concrescence

i just got a new bottle of high john the conqueror from the lab and it doesn't smell like my lab imp AT ALL. not one teeny tiny bit. my imp is a grapey floral and my bottle is very very strong cedar. i seem to remember having a conversation about this with another forumite that this happened to, although i can't find it in this thread. since she had the same scent change, it's obviously not mislabled, but i just can't figure it out. i know the official lab answer as to why there are batch differences, but this change seems like a lot more than a batch difference. fortunately, i don't really wear this oil for its scent, but for its effect. unfortunately, i usually layer a tiny bit of it under another scent that i like a lot better, but this new high john the conqueror has such a strong throw that it's difficult to hide it under anything else. i smell like a hope chest or a freshly cleaned hamster cage. the effect doesn't seem to have changed, though. if anything, it has gotten stronger. i made a bucketfull of tips and seemed to impress my clients the last time i wore it, even though i was dog sick. i just wanted to give a warning about the change, though, in case some people wore this oil just for its scent. it is not the same at all. if you liked the fruity floral but don't like cedar, do not order it for the time being.

in the bottle it smells like straight up fresh honey. once on it is still predominantly honey while wet. as it dries down, though, the amber comes out and it also becomes a little spicy. i'm not sure what is causing that scent, though. luckily, the "red" sandalwood doesn't turn to pencil shavings like many BPAL sandalwood scents do. overall i really like this. it's sexy, yet light, and though it is sweet, it isn't really foody.

in the bottle it smells very floral. wet on the skin the snake oil becomes much more prominant. it's more noticable than in the only other snake i tried, king cobra. the flowers, though, are still at the forefront, especially the champaca. as it dries down and the resins come out, it reminds me very much of snake charmer. it has the same sort of complexified/well-aged snake oil quality. but this is a little more floral, while snake charmer is a bit more fruity. very similar, though.

despite that fact that it doesn't have coconut in it, i think bpal's eclipse smells very similar to lush's skinny dip. could just be my nose, though. i do think that they would at least be very complimentary.

wet this is very fruity and juicy with a bit of floral. in the drydown, citrus takes over and that's pretty much all i smell. after a while, though, (an hour or two) a sort of rainy scent starts to come out... interesting. i'm not sure that i can put up with the citrus assault for so long, though, so it's probably not a bottle purchase for me.

wet this smells strongly of almonds, and i was a little put off. as it dried down, though, the vanilla, frankincense, and cinnamon come out. it's a very creamy and comforting scent, without being too foody. unfortunately, it doesn't have much throw. i would really need to slather. i had worried that i might get a skin reaction from the cinnamon, since silk road made me very red and itchy, but but i didn't have any problems with eclipse. ETA: on a second and more full wearing, this did cause me to break out in red spots and itch. it seems that my wrists don't have a problem with cinnamon, but my inner elbows and neck do.

mostly jasmine with a bit of rose. unfortunately, i don't smell the myrrh or musk at all. my skin just turns this to a generic floral. it's got a lot of throw, but it's not for me.

this definitely doesn't work on me. i like amber, but i think it's turning to baby powder in this scent for some reason. the black musk smells musty or moldy. and, oddly, i also smell some sort of sickly sweet citrus, even though that's not listed among the notes. i don't like citrus all that much. my skin really turns this funky, and i think i need to wash it off. eww.

well, i know that's the mailing address listed on the website, but that's not the address that has been given for recent will call/brick and mortar events. they could just have separate mailing and street addresses, but... i would definitely email the lab at answers @ blackphoenixalchemylab.com. i have only heard good things about the lab's customer service. they will be really nice and will help you work out what happened and how to fix it. and, i believe that you can cancel money orders if they haven't been cashed. good luck!

wow! thanks for the quick and prolific recommendations. a lot of vanilla scents, which is both apropos (since it's reminiscent of birthday cake) and good with my body chemistry. i think i'm going to have to order and imp pack (or seven!).

i wore penitence on christmas, because the frankincense and myrrh seemed appropriate (well, more appropriate for epiphany, i guess, but who has an epiphany party! ), and it smells really great on me. for new year's eve, i think i'll wear othello. i love the spicy rose scent. very sexy!

nattie- thank you so much for your spreadsheet template! i just downloaded it for the first time. it worked perfectly with open office. i haven't tried that many scents (compared to some people), but enough that i was starting to need some sort of way to keep track. thanks again!

in the bottle the scent is very foody and cakey, which worries me a bit. wet, it smells a lot like monsterbait: underpants. sort of vanilla cake and sandalwood during the drydown, the incense comes out and the cakiness passes away, and after about an hour it smells like rose-currant incense (with maybe a little muskiness). every once in a while i get the scent of lit candles. i really love this. my only complaint is that it doesn't have a lot of throw. i'll have to slather and/or reapply if i want to share this scent with others.

i absolutely LOVE penitence! in the bottle it does smell very much like church incense, but once on it morphs into this lovely spicy, sweet, creamy scent. this is the only bpal scent that i've gotten comments on. i've worn this quite frequently over the past few weeks and my imp is now almost gone. definitely going to have to buy a big bottle of this!!!

i got this as a frimp in my first bpal order a couple of months ago, but never got around to trying it out because it smelled so masculine in the bottle, and i had so many other scents to try. on a whim, i put it on today, and while still wet it definitely had a masculine scent of heavy leather and musk. not that i like girly florals, but it wasn't really my thing. during the drydown, though, the amber started to come out and a couple of hours later i'm finally starting to smell the myrrh. it has really softened up to a warm sexy scent. i wish the myrrh was stronger, though, as i really LOVE incense scents. i doubt i would by a big bottle of this, but i'm glad i tried it and will definitely wear it occasionally until my imp is used up.

i really like this one. it started very floral, a kind of tropical or southern kind of floral, but has dried down to a nice herby, floral, incensey smell. the incense and herbs really ground the scent, and make it more mysterious and complicated. i can definitely see buying a bottle of this at some point

it has a definite vanilla and flowers smell. very perfumey. perhaps that's the orchids. it's fine. it don't think i'd wear something this flowery very often. it's a little high class or something for my taste.

in the bottle it smells kind of like a mint julep or a grasshopper. on, it didn't really smell like anything at first, it was so faint. then it became a fairly masculine scent, very much like old spice. but then... i had to run all over town in the rain and got kind of damp and hot and this vanilla note became VERY strong and continued pretty much for the rest of the day. when i sniffed up close there was a sort of tobacco underscent. i might try this again under less sweaty circumstances and see how it goes.

it was stronger than the (admittedly few) other oils i've tried, so when i was riding the bus to school, i felt like everyone must have been able to smell me. i really liked this one, though. i've always been a fan of incense. to be honest, i didn't smell much of the flowers that were listed in its description, but the boyfriend did. perhaps he has more of a nose for flowers than i do. he REALLY liked this one. most people on the forums don't seem to think that the incensey-churchy smelling oils are good for feeling sexy, but my boyfriend said that he thought it worked really well with my natural scent. i guess it all depends on body chemistry and personal preference. i liked that different scents kept coming out as *all saint's* dried. nice and complicated. unfortunately, this was a limited edition and i only have a gift imp, but i'm sure i can find something else like it or maybe find someone to trade or buy it from.

i got this imp recently as a gift from a friend and it was labeled as *pumpkin, orris, and sandalwood*, so i had to do a little digging to figure out it was pumpkin patch #4. it smelled a lot like buttered movie popcorn in the bottle. once i put it on, it only smelled like pumpkin for a bit, maybe half an hour. after that i could mostly smell a buttery note and sandalwood. the boy said he definitely smelled flowers, which, i guess, is the orris. i really did like this, though. too bad it was a limited edition. perhaps it will be available again next fall.

i received a set of imps from a generous friend to whet my appetite for bpal, and decided to try blood amber first, as i was attracted to the lovely red color. smelled a little soapy upon first application, but then started smelling more cinnamony and slightly sweet. it ended up giving me a headache, though. i tried it again a few days later and had the same reaction, so i don't think this one's for me.