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Notes to myself and anyone else

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Order madness

I'm kind of relieved......I think I'm all caught up on my ordering, at least until I get to try my Yule decants (then the madness starts all over again). I am resisting the urge to order a bottle of Meditation In Autumn. I wore it again today, and I realized it smells like November, only greener, with less snow. It does have a bit of icy bite, somehow. But the resemblance to November is close enough that I don't think I really need a whole bottle after all. If, however, someone were to offer a swap, I certainly would take it.   I am excited to try the Yule blends, still have to track down a decant of Mole, but other than that, I'm all caught up on decants I want to try.   I absolutely can't wait for my bottle of Fearful Pleasure to arrive, but it looks like I still have over a week, at least. Hurryhurryhurry!
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draft for ISO post

Decants/imps would be perfect, even if they're not completely full.   And There Was A Great Cry In Egypt The Chapel Isaac, The Living Skeleton Knucklebones Three Gorgons
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Damn.

So now I'm kicking myself, because I just tried Brom Bones, and holy-mother-of-pearl......this is beyond sexy. I'm definitely going to need a whole bottle of this, rather than a puny decant. I already loved Quincey Morris, and this is close but even better. Just incredible. This should have been my bottle choice, rather than Chant D'Autumne (which I like, but nothing like B. Bones......).
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wishy wishy!

Bold type just means I have a particular interest, or higher priority for that scent. Colored text indicates added after first post. I try to update this pretty often....   possible bottles Baron Samedi Dragon's Blood Fearful Pleasure Great Sword Of War The Mad Hatter Satan and Death With Sin Intervening Three Gorgons   On the Fence, at the Carnaval!! (not sure if I want whole bottles of these or not) Carnaval Diabolique Isaac, the Living Skeleton Priala, the Human Phoenix The Chapel Theodosius, the Legerdemain Wulric, the Wolfman   GC imps that I want Aelopile Baghdad Bathsheba Black Hellebore Brisingamen Bruised Violet Compound The Caterpillar Danube Death Cap Deep In Earth The Dormouse Dragon's Reverie Eclipse Fascinum Frumious Bandersnatch Hamadryad Hanging Gardens Hecate Hymn To Proserpine Imp Inferno Intrigue Jersey Devil Kill-Devil Kubla Khan Kumari Kandam Lampades Libertine Love's Torments Lyonesse Mad Hatter Mandrake Mary Read Medea Mouse's Long and Sad Tale Nero Niflheim No. 93 Engine Nostrum Remedium Othello Penthus The Phantom Wooer Phoenix Steamworks Plunder Port Royal Queen of Sheba Rome Salome Santo Domingo Scales Of Deprivation Schrodinger's Cat Shanghai Shango Strangler Fig Sundew Sybaris To A Woman Tombstone Tushnamatay Unicorn Verdandi Voodoo   'Set Only' imps/unimpables I would like (imps or decants) And There Was A Great Cry In Egypt The Ecstacy of St. Theresa Famine Fox Fires on New Year's Eve at the Garment Nettle Tree at Oji Haloes The House Judith Victorious La Vague Lucretia Madonna Mama-Ji Parsifal Rozpustnica Silence Three Brides   Decant Me (partial decants? half decants? droplets? all are acceptable, I just want to try these) The Bloody Sword Boo Bam Cagliostro The Chapel The Contract Of Theophilus Of Adana The Cracked Bell Damnation Dia De Los Muertos Fire Eater Isaac, the Living Skeleton Ivanushka Knucklebones Long Night Moon Moana Opuhi Pumpkin Patch III (2007) Shill Tiki Queen Tupapau Upa Upa Yule   Single Notes dream list (decants) Ambergris, Black Cherry, Black Musk, Black Poppy, Cherry, Licorice Bark, Light Myrrh, Oakmoss, Red Musk, Red Mysore Sandalwood, Redwood, Siberian Musk, Tonka Bean, White Sandalwood   The following are basically for my own reference....it helps me to keep this all in one place, and the update onslaught is just about killing me! But I do love trying all the new stuff.   Czech and Speake Cuba Frankincense and Myrrh   Possets Aiden Crickets Eve Nigel Rhode Island Vermont   CB I Hate Perfume Wild Hunt
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Oh, and also.....

Continuing my previous posts.....how could I overlook the Snake Pit? I bought the whole thing when it first came out, swapped out a couple of those bottles (Asp Viper, Banded Sea Snake, Green Tree Viper, Australian Copperhead....okay, more than a couple), and I still want to get rid of Saw-Scaled Viper, eventually. But with the ones that I've kept, I doubt that I will need any kind of Snake Oil-related scent again, ever.......especially since I have 2 bottles of Snake Oil itself 'cellared' (and it's hard to believe one of them will be 2 years old in November!). Oh and I swapped that imp of Anaconda for Doc Buzzard, a worthy trade in my opinion.   So unless Snake Charmer is re-released, I am good on Snakey scents for a long, long time. At the rate I wear oils, I may never use them up completely.
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(previous entry continued.....)

Inez and Aeronwen are both bottle worthy. And Wild Men of Jezirat Al Tennyn. Have to re-try all of those, and again, make some decisions. Carnaval Diabolique is totally worth a bottle, so I have that one to consider as well. And I haven't even tried Isaac yet!! : /   On the plus side, I have a nice, completely full, well-aged bottle of Mme. Moriarty that I love. Ditto Midnight On The Midway and Antonino.   The big problem is Chaos Theory. I've been wanting a new round of CT for a long, long time......and I really want at least 6 or 7 bottles, possibly more. There is no way I can get all of this stuff, I just can't swing it. I think I'm actually pushing aside CD in favor of CT. CD will be around longer (and we still have more acts), and CT will only be around for a few weeks. And Chaos Theory is just so.......special! It's like my own little bottle of uniqueness, and a complete surprise, and just fun, fun, fun.   So there ya go, I guess my decision is made. Buckle your seatbelts, it's going to be a Chaotic ride!!
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Oh, the indecision!

As we all know, the Carnaval is leaving town very soon. I have a pretty decent selection of CD scents that I like, even a few bottles. Now is the time to get off the fence and decide on a couple that I've been waffling over.   I had a decant of Wulric the Wolfman, and I did like it a lot. For some reason I swapped it or gave it away, I can't remember....probably because I thought I would end up getting a bottle. Well, I still haven't, and time is running out.   I have a bottle of Doc Constantine, but it's only half full, and I'm wondering if I should get more or just leave it at that.   .......actually now it's getting busy here at work, more later.
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non-bpal review/Czech and Speake No. 88

Czech and Speake No. 88   "No. 88 is the signature fragrance from Czech & Speake. From its Aromatics Collection, No.88 is a blend of woods, bergamot, geranium, rose otto, cassie flower, frangipani, vetiver, and sandalwood. This gorgeous fragrance is worn by both men and women." (description from The Perfumed Court)   I was attracted to this because I read Morrissey wears it (and Elton John, too). I was so glad to find a source for a sample.   This is fabulous! It's a rose scent, but unmistakably gender-neutral, although some may find it masculine. The closest bpal I can think of is Thanatos, but No. 88 is definitely lighter, fresher, and not as powdery (not that I dislike Thanatos). It's definitely woody, but also floral and slightly fruity. It strikes me as a versatile scent.....I could wear this at work (and I did), or out on the town, or for a formal occasion. I would call it almost a studious rose scent, but dark, hinting at naughtiness.   Now I need to try their Cuba scent, because I definitely want a bottle of one or the other. This stuff is pricey and only available from the UK, so it's going to be a treat to splurge and indulge myself. If Cuba is as good as this, it's going to be tough to decide. I could absolutely wear No. 88 on a regular basis.
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non-bpal review/Vetiver Guerlain

Vetiver Guerlain   "fresh and outdoorsy, a blend of vetiver, wood, tobacco and spice." (description from Fragrancenet.com   I love vetiver and having read lots of rave reviews, I really wanted to try this. Wet on the skin, for the first 10 or 15 minutes, this is a glorious, almost dizzying swirl of fresh, bright citrus notes, with some green grassiness peeking in and out. I loved it! After a while, all the top notes fade and what's left is simply vetiver single note. It's a light, fresh vetiver, almost reminiscent of sweet hay. Not a bad thing, but I'd love to smell that first stage longer.
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non-bpal review/Pascal Morabito Or Black

Pascal Morabito Or Black   I sought this after reading Luca Turin's perfume blog, he seemed to really like it. This review is from one test on the skin (I'll probably wear it again, so I may add to this entry later).   top Note : bergamote, pepper, leather Note de cœur : benzoin, ciste, cyprus Note de fond : vetiver, ylang-ylang, amber, Tonkin Musk, oak moss.   Didn't refresh my memory on the notes first, so I thought it was primarily an incense scent. Wet on the skin, it was exactly that. Slightly reminiscent of Midnight Mass, but murkier, more 'black'. After a few minutes, very shortly, I realized there was a strong note of leather. It reminded me of something from my past, maybe Drakkar Noir. It seems to be a formal, almost stern scent. Heavy and dark. Not for everyday wear, but probably good for special occasions. The leather comes out strong and lasts for a long time.
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bitch, bitch, bitch.....

I usually keep this about scent but I have to rant and rave for a minute.   I am so annoyed by people who write useless reviews on this forum! I realize their review might be useful to someone else. But it makes me feel like I wasted time clicking on the post to read it. I'm talking about when someone floods the reviews forum with very short reviews which basically reiterate the description of the scent (the Lab's description), and nothing more. And the very worst are when the person says "Oh, I couldn't even try this on my skin!". In my opinion, if you haven't tested it on your skin, you shouldn't review it!   If you're reading this and you have written this type of review, don't take it personally. I am just in a ranting mood and it's a small pet peeve I have. I totally understand the value of writing a review as a form of 'note to self', which is actually one of the reasons I write reviews. Otherwise I can forget that I've already tried a scent and don't need to try it again. So in other words, don't change your writing habits just because of me! : )   /rant
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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. : )
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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. : (
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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*
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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........
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The Salon

Since it has so many of my favorite scents, I think the Salon is my favorite of all the scent categories in the Lab's general catalogue. In light of that, I went back over the reviews and picked out a few that I want to try again. Some of them I even gave unfavorable reviews.....but still, I dare say that my nose is a little more seasoned now, and I may actually like them more now. And there were a couple that I traded or gave away and now I'm kicking myself....especially since they were the nice Lab labels from the imp packs.   I even considered getting more imp packs!   But I think what I'll do is continue going through my current (huge) stash of imps/decants, pick out the ones I don't want, and try another swapping post. This one will focus on the un-impables on my wish list. I figure since they are slightly harder to come by, it will be more of a challenging hunt.   I also still think I would do well to just get decants from now on, and only get a bottle if something is just screaming at me to love it. With the sheer number of decants I already have, it's absolutely silly to buy more bottles since it would take forever even put a dent in them. For example, I traded for a bottle of Midnight On The Midway, which I hardly ever wear, even though I do love it. It's a scent for very particular moods.....when I'm feeling somewhat confident, sexy maybe, but also classy and refined. I could never wear it to work, it's just too emphatic.   At work I've been wearing F5, Usher (bpal's Usher, not the commercial cologne), and sometimes CB I Hate Perfume scents......although now I can't remember which ones. Accords, I think....Snow and maybe Lava Rock. Tonight I didn't wear any kind of scent to work. I don't want to offend anyone so when I do wear something, it's very lightly applied.
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aged Snake Oil

Today I broke out my first bottle of Snake Oil, since it's officially a year old now. What I noticed most is an increased sweetness. Also it smelled different on one forearm than on the other, like I didn't roll the bottle enough or something. It reminded me a lot of frankincense, which I don't think I've ever noticed about Snake Oil. But basically.....it just smelled really good!
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sniffie overlooooaad............

I got so many decants today yesterday! Add that to the Lab order I got this week, and a couple other forum swaps this week also......I have a whole big bunch of new sniffies to try. I'm so glad tomorrow is Saturday, even though it's my weekend to work. I'll have time tomorrow to relax and try out all my new stuff. Well, I doubt I'll get to everything but I'll try a bunch.   I already tried A Countenance Forboding Evil, and didn't like it much. : ( I usually like patchouli but it disagreed with me in this blend, for some reason. Maybe the ylang-ylang contributed some weirdness, because honestly I couldn't smell that note, but there was something there that just wasn't sitting right for me. I will, of course, try it again......maybe in a few days, maybe sooner.   I also tried Monsterbait: Underpants and honestly......I wondered all day if I got a mis-labelled decant. It smells exactly like Morocco to me. I did some searching and found that some other people smelled the similarity, but really....I thought it really was Morocco and not Underpants. I told moonarcana I think she'll help me figure it out, she has a decant of Underpants.   I tried both Christmas Rose and Buena Noche, and I liked B.N. much better. It did remind me a little of Chrysanthemum Moon (which I was hoping for), and later some soapiness came out (from the lily, probably). Christmas Rose was sharper than I was expecting, and almost aquatic with the snow note. Not sure that one is going to work for me but I'll be trying it again.   Out of all the Yule LE blends this year, I know I want a bottle of Jolasveinar. Beyond that I don't know yet, I've got a lot of testing to do. I probably don't need a whole bottle of Buena Noche, but I might want one. I can't wait to compare Rose Red and Peacock Queen.
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custom scents

Today I was perusing the CB I Hate Perfume website, and thinking about custom scents. It's something I would love to do, but it almost seems like getting a tattoo.....I would want to make sure I had the perfect idea, and that it came out just right. I know that's kind of a stretch, but I think it's rather pricey to have him do it, and I would want to get my money's worth, definitely.   So, I was trying to think of a custom scent for myself. Lately I've been in the mood for snowy scents, floral, and woodsy with fir and/or pine sap. Jolasveinar is very, very good. And I'm real hopeful about Christmas Rose. That's almost the image I had in my head........the description of Christmas Rose, which is: "Bruise-tinted hellebore blossoms pushing through snowdrifts". I don't know what hellebore smells like.   The image I had is of a small bouquet of flowers on an icy/snowy mountaintop. The blossoms are perfect and covered with a delicate layer of frost. There are fir trees all around, and a light hint of woodsmoke in the air. And there's a teasing hint of pie and spice in the air, like someone is baking their Christmas desserts and opened their window for a little fresh air. So yeah, I guess that's pretty close to Jolasveinar. I'd like to smell a version of Jolasveinar that's more centered around the smushed buttercups, and with more flowers added, like rose. Maybe I'll try wearing Jolasveinar on one wrist and Rose Red or Peacock Queen on the other, when I get my decants.
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random thoughts

Yesterday I was seriously considering making a resolution for 2008......decants only. Like, no bottles whatsoever.     When I think about it, it makes sense. I've never used up a whole decant. My first bpal bottle, over a year old, would still pass for new if you just glanced at it. I'm really just a dabber. It's pretty ridiculous for me to buy a whole bottle of, for example, Beaver Moon. That was a total impulse scent buy and I really should have just searched out a decant instead of a whole bottle. There's no way I'll wear all that!! I like how it smells, but I know I won't wear it much. So, decants only for a year would make sense for me.   Then I think about it. A whole year. That includes next year's Halloween blends and Yule scents. Decants are plentiful, but really.......could I really do that?? I don't think I could. I mean, what if some incredible forum-only scent came out? Or that one elusive scent that was made "Just for me!!"?   Well, even though I won't do it for a whole year, I will definitely be curbing my bottle habits, lol. And also I need to seriously do some de-stashing (like everyone else it seems). I'm gradually working on that......testing imps, writing reviews on my laptop, and wrapping plumber's tape around the ones I know I'll be swapping. I'm keeping them in a small cigar box, and when it's full, I'll be posting them for sale/swap.   Speaking of swaps......when I look at my wish list, I think to myself 'do I really need to try all those?'. So little by little I'm whittling that down, too.
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Lily!

Over the weekend I tested a number of scents including Kostnice and Sepulcher. Both of them turned horribly soapy on me. I guess lily is the note that they have in common, that caused so much trouble.   They both developed a soapiness that got stronger and stronger until it was unbearable, and I had to wash them off. Not only that......both scents seemed to 'ruin' my nose for a good hour or two after I had washed them off. In other words, I tried putting on other scents that I really like, just to 'chase away' the horrid soapiness/memory of it, and nothing smelled right to me. It was kind of like trying to drink orange juice after brushing your teeth......everything smelled off in the aftermath of the soapy lilies!   I don't think all lily notes have this effect. I swear I've tried other scents with lily that didn't cause such a violent reaction. But from now on I'll be eyeing that note warily. Already I'm afeared for 2 of the Yule scents (Noche Buena, and the one with candy-charcoal). Now, the candy charcoal one, I was already not real hopeful about because of the violets and lily. But I really want to like Noche Buena. We shall see!! I've already ordered decants of both.
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10ml madness

I posted an ISO for 10ml bottles, and already I've got 3 coming to me! Well, 2 partials and one empty, but that's okay.....I can decant into the empty one (Morocco), if I get some imps or even a bottle (if I like it a lot, which I can barely remember what it smells like.......but I remember I liked it). The other 2 are Bloodlust which I've never tried, but looks promising, and Urd, which I do like, and have never really had an imp of my own....now I'll have plenty. So, that was more of a response than I was expecting! : )
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testing at the laundromat

More scent blogging because I'm boooored......   The one good thing about doing laundry is, it's a good place to test scents. It's good because it takes a couple hours, my mind kind of wanders, and with the movement of my hands there is plenty of wafting so I get a good idea of 'throw'. So as my mind is wandering, I might forget what scent I put on, until it wafts up at me again. And the whole process has a little bit of zen that I enjoy.   Other than that......I hate doing laundry. : )
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this that and the other

I went camping this weekend (well, I was in a cabin at a camp-site), and didn't bring any scent at all! I just figured, what's the point. I did bring my pillow and blanket. So I was pleasantly surprised when I walked into my cabin after a few hours and smelled......Snake Oil! Just the remnants that rubbed off my skin were enough to scent the whole cabin, not really strongly but enough that I knew it was from Snake Oil or the variations that I wear. Cool!   As for the inquisition, I think I got the one I wanted most. I may swap a decant or two to try some of the other ones. I'm mostly interested in Egg'd Mailbox and maybe Pumpkin Smash. We'll see.   I am so antsy to get my hands on my Halloween decants! Gimme! The CnS came yesterday. Now I'm worrying that Bonfire Night is going to be too sweet, based on the reviews so far. And still am up in the air about Sugar Skull. I really don't wear it that much, even though I love how it smells. Do I really need a whole bottle?   And finally, the Possets Halloween update is enormous, even bigger than I thought it would be. There is one scent that I feel like came from a suggestion I made in the Possets forum, so obviously I need to get that one. And of course 7 or 8 others that sound tantalizing. I like how Fabienne doesn't list the notes for us. For me that makes it more fun when the scents are actually in my hands, and there's more anticipation, wondering what the hell is this going to smell like (Infernal Bar-B-Que, anyone??). So, I think I'll make a smallish order first, then read reviews, and make one more larger order in a couple weeks. I could wait and order everything at once, and get free shipping, but I really don't think I can wait that long. I really want to know what Bat Fur Cloak smells like, among others.
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too many decisions!

I'm resisting the urge to order another Trick Or Treat Inquisition scent. I keep telling myself, just wait....because I don't even know which scent I'll get with my first order, because Possets' fall update is at the end of the week, because bpal may or may not have an update coming soon....not to mention the other bpal Halloween scents that I want, that I still haven't ordered yet.....all very good reasons, but I want another Trick Or Treat order pending, dammit!
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