7 Feb 2010: http://web.archive.org/web/20100210191405/http://www.blackphoenixalchemylab.com/illyria.html When I emailed the lab back when I noticed its absence I never heard back. Does anyone have an answer? Thank you kindly!

(Just stumbled across this thread which is why I'm dragging this up months later.) If you look at The Perfumed Court's (TPC) About Us section, it's mentions that it's 3 private individuals who are total perfume addicts. While it is entirely possibly they make a profit, I would bet that they spend most of it on more perfume. The imps they're selling are a fairly restricted number and clearly extras from their personal stashes that they're just purging from their collections. The owners of TPC used to sell on ebay but a few years back, some companies overreacted about the whole concept of selling samples and decants ("You can't sell something you own because it has our brand name on it!" "It might be fake and contain water/urine/ground up children!" Meanwhile the sales of fake Chanel etc. continued....) So ebay attempted to eradicate the sales of decants, so these individuals created their own website in response. Personally, I'm surprised (but very glad!) that ebay has not noticed the sale of BPAL decants because I recall in the past when they went totally over the top and started yanking any and all listings of decants. (The @#$^!ers.)

Willowtreeling, some of the General Catalog blends do have pictorial or otherwise non-standard labels. Jolly Roger has a Jolly Roger (i.e. a skull above and crossed swords on a black field) with no words on the label; the Panacea blends have a red, white and black triple dagger and heart label, the Come and See blends have pictures: the Great Sword of War has a picture of a mushroom cloud explosion against an orange sunset with tiny words in the background; the Picnic in Arkham range have labels similar to the LE Springtime in Arkham range; the Rappaccini's Garden scents have a green, yellow and white label with a twining plants along the border; the Chakra blends have something like mandalas on them; the Tarot oils had images of the Rider-Waite tarot cards on their labels, and some recent bottles of Snake Oil have a Carnaval Noir-style label. And of course, the Salon blends have pictorial labels depicting the artworks that inspired them. I'm sure there are other GC blends I've not mentioned, but these are the ones I can think of. You know, I never noticed the tiny writing on the Great Sword of War until just now when I looked at it closely. It says things like like "broken arrow" and "minimum safe distance" (plus a few others I can't make out.) How cool is that? Edited for mistake in Jolly Roger description

... A mixture of springtime greenery and classical Roman cologne: rosemary, bergamot, lemon rind and vervain with costus, benzoin, gray amber, cardamom, white narcissus and iris. Ides of March 2005 - how do I love thee? Let me count the ways... 1) Much love to the Lab for bringing it back for 2007! I look forward to it eagerly, and would buy at least five bottles if I had the cash instead of the mere two I have on order. (Maybe I can sneak in a third before it goes away...) 2) When I read the reviews and learned Ides of March was based on a classical Roman cologne and contained lemon and vervain, I began to covet it mightily. I love all things fresh and/or citrussy (like vervain) and I adore eau de cologne, particularly the older formulations. (I've been known to do extravagant things like use a large 800ml bottle of No. 4711 cologne in place of fabric softener and linen spray.) I was fortunate to score a bottle of IoM in the lab's eBay auctions in 2005/2006 and eagerly anticipated its arrival. 3) Eventually I held it in my hot, little hands. I opened the bottle, sniffed it, and finally gave it a test run. It was just as wonderful as the reviews said it was! My hopes built up that it might be re-released for the Ides of March in 2006. No such luck. March came and went, and sadly I hoarded my bottle, bringing it out only occasionally to lightly dab on when I could no longer contain myself to live without its fresh herbal goodness. Attempts were made to procure more bottles that the Lab put up on eBay and all failed due to my being unemployed for several months and being unable to bid much. I was resigned to my fate of life with my lone, precious bottle. 4) But all good things come to those who wait. I can now slather freely, knowing more IoM is on the way. (But the pessimist in me whispers frantically to seek out more IoM 2005 in case they're significantly different. ) And so, I felt I should be thankful for my good fortune and post a review. 5) IoM 2005 is a delightfully fresh green herbal with citrus top-notes and some subdued florals and resins. This is very well-blended. The notes work harmoniously and there is no surprise morphing here. Aside from the citrus fading somewhat, it smells pretty much the same from start to finish. It lasts about 2 hours, but that's probably due to my wretchedly dry skin not being able to hold onto most scents for long. 6) To put an ancient formula in a modern context, this is the scent for relaxing around at home, or even better, in some luxurious spa, while you're lounging around contentedly, draped in clean, loose white garments without any heed for the cares of the world outside. Delusions of life as a Roman goddess. Ah, this the life!... OK, back to reality... Some trivia from Cunningham's Encyclopedia of Magical Herbs: "Priests in ancient Rome used vervain to cleanse the altars of Jupiter. Small bundles of vervain were fashioned and the altars were swept with these." and "The iris, one of the loveliest of flowers, has been used for purification since Roman times. The fresh flowers are placed in the area to be cleansed." This fragrance definitely smells "clean" but not in a "chemical household cleaner", "lemon detergent" or a soap-and-baby-powder way. This is the cleanliness that comes with lush greenery, fresh flowers, a cool breeze and clean water, maybe while quietly reflecting on nature and sipping some herbal tea. A feeling of internal and external purification - both mental and physical. The Ides of March may not have been fortunate for Caesar or Lovecraft, but their fragrant delights are most fortuitous for me! Thank you Beth! (Edited for typo)

I have a special fondness for "the beautiful lady without mercy" even though she doesn't suit me at all, because LBDSM was the very first BPAL scent I tried. At the time, almost three years ago, I received it in a swap from a fellow fragrance aficionado at MakeUpAlley. People at MUA had "discovered" BPAL around 2004-2005 and like many other MUAers, I was curious to try BPAL for myself, but the long delay in international shipping time (at that point in time) put me off. So I was delighted when I received LBDSM as an extra. My initial impression was "meh - white floral" and I put it aside, not particularly impressed. (A few months later, the person who was to become my BPAL enabler sold me a bottle of Whitechapel, which is still my first love, and I became totally hooked, but that's another story...) I'm trying to push myself to review scents rather than just lurking like I have for the past two years, so La Belle was revisited this evening. On reflection, my initial impression of a white floral is correct, but it's so much more than that. It's a white floral bouquet on a bed of greenery with maybe more beyond that. I'm guessing there's neroli in here, tea roses and perhaps linden blossom and maybe even galbanum. I wish I was more experienced in identifying individual notes to be sure. In theory, I love green fragrances like LBDSM, Vent Vert, Ivoire, Ma Griffe and Chanel No. 19. But in practise, they don't seem to mesh well with my chemistry (usually too soapy or powdery) or my personality (they're way too formal). I guess La Belle Dame Sans Merci is for the elegant woman I wish I was, but clearly am not. The idealised me, as it were. But no matter, I can still enjoy the poem, and the imp can return to my collection as a fond reminder of how I came to discover the joys of BPAL and all you wonderful folks too.

Yep. I know there is at the very least two different kinds: cinnamon leaf and cinnamon bark oils, and that cinnamon bark is supposed to be stronger/harsher and thus the one more likely to cause reactions. Then there may be plants that have cinnamon-like fragrances. For example, carnation has a clove-like undertone so some people may smell an oil with carnation in it and assume it's clove they smell because they're not experienced enough to tell the difference. Cassia is the obvious cinnamon smell-alike, but then, the lab seems to go to great lengths to specify when either cassia or cinnamon is used in a blend, I guess because it's such a common trigger for skin reactions. HTH!

A similar thing happened to me once with a body cream that had cinnamon in it. Initial test went fine, just like with you. In my case, I had a shower, then slathered on the cream on my arms => bright red patches. So I think showering and bathing may have the effect of amplifying an oil's vasodilation properties. Does that make sense?

Hey, sorry to hear about your allergy development! It sucks, doesn't it? As for the common element, perhaps it's a variety of vanilla as the descriptions for Snake Oil, O and Dorian all mention it?