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BPAL Madness!
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About this blog

perfume-related ramblings that can't go anywhere else because I'd bore the pants off anyone reading

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can't sleep, time to ramble

It's funny: Ice Queen, the scent that spawned my love affair with BPAL's snowy/icy blends, is actually the one of them I like least now.   I still enjoy it, don't get me wrong. It's beautiful, but it's just a little too sharp/hard for me: the white musks are just slightly too prominent, it's just -- well, "too hard" is the only way I can describe it. I have low hopes for Skadi, because it seems that Skadi is Ice Queen but slightly /harder/. Guh.   I'm avoiding Frost Moon (eucalyptus smells like armpit funk on me) and Cold Moon/Snow Moon just don't seem worth hunting down. I've tried Ice Queen, Snow White, Snow Bunny, Snow Angel, and Havisham, and I have a bottle of Skadi coming my way. Of those, Snow White I have realised must go -- while she's lovely, she's just too sweet for me, and there's something slightly too aquatic about the scent for me to be comfortable. Part of it is the coconut, but there's this strange milky non-sugar sweetness to it that (while it's nice) I find ultimatel off-putting. and there's no sense in sitting on two bottles of something so sought-after if I'm not gonna love them. Weirdly, I like Snow Bunny much better than I like Snow White -- the Bunny has all of the good things about Snow White, combined with some of the powdersugar perk of Snow Angel. Honestly, while I like Snow Angel (especially on the drydown) I think I might like Snow Bunny better! But Shhh, don't speak loudly of my sacrilege.   Havisham is, of course, achingly beautiful: a strange-yet-classic frosty aquatic rose, not a scent to wear every day but a scent to cherish. I'm almost glad I have so little of it -- peversely, it'll stop me taking it for granted, something I feel like I do with my GC loves Perversion and Brisingamen. (Incidentally, I need to learn to stop reviewing scents the first time I wear them: I'm usually too enraptured by their loveliness to step back and see how they /compare/ to things I already like/dislike. Thus my reviews all tend to be gushy, even though I only like some of what I've got.)
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At the End of the day

I don't like having a lot of bottles sitting around not getting any affection. I also don't like not having bottles of stuff I know I /do/ love -- like tarot: The Hermit, and Brisingamen, and Perversion. I do like being identifiable by scent, so here's the short list of what's staying, what needs to come in and what I know eventually has to go:   STAYING Havisham La Fee Verte [signature... when it's not that time of the month] Snow Bunny [dance/saturdays/special-but-not-Going-Out stuff] Shub-Niggurath [winter comfort scent] Perversion --> NEED BOTTLE [Jon] Brisingamen --> NEED BOTTLE [work/professional scent] Tarot: The Hermit --> NEED BOTTLE [studying/focus/divination/introspection scent] Monster Bait: Closet [come-smex-me scent -- could use another bottle] Dark Delicacies   GOING The Ecstasy of Passion The Ecstasy of True Love Spooky Snow White Skadi Ice Queen Trick #2 Devil's Night 05 [ach! How I wish I wore this more! it's beautiful... I just don't reach for it much :/] Bitter Moon Pink Moon 2005 Buck Moon Milk Moon Beaver Moon Stardust 05 Spanked Snowblind Cinnamon SN Siberian Musk SN   EMOTIONALLY ATTACHED Vieux Carre Bruja Ingenue Brides of Dracula Gypsy Queen   MUST TRY Black Moon -- even though it's the same niche as Dark Delicacies, which I looove too much to ever give up Storyville -- I have a weird feeling I'd like it. Yes, even though I've tried it. don't ask me why, I just go with my little hunches... Boomslang -- what can I say, i'm hopeful!   MUST BUY Tarot: The Hermit/Brisingamen/Perversion Blue Moon Cancer astrological blend April Fool's blend, whatever it is
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Another cheer for Aged Snake Oil

**inhales wrists deeply** aaaaaah.   My gorgeous bottle is now about 10 months old. It smells duh-vine. I cannot wait until it is 3 years old... daaamn.   I'm done now   ---   My perennial worry that my collection is too large has reached its zenith, I think. After the July moon, which is going to be preceded by big purchases for me -- the July Moon, the Cancer astrological blend, Blue Moon (two bottles), Brisingamen, and Tarot: The Hermit -- I'm going to start seriously culling, and swapping for the things I want. The rares I want to collect right nwo are:   Ingenue Unseelie Storyville   and that's about it. Almost anything for those three, but once I'm satisfied that I have enough of those, collecting is going to take a back seat.     Here lies another possible-keepsies list: La Fee Verte Havisham Snake Oil Shub Snow Bunny Ingenue (duh) Dark Delicacies MB: Closet Hope Snow Angel Bruja Vieux Carre June Gloom (if I can collect enough... if not, she gets jettisoned) Unseelie (duh) Storyville (if I can collect enough)
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Another (bad) dream...

although this one was more strange than bad.   This one was a bit hard to wake up from. I thought it was real for at least ten seconds after awakening, which is unlike me. I was me, and I still had a single mother -- but she wasn't like my mother at all. She was more like Isaac Meister's mother if Isaac's Mom was kind of vampy. My mother was five-foot-nine-and-a-half, had gorgeous feathery long brown hair, wore lipstick every day, always looked put-together, and hit on my boyfriend. SHe still had the same control issues though. In my dream, I was still dating Amy, and she still lived in MIchigan; but I was kind of seeing this fellow Dave (who doesn't seem to have a real-life analogue) who liked me but was also obviously attracted to my mother, who encouraged his attentions. I was worried that Dave was going to get the wrong idea, that he'd think we could date and have a relationship and all those things when according to Amy-rules, all I'm allowed to do is kiss him when she's not in the province (groping or clothing-removal counting as cheating -- these are the actual rules, by the way. so far I haven't exercised the privilege). In my dream, Dave and I had dinner plans for tonight, but because of Amy-stuff I was thinking about cancelling so Dave didn't get the wrong idea... and I coudl tell that my Mother was thinking of replacing me at hte dinner table...   it was /very/ strange. :/
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Ammo Boxes (and gloating)

I just nabbed 4 50-slot ammo boxes off a hunting store online. The total with shipping to Canada was $13.74, which I feel is acceptable (even though the cost for the boxes themselves was $3.49 0.o) -- that's about $4.50 per box, which isn't insane, although it's a bit more than I'd like. Perhaps I'll swap two of them away for some imps -- I only have 50-some-odd imp/decants anyway, and some of those are going in bottles.   Havisham (1 imp) and Ice Queen (4 imps) are going into the bottles I've found for them -- that's 5 of my 57 decants taken care of. I'll likely swap away some of my GC's, and I already know I hate Tarot: The Star (unfortunately). There'll be a whole row of 5 slots for my precious Ingenue, likewise for my Dark Delicacies decants. I can probably just save time and keep my swapping imps in one box. Or maybe I'll use one box for my intent blends -- like my voodoo blends and TALs...   I'm so excited! I love getting new stuff, especially new ways to arrange my scents. Now I just need an adequate box for my bottles... as in, one that can fit 10mL's as well :/ I have four (and they're alllll La Fee Verte.)   Now I'm feeling that lovely gloating that goes along with possessing things one loves.
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Ammo Boxes

My ammo boxes came today. I have four 50-count green ammo boxes and I'm trying to decide how to sort my imps into them... one box is reserved for intent blends (voodoo, celestials, tarot, sephiroth [if I ever get any], panacea, and of course TAL) and one box is reserved for favourites/multiple imps, but I'm not sure what to do with the rest of them. Oh well... I'll figure it out   Also, the imp-to-bottle ratio sucks. five imps (admittedly, 2 were partially empty so really about 4.5 imps) make up about 3/4 of a bottle. 4.5 imps = 0.75 bottles, so we're looking at 6 imps to the bottle. Some decanters say they get 7 imps to the bottle. ((glum)) Oh well... at least I have the equivalent of two bottles of DD. Orchid-scented deliciousness, apply here.
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Also...

...over the last few days I have scored four decants of Dark Delicacies, a bottle of Hope (shipped!) for the price of a GC, imps of King and Queen of Diamonds, and an imp of Chaste Moon which through the magic of swapping I hope to turn into an imp of Ingenue.       ___   ON BUYING THINGS TO SWAP 'EM: This is not a black-and-white issue. Buying stuff for the purpose of swapping it away for rare decants is frowned upon by many in the BPAL community, and I can sort of understand why: we're all here because we have a strong and sentimental attachment to our smellies, so if you don't actually want it for what it is, let someone who truly loves it have the scent. I can understand that perspective, and I guess if I was giving up something I loved 'cause I needed the $$, at the end of the day I'd rather it go to someone who would appreciate it rather than just want it for its value. But also, a couple of things: -once you sell something, it's out ofyour hands. Your attachment to that item has ended, and with it your right to make moral judgments about how it's used. Whatever-it-is is no longer yours. let it go. -As a n00b, it's really hard to see people raving about all these great rare scents, and then not being able to try them because they're only up for swap for things of "equally rare value". You _have_ to start with purchasing, and the easiest way to break into the rares market is to buy something to trade. Sometimes what comes up for sale isn't what you want at the end of the day; but then again, sometimes you bring home an imp you intended to just swap away, and find a new love. -buying things to swap is actually pretty utilitarian. Picture this: you have four people, A; B; C; and D (shut up, it's late I'm not imaginative). A has a decant of Voodoo Queen that she is selling. B has a decant of Storyville that she will only swap for Voodoo Queen or Lugh. C has wanted to try Storyville for ages, but she doesn't have Voodoo QUeen (and she def. doesn't have lugh). D really loves Voodoo Queen (but in order to know that, s/he would need to have enough to test --> probably has a decant already). If D buys the decant of Voodoo Queen, two people are happy: A and D. A has gotten $ for it, and D has more of what she already tested and knows she likes. This has no effect on B, but C still can't even access storyville. If C buys the decant of Voodoo Queen, three people are happy: A, B and C. A has gotten the $ that she would've gotten anyway. C now has access to something she really wants (Storyville; and in the process got to test Voodoo Queen) and B has something she really wants. D isn't happy, but you can't make all of the people happy all of the time. Purchasing decants to swap is, from a utilitarian perspective, a pretty good idea. More people get what they want out of the market -- where's the harm in that?   it's like the idea of "too much profit". No such thing. If Beth wants to spend her $$ on a Lamborghini, I don't care, although since oil prices will have increased I'll probably be able to buy less perfoom. Which, in the end, might actually be a good thing for my pocketbook. How do you like fast Italian cars, Beth?
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Ah-hahahaha! I am the Queen of BPAL from Afar!

Squeeee! Thanks to the ass-saving generosity of my dear beloved father whom I love and adore, I have a Thunder Moon order!   Thunder Moon Cancer (I've been looking forward to this for SO. LONG.) Selkie (yaaaay! my therianthropic is /awesome/!)   Other outstanding order: Blue Moon 2007 Brisingamen     Oh, hearts and flowers, hearts and flowers I'm sooo excited for the Cancer blend. I was expecting it to be a rose/chamomile scent because those are the plants most often associated with Cancer, and I wouldn't have been at all unhappy with that -- but wild lettuce? that sounds yummy, gentle, cool and vaguely sweet. I promised myself that no matter what (unless it was, like, black musk and ambergris and red wine or something) I'd order my birth-month moon and therianthropic. I'm hopeful for Selkie, although I'm shaky on Thunder Moon -- it sounds lovely but a little too masculine/aquatic for me. I'll try it, and persevere, and persevere, and God Dammit my force of will shall prevail.   squeeeee!
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15 years later...

I started collecting about 15 years ago, went on hiatus in 2009, and never really picked it back up (apart from the odd purchase direct from the Lab, mostly refills of Snake OIl). Here are the ones I'm keeping. It's heavy on limited editions because that's what always seems pressing to keep -- I always feel like if I want a GC, I can just order it from the Lab, but LEs I have to hoard. (And Snake Oil I have to cellar!)   BOTTLES BPTP exclusive La Fee Verte (2005) -- 1 10mL bottle and 1 5mL decant -- "Sugared wormwood, hyssop and melissa with calamus, angelica and Dittany of Crete, blended with a Bohemian perfume of vanilla musk, honey absolute and Moroccan spices" BPTP exclusive Naughty or Nice: Snow Angel (2005) -- 1 bottle, 90% -- "Cherubic spun sugar with a hint of lemon, sparkling peach, and floral tea" (2008 resurrection) 1 decant, 50% BPTP exclusive Naughty or Nice: Fee (2005) -- 1 bottle, full -- "A buoyant, dulcet blend of vanilla, sunflower, carnation, honeydew, peach blossom, lychee, oakmoss and white tea" Carnaval Noir: Snake Charmer (2005 original release, paper label) -- 2 partial bottles, 30% and 10% (10% has lost its label); 1 decant, 60% -- "Arabian musk and exotic spices slinking through Egyptian amber, enticing vanilla, and a serpentine blend of black plum, labdanum, ambrette, benzoin and black coconut" Snake Charmer (first resurrection, I think 2007?) -- 1 partial bottle, 10% Snake Charmer (second resurrection) -- 1 bottle, full Carnaval Noir: Midway (2005 original release, paper label) -- 1 partial bottle, 75%; 1 decant, 80% -- "A bombardment of edible carnival indulgences. Funnel cake, caramel apple, cotton candy, salt water taffy and sugar tart" Ingenue (2004) -- 1 10mL cobalt bottle, 30% -- "Wild clover and gentle melon interlaced with violet leaf, water lilies, smooth wooden notes, and blushing rose" Lunacy: Bitter Moon (2006) -- 1 bottle, full -- "Nepal poppy, lotus root, wild rose, and blue hibiscus with blackberry, tonka, sage, lavender, peony and vetiver" Lupercalia: Smut (paper label, I think pre-2006 first release) -- 1 partial bottle, 75%; 1 decant, 75% -- "Three swarthy, smutty musks sweetened with sugar and woozy with dark booze notes" Monster Bait: Closet (pre-2006) -- 1 bottle, full; 1 decant, 50% -- "Bourbon blackberry buttercream over red velvet cake." Monster Bait: Underpants (pre-2006) -- 1 bottle, 90% -- "Sexy sugar-smeared saffron sandalwood over lickable vanilla cream with a splash of butter rum" Perversion (pre-2006, paper label cobalt bottle) -- 1 partial bottle, 25% -- "Smoky rum and black tobacco with a whisper of steamy leather with a splash of crystalline chardonnay, layered over a sensual, sweet, and deceptively magnetic base of tonka" Single Note: Siberian Musk (2012) -- 1 partial bottle, 60% (pre-2006 original single note series) 1 decant, full Snake Oil -- (2015) 1 partial bottle, 30%, kicking myself for not stocking up! -- "A blend of exotic Indonesian oils sugared with vanilla" OR "deep, rich earthy notes swirled with vegetal musks, sugared vanilla bean, and dark spices" (August 2006) 1 decant, 30% I made myself one decant from my first-ever bottle of Snake Oil. Holy &%*#. (pre-2019 direct from Lab) 1 imp, full (2019 reformulation) 4 bottles -- won't even touch these until they are 5 years old (2024). We will see how they stack up to the original. (2022 reformulation) 2 bottles -- can't touch these till 2029 Snow, Glass, Apples (2008) -- 1 bottle, 60% -- no note description Yule: Skadi (2004 original release, paper label cobalt bottle) -- 1 partial bottle, 25% -- "The Snow-Shoe Goddess, Giantess, the Norse embodiment of winter. Frost-rimed winter berries, crisp pine needle, and a slush of bright snowy notes Voodoo Queen (2006) -- 1 partial bottle, 60% -- no note description   IMPS/DECANTS (not listed above) BPTP exclusive ???? - Snowblind (2004) -- 1 partial decant, 30% -- "The perfect vanilla mint" (2008 resurrection) 1 partial decant, 50% interestingly, these decants have aged totally differently. the 2004 edition is still light and delicate, while the 2008 resurrection is much heavier on the vanilla and has become dark and viscous BPTP exclusive Trick or Treat: Treat #1 (2007) -- 1 partial decant, 50% -- "A super-sweet, glittering mountain of crushed hard candy: watermelon, pink lime, lemon, strawberry and piles upon piles of crystalline sugar" Carnaval Noir: Freak Show -- 1 decant and 1 partial decant, 80% -- "fig, pomegranate and cocoa bean with lemon, bergamot, vanilla, mellow honey musk, calamus and tonka" Snow White (2004 original release) -- 1 partial decant, 10% -- "flurries of virgin snow, crisp winter wind and the faintest breath of night-blooming flowers" I should probably buy a full bottle of this from the Lab   TAL AND VOODOO BLENDS, BOTTLES AND DECANTS Arabian Nights -- 1 bottle, full Bat's Blood -- 1 near-empty bottle, drops only -- very old squat cobalt bottle from 2004 Bend Over -- 1 partial bottle 30% Black Cat -- 1 bottle, full Blessings of Isis -- 1 bottle, full Block Buster -- 1 partial bottle, 75% Caliph's Beloved -- 1 bottle, 90% Charisma - 1 bottle and 1 partial bottle, 30%, the latter an old paper label bottle Clean the Air -- 1 bottle, full French Creole -- 1 bottle, 95% Hymn to Pan -- 1 bottle and 1 partial bottle, 20%, the latter an old cobalt bottle Magnet -- 1 bottle and 1 partial bottle, 10% Mantle of Venus -- 1 bottle, 85% Radiance of Ra -- 1 bottle, full White Light -- 1 bottle, full   Aunt Caroline's Money Bag -- 1 partial decant, 60% Aunt Caroline's Money Draw -- 1 decant, 80% Determination -- 1 partial decant, 10% Fiery Wall of Protection -- 1 partial decant, 40% dates from 2008 Horn of Plenty -- 1 imp direct from lab, full Ouroboros -- 1 decant, full dates from 2008 Queen -- 1 partial imp direct from Lab, 60%  
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$$$

Cash: $15 Cdn CIBC Debit: $25-35 Cdn (?)   Citizens' Debit: $90 USD PayPal: $47.75 USD   OWING -$40.75 USD -- Ebay seller -$10.55 USD -- decants -$22 USD -- Fee -$17 USD -- Hunter Moon etc. =Citizens' Debit: ~$50   -$40 Cdn -- April rave tickets (Daniel) CIBC Debit: $0-$10   I can do this. Not easily, but I can do this   ____ MAY Citizens' Debit: $50 USD   CIBC Debit: $80 Cdn   Rave Tickets -$5 Cdn -- Cheap and Fun -$20 Cdn -- We're Old Skool -$20 (?) Cdn -- Funky Fresh -$20 (?) Cdn -- The Massacre =CIBC Debit: $15 Cdn     ...and I'll still need to sell off some stuff in time for June/July :S
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$$:wub2:

So far I have made $120 from sales Unfortunately I did sell a half-bottle of my beloved La Fee Verte... but considering I have the equivalent of 6 5mL's (between partials and decants) and considering that I have never even gone through an imp, I think it's okay.   I wore LFV today and was reminded of why I love it the way I do I keep getting whiffs of this glorious sweet lightly-herbal creaminess before realising that it's coming from my cleavage   Unless something comes up, the $$ from my sales will be saved for updates.. the coming update, and then the Blue Moon update. I'm going to need at least two bottles of Blue Moon if it's anything like hte last formulation, which sounds /right/ up my alley   h_f is gallivanting around London, going to parties and getting drunk on cheap whisky (shame! go for the expensive stuff.) I am jealous, abit, but mostly I wish she was back here because I miss her!   Oh yeah, and I found some Unseelie. One decant, but that should be fine. No matter how lovely it is, I'm sure it won't be enough to displace my favourites and so I won't need more.
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