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  • Silvertree

    Mod post: No wishlist posts in blogs

    By Silvertree

    Please be aware that we do not permit swap-related content on profiles or in blogs. Please post this content only in the For Sale, Swaps, and Wanted forums, or in the Wishlists topic. ~from Swapping 101  Thanks!
    • 5 comments
    • 5,880 views
The Road to Santiago
 

Adventures in decanting and blending

I've been working with a variety of TAL oils in order to get myself mentally prepared for this journey and on days when I need to get myself to a very strong place I'll wear several at once on appropriate places on my body in addition to annointing talismans and burning annointed candles. I have room in my bags for five imps of BPAL, which will live in a ittle Tic-Tac box, but I can't take my TALS in their bottles, and I don't have imps of those. So with the utmost respect for Beth's amazing talents regarding the creation of the TALS, I blended my most important TALS together into one tiny bottle (about 2 imps-worth) so I can have them with me. After focusing long and hard on my goal, I went heavy on my daily staples White Light and Anthelion, added several drops of Lionheart and Determination, a few drops of Fiery Wall of Protection, and just a drop each of Charisma and Crown of Success. I added each component until it felt right, and there's my Pilgrimage Blend. I was tempted to add a touch of ACMD, but this is not a blend for material gain, but for spiritual support-- what 12th-century people walking this route would have sought.   This has been a stressful, weepy morning, but in the process of blending these oils together, my heart has lightened and my spirits lifted, I feel optimistic and motivated (even though I would love to just go back to bed). One of the things I want to do is take a picture for Beth of a vista on this pilgrimage that embodies the feeling these oils give me. Somewhere along the way, I'm going to come across a view that makes my heart soar, like these oils do, and I will know that I need to stop and embrace the moment.
Heretic

Heretic

0
Denise's Cool Blog
 

The update...

is a bit overwhelming! Last night's Lab update is my first as a BPALer, and I'm sort of flipping out! How can I begin like this! LOL. There are TOO many new items! I may be crazy, but I'm pretty sure they do not normally add so many new items at once *scared*   *wallet runs and hides*   I'm definitely ordering Litha. Lotus Moon doesn't really appeal to me, so hopefully when I sniff HennaFairy's whenever she gets it I won't like it. LOL. As for the Dragon scents, I know I am not getting any of those (dragon's blood scent honestly makes me gag. oops). And the Salon!?? Yikes. I love the way all of that is laid out, and designed... but since they are GC, I'm not going to freak out and order a ton (as they won't be leaving any time soon). Phew.   Then there are THREE new categories sitting on the Lab's page waiting for debuts. AND more will be added to GC & the Salon!   So, my plan is to order Litha before it is over. Then probably just an imps pack of 6, to get a few items on my wishlist that I don't tend to see on people's sales/swaps lists.   still awaiting my shipment from Germany. It BETTER get here before the Meet N Sniff in NJ next weekend!! grr...
eviltemptressdq

eviltemptressdq

0
Do you have a flag?
 

Woah.

Has it been a month since I wrote anything here? Sheesh. I thought it had been maybe a couple of weeks.   I would really like to start writing more in this blog because I don't have any RL friends who are into BPAL, except my husband. My LJ journal is mostly just full of entries that have a company's name in the title and then a list of all their products I've tried and whether or not I liked them. I suppose it's not helpful to anyone but me.   And I don't want to be all over the place making all kinds of posts everywhere about every BPAL oil I try because I don't want to be a pest. Plus, it seems like it's very easy to irritate people on the Internet, so I'm cautious about that. (If someone heard me talking it would sound different from the way text looks.) People tell me that I have an extremely expressive face, and I also gesture with my hands a lot, and all of that gets lost when I type.   So I guess I'll just post here. It seems pretty unobtrusive. And I'm pretty sure no one is reading this anyway.
filigree_shadow

filigree_shadow

1
Do you have a flag?
 

The true state of my collection.

ETA: I actually wrote this on about April 8th, I just never figured out the Publish button thingie until just now.   Allrighty, figuring out how to set up this blog wasn't too rough.   I wanted to start a blog because my BPAL habit is getting out of control. Not in terms of sheer numbers of imps and bottles, mind you -- that would be silly. Clearly I can never have enough BPAL. The part that is out of control is the organization of it.   I have a box for keeper bottles, a box for keeper imps, a box for swaps, and a box for imps I haven't tested yet. I also have a box for frimps from the Lab because I like to keep those separate so I know which ones were "straight form the Lab" for swaps. Everything in my "keep" boxes has labels on the top. The imp labels are color-coded by scent category.   I have a color-coded spreadsheet that lists all the oils, their categories, their notes, a basic summary of what I read of their reviews, and my own thoughts on them.   And apart from that, it's a DISASTER. I forget I bought an imp from my wishlist and I buy it again from someone else. My to-be-tested imp box is overflowing. I can't sell or swap anything to save my life, so I end up with like 3 imps of Jabberwocky that I'll never wear. I begin to panic because I'm terrified I'll swap something that has been tampered with before I got it unbeknownst to me, and then I'll get blacklisted in the whole community, so I start to think I need at least 2 of everything before I can sell it so I can compare them and make sure they both seem legit. I have reviews of some scents and not some of others, and I've already swapped away a few imps that I didn't write reviews/thoughts for, so now I'm thinking I'll have to buy the buggers again. And the biggest horror of all: What if my tastes change? What if my skin smells different today because I used the Decadence smooch? What if something I thought I hated and swapped away turned out to be something that I will love 1 year from now? I better just keep everything...   I keep telling myself I will NOT buy any more until I get this situation straightened out. But here I am at 11:00 on a Friday night trolling the sales posts to see if by some miracle someone has an imp of Spanked they want to sell. Sigh.
filigree_shadow

filigree_shadow

0
Do you have a flag?
 

My poor blog...

My blog never gets bumped whenever I add a new entry. Sigh. Poor little guy. It hurts his feelings.   And even though I have written several entries, in the blog list it still has a big fat ZERO for number of entries.   I wonder what this "Publish" button is for...
filigree_shadow

filigree_shadow

0
Sourball Ho!
 

Update!

I'm as giddy as a schoolgirl with this update. This was the first one in almost 2 years where I was actually online and then noticed Beth's announcement. It was exciting! Like a rollercoaster, woo! *bounces in chair*   The Salon scents that sound great are And There Was a Great Cry in Egypt and Death of Sarandapal. Both have honey, which due to my love of O are tempting. Plus Litha sounds nice, but it sounds like something with the specific goal of annoying my allergies with all those plants So I'm on the fence, but I have a couple weeks to decide. I knew Lotus Moon wouldn't work because lotus is bubblegummy on me, and paired with pine it became a no-no   This was a great end to a craptastic week.
dawndie

dawndie

2
HennaFairy's Blog
 

icons

well eviltemptress has been so good at the icons i've been intimidated... but i have a new favorite scent tonight, and so i made an icon for it!     edited to add another one! or more...           usual disclaimers, do not hotlink, save to your own site (photobucket.com rocks!)
HennaFairy

HennaFairy

1
HennaFairy's Blog
 

Henna Boxes

I did henna on two boxes but i can only show you one! (one's a gift for somebody!!!) anyway - my "test" one was a smaller box i already had on hand. it doesn't fit bottles, only some imps if they are laying down. anyway, it was a good practice run!     i'll let the henna sit for a a few days, then remove the paste, wipe ammonia to get the henna stain to darken, and stain or seal the box!   more to come...   goodnight!
HennaFairy

HennaFairy

3
Fishnets and Frankincense
 

Smut-O-Rama

Remember Thomas Hardy's book "Return of the Native?" Well, today was the Return of Teh Smut to my abode. I'd ordered multiple bottles of Smut when it came out in February, but Smut, my body chemistry, wintertime clothing and heating systems running all day long just didn't match up very well. It got a little overwhelming. And I hadn't really adjusted to wearing something that didn't have a lot of patchouli in it. I was still wearing Urd day in and day out. I sold or swapped my bottles of Smut.   So fast forward to May; it's warmer, my body chemistry is in the spring/summer mode, and I've become very habituated to both O and Monster Bait: Underpants. I began to get a jones for some Smut. I was kicking myself for not keeping a bottle. So I went to "Wanted" in Swaps and begged for some Smut. I got it! Actually, I got two imps and a bottle! This way, I'm able to share an imp with a friend.   The two imps arrived today and I did a test run of Smut all alone and then a test run of Smut with O. What would that be called? Smut-O-Rama? I like that idea. Smut and Smut-O-Rama both work on my seasonally adjusted body chemistry, breezier clothing and the furnaces shut off. I am happy that I will soon have a bottle of Smut to sit between O and the Panty Monster.   Did you see the Lotus Moon t-shirt? I adore Ganesha, the elephant-headed Hindu diety. He represents good fortune, happy beginnings and learning, particularly in the arts and humanities. The design is beautiful and regal. All of Macha's designs are great, but this one really grabbed me. Needless to say, I ordered one already. And it's my good fortune to be able to own one!
valentina

valentina

0
This Old Snark
 

Wedded, Pissed

Snarky has to interrupt this regularly scheduled home improvement program to do a little theraputic venting/stream of consciousness whangdoodle:   Givens: 1) Snarky hates moving. HATES it. With a deep, burning, vitriolic passion. She suspects she might be a little OCD about her Stuff being Messed With, even if it is she who is doing the messing.   2) The Mister has been suffering from low-grade depression for as long as Snarky has known him. That would be eight years.   3) The Mister only recently started getting treatment for said depression when it developed into anxiety attacks that affected his work performance and also showed up as heart attack-like symptoms.   4) The Mister had to stop taking his "happy pills" because they gave him a rash.   5) The Mister hates his job. This is probably what pushed his depression into anxiety.   6) The Mister's job is so consuming that he's too busy during the day to do anything "extra-cirricular" and has also had to bring home "homework" that sometimes has him up past midnight (or in one instance, he never came to bed). Therefore, Snarky has been doing all necessary research for the house/move.   7) Snarky really, REALLY hates moving.   8) Snarky wrestles with her own issues of low self-esteem (coupled oddly enough with a raging ego, work that puzzle out) which can create overblown reactions to criticism.   Catalyst:   So today, all those factors came to a head as Snarky tried to secure temporary permits to allow the Snarks to park a fourteen foot moving truck in front of their (essentially, for the purposes of this story) downtown apartment building. It's always the little things that set off the best explosions, no?   This could have just as easily been a week-old stack of unwashed dishes in the kitchen or an odd comment on the appropriateness of a certain pair of pants to a certain type of musical venue. Something trivial and small yet monumental, like dripping water or straws on camels' backs.   Results:   A very terse, very public cellphone conversation in the middle of the engineering department where at points Snarky had to hold the phone away from her ear because The Mister, in his best moods, cannot use an Inside Voice to save his life. As he was at times apoplexic with anger (at Snarky, the world, his employer, again with Snarky, and again with work), fuming with frustration, and exclaming in exasperation, his Outside Voice was just about at Football Stadium Level.   Snarky responded with hushed, angry, trying-to-be-not-"you-statements" speak and had a fun time wrestling her features away from alternating between tears of rage, tears of sadness, tears of fear, and just plain good old fashioned WTF.   Snarky admits she is not blameless in this. She is passive-aggressive, sensitive, and requires much grooming. She's usually pretty much self grooming, but enjoys a fluff every now and again from her paramour. She can be a demanding diva bitch banshee at times, but has been working hard to recognize when those "chocolate and pickles" style impulses present themselves.   This is the rockiest point before it gets smoother. This is the abyss from which, after the dust has settled, they will look back with their arms looped around eachother's waists, and they will say "Whew! That was a close one!" And they will be glad that they had eachother to lean on, rail against, and be pushed through by in order to make it to the Other Side.   They just have to have faith and get there together.   Solution:   Snarky plans on making peace offerings tonight. But for now, she has a job interview for which to prepare, and a slowly rising tide of panic to quell with logic and love.
darkitysnark

darkitysnark

4
this machine
 

smelling of spanked, like i could own the world

Last night i really wore spanked for the first time. I very luckily came into a special rare imp which i then swapped for spanked, and wow. I now understand why people hoard and drop mad cash on ebay for this. I tested it lightly when i first got it and loved it, though i was surprised by it's similarity to geek (same leather i think, and a similarity in the cardamom vs cinnamon part too). Similarity is too strong really, but i related them in my mind, probably because i love geek so much.   Anyway, last night i went to the local music awards ball with the bf (he didn't win this year, too bad), and i looked smashing and decided it was time to break out the spanked. I didn't spare on it either - something that beautiful is meant to be used. DAMN did i smell good. Damn damn damn. That is one fucking gorgeous oil. It was a totally different experience really wearing it instead of having just a tiny swipe on my wrist while i hung around home. I felt like a million bucks, and now i have the twitching, drooling urge to hunt me down some spanked and drop some scary cash on it. I've been trying to stay in control about those super-coveted limited editions, because it's just such a loop to get into. But yikes. I covet.   In other news, i got a frimp of the bow and crown of conquest, my first white musk-containing scent. I hate white musk based on a friend who used to wear it (body shop's white musk though), and a few floral-based frimps i've hated. But this little puppy, boy howdy. Good stuff. I think it reminds me a bit of st. germain, which would make sense. It's really nice, and i'm pleased that i now know not every white musk will make me gag.   But now i really want king of spades and lenore. Sigh. Anyone wanna swap me?
this machine

this machine

0
Is Anybody Out There?
 

Chris

It's JUST a TV show... but I'm so sad that Chris is gone, and I feel an odd sense of guilt for not voting enough.   This should NOT be effecting me to this degree. Dammit.
smallvoice

smallvoice

2
Sourball Ho!
 

Updates and BPAL-ing

OK, so we got a new DSL modem. It's working great, except it poops out every half-hour or so. It'll just die, then come back I'm seriously tempted by darkity's reminder about cable, but other than the burps things are working fine.   Back to BPAL: I've been so impressed with the last couple of orders I've received. The Maelstrom scents I tried were great -- I have bottles of Berenice, Masque and Montresor, and Montresor is an all-time favorite on the level of Perversion, Morocco and Hellion, my favorite dark blends. I was tempted with Tell-Tale Heart too, and will maybe sniff eventually.   Monster Bait: Closet is great too, really nice sweet & fruity.   On Monday I got my teeny April Fool's order of Underpants, which is wonderful While it sounded extremely foody, it's a beautiful sweet vanilla scent. As if to reiterate the vanilla, the Lab sent a frimp of Antique Lace with it, which I previously tried and liked so much I already have a bottle, purchased when it came back in stock.
dawndie

dawndie

0
HennaFairy's Blog
 

Storage Boxes

Finished my first two!!   They are both even prettier in person - the blue one has glitter on the top, and some on the paper inside. I just have to decide if/how to seal it. I'm thinking a spray finish very lightly, just on the top/outside.   Here's one - it came with dividers (it's actually for tea) which i painted white, they just aren't dry enough to put back in yet. (you can see them in the photo of the previous post, that's this box open before i started.) i'm probably keeping this one for myself!!         And the second - I made dividers out of balsa wood. a pain in the ass, but they work!!    
HennaFairy

HennaFairy

1
Fishnets and Frankincense
 

Pet peeve!

OK, this is a hang-up of mine, a silly pet peeve, and if any of you do this and your man-things or woman-things think it's hot and sexy, good for you and good for them. It's just something I'm not going to do, ever.   I have a hang-up about women who grow their toenails long and paint them in a French manicure. As in long, I mean that the nails may reach or surpass the toe-tip, depending upon the shape of their nails and their toes. It makes their feet look like little paws. And then the French manicure -- I think that looks just plain goofy. French manicures on the fingers are rather pretty and I can appreciate it. Especially because my fingernails never get long enough to do that. But on the feet, I don't think so.   I think my hang-up stems from the fact that prior to this recent trend, the only people with long toenails tended towards being unkempt. There were usually other hideously disgusting things going on with their toenails or feet that I won't even bother to mention.   I have a foot fetish, I will admit, and I like to see nice feet. But when I see toenails that look like they could leave a swipe across your skin like a cat's claw, I just cringe. Toes should be able to move all around the body without accidentally drawing blood, you know.
valentina

valentina

9
dancink's bpal blather
 

I wants it!

GC's   Bewitching Brews: Belle Epoque Love Potions: Libertine - Ordered 30/04/06 Nefertiti - Ordered 30/04/06 O Snake Oil Mad Tea Party Alice Mouse's Long and Sad Tale Tweedledum Tweedledee White Rabbit Illyria Tamora Wanderlust Amsterdam Delphi - Ordered 30/04/06 Hanging Gardens Morocco Excolo Persephone - Ordered 30/04/06   LE's   A Little Lunacy Peony Moon Carnival Noir Freak Show - Ordered 13/04/06 House of Mirrors - Ordered 13/04/06 Midway - Ordered 13/04/06 Snake Charmer - Ordered 13/04/06 Lupercalia Khajuraho - 5ml! Maelstrom Montresor - 5ml! - Ordered 24/05/06 Springtime in Arkham Miskatonic University
dancink

dancink

0
HennaFairy's Blog
 

Imp Boxes

So I decorated my ammo imp boxes - i also purchased a bunch of bigger boxes that will hold bottles too and started decorating them!   Here are some photos of the two ammo boxes - paper, acrylic gel gloss, and gold leaf (buddha themes - from a japanese art book and a postcard from thailand)             wooden boxes waiting to be decorated! (sale on unfinished wood at AC Moore! I have a lot in plan for these, some paint, some decoupage, some henna... fun!!)  
HennaFairy

HennaFairy

2
The Road to Santiago
 

Off he goes...

I tend to anthropomorphize inanimate objects, and my bicycle, Morpheus, is no exception. So it was with mixed emotins that I left him hanging on a hook in the bike shop, only to return hours to later to retrieve him in pieces contained wihtin two boxes. I transported him to the post office and with much form-filling hassle and a hefty postage fee, I shipped my bestest buddy off to France. If all goes as planned, he'll be waiting for me at my hotel when I arrive next week. Here he is all loaded up for the trial run last week:   Oddly, everything is done, except for tossing in my toothpaste and zipping up the last bag. Somehow, it doesn't seem possible. Now to laze around for the rest of the week and enjoy the bon voyage BBQ this weekend.
Heretic

Heretic

0
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