IridiumFlash

I second EdenIrisMae's idea that you must bathe in it, whatever you select. Remember Giorgio? It was as good as a Taser for incapacitating people at a distance!

This was my one must-try among the Rappacini's Apiary scents.

At first, and into the middle stages, I could mostly smell the durian. No, not the stinky fruit of legend, but a smell like how durian tastes - quite nice. In the middle stages there was also an almost plastic-y smell - the honey, perhaps? Later on, I'm left with a sweet smell. It's probably the honey, shedding the plastic component; I can't really identify the durian any more. I never did really pick out the brandy, unless it's part of the underlying "sweet" scent.

Not bad, but not as outstanding as I'd hoped.

Minty goodness. I can't really tease out any of the other notes, but something is there supporting the mint. But the other notes are letting the mint go front & center.

I actually like this the best of the half-dozen Helicopters I've tried, even if my nose can't "unblend" it.

ETA: After a few hours, the flowers shove their way to the front. Still lovely.

This is one interesting scent. I agree with the reviewers who commented on how it smells exactly like corn husks. But that is Act II of this perfume. Act I is flattened, unripe wheat - a nice, grassy smell.

This isn't necessarily something that you might think you'd want to smell like, but it could be good in the right circumstances or if you're in the right mood. Certainly a unique perfurme!

This was one that I had to try, if only for the concept. Unfortunately, I like it the least of the half-dozen Helicopters I've tried thus far.

It starts out with some floral, but very quickly settles into a dry dust. Not a dusty vanilla, but a dry moondust that hasn't been near water for approximately 4.2 billion years. It actually feels like it's drying out my sinuses.

Oh well, at least the bottle art is nice & clever!

There's plenty of cake at first, but it gets eaten fast & I'm left with plates of cucumber sandwiches. The cucumber isn't as strong this time as it was the first time I tried the scent. Also, this time I'm getting some tea. Not a noticeably bergamot-y tea, but a nice, black tea. I like it enough to order a backup bottle.

this is new: i've been trying to contact the lab for a few days now to ask them a question about an oil but my email keeps getting bounced back with this message:

 

 

The following recipient(s) could not be reached:

 

answers@blackphoenixalchemylab.com

Error Type: SMTP

Remote server (67.21.112.10) issued an error.

hMailServer sent: .

Remote server replied: 554 5.7.1 Mail (36283-03960) appears to be unsolicited - MessageScore (62) over limit (50) - send error reports to postmaster@blackphoenixalchemylab.com

 

 

so... the bpal e-mail server thinks my e-mail is spam? sorta funny, except i would really like to contact them. this has not happened to me in the past when i've contacted them with a very brief e-mail. so who do i e-mail when my e-mail keeps getting bounced back?

It's possible that the Lab's e-mail service has a new spam filter that needs fine-tuning. If your e-mail is, say yahoo.com or gmail.com or similar, or if it goes through some kind of "bounce", the filter may define those as suspicious. My work e-mail has segregated virtually every e-mail I've received from one of my professional societies since last August because of the way they route their outgoing e-mails.

(2007 version)

At first, this smelled more like The Perfumed Greenhouse - a strong, slightly dank floral smell. As it dried, it turned into a more standard floral; the musty effect vanished. As another reviewer noted, my first thought for what flower I was smelling was tuberose, or perhaps gardenia. However, neither of those is on the list of notes, so it must have been the jasmine that was dominating.

Overall, it was a reasonably pleasant floral perfume, but it faded quickly. After about three hours, it's almost impossible to detect.

I didn't end up in the village jewelry store. I ended up in the village shoe store. With old-fashioned, chrome-plated display fixtures. On those display fixtures: classic Keds! More specifically, I smell the slightly dusty rubber soles of said gym shoes, mixed with the smell of chrome-and-glass display fixture.

Not quite what I'm looking for in a perfume, even as non-traditional as BPAL can get.

This one is certainly a morpher on me! It started off as a very bright, almost sharp, lemon with almost no other noticeable notes. For the first hour or so, I thought that this was a perfume to wear while sipping a lemon-cardamom Italian soda and wearing a Lilly Pulitzer dress (preferably in Palm Beach). But after two hours it turned into a slight dusty (musk?) floral. The lemon is gone - completely different effect.

Wearable, but not (yet) true love.

ETA: not a really strong throw - it stayed fairly close to my skin, but noticeable. And it lasted fairly well.

On me, this scent is a nice, dense floral, very much like walking into a flower shop. I can't really detect any other notes and can't define exactly what the flowers are, although the grasses, etc. may be providing a "grounding" for the flowers.

The throw is moderate and the scent is quite long-lasting. I can still detect it, faintly, after twelve hours.

Enchanted Wood Florist is a nice-enough scent, but I'm not wild over it.

I wasn't sure what to make of this one at first. When I first applied Candles Moon, it seemed pretty faint and I couldn't tell what it smelled like, just that I didn't quite like it. After about an hour, it had become musky. Several hours later, it settled into a milky beeswax scent. There might be blackberry there supporting the milky beeswax, and the faintest hint of a snow note, but I can't really pick those out.

If anything, the scent got a bit stronger after an hour or two. It still doesn't have a strong throw, but it's hanging in there nicely.

I like this better than I thought I would when I first applied it.

The second try-out went better than the first time I wore this. The first time, I just got a moderately spicy scent, probably the saffron and cedar ganging up on the black currant. I didn't pick up the black currant at all the first time. Today, the black currant pushed its way to the front at first, although all three notes were detectable. After a couple of hours the currant had faded back and the scent was primarily cedar with some modification by the saffron.

Aatos Polemoio has some staying power on my skin. It's still easily detected after six hours.

Not a "loooooove", but an interesting and likeable scent.

This one started off Helllllooooooo, Ocean Spray! The cranberry made it very fruity without any sweetness, just tart cranberry (perhaps with red currant in a supporting role). It smelled very nice, but had no staying power on my skin. Within a couple hours I could pick up only the faintest hint, and then only by burying my nose on my arm.

Somewhat disappointing because of the quick fade.

This scent matched the description perfectly. The first impression was of icy cold - but not with any obvious menthol or mint notes. Just cold. That was followed quickly by mossy dirt, or maybe it was dirty moss. The icy/dirty/mossy smell stayed stable; no morphing. And it lasted - I was still catching whiffs of Snowball Fracas six or seven hours after applying it.

I like the scent and I love the name. "Snowball Fracas" is so much more evocative a name than "Snowball Fight". I think the name played a significant role in my decision to buy a bottle, and I'm glad I did.

edited for spelling.

On me, the strawberry note of the white chocolate, strawberry, and white pepper truffle dominated. I could detect the white chocolate in the background, but never managed to pick out the white pepper. As others have mentioned, the strawberry isn't so much a fresh-fruit strawberry as it is strawberry jam or strawberry candy (like a hard candy). The scent lasted for hours, but the strawberry seemed to get more and more plastic-y smelling as time went one.

My overall assessment of this scent is "meh". I'm disappointed.

This one starts off as a light aquatic. After a few hours, it shifts to primarily floral, almost powdery (not the Baby Powder Of Death, but a nice powder). The throw is never very strong, but the scent does have staying power. I could still barely discern a floral scent after 12 hours. I never did pick out the seashell accord, but my nose is not yet well trained

Nice. I may have to stockpile a second bottle.

My overall impression of Whirling Wind Moon was of chilly, wind-swept desolation. The dominant note was icy and reminded me a bit of Snowball Fracas. Nothing that I picked up made me think of florals.

The throw is excellent; I immediately thought "oh no, my usual amount is 'way too much with this scent!" For a couple of hours I felt like I was walking around in the middle of a cloud of Whirling Wind, and even after 6 or 7 hours I was still getting the occasional whiff. By then the scent had settled down to what I think must have been the musks - the iciness was pretty much gone.

This wasn't an OMG LOVE, but I like it.

In the bottle, it smells. . . . .foodie?

wet: chocolate

drydown: chocolate

several hours later: chocolate, chocolate, and more chocolate.

Where's the kelp? I want my kelp!

Will have to test again in a few days. . . . .

ETA: Tested again five days later. Still amping chocolate to the exclusion of all else.

Thank you for the very detailed posting, kebechet. You rock!

You know... I would really take what you said more seriously if BPAL didn't produce hundreds of fragrances every year for the exact same (very low) price. The people on Luca Turin's blog had a point about the basic logistics/economics of it all. I'm trying to do the reading suggested by some very nice commenters but so far I'm still left uneasy.

Charging the same price for various fragrances does not mean that the profit margin is identical for each. And from a business point of view it makes sense to have one basic price point. That makes transactions so much easier! As long as the price covers the average cost of components, it really doesn't matter. And I'll assume that Beth & company are good enough businesspeople to track the cost of components (and other costs of doing business) vs the price they're charging and adjust the catalog price if necessary in order to stay in business.

Also, not all the blends are the same price. LEs cost more, and there are also some charitable-cause fragrances that cost even more than the LEs (in part because of the charity-contribution component in the price).

And if you're lucky enough to live near one of the stores that stocks bpal or a location that does a monthly Will Call, you CAN try things for free! There just aren't as many boutiques stocking bpal as their are malls or department stores stocking the major brands.

 

Oh that would be really cool. I live in a larger city, so it might be an option. I looked on the website but I couldn't find any listing for boutiques that carry BPAL. Is there a page anywhere that has this?

It's the "Bazaar" link in the menu on the Lab's website.