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BPAL Madness!

Kamanjah

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Everything posted by Kamanjah

  1. Kamanjah

    Hemlock Honey

    I received this as a frimp from BPTP when I ordered some UGH! Massage Oil. I was curious about the greenish color, so took a quick sniff. Honey. Ok. But a few minutes later, I had this gorgeous smell wafting up - I guess I got some on my fingers when I opened the imp. I put some on and enjoyed it all day. Literally! It lasted all day on me. I like the Tobacco Honey too. Tobacco is another scent I like. I can't really identify hemlock because I don't know what it smells like by itself. But I like herbal scents - and herbs! I grow so many herbs that I usually smell like several because I've been doing a lot of harvesting lately. Yes, it's mostly honey, and I like a lot of the BPAL honey scents (unless they have nut scents in them). This is now my favorite honey scent, and I will be buying a bottle next time I put in an order. These simple honey scents (mixed with only one or two other scents) really last on me and have never gone powdery. My frimp is almost gone already, and my massage oil has only been used a few times!
  2. Kamanjah

    Ugh

    I have sciatica. UGH! is a total life saver, especially on car trips. It's a bit awkward to apply while traveling, but so worth it! Within minutes, I'm no longer in pain! I wish it came in larger bottles, I use it often and forget to reorder until I'm trying to get the last drop out of the bottle. I do have prescription pain relief available, but since the UGH! stops the pain almost all the time, I can do without - much healthier! I also get headaches, and use GRR! for them, but find that using UGH! on my tight neck muscles helps relieve the headache faster. I just use the GRR! on my temples now. I can't really comment much on the scent, after I apply it, I smell the eucalyptus for a minute or two and then don't smell it at all. Hubby doesn't complain about it being overwhelming in the car either. He has asked me to stop using my homemade headache relief oil, so that's another plus for UGH! I won't leave home without my UGH!
  3. Kamanjah

    Good

    A frimp from the lab. In the vial it smells, well, good! The oil is quite red, making me wonder if there's red musk in it. Wet on skin: musk and what must be acacia, it has a herbal or green hint to it. Not too sweet right now and quite nice. Drying: hints of sugar. Liked it so much I slathered. Still guessing red musk. The honey note is quite pale, appropriate for white honey, I guess! Moderate throw. 3 ½ hours later: Still good, a nice skin scent, soft honeyed musk. Not as strong as red musk usually is on me. Put a couple of wand swipes on my wrists before bed and still had good scent the next morning. By PM that day, I still smelled Good, so it definitely is long lasting on my skin. I like this so much on it's own that I'm not sure what I'd layer it with to make it any better!
  4. Kamanjah

    Dawn: Cernunnos

    In the decant I received, this smells like men's cologne. On my skin, I can barely pick out the notes, but it smells familiar to me. I can pick out hints of pine, myrrh and lemon balm. I didn't know what armoise was so looked it up - it's mugwort. No wonder it smells familiar - I'm always harvesting lemon balm and mugwort, usually at the same time, in an area where cedar and pine trees grow. My skin eats this really quickly and in 15 minutes I'm left with a soft skin scent with bare hints of sandalwood, pine and myrrh. Drat, wish it lasted longer on my skin as I really do love the way it smells.
  5. Kamanjah

    Mania

    I received an imp of this, hoping for wonderful musk. All I got was strawberries. Nice juicy strawberries. 30 minutes later, still juicy strawberries with quite a throw. Not for me.
  6. Kamanjah

    Nanny Ashtoreth

    I received an imp on this and gave it a try. I could smell florals briefly when wet on my skin and then this turned to ashtray. Must be the leather, because DeSade turned to ashtray on me too. Swaps!
  7. Kamanjah

    Sleep

    I get a blast of lavender when I first apply this. I've only tried it as I go to bed, and I'm asleep almost before it dries. I usually have to use breathing exercises for 10-25 minutes to help me relax and get to sleep, even when I use the lab's other sleep blends. I've used this the last three nights, and have fallen asleep so fast that I didn't even start my relaxation routine. I don't know how this scent develops on my skin, only that it doesn't last till morning. Sometime when I don't have anything I have to do, I'll test out a little bit to see how it develops - if I can stay awake. Truth be told, I don't care what it smells like, it works! I hope the lab keeps it on as part of the Somnium line!
  8. Kamanjah

    L’Essence de la Passion

    I tried just a dab on my right wrist because of the review said it was so strong. Musk and honey, yum! Then the carnation. Oh, this is wonderful! I can just imagine what aging will do! I expect the myrrh to show up during dry down. Love this! The myrrh joined in later, I kinda lost track of when because I was testing several scents and not taking the best of notes. This is very long lasting on my skin and is a perfect blend of some of my favorite notes. After 24+ hours, the left over scent was almost identical to Variety of Pleasing Amusements (which I had on my left wrist at the same time & is equally long lasting) – myrrh & honey. I have worn this several times and only need to apply a minimal amount to have a wonderfully wearable scent. This is definitely on my big bottle list!
  9. Kamanjah

    The Face of All the World is Changed, I Think

    I got a decant because I haven't tried absinthe before and the other notes usually work on me. In the vial is smells green. Wet on my skin, I can pick out the juniper and cardamom. No resins making an appearance yet, it's very green. 15 minutes in, eww, this smells like poo and herbs on my skin. I toughed it out to see if that overtone would leave because I couldn't smell it unless I put my nose to my wrist. It did leave, and later I could smell juniper on one wrist and frankincense on the other (my wrists often do different things with scents, odd chemistry, that!) I then washed it off after about an hour and still had faint resins on both wrists after one washing. I kind of liked this one until I got the whiff of poo. Not for me – off to swaps.
  10. Kamanjah

    A Dreary Night of November

    In the decant, the oil is a very pale yellow color. Wet on my skin, the sandalwood and beeswax (and possibly the lotus root too) make it go on very sweet. I don't smell any vetiver or moss or clove while this is wet. It's a sweet heavy floral that lightens the mood, not dreary at all! Five minutes in, now I smell the lotus root and a teensy bit of vetiver. It's still very sweet. 35 min in, it's still sweet, but well blended and sits very nicely on my skin. With bitter clove and vetiver, I wasn't expecting the sweeter notes to stand out so much, but I can't quit sniffing my arm. One hour in – the scent is softening, still no base notes unless I really huff, they are very much in the background. Reapplied to see if layering increases lasting power. There's still plenty of scent there though. Wow, the vetiver is noticeable right away after reapplying and adds so much to the fragrance! 40 minutes after reapplying, this faded away. What?!! Then, after fading out, it came back to life and lasted till the next day. Bottle please!
  11. Kamanjah

    #occupywallstreet

    I, too, have a bottle with a layer of black goo at the bottom. I just stirred things around with a toothpick and came up with a glob of black. It didn't want to dissolve back into the oil, so I just rubbed it on my wrist, where it went on practically dry and none of it went onto my other wrist when I rubbed them together. I applied this earlier today and did roll the bottle because it's been pretty cold in the house and I've noticed I need to mix most of my scents to get the full fragrance since some oils get thicker when they're cold. The first time I applied it, I thought I smelled hay as I put it on, then it dried to a dark, dirty patchouli with maybe a hint of vanilla. Then, for about an hour it smelled loamy. After two hours, it softened up a bit. I never did smell cocoa, but can sense the tobacco under the patchouli. It was at the three hour point when I dug around with the toothpick to see what was on the bottom. I still don't smell cocoa on the wrist that now has black stripes but that wrist is sweeter smelling than the wrist that didn't get any goo. I'm still getting the loamy scent on the one wrist, but the 'dirty' wrist actually smells much cleaner and the fragrance much more balanced. I'm just going to leave my 'stripes' on since I'm not going anywhere today and I quite like the way it smells. I'm wondering if warming the bottle in my pocket for a while might warm the cocoa up enough to mix in. Will post back if I decide to try that. I have to do that when I want to use vetiver (and some other oils that thicken when they get cold) in my burner.
  12. Kamanjah

    Sentimental Initiation

    My notes: A deep reddish oil as it goes on. Wet on skin, sweet with a little bite of something herbal or woody. Quite nice, wet. Ah, bet the bite is the clove and maybe bamboo. Definitely get the musks and patch. The musks and myrrh and patchouli are playing well together, don't really smell any vanilla orchid or mandarin. An hour later – smells like it has tobacco in it, reminds me a lot of Interfector. Six hours later, still about the same amount of scent as there was 5 hours ago, but more musky, so this is quite long lasting on me. Interfector with musk. Eight hours later - nice mix of musks over a little myrrh and patchouli. Really nice now. I like Interfector and I like myrrh, musk and patchouli so this is a win for me. Dark and slightly sweet.
  13. Kamanjah

    The Reward of my Benevolence

    On me this was a very sweet floral, so sweet it was almost gaggy and I had to wash it off after a headache started. Yes, boneflower is tuberose (thanks to google). It usually works on me, but with heavy base notes to offset the sweetness. I got a hint of sage, no cedar or oakmoss at all. I couldn't pick out the sandalwood either, I think I just amped the boneflower and it buried everything else.
  14. Kamanjah

    Ghosts In Love

    On me this is a soapy rose cologne that sticks in my throat. I bought the bottle unsniffed, hoping it would work because most of the notes work well on me. But, the rose stole the show here, and I'm amping it to high heaven. Right on my skin, I can smell the other notes, but the rose has a massive throw. Must wash off. Drat! ETA: 5 washings later, most of the rose is gone. My skin doesn't want to let go of that rose!
  15. Kamanjah

    The Vampire Bride

    This smelled so good in the bottle that it was the first scent I tried when my order finally arrived. How could I not love The Vampire Bride! With the exception of tea, all of the notes should be WIN on my skin. Wet on skin there's a sharp bite. Then something fruity arises. Then something soapy that tickles my throat. Oh no! The Vampire Bride is going for my throat! So far, smells much better in the bottle. The "icy skin," violet and tea are very dominant as it starts to dry. If the base notes start to come up, this should start to work on me, but 5 minutes in I still have gaggy soap. 45 minutes later, it had just faded to soft soap, little to no throw. Forgot about it. 1 1/2 hours in, gave my wrists another sniff - some base notes are showing up as the soapiness starts to fade and it smells nice. Reapplyed to see what a second layer does. Quite different, most of the notes come out to play (no soap - yay), but 2 hours is about all it lasts, and a soft skin musk is left. I never did smell myrrh. I'm disappointed, but will try it again after it ages some in the hope that it skips the 45 minutes of soapy gagginess.
  16. Kamanjah

    Who do I email with questions? BPAL/BPTP contact info

    Thanks so much! I looked all over for that but didn't think to look in chatter since communications from the lab are in announcements and their page says "Our shipped-through info is constantly updated in the BPAL Forums." Also sent a follow-up email on the problem I encountered.
  17. Kamanjah

    Who do I email with questions? BPAL/BPTP contact info

    I'm trying to be patient, but I emailed about a problem on 10/7/11 and have had no response. I know they're busy, but what is a reasonable time frame in which to expect a response? I don't want to be a pest. I also placed an order on 10/4 and haven't gotten a shipping notification yet. I can't find a thread where it states when they are "shipped through" and the link on the Shiny and New page just comes to the main page of the forum. How long is reasonable? And does anyone know when they're "shipped through"? Thanks.
  18. Kamanjah

    Mastermind

    Curious about "Bois de jasmine", I looked it up. "Bois de" means wood of. Also curious about Oudh, I found it is also known as agarwood or eaglewood; incense woods. In decant, a medium golden oil, I smell resins, wood and orange blossom. Wet on skin – very nice, the orange blossom is calmed by the resins yet the vanilla and sandalwood sweeten it back up in a different way. Incense and flowers, tending toward incense. 15 minutes later, very much resins/incense with leather and just a hint of flowers. An hour later – softly sweet, woody, incensy, and a hint of sex. Not sure what it is that does that on my skin, it's kind of like what Fire of Love does. Reapplied about 9 hours later and it had much better throw, could smell it the whole 2 hours we watched TV. Still hints of it at 7AM the next day. No notes of doom, and this worked out really well for me; my favorite of the series overall even though I like the wet stage of Exorcist best.
  19. Kamanjah

    Incubus

    Received frimp from BPAL. In the imp, it is a pale yellow in color and smelled like some sort of root that I just couldn't quite place. Wet on skin: that same scent I couldn't quite put my finger on (after reading the reviews - it's celery!) This oil is quite thin, so I applied more than I usually would because it was soaking into my skin really fast. The celery scent faded quickly and I could smell the black musk and sage with just a hint of mint. 10 minutes later - tobacco, the musks (much more black than white) and a wee bit of sage. The mint is gone. 30 minutes later - tobacco is doing a solo, but sage interrupts every so often for a quick dance. Caramel never showed up. Note: my skin amps tobacco like crazy. Fortunately I do like the fragrance, as does DH. If I didn't have so many tobacco scents already, I might be tempted to buy a bottle. I've discovered that sandalwood heavy scents layer well over tobacco heavy scents on me.
  20. Kamanjah

    Tree of Life

    Wow, I don't feel like I'm even reviewing the same scent here! In the decant, it just smells clean. Wet on my skin: lemon mint!??! Ah ha, it's the galangal, which I know well from Thai food - my favorite. 10 minutes in: all I smell is galangal. Then the tonka starts to show. 35 minutes in: Tonka is now the main note, the galangal has faded. I'm trying to smell woods here, the only thing that's remotely close would be sandalwood. However, I must admit I've never smelled ash bark or Kashmir wood. I don't get any sage or moss at all. 1.5 hours in: Alas, it's all gone to powder.
  21. Kamanjah

    Berry Moon 2011

    A deep gold color. Smells like blackberries and blueberries in the decant. Smells like blackberries and blueberries wet on my skin. As it dries, the red musk comes around. On me this is musky mixed berries with no boozy smell at all. Throw - about 8 inches. Three hours later, I have a faint berry scent on my arms.
  22. Kamanjah

    The Great Sword of War

    A dark red oil, in the imp it smells almost bitter. Goes on quite thick. Wet on skin: Mmm, tobacco under a touch of red musk and tonka. I like this already. As it dries (very quickly for such a thick oil), I can smell the mandarin, and herbs are starting to show themselves. The mandarin has overtaken the tobacco. So far this has good throw, enough to make my eyes sting a bit. 30 minutes later this is predominately tobacco on my skin, softened by the tonka and musk. The mandarin has fled; tea and cocoa never came to the party. All in all, well blended. I'm beginning to think I amp tobacco leaf, which doesn't bother me at all as I love the smell. Bottle worthy? Yes! And I'll have to try this on DH as well.
  23. Kamanjah

    Hygeia

    I got a decant from Melliflous's circle. Thank you, thank you! This is a deep red oil, in the decant I smell the musks and sandalwood. Wet on my skin, it is sweet and complex. This is so well blended I can't really pick out the individual notes. Dries down wonderfully balanced, not too sweet, not too incensy, just right. Sometimes amber will go to powder on me, not this time. I'd say the amber and frankincense tame the musks and sandalwood to perfection. I couldn't really pick out the tobacco - darn! I love tobacco notes! But, I was sitting watching TV with DH and didn't want to keep huffing my arms - he thinks I'm nutz when I do, lol! Light throw, DH said it smelled faint to him, but long lasting – could still smell it well into the next day. Bottle worthy? Definitely! I think this will only get better with age. Maybe I need two bottles!
  24. Kamanjah

    Dancing Koi

    I got a decant as a freebie with a purchase from a fellow forumite. In the decant, I can't pick out any individual notes, it's a well blended resinous scent. On, wet, I can smell the clove and resins. This is a brownish scent, yet light, not heavy. Two hours later I can readily smell the leather, it's a warm cozy scent with little throw. No one note steals the show here though. I'll be using up the decant for sure and may decide I need a bottle because DH loves this kind of scent.
  25. Kamanjah

    PRC12

    Got my bottle from BPAL on Etsy. I can't pick any notes from just smelling the bottle, it's sweet and white. However, I'm not good at identifying notes unless I know what they are and still have to work at identifying them. On, wet, I get a blast of coconut. I amp coconut and I also hate it. Until this dries, coconut is about all I get, with just the tiniest hint of resin underneath. I compared this to Dancing Koi, while both are wet I can smell some similar notes. (Dancing Koi is the only scent I have of all that were mentioned to this point for comparison.) Once this finally dries down, the coconut has left (yay!!) and this ends up being soft resins that stay very close to the skin. Amber usually goes powdery on me, and this hasn't, so I'd say no amber. It could have tonka or a wee bit of a white flower. This is stronger on my skin that DK after two hours and smells quite different. Lighter and airier but warm. Is this a keeper? Maybe, will have to see if I'm patient enough to give the coconut time to leave. I do like the final result. 9/4/11 ETA: Today I get sandalwood and patchouli early in the drydown...after the coconut dissipates. Skin chemistry is such a funny thing - the patchouli started out as a dirt smell on my right wrist, but not my left.
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