myoubi

I need to go with my instincts more often on scents. Gorgeous, and now I need more. Snow Bunny is, as many people have said, a sweet soft pine scent, with the sugariness of Snow Angel and (somewhere) a hint of floral. I don't get the juicy berries a lot of people are talking about, but then again that's a good thing, because fruit sometimes stomps all over everything with my skin chemistry, and I"m glad it's staying nicely to the back. I never thought I'd say this about a pine scent, but this is very delicate and feminine -- it doesn't have the agressive forestyness of (say) Nocnitsa. This isn't a scent for everyone, it /is/ powder as the description suggests, but for those put off by the pine, don't be -- I am not a fan of smelling like a Christmas tree and that kept me from trying Snow Bunny for a while, but I am sooo glad I did. To me Snow Bunny smells like the best parts of both Snow Angel and Snow White -- it doesn't have the slushy watery coconut-sweetness that Snow White has, and it isn't overpowering like Snow Angel can be. It's girlier than Snow Angel (yes, it is possible!) but more cheerful than Snow White, which is IMO a good thing. It's crisp and girly and rosy-cheeked as the description suggests. Beth got this one spot-on, and I will treasure my half-bottle.

Someone frimped me a sample of Shub soap. I just bathed with it, and I am sooooo glad I have a bottle of gingery Shub-Niggurath-y goodness coming my way. Also, Bruja is divine. I have half a bottle and it's not a MAD QUEST FOR MORE scent like Ingenue... but of course, another DC I had to fall for. :/ Ah well. Mom fell in love with The Ghost -- I gave her a frimp of it and she wants a bottle. And there's probably going to be an April fool's blend when Milk Moon goes live. So the Milk Moon order is looking like this: -1 bottle Milk Moon ($17.50) -1 bottle Therianthropic (?) ($17.50) -1 bottle The Ghost ($15) -1 bottle April Fool's blend ($17.50) Sheila Ross also fell in love with my Brimstone locket! So we're getting her a Phoenix locket for her birthday, which has passed. I think I may slip some soaps in with that order...

Thanks to Ah Xia for helping me get ahold of some of this! This one doesn't change much on me, and for that I'm glad -- because it's beautiful. I get mostly creamy amber and dark myrrh, but it's saved from being heavy by what must be the lilac -- a gentle florally scent that smells almost like lavender when intermingled with the amber. This is a scent I could wear every day, if I had enough of it. The myrrh makes it warm and sexy, but it's also a scent I could wrap myself in like a blanket on cold winter days. I'm glad I have a half-bottle, and would not at all mind nabbing more.

((inhales wrist deeply)) mmmmm.... I think I'd sell a kidney for more Havisham. My love affair with icy, snowy florals is official. Purchasing Plans: -2 bottles of Blue Moon, when it comes out -a bottle of Milk Moon, when it comes out (depending on what else is in it...) -the Cancer astrological blend, when it comes out -some Brisingamen with my next order -some Tarot: The Hermit when I have the cash lying around So far we're looking at (est. $17.50 for LE's) $113.50 without shipping. And that's only the ones I *know* I'm buying.

Dear God this is beautiful. I was fortunate enough to come by a partial bottle of this beauty (thanks to the generous swapping of lj's miaandmoe) and I am so glad as it has rocketed into my top 10. Havisham is a freezing, vaguely aquatic rose, but a rose that's not at all old-ladyish -- it's slightly herbal, and somehow vaguely spicy. I get a hint of the dust that others have mentioned, but it's not at all unpleasant -- on the contrary, it's a nice grounding note in relation to the other florals. I'm not good at dissecting floral scents, and this one blends into my skin pretty quickly, but leaving a trace of itself behind, it doesn't just disappear (if you know what I mean). If this was a GC, I would bathe in it. As it is, I may never get my hands on more, but that won't stop me trying. ::

The process of extracting my head from my butt has been long and arduous, but I think I've made progress. I almost let _perfume_ damage a friendship with someone I care about. I'm such an idiot. :/ I sincerely hope i haven't fundamentally changed our relationship for the worse... although I guess now she's seen what a selfish tard I can be. Um, yay honesty. I'd write about that more, but I can just say it in person. GOD I'm such an idiot. In other news, we have lockets! I'm wearing my Brimstone locket right now, and h_f's gorgeous White Rabbit locket is sitting in its little velvet pouch on my bathroom counter. At first I looked at mine and thought O.o damn that's big -- but surprisingly, given that I usually don' tlike large jewellery, I'm very fond of it. It's quite elegant, and when strung on a ribbon is a lovely simple statement piece. I'm wearing it with LFV inside right now. Speaking of, I nabbed some more La Fee Verte. Okay, I think I have enough of it now. Srsly. Three decants, three bottles and two more bottles on the way (four of those bottles are partials, but even so -- about 40mL). I have enough of it to last me a lifetime, which is exactly what I intended. I also have a total of seven decants of Dark Delicacies. No more of that one, either. I've built up enough stuff-to-swap that if I'm really hankering for anything, I have a chance of finding it -- some SNs, some unreleased blends, Passion. I need to get more Green Tree Viper before it goes down, and perhaps bottles of Brisingamen and banded Sea Snake... but other than that, I think I'm done. ...Oh God, I'm _so_ not done. Maybe I should just stop trying to convince myself. Finished Season II of House. I need more House! Whyyyy?

DISCLAIMINER: None of the ingredients in this perfume, barring currant, agree with me at all. my review is biased accordingly. In the imp, this smells like red wine and thyme. On my skin, it's /very/ fruity -- sweet currants and berries, with an undercurrent of rich red alcohol. I was surprised at how sweet and fruity it was, given its namesake. Although I like currant, it was just too berry-y for me. Ten minutes later, it's basically all red wine. Have you ever put the cork of a bottle of red wine to your nose and sniffed it? That slightly dry, wine-y scent? imagine someone had opened a bottle of raspberry juice in the room, and there you have Lady Macbeth. I'm sure this is lovely and deep and sexy on someone. On me it just smells like I've been indulging in very expensive vino.

LIME! Coconut. (peppermint?) In that order. soooooo not for me.

The lab description prettymuch tells it like it is; unfortunately, I don't know why I keep trying lily perfumes, but it's a note that just doesn't jive with me. For the record, I get more lily than honey, but it is a bold, warm lily (! I swear, not an oxymoron). Lily also hates me. So out it goes.

This smells like it was described to me -- a grown-up, slightly floral vanilla. However, that's /all/ it is -- a grown-up, slightly floral vanilla. I like the scent of it, but it's slightly too warm and sweet for me. Also, my skin amps vanilla like crazy. *I'm picky about vanilla scents, because vanilla so often smells synthetic or plasticcy or cloying to my nose. This is a true, simple beautiful vanilla, that deepens into lightly floral complexity as time goes on. I like it, it's just not for me.

...over the last few days I have scored four decants of Dark Delicacies, a bottle of Hope (shipped!) for the price of a GC, imps of King and Queen of Diamonds, and an imp of Chaste Moon which through the magic of swapping I hope to turn into an imp of Ingenue. ___ ON BUYING THINGS TO SWAP 'EM: This is not a black-and-white issue. Buying stuff for the purpose of swapping it away for rare decants is frowned upon by many in the BPAL community, and I can sort of understand why: we're all here because we have a strong and sentimental attachment to our smellies, so if you don't actually want it for what it is, let someone who truly loves it have the scent. I can understand that perspective, and I guess if I was giving up something I loved 'cause I needed the $$, at the end of the day I'd rather it go to someone who would appreciate it rather than just want it for its value. But also, a couple of things: -once you sell something, it's out ofyour hands. Your attachment to that item has ended, and with it your right to make moral judgments about how it's used. Whatever-it-is is no longer yours. let it go. -As a n00b, it's really hard to see people raving about all these great rare scents, and then not being able to try them because they're only up for swap for things of "equally rare value". You _have_ to start with purchasing, and the easiest way to break into the rares market is to buy something to trade. Sometimes what comes up for sale isn't what you want at the end of the day; but then again, sometimes you bring home an imp you intended to just swap away, and find a new love. -buying things to swap is actually pretty utilitarian. Picture this: you have four people, A; B; C; and D (shut up, it's late I'm not imaginative). A has a decant of Voodoo Queen that she is selling. B has a decant of Storyville that she will only swap for Voodoo Queen or Lugh. C has wanted to try Storyville for ages, but she doesn't have Voodoo QUeen (and she def. doesn't have lugh). D really loves Voodoo Queen (but in order to know that, s/he would need to have enough to test --> probably has a decant already). If D buys the decant of Voodoo Queen, two people are happy: A and D. A has gotten $ for it, and D has more of what she already tested and knows she likes. This has no effect on B, but C still can't even access storyville. If C buys the decant of Voodoo Queen, three people are happy: A, B and C. A has gotten the $ that she would've gotten anyway. C now has access to something she really wants (Storyville; and in the process got to test Voodoo Queen) and B has something she really wants. D isn't happy, but you can't make all of the people happy all of the time. Purchasing decants to swap is, from a utilitarian perspective, a pretty good idea. More people get what they want out of the market -- where's the harm in that? it's like the idea of "too much profit". No such thing. If Beth wants to spend her $$ on a Lamborghini, I don't care, although since oil prices will have increased I'll probably be able to buy less perfoom. Which, in the end, might actually be a good thing for my pocketbook. How do you like fast Italian cars, Beth?

with scents I like. Or, uhm, *think* I'll like. Or just get a weird hankering after, and decide for no logical reason that I'll adore. This is how it tends to go: I get curious about a scent, whether I just see a decant of it pop up or for some reason I like the name that day. I skim the reviews. I read the reviews. I re-read the reviews. I snap up the first decant of it I see. I re-read the reviews, decide I love it, and hunt down as much as I can find. I get the first decant, and try it on. It's oooo-kay. I have five more coming. Great. This is how I got so much Snowblind. Everyone was all "oooh! Snowblind!" and I tried it and it was... meh. I just really, reallly hope I like Havisham. Because I swapped 2 decant sof Passion and 2mL of Snow Angel for the bottle I have a-coming in the mail...

Preconceptions: Rose doesn't often jive with me -- whether it's lush (like Rose Red/Peacock Queen) or soft and florally, it usually just smells like old lady. That said, I loooooove the scent of rosehip tea, and I wanted Hope to fill that scent niche. It doesn't smell precisely like rosehip tea, but it goes one better: it smells like sweet rose candy, beautiful and fresh. It's (much) sweeter and prettier than I usually like in fragrances, but it doesn't go old-lady at all! It stays true to the description -- simple and innocent -- and dries down, after hours and hours, to the most subtle feminine perfume. So sad, because her sister turned to instant play-doh on my skin. I /will/ find a way to secure a 5mL...

Banded Sea Snake is one of the snakes that I instantly passed over in at first. I am sooo glad I found an imp. As many have remarked, it's tough to get a handle on -- and particularly since I don't wear mosses /or/ aquatics, I have no idea what the notes I'm sniffing really smell like. However, on my skin it's an androgynous-to-masculine blend that's warmer and smoother than the original Snake Oil, and less sugar-sweet. I get a little of the saltiness that other people have mentioned, but what comes out most prominently on my skin is the rich olive leaf -- over a backdrop of the Snake Oil spices. You'd never mistake BSS for Snake Oil, but the Snake Oil base is definitely noticeable. Although BSS has a somewhat masculine tone, I don't find it at all difficult to wear -- it has a gravity and depth that's different from my usual cold scents and I'd feel comfortable wearing this with a power suit to the office, or curled up beside the fire on a winter day. On me it hugs fairly close to the skin, but my nose is defective so YMMV. Once I scrape some more cash together I'm seriously contemplating a bottle of this 'un.

which is why I feel okay about posting in here. I'm getting scared of my own disinterest. The only thing I seem to have any enthusiasm for these days is my perfume collection! Yes, all right, BPAL is wonderful and blahdy blah, but I know why it's become such an obsession for me: because right now, there isn't anything else. and that's terrifying. There is nothing else I can muster the energy to care about or do. I can barely even speak to my girlfriend, although her gorgeous self is present in my thoughts. I thought leaving university would make the apathy better. It hasn't. Maybe I'm being impatient? I've been home a week... It's not as though there's some magic wand to wave to make everything fine. But I hate this. I can't care about anything, and I'm just unhappy.

Voodoo Punani amps the saffron on me. It's nice; I like it. It ends up smelling surprisingly sophisiticated, like I wanted Monster Bait: Underpants to smell. Underpants was just too vanilla, though. :/

I just nabbed 4 50-slot ammo boxes off a hunting store online. The total with shipping to Canada was $13.74, which I feel is acceptable (even though the cost for the boxes themselves was $3.49 0.o) -- that's about $4.50 per box, which isn't insane, although it's a bit more than I'd like. Perhaps I'll swap two of them away for some imps -- I only have 50-some-odd imp/decants anyway, and some of those are going in bottles. Havisham (1 imp) and Ice Queen (4 imps) are going into the bottles I've found for them -- that's 5 of my 57 decants taken care of. I'll likely swap away some of my GC's, and I already know I hate Tarot: The Star (unfortunately). There'll be a whole row of 5 slots for my precious Ingenue, likewise for my Dark Delicacies decants. I can probably just save time and keep my swapping imps in one box. Or maybe I'll use one box for my intent blends -- like my voodoo blends and TALs... I'm so excited! I love getting new stuff, especially new ways to arrange my scents. Now I just need an adequate box for my bottles... as in, one that can fit 10mL's as well :/ I have four (and they're alllll La Fee Verte.) Now I'm feeling that lovely gloating that goes along with possessing things one loves.

mmkay. So I enabled a friend a while ago, and since then we've had a pretty loose arrangement regarding swapping BPAL. For a while I bought her BPAL and she paid me back in rave tickets, which worked out for everyone. I've also given her some things: most notably, I passed along first an imp and then my 2/3 full bottle of Voodoo Queen, because much as I liked it it smelled better on her than it did on me. If I see something I know she wants, I'll swap from my pile of stuff to get it for her. And that's why I'm a little bit frustrated, and I know it's not justified. There's a scent I /love/ -- Ingenue. Damn hard to find. A while ago she saw an imp of it for sale, and bought it for me -- and then she fell in love with it. :/ You can see where this is going, I think. I'm a little cheesed off, because in the past I've given her things I knew she'd enjoy, even though they were rare and swappable, and I could've used them to collect things I wanted. It's not fair to give a gift with the expectation of getting something in return; that's not really giving, and it's not fair to either party. At the time I didn't think that was what I was doing, but I find myself a bit upset that I gave up things for her, and she's not willing to do the same for me - even for one decant. It's not going to drive a wedge through our friendship or any such thing, but I'm materialistic enough that it annoys me. The biggest problem (insofar as there is actually a problem, which is debatable) is that there's nothing I can do about it. I didn't pay for it, she purchased it as a gift (and informed me it was such) before she decided to keep it; and I can't be angry at her for not reciprocating a feeling I had, or a way of doing things that I decided to follow. It just makes me upset, and I don't think I'll be looking out for her wants in the future. :/

Dotted my wrists with my nine-month-old Snake Oil this morning, and it's glorious. I can't believe I wasn't a huge fan in the beginning... it goes a little play-doh on me after a few hours and I have to reapply, but after it ages it's the most gorgeous sophisticated warm spice scent. On my skin the amber is prominent, and I love amber... so glad I have a bottle. Also, next time I order from the lab I need to buy a bottle of Vixen to put away. I sniffed an imp of Vixen that someone had aged for over a year, and it was heavenly. Things I'd like to try: Boomslang -- I'm not sure I'd want a whole bottle of this one, but I'd like to try it. Also, I'm pretty sure Sophia would like it. For her birthday, she's getting a bottle of Boomslang and a bottle of Velvet (she likes cocoa-y scents). Hope -- I want a bottle of this beauty. Faith, unfortunately, goes instant play-doh on me, and I don't think it's salvageable. Scent locket? I have a brimstone locket coming... Other than that, I'm prettymuch out of wants! I have almost a full bottle of Ice Queen, ditto Havisham, I have an imp of Voodoo Queen which is all I'll ever need (it's too heavy for my complexion... but it's oh-so-beautiful), I've got a bottle of Snow Angel and much as I love it I'll never need more, I've got more MB: Closet than I'll ever use (but it's soooo goood), I've got a bottle of Snake Charmer and seriously, I could decant from it, I like aged Snake Oil better anyway; I wouldn't mind trying Storyville, Formula 54 and Blue Moon but I'm not rabid for any of them, and I have an imp of Intergalactic coming and if I need another one I've got stuff to swap. The only thing I really want more of is Ingenue. I'd like to build up a collection of 7-9 imps, ideally, which would be enough for me to be comfortably sure that I wouldn't run out. I have stuff I can swap for this, too -- I can decant from my bottle of Passion if I have to, or dangle my Trick 2 out there as an enticement. I have two single notes coming that can be swapped away without breaking my heart, although I want to keep my Blood Orange SN no matter how it smells on me (I love the scent of blood oranges). I have bottles of Pink Moon 2007 and Ostara coming; I'm very much looking forward to Ostara, very much. In some ways, my lack of wants right now is good; through careful swapping, I've tried most of the rares out there that interested me at all, and I've kept the ones I wanted and let the others go, but now I get to look to scents that have just come out and decide right away, based on what's in them, whether I want them -- there's no reputation or legend attached to the new stuff yet. That's kind of exciting. I'm also looking forward to Blue Moon 2007, and the Cancer astrological blend, although if it's chamomile and lavender I'll load the bottle into a gun and shoot myself. I'll be purchasing any/all blends available for July because it's my birth month, and probably two bottles of 07 Blue Moon (just because I'm pretty sure it's going to be up my alley -- cool and soft and somewhat crisp and airy, gently sweet). So glad I got $1100 back from my taxes -- probably around $250 of that will go to BPAL... Another $250 will go to paying for my rave habit [$500] leaving about $600 to sustain the rest of my expensive lifestyle for three months. That's $200 a month, or $50 a week. I should be okay, although I'll have to stop buying so many books. :/

Bah! Why?? Lovely in the imp -- pretty much as the description reads. Sweet violets, a touch cloying but very pleasant. On my skin -- instant play-doh. Violet /hates/ me.

Shub. I'm serious. The zippy ginger is like instant backbone on a day when all I want to do is curl up in bed and bawl, and the warmth is very comforting in the winter... it's an I'm-ready-to-face-the-world kind of scent. yumm.

Add another vote for Brides of Dracula, which shouldn't be too hard to find -- it's floating around. I tried Les Bijoux and it was like a fruitier Brides on me. I like Brides much better but YMMV

My imp of this has the consistency of syrup -- delicate, dusky-red syrup. I almost want to keep it for the shade alone. IN THE IMP it smells like... red musk. but fruity red musk, with overtones of sage. I like red musk, but I have three scents with it already, and it tends to stomp all over everything else... WET ON SKIN it smells like fruity red musk with lavender, which quickly dries down to... lavender and sage. What do you know, the red musk is actually taking a relative back seat in this blend. DRY I get lavender and mango. and sage. But not aggressive, dry sage -- it's sweetened by the mango. The mango is actually quite prominent, but not to the point of juiciness -- I'm normally put off by sweet, fruity blends and this is quite nice. It stays pretty true on me, a lavender-mango blend with a warm red musk backdrop that wafts up from my wrists. It has good throw but isn't obnoxious. Unfortunately, when I'm in the mood for a warm scent there are things I have bottles of that I can reach for, and it's not worth this imp's time to keep something so rare when it'll gather dust. I'll pass it on, but it's quite a nice blend -- not, however, something I am gaga for. Maybe someone will swap me for some Ice Queen or Ingenue...

Disclaimer: I'm sick and don't have the greatest nose in the first place. HOWEVER... ...it's hard to identify any single note in this scent, it's very well-blended; the only thing that comes out strongly is the peach blossom, with the patchouli behind it. Everything else just forms this slightly resinous, rather sweet warm haze. It's warm, and slightly fruity, and sweet in a non-sugary way. I like it, and I'm glad I managed to snag a couple of decants, but it's not really a 'me' scent. As lovely as it is, it's just a bit too warm and fruity for my personality. We'll see if I can swap for some Infatuation...

Thanks to the lovely Jocosa, who frimped me a 1/4 imp of this rare beauty As much as I love this scent, my nose sucks, so this review is almost completely impressionary and I'm awful at picking out notes... Ice Queen is lovely. It's a subtle, light scent that doesn't scream its presence -- the soft musks ground it in the skin, and when I wear it the wafts I get are of the iciest spruce and some light and unidentified fruits. They aren't juicy fruit scents, but a touch of sweetness that's rendered more complex by some unidentifiable floral. Other than the spruce, which is definately present, the scent is very well-blended -- it doesn't separate out into components and they're tough to tease out even when I'm really hunting. THis one is gorgeous, and will be lovingly saved.