November 06, 2007
The Watchers
There are 27 people watching my auction of BPAL Beaver Moon 2005.
That's crazy.
I can has bidding war?
Posted by spacegrrl at 06:34 PM | Comments (0)
Category: BPALNovember 04, 2007
Ebay auctions - Fluevogs, BPAL
Wow, it's been a loooong time since i sold anything on ebay. But here we go.
Fluevog Mini Lily Darling pumps, burgundy and green.
BPAL 2005 Beaver Moon partial 5ml.
BPAL 2005 Snow White partial 5ml.
Posted by spacegrrl at 10:40 AM | Comments (0)
Category: BPALJanuary 24, 2007
BPAL: The Phantom Calliope
"Ghostly, glowing, sweet and dark: black cherry, patchouli, cassis, cardamom and verbena."
Cherry. Yuck. If it weren't for the cherry this would be pretty fantastic, but cherry either doesn't agree with my nose or with my skin chemistry. J patiently inhaled my wrist after I tried it, but he agreed: not one of my best. I've put the whole bottle up for sale.
Posted by spacegrrl at 10:55 PM | Comments (0)
Category: BPALJanuary 06, 2007
it's a beautiful day to sell off huge parts of my BPAL collection
it's a lovely day. i unexpectedly find myself free, and i have no problem taking it easy, since i've been sick all week, it is a lovely day. maybe later i will take the convertible for a spin.
anyway. so i have all of this perfume from Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab. well, not perfume exactly, but essential oil perfume blends.
i have too much-- i'm a very light BPAL user. essential oils are volatile and eventually, they will fade away.
so i've decided to decant from my favorite bottles. the things i want to keep, but don't need a whole 5ml bottle of.
i've posted these to the forums, and am also cross-posting here.
Posted by spacegrrl at 01:50 PM | Comments (1)
Category: BPALDecember 01, 2006
BPAL: 2007 moons
Today Beth announced the moons for the first half of 2007. She's bringing back some moons from a few years ago, stuff that goes for very high prices on ebay. I'm particularly hyped because one of them is Pink Moon! Pink Moon was my first BPAL love, and my bottle has gone bad. Milk Moon is also coming back, and there's two moons in June, which probably means that the highly coveted Blue Moon will also make an appearance.
I didn't care for the Chinese moons this year (with the notable exception of Hungry Ghost Moon), so this is excellent news. Um, not that I need any more BPAL...
Posted by spacegrrl at 08:20 AM | Comments (0)
Category: BPALNovember 13, 2006
Massive BPAL sale
Time to do something about the excesses of the summer.
Curious? Want to be smellier?
check out my sale on bpal.org.
Posted by spacegrrl at 09:28 PM | Comments (0)
Category: BPALOctober 08, 2006
NBeast photoz
I was quite busy during the show so I wasn't able to photograph things the way I normally would.
Posted by spacegrrl at 10:36 PM | Comments (0)
Category: BPALSeptember 05, 2006
BPAL: The Organ Grinder
Posted by spacegrrl at 11:00 PM | Comments (1)
Category: BPALSeptember 04, 2006
BPAL: Midnight on the Midway and Gennivre, L'artiste du Diable
Part of the Carnival Diabolique series. I did well enough on BPAL sales this summer that I was able to purchase the entire Carnival with my earnings-- knowing full well that I'd be selling off plenty of it, just not sure which parts. And I have to say that it sure was cool to have them all show up in my mailbox, complete with little cards for each scent and all kinds of other extra goodies.
Sarah and I met today at the Broad Street Cafe so she could check them out, and we lined them all up on the table, each with its card, and I could feel the collector part of my personality twinge a little. But by the end of the afternoon I knew that some of them have to go. And probably a good bit of the rest of the BPAL collection does too. How many lifetimes of perfume does a girl really need? I don't even wear that much, anyway.
Ooooooh-kay. Oh, by the way, I'm linking to the artwork for each scent for a reason. Go look at it. It's great.
Posted by spacegrrl at 08:03 PM | Comments (2)
Category: BPALJuly 26, 2006
cake is better than metal
"Captain, we are being probed."
i've been watching a lot of star trek: the next generation re-runs lately. it's somehow comforting and satisfying at the same time.
this morning, my hands smelled like metal. it occured to me that despite having showered twice and washed my hands numerous times and washed dishes since i was last covered in the powdered exterior of my van, there might be some lingering metallic particles in my skin.
the scent faded through the day but even so tonight i was inspired to mix up a batch of lotion scented with Midway, a perfume oil that smells like funnel cake.
CAAAAKE!
i took a break from westy sanding tonight, mainly because my evening schedule was pushed back very late due to stuff out of my control, plus the fact that i decided to cook a large, proper dinner, and that took a long time.
for those interested, i grilled a steak and made a spinach casserole; for starters i picked bitter greens from my garden and dressed them with dressing i made with buttermilk, sour cream, garlic powder, sea salt, pepper, and basil.
Posted by spacegrrl at 10:00 PM | Comments (2)
Category: BPALJune 26, 2006
BPAL madness!
I've finally dipped my toes into the scary waters of BPAL sales. That is to say, I'm selling off the BPAL I know I don't want or need, to other BPAL fans, on the BPAL forum.
I have many limited editions, many things I thought would be desirable. I have two samples of a recently discontinued oil. I thought that would cause a stir.
But what happened was that within just seconds of my post, I had three requests for a sample that I had paid no real mind to-- a scent called Baba Yaga. I knew somewhere in the back of my head that it was unreleased, but didn't think much of it.
Ah well. Here's hoping I can move some of this stuff. My prices are LOW LOW LOW! But I've heard people complain that the market is saturated.
This week I get to find out what it feels like to be one of those people who don't have a "real job" and just sell stuff online :)
Posted by spacegrrl at 12:46 PM | Comments (0)
Category: BPALJune 23, 2006
BPAL: Kunstkammer
Posted by spacegrrl at 01:47 AM | Comments (0)
Category: BPALJune 22, 2006
BPAL: Shattered, The Premature Burial
Posted by spacegrrl at 02:21 PM | Comments (0)
Category: BPALJune 16, 2006
BPAL: Lightning
Posted by spacegrrl at 08:28 PM | Comments (0)
Category: BPALJune 07, 2006
BPAL: Enraged Bunny Musk
Posted by spacegrrl at 08:58 PM | Comments (0)
Category: BPALJune 06, 2006
BPAL: Samhain '05
Posted by spacegrrl at 11:43 PM | Comments (3)
Category: BPALJune 05, 2006
BPAL: Strawberry Moon
Posted by spacegrrl at 09:23 PM | Comments (3)
Category: BPALMay 22, 2006
BPAL: UNDERPANTS!
"MONSTER BAIT: UNDERPANTS — Who doesn't want a monster in their pants? Sexy sugar-smeared saffron sandalwood over lickable vanilla cream with a splash of butter rum."
I was so, so disappointed that I managed to miss this the one day it was available (April 1st, of course). Sneaky Sarah ordered an extra bottle and didn't tell me. I asked if she'd sell me a little sample bottle of it (thinking she just had the one bottle) and she said that that would not be a problem. Indeed! Well, tonight she came over and was like, surprise! Here's a whole bottle! This was especially generous because she could have easily sold this on ebay for two to three times what she paid for it, but she only wanted the original selling price from me.
Anyway! In the bottle it smells like CAAAAAAKE! I love cake. It's J's birthday this weekend and I am dying to bake him a birthday cake for both entirely selfish and unselfish reasons. Cake!
On my skin it smells like CAAAAKE! The sweetness backs off a little and the sandalwood comes out. It's like a spice cake. CAKE!
Posted by spacegrrl at 08:53 PM | Comments (3)
Category: BPALMay 18, 2006
BPAL: Sudha Segara, Pink Phoenix, Nuclear Winter
Posted by spacegrrl at 11:25 PM | Comments (0)
Category: BPALMay 17, 2006
BPAL rejects: Blood Kiss, Lucy's Kiss, Hamadryad
Posted by spacegrrl at 12:26 AM | Comments (0)
Category: BPALApril 20, 2006
BPAL gone bad!
it's true, the stuff does go bad, and i've had my first experience with it.
according to my blog, my imp of Ultraviolet arrived on June 25, 2005. it was used and who knows how old when I got it. Now it's close to a year later and this morning I took it out for the first time in months.
I don't recall it smelling this way before. Methinks that I should buy a fresh imp from the lab, I do like mint + violet every so often.
It doesn't smell baaaaaad, like OMGgetitoffmegetitoffme! More like, hey, not so great.
Posted by spacegrrl at 11:18 AM | Comments (2)
Category: BPALApril 13, 2006
happyhappyjoyjoy
happiness is finishing the annual taxes, then simultaneously eating chocolate ice cream, watching The Prisoner, and placing a decadently large BPAL order.
Posted by spacegrrl at 10:11 PM | Comments (1)
Category: BPALDecember 06, 2005
House of Yum
The BPAL labbies timed my Yule shipment perfectly. It arrived yesterday, around 11am, a moment when I was wondering just how my week– and month– was going to go. Was I grounded? Would I be entertaining my weekend visitor with a bare cupboard? Oh, the uncertainty.
So here's what arrived: the single yummiest shipment of oils I have ever received in o these long months of BPAL collecting.
- Lick It! — "What else could possibly be more lickable at Yuletide? This is a candy cane perfume, minty, sweet and sugared."
- Gingerbread Poppet — "Warm, cozy gingerbread spiced with nutmeg, clove and cinnamon."
- Snow White — "A chilly, bright perfume: flurries of virgin snow, crisp winter wind and the faintest breath of night-blooming flowers."
- Sugar Cookie — "Affectionately nicknamed 'The Devil's Bake Sale'."
- Beaver Moon — "Because it was too hard to resist, BPAL’s Beaver Moon is sillier, sleazier, and full of camp. This scent is of cheesecake and cupcakes, more in line with it’s cheekier connotations, and really hasn’t a damn thing to do with Luna at all!"
These are perfumes that have me sniffing at my wrists all day. So delicious! I could swear that Lick It! has a touch of chocolate, and I'm amazed to find myself loving Snow White. I'm not normally a florals sort of girl, but this is a very delicate white floral that's not at all cloying, and there's a decent dose of vanilla in the drydown as well.
I'm a little afraid of Beaver Moon-- the cream cheese tang is pretty strong. But I want to try it. Sugar Cookie is the only off note; in the bottle, I feel uncertain of it, but I'll work up the nerve to try it and we'll see.
I'm wearing Gingerbread Poppet right now. It's perfectly the smell of delicious things baking. How does she bottle that?
Posted by spacegrrl at 11:54 PM | Comments (1)
Category: BPALNovember 17, 2005
looking for a sniff-fest location
first point of order, sarah, alicia and i are having another sniff-fest this sunday afternoon to share our fall booty. i've got the entire pumpkin patch, plus some other tasties. i wore a pumpkin patch scent to work yesterday and one of my co-workers said it smelled "GOOOOOOOOD!"
second, we are looking for a practical indoor location. we had been meeting at caffe driade and sitting outdoors, but it'll be too cold for that. we'd like to find a comfortable, laid back coffee shop where the smellies won't blow away the other patrons. without Ooh La Latte around (sob!), we're at a loss as to where to meet.
Any suggestions?
Posted by spacegrrl at 08:52 AM | Comments (8)
Category: BPALOctober 07, 2005
BPAL: Midway, Succubus, Harvest Moon
Posted by spacegrrl at 07:35 PM | Comments (2)
Category: BPALSeptember 16, 2005
BPAL - Fruit Moon, Numb, The Star
Posted by spacegrrl at 02:09 PM | Comments (1)
Category: BPALSeptember 04, 2005
BPAL - sniff-fest #2, Swank, Dorian
Posted by spacegrrl at 03:45 PM | Comments (0)
Category: BPALSeptember 01, 2005
ooh, update
i woke up quite early this morning, not due to my alarm going off or needing to pee. just.. woke up.
laid in bed.
checked the clock: hey, it's early.
thought.
then realized: ooh, the update!
as i got out of bed i noticed i'd forgotten to set my alarm last night.
:|:
the update is, of course, the bpal halloween scents going online. i had long since figured out that anything i actually wanted to have by halloween i'd need to order today. today is 2 months plus one week til october 31st. fortunately, the lab figured this out, too, and just barely made them available in time.
i recall as i was contemplating my order that i came up with some kind of gun metaphor, but i don't recall what it was. maybe something about shooting my credit card or myself or a smoking gun or... i dunno.
but, i knew it would be this way. i have such a deep attachment to halloween that i knew this update would empty my bpal coffers. what i didn't bargain on was the Poe-inspired limited edition set in addition to the halloween stuff. i can't even process that yet... my head is swimming with notes and descriptions... patchouli, neroli, clove, pumpkin, dry woods, pine forests...
to be quite honest, i think this is a hobby that will be declining a little after today. or hibernating a bit. i need to process the sensory overload that's sitting on the music stand in my bedroom, and i need to let my credit card rest and recuperate, and i really really need to spend more of my time on things like the BRSP, the van, and the hizzouse. i smell quite groovy enough already.
Posted by spacegrrl at 08:54 AM | Comments (0)
Category: BPALAugust 31, 2005
BPAL - Envy, Twilight, The Lovers
Posted by spacegrrl at 11:23 PM | Comments (1)
Category: BPALAugust 29, 2005
BPAL - Blood Kiss
Posted by spacegrrl at 09:48 PM | Comments (1)
Category: BPALAugust 28, 2005
BPAL - Akuma, Jester, Kyoto, Shadow
Posted by spacegrrl at 10:35 AM | Comments (4)
Category: BPALAugust 27, 2005
BPAL - Shroud, Kuang Shi
Posted by spacegrrl at 05:53 PM | Comments (0)
Category: BPALAugust 26, 2005
BPAL - Persephone
Posted by spacegrrl at 06:55 PM | Comments (0)
Category: BPALAugust 22, 2005
BPAL: La Petit Mort; Sudha Sughara
Posted by spacegrrl at 11:00 PM | Comments (0)
Category: BPALAugust 20, 2005
BPAL - White Rabbit
Posted by spacegrrl at 07:00 PM | Comments (1)
Category: BPALBPAL - Blood Pearl
Posted by spacegrrl at 03:39 PM | Comments (0)
Category: BPALAugust 18, 2005
BPAL - Jack, Moon Rose
Posted by spacegrrl at 10:13 PM | Comments (2)
Category: BPALAugust 17, 2005
BPAL SniffFest #2 - Saturday, September 3rd, Caffe Driade
Sarah, Alicia and I will be having our second BPAL Sniff Fest over Labor Day weekend!
It'll probably be in the afternoon sometime, definitely on Saturday, September 3rd.
All are welcome! We will all have many, many new scents, including the Limited Edition, Love in the Asylum, and lots of stuff that we'll be looking to swap or sell.
Posted by spacegrrl at 03:42 PM | Comments (0)
Category: BPALAugust 11, 2005
BPAL - Skuld
Posted by spacegrrl at 09:24 PM | Comments (5)
Category: BPALAugust 02, 2005
BPAL: Tulzscha
Posted by spacegrrl at 05:22 PM | Comments (0)
Category: BPALAugust 01, 2005
BPAL: Baba Yaga
Posted by spacegrrl at 10:33 PM | Comments (0)
Category: BPALBPAL: Sea of Glass
Posted by spacegrrl at 12:27 PM | Comments (0)
Category: BPALBPAL: Hurricane (GACK!!)
Posted by spacegrrl at 08:20 AM | Comments (2)
Category: BPALJuly 31, 2005
BPAL: The Living Flame
Posted by spacegrrl at 03:09 PM | Comments (0)
Category: BPALBPAL: the fabled Snake Oil
Posted by spacegrrl at 10:32 AM | Comments (0)
Category: BPALJuly 30, 2005
i know something the spammers don't know.
to heck with viagra, bring on the pumpkin pie!
via the BPAL forums, of course. scroll down for a chart entitled, "Effect of Perfumes and Scents on Blood Flow in Male Sexual Tissue".
Posted by spacegrrl at 12:20 AM | Comments (1)
Category: BPALJuly 29, 2005
BPAL: Phantasm, Cathode, Burial, Has No Hanna
I got a little package from Singapore today with lots of good scents! And some little packets of tea and exotic candies. In addition to the reviewed scents, it contained Embalming Fluid, Hurricane, and Sea of Glass. I only wish I had more arms and legs to test them on!
Posted by spacegrrl at 07:19 PM | Comments (0)
Category: BPALBPAL: Skuld
onward..
Posted by spacegrrl at 08:59 AM | Comments (0)
Category: BPALJuly 28, 2005
BPAL reviews: Yog-Sothoth, Katharina, Spellbound
lay, lie, something like that...
Posted by spacegrrl at 11:05 PM | Comments (2)
Category: BPALJuly 25, 2005
BPAL quickie reviews: Whippoorwill, Kingsport
Just arrived, a few samples from Springtime in Arkham...
Posted by spacegrrl at 06:32 PM | Comments (0)
Category: BPALJuly 21, 2005
BPAL: Blood, Vixen, Dirty, Danube
Reviews lay lie herein. (hmm, i need have! an editor)
Posted by spacegrrl at 09:10 PM | Comments (5)
Category: BPALBPAL: items purchased; items received.
a great deal of movement occured on my BPAL spreadsheet today..
Posted by spacegrrl at 07:47 PM | Comments (3)
Category: BPALJuly 18, 2005
BPAL - mi-GO!
came home to find a leetle package from the Netherlands today-- containing mi-go brain canister (yes, that is the name of a perfume) (no squishy brain inside, sadly, but i can't blame her for keeping it), and three gift imps of katharina, gomorrah, and baba yaga.
on the back of my wrist, mi-go smells damned similar to pink moon, which is the only other bpal i've bothered to get 5ml of so far (not counting pending orders to the lab for glasgow, dublin, and love in the asylum). so that's a good thing.
oddly, the back of my wrist is turning out to be a good place to put scent. a small drop of even a light scent lasts extremely well, and i can still lift my hand and smell it if i want to.
:|:
oh my. i just looked up the scents she gave me-- baba yaga is an unreleased, experimental. it looks like she picked things that have fruit notes, since mi-go is very fruity. wow, i can't believe how kind that was-- the unreleased scents are not exactly things you can just buy. amazing.
Posted by spacegrrl at 06:27 PM | Comments (0)
Category: BPALJuly 14, 2005
BPAL - sloth
"Vetiver, black myrrh."
selected because someone commented that it could cure insomnia, i wore this one to bed last night in the crooks of my arms.
deep, dark, and, i think, indolent. not necessarily a cure for insomnia for me, but i think i enjoyed the experience of sleeping with it.
Posted by spacegrrl at 09:43 PM | Comments (0)
Category: BPALBPAL - the dormouse
"Four teas brushed with light herbs and a breath of peony."
ok, due to French Night, i'm simply not capable of haiku.
this scent is delicious, but really i think a little too masculine for me. it starts out sort of pungent and clean, but now at the end of the day i'm smelling something just like... old spice? but really, it doesn't smell like old spice. really. just, right now, it does.
Posted by spacegrrl at 09:17 PM | Comments (0)
Category: BPALJuly 13, 2005
evil grapefruit in the hizzouse!
arrived today, not one but two BPAL packages:
- r'lyeh
- fenris wolf
- black cat
- the dormouse
- amsterdam
- sloth
currently sporting r'lyeh on my left wrist, the dormouse on my right, and smidges of everything on my right index finger.
r'lyeh was often described as "evil grapefruit" but honestly i'm not getting much grapefruit from it. although, since i put it on my wrist, which is Where Scent Goes To Die, rather than in the crook of my arm, i'm not getting much of anything from it.
in the bottle, the dormouse made me roll my eyes back with pleasure and inhale more deeply. beyond that, i can't say.
although i now realize that i feel as if i am sitting in a light cloud of clove dust. maybe that's the r'lyeh.
Posted by spacegrrl at 06:26 PM | Comments (2)
Category: BPALJuly 10, 2005
BPAL - the sniffing, and Zephyr
sniff-fest this evening. well attended by myself, leesh, sarah, erin, and pinky.
one of the most interesting moments was when folks worked up their courage to smell black annis. lots of deep sniffs off the vial, and puzzled looks. a very strange and dark fragrance.
alicia was kind enough to give me her imp of Zephyr, which handn't worked on her. i'm wearing it right now, and from a soapy start, it has dried to a wonderful light musky floral that's a sort of "second skin" scent on me. love it right this moment.
my collection seemed small and odd and i didn't have anything to give away, sadly. i look at the 'paid' page on my spreadsheet and it's frustrating. so many things i want to smell and try, and they are coming, but it will be so long.
i also got to try a tiny dab of mi-go brain canister and it smelled lovely after drydown. i think i've found a full 5ml bottle-- possibly complete with brain!-- for a very fair price.
hope, hope, hope the evil grapefruit is coming my way tomorrow.
note to self: ultraviolet might be a good thing to wear to a show. not too girly, not too overpowering, but very interesting. although something with musk would probably get me noticed more.
Posted by spacegrrl at 11:53 PM | Comments (1)
Category: BPALJuly 09, 2005
BPAL Haiku - Dana O'Shee, attempt #2
faintly almond and
there is almost nothing there
verging on play-doh
Posted by spacegrrl at 03:29 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
Category: geekingthis and that.
weather. glorious.
powerbook back in hand-- already! they installed the same OS as i had before on the new hard drive, so i've dodged the issue of paying for an upgrade, happily. hey, that's $100 i can spend on my vacation instead.
i'm starting to ponder what i'd like to do with the rest of my vacation time. the first half is pretty well planned out; the second half is rather open-ended. i feel a little more relaxed about finances than i did when i was first planning it. the savings and debt repayment are going really well. maybe... i could find my way to NYC? via plane or train from chicago or indy? that might be a little nuts... but just think, two fluevog stores in one week :)
the powerbook and cube are on the fast connection, the little amber light next to 100 is lit up on the router. the data is transferred and now i'm re-loading apps.
but... well, i like using the cube. i like having desk space, a chair, an open window and sunlight pouring in in the mornings. i've straightened up the no-man's-land of the back bedroom a bit while working back here, and maybe my nose is dead, but i can't smell the litterbox at all.
i'm rather attached to this space. i find myself reluctant to transfer my email back over to the powerbook.
ok, i'm going to hide the rest of this under the MORE link, cause it's about BPAL and only a few of you are interested in that.
Posted by spacegrrl at 10:03 AM | Comments (1) | TrackBack (0)
Category: BPALJuly 07, 2005
BPAL error!
i pretty much smell like pine-sol today.
i apologize to my co-workers.
nocnitsa
Posted by spacegrrl at 12:57 PM | Comments (3) | TrackBack (0)
Category: BPALJuly 06, 2005
BPAL SniffFest - Sunday, 7pm, Caffe Driade
Myself, Sarah, and Wordnerdy will be bringing our BPAL collections to Caffe Driade in Chapel Hill at 7pm this Sunday. If you're curious, we'd be happy to share the BPAL love with you!
Note that we have plenty of masculine scents, too-- don't be shy just because you're a guy!
Posted by spacegrrl at 12:06 PM | Comments (3) | TrackBack (0)
Category: BPALJuly 05, 2005
BPAL - Dana O'Shee and some re-assessments
- Van Van - still goes right to baby powder. definite swap.
- Nocnista - still drying down. i am liking it right now-- pungent, a little sweet. maybe i need to give her a second chance.
- Dana O'Shee - received this today. i can barely smell it, and once on it's like very faint play doh/almond smell (on the forums i read that the "play doh" smell that some perfumes have is acually almond oil, which makes sense when i smell it.) it's so faint, i can hardly review it. i'll probably try it again in a day or two, but it's tentatively in the swap pile now.
- Pink Moon - I never thought such a sweet, girly scent would become a favorite-- but it has. I can always count on Pink Moon to lift my spirits. I received a 5ml today and let Moses sniff the cap of this and some others. He loves it-- tried to lick my fingers. He doesn't respond this way to any of the other scents.
Posted by spacegrrl at 11:01 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
Category: BPALBPAL - Miskatonic University
"A venerable New England university, whose vast library holds many rare, diabolical and obscure arcane works, including one of the few surviving legitimate copies of the Necronomicon. Home to innumerable scholars of the esoteric and the occult, and the notorious Dr. Herbert West."
"The scent of Irish coffee, dusty tomes and polished oakwood halls."
I'm no Lovecraft scholar, and many of the Springtime in Arkham references were lost on me. But I loved Lovecraft films when I was a teenager and I knew just what Miskatonic meant when I saw the name of this scent. After I read the description, I was eager to smell this one for myself.
Three scents came in a package today-- this one, Dana O'Shee, and a 5ml bottle of Pink Moon. I quickly dabbed Miskatonic on the outside of my arm between feeding the cat and heading out to take my powerbook to the Apple store.
The entire time I was standing at the Genius Bar, I kept getting wafts of something like a decadently rich, sweet, creamy dessert. So delicious-- and fairly powerful.
Back in the car, i sniffed my arm more carefully. Behind the fading sweetness, I could get a whiff of something dusty-musty, maybe a little pipe tobacco, or the remnants of pipe smoke.
Certainly not a spring or summer scent, but come autumn this will be a fantabulous room scent for the Library, and I can see myself wearing it from time to time as well. Though I may have to fend off those with a sweet tooth.
Posted by spacegrrl at 09:06 PM | Comments (2) | TrackBack (0)
Category: BPALJuly 02, 2005
bpal - black annis
"Vast talons, foul with human flesh, there grew
In place of hands, and features livid blue
Glar'd in her visage; while the obscene waist
Warm skins of human victims close embraced."
"The blue faced hag of the British Hills. She lives in the Dane Hills, Leicestershire, in a cave called Black Annis' Bower Close, which she dug out of rock with her own iron-strong claws. Dozens of huge cats prowl the Bower with her, and it is guarded by a great pollarded oak in which she hides so that she may catch lambs and small children to eat. She carries her victims back to her cave, where she flays them alive before devouring them. She drapes their skins on her guardian oak to dry. Her skirt is fashioned from the skins of her prey, and her bed is a high-piled bed of their bones. Black Annis' perfume is a mixture of damp cave lichen and oak leaf with a hint of vetiver, civet and anise."
i worked up the nerve to try this one today.
in the bottle-- anise on top, something dark and dusky underneath. it has some promise to be an interesting scent, and it's not classically "perfumey" really at all.
on me, i definitely got anise and some other interesting stuff going on. unfortunately, the other stuff quickly turned to baby powder, which is bad enough, but with anise on top.
in a word-- gag. this one is not for me. i think my swap pile started today.
Posted by spacegrrl at 11:34 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
Category: BPALJune 29, 2005
BPAL - DUBLIN! Egg Nog, Hearth, Pink Moon
the friggin motherlode arrived today! i reek. i'm happy :)
on the wrists: Dublin.
"The scent of misty forests, damp alder leaf, and the gentlest touch of white rose."
The first scent that really grabbed me when I read through the BPAL site was Dublin, and when the imp didn't show last week, I was very disappointed. But crazily, today, it did! And it really smells delicious. So feminine, but not overly sweet. I keep smelling my wrists and saying, "mmmmmmm."
update: many hours later, i mowed grass then showered. there's a lingering "aftertaste" of dublin that's still quite yummy.
left arm: Hearth
"Sweet pipe tobacco, cherry wood, the warm, worn leather of an easy chair and a pleasant, subtle waft of fireplace smoke."
This was a Yule Limited Edition. My first stepfather smoked cherry pipe tobacco which is one of the reasons I wanted to smell this. That, and it sounded delicious! Whoo! It's potent. And it really does smell just like tobacco. I can't really see wearing this as perfume except for fun every once in a while, but it could make a really nice room scent in the fall and winter and it's just yummy and fun to smell.
right arm: Egg Nog
"Sweet brandy, dark rum, heavy cream, sugar, and a dash of nutmeg."
Another Yule Limited Edition. Delicious, sweet, creamy vanilla and brandy. It fades fast and again, I can't see wearing it as perfume very often, but sometimes, and it could also be a nice room scent. In the bottle it has that too-strong Yankee Candle scent, but as soon as it's less concentrated it becomes quite delicious.
Pink Moon can come later :)
Posted by spacegrrl at 06:51 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
Category: BPALJune 28, 2005
BPAL - Graveyard Dirt
"A tribute to a somehat nefarious and truly notorious ingredient in New Orleans spellcrafting. It is employed in hoodoo rootwork for various reasons, primarily in spells of protection, “tricking” your enemies, binding, and even love magick. The graves are chosen based on the type of working, and are determined by the type of spirit that lies there and the manner of their demise. Payment is always required in the form of offerings to the deceased. This is the scent of pure graveyard dust, spattered with grave loam and dusted lightly with tombstone moss."
oh yes. this smells like dirt. fresh, moist potting soil. the finest loam, just after a rain. it so took me aback that after i sniffed the bottle, i laughed and said out loud, "ohmygod! that's amazing!"
on my skin, it quickly turns to cedar, like fresh cedar shavings. i love the scent of cedar so i don't have a problem with that. however, it disappears without a trace within mere minutes. i finally put some on my hair where it seems to be holding up better.
Posted by spacegrrl at 06:11 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
Category: BPALJune 27, 2005
BPAL - Jabberwocky
"And, as in uffish thought he stood,
The Jabberwock, with eyes of flame,
Come whiffing through the tulgey wood,
And burbled as it came!
An earthy yet buoyant scent: pine, eucalyptus and orange."
This was a free gift with the purchase of a single imp from someone on LJ, which I have to say is an exceedingly cool thing for someone to do. From what I gather, Beth (the woman behind BPAL) often includes free gifts of imps or other goodies with BPAL orders. I saw a note she posted where she said that all orders of an LE scent were upgraded from 5ml to 10ml "Just... because". I think a lot of the forum and LJ people like to keep up this tradition.
i put this on shortly before meeting xdu folk at federale tonight, and asked jason if i reeked when i arrived. "no," he said, "i can't smell anything." i proffered my wrists for all to sniff and either people are polite or it was well-received. the orange remains with me longer than the pine, and is somewhat sweet, though light and pleasant.
i do like this one. i'm not anxious to get a larger bottle, i'll be content with this imp for a while, but it'll get worn from time to time.
sadly, it doesn't last-- by the time dinner was over, so was the scent.
Posted by spacegrrl at 10:21 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
Category: BPALJune 25, 2005
BPAL - Black Annis
"Vast talons, foul with human flesh, there grew
In place of hands, and features livid blue
Glar'd in her visage; while the obscene waist
Warm skins of human victims close embraced.
The blue faced hag of the British Hills. She lives in the Dane Hills, Leicestershire, in a cave called Black Annis' Bower Close, which she dug out of rock with her own iron-strong claws. Dozens of huge cats prowl the Bower with her, and it is guarded by a great pollarded oak in which she hides so that she may catch lambs and small children to eat. She carries her victims back to her cave, where she flays them alive before devouring them. She drapes their skins on her guardian oak to dry. Her skirt is fashioned from the skins of her prey, and her bed is a high-piled bed of their bones. Black Annis' perfume is a mixture of damp cave lichen and oak leaf with a hint of vetiver, civet and anise."
ok, i didn't really try this one today, because i'm a little afraid of it. but a tiny bit got on my finger when i opened the imp for a sniff, and later moses was very interested in that finger.
civet, for those not in the know, is normally excreted from a gland of the civet cat, but BPAL uses a vegan imitation of it. many people find it reacts badly with their body chemistry-- or they just plain don't like it.
more on this one later. when i'm feeling brave.
Posted by spacegrrl at 11:41 PM | Comments (2) | TrackBack (0)
Category: BPALBPAL - Ultraviolet
"Electrifying, mechanized and chilly -- the scent of crushed blooms strewn on cold metal. Lush violet and neroli spiked hard with eucalyptus and a sliver of mint."
in the bottle: violet and something sharp and cold, almost like ozone.
on me: violet, mint, eucalyptus.. this seems to be very stable on me and just as advertised. not a trace of the dreaded baby powder. it's not something i'd reach for every day, but the cool eucalyptus scent is nice for a hot day. interestingly, i get more violet on my wrists; more mint and eucalyptus on my chest.
this won't go on my wishlist for a larger bottle, but i'll probably keep this imp.
Posted by spacegrrl at 01:48 PM | Comments (2) | TrackBack (0)
Category: BPALJune 24, 2005
BPAL - Pink Moon
"Pink Moon is only available for purchase on 25 March 2005. The name of this moon refers to the color of wild ground phlox, a primary component of this Lunacy Blend, which is one of the most widespread floral signposts of springtime in North America. This Lunar blend is soft with phlox, tulip, daffodil, dogwood and muscari, dusted with pink sugar and honey, and a touch of the first strawberries of the season."
this was a decanted imp that sarah originally bought from someone on LJ. i could tell from sarah's review that it wasn't her favorite, but that my friend stephanie would probably really like it-- and since the Nick Drake song "Pink Moon" holds special meaning to a lot of VW owners, it seemed to be particularly appropriate for stephanie, since she and i met through beetle stuff.
i did try a tiny dab before i wrapped it up to send to Stephanie, mainly because i wanted to know what i was sending her. i didn't think it would be my thing, either. i've been holding off on reviewing it until Stephanie got it, because i wanted it to be a surprise for her.
at first it was so super sweet that i thought, "oh no... she won't like it." stephanie does wear florals, but always really nice, gentle ones that are very easy on the nose. definitely nothing cloying, which this was.
but then it mellowed out very quickly, and i realized that the more it mellowed, the more i liked it. i fell asleep with my wrist near my face that night because i wanted to keep smelling it, and there was something very comforting about it.
i slept very soundly that night-- much, much more soundly than i usually sleep. i actually do think that the scent of pink moon made me relax on some deeper level and helped me to sleep.
anyway, Stephanie received it last night and she says she loves it. before i sent it, i decorated it a little. because this was a decant, not an imp from the lab, it didn't have a nice printed sticker. i cut a little crescent moon out of a pink azalea blossom and glued it to the imp with spray adhesive. the spray adhesive made the bottle sticky, so i wrapped it in a little pink cling wrap, and sealed the top with first aid tape, which i think makes a really nice, neat, waterproof seal.
so, i'm hoping i can score a full bottle from someone who has decided they don't want it, because i really liked it.
Posted by spacegrrl at 08:36 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
Category: BPALBPAL - Old Glasgow
"The rich scent of wild blackberry breezing over gentle rosy heather."
now this one, i like.
it dries down fairly quickly. it's quite faint; jason couldn't smell it when i was sitting in the mcr with him, and i had just re-applied before going to the station. he did give my wrists a sniff and said, "that is nice!"
it's so faint that i am not getting very many different notes, just a very gentle, non-cloying floral scent. it's been oh about fourteen years since i actually smelled heather? so i can't recall what it smells like, although there is something hauntingly familiar about this scent.
at times it smells like soap, but really nice, clean, high quality soap-- not a bad soapy scent. if i could find soap that smelled this nice, i'd use it all the time.
i'll probably try really slathering it on sometime this weekend to see if i can work more interesting stuff out of it. this is definitely a keeper, and i plan to put at least a 5ml if not a 10ml on my wish list, because i can see wearing this quite often.
this is actually Old Glasgow, a limited edition version of a scent that was later added to the regular catalog under the name of Glasgow. The two should be fairly indistinguishable, however.
Posted by spacegrrl at 08:25 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
Category: BPALJune 23, 2005
BPAL - Van Van
"A venerable voodoo blend, used for purification of the spirit and to amplify positive personal power."
on me... smells like baby powder. check me out, i'm a baby powder makin' machine. great.
i'll take a chance, keep wearing it as i go into work now... and we'll see if it maybe at least helps my attitude.
if i sniff my wrist very closely, i can smell other things, but in general, this smells like baby powder, which is one of the many things i don't really want to smell like.
really really hoping whatever comes next (maybe today!) will be sharply different from all these things that turn to baby powder and pine sol on me. i am hopeful that either somnus will arrive (to help me sleep-- i am really having sleep problems lately), or that ultraviolet and black annis will arrive-- they should both be very different from the things i got yesterday.
also hoping that as this wears down, other notes will emerge.
:|:
alas, it is many hours later and i have been in baby powder hell all day. i've scrubbed my wrists many times in the bathroom to no avail. other people mostly don't smell it unless i make hand gestures in their general vicinity-- thank goodness.
when i get home i'll see if rubbing my wrists with alcohol will get it off.
Posted by spacegrrl at 11:02 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
Category: BPALJune 22, 2005
BPAL - Arachne
"A gossamer scent, as light as a spider's footfall, touched with sighing mists: pallid flowers, dusty woods and soft herbs."
not inaccurate after drydown, although this is very much a "perfume" scent to me... not entirely pleasant, and i really don't think it's me. there's a general "baby powder" ness to it that i dislike. it's light, yet somehow... cloying, as well. the more it fades, the more i like it, however. there's that "grandma's perfume" note to it as well, again... except this time, it's not really pine. sigh.
my nose is very untrained.
i just love these descriptions of dark woods, moss, dust, earth... and i don't know what i expected them to smell like, but it wasn't this.
well. lots more are on the way. i am sure i'll find things i like... it's just a slightly disappointing beginning.
oh i just remembered-- in the bottle it reminded me of a medicine i took when i was a child. i can't remember which one.
the more it fades, the more i like it.
Posted by spacegrrl at 09:36 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
Category: BPALBPAL - Nocnista
"Also known as Krisky, Plaksy and Gorska Makua, she is a nightmare spirit, the Night Hag of the Woods, who haunts Polish, Russian, Bulgarian and Slovak children during the darkest hours. The only protection against her torments is a circle drawn around a child’s cradle with a knife, or an axe or protective poppet hidden under the floorboards beneath where a child sleeps. Her scent is that of a lightless fir wood, nighttime air, wet forest mosses and upturned earth."
since i've pretty much been a raging bitch this week, this seemed like a good thing to try, of the three that arrived today (!!!!)
in the bottle: this smells like my grandmother's sunday morning perfume.
wet: this still pretty much smells like my grandmother's sunday morning perfume. obviously, there's a strong note in this blend that her perfume also contained. exasperatingly, i have no idea what it is, and the description doesn't list any specific notes, so i'm still mystified.
as it dries, i am starting to get a little bit of "forest". we'll see how it develops over time.
:|:
after an hour and a half, it settled into a piney sort of thing. fairly faint. i gave up after taking a walk and showered since i was all sweaty anyway. scrubbed it off my wrists a couple of times to make sure it was really gone, so i could try something else.
i can see hanging on to it and trying it again in the fall or at christmas. or sooner, after i get used to the idea of perfume anyway. several people report falling in love with a scent only after a second attempt.
Posted by spacegrrl at 06:28 PM | Comments (2) | TrackBack (0)
Category: BPALthe other nose candy
today is the first day that any BPAL could possibly arrive in my mailbox. i'm full of anticipation!
it's the full moon today (and yesterday was the solstice, a fact noted by badger but no other blogger i read), and that means that BPAL has released some limited edition scents. happily, none of them sound compelling to me. although the idea of "love in the asylum" is so appealing that i rather wish it were more my thing. or what i think my thing might be. i think it's quite appropriate, anyway, to release a scent inspired by insanity on a day that is excessively well-lit, followed by a night that is also excessively well-lit. that would be enough to drive anyone crazy.
i think i may be suffering from solstice-induced agoraphobia, but i need to get over it asap and go to work.
Posted by spacegrrl at 09:12 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
Category: BPALJune 20, 2005
mmmmm
so i went over to sarah & georg's today to study up on my lawn watering techniques, and sarah let me take embalming fluid for a test drive. at first i thought my nose was broken because i couldn't smell it on me, while sarah was saying, "wow, i can really smell it!" (i only used one small dab-- promise!) then later i could smell it. it's very appealing. it does smell like perfume (to me), albeit fairly unconventional perfume.
there was something in it that seemed hauntingly familiar to me; we decided it was probably the white musk.
i don't think this scent is quite me, but i like it and i could certainly see wanting to wear it sometimes, so i am glad a have an imp coming my way in a couple of months. in the meantime, i eagerly look forward to the other scents which should hopefully start arriving later this week!
now today i am tempted to add one more imp to the ever-growing pile... someone is selling some "graveyard dirt", and the description sounds just fascinating... apparently, it smells like dirt.
told you i had odd ideas about scents :)
Posted by spacegrrl at 08:49 PM | Comments (6) | TrackBack (0)