Different smells/colors, same perfume

[saralaughs]

I have a bottle of Ravenous and I concur. It's way more sweet and giddy than the imp I based the purchase on. I'm sure it is the age factor.

 

 

Gimme 5. The imp smells of patchouli, musk and smokey vanilla... like very smooth. The 5ml is like orange creamsicle like some reviews of it.

 

Oh Jumping Jesus. This scares me. I recently fell hard for an imp of Ravenous and it really isn't anything like an orange creamsicle to me. It's heady orange blossom, patchouli and glorious creamy vanilla (but only a bit). I don't want orange! I want orange blossom!

 

Someone tell me I'll be ok.

 

[thebirdofhermes]

Ah, if it smells like orange blossom to you, then you likely will not get orange from it. Most people seem to smell orange blossom as either a floral or as an orange. I've personally never gotten orange from orange blossom, whereas my mother does. (Which leads to great and mighty contention over the scent of certain things, let me tell ya. )

 

After all, note how the person you're quoting didn't say anything about orange or orange blossom for their imp. Just patchouli, musk, and vanilla. Then their bottle arrives, heavier on the orange blossom, and they said it smelled like creamsicles. I can almost guarantee you that you will be fine. Unless, y'know, the bottle shows up with a lighter orange blossom note, so all you get is patchouli and vanilla. Then you'll probably be

 

(Disclaimer: I've never tried Ravenous, but I have tried Hunger, and that's another one that seems to be split between vanilla/floral and orange creamsicle. I don't get creamsicle from the latter. It's just vanilla and floral on me. So. There's my best guess as to what's going on.)

[saralaughs]

You've done your best to tell me I'll be ok, which is what I asked for. So thank you. I guess I'll just have to chance it and order a bottle soon.

[KesHiro]

My Okayaki bottle that arrived yesterday does smell different than the decant I have (which I'm guessing is a month or two old by now). The decant version does feel "cooler" and more refreshing. The new one is sweeter and more floral. I too am hoping it will change with age because I like the decant version better and it's almost empty!

 

Aiiieeee, this sounds like my situation. In the two plus weeks I've owned the second bottle, the snow note has emerged more and the scent has taken on a cooler, more refreshing vibe . . . but the bergamot note still smells vaguely like artificial orange sweetener. The scent is *so* similar to my first bottle, though, which gives me hope that this is more of an age issue and not a batch variation. Here's hoping our bottles turn into the scent with which we fell in love.

 

Edit: I cannot type today

Edited May 13, 2010 by Kejiaron

[odalisque]

I was going through my backups of Eisheth today and it reminded me that I bought a partial last year that could not have been anything *but* Eisheth and yet was different from any Eisheth I've known before or since. It was a rich brandy color (all my other bottles, even the prototype, are watery pale) and it smelled like there was maybe more cocoa and peach in it than usual. Pretty, but odd. Has anyone else experienced this same batch?

Edited May 15, 2010 by odalisque

[Klepz]

I was going through my backups of Eisheth today and it reminded me that I bought a partial last year that could not have been anything *but* Eisheth and yet was different from any Eisheth I've known before or since. It was a rich brandy color (all my other bottles, even the prototype, are watery pale) and it smelled like there was maybe more cocoa and peach in it than usual. Pretty, but odd. Has anyone else experienced this same batch?

 

Hm... my decant (what's left of it) is a deep gold/brandy color. It's a grounded fruit scent for me and I get only a little cocoa out of it.. but I haven't read reviews and don't know how this compares to others experience. But it is that brandy color you mentioned!

[Indigo78]

I haven't had an Eisheth experience, but I just put on some Snake Oil from early April of this year (I mark the "vintage" on my SO bottle toppers )

 

It smells very Vertivert-y! Almost like Death Adder... So much so that I wonder if there was some batch confusion. Weird, weird weird. It's like Snake Oil on... a man-trip. I dunno if I like it, yet. I want my mellow nilla smoky incense nectar of the gods!

 

eta: Alright, so... I wear SO to bed a lot. The next morning (yesterday), the room was positively thick with amber from this stuff. I dunno what's with this bottle. I have another backup of Snake Oil from that same order, so we'll see if they're the same.

Edited May 16, 2010 by Indig0

[Victory]

I got a bottle of Obatala at C2E2 and... this is NOT the Obatala I know and love. It's a vaguely floral dark aquatic scent. There is no coconut or milk or shea to be found anywhere, and while regular Obatala lasts a day on me, this barely lasts two hours. I've aged it for two months, and I'll keep doing so but you guys, I hate it. I hate to say it because I love BPAL, but this is awful.

 

ETA: I was RIGHT- that was NOT the Obatala I know. I emailed the lab, and apparently TAL Obatala was blended instead of BPAL Obatala.

Edited June 21, 2010 by Victory

[yamiko]

One of my first imps was Lady Macbeth, and I fell in love with it. It was dark and glorious, and smelled like delicious wine. When I got a bottle of it, it smelled like grape soda. I tried letting it settle, rolling it, aging it, and it still smells the same. Anyone know what's up with that? I want the original imp's scent!

 

I'm going to try buying another bottle to see if I can get the smell I like, I think.

[parrot_suspect]

Anyone out there a fan of Psychological Horror? I've found there are two versions of it - the original, gorgeous, musky-powdery version, and another one that's similar but has a strong, distinct coffee/caramel note that nearly overpowers the other notes. In my last DD order, for four bottles of Psych Horror, I received three of the good-smelling kind and one of the "coffee" variety. I also received a coffee-smelling one in a swap.

 

Am I going nuts, or has anyone else experienced this?

[skyelyric]

I just decanted from my bottle of O today and about dropped it. I've gotten two imps of it fresh from the lab, and they were both completely colorless (which led to me buying a partial from a friend--I loves my O). The bottle I bought (a year old) smells just like my fresh imps, only smoother, so I figured it had just aged into mellowness, and I've only ever wanded it on...I thought I grabbed the wrong bottle to decant today since the color of my bottled O is closer to that of S.O. or Fenris Wolf.

[girasol]

Has anyone noticed if Oberon changes significantly as it ages? I got an imp and loved it - for me, the smell was a lot like a sudsy bubble bath (I'm possibly the only person in the world who wants to smell like that, but there was just something about the scent I found happy and comforting). I bought a bottle off the forum but it smells quite different - kind of powdery and less fresh and soapy. It's not nasty or anything, just not the scent that I fell in love with from the imp.

 

The bottle is the amber glass, but looked like it might have been a year or two old - the label has kind of a matte finish instead of the slightly glossy labels I've mostly seen, and the lid is a bit different to my other bottles. So I'm figuring maybe it could be an age thing. Also, the bottle had leaked quite a lot in transit even though it was well taped, which made me think perhaps the lid doesn't fit very well and the scent has changed due to oxidation. Any thoughts from more experienced BPALers?

[saralynn]

I just received my order of imps, and I'm kind of wondering when I should try them. Some people are saying it's good to wait and let them settle, for how long? And what are my chances of it being completely different in the bottle? I feel like it kind of defeats the purpose of ordering a sample if it won't be the same, but I guess you get a general idea.

[fetish911]

I got a bottle of Obatala at C2E2 and... this is NOT the Obatala I know and love. It's a vaguely floral dark aquatic scent. There is no coconut or milk or shea to be found anywhere, and while regular Obatala lasts a day on me, this barely lasts two hours. I've aged it for two months, and I'll keep doing so but you guys, I hate it. I hate to say it because I love BPAL, but this is awful.

 

ETA: I was RIGHT- that was NOT the Obatala I know. I emailed the lab, and apparently TAL Obatala was blended instead of BPAL Obatala.

 

That very thing happened to me just recently. Expecting my lovely coconuty goodness (via mail order)- I got a nose full of nasty floral hell. I also got a frimp of , none other than Obatala (which smells like it should have) Turned out that I was sent the TAL obatala... not BPAL.

Since this has happened obviously more than just once, they should really rename TAL's scent names that are the same as Bpals. It would save the Lab time, money & work. But that is just my humble opinion.

Edited June 28, 2010 by Fetish911

[ivyandpeony]

I just received my order of imps, and I'm kind of wondering when I should try them. Some people are saying it's good to wait and let them settle, for how long? And what are my chances of it being completely different in the bottle? I feel like it kind of defeats the purpose of ordering a sample if it won't be the same, but I guess you get a general idea.

 

As far as "settling," I really just like to let things come to room temperature, that sort of thing, especially in seasons where there are temperature extremes. If I don't like something that I really expected to like, I will try it again in a couple weeks - but for me, that also takes into consideration hormonal ups and downs.

 

I think that your chances of a blend being completely different when you order a bottle are pretty small. There can always be subtle differences because the batch of amber, or patchouli, or carnation (on to infinity) could be a different one even though Beth will always use the same variety for that blend. So, for example, the tea rose for Marie is always a certain type from a certain supplier but because it's naturally sourced, subtle differences can occur. With the frequent swapping we do in BPAL communities, the biggest difference may be that you end up swapping for or buying an imp that's a couple years old and you love an aged blend, then you buy a new bottle fresh from the Lab and at first are shocked by the difference. Often, just a couple weeks of letting it settle makes it much more like the blend that you fell in love with, so just keep in mind if you're getting imps from the secondary market that different notes respond differently to aging. Citrus notes are notorious for losing brightness, patchouli, vanilla and resins become smoother and richer, that sort of thing.

 

Most BPALers find this stuff becomes part of the fun and find that true disappointments due to batch variation are rare. In cases where it seems like there's been a big batch variation, you will even see that factions seem to form - swappers in search of version 1 and version 2 I hope you will be happy with your imps!

[saralynn]

Thanks so much for the reply! I do think it's great that the variation exists, and I understand it a bit better so I'm less worried.

 

I'm gonna wear one of my imps for the first time today, Belle Epoque! We'll see how it goes.

[Little Bird]

Hopefully this is the right place to post this...

 

I have multiple bottles of both Inez and Priala. My older bottles don't really smell much at all like the new bottles that I ordered (and I've ordered them all directly from the lab). Old Inez is sweeter and warmer and the new Inez has a weird, sharp, musky, almost masculine thing going that I've never smelled in the earlier bottles. My older bottles of Priala have always smelled resinous and spicy, and the new bottle smells like it has vetiver in it. It's really dark, earthy, and smoky. The oil colors of the old vs new bottles also aren't quite the same. Were these scents reformulated at some point?

[talula_fairie]

How could a scent suddenly just smell so different with a different batch? I want to buy Black Lace, but I'm worried it'll be the apple version. I don't want that.

[ivyandpeony]

Hopefully this is the right place to post this...

 

I have multiple bottles of both Inez and Priala. My older bottles don't really smell much at all like the new bottles that I ordered (and I've ordered them all directly from the lab). Old Inez is sweeter and warmer and the new Inez has a weird, sharp, musky, almost masculine thing going that I've never smelled in the earlier bottles. My older bottles of Priala have always smelled resinous and spicy, and the new bottle smells like it has vetiver in it. It's really dark, earthy, and smoky. The oil colors of the old vs new bottles also aren't quite the same. Were these scents reformulated at some point?

 

I don't recall seeing an announcement, etc. about reformulations of any of the CD scents - but there could always be something I missed out there. It seems like true reformulations have been announced in the past. Although I wasn't around for it, there's been a notation in the description for Hellfire as long as I can remember, and I could have sworn there was one for Lady MacBeth too.

 

I didn't keep my decant of Priala, but thought it might be worth mentioning that I'm a huge vetiver amper, and Priala smelled like it had vetiver in it when I tried it (it has been a couple of years). A number of scents with smoke notes, but not all of them, have had that effect on my skin. If there is some vetiver in Priala, I wonder if there could be a batch variation in the vetiver itself, making it stronger in comparison to the other notes in your new bottle?

 

My Inez is definitely warmer and richer now than it was when I first got it. There are times it seems to me that BPAL amber falls into two categories - one's golden, sweet and spicy, and the other is thinner and more cologne-like, if that makes sense? Inez seemed to fall a little more into that thin/sharp category for me at first and I wasn't even sure if I would keep it (I love amber, and my HG amber scents are stuff like The Lion and Jacob's Ladder which I'd put in the former category). Anyway, I'm kind of rambling and probably not lending much insight but despite the big difference you are seeing between the old & new Inez batches, I wonder if a little age will make a difference in the sharpness. Regardless of the reasons, it is a bit of a bummer when a new bottle of a favorite seems so unfamiliar. I hope that age will bring both of them around for you.

[Little Bird]

...

Edited November 29, 2011 by Little Bird

[fairestrocza]

I got a couple of imps of Czernobog with my last order. One was purchased, one frimp. One is SUPER dark and VERY generic cologne smell. So much so my guy had to wash it off. I haven't tried the other one but I wondered if anyone else had seen this with Czernobog. I'm guessing the darker one is older? But woah on the overpowering cologne ...

 

I got a frimp of Czernobog in a recent order. The oil is very dark (Boomslang is the only oil I remember seeing that is darker) and fairly syrupy. It was a lab-fresh frimp. I didn't think it smelled at all like generic cologne. I will go post my review from the notes on my spreadsheet...

[MCS4096]

Anyone out there a fan of Psychological Horror? I've found there are two versions of it - the original, gorgeous, musky-powdery version, and another one that's similar but has a strong, distinct coffee/caramel note that nearly overpowers the other notes. In my last DD order, for four bottles of Psych Horror, I received three of the good-smelling kind and one of the "coffee" variety. I also received a coffee-smelling one in a swap.

 

Am I going nuts, or has anyone else experienced this?

 

 

I believe I've experienced this, although I've always thought it was more of a "celery" smell.. but going back and sniffing a couple blends I've found this with, I can see how one could think it smelled of "coffee." I found this both in a bottle of Psych Horror I had as well as a bottle of Zarita. Very odd

[yamiko]

I've been meaning to ask this since I got this bottle from the lab, but... does anyone else's Black Temple Burlesque Troupe do this?

 

http://twitpic.com/2hsdnz

 

I wasn't surprised that it was thick. But should it be that goopy?

[forspecial_plate]

I think Sin was reformulated slightly. I have an old imp and a newer imp, a little different, and I don't think it's just due to aging. The old one is a darker reddish brown, and the newer one is light reddish gold.

 

"Thoroughly corrupted: amber, sandalwood, black patchouli and cinnamon".

 

When I compare them side-by-side, the differences pop out. The older one has a powdery sweet note that I'm guessing is the amber. The newer one has a more woody scent, which I guess would be the sandalwood. It's possible that it's an aging thing, but they are different enough that it might be a reformulation. I kind of like the newer one better.

[Suusje]

This is very odd, I have a bottle of The Infernal Lover and I have a sniffie. The oil in the bottle is colorless and the oil in the sniffie is very dark (red/brown). The bottle doesn't smell like Red Musk, it smells more like honeyed cream, and the sniffie really does smell like Red Musk. Are there two versions of The Infernal Lover floating around or did I get a mislabeled bottle?