alicia_stardust

There is an ever so slight difference but, IMO, I am nearly positive that 08 is going to age to be exactly the same as 05 is now. I'm hoarding a couple of 08 bottles for that reason. Each year I fear that Jacob's Ladder will never come back so I love having different generations in store.

Anyone here have a favorite patchouli blend that is super head shoppy? I am looking for something to give to a friend and he loves patchouli, makes a living by tie-dying t-shirts to sell to head shops, and his nick name is "Hippy".

Hey! I've been wearing Jacob's Ladder all weekend, too. It is truly the most divine amber I have come across in all of BPAL. Something about it is so rich and glowing and something about it is so tangible. It brings to mind those sticky little rock nuggets of golden amber that I used to play with when I made my own incense. I have a 2005, a 2006, and now a 2008. It definitely ages well. =)

Yes, exactly! The orders get harvested from CCNow and end up showing as "shipped". Harvesting essentially means that the Lab has your order in queue to be packed. You can usually plan on getting a CnS shortly (anywhere from a day to a week, perhaps?) after being harvested. I like to view it as a preliminary sign that a CnS isn't far behind. =)

This is a lovely, juicy apple with a dark and cold twist to it. There's the sense of a chill of sharp, jagged ice and a light or white musk over piercing and wintry flowers. I also detect a slight eucalyptus or mint bite that sort of punctures what would normally be warm apples. This is a beautifully rendered interpretation of a blood-chilling tale. It will be cherished. =)

In the bottle this smells mostly of a juicy pear that has been dusted with a soft amount of resin powder to give it a touch of depth and atmosphere. It keeps that same pear-like quality as the oil first dries before morphing into a hazy, dusky orchid-amber with little hints of oakmoss and resins, slight hints of gardenia and blue musk. I get a general feeling of something deep and mysterious, dark, serene, tranquil, fluid. This blend seems to have a complexity to it that makes it really hard to quantify but no matter what, one thing is obvious: this is really, really gorgeous!

They are usually available to purchase at West Coast Will Call, but none of the TAL oils are set out for sniffing/testing like the BPAL oils are.

LLXXXVIII (invalid roman numeral!? LOL) This smells like sweet peach nectar, sweet and dripping, with just a hint of the fuzz from the skin of the peach. It's very fruity and the peach is so prominent that I really can't get much of any other note. CLVI (156) This smells like a pure shot of sassafrass with a rooty, astringent bite. I also get hints of an old atmospheric resin and some dry, dusty paper. ETA: I accidentally switched my reviews yesterday but now they actually match their number.

In the bottle, Penumbra has a sort of dusky quality with a little topnote of neroli. As the oil dries I get a beautiful layer of musky purple over a bed of sandalwood and resins. I really recognize the oakmoss as it mingles with the other prominent notes. As time passes I do pick out tiny hints of lavender and tobacco but for the most part this is really well blended and becomes a very gestalt sort of fragrance. It definitely has a purple vibe to it, and I find it to be feminine, dusky, and empowering. Out of all the other scents from this same update, this is my sneak favorite. I just love it.

This has a very blue and tart blueberry note at the top of the bottle, but as the oil dries and settles I get more of a red currant and tea vibe with the blueberry slathered around those. For a moment or two I get an almost blueberry pastry sort of impression, possibly from the way the currant and tea mingle with the blueberry and vanilla. This is really soft and fuzzy. It's not a sharp fruity or juicy scent to me. I get more of a diffuse tea and fruit with little hints of herb, spice, and floral... subtle, though! Very, very subtle. I find this to be a bit chaotic and sweet, but lovely and fun and delightful. Definitely keeping a bottle of this!

Sturgeon Moon is a light, fresh aquatic. It comes across as breezy and green with a hint of cucumber and agave nectar. This is more of a marshy green scent and I find it to be very diffuse and soft compared to most aquatics. It's very lovely, refreshing, and cool. I don't really pick out all the specific notes aside from the cucumber and agave, but it really is lovely. Watery and planty.

L'Inverno can be summed up in two words: serene and poignant. It has such a strong winter essence, evoking images of still and silent winter nights, pine and snow, winter flowers, and the dark stain of plum. The pine wood has just enough presence without taking too much of the stage, and the white musk really enhances the sweetness of the plum and the chill of the sweet and dusky florals. This is beautiful!

L'Autunno is my favorite of the four seasons perfumes. It *is* autumn in a bottle and it is the perfect mix of atmosphere and warm comfort. I can distinctly pick out the apples at first. The apples are crispy and juicy and they seem to have a sort of spice to them. The fig is rich, sweet, and earthy and I get only a hint of toasted almond. The patchouli and wood smoke add just a touch of atmosphere and depth to the other notes; myrrh and hawthorn remain subtle nuances. This is a work of art and I think it's only going to get more beautiful as it settles out. This is autumn personified, and will probably join my other autumn/Halloween favorites.

This comes across as a very gentle and sweet winter fir blend; fir needles, snow, sweet light and white winter florals. The white musk really adds beautiful element to this. I also get a hint of the grapefruit and mint which keep this a brighter winter scent, yet still sparklingly serene and wintry.

This has a very icy and slushy tone to it. I get an almost fizzy, icy light winter floral with a sweet touch from the honeysuckle. I love the subtlety of the pine boughs and woods in this. Overall, it's a cool and gentle, subdued winter atmosphere spray. I love the way it seems to bring the outdoors in yet is gentle enough that it doesn't seem to leave too much of a winter chill. I'm going to love using this during the wintertime.

This is like a rich fig-patchouli incense blend that has a smattering of dry, colorful autumn leaves surrounding it. There is just a hint of bonfire smoke in there, enough to really and truly transport me to the feeling and essence of autumn, which I love so much. This reminds me a bit of last year's Halloween blend, October, too. Lovely atmosphere spray! I can't wait for autumn to arrive so I can use this every day. Seriously, this is amazing stuff. True art, if you ask me.

This is my second favorite of all the seasons bath oils and it definitely competes with my favorite so it's a close call. I had the pleasure of testing the L'Autunno bath oil prototype and it was heavier on the patchouli than this seems to be. I liked that one, but I LOVE this release of it. This just feels like autumn, pure and simple. I get a rich and warm patchouli-molasses at first, with the cinnamon sugar and cedar not far behind it. The sage seems to be more of a diffuse herbal base that lends itself to the other notes more so than takes center stage. I really love this, and it's especially good to have remnants of this on my skin as I apply the L'Autunno perfume. Holy smokes, it's good!

This bath oil is pretty much orgasmic. It *IS* summer to me. I get a golden, glowing, warm, sunny vibe from it. There is a beeswax-honey layer that sort of envelopes the amber and carnation. The peach and cardamom act as subtle accents in the background, and the vanilla orchid makes for a lovely floral finish after some of the other notes have faded off. I think this is my favorite of the seasons bath oils.

This is one of those room sprays that *becomes* a part of the room. When I use it I don't walk in and think about the spray; I walk in and think about how the room feels because of the scent. It's so seamless and smooth. I have a harder time pinpointing the atmosphere sprays because I don't really feel like I should spray the air and stick my nose into it to inhale. What I do get from this is diffuse scent that is warm, sunny, slightly musky-woody floral with a hint of spice. The orange rind really pops as a top accent in this. It's truly lovely all around.

I get a lot of sweet, light florals in this. They are sweet and multi-colored. The dandelion and tuberose and plum blossom jump out the most and they have a nice little flash of lemon peel to really brighten things up. It's truly lovely, especially when the touch of sandalwood and ever-so-subtle mint come in to smooth things out. This is yet another work of art!

This is pretty flippin' amazing. Of the four seasons I was least certain of La Primavera in general even though there was nothing in each of the three items that was a major turnoff. I was so wrong, though, on all three counts! The La Primavera atmospheric spray is a beautiful buoyant springtime room scent. The tuberose and plum come out and I can smell the most real, fresh, and hypnotic orange blossom and jasmine. The rest of the notes behind those all kind of mingle together into each other, but I do love the little lemon tree/sugar cane flash that occasionally makes itself known. LOVE THIS!

This starts out highly floral to me; it's a bit dry and musky floral. As it settles on my skin, though, it softens into more of a glowing amber-vanilla with a slight sweetness of lily and a smooth little base of sandalwood. This is much more floral than I anticipated but I have a feeling that the amber and vanilla are going to age really well and, aging aside, I think this has yet to settle. I'm really happy with L'Estate despite how floral it starts out. What is truly magical is pairing this with the matching bath oil. Mmm. =)

La Primavera presents as a low, smooth floral blend at first, then it brightens a bit as it settles. To begin with, the plum blossom and tuberose jump out at me. The violet leaf adds a nice depth and there's a general twinge of oakmoss that mingles with the aforementioned blooms. After a short while the orange blossom, ylang ylang, and lemon peel are noticeable as accents to the above notes. I don't really ever detect the jasmine outright though I'm sure it's there. The first phase of this is kind of low, smooth, floral, and a bit perfumey. It brings to mind dusky hues of purple and green. But as the scent morphs I start to get little flashes of brightness: spring colors of pale yellow, pale orange, pink, and a touch of velvety white blossoms. This is a very beautiful and complex scent and it really encapsulates the essence of springtime. I am especially impressed with the way it is complimented and enhanced by the La Primavera bath oil.

You will be able to sniff and test the General Catalog and any available-for-sale Limited Editions while you are at will call. There will also be some prototypes out that represent possible upcoming releases, and prototypes for any Lunacy/LE blend that has just been released. However, those items will not be for sale; you can only sniff and test the prototypes. Will call purchases are subject to stock on hand, so emailing a pre-order in ahead of time helps to assure that you are able to get what you wanted, but there is nothing wrong with just showing up, checking out all the oils, and then telling one of the lovely Labbies what you'd like to purchase that night. Either way, whether you pre-order or just order on the spot, you will very likely be going home with a bevy of lovely fragrances. Have fun!

I thought that the lemon verbena would dominate but really, this is a pure and light green tea. It is refreshing and smooth and oh-so tea-like. The lemon verbena and honeysuckle only add a nuanced brightness and sweetness but do not in any way seem to take center stage. For a clean tea scent, this is really beautiful, and it definitely surprised me in a good way.