No problem with stink-pretties, although I don't tend towards the perfume road myself; I go with stink-pretty bodywashes and shampoos and occasionally unusually-scented hand lotions. Alas, I've developed such an icky allergy to the cheaper oils they use in perfumes that either my taste in perfume tends to the hundreds of dollars, or it doesn't happen. :(
I didn't resolve to lose weight this year, but I fully intend to. Been doing reasonably well at it anyhow, if you ignore last year and my stress level. :)
I'm all about the stink-pretty body washes, myself, and stuff for my hair. I'm not much of one for scented lotions, mostly because they interfere with the perfume!
As for the perfume I'm buying.. it's from a company that does hand-blended, essential-oil based perfume. No alcohol in it at all, pretty much all natural (the musks would be bouquets or possibly synthetic, but everything else....) I can give you the website, if you like, and they're based in LA.
Or hell, tell me what sort of scents you like and I can probably send you a few things to try if you like. I have so many samples at this point.
Actually, you've got me curious - lemme see the website! :)
I tend to go for oddball scents. I'm not a traditional perfume-person; I like sandalwood and cinnamon and spicy or woody stuff, but I'm not into most of the florals that're out there. Musk is about the only "spicy" type scent I'm not big into, and I've never quite understood why; it fits the profile of other scents I like, but it just doesn't do it for me.
As far as "perfume-y" scents go, the actual brand of perfume that I've found that seems to work best for me is Poison, but that's because it does something with my body chemistry that makes it smell like a slightly-sweetened baby powder rather than the potent aroma it's got otherwise. Never understood how that worked out, but it works for me. :)
Be warned: there are a ton of scents, well over 400. It can be a bit overwhelming. I can give you some suggestions, but I also recommend wandering to the forum, as well. It's at: http://www.bpal.org and people are very friendly and helpful. I'm Xiabelle there. (Or snag me on IM or something.)
Some initial recs: Dorian, Morocco, Baghdad, Bengal, Snake Oil. Their florals are absolutely great too, even though I don't care for some of them, I love others.
Oh, I'm a vanilla and amber person, too. I have real amber resin, though, 'cuz I'm spoiled (well, that and because I sell it), which is a natural perfume all on its own. :) But vanilla is a major scent in my "stink-pretty" collection
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Having spent a little bit cruising there (and I'll probably be cruising there a lot in the next few days - there's a lot to see!) - I'm curious about a handful of stuff, including "Golden Priapus" (which it says is typically a man's scent, but the combination sounds lovely), "Jabberwocky", "Sin", "Hamadryad", and "Namaste". O'course, I may end up just ordering a selection of samples and see how it comes out - either that, or I'll see if I can manage to actually make it out to The Black Broom, where they apparently sell the stuff. (I used to go to that store all the time when it was called Raven's Flight, so I know exactly where it is.)
I'm also now curious if I know the maker of these, because I've got a couple incense blends which sound surprisingly like a couple of their perfume blends. :)
Evidently the Black Broom does sell their incense, too. Can't mail-order that stuff yet.
If you want instant gratification (the lab's lead-time is pretty long, but key if you want some of the limited editions and most bottles), head over to the forums. There's a swap and sale section where you can pick up a lot of stuff. I've bought a few things from there, and it's great because if something doesn't work for you... you can swap it away. (Also, always try it on, even if you don't like it in the vial, since they morph a lot sometimes.)
The forum also has reviews of just about everything, which is helpful.
I adore Golden Priapus -- it's one of my favorite scents. My skin tends to amp vanilla, so on me it's mostly that with a little darkening from the amber and a spicy woody undertone from the juniper. I don't perceive it as particularly masculine.
I recently tried Fire of Love, from the Voodoo Blends category, and thought it was rather similar to Golden Priapus in some ways; it seems to come out on me as mostly vanilla with a hint of patchouli.
How funny... I stumbled across BPAL last night and spent many hours reading the site and forum. I'm probably going to order the 6-sample package, but picking the 6 is going to be torture! Doesn't help that I have a terrible time really knowing what the descriptions are actually going to smell like, much less what they'll smell like *on me* (which is a whole 'nother issue... and the forum's link to that FAQ is dead, wah). And no refunds or exchanges, which is a pain but understandable I guess. I haven't checked out the swap section because, well, ain't got nothing to swap yet, do I? :) But if you can outright buy/sell there, that'd be great
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Well, you know.... There are several folks in town who play with bpal.
And I'm perfectly happy to let you sniff through my collection, too. I have a good-sized collection, but not compared to some! My skin chemistry is pretty good, but some of the 'classics' hate me, which makes me insane. (Everyone loves Snow White, but it makes me nauseous; Alice smells like baby powder; O is all honey all the time....)
I'm incredibly picky, too. I have a lot I like, but I tend to wear the same ones a lot. My first order, I went through and picked out scents I like, and some that I might not normally be drawn to as well.
Cool! Though I have a feeling I'm about to enter a whole new crackdom...
I don't know about my skin chemistry. Chanel No. 5 changes into something wonderful on me (or it used to, anyway), but White Linen went bizarre and unpleasant. Which is sad, because I lurve actual linen. Then at RenFest a couple years ago, I bought a wonderful-smelling coconut oil... but on me, the coconut evaporated and I somehow ended up smelling like resin. Not what I was going for!
I'll probably end up getting a couple that are highly recommended (Scheherazade (sp?)), a couple that have at least some ingredients that I know I like, and a couple that just sound cool (Neo-Tokyo). :)
No problem with stink-pretties, although I don't tend towards the perfume road myself; I go with stink-pretty bodywashes and shampoos and occasionally unusually-scented hand lotions. Alas, I've developed such an icky allergy to the cheaper oils they use in perfumes that either my taste in perfume tends to the hundreds of dollars, or it doesn't happen. :(
I didn't resolve to lose weight this year, but I fully intend to. Been doing reasonably well at it anyhow, if you ignore last year and my stress level. :)
Glad to see you posting again, though!
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As for the perfume I'm buying.. it's from a company that does hand-blended, essential-oil based perfume. No alcohol in it at all, pretty much all natural (the musks would be bouquets or possibly synthetic, but everything else....) I can give you the website, if you like, and they're based in LA.
Or hell, tell me what sort of scents you like and I can probably send you a few things to try if you like. I have so many samples at this point.
Reply
I tend to go for oddball scents. I'm not a traditional perfume-person; I like sandalwood and cinnamon and spicy or woody stuff, but I'm not into most of the florals that're out there. Musk is about the only "spicy" type scent I'm not big into, and I've never quite understood why; it fits the profile of other scents I like, but it just doesn't do it for me.
As far as "perfume-y" scents go, the actual brand of perfume that I've found that seems to work best for me is Poison, but that's because it does something with my body chemistry that makes it smell like a slightly-sweetened baby powder rather than the potent aroma it's got otherwise. Never understood how that worked out, but it works for me. :)
Reply
Website is: http://www.blackphoenixalchemylab.com
Be warned: there are a ton of scents, well over 400. It can be a bit overwhelming. I can give you some suggestions, but I also recommend wandering to the forum, as well. It's at: http://www.bpal.org and people are very friendly and helpful. I'm Xiabelle there. (Or snag me on IM or something.)
Some initial recs: Dorian, Morocco, Baghdad, Bengal, Snake Oil. Their florals are absolutely great too, even though I don't care for some of them, I love others.
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I'm also now curious if I know the maker of these, because I've got a couple incense blends which sound surprisingly like a couple of their perfume blends. :)
Reply
Evidently the Black Broom does sell their incense, too. Can't mail-order that stuff yet.
If you want instant gratification (the lab's lead-time is pretty long, but key if you want some of the limited editions and most bottles), head over to the forums. There's a swap and sale section where you can pick up a lot of stuff. I've bought a few things from there, and it's great because if something doesn't work for you... you can swap it away. (Also, always try it on, even if you don't like it in the vial, since they morph a lot sometimes.)
The forum also has reviews of just about everything, which is helpful.
Reply
I recently tried Fire of Love, from the Voodoo Blends category, and thought it was rather similar to Golden Priapus in some ways; it seems to come out on me as mostly vanilla with a hint of patchouli.
Reply
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And I'm perfectly happy to let you sniff through my collection, too. I have a good-sized collection, but not compared to some! My skin chemistry is pretty good, but some of the 'classics' hate me, which makes me insane. (Everyone loves Snow White, but it makes me nauseous; Alice smells like baby powder; O is all honey all the time....)
I'm incredibly picky, too. I have a lot I like, but I tend to wear the same ones a lot. My first order, I went through and picked out scents I like, and some that I might not normally be drawn to as well.
Reply
I don't know about my skin chemistry. Chanel No. 5 changes into something wonderful on me (or it used to, anyway), but White Linen went bizarre and unpleasant. Which is sad, because I lurve actual linen. Then at RenFest a couple years ago, I bought a wonderful-smelling coconut oil... but on me, the coconut evaporated and I somehow ended up smelling like resin. Not what I was going for!
I'll probably end up getting a couple that are highly recommended (Scheherazade (sp?)), a couple that have at least some ingredients that I know I like, and a couple that just sound cool (Neo-Tokyo). :)
Reply
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