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This is the weekend for catching up on blog entries I guess. Quick reviews of all the BPAL I've tried recently:

Ace of Pentacles: "Black pine, patchouli, honeysuckle, oakmoss, almond and other soft earthen tones."

Pine, wood, and ... patchouli. ugh. as it dries the patchouli takes over. I tried hard to like it, but that awful patchouli. It looks like this isn稚 going to be my autumn scent.

Ace of Swords: No lab description.

Mostly sandalwood. When fresh it smells like the cologne one of my best friends in college wore. I liked his cologne, but because of the association it seems too manly for me. The drydown is good though. It faded down to a nice light sandalwood, with a touch of neroli. I'm not sure I get swords from this. That would be airy and intellectual (whatever that would smell like). But I like it.

Dana O'Shee: "Milk, honey and sweet grains."

In the bottle: Almond extract. On me, it smells almondy at first, but then settles down to a nice honey-milk. Much like Eden on drydown but lighter.

This one is another keeper. I'm surprised to like it so much. I didn't think I would like "foody" scents, and the reviewers who described it as smelling like oatmeal really put me off. But I got a freebie of this and it really doesn't smell like oatmeal. Just warm and sweet and comforting.

Eden: "This oil contains the innocence of the Garden, coupled with the Truth and Erudition found in the fruit of the Tree of Evil: fig leaf, fig fruit, honeyed almond milk, toasted coconut and sandalwood."

When first applied this had a nasty, burned smell. I thought it was the 鍍oasted coconut� but forum reviews describe it as bitterness from fig leaf. In any case, after about 15 minutes the bad smell goes away and the fig and coconut become more prominent. Not Coppertone coconut but true fresh coconut. After about an hour it痴 honey and milk, with just a hint of fig. Still no almond or sandalwood. This scent is so complex. I really, really like it. It would be a 土owza� if the first few minutes weren稚 so unpleasant.

Endymion: "A sweet, wistful blend of d'Anjou pear, Lily of the Valley, bois du rose and white musk."

Too floral, too much pear. Straight to the swap pile.

Envy: "Green herbs slithering through mint, lime and lavender."

I thought this would be mainly mint, but actually the herbs dominate. The mint gives it a nice chill. No discernable lavender. It痴 nice for this time of year, and quite different from everything else I've been wearing.

Kumiho: "A sharp, biting blend of crisp white tea and ginger."

I love this. Light and sharp and sexy. I thought it would be like Bath & Body Works� white tea and ginger shower gel, but that痴 more mellow and sweeter.

Lady Macbeth: "The essence of ambition, covetousness and manipulation: sweet Bordeaux wine, blood red currant, thyme and wild berries. "

Grape candy with a sickly overtone of blackberry. yuck.

Living Flame: "A luminescent red scent: breathless with passion, flickering with desire, and glowing with ardent and reverential love."

In the bottle it痴 dark and syrupy, but surprisingly faint on me. It痴 floral but not cloying. Hard to smell it, it痴 so light. Damn, it痴 going soapy. After a half hour it's pure soap. Too bad. I had high hopes for this one.

Maiden: "A gentle vision of purity, goodness and virtue: white tea, carnation and Damask Rose."

Way too floral. It must be the rose. I washed it off after a few minutes.

Sea of Glass: "Upon the Sea of Glass, glowing with the perfection of spiritual union and the radiance of true wisdom, rests the throne of God. A scent of inimitable purity, crystalline grace, and limitless light."

Beautiful, crisp, light. Reminds me of Dirty except doesn稚 fade as fast.

Now the bad news. Major allergic reaction. I started feeling sniffly immediately. After an hour my nose was running and eyes watering. I washed my wrists but it took another half hour before the constant sneezing stopped. Damn.

Sometimes I get sneezy for no reason, so this might be a coincidence. I知 going to give Sea of Glass one more try before relegating it to the swap pile. On a day when I don稚 have work to do.

Snake Oil: "Magnetic, mysterious, and exceedingly sexual in nature. A blend of exotic Indonesian oils sugared with vanilla."

Smelled so strongly of patchouli in the bottle that I didn稚 even put it on. Swap pile!

The Dormouse: "A dizzying eddy of four teas brushed with light herbs and a breath of peony."

Floral & herbs dominate at first. The tea comes forward after about 1/2 hour. Unfortunately it stays too floral for my taste, and goes powdery to boot. I was so confident of this one that I bought a whole bottle unsniffed. Bummer.

Tulzscha: "A crystalline, cold green fire: six mints with white pepper and cucumber."

Mint, mint & more mint. I can't smell cucumber per se, but it must be what's mellowing the mint. I really like this.

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."

mint and eucalyptus. not strong but potent. chilly. really nice.

Drydown: the mint disappears, now it痴 eucalyptus and violet. I don稚 get any metallic but it is very cooling. not 吐resh� like Embalming Fluid, but cold. It's wonderful.

Xiuhtecuhtli: "Copal, plumeria and sweet orange and the smoke of South American incense and crushed jungle blooms."

Incense. Dear god, incense. Swap pile for this one.

The sniffing party was great fun! It was Lisa, Wordnerdy, Pinky, Erin, and myself. Many vials were opened and shared, nothing was spilled, everyone had things that everyone else wanted to smell, and everyone took notes to add to their wish lists.

I added a few things to my wishlist: Empyreal Mist, Phantasm, Whitechapel and Glasgow. And I did my first swap! I gave Endymion to Wordnerdy in exchange for Antony. I had high hopes for Endymion, but that was before I had ever smelled BPAL. Once I started trying things I knew that pear and white floral wouldn't work for me. The pear would have been okay but white floral is just too strong for me. I do better with lighter notes like tea, citrus and white musk.

Lisa had the most interesting scents, like Graveyard Dirt and Miskatonic University (which smelled like Irish coffee). Wordnerdy also brought Spooky, which was really wonderful. Pepperminty with a touch of coconut. I almost wish I hadn't liked it because it's a limited edition. I had a freebie of Grog, which in the bottle smelled like rum cake. Very weird! Alas, the imp of Grog was rather overfull, and the tips of everyone's fingers soon smelled like rum cake. Actually my fingertips smelled like a sort of generic "BPAL mixture" by the end of the party from opening and sniffing so many things, but it has dissipated by now.

Caffe Driade is a great location for a gathering like this, aside from their iced tea refill policy:

"Do you give refills on tea?"
"Yes, but it costs the same as the first glass."
"So you mean, no."
"That's right."

But other than that it was a great place to get together. Lots of little outdoor spaces that gave a feeling of privacy, so even though there were plenty of other people there we didn't feel like we were reeking up the space and ruining it for others.

A few quick reviews:

White Rabbit. "Strong black tea and milk with white pepper, ginger, honey and vanilla, spilled over the crisp scent of clean linen." This reminded me a lot of when I used to drink a lot of tea every day, and how good that tea felt first thing in the morning. I think my reaction to tea was the way most people feel about their coffee. And I used to get a killer headache if I didn't get my morning tea. Which is why I gave it up.

Anyway, despite having such a strong association this was the first tea scent I didn't go wild over. I really liked it a lot, but I didn't find myself wanting to smell like that forever. On my scale of "ugh' to "yowza," it rated "love." Which is one step below "yowza." I'm going to try it again when it's cooler and see if my response is better.

Oneroi. "Soporific, dark and unfathomable: a somnambular blend of deep lavender, white sandalwood, jasmine, bergamot and mugwort." Now this I love. I mainly get lavender and sandalwood, and it smells just beautiful. Very comforting. I rarely have problems with insomnia, but I look at the Somnium series as a way to make sleeping that much better.

Dirty. "A wonderful antidote to an all-nighter oozing with drunken, addled perversion and debauchery. A fresh, crisp white linen scent: perfectly clean, perfectly breezy." This is like taking Embalming Fluid and removing all the recognizable notes -- the tea, the sandalwood, the lemon -- and leaving nothing but that crisp coolness. That's what Dirty smells like. I love it.

Twilight. "An enigmatic, otherworldly scent, brimming with power and mystery. Lavender and jasmine, with a touch of glowing honeysuckle." In the bottle it smells like lavender. On me it smells like soap. Not just soap but SOAP! It smells like I have Ivory soap caked under my fingernails. No, it's worse than that. It smells like I was washing my face and accidently got soap in my mouth. Yuck, bleh, ptui. After about an hour the soap goes away and it's just a heavy, cloying floral. This is without a doubt my first "ugh." It must be the jasmine that went all horrible on me.

Want to know what all these mysterious scents actually smell like? Or what an imp is? Or how to pronounce bpal? Join me, Lisa and Wordnerdy as we share our Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab stock at Caffe Driade this Sunday at 7 pm.

I got my first BPAL order yesterday! Woo! 12 imps for me, 6 imps plus a bottle for a birthday present, and they threw in a bunch of freebie imps. I heard they do that all the time, but I was still surprised by how many.

Even with all the freebies they only sent me 1 that I already had. Though I don't have that much BPAL yet, so it wasn't that much of an accomplishment. I didn't even know what most of them were so I spent some time last night looking them all up and entering them in my database. It was interesting to try and figure out how they chose the freebies. There were a couple of popular ones in the freebies (Dana O'Shee and Grog) but most of them have very few reviews. That makes sense that they'd use the freebies to introduce people to less popular scents.

With so many to try -- and I hadn't even gotten through all the imps I got from the forum yet -- I may have to stop with the long reviews for a while and just post quick impressions. Last night I tried on Kumiho: "Nine-tailed fox demon of Korean lore who transforms into the visage of an irresistible beauty in order to seduce men and lead them to their doom. A sharp, biting blend of crisp white tea and ginger." It was wonderful. I had heard that many people find it too strong & sharp, but I applied it lightly and it was just what I was hoping for. Simple and crisp and cool, perfect for hot weather. It didn't last very long with such a light application, but I might be better off reapplying than dousing myself and making it too strong for the first few hours.

Today I think I'm going to wear Dirty: "A wonderful antidote to an all-nighter oozing with drunken, addled perversion and debauchery. A fresh, crisp white linen scent: perfectly clean, perfectly breezy." Good thing the night of debauchery isn't a prerequisite!

This limited edition was part of the "Springtime in Arkham" series. The Mi-Go were a crustacean-like race who captured human brains and took them back to their home planet in canisters. The bottle came with a tiny squishy brain, how cute! Alas, I only have a decanted imp. I bought one for Nellorat the Lovecraft scholar, and snagged one for myself at the same time. I wish now I had gotten Cthulhu for myself too.

Mi-Go Brain Canister. "A soothing yet stimulating blend of pink pepper, peony, jasmine, mango, kiwi, pomegranate, pineapple, white ginger, serene white tea and light musks."

Bottle: Fruity and juicy. I can smell mango and pineapple & probably other fruits too, but I don稚 recognize them.

Wet: I can still smell the fruit but it痴 kind of perfumy. That must be the jasmine. We saw jasmine plants at the farmer痴 market yesterday, and the smell was beautiful and incredibly strong, but not quite like this. I guess the perfume notes don稚 smell precisely like the real thing (Graveyard Dirt excepted). I壇 love to grow jasmine, put it next to our path so we壇 smell it every time we went into the garden. But we don稚 have a sunny window inside for it during winter. Besides, I'm terrible with houseplants. I guess we could grow it as an annual but that seems wasteful.

Drydown: The perfumy tone dissipates quickly, leaving a nice feminine blend with a hint of musk. It痴 similar to Pink Moon but much more 杜e.� I don稚 smell tea or ginger, but they池e probably what痴 keeping from the fruit and floral from being too sweet or cloying. I知 not getting pink peppercorn at all. Which is too bad. I was hoping it would have a spicy note.

Lasting: After three hours it痴 soft, sweet and so well blended I can稚 pick out any particular notes. Also quite faint.

Repurchase: No, but I値l use the imp.

This is pretty, if it were a regular catalog scent I壇 buy a bottle, but it痴 not special enough to be worth limited edition prices. I have a few fruity scents on order & I値l just hope one of them is as nice & light as this.

Last night I got to sniff Lisa's BPAL collection. And I was amazed to discover that yes, Graveyard Dirt does smell exactly like high quality potting soil. I wore Embalming Fluid to a party yesterday, but the party was outside and the mosquitoes were terrible and I doused myself in bug spray, which overwhelmed the perfume. Now I'm wearing Dorian. Of which I ordered a 5 ml bottle from the lab, but then I couldn't wait and got an imp from someone on the forums.

Dorian. "This blend is an artful deception: a sweet gilded blossom lying over a twisted and corrupted core. A Victorian fougere with three pale musks and dark, sugared vanilla tea."

Bottle: Mostly I smell vanilla and sweetness, but tea is a definite undertone.

Wet: Yum. Musk, tea, and sweet vanilla. It smells creamy too, I wonder if there痴 a milky note in it, or if that痴 the vanilla?

Drydown: As it dries the musk moves to the background and I get black tea and vanilla with a dark edge. I really love this. It痴 interesting how different it smells from Embalming Fluid, although both include tea and musk. Embalming Fluid is light and clean, while this is rich and sexy. I can稚 stop smelling my wrist.

Lasting: The more it dries, the more the tea dominates. After several hours it's sweet, tea, and vanilla. It痴 wonderful. I知 2 for 2 now on tea-based scents.

Repurchase: Without a doubt.

Overall: I知 so glad I have a whole bottle of this on the way. It痴 a little too creamy for this weather but I think it will be perfect for autumn. Not that it smells 殿utumnal� in any way, just that the rich sweetness will be better in cool weather.

A bunch of imps arrived while I was away, so I had my pick of new scents to try tonight.

Follow Me Boy: "A houdoun recipe dating back almost 150 years. This blend is favored by prostitutes, exotic dancers and others in the sex industry for its power to attract, seduce, and enthrall. Ensures financial gain and increased profits."

This may be the first one I've tried whose description doesn't include any ingredients. I got this because it was described as honey and lemon, but I知 not getting that at all.

Wet: Powder. Not baby powder, but lady痴 face powder. The old style that your mom had in a pretty round box with a pink fluffy thing to apply it. I don稚 smell lemon at all. It痴 strong: all I did was dab it on each wrist with the wand (and get a little tiny bit on my finger while opening the imp) and Georg can smell it across the room.

Drydown: The powdery smell is dissipating and something else is emerging. Sweet, herbal, and floral, maybe jasmine? Plus there痴 something dark and musky in there, though I don稚 think it痴 actually musk. Georg doesn稚 smell the musk, though he agrees that it痴 not as powdery. And he can稚 smell it at a distance anymore. Whew.

Lasting: After about an hour and a half, I detect lemon! The face powder is gone, now it痴 sweet and herbal and floral with a bit of lemon. Not citrusy lemon juice, but lemon cake with powdered sugar. That sounds crazy but I was honestly getting a 斗emon pound cake� vibe from this. Coincidentally we had dinner at Starlu tonight and they had lemon pound cake on the menu. So we ordered it. And I can definitively say that I was wrong; my wrists smell nothing like lemon pound cake. It still smells nice though. (And the cake was excellent.)

Repurchase: Maybe.

Georg summed it up well: 妬t痴 nice, but it痴 not as good as that hot one.� He meant Wanda and I agree. Though I like the drydown better than the first hour. I値l have to remember to put this on well in advance of going out anywhere.