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juushikaDevon promised me BPAL for Valentine's Day, and last night we finished putting together my order. I say we because it was a V-Day thing, a gift to me but also to us as a couple, so I read names and note lists aloud and we decided together on some scents for me—not for him, though, because if there is a day when Devon will wear scents of any kind, it's a far distant one ... but still, the fact that I will smell amazing is a gift to him as well, in its way.
In fact, Devon is perhaps one of the more supportive BPAL-boyfriends I've ever heard of. Like I said he doesn't wear it, but he loves that I do—he has favorites scents which he requests I wear (Penny Dreadful, Velvet, and Blood Amber seem to come up the most often), favorites notes that he looks for in new blends (cocoa, amber, and dragon's blood primarily, but a few companion notes besides), and altogethers sniffs and compliments and truly enjoys. I am at the same time very selfish and very unwilling to indulge myself—I want many many things, but I feel guilty about acquiring them, I feel like I don't deserve them. The fact that he enjoys my BPAL obsession almost as much as I do is wonderful reassurance that I'm not being pointlessly selfish, collecting these oils, maybe even smelling like poo (only no one has the heart to tell me!) and wasting money. Rationally I don't believe this—how could I? they smell amazing—but to my oft-irrational mind, the fact that Devon also enjoys this obsession is hugely reassuring.
And it makes BPAL a pretty damn good Valentine's Day gift.
Anyway! I'm still sitting on a $40 check from Christmas which, when I finally take it to the bank, I'll use to buy decants and used bottles from![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-community.gif)
sinandsalvation, but the Lab order should go through tomorrow and is all picked out as of last night.
One bottle: GLOWING VULVA AT RYOGOKU BRIDGE (NOVEL IDEAS FOR SECRET AMUSEMENTS) Cream accord, amber, teak, and lotus blossom.
This is a $35 dollar bottle that I'm ordering untested ... which makes me feel both a bit thrilled and bit nervous. Novel Ideas is a limited edition Salon category, so the blend is based on piece of Japanese art (NWS). The scent is supposed to be evocative both of scene and of coloring: warm with the amber, smooth with the cream, grounded by slightly spicy rich teakwood, and sweetened slightly by the lotus. It sounds slightly unusual yet still to my tastes, and after spending a lot of time looking through the gigantic Lupercalia update, this is the one that I'm most interested in taking a risk on.
I'm also ordering a set of eight imps, to perfectly meet the gift budget (ok, fifty cents over):
THE UNICORN A misty, almost luminous perfume: wispy linden blossoms, white flowers, and a touch of sweet herbs. Described as "sparkling," I've been curious about it for some time.
BENGAL Skin musk with honey, peppers, clove, cinnamon bark and ginger. I'm looking for a spicy scent, and I love skin musk, so this seems very promising.
FENRIS WOLF Rosewood, amber, red musk and a dribble of red sandalwood. Perhaps too masculine, but the feral redness is quite appealing.
DESTROYING ANGEL Papery white notes evoke the grace of this fungi, grounded by thin, crisp soil. Because I adored Death Cap, and this should be a drier, less sweet dirt-and-mushroom perfume.
MASQUERADE Patchouli, ambergris, carnation and orange blossom. To my surprise, a like a gentle orange blossom note, so I'm trying to find a good BPAL blend that contains it—and the rest of the notes are perfectly to my taste.
POOL OF TEARS A sea of salty tears drowning out Alice's light floral perfume. I'm in search of a salty perfume, and this is a readily available one.
XIUHTECUHTLI Copal, plumeria and sweet orange and the smoke of South American incense and crushed jungle blooms. Apparently a close dupe of the commercial perfume Angel, so I'm getting this for me to try and possibly to pass on to my sister.
STRANGLER FIG Rooty, woody, with deep green tones. I adore the fig in Intrigue, and want to try in in another blend—what better than almost-pure fig?
If saw exceptionally difficult to narrow down my wishlist to this list. If I had hundreds of dollars more, well, I'd be buying a lot more: Love's Philosphy (which I really want, but worry may be too light or too Yankee-candle), Smut (I want it for the musks, and fear it for the booze), Anactoria (lovely notes, but the reviews didn't seem to live up to them) were are all hard to put aside, and that's just from the Lupercalia update.
These won't be here for a while, but I'm already excited. Plus, I find it useful to record what I order, when, and from where—for my own records if nothing else. I'm also starting to date my direct-from-the-lab imps (month/year written on the label) so that I can better keep track of aging, and how scents smell that way. Since I love ambers and cocoas, both of which are heavily effected (and often, they say, in a positive way) by aging, that information will be good to know.
In fact, Devon is perhaps one of the more supportive BPAL-boyfriends I've ever heard of. Like I said he doesn't wear it, but he loves that I do—he has favorites scents which he requests I wear (Penny Dreadful, Velvet, and Blood Amber seem to come up the most often), favorites notes that he looks for in new blends (cocoa, amber, and dragon's blood primarily, but a few companion notes besides), and altogethers sniffs and compliments and truly enjoys. I am at the same time very selfish and very unwilling to indulge myself—I want many many things, but I feel guilty about acquiring them, I feel like I don't deserve them. The fact that he enjoys my BPAL obsession almost as much as I do is wonderful reassurance that I'm not being pointlessly selfish, collecting these oils, maybe even smelling like poo (only no one has the heart to tell me!) and wasting money. Rationally I don't believe this—how could I? they smell amazing—but to my oft-irrational mind, the fact that Devon also enjoys this obsession is hugely reassuring.
And it makes BPAL a pretty damn good Valentine's Day gift.
Anyway! I'm still sitting on a $40 check from Christmas which, when I finally take it to the bank, I'll use to buy decants and used bottles from
sinandsalvation, but the Lab order should go through tomorrow and is all picked out as of last night.One bottle: GLOWING VULVA AT RYOGOKU BRIDGE (NOVEL IDEAS FOR SECRET AMUSEMENTS) Cream accord, amber, teak, and lotus blossom.
This is a $35 dollar bottle that I'm ordering untested ... which makes me feel both a bit thrilled and bit nervous. Novel Ideas is a limited edition Salon category, so the blend is based on piece of Japanese art (NWS). The scent is supposed to be evocative both of scene and of coloring: warm with the amber, smooth with the cream, grounded by slightly spicy rich teakwood, and sweetened slightly by the lotus. It sounds slightly unusual yet still to my tastes, and after spending a lot of time looking through the gigantic Lupercalia update, this is the one that I'm most interested in taking a risk on.
I'm also ordering a set of eight imps, to perfectly meet the gift budget (ok, fifty cents over):
THE UNICORN A misty, almost luminous perfume: wispy linden blossoms, white flowers, and a touch of sweet herbs. Described as "sparkling," I've been curious about it for some time.
BENGAL Skin musk with honey, peppers, clove, cinnamon bark and ginger. I'm looking for a spicy scent, and I love skin musk, so this seems very promising.
FENRIS WOLF Rosewood, amber, red musk and a dribble of red sandalwood. Perhaps too masculine, but the feral redness is quite appealing.
DESTROYING ANGEL Papery white notes evoke the grace of this fungi, grounded by thin, crisp soil. Because I adored Death Cap, and this should be a drier, less sweet dirt-and-mushroom perfume.
MASQUERADE Patchouli, ambergris, carnation and orange blossom. To my surprise, a like a gentle orange blossom note, so I'm trying to find a good BPAL blend that contains it—and the rest of the notes are perfectly to my taste.
POOL OF TEARS A sea of salty tears drowning out Alice's light floral perfume. I'm in search of a salty perfume, and this is a readily available one.
XIUHTECUHTLI Copal, plumeria and sweet orange and the smoke of South American incense and crushed jungle blooms. Apparently a close dupe of the commercial perfume Angel, so I'm getting this for me to try and possibly to pass on to my sister.
STRANGLER FIG Rooty, woody, with deep green tones. I adore the fig in Intrigue, and want to try in in another blend—what better than almost-pure fig?
If saw exceptionally difficult to narrow down my wishlist to this list. If I had hundreds of dollars more, well, I'd be buying a lot more: Love's Philosphy (which I really want, but worry may be too light or too Yankee-candle), Smut (I want it for the musks, and fear it for the booze), Anactoria (lovely notes, but the reviews didn't seem to live up to them) were are all hard to put aside, and that's just from the Lupercalia update.
These won't be here for a while, but I'm already excited. Plus, I find it useful to record what I order, when, and from where—for my own records if nothing else. I'm also starting to date my direct-from-the-lab imps (month/year written on the label) so that I can better keep track of aging, and how scents smell that way. Since I love ambers and cocoas, both of which are heavily effected (and often, they say, in a positive way) by aging, that information will be good to know.
