sunshinedaisybliss

Yikes - when I first put this on my arm, I was overcome by the vetiver.. bourbon vetiver, you say? Vetiver from the Bog of Eternal Stench, I say. During the first ten minutes of wearing The Balcony, I seriously contemplated washing it off - it was just.. vetiver overload. But oh, I am wise to the evil sneaky ways of vetiver, and I know that often there's a soft smoky sweet vetiver hiding underneath the gnarly bog-like VETIVER - it's like it puts up a challenge - "Oh, so you think I stink now? Can you handle it for ten minutes? Well can you, punk? Because if you can, if your nostrils are strong and you have the balls to stay with me, I'll reward you by changing into something glorious." So yes, ya smart ass - I can handle it. I have the balls, and I have the nostrils. You don't scare me. And, true to its word, the vetiver does calm down within about 10-15 minutes and tones down its gnarly bog-like first impression. The Balcony reminds me very much of BPTP's Lucy, Kissed - Lucy was "diabolical voluptuousness", and this one is definitely "voluptuous darkness" - they share the same lovely black/dark rose, and the same warm snuggly patchouli. The Balcony has a sweeter tone, probably from the honey, and the vetiver gives it a smokiness that Lucy, Kissed doesn't have, but overall I would put them in the same category of fragrance. This one is dark for sure, but also very organic/earthy with all that patchouli and vetiver business going on - organic/earthy/smokey. The honey is very much in the background on my skin, as is the rose. One hour after it's been on my arm, I end up with a faintly smokey hint of dark rose. This is a good one - anyone who enjoys these voluptuous and dark kinds of blends will probably love it. And I'm sure it's going to age like a champion - that vetiver + red patchouli combo should meld into each other beautifully over the years. For me, The Balcony doesn't eclipse any of my other favourite BPALs in this style - and ultimately, although I am appreciating the vetiver.. it stays a bit too strong for me to truly enjoy.

oh whoops.. sorry ivyandpeony, I don't think I knew about that rule so I see why you (re)moved my post here - my apologies beachbabealways - I can't remember now what I posted here originally, it was something along the lines of Motley being the best rhubarb EVER, and Heroine being sadly very un-rhubarbish on me, and same with Lawful, but maybe you'll have better luck with those two. I wish rhubarb would show up more often though, it's such a beautiful sultry fragrance.

Hiya Quillifer I notice you're in the UK, so as a fellow international BPALer (I'm in Australia) - I might be able to help soothe your concerns a bit It's not unusual for it to take over four weeks between placing your order and the Click N'Ship notification being sent - some of my orders have taken twice that long (although to be fair, they were for multiple bottles, rather than imps). From what I understand, the Lab processes all the international orders together, to make it easier for filling out all the forms and getting the boxes shipped out, so generally they take longer to be done than the US orders. It sounds like your first order was very fast - maybe your second one hit the Lab at a time when they were super busy so it hasn't been processed quite as quickly. So I guess what I'm saying is.. it's not unusual to be waiting four weeks (or longer) after ordering before your CnS comes through - that first order of yours was freaky fast if you received it "weeks ago" after placing it around Jan 25/26 - with this second order you're currently at four weeks between order placement on Jan 27 and today, so this time period you're experiencing now is pretty normal for international orders. Having said that, it is unusual to not receive any reply at all to your emails - sometimes they can take a little while to respond (the Lab runs on a small number of staff and I know they're always very busy) but if it's been more than a week with no response, that is a bit strange. Are you sending to answers@blackphoenixalchemylab.com? And you've checked the spam/junk folder of your email to make sure nothing's landed in there? If that's a 'yes' on both counts, then I'm not sure what else to suggest - if it's been over a week since you sent your last email then I guess the only thing you can do is try them again. But, as I said earlier, your order is probably just fine - this is just how long it takes for things to happen. Even US orders can take over a month at busy times. Sorry you're experiencing this frustration, but it's a whole different story when you're international - unfortunately, you'll need to get used to waiting around this long for your orders to be processed and generate the CnS and then finally arrive... that's just how it works. I know it's not great, and it's hard to be patient, but it is what it is.. and the wait is always worth it once your order does arrive! One tip I would give you is to check out the For Sale section here on the forum - people sell imps at very fair prices, and usually ship them out pretty quickly too - so that's a great way to get your hands on the nice smellies without the long wait for Lab orders I hope your goodies get to you soon!!

I get the 'fragile' aspect of the description for Mourning Lace - on my skin, it feels a little uncomfortable.. like it's hurt, it doesn't want to be touched. The vanilla blossom is very melancholy and sad - the clove, oak and myrrh are trying to keep it upbeat but it's still sad. Who knew a perfume could be sad.. I'm surprised. On full dry-down, I find the clove perks up nicely - it's not overly clove-y, but it does have a top note of bitterness with a touch of sweetness that balances nicely with the oak and myrrh. Frankincense is lurking around underneath everything, but it's not very present to my nose. The green cognac is more fresh than boozey - it's the same kind of green in That! The Terror From Over There, but without the peppery wasabi. The clove + resins combo is nice, but I'm not finding it particularly enjoyable in combination with the green vibe - and it's just a bit too much clove for me. This is similar in tone to Black Lace, but Mourning Lace substitutes the sexy for the solemn.. however I remember Black Lace was described as 'funereal elegance' and I guess that's what I'm picking up as the similarity between the two. Overall, I find Mourning Lace to be haunting and sad.. and uncomfortable. It's not even that I don't like it - I do, it's a lovely fragrance - I just don't like wearing it, it's kind of a little creepy and unsettling. This is possibly the weirdest reaction I've had to a BPAL so far.. but I'm curious to see how this one will develop with age, so I'm going to hang on to it for now.

On my skin, Pink Lace isn't as 'pink' as I expected it would be. Disappointed, am I? Oh hell no.. I'm very happy at this turn of events! I already have a couple of girlypinkpretty BPALs (L'Essence De L'Engougement and Vasilissa come to mind) so I am not at all upset to discover that Pink Lace isn't as sweet and innocent as it makes out I instantly recognise the same tea rose + white cognac combination that I got from Sybil - that delicious deep, warm and slightly boozy duskiness of the two together is very much present here, but where in Sybil there was a lot of other stuff going on around those two notes.. not so much in Pink Lace. The other thing I recognise is the same champaca incense as the one in Halloween: Las Vegas - deep, rich and sweetly smokey. The strawberry here is upfront and vibrant - it's a kinda tangy, rich strawberry rather than a soft and sweet strawberry - it's almost verging on a grape-like tone, like purple rather than pink but I suspect that's due to the cognac and champaca incense influence. The vanilla was a little hard to find at first, but once the initial boozy vibe settled down - there it was, and it's definitely vanilla with strawberry, not strawberry with vanilla. The tobacco gives it that familiar feel that I know so well from other members of the Lace family.. here, it's probably most similar to how the tobacco is in Tattered Lace. So.. overall, Pink Lace on me is boozy strawberry incense. It's like Keith Richards in a dress. Good times .

Hmm.. on spraying this into the air, I am greeting by Mr Cinnamon. HELLO, Mr Cinnamon! This isn't Mr Crappy Candle Cinnamon though, this is Mr Cyril Casanova Cinnamon.. the very sophisticated exotic and spicy hotnaughty kind of cinnamon that tickles your nose and can loosen the elastic of yer knickers. The type of cinnamon that dresses in a three-piece suit with a fob watch tucked into his waistcoat pocket, and tips his hat when he says hello. Polite cinnamon. And if you like Monsterbait Underbed, you'll like the cassia in this one - my first thought was of Underbed when the cassia in Kypria poked out from behind the cinnamon - it has a nice soft sweetness but a definite spicy tone. The only problem with the cinnamon & cassia twosome is that they are very dominating - pretty much all I got from Kypria for a good while was C&C. And in case you were wondering - that's C&C being cinnamon and cassia, not Cheech and Chong - I would know if those two had been in my house because my bowl would be empty and there would be pizza boxes on the floor, no beer left in the fridge, and mysterious stains on my couch. It was only when I had left the room for about 15 minutes then walked back in that I found the true beauty of Kypria. Oh.. Egyptian musk, how I love you - I love your clean, pure, gentle beauty - you are the goddess of musks, and you rightfully belong in this Aphrodite spray. And bourbon vanilla is the God of all vanillas, in my opinion. Thank you both for showing up - I'm so glad you made an appearance, but I wish there was more of you. Unfortunately the elegant beauty of Egyptian musk and the sumptuous richness of bourbon vanilla are no match for C&C, who have apparently forgotten their manners and taken over the show. I really wanted Kypria to be all about the Egyptian musk and bourbon vanilla - I was hoping there would be only a hint of the cinnamon/cassia. To be honest, I would have liked there to be no C&C at all, but that's just me and my love for EM and BV. If I had to put numbers to it, I would say my bottle is 85% cinnamon/cassia and 15% Egyptian musk/bourbon vanilla.. and sadly, that's not what I was hoping for - I wanted the reverse of that. Kypria is really beautiful - a gorgeous spray, and it smells all kinds of awesomesexypants, but just not what I was hoping for.. and I'm saying that not as a criticism, but because hopefully it will be helpful to others who come here wondering about the balance of notes. Oh - and as mxtine says, don't get this on you, or on the cat, or on Cheech and Chong if they happen to be visiting. It's a stinger, for sure.

Why isn't there more love for this one? Whassamatter with you all.. did those scary notes put you off? Did you think this would be all pepper and clove and pepper and clove? Well.. you were wrong!! I don't think pink pepper has ever let me down, and in here it's particularly gorgeous - slightly spicy, but with a definite 'pink' tone.. kinda like spicy bubblegum as other people have said. I'm not really picking up any black pepper at all, and the clove is very subtle.. it's there, but it's in the background and very mild. I can definitely smell the dark chocolate, but it doesn't smell 'chocolatey' at all - it's just there as a base note really. As gorgeous as this is, I have to confess to a slight disappointment because I really was expecting it to have a lot more POW than it does - it doesn't really match up with the whole 'cacophony of madness' theme in my mind. The myrrh and labdanum are hardly there at all to my nose, and the dragon's blood is also barely there - just a hint of it, but hardly noticeable. Unfortunately the staying power isn't great - it fades pretty quickly on my skin - but that could be because I've over-huffed it right off my arm After about 30 minutes on my skin, the pinkness and the whole bubblegum thing has gone away and the chocolate has gone powdery.. but in a good way, it's dusky and gorgeous. I actually really love this - it's not like any other BPAL that I've ever tried, but there's something about it that is very intoxicating and sexyish. I think I will need a backup bottle of this one!

Oh.. this is such a pretty one! I was concerned that it would be overly sweet and candy-like, but it really isn't. YAY! Like violetblue, I also picked up a sour tone to the orange blossom when I first dabbed it on my skin - but thankfully that went away pretty quickly and then everything else was revealed - the vanilla, the pink candies, the strawberry sugar - all in beautiful balance, all very soft and lovely, all good! The orange blossom is the most obvious note at first, but as with all the other flavours in this conconction it's soft and dreamy. The vanilla has a hint of creaminess, but it has quite a dry tone which keeps it from being too icecream-ish. I see the comparisons to Celeste in previous reviews, but the vanilla in Celeste was ghastly on me - sour and sharp - so for me, this one is not Celeste-ish at all. The pink candies and strawberry sugar come into play much more after about 15 minutes on my skin, which is how long it took for the orange blossom to fade a little - and unlike some previous BPALs I've tried, the strawberry here is not plastic or artificial - it really does smell like fresh, juicy strawberries. The staying power isn't great, but it does hold its fragrance nicely as it fades. Is this "the intoxication of the first kiss"? Hmm.. I'm not sure - I think it belongs more to a young girl scoring her first smooch in the school playground, rather than to a grown-up woman intoxicated by her first lusty kiss - it's just full of sweetness, fluffy bunnies, young romance, unicorn rides and a kind of innocent girliness. It's the perfect BPAL to wear for sharing a milkshake with your love whilst holding hands under the table outside at the cafe on a sunny day

They're lovely! And I followed the link in your signature to your blog - I love the way you use cute illustrations of yourself throughout your stories, you have a real talent there! Nice work

Invidiana is eleventy billion varieties of awesome for sharing a little bit of this with me!! I can't possibly write as eloquent a review as she did, but I'll give it a go anyway This v1 of Black Lace is way more dark and heady - it's a more grown-up version; more sensuous and smokey and sexalicious. I'm a big fan of Beth's cognac note, but where in the released version of Black Lace I find that the cognac gets a bit lost within the brightness of the tobacco and sweetness of the vanilla cream.. in this prototype version it's rich and sumptuous and much more out in front. Mmmm cognac The incense in this version is also much more prominent - and again, that was another of the elements that I always wish would come out more from the sweetness of the released version. In v1, the incense is smoky and dark and exotic and I'm pretty sure there's a dark resin in here - perhaps it's a musk, but it seems more resinous than musk usually does so it's probably something within the incense. I find the musk in Dark Lace to be slightly cloying sometimes, but there's nothing like that going on at all in v1 - if there is a musk in here, it's much less.. err.. musky. There's also a big difference in the tobacco - to my nose, there's very little tobacco in v1, where in the released version I find the tobacco to be quite bright. The vanilla in here is definitely different - in the released version the vanilla is quite sweet.. but as invidiana mentioned, in this one it's is a rich, boozy, syrupy vanilla - the perfect partner to the cognac.. together they present a warm, heady, lusciously swoonworthy sweetness that has a different tone completely - it never crosses the line into foodiness or candy-ness, not at any stage from first application to complete drydown (although the vanilla definitely comes out more at drydown, when I first applied the oil I didn't really notice it that much). Gorgeous. I agree with another observation of invidiana's.. the linen/cotton tones seem to be missing from this version completely - when I do a side-by-side comparison between this prototype and the released version, it's really obvious that Black Lace has cotton/linen but I'm not noticing it at all in the prototype and I think that's perhaps the greatest difference between the two. To me, this is much more 'black lace' than Black Lace is. Way more dark and smokey and sensual, way more sophisticated, just.. so much better. Black Lace is the black lace that stays under your clothes and behaves itself.. but Black Lace v1 is the black lace that shows itself off and says RAAWWWWWWWWR. I have to be honest and say that I've never really managed to totally love Black Lace - it's nice and all, but I've always thought it's just a bit too sweet and perfume-y, even my years-old bottle of the original version is still that way, so personally I wish Beth had decided that this prototype version was The One because I would buy vats of it and wear it whilst I go on a debaucherous mission to seduce Dave Grohl, Chris Cornell, Johnny Depp and Jim Morrison (who is only pretending to be dead). And maybe Slash too, if I have time. I don't mean to criticise Black Lace, because it's a beautiful blend in its own right, but this v1 is just so perfect that I can't help feeling a little sad that I can't get more of it. OK.. I have to finish up now, because I'm going over to invidiana's house to steal her bottle

Oooh.. how about these: Jailbait - sticky pink bubblegum and the thick, sweet scent of orange and cherry lollipops smeared over a breath of heady womanly perfume - the 'womanly perfume' has a hint of florals, but really this is all about the lovely fruity bubblegum smell. Hollywood Babylon - glittering Egyptian amber and heliotrope, infused with the sweetness of strawberry and vanilla - dragged into debauch by lusty red musk and a dribble of black cherry - not really a floral as such, but a gorgeous strawberry with a touch of naughty fruitiness - not overly sweet. Twinkle Twinkle Little Bat - green tea, melon, mint, lime rind, and champagne grape with lemon balm, mullein, and toadflax - the melon is the star of the show here.. this is a lovely sweet fruity sparkly one. High Strung Daisies - daisy, pink carnation, pink pepper, and sugar - this one is pink and sweet but not overly candy-ish, and the daisy is gorgeous. Have fun on Valentine's Day!

Yep - if it's a vanilla marshmallow-y kind of lavender, then TKO might be it. The TKO oil has a slight yellow-ish colour Tony wasn't aftershave-like at all on me.. just clean, soft, sweet fresh laundry smell. I hope you do manage to find what it is!

Honey - could it be Tony from the Irredeemable series? I just got a bottle of that recently, and it's a real 'fresh laundry' smell and I'm pretty sure there's some lilac or similar sweet floral in there. Or since you mentioned lavender.. TKO? I'm thinking no, because TKO is a pretty simple lavender+marshmallow kinda smell but I figured it was worth a shot

Bread and Butterfly on me smelled exactly like raisin toast. I wonder if Werepuppy is any kind of a match for Madame Lapin? That one was heavy on the milk note for me, but I know other people got a lovely furry warmness from it.

eeeeeeeee... Black Bear! So cute Thanks for posting the pic, SadariEvenstar

Hmm.. interesting, I actually thought of Vixen immediately when I saw what Drae was looking for! On me, the orange blossom is very much background to the patchouli and ginger so I'd say it's probably still worth a try because I think orange blossom is a fickle beast and it does behave very differently from person to person. I also thought of Masquerade - patchouli, ambergris, carnation and orange blossom - the carnation isn't floral at all on me, but it has a nice warm pepperiness similar to ginger. But I've never smelled that candle, so I'm not the best judge!

Honestly.. I think you should wear whatever makes you feel good - what you enjoy, what you think smells good! Sure, you need to consider other people and avoid wafting really strong perfume fumes all around you - but that's more about how much scent you wear rather than which scent you wear. But having said that, I think the BPALs more likely to get up other people's noses would be the more resinous, incensey, 'dark' blends.. and also very strong florals. If you're concerned about it, ask a couple of your friends if your perfume's overly smelly and they should give you an honest answer

Yes.. it sure can be. It's actually quite common You need to be especially careful with scents that contain certain notes. For example; cocoa tends to sit in the bottom of the bottle - if the decanter doesn't 'blend' the oil in the bottle properly before making up the vials, you will get a decant that has less or more cocoa than what was intended when the mix was made at the Lab. I've noticed some booze notes like rum also don't always distribute themselves very well through an oil, so that could be the problem with your decant of Egg Nog - maybe you got one that came from the top of the bottle rather than the bottom (the rum tends to hang down the bottom of a 5ml). Hellhound on my Trail is well-known for having dark globules in it, like a lava lamp, and as far as I can tell by investigating my bottles.. it's the rum in the globules! There's also the whole issue of batch variances - like the infamous Infernal Lover red musk/no red musk bottles... so that also needs to be considered. I just want to add that what I said above about decants is in no way a criticism of decanters!! Having done many many decants myself, I know how difficult it is to get cocoa and other things out of a bottle and evenly distributed into vials I think imps are generally more susceptible to imbalances in the notes - I guess if you think about it mathematically.. in a 5ml you've got five times as much oil so the chances of all the notes being perfectly mixed is better than in an imp, which holds only 1ml. Oh - and just one final thought.. Snake Oil is a bad one to compare imp vs bottle, particularly if your bottle is 6 months old and your imp is fresh.. the oil in your bottle would have changed through aging Edited to add - there's actually a whole topic here about different smells/colours, same perfume that might give you some extra info! .

I'm not familiar with that B&BW fragrance, but I think the best cherry blossom scent I've found in BPAL would have to be Voyeurs Among the Cherry Blossom, which came out with the 2009 Lupercalia collection. The notes are soft moss, vanilla musk, and cherry blossom, and you can find reviews here. It doesn't have any pear or apple, which are probably quite present in the B&BW blend if they're listed as top notes - it's just a lovely soft/smooth cherry blossom scent - not overly sweet or 'fake' smelling at all and the 'soft moss' gives it a slightly woodsy feel - so I think would work beautifully as a layer over or companion to your B&BW fragrance. I know it's bad form to recommend a Limited Edition blend, and that one may be a bit tricky to find because it is quite sought-after, but I'm sure you could track down at least a decant to try if you hunt through the For Sale area here on the forum The Phoenix In Spring, a more recent LE (notes are dandelion florets, cherry blossom, spring wildflowers, and myrrh) also got good reviews for its cherry blossom but I haven't tried that one myself. Reviews are here. In the GC range, you might want to check out Kyoto (a gentle, soothing blend of cherry blossom, white sandalwood and star anise) for a nice dusky cherry blossom blend, and also maybe Aizen-Myoo (yuzu, kaki, and mikan with cherry blossom and black tea) which has a nice tangy fruit element. For layering something completely different that would work nicely with the cherry blossom in the BB&W blend, you could look at Morocco for a touch of spice or Lyonesse for a nice soft amber. I hope that helps - good luck finding The One!

Oh.. I wouldn't say Gore Shock is quirky or bizarre.. it's just downright disgusting. Dead flesh, rotting things, stale vomit and unflushed third-world toilet. It's the only BPAL everthat has made me actually gag. The quirky and bizarre thing about it though, is that some people (albeit only 2 or 3 that I know of) actually like it

Hmm.. this is WAY softer than I was expecting! I did one spray up in the air, and couldn't smell a thing!! So then I did a second spray... and there it was The leather is definitely the star of this show - it's a gorgeous soft, snuggly leather - really warm and lovely. The brandy adds a top note of sweetness, which doesn't really smell boozy at all - just a warm rich sweetness which mixes nicely with the sultry pipesmoke smell. I'm not sure where the 'crackling firewood' comes into play - I don't pick up anything 'smoky' as such in here at all. This will be positioned right next to my main man, Doc Constantine, as my 2nd favourite leather spray

To my nose, this is mostly spicy coffee.. with a touch of candied fruits, but the 'fruit' aspect is overwhelmed by the sweet spices which I presume are coming from the 'apple strudel' bit. The apple is there, but pretty well melded in with the coffee. Overall, Konditorei reminds me very much of the Gooey Pillowcase atmo spray from the '08 Halloweenies.. which is kinda weird, since they have no common notes, but I really am getting a very strong brown sugar/caramel fragrance from this one. Unfortunately, I can't distinguish any hot chocolate - that's what I was most hoping for, so it's a bummer that I'm not getting any of that at all. This is a lovely spray if you like your room to smell like spicy coffee

Mmmm... Moroccan musk is a favourite, and it's gorgeous here with the opium poppy and clove - dusky, sweet and sliiiiiightly spicy. Orris is not often my friend though, and it's not working for me in this one. Overall, this ends up smelling like a rather generic commercial perfume - it's lacking the depth and complexity that I enjoy about the BPAL oils. In the end, all I get is a kind of bland red/smoky scent on my skin.

uhm... mouldy dirt with bitter pepper on top. I'm not sure what I expected this would smell like.. but that certainly wasn't it. Not a keeper

Oh honey, honey you fiend, why do you hate meeeeeeeee? This would be beautiful, if only the honey would GTFO. Combined with the amber overload (I love amber, but there's a LOT of it in here), the honey is powdery and cloying. I can barely pick up the other notes because they are being smothered by the honey, but they are beautiful. BEAUTIFUL. Damn you, honey.