devilot

A panoply of cultural treasures, spanning the herbs, flowers, oils and balms of the Romans, the Byzantines, the Mediterranean, the Levant, Northern China, Eastern Europe, Iran, the Bulgar-Kypchak, Mesopotamia, the Crimean Peninsula, Anatolia, Antioch, and North Africa. Silk Road Wow, I'm not having good BPAL-testing luck today. *pouts* The lab's notes are pretty vague ("herbs, flowers, oils, and balms")-- but this really does smell like spices to me. And, like a spicier Lunar Eclipse. So, this also reminds me of a Chinese herb/ medicine shop. Gross. Really not for me, at all. Verdict: Glad this imp found a new home!

Shoggoth In the Vial: Lots o' lemongrass, actually, like LUSH's Avobath. Wet: Still mainly lemongrass, perhaps a hint of the coconut. Drydown: Again, I'm getting lemongrass but now there might be something mellower in play-- the musk? But not identifiable as musk. Verdict: It's a pleasant enough scent, but I've never been all that crazy about lemongrass. Time for this imp to find a new home!

Pumpkin II In the Vial: Again, nauseatingly buttery pumpkin. Wet: Whoa, this is interesting. Starts to pick up the warmth of the rosewood (mebbe sandalwood?). Wait, something sharp is coming in... Drydown: And then it's super sour rose. Ick. Verdict: I'm really figuring out that a lot of the blends containing rose wind up super sour on my skin. Too bad, because for awhile, it seemed like the only pumpkin patch blend that had something strong enough to combat the pumpkin without overpowering it altogether. Pass. And again, yet another pumpkin w/ long lasting powers on my silly skin. Too bad it doesn't work for me.

The Illustrated Woman In the Vial: Whoaaaaa pine! And yes, unmistakable scent of patchouli. Wet: Loads of pine. Yes, it's a slightly sweet pine, but it's still a strong pine note and I'm really not a fan of pine. How disappointing! Drydown: Starts to morph like others have mentioned and the sweeter "gentler" notes come forward. Definite smoky note and the slightly sour sweetness of the honey. I can detect the tiniest bit of the musk and unfortunately for me, not much tobacco. I absolutely adore tobacco and was desperately hoping this blend would be all about the vanilla and tobacco. Alas. Verdict: The final drydown is a strange and yet, strangely compelling scent. Like others have mentioned, not necessarily something I'd choose as my personal perfume, but such an intriguing scent that it's nearly impossible to keep from sniffing and resniffing this oil. It's nice in the end but I really can't stomach that much pine for so long. I wonder how this would smell in 3 or 4 years. Unfortunately, I'm not Oprah-rich so I don't think I can justify purchasing a bottle of this to age for years and years in hopes that it'll become something I hope for.

Midnight on the Midway In the Bottle: Wow, for once, I agree w/ the lab's notes-- sugary incense and florals, too! Wet: HOLY FLOWERS! This on my skin is all sharp florals. Where did the sugared incense go? Drydown: Super duper soapy. Retch. Verdict: This will be the second, yes, the second bottle of MotM that I've procured and tried and then rehomed. I just keep hoping something will change, but I'm thinking I should learn to give up on this blend. It's just an insanely sharp, perfumey soap on my skin. Sigh.

Hod (original) Big thank you to whomever frimped tragedy, as she then passed the love on to me! In the Vial: It's *gasp* (blasphemy) not all that impressive. Wet: At first, again, nondescript and "nothing to write home about." Super faint and not really smelling like anything whatsoever. But after a couple of minutes, it starts to really warm up and now I'm finally getting the carnation! And creaminess. Drydown: Still v faint. Verdict: I swear, if this were stronger smelling on my skin, I'd be doing my darndest to hunt more down. As it is, I love it and will chersish the bit of it that I have, but it's so faint on my skin that I can't justify sacrificing body parts in an attempt to get more. Hod Resurrected 12/28/2009: Thanks to Beth and the labbies for resurrecting this w/ the Anniversaries! In the Bottle: Amazing delicious carnation. *swoons* Wet: Instant carnation love! But wait, what's happening? Already shifting?! Changing?! No! It's... *sniff* uh oh. It's souring on me. Drydown: Definitely sour. Verdict: Oh no. Oh no. Oh no. Now that I had a full bottle at my disposal to use as I pleased, I was able to get more accurate sniffs and skin tests. And it is so terribly official. The amazing spicy and elegant carnation in Hod sours horrifically on my skin. Even my bestest girl friend wrinkled her nose and shook her head (and yes, she's a fellow BPALer). Why?! Why oh why won't Hod work on me?!

The Girl In the Vial: Not sure which note(s) I'm smelling, but it's a non-sharp, non-perfumey white floral. It's incredibly mysterious and aloof. Wet: Still so aloof, so subtle. Can't really figure anything out. Wonder if my nose is totally broken. I can't really smell anything. Drydown: Slightly sweet, which I'll attribute to the pale musk as I feel like musks sometimes have a different sort of 'sweetness' on my skin. Verdict: My first try, I loved it, told myself I'd need a full bottle. 2nd and 3rd tests? Now I'm not so convinced. It's just so damned light on my skin. Argh. I guess I shouldn't, I mean, Beth will always come out with a quadrillion other amazing blends, right? I love this, but I really wish it had more throw and that the musk were stronger and/or came out sooner. I luuurve musks!

Aeronwen is technically a LE in that it's part of the Carnaval Diabolique, which will one day be unavailable. But for the meantime, it's still available for purchase. As for similar GCs, I'm afraid I'm not much help. Aeronwen on me is almost all fig and nothing else and I've not yet tried that many GCs to know what else is predominantly that same sort of clean figgy scent.

Ha, no prob bob. Glad my silly habit of looking for and at label art came in handy.

Not sure, but the listed notes are for The Phoenix, and here are some links showing the labels: Pirate Moon: http://www.bpal.org/index.php?autocom=gall...si&img=1683 The Phoenix: http://www.flickr.com/photos/miss_twilight/2779305763/ Ha! This photo has both of them in the same order as your photo! http://www.flickr.com/photos/co-dependent/1813320224/

IIRC, they're both forum-only. The black one w/ the skull flag should be Pirate Moon and I think the other is just The Phoenix. I'm not 100% sure as I've never owned either. But I tend to look up label art a lot.

Cristina In the Vial: Something sharply piney-- do juniper berries smell like that? Wet: As others have mentioned, instantly "foodie." The warmth and sugary nuttiness of the chestnuts. Just like the delicious ones my aunt roasted last Christmas. Delicious, but not exactly what I'd like to smell like. Drydown: Still the nutty sweetness, but much mellower. And now a floral feel to it. Verdict: It's a neat scent, and one I'm glad to have tried, but ultimately, don't need a bottle of and doubt I'll keep the decant either. ETA: Awhile later, I can still smell this, and it's gone back to being a bit piney and actually smoky. Much more complex and interesting before, but again, don't like it enough to get a 5ml of, unless someone has a killer deal.

Archangel Winter In the Vial: I haven't been in a snowy area really, but I wouldn't be surprised if this is what snowy places smell like. Wet: Hm, almost, fruity?! Floral? I dunno what I'm smelling. It's really really interesting, though. Drydown: All in all, still a clean and powdery scent. Verdict: I'm definitely gonna keep the decant, but I don't think I'll be compelled to get a bottle. Nice, though, I don't have any other BPAL quite like this.

B340 In the Bottle: Minty floral. Odd, but intriguing, draws you in. Wet: Definitely minty somehow. And again, as others have noted, the powdery violet makes an appearance. Drydown: Still incredibly subtle, mint has evaporated leaving behind a ghostly, barely-there floral. Verdict: Lovely, classy, but just too damned subtle on my skin from wet to dry. It's gorgeous, but if given the chance to swap this for an oil that has more presence on my skin? I'm probably a-swappin'!

Boo In the Vial: That delicious sugary comparison folks are making w/ Midway! Wet: Yes! Awesome marshmallow and sugar. Wait wait, what's happening? Butter is kicking in. Hmph. Drydown: Popcorn. All. Buttery. Pop. Corn. Where did the sugar love go? Where are the clean sheets? Verdict: Glad I got a tester, definitely won't be needing a bottle. Sigh.

Under the Harvest Moon In the Bottle: Gorgeous. So subtle. Slightly musky, hint of rose and lavender and something smooth so smooth. Wet: Still getting that rose and lavender, but truly subtle. I can barely smell anything. Where are the musks? The carnation? The vanilla bean?! Drydown: Starts to sweeten a bit as it dries and now the carnation whispers. Verdict: A delightful blend, but my stupid scent-swallowing skin reduces this beautiful oil into nothingness in a matter of nanoseconds. I wonder if another bottle from another batch would show up on my skin more. *ponders*

Typically, Beth will post an announcement in the Announcements subforum. And in her announcement, she'll include a link to any forum-only special scents there are. This time, the announcement was, "Holy moly! It's an update!" and the link to forum-only scents is the same, I think, as always? (Not too sure about that as I haven't been around too long in the BPAL world.) Forum-only link: http://www.blackphoenixalchemylab.com/forumonly.html

You're fine, I'm pretty sure. There have been lotsa orders and they're probably still working through 'em all. You can always do what a lot of us do, and check out the various CnS (Clink 'n' Ship) or "I Got My Order" threads to see which date of orders the labbies are approximately working on. You can find those threads in the subforum, "BPAL chatter" towards the top, pinned or stickied. Here are the direct links: CnS thread I Got My Order thread It looks like the labbies are working on 9/2 orders. BTW, the lab's ordering pages do state that it can take upwards of 2-3+ weeks for orders to be fulfilled. Hope some of this helps ya out!

Does anybody know if it's the lab or the BPTP who handles/ processes Amazon orders?

Thank you so much for posting those! DAMN! I wanna buy Mircalla and I want that bitch bloody red.

Brown Jenkins In the Vial: I wanna say this reminds me of spicy leather, but leather's not a note. I guess it's the musk I'm smelling. Wet: The spiciness of the sandalwood, maybe the incense and the earthiness of the musk. Drydown: Now I'm smelling the dry powderiness of the orris root, maybe the coconut? Not sure. But still, definitely the sandalwood. Verdict: I loooove this wet and the drydown is nice, but not my favorite for now. I'm definitely going to be keeping this imp, but I'm still not sure it's bottle-worthy yet. I wonder how this blend ages. ETA: 20 minutes later, it's v faint, but it's musk. Lovely, lovely musk. I wonder what this would smell like if I applied v liberally. Might just be bottle-worthy after all.

A quiet scent, soft, calm and enigmatic. A perfume of mystery, of whispers, and of secrets behind secrets. White sandalwood, lilac, gardenia, violet, orris, lavender and ylang ylang. Veil In the Vial: Violet! Yum! And... a sweet white floral, lily? Gardenia? Ah yes, gardenia. Wet: Whoa, the soft powder yields to a v sharp smelling floral. Drydown: As it starts to dry, it mellows out, not nearly as sharp anymore. The soft violet comes back along with the powdery orris (which I love and hate in some blends). Verdict: This is STUNNING! It's a very traditional perfume. Definite white floral, classic. I love this, perhaps not enough to get a bottle for now, but am for sure keeping my imp. I want to compare this to one of Chanel's slightly more exclusive EDTs, Gardenia. Hm, the more I sniff, the more I wonder if I do want to spring for a bottle. Lest it becomes discon'd soon (yes, the recent discons have me anxious).

Lunar Eclipse I was hoping for mainly tobacco, and less, well, everything else. As it is, this blend winds up smelling a lot like a Chinese herbal/ medicinal shop. Which, is one the scents I hate most. *shudders* I don't know who the major culprits are, though I know that vetiver and moss (guess this is a red kind) are a big part of the problem for me in this blend. Verdict: This decant needs to find a new home. Now.

Hetairae In the Vial: Golden fruit. Patchouli. Lots o' patchouli. Wet: I'm pretty sensitive to patchouli so I'm definitely noticing it. Lots. The honey must be what's adding that sweet golden feel. Spicy. Must be the cloves, so it's spicy from cloves with a slight bite from patchouli. Drydown: Definitely getting what another reviewer referred to as, "craft store smell." Like cheap potpourri. Verdict: It has promise in that the patchouli is relatively well-blended, and I like the golden feel, but I guess it's something about my skin chemistry and/or nose, that means Hetairae just ain't working for me. Hm, actually, it might be honey. I know that honey really does NOT work for me in some blends (Hony Mone retch) but it doesn't seem to effect me negatively in others (Lady Una). *ponders*

Hecate In the imp: WHOA almonds! I'm not even gonna skin-test this baby. Yikes! I know that sometimes a really strong almond scent can almost seem cherry-like. This blend is just, way too almondy for me. I used to love the scent, but overdid it for awhile and now can't really bring myself to like it anymore. Pass!