Failmingo

After many years of struggling to get the most out of our website, we've decided to commit to a major refurbishing, hopefully as soon as January. We're looking forward to all kinds of increased functionality, streamlining things for the customer as well as on our end. However, we've been advised that a lot of customer and back-end information will not survive this transfer. Your order history on the old site, for example, will no longer be accessible on the new platform. Your reviews *on the BPAL website itself* will no longer be accessible (the BPAL.org forum is its own domain, and will not be affected by the migration). If you wish to save any of this information, please do so by the end of the calendar year. Past that point, as we proceed with the site overhaul, we can no longer guarantee the preservation of that data. If we can think of anything else to add to this list, we'll definitely let you know. That brings me to the sad subject of wish lists: we'd recently asked folks to please back up their wish lists, as some critical function had been lost and we were going to try to repair it. As it turns out, we were not able to fix the wish list system, and that info is now unrecoverable. We're terribly sorry if you did not hear about this in time to save everything. This situation is one of the many ongoing problems that has inspired us to make the leap and join the 21st century (in this one small way, at least). We'll be sharing more news about this renovation as we have it! And I'll try to circulate this info as widely as possible so fewer folks are caught unawares. You're welcome to reach out with questions if you have them, although I don't have much additional info at this time. Please just know that as an online retailer, we're very enthusiastic about the fresh possibilities likely to come from having a navigable retail website. Just imagine!

Happy holidays are on the horizon, and per our custom, we're hoping to encourage folks to support smaller businesses during the great consumeriffic shopathon dance-battle this holiday weekend. So, into every order over $24 (before shipping) placed on Friday November 28th through Monday, December 1st, we will lovingly enclose a free stash of the following 1/32 oz. pie-themed perfume oils: ✤ MATCHA LATTE CREAM PIE We're that relative who tries to make everyone try a green pie! This one dances lightly on the palate. ✤ LONDON FOG CREAM PIE A velvety, sophisticated concoction for the ages! ✤ STRAWBERRY LEMONADE PIE A burst of summer sun to treasure during the icy months ahead. ✤ BOMBASTIC SUBTROPICAL TURQUOISE CREAM PIE Disclaimer: this perfume oil is not blue, it is not combustible, and it is not caffeinated. As I've mentioned in past years, we GREATLY appreciate your help in spreading the word about what we do, – whether it's this Free Gift promo, or our brand new Yule collection, or just BPAL in general. This time of year it's awfully hard to break through the static, even to folks who are already following us. By sharing our posts, writing reviews, or otherwise recommending our work to others, you help expand our reach exponentially. Believe me, it makes a big difference. May all of your bajas be absolutely blasted in the festive weeks to come!

Fingernail-havers! Our Halloween 2025 perfume series inspired this new series of Autumn Nail Polishes, which we'll be selling while supplies last. Paint your claws in different stages of leaf decomposition! Let a Lovebat (or two) ride along to your pedicure. https://blackphoenixalchemylab.com/product-tag/autumn-2025/ As a side-note, we'll have testers for these at the Twin Cities Lunacy event on Saturday!

We can't wait to return to Odd Mart this Saturday, November 8th. Come see us between 3p-6pm! As a special bonus, we’ll have tester bottles of *three new perfume oils* that will soon be joining TOMIE in the Lab's collab with the Junji Ito Collection: ✤ FASHION MODEL ✤ SOICHI ✤ TOMIE’S LAUGHTER Please note that the store itself closes at 6pm, so those final 15 minutes of our event will be devoted to final purchases and preliminary packing up of our stuff. The staff have been amazingly welcoming, but I hate keeping anyone there even slightly longer than necessary on a Saturday to lock up after us. See you soon!

Brace yourselves, Sacramento! We're crashing Carla Wyzgala's booth at the Oddities & Curiosities Expo this weekend. https://odditiesandcuriositiesexpo.com Chrissy will be there selling a limited range of BPAL enticements alongside Carla's Skull Maskerade series and other artworks. Who will be there? Booth #47, baby!

Happy Halloween, B-pals! Beeple? Labsters? Anyhow, technically *tomorrow* is October 32nd, but we wanted to go ahead and get this mini-launch out there so we could begin raising funds for those recovering from Hurricane Melissa. https://blackphoenixalchemylab.com/product-tag/october-31-2025/ These three scents benefit Direct Relief, which supports the Caribbean with medical aid and supplies and supports health facilities in the region: ✤ JAMAICAN BELLFLOWER A sun-warmed bloom, its fragrance unfurls in lush waves: rich and creamy, like chocolate and nectar mingling in the sultry air. A scent both decadent and wild, glistening with heady sweetness. ✤ NIGHT-SCENTED ORCHID A tribute to Epidendrum nutans, the nocturnal seductress of the forest canopy. Sweet, indolic jasmine curls around a breath of citrus and moonlit air, a perfume that blooms when the world sleeps. ✤ OCTOBER 35TH In a desperate bid to mend the fractures of this cursed timeline, we are stretching Halloween beyond all reason, until time itself buckles and snaps back into place. It’s thirsty work, so here’s a snuggly blanket of creamy pumpkin cold foam quivering atop a pint of butterscotch ale. That's right, we're back to our old tricks with post-Halloween time manipulation! We've also revived our past experiments as well – October 32nd through 34th – but these aren't part of the fundraiser: ✤ OCTOBER 32ND The scent of Eternal October: leaves fluttering against a thick wool sweater, the cool amber glow of an autumn sunset, dollops of thick cream swirling in black tea. ✤ OCTOBER 33RD Don’t mind us, we’re just distorting time beyond all recognition to wring the last drop of fun out of the season. Spiced bourbon apples, pumpkin soufflé, the dregs of your last PSL of the season, and a handful of candy corn. ✤ OCTOBER 34TH For those remaining defiantly spooky even though the stores are full of Christmas junk: a jolly endcap of cinnamon pine cones and ribbon candy next to a clearance bin full of pumpkin sugar cookies. Do with that info what you will. And please have a happy and safe spooky event weekend! It's currently pissing rain on us here in Minneapolis but we're hoping it will clear in time for trick-or-treating this evening. 🎃

A big one for me was Every Sweet Thing, which is also a fundraiser scent: honey-dripping plakous, rose petals, caramelized hazelnut, and goat’s milk. https://blackphoenixalchemylab.com/shop/activism/sorores-genita-nocte-aigles-kharities/every-sweet-thing-perfume-oil/ Truly just a wonderful combo of so many wholesome, enticing, beautiful things! The inclusion of rose adds to the gourmand instead of diverting from it, almost like a sticky rosewater-infused baklava.

The Blood Moon launch has arrived! Not only have we added a nail polish to our monthly trove of themed items, this Lunacy has brought another round of Rarities and B-Sides. https://blackphoenixalchemylab.com/product-tag/lunacy-october-2025/ And there seems to be a recurring theme among this month's Ars Anni scents as well, not sure if I can put my finger on it...

Jude Doyle's followup to Dead Blondes & Bad Mothers will be published on October 21st, a non-fiction book entitled DILF: Did I Leave Feminism? To celebrate, we've created a singular DILF fragrance that's available as a perfume oil, hair gloss, and beard oil. https://blackphoenixalchemylab.com/product-category/dilf-did-i-leave-feminism/ Our DILF scent is a rich bourbon cream skin musk, formulated to announce and enhance whatever version of oneself is currently coming forth. From the publisher: In this sharp manifesto, veteran author and activist Jude Doyle reunites feminist and trans politics through a common belief: that all people deserve to have the final say about who they are… When Jude Doyle began his transition in the summer of 2020, he had a very public career as a feminist – winning awards from women’s organizations, writing for women’s magazines, publishing books on “women’s issues.” Then, after a decade in the movement, he had to walk out in front of the public and tell them he had never been a woman at all. Doyle offers a seldom-heard and much-needed transmasculine perspective on feminist subjects, drawing together strands of intersectional feminist theory and queer and trans politics to show that all their struggles are the same struggle: The fight for gender-marginalized people to maintain autonomy and full selfhood in a patriarchy that is always eager to hollow us out and use us to further its own agenda. DILF offers a strong rebuke to trans-exclusionary feminisms that seek to drive a wedge between gender-marginalized communities. Using interviews, critical analysis, and Doyle’s own personal experience, DILF proves that feminism is a vital and necessary tool for breaking free of patriarchal control, whoever you are.

Over the weekend, we expanded our Skull Maskerade collaboration with Carla Wyzgala by two scents: https://blackphoenixalchemylab.com/product-category/skull-maskerade/ If you're interested in reviews, start pestering those who visited Carla's NYCC booth in person – because she had them there at the table! 🎭 HOLLOWMAN Dark delusions, sinister shadows in an underground lair, surrounded by death and decay, puffs of tobacco smoke and a longing to be whole. Pipe tobacco and a splash of Victorian fougere, damp soil and grave moss, yew boughs and mandrake root. VEX Vex, the Bone Goddess – summoning rituals of skulls, bones and stones, chanting into the dancing flames, pits of black ash and spice, the door opens. A bone goddess’ sacred incense: fire and ash, bone shards, and stone.

Yes! It's only kind of technically a horror film, Galen and I have watched it so many times over the years. Very cool to see it mentioned as an inspiration for the new Rodarte collection! Last night was Jennifer's Body.

Anyone who appreciated our Dead Blondes & Bad Mothers scent collaboration with author Jude Doyle might be interested in hearing that Doyle's new book is now available to preorder, and Thrift Books currently has it for below list price: https://www.thriftbooks.com/w/dilf-did-i-leave-feminism_jude-doyle/54633951/item/83485439/#edition=72611544&idiq=83485439 The book is called DILF: Did I Leave Feminism? and explores the way his life and perspective as a feminist author have evolved since beginning to transition in 2020. There are no scents associated with this new title... not yet, anyway!

We watched Over The Garden Wall last night, 3 Women the night before, and I just saw that BUG was added to the Criterion channel. Thank you for the reminder to keep track, I'd love to be able to look back in a month and see just how much spooky/strange we managed to ingest.

Hi everyone, Brian has informed me that they're having major issues with the way Wish Lists work on the BPAL website, and they're planning to try to update it a week from now. So if your Wish List is important to you, please copy it down somewhere safe. I dunno what will happen, but we want to make sure no information is lost as we try to fix this feature. We will update with more information before we do anything! TB

Thank you for enduring our last-minute hiccups and fine-tuning! Our annual Halloween fragrance series is LIVE: https://blackphoenixalchemylab.com/product-category/halloween-2025/ We've got a truly stonkering array of Main Category perfume oils for you to dig through – some old, some new! As well as a truly bewildering assortment of seasonal hair glosses, atmosphere sprays, beard oils, and lotions. Beyond there you'll find the customary Pile of Leaves series, a batty little series called Bat's All, Folks!, the long-foretold Halloween Flash Sheet perfume oils, the 2025 revival (and expansion!) of Wild Hearses as perfume oils, and a brand new eight-scent series adapting the classic 1892 horror tale "The Yellow Wallpaper"(!!). Thank you for sharing in our excitement of these things! And special thanks to the artists whose work adorns these labels and web listings: you provide the soul of the season year round for those of us waiting to revel in it.