Undine

Yes, I think one Arctander book on eBay was $500 and the other was $750! I have great curiosity in perfumes, but I have to admit there are many other things I would buy first if I were to blow a chunk of change that size! (I don't understand why they don't just reprint books again when they get so pricey--clearly there is a demand!)

Hey, that's the safety/EO book I mentioned above. I also came across a number of the Schnaubelt books. The Arctander book, I believe, is out of print--unfortunately.

HA, it's funny, I just came across something about tea tree oil and cats today in a review of an aromatherapy book on Amazon. The reviewer noted that several recipes for animals were a bad idea and this is because of the way the cat liver operates--it can't break down certain toxins the way the human liver can, so a cat could be severely sickened by application of oils that would not be a problem for a human. I can't remember if dogs also had this difficulty. So, in this case I think there is a physiological difference between felines and humans. On the other hand, I absolutely believe, as you say, that one should be very careful with EOs. I just put a book on my wishlist that is specifically on the topic of EOs and safety, so I am betting that Beth probably has a few similar titles on her shelves.

Huh--the first application on my wrist just got a sort of characterless, soapy, cologne-y smell. A second, heavier application and the smoke and (still clean and rather soapy) leather come out big-time. I know only the faintest amount about the Sephiroth and I don't know if I'd use this for contemplation as a result. As purely personal fragrance, this seems too simple to wear on its own, but I'm curious about layering this with something a little sweeter, perhaps a fruity cherry- or berry-heavy fragrance. Maybe it would kind of be like what I wanted from Hellfire (cherry baby powder on me). I wish it were less soapy, though. As drydown continues, the soapiness intensifies and dominates and if it gets much stronger, I won't be able to wear it. On my scale, a 3 out of 5.

I got around to trying this out today because I saw a few people express doubts about the sweet pea in a new blend. I didn't like it very much. It smelled sort of sour on me in the way that BPAL carnation often does, and that was the dominating experience. I wondered if this is the effect of the sage and not the sweet pea, or the two together. )I know what sage smells like, but often things smell a little different in perfume form as opposed to the actual herb or flower.) To compare, I tried Juliet--which also contains sweet pea--and did not experience any of this sourness: it was quite a nice blend, actually (but that's another review). A second try of Aeval later today was much, much less sour, but more soapy, which is preferable overall. More lightness and freshness comes out, and it's almost a bit wet-smelling. The herbal green quality--the sage is almost a tiny bit spicy--balances nicely with the light musk. I never would have guessed tonka was in there. Overall, not for me--most florals aren't--but I'm satisfied that I'm OK with sweet pea! On my scale, a 2.5 out of 5.

Smells like almond (which in actuality is maybe the ylang ylang merging with a musk?) and an undercurrent of myrrh. Woodiness and that sort of dirty smell that is indeed very O-like. Probably a little bit of honey and maybe a small bit of vanilla or vanilla-like scent. As it dries down, there is more woodiness and ylang-ylang, less sweetness and almond-scent. Odd because the woodiness makes it sort of grounded and dry at the same time that it's got that dirty-O smell. Overall this gives me a faint impression of something else odd, a little mushroomy, almost--which sounds gross, but it's not entirely gross--something a little earthy, or like savory food cooking. It's very interesting and I wish I could place it. I also might detect a tiny little bit of soap, it almost reminds me of a laundry detergent that is not your normal detergent scent but which I don't know the name of. It's very minimal though. Not at all bad, but it doesn't speak to me. It has that sex scent, but its other components come off rather odd so overall I prefer O. On my scale, a 3 out of 5.

Hey, I didn't mean to give you a hard time. Everyone asks questions--I do, too. It's just that sometimes I've found the search useful to find stuff and then you don't have to wait for someone else to respond, anyway. Nor do I mean to imply that good people all use Paypal! The downside for me is that it takes money out of my bank account and not my credit card so if my Paypal isn't filled up it can be a little more painful immediately. I hope you feel welcome here!

Yes, SevenSins is saying what I was trying to say. Sorry, I spoke in the past tense and that might have given you an incorrect impression. So far I think you have a lot of leeway. It's only if you order after (or maybe on as she says) Nov 15 that I think your order wouldn't come when you want it. The Yule scents are already available, and they were made available on October 15th... so you had/have a month to decide what you want and place the order ... I am not sure what you mean by saying that you wouldn't get your order even if you placed it on the day available?? Unless you are not in the US? Based on my reading of what they say, anyway. As far as we know, there is no difference in when orders are fulfilled if they are Paypal vs. CCNow--it shouldn't affect your place in the queue. Rather it seems to just have to do with what is mixed up and in stock, and what isn't. That could mean that simpler orders generally might go out a little more quickly ... but who knows. As noted above in this thread, CCNow takes a much bigger cut of the lab's profits than does Paypal, so some forumites like to use Paypal just so the lab gets more money and the middleman less. Reading the forums can help with a lot of your questions, too. Some are answered in this thread, some elsewhere. Check out the bottom left of this page you're reading--there will be a search box that says "Enter Keywords" and a button that says "Search Topic." That allows you to search within this particular thread so you don't have to read each of the 5 pages--you can search on Paypal for instance. Each thread has one of these and subparts of the forum (like this BPAL FAQs area) have them too. There is also a forum search button at the very top right of the page. It allows you to search the whole forum, or parts of it, for topics you're interested in ... so you can search Paypal and CCNow, for instance. You can also limit the search to just titles so that you only come up with threads that are specifically on your topic of concern, instead of every thread where the words "paypal" and "ccnow" are used. Hope that helps!

An interesting mix of dark fruit with cinnamon and, yes, Silk-Road-like spices, maybe cardamom? And patchouli. A dark brown, spicy scent. The cinnamon dominates, sweetened by the fruit and given more depth by the patchouli. Although I have experienced The Burning before, this just tingled a little, which I don't mind. However, this ultra-spicy, Bengal-ish kind of scent just isn't my style. I am one of many who amp cinnamon, and I could see liking this better if it were more fruit, less spice. As it is, it's a bit too much potpourri for me. (All overly cinnamon blends reminds me of potpourri.) And on drydown it just gets more cinnamony and less fruity. The patchouli also goes much more undercover, which is kind of OK with me, because it was sort of dirty-hippie on first application. Weird; I usually do very well with BPAL patchouli. I know next to nothing about the Sephiroth, unfortunately, so it's hard for me to interpret how this scent interprets its namesake. I really do like the idea of fruit and cinnamon, and would like to see it again, balanced more away from the cinnamon. Throw is average. On my scale, this scent is a 2 out of 5.

Hmm, very interesting, a woody, resiny rose. Sandalwood, yes I think so. Myrrh? This rose is nice, not too juicy, but not my absolute favorite, a little less dry than the tea rose I love in London. Oddly enough, I can see where coulrophobe gets the malt-vinegar-fries thing, or where others get the aquatic note they mention. There is an odd salty note in the background and it really does remind me of chips, even salt-and-vinegar chips. It's low-key, but it's there. Very odd. Hmm. As it dries down this strange note, salty with a little soap at the same time, comes to dominate the rose; meanwhile the sandalwood and resin really die down. This ends up being very strange. I keep on sniffing because I want to know what the hell is going on here, but every time I sniff, it's kind of weird. It smells so much like ... fries. Rosy perfume fries. I like the wet smell, but as it dries down, not so much. Throw is medium and less weird than sniffing up close, more soapy. On my scale, 2 out of 5.

Raven, I believe that when you use CCNow, although you place the order on a certain date, the order is not "harvested" (that is, the money is not deducted) until a date much closer to shipment. Others here may be able to elaborate more. I think the Lab is trying to get away from CCNow eventually, but at the moment are stuck with it. I suppose this is one advantage to using Paypal, which as far as I know, works normally. Also, if you read above, the lead times are quite long, 21-45 business days, which translates to about 6-8 weeks. You can get an idea of how lead times are running by watching the Click-N-Ship thread in this area of the forum, where people report when they placed an order and when the CnS (Click-N-Ship; the notice that their order is shipping) was received. International orders generally take a few weeks longer, I think. As I recall, the Yule LEs notice said that shipment of scents by the holidays could not be guaranteed if the order was not placed by Nov. 15. So, I would take them at their word and presume that no, you won't get them by the holidays if you placed the order after the 15th. The swaps/sale forums here are a great way to feed the habit while you wait, but of course the Yule LEs won't be showing up until right around the holidays, unfortunately. Such are the difficulties of being a small business--BPAL scents are high-quality, hand-blended, relatively inexpensive, and lovely, but shipping is a wait, no question. They're working on the shipping times as best they can, from what we hear. So, long story short, I wouldn't panic about the orders you placed--they are probably fine. But you might not get the later ones by when you are hoping to.

Ah, carnation. We meet again, and you have won. This is a creamy, honeyed carnation, reminds me of Alice but creamier and I don't get any roses from it. Yes, maybe some almond. Unfortunately, carnation tends to be a sort of sour spice on me. I persist in thinking, for instance, that it was the note in many of the Carnaval Noir blends that didn't agree with me, and that perhaps it is the "incensey" note that occasionally pops up elsewhere. So on me it's this honeyed almond milk with this sourish, spicey, cloying dominant note. Bummer. This one's for swaps. Later: I can attest that, unfortunately for me, the throw is decent and it's fairly long-lasting. On my scale, a 2 out of 5.

When skimming over the reviews I had a hard time understanding how they could all be about the same scent, but now I understand. Yes, myrrh and roses, maybe a little frankincense? I wouldn't rule out tuberose either although I'm not great about distinguishing it. Although I don't know if Binah actually has woods in it, it does have a woody scent. To me, it's sweet, but not in a cloying way, and the resins prevent the (tube?)rose from becoming soapy. I like it very much. I find it very ceremonial and sacred-smelling. It makes me think of being in a cathedral... of the Goddess! It makes me think of candles, pews, and censers. I have an impulse to anoint a white candle with this and burn it. I could also see using it as a room scent for ritual or meditation. I don't know if I would wear it much regularly, because it does smell sacred and rather heavy, but I don't think that's its main purpose. On my scale, a 4.5 out of 5.

Hmm. This is very interesting, but as others have said, it's got this sour lime-y undertone that doesn't work for me. It's a very fruity lime. As a whole the scnet is very green, fresh, sharp, almost medicinal, with mint being dominant. I can love a little mint, but this is very minty, and aside from the sourness I'm just not sure about mint as a body scent. We have a mint oil bug spray (think eco-Raid) and although I do like the smell of that, I don't wear it, and also now this scent reminds me of spraying bugs, which is not Beth's fault of course. I'm not trying Envy at the optimal time of the year, though; it's quite cold out, and this is really a summer scent. Oddly enough, it was throwing all right for a few moments and now it seems to have greatly reduced, almost disappeared, just fifteen or twenty minutes later. It dries down to a soapy sour lime that's very close to the wrist and hard to smell. I didn't get a chance to check for the lavender before it went away! On my scale, a 2.5 out of 5.

Hmm. I almost really like this, but the rose goes from that good-aquatic-dry note to soapy. The cinnamon is at a good level and doesn't go too crazy, but unfortunately it burns and makes me a little red. Owee! Fans of dryer, less-juicy roses might like this, and if you're a cinnamon-amper you still might like it as well. On my scale, a 2.5 out of 5.