sweetpessimism

In the imp and wet on skin, this is a BEAUTIFUL crisp almond. Sadly, though, the almond fades on me after a few minutes, and all I'm left with is the dark musk, and enough of a hint of myrrh to make me feel a bit sneezy. Oh, I wish this stayed the lovely almond on me! I'm not much of a fan of this musk and the bit of sneezy myrrh - so it's probably to the swap box with this one.

A beautiful blend of flowers and sweet fruits that my nose can't really differentiate between, but it likes! I was so enthusiastic about this scent, I ended up slathering it, but it turns out this is one of those scents that just needs a light touch, so I had to wash a bit off or it would be too overpowering for me. I'll have to try it out again, with a lighter application.

This starts out as delicious butterscotch on me, but it seems I'm one of those poor unfortunate souls who it turns to play-dough on.. This one's headed for the swap box.

A bounty of chocolate coins! Dry cocoa and golden amber! On me, this is an absolutely gorgeous dark cocoa! I don't really smell the amber, though it's slightly less chocolately, with maybe a teensy bit of amber peeking through, after I've been wearing it for a couple of hours. Has great staying power, though! This one makes me want to slather, it's so nummy.

I was a bit suspicious of Bat-Woman at first, as I normally shy away from florals pretty quickly, and when I opened up the decant and sniffed, my suspicion grew. But I loved the painting, and thought "What the hell, may as well," so I skin-tested it.. And I'm glad I did! My impression was "purple night-blooming flowers", and looking back at the description, I can see I was right on the nose with that! I'm SO not into florals, but THIS floral I like. It reminds me so much of the deep mystery of the night.. So if ever I get the urge for a floral, Bat-Woman is what I shall be reaching for!

Went on gorgeous, nice and cinnamony, as anticipated. Dried down to a nice sort of mixed-spice. Now an hour later, vague spice mixed with a bit of musk/woodiness, with a hint of playdoughy-ness in the background. Makes me feel a bit sneezy when sniffing, and hurts my nose a bit. Perhaps in my initial glee with the cinnamon, I slathered too much. Not as fabulous as hoped. Possibly for the swap pile, but may test it out again (with just a tiny dab) before deciding.

In the bottle: A very pale, translucent yellow. Ow - astringent stunned me for a moment there. On further inspection.. Is that lemongrass? Wet on skin: A sweet herbal-ish scent. Upon re-reading lab description: Yes, I'm getting the jasmine more now. I think that hint of lime, too - it's likely what I thought was lemongrass. On the drydown: Somewhat smoky, like incense. It's quite nice! Shoved my wrist under my mom's nose, and she said, "Smells like a rainforest." And I agree. Kind of a wet smell. My skin has definitely amped the jasmine.

In the bottle: Pale yellow color. Smell - chocolate? Mm.. Delectable. Wet on skin: Still a whiff of chocolate.. But also something a tad sharper, but still foody. For some reason "butter rum" springs to mind, though I don't know why. I have no idea how rum smells. Wait - butterbeer? Is that what my brain was going for? Butterbeer, as in from Harry Potter? Yes, I suppose this is what I imagine it would smell like. Asked my mother, and she said it smelled "very nice", and like vanilla. There is a definite vanilla note in there. Upon re-reading lab description: Aha! The cocoa I definitely smelled in the bottle. I think I'm getting more of the black palm on my skin, though. This is definitely a scent filled with sultry secrets.. It is, to say the least, intriguing! On the drydown: Slightly coconutty.. I think I'm definitely amping the black palm, though I'm not 100% sure what black palm smells like. It's just the impression I'm getting. Smells like smoky secrets! Delectable!

In the bottle: Color is a deep but transparent red. Scent.. Hmm.. It's sweet. Like cherries? Odd - I'm getting "cherries" from this. A hint of floral, deep in there. Wet on skin: More floral now, but still very sweet. Must be getting the "lotus" in it. A very thick scent. Upon re-reading lab description: Doesn't help me out in identifying notes, but does provide a beautiful image! An image I daresay I can smell.. I can see the flowers, when I sniff my wrists - deep red blossoms unfurling miraculously atop desert sand. There is a slight wistfulness to the scent.. On the drydown: Slightly powdery. I think I'm getting more of the dragon's blood now, and it's quite nice! This is a very pleasant, slightly sexy scent! It's light, but it has some body.. Perfect combination. The sweetness has died down, and it's more incense-y now. I adore this!

In the bottle: Clear color. Scent - SUGAR HIGH!!!!! Wet on skin: SUGAR! With creamyness to it - like vanilla sugar. Or, you know, marshmallows. On the drydown: Oh no! It's gone play-dough-y! There's a hint of sugar still, but.. The play-dough scent dominates. Sadness! Mom comment: "It smells soft.. Kind of sweet." When I told her the name of the perfume and that I thought it smelled like play-dough on me, she agreed there was a note of that in there, but that it "still smells marshmallowy". Alas, I don't think this works with my skin chemistry.

In the bottle: A pale, pale yellow color. Scent - light, feminine. White flowers. Wet on skin: I'm burying my nose in a unicorn's mane.. Warm, light floral. Upon re-reading lab description: Don't think I'm getting much of the herbs, but otherwise, spot on! On the drydown: Fades quite quickly on me, sadly. Still a very soft, subtle floral, though. My friend Emily said it smells like she imagines a unicorn would smell, and I agree! Wish it lasted longer, but hey - unicorns are elusive creatures!

In the bottle: Pale yellow in color. Smell.. Berry gum. And a slightly boozy note? Hmm.. Smells like strawberry daiquiri, maybe. Wet on skin: Somewhat department store-y. A very, very slight berry note underneath that. Upon re-reading lab description: Now that I think on it, I believe I detect both grapefruit and chamomile. Or is that lavender? Maybe grapefruit and lavender, then. Unsure.. On the drydown: The department store-ness has faded away. My skin is definitely amping the lavender. Lavender, with a hint of berry still there. Smells pink. Cheshire Cat behaves like its name implies - it's on strong, then fades out to just its grin. Not sure if it works very well with me, but it's a pretty nice scent. ETA: Even after it's been on my skin a couple of hours, my mom strongly objects to the scent - she says it smells like cheap department store perfume. I guess I kind of agree, though I thought it had just faded out to lavender. She disagrees.

In the bottle: A nice yellow color. Scent - FLOWERS! I can't distinguish the different flowers, but I think there's some rose. Wet on skin: Unchanged. I'm a little worried - it's a bit department store-y. This one definitely has throw. Or maybe that's because I'm wearing some on the pulse points of my neck today as well as on my left wrist. And I kind of spilled the bottle a tiny bit when I opened it. On the drydown: I'm kind of disappointed. I thought this would be a nice, sweet scent, but it's just unpleasant. My skin has amped whatever it is that reminds me of cheap department store perfume.

In the bottle: Clear. Oh - smells sharp. Wait. Is that.. carrots? Wet on skin: Lettuce?! What the hell? This definitely smells like lettuce. In a bad way. Oh, god, I hope this morphs. On the drydown: Smells kind of like baby powder. I'm not all that fond of this one. It's just.. off on my skin.

In the bottle: Pale amber in color. Slightly herbal.. For a moment I thought I caught the same lettuce-y smell I got from Hurricane, but then it vanished. Wet on skin: Oh, this one's strong. Some sharp herb.. Maybe mint in there somewhere. Somewhat like basil, maybe, but sharper. More pungent. Hmm.. Dark clouds. Crackling with almost-lightning. This is more what I expected out of Hurricane. Upon re-reading lab description: Hm, that doesn't help a whole lot. I don't smell any of the plum.. It's quieting down now, and I'm glad - I was a bit alarmed at how strong it was when I first put it on. Mom comment: "That's a nice one. Smells foresty. What's that one called?" "Oya. She's a goddess of storms and such." "Mm. Yes, smells like a forest after a storm." On the drydown: It's pretty nice. Slightly leafy and slightly spicy. With some stormy tumult in there as well.. ETA: Over the course of a few hours, Oya eventually faded out to a pleasant pine.. Not too shabby! This scent definitely has the changeability of a weather goddess!

In the bottle: Clear in color. Scent - Mmm.. Sugared tea! Emphasis on the sugar. Very sweet, almost innocent. Wet on skin: Something sharper is coming out. Like Dorian awakening to the world. Still very tea-like, in a good way. Upon re-reading lab description: Precisely! Definitely musk with sugared vanilla tea. On the drydown: Hmm, much darker.. But there's still a hint of tea in there! This is awesome - it's precisely what I would want out of a Dorian scent! And the scent goes through the stages of his story as well! Starts off sweet and innocent, then his worldview is pierced.. And corruption bleeds in. A keeper for sure!

In the bottle: Transparent yellow in color. Scent.. Hmm.. Sweet herbal. Wet on skin: I can't really identify different notes.. Lemongrass? No, I don't think so.. Something sweet and faintly minty. Upon re-reading lab description: Yes - deep herbs and apple sounds about right. It's a faint apple, though, not APPLE!, for which I am glad. It's hidden in the background of the herbs. Mom comment: After two sniffs she still couldn't identify any notes, but thought it was "very nice". On the drydown: Hmm.. I think I smell the amber. Sort of musky and slightly spicy. The apple faded away completely. It's a very nice, dark scent. I like it!

This scent is one I've heard many, many good things about, and am very excited to try! In the bottle: A luscious red-orange color. Scent.. Hmm.. It's sweet, but with a sharpness to it.. Lemon-lime, sort of.. With underlying herbal. And something.. Something that almost smells like the tart part of root beer. The effect is rather alluring.. Wet on skin: Ginger.. Yes, I think that's ginger. Sweet, but with a tang.. I think I smell sea foam as well.. Ginger on sea foam. A siren's scent, indeed! It's intriguing.. Upon re-reading lab description: Ah, yes, I got the ginger right! And I do smell the jasmine now that it's been brought to my attention.. Those seem to be the dominant notes right now. On the drydown: I rather like how it turned out.. It's an unusual, exotic scent. Sharp enough to wake you up. My mother, though, objects somewhat. She said it smells like old brass - and I suppose it does have a somewhat metallic quality. That's the "spiked with malice" bit, I guess. I think it's pretty poetic, though. This is one of those scents, like Dorian, that tells a story - and I love that. It starts off sweet, with only a hint of danger.. It lures you in.. And then blood mixes with the sea foam as ships dash themselves upon the rocks, and the siren slips into the water to snatch up and devour the drowning sailors. Delicious and dangerous. Maybe once the scent has had more time to settle throughout the day, my mother will amend her opinion of it. ETA: She did not, and insisted I was some off before we got into the car. And continued to claim throughout the day that she could still smell it. From the other room, on the cat, from Taiwan. She did not approve. I still like the scent, though.. Will just have to apply it very, very sparingly. Which will make it last longer anyway, so it works out.

In the bottle: Pale orange in color. Scent.. Oh! This is beautiful.. It's light, and elusive, but lovely.. What is it exactly? One moment it's like vanilla.. The next there's some cinnamon, and then lemon zest.. Wet on skin: Definitely some musk there, but with some spice as well.. It's still wonderful! Hope it stays wonderful the whole way through.. Upon re-reading lab description: Yes, exactly! I smelled all of those notes at one point or another.. I'm getting more musk and ginger right now, I think. Mom comment: "Ooh! It's too sweet!" But she conceded it was alright. On the drydown: I adore this one! This may be my signature scent.. It has all the notes I love! I'm getting some more of the cinnamon now, with honey in the background.. It's warm, sexy, and just lovely!

In the bottle: Pale, pale amber color. Scent - hmm.. Faintly floral, in a pleasant way. Rose? Wet on skin: Traces of lemongrass now I think. Or maybe ginger? On the drydown: Dragon's blood with faint lavender? Musky. Kind of sexy in a debauch sort of way. And boy, does this one have throw! A seductress of times long gone, beckoning outside an opium den.. But in a good way! What I mean is that it's sultry and mysterious. I like it! Upon re-reading lab description: Aha, I got the roses right! And now that I think of it, I'm definitely getting the sandalwood too. I think the honey faded pretty quickly, though it was there briefly at the beginning. Orange blossom - don't think I ever got that note. Followup: It had such powerful throw, I had to wash off a bit before leaving the house. It still had pretty good staying power, though! Warm sandalwood now, with the barest background note of rose. Still sexy! I like it! Keeper!

In bottle: Oh - it's sharp. Almost citrusy for a second.. What is that? I know that smell, I know it, but I can't... Licorice! That's it! Black licorice! I really, really don't like eating black licorice, but this smell.. I quite like this smell. Almost a Root Beer-ish smell. Wet on skin: Oh, definitely licorice. Licorice, licorice, licorice. On the drydown: Leaning slightly more towards Root Beer now.. In a pleasant way. Like the way the fizz of the Root Beer smells, freshly opened. It's rather nice. Definitely a.. Decisive scent, if that makes sense. It's very sure of itself. A confident scent. Not in a sexy way, but in a gonna-kick-some-ass way. Very cool. For some reason, I expected Absinthe to smell green.. Because of the whole Green Fairy thing, and Absinthe being green.. But I didn't know what Absinthe was supposed to smell like. Coming back to note: Smells exactly like absinthe. Now that I've actually tried the drink, I can say this for sure!

In the bottle: Mmm, caramel! Wet on skin: Getting more of the dragon's blood now, with creamy sweetness overlaid.. On the drydown: Dragon's blood! Hmm, the sugaryness has almost completely vanished - sad. And.. is that a hint of play-dough?! Oh, no! It's still a nice enough scent, though. Don't think it's going on my 5ml wishlist, though. Yes, it rather smells like red play-dough.. Oh, well! Win some, lose some!

Spun sugar, sparkling rainbow candies, strawberries, merangue, and cherry fluff. In the bottle: First of all, the bottle art is super awesome. A unicorn with a rainbow, as pictured on the BPAL site, in The Salon! Now, smell.. Vanilla briefly, then sugar, then pink sugar, then sugared strawberry bits.. Mmm, lots of delicious sugar! Wet on skin: The sugariness seems woefully diminished - this one may need to be slathered. Just a bit of pink sugar now, with more pink - I don't know how to describe it other than "pink" - than sugar. On the drydown: Pineapple? What? Okay, that's faded now.. I had a brief pinapple-y moment, but maybe that was a stroke. Anyway, it's gone more fruity now, less sugary. A little disappointing, as I was hoping for more of a punch of sugar, but the strawberry-ness is nice enough!

Hmm, so I have a question.. I was at Conestoga today (Saturday), and in their dealer's room, I saw that someone was selling BPAL. Not as their main product, but in there among the rest of their necklaces, mortars and pestles, and books. They had about six 5ml bottles out, and maybe 25 imps in a bowl. The 5mls were marked at $20, and the imps as $5 each. At first I was gleefully excited, and began sniffing like mad, because most of these I hadn't sniffed before - and there were some Carnival Diaboliques there! But then I realized.. I hadn't heard anything about the Lab coming to Conestoga - and it seemed like a very small selection for the Lab to bring. So was this an authorized reseller (I'm afraid I can't recall the name of the seller - they didn't really have signs, just stands), or someone selling off their stash? And was it allowed? (I was saving my money for booksbooksbooks anyway, and didn't fall head-over-heels for any of the scents there, as well as being dubious about the.. legality of it, I suppose? So I didn't make any purchases.)

Hi and welcome to the forum! I go through CCNow and that has happened with all of my orders. I think CCNow verifies that the funds are available, then releases the money back to your account until right before your order is sent to the Lab. The charge should reappear in a week or more, right before your order actually goes to the lab. (If you're interested in reading a bit more about the CCNow process, ivyandpeony talked a bit about ordering and wait times in the post right above your question; that might help if you want to know about turnaround time as well.) Hope that helps! Please feel free to ask if you have any more questions or need clarification. Thank you so much! You've alleviated my worry!