the scent's the thing
I've never been a perfume wearer. I've never worn it, and have had enough encounters with headache-inducing stenches to convince me that artificial scent was. Not. My. Thing.
But lately I've been reading starcat_jewel's series of reviews of something called BPAL, and though it sounds an awful lot like perfume, I confess I'm intrigued by the descriptions and the kooky product names. Couple of nights ago I asked her for more info, followed some links and found that BPAL is Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab, manufacturers of fine perfume oils. Hundreds of perfume oils. All with kooky names and luscious descriptions. And they sell sample sizes!
If the company name and website design didn't show me that these folks cater to a rather esoteric clientele, I would have known it when I discovered they have a line of scents dedicated to the Tarot trumps, another line for the sephiroth, and another called "Springtime in Arkham." No sample sizes available for any of those, alas.
Never having worn perfume, I really have no idea what I'm going to like, or if I'm even going to like wearing artificial scent at all. But I do have some ideas of what I don't want. I dread being like that woman who works on the 2nd floor of the HKB building, and wears such strong perfume that the elevator reeks for half an hour after she disembarks. (I'm not exaggerating. It's really that bad.) I also spent enough time working for a hippie bakery/restaurant to loathe the smell of patchouli. I don't want anything overpowering or too perfumy. Or anything too sweet or fruity. I don't want to smell like a cherry pie. Or like any kind of pie for that matter.
Luckily BPAL has an active forum for customer reviews. I spent a couple of hours browsing, searching for words like "clean," "light" and "summer." Steered clear of scents with heavy ingredients like amber, musk, sandalwood, leather, spices or (ugh) patchouli. And immediately rejected any scent which was described by any reviewer as smelling like "hippie shop," "old lady scent," "lemon pledge," "cotton candy" or "sex." Even if they meant it as a compliment.
Even with all those restrictions I ended up having a hard time narrowing it down to 12 samples (they come in packs of 6). If anyone reading this is familiar with BPAL, here's what I ordered:
Kumiho
Dirty
Old Shanghai
Embalming Fluid
Endymion
Twilight
Szepasszony
Envy
Snake Oil
Sea of Glass
Amsterdam
Xiuhtecuhtli
I tried to pick blends that sounded light, fresh, good for summer (Yes, unlikely though it seems, Embalming Fluid is supposed to be a light, crisp scent that's a favorite for summertime. I've never actually smelled embalming fluid though I have been in an embalming room. I have the mental association of embalming fluid smelling like disinfectant, which is what the room smelled like. I hope the perfume doesn't smell like that). Also I ordered a couple (Snake Oil and Xiuhtecuhtli) that were a bit darker and spicier, so that not everything would be in the same range. And I already regret passing over one that sounded really odd and intriguing (Ultraviolet, they said it smelled metallic).
So who knows where this will go. Maybe I'll decide that perfume isn't for me after all, and end up using them as room fresheners or giving them away. But it will be fun trying them. Makes me feel all girly. Now I'm just anxious for them to arrive! The website said all the perfumes are made to order, and therefore it takes weeks for each order to be filled. Guess I'll just have to be patient.