lorajc

I hate to tell you this, but I think Formula 54 is one of a kind. Due to the unique mixture of the clove, cherry, black rose and tobacco. Hollywood Babylon is cherryish and amberish, but doesn't have the rose, clove or tobacco notes which really gives Formula 54 it's uniqueness. ETA: If that price above is for the large, blue falcon glass bottle (1/3 oz) of Formula 54, that's really not a bad price. I think we paid $45 (can't exactly remember, but it was at least $45) for our bottles on the Forum.

As someone's who has tried most of the BPAL oils, I must say that there is nothing quite like the Star. It is truly unique and very popular. Black Pearl is slightly reminiscent of it, but I like the Star better.

Wow, did I have a difficult time getting my thoughts together for this one. The first time I wore it, I couldn't smell it at all, but a hostess at a restaurant commented how good I smelled. Go figure. I'm wearing this for the second time today and I can smell it, but it is very mild. When I first put it on, I smell a pastry-ish foody/slightly chocolate smell with some smokiness. I can't pick any of the single notes out of this. It is just a touch incensy and a touch sweet on me and smoky with a slight floralish tinge. It is quite yummy .....I keep thinking of chocolate eclairs like I ate when I visited Montreal and it's making me crave one of those badly!! I'm sure there is a Mexican pastry this probably smells like, but I'm clueless on Mexican pastries, thus the image of the french pastry in my head.

Vibrant with the joy and sweetness of life in death! A blend of five sugars, lightly dusted with candied fruits. I can't really add much to this that hasn't already been stated. Sugar Skull smells like warm brown sugar with a maple tinge. It dries down to a slightly burnt sugar smell. It is lovely and sweet, but I never got the fruit smell. I wish this had a bit more fruitiness to it.

This went on me smelling somewhat like Harvest Moon, but then it turned into an incensy floral. It didn't have very good staying power on me. I liked it, but I'll have to wear it again to appreciate it. I had difficulty picking the individual notes out (which seems to be happening to me a lot lately).

I haven't read all of the above reviews, so I don't know if this has already been said, but this is so dead on evocative of the name......Black Pearl. It is very lush, soft, creamy and coconutty. I'll probably get crucified for saying this, but this is sort of what I imagine Snow White to smell like ....only without the coconut and iris and with the snowy floralesque thing instead. I may be all wrong, but I've never had the opportunity to smell Snow White. This scent is soft and lovely. I can't make out the hazelnut in it but I detect iris and coconut, but the scent is much more complex than that.

I finally got my Samhain and I'm wearing it today. When I first put it on, there was an acrid, bitter note coming thru and I didn't think it was going to wear well on me, but that faded and now it's just beautiful. The strangest thing is that I can't pick out any of the notes. I know what patchouli, pumpkin, clove and apple smell like but this is so well blended, I can't place them. It has a buttery or creamy background with spice on me....not cinnamon spice but like a pumpkin spice and it turns a bit sweet on me after a while (which I like a lot). I really like this and I'm glad I have 2 bottles. This is quite yummy. The first thing my coworker said when she walked in this morning was that I smelled really good.

I guess Three Witches...........I wish it were going to be Sugar Skull though!!

I'm having a great deal of pain this week. I have a bulging disc in my neck (3 of them) and my condition has worsened considerably over the past few months, and substantially over the past 3 days. Being on the computer all day at my job (and at home) is actually aggravating it also. Does anyone have experience with a certain blend helping deal with pain and does anyone have any good pain rub advice. Currently, I'm using Biofreeze that I get from a Chiropractic office, as they don't sell it in the store. Has anyone ever tried Carla's Concoctions Pain Relief Massage Oil? I saw this advertised in my fitness magazine and I'm curious. Also, if you guys (I mean ladies) see me start to disappear a bit over the next couple of weeks, it's because my hand and arm have been tingling and starting to go numb and the computer is aggravating it, so I may have to try to stay off of the computer at home.........UGH....the thought of that just kills me!

It may have been $375 but I thought I checked the site and the highest it went was $12.50. I'll have to check again. My last $350 order was only $12.50. Oh well, just wondering about it.

I have placed $300 orders before and shipping was only $12.50, which is what the site says it should be, but the site charged me $20 for shipping. Anyone know about this? Then, stupid me, thought that the King and Queen of Diamonds would not be available UNTIL November 15th. After I realized it was available until the 15th, I had to place a second order. Ugh $28 in shipping charges sucks. Thats a couple bottles!!

I'm just working on Halloween.......boring! I'll hopefully be wearing my new Samhain, but if it doesn't come in time, Jack or Three Witches will be my choice.

That's really weird that you had that happen. I just got a rash on my left inner elbow from BPAL. I have sensitive skin and do have occasional redness, burning and irritation from some of the oils, but that doesn't stop me from wearing them. However a few days ago, I developed a bunch of whitish looking bumps in the crook of my elbow and when I scratched it, it became a lot worse. That is the one spot that gets a lot of oil. I always touch up there during the day also. I've been using cortisone ointment on it for 3 days now and it is much bettter but still not gone. I have not touched the spot with oil lately. When it heals, I will start reapplying there again, but maybe not to the degree I was before.

Sorry, I just saw this thread...........my all time fav sweet scent is Maenad. It's highly underrated and quite lovely

Haunted, Eclipse, Vixen, Ann Bonny

I second Sin, Vixen and Malice and also Depraved. I like all of them very much. If you think you'd like a patchouli, sandalwood, rose scent, try Raksasha. It is one of my new favs.

I had to wear this again before I could review it, as it is such a complex scent and I wanted to give it a fair review (being a Libra). I liked this more the second time I wore it. I am not really familiar with any of the notes in it other than the blackberry wine, apple cider and myrrh. I do also know sage a bit, but only from a few other blends and I've never smelled it on its own. I think I'm still warming up to this one and need to wear it a few more times. It is a wonderful autumn blend and would be perfect to wear on a beautiful autumn outing when the air is crisp and the leaves are falling. That's the sort of visual association I got from this (and I never get visualizations from scent). It's like a pumpkin festival scent. It would make a very nice room scent if you couldn't wear it, however, all of the notes agreed with me. It turned to a blackberry wine, appley scent with the myrrh grounding it. Lovely autumn scent and well blended. This is very complex and unique.

I wore this for the 2nd time yesterday and I'm still not sure quite what I think of it. It defintely goes on buttery and creamy with the pumpkin and then it turns to a strong floral and then about an hour into wear, it severely fades into a very soft floral with a very slight hint of wine/apple. I'll have to try applying in my lotion first to give it more staying power.

I have the same problem with work. Basically, I find anything I really love, like the cinnamon blends, especially my cinnamon Chaos Theory, Eclipse, Chimera, etc. Dana Oshee is extremely comforting, as is Sudha Segara. Voodoo blends Joy Mojo and Water of Notre Dame are the best for a fucked up working environment, as well as Crucible of Courage. Sometimes I wear Crucible of Courage and Water of Notre Dame. Good luck with your job and if you have any words of wisdom for a fellow BPALer, please feel free to advise me!! I can't deal with the pressure of my job and the assholes in my department! Sorry, don't mean to sound like a bitch, but I've never been treated so shitty from a group of RN's who think the are Queen Shit! I'm done now.....sorry for the brief hijack and vent

Generally, any scent that I love will usually do the trick, however, I find Dana Oshee and Sudha Segara to be extremely comforting scents. They make me feel better when I'm having the worst of days and I feel like nothing can help me.

Another perfect example of Beth's abilitiy to create a truly gorgeous, unique and perfectly blended scent. I should have known better than to doubt her, however, I have a problem with some vetiver and oakmoss blends and these were listed in the description. This goes on deep and creamy fruity. The opponax grounds it (I believe opponax is a resin like myrrh) and gives it depth and the oakmoss blends with the woods and gives it just a slightly green, woody depth to it. The plum and blackberrry are the same fuzzy kinda fruit that I smelled in The Queen of Spades, not a thick, syrupy, sweet fruit, but a luscious tart, fresh fruit that just gives a touch of fruitiness and mystery to the scent. After the scent dries down a bit, the coconut and vanilla blend to make it creamy and they blend with the white musk lightening the scent to a fruity, creamy, cloud of goodness. Yum.....glad I bought more than 1 bottle. I'm very happy with this. I love the Queen equally and they do compliment each other very nicely. Very nicely done by Beth.

I knew I'd like this, as I'm a huge fan of deep fruity florals and this does not disappoint. Amber wears very well on me, as do fruits, especially berries. This went on smelling like a deep berry, slight floral blend. I can't really pull out any particular notes. I didn't think it was quite as strong as others do. I tend to like the stronger scents though. I actually thought this was well blended and fairly light wearing on me. Every time I sniffed my arm, I smelled a "fuzzy plum or blackberry" if there were such a thing. To explain better, it smelled more like a ripe fresh piece of fruit versus a fruity syrup. I did not think it was sweet, but rather tart. The amber and myrrh just gave this depth were so well blended that I couldn't pick them out. I don't think they were very prominent in the scent. Sometimes myrrh leaves a funny drydown on me -- kinda like a burnt smell and this blend didn't do this at all. I thought this was a very uplifting scent. I loved the way the fruit smelled so fresh, like a bursting blackberry and plum. mmmmmmm. I'll wear this often.

This goes on with a tangy bite. Sort of reminds me of Tintagel, but a rose version of Tintagel. It is very unique and definitely a "trademark" BPAL scent. I'm not a huge rose lover, but I do like it occasionally blended with certain other notes. This seems to be one that works for me. I like the tang when first applied. I've had it on for about an hour now and the drydown is making the tang soften a bit. The rose is very much in the background just sort of floating under the juniper berry which is most prominent on me. The dragon's blood adds it's depth and sweet fruitiness (for those of you that are familiar with this resin) and the orris blends ever so softly with the backdrop of the rose. Right now, this seems like it will be a pretty long lasting scent, but we'll see. I do like this a lot mostly for its uniqueness. You couldn't touch anything like this by any other company. That's what I love about BPAL.

I'm wearing my Chaos Theory LXXIII today and I'm absolutely in love with it. I am very disappointed that I can't reorder this. It is a real gem in my eyes. It is cinnamon/candy type of scent. I don't know how else to describe it. It doesn't really smell floral, just sweet and cinnamony. The air conditioning is blasting here at work and I have my space heater and it's heating the oil on me and making this beautiful cloud of Chaos Theory around my work area. It really makes me happy. I am in LOVE with this stuff. I wish I could explain it better, but I can't. I think I own every cinnamon scent Beth makes and this is unlike any of them. It is in a category all it's own. I ended up selling my other 2 bottles of Chaos Theory, as they were eucalyptusy, and one was mint/chocolate with a creamy coconut undertone and they weren't me.

I'd have to say Haunted (dark musk) and wears very well on my skin, at least. Also, Old Morroco, but it has carnation in it.........which is a spicy floral. those are my top 2. Sin would be my third choice....not sure if it's musky or just spicy though.