with coffee spoons

Mmmm. Lemon verbena. I adore the scent, had a lemon verbena plant before I managed to kill it off. This has the sweet lemon underpinned with green, is very crisp and delicious and uplifting. I don't do well with lemon (the fruit itself) fragrances as they're a bit too clean for me, but this is lovely. It lasts tolerably well for a lemon scent--three hours, and is barely detectable in the fourth. But it's one that's a delight to touch up. Chemistry does matter here--the first couple times I applied, I got a very true lemon verbena, but now, in my special time of month, I got a strong whiff of lemon candy that is fading into lemon pledge mixed with something slightly acrid. Mot horrible, but less than pleasant. Damned female plumbing. I don't think I'll spring for a 5ml of this, but I may get imps periodically, for wearing alone or for layering.

This is gorgeously masculine on me. The cedar is the predominent note, brightened by the minty balsam and smoothed out by a bit of vanilla. The sassafras is very much in the background, perhaps providing an initial touch of sweetness, but it fades quickly. It's really gorgeous, a really lovely fragrance. Refreshing, very Strong Silent Type. Evokes the great outdoors, a landscape more expansive than God. It is very rugged, but strong in a very sophisticated way. Actually, it reminds me of my boyfriend's hands. Large, strong, they have the blunt fingers and scars of a workman's hands, but they are effortlessly strong, they are understated in motion, and therefore elegant. That's how this fragrance is: it doesn't try to be anything, it just is. Strength that lies in potential. At this first stage it's still sweet enough that I can wear it--and I adore it mightily, but as time wears on the mintiness fades and the cedar becomes drier and very slightly bitter as the vanilla recedes. This makes it even more masculine--still gorgeous, but something so masculine that I sadly cannot wear it. Despite that, I'd have to say that this is one of my favorite oils as far as composition, up there with Snake Oil and Seraglio. It's a bleeping shame that I can't pull it off after its first stage--it's so good. I tried touching it to a bit of Snake Oil, hoping that the latter would sweeten it up enough for me to be able to wear it, but it had the reverse effect-- The Tombstone made Snake Oil drier and quite sexy in a very masculine way. If Snake Oil doesn't work for a guy on its own, this is the ticket for making it work. Lasting power is terrific. It's never very loud on me, but it stays put with a vengeance. It fades somewhat after a few hours, but it's still unquestionably there after eight hours. I would ask my sweetie to test it out except that he doesn't wear anything, and I'm not sure what he'd think... I'm strangely secretive about absurd things-- he knows about Snake Oil (and does he ever like it!), but I haven't told him that I am obsessed with BPAL and have tried and plan to try lots o' imps... Well, he'll find out this summer, when we're not 800 miles apart. If nobody claims it for swap, I might just ask him to give this a go. I do love smelling it. I'm wondering if a touch of sweet rose might make this one work for me. Hmmm... Moral of the story: try it! If a woman's chemistry pulls out the right notes, this one could be wonderful. And on a man, as Shollin aptly put it: sex on horseback!

BPAL chocolate seems to snub me. Upon touching my skin it transforms into something more or less nutty, but certainly not chocolate. Vice turns nutty, as does Velvet to a lesser degree. I thought Bliss would be too much and thus wasn't going to get it, but I'll apparently be lucky if even it remotely resembles chocolate on me! But back to the subject at hand. Velvet goes on with the slightly nutty note that Vice has on me. That combined with an equal dose of sandlewood. Both are quite soft, neither overpowers the other. Chocolate and Myrhh are MIA. It dries down to something soft, smooth, very well-balanced. The sandlewood is still there, but the nutty note has smoothed out into something I can't quite put my finger on. I would say buttercream except that it's not at all sweet. It smells like butter with a slightly vanilla powder. The color I get from this is white. Not snow white, nothing bright by any means. Whitish sweet cream butter, uncolored and unsalted. It's nice, might be nice on a cold, stay-home evening, but I don't think I'll keep it for that event. Someone else is bound to find it more attractive-- my chemistry is just bizzare

I received this from a generous swapper, and wowsers, is this ever strong! Huh. I get the sexual sharpness I find in O, a sharp note that's slightly foody and slightly bedroom shenanigans. It's slightly orangey, and there's a sharpness that much be the ginger, but it doesn't smell much like fresh ginger root on me. I don't get any patchouli, or at least not the earthy patchouli that I'm used to. Very strong, long-lasting. It's much too much for me, however, and I think it's just my chemistry's fault. Mine is pretty damned peculiar.

In the vial, quite boozy. I smell the mead and a touch of almond. Upon application this goes extremely sweet on me and is quite strong. I get primarily honeyed mead, with a bit of rum. No almonds, which is fine by me. There may be a few hazlenuts in the background, but they're very shy, and the buttercream has apparently got stage fright. Pretty powerful stuff, decent lasting power. I like it better as it fades-- it becomes slightly less sweet, a bit creamier as the background notes come out a bit more. It's veeerry foody on me-- it smells yummy, but it's too sweet and foody for me to like as a perfume. I've gotten an idea of what it must smell like on the people who love it, though-- warmed as a room scent, this is delicious. It's not nearly as cloyingly sweet--the rum balances out the honeyed mead, and the other notes provide a smooth, rich complexity. Very foody, yes, but very nice. I think I still prefer Vice as a cold weather room scent, but this is a close second!

What the...?!!! Ack!!! My body chemistry is psychotic! Do I smell honey? NO. Orange blossom or rose? NO! Sandlewood, maybe? Not a bit. What do I smell? GREEN APPLE JOLLY RANCHERS. Do not ask me how the hell I get green apple Jolly Ranchers, but this is all that comes out on me. Tart apple hard candy. Nothing else. It lasts and lasts. Five hours or so, still nothing but Jolly Ranchers. Too bad-- I thought I'd really like it. But my absurd chemistry is intent on ruining so many scents. Into the Swap Stack, you Jezebel!

I am puzzled. Snake Oil, I love. And Seraglio is absolutely perfect. But ever since I received it in a swap a couple days ago, I have been reaching for Old Sybaris every time I want to put something on. It's a funny thing, because as far as I consciously know, I really like Old Sybaris, but it doesn't inspire the same sort of devotion that Snake Oil or Seraglio do. I like it but don't think it perfect on me. "Think" may be the operative word, because I reach for this more often than for Snake Oil, and far more often that Seraglio, which I think is perfect, but can't see myself wearing more often than once every few weeks in very specific contexts. Perhaps the draw of Old Sybaris is that it slightly less perfect? Less context-specific? Perhaps. So... I have another odd compulsion in regard to this oil. The day I received it was a glorious day, warm and sunny. Old Sybaris for me is more cool or overcast day, nonetheless I put it on for the first time. And immediately thought, "hey, this is nice, why don't I layer some Lemon Verbena over it?" And I did. Promptly before drydown. Now, of course I never do this, always test out every scent in relative isolation for the first time. But not for Old Sybaris. I have very strong layering impulses with this one. This afternoon I was sniffing my wrists and thought, "hey, wouldn't this be smashing layered with a touch of lavendar!" I didn't have any, so I decided to add a touch of Snake Oil instead, which brought out the Vanilla of the tonka bean, and slightly cut the sweetness. I am a dabbler by nature, but I haven't had such strong urges to layer BPAL with any other scent. Old Sybaris with Lemon Verbena is, by the way, very nice, gives it a nice sparkle suitable for warm, sunny days. The scent itself is initially a clear violet note, sweet but not overly so, over a smooth base of tonka bean. As the oil dries, the clove comes out a bit, as do the incense notes, warming it up beautifully. I don't think of violet scents as particularly warm, but this is a very warm, mellow fragrance, quite nice. I was not planning to get a 5ml of this any time soon, but I may have to reconsider, what with my compulsive application... It is a puzzlement. ETA: After wearing this for a couple hours, I've noticed everytime I end up with a sickly sweet yet sharp odor on my wrists and on my clothing, almost the sort of post-coital smell I get from O... I ended up swapping this on that account, too bad, since I really did like the tonka bean aspect of this especially...

The wicked, malicious dark side of the Court of Faerie, Unseelie literally translates to ‘Unholy’. The Unseelie Court is ruled by Titania’s corrupted twin sister, the Queen of Air and Darkness. The Court rides the nighttime winds spreading chaos and miscief; woe be to any mortal that crosses its path. A misty, otherworldly scent laced with ethereal florals, crushed herbs and soft, dew-covered grasses. Interestingly enough, I don't get anything remotely floral in this. When it goes on it goes Opium-esque on me-- very spicy, not at all sweet. A bit masculine. It stayed spicy through drydown, although a green background began to emerge. Spicy green might have been okay had it been a bit sweeter, a bit more feminine on me, but as it stands, my chemistry is apparently very odd. Since my reaction seems so much different from most everyone else's, I'll try this again--perhaps it was reacting strangely with the body lotion I had put on that day?

Vice is really swell as a room scent, but it's a colder weather sort of scent. It's foody, but not overly so, nice and warm and scrumptious.

Initially, this smells like bright sunshine on a summery day--bright, tart berries, although on me these latter are very nondescript, the berriness of sweet tarts or the like. I might smell a bit of lemon, but not much, and not a true lemon. Perhaps this is why I get the sweet tart image--on me this has the brightness of citric acid, whie the berries are merely berry-ish, like the stuff featured in such candies. It's uplifting, bright, for twenty minutes, at which point the brightness recedes just a touch, as if thin, wispy clouds are now and again obscuring the sun. It's perfectly pleasant and it seems to last fairly well on me. Four good hours, although it's by no means strong for the duration. I get no real grassy notes, although i sometimes imagine a hint of grass, or perhaps just green at the very edges of the sunny tableau. During my special time of month, this was more nondescript berryish-- still sunny, and I could swear that I could detect the fragrance switching back and forth from sunny to cloudly... I got a very strong scent memory, but I couldn't figure it out. It smells young, reminded me of something I had smelled during childhood. At one point I though candy, another I thought that it was the berry carpet deoderizing powder that I had once smelled once at a friend's home. My current hypothesis is Sweet Tarts, but this oil is, of course, far more lovely and complicated. All in all, it's too youthful, too bright for me, but it's lovely nonetheless. Into the swap pile it goes...

In the vial this smells like complicated jasmine, with a bit of musk. On my skin this combination does not work terribly well. It's a very dry jasmine, but for a few hours after application I get something that smells of public restroom to me--ick! It's in the background of the scent, and I don't notice it unless I smell it up close, but it's definitely there. I think that it's the jasmine and the musk, although it may have something to do with the myrrh. After those few hours, the scent slowly begins to fade, and at that point it turns very nice--a warm jasmine scent? Who knew there could be such a thing. It's not sweet, but it does turn warm and relatively nice, for a jasmine. I did not get any rose, which might have helped temper the scent--apparently my chemistry is unduly fond of kicking up stinky jasmine. Oh well. Into the swap pile Rapture goes...

I think I'm in love. In the vial Seralgio is very much almonds, warm and roasted, with a touch of spice and orange peel. I'm not a fancier of almond scents, so I was delighted to find that the almond faded out upon drying, and the orange peel and spices warmed up beautifully, smelling something like Christmas, like spiced candles, except better, of course. This lasts for perhaps twenty minutes, at which point the orange peel settles into the background and the neroli comes out, still tinged in spice, primarily cinnamon with a touch of clove, and the rose slips in, playing a supporting role, but one very much necessary. This isn't the whole rose at all; the petals, rather, divorced from the more insistently rose pistils and stamens. The petals, and one smells them viscerally, their smooth waxiness. It's gorgeous, just perfect, becoming a warm, yet silken fragrance, silken despite the spices. The sandlewood does not come out on me, or perhaps I am understanding it as part of the spice. The end result is beautiful, perfectly balanced, and I can imagine wearing it on a regular basis. It is not very strong on me, but it was strong enough that when I had applied it to wrists, inner elbows, and behind my ears, after a couple hours, when I took a turn around campus at dusk, the cool breeze caught it and I would catch whiffs of it mixed with the barely discernible scent of magnolia blossoms in the courtyard and of the falling night. A large bottle will be in my future. EDITED to add: Can I just reiterate how much I love this? It's absolutely gorgeous on me. Not at all foody, nor too sweet, but a warm floral, viscerally smooth despite the spice. It smells the way petals feel, silken, waxily smooth. Very sensual. Sophisticated. It's perfect. It's exactly the sort of floral I've been looking for without knowing exactly what I wanted, knowing only that it had to be warm yet elegant, but not too white. I am in love.

Ah, the fabled Snake Oil... Vanilla, yes, but not foody, and not the vanilla I smell when cutting open a vanilla pod or opening a bottle of vanilla extract. Perhaps this is the "bourbon vanilla" that jj_j mentioned? I cannot distinguish any of the spices, but they are there, exotic, warming the vanilla and lending it interest. It does not throw for me much at all--it's a very quiet scent, laying close to my skin, blending with it really. It becomes something of a sweet, vanilla version of my skin. For me it's not sexual per se, more sensual and comforting. I imagine that my sweetie will like it on me--I am flying back for a long over due visit this weekend, so I will test it out on him then. The longer I wear this the better I like it--it's growing on me. I will wear it on quiet, knowing days, cool evenings, when I feel enigmatic or in need of comfort. I may need to order a 5ml soon on account of the liberality with which i must apply it to get any sort of aura around my body. Given the difference that chemistry can make, I will update it this changes on me. It lasts well

In the vial, I smell nuts, something like peanuts and hazelnuts with a liberal helping of maraschino cherries. On, I smell the same. It's very nutty, but without even a hint of chocolate, I'm sorry to report. The cherries become stronger, somewhat more syrupy. It's very edible, but not in the least anything I want to smell like. It wafts up a bit more than the other oils I've tried and it lasted quite well, both of which would be pluses if I liked it better. As time wears on the nuttiness fades, leaving just the maraschino cherries with vanilla hinting at the edges. Chocolate is MIA. I wil try it again in a few days to see whether Mother Nature is altering my chemistry substantially. I am currently using it as a room scent, and it's lovely. Warm cherry, with just a hint of chocolate. Think chocolate covered cherries--mainly cherries, but with a hint of chocolate. I don't know whether I'll keep it for that reason alone, but it is nice. Foody and comforting.

This smells of amber touched with vanilla in the vial, and that's how it smells on--no honey, disappointingly. It's very smooth, primarily amber, but with the vanilla I smell in Snake Oil--not true vanilla on me, but smoother. But not even the slightest whiff of honey, the reason I had wanted to try it in the first place. It stays very close to my skin, but lingers for several hours, even on my wrist, where fragrances are always somehow rubbed off. It does smell something like a room post-coitus--the underlying sweetness with a sharper note stabbing out every once in a while. While I don't mind amber as a base for other notes to play off of, this is primarily amber, so I don't think it's my thing. I am currently at the tail end of my special time of month, so I will try it again in a few days to see if matters improve.

Oops. My bad, as they say. I don't know how hard it is to set up this sort of thing, but another option might be bartering with someone who knows how to set up an automated response or something. But that is probably reaching. As far as the fairnesss--the shipping information is available on the website, so it's not as if everyone who orders doesn't have access to it right now. The only reason for the whole automated suggestion is to make sure that people get the info, just to cut down on confusion and the quantity of messages sent to BPAL about order status. Since a lot of people use PayPal, it could potentially help on that front. If it were possible, of course! Since this seems as though it may be too difficult, what else might feasibly work? I know that Beth and co. pride themselves on their customer service, but because of the sheer volume of messages, nobody can get to them in a timely manner, meaning that the unindoctrinated start bitching about how crappy the service is and start rumors about BPAL going out of business and suchlike. Now some of those people I'm sure no one wants as customers anyhow, but some of them probably just don't know what to expect and as a result get worried. It seems to me that BPAL is only going to get bigger, simply because the oils are so incredible, so my practical question is just, do we have any ideas to help ward off worried newbie emails? I agree on the spoiled front-- this is a McDonald's culture. We want everything in five minutes. And the old truism is, well, true, that some things are worth waiting for, and certainly near the top of that list must be BPAL! My suggestions are trying to be practical, even if not succeeding , but to be practical you have to be realistic about what you're dealing with. Given that our culture is McDonald's based, and given that people don't automatically understand that this is a small business and that they will email Beth if they don't understand why they don't get their orders in five minutes, what can be done to help keep those emails from happening? TigherRayn, there may have been a few vocal people who kept worrying about not receiving their orders after you explained everything, but I know that I, at least, understood and was much much less concerned. Thanks! And I'm sure there were a lot of other people who read your posts and got it too. I'll bet it cut back on the number of emails Beth received. So how can we or Beth do even more of that? So that Beth doesn't have to worry about so many emails asking the same question sitting in her inbox? And regular updates would be contingent upon people having a link to the forum in conjunction with their order, so it might be a moot point anyhow. Patience is a virtue-- and as such in scarce supply! I agree completely. And I myself have no problem with Beth posting whatever whenever she feels the spirit move. Again, I'm just trying brainstorm. I don't think that everyone who orders has necessarily discovered the forum--I ordered before I found out about it, which is probably a good thing, as my order would have grown exponentially! Those who haven't wouldn't know that Beth posts updates there. Maybe something so simple as including on the webpage a link to the forum with the explanation, "Order processing updates are posted on the forum when...insert witty condition allowing BPAL flexibility in the timing of updates." People do a lot better when they know what's going on and feel as though there is something that they can do to find out about it. It is certainly cultural--we are spoiled, we're used to having instant access--but it's also psychological. If people have realistic expectations and have some means of feeling "in the loop," they're going to be less freaked out and will not be contributing so much to Beth's inbox. So there's an idea that might work a little better. Anybody got anything else? We're smart people, we want Beth to succeed, so is there anything we can think of that can help? Another idea (and it's the last one, I promise! ) is that maybe one or two of us could be the customer service address and forward Beth the questions that only she can answer, and take care of the rest ourselves? That might at least help with the current volume of emails. None of this is attacking anybody in the least! Just trying to think of ideas to help Beth continue to provide great product and great service as her business expands.

I do realize that it's a small business-- my assumption is that one can rig an automatic response through PayPal. I'm no technological whiz kid, I'm pretty sure it's the case that regular ebay sellers can send automated message when a purchase is made. And I may just be on crack, but I think I've received automated messages from sellers after paying through PayPal. If I'm not just making this up, it wouldn't be that big of a deal to set one up, and it would cut back on the number of emails Beth receives from people who haven't read the FAQs on the shipping process. So long as the initial time investment isn't too extensive, it would end up saving time. Not the website!!!! I said a link to the forum in said hypothetical automatic email, and updates in the Announcements section of the forum. Again, this is a spend time to save time thing. Ten minutes a week tops to post an "Orders through xx/xx have been processed and will be shipped in x-ish days" in the announcements section is going to keep her inbox from being flooded with the "it's been two weeks! when am I gonna get my order!" type messages that she really doesn't have time to answer. I realize that Beth works like a crazy woman. She doesn't have time for such emails, and these can be largely averted through a system of this sort. The time commitment would be minimal, and she wouldn't have people distraught over the fact that she hasn't had time to answer their bazillion messages. As far as suggesting that the updates be regular, it's simply because people do much better when they know what to expect. Less panic, fewer emails to Beth. I definitely wasn't suggesting weekly updates to the website. It needs to be updated to let give people a more accurate idea of order processing time, but after that... Way too much work!

I don't think that it's the wait per se that has flustered some people-- it's just not having known to expect a month-long period before the product is even shipped out. Communication is the issue here--If we first timers had better known what to expect, I doubt that anyone would be the least bit perturbed. It's just that running to the mailbox for a few weeks on end tends to get people antsy. This certainly isn't to fault Beth-- this is a small business on its way to success and certain growing pains are only natural. I don't think she expected word of mouth to travel so quickly, and thus didn't know that there would be such lengthy processing delays. And if she didn't know, there's just no way she could have told us ahead of time, that's all. I think the time has come to get realistic, however. Although I am not at all in the loop, and can thus only speculate, it seems to me that BPAL is winning a larger and larger following--order levels don't seem likely to decrease any time soon. And in order to ensure that the business continues to expand, new customers need to know what to expect-- otherwise many will have unrealistic expectations that will be inevitably frustrated. This leads to an unfair perception that the customer service is lousy which in turn leads to negative word of mouth and a slowdown in the business's growth rate. None of which are desirable, since we all want the business to be so successful that Beth can quit her day job! My suggestions for taming the beast: 1. In the next webpage update, give a somewhat pessimistic processing time frame. If you end up processing them more quickly, you look good. If you underestimate, you risk losing more customers than will likely be deterred by slight overestimation. Given the enthusiastic word of mouth that brings in new customers, a 2-3 week processing time shouldn't deter too many would be customers, but to diminish the negative vibes of a long waiting period, try to word it in such a way that the number seems less threatening. Use weeks or business days. And reiterate the handcrafted quality and your popularity in explanation for the lengthy processing. 2. Once an order has been placed, send an automated email detailing exactly how notification of shipping will occur. Since use of CCNOW is being discontinued, this should be much less complicated. Include a link to the forum with the explanation that processing updates will be posted there. This will serve a dual function-- it will give people something to count on (updates) but will also introduce them into the "family," increasing their sense of personal involvement and making them more likely to cut Beth and co. some slack. 3. Post weekly updates to the forum on a set day. Just the "orders through xx/xx have been completed and will be shipped within the next week" or something of that nature. If clear expectations are set out from the get go, customers will be happier and Beth will have a hell of a lot less email to answer. My $.02...

Things are proceeding very slowly, as it seems. My March 13 order too was marked shipped on April 1 by CCNow, and Beth told me it would ship April 3. I finally got a USPS email on April 15 saying that it had been scheduled for shipment on April 14, meaning that I'll get it within the next week. So. Certainly, I can survive a month+ wait, but I really wish that I had known it would take so long, because I would have placed a larger order!

The site has not yet been updated, so you (and your fingernails!) have no cause for concern.

I don't want to hassle Beth, but my 3/13 order that she said would ship April 3 (CCNow marked it sent on the first) still isn't here. I did not receive a tracking email, or else it was filtered out as junk mail, so I have no way on checking on its status. I live in Boston, so there's only the distance to worry about, not any customs problems... Should I be worried enough to contact Beth? If it's lost, or there's a mixup, I'd like to set things to right as soon as possible, given that I won't be at this address forever. Whad'ya think?

Opening the vial releases the most vibrant chamomile scent—a green herbal scent liberally spiked with fruity apple. In short, it’s very chamomile, but vital, not the dried up, months old tea bags we drop into hot water before heading to bed. Applied, its vital quality is strengthened—this is just one of those scents that needs to be warm. I’m not quite sure how to explain it. Body heat intensifies the qualities of a fragrance. With some scents—read: jasmine and gardenia—I love them in nature but have difficulty wearing them because they become richer, smoother, unbearably luscious and so cloyingly warm. So thick and warm that I have to dash to the window for a gasp of cold air. In this case, my body heat simply intensifies the inherent vitality of the scent such that it has its own bright green pulse. On the skin, applied somewhat liberally, this is bright but complicated enough to be deeply satisfying. It separates its primary “smells like” components for you on the skin: true to real life chamomile, it smells like round sweet apple over an herbal base of which mint is the most identifiable constituent. This vital chamomile scent stays true throughout wear, still pulsing and alive, but pulsing always these same surprisingly rich notes. Generously applied, it begins to lose some of its original potency after the first hour, but is still discernible from short distances after a few hours. Overall, it’s delightful and uplifting, but also soothing, and certainly a pleasure to wear. I don’t know that I’ll order full bottle, as I’ve a few hundred BPAL scents left to sample, but I will certainly keep the imp.

In the vial this smells somewhat of daffodils—there’s a noticeable green element with a sunny floral reminiscent of daffodils. It misses a true replica of the scent, however, in that the green undertones are not strong enough and in that the floral tone seems is more bent on representing the color than the fragrance of the flower. When applied, the green is subsumed in cheerful yellow—and this is very yellow, very yellow in the sunshine, bright notes tapping out a cheery yellow beat. It’s quite unconcerned with its failure at capturing the daffodil’s scent and is perfectly enthralled with its own daffodil yellowness—it evokes the sensations proper to the daffodil’s color and is content. It lovely, uplifting, quite charming, in fact. After I’d been sniffing this for fifteen or so minutes, quite taken in by its spring cheer, it began to remind me of something. It’s not the scent proper, but the after scent that lingers in the nostrils after a deep breath—it corresponds quite closely with that of my face wash—Cetaphil for oily skin, which sports a much harsher version of this scent, unpleasantly without its bright notes. This becomes only slightly problematic for me—as the scent settles down, say, after an hour, or so, it loses some of its cheer. The sunny yellow top note fades, rendering the fragrance’s after-scent nearly identical to that of the Cetaphil. The scent itself is still pleasant, still quite yellow even, but I’m not so keen on the face wash connection. The good news is that as this wears, it becomes more concerned with the actual daffodil, with reproducing its scent as well as just splashing yellow every which way. If I were to describe it in terms of sound, it’s still in the upper register, bright and still yellow, but it has softened to again let through a bit of the green. It’s still not quite daffodil, but it’s trying a little harder now. It’s still cheery, albeit in a more muted way. It's lovely, but it's not something I think I'll wear on a regular basis. I will update later concerning its sticking power—earlier I had applied a small dab on my wrist, but that faded rather quickly, so I’ve reapplied more generously at the wrist and inner elbow and must wait to see how it turns out.

I've not yet received my 3/14 order, so perhaps ours are just taking the slow train in... Here's hoping for tomorrow!

Eating anything needing serious jaw action increases blood flow to the head, bringing more oxygen to the brain which contributes to alertness. Or something more or less like that...