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BPAL Madness!

portalkat

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Everything posted by portalkat

  1. portalkat

    Anne Bonny

    I have been on a quest for blends that smell like incense and this had been recommended. When I put it on, I immediately smell the sandalwood and frankincense. I said sandalwood because of the description, but it reminds me of cedar planks. I know that the patchouli is back there, but it is very faint. This has a fairly good throw and quite a strong presence. It reminds me of a much sharper Cathedral without the florals. I will be buying a bottle of this.
  2. portalkat

    Two Monsters

    I tried this on, smelled my wrist, read the reviews and quickly checked the label on the decant to see if I had picked up the wrong vial. On me, it smells so different than any of the reviews, but after I re-read the description, I think that I know why. My skin will initially amp up any florals so what I was smelling early on was the champaca mixed with the ginger, oakmoss, vetiver and white pepper. I don't know what the pittsoporum smells like, but that could have been in there, too. Those notes never really go away, but are joined by the leather, musk and ambergris after about half an hour. It is a beautiful fragrance, but so unlike anything that I was expecting. It's very light and I'm wishing that it was a bit stronger. On me this is a light spicy floral.
  3. portalkat

    The search for "Clean" scents - general discussion

    Undertow was a frimp that I got with my last lab order and it is wonderful. Clean, lightly floral with a brightness to it. You might like the LE Et Lux Fuit which is available until the 15th of August. You can read about it here Good luck and have fun
  4. portalkat

    Urd

    I tried Urd because I loved the fragrance notes in the description and also because I was looking for an incense scent with nag champa. This smells like a chain of stores decades ago that sold jeans, actually it smells like head shops did from that era. It smells of incense, but soft and not really assaulting. It has a fruitiness coming from the muscadine and the whole thing is so well blended that even with two patchoulis, they never scream out. I love this and plan to order a bottle or two to slather. This has just been added on to my top 10 list.
  5. portalkat

    Nag Champa scent in a BPAL blend?

    Well, okay, I actually want to smell like nag champa incense. I did a search for nag champa on the lab site and it pulled up Gaueko and Urd, but I wondered if anyone had other ideas. My favorite BPAL scent is Manila and I actually get a lot of incense from that (last night my husband said that I smelled like hippie incense) but I wondered if there were other blends that I should try. (edited to add "nag champa" to title so others can find the thread using search engine - ivyandpeony)
  6. portalkat

    Searching for the Perfect Vanilla?

    Well, I think of the ones that you listed, Antique Lace, although containing vanilla, is the one that I would eliminate from the foody category. I think of it more as a sweet floral. The others that you listed are, I think, very foody. I think of the vanilla in Antique Lace as more vanilla/orchid, meaning more like the flower from which vanilla is from as opposed to something from your cupboard.
  7. portalkat

    CCNow Questions & Problems

    Go to the top of this page and read my post - I did the same thing. I emailed the lab and Sara answered and said that it would be fine and to do nothing at all. All was fine, but the reason for not doing Paypal on CC Now is also in the thread - their fees are too high on CC Now and the lab gets less of our money. Your order will go through just fine because I got my order yesterday which was the one that I did through CC Now. Now that I know the drill, I just go straight to Paypal and place it there.
  8. portalkat

    Undertow

    I got this as a frimp from the lab the day after I decided that I needed to try it - hmmm, interesting how that happens. As I opened it, I could immediately smell the mint. Onto my skin, the lotus and the juniper combine in the most delicious way. It smells floral and fruity and the mint gives it a little kick. This is so incredible and I am definitely going to order a bottle.
  9. portalkat

    Grandmother of Ghosts

    This is mainly lily, musk and pepper on me. I checked it every half hour for about 6 hours, but the woods never did make an appearance. It remained predominantly lily and pepper with the musk . The only noticeable change on me was the musk which grew stronger. It was pretty, but I was really hoping for the wood notes.
  10. portalkat

    Et Lux Fuit

    It's really pretty and smells just like the description, bright, happy and sunny. It reminds me of the golden late afternoon sun that breaks through the leaves of a big tree. It definitely is a feel good, happy scent. That is what I wrote elsewhere on the forum as I attempted to describe this blend. I decided to copy it here because it summed up exactly how I feel about this. It really is a ray of sunshine breaking through. I can tell the spiciness of the carnation and the creaminess of the musk and the amber, but it is difficult to identify the other notes because it is so well blended.
  11. portalkat

    Hellfire

    I tried this because I had been looking for something that smelled like that sweet cherry tobacco and this had come up in reviews for other tobacco scents. When I first put it on, I smelled what a couple of others did, mint or stale Doublemint gum. Hmmm, well I am rather tenacious and stubborn and I was not going to accept that or stop there. So, I sniffed my arm every 5 minutes and waited for it to develop and after hour 2, I was finally rewarded. I could finally smell something other than the faded mint, some sweet wood and incense. It has quite a throw, too, and I can smell it wafting around me. It actually is getting stronger and I can now smell everything in the description. It never does smell like cherry pipe tobacco to me and I don't know whether I really want to wait 2 hours to smell something, but it might be a nice layering scent so that it might develop as the other is fading. It was wonderful once it finally arrived.
  12. portalkat

    Thirteen (13)

    1/13/06 version- Aaah, chocolate and orange. It does smell exactly like one of those chocolate oranges that you smack down on the table to break apart. This stage doesn't last long, though. The tea (smells like dry Earl Grey tea) comes out along with the currant and the chocolate changes to white chocolate with a lot of vanilla. Right about now, the iris comes out and I smell mostly vanilla and iris with incense notes and a bit of white chocolate in the background. It is so different from where it began, but I like all of the different stages. 5/13/05 version - This is different than the 1/13/06 version. This had a stronger chocolate smell in the bottle and when first applied. I could smell the tea, whereas in the 1/13/06 version, it smelled like dry tea leaves, this smelled already brewed. The iris is more prominent in this version and not so musky and the chocolate is a bit more in the background. I think that I prefer this version over the 1/13/06 one, but they are both really lovely and I look forward to one in October 06. eta: I was able to locate a bottle of the original version so I added a review of it.
  13. portalkat

    Desire

    Rose, filled in with the neroli, but basically rose. I'm not really in a rose phase right now so this distresses me. It is lush, though, and made more interesting with the addition of the vanilla. It's so pretty that I keep sniffing my wrist for about an hour until the florals settle down. When they do, I can smell the fruit, wood and the musk mixing with the vanilla. I want to slather myself in this perfume because it is so beautiful. I need at least a couple of bottles of this - now! ETA: I wrote this review from an imp that I was testing. I bought a bottle on the forum and thought that I would add some thoughts after trying the oil in the bottle The rose does not seems as strong and is more evenly balanced with the fruits. I can smell the vanilla a bit more here which is nice because it is a rather nice vanilla extract sort of note. The teak is more evident, but still resides in the background. If I thought that I liked Desire before, I love it even more now. Perhaps these slight changes are due to oil aging.
  14. portalkat

    Turn around time

    The lab is currently shipping end May orders and early Jun orders right now. There is a bit about shipping times in the "Shiny and New" section of the lab site. That is the one with the different categories and the descriptions. Also, the section about Click 'n Ship notifications (on this forum) gives you a good indication of what is currently going out and also the section "I Got My Order." Hope that this helps. Both of these topics are in the BPAL Chatter section. Mods, please move if this is in the wrong place, but I wanted to post the answer
  15. portalkat

    Enraged Orangutan Musk

    I am a fan of musk so the description really drew me in. The orange peel combined with the other notes, especially the amber reminds me a bit of orange blossom. It isn't overly floral, but adds brightness to this blend. The whole thing is very subdued and well blended. It doesn't change much during the wearing, but just gets deeper and richer. I don't get much throw from this, but it does last for hours and stays close to the skin. The mad monkey must be napping because the longer this is on, the more mellow it gets. I'm glad that I was able to locate a bottle of this.
  16. portalkat

    Where is this scent?

    Van Van is a Voodoo blend.
  17. portalkat

    Freak Show

    Wet on skin, I smell fig, cocoa and vanilla, strong and earthy. As this dries, I can smell the lemon and bergamot in the background. I'm not sure if I like the citrus notes initially because they seem to stand out against the rest of the notes, but a few minutes later, everything begins to blend together to form something really lovely. The honey musk and tonka add that creaminess to the fig and cocoa bean and I am in love. This is one of my favorite blends with fig. I need to track down a bottle of this. ETA: I didn't know what calamus was until I looked it up and I think that it is this that I smell wafting through like incense - beautiful!
  18. portalkat

    Al-Shairan

    Aaah, Dentyne gum with a hint of peach. I always liked Dentyne so it isn't a bad thing Now that it has dried, it has softened quite a bit and the sharp spiciness is gone. I am starting to smell mostly peach and clove with the orange being very faint in the background. There is a hint of something soft and creamy, but the patchouli never does make an appearance. This is very pretty, but the clove is so strong that it obscures some of the softer notes. An imp here and there in the cooler months, but I don't think that I'll be ordering a full bottle.
  19. portalkat

    Penny Dreadful

    This is so - odd. I can't stop sniffing my arm because it is so intriguing. It smells like rich damp soil, like the soil in a vegetable or herb garden. It's a bit spicy, a little minty, and has a hint of something light and floral, maybe it's carnation that gives it the spice. This is dirt that I have beneath my fingernails after I have been working in the yard all day, tinged with the spiciness of some of the plants. This is an interesting variation on the usual dirt blends. I don't know that I would buy a bottle, but it would be nice to always keep an imp around.
  20. portalkat

    Blood Moon 2005

    Oh my, wood and musk and incense notes. Some of my favorite things to smell are in this little bottle. I love this moon. It is fragrant and dusky and I detect something that smells a bit like leather. If there is any dragon's blood in this blend, then the floral notes are being counteracted by the wood and musk because my chemistry is not amping up the florals as usual. This is incredibly sexy and feral. Good heavens, I'm getting excited just smelling my wrist!
  21. portalkat

    All Saints'

    When I first put this on, I wondered why on earth I wanted it in the first place. All I could smell were the florals and I didn't think that it smelled like the reviews at all. By the time I clicked on the reviews to read them again, the bit of oil had morphed into the most beautiful incense fragrance. I can smell the frankincense, myrrh and the cassia with just a hint of floral notes in the background. This is so well balanced that no one note overpowers the others. The muskiness that I smell really does remind me of autumn leaves falling to the ground. Now I know exactly why I wanted this in the first place.
  22. portalkat

    The Bow & Crown of Conquest

    Something about this is so sexy. I can smell the lavender mixing with the cedar and leather and that combination is smoothed out by the vanilla and musk. The carnation and sage give it a bit of spice and brightness. This really doesn't smell very masculine on me because the florals and the vanilla are the strongest notes. I would most definitely consider buying a bottle of this beautiful creation.
  23. portalkat

    What do bottles and labels look like?

    Oh, those are so beautiful. This is so exciting, although I came around too late to order Litha. Thanks, GypsyRoseRed for posting those pics.
  24. portalkat

    Devil's Night

    Oh, this is wonderful. Autumn is my favorite season and I can smell the dark smoky golden air. Something like spiced cider swirls around in the background. It smells like spiced desserts, pumpkin pie and spice cake, although it is not what I would consider a foody scent. The smoke mingles with the spices and creates a wonderful incense note that gives this blend a mischievous quality.
  25. portalkat

    The Hanging Gardens

    This is a beautiful well-balanced blend. I am drawn to fruity scents and this delivers. I can smell the pear, plum, quince, and fig the strongest. The florals are present, but unlike so many other blends, they are not amped up by my skin this time. I can definitely smell the plumeria, but it combines with the gardenias and the rose to create one lovely floral. Over everything is the pear wafting around, beneath all is the woodsy incense. Onto my list for bottles this goes - just gorgeous!
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