copyshopclerk

I'm not typically a nail polish wearer but I bought this on a whim and it's lovely! In indirect light it's coppery and reminds me of a new penny, and when direct light hits it right, the multicolored hologram is extremely vibrant. All of these pictures are with one coat. The texture is smooth, no grit or roughness or glitter.

Thumbnail as a test, with flash



All 5 of left hand with flash



From a little further away and a slightly different angle, trying to show how the hologram colors shift and the base color deepens.


No flash, indoor lighting. My pinky nail here is the closest to that coppery color it has in indirect lighting.

And two of the bottle to show the color shift:
http://i.imgur.com/HoZJZBN.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/DAFo3u1.jpg

This has been stated before by Beth and others, but it bears repeating since there seems to still be confusion.

 

I think an important question which people who are wondering "are there synthetics in BPAL?" need to ask, and that is

 

Synthetic what?

 

 

BPAL is vegan (aside from honey), so that means every blend that lists leather or musk or civet or ambergris or blood or meat or milk as a note does not really contain those ingredients.

 

There is no real blood in your BPAL, I promise

 

But Beth will use bouquets to approximate the scent of those ingredients. AFAIK she blends those bouquets herself and what makes them up is proprietary. Fair enough, because if she listed step by step instructions on how to make her stuff everyone could just do it themselves and not buy her work.

 

(though I'm sure I'm one of many wondering how she got Gore Shock to smell like bloody meat with no animal ingredients)

 

 

So if by "synthetic" you mean "didn't actually come from blood/ambergris/musk/etc", then yes, those BPAL blends contain synthetic mixes, called bouquets. They are made from blends of plant extract (which is listed on the FAQ page), but together they make a synthetic approximation of a nonvegan ingredient.

 

Basically the only reason you'll need to know what, specifically, goes into a bouquet is if you have an allergy. So let's say, for instance, you're allergic to rose and you want to try a blend that doesn't have rose listed but it has, say, pink musk* (or other nonvegan ingredient). You can write to the lab and ask "Hey, I'm allergic to rose and 'SAMPLE BLEND' looks really good. Is there rose in that one?" And they'll let you know.

 

*I don't have any clue if rose extract is part of the pink musk bouquet, I just picked an example

 

Does that help?

 

 

Hey jayne, just as a thought - if you're concerned about a particular component for allergy reasons, drop a line to BPAL's customer service at answers@blackphoenixalchemylab.com - they'll be able to let you know if something you're allergic to is in a blend that you're considering purchasing.

In the decant - I put in for a decant of this one the night the update went live strictly because silver birch is my favorite kind of tree, and I had no idea what it would smell like but whatever, it had my favorite tree in it! Then it got rave reviews at Will Call AND IT DESERVED EVERY ONE OF THEM. I rarely buy backups, but if this smells as good on me as it does in the bottle, it is backup worthy. It's a high, light sweetness that's so perfectly balanced I can't pick out any individual notes. One of those "you smell good", not "your perfume smells good" blends.

 

On me - not a morpher! In a way it reminds me of Dia (which I still kick myself for not getting a bottle), I think it must be the white amber and pale musk (assuming that's similar to Dia's white musk) that are the most prominent on me. Davana is good to me too - I adore everything about Ether. Gotta be honest, I'm not a jasmine fan in the slightest (and the GC's I've tried that have star jasmine in them have been "no"'s), and I don't notice it at all in here. This is a very clear, sweet but clean scent. Not dark and heady, not knock-you-down foody or floral sweet, but beautifully balanced. Again - it's a "you smell amazing", not "your perfume smells amazing!"

 

Dry - this LASTS. I first tested this several nights ago and it had some serious staying power for hours without going wonky or powdery. The only change is that a hint of wood notes come out a bit (I guess this must be the silver birch!) as it dries, and then it remains pretty constant. I can see this one wearing beautifully in summer or winter - summer because of how clear and almost refreshing it is, and winter because it's so white and crystalline.

 

Lurrrrve!

I'd also say something like Black Forest or Jersey Devil to see if you like pine/evergreen type scents.

In the imp - clean aquatic, with something that's almost like a not-quite-citrus fruitiness (the davana, perhaps?)

 

On - a sweet, clean aquatic. Something in here reminds me of how Tiki Queen smells on me when dry - I guess maybe they have a floral note in common? - combined with that almost watermelon-rind scent that I get from Szepasszony. I really liked both of those so this is a very enjoyable scent!

 

Dry - Doesn't morph very much from the wet phase. This is really lovely - it's refreshing and sweet without being overly sweet, and there's still something there that smells a lot like Tiki Queen did when dry, and since I didn't buy a bottle of that when it was up, I like having something in the GC that wears very similarly!

In the decant: This smells light and summery, I think from the freesia.

 

On: Definitely freesia, and jasmine tea - a genuine jasmine tea scent, which doesn't smell like jasmine to me at all (a good thing, I don't care for the scent of jasmine in perfumes but I adore the scent of jasmine tea).

 

Dry: When dry, it's pretty much exactly like jasmine tea with a light fruitness - not berry sharp but just an extra hint of sweetness. I wasn't able to pick out the mint at all in any stage, which was a little bit disappointing, but overall this is very smooth and beautiful, definitely bottle-worthy.

This smells woodier than I was originally expecting - I think the cedar, sandalwood, & fir needle are what I notice the most, but the eucalyptus is almost like a scent aftertaste (if that makes any sense!) giving a coolness to the scent that wasn't as noticeable to me when I sniffed it directly. There is a slight sweetness, but unlike the summer and fall soaps, it's more like a whisper of sweetness than a defining factor. If you don't care for plum, I think you'd be fine with this as it does not smell outright fruity, but rather just a light impression of it.

It's interesting comparing this to the other two soaps I got (L'Estate and L'Autunno) because while those were rich and lush and sweet, L'Inverno is more ethereal and almost stark in comparison, which I think makes it very evocative of winter.

This is just a review of the scent now - I'm going to be sharing this bar so I don't want to use it until I cut it, so I'll come back and edit this with a review of the soap itself (how moisturizing it is, etc) after I use them.

I admit I had a minor doubt about this one, as I'm not patchouli's biggest fan by a long shot, but I absolutely adore almond, love fig, and am growing an appreciation for honey.

I needn't have worried!

The patchouli really takes a backseat to the almond and fig which are the most prominent notes in this on the first sniff. Overall it smells like sweet almonds, honey, and dried fruits - I want to say the honey and patchouli are what makes the fig smell dried rather than fresh. If this were an oil I'd definitely use it in my oil burner as I want my house to smell like this It's a feel-good, snuggling, hearty kind of comfort scent.

This is just a review of the scent now - I'm going to be sharing this bar so I don't want to use it until I cut it, so I'll come back and edit this with a review of the soap itself (how moisturizing it is, etc) after I use them. I'm still in soap opening squee-ville!

On the first sniff this is a rich, beautiful sweetened carnation, which almost makes me think this is like Pink Moon 07 in soap form. Carnation is the prominent note, but the amber and vanilla lend a creamy sweetness to it that keep it from being too spicy in that characteristic carnation way. I can't really pick out cardamom in this - it's more of a creamy sweet floral than a spice scent, I'd say in the same family as Pink Moon 07, but with similarities to Hod and Morocco. I really, really like this scent and want it in more forms than soap!

In the decant: Reminds me a bit of Storyville - spices, sandalwood, resin?

 

On: Definitely nutty, in a fuzzy comfort scent kind of way. The honey isn't doing anything noticeable which is good because 99 times out of 100, honey goes pretty funky on me. The slight spiciness is still there, and I'm not sure what's causing that.

 

Dry: Another in the "nice but I don't need more" - I'm well stocked on fuzzy comfort scents! Several hours later, this has settled down to a vanilla-based honey incense blend.

In the decant: Lemon verbena in front, but with a juicy sweetness behind keeping it from being too sharp.

 

On: Smells like the bath bombs section of a Lush store, probably from the combination of rose & lemon. No lychee (bummer). I love lychee.

 

Dry: Straightforward rose. Not one for me at all.

In the decant: Very sweet, almost candy like, with the greenness of bamboo.

 

On: Quite similar to how it smelled in the imp, although the candy quality goes away, which I prefer since it was almost *too* sweet. Now it's predominantly bamboo - not getting pear at all, or the violet which I'd really like. I'm wavering between thinking this smells pretty and thinking it smells like a cleaning products variant on my skin - not the lemon kind, but one that gets labeled with something like "Orchard Rain"

 

Dry: Kind of pretty, but too sweet for my preferences.

In the decant: Ozone - yay!

 

On: Very "white" - almost snowy but without the chill. I smell ozone & petitgrain, which is the note in Tangle reconditioner from B Never that I absolutely love - curse them for not making it anymore! Parsifal is very clean & refreshingly pretty on me, but it's gender neutral and would be very sexy on a guy.

In the decant: Rose and something almost citrussy

 

On: Almost all rose when wet. As it dries, it becomes a honeyed rose - maybe a bit like Lady Luck Blues?

 

Dry: It shifts - on some sniffs it's a lot of honey (which I don't like) and some rose (also don't like), and other times it's gardenia (which I love.) So I don't like this enough to keep, but it's interesting how it's oscillating. It's very fresh and springtime.

In the decant: Patchouli & the sweetness of amber. Sweet & earthy

 

On: It's dark so it stains my skin a bit. On the sweetness of amber is developed further by the fig. I'd classify this as a dark resin, but it's got that shot of sweetness through it which is really nice. This is probably one of my favorite dark resiny blends because of that - instead of being a solemn resin or a too-sexy resin, it's very wearable.

 

Dry: There's just a little bit of a bite to it, I think it's the combination of vetivert and fig - it's more of a dried fig than a fresh one to me. Lucifer is surprisingly gorgeous!

In the decant: Peach, but with an edge - maybe the tangerine?

 

On: That might've been jasmine giving it an edge, because on me it goes very jasmine with little else behind it at first. After a few minutes, the scent I recognize as wine grapes is noticeable behind the jasmine and this almost reminds me a little of Pumpkin Patch 1 from 2007.

 

Dry: It's nearly all the white wine grape - grape is a note that I can't wear well and this is unfortunately no exception. Several hours later, it's still quite strong on my hand, and the grape has subsided to let the other fruits come through more. I couldn't pick out the rose in this at all.

In the decant: Very light and sweet - not floral like I would've expected!

 

On: I can't pick anything out, and I usually don't like honey or patchouli but I don't notice them at all! As it starts to dry, I can pick out the patchouli but the rest are so blended together that they just make kind of an airy sweetness.

 

Dry: As this dries, it feels almost aquatic, like an aquatic patchouli. It's a very fascinating scent!

In the decant: Myrrh, frankincense, and sandalwood. Very powerful incense blend.

 

On: This is actually the most "church incense" BPAL I've tried so far and it's really nice - much more reminiscent of Catholic Mass incense than Midnight Mass worked out for me. Unfortunately I don't have many blends in this category so I'm not very good at describing it, but if you wanted something like Midnight Mass, try this.

 

Dry: As many resin blends do, it softens somewhat over time, so it's not quite as solemn. Beautifully done.

In the decant: Tonka, something "perfumy"

 

On: The sparkle/spice of ginger over tonka. This is a bit too heavy on the ginger for me, and I don't like how it pairs with the tonka - they just don't blend well together on my skin.

 

Dry: Once the ginger fades off, this is almost straightforward tonka, and I can smell the benzoin as well, which I've noticed usually takes a while to develop on my skin. I don't notice any of the other notes, which is a little disappointing as I really like apricot and was hoping it'd be more prominent in here. I like the dry stage of this more than the wet stage as the ginger was a bit much for me, but it's quite lovely when dry.

In the decant: Very strong clove with a little bit of earthiness underneath

 

On: All clove, all the time!

 

Dry: As it dries, it's quite masculine. I can't pick out rose at all and that usually amps to an uncomfortable level on me. For that matter, I can't pick out benzoin which is a note I love - usually that develops more when the blends that it's in dry, but this is so heavy on the clove, patchouli, and opoponax that I can't smell anything else. This isn't a "me" scent but it was fascinating to try.

In the decant: The dampness I associate with oakmoss, and, oddly enough, the inside of a bell pepper

 

On: It's a somewhat sweet but dark aquatic. Nothing is super-prominent but I can get whiffs of the violet leaf. Not very strong on me though.

 

Dry: Hmm, this goes a bit unpleasant on me as it dries. It's too perfumy for my preferences, an almost-but-not-quite rose and something almost peppery/spicy? Aquatics are one of my favorite groups but the flowers in this are heavier than I usually go for.

In the imp: quite floral, I can smell the rose

 

On: Powdery rose, which I was afraid of - when rose is in a blend it tends to overwhelm everything else on my skin!

 

Dry: Rose kept getting stronger and stronger - I wish dry leaves were prominent, or even noticeable in something called Autumn, but this wasn't meant to be!

This is lovely, and I think the most strongly scented BPTP soap I've tried so far (it scents not only my bathroom but my bedroom as well) and I just unwrapped it about a week ago so I'm impressed it stayed this vibrant even though the Yule soaps came out last December! I actually think the coffee aspect comes out more strongly in the soap than it did in the oil. I think the scent lingers a bit after washing with it, but with no throw and it doesn't stick around forever, which is good because it is a nice light scent if I decide to not wear an oil, but isn't so heavy that I can't put on anything other than El Dia afterwards!

 

I really love the Trading Post soaps & can't wait to get more!

In the bottle: Vibrant floral, plumeria, lily. I did not look at the notes listed for this when I did my sniff test, so I find it interesting that I used the word "vibrant" which is part of the description. But it is - this isn't a soft, gentle floral. It's very bright!

 

On: Smells like a bright bouquet of flowers. I would've guessed carnation but it's not listed - but there's that little bit of spice. Plumeria & mum present (not like Crysanthemum Moon though) and something borderline fruity. This may sound odd but I'd describe this as something of a "thirst quenching" scent - it's luscious like that.

 

Dry: I sort of love/hate how Beth creates blends that make me question my "work/don't work" blends (love because it's fun finding surprise hits, hate because I don't know what I don't like anymore - must.. try... everything!!) I don't like most florals - a few flowers I really like (gardenia, violet, sometimes carnation) but generally I write off floral blends as "ones I don't need to try because they probably won't work." I can usually categorize florals into two groups - the "This smells like something my grandmother would wear" and "This smells like something that would be stunning on a woman who is classy and dressed up and ready for anything" - a sharp contrast with my usual jeans & a ponytail ensemble

 

But Noche Buena is really gorgeous and a floral that doesn't feel too old for me or too dressy for me - maybe because it's a floral incense instead of a straight up floral? It's fresh, lush, a little spicy - sweet & vibrant incense + flowers. I only have the little bit left over in the bottle from decanting 6 imps, but this will end up being another bottle purchase for me!

 

Similar to how people said Midnight Mass smelled like Catholic church incense (which I didn't get but wish I did!), I wonder how similar this is to incense used in the Mexican celebration of the midnight mass. Much love for Noche Buena!