BPAL review: Babalu Aye

[telophase]

This came as a frimp in one of the eBay purchases.
Visions of Ricky Ricardo
...but not from the scent, just the name. :D

Babalu Aye

BPAL description: A Twilight Alchemy Lab scent, which is only available at the Black Broom in LA. No real description, except that it's in The Orishas collection. Her's some info on the god Babalu Aye from the about.com religion section.

In vial: Very herbal.

Wet: Mellowing out. A touch of dirt.

Dry: A touch of eau de cardboard box. Sandalwood and suntan lotion in the herbiness.

Notes: The cat was not happy that I went into the bedroom where she'd sequestered herself in order to get an uninterrupted nap since I keep insisting on poking her awake to pet her, but she sniffed with ill-disguised grace and then went back to sleep. The suntan lotion comes out more and more. I think I'm mildly allergic.

Comments

[espion.livejournal.com]

Okay, I've finally decided to bite the bullet...what is BPAL? I'm assuming something like essential oils?

[telophase.livejournal.com]

:D Yup - they're perfume oil blends. BPAL is the Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab (http://www.blackphoenixalchemylab.com), and their website catalogue is the J. Peterman of perfume. I could tell you more about it, but I don't need to since sophia_helix has a really good BPAL Newbie FAQ right here (http://www.livejournal.com/users/sophia_helix/366892.html), although it's geared towards those who have decided to join the zombie hordes.

The killer app of BPAL is that they offer sample sizes of their oils - little vials that hold about 1/32 oz. - for $3 each, and once you get some, you can swap the ones that don't work for you with other BPAL addicts. and if you decide that you've got to try some of this stuff, the Lab itself is currently taking about 8-10 weeks to fill orders, so if you don't want to wait, hitting up eBay or one of the LJ comms listed in the FAQ above is a good way to get some fairly quickly.