CluckingBell

10 hours ago, Lucchesa said:

Thank you!!!  I did think of a way it could be done. We could open 11 slots for people willing to send up to 10 cards, 6 slots for people willing to send up to 5, and multiples of 3 for people willing to send 2. Everyone in each group would send to everyone else in that group. Do you think that would work? 

That seems like running 3 swaps in one and potentially limiting participation unnecessarily. More importantly, if you don't fill all your slots, you have the same problem you attempted to avoid (i.e., untidy distribution) but less flexibility to solve it.

It seemed like on the old swaps they never said everyone would receive as many as they sent until after the lists were divided up and the math had been worked out, which makes me think a) people mostly signed up in convenient 5's and 10's, b) 10 was seen as a maximum rather than a goal and the 10's sometimes sent/received fewer than 10, and/or c) with a full docket of 20 participants, everything settles into place pretty naturally, with maybe an extra card or two sent by a mod.

I don't know of any exchange generators that are sophisticated enough to handle this, but I'd be happy to lend some brainpower to the task if/when needed. I think the actual doing is easier than the imagining. 🙂

Smells downright carbonated wet on the hair, like 7-Up, then dries down quickly to pure sweet-tart fruit---almost syrupy rather than bubbly, but the tartness keeps it from smelling too dense and cloying. The musk seems to waft and linger, so it's less noticeable in my hair than when I reenter a room I just left and get a soft hint of 51. After 12 hours, the scent is still strong, but the fruit has mellowed a bit so the musk has more room to play. Fun, festive scent that makes me think of (non-alcoholic) punch at a holiday gathering.

I think of heliotrope as a nasal prickle rather than an actual scent, so I may not be the best person to offer advice. :-)

REGARDLESS...I like Fae (peachy) and Tamora (vanilla and sandalwood), but Hollywood Babylon (strawberry, vanilla, black cherry) may be more your speed. Dawn: Maiden (milk and honey) looks like it has potential for sweet and creamy.

You can review all of the lab's heliotrope blends at https://blackphoenixalchemylab.com/product-tag/heliotrope/.

Is a Halloween book swap one where you exchange spooky/scary books? Because I'd definitely be game for that (doing and/or helping to organize).

Just popping in to add encouragement for the book and critter swap ideas. :-)

I'll try to update when I've given it a full day's wear, but my initial impressions are very positive. I definitely get "sun-baked" rather than "scorched" or "barren," and nothing nightmarish about it. On me, Scarecrow has the same full, rich, rounded, Mother-Nature's-loving-embrace quality that I get from Theoi Nomioi, but maybe with some florals and a hint of field stubble in place of the trees. It's a beauty with a nice, mid-range throw.

That said, I got my imp secondhand, so it could have been a well-aged sample I tried. I'll know better once I buy a bottle brand new.

ETA 2017: After getting a lab-fresh bottle, I definitely understand where the banana and/or nail polish comparisons were coming from. Those elements diminish on dry-down, but this may be a scent that requires a little aging to reach its fullest potential, and I think it's worth it.

ETA 2020: My bottle is now 3 years old. It smells pretty nasty in the bottle and absolutely glorious the moment it hits my skin, just like the original imp I tried. No artificial banana nail polish smell during drydown. So glad I didn't give up on it!

CluckingBell

I've had pretty good experiences with patchouli so far, but Vixen showed me how it can go wrong. As soon as it hit my skin, it began to smell like musty outhouse toilet paper, which just got stronger and stronger as time passed. An hour later I was removing several layers of skin trying to get the smell off of me. Fortunately, I seem to be in a minority. CluckingBell