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BPAL Madness!

Jenesis

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Everything posted by Jenesis

  1. Jenesis

    Wezwanie / Hold

    Wet: I can't pick out any individual notes, oddly. It's just very smooth and creamy with good throw. Very sweet. On the drydown I can pick up the nutty smell, as well as some rather powdery honey and faint sandalwood. Dry, it goes rather different. For some reason it reminds me of Brown Jenkins; it has that same "snuggly, warm, smooth" quality. The woods are present. The amber and honey threaten to go powdery, but never quite manage it, it smells like it's about to go to baby-powder-city but the sandalwood keeps it in check. Later, this turns into a lovely, soft, "skin" scent. Not much throw.
  2. Jenesis

    What do bottles and labels look like?

    I have the same bottle and it's 2005. Ahh got it. That's fine, thanks!
  3. Jenesis

    What do bottles and labels look like?

    Quick question: I have a bottle of Samhain from a swap. The bottle is cobalt blue. The label is paper (i.e. not laminated), with "Samhain" on it, and a picture of a woman in a red dress with the moon behind her and a bat beside her. I can post a pic when I get back from my lecture later. What year is this bottle from? It has no year on the label. ETA: It smells very "aged".
  4. Jenesis

    The Death of Autumn

    I had high hopes for this. Sadly, from the initial sniff of the Imp to an hour after application, this just smells like... rot. Sickly, horrible, rotting, damp leaves. Blech. Off to the swap pile with thee!
  5. Jenesis

    Mme. Moriarty, Misfortune Teller (2006)

    Well, not sure I can match the mental images brought on by the previous review, but here goes On me, the Madame is... pleasant. Nice. Sweet. And that's just it. I can't pick out any individual notes. Although I can tell they're there - the red musk and the vanilla in particular - they just blend perfectly to create a sweet, womanly, sophisticated scent. Maybe that's where it falls down on me; it's just not very complex. The only morphing that happened was the red musk going from frontal-assault mode to the background in the first minute. After a while, this blends to, well, a patchouli-vanilla blend with a little red musk brightening it up. I don't get any pomegranate or plum out of this. It's sweet and warm, and my boyfriend described it as a "snuggly" scent. I think this replaces Midnight Kiss in my top 10. All in all, it's a nice, pleasant scent that I like. I will definitely hang on to my bottle, but I won't be panic-buying it before the Carnival goes away. ...Although I might have to get one more bottle.
  6. Jenesis

    The Snow Storm

    This isn't a review as such, just a note to say that my Mum likes it. My order with this in was delivered at home today, and my Mum, who likes "clean but not acidy" scents, as well as light woods, said it smelt very nice. So that's my Mum's review!
  7. Jenesis

    Midnight Kiss

    For me this is pretty much Patchouli SN. It gets a little sweeter after a couple of house, but it's still very strong on the patchouli. Strangely, I got a lot of compliments on it. Weird!
  8. Jenesis

    Pruno

    Oh. dear. god. This smells EXACTLY like my home toilet. No fruit or anything even remotely nice. The smell reminds me of the few mornings I've spent with my head down said toilet after overindulging the night before. Noooo thank you
  9. Jenesis

    Chaos Theory III: Strange Attractors

    I wasn't around for the actual lab release, but I got a bottle of MCIII in a swap. MCIII means 1103, doesn't it? (Wow, that's a lotta bottles of CT!) Anyway, this one is... green. Very, very green. I'm useless at picking out plant notes so bear with me! It smells kind of sharp and quite medicinal at first, but there's an interesting sweetness behind it. I think it's dandelion as the main note but don't take my word for it. A little later, this has a strange spiciness about it, and the sharpness has died down (although I think I put a little too much on!). Later still, this has turned into a spicy herbal scent. Very unlike anything else I have, and quite pleasant! I think this could be good layered with something smooth, like pear or peach.
  10. Jenesis

    Monster Bait: Underpants

    I was lucky enough to get a sniffie, with just enough to test, of this in a swap! My skin AMPS booze notes, so all I can smell on for the first hour is butter rum, thick and alcoholic. After that time, the vanilla comes out a bit, but it's still very heavy on the rum. While that's quite nice, it's not really as nice as I was expecting, although part of me is glad of that because I'll never be able to find any more of this!
  11. Jenesis

    Pronouncing "BPAL" and scent names!

    It might as well be. I call it Bee-Pahl too. When I am not calling it "THEE presh-usssss," that is. Ooh I call it that too sometimes. But not often, my boyfriend looked sad and said "I thought I was your precious...?" last time I said it.
  12. Jenesis

    Pronouncing "BPAL" and scent names!

    Me four! Although as none of my friends (whom I know IRL, I mean) know what BPAL is or what it stands for, they're a bit bemused when I refer to "My bee-pal stash". I hope they don't think it's a new euphemism for crack or something
  13. Jenesis

    Red Lantern

    I have no idea whether this is the 06 or 07 version. I think it may be the 06 as the label isn't "shiny" and it looks a little weathered. In the bottle, this is incredibly sweet - think along the lines of the overpowering caramel of Creepy. First on my skin, it retains this caramel-sweet whoosh, but I can detect the coconut in there too. Drying, I get a slight "burnt sugar" smell. I hope this doesn't last Drying after a few minutes, the sugar has faded to the background, leaving a smooth amber-coconut scent. Very strong, so use sparingly, but going well so far! Dry (10 mins): I'm not getting any opium, spice or delphinium out of this. It's just a smooth, slightly "sticky"-smelling scent.Definitely pleasant ETA: This scent does something weird on me. After about two hours, it just... vanishes. Completely disappears. It leaves behind a veeeery faint musky skin scent.
  14. Jenesis

    What do bottles and labels look like?

    Ooh, purdy! I can't wait to get my Yule/Halloween order now...
  15. Jenesis

    Scent for Halloween?

    Samhain... because both my costume and my Samhain are new
  16. Jenesis

    Samhain

    I have a bottle of this on the way, but a kind forumite frimped me an Imp in advance. Wet: This smells very woodsy and quite sweet. Pleasant. Drydown: I can smell cinnamon in this, rounded by woods and sweetness. For some reason it really reminds me of a scented candle I used to own - not that that's a bad thing, it was a lovely candle! Dry: HOLY MACARONI! This is a sexy scent. I can smell all the notes listed in it (except mullein, but since I don't know what mullein is...). On my skin, which loves wood and apples and spice, it's incredibly warm and comforting and as someone earlier said, it is "Autumn in a bottle". Rating: A smashing 5/5! Throw: Incredible... for about two hours. Then it vanishes into a skin scent. Expect lots of reapplications. Room scenting: Strangely, no. I tried it both on my hair (which is very long) and in an oil burner, and both times it just smelt like a smoky bonfire. Pleasant enough, but not exactly a great scent. I guess my skin chemistry must love all the notes! PS: My un-BPAL-initiated friend, who has no idea of notes and skin chemistry, said this smells like roasted apples on me. PPS: Wow, I actually finished an Imp of something all by myself! I really slathered this on today. It's quite strong, and I can detect a faint, boozy, sweet note that must have been too weak to smell before. I assume that's the mullein. It's still lovely though!
  17. Jenesis

    Traveling with BPAL

    Nice one swilde! When I went UK (Birmingham) to Budapest a couple of months ago I put the Imps in the ziploc baggie you're meant to fit all your liquids in*, and there were no problems. *I take everything in hand luggage unless I'm going for more than eight days or so - My Dad, a seasoned international traveller, has lost too many bags and had too much stolen out of hold baggage to trust the handlers any more. Strangely, he says Heathrow is the worst for getting stuff pinched. I've become very good at fitting a week's worth of stuff in a rucksack.
  18. Jenesis

    International Shipping Info+Questions

    Aye, the Goods one is the one you want.
  19. Jenesis

    International Shipping Info+Questions

    Yep, the box itself is slightly bigger than a VHS video box (boy, now I feel old) and that is wrapped in a large card envelope. Put a different delivery address on PayPal. Re. your previous question, just add $13 to the total oil price when you send the PayPal I usually put "UK Order - Yule & Halloween" (or whatever) in the Subject field as well. Don't know if it helps, but oh well!
  20. Jenesis

    Oberon

    I'm getting shower gel/laundry powder out of this one. The sad thing is, the bottle it's in is soooo cute (a tiny, tiny bottle, less than an Imp's worth).
  21. Jenesis

    The Perilous Parlor

    At first sniff, for some reason this smells like paint thinner. However after a couple of minutes it mellows into, you guessed it, pears. But they're not fresh-picked juicy pears - to me, they're fermented pears that have been sitting in the cupboard under the stairs for a while. Like other reviewers I found this very, very light (and my skin amps vanilla!). Strangely, I'm getting a "paint" vibe out of this at the moment ETA: It's best to let this age. When I first got this it did this weird paint/plastic funk for the first hour before drying down to a sweet vanilla. I was mortified - I want my pears, not plastic! However, applying again, when the oil is around a month old, is much better. The plastic smell is only there for the first few minutes and then the pear comes out, sweetened by the vanilla. A lovely scent, if rather simple, and well worth being patient with!
  22. Jenesis

    International Shipping Info+Questions

    Well said I tend to think of it in terms of pounds - $13 is roughly £6.50. That's to ship a box (not an envelope), which can be quite heavy with bottles, three thousand miles to my front door. That's not bad going! My favourite computer parts retailer, who are UK based, charge nearly twice that much to ship. Not to mention the comparison between BPAL and "store" perfume. My last BPAL order: $175 = £90 including shipping. That's for seven bottles and two Imp packs of six scents each. A bottle of Calvin Klein = £45 for a single bottle, not including shipping. Guess which one I'd rather buy? Going back to faeriedust's original post: It's your money! If you don't want to spend it on a handling fee that's fine There are the swap forums, the ISO forum, and lots of livejournal groups for buying second-hand smellies.
  23. Jenesis

    Beaver Moon 2007

    This does indeed smell a lot like Bloody Mary, only less cough medicine and more sugar. First on, I don't like this at all. It smells like the cherry scented plastic Cabbage Patch Kid (or whatever they were called) doll. Thankfully, after 10 minutes or so it mellows out into a creamy fruit. Smelling it makes me feel all young and innocent again! However there is a hint of something sharp and burnt in the background. After an hour or so, it hasn't changed much. It's fairly pleasant, but it's still quite plasticky and there's still that burnt note in the background. I'll hang on to the Imp for fancy dress, but this isn't big bottle material.
  24. Jenesis

    Who are the authorized resellers?

    Heh, I can't be the only person who lives at a great distance from the Lab who actually has dreams like that.... You're not! I live in hope that one day Lush will start carrying BPAL! Not that that'll help much as I'm in the middle of bloody nowhere, but never mind eh... Hang on, isn't Morrisons part of the Wal*Mart umbrella?
  25. Jenesis

    Death Cap

    I have no idea what an actual Death Cap smells like, so this was an adventure for me! At first, this is indeed warm and soft, and somehow "muddy". It smells like a garden after it's been rained on for two days. After a few minutes it goes very sweet. As someone else said, I get a lot of vanilla out of this one. It's rather like Snake Oil but without so much incense. I don't think I'll wear this enough to get a bottle, but I'll definitely keep my imp!
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