clover

Well, I'm not good at using the little symbols that represent certain sounds (the word for which escapes me this morning ), but I can sound it out for you... Carceri (like car+CHerry) d'Invenzione (Din-ven-zee-Oh-nay). In Italian it's usually the second to last syllable that has the accent.

I *love* the look of the Yule labels, from what I've seen in pictures. It looks very much in keeping with the aesthetic of the BPAL website, which is one of the things that drew me to the company in the first place. So I guess it's all a matter of taste.

I *love* gardenias, and there's been a couple of really beautiful gardenia scents introduced since this thread was first started! My first suggestion would be Euphrosyne. I think it's the truest gardenia scent in the BPAL catalog, and the gardenia is softened by vanilla. And it's a traditional floral perfume. It's gorgeous, gorgeous, gorgeous! Also, Tavern of Hell starts out a little scary, but after a couple of minutes dries down to a lovely creamy gardenia scent. However, Tavern of Hell may be no better of a name than Sacred Whore.... Oh, and Blood Countess! Although the berries are stronger than the gardenias in that one, it's just a great scent. Also - although the notes aren't listed, so this is just my speculation - I think Swadhisthana from the Chakras (the sacral chakra) has a strong gardenia scent. It's gorgeous, too - one of my very, very favorites. Magnolia is definitely similar to gardenia...I also think tuberose is close as well, and plumeria & jasmine to an extent. Although jasmine can go several ways.

Well, we spend a lot of time ensuring that the rules *are* enforced evenly...so if you (or anyone) has a concern about a rule being applied fairly, you should feel free to contact us about it.

I would suggest Sophia & Paris. Both are lavenders whose sharpness is tempered nicely by soft florals and spices. They're both great!

1) Snake Oil - because it's by far their most popular scent! The ultimate oriental: the best there is. 2) Dragon's Milk - because it's deceptively simple, but so unlike anything else out there. 3) Fae - The opposite of Dragon's Milk, an example of Beth's mastery of the traditional, complex perfume. 4) Samhain - Because it's such a perfect representation of its concept, and also the general feeling of BPAL. 5) Come to Me - It's a voodoo oil! No, it's a perfume! No, it's a voodoo oil! No, it's a perfume! 6) Kali - an example of BPAL as storytellers. Putting a myth in a bottle. 7) Blue Moon - The perfect lunar blend. 8) TKO - Damn, they're good at aromatherapy, too! 9) Iago - A little something for the men out there. I admit, I just chose my favorite. You could substitute Dorian. 10) O 11) Alice 12) Morocco And the last three are just three BPAL scents that everyone should try. Classics. ETA: Of course I'm not sorry Olympia! This is my favorite kind of category...I could talk about perfume all day.

Oooh, this is such an interesting question. I'm going to put together a list, but I have to say...it would be interesting to know why people would pick the scents they would pick, too. (Hint, hint olympia!)

Yeah, it's defnitely looking like musks are your culprit to me. It's funny, when I got my first BPAL order, I remember thinking that all of the scents smelled powdery on me. Now, I think hardly any of them do. Sometimes I wonder if there's a bit of a learning curve with BPAL. I think it may be best to start out with crisper scents until your nose gets used to them...look for notes like citrus or tea, or crisp florals. Avoid notes like musk, amber, resins & rose. They're just softer in general, and tend to read as more powdery. You mentioned that you like spicy and exotic scents - you might try something like Sin or Bengal or Love Me. I believe they all contain cinnamon (or cassia)...which is a nice spicy ingredient that probably won't read as powdery. A couple of other suggestions - don't try the scents in too quick of succession! Your nose will get tired and start to read everything as similar. And, if you find that a whole bunch of scents aren't working for you at one time...it might be hormonal. Wait a week or two and try them out again. Don't give up! You'll find the perfect scents (or scents!) if you give it a chance.

The closest scent I know of to Bruja is Dragon's Eye. It's not an exact match, but to me they're similar in that they're both sweet resins + lilac. Lilac is a pretty distinctive scent, so that might be what you want to look for!

From the measurements, it sounds like your GC is a 10ml. What scent is it?

Ooo.. I must get in on these if the chance arises again! That is such a sweet thing for the lab to do! i don't think the lab has done anything like this in quite some time tho'... Well, it seems to me that I get gifts every time I receive an order. I guess we just get used to frimps, though. When the Panaceas were first introduced (last summer, I think?) the Lab upgraded the first 50 of each from 5mls to 10mls. The Lab is awesome.

It's the same scent. It's the red musk that changes color - I've had light & dark imps of Spellbound, Kabuki & Scherezade. They can go from almost black to a golden color. No worries!

Yep, those are the round corked bottles. As far as I know, Spooky was the only LE that came in that kind of bottle - and that was the first round of Spooky, when it was a gift with purchases. That kind of bottle was used occasionally on GC scents, too. I've had two of them - Lust & Embalming Fluid. (still have the Embalming Fluid - it's like, day-glo now.) The Embalming Fluid came from a store called Eye Spy Ecclectics, which used to carry BPAL - and the Lust came from a forumite. I *loved* the look of those little bottles - it was one of the things that drew me into BPAL in the first place!

Darklorelei, I believe the search engine won't search for words that are too common..."the" "and" etc...because too many results would be found. I'm pretty sure that list includes numbers, as well. Which would explain why Two, Five and Seven isn't searchable.

I never know what you mean when you start talking about marshmallows, josey. My take: the three of them are very, very different. Antique Lace is a light, thin, sweet (to my nose cloying) vanilla and Mouse's Long and Sad tale is a rich, deep, round, golden vanilla. Neither one of them are particularly foody, I don't think. To me Eat Me smells like a box of angel food cake mix. Powdery and tart. It's really good stuff, too.

My trick to getting off an unwanted scent is to rub the "affected area" with a whole bunch of some sort of carrier oil (usually jojoba in my case) to try to soak up some of the scent, and then rub with either a sugar scrub or plain dishsoap. Almost always does the trick, and is moisturizing, too.

Totally off topic, but your topic title made me think of my Grandfather, because he always used to tell me that he had the *worst* recurring nightmares when he was growing up that would involve him being kidnapped by a band of giant vegetables. On topic, the pictures are beautiful! I so wish I had the outdoor space to grow veggies and flowers.

Well, it's not listed as an official ingredient...but if it doesn't contain civet, it certainly has the most animalistic of musks! ETA: My favorite civet-y scent was a Twilight oil, Flame of Desire. Yes, I know it's not officially a perfume, but it smells SO GOOD.

Wow, thanks for sharing your pictures, Heretic! They're amazing.

Eat Me Sniffing from the bottle: Lighter than what I was expecting. Smells more like caramel than cake to me. Upon appliation: Now it smells more like cake. White cake with just a little hint of almond, very fresh. After a few minutes: Eat Me totally surprises me, because after a couple of minutes, the foodiness completely goes away. I assume the currant is taking over, and the tartness of it the fruit surprises me. It's a very light, powdery, tart, sweet fruit. Quite nice. Conclusion: Really light and pretty but lasts a long time. While I like it a lot, I don't think it's quite me. I'll be tempted to keep the imp around just to sniff it, though.

Mouse's Long and Sad Tale Sniffing from the bottle: I think I shrieked a little. This is one of the most striking of Beth's oils that I've smelled straight from the bottle. It smells, as others have said, like heaven. Pure, true sweet pea and creamy vanilla. Upon appliation: It's sweet, what with the ambers and vanilla and sweet pea, but not overwhelmingly so. The vanilla isn't the cloyingly sweet kind that you find in Antique Lace (to my nose anyway), but a creamier, richer version. And the sandalwood? It's like, genius, man. Adds just enough depth and strength to round the scent out and give it lasting power. After a while: Still going strong. Conclusion: Like golden sun shining through cottony pink clouds. Heavenly. A new favorite.

I haven't tried Ochosi yet, but I think Coyote is similar to Buck Moon!

Scorpio Thanks to the lovely Heavenlyrabbit for sending me an imp or this to try! First impression: Whoa, violets! Upon application: Violet is the first note that jumps out at me, but there's something stronger, too, that I can't quite place. I think maybe it's magnolia...it's got that bite to it. After a few minutes: Now I'm thinking the bite is pine. It's interesting though, considering the dominant notes seem to me to be violet & pine - this scent seems really rather red. There's something sweet, red & spicy changing the general character. Conclusion: It's defnitely got an empowering, kick-you-upside-the-head kind of strength to it. I love the scent, but I wonder if I can get away with it...

I'm intrigued to find out if the Qliphoth have special labels. Anyone know?

Shango First impression: Tropical fruit lifesavers. Upon application: Upon application it's the tart apple that is the most noticable note. None of the other fruits jump out at me, but they blend to give the impression of a bevy of spices - a la Lampades. Really lovely, earthy and bold. A few minutes later: There seems to be a slight crystalizing sugariness to it, as well. A while later: Shango surprises me by turning just a little bit watery. Not heavily aquatic, but defnitely a little bit...watery. It's really, really nice. Conclusion: I was wary of a few of the tropical notes in this one, but it turns out to be a big winner.