crimescenecleanup

Leo 2007. I will take out 1mL of BPAL from a bottle and dilute it in a 5mL roller bottle with an after-bath oil blend, so I can use it as a roll-on and slather it. Leo is one of those scents that stays strong, even when diluted, and I love it. I'm gone through two and half rollerbottles and my 5mL is half empty already.

Thank you, Angharad! I appreciate the reply. I feel like a jerk for using CCNow and Paypal, but I'll email the lab soon and see what's up.

'face palm' I'm an idiot. I was placing an order about a month ago, and using the website CCNow shopping cart, I thought "Oh! A paypal logo! I have money in my paypal account!" and promptly paid for my order with paypal using CCNow. Wondering if I should email the lab because I hadn't gotten a C'n'S yet, I went back to check the website for contact information, and checked the FAQ, and lo and behold, there are all kinds of disclaimers to NOT use CCNow when paying with paypal. I don't want to bother the nice labbies any more than is necessary. How do I go about fixing this in a way that minimizes my own stupidity, and the amount of work the lab has to do? Do I cancel the order through CCNow? Do I email the lab directly?

Banded Sea Snake is a lovely moss scent, and Danse Macabre was very mossy on me.

I just bought a bottle of this, aged one year, off of a forumite. In the bottle it smells strongly of BPALs sharp green tea note. On the skin, it's by far the most "medicinal" of all of the BPAL herbal blends I've tried. I immediately thought "herbal cough drops and Vick's VapoRub!" - with just a hint of syrupy, smoky Snake Oil vanilla that warms and gradually takes over. It's beautifully blended, but you can still discern individual notes. I expected this to have a strong, cold peppermint or wintermint note. Instead I get a very strong, musty horehound, just like horehound pastilles, and the pennyroyal note from BPAL's "Pain" without the sharpness of lavender. On its own, as a compliment to the horehound, the pennyroyal is very mellow and smells like the dried tea sachets. There's also a strong and bitter menthol note in the background, and a hint of fresh spearmint. That's my guess for the four mints, anyway. After a few minutes the Snake Oil really comes to the forefront, but stays creamy and light, and a sweet, oily bergamot creeps into the mix, while the four mints stay strong all the way through. There's a lingering bitter note in this too, that might just be the smoky note from snake oil and the green tea note coming together, that reminds me of an ashtray. It's not unpleasant, just unexpected, because from the all the herbal greenery and the fruity bergamot and the vanilla make me think this will turn into a sweet blend. It never does - there's something musty and earthy and ashen about it, underneath that delicious Snake oil and mint. I like it a lot. Six hours later it's still going strong in the scent locket and on my hair, but it's barely noticeable on skin. For those who like visual descriptions of scents, this makes me think of a cold, misty meadow early in the morning. It's a dark green, shifting scent. It also make think of old-fashioned apothecary shops - probably because of the horehound and menthol. Overall, a really unique blend, and one I never would have expected to find. Brilliant!

I second Madame Tracy. That was the queen of powdery old lady scents.

Voodoo Lily. It was this very regal, golden-purple floral that reminded me of my step-grandma and her large collection of fancy perfume bottles, flashy rhinestone jewelry, and couture handbags.

hmmm... I don't now of any with both of those notes, but I would recommend Spirit of the Komachi Cherry Tree. Green Phoenix has a papaya note, but i haven't tried it so I don't know how strong it is. As for tropical fruit notes, I think the BPAL guava note in 51 and Xanthe, the weeping clown is gorgeous. You might want to try one of those.

The peppery one I keep hearing about is La Mort Qui Danse. And this may be a little off topic, but I found Ogun to have a really wonderful, dry red pepper note. It's very fruity and fresh smelling, but the dry tobacco and pepper really give it a nice bite, and make it totally unisex.

I hope this is the right place to post this, as it's very similar to WidgetAlley's question. I placed an order with the lab last night. When I put the order through, I wrote down the total with shipping and what I had ordered in my ledger book. I order 1 lunacy, 1 salon, and 1 GC scent. This morning when I checked my email, I looked over the CCNOW confirmation message, and it listed the lunacy bottle, 2 of the GC scent, and no salon, with a completely different total. I've got no problem with the order - I don't mind having an extra bottle of the GC on hand to gift out, and I can always order the salon scent another time. But I am a little concerned that the shopping cart feature and order page are displaying one thing as my final order, and CCNOW is billing for another. I haven't seen much talk on the forum about this happening, so I doubt it's a glitch in the website. Could it be a problem with my cookie setting? I use Firefox on a windows box. I allow cookies but clear the private data cache daily. Has anyone else encountered this problem? edited to mention that after there has been an update, I sometimes have to refresh the page several time, so it probably has something to do with my browser or network settings.

Can I third Titania? It's gorgeous and adult and definitely a fairy-princess scent.

I second Drink Me. It turned out like pineapple upside-down cake on me. very sweet and buttery. Elegba seems to have a strong pineapple note for some people. It smelled like a pina colada to me. And Tzadikim Nistarim smells like ambrosia to me - pineapple and citrus with coconut and cream.

Ok, I'm way confused. In the bottle this is a crisp dark musk with leaves and woods and vanilla in the background and a hint of wine and evergreen...but not pine. On my skin, this is...Blood. Not real metallic blood, but BPAL blood accord, with cloves and vanilla musk and tons of Dragon's blood resin. I recognize the waxy, creamy note I always get from Dragon's blood. Now I amp the blood notes like nothing else but this is ridiculous. I get CLOVES DRAGON"S BLOOD VANILLA CLOVES DRAGON"S BLOOD VANILLA musk CLOVES DRAGON"S BLOOD VANILLA and something spicy that burns and tickles my nose but isn't immediately identifiable as cinnamon or cassia or the usual "firey" scents that cause me trouble. This is actually very similar to The Chilling Cellar on me, weirdly enough. It's not unpleasant by any means, just not what I was expecting. If it didn't smell so awesome in the bottle I'd think I got a mislabeled Hunter Moon. 'sigh' maybe if I age it it will be better on my skin. I sure hope so. I guess this will either be a swap or a strictly scent locket/hair scent

Something has happened to my skin chemistry in recent weeks that causes BPAL scents to stay pretty much the same throughout the whole drydown process. I really like this change and I hope it sticks around. Anyway. Yvaine was a scent i was really looking forward to. I've never been a fan of lavender in perfume or florals in general, but I loved the character, and I thought, if anyone pull it off, Beth could. I wasn't disapointed. Yvaine is very true to the description - cold and crystalline. The color it evokes is dark blue or indigo. I'm really curious what species of lavender was used, because unlike the usual biting, weedy astringency I get from lavender this is very clean and cool and ethereal. I want to say there's a hint of lilac in there somewhere, but I'm not sure. The magnolia is very gentle and just sort of rounds it out, and has that almost medicinal (but not unpleasant) scent I usually get from magnolias. This is a floral without any sweetness, mysterious and sparkling. At first it was super light and airy on my skin, which has been devouring BPAL lately never to be smelled again so I slathered it on my pulse points and hair hoping that some would survive, and totally forgot the awesome throw and staying power of lavender essential oil. I spilled a couple drops on the counter while I was doing this, and my partner came rushing in saying "what on earth is that? an air freshener or something? It's very floral...only...not? I can smell it from the opposite end of the house. Woops. So, yes, this does have immense throw and staying power, as I can testify that it was still very true and very pretty twelve hours later. Luckily the overwhelming scent of Yvaine dissapated quite a bit when I opened a window and cleaned up the spilled drops. Also, either I completely lack the ability to throw or amp scents anymore or Yvaine mellows out a bit on the drydown because my friends could only notice the scent when they came close to hug me, and everyone liked it. So all in all - a unique beauty, cold, feisty and totally lovable - just like Yvaine from Stardust.

Yep, I too, am mourning the fact that I didn't stock up on more than one bottle. The label is great - a pirate flag and the wedding date. very striking. in the bottle all I get is a hint of salt and citrus and something fresh. On the skin, I get lots and lots of fresh green palm leaves, fresh ocean breeze (no kidding!), salty air, balsam, dates, sun-warmed wood, a hint of ambergris, a touch of sparkling lime, and a really dreamy musk. after a long drydown this is fresh and green and citrusy while the woods and musk just kind of chill in the background. A perfectly unisex scent. Beautiful, complex, fresh, sexy.

Calliope, perhaps? It has lavender and thyme.

Dana' O Shee is a creamy sweet grain scent to try. Eden is also creamy and sweet, but completely different from Dana'O Shee. Both are worth a try. If you are looking specifically for the type of rice pudding with cinnamon in it, try these. The Chilling Cellar actually reminded me of rice pudding. It has a lovely spice note. Strangler Fig was a spicy vanilla on me. Tombstone in it's drydown phase might also work. (yeah, i know the creamy rice pudding thing was the last thing I expected from Tombstone, but there it was, and a lot of people get it) A lot of people get rice pudding like notes from Wolfsbane, which I think has the same cedar and maybe sassafras, like Tombstone. And of course, Egg'd Mailbox if you can find it. And possibly Egg Nog

This is such a rich, crisp Red Delicious apple. And the sugar...my gods, the sugar. I never was a fan of sugar or sweetness in BPAL scents but this stuff is incredible. Like dark caramel and fresh sugarcane. So complex, and so dark.

In the bottle, this is a very pale, shimmery mint green base mixed with glitter. Ont he nails, the green is so light it's indiscernible. Rather it creates that "frosted glass" effect that earlier posters spoke of. The glitter is pastel rainbow glitter, sparkling in many different colors. And ooh, boy is this stuff glittery. This polish is very light and transparent, so 1 or 2 coats will produce a very subtle effect, just adding a slight creamy shimmer to your nails when they catch the light. Several coats (and I usually apply 5-6!) will create really sparkly, metallic looking nails with just a hint of green. They'll glow no matter how much you put on, but if you add several layers, you get this bright white flourescent effect in the dark. And it has to be very dark. This is definitely better than any of the glow-in-dark polishes I played with as a teenager. Overall, it makes me feel...magical. I mean, subtle, shimmery, glowing nails? This stuff is great. Although I should warn that the glitter content is quite high, so you may want to add a base coat and top coat. I'd recommend No Miss brand, which is sold at places like Whole Foods and has no scary fourmaldehyde or toluene in it. Embalming Fluid claw polish is obviously very high quality and holds together well, much better than other glitter polishes I've tried, but the high glitter content still keeps it from sticking as well as other polishes. it really benefits from a smooth base coat and a matte protective top coat.

This is the Halloween blend I was most afraid of trying, and it's turned out to be the one I love the most out of the bunch. Right off the bat I get brandy with mulling spices, and my beloved oak. I'm not usually one for spicy scents, (cinnamon and clove are somewhat anathema to me when it comes to BPAL) but gods, this is gorgeous. Spicy without being foody or incensy, at all. A red clay scent creeps out that smells just like the red terracotta clay we used to use in ceramics class. Underneath it all is something creamy, waxy, and fruity that I recognize as dragon's blood. The blood note softens it. Several hours later the boozy notes have faded considerably, but the dragon's blood, spice, and clay linger gently. This is very boozy, a deep orange-red scent, and so perfectly blended. It would be dreamy on a guy and would work equally well on a woman. A true unisex fragrance. And although I adore this earthy, creamy, daring alcoholic blend on myself, I'd looooooove to smell it on my partner. Seriously. This was just meant to be worn by someone sexy while you sit with him or her on a leather couch cuddling in front of a fireplace on a cold, spooky autumn night sipping nightcaps Just a quick note, I really didn't like the "blood" scents - blood, blood kiss, blood amber - the combination of spice and dragon's blood was quite overpowering and ended up smelling like cinnamon red hots on me. This seems to have similar elements to the "blood" blends, but none of the overpowering cinnamon candy note. And it's so smoothly blend that no one note overpowers another. I'd highly recommend it to anyone who had trouble with the blood scents but wanted to like them anyway.

In the bottle: Ivy! On the skin: The note that comes to the forefront is ivy - this is the really gutsy, true ivy note that's in Black tower, with out the metallic notes I have trouble with in Black Tower. Mmmm. It realy does smell like a fresh green ivy patch with little clusters of white flowers shooting up. The background is incredibly fresh and green. Exactly like an oak tree. The bark, the leaves, snapped stems - it's amazing how the lab manages to bottle what smells like a fresh, living plant. The combination of the oak tree notes and the ivy is stimulating and clean - Like the leaves were just washed with rain. It'd make a great refresher scent after a long day at work, kind of a wake-up call. I don't get any of the burnt notes or "old" woody notes that others are getting. But then again, blends like Djinn and Incantation never turn dark or burnt on me, either. The "burnt wood" note turns to fresh linen spray. Yeah, I know, I'm a freak. Of course, the dark greenery also add an element of mystery - it's like wandering through a fantastic wood. The drydown after a few hours fades the ivy and develops a gentle, resinous sap note that I can't identify but it melds perfectly with the oak leaves and bark, and thgere's something golden in there, too, that reminds me of caramel and amber. I've been looking for a perfect forest scent since I first discovered BPAL, and this is it. Finally, I smell just like a tree and can run around pretending I'm a dryad when no one is looking. er, you guys didn't hear that.

'drool' I love this scent. It's funny to read all of the reviews and see how different this scent is on every person... On me I get fresh-baked treacle tart, similar to the blackberry pie scent I get out of Knave of hearts only so much better, and with molasses instead of berries. There's this rich, hard cider scent beneath it, perfectly spiced, and a smooth amber reminiscent of sandalwood. The floral notes make up the background of this for me, with that rich carnation/damask rose scent I love so much in 'Maiden'. Mixed with this is something that can only be described as a hint of white wine and fresh black grapes. The spiciness of this scent and the warm treacle and cider notes make it seem, I dunno. Old. Like something a woman would have worn five hundred years ago at some European court. Not a perfume so much as a sachet of rare spices tucked into her bodice, or something. It's a favorite of mine for SCA meets.

Wow, this is really unique. At first I get this blast of lemon, and not much else. As it dries this really beautiful, complex wood scent wafts up. These are dark, rich, warm woods - ebony, walnut, teak, mahogany, cherry. And behind it all is this incredible fresh, light linen scent. Like how I imagined "Dirty" would smell. It smells like I'm standing in an airy room polishing beautiful antique furniture with lemon oil. It doesn't do the lemon pledge thing at all - no, this is a really true lemon.

in the bottle: hmm, coconut milk. wet on my skin: OK, this isn't just coconut milk. This is a woman slathered in coconut oil, drinking coconut rum, holding a plate of toasty macaroons and velvet coconut cake with coconut frosting and topped with coconut flakes, and the whole tableau is drenched in coconut milk. Oh, and the woman is wearing fig leaves. But seriously, this is a really true, fresh coconut milk scent for those who are looking for one. This comes across totally different from the coconut in other bpal blends I've tried, like Elegba and Obatala. After a few minutes of drydown it morphs into something really fresh and light. There's a hint of something green behind the coconut, and a ripe purple fig. The almond behaves itself for once on me and just sort of serves to mellow the blend. Definitely a nice summery scent.

Oh, man. This is a flashback in a bottle. Digging through cedar trunks of my dad's old stuff from his college days looking for dress-up clothes, and pulling out paisley shirts and fringed jackets, and burying my face in the musty cotton and leather to take in the vintage patchouli smell. This smells like the 1960's. The DARK side of the 60's. I mean, jeez, I can almost hear The Doors playing when I wear this stuff. It smells like like Jim Morrison should smell. Not how he really smelled. By all accounts, hygiene was not ol' Jim's strongpoint and he reeked like body odor, the greasy leather pants he never took off, and stale booze. THIS DOES NOT smell like the real Jim Morrison, thank gods, but it definitely a scent I could imagine the archetypal, rock-star Jim Morrison that only exists in my imagination wearing. Make sense? No? Good. So what does it smell like? This is a deep jungle scent. Like walking through the blackest forest where you can't see the sky because the trees grow so thick, only damper and more exotic. It's got that nice, woodsy patchouli and cedar and vetiver in it. It's a dark scent, but earthy-dark, not spooky-dark. There's something almost creamy in here I want to attribute to saffron - maybe it's the cinnamon? It's the same note that does that for me Leo 2007, I think. And underneath it all is this deep, animalistic musk. This isn't a musk I identify from any other BPAL scents. It's probably just coming from the combination of woods and herbs...but it smells wild. Feral. Dangerous. This is not a friendly forest. It's got a real Apocalypse Now/Heart of Darkness vibe to it. This patchouli is not the kind you wear to a love-in with acoustic folk ballads playing in the background. This patchouli is the kind you wear before dropping acid and heading to an orgy with growling, bluesy, psychedelic rock in the background. I think I like it.