dronzeka

I think it's pretty clear from everything everyone knows about the Lab that Beth wouldn't put out an unsafe product. Even if she weren't all ethical 'n' shit like that, it would be poor business practice! Apart from individual sensitivities to specific ingredients, if BPAL weren't skin safe, I'm sure Beth wouldn't sell it (and wear it! and test it on herself!). My understanding from the website and reading this thread is that 1) all the materials in BPAL oils are natural (whether EOs, attars, absolutes, etc.) 2) BPAL is 85-100% "perfume oil" 3) "perfume oil" is NOT the same as pure essential oils (or attars or absolutes) What I understand "perfume oil" to mean in this context is, "stuff made of natural components that smells good." Even when a blend is 100% "perfume oil", I don't think that at all has to mean it's 100% EOs etc - after all, jojoba and other carrier oils are natural oils, too. It's been mentioned plenty of times that some EOs plain aren't safe to be worn on the skin (individual success with doing so aside), and that some of them can't be used effectively without dilution because they're too thick etc. I also remember a mention of a spill at the lab where everyone had to vacate the room because the scent was so strong it was making people sick (anyone else remember that?). So clearly Beth isn't simply combining EOs and putting them in a bottle (although it's possible that blends tend to have much higher percentages of "skin-safe" EOs in which much smaller percentages of the less skin-safe are blended). I would imagine that Beth's blends would have to include some percentage of what we call "carrier oil," but I don't even want to call it that here, because people sometimes seem to read "carrier oil" and see it as some kind of "watering down" of the "real" stuff. I don't see the "carrier oil" here as something that waters down the perfume, but something that's a necessary part of it, without which the perfume wouldn't exist. Hence not calling it "perfume in carrier oil" (which suggests it's just a vehicle), but plain old perfume oil. Which is kind of my long and confusing way of restating what Macha said upthread: There are plenty of plant-derived non-essential oils, is what I'm thinking.

Oh, I'd be the same - Shelldoo would be sick of me! I'd show up like clockwork on payday! All I meant was that having this line is an incentive for brick-and-mortar retailers to carry BPAL - because it's something people can't get via mail order so the fans will have to go to the stores, so the retailers will get something of a built-in market - and that having brick-and-morter retailers carry BPAL is a good thing for the lab, because they can then attract people who *don't* already know about it, don't have internet access, or who are leery of buying perfume online ("how do you know what it smells like???"). So I don't think it's about attracting more current BPAL fans to the retailers, as much as it is having the retailers carry BPAL to get more new customers/fans.

But I think that actually, there aren't that many BPALers who live near retail locations - b/c the Lab isn't an open-for-business store, right? Shelldoo sells the GC in Hershey, and they'd just added Harry's Whole Foods in Georgia, but that's not a lot of retailers. And so the only chance most people get to buy direct is in Will Calls, and while I know that people here who live close enough definitely go to/buy from Will Calls, that's only once a month, so I think the vast majority of the lab's business has to be mail order. Especially when you figure that retailers don't carry LEs (except at Will Calls). So this way, yeah, the Lab does encourage retailers to carry the line by giving people a reason to go to these spaces rather than tack on GC bottles to an LE order. Not that I'm not bummed that I don't live anywhere near LA or Hershey!

(This is the 2007 version.) This doesn't change much from imp to wet to dry on me: VERY brown sugar-y. Thankfully, it's nicer than the 2006 version, which went absolutely nasty burnt caramel buttery ick on me. Or else my chemistry has changed from last year, which is also possible. But in any case - brown sugar. And it pretty much stays brown sugar. Not cooked brown sugar - not caramel. Just like sticking your head in a bag of brown sugar and taking a whiff. It smells like that spoonful of brown sugar I always sneak when I'm baking cookies tastes. I get just the tiniest hint of berry or fruit lurking underneath a great big pile of brown sugar. It's actually very nice, if you like brown sugar. I like to eat it, but I've discovered, not really to smell like it. It could be an intriguing room scent, though. And if you like this kind of foodiness, I bet you'll like this year's Sugar Skull.

In the imp: OMFG this is gorgeous! Lavender mixed with rose and violet! Wet: OMFG this is gorgeous! Lavender mixed with rose and violet! As it dries: Mmmmm. Still lovely lavender. Still sweetened by rose and violet. Eventually, it becomes heavier on the rose and violet, with lavender in the background. Calloo callay, I get no calla lily! I also don't detect sandalwood, although it may be grounding this a little. Overall, it's a beautifully sweet floral. It actually reminds me very much of Victoria, with a little lavender added, and violet instead of vanilla. They seem related, though. Which is cool, because I love Victoria. My only dilemma now will be whether I want a big bottle of this, or of Victoria. (Oh, who am I kidding, I'm sure I'll buy both!) Atrocious Attic really needs to be a big bottle, though.

In the imp: all pumpkin all the time, baby. Wet: still buttery pumpkin, but the florals rise up fast. I don't really get the carnation; what I smell must be the champa flower, which doesn't do too much for me. As it dries, I get a little bit of the tonka and a little bit of the tobacco. I don't know, though, I think I have a hard time wrapping my head around pumpkin and florals (I had the same reaction to Pumpkin IV). The tobacco is kind of a bridge, but I still find it odd. And then it fades REALLY quickly. Ah well, it was fun to try! ETA: okay, I lied, I have to come back and edit this because I didn't let it dry long enough. After quite a while of (to me) an odd jumble of slightly piercing florals and buttery pumpkin, and then a patch where it smelled like it had vanished, this has actually turned into something kind of sweet and quite lovely. It's a quiet sweet floral, I guess carnation melding with champa flower, and it's much mellower than when it started. And to be honest, it smells the tiniest bit like a lollipop - that may be the tonka? I'm not sure where the tobacco went, or the pumpkin, for that matter, although they both may be in the background grounding this. I actually like it quite a bit at this point. I'll probably have to try this again, to see if I can wait for this drydown or if the initial weirdness ruins it for me. (It would also probably help not to try it at the same time as five other Weenies...)

I got an imp of this for the heck of it, even though I'm not very into pear, but it turns out that the pear in this is lovely, and it's the vanilla that kills it for me. Wet, at first it's very much pear, and it really is rich and lovely and smells like a real pear, not fake pear-ness. Unfortunately, when the vanilla comes out on me (as it does) it turns into that kind of fake vanilla, plastic barbie doll smell. This is the only time I've had this happen to me. Oh well. (On me it has quite decent throw, but then, since I don't like it, it would, wouldn't it? )

Oh, this is lovely! It's very green, but it's not herbal or piney - it's very lush and damp and actually quite sweet; I think the oleander and the berries are most responsible. Like others have said, it's like a southern garden on a hot summer night - rich and secretive. Very evocative, as others have said! (Sorry, this is not the world's most original review! )

Hey, I think I can actually wear this! (I was so apprehensive about this one.) In the bottle, I get primarily gardenia and lily (I think the calla and muguet are blending here). On, the white florals blend and balance beautifully, and I can tell that the iris and orchid have come into play. Thankfully, the muguet seems to cancel out the calla lily - I can wear (and love) muguet but calla lily usually turns to sharp soap on me. But it doesn't here! I don't really get any sandalwood (which is good, for me), but I think it might somehow contribute to the green vibe that purplemoonshoes describes. This is definitely a white scent, but a warm kind of whiteness - the softness and smoothness of swansdown - not at all cold. It is sweet, and soft, and while it lasts on my skin it has very little throw. But it is quite lovely. I wouldn't say it's in my top 10 or anything, but I'm just thrilled that it's pretty on me because I love the concept so much. And I really don't have anything that smells like this. A keeper!

Not sure what I think about this one. (The label sure is cute, though - a black bat on a purple background!) In the bottle, I get white grapefruit, too, and what I think is the jasmine. On, it's a citrus-y floral, with more of the honeysuckle and what I think is the wisteria. It's a kind of pale yellow-green scent (almost honeydew melon color? although it doesn't smell at all of melon!). It's quite a light, bright scent (tears in moonlight?) without being overly sweet - despite the florals, it's more dry than sweet (that's probably ginger and tea). On me as it dries it seems to turn a little dusty and a little soapy. Sadly, it's not all that interesting on me (and it doesn't last very long, either, though that's not surprising with all the citrus). I should probably wait a week or so and try it again, due to skin chemistry issues, but right now I don't think it quite works. (Though strangely enough I do think it fits the idea of vampire tears!)

Same here! My allergists always sigh and shake their heads b/c I have three cats and am allergic to cats. But they're not going anywhere - I'll just take the drugs, thanks! Allergy sufferers unite! (I have to go to a new one in a week or so and I'm dreading it b/c I know they're going to want to test me again and I want to say, look, let me save you the trouble, I'm allergic to EVERYTHING.) It was just funny with Allison Gross, because I've never had a similar reaction to any other scents, and all I could focus on was GREEN. It could be something else entirely, of course, and I do wonder how much Beth uses bouquets vs. the essential oils.

This isn't going to be a very good review, because basically what I have to say is: YUM. I'm not usually into foody scents, but custard is the exception, and this is WONDERFUL custard. In the bottle it smells VERY eggnog-y to me, with that really thick creaminess, maybe a little heavy feeling, and even maybe a little hint of booze. It makes me think of Christmas more than Halloween because of the eggnog-iness. On, though, it softens up a lot, till it becomes a wonderful light, warm, slightly cinnamon-y, slightly nutmeg-y softness that clings to your skin. It is SO DAMN GOOD. The only sadness is that it doesn't seem to last very long. And in my scent locket it stays closer to that heavy thick eggnog smell, which is very nice, but not quite as lovely as the drydown. (Of course, my locket has also been holding florals for the last few days, and I didn't wash it out or anything, so custard smells a bit odd in that context - I'm going to have to go wash out my locket and try again.) So the dilemma: do I slather this stuff as I'd love to do, or do I hoard hoard hoard because I bet I won't be able to get any more??? (And does this mean I should sell my non-existent firstborn to try to get hold of some Eggnog??)

Alas, this didn't work on me. It is rather bubble-gum sweet in the bottle - maybe it's the raspberry, maybe it's the pomegranate, which sometimes works for me and sometimes doesn't. In any case, it goes rather heavy syrupy fruity sweet on me while wet, and not in the good way. And then as it dries down it does do the kind of dusty earthy thing that people mention, which doesn't work for me either. I think at this point it's the patchouli, although I'll say that the patchouli here works for me better than most BPAL patch. After about three hours it is a rather nice dusty floral, but it's not worth waiting for. Sad, because it's such a cool concept and the notes sounded so gorgeous. But I'm glad to see that the Queen is getting the love she deserves from so many others!

Mmmm! In the imp, I get a lot of pink grapefruit (yum!). On, I still get pink grapefruit, as well as nice tart lime, and a lovely soft mint tying the citrus together. Often I find citrus-mint stuff too sinus-clearing, but this is gorgeous. I don't get any oakmoss (thankfully!), but think it and the zdravetz may be what's grounding this - it has more body than most citrus scents, if that makes sense; it seems to be sticking around better, not floating away into the stratosphere. I think I'm catching a hint of lavender here, but if you're a lavender-hater, I don't think this would bother you - it blends seamlessly with the citrus. I don't get any chocolate on its own; I think it just mellows out the peppermint, so that it's soft rather than crisp and biting. This is so lovely! It's a bright and cheerful scent without being too silly or girly - MUST get a bottle of this!!

In the imp, I smell mostly the dark vanilla, with a little lily, all kind of blurred with some other stuff. Wet: still the vanilla! I'm having the hardest time picking out the notes in this - there's vanilla and lily, but it's nowhere as sweet as that suggests. I think the opium and hay and tobacco must be mixing together to make this a kind of tough, more savory vanilla? That probably sounds awful, but this is really lovely. It's definitely dark vanilla. Oooh, now I get a whiff of mandarin (yum!). (I do, but I think that might be the Carnal I put on earlier!) I keep wanting to say that I can smell this or that, but really, I can't - it's all so well blended. As it dries, I'm sad to say that the lily is getting stronger - the "sugared" bit helps, but I do amp lily into something kind of sharp, and I'm getting a little of that here. And actually, looking at the other reviews, I think what I'm getting is a mix of lily and opium (I really am not sure what opium smells like when it's at home). But when I keep whiffing, I keep getting that lovely deep vanilla, which I adore. Now a whiff of tobacco, now a whiff of leather. It's amazingly complex, and I think I like it a lot, but I'm going to have to try it a few more times. Overall, it's dark but not heavy, a little sweet but not at all foodie, mostly non-floral (except for a bit of lily. But I amp lily and not jasmine or rose, so YMMV. For the rose haters, I don't get an ounce of rose in this at all, but for the jasmine haters, I think I catch a bit of jasmine.)

Oooh, this looks promising! I was most afraid of the cherry, because Bloody Mary was just yuck on me, and usually cherry goes to cough syrup. In the bottle, I can smell the cherry, but it seems more like real cherries, which is pretty much okay. And I get other stuff, perhaps honey and fig? Wet, and as it dries, it's such a pretty melange of things. Yes, there's cherry in it, but it's still behaving. I can smell spicy carnation balancing out the rich fruitiness of the cherry, black currant, and plum. Sometimes all those red fruits get too heavy and sweet for me, but the carnation and rose are lightening this up beautifully. I also get a little fig (it's blending nicely with the Carnal I have higher up on my arm!), and now the honey is coming out to add sweetness, but a light golden sweetness, not that syrupy dark fruit sweetness. As it continues to dry, I get more honey (yay! honey!). Sadly, like hackess and cranberry, I find that it dries down into something a bit more rosy rather than fruity. It's a light powdery rose, not the really deep rich overwhelming rose. It is nicely honeyed, and I do get hints of fruit round the edges, with that little spiciness from the carnation, but there's definitely rose. It's funny b/c I'd never have thought it from the notes, but this really does smell airy. How on earth does that work?? I do really like this, though. I'm trying to think what to compare it too, but I'm not coming up with anything. I do think it's very much of a piece of the other astrological oils this year (well, perhaps not Aries) - whatever their notes, I find that they dry down into something kind of light, and, well, celestial. (I guess that's fitting! ) If you're worried about the cherry, I think you might be good with this blend. If you're a rose hater, this might not work so well. (It is funny testing this and Death of Autumn at the same time because it's like they're diametrical opposites!) ETA: Now that this is really truly dry, I get a lovely layer of black currant and plum over the rose! Gorgeous!

Okay, I'm totally confused by this. I had really high hopes - I thought it might be a kind of amber-spicy scent a bit like Faiza, except brown rather than green. And, well, it's not. But oh well, that's my own fault for assuming things, I think. I really don't know what to think, though. In the bottle, and wet, I get VETIVER, which doesn't go bad on me or anything, but just isn't my favorite scent. It's too dark and bitter. At this point, I'm ready to because it's not what I hoped. Pretty quickly, though, as it dries, the vetiver backs WAY off. And at this point I get a little bit of amber and a little bit of what I think is saffron, maybe a little galangal. It's much nicer at this point, but it's also almost entirely gone - it just vanishes, and I put a fair amount on. It could be a kind of nice autumnal skin scent - but really, I think it just doesn't work for me. It's a little too savory (what I can smell of it if I huff like mad). So sad!! (Though I agree that it would smell really good on a man. Mmmm, actually, I would really like to smell this on my husband... too bad he only wears scent when I smear it on him, to humor me, so it's not really worth keeping the bottle just for that. )

I was really surprised to find out that Hexennacht is in the spring, because this is SUCH an autumn scent to me. I got an imp that smelled wonderful, so I finagled a bottle from eBay, and was SO excited when it arrived. I opened it up, sniffed deep, and - bacon. WTF? Yes, initially the smokiness of this reads completely as smoked pork product to me. Eeek! (The imp had none of this, by the way.) Anyway, I persevered, and I was rewarded! After a few minutes the bacon faded away (thank god), and it turned into a gorgeous pine, fir, evergreen scent - not a wintry pine loaded with snow, but an autumn pine, surrounded by dying leaves and woodsmoke in the air. It's a warm woodsy pine, and it's GORGEOUS. I'm so very pleased I managed to land a bottle!

I actually had a weird allergic experience for the first time last night. I was going to a friend's house for dinner and put on a new BPAL. Very gradually, over the course of the evening, my allergies/asthma started bothering me (mostly I noticed by the end of the evening I was starting to cough, the kind of deep icky cough that's a function of my asthma). I've had this happen at friends' houses before, but usually when they have dogs, and these friends have no pets. When I went to bed (after reapplying the perfume because I like to smell good when I sleep ), I noticed that I was a little wheezier than usual (before I got the asthma under control I was always wheezy when I lay down to sleep at night, but it hasn't happened in a long time), but I thought maybe there was mold in their house or something (even though officially I'm not allergic to mold!). This morning, I woke up with my sinuses completely clogged ...which got much better after I took a shower. So I finally went, Duh, it must have been the BPAL! The scent? Allison Gross, which I'd only tested very briefly before. And Allison Gross is full of all kind of green herbal things. And I'm really allergic to almost every grass and tree that grows. So in case I needed it, that was confirmation that what Beth puts into these things really is all-natural!

In the vial: cedar note of doom! Wet: cedar note of doom! (by which I mean something pungent and sharp and nasty) As it dries: okay, this becomes almost really nice! As it dries the cedar backs WAY off, and I start to get the amber and almond flower, as well as some indistinguishable sweet and warm florals (must be the frangipani and heliotrope). I really like these notes (they're the reason I even tried this), but they're really faint - granted, that might be because I applied very sparingly (what with the cedar note of doom). I think that the occasional whiffs of cedar I get mean that this isn't for me, even though it's a much kinder, gentler cedar than initially. If you don't have problems with cedar, though, this is a lovely, warm, gentle blend - definitely warm and sunny, recalling a golden haze in a soft humid sky rather than any kind of crisp clear white light.

I'd definitely second Obatala, and in fact, if you can get hold of it (which may not be easy!), Milk Moon 2005 smells an awful lot like Obatala to me, and while I love honey, I don't find it a dominant note in Milk Moon (same with the more recent Milk Moon, actually, though it's a little hard to tell, since as I said, I love honey). And ditto to Alice, I don't smell honey in that at all. FWIW I didn't get ANY cream from Bloody Mary - all I got was cherry lollipop. But it's certainly worth a shot!

In the imp, this smelled like pure tea rose - but on, I can definitely smell the lily and the sweetness of the vanilla musk. This is so lovely! It is very pure and innocent and simple, as people have said, but so very very pretty. I go back and forth between thinking it's a little conventional-perfume-y, and huffing my arm like an addict. At first I worried that the lily was amping into soap, but as it dries down further the lily recedes and I get mostly rose and vanilla. It's like of like Hope and Antique Lace had a love child, one who likes to wear lilies in her hair. I can't say how long it lasts (haven't had it on long enough), but it seems to have a strong enough throw that a little goes a long way - kind of like its inspiration.

LOVE this - it's so pretty and sparkly! Initially I get the blast of lavender some people are talking about - which is fine with me, as I adore lavender - but then the floral (which I'll assume is magnolia, am not sure I've smelled it on its own before, except perhaps walking by an actual tree) begins to come out, and the two blend into something very pale and clear, but (amazingly) not sharp. It's a cool scent but not a cold one, and as someone said above, great for summer and for a variety of situations. Of course, I could also wear it at bedtime, happily. So glad I got a bottle!

Mmmm, I think I like this! Wet, I get mostly cocoa - which isn't bad, for BPAL cocoa, b/c it's not a note that generally works for me (I bought this before I saw Beth say that it's uber-chocolate!). It's a little musty, but nothing horrible. On, drying, I get lovely fruit-y spice with just a hint of cocoa - I think mostly peach is coming through. With a little ginger and clove? Kind of like the pickled peaches a friend of mine makes (which are VERY yummy). Oooh, it's REALLY nice. (Yeah, helpful review point there, I know! ) And as it continues to dry, I think - hope? - that the honey is making an appearance. Despite all these food-y notes, it doesn't feel like a foody scent to me - more fruity/spicy (which I never think of as food! I guess for me, food = candy or baked goods. ). It reminds me just a little bit of Arcana's Burlesque, if Burlesque had fruit in it. (I don't think they actually share any notes besides chocolate, so I'm probably loopy, but that's what it makes me think of.) Overall - yummy! It's quite soft and I think it will require slathering, but hey, I can do that. It will be interesting to try in a scent locket, too - I wonder whether it will be all chocolate or all fruit/spice? Anyway, if you were afraid of the chocolate in this one but like the other notes, I'd encourage you to give it a try! ETA: Actually, this lasted really well on me! I can't comment on throw exactly because I just had the one sample spot, rather than a full body application but I could still smell this 6-8 hours later, through multiple hand-washings. Very cool!!

Wet, I could definitely smell the orange. It also had a weird Vaseline-y smell which is what red musk tends to smell like on me wet. Dry, I mostly got red musk - there's some herby floral-ness, and I think a hint of dragon's blood, but it's definitely not overwhelming. This is a really lovely blend - it all comes together into something warm and sort of spicy though not any identifiable spices, if that makes any sense. It works for a red moon on a warm August night. (Is it August's moon? I can't even remember now!) That being said, it's not really my kind of scent and I don't think I'd wear it, so it's off to the swaps, but I'm glad I got to try it because it is beautifully blended.