jewelbug

Teehee--I love that! I also have a bachelors in science. Both full of B.S., we are. Only mine apparently didn't prepare me for the real world applications of bpal....

Hehe, thanks for the chem/physics refresher you two! I'm a biologist myself, so, I think of everything at 37C--fats and waters alike. Anyway, I'm quite happy to realize, Oh, yeah, oils don't expand. So even if they froze, they wouldn't burst outta the glass. That's a load off. Now, for another issue. Would the glass freeze? (um, yeah, i know its solid already). But, like, could it get so cold that it would crack upon contact witht he warm air in my house? I know this can happen with dishes and such. I suppose I can always let my packages acclimate to my apt temps before i even open them. But everyone here knows how hard it is to not rip into them immediately.... Input?

Okay, I know there is a thread about bpals freezing during the shipping process. But its kinda speculative and suggests that its POSSIBLE to have imps and bottles freeze and explode and stuff. But its not really substantiated. So, my question (and I apologize if its already been answered in this thread), is this: IS there a danger of my bpal bursting if its cold outside? And if they do freeze, will it compromise the integrity of my oils? There's a thread on that topic, too, but i don't think they get to a definitive answer. I ask cuz its flipping cold outside here now, and I'm feeling rather protective of my pending bpalanniversary order....

Ditto! I've been hoping for a HIWTK similar bpal too. But haven't found any so far. Like Sheila, gluttony was too buttery on me. Hellcat was better for me, but still not like HIWTK. Anyone think Dana O'Shee has any HIWTK similarity (I haven't tried it yet)? I'm wondering if that'll be the closest one i can find....

Oooh, kinda a related question: Any bpal blends one would recommend for curbing appetite/stimulating weight loss? Food is definitely my BIGGEST vice.

I'm also not familiar with Ambra, but from the notes, I'm wondering if you've tried Tombstone? Its A rugged, warm blend of vanilla, balsam and sassafras layered over Virginia cedar., Its listed as traditionally masculine, but its a slightly sweet/vanilla woodsy smell, and very lovely. Also something with similar notes (and a beautiful blend) is Anubis: His scent is a blend of holy myrrh, storax, balsam, and embalming herbs. I would defnitley say that Anubis evokes the centuries old temptations. I've not tried Hades, but its listed as:black narcissus and cypress, stephanotis, opoponax, labdanum, onycha and ambergris. Might be worth a shot, since its got the opoponax and labdanum. Good luck! I hope you find one that works.

Imp: Musk and spice. Very lovely. Dark, red and sexy. On, Wet: More musk than spice. Very dark and husky. There is also a hint of powder, though I don't know which of the notes would do that…. Dry:10 min: Mostly a deep musky with slight spice, but there is a soapiness floating around, too, which I don't like. Silly skin chemistry…In about 10 minutes, I get a rush of cinnamon, but it quickly subsides into the background. Oh, come back! 20 min: the cinnamon phase ends quickly, and this settles into a lighlty spiced dark red musk. I don't recognize the saffron, but that doesn't mean I'm not smelling it… In 2-3 hrs, this is Red Musk sex. Its slightly powdery, rather than soapy now. This has great throw, and amazing staying power--it was still strong after 6 hrs of wear AND doing dishes with it on my wrist. Overall: This is such a successful blend. Its exactly what I would imagine scherezade to smell like as she enchanted her audience. Ritualistic spice/incense/musk. So slinky and sexy, its hard to describe. Lovely, and I'm glad I tried it. I don't usually wear scents this strong/powerful though, so while I think its amazing, I know its not for me.

Imp: Berry. On deeper inhale, there is something….odd…it kinda smells like the berry is overripe. There is a medicinal quality to it as well. My husband described it as a combo of bad fruit toothpaste at the dentist (not the minty sort) and tasting your novacane shot. I think he's being harsh, but he really doesn’t like it. That doesn't bode well for me wearing this scent (seeing as HE'S the one that will be smelling me more than anyone else). But I'm gonna try it anyway. Wet: Berry, but something sharp, tart/bitter and green. As it dries, the bitter tart note (which I wasn't all that fond of) starts to mellow out. Dry: This is ALLLL BERRY. This is going the berry air-freshner route that so many berries seem to go on my skin. Its sweet and berry and has a TON of throw. Too bad I don't enjoy smelling like jam and air fresheners. I actually think this is the same strawberry note as in pink moon, but my skin is amping it, so it has none of the complexity of pink moon (which I own and love). Everything in Maenad that isn't berry is sucked dry on my skin. This lasts about 4 hours. Overall: Too much berry, too little else. Damn my silly skin chemistry. I think I would probably really like this if my skin didn't amp the berry so much.

Lustrous, sanguine, soft and lavish: soft orris, blood musk, and coconut. Imp: Similar note to Florence in this, I must look it up. Mostly, at this point, it's grassy, sweet, and slightly fumy. I don’t really get coconut out of this in the imp. On, wet: On my skin, the musk darkens almost immediately to make it really sexy. There is something quite earthy, which I guess is the orris. There seems to be a hint of berry/cherry sweetness, too, maybe from dragon's blood? This is a light scent, which is surprising given the strong notes in here. But I really have to put my nose up there to smell it. Dry: the throw increases significantly. This really reminds me of Florence with fewer berries, and with moresharpness to it. I keep thinking that there is iris in this, though the notes don't actually say so. The coconut is still, unfortunately, AWOL. There is something striking me as floral, as well, kinda powdery, but also a bitter greenness to it. This lasts for 6+ hrs, and ends in a slightly berry sweet powdery musk. I think in the late dry down I get very fleeting coconut, but I might just be trying to convince myself. Overall: This is a beautiful blend, slightly sweet, huskily musky, with a hint of powder. I wish that I got more (okay, any) coconut from this. This is quite a nice skin scent, but not my usual kinda love. I might revisit this later; to see if my hormones change to let the coconut through. edited to add description

Imp: Mostly a fruity berry smell with a hint of sharpness in the back. A tiny bit powdery. Wet: Still berry, but there is a hint of something sweet and creamy--kinda like a smooth custard with berries all over it. There is a sharp, tart floral in the back--well, its either iris or orris, I guess, I don't really know what those two smell like. Drying: The sweet berry tones down and becomes quite pleasant. The sharp note is coming to the front, supported by the sweet berry. I can tell there is amber in this, as its taking on that powdery amber smell. Its qutie lovely, despite the sharpness. No spices, though. Dry, 30 mins: This is a very warm evocative scent. The amber is golden and at the forefront, doing its usual amber/powder thing that I like. The berries are still background, giving the whole scent a pleasant sweetness. My problem, I think is with the iris/orris. It has a bitter greenness to it, adding a sharpness to this otherwise smooth and luxuriant blend. After and hour-2hrs, the warm powdery amber is taking over. It’s a lot of powder and a little berry. The bitter iris has blended into the distance and doesn't really bother me now. This is pretty, but not something I'd normally wear. I actually love the blend, but its not for me simply because the iris takes over. I would not mind revisiting this scent for the future, thouhg. You never know, I might change my mind…. Overall: I would not mind revisiting this scent in the future. However, the beginning where the sharp iris takes over does not thrill me. It mellows into a lovely berry/amber/powder, but has less staying power than I'm accustomed to from amber blends. After 3 hrs, its still pretty, but I can't smell it until I'm right on top of it. Its like one of those "skin scents." Like me, but better. I'm glad I tried this, as its lovely (and is applicable to my renaissance costuming). I might wear it for days when I'm in my florentine-ish garb, but its not a regular use blend for me.

Imp: Intensely fruity--like a bag full of dried apricots. I don't smell the boozy/brandy note, but my nose usually has trouble picking up on boozy notes, so that's not surprising. Him (I warned him it was fruity, but he wanted to try it for the name): Wet: Smells like this apricot cheese we had at a wedding last weekend. Weird. Its syrupy apricots and then a hint of salty cheese. Dry (about 20 min): Yup, still incredibly fresh apricots with a hint of cheese. Makes me want fancy cheese, but my husband should NEVER smell like cheese. Hehe. Overall Him: EW. Apricot Cheese. Interesting skin chemistry my hubby's got…. Me: Wet: Apricots. And a bit of…wow, I can smell it…booze. There is a green leafiness to this too, which I was not expecting.. Dry: Pure dried apricots, no more leaves, no more booze. Its awesome that Beth caught this in an imp. This makes me crave tea and scones with apricot jam… This has a lot more staying power than I expected,and is going strong at 3 hrs. Overall, Me: The accuracy of the apricot in this was astounding. As was the throw. I'm not a fruity kinda person when it comes to perfume choices, though, so I may pass this on to someone else. I'm just happy I had the chance to smell it! On second thought, maybe I should try layering this with other stuff before swapping it off so quickly....hmmmm....

Imp: Parsley and woodsap. This doesn't really smell like smoke, destruction or ashes to me. It smells very fresh, actually. I like it. I'm trying this on the hubby: Wet: Still fresh, but less green/parsley smell. A bit of citrus smell to this. I am astounded by how clean it is, given the foreboding description. As it dries, it remains a very fresh smell, and takes on a salty tinge. I smell woods in this, but they don't smell like the crackling burnt woods of the description. They're more sappy smelling. There is a tinge of burnt, I think, but not what I would normally think of as burnt. Despite not being what I expected after reading the notes description, the smell is a wonderful clean manly smell, and I like hubby in it. Dry: The citrus from before is gone. Its just shower clean with a slash of outdoorsy-ness. It does kinda make me think of camping, but not really for campfire reasons. Good staying power, still around after 5 hours, and only somewhat faded. Overall: Hubby and I have scheduled having a jolly roger/djinn smell off to determine which of these clean smells will be HIS clean smell. Hehe. Later: Okay, we did the comparison, and he prefers Jolly Roger. We really like both, but they're so similar on him that we won't need both. To the swaps with Djinn--its far to masculine for me (and my results were pretty much identical to the hubby's).

This is one of Beth's many scent adventures for me: Imp: Citrusy--I wanna say orange--but also very herbal and fresh, kinda grassy. On, wet: This smells incredibly green, not what i was expecting from the name. Its like cut grass with a hint of orange and barely there incense. Its very clean and fresh. I think there's ginger in this, as well. BUT.... As this dries, the fresh grass takes on a dry grainy smell, which then disappears into the background. about 3-4 minutes, i get dry grass/grains with some incense, and bit of floral-gone-powder. Never fear... Dry: This is a musky wonderful cinnamon bark over a dry floral. I think there be some dry spicy woods in here, too. Its lightly sweet, and just intriguing to smell. It still has a hint of incense, but not of the head-shop variety. Every now and again I kinda feel like I'm getting some tropical type fruits. Its completely different from the green grass and orange smell of the beginning--if i had a dry one and wet wrist of Silk Road, I would never guess they were the same. What a fun morph to follow! Overall: This one is complex and beautiful. I'm becoming really enamoured with Beth's spicier scents. She continues to kick perfume ass! I'll be holding onto this imp and using it up to decide if i want a bottle or not.

Imp: Citrusy spicy, slightly musky, hint of creamy vanilla. Heady florals in back? On, wet: This is a very heady, spicy, sweet and almost citrusy musk. Mimosa quality, like in succubus. There is a deep floral to this, and one I think I like--a cool discovery since i'm not a super keen florals type person. I wonder which floral it is. Drying: 10min: Very sexy, deep and rich floral with a warm, spicy musk. This is such a great smelling floral for winter/fall, and I am not normally a floral person. Sultry and deep. Great throw--I keep getting wafts as I read my work papers. Wonderful. 1 hr: warm dark floral musk with a kick of hot spice. This is just gorgeous. This screams fall/winter to me, its just such a full bodied floral with that kick of seasonal spice. Overall: I liked this floral. This surprised me, espeically since it is a pretty heavy floral, and in the rare cases of floral I tend to go for lighter ones. Mental note to look up oleander and magnolia scents and try to figure out what it was I was smelling and enjoying.... I passed this imp to a needy friend, but have added it back to my wishlist so I can try it again later! ETA: Hubby and I sometimes have diff tastes, so when I got this the second time round and still liked it, I had him sniff it on me. I won't be keeping this, unfortunately, since he said: "smells like you ate oranges and jolly ranchers and then burped". I don't think it smells like that at all, but I can't go around having my husband thinking I smell belch-tastic.

Imp: mostly almond with a buttery honey in the background. This really reminds me of gluttony in the imp. Wet: More buttery and nutty on my skin than in the imp. It is not purely foody, like I expected, though. There is a tinge of something more “perfumey” (maybe the rum?) which takes it out of the cake-icing-realm I was afraid of. Drying: Wow, this is really NOT foody like I expected. There is a potpourri element to it—sharp and dry. Almost a sharp citrusy tang like the dried orange bits. Even a bit spicy. I expected this to smell all creamy and sweet. It’s a nice surprise. This does have a similar note to eden in it, I think--must be the honey/almond combo. 20 min: Whoa, honey mead mania. Reminds me of renfest. It’s a spicy honey wine, though. Maybe the rum is bay rum? I still get the buttery note in the back, but it is VERY slight. This is more like Delphi than Gluttony—I was expecting a gluttony twin. 2 hrs: Buttery. Still has that spiciness to it ( I really don’t know what this is from). There are some definite similarities to Eden in this (at least on my skin). I guess sweet almond, buttercream and honey mead smell a lot like the honeyed almond milk in Eden. Overall: This was a great surprise. It wasn't gluttony sweet, and it didn't go quite as buttery on me as eden. WIth the added spicy and zingy notes, this was a real winner. I have passed this imp along to a very bpal-needy friend (you know who you are), but I will get another imp of it someday, just to get to know hellcat a little better... edited to add: I had to compare this directly to Eden-- Hellcat vs eden: eden a more "savory" foody smell--buttery. Hellcat is similar, but less buttery, with a touch of spicy "potpurri" smell, a bit less foody, but quixotically sweeter than eden, kinda like a brown sugar hint.

I adore Devil's Night. Bottle: Sweet, Dark, Spicy, a hint smokey. I can't really pick out the "boozy swoon" part, but I think that's a defective nose problem--i've never been able to smell the booze in the boozey ones. On, Wet: My first impression is...don't laugh...chocolate. Hrm. I know there is no chocolate listed here, but the initial wet-phase really has a similar feel to Velvet to my nose. It has that woodsy smell, and is dark and sweet, so that must be why. This also has some gentle deep spice. I'm having a Devil's Night love fest.... Dry: Dark spicy woods with this tantilizing brown sugar sweetness. And musk. But its a gentle, warm, embracing musk. I really need to know what kind of musk "thuggish musk" is so that I can seek out more scents with this! Hours of lasting power, and nose-teasing throw. Overall: This dries down to the most perfect autumn scent. I really can't decide whether I prefer this or Samhain from my '05's. I'm sure I'll have a lot of fun trying to figure it out. I will NEVER NEVER part with either.

Add me to the list that LOVES Samhain. Wow. I'm so freaking glad I followed the crowd on this one!! THe patchouli might have scared me away, but i'd heard this blend praised so highly that I couldn't resist! Bottle: Earthy woods and damp leaves with the most wonderful current of spiced, buttery pumpkin underneath. No apples Oh,and a hint smoky. On, wet: Very smokey phase initially. Surprisingly enjoyable smokey phase, in fact. The halloween oils (along with torture king) have educated me in the ways of smoke! I love it, and I had previously avoided it. Mmmmmm..... Drydown: Enters a less smokey (but the lovely dark smoke is still there, in the distance) phase. The faraway smoke gives the stage to this wonderful woodsy-apple-pumpkin spice. Darkly sweet and earthenly sexy. Oh. Dear. God. Overall: This is just insanely gorgeous, and it lasts forever, and has one of the most amazing throws I've experienced from a bpal thus far. I kinda think of this as a way more approachable (and better) Jack. I loved the buttery pumpkin spice of jack, but it was far too foody and sweet on me for perfume uses. This has the same buttery spiced sweet pumpkin that peeks out occasionally, but its grounded by the most amazing wonderful things. Sigh.... I am kicking myself for only buying one.

In the Bottle: A very smooth, sweet fig with a touch of lemon. On deeper inhale I can smell some sweet (but not dark) cocoa. On, wet: Really sweet juicy fig with an odd edge. The description says unsettling, and I think there is no better way to describe it. Dry: This pretty much stays as it was wet. Its super juicy/sweet fruity fig (and I'm a huge fig lover), but i just cant' get over that "edge". I don't know what it is--maybe the calamus, since I don't know what that smells like? Its just so strange. I can't get used to this. After several hours it just stays here, then fades. Overall: I consider myself a fig girl. And this is by far the strongest fig I've tried--I get mostly fig. But its actually a bit TOO fruity for me. I don't get any chocolate, vanilla, musk. I do get a bit of lemon/bergamot (but only if i'm really trying). The problem is that I'm also getting something unfamiliar and it kinda smells....like dirty people. I dunno. Maybe i'm overly influenced by the name. I was so hoping to love this , but I'm going to hope that someone will want to swap me for a 5mL of something I like better. At least the other two in my first ever bottle order worked for me! You know what they say, 2 outta 3 ain't bad....

I actually haven't tried midway, so I"m not positive, but Aunt Caroline's Joy Mojo has that very pink-cotton-candy bubble gum sweet kinda smell to me. More complex than that, but maybe worth a try.

Ooooh, glad to see this resurrected. I think my six would be: For a Girl: 1) Dorian (the most lovely vanilla ever--snake oil was not for me) 2) Velvet (gotta have some chocolate/food, and this gets some woodiness too) 3) Midnight (for clean, pale florals--sweet, herby and feminine) 4) Titania (for something so fruity that is downright juicy) 5) Eden or Black Phoenix (to experience BPAL's nutty scents!) 6) Hollywood Babylon (for something dark, musky and sweet) For a Guy: 1) Tombstone (a manly vanilla) 2) Severin (for something clean, light and wonderfully unisex) 3) Yggdrasil (for a light woodsy smell) 4) Voodoo (for that crazy kinda guy) 5) Dracul (cuz every man needs one) 6) Debauchery (for a deep dark musk) You have no idea how long it took me to narrow it to six each. Whew!

My hubby goes Ga-ga over dorian, hamadryad and the new samhain. The way to his...ahem....is apparently through his stomach. Anything that reminds him of cake or apple pie makes him very happy.

Hmmmm, when I was going to a meeting a week or so ago, I felt compelled to wear Queen of Sheba. It made me feel quite on top of my woman-power game.

To me, Yggdrasil is like Gomorrah without the figgy note. I love them both.

Yup, definitely Aunt Carolines Joy Mojo or Dorian. I also find that Pink Moon makes me cheerfully anticipate the rest of my day (maybe cuz one of the first times I wore it was a first day a new exciting job). And any time I come home and find hubby wearing Tombstone, it instantly transforms my day to magic.

Oooh, I forgot to say Baghdad. Its a dark, sexy, musky spicey rose. Really complex and fun to wear.