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June 17, 2005

in the yummy goodness department

sarah's writing about BPAL scents has piqued my curiosity... i'm in the process of digging through their site and the forums to see if there might be something i would like.

i think i definitely have weird ideas about scent. unfortunately, i like masculine scents, but it's really that i like masculine scents on men. well, occasionally. certain scents. i do like some feminine scents, but, like sarah, often find them overpowering or too perfume-ey. and there's one particular scent that men often wear that i absolutely hate. i can't quite pin down what it is, but it's cheap and awful.

for myself, i can only guess at what i might like. the one i'm most intrigued with right now is called "Dublin", and it is described thusly:

"The scent of misty forests, damp alder leaf, and the gentlest touch of white rose."

anyway. we shall see. it sounds as if buying imps (small sample bottles) from people on the forums is the fastest and cheapest way to try out something new, and i've already found someone with dublin for sale.

:|:

one luxury that i continue to allow myself (in these days of financial responsibility) is fancy tea from southern season. a while back i bought some peach and ginger tea that has been too delicate for me to enjoy in the mornings, when i want something strong. today i decided to try making iced tea out of it, with a hint of sweetness added. i have to say, it's some of the best iced tea i've ever had. it has many subtle flavors which are much more apparent when it's cold than when it's hot.

iced tea, as it is practiced in the south, often seems to hit one over the head with flavor. both the tea flavor, and of course, the infamous diabetes-inducing sweetness. i think iced tea is more refreshing and pleasant to drink if it's not too bitter and strong and sweetned only lightly. this tea definitely fits that bill. now that i write this, i think iced green tea might be interesting to try, since green tea never gets very strong.

i can definitely forsee more interesting iced tea adventures this summer. also, now that i have mint growing in my garden (thanks to georg and sarah!), i will have to recall the mint julep lessons taught to me by the master oh so long ago. you know-- the master of mint growing and mint flavored alcoholic beverages and ice creams. you know who i mean. i once sat in his little terraced garden in chapel hill, where he grew many exotic varieties of mint, and he taught me how to make a mint julep. i think i still have a bottle of bitters somewhere that i bought after that lesson.

Posted by lisa at June 17, 2005 10:59 PM | TrackBack

Comments

You cannot resist, bwa ha ha! Dublin sounds nice, I like the "woodsy but not pine" description. Somehow I think pine in perfume would smell like Pine-Sol.

Posted by: Sarah on June 18, 2005 01:32 AM

i stayed up much too late last night reading reviews, and one thing is clear-- everything smells at least slightly different to everyone, on everyone. i'm trying not to have any pre-conceived ideas about what might or might not smell good to me. for now i am steering clear of heavy florals because i suspect they will be too overpowering for me, and i have to narrow it down somehow :)

i like the ones that sound odd, like things you wouldn't think of-- like white rabbit: "Strong black tea and milk with white pepper, ginger, honey and vanilla, spilled over the crisp scent of clean linen."

i also recall having a grapefruit shampoo from the body shop years ago that i found completely addictive because of the scent, so there's one that is generally described as "evil grapefruit" that i am eager to try.

anyway. this should be interesting.

btw, i think i have a spare tea tin i can give you if you would like to try storing your imps in it.. i think it might work well if you padded it with tissues or something.

Posted by: lisa on June 18, 2005 11:07 AM

Those reviews are addictive aren't they? I'm trying to get a sense of which frequent reviewers have similar taste to mine -- for instance if a reviewer mentions that they love heavy, incensey oils then I shouldn't rely too much on their reviews in general.

There's a thread on the forum somewhere about selecting the perfect 6-imp introduction to BPAL that you might find useful. (I think it's in Recommendations.) I wish I had seen that thread before I ordered 6 imps for my sister's birthday! I think she'll like the ones I ordered, but I could have gotten her a better range of scents.

White Rabbit is one that Lee recommended to me. I did so well with Embalming Fluid that I've added several tea scents to my wish list: Dorian, White Rabbit, the Dormouse, Severin.

Which one was the "evil grapefruit"? That sounds really interesting.

I actually found a little Archie McFee mini-lunchbox that someone had given me a while ago that's the perfect size for storing BPAL. I'm going to Michael's later today to get some craft foam to pad it. You should save the tea tin for your own collection! Have you bought anything from the forum or LJ yet? I'm finding that some people are faster than others. One purchase got to me the next business day, but it's been over a week and I'm still waiting for another.

Posted by: Sarah on June 18, 2005 01:05 PM

Yeah, mint! And tea!

Posted by: Phil on June 18, 2005 01:52 PM

the recommendations section of the forum is one of my next things to read... i bet that 6-imp intro is in there.

the "evil grapefruit" one is R'lyeh. it's in the Wanderlust series. description is: "Ph'nglui mglw'nafh Cthulhu R'lyeh wgah'nagl fhtagn. The sunken city of the Great God Cthulhu. A hellishly dark aquatic scent, evocative of fathomless oceanic deeps, the mysteries of madness buried under crushing black waters, and the brooding eternal evil that lies beneath the waves."

now, i would not have expected grapefruit from that, and passed it over when i first read it... then read the reviews on it and became interested.

i actually made sure i had a two empty tea tins before i made the offer :) but should this become addictive, i will probably need as many tea tins as i empty.

i have not bought anything yet... still doing reading. maybe sometime this weekend.

Posted by: lisa on June 18, 2005 03:22 PM

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