MartyGreene

Doormouse seems to be out of the running- got it last week, just put some on and within minutes- itchy itchy itchy!

I washed it off really quickly, but I'm still itchy a bit, I fear some may have permeated my bracelet- which doesn't come off. :/

It's not any of my usual suspects, as this one was OKed by beth for me. Hmm.

Just sniffing this in the bottle I can tell, it's not for me.

It smells like department stores during the xmas season. Faux conifer and peppermint candies.

I'm guessing it's the lavendar that is smelling so coniferous to me, perhaps mixed with the lime or alone, not sure.

I like lavendar, and I like mint. Together they are usually good. I think its the lime in there that's making it so... xmas. Maybe the nondescript 'herbs'.

I like this one, probably my favorite of those that I've tried so far.

I definately smell the eucalyptus, mint, and violet. It smells like what I would imagine vicks vapo-rub would to someone chewing violet scented gum.

I wish the mint stayed longer on the skin though. All I get is the violet, which while nice- alone it smells rather... public bathroom air-freshener-y?

Probably one that I'll toy with some more- I'm curious how it will layer over something a bit buttery or something with more mint that stays. Wouldn't harm to try it with tea added to it too while I'm at it.

I'm not tossing this one out into the masses yet.

Hrm- I'm not really getting a tea smell from this one. Second 'tea' scent that fails to smell anything like tea to me.

What it does smell like to me, is The Healing Garden's Green Tea Therapy. I also had high hopes for that one, but didn't smell tea-y at all either.

This, to me/on my skin, smells like generic floral perfume. A little heavy on the Peony.

I feel like this, much like I said about Embalming Fluid, could use a good dose of strong black tea, and then it would be great.

My first BPAL, and I'm a little disappointed.

In the jar, and applied to my skin it's just lemon. No tea, no nothing. Just lemon. I like lemon, I like lemon a lot. I'm the kind of person who rubs lemon peels on her skin to smell like lemons. But I really wanted tea.

After it dries and subdues, white musk. Exactly like The Body Shop used to sell (or maybe still do- not sure). Lemon is gone, still no tea or aloe.

What this really smells like to me- are the rubber dance floors we have in the studios and on stage for dance shows. This smells EXACTLY like that. I forget what kind ours are... they aren't harlequin I know that...

I really wanted the tea.

Under my Demeter Earl Gray Tea spray this is really nice. I'm wondering if BPAL ever made a single-note of tea (earl gray or black would be suitable), which I can add to Embalming Fluid to make it tea-ier, and more along my expectations.

Overall thoughts? I like it... just not as much as I hoped I would.

Here's a good picture of a 5ml bottle. Where it's blurred is where the name of the oil would be.

 

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What is the diameter of the bottles for the 5ml? Is it the same for 10ml?

I noticed in some peoples photographs in the storage thread, blue bottles with a fancy lid, and what looked like tags made of sealing wax. Are these special edition scents, a certain line of scents, or an old-style bottle? I found them to be very pretty.

while ted (who usually responds to email) is at a conference until the 3rd, brian and anthony are answering email, though it may be a bit more of a delay than normal as they're doing their normal thang (and possibly packing up the lab!) on top of that.

 

i imagine it'd be easier for them if you inquired about specific scents rather than ingredients, for what that's worth. you can get scents without those things by going to the advanced search and searching for "% patchouli rum rose cinnamon" and selecting the "and not" search type underneath it. --- you'll have about 230 options

 

when beth (who's with ted) gets back, i can talk to her about possibly adding an allergen filter to the search engine, but until i've had a chance to make some better management tools for it, it's not likely to happen IMMEDIATELY... but perhaps in the next year or so.

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I've tried searching- but the issue that I run into is that some of the scents, such as musk, are combinations of others- and I have no way of knowing if something in the combination to create musk will effect me unless I know what is in it.

I know other friends of mine have avoided BPAL for the same reason- this was a discussion that came up on another board and quite a few people said the flowery descriptions were nice- but that the lack of information on the individual notes makes choosing scents hard (and the default option when unable to choose is to not buy) and avoiding allergens impossible.

Perhaps adding a key somewhere on the site that says what is used in the organic bouquets that are used to replicate such things as musk, leather, ambergris, would help- along with listing the notes in a scent at the end of it's description (not in order of amount, not stating amount, just to state the notes). That way the poetics remain, your recipe is intact, but the important information that a LOT of folks look for is also available. I know lots of places list "fragrance", and I hate it- as does anyone who has to deal with severe allergies of any sort.

If an allergen search function is added- somewhere the hiddden scents (and unlisted ones as MANY on the site simply don't list the notes at all) need to be there so the search and check through those too. I have emailed BPAL many times in the past, way long ago when they were still selling single notes even, and to this day have never recieved a reply to any of my inqueries. I understand that emailing is the first line of action- but that has up to now, failed. I would much prefer at this point, to be able to take this into my own hands.

Just a thought.

What is the best way to go about contacting BPAL to find out if certain things are in scent blends? Because some of the scents are bouquets (musk, etc.) and a lot of the descriptions do not list the ingredients in the scent, I'm VERY scared to order, swap, or otherwise obtain BPAL scents for fear of dying as a result.

I'm horribly deathly allergic to patchouli, rum (real and artificial), rose, and true cinnamon (ceylon).

Anyone else feel the same way? I like the fun and flowery descriptions, but would really REALLY appreciate a full listing of the oils used in the blend. It would save on stress, and prevent dead clients.

Out of curiosity- what is a "reducer" I saw the question asked- but didn't find the reply.

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Most bottles don't come with them anymore. It's bascially a bit of plastic that fits over the opening of the 5ml (and presumably the 10mls as well) that only allows a drop or two of oil to escape at a time.

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Ah! Thank you very much.

Out of curiosity- what is a "reducer" I saw the question asked- but didn't find the reply.

Also- I'm a bit of a bottle collector (not BPAL specifically, but any and all bottles). If anyone has the old sphereical clear glass bottles that are empty, and would be willing to give away/sell it, I would be most interested. They look like the bottles I've been searching for lately!

Severin might be what you're after.  As for searching for particular notes, quantum spice's search engine may serve you better than the forums.

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Ooh, thank you! I missed seeing that one somehow, sounds promising.

I like tea scents, particularly an Earl Grey Tea spray that I have (I believe it's from Demeter). I prefer wearing oils though.

What are some good tea scents that aren't overly strong, sweet, gardeny, or fruity? I tried doing a search, but appearantly you can't search for three letter words, and thus no searching for tea.

Thanks!