Rhowan

I was reading this earlier today and thought to myself "oh! how weird!?" So, tonight I sat down to test Juke Joint and a little bit after it hit my skin, I got the weirdest taste in my mouth ! I can't describe the taste. I also started burning really bad where it touched my skin. If you scroll back thru this thread you will see that when I first tried BPAL I was having the burning with EVERY scent I tried. After awhile though, I got accustomed to the oils. I have tried many, many of them since the first and have not had any reaction until now and never have I had that taste thing happen. mmm.... maybe I am psychosomatic?

SNAKE OIL I was really worried about trying this because of the "Indonesian Oils" - I didn't want to smell like an unwashed hippie woman of patchouli and incense - my tastes don't run that way. I decided to try this because of some of the rave reviews I have read..... In the bottle: Really incense-y but I can catch the whiff of sweet vanilla Wet: the first couple of seconds on my skin, I catch a very acrid smell. I can't quite place my finger on what it is, but it quickly passes. Very strong incense smell - not patchouli at all but a blend of incenses with a hint of vanilla Dry Down : the more that time passed the more the vanilla came to the foreground. It is a very sugary vanilla that tempers the incense. This scent to me is not the blended scents I am used to, where after awhile you can't pick out the notes - this you can definitely pick up the vanilla. Like I said, the vanilla is so sugary - just like I had hoped Dorian would be. Hmmm, wonder how this would be with Dorian layered with it? Hours later : Wow! Snake Oil has staying power! Great throw also, enough that people passing closely to you would sniff in your direction with lust! My 22 yr old son describes it as "unwholesome" in a positive and very naughty way. Conclusion: I NEED A BIG BOTTLE NOW! Snake oil rocks my world. If you are looking for a good sugary vanilla with staying power - this is it!

In the bottle - this smells like oranges and cedarwood to me. Cedarwood works well on my skin so I am excited to try this one! Swiped on skin- Whew! Vetiver! Usually vetiver helps really make a scent feel powerful to me - but this when wet on the skin is powerfully overhwelming! 1st 10 minutes - still hanging in there...the vetiver has receded but it is still overpowering the rest of the scents - I can only catch whiffs of the cedar and tangerine. No amber yet and I can't tell what saffron smells like. 1/2 later - mmmm... this was worth the wait! It has totally mellowed on my skin. The amber finally came out to smooth out the vetiver and round out the scent. To me, this is warm and a bit sweet but still empowers me! Conclusion - Azathoth is an oil that needs patience but it is well worth it. Good throw and lasts long too. Probably not an oil I would use around both sexes as a power scent simply because (on me at least) it igets warmer, more alluring and a bit sexier the longer it sets. ADDED Jan. 6: ~AZOTHOTH~ I was originally worried to try this because all of the BPAL scents I have tried, the vetiver has turned to a really stinky smell on my skin, almost like a cat just sprayed all over me - yuk! In the bottle: Nice sweet cedarwood with a hint of tangerine - Wet: For a moment I am reminded of Intrigue but sweeter. So far, so good. Still sweet cedarwood with a hint of tangerine. Drydown: The vetiver slowly starts to come forward - but it isn't that stinky vetiver I usually experience. It seems to blend nicely with the amber to make the cedarwood warmer. I am catching just a hint of saffron now too, making this a rich, sexy warm sweet cedar scent. Conclusion: Azothoth is so sexy! It is definitely a man's scent but lord help the man who wears this around me! Awesome throw! Awesome staying power - it is all I can do to quit smelling my wrist.

Dirty is good but my vote for Power non sexy is Alecto - it is very gender neutral to me with just a fresh clean scent but the hint of vetiver in it lends some power to it. I would also vote for Severin - The teas and leather are a great! and the leather? well, its up to you how to weild your whip! Good Luck to you!

To add to your confusion and mine, if you go to the "FAQ"section on the BPAL website it states that Elizabeth uses PERFUME oils that are more highly concentrated than regular perfumers oils. I though that using such a pure "perfume" oil was extremely expensive. (Like $100 an oz. expensive.) I had also read somewhere that true high quality EO's were EXTREMELY spendy. It has always been my understanding that Perfume Oils and Essential OIls were two different things. Can anyone weigh in on this?

Black Pearl : This is luscious and almost lascivious! A great scent if you are planning a seduction! In the imp: Yum! This smells really sweet. It's blended so well there is no definite scent of coconut or musk that I was kind of fearing. On my wrist: still very sweet. Almost a rummy vanilla coconut drink - It's kind of boozy but not in a way that's icky. On the dry down: This scent rocks! I cannot smell the coconut or the rum. It's mellowed to a sweet woody scent. I think the hazelnut must mellow the coconut to make it just a nice warm background to the iris and musk. Like I said up at the top, this is very well blended, sweet woody scent. This was a hard one to review since everything blended so well! Perfect for an intimate evening!

MARCH HARE: I was very wary about trying this since some oils with clove in it tend to end up smelling like Graveyard Dirt on me but this one was different.... In the bottle: Apricots - not fresh off the tree but more of a sweet ,almost boozy apricot. Almost like Grand Guignol but not so boozy. Swiped on writst: Now that is fresh apricots! I can almost smell the tree in with the fruit. Dry down: This has become a more rounded scent . The clove is peeking it's head out but it's not overpowering (or earthy). It's helping to darken the apricot from the fresh and fruity it was at application to a deep sensual, languid scent. I can't stop sniffing my wrist.

quick update - I got a super fast response from the lab today saying that they think by the end of next week my order should be shipped - Wow that was a quick response! Thanks!

Is the 21-45 business days unusual? Did I just happen to place my very first order at a busy and/or crappy time? Oh! Ya! Thanks for sending the click n ship link, I had seen it before but didn't know what it was for.....

I am starting to get a little miffed because I place my very 1st (and only) order back on Sept. 23rd. It has now been 6weeks (42days) - and no word from the lab. I did email the lab when I got the notice from CCNOW stating my order had been shipped. They finally responded that the CCNOW message was automated and inccorect. (that was Oct. 17th) I feel that I ordered in good faith, knowing that I would recieve my order in the 21-45 days. It's my fault for thinking that it would probably be a lower number of days since I was sure they were giving themselves leeway in their estimations. Had I actually been told I would have to wait ALL 45 days or more Iwould have given a second thought to ordering. The lab says it guarantees Christmas deliveries if orders are put in by Nov. 15th - my question (and the reason I am hesitating making another order) is this: If I can't get a 5ml of Samhain and an imp of Jack in 6 weeks or more, how can I have faith that I am even going to get my Yule order on time?! While I am only miffed about my personal order right now, I would be super pissed to order for Christmas presents and not have them arrive. Now, don't get me wrong! I love BPAL, the forum and all of the people. Maybe I am overreacting? Can anyone give me some words of wisdom? Am I overreacting? Please help! Oh ya, emailed the lab yesterday asking what my order status is but it takes a long time for them to get back to you.

Good luck in your endeavors and if you need some moral support, you can contact me any time! Just keep at it!!!!

DON'T GIVE UP!!! I know what you are going through (just read back in this thread) I too had the same problem and it seemed like every scent I tried burned my skin and gave me headaches. People here have given me a lot of different ideas to try (you'll find them by reading back over this thread) like diluting your oil with a carrier oil. I haven't tried any carrier oils but I did try Vitamin E mixed with a drop of oil before applying to my skin. That worked okay. I was totally frustrated! I had spent lots of $$ in BPAL and I wanted to get joy from using it like many of the other forumites. What finally worked for me was to write down all the different ingredients (I guess that's what you'd call it or maybe fragrance notes?) like Patchouli, each kind of floral, resins, mosses, woods - what ever is in the description of each imp I had tried and mind you - I tried a buttload! What I finally found was that patchouli, amber, resins, some musk, some sandalwood and frankincense all made me burn and quite frankly every oil with these ingredients smelled the same to me. I though that I would be very limited with my choices after I figured it out but I have found TONS of other oils that don't burn my skin and that I can smell the individual notes in. Just keep the faith! You'll eventually find your way! Everyone here is so helpful. Good Luck.....

I got this in the mail today from a swap. After I had made the swap I had become accutely aware of having allergic reactions to many ingredients including sandalwood. I was worried about trying this thinking the rosewood would be the same. Read on.... *sniff test* Old, old, house smell with a touch of dried flower. *swipe on the wrist* I close my eyes and I am in a dilapidated old house. I am in the "parlor" where antique chairs have been gathered around a table for a seance that never took place. This room smells of sweet wood and of dried crushed roses given to a lover long ago dead. The smell of the peeling wallpaper, dust and spiderwebs, overpowers the roses. *Dry* Oh! the sun is starting to warm up the room and it bring all the scents out to mingle together in the sunbeams floating in the slants of light coming through the windows. This scent is superb! Everything just mingles and warms on the skin and makes an incredible antique dried rose boquet. Just lovely! This one is going to end up being a 5ml.

Nocnitsa - Oh! How I have waited with baited breath for your arrival! In the bottle - Whew! It smells like chemicals of some sort - can't put my finger on it although I can smell pine in there. Swiped on my wrist Wet - Now I know what it smells like! Pinesol and it brings back memories of.... cleaning bathrooms? Very sharp and pungent - even more "chemically" smelling than pinesol. (is this the wet mosses, perhaps?) Dry down -Starting to mellow now. The more time that passes the more the different scents start to blend and harmonize. MMMM....now I get a visual of walking thru a misty forest - a forest that is always damp and never really dried or been warmed up by the sun. I can smell the rich, wet soil, mingling with the pine and mist. This kind of reminds me of blending Hamadryad with graveyard dirt only wetter and more pine-y For what it is worth, I have a very sensitive nose and am easily overwhelmed by certain scents so my reaction to the first sniff may be way out of proportion compared to what others may smell. Also, For me, the scent went from wet to dry down to gone on my wrist in about 1/2 hr. - sure didn't last long enough. Going to the swap pile.....

Here's my first review so please take that into consideration if I don't sound as professional as most of the others so, *deep breath and sight* here I go... I recieved this in the mail today(thanks Virge) I was thinking I was just going to smell and swap this but I have much respect for this after the wearing... In the bottle: *sniff* I close my eyes and I am transported out to my garden in the early spring as the sun is going down; shoes off, feet and hands cold, the dirt just starting to loose the days heat. MMMM...The soil is rich and I can almost smell new tomato plants growing. Oh my gosh, I am totally there! I am hesitant to put this scent on because it does smell exactly the above mentioned and I am not sure I want to smell like this - I just want to have it to smell when I miss spring as a pick me up... Wet - I am still working in my garden. I don't know how Elizabeth did it but the scent is even more fertile than the dirt in my garden. Its a more cold dirt than warmed by the sun scent but that's okay - after all this is "Graveyard dirt" At this point my grown son walks thru the room and says, "It smells like a freakin' root cellar in here! and Bingo! That is the wording I was looking for. Dark, damp, cool, fecund soil..... Dry down - I am getting a hint of spiciness - are there dry herbs down in the root cellar too? Yum! I like this better than in the bottle now that it is dry. I have now swiped some over Hamadryad and let it dry down. OH!! It brings out a deepness from Hamadryad. It rounds out the scent and gives it depth.... More than just trees but the land surrounding it ( plus a hint of spice which I can't put my finger on.) I would reccommend this scent to anyone who ever yearns for spring just to sniff at the least and to everyone to layer with a tree scent or floral scent to give it depth. This is a multiple us oil!!!

YAY ME! I AM SOOO EXCITED!!! : I just got Hamadryad in the mail (THANKS FREYA), put it on, and I can actually smell the different scents in it and I am not itching very bad at all with this one! I am still kind of headachey but not as bad as all the rest I have tried! I think if I dilute this down with a bit of vitamin E or Jojoba it might be perfect!!!!

Thanks for the idea but I absolutely hate the idea of even touching it to my palm or my finger. Today I decided to try one scent - samhain- I touched the wand to my wrist and was immediately overpowered by the scent! My hand kind of burned but I thought "hey I can live with this" but later as I sat by the by the computer, I started to get a really bad migraine and then my cheek and my mouth started burning - Yes! I had rested my head in my hand and somehow gotten the oil on my face and around my mouth - this was several hours after applying! So, you can see why I hesitate to even touch it. Do you think that maybe if I get a like 1/3oz roller applicator and fill it mostly full of jojoba oil and just add a couple of drops of the BPAL oil that that would dilute the smell AND the burning? I have never thought of my skin or my sense of smell as sensitive so this whole thing is new to me. I am so frustrated that I just want to sell everything! Of course, I won't give up that easily but you know what i mean!

HELP! I got 3 different orders yesterday - all from Bpal Members and ebay. My 1st BPAL ever!! Of course I couldn't help myself and I used about 12 to test in different areas. Just a touch of the wand of ANY imp I tried (I am not talking a drop - just a touch) was 1) way overpowering 2) left red welts I could count the places I touched with the oils because of the welts- and that was even after about 5 hours and trying to wash in some places. This morning I was getting an imp out for a trial and just touching the imp around the cap was too much for me. I didn't even put it on - went to the bathroom, washed my hands several times and I am sitting here with itchy eyes and a headache. Has anyone ever had this strong of reaction? I am devastated! My DH of 23yrs was even frustrated for me because I have done nothing but talk about my excitement since I discovered Black Phoenix. So, my question is - would carrier oils work to lighten the scent? How do you use carrier oils? and if not carrier oils what about making it in to a spray perfume using alcohol? I know absolultely NOTHING when it comes to oils and mixing so if any one could help me .... I love some of the scents I got too much to just give up!

Thanks guys for the help. From now on, I will be using Paypal instead of cc now just because I want the Lab to get the money!! Do you get a confirmation thru either of the two when things are shipped?

I think that the reason is that when you pay Paypal through CCNow, BOTH services deduct fees. CCNow already deducts an obscene amount from each order, and then Paypal takes its bit too, so the Lab loses a lot of money on your order. So, let me see if I get this right - for ordering you should do PayPal direct to the lab instead of cc now with a credit card? Does using cc now make your order slower? And if you should use PayPal, is there an option? how do you use paypal? Any info would be great...

Wow! Went to your journal, d/l'd the file and POOF! Nice job! Thank you for all of your hard work!