whitemyrrh

Yeah, that whole rolling/shaking thing, I was never sure what to make of that. Boomslang separates, so it needs to be mixed; I was told shaking it would mess up the oils, but rolling was actually beneficial. Which... I defaulted to gentle rolling because it seemed like a more controlled way to blend it. I'm pretty clumsy, so the chances of shaking myself into nasty Boomslang fling* seemed high**! *sounds dirty, don't it. **to the credit of the legend, losing your grip on the bottle you're shaking & having it bust on the hardwood flooring does seem like it would be detrimental to the longevity of the oils. Also, the flooring, if we're talking Boomslang. That stuff's darker than coffee.

Yes, this has always seemed more logical to me than something needing to settle after shipping. Lab-fresh stuff does seem to change over the course of the first, I don't know, week? Sometimes dramatically. I just got a bottle of "The Illustrated Woman" today and the first time I applied it, it was very aquatic in quality; six hours later, it smells a lot more like I was expecting. I think the blend is still combining. Changes like this just don't happen when I get something from a swap. Even straight out of the shipping package, the blend will smell the same days later. I got a roller bottle of rose oil a few years ago the day after a snowstorm. It had solidified in the bottle. THAT needed some time to "settle" after shipping... also, liquefy.

Yay! Thank you for supporting my "poppycock" alert! I'll have to try this, particularly with lighter fragrances. I definitely place a little behind my ears, though... lately, I've been fatiguing on some fragrances after a couple hours, especially sweeter ones, and having the scent so close to my face seems to push along that process. Maybe my tastes have changed. Wish they'd tell me to what! Only problem is that with BPAL, your fragrance molecules are enjoying quite the orgy. And they're so very tiny, it's kind of hard to tell the difference between cries of pain and cries of pleasure... Oh, Dr. Nerdy McMolecularperson!

So a few weeks ago I saw these disclaimer from another perfume retailer: "Never crush or grind the fragrance molecules which will potentially ruin your delicate fragrance combination," and "Do not crush the delicate fragrance by rubbing wrists together." ...And was immediately overwhelmed with guilt. Because, dude, I am a rubber, a crusher, AND a wrist smasher. I daub a fragrance on one wrist and start a boy scout campfire to distribute it to the other. I put a dash of a scent behind my ear and rub it in with my index finger. I mash a line of the stuff right down my cleavage. I mean, I don't do all of these things at one time because I like to keep my perfume subtle, but these and variations of them have been my perfume application process since I started wearing oils at 18. So I dug around in the BPAL forums because if anyone has heard of this, it's you guys (moment of panic: WHAT IF THIS IS SOMETHING EVERYONE INTO PERFUME ALREADY KNOWS AND I'VE BEEN AN UNKNOWING BLASPHEMER FOR 16 YEARS?!) but (thankfully?) I couldn't find anything like this. So I started a thread. For the record, I experimented: I took a very delicate fragrance and daubed it to one wrist, leaving it to dry untouched. On my other wrist, I daubed it and then SCRUBBED IT INTO MY SKIN. Way more intensely than I've ever rubbed a perfume before. Two minutes later, they smelled slightly different: the untouched wrist smelled a little more "wet." Ten minutes later, they smelled pretty much the same. Fifteen minutes later, they smelled the same. After an hour, the fragrance had vanished from both wrists, but that's my typical relationship with very delicate fragrances. So, I mean, I'm thinking there probably ISN'T something to this, at least not something big enough to be noticeable, but what my nose just isn't refined enough to catch it?

I know there is a sleep rec thread here already, and I apologize if that really should have been addressed there--but this is a specific problem, for me and I suspect a few others. So I'm concerned about long term health problems and am, gradually, trying to rehab some of my worse sleep habits--and I've been trying to use aromatherapy to help. I have problems "letting go" at night. I get tense. I worry. I fixate on anything there is to fixate, will realize I've been missing a CD for three months and start digging around the house to find it, will convince myself I need to write an entry in my journal, update my Livejournal, answer comments in Livejournal, finish reading a book, start reading another book, try to figure out where that one passage I remember was, clean the bathroom, reorganize the BPAL box and smell everything in there too, obsess about someone from the irrevocable past, maybe I could make a graphic novel? Oh, by the way? It's 3 o'clock in the morning and... what am I doing? The problem is that I haven't been able to find anything that clears my head and helps me sleep... without giving me a hangover. From the Somnium collection, I have tried Temple of Dreams, Oneiroi, and Somnus. Temple of Dreams and Oneiroi... put me into a coma. I wake up and my vision is hazy. My head hurts, I'm SO woozy, it's like I've been drinking. I think Temple of Dreams was the one where I woke up and walked into a door frame and didn't notice the bruise on my forehead for a half hour. This is fine for if it is the dead of winter and I have declared it my annual "Day of Sleep" holiday, but if I have commitments the next day, for instance, work? It's too much. I won't have safely returned to our earthly plane before I have to drive. I'm wondering if these blends share a danger ingredient (for me, at least) that I should generally avoid unless I want to do deep, deep trance work once in a great while. Mugwort, maybe? Hops? Somnus is better, but it has caused me to sleep through the alarm on occasion. I am much more rested-feeling after a few uncomfortably muddled minutes, and don't have the headache. Until I look at the clock! But that's a different kind of headache. I do intend to keep using Somnus, but I'm wondering if anyone has a sense of how much sleep she wants. If I should only use it if I can get it on and sleep, safely, for seven to eight hours. Right now, I don't feel comfortable using Somnus when I really need her--to help me "shut down" & sleep on the nights when I have to wake up in the morning and get to work safely in time to open the store. With all three, the release seems to be more physical than mental, too. The body slows and I sleep because I am in the body... but the mind is still chugging away, blasting 99 Luff Balloons and dancing the Time Warp. This aspect will probably need to addressed with a meditation practice, of some sort. But if someone has had a successful experience with "stilling" from a BPAL blend... inquiring minds want to know, once the mental iPod's batteries give out, at least. I haven't tried Nanshe, Baku, Succor, Quietude, TKO or any of the TALs. Basically, I want a sleep blend that will help clear my head (emphasis on clear my head!!! No more 4AM crazed CD hunts, FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, PLEASE!), help me let go, lull me to sleep, but not knock me out through the alarm. I'm... apparently very physically sensitive to sleep-aids ("Calm Tabs" from Puritan's Pride need to be used with caution, so does "Bach's Rescue Remedy") I'm such a freaking lightweight! Any recommendations?

Apparently fougère is traditional style of cologne. My quote is towards the bottom of this section in the Wikipedia entry on "Perfume," http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perfume#Describing_a_perfume "Fougère: Meaning Fern in French, built on a base of lavender, coumarin and oakmoss. Houbigant's Fougère Royale pioneered the use of this base. Many men's fragrances belong to this family of fragrances, which is characterized by its sharp herbaceous and woody scent." And lavender is apparently one of the notes used to create fougère. I'd imagine there could be lavender-dominant interpretations and that's why Beth would note it as "lavender fougère" in particular blends. I can't distinctly catch lavender in Dorian, which leaves me smelling like lemon lollipops well into the dry-down I am afraid, but in that heavenly way-way-way later snuff of it I'll catch on my wrist--a teeny bit of lavender in there wouldn't be impossible to imagine. Lavender blends with white musk extremely well.

Cats! Just for prosperity's sake, if anyone else ever wonders: the Snake Pit's "Habu" is Snake Oil layered with my understanding of Sunshine's "Omar" and oh, mama, is it ever good!

This was a selection in my first imp pack last February. And it was a run-and-scrub, the first time I tried it. The sharp sniff i got from the bottle inspired cautious placement--I figured the insole of my right foot would a safe distance. I'd just showered so it'd be a clean pallet. Even from three feet back, that evergreen note shot up at me like smelling salts and my sinuses started to throb. See, years ago I had something akin to a redefining moment in the Black Hills and there was a particular fragrance, that day, that I've been wanting to find even a solid emulation of; I've been dying to find something that would make me smell like old-growth pine forest. For a couple seconds, there, I worried I was going to die because of something that could make me smell like old growth forest. I put it in the drawer and let it mellow for a couple months. It wasn't, um, an intentional mellowing period. I was just that scared, keepin' my axe right at the foot of my bed and sleepin' with one eye open. I mean, dude, on my foot. Now, where would I be without masochism? I was wearing green in early May and decided I needed a resonant fragrance. I swiped some Nocnitsa in the nook of my elbow (masochism!) and took off for the day. and... I liked it. As the day wore on, I liked it more and more. The headache from that first time would only hint if I buried my nose into my elbow (well, I mean, you'd actually be surprised how many BPAL days are spent with my nose in my elbow. Or, you wouldn't. Look who I'm talking to...) Eventually the pine slides into amber and i'm left with this barely pine, barely amber marriage that makes me feel... well... warm and green. I go back and forth on it, it may be a 5ml investment eventually, but it's on the b-list, yet. I'm suspecting it's best for me in summer or late spring; I can't help feeling my winter chemistry is what made that top note lethal.

I purchased a partial of this from the lovely cuervosueno. Wow, I've never met a BPAL blend that confused my sensors as much as Chintamani-Dhupa, and, dude, I've been Whitechapeled. First sniff from the open bottle, I can hardly smell anything. A curious distant aquatic smell, as though this were emptied of most of its oil and then refilled with water without rinsing. What I can smell is enigmatic; it isn't sweet, it isn't dry, I can't pin down any one note for sure but it reminds me of something that reminds me of... something. Whooooooo this sucker's gonna make me real articulate-like, huh. Wet, it disappears for a minute or two and re-emerges as--GLORY BE! Karnataka Mysore Sandalwood Soap, that scent it puts into the air around the bathtub edge on which it is set. Or maybe it is--is this specific? Specifically unburned sandalwood incense of a particular variety that I am appreciative of, if not enamored. At least it is not the kind of Indian sandalwood incense that, specifically unburned, smells like urine. What it becomes over the course of a half hour is pure buttery sandalwood powder, and it is glorious. For that half hour I am dancing for joy, smelling of pure buttery sandalwood powder. Then the sandalwood vanishes. Kinda. And this other smell emerges... kinda. It drops back, very close to the skin, and it isn't... anything I can get my nose around. I think the blend doesn't have any of my chemistry's footholds (amber, musk, vanilla) so it never really takes off, it's indistinct and incoherent. It's all over the place, but it doesn't go anywhere. There's little throw, there's no... hook. Strike one? It's the empty perfume bottle smell, except it is on my skin. It doesn't smell like chlorine (at all!), but something in the way the top note delivers reminds me of that pungent inside-elbow "went to the pool today" drydown you'd catch when you were watching TV later in the evening. Then: it's gone. I don't like it, but I find it very appealing. My cat is licking my arm with an intense fevour that means he either really likes it and wants to eat it or really hates it and is trying to make it go away. I'm wondering what a few months of age will do for Chintamani-Dhupa. --- ETA: 10/02 What will a few months of age will do for Chintamani-Dhupa? Give it a foothold, and even a little bit of throw. There is a honey sweetness to that dry sandalwood that was not there before. An indescribably fruity quality I can't remember from my first attempts, either. I'm still not getting a lick of pine, but I could see wearing this a bit more regularly, now. A refined incense smell--just lovely.

The rose in Spellbound is true to me, but not as a rose-in-bloom. This is a whiff of a freshly opened bottle of rosewater. It curls over a dark musk already in possession of a strong Indian edge; they compliment each other divinely if given the right amount of heat. A good Indian perfume needs a bit of humidity to blossom; without a little sweat, even the best of them can go soapy. This one certainly can! Absolutely this is a summer blend for me, though probably not for work days--far too heady. Let' stick with late nights of reclaimed sari silk skirts and ankletts woven with bells for Spellbound. My chemistry tends to create an amber note with dark musk after a few hours, and my amber is the only amber I'm getting here. I suspect the blend's amber works more as a liason between the rose and the musk. It's not real apparent at all, in the bottle or wet on the skin. (Black Rose emphasizes the amber. Though the observation has surely been made before, It's amazing how different two blends that list a majority of same notes can smell.) The first couple times I wore it, especially in the wet stages, it reminded me a bit of Auroshikha's "Indian Flower" (from back in my pre-BPAL days.) Not so much that I couldn't wear it comfortably, though (didn't wear Indian Flower during the happiest time of my life.) The drydown of Spellbound is far more distinctive to my nose, a little more rosey. I never realized the "Indian Flower" was a rose, back when, so thank you to Beth for solving that mystery. Since I think Auroshikha discontinued their perfume line, this would be a fine Black Phoenix alternative for anyone who was a fan. And the BPAL bottles are of a much better quality, lemme tell ya. No thin white plastic cap that cracks up the side if you try to close it tight enough to keep it from leaking! I accidentally applied a bit of Snake Oil over the wrist I'd been testing Spellbound on the night before and almost died from bliss at the way the notes married. I've never been one to layer, but this may change my mind...

Ooooh, excellent! Exactly why I asked, to see if anyone had a recommendation I missed. I did order a bottle of Boomslang, but since we've got a bit more time with the Snake Pit, I may well try Western Diamondback next. I seem to jive well with Beth's Western scents. However, I am unsure about tonka. It tends to disappear or go strange in my chemistry (but the blends I've tried it in have all had other contraversial notes in them, whereas WD doesn't seem to, so it could be fine.)

Yeah, me too with vetiver. I can love it in incense and on others, but on me it must get bored and resentful. Death on a Pale Horse is quite nice, but I've never smelled the note with that quality elsewhere. Andrabell's post is pretty scary, though I'm pretty good as far as sensitivity goes. Sometimes Magus and rarely Tombstone will cause a little pinkening (perhaps it is the cedar?); otherwise I haven't run into any problems. I haven't tried a lot of cinnamon-heavy fragrances, though, because I amp them up into drugstore candy, pretty much. Thus my caution about Saw-Scale, though all the reviews did promise me no red hot candies. I DO hear Boomslang is extremely dark and prone to staining the skin. My complexion is pretty pale, i'm just barely not in the "Maris jokes" range. Am I going to have to figure out alternate application points? That's what I've heard. Excellent, I think I have my first choice. Thank you so much!

Sadly, according to my current budget realities, There Can Be Only One. Later, I'll be able to try some of the others, but for the time being, I'd like to see which of my not-very-narrow narrowing down the folks who've tried them would direct me to if they could only direct me to one. So about me: I'm generally a resin and woods kind of girl. I love vanilla when it is thick and not particularly sweet. I adore amber, the vanilla crusted amber Snake Oil dries to on me is one of my favorite aspects of that blend. I don't generally work well with fruits, especially not citrus; nor very sweet, nor aquatic. My favorites lately have been Snake Oil, Tombstone, Urd, and Alice. I've also been a big fan of Hecate, Magus, and Black Rose. So far, I'm leaning towards: Boomslang Death Adder Saw-Scaled Viper Temple Viper 'Course, I'd probably be open to most of the other snakes in the pit. Unfortunately. In my chemistry, the frankincense notes (I'm fairly sure frankincense is the culprit) in Cathedral, Anne Bonny, and to a slightly lesser extent, Midnight Mass, get a real sharp salty twinge that moves to the front of the blend and has, so far, made all three of them smell very similar--this gives me some reservations about Temple Viper, because that salty twinge gives me an awful headache. Death Adder has vetiver, which could go either way--just like Temple Viper, though, other than that one potential problem, the other notes sound heavenly. Boomslang and Saw-Scaled Viper might be my most likely contenders, but.. but... ahhhhgh! I can't decide!! Help!!

Tempest, I have a 'grape soda' issue with "Blood Rose," "Wanda," and a number of the other fragrances with wine at certain points of the month. Trust me, "grape soda" is not a personality mesh. However, Urd, which has a lead note of muscadine grounded by a base of patchouli really smells fantastic. The patchouli offers it a earthy "from the vineyard" feel, and the champa keeps the grape note on top of the patchouli. It is truly a fresh grape to my nose, not sweet, exactly, but with that fresh grape tang. It's also one of the few fruity blends that regularly works for me. I'd recommend swapping for an imp of Urd even if you are cautious about patchouli (though probably not if you really hate it, as it is definitely a presence in the blend.)

In the bottle, this was a bit brighter than I anticipated. Not sharp or intense, just more of a floral kick. I was thinking it'd be a little more muted, perhaps a bit like Alice, because of the cream accord and rose. It really is the orchid that takes the lead, at first, and my feelings on orchid are a bit mixed. Apparently, wow, I amp them orchids good. As it ages in my chemistry, I discover that the rose is actually a component of what I was describing to myself as orchid--the two blend together almost seamlessly, it's quite lovely. The rose has a bright, almost citrus quality to it, as AliBabble described. I love rose and so wish it had a little more prominence in the blend--though I suspect it would on someone who has more reliable chemistry as far as roses are concerned. There is a powdery component to the fragrance that flirts with being soapy, but morphs out of it just in time. A half hour into application, I do find a musky rasp at the bottom of the orchids that builds more and more into the drydown. Kashmir musk, what I can pick out, has a similar texture to white musk--but it is a little more 'ladylike,' if that makes any sense. There's definitely an expensive, 'big ticket' feel to this musk, perhaps why it's only turning up in Salon and Limited blends. As it stands, this is a lovely fragrance, full of spring and blossoming-time associations. "Youthful, innocent passion," yes; profoundly feminine, and maybe a little niave. I reckon this will be finding its way onto my wrist for the equinox and maybe Beltane. Beyond that, as every note of this blend is said to deepen and mellow with time, I am very eager to see how Abhisarika will grow into her own.