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BPAL Madness!

dzurlady

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Everything posted by dzurlady

  1. dzurlady

    Why are LEs limited? Will they come back?

    I don't know exactly what you classify as 'untainted' but I know many BPALers cleanly test their oils with toothpicks etc, so you could try searching for cleanly tested bottles.
  2. dzurlady

    Why are LEs limited? Will they come back?

    Actually, I'd heard that there just wasn't the demand for the single notes.
  3. dzurlady

    Embalming Fluid Claw Polish

    In the bottle this is a light green, but it goes on clear (apart from the glitter, of course!). The glitter is reasonably large flecks in multiple colours. It catches the light but is reasonably discrete on your nails. It's easy to put on and dries very quickly - on my first coat, I can start at my thumb and it's dry by the time I hit my little finger, although it starts taking longer the more coats you put on. As for glowing, it doesn't glow much with 1 coat, but glows quite well with 2 and really brightly with 3. I keep being surprised at night when I turn my light off and see my glowing fingernails floating around in the dark. I do find it chipped a fair bit by itself, but layered over another colour it lasted better, and I imagine it would be better still if I'd done base and top coats. Overall, I'm very pleased - I bought this for the glow in the dark aspect, and it's fantastic! Edit to fix typos.
  4. dzurlady

    How long do bottles & imps last?

    All the 10mls were discontinued because (and I think I remember this correctly) they required a different filling process to the 5mls (I think they had to be done by hand?) which slowed the entire production process down, and the demand just wasn't there for them. As for being able to obtain an empty, there are still bottles floating around out there with other BPALers, and I have periodically seen them up for sale or swap. The problem is, they're in fairly high demand! Still, you never know your luck with BPAL - post an ISO, keep your eye on the swaps/sales area, you never know what might come up...
  5. dzurlady

    What is Chaos Theory?

    Nope, not last year. I wonder if we'll have it this year - it must take up a lot of time, and with the baby coming Beth must be pretty busy.
  6. dzurlady

    Cake, cookies, donuts, baked goods, even Cinnabon

    I agree totally with everyone else. Yum. I'll have to reconsider EGM, then! Perhaps you could search for grains, instead of bread? I'm pretty stumped, I must say.
  7. dzurlady

    Grr

    Minty goodness. Where I put it, I can feel the cool tingling of a slight numbing. The mint smell is particularly good if I'm feeling a little nauseous along with my headaches, like I do sometimes - it settles my stomach too. It's a nice, pleasant, clean smell that's comforting when I'm feeling bad. As for effectiveness, I find that it's good for smaller headaches, but not as good as something like Tiger Balm for bad headaches, and not as good as panadol. However, I did like it enough to get a bottle for two reasons: it's nice to use for smaller headaches, where I don't want to medicate or go the tiger balm route; and the mint smell is very pleasant, especially if I'm feeling queasy.
  8. dzurlady

    Lionheart

    I felt drawn to Lionheart the first time I saw its name and description, and I haven't been disappointed. To me it smells sort of like rosemary and orange, and powdery, but in a good way. I enjoy the scent. I've found it to be excellent when I feel overwhelmed and like a failure - it makes me feel stonger, more capable and confident, and not alone (not that I feel like there is someone else with me - just that my feeling of being alone goes away).
  9. dzurlady

    How do you apply your BPAL oils?

    If you comment here on or lj (there's at least one active wand cap seller) there's a lot of BPALers who have some wand caps who could sell you a small quantity cheaper than the retailers. I don't think I'm allowed to give out specific names not on the swap boards, though, so I can't be more helpful. If you ask for some, you should specify that you want glass, because some are plastic.
  10. dzurlady

    What do bottles and labels look like?

    I love the christmas lights around the Reindeer Poop label. On the 'new' page of the trading post site you can scroll down and see thumbnails of past tees, and there are some in the trading post gallery. There are a couple in the shirt sizing thread as well, I'm pretty sure.
  11. dzurlady

    What do bottles and labels look like?

    I like the green and mechanical phoenix lables best.
  12. dzurlady

    Shroud

    In the imp this was a calm, soft scent I couldn't really pin down. I liked it but didn't love it - which was good, because on it turns to Soap, practically instantly. Off to the swaps.
  13. dzurlady

    All Souls

    2007 version: When I first started BPALing I really thought I'd like incense blends, but I found that they're often too dry for me. When I heard about All Souls I was hopeful that the cake note would add some sweetness and balance out the incense, so I was delighted to see it return this year. I was even more delighted to find I was right! All Souls is everything I hoped for. In the imp, it's soft cakes with a underlying layer of incense. The cake note reminds me of Crumpet Rebellion, actually, although it's been awhile since I was able to try it. On my skin it's a lovely mix of incense and sweet, soft cakes. Over several hours the incense comes out more, making it a little dry and boring - I prefer the initial stages - but it's not bad. I think I will wear it in a scent locket or reapply it after a few hours.
  14. dzurlady

    The Perilous Parlor

    Very odd. In the vial and on me, it smells like that fake banana flavoured medicine. Straight to swaps.
  15. dzurlady

    Honey Moon

    I was expecting this to be very HONEY with some florals but instead I got FLORAL with some honey. Like others have said, it's more like pollen. It's also more like a traditional perfume sort of smell. I actually quite enjoyed it, even though I don't wear many florals. I am a little sad that after a few hours it's beginning to get a hint of pencil shavings, but I'm going to hold onto my imp.
  16. dzurlady

    The Perfect Lavender

    Tko! ETA: It's lavender and vanilla oil, I mean - I've never tried the Pastilles lotion to compare them.
  17. No problem. I love it when you want a scent and find you already have it coming! Or when you get frimped something you want to try. You might also be interested in looking through this thread. (Some suggestions are foody rather than sweet, but there are some other suggestions in there.)
  18. Actually, there *is* already a thread for this! It's in a different subforum, which is why you might have missed it - the Recommendations forum. The thread you want is pinned at the top - here's a direct link. If you have the notes, you can also browse the lab's site by notes from the search page. For example, using the advanced search (to search for discontinued scents too) I got the notes for all three scents: Pink Moon 2005: phlox, tulip, daffodil, dogwood and muscari, dusted with pink sugar and honey, and a touch of the first strawberries of the season. Also, apparently phlox is 'a primary component of this Lunacy Blend' Pink Moon 2007: sugared carnation and phlox Pink Phoenix: vanilla bean, honeycomb, sugared pear, sweet pea and a dribble of strawberry. Searching for phlox, I found 4 scents currently avaliable, which may smell similar (I've never tried any of them, including the two Pink Moons): (Exhibition II) Garden Path With Chickens - Gustav Klimt: Damp grass, ivy leaves, morning glory, daisy, rose geranium, heliotrope, white gardenia, climbing roses, peppery nasturtium, phlox, begonia, verbena and sun-warmed herbs (Exhibition III) Bat - Albrecht Dürer: Dusty amber, grey musk, red orchid, moonflower, night-blooming phlox, stock, honeysuckle, English ivy, toadflax, and purple salvia. (Funereal Oils) Midnight: An ethereal bouquet of night-blooming flowers. Evening primrose, ruellia, flowering nicotiana, wild petunia, panani-o-kai, night phlox, night gladiolus, moonflower and the elusive scent of Nottingham Catchfly. (Picnic in Arkham) Arkham: A shadowy, unapproachable forest of maple, birch, dogwood, cypress and pine softened by a garland of New England wildflowers: bergamot, columbine, rue anemone, blue violet, creeping phlox, bloodroot, toadflax, and pixie moss. They don't look as sweet, though, so you might be out of luck. If you can explain what you liked about them, maybe people can suggest alternatives? Edited to add: I see Rosaleen beat me too it. BTW, don't worry if your post seems to vanish - it will have been merged with the existing thread in the recs forum.
  19. dzurlady

    Springtime scents

    It's Spring! More or less. I thought I'd put myself in a more spring-y mood through careful application of BPAL, and so I went though this thread and made an incomplete and roughly alphebetical listing of many of the recommendations (some I skipped because I already had/had already tried/I knew that it had notes that I didn't like - so no slight intended) and thought that it might be useful for someone else at some point. If people gave a description, I put it in, although I edited the non-descriptive parts to make it shorter and might have missed some; I also went through them all and got the lab descriptions, although some didn't appear in the search engine: Aglaea - Three golden ambers, bright musk, peach wine and myrtle Al Araaf - A Demon In My View- Honeyed lilies, dry lotus root and fae flower Amsterdam - Tulips, peony, fresh flowing water and crisp green grasses Apothecary - Tea leaf with three mosses, green grass, a medley of herbal notes, and a drop of ginger and fig. Asphodel -The grey and ghostly flower that fills the fields of Hades Bathsheba - so warm and light and don't overwhelm - carnation, sensual plum, and Arabian musk. Bastet - Luxuriant amber, warm Egyptian musk, fierce saffron and soft myrrh, almond, cardamom and golden lotus Bayou - light green floral - Spanish moss, evergreen and cypress with watery blue-green notes and an eddy of hothouse flowers and swamp blooms. Belle Epoque - Sweet opium, Lily of the Valley, vanilla, mandarin and red sandalwood. Berenice - A Descent Into The Maelström - Stargazer lily, white musk, clear aloe, blonde amber and winding-cloth linen. Black Pearl - Coconut, Florentine iris, hazelnut and opalescent white musk. Blue Moon - A Little Lunacy - Mugwort and bay, for psychic sensitivity… Juniper, for divination through dreams… Orchid and galbanum, for complexity, wisdom and noscere… … with a potent lunar-charged blend of exquisite Asian woods, moonflower, Madagascan ylang ylang, Florentine iris, Greek cypress, davana, green tea absolute, palmarosa, cucumber, Clary sage, melilot trefoils, wood aloes, and pale creeping buttercup. Calliope - lavender and bright mint with bergamot, verbena, thyme and a touch of sweet orange and warm almond. Chiroptera - *springtime* captured in a vial. I can't even believe how sunny, warm, fresh and lovely it is; Sweetly floral, with a hint of lemon- [dz. - I couldn't find a description for this one, and it seems to be spelt correctly.] Cordelia - lilac, lemon, green tea, wisteria, osmanthus, white cedar, and Chinese musk. Dana O'Shee - Offerings of milk, honey and sweet grains were made to placate these creatures, and it is that the basis of the scent created in their name. Danube - fresh watery and lightly floral - Rhododendron and bellflower petals swirl through deep, cool, dark aquatic notes Desdemona - feel like spring to me (like early May) - Innocent, soft and pure: sweet pea, carnation and water lily Embalming Fluid- A light, pure scent: white musk, green tea, aloe and lemon Endymion - fresh clean white floral - A sweet, wistful blend of d'Anjou pear, Lily of the Valley, bois du rose and white musk. Envy - Green herbs slithering through mint, lime and lavender Eos - Honeysuckle just screams spring and summer to me - Her scent is that of softly glowing skin, jasmine, buttercup and honeysuckle. Fae - A brilliant, ethereal scent: white musk, bergamot, heliotrope, peach and oakmoss. Glasgow - The rich scent of wild blackberry breezing over gentle rosy heather Hakkotsu - discontinued GC - White sandalwood, Lily of the Valley and bergamot. Hamadryad - Seven dry woods with mossy lichen and a gentle breeze of forest flowers. Ingenue - [dz. - I couldn't find a description for this one.] Juliet - feel like spring to me (like early May) - Sweet pea with stargazer lily, calla lily, heliotrope, honeysuckle, white musk and a touch of fresh pear. Katherina - (innocent peach and orangeflower) - white musk with a trickle of bright, sharp apricot and orange blossom. Kitsune-Tsuki - Asian plum, orchid, daffodil, jasmine and white musk. Kumiho - A sharp, biting blend of crisp white tea and ginger. Kyoto - light green floral - A gentle, soothing blend of cherry blossom, white sandalwood and star anise Lady of Shalott - is my perfect fragrance for a cold, wet Irish spring -The scent of calm waters just before a raging storm, limned with achingly-beautiful blooms, an icy scent, but somehow warm, and mirror-bright: bold gardenia, crystalline musk, muguet, water blossoms, clear, slightly tart aquatic notes and a crush of white ginger. Lorelei - [dz. - I couldn't find a description for this one.] Lucy's Kiss - The gentle scent of rose and a blend of Victorian spices Magdalene - light green floral - A bouquet of white roses, labdanum, and wild orchid. Machu Picchu - Sweet tropical fruits burst through deep, wet rainforest boughs, enormous steamy blossoms, over thin mountaintop breezes, mingled with the soft, rich golden scent of Peruvian amber Maenad - Orgiastic mayhem in the extreme: sweet strawberry and orange blossom distorted by carnation, black poppy and hibiscus. Maiden - A gentle vision of purity, goodness and virtue: white tea, carnation and Damask Rose. Morgause (for a sexy spring evening) -A bouquet of five night-blooming flowers deepened by dusky violet, purple fruits and the barest breath of medieval incenses. Ophelia - gorgeously flowery springy -Wistful and vulnerable: lotus, water blossom ivy, stargazer lily and white rose Ostara - LE - Our springtime celebratory perfume is crafted with orris root, bergamot, frankincense, daffodil, orange pulp, attar of rose, jonquil, strawberry leaf, benzoin, violet leaf, copal, honey cakes, sweet cream, and the blossoms of springtime. Nefertiti - Egyptian iris and olibanum with red and white sandalwood, soft myrrh and a breath of North African herbs. Pele - light green floral - muguet and Hawaiian white ginger enveloped by warm, damp tropical blooms. Penthus - Salt tears over white roses, the fumes of thin funereal incense and the hollowness of calamus. Phantasm - lovely, clean, citrus - Green tea, lemon verbena, jasmine and neroli. Perfumed Garden - Lupercalia - Myrrh and Moroccan jasmine with apple peel, Indian sandalwood, myrtle, quince, citron, and thyme poured over soft musk. Phantom Queen - Black orchid, apple blossom, meadowsweet, and rue over Irish moss, hawthorn and red clover. Regan - A deceptively sweet orchid vanille with a faint trace of stephanotis Rome - cypress, juniper, chamomile and rose. Rosalind - Dew-covered berries and fresh green grasses with a faint breath of spring flowers Sea of Glass - if you like "aquatics" - A scent of inimitable purity, crystalline grace, and limitless light. Severin (although I wear this scent regardless of season) - Dry black teas, Earl Gray, and leather. Siren - (in very tiny amounts) for jasmine, vanilla & apricot - A thrilling, exotic blend -- deceptively sweet, but spiked with malice. White ginger, jasmine, and a touch of vanilla. Shanghai - lovely, clean, citrus; Sweet, aquatic green tea, lemon, and a touch of honeysuckle - The crisp, clean scent of green tea touched with lemon verbena and honeysuckle Shattered - A blend of white champagne notes, grapefruit, lotus, slivered mint and crystalline aquatic blooms. Sophia - if you like lavender - A solemn, deeply profound draught of lavender, soft musks, star jasmine, black rose, delphinium, and gentle spice. Spirits of the Dead - A Demon In My View - dry tea leaf, linden blossom, papyrus, orris and coffin wood Tears - discontinued GC - A clean, cathartic fragrance. Titania - nocturnal bounty of fae dew-kissed petals and pale fruits: white grape, white peach, iced pear, musk rose, sweet pea, moonflower and snapdragon. Thalia - Plumeria, pear and white champagn Tiger Lily - A feisty bouquet of golden, warm, gently honeyed lilies. Twenty-One - This is the scent of the perfect martini: The Fox-Woman Kuzunoha Leaving Her Child - is perfect for when I want to smell fresh, delicate and springlike - delicate cherry tree blossoms and tea. - White tea, cherry blossom, wisteria, star jasmine, teak The Dormouse - A dizzying eddy of four teas brushed with light herbs and a breath of peon The Unicorn- a little sweet, a little herby and a little floral, very clean fresh scent - A misty, almost luminous perfume: wispy linden blossoms, white flowers, and a touch of sweet herbs Water of Notre Dame - always reminded me of warming days, meadows, and calm weather - [Voodoo Blend] - Brings peace to the spirit, a sense of calm and fulfillment, and attracts the aid of beneficial spirits Whippoorwill - the scent of a dying breath as it wafts into the marshland: Spanish moss, cedar, black pepper, oakmoss, juniper, bamboo reeds and cardamom. Xiuhtecuhtli - Copal, plumeria and sweet orange and the smoke of South American incense and crushed jungle blooms. Zephyr - A gentle white scent, breezes laced with the scent of springtime blooms and citrus. Lemon, lemon verbena, neroli, white musk, white florals, white sandalwood, China musk, bergamot and a drop of vanilla. Edited to include lab descriptions. Edited again to fix description for Tears and Hakkotsu.
  20. dzurlady

    When your favorite GC blends are discontinued

    I'm sure I've seen other people looking for replacements, but I can't find the thread! Maybe someone else can help. Ivyandpeony is usually pretty on top of things.
  21. dzurlady

    International Shipping Info+Questions

    I'm not going to attack you about your opinion, although I do not share it (although I agree that it is sad that shipping does cost that much) because ultimately it is your money and I fully believe that you should spend it only when comfortable about doing so. I will however ask why you bothered to say 'no offence'. If you think your post will be offensive and you do not wish to give offence, change it; if you wish to say exactly what you said, stand by it. A disclaimer will not remove offence if you have caused any; it is not a conversational get out of jail free card. (This is, although I am sure you did not realise it, one of my biggest conversational annoyances.) I wish you luck with your group order, and hope it goes smoothly for you.
  22. dzurlady

    International Shipping Info+Questions

    Hi, I've ordered TAL before from Australia and the shipping rate is also $13 for up to 12 bottles. I think the Lab's $13 shipping rate includes a very reasonable $1 handling fee, as the price of the USPS international priority flat rate envelope is $12. For the four years that I've been a BPAL customer, they have always used global priority mail to ship to Australia. I recall reading somewhere that the Lab prefers this method as too many packages go missing with regular airmail. I don't think you would save much at all with regular airmail versus the flat rate global priority envelope. The global priority envelope costs $11. I just checked. Besides I've ordered from other etailers and I always pay $11. Honestly, I think regular airmail will be cheaper if Im ordering 2 or 3 bottles. It's ridiculous to send so few bottles in a huge envelope. I've had airmail and global priority mail sent to me and I've not noticed any difference. No faster delivery time or lost mail. I think global priority can get lost too. Anyway I'm still waiting for a reply from TAL. The lab will not send it by airmail, because they had so many parcels get damaged and lost in transit. (Mainly I think it was the damage.) And if the shipping itself costs $11 it's sure to cost the lab more than that to send stuff out! The cost of the mailer and bubblewrap for a start, but also the time it takes to physically send it out - the lab has staff costs too. If it's really stressing you out, you can post an ISO in the wanted forum and see if a forumite can send you some (you'd have better luck with decants, but might be able to get bottles) and they would be ok with sending it via airmail.
  23. dzurlady

    Who are the authorized resellers?

    Plus they're not LE so they can be done through the forum! When I was there last week, the women told me that the guy in charge of ordering was planning to double the size of the existing display. *fingers crossed* Yay! Not only more range, but that must mean they're doing well. I'm the same way, thankfully! That was my thought entirely - and anything to encourage more retailers can only be a good thing. We'll still get hold of it through the secondary market, and prices shouldn't go crazy because they're not LE.
  24. dzurlady

    Sugar-Slathered Candied Apple

    The apple is definitely stronger than the caramel, for me. In the vial and on my skin first up, I get apple most strongly. You can tell the caramel is there, but it's hiding. The apple is slightly perfumey - I haven't tried many other BPAL apples, but the ones I have tried have smelled like this too. It is pretty similar to Creepy, but not as buttery. It's not very sweet on me either. When it gets dryer, the caramel does come out more, but the apple dominates the whole way. This is a fairly straightforward scent, and it doesn't morph much. The throw is on the smaller side. While this is plesant enough, it doesn't really call to me - although I don't dislike it, I'm not a huge fan of the apple and I'd love a bit more caramel. ETA: Several hours after writing this, the caramel came out more, which was nice, although I think I'll have to slather a bit more. The caramel is also more obvious in the throw. ETA2: More slathering = mmmm! Especially after wearing it for a bit. ETA3: I really slathered this on tonight, and omg yay. Gorgeous. Apple, with caramel hanging around it. I adore it.
  25. dzurlady

    Marshmallow Poof

    This was one of my full set of Inquisition sniffies. I suspected that Marshmellow Poof wouldn't work for me, and I was right. In the vial: Marshmellows. Really, if you know what marshmellows smell like you're good to go here, because that's really what it's like. Personally it's not a smell I care for, so it was unlikely this was going to work for me, and that proved to be the case. On the skin: At first this has plastic elements in it, a milder version of the plastic I got from Toyko Stomp. It blends better here, though, patially as it's fainter and partially as it matches the Marshmellow-y smell. This isn't a powdery smell, although it is a little fuzzy. There's little change on drydown apart from the plastic mostly receding. It has good throw and wear length (still going very strong when I washed it off 6 hours after applying a small swipe to one wrist).
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