Carmencita

I just got a frimp of this with a lab order! Was this really discontinued in 2004; four years ago? In the vial: Fruit and my coworker's bad breath On me: Bubble solution, fruit, and coworker's bad breath (the last being a very specific scent) Later: Fruit and rubber ( No bad breath!)

I have been awake for over an hour, but the boyflame is fast asleep, and my pet bird, Zephyr, who is usually crying to be let out of his cage at this time of day, was silent this afternoon. I lifted his cage cover and after long minutes of being mostly unresponsive to me he tried to bite me through the cage. Grumpy. So, since he is so sleepy and obviously miffed at having his cover removed (even though it's 3pm here), I recovered him, turned out the lights, and am now restlessly shifting in my computer chair. I don't like being silent and stuck in one place at the beginning of the day. I'm hungry, but making food would wake the bird again. My apartment is a mess, but I cannot clean it yet with the boyflame asleep. And no, the mess is not his. He was neat and organized before I met him. Now 99% of the clutter and mess in the apartment is my doing, so I don't think it unfair for me to be the one who cleans the apartment. I generally don't touch his stuff. We do our own loads of laundry as well. You would think me sleeping in until 2pm would alleviate the worry of waking anyone. But we're all night owls here, except my job keeps me from being able to completely live the night lifestyle, since at least half my shifts necessitate me waking up at 8am, which, yes, is early for me. My muscles are sore and my head is foggy. I have to get up early for work tomorrow, so already I feel like my day is half gone and I haven't even had a sip of water yet or accomplished anything other than reading the Winternet news headlines and catching up on my BPAL. I feel dehydrated but what I want most is a mug of tea, and that will only dehydrate me more. Why do I feel like dren? My ears are plugged, my sinuses blocked, and my breathing labored due to this frelling cold I can't shake. I have now had these symptoms (congestion of sinuses, ears, and lungs) for over a year. I have only been able to afford visiting a doctor once, who said it was an ear infection and gave me a prescription strength decongestant and a bottle of antibiotics that did absolutely NOTHING. I have never had to deal with any kind of physical weakness for so long and it seems to be putting my life on hold.

They are wonderful and I am sure they would say it is no trouble. Welcome to the Fray.

Swank, and whoever mentioned Fae is right on. Fae is bottled sunshine and happiness... in my opinion.

Kaylee: She is a mechanic and an engineer who loves strawberries, so a wrench, hammer, grease can, strawberry, or toolbox ornament would suit her. Jayne: He is a mercenary, so a gun, a holster, a jayne hat, boots, or something like that would be good. Book: He is a preacher. Well, books. Or prayer bead garlands, or a cigar (he likes cigars) Inara: She is a Companion, so anything fancy or Indian or Eastern would be good. A lipstick, a necklace, a lute ( I think she plays) Wash: He is a pilot and a goof. Hawaiian shirts and toy dinosaurs! River: She is childlike and ethereal and strange. A rag doll, or anything weird... ooo a mind-bent spoon Zoe: She is hardcore. A gun, A mustache (fan joke) Mal: He is the captain. A gun, boots, a spaceship Simon: A doctor's stethoscope (sp?), glasses, etc General: Christmas balls that look like planets, western-themed stuff like little tin cups, or leather saddles, ornaments in red, yellow, and orange (the Serenity logo's colors), and Chinese-themed ornaments.

I almost wore Pirate Moon for Beth and Ted, but I'm dressed (yet again) as Carmen Sandiego, and even though her signature scent should probably be something from Wanderlust, I'm wearing SWANK. I've come to associate it with her.

in the vial: white flowers, apple lemon skin: mmmmm. on me: pepper with a soft touch of lemon zest and a sugary fruit torte.

vial: melon, plum, honey, white grape juice skin: like tweedledee later: peach rooibus tea! Wonderful.

vial: The uniocorn plus tears and tea on me; fresh clean, light fruit and candied citrus later: maybe my perfect clean scent. Like Szzezpony but lighter and slightly fruiter.

in the vial: incense and powder on me: fruit/clay/resin/incense later: sweat, bitter incense, fruit verdict: Meh.

My friend Em and I slathered ourselves in Punkie Night. She went as Narcissa Malfoy. I went as a cross between Tonks and some random Ravenclaw witch.

I'm totally bringing a box of BPAL bottles for the 'potions' class they're having at one of the events.

On Friday night, I'm going to my local and teeny-tiny Borders Express for their release party for the upcoming Harry Potter book. There will be games and it is designed as a ball with costumes encouraged. I'm taking a bit of inspiration from the character Tonks and going with a brightly-colored wig. The rest of my costume is a midnight blue satin ball gown, and a dark blue cape lined with silver fabric. I'll probably find some twig to use as my wand and have matching blue and silver jewelry. As I have TONS of imps right now and don't want to list all of them, I've narrowed down the scents that seem like potentials. I'm also listing some of my bottles. Help me decide which to wear? In no particular order: Monsterbait: Closet Monsterbait: Underpants Monsterbait: Bigger Critters Punkie Night Swank Peony Moon Glitter Dorian Cathode Delirium The Unicorn Muse Poisoned Apple Asp Viper Tweedledee Amsterdam Alice Eos Hollywood Babylon Jester 51 Love Lies Bleeding Port Royale Old Scratch Tempest Santa Muerte Thank you in advance.

"IF YOU ARE PAYING VIA PAYPAL, please do NOT use our online credit card processor. Place your order through PayPal using the payment address paypal [at] blackphoenixalchemylab [dot] com and fill your order info in the comments field." I totally messed up, even though I remembered having read this in the past. Somehow I managed to pay both through paypal and CCNow. So basically, the only notification the LAB has that I have placed an order (if I do it exclusively through Paypal) is if they open their account and read (you have received a payment from Carmencita)? Maybe my seemingly chronic fatigue for 2007 so far is eating my brain cells. Edited because although I am still stupid, I am not as stupid as I was three minutes ago when I posted this.

In the vial: Almond almond ... is my nose just turning everything to almond today? On me: Skin and blood. Later: Yeast and almond and blood. Hmm. Interesting.

In the vial: Dry dirt, wood moss On my skin: dirt and clay later: patchouli and dirt. I don't get even a hint of the other notes. Meh.

In the vial: Sugar almond apple yum On my skin: Alice-y. Apples and tea and roses. Later: Clean powdery sweet tea and apple slices. Interesting, but fades to a powder-heavy scent. But a clean, non-nose-itchy powder.

In the vial: White and yellow flowers and a pale peach. On me: Soft violet and lily with faint fruit. The violet coming more apparent (yech) Later: Very watery. Like a warm spring filled with lily pads and bouquets. Poor Ophelia. Very nice for a floral scent... which I usually don't like. I may keep my imp but probably will not get a bottle.

In the bottle: Candy corn and rum On my skin: burned sugar and creamy candy corn Later: Minty Candy corn with something plastic-like This is old and the throw is minimal, but layered with something it might be quite nice. The plastic-ness seems Halloweeny, not fake. Like a plastic bucket filled with candies.

2005 Lab-Direct In the bottle: Rum and ginger and maple syrup. On me: Gingerbread, pure and simple. Moist and sweet and spiced with a slight whiff of pumpkin as well. Later: Cinnamon Gingerbread. The throw isn't that good. This is something I'd wear for myself and not so others could smell me unless they were right up close and personal. Very untampered with. Nothing fake or too strong about it.

Majorly. To an OCD degree.

Punkie Night. I am a HUGE fan of this. And it can't be a different batches problem because this scent has only been released once for Autumn 2006, so it's not like it could be the natural differences in flora over different seasons or years factor as mentioned above. The bottle I bought lab-direct (and what I consider to be the true scent) is amazing. Sharp but natural. Spicy. Autumn leaves, sparkling fresh pulpy cider with mulled spices and cranberry. The 'true' scent smells NOTHING like the Hesperides. I have smelled nine bottles of Punkie Night in my time, and only two of them smelled 'true'. They were all from different BPAListas (or the lab), so statistically it would be VERY unlikely that so many BPAL swappers/sellers ripped me off. The 'off' bottles smell (to me) like damp rotting wood and old wet apples, or sometimes like The Hesperides (a scent I don't like at all) and paint thinner. I'm constantly buying/selling/swapping Punkie Night to find more of the specific scent I'm looking for. I consider the lab-direct scent that I got to be the true one. All my vendors assure me they got their Punkie Night lab-direct, and though some of them may be swindlers, I know all of them cannot likely be.

In the vial: Maenad all grown up On me: A smooth blend of sun-warmed strawberries in a bowl of honeyed milk, but with the other elements making this more sophisticated and sexy. Later: Honey Amber Strawberry Sex. Mmmm.

In the vial: Butterscotch and almond jello pudding (in a good way) On me: Like Sweet Melissa's Almondina Biscotti... if it were Almondina Butterscotchy. It may be too rich for my blood, but I'm liking it plenty so far. Later: I think it's too strong for me. It makes me feel heady with scent.

In the bottle: Mandarin and spiced pumpkin! On me: Orange rind, dashes of cinnamon, something creamy and a jack-o-lantern pumpkin smell. Later: A very rich scent where the pumpkin is soft but true, the orange is bright and Autumnal, and the spices are very apparent but don't overwhelm the scent. It softens on my skin, fades a bit, but I think worn in my hair or a scent locket it would stay pretty decently. Curse that this is a Limited Edition.