jayne

Smells of sugary lemon at first, quickly turns into an aerosol-like scent. It reminds me of the cheap toiletry kits they give you on long international flights. No thanks.

I've been trying to give BPAL a shot. I really have. I fully expected to like Snake Oil since there seem to be so many positive reviews and, hell, I love vanilla and spice and creamy scents. I put this on and thought, "Well ok it's kind of headshoppy and powedery in a way I wouldn't call pleasant..very sweet... ok, very VERY sweet... ok now it's burning my skin a bit but at least that plastic scent isn't as strong as with other imps I've tried..." And then I paused and realized that if I picked up this sample at any normal boutique, I'd have admitted it was a scrubber almost immediately. I really hate this whole "just let it age!" philosophy. Isn't that what the lab should be doing itself? Holding onto frags like Snake Oil for a year or so until it ages properly? I don't go to winery and pay for a bottle of wine and happily trot off after they hand me a jug of grape juice. I don't expect it from my perfumer either.

Wet on skin, it was straight almond extract with a dash of maraschino cherries. Sickly-sweet. It's been about half an hour. My skin is slightly irritated. Smells faintly of sugar and plastic. Amusingly, this is one of the better samples I've tried and it's still miserable.

First there is plastic. Under the plastic is soap. Under the soap is spice. flat, linear, boring.

Lascivious, flirtatious, and vampy as hell. A true heartbreaker’s perfume. The innocence of orange blossom tainted by the beguiling scents of ginger and patchouli. Initial application, still wet - chocolate, patchouli, orange Twenty minutes later: powder plastic baby doll No thanks. And it burned my skin.

Initial application: Fruity Pebbles Twenty minutes to an hour: I get the tea and spices, but it's overwhelmed by an artificial chemical scent. I got some massage bars from Lush awhile back but I eventually had to toss them because they filled my bathroom with that same chemical scent. That slowly fades over the course of an hour, becoming very sweet instead. Entire scent fades away soon after. Not my thing.

double post

I don't have an agenda. I don't run a competing company or something. PM me and I'll add you on facebook if you really care. When I have questions, sometimes I can be very stubborn about finding their answers. And frankly, being mocked and insulted for asking something any consumer has a right to know only made me more determined. I am personally not invested in the synthetics vs. all-natural debate, I don't care which is on my skin so long as it is isn't physically or environmentally harmful. HOWEVER there are a number of people who do feel it matters for medical, religious and philosophical purposes. Their concerns were being ignored but they didn't want to rock the boat so they let it go. I don't mind making a fuss for them. I was told a number of times by other customers that BPAL is all-natural, sometimes in a hostile manner. I honestly find it troubling that that misconception would be so widespread in a forum filled with lab staff and such otherwise knowledgeable fans. I find it odd that this wasn't already on record. Of course, you may read that email and believe that "as natural as possible without compromising safety" is the same as all-natural. That's your prerogative and I won't get into that debate again.

So, I wrote to the lab and this is the the very prompt and thorough response I received. I feel very satisfied that all my questions have been answered. The comments in the previous thread were frozen and I can't comment on that entire sub-forum anyway, so I thought I would post it here. I'm not trying to drag this out, but it's only right for everyone to see the email themselves. I think it is pretty safe to say for future reference that BPAL is not "all-natural." Bolding is my own.

Good lord. I never said he was gospel. I do respect his opinion and consider him one of the most intelligent perfume critics I've ever come across. I find his writing interesting, witty and elegant. But I don't agree with all of his reviews, nor am I educated enough in molecular physics to comment on his theory of smell. I can say this though. It's a THEORY. Yes, like all new theories it is controversial, but it's not so out there as to be considered wacky by the scientific community. http://www.nature.com/news/2006/061204/ful...s061204-10.html Honestly, this is just grasping for things to attack me with.

Ok, I started an email a little bit ago upon the (many) suggestions of commenters. I need to focus my energy there, you're right. I'll send it out tonight. And for the record, I understand perfumers can be very secretive about their formulas. I appreciate that. I'm not asking for names of companies or recipes for accords or anything like that. I just want a yes or no to the all-natural question. I don't imagine that information would be a huge revelation for scammers.

Thanks for the explanation. I don't consider bouquets made from various essential oils to be synthetic. To me, synthetic means that you had to perform a chemical reaction to create the note. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perfume#Synthetic_sources "Many modern perfumes contain synthesized odorants. Synthetics can provide fragrances which are not found in nature. For instance, Calone, a compound of synthetic origin, imparts a fresh ozonous metallic marine scent that is widely used in contemporary perfumes. Synthetic aromatics are often used as an alternate source of compounds that are not easily obtained from natural sources. For example, linalool and coumarin are both naturally occurring compounds that can be inexpensively synthesized from terpenes. Orchid scents (typically salicylates) are usually not obtained directly from the plant itself but are instead synthetically created to match the fragrant compounds found in various orchids." Edit: I know you all aren't going to be fond of my beloved Luca Turin, but here he is in a TED Talk discussing how he created a synthetic fragrance compound. It's honestly really fascinating and even if you don't like synthetics, it's worth a listen.

To the best of my knowledge, the full list of prototypes in circulation that may contain aldehydes are Toxin, Nihil, and Zero. They were involved in the forum fundraiser raffle last year. Nothing currently on offer from BPAL contains synthetics, or the Lab would be very clear about saying so. I thought that this answered the question about all natural or not pretty well. Thank you for digging all these up. I had read them previously and they were what I was referring to when I mentioned statements and retractions. What I gathered from this was that previously they were all-natural and they started (and abandoned) the synth line and so they retracted their claims on being all-natural. And the statement about being all-natural is the official statement and came after the abandonment of the synth line? And after the retraction, no new perfumes have been created that use synthetics?

I cared about whether they were using commercial prefabricated blends intended for lotions and candles. I got an answer to that and I'm grateful. Alternatively, I'm not personally invested in natural vs. synthetic (although other people with health issues are), but I would still like a definitive answer and have received no straightforward answer from lab staff about that topic. Clearly there isn't enough information out there on the natural vs. synthetic question since many people give contradictory answers and the lab remains totally mum on the subject. I'm getting annoyed with being picked on just because I want a straight answer. What kind of world do you live in where a consumer asking if a product is all-natural is the same as harassment?

To all who responded to my last comment... As I said in my comment, I don't care if a perfume is synthetic or natural. I wear lots of synthetic perfumes. But I am a very curious person and I like getting to the bottom of something that I've start investigating. My initial question was: From everything I have read and based on everyone I have spoken to, I am under the impression that BPAL purchases component oils (some of which are synthetic) from small companies. None of those oils are pre-fabricated blends. I don't like being told by numerous commenters that the oils are "all-natural" and but then have the owner of the company totally avoid discussing that aspect of the perfumes in an otherwise very thorough post. I am honestly trying to be very polite while still getting clear answers. But if healthy curiosity from a consumer is "trolly" to you, then you really need to take a step back and examine yourself. P.S. LadyMedb, you hit the nail on the head. Obsessively truthseeking is a kind of painfully accurate description for me.