portalkat

Here is what I wrote in my review for The Apothecary:

This is so unlike what I had been expecting. I was thinking that it would be darker, more medicinal, slightly bitter, but instead it opened up on my skin as green clover and morning grasses, light fresh florals and green tea. I can smell hints of the ginger, but it isn't particularly spicey on me. I'm also starting to smell the fig and it is a fresh fig, slightly green and still on the tree.

It might be one to try.

I'm going to throw Kabuki into the hat as a layering component - the cherry in it is lighter and more candied than that of MB: Bloody Mary, and it has a fruitcakey spiciness to it on drydown. My boozy rec would be Grog, which smelled like straight rum before turning to marzipan (which I got a hint of in Fruitcake) on me.

I got that marzipan note as well. I tried the layering of Eat Me with 2007 Beaver Moon, but it was mostly strawberry and Mad Sweeney brought out too much of the currant in Eat Me. I'm still rummaging around for my bottle of Bloody Mary. I'll have to see if I have Grog and try that.

I was wondering about Eat Me and Bloody Mary or Beaver Moon and wondered if a drop of Mad Sweeney could be the slight boozy note.

 

 

If I were to get these and blend them, what proportions would you use? Equal parts? Heavier on one of them?

*runs off to play mad scientist and compare against Fruitcake* Bear in mind that I have Mad Sweeney instead of Spiked Punch, so it'll be more whisky than brandy. *scratches head and thinks about Forbidding Foyer with the cognac note*

I was wondering about Eat Me and Bloody Mary or Beaver Moon and wondered if a drop of Mad Sweeney could be the slight boozy note.

 

 

nah...to me mad sweeney is all about the whiskey ... the booze note is way more brandy in fruitcake...

like the one in spiked punch but spiked punched is more fizzy...

I know................but I don't have Spiked Punch. waaaah!

I was wondering about Eat Me and Bloody Mary or Beaver Moon and wondered if a drop of Mad Sweeney could be the slight boozy note.

OMG - This really is fruitcake - and I'm one of the ones that really loves to eat fruitcake. This is boozy when I first open the imp and I can smell the candied cherries and some almond. There is a cake note, but it's deep and dark and heavy from the booze. I really love this and definitely will be wearing this throughout the holidays. Thank you, labbies, for the frimp!

I love La Befana. I get the sugary caramel notes in the background with the sweetened up lily and violet up front. There is also the bit of smoky charcoal swirling around, but everything is so well balanced that I can't label it either foody or floral. I normally go for wood/resin/smoke/incense blends, but I have been wearing La Befana every day for almost two weeks because I love it so. The staying power on me is tremendous - 20 hours plus.

If you paid by CCNow, it just means that your order has been accepted and sent on to the lab. When did you place your order and did you use CCNow or Paypal?

 

By the way, Welcome!

 

 

Well, I ordered 11/25/07 but I'm moving soon and i notified them of that. So, I dont know. Then my card was going to be charged and then it just kinda poofed or went through, one or the other. But then when checking if it went through it didnt say it did. So, Now I dont know what to do. It doesnt say my order is cancelled and the status has actually changed to shipped even after the disapearance of the pending charge.

Okay, I'm as confused as you are. I think that you should contact the lab - answers@blackphoenixalchemylab.com

If you paid by CCNow, it just means that your order has been accepted and sent on to the lab. When did you place your order and did you use CCNow or Paypal?

By the way, Welcome!

I love this blend. It has that slightly boozy deep fruit note from the pom and fig and the sweetness from the jelly donut, but most of all, it has that beautiful beeswax note that I was hoping for. The fruit seems strongest in the early stages and after a couple of hours, the beeswax and amber notes are stronger with the sweet boozy fruits mellowing and floating around the background. This is exactly how I had imagined Chanukkiyah to be. I prefer resin blends to foody ones and the beeswax and amber move this in that direction.

I am finding it interesting that some of the standouts for me of the winter updates from BPAL as well as other etailers are the blends based on Hanukkah.

I don't get pickles, although I think that I know what the smell is that others are talking about. I think that it might be something combining with the wood notes. For me, Ivanushka is a soft musk with sweet wood notes and something sort of floral in the background..........maybe a bit of violet? I think that this is really lovely.

So does that mean that pickups of any kind-even ones where you pay the person picking them up-are no longer allowed?

 

I usually pay the person who's willing to pick up something for me from willcall-only once have I been told to paypal the Lab for a willcall CP.

I think that if you have an arrangement with someone and send them money, ultimately the lab will get the money from them and the lab will transfer the mdse. directly to them so the lab is dealing really only with them. So, that is not a third party sale. I hope that was clear, I'm in a rush - lol

2007 version:

OMG - I love this. I'm not particularly drawn to foody blends unless they have chocolate, but this smells absolutely delicious on me. This is a strong baby with a heady booziness that lasts for 15 hours plus with only a dab. I smell very few of the notes separately and end up with a combination of creamy chocolate caramel and a boozy fruity note. It sort of reminds me of the dessert that I had at a friends house last night, pumpkin rice pudding with a rum raisin mascarpone topping.

I could totally pick 'em up for you if that's the only way they're going to be available. I'm just wondering whether they'll be available from NPE via mail order, because if so, that's probably how most people are going to get their hands on the product. Le Pink is a lovely little shop, but it'd be infintely more convenient for me to save the $5 bus fare and pay that for shipping.

Aw, thank you, GRR. Since Shelldoo just posted about NPE being able to ship, that would be the way to go.

Do we know for sure that it won't be mail order? I'm confused, because I was under the impression that Nail Polish, Etc will be taking payments for bottles and shipping them out. I was surprised, because I thought it said that the exclusives won't ever be available online which I took (probably wrongly) to mean no mail order. But if Nail Polish, Etc is selling and mailing 'em out then that puts Le Pink at a disadvantage because I spoke to the owner and she said they're just not able to do mail order at all.. So instead of making the trip to Silverlake to get the scents from her, some people on the west coast may just order from NPE. So I wonder what the policy is and whether NPE will be selling by phone/Paypal and shipping out?

I was confused as well when Shelldoo posted that. I thought that I could call Le Pink and order it by phone until I saw your post saying otherwise. If that's the case, I'll have to either order from NPE or have someone pick up some bottles at will call and send them to me. Or, I could just bribe my ex-husband to go to Silverlake and pick them up for me.

In the future, if I want to use PayPal, how do I figure out shipping cost? Do I have to fill up my CCNow cart and then just not finalize the order, and then make a PayPal payment separately?

I just go directly to Paypal and send money to

paypal@blackphoenixalchemylab.com, list what I want in the comments section and use the shipping rates on the lab's FAQ page.

This year's All Souls has a stronger incense note than in the past. I also agree with Cranberry about Al-Azif.

You also might want to try Magus in the Bewitching Brews category. The galangal and frankincense give a sort of sweet top note to the woods. It's another of my favorite wood blends.

Actually, I agree with the suggestions of Red Queen as well. I love dark woods and it is one of my favorites in that category.

Have you tried the Forbidding Foyer from this year's Halloween offerings? Here is the description:

*THE FORBIDDING FOYER

Thick shadows hang heavy across fungus-smeared, dilapidated wainscoting, cobwebs hang like fine lace across sagging mouldings, rats scuttle past gaping doorways. The faint scent of brimstone, ghostly breath laced with cognac, neglected mahogany panels, and rot.*

I found it to be mainly the cognac and mahogany.

Alas, I don't have a Paypal account, so I use CCNow. I just discovered that my Aug 31 order was declined because my card was declined (it shouldn't have been, it was fine. But I suppose I might have typed something wrong--it's been known to happen).

 

My question is: should I just go ahead and place another order or is there a danger that the old one will suddenly go through and then I'll have two duplicate orders? I don't mind waiting, and I don't blame the Lab in the least, and my only LE in the order was Boomslang, which luckily is still available, so my only concern is the possible duplication...

 

Thanks in advance for any help!

Well, it seems that it probably would have been filled by now, so there is probably no danger of a duplication, but I would contact the lab *answers@blackphoenixalchemylab.com* just to make sure.

I was confused when I first sniffed my arm because I couldn't remember what I had applied on that hand. It was a bit aquatic and sweet and green and then I realized that it was the ivy in the Twisted Oak Tree. I smell the wood strongest when wet, then somewhere in the background after it dries. The ivy continues to be the strongest note on me. I had thought that there would be a bit heavier wood note, but this is really nice.

2007 Version

I find this very different than the previous releases. Upon application, the currants and offertory cakes are still here, but as it develops, the incense and resin notes become more pronounced. At that point, it reminds me a bit of Minotaur or Midnight Mass sans the floral note. I like the balance of the components better than the the other releases. The foody notes are still present, but the incense wafts through and I think that this is just beautiful. This is a lovely blend of foody and resin.

9/28//07 - I've been wearing this a couple of days now and I just wanted to add that I smell the currants and cakes a bit more than when I first tried it, however the incense is definitely stronger than in the past, which suits me just fine. Even though I have multiples of the 06, I will need multiples of this as well.

So, I have a question. I placed my order on 9/5. CCNow said it was shipped on 9/15. It's now 9/25. I am in the States. Will I still receive a CnS notification? Or is that for international buyers only? Should I believe CCnow when it was my order was shipped?

The notification which you received from CC now means nothing as far as when it was shipped. It's so confusing, but it really just means that CCnow received your order. You will still receive a CnS from the lab when your order ships. Watch the CnS thread to see when people placed their orders and when they are receiving their notifications of shipment.

Haunted House Labels -

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Halloweeniee labels (minus sugar skull - sorry!)

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Oooh I'm jealous Tramp!! Such purty labels.

Ooooh, me too! Those are wonderful...........*wallet runs to hide*