talula_fairie

How could a scent suddenly just smell so different with a different batch? I want to buy Black Lace, but I'm worried it'll be the apple version. I don't want that.

Jailbait is the only really weird scent I ever really liked.

Maybe Blood too, but I don't know that's really all that weird.

This is really manly on me. I smell wood, wood, wood and more wood, and maybe an aquatic and herbal note laced on top. Definitely not for me, at ALL. It's not horrible, but I really don't care for it.

At first I smell fennel. Sweet, creamy fennel, with maybe a hint of a green tinge to it. I'm not getting ginger at all.

It's a soft scent, very light and fresh. I can picture someone running through a dewy medow. Not much throw. I swear I have smelled a smell like this before, for some reason, it kind of reminds me of Pottery Barn. They must use a similar scent in their air freshener. It's nice enough, but not for me. Swap pile.

Of all the BPAL blends I've tried, this ranks in my top five worst. I'm not really a fan of rose scents except in very select cases, and usually only when the rose is in the background. My skin amps rose a lot. This was no different. It smelled so awful on me, in fact, that I spent about 10 minutes scrubbing my wrists with dish soap -enough to make my fingers start to prune (AND I SWEAR I COULD STILL SMELL THE ROSE). I didn't detect leather or anything else, just overpowering, soap-y, sachet-y rose. I smelled like Crabtree and Evelyn gone wild. Not good.

All I did was sniff the imp and get some on my fingers, but that was enough to know I can't wear it. This isn't to say that I don't like the fragrance, actually, I love it. But it's very manly. I'm going to put some on my husband.

Smells very soft and pretty in the vial, with a hint of something deeper beneath. I had hope for it.

But it smells exactly like Caress soap on my skin. Exactly like that. Soapy, cloying floral with a tiny bit of orange blossom. Not a fan, not at all. Another one I had to wash off, I couldn't even wait for the complete drydown, the floral scent just kept getting stronger. Ack.

I had a lot of hope for this blend. It had nothing but notes I should love, and it supposedly smelled similar to scents that are some of my very favorites, such as Dragon's Milk, O and Blood.

In the imp it smelled pretty strong, all I could get was Dragon's milk and something sharp, I'm guessing it was the cherry. But Blood smells similar to me in the imp and it smells fantastic on my skin.

I put it on my skin, it immediately started to turn sour. It just kept getting worse. The cherry got amped up to the point where it was almost all I could smell. A touch of the dragon's blood was in the background but that was about all. The more time went on, the more I started to smell like a porta potty air freshener, or maybe a car air freshener. Bad. Very bad. And sweet Jesus was it strong! I finally had to wash it off with dish soap after about 20 minutes, I couldn't even wait for the full drydown. I never smelled vanilla, velvetier, honey, not even the clove. Just a lot of cherry and some dragon's blood.

I'm sure on other people it'll smell amazing, it really did have a nice blend of notes per the description, and in the imp I had hope. Unfortunately, it just didn't work for me. Curious becuase Blood worked great. *shrug*

I have to say, it would be helpful if there were a clearer statement about this on the Lab's website. It comes up so often, and the statement that is usually pointed to in the FAQ is technically about veganism, not about whether the oils are all-natural. If you were skeptical about BPAL's use of synthetics, you'd notice that it only says that the civet and ambergris blends are made of plant oils. It doesn't have anything to say about whether the strawberry and caramel blends are made of plant oils (they could be synthetic but still be vegan). This is what talula_fairie's friends were talking about.

 

Personally, I do believe that BPAL is all-natural - but that's only from what I've read on the forum, not from the site itself. Why not be proud of this and state it clearly in the FAQ?

 

Totally. I agree.

 

I the beginning when I was new to BPAL, there used to be a statement on the website (in the FAQ's) saying that the blends were all-natural. But now that's gone and I'm not sure when it was changed.

 

I swear I remember seeing that FAQ too.

Ditto. It used to be there, because I was looking for it the other day to refer a friend to, and couldn't find it.

Now, I'm as big a fan girl as most here, I guess, but the removal of that statement implies that it was no longer accurate, and it would definitely be nice to have a bit of official clarification.

 

Personally, I love my bpal and I'll use it no matter what (okay, maybe if they started juicing kittens, I'd stop ). But this question is very important to others, and a clear, public statement (on the website for example) would be appropriate.

But I emailed them directly and was given that quote this week. So if it's not true anymore, they wouldn't be emailing people with that info....I would think.

I have to say, it would be helpful if there were a clearer statement about this on the Lab's website. It comes up so often, and the statement that is usually pointed to in the FAQ is technically about veganism, not about whether the oils are all-natural. If you were skeptical about BPAL's use of synthetics, you'd notice that it only says that the civet and ambergris blends are made of plant oils. It doesn't have anything to say about whether the strawberry and caramel blends are made of plant oils (they could be synthetic but still be vegan). This is what talula_fairie's friends were talking about.

 

Personally, I do believe that BPAL is all-natural - but that's only from what I've read on the forum, not from the site itself. Why not be proud of this and state it clearly in the FAQ?

 

Totally. I agree.

 

I the beginning when I was new to BPAL, there used to be a statement on the website (in the FAQ's) saying that the blends were all-natural. But now that's gone and I'm not sure when it was changed.

I swear I remember seeing that FAQ too.

I have to say, it would be helpful if there were a clearer statement about this on the Lab's website. It comes up so often, and the statement that is usually pointed to in the FAQ is technically about veganism, not about whether the oils are all-natural. If you were skeptical about BPAL's use of synthetics, you'd notice that it only says that the civet and ambergris blends are made of plant oils. It doesn't have anything to say about whether the strawberry and caramel blends are made of plant oils (they could be synthetic but still be vegan). This is what talula_fairie's friends were talking about.

 

Personally, I do believe that BPAL is all-natural - but that's only from what I've read on the forum, not from the site itself. Why not be proud of this and state it clearly in the FAQ?

Totally. I agree.

There was a post about three posts up, Here: http://www.bpal.org/index.php?s=&showt...t&p=1211273 that kind of explained how that might be possible. Obviously BPAL won't give away their recipes, but it makes me think that maybe it could be done. *shrug*

 

Interesting. I wonder how that blending could be done with candy scents though? I mean like candy corn, cake, stuff like that.

Well that's the mystery of it all, I guess.

There are some sweet smelling naturally derived oils out there, vanilla for example. Maybe that mixed with flowers?

I really have no idea though. I've never worked with perfumes.

Hiya

 

I think I posted in the wrong thread before, oops!

 

I am ok with fragrance oils and love bpal, so I'm just curious here

 

As far as I know a scent such as strawberry must be a fragrance oil and not an essential oil because it isn't possible... so I am assuming bpal is natural per say, but that it does use fragrance oils in addition to essential oil...?

There was a post about three posts up, Here: http://www.bpal.org/index.php?s=&showt...t&p=1211273 that kind of explained how that might be possible. Obviously BPAL won't give away their recipes, but it makes me think that maybe it could be done. *shrug*

Mamacat, I actually did point people to that part of the FAQ, but they still didn't believe it. I think because that quote on the lab's website does not specifically say that ALL the blends are naturally derived. It just makes reference to that one specific way they make 'amber'

Here, see for yourself:

http://community.livejournal.com/naturalliving/4671205.html

Btw, I did email the lab, and here is the response:

Black Phoenix uses no synthetics, no fillers and no garbage. All of our scents are 100% naturally derived. With the exception of our honey products, BPAL perfumes are vegan. Our 'civet' and 'ambergris' are bouquets, and thus, are composite scents created from plant-derived perfume oils combined to best approximate the scent. Black Phoenix is entirely cruelty-free, as our four dogs, many fish, and resident lab cat will attest.

While we use no preservatives, our oil blends will last for over one year, if they are cared for correctly. Please keep all of our products in a cool, dark place to maximize their shelf life.

Unfortunately, we cannot further divulge our ingredients due to protecting our recipes from competitors.

Does anyone have any new info on this? Did anyone ever hear back from the lab?

I told a few people on Live Journal that the oils were 100% natural per what I read on this forum, but several argued that they are synthetic. Any info would be appreciated.

Oh, I love this one! It reminds me a lot of Snake Charmer, but it's a little earthier and slightly less sweet.

This is a warm, sexy, earthy, hippie scent. It smelled great on me and after the drydown some of the overly sweet parts tame out a bit and it mellows into a lovely and soft scent.

Chistmas candle meets potpourri. And not in a good way.

Not a fan of this one.

Ok, my opinion of this scent *might* be a little off since I SPILLED HALF THE BOTTLE while decanting it. I'd probably be sadder if I actually liked the scent, but alas, I really hate it. I got enough of it all over my hands, wrists, ect to give it a full test.

This smells almost exactly like Cutex nail polish remover (without the acetone smell, obviously). Whatever they used to scent their polish remover must share a similar note because they smell identical to me. I wish I could say that there was some fun morph on my skin, but alas, there was not. I don't even know where the heck the tonka bean or vanilla is in this scent, because I can't smell it at all. It's really odd because I love all the notes on this. It's not lush, creamy, fruity, or any of the above. It's just sharp and...well, smells of nail polish remover.

This scent is *wonderful*

I probably would never have tried it on my own (Jasmine is hit or miss with me, usually a miss) so I'm glad I got it as a frimp.

This is a dark, creamy floral. There is an almost fruit-like note underneath it, making it sweet and not soapy. The myrrh gives the scent a nice balance, and this isn't the cloying grandma type Jasmine either. I can't even smell the rose until drydown, it's so well blended. This scent is perfectly named and absolutely wonderful. I love it!

This reminds me a bit of Darkness without the smoky note.

When I first smelled this, I did not really like it. But I put it on, and then later went about my day, kind of forgetting I was testing a scent. Later on, I caught a wiff and was like "OH WOW WHAT IS THAT!" then I remembered what I had *lightly* applied to my wrists a few HOURS earlier.

This scent is a little bit soaplike and cloying at first, but as soon as it dries it really is lovely. It's a soft, warm, sexy, fresh fragrance. It's a bit more perfumey than I am used to BPAL scents being, but that's alright. It also is the longest lasting bpal I've ever tried -this stuff lasts 8+ hours on my skin. Whoa!

Well, this is one that *seems* like it would work on me in theroy but smells awful on my skin. I hated it in the imp but thought I'd give it a go since I like all the notes. Or maybe not.

I think I hate Cassia. Or whatever that spice note is. I think I'd like it in another blend -maybe as a background note- but in the forefront like this, esp with the other notes in combo, it smells like cinnamon potpourri. And not in a good way.

Swap pile!

This reminds me a lot of gypsy queen, but with jasmine instead of rose. Another shocker is that I really like it, even though I am not usually a fan of Jasmine. It's true that this scent is a bit soapy, but it's soapy in a lovely fresh just-came-out-of-the-shower sort of way, and mixed with the incense notes, it makes for a really unsual and well rounded scent. I love it! I plan to hoard several bottles since it is in the same vein of gypsy queen and gypsy queen is impossible to find as of late.

Personally, I really don't think there is enough evidence through scientific studies that certain essential oils will cause serious harm in pregnancy BUT there also hasn't been a lot of study in this area. Really it's one of those things no one *knows* about but that we kind of assume is safe -like dying your hair while pregnant. I know the lab tells people no bpal at all during pregnancy because they don't want to be sued, and yes, it is better to err on the side of caution. It just bums me out when people make pregnancy (and sometimes nursing too) out to be this time where you can't do freakin' anything. There are a lot of things that are relativly low risk that we, as Americans, have blown way out of proportion...all the while minimizing the risks of medicalized birth (and this is coming from someone who had two epidurals). It yanks my chain!

Anyway. My point (and I do have one) is that yes you should avoid putting the "do not use while pregnant" oils on your skin (sage, lavender, eucalyptus, pennyroyal, ect), but really, I think using some bpal in pregnancy is fine. Get a scent locket or an oil burner. I really, really, really don't think that you could abort your baby just by smelling some bpal perfume that had some lavender in it. Even people who are purposely trying to abort their child using herbs have to take massive doses at exactly the right time in pregnancy. Short of drinking your bpal, I really don't think that would happen to you. Just my $.02

When I get pregnant again, assuming I can even stand any fragrance at all (unlikely, since a lot of perfumes made me ill when I was pregnant with both my kids...but it could happen) I will probably still use bpal. I'll let y'all know if my kid is born with two heads.

My skin is on crack.

 

I'm getting orange. The orange starts out sharp and sour and then mellows down and becomes sweeter. Jasmine appears then, along with something vaguely incensey.

 

The overall effect is a very close sibling to Forbidden Fruit. This is one to save for the summertime.

I'm getting orange too. In fact I could *swear* there is orange blossom in this.

It reminds me a lot of ravenous, which is one of my all time favorites. Except it's a bit...sharper than Ravenous, and ever so slightly sour on my skin. It's edging on bathroom cleaner scent, but not quite there. It's overall a nice scent, though. Will have to try this again on another day.

Ok so I would like to preface this by saying that usually, I really hate roses. I'm not even much of a floral gal, though BPAL is making a believer out of me. I had NO DESIRE to try this perfume and recived it as a frimp. I sniffed it, out of curiousity, and instantly knew I had to try it. Every now and then I will find a rose scent that I do like (Gypsy Queen, Desdemona) but this one was allllllllllllllllll rose and that worried me. Other rose scents had died a horrible soapy death on my skin (Harlot, Mata Hari).

But this is *georgous* No soapy smell, no grandma smell, no potpourri smell, nothing sachet-like. It just smells like freshly cut roses. It's not overpowering or headache inducing, and this one is going straight to my top 10! Really really nice.