Rhowan

I am starting to get a little miffed because I place my very 1st (and only) order back on Sept. 23rd. It has now been 6weeks (42days) - and no word from the lab. I did email the lab when I got the notice from CCNOW stating my order had been shipped. They finally responded that the CCNOW message was automated and inccorect. (that was Oct. 17th)

I feel that I ordered in good faith, knowing that I would recieve my order in the 21-45 days. It's my fault for thinking that it would probably be a lower number of days since I was sure they were giving themselves leeway in their estimations. Had I actually been told I would have to wait ALL 45 days or more Iwould have given a second thought to ordering.

The lab says it guarantees Christmas deliveries if orders are put in by Nov. 15th - my question (and the reason I am hesitating making another order) is this:

If I can't get a 5ml of Samhain and an imp of Jack in 6 weeks or more, how can I have faith that I am even going to get my Yule order on time?! While I am only miffed about my personal order right now, I would be super pissed to order for Christmas presents and not have them arrive.

Now, don't get me wrong! I love BPAL, the forum and all of the people. Maybe I am overreacting? Can anyone give me some words of wisdom? Am I overreacting? Please help!

Oh ya, emailed the lab yesterday asking what my order status is but it takes a long time for them to get back to you.

Good luck in your endeavors and if you need some moral support, you can contact me any time! Just keep at it!!!!

Has anyone else managed to find a usable BPAL scent after having allergic reactions to a whole passel of 'em? I think some of my allergies are resins, some flowers, some spices, some woods, and some musks. But some flowers and spices are fine, and so far, I think fruits are okay.

DON'T GIVE UP!!! I know what you are going through (just read back in this thread) I too had the same problem and it seemed like every scent I tried burned my skin and gave me headaches.

People here have given me a lot of different ideas to try (you'll find them by reading back over this thread) like diluting your oil with a carrier oil. I haven't tried any carrier oils but I did try Vitamin E mixed with a drop of oil before applying to my skin. That worked okay. I was totally frustrated! I had spent lots of $$ in BPAL and I wanted to get joy from using it like many of the other forumites.

What finally worked for me was to write down all the different ingredients (I guess that's what you'd call it or maybe fragrance notes?) like Patchouli, each kind of floral, resins, mosses, woods - what ever is in the description of each imp I had tried and mind you - I tried a buttload! What I finally found was that patchouli, amber, resins, some musk, some sandalwood and frankincense all made me burn and quite frankly every oil with these ingredients smelled the same to me.

I though that I would be very limited with my choices after I figured it out but I have found TONS of other oils that don't burn my skin and that I can smell the individual notes in. Just keep the faith! You'll eventually find your way! Everyone here is so helpful.

Good Luck.....

I got this in the mail today from a swap. After I had made the swap I had become accutely aware of having allergic reactions to many ingredients including sandalwood. I was worried about trying this thinking the rosewood would be the same. Read on....

*sniff test* Old, old, house smell with a touch of dried flower.

*swipe on the wrist* I close my eyes and I am in a dilapidated old house. I am in the "parlor" where antique chairs have been gathered around a table for a seance that never took place. This room smells of sweet wood and of dried crushed roses given to a lover long ago dead.

The smell of the peeling wallpaper, dust and spiderwebs, overpowers the roses.

*Dry* Oh! the sun is starting to warm up the room and it bring all the scents out to mingle together in the sunbeams floating in the slants of light coming through the windows.

This scent is superb! Everything just mingles and warms on the skin and makes an incredible antique dried rose boquet. Just lovely!

This one is going to end up being a 5ml.

Nocnitsa - Oh! How I have waited with baited breath for your arrival!

In the bottle - Whew! It smells like chemicals of some sort - can't put my finger on it although I can smell pine in there.

Swiped on my wrist

Wet - Now I know what it smells like! Pinesol and it brings back memories of.... cleaning bathrooms? Very sharp and pungent - even more "chemically" smelling than pinesol. (is this the wet mosses, perhaps?)

Dry down -Starting to mellow now. The more time that passes the more the different scents start to blend and harmonize. MMMM....now I get a visual of walking thru a misty forest - a forest that is always damp and never really dried or been warmed up by the sun. I can smell the rich, wet soil, mingling with the pine and mist. This kind of reminds me of blending Hamadryad with graveyard dirt only wetter and more pine-y

For what it is worth, I have a very sensitive nose and am easily overwhelmed by certain scents so my reaction to the first sniff may be way out of proportion compared to what others may smell.

Also, For me, the scent went from wet to dry down to gone on my wrist in about 1/2 hr. - sure didn't last long enough. Going to the swap pile.....

Here's my first review so please take that into consideration if I don't sound as professional as most of the others so, *deep breath and sight* here I go...

I recieved this in the mail today(thanks Virge) I was thinking I was just going to smell and swap this but I have much respect for this after the wearing...

In the bottle: *sniff* I close my eyes and I am transported out to my garden in the early spring as the sun is going down; shoes off, feet and hands cold, the dirt just starting to loose the days heat. MMMM...The soil is rich and I can almost smell new tomato plants growing. Oh my gosh, I am totally there!

I am hesitant to put this scent on because it does smell exactly the above mentioned and I am not sure I want to smell like this - I just want to have it to smell when I miss spring as a pick me up...

Wet - I am still working in my garden. I don't know how Elizabeth did it but the scent is even more fertile than the dirt in my garden. Its a more cold dirt than warmed by the sun scent but that's okay - after all this is "Graveyard dirt"

At this point my grown son walks thru the room and says, "It smells like a freakin' root cellar in here! and Bingo! That is the wording I was looking for.

Dark, damp, cool, fecund soil.....

Dry down - I am getting a hint of spiciness - are there dry herbs down in the root cellar too? Yum! I like this better than in the bottle now that it is dry.

I have now swiped some over Hamadryad and let it dry down. OH!! It brings out a deepness from Hamadryad. It rounds out the scent and gives it depth.... More than just trees but the land surrounding it ( plus a hint of spice which I can't put my finger on.)

I would reccommend this scent to anyone who ever yearns for spring just to sniff at the least and to everyone to layer with a tree scent or floral scent to give it depth. This is a multiple us oil!!!

:

I just got Hamadryad in the mail (THANKS FREYA), put it on, and I can actually smell the different scents in it and I am not itching very bad at all with this one! I am still kind of headachey but not as bad as all the rest I have tried! I think if I dilute this down with a bit of vitamin E or Jojoba it might be perfect!!!!

Try using jojoba oil to dilute your imps with - it has no odor, does not go rancid and is the best carrier oil for perfumery. Using a perfumers alcohol with your level of sensitivity may just inflame your reaction.

 

Swipe a teeny tiny amount from the imp wand into your palm and then dribble a tiny bit of jojoba over that right away and blend together with your finger. That may do the trick - which is allow you to smell the fragrance without the nasty reaction.

 

Good luck!

Thanks for the idea but I absolutely hate the idea of even touching it to my palm or my finger. Today I decided to try one scent - samhain- I touched the wand to my wrist and was immediately overpowered by the scent! My hand kind of burned but I thought "hey I can live with this" but later as I sat by the by the computer, I started to get a really bad migraine and then my cheek and my mouth started burning - Yes! I had rested my head in my hand and somehow gotten the oil on my face and around my mouth - this was several hours after applying! So, you can see why I hesitate to even touch it.

Do you think that maybe if I get a like 1/3oz roller applicator and fill it mostly full of jojoba oil and just add a couple of drops of the BPAL oil that that would dilute the smell AND the burning? I have never thought of my skin or my sense of smell as sensitive so this whole thing is new to me. I am so frustrated that I just want to sell everything! Of course, I won't give up that easily but you know what i mean!

I got 3 different orders yesterday - all from Bpal Members and ebay. My 1st BPAL ever!! Of course I couldn't help myself and I used about 12 to test in different areas.

Just a touch of the wand of ANY imp I tried (I am not talking a drop - just a touch) was

1) way overpowering

2) left red welts

I could count the places I touched with the oils because of the welts- and that was even after about 5 hours and trying to wash in some places.

This morning I was getting an imp out for a trial and just touching the imp around the cap was too much for me. I didn't even put it on - went to the bathroom, washed my hands several times and I am sitting here with itchy eyes and a headache.

Has anyone ever had this strong of reaction? I am devastated! My DH of 23yrs was even frustrated for me because I have done nothing but talk about my excitement since I discovered Black Phoenix.

So, my question is - would carrier oils work to lighten the scent? How do you use carrier oils? and if not carrier oils what about making it in to a spray perfume using alcohol? I know absolultely NOTHING when it comes to oils and mixing so if any one could help me .... I love some of the scents I got too much to just give up!

Thanks guys for the help. From now on, I will be using Paypal instead of cc now just because I want the Lab to get the money!! Do you get a confirmation thru either of the two when things are shipped?

You should be ok; if you are concerned though, you can always email the Lab's Customer Service department. I just wanted to answer this part:

 

I know for some reason it is preferable to directly paypal the lab (and I normally do.)

 

I think that the reason is that when you pay Paypal through CCNow, BOTH services deduct fees. CCNow already deducts an obscene amount from each order, and then Paypal takes its bit too, so the Lab loses a lot of money on your order.

So, let me see if I get this right - for ordering you should do PayPal direct to the lab instead of cc now with a credit card? Does using cc now make your order slower? And if you should use PayPal, is there an option? how do you use paypal? Any info would be great...

Wow! Went to your journal, d/l'd the file and POOF! Nice job! Thank you for all of your hard work!