Blogs

this is where I bitch

I've been meaning to complain about this for a while but was never sure where to do it. Let me just get it out of my system so I can move on. I get so irritated when I see someone post: "Oh, just buy the bottle! Even if you don't like it, you can always swap it later!" Um, I disagree that it's totally easy to just swap stuff away. I have had lots of good swaps, and even successful sales, so don't get me wrong. Also....I do not bump my swaps/sales posts a whole lot, not even once a week. Usually I'll give it a bump just to keep it from being sent to the post cemetery. So it could possibly be said that I don't try hard enough. BUT....... I couldn't even swap away rares like Vanilla Bean SN, Corazon, Ice Queen, Snow Angel......things I wanted to swap for stuff on my wish-list, which IMO is a pretty long one and not too narrow. And I don't think I was being too picky about what I would swap for. A single note for a single note......well, that's what most everyone else does, isn't it? A whole bottle of Samhain sat on my swaps/sales pages for weeks, until I finally decided I would rather just keep it. In fact, I took pretty much everything off my posts and even retired my swaps post. Actually I'm not completely bitter. Part of it is indecision on my part. I hate to get rid of something unless I'm absolutely sure it's not going to work for me (Pruno, Selkie, ahem....). I'm glad I didn't get rid of Samhainophobia because it turns out I really do like it. Also....I don't regret my purchases. I have found a new hobby and I feel more enriched because of it. : )

December 31, 2007

Aizen-Myoo

Category: Excolo In the imp: Whoa, that grapefruit is aggressive! I could smell it as soon as I took the stopper out of the imp. Wet: Very citrusy/fruity, though it quickly had a mellowness to it, which I am assuming was brought on by the tea. Dry: This is a very fresh, clean, crisp scent; I detected the grapefruit throughout, and also fancied that I smelled the tea...like I was near a fresh, cold glass full of green tea on ice on a summer's day. It's really lovely! Unfortunately, I think my skin eated it, pretty much...it lasted the majority of the day, but now I have to get my nose to my wrist and huff forlornly to get any residual nummy smell. Strangely enough, now that it's been quite a while, I smell a sweet cherry scent, mostly. Verdict: I like it, really I do. I wish that it came in some form of spray, though, or a lotion...it would be a really great scent to slather on in the summertime, when you're showing lots of skin. What I liked: Citrus! Whee!! What I didn't like: The fact that my skin seemed to slurp it up; it didn't throw very much. But hey, maybe in summertime, with short sleeves? I might have better luck.

December 29, 2007

Aglaea

Category: Excolo In the imp: Oh my goodness, this was a beautiful scent. It actually brought tears to my eyes for a moment because it was so lovely. Very sweet, definitely redolant with peach, though I could also smell the warm tones of the musk and, I am assuming, amber around it as well. Wet: Very sweet and peachy. The fruitiness and sweetness predominated. Dry: The muskier tones come back, but the peach is definitely not to be undermined, and conquers all. It is *almost* a little cloying. Verdict: I really like this scent, though I am almost thinking that it would be better as a room scent, as unfortunately I think it tends to get a little sour and cloying on me. I'll be willing to try more of it, though. What I liked: The peach, and I think I liked the amber. What I didn't like: The fact that yes, I think musk likes to misbehave a little on me. Though thankfully it's just a little. Overall, I can live with this scent, I just don't feel like it's *perfect* on me. It's so gorgeous, though, that I can't give up on it. I wonder if it would work in a locket, where it is warmed by me but not in contact with my skin. I'll keep the imp around but hold off on getting a bottle for a while, I think.

December 28, 2007

Eoywin's Blog

Chris Jericho Day!

Yesterday, my husband and I went to Nashville to meet one of our favorite wrestlers!

Eoywin

December 27, 2007

Aeval

Category: Bewitching Brews In the imp: Very, very sweet and floral, with a haze of warm, herbal scent about the edges. When people describe this scent as smelling like a garden, it is very apt. Wet: The sweetpea comes to the forefront, resonating with a very strong sweetness. It seems like a feminine scent, but one that is more sweetly seductive than powerful and sensual. Dry: The other notes return; I can definitely smell the musk, and I am assuming that warm tone that envelopes it is the tonka? Now I begin to see why this scent is named after such a fae. It sneaks up on you, but once you become aware of its power it is inescapable, and a little overwhelming. Verdict: It's very interesting; certainly not a bad mix of scents by any means. I don't know if I would go for a whole bottle of this...I'll be wanting to try other floral-type scents and see how those strike me. It will definitely be a standard that I compare the others to. I'm a bit relieved that it seems to smell good and 'appropriate', i.e. like the notes that are supposed to be in it, rather than melon-like, sickly-sweet, or just plain icky, as other reviewers had experienced. I'm a little torn on whether or not I like the musk of it...on the one hand, it's nice and warm and strong, and on the other hand it comes dangerously close to turning into 'old-lady' perfume. It may be one of those things that will be iffy on me. What I liked: The warmth; also the sweetpea was surprisingly good. I will have to keep an eye out for that and tonka in future scents and see if those are the exact notes that I liked. What I didn't like: The fact that the musk is iffy...almost dangerous, like it could turn on me at any moment. It's less of a dislike than something I'll try to be aware of.

December 27, 2007

Absinthe

Category: Bewitching Brews I could not wait to try Absinthe today. I was worried that I would either not wear enough to scent it beyond initial application, or slather it on and overwhelm everyone around me. But I think I did okay. In the imp: Very lemony. Oddly enough, when I sniffed the applicator, it had that very strong "Lemon Pledge" scent, while in the imp itself the lemon was more subdued and woody...it reminded me of the inside of a wooden cabinet that had been maintained with, perhaps, lemon oil. Wet: When first applied, it was still quite lemony, though not in an obnoxious way; it quickly toned down to more of a lemon-drop sort of smell -- sweet and sugary. As it dried, the anise hints came through, in a very soft, sweet way; and very quickly, these two scents blended together into a very pleasant amalgam. Dry: The scent was delightfully subtle, and yet deceptively strong; I couldn't necessarily smell it on myself, but I would find myself scenting just the faintest hint of it if I would walk back over an area I'd just covered. It lasted all day. I would say that the scent was more 'woody' than herbal -- perhaps that's the wormwood? And around the edges, there was that faint, sweet snap of citrus from the lemon. I really, really like this scent. I'm trying not to make it my favorite just because it was my first, but hey...shouldn't your first time be a sweet, wonderful experience that you *want* to repeat? Preferably, yes. I'll consider buying a bottle of it later on. Notes that I liked: The lemon. This may mean that I like citrus scents. No notes that I particularly disliked. I was afraid about the anise, but it was subtle and behaved itself quite well. Qualities that I liked: The faint woodiness of it, definitely the citrus snap around the edges, the subtle strength and lasting power.

December 27, 2007

Bloggerrific!

The Beginning: BPAL as evidence from the universe pointing me toward love!

I only discovered BPAL about six months ago when I saw an advertisement for the Neil Gaiman collection on the back of my copy of Bitch magazine. I had just confessed to a good friend of mine that I was madly in 'like' with him, and discovered (to my surprise!) that he was in 'like' with me and had been for a good long while. I wanted to get him a present, and since the very first thing we ever did together as friends was go see Neil Gaiman read and, since he had also loaned me Stardust, and Good Omens, and American Gods and Sandman and we'd bonded over each of those, I ended up ordering him a bottle of "Tristan". When I next saw him I told him that I'd gotten him a present, and he said that he had ordered a present for me too! We decided to trade clues...I told him that what I had bought for him was connected to Neil Gaiman, and not a book. He told me that he had got me something connected to Shakespeare that was not a book. I told him that his present was something that could be worn, he said that mine was too. And then, looking at me, he asked if the site that I had ordered his present from, also sold things with a Shakespearean theme. I said yes, and asked him if the site he had ordered from carried Gaiman themed products. He said yes. I asked him if the first initial of the place he had bought my present was 'B'...yep, and the second turned out to be 'P'. Neither of us had heard of BPAL before, but seperately, and simultaneously, we'd both gotten an impulse to give the other something, we'd both discovered the site and ordered bought each other our first BPALs. A few weeks later I gave him a bottle of Tristan, and he gave me Katharina (with a note saying 'because you are strong') and Juliet (with a note saying 'because you are beautiful'). It could be an entirely coincidental event, but we'd both like to think that it is evidence that we are perfect for eachother. Since then there have been about nine orders between us, me and my man are blissy, in love, and probably the best smelling couple in a 20 mile radius. Thank you BPAL!

Emerrific

December 26, 2007

decant or bottle......

......the inner debate continues. I want Old Moon. I really do. All of this 'pining' I've been doing for a wintery/pine/fir scent (sorry, could not resist the pun).....and now people are saying this is the perfect one. On the one hand, I already have decants of Yuletide, Ice Queen, Death Of The Grave Digger, Jolasveinar, The Snow Storm, Mistletoe......Shivering Boy......Cloister Graveyard......in other words, many many wintery blends that I really like. More than I could use up in quite a long time. On the other hand.......that addition of 'lunar herbs and flowers' sounds soooo promising....makes me really lustful for Old Moon.......so I just don't know. I can't imagine that decants are going to be hard to find once people start getting this. But I haven't had a pending lab order in so long! Bottom line.....I have way too many bills right now. I just better sit this one out. : (

December 24, 2007

The Fae Fatale

Our Famous Relation!

Ok, I don't normally use this blog, but I'm cross-posting this from LJ with some of the more personal stuff removed, b/c it's really cool but too long to go into it on the Forum. Short version: my sister and I just learned that we are cousins, a few generations removed, to the great Czech composer Antonín Dvorák (!). Detailed version for my fellow geeks: My mom's family is Czech--although it was still called Bohemia when they emigrated from Prague, and we have always joked about being Bohemians. My maternal grandmother was the first generation to be born here. They came over to Chicago and lived in the area known as Little Prague, as well as other parts of Illinois. My mom's cousin still lives in Chicago, and recently she went to the Bohemian Cemetary there and took pics of our ancestors' gravestones (some are really cool!) and sent them to us along with an extensive family tree she's been working on for some time--an unusual Xmas gift. Well, my Gram's grandmother, Marie Dvorák, was apparently one of several of the composer's cousins who settled in Illinois. He spent a bunch of time there, too; I think that may have been around when he wrote his New World Symphony. I think it's completely badass, and my sister (the fledgling opera singer) is beside herself with glee and planning to do his "Song to the Moon" for her senior concert this spring. I LOVE that piece--the Italian translation, "La Luna", was recorded by Sarah Brightman, whom I just simply worship. My sister wants to do it in the original Czech. I've also told her that if I should ever re-marry (someday...), I want her to sing it, as a tribute to our roots. Extra cool part: that aria is from his opera Rusalka, which is a version of The Little Mermaid. My Pisces heart rejoices. My boyfriend and I have talked about our future-theoretical-pagan-wedding being on a boat in the waters around Seattle, by moonlight. So for my sister to sing an aria that is a mermaid's song to the moon...that was written by an ancestor...I mean, holy SHIT, people. How freaking cool is that???

Laurel the Woodfairy

December 24, 2007

My First Order

My very first BPAL order came today! I brought in the mail just a few minutes ago. I was excited, but made myself linger over the box, because I love to do so when opening any kind of present. I had ordered six imps: Absinthe, Aeval, Aglaea, Agnes Nutter, Aizen-Myoo, and Akuma. (Yes, I meant to do that.) Agnes is not available as an imp, as I found out soon after I had placed the order, but whoever had packed my box had kindly substituted Al-Azif for it instead. Hee! Thanks for understanding my wacky system, whoever you are! I received 3 frimps as well: Fruitcake (I have heard much talk of this scent), Tushnamatay, and Wrath. I love how Wrath is so cutely furious inside its vial, bright cherry red compared to the others. Mmm, and the very sweet, faint scent that caressed the packing materials, as if to reassure me that these were not going to be like any perfume I had yet smelled. Lovely... Thank you, oh BPAL dieties. I can't wait to embark on my explorations...what a wonderful way to celebrate the Solstice...

Odd Thoughts from an Odd Duck

December 23, 2007

Review Round-up!

Urania

In the imp: Strong and soapy - like good shampoo. Definitely picking up on the jasmine. On wet: Sweet soap, jasmine, the sharpness of the ozone. Drydown: Reminds me of a very traditional, department store perfume - though I tend to get that impression from most jasmine-heavy, shampoo-esque scents. The jasmine totally dominates on me, but I think I'm picking up on a higher-pitched sweetness, could be the moonflower. Moss and benzoin don't typically play nice on my skin, and the longer I have this on, it becomes apparent that this trend is going to continue. The benzoin is the more obvious of the two, and it almost *always* smells like burned/sour amber to my nose - not good. My two favourite notes in the blend - the iris and white musk - haven't appeared at all. Overall: FYI, this imp is over two years old. When I first tried it, it smelled a lot lighter, a lot fresher, and the white musk was very prominent on the drydown - that's the only reason why I kept it, actually - I'm a white musk fiend! With the new round of discontinueds on its way, I figured I'd better give this one another go. With the absence of musk, and the heaviness of the jasmine, I'm glad I did - if only to rediscover that this scent isn't for me. It *is* a very high-end, classy kind of fragrance, though - something I could see wearing to a fancy dinner or the theatre. A 2.5/5 on my skin, though.

furygrrl

December 20, 2007

Abstract Associations

Hony Mone

Hony mone, a term proverbially applied to such as be newly married, which will not fall out at the first, but th'one loveth the other at the beginning excedingly, the likelyhood of their exceadinge love appearing to aswage, ye which time the vulgar people call the hony mone. Three honeys blended with seven fruits, flowers, and herbs of passion, pleasure, and joy: honeysuckle, fig, carnation, apricot, jasmine, tonka, and almond. Reviewed 12/19/2007 In the bottle, bright golden honey with an undertone of almond and just the faintest hint of flowers in the background. I put it on and BAM. Pretty much instantly it became cat pee. I waited a while, hoping it would change again, but the only morph I got was overripe, almost rotting floral. Oh skin chemistry, how I loathe thee! I love honey scents so I will save one bottle and see if I can age the pee out of it, but I think the extra bottle I got may be swapped out.

Rovylern

December 20, 2007

Pay It Forward

I love this idea! Here is my list of things that disagree with my body chemistry. Some of these made me really sad because they smelled so much better in the imp. I guess we all have those. Bluebeard Urania Pride Burial Black Lotus Arcana Megaera Santa Muerte Sheol More to come

odd_duck71

December 19, 2007

Duh....

I just realized I have 2 entries about custom scents that start out almost exactly the same! I totally forgot I had already written about that. *smacks forehead*

December 18, 2007

Toasty Blog

I'm alive . . .

I was going to post an entry about why I've been MIA, but really, I just don't feel like it. I'll just say that I'm ok now, but I wasn't for a while. I'm really sorry if I let anyone down or made anyone angry. I'm doing what I can to fix things, so pm me if I can do anything for you. I hope everyone is managing to enjoy the holiday season. It's been snowing here, finally, so I'm starting to get in the holiday spirit. So far everyone has been so incredibly nice and understanding. I wonder, what is it about BPAL and this forum that attract such wonderful people?

kwsix

December 17, 2007

The Custom Scent

DSH Perfumes makes custom scents and ooooooh, how I'd love to get one. However, it's almost like getting a tattoo......it's kind of a big commitment and I would want to be sure I was getting the best one for me. [this is all hypothetical since right now I don't have 4 or 5 hundred bucks to throw around] My favorite scent is Djinn, but I wouldn't want another Djinn. The obvious choices would be resins, woods, musk.....smokey and incense.....perhaps opium. But really, do I want something obvious? Maybe I'd want a cleaner, fresh or spicey element in there. Ah dunno..... I even pulled up the questionnaire from DSH that she uses to get a handle on your scent personality. I like it because she asks some more abstract questions like what's your favorite color, what time of day/night do you like best. The questionnaire alone made me insanely curious as to what she would come up with for my scent. Then they send you 3 samples and go from there, I assume fine-tuning and whatnot. I know CB does the same thing, but after trying just a few samples from DSH I think I might like her style better. Nothing against CB but his scents are so light! I like them at times but as for a signature scent, something my very own, I think I'd want something stronger, more emphatic. Someday.....maybe........