jayne

I'm sorry but that sentiment makes me really angry. This is exactly what you accuse BPAL of doing. So maybe you should sit back a minute and think of whether we should be just as mad at you. Beth takes enormous amounts of pride in her work and will take YEARS to perfect a blend. It is RIDICULOUSLY insulting to say that she just slaps together fragrance oils like a generic chain candle maker. You should have read the FAQ and About Us sections of the site, and the FAQ section of this board before you started making judgements. You know... I would really take what you said more seriously if BPAL didn't produce hundreds of fragrances every year for the exact same (very low) price. The people on Luca Turin's blog had a point about the basic logistics/economics of it all. I'm trying to do the reading suggested by some very nice commenters but so far I'm still left uneasy. And for the record, while I did quote people who compared bpal to velveeta, I never endorsed their view.

This was really helpful. Thank you so much. Your comment felt really...honest. (And thanks to other people who responded! I'm kind of overwhelmed right now with links and comments...) Well, I went to makeupalley and picked out the most popular, generally appealing ones I could find: Snake Oil, Dorian, White Rabbit, Old Morocco, Dana O'Shee, and Vixen. I was really hoping to find a smooth smokey lavender but I didn't want to risk it early on without being more educated.

Oh that would be really cool. I live in a larger city, so it might be an option. I looked on the website but I couldn't find any listing for boutiques that carry BPAL. Is there a page anywhere that has this?

I'm sorry but that sentiment makes me really angry.

To be fair, I have his book and I tried to see if BPAL was reviewed but it wasn't listed. It wasn't until later that I thought to look in the archives of his (now defunct) blog. I agree with people who say I need to give the samples a try before freaking out. Maybe I've been overreacting.

Erm... This is really besides the point of the discussion, but you can get a 1 ml sample of Chanel perfume for $3. You can also get a sample of pure parfum oil for as little as $9. Usually though, I just go to department stores and boutiques and test things for free or ask for for samples. Sales ladies are often pretty generous.

Thanks for the link, naeelah. I'll check it out.

$25 on perfume samples is a luxury for me, so it does matter.

I don't mind that Guerlain uses synthetics, but they are synthetics crafted by perfumers. I personally believe there is artistry to it. But alternatively, I can appreciate a small-scale perfumer who blends natural essential oils. I value that side of things too and definitely see the appeal. But it's that middle ground, of pre-blended synthetic oils that are found in Yankee Candles, that I want to avoid. By the way, alcohol has never bothered my skin and I don't notice it after the first minute or two, although I know that isn't true for everybody.

Well... I'm not trying to disparage BPAL or anything. Honestly, I just started learning about it recently. But I've been buying $3 samples from The Perfumed Court for the past year. I can get just about anything from there. BPAL is actually a little more expensive. I guess I've just been immersed in the world of traditional perfumery for awhile. People take a lot of pride in craftsmanship, on assembling their perfumes molecule by molecule or using the finest essential oils. Maybe I am being a bit prejudiced...

Sorry, that was unclear... I want to know if BPAL blends commercial fragrance oils to make their products. Are they essential oils that Beth makes herself? Are they essential oils that she buys? Are they synthetic oils made by BPAL in chemistry labs?

So, some background: I started getting into perfumes about a year and a half ago. Some of my favorite frags are Chanel's Sycomore, Histoires des Parfum's 1826, Ormonde Jayne's Ormonde Woman, and Frederic Malle's Musc Ravageur. I enjoy oils too and have bought samples/bottles from CB I Hate Perfume, Kiehl's, Memoire Liquide, Kai, and Amouge. Recently friend told me about BPAL, I looked around a bit, thought it looked fun, and ordered 6 samples of popular oils. After my order, I remembered to go to the archives of a blog by perfume expert and critic Luca Turin. I just did a quick search for BPAL and came up with a really interesting conversation. Luca had never heard of the company, but his wife and colleague Tania Sanchez had. She wrote: Yikes. I thought the wonderbread grilled cheese and Yankee Candle comparisons were brutal... until I came across a thread in this forum happily comparing BPAL oils to Yankee Candle. Also in Luca's blog many commenters (many of whom are perfumers themselves) said things like: I came to the board to look for answers and I found the thread that talks about whether or not the oils are natural. The reticence from the Lab on the subject told me that they most likely weren't. So... Can anyone tell me more about the general source of the oils? I'm sure a lot of people are going to say things like "that's ridiculous! they don't know what they are talking about! they don't know bpal at all!" but do you have hard proof they are wrong?