ivyandpeony

Just a mod note - I had to unapprove quite a few posts in this thread that were recommending scents from other companies and steering people to other retail sites. Please remember the place for those discussions is in Retail Therapy and not in BPAL Recommendations. If you are curious, you can read more about this in the pinned threads at the very top of the Recs index. Thanks!

 

My big faves are:

 

And There Was a Great Cry in Egypt <snip>

The Fox-woman Kuzunoha Leaving Her Child <snip>

Three Brides <snip>

Itasô Kansei Nenkan Jorô No Fûzoku <snip>

Philosopher in Meditation <snip>

Schlafende Baigneuse (<snip>

Why, ivyandpeony, I had no idea we were scent-sisters! You've only omitted Arrival on the Sabbath from my Salon favorites, and you've introduced me to Philosopher in Meditation which I had overlooked based on the notes. The Asian-styled ones don't appeal so much to me, but you interest me... <looks speculatively at the casually rejected imps...>

 

As I sadly retest imps before the Demise of the Salon, I've added Madonna and The Cup of Death to my possibles, as well as Philosopher. I'll be watching this thread and reading reviews as well - what will I regret missing?

I wanted to love Arrival on the Sabbath but I have a terrible caramel problem. It is heartbreaking, but every blend with caramel that I've ever tried does two things on my skin. First the caramel note keeps amping and amping til it's all I can smell, then it morphs into a burnt-sugar-on-the-bottom-of-the-oven instead of a creamy caramel. It's a curse, I tell you - I just look at the notes for that blend and swoon.

I checked my wishlist & I have Love and Pain & Le Mort Qui Danse on there. . . will have to dig up the imps I have and re-test before I decide. I have some other Salons in my box of loot as well, so I'll try to remember to go thru and post mini reviews of those ASAP.

I am pretty sad to see that the Salon series is going to be discontinued as of July 30th. I have quite a few favorites in that category and I'm hoping that I haven't missed any treasures that I wasn't aware of. So anyway, I thought I'd start a topic so we can all share info about our favorites as we plan final orders for those scents. Please share your favorites.

My big faves are:

And There Was a Great Cry in Egypt (Dark myrrh, white sandalwood, amber, hyssop, frankincense, honey, cypress, red musk, cardamom and saffron) - gorgeous spicy ambery red musk. If you love red musk blends, this one really needs to be in your collection.

The Fox-woman Kuzunoha Leaving Her Child (White tea, cherry blossom, wisteria, star jasmine, and teak) - a light floral despite the wisteria, the white tea & cherry blossom lighten things up

Three Brides (Moroccan rose, king mandarin, red sandalwood, Egyptian amber, orchid, carnation, benzoin, tonka, calla lily, vanilla flower) - just gorgeous, a little more "formal" in feel than some of my simple favorites

Itasô Kansei Nenkan Jorô No Fûzoku (Osmanthus, white honey, ti leaf, hibiscus, and sugar cane) - I love the blends that have an Asian feel and this is another favorite of mine. Sweet without being sickly sweet and lightly floral.

Philosopher in Meditation (Smoldering woodfire embers, Galen''s Kyphi, and Abramelin incense) - such a deep and intense incense scent. It's like a cranked up version of Sri Lanka or Midnight Mass.

Schlafende Baigneuse (Skin musk, white cream, honeycomb, yellow rose, King mandarin, chrysanthemum, golden amber, honeysuckle, and wide-throated yellow monkey-flower accord) - you can probably tell I love florals and this one's really special. The mandarin, chrysanthemum & amber offset the sweet flowers and provide a bit of a spicy base.

This was the latest announcement about shipping rates, from January of this year. Could it be that you were eligible for the flat rate shipping this time around? At today's exchange rate, 19 USD is about 12.35 BPS.

Today the USPS increased its prices for both domestic and international shipping.

 

While the domestic increase is small enough for us to absorb, the international increase is pretty hefty.

 

As of today, our shipping rates are as follows:

 

 

 

Domestic shipping rates for the US are as follows:

 

Orders totaling up to $150.00: $7.50

…up to $300.00: $12.00

…up to $500.00: $14.00

 

International shipping costs vary depending on the location we’re shipping to and the weight of the package. The latter is determined by the number of bottles that we’re sending out.

 

We use USPS Flat Rate on most international shipments. The Flat Rate service offered by USPS features a fixed price per package, regardless of weight. As a rule, we can fit up to 24 items in International Flat Rate packaging with occasional exceptions.

 

The International Flat Rate shipping fee is $19.00 for all orders up to 24 bottles; the rate jumps to $43.00 on orders containing more that 20 items that won’t entirely fit in the Flat Rate box. Shipping is free for all orders that exceed $500.

 

For Canadian orders, $15.00 will cover shipments up to 24 items; the price is $28.00 for shipping over 24 items.

 

For Eastern European countires, such as Russia, Czech Republic, Moldova or Poland, $20.00 will cover shipments up to 24 items; the price is $50.00 for shipping over 24 items.

 

Shipping costs will be waived for all orders over $500.00, both domestic and international.

 

 

 

This pricing applies to both Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab and Twilight Alchemy Lab. Because Black Phoenix Trading Post’s shipping grid is more complex, they will be issuing their revised shipping scale within the next few days.

I did leave a message for the review moderators about Frederic, so they won't be confused about what we've chatted about.

They get their own thread when they refomulate.

Yes, you are right about that. My point is just that if you are anxious to review the new version of Frederic, go ahead and post it in the old thread and report your post. When the review mods make the new thread (in fact, if they are off schedule creating new threads this will remind them), they can move your review of the new version to the new thread. Or was there something I am missing? This won't help you if you are just interested in reading new reviews, of course.

If you're ready to review it, you could just post your review in the original Frederic thread and report the post. If the review mods are going to start a new thread for the current version, they can send your post to the new thread when it is created.

. . .

 

People, if you're feeling weird or hesitant about e-mailing the Lab you shouldn't. They don't bite.

Absolutely! Remember that customer service is there for exactly these moments.

Hey bookandbroom - I just got my 2/14 order yesterday. The CnS came on Tuesday 2/28. So if you don't see anything soon, I'd drop the Lab a line, but I don't think you're quite in danger turf yet. In fact, I think my order might have come sooner but I ordered a bottle of Theotokos along with a bunch of Lupercalias. I think most of the Lupers are shipping quickly but Theotokos was a newer one waiting to be blended and bottled. Good luck!

No worries at all, y'all! I actually had just made the posts invisible, but then I forgot to PM those people, and then I remembered that the newest version of the forum software doesn't let the OP view their "invisibilized" posts, then all of a sudden at least 36 hours had passed

Just to clarify; Absolutely nothing wrong with being 40 - or 50 or 60 or 70 and so on - but I'm just about 30, and by my own standards, I want to feel roughly 30 - not 40 and not 20

 

. . .

I'm 46 and I TOTALLY want to feel 20!!

I have The Vine on the way to me so I can't give you a review of that, but I love Endymion. It's a really nice combination of white musk, woody notes and creamy pear.

Just one of those periodic bumps. Please feel free to PM me with any concerns, questions, issues, etc.

Hi guys - just a quick comment about recommending other companies' perfumes in this section. Some time ago we got to the volume of posts and membership where opening this section up to other companies' scents was going to make it a big free-for-all mess. It's not something I even issue reminders for, but periodically I bump the post that's here: http://www.bpal.org/topic/42782-please-bpal-recommendations-only-in-this-subforum/ Feel free to contact me with any questions, concerns, etc.

I love the illustrations! And the recommendations too.

thanks for your input, Alethia! I am a big, BIG floral fan too. The only ones that haven't worked for me have been scents with two extremely assertive floral notes, like lilac and wisteria together or jasmine with another sassy, assertive floral. I am always drawn to the florals with every update and this time around Lady in Speckled Pink Kimono really caught my eye.

Since today is Valentine's Day I thought it would be a good time for us to start chatting about this. What Lupercalia scents are this year's must-haves? Did any disappoint you? Did you discover an incredible sleeper hit that no one will know about unless you recommend it here?

I have to confess - I haven't tried any yet! But I have quite a wishlist and hope to be placing my order ASAP.

Snowshowers-lovers, go try yourselves decants or bottles of Phoenix at Dawn, no joking around. It's remarkably similar in many respects, available until Feb. 10, and ...yeah. Try it. Fizzy orange blossomy sweetness, but BPAL-style, with BPAL longevity and a little more oomph.

. . .

 

Can you feel it? I am sending you telepathic hugs and kisses!

I took a warming bath with Glogg last night and realized it's very similar to Inferno. Glogg's really heavy on the cinnamon to me and Inferno is straight-up cinnamon on my skin. But sometimes simplicity is what I want.

I would second Tea Otter's suggestion of Snake OIl. I've had people tell me that Snake Oil reminded them of Carmex lip balm, and Tiger Balm reminds me of Carmex. I find Snake Oil to have more sweet/musky/woodsy elements than spicy ones, at least when you're thinking of cinnamon, cassia, ginger, clove type spices, so I don't think it would be overwhelmingly spicy.

And I agree w/ mel85 that Sin might work well w/ the smell of Tiger Balm. The notes listed are amber, sandalwood, black patchouli and cinnamon, but at least on me, there's barely a touch of cinnamon. It's much more resiny and woody to me.

I'll be sure to post again if anything else pops up in my mind!

So, so good! I agree with the previous reviewers, there's something that's a little creamy about this. I have the world's most reactive skin when it comes to cinnamon, cardamom, pepper. etc. in my BPAL, but after using this as an after-shower moisturizer successfully, I tried it in a hot bath and had no skin issues at all. This is a really delicious, spicy foodie scent and I found it layers really well with Sugar Cookie perfume (I don't have Gingerbread Poppet perfume, but I can imagine that you could really up the oomph-y gingerbready goodness with that!)

I have only used this one as a moisturizer so far. I agree, it is strong & a little will go a long way. But this jasmine seems a bit gentler than some of the in-your-face assertive BPAL jasmines. If you really hate jasmine, you won't like it, but if you just find that jasmine can be too strong, this might be the ticket for you. I get mostly honey and berries underneath the jasmine so ultimately it's a sweet honeyed floral. Really girly and pretty, I'm so glad I got a bottle!

Mod note - I tweaked the title thinking it might get a little more attention with the company name there. =)

Member note - I LOVE Tyler's High Maintenance scent! I will have to have a sniff and see if there's something BPAL that rings a bell for me. I really haven't ever had a scent from that company I didn't like except for one foody one a few years ago that just was WAY too much. I gave it to a friend who loves foody and she ended up tossing because it was too much for her too! Candied Chestnut or something like that - it smelled a lot like BPAL Gluttony.

. . .

Wish I could find a bpal similar to Champagne Snowshowers! *laments loss of favorite scent*

 

. . .

Me too - I think it's my favorite Lush scent too. At least Lush gave us an early Christmas present with the Golden Wonder ballistic. It's showing up as out of stock on the US site, but I would heartily recommend hitting up local stores or the UK site if you love Champagne Snowshowers.

. . .

Now my question. anyone knows a bpal scent thats simular to sakura bath ballistic or rubrubrub. my sister is the biggest fan of this scent.

Also does someone knows what bpal comes close to the olive branch? Snake oil goes very well with it but its not really close to it

Kyoto is the strongest straught-up cherry blossom scent I can think of.

I am sure you will get more responses as people receive their Yule orders - it looks like the Lab hasn't started shipping Yule orders just yet. I haven't put my order together, either, so I'm looking forward to hearing what the most popular new scents are.

Of the scents that are returning, my favorites are Chanukah, Jacob's Ladder, Noche Buena, Rose Red and Snow White. Snow White is unique and to me, doesn't smell like anything I've ever smelled before. It's reminiscent of almonds, but not almondy, reminiscent of coconut but not coconutty. Jacob's Ladder is my absolute favorite resin scent from all the BPAL scents I've tried over the years - it's predominantly amber on me, but of course the versions can vary from year to year with any of these. And Noche Buena was a big sleeper hit for me. It's mostly a white floral with other notes that kind of make it a little spicy. I love it.

The Frankenstein and Little Match Girl scents are brand new to the Lab, so I'm also looking forward to reading reviews and trying as many as I can.

The closest Black Opal smell-alike I have tried is Staged Moon Landing. I get some vanilla and a mineral-y, slightly dusty vibe from it. Of course, it's an LE and may be as hard to find as Black Opal - i have no idea how popular or unpopular it may have been while that series was being offered.

The apple note in The Glittering Apple of The Stars reminds me very much of The Hesperides. On my skin, The Hesperides was pretty much a single note apple scent - I love the accompanying notes in Glittering Apple but your mileage may vary (for the record: Heirloom Malus, ylang ylang, white and blue musks, crystallized vanilla, tiare, frangipani, and bergamot).

You might find some ideas in this thread - http://www.bpal.org/topic/7633-bpal-for-headaches-pain-colds-seizures-sickness-illnesses/

It may be that a scent that works for some may not work perfectly for him, so you might have to try a couple of things. This blog entry recommends ginger and mandarin essential oils, so something like the Panacea blend Moxie that's full of ginger and citrus might work well. Peppermint and other mints seem to be recommended often for nausea, so maybe something like GRR, the headache Panacea blend, would work. (I'd lean towards the Panacea blends as opposed to the perfumes since they're actually intended for aromatherapy and just contain essential oils, not any accords or bouquets. - a minty or gingery perfume might comfort him if you are wearing it, but for real aromatherapy you want those concentrated essential oils.)

I will be thinking about you and your family!