I just got back this afternoon from an overnight trip to Atlanta. I went to Will Call for Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab! It's a monthly event where they have tons of blends to try and/or buy. They normally do only mail order (excepting a handful of blends that are sold in a few stores, including some Whole Foods). So this is the only opportunity to try out the product before buying. I think they call it Will Call because at the LA one, people email in advance to place their orders.
They have two each month: one in LA at their main location, and one at the Alpharetta Whole Foods in Atlanta. And I went to the one in Atlanta! I drove down yesterday, arrived at the Whole Foods at 2:45, had a quick lunch from the hot bar and then spent about 90 minutes at Will Call. It was kind of overwhelming! There were 3 tables with samples of the blends that were sale: a bunch of general catalog, especially new ones like the new Mad Tea Party, Steamworks, Doc Constantine's Pharmacopeia, Marchen ... none of the Neil Gaiman scents now that I think about it. And all the summer and Halloween limited editions. Then there was a long table with the newest LEs and some prototypes that aren't out yet. Those were to try only, not to buy.
Then another table had related supplies: empty bottles in various sizes, rollerball bottles, spritzer bottles, disposable eyedroppers, things like that. And a row of chairs along one wall. I think they were just there to be out of the way, the space is normally a cooking school inside Whole Foods, and it was great to have a place to sit down for a minute.
There was also a long table with snacks from the store -- bottled water, sodas, chips, fruit and cookies, and a birthday cake! Last week was the first birthday the BPAL owner/designer's little girl, Lilith. There were 3 LE blends in Lilith's honor, one of which smells like cake, so the Atlanta hosts provided birthday cake. I didn't have cake, though it looked good. I hadn't eaten all day & then wolfed down lunch while I was waiting for will call to open at 3. The thought of tossing a big rich slice of cake on top of that seemed like a bad idea. I did greatly appreciate being able to sit down and snack on some fruit & chips & salsa when I needed a break to clear my nose.
All told I tried about 20 blends. I'm not sure exactly, despite my best efforts I lost count at the end! I had a system: before leaving home I had typed my wish list into my phone. As I was testing, I typed in a number next to each name. 1-5 was the top of the left arm; 6-10 was the top of the right arm; then 11-20 were the insides of the arms.
Things I did wrong: first, I put the samples way too close together on my arms. It became really difficult to distinguish each one. I think I could have more comfortably done 5 on each arm if I had spaced them out better.
Second, I didn't give each blend enough time to test the drydown stage before buying, Sure enough, after I left the store one of the LEs I had bought went bad on me. Luckily the bottle was unopened and I was able to go back and exchange it. Will Call lasts for hours. Next time I'll go early, try everything that interests me, then leave. Let them dry down and then go back to buy the ones I want.
Speaking of buying, the pricing is pretty good. Everything was $17.99. (Direct from the Lab, the general catalog are $15 and the limited editions are $17.50.) They gave a 10% discount off the order. Sales tax in Georgia is not high, so if you bought mainly LE, it ended up cheaper than buying from the Lab. Except for the cost of the trip of course.
I stayed last night at a Sierra Hotel. It was a decent hotel: free wireless, nice couch and kitchenette in the room, decent breakfast the next morning, and a good rate. Alpharetta seems to be a business area like RTP, with lots of hotels that have much cheaper rates on weekends. My only gripe was I couldn't find the channel that says what's on the other channels. I found TCM which wasn't showing anything I wanted to see. Ended up idly websurfing and watching a marathon of Law & Order SVU. I don't watch many TV dramas and had never seen this one before. It really works overtime to satisfy one's prurient interests. In one episode Miranda from Sex & the City played a woman with DID who's a danger to a baby. That was the basic premise and then it got really complicated.
Left at 8:30 this morning, stopped at the Charlotte Ikea on the way, and was home about 3:15. Kind of a crazy couple of days! It was nice, though, to do something a little impulsive just for myself.
Because this post is long enough already, I'm putting the reviews behind a cut.
Sarah: Unholy mist congealing into soft, white flesh, with black marble, remnants of liturgical incense, wolf's fur, and black flecks of froth. I had to buy this because it's my name. Lucky it worked for me. When first on, it smelled .. strange. Hard to describe. Very subtle, not heavy and not a lot of throw. Chalky? On drydown the "soft white flesh" takes over & it's a beautiful skin scent with an undercurrent of .. something. (sorry, I said I wasn't good at reviews!) I never got fur, incense or froth. It was my favorite LE that I tried today.
Nonae Caprotina: goat's milk, ripe fig, and a hint of sweet myrrh. It's a lot like the drydown stage of Eden (which is pure milk and honey on me), but less sweet. You could kind of guess that just from reading both descriptions, but it's true! Eden is one of my favorites and I think this will be too. I loved it, and I bought it.
The Girl: A seductive, serpentine white scent, elusive, crystalline, and spellbinding: white amber, silver birch, immortelle, davana, pale musk, star jasmine, and ylang ylang. For the first hour it was gorgeous, soft and warm. I bought it, then right after I paid and left, it spent about an hour alternating between "mmm, yummy!" and "ugh, flowery!" -- so weird, every time I sniffed it would go back and forth -- and then it turned into baby powder. I should have remembered that BPAL jasmine doesn't like me, but people were raving about it so I tried it, and it was so good at first. Lucky me I had gone early to will call, and I had time to go back, and the woman running the event was nice enough to let me exchange the unopened bottle. I exchanged it for How Doth the Little Crocodile, my favorite GC that I tried today.
Plastic Pink Flamingo: Pink sugar-crusted marshmallow, dandelion, and sap. I sniffed, it was way too sweet and bright and juicy for me. I bought it for a tween girl I know who loves pink girly things. (When she was little I bought Jailbait for her, put it in a new bottle and labeled it "Princess." I didn't think her mother would approve of the real name.)
Detestable Putrescence: Melty vanilla ice cream! I thought I would love this, but it didn't really grab me. Actually it did, it grabbed me and shook me by the shoulders and yelled "VANILLA!" in my face. 6 hours later and it's still a bit too strong. Maybe if the weather were cold I would have enjoyed it more. I will try it again next time if it's still there and there's any room on my arms.
Lilith Cake Smash: Red velvet cupcakes with cream cheese frosting against a backdrop of Snake Oil, Dorian, and Doc Constantine! Really nice! It smelled just like cake. The "snake oil dorian doc constantine" undertone was very subtle.
Lilith vs. the Giant Crab: Tangerine cream, benzoin, white sandalwood, white pear, tonka, and ambergris accord. Wet it smelled like "wow tangerine!" As it settled down the tangerine faded fast. It never smelled like creamsicle.
Cupcake Splatter: (I can't find this on the BPAL site, is it a prototype? I thought it was on the "for sale" tables, maybe I got confused) I wish I had been able to sniff just Cake Smash and Cupcake Splatter so I'd have any hope of distinguishing them. As it is, I can only say that I liked them both.
I also tried a few more that I can't remember well enough to write reviews. I did write "yes/no" in my notes, so here we are:
yes: Antikythera Mechanism, Zombie Apocalpyse, Confectionary.
no: Serpents With Glittering Eyes, No. 93 Engine, Twinkle Twinkle Little Bat, Typewriter Incident, Psychological Horror, The Fool (strong peppermint, I would buy it if the price were in line with other LEs).
I also sniffed the ones I have on order: Boo, Stinky, Sachs and Violens. Of those, I'm super happy with Boo and Stinky. They are exactly what I expected and I just wish I had ordered Stinky in time to wear it in hot weather. Sachs I'm a little worried about. In the bottle it smelled much more floral than I was expecting. Well if it doesn't work on me, maybe I'll be able to sell it. And at least it was for a good cause (proceeds go to the Comic Legal Defense Fund).
The Hellboy series was there; Liz was the only one I sniffed. It smelled extremely floral so I didn't bother trying it. There was also a group of 4 prototypes with Egyptian names. No descriptions, and none smelled like they'd be good for me, and I was already wearing so many samples, so I didn't try any. Confectionary is part of the next Carnival series, there were 2 others which I didn't try. Typewriter Incident was part of a group labeled WKAP. I have no idea what that means. It wasn't actually bad, just didn't grab me. Which really means it got lost in the mass of BPAL on my arms. Given the opportunity I would try it again.
WKAP=Who Killed Amanda Palmer?, the musician/performer (of The Dresden Dolls), as inspired by her photo book that accompanied her recent solo debut. I have the Typewriter Incident, it's very metallic. I have to be in a particular mood to wear it, but it's growing on me.
WKAP = Who Killed Amanda Palmer?
Someone might have answered this for you already, but Cupcake Splatter Pattern Analysis is a "Who Killed Amanda Palmer" scent (they're available at her site Post War Trading or something). WKAP = Who Killed Amanda Palmer.