How long do bottles & imps last?

[donkehpoo]

I've barely made a dent in any of my bottles. It's hard for me to even imagine finishing one!

Asp Viper is my favorite scent.. and while I slather myself to no end with it, the oil level is barely below the neck.

I'm just happy knowing that my bottles will last me a very long time.

[icing]

I’m ashamed of this :

In the time stretching from November 2006, ‘til today, I’ve made it though eight 5mls, and I’m not sure how many Imps. My skin drinks oils, that’s the main reason I move through them so quickly, but I’ve also put some in lotions and leave-in hair conditioners.

 

I really envy those who can make a dab last - please bottle and share your powers!

Edited February 6, 2008 by icing

[inurbanus]

The only bottle I have where the oil is not at the shoulder is 13, and that's because I used to use the cotton swabs on q-tips to apply my BPAL. Now that I cut q-tips in half and use the plain end, which wastes a lot less oil, I think it would take me a couple years to get through a single bottle. I like that though; I want my LEs to last as long as possible, since I never hoard.

 

Hypothetically, though, if I were to go all extravagant and slather myself every day, I would go through several bottles of Leo or Eden.

[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.

Edited February 6, 2008 by crimescenecleanup

[concrescence]

i've never gotten through a full bottle. my first two bottles (and first BPAL loves) were Penitence and Morocco, i received them in Feb. or Mar. 2006, and they're just under half full. i think it's just that i have a lot of different scents, and though Penitence is my "signature scent", i probably only wear it once every week or two.

[moonarcana]

Since April of '06, I've gone through whole bottles all on my own (meaning none of it decanted out for others) of Bastet, Snow White '05, Kindly Moon and Vasakasajja. I've put major dents in and although have decanted a bit here and there, am on my second bottles of Opium Poppy, Alice, The Caterpillar, Chrysanthemum Moon and Honey Moon.

 

Now I did use substantial quantities of Bastet, Opium Poppy and Alice to make some solid perfume and scented lotions.

 

I'm a big time slather-er. I go through Snow White the fastest though because I wear that scent most frequently. Right now I have approx. 1/2 bottle of each '04 & '05 and about 3/4 bottle of '07 in my bottle box. '04 was full when I got it, the'05 is my 2nd bottle of that vintage (with a 3rd in back-up storage) and my first bottle of '07 (with 3 more in back-up)

[dzurlady]

I know 10ml's used to be sold but not anymore. Why is this? I do a lot of traveling and don't want to have to keep multiple 5ml bottles with me. Is there any way to procure an empty 10ml Snake Oil bottle and then refill that with 5ml's I order from Beth?

 

All the 10mls were discontinued because (and I think I remember this correctly) they required a different filling process to the 5mls (I think they had to be done by hand?) which slowed the entire production process down, and the demand just wasn't there for them. As for being able to obtain an empty, there are still bottles floating around out there with other BPALers, and I have periodically seen them up for sale or swap. The problem is, they're in fairly high demand! Still, you never know your luck with BPAL - post an ISO, keep your eye on the swaps/sales area, you never know what might come up...

[willowtreeling]

I lay perfume on pretty thick (or at least I always thought so) because of oil sucking skin...even when I used Angel or Spring Fever, though, I only went through a bottle a year. Weird....I guess I don't slather as much as I thought. I have barely put a dent in any of my bpals, and the only imp I have ever used up was my half decant of TKO. I think it is because there are so many options!

 

I could see myself using a bottle of TKO--nighttime slathering-- and Pele quite quickly, though. Pele is so clean and inoffensive--I will probably drown myself in it when it gets hot out.

[SultryWolf]

Fun thread!

It was a bottle of Svadhinaopatika (which I can also spell without looking up) and I was scraping the dregs in about two months. Admittedly, some of that went into travel decants, which are not empty. But if our only criteria is emptying a bottle, I've done it!

[hkhm]

my quickest: i went through a bottle of bordello in four months.

 

usually: it takes me about seven or eight months of use to go through a bottle. but as i collect more and more scents that seems to be slowing. i remember a time when i had less than a dozen bottles and when they got low, i bought a new one. now that i have over a hundred bottles (with a whole bunch more on the way) i think it will take me a lot longer to go through any one bottle.

[agnusdei]

It's so cool to see this thread because I swear I was wondering the exact same thing last night!

 

I'm one of those people that can't seem to put much of a dent in my bottles. I'm not exactly light handed when applying either so I guess it's just that I wear what I have equally enough that the oil I use up is spread out over many bottles and imps instead of just one or two. With that said though, I had to stop myself from slathering away the partial imp I have of Alice while waiting for a bottle to arrive. I used up a decent amount of it in just two days, and I could easily have gone through the imp in another few if I didn't show some restraint... I think that bottle will be in big trouble when it gets here.

 

I dunno if it's the Virgo in me talking or I'm just weird and compulsive about certain things but... the thought of completely using up one of my bottles boggles my mind! Maybe less so when it comes to scents I can easily get more of... but it's still hard for me to comprehend. I think I am doomed to have bottles with just a few drops left in them around forever just so I never have to stop smelling the scents I love.

[Thursdae]

I had a bottle of the Possetts scent Candy Swag and its reducer cap was a pain in the neck!

 

Cut to: Thursdae up-ends the bottle over wrist to shake a drop through the reducer cap . . . forgetting that last time she used it, she pried the damn thing out.

 

Fastest 5-ml. I've ever emptied!

 

I wasn't overloaded in scent, either. If that had been a bottle of any given BPAL oil, I would have been able to double as room air freshener.

 

 

ETA: actual scent lost

Edited February 7, 2008 by Thursdae

[steelxrose]

I haven't yet, but when I get going, I can make a pretty decent dent in bottles when I use them as room scents. I used nearly half of my bottle of Oblation in about 2 weeks just by using it in my diffuser every few days.

 

For wearing the oil, though, I don't think I'll ever make it through one bottle. I'm one of those people who can amp scents for hours with just the tiniest hint of oil.

[maproot]

Ive gotten through whole bottles of Red Lantern, Gingerbread POppet, MIsk U, Drink Me and Bonfire Night-umm I tend to slather I gues-but also I have spilled-but still I figure perfume is there to be used!!!!

[Cicely]

Aside from the two that don't count due to spillage (Hope AND Faith! what rotten luck!), I would say about 3 months?

I'm not really a slatherer, but they do go a lot more quickly when I mix them into jojoba oil (for my hair) and body lotions. I think it took me about that long to go through La Belle Au Bois Dormant thanks to liberal slathering and mixing.

 

I've kept all of my empty bottles, of which there are 6, including one 10ml of Antique Lace. I'm pretty liberal about my BPAL use, especially since the kinds of scents I tend to prefer aren't the rich resiny vanillas that get better with age.

Edited February 21, 2008 by Cicely

[angharad]

The only bottles I've made a noticeable dent in are an LE I decanted from (my one and only decanting experience) and TKO, which I tend to slather on almost every night. Even those are at least 3/4 full. I've not even gone through a full imp. Too many scents to try, too many smellies to love and appreciate -- why stick to just a few and go through them quickly when I can make them all last longer by taking turns with all of them?

 

ETA: Okay, I just realized that I have finished off an imp -- Oof. Between the bad congestion last May, my current round of bad congestion, and a few minor stuffed-up times in-between, it's empty. Whoa. Buuuuuuuuuuuuuuut for general perfume use, I still haven't emptied any others out!

Edited February 10, 2008 by angharad

[AEris]

Thursdae that's hilarious!

 

I have yet to finish a bottle off, and the ones that I have that are low are from decanting (and none of those are less than half). It's hard for me to commit to a scent for more than a day or two, because there are so many BPALs to try and so little time!! And there are so many of them that smell just intoxicatingly gorgeous on me, that I don't find myself becoming very monogamous with a single blend for long.

 

However, I still have some serious favorites, and I know which blends I will be likely to empty out first:

 

#1. Sleepy Moon (my favorite sleep aromatherapy, good thing I have 6 bottles! )

#2. Chimera (a new infatuation - cinnamon vanilla with a woodsy edge and enticing style! I wore it several days in a row, and I just traded for an aged bottle, and I'm in heaven! It will go fast....)

#3. Snake Oil (yeah it doesn't get much better than that, does it? )

 

Great thread!

[ouch!]

I've never actually finished a bottle either, but not because my chemistry eats scents and things. It's just a case of...I'm going through my imps one at a time until they're finished then buying a bottle if I really really like them. I think the day I finish a bottle will be really horrible. What do I do with it?

 

Do I throw it away? (Is this a sin?)

Do I keep it to put spare imps of the same scent in? (Sin also?)

Do I send it on to another forumite for sniffie purposes?

 

It's difficult and I don't want to reach that point lol. The closest I am to finishing a bottle is my bottle of Snake Oil, which I have had for a year almost. It's probably got a quarter left and it's a scary thing to look at (Even though I have another back up bottle ) They just look so much nicer when they're full!

 

I have a hard enough time when an imp is finished let alone a whole bottle.

Ok..I may have just ranted ever so slightly there but never mind. That's what we are here for.

 

Just for the record, I am also VERY envious of anyone who can make a dab last for a long time....please do tell us your secret you lucky things you!!!!

 

[Ina Garten Davita]

My first 5ml of Dorian lasted me about a week. Then I ordered several 10mls. I have one full 10ml left, the others went pretty far. As a scent ages, it seems to last longer. The scent intensifies as does the duration.

[suileach]

Just for the record, I am also VERY envious of anyone who can make a dab last for a long time....please do tell us your secret you lucky things you!!!!

 

 

I've read that putting some unscented lotion on before applying scent can help if you have dry skin that sucks up the oil.

 

As for me, the only bottle I've gone through is TKO, and I managed to do that within a few months due to slathering at bedtime, making bath salts with it, and imping a bit out. My Devil's Night 06 (which I've had since October-ish of 2006), is down to about 1/2 of the bottle... but again, that's because I used it for other purposes (in this case, adding it straight to my bathwater.. mmm).

[Elilara]

I've been hooked on BPAL for about 6 months now, so I'm still trying everything out! The only things I've used up/come closed to using up are: 1 imp of Somnus (used it every single night for a few months). 1 imp of Loup Garou- one of my favorites. Though, when I received a back up imp as a frimp, I poured the last 1/3 of the imp into the tub with me. Mmm, happy sinuses. I've also used up half a bottle of the TAL Middle Pillar. During certain meditations or "spiritual study sessions" I either slather it, dress candles with it, or use it in an oil burner. I used it in the tub once as well for the same purpose. It seems like it's gone fairly quickly, but it's been such a help and I have to remind myself that I buy these things to use them, not hoard them. Other than that, I've barely made a dent in any bottles or even imps!

[hkhm]

Do I throw it away? (Is this a sin?)

Do I keep it to put spare imps of the same scent in? (Sin also?)

Do I send it on to another forumite for sniffie purposes?

 

this totally made me laugh because i remember wondering the same thing when i finished my first bottle. i doubt i would ever throw a bottle away (little bottles of stuff just fascinate me). i have kept bottles for imp purposes (there was this run of orders where, by the end, i had a grand total of 9 imps of aglaea and i already had two bottles!) but i most usually send them off to other forumites who might want to sniff them (especially if they're general catalog). i hang on to my empty le bottles just so i can sniff my past loves but if i have extras i usually swap those.

[forspecial_plate]

My first 5ml of Dorian lasted me about a week. Then I ordered several 10mls. I have one full 10ml left, the others went pretty far. As a scent ages, it seems to last longer. The scent intensifies as does the duration.

 

 

I can't even imagine that.

 

My usual application goes like this......roll the bottle, tip it upside down, take the cap and apply from the little knob inside the cap, tip it one more time and apply again. And that's it. For some scents even that is too much (Snake Oil).

 

My bottles that are getting low are only because I decanted out of them. My favorite scent, Djinn, is still nearly full, and I do wear it! And that bottle is from August of '06.

 

Obviously, these days I go for a full bottle only if I'm reeeally excited about a scent. I worry all the time that these oils will fade before I can even put any kind of dent in them. And I have about a million imps and decants.

[HyderTyter]

wrong thread Edited February 14, 2008 by HyderTyter

[mazikeen]

I went through a whole bottle of Masabakes... I can't remember how long it took, maybe a few months to a year? I was surprised when I found that it was gone! Now I order so many scents that using up a bottle seems inconcievable... there's so many to choose from!

 

Imps last a shockingly long time. At first I was iffy about it... they're the same size that's often given out as free samples in department stores (or at least they used to). It seemed so expensive for such a tiny amount. But never fear! Those little imps go a long way! I'm a cheap bastard, and those imps are worth every penny. (Bottles too, of course!)

 

By the way, I fully believe in slathering. BPAL is a luxury item, and it's meant for enjoyment. So enjoy it! Slather away! Swim in it! Reek of it!