SueDonym

Have any of the rest of you tried Emzebel's Chaos? (Chaos Theory III No. LXXXV) To me it's beautifully burning paper. She gets burning leaves. Whatever your take on it, it's definite burns-ville and I *heart* it big time -- for originality as well as general good scents. She's got another imp of it available on her sales thread and I'm shooting my self in the foot telling you (because I want it all to myself) but it's primo burning time. IF you're into that sort of thing, sicko pyro. Give it a whirl and tell the thread what you think.

Well, if you sent to Puddin' he's very very nice and would likely forward it to the right direction. No worries either way. Good luck with your post office.

You email Ted for Black Phoenix TRADING POST. For imps and bottles from Black Phoenix ALCHEMY LAB, definitely hit up answers (at) blackphoenixalchemylab. Yay labbies! You will be answered forthwith. What you want to know is if your package has shipped yet, and if so, whether or not it will arrive before you go. If NOT, your concern is that the person who will have the mailbox after you will be very *very* happy. So... If it's already mailed and doesn't arrive before the very last day, you need to address this question to your school's post office and do the beg, plead, etc. Good luck! ETA Whoops! Should have left this for you! Sorry!

I do love you guys. I'm glad you liked it. It was easy to write because it's a lovely event and that's what happens. Big hugs to everyone. I hope I make it tonight, if only for the boa.

It's okay not to know people. We'll introduce ourselves and be sniffing wrists in no time. It's scary...NO! It isn't! It's actually a lot of fun. What actually goes on is significantly less salacious than I made it sound previously. It can even be interpreted as rather formalized. A bunch of people show up at the physical location for BPAL, occasionally in theme-clothing, occasionally not. It's perfectly okay NOT to "dress" for a themed event, (I've gone to several in rather grubby civies actually and had a wonderful time nonetheless) but it's more fun if you do. WILLCALL IS NOT A MEETNSNIFF. There is not usually any food, although occasionally someone brings a treat to share (or something like candy is provided at Halloween by the lab -- thank you!). Remember, we're in someone's shopfront. There is usually NOT any swapping going on. I know people have visions of fabulous swapping at these things but we're there to buy and Phoenix is there to sell. When people have brought something for someone else, they usually pre-arrange and exchange it outside. What does happen then? Well, when you go inside the door all the catalog is arrayed on small shelves along roughly three of the walls (2 and a half really) and you go to the area that catches your interest and work your way around. These are tester scents. We TEST! We talk to each other, we sniff and sniff. Some people are very organized, we try to take notes for those not local, and you might consider bringing a pen and paper or a lists of scents you want to try. Hugs are exchanged with friends rarely seen. If you find something *really* good, announce it and share. It's a very relaxed atmosphere. THE LABBIES ARE VERY HELPFUL!!! They will find you the right scent, TAL, or soap/shirt at the drop of a hat. Plus they always look fabulous, make jokes and are very knowledgeable. Puddin and Beth are often/almost always there, dropping bon mots and smiles and hugs, as is Brian, although you need to work to get a hug from him. (joking) They're nice and friendly people and easy to talk to. It CAN get crowded -- it's a small storefront. However there is an equally friendly group outside, both of the smoking and non-smoking persuasion, and it's not uncommon for people to take breaks. WHEN YOU'VE FOUND WHAT YOU WANT you give a slip to a Labbie, again they're the people standing around being helpful. They go back and get your order. You pay (either paypal or cash) and go on to your normal life or hang out a bit. Sometimes there is even something afterwards, but usually I don't/can't attend these things. The line for the paypal computer can get a bit crowded because everyone need to type individually and the computer's unfamiliar, so if you need to leave at a particular time PLAN that in advance. What's available? Other than the GC catalog, there are no guarantees. However, last month's lunacy blends are usually always up. Often LE groups that have just been brought down are still up, but this is less guaranteed. TESTERS are usually available of current LE groups AND sometimes unreleased or recently released blends. Please note that the CURRENT month's announcements and lunacy blends are NOT available, although you can usually smell them. Remember also that until it ships the formulation is subject to change, so none of the mini-reviews on the recently announced blends are guaranteed in any way shape or form. Your friends will probably have a lot of fun. They're going to think you're a nut but they'll have fun and maybe get infected with the joy. You might want to get them to test a few things on themselves if you have any on hand BEFORE they go. But maybe wait when you get there. Remind them that these are essential oils and tend to smell strongly in the bottle, but very VERY nice on. (I like them in the bottle too) Get a lovely labbie to help them and get some of the people there to make recs about the most likely suspects to please. Okay? Hopefully that helps allay any lingering nerves. If you come you're going to have a lot of fun. Plus, how often do you get to devote an evening to your sense of smell, poor neglected and overworked creature that it is. Take it out for a ride. Go to willcall. Have fun. I'll be there. I'm rather large, wear glasses, and possibly a pink corset-y thing. SultryWolf has warned me it's bound to disappoint now and I can't but agree with that assessment even prior to the build-up, so perhaps the tee. In any event, I'll definitely be wearing a smile. Introduce yourself and your group. I like meeting people. Hang in there folks. Reviews from willcall won't be up for another 10 to 13 hours at least. Whoops! Sorry Gypsy, didn't realize you'd caught this already. Got distracted by the kiddies.

I rarely write reviews because the process intimidates me. Sometimes I'll chime in if there doesn't seem to be anything else available and I think others might want a hint of what to expect. HOWEVER... I have to defend my Lear here. I Lear. I truly do. It's a fabulous scent. I casually swapped the first imp of it I had away, and regretted it just on the scent memory, which lingered. I did however make a micro review of that first impression, which I will share here. imp: odd, dry strangely evocative but of what, kind of ew reaction at first wet: dry dry dry, very woody cedarwood heavy, with some sage, possibly bay making it very dry. Dry: same, but more sagey and bay Still a lot of cedar. Still an elegant combination, not a lot of throw Drier: wow, nice cedar/sage scent, more throw, not getting a lot of bay here I can see this clearly as Lear. It's so dry and uninflected, so at least Lear at the start of the play. In control before his lack of understanding/compassion leads to his undoing. None of his madness though, which is a little odd. Sad though; it does feel like a deeply sad scent. A good funeral scent...if that doesn't sound too weird to say. Masculine for some perhaps, as is proper by the name, but that doesn't bother me at all. So no, not quite love at first sniff, but well deserving of serious consideration. A deeper affection if you will. I found I was woman enough to wear it. Things tend to go a bit sweet/creamy on me, which perhaps helps to make this simply an elegantly serious and somber scent. On me this scent doesn't shout at all. It isn't particularly harsh. Just soft, dry bones, and sadness. Maybe...as if you wandered through a field of sage and carried the light scent back home on your clothes, to a wooden house, with bay leaves steeping in the kitchen. It's much more complex than simple cedar, bay and sage would seem to say. It's deep and sad and somehow regally...delightful isn't quite the word, but it does work. And yes, if I had a funeral to attend (knock on wood with much gratitude to all higher powers that I do not and all the various imprecations my blessed grandmother used to ward off evil) this is the scent I would want to wear. If such considerations entered my mind under those circumstances. And other warding noises. Etc.

Yay for MOXIOUSNESS!!! I was feeling totally KOL too and celebrating my geekdom. Again lovely fizzyBOOM. Softening without being oily, extreme fiz, I cut mine in a third and it was just fine, no residue. The scent is very Moxie and strong, but didn't come off overly strong on the skin. I put it on when I needed to feel moxious for something and it gave me a bit of extra courage (I'll be fine. I can do this. I'm wearing Moxie!) but it turns out that what I was trying to do couldn't really be done that day...or maybe I should have used the whole thing. At any rate, it's totally lovely and I hope they're put out every willcall so I can keep buying and try the rest immediately. Yay!

Regretfully, because I wanted it all for myself, my kids ADORE this. In desperation to get them through a bath (an occassionally contentious affair) I made it all better with a bit of fizzyBOOM. They loved it. It smelled deliciously of a very nice hot chocolate, is very very VERY fizzy, and you could actually find a small chip of the shea butter in mine (I could see it floating around the immediate area before dispersal too -- it's very nice and soft...my hands were lovely). The smell is so dead on that they begged for hot chocolate in the bath. Yeah, I'm a big pushover, but I certainly wouldn't have minded a nice bath with a cup of hot chocolate, would you? I didn't detect any residue, but then we use a lot of soap and water and have two kids really moving around. Stir! I did notice that after opening it in the bath, the scent was less a week later when I used it again, but it was a broken BOOM gift (THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU Beth!!!) and was opened in a steamy room and dispersed from the bag over the tub. I imagine it got a little damp. For yourselves you might want to divide it (if you're going to) elsewhere and put it in a more airtight baggie. Yay fizzyBOOMS!!!!

Intergalactic to me (emphasized since it seems to be in slight disagreement with bits of the above reviews) seems to really change it up as to the primary scent everytime I take a sniff. When I first sniffed it in the bottle it was candied fruit, musk and a little spice, almost fruitcake -- an unfortunate association to many but really rather pleasant. Then it seemed all musky and dark floral (kind of a low note floral, dim...I guess that's the gardenia that's been identified, tropical floral) but also sweet and kind of...nutty. I doubted the citrus until I smelled again and then would definitely vote grapefruit possibly also something melon-like. When I tried it on with a friend at a meet-n-sniff, we both agreed that there was some definite spice when it was on the skin, along with the sweet fruit and a very lovely musk. Maybe cardamon? However now I'm going for some kind of nut too. When it dried down this time for the review, I was mainly sweet floral musks and very slight spice/fruit. It's nicely complex and very fun. Something about the scent lightens it up just when you think you're heading for a down a dark spiral path, fun nutty fruits with the gothic musk/floral...like some friends I know, or would want to. I think it's plenty feminine! Very pretty, not girly but not too darkly mysterious either, kind of winking at you.

This one went out in swaps but I got another imp from GypsyRoseRed which I think is her hint to tell you all the review I'd been hiding. Okeeey... I originally thought Maiden was a "joke" because of the very strong impression I get from the imp which is... soft florals and...a rubber. As in a condom. Whoah! Less so in this new imp but still there. I imagine it's the carnation which can smell a bit rubbery if you take it right/wrong. Wet: soft florals and umm...rubber. Drying: stronger florals...still that rubber scent. Dry: And here one assumes penetration. Now I get carnations, rose and tea but WOW! Seriously, having never read the other reviews I was *positive* that this was an olfactory 'joke' -- a bit of a trick perfume, Maiden-head. And I did have to laugh my ass off when considering my impression against everyone else's virginal musings. Hope I haven't spoiled the scent for anyone. (Yes, I have a filthy mind. I'll go wash it now. In rose and carnation white tea apparently.)

In the bottle: For me this is more verbana/lemony, some musk...ah, there's the lime (I can recognize that, but it's background). A bit of a very fine cleanser/aftershave feel. Definitely fresh and alert. Wet: Verbana - herbal musk Less cleanser, more rind/zest Bright Drying: This is going all soft and sweet on me. Still crispy but the lemon/limeness is all milky. Still sparkly around the edges though, I think that's the mint, which my greedy skin seems to be sucking up except for the crisp edge mints can leave. Verbana heavy. Definitely going soft. Dry: Fresh and fun. Creamy lemon verbana and green tea. Every now and then a slight antiseptic kick. I didn't think I'd like this one on sniffing the bottle, but it's not bad at all. Nice on a hot summer/fall day.

I disagree that this is a man's scent. It's one I had an early sniff of and I liked a lot...and not because it smelled masculine. Sexy & leathery yes, but not MALE in capital letters. In the bottle: Mostly I get the fresh and clean scent that I assume is the fir...which is different from the tester in the lab, which was mostly leather/musk if I recall. To *me* this smells very light, and slightly aneseptic/medicinal...which is only appropriate. Wet: Leather & pine. Drying: But it warms up almost immediately. The fir kind of catches fire, resiny. Like throwing a pinecone on a fire. I guess that's the cedar smoke and amber...which are really nice and not abrupt or in your face about it. The musky leather deepens and balances. You know, what this is really reminding me of is 'tamjan' -- a particular type of incense that Eastern Orthodox priests use. I'm totally loving it. Dry: Musky, spicy, incense-y Not in your face. Not vanished. Not a huge throw (apparently my skin is binge-eating scents today...haha! one more to swallow up!...so YMMV). Leather & resin Very pleasant.

Of the tester scents that I got to try, this was the one that really stuck out as a must have. In the bottle: Fruity and a little cotton candy sweet You can really smell the "spun sugar". Delectible. Wet: Fruity spicy Very SWEET Fresh Just like in bottle but a bit spicy & warmer and with the candy coming forward. Drying: As it dries, I get a kind of edgy crispness to the scent. It's all sweetness and light then it goes over suddenly cold and wiry. ...so...juicy sweet with a vaguely metallic ring to it somehow. Or perhaps I'm being influenced by the dagger poor Zanthe is carrying to protect herself from the haunts...unless she killed them of course, then less sorry for her...but still, lovely scent. Continuing: Losing the scent again. Blah! Or maybe my nose is just buried in it so. Faintly floral (?!) briefly and now just faint and cold. The metallic has stepped forward to say "HOWDEE!" I wonder if it's planning to stay. It's definitely sneering at me. Still a bit sweet, but the fruit may be turning. OH, I will be *so* unhappy if this doesn't work, but it's pretty unpleasant as a whole right now. The fact that it smells so 'cold' and metallic (and slightly rotten) is interesting...sort of...in a dead body cut with knives cackling clown kind of way...but I want my Zanthe back. Will check again later. Wait. Now it's gone all soft and sweet again. Crazy body chemistry. This is the second time this has happened to me tonight. Maybe I should wait a couple of days/weeks before trying anything. It's all because I decided to review isn't it? Yep. Definitely soft, sweet, fruit and vanilla. Faint, still a little edgy and not a warm scent, but still soft. And now we're spiced cotton candy. Nice.

In the beautiful bottle: Lightly musky, something sweetish and dry, also something sharp/crisp/fresh riding on top. On skin: Wet: A bit herbal, then goes smokey. Keeps alternating, herbal/smokey/herbal/smokey...woody/musky...sweet? A bit like a chinese apothecary cabinet...but sexy. Used to store aphrodisiacs. Drying: Got a bunch on my lip and nose from smelling my forearm (d'oh!) which is making things a bit difficult, but pleasantly every time I rub my stinging nose I get a bit more scent. It's very spicy and warming. Actually I still have to put my nose to my arm to get a clear smell so either my nose is defunct or this is disappearing on me a bit...or else I'm just overwhelmed with scent right now. The images that pass through my mind now are of velvet and tents. I think patchouli leaf is really different from patchouli if that's what I'm smelling (although I like patchouli...hippie! ) because it has a certain smokey sharpness/crispness that reminds me of dried leaves (tobacco, bay, various herbs). It's really nice. Dry: I can't really smell this that much now. It registers as a faint spicy warmness to me. On the other hand, this is my first try at reviewing so I don't feel I can trust my nose. ...And I can't. Now it's very dry and it's wafting up to me in faint sparkles of scent. I really like it. I got to smell some of CD early and this was one of the definites, even with just a faint sniff. Sorry. I know this isn't a very helpful review, but that's what it like to me.

See, this is what I was actually asking earlier. *Which* of the GC have special picture labels? La Fee Verte is lovely. The Alice stuff has been renewed by his estate I believe, but I'm not for sure on that.

I tried to enable an old friend I hadn't seen in a long while. He came by yesterday and during the visit I brought out what now feels like an extensive collection of imps and bottles, including a swath of LEs, GC's and what I've accumulated of Arkham (he's gamer/school friend). He said (and I quote) that they all (ALL) "smelled the same." I threw things as varried as Underpants, Annabel Lee and Yog Soggoth at him and they smell the same??!! I would put it down to him being a guy and not liking perfume, but he said he LIKED perfume! Then I thought that maybe they weren't perfumey enough so I tried the more perfumey scents and even the ROSE of Peacock Queen but nothing seemed to take. At some point, (I think when I threw out Gingerbread Poppet) I called bullshit and he said well no, that they didn't quite smell the same BUT that they all were fundamentally similar, claiming to smell an alcohol base??? I think he was having trouble describing the oil or just didn't understand the difference between essential oils and regular perfume. Or maybe the fact that the bottles were alike threw him off if he's a visual guy (brain can read similar in very different things if grouped and some people get off on perfume bottles rather than the scents). He reacted better when I put Mata Hari on my wrists and let him sniff, so maybe it's just that he likes perfume on women...or likes women who smell good. I don't want to push it, and although he refused imps and decants for himself he willingly took some to pass along to another person. Moreover I recall not being overly excited about BPAL until some imps took hold on my skin and the idea of it fermented for a while. However, what *should* I have done here? Any advice? I wish I'd coerced/sweet-talked him into actually trying some on his SKIN which I think is the big teller, but I just couldn't get him excited about any of it. It's not that I really NEED him to like BPAL or anything. (Yes, I'll still be friends with you if you can't appreciate my "thing") I'm just puzzled as to why it didn't take. Plus I'm heading to visit cousins who like smellies and I don't want to repeat errors.

Here I thought I was crazy or that the bottle had been topped off with something. (Smack my evil mind) Got a bottle of Mi-Go off the internet that smelled...awful. Nothing like the lushiousness of my first imp. Nothing like the used bottle I ordered, nothing like the one from the lab. (Yep, three bottles) Yeah, me-go Mi-Go crazy but I have Lovecraftian friends to whom I owe gifts and my intention was to send the bottles on, since the initial scent I tested was quite easy to like -- fruity tea goodness with a hint of undertone which offered a fun balance. (Thus enabling with lots of love and a spin on their likes.) In the fresh from lab scent the undertone smell was much heavier but not 'bad' in any way, but in the ebay order it was, eeeewwwwwww! Now I don't know what to do. My gift bottles aren't what I expected, and one just seems unusable. Could it be age? I *think* the overpoweringly awful note on the ebay order is a little bit in the lab bottle (but much nicer and less spoilt seeming) and perhaps the imp and used bottle were just older/melded better. I've contacted the seller of the nasty bottle who assures me it was barely tested and kept cool. Anybody else have Mi-Go issues or am I the only one crazy enough for it to obtain enough to tell the difference? It is *really* awful and I don't want to pass it on if it's going to stay that way.

Right. While I really shouldn't, I'm considering buying a 10ml GC before they disappear. One of the things that intrigues me about them, in addition to the crafty possibilities, and general impage for friends (is that pimpage?) is that the artwork tends to be larger -- at least on what I've seen from the Tarot, etc. (which I understand will still be living LARGE after the change-over). Since I'm still a noob, and I enjoy what I've seen/sniffed on MOST of the scents I've tried -- hadn't had a bad one yet...well, barring that accidental combo that smelled like skunk. At any rate, I'm curious about the label art. What label art did you like best? What, if any, appear on a large GC? Can you recommend any? Of course I wouldn't make that type of investment without cross-referencing my preferences for the actual scent, but it would be nice if I follow through with this to get some nice artwork as well. Thoughts? Well, crumb. I did a search and everything and bupkiss, then just after I posted this, at the bottom under similar topics there's one that says label art. Darn. :Waves hand for mod: Is this still okay?