dzurlady

In the vial: Patcholi and a hint of rain On me, wet: Patcholi - after a few minutes, I get hints of rain and mint. Nothing that reminds me of golden light. A little later: All the notes from before have merged together a bit more, and what I think is frankinsence strike that, it's probably cedar (curse my uneducated nose!) has joined in. More evocative of golden light, but not hugely so. If anything, it's closer to dusty light! Later still: And that's how it stays. Good throw. Interesting and not unpleasant, but not what I want to smell like. Off to the swaps.

Oh, Selkie is gorgeous. I almost wish I ordered it, just for the label, even though it won't work on me.

Although imp packs can slow orders down considerably, so don't be alarmed if the wait's a bit longer than normal.

I can definitely smell the wool - it's really interesting! The woods are a softer background. I'm glad to have smelt it, and I love that Beth's captured the scent of wool, but I don't want to smell like it, so I'll pass it on for someone else to try. ETA: Corrected spelling.

Thank you Taniwah! (For those of you who are lazy - Blue Moon, Gemini (which really took my by surprise by being green, for some reason) and Rose Moon (my favourite of the lot - it's so beautiful!))

I got this one mainly out of curiousity. It's very different than anything I've tried before in my fairly short BPAL career, so I'm glad I did. It smells interesting (and I don't mean that in a bad way!) but it's not really me, I don't think. In the vial: A very clean, slightly sweet smell. On me, wet: A warm clean smell. There's almost a hint of wool, like a jumper, maybe? When I reread the description, I can smell the woods, which form the heart of the scent, and what must be the incense. I can't smell any pipe smoke, but I might just not recognise it. On me, dry: Much the same. On me, later: More woody, a touch sweeter. A bit more smokey, maybe? But still very similar to when wet. Overall I'm pleased to have been able to try this, but I think I'll probably swap it off to someone who'll love it more than me.

Me too! I would also love to see Rose Moon Since we're asking, how about Gemini?

In the vial: the mosses dominate, with hints of the lavender and amber. I can't smell the carnation, but I'm not very familiar with it, so I might be missing it. On me, wet: a lovely mix of lavender, amber and what I believe to be the carnation, cradled by the mosses. Nice, but not OMGWOW. On me, dry: the amber amps and brings a sweetness that reminds me of a creamy honey to the scent. The lavender comes out a bit more too. This is delicious - not my favourite scent, but really nice nevertheless. On me, later still: the mosses take over, the amber fades, and this turns into a sharp men's traditional cologne type scent. It's far too masculine for me, so off to the swaps.

That looks really awesome! How did you set it up? And would it work on a mac?

They are announced on the forum update notification (in the Announcements section) and only there - not on the site, or the lj comm, or anything. If you're on the forum they'll generally be discussed in update discussion thread too!

On me, His Station and Four Aces (from April's LE Dogs Playing Poker series) is very lilac - I barely get any white musk or leather.

In the imp: Lilac mostly, and also leather and a hint of white musk. On me, wet: A sweet, gentle lilac, with a soft faint background of leather and white musk to give it a little deapth. On me, dry: The same as wet. A soft and feminine lilac, with only a hint of leather and musk. It's nice, but I was hoping for a less dominant lilac and a more complex scent - I can almost smell it with more leather and white musk, and I would love it. As it is, I just like it. Not a great deal of throw, and it seems to fade fairly quickly.

Oooh, this is gorgeous. Really warm and comforting, and beautifully balanced. All the components snuggle up against each other. I love it! In the imp: Almost pure coffee with a hint of tobacco wrappers (I think) at the end and barely noticable. On, wet: Coffee, strongly On, drying: Almost immediately this begins to morph, bringing in cinnamon most strongly but also the tobacco and to a lesser extent the woods On dry: Pretty much the same, with the cinnamon a bit more promient. The coffee disappears first. Throw and duration: Heartbreakingly, both quite minimal. It clings to my wrists and fades in two or three hours. Hopefully slathering will make it amp and stay longer. ETA: Slathering doesn't seemed to have helped much, although I could extend my slathering to different parts of my body. The tobacco wrappers are most prominant at the end of the scent, which is a bit sad as I don't dislike them but I don't love them either. ETA2: I wore it again today and got much better throw and the warm cinnamon and coffee blend stuck around through to the end. Just lovely.

Beckons all giant creatures from gargantuan reptiles and humongous moths! These babies are sure to crush everything from dollhouses to shopping malls! Can even be used to summon colossal robots in a pinch! A sweet and crisp vanilla mint! This is absolutely gorgeous. In the bottle, it's very warm and foody, and I also get the hint of chocolate on first sniff, before the mint gradually moves forward and dominates. It smells delicious! (Not that I would eat it. Aside from the health risks, that would be a terrible waste of BPAL. My stomach has no nose. ) When I put it on, though, it starts to smell a bit like anise, and then goes plasticy. But I love it so much I won't swap it off - I'll wear it in my hair, or wait til I get a scent locket, and content myself with sniffing the bottle periodically. Mmmm. On my skin, it had very little throw, thank god. But I kept the toothpick I used to apply with on my desk and got wafts of scent off it. The vanilla was more apparent there than in the bottle, although it might have just lasted better. Edited to add lab description. Edited again, Nov 26 2007, to say that I retried this and the plastic is aging out of it. It's still not totally gone but hopefully by winter it will be!

In the vial: Lavender overshadowing rosemary, with a tiny hint of frankincense. Nice! On me, wet: Just like in the vial. On me, dry: Potpourri with lemon and frankincense sitting uncomfortably on top of it - all three scents clearly distinguishable and not at all mixed. And it didn't morph at all. Off to the swaps.

In the imp: gentle, lightly sweet floral - a hint of everything, stronger on the lilac, gardenia and ylang ylang, followed by lavender and violet. Wet: Pretty much the same as in the imp, only the lilac backs off and there's more of a hint of lavender and violet around the edges. The sandalwood is a nice base, not prominent but I can tell it's there. This is the most like its description - a quiet scent, soft, calm and enigmatic - of any (of the admittedly small sample) of the bpal I've tried so far, and I love it. Dry: And then disaster strikes. The lilac and pretty much everything else packs up and goes, and I'm left with gardenia and ylang ylang scented soap. I really liked this wet.

In the imp: Sandalwood, cinnamon and faintly patchouli. Quite nice, if not fabulous. Wet: Really headshopy - patchouli dominates, the sandalwood slinks around behind it and there's just a hint of cinnamon - I hoped there'd be more. Can't smell the amber. Dry: I have no idea what's making me smell like pink musk sticks - a blend of the patchouli and sandalwood? - but I do. I can still distinguish the patchouli, though. No sign of the amber or the cinnamon. Not really my thing, so off to the swaps. ETA: More and more cinnamon is coming out as I wear this - on top of the musk sticks. *sigh* Still off to the swaps, to my sadness - I was really looking forward trying this.

In the vial: this had an unpleasant dry/papery/peppery sort of note - kind of musty. Happily this vanished almost as soon as I put it on. On: Overall, this is a really balanced scent. When I first apply it, the orange and mango are more prominent, and gradually the musk and sandalwood come out as the orange and mango recede - but the difference is not huge and I can smell them all all the way through. I prefer the latter stage with slightly more sandalwood, as I like it a bit less sweet, but it's pleasant all the way through. I'll definitely hold onto my imp, but at this stage I won't be getting a bottle - I like it, but I don't love it - and I don't know if I'll get another imp once it runs out. I guess I'll have to see how often I end up wearing it!

I went through all the way through this thread and made this list of everything that someone mentioned being allergic to (as in 'my skin is red, ichy and covered in little bumps, woe'). This doesn't include burning/red marks which go away (although the prevention tips at the end helped many of those people too), or headaches, sneezing, etc. I thought this was an interesting comment: On to the allergies! The three bigs ones seem to be: Cassia Cardamon Cinnamon (note: cinnamon oil comes from two sources, the leaf and the bark. The oil from the leaf is milder, and you may be able to tolerate it but not the oil from the bark. Many people said they were fine with Chimera, but not with others - someone had a list of bark/leaf scents, but I can't find it again. ) Others, some of which only one person mentioned allergies for, include: Almond Amber Anise Bergamot Carnation Cloves Cocoa Coconut Fig Honey Jasmine Lavender Lemongrass Liquorice root Mint Patcholli Pennyroyal Pepper (I can't remember if this was a allergic reaction or just a period of redness and burning) Saffron Strawberries Tobacco leaf Tips for avoiding allergic reactions: You can email the lab at answers@blackphoenixalchemylab.com and ask them if a scent you're interested in contains your allergen(s). This is especially great if your allergies are life threatning. For mild reactions: Avoid putting oil on just after showering or while hot, as your pores are more open then. Stick to non-sensitive skin (also good for when you're not sure if you'll react or not, as it may reduce the severity of the reaction). Places to avoid include the neck, chest, insides of elbows, inside of wrists, and pulse points. Basically, avoid thin skin. Dilute the oil in lotion or in jojoba, grapeseed or another carrier oil. It has been suggested that almond is best avoided, as it sinks into the skin well. You may not be able to wear oils on your skin, but people have suggested wearing them on your clothes (be careful, as some oils stain!), in your hair, or in a scent locket. And there's always room burners! If you get an allergic reaction: Wash the oil off (cold water is less irritating, as are non-soap products if you have them) and stick ice/frozen peas/your cold pack of choice on the site of the reaction for immediate help with the itching. Then go the pharmacy for an antihistamine and some hydrocortizone cream. (Be careful not to exceed the reccomended doses for these, though! They can be harmful if you take too much.) If you've been wearing a watch or bracelet, you might need to wash that too. All this info comes from stuff that was said earlier in the thread - it's not something I know a great deal about, and I welcome any additional information or corrections!

In the bottle: Mainly rose, with ylang ylang lurking underneath so you can just catch glimpses of it. Wet: Rose with a hint of ylang ylang for a split second, and then only rose. Drydown: Pure rose. Summary: Rose, rose rose. It would be nice if the ylang ylang had stuck around, and maybe the honey and apple blossom could have come out to play. Chalk it up to body chemistry. ETA: I tried again, this time slathering it on - and I got much more ylang ylang, as well as a hint of the apple blossom and honey... until the rose took over again. And the rose was dominant the whole way through. But this would be nice for people who like rose and find it doesn't take over - sweet and rosey.