BPAL Lupercalia 2011 "Venusta" Series: Nude Woman Reclining Review

Rundown...I am a hoarder. A BPAL hoarder to be exact. I have perfumes from BPAL's 2009 Halloween, Christmas, and Valentine series that I haven't even sniffed yet. Not to mention all the bottles I got from people selling them on the forum. I just placed another order last night so there are also those to consider. Therefore, I will try to do as many of these as I can here to shake things up a bit. I love swatching but sometimes, a bit of something different is okay. :)

First up is "Nude Woman Reclining" from their Lupercalia 2011 "Venusta" series. I don't think you can get this anymore as it was a part of their Valentine season limited edition series. I think you might be able to find it on the forum.

A tribute to William Etty and the Elegance of the Human Form. - BPAL

Calla lily, honeysuckle, Turkish jasmine, ambrette seed, galbanum, iris, and bourbon vanilla.

My skin chemistry: It loves "Asian" scents. So, jasmine, plum, rice wine, cherry blossoms, tea - these are all very light scents that don't have a great throw or lasts for a very long time. It also loves citrus which, like the other notes, does not stay for long or have a very big throw.

Initial thoughts: Not sure why I got this. There's nothing in the listed notes that really appeal to me except for the calla lily and Turkish jasmine. Everything else - whut?

In the bottle: Smells powdery. There's something incense-y about it. I don't know how different Turkish jasmine smells from just ordinary jasmine (like the jasmine I smell in my tea) but wow, definitely can't pick anything familiar out. It's a bit sharp.

On my skin: Oh gosh, this is sharp. Still a powdery, floral smell. I think this needs to settle a bit. After a few more huffs, I'm starting to pick out some of the complexities of this scent but the incense/soapy smell is still very prevalent. I get a hit of something sweet. Hmm...must be the bourbon vanilla.

1 hr later: Still powdery. I think it's too soft and smells way too much like a powder pot to me.

Have you tried this scent? What do you think?

I have been neglectful.

Argh. I'm a terrible, terrible blogger. Real-life has been hectic and I think it's going to get even more hectic. Before anything else happens, I figured I'd make a post to let everyone know I am alive. I am going to try my hardest to catch up on all the new posts! Wish there was an Android app for Blogger, haha.

I am going to try and do some Fyrinnae swatches tomorrow. In the meantime, here are some pictures of stuff I will be reviewing and a MAC haul I made.



I can't get enough of BPAL. I have so many perfume oils and they all smell wonderful. Some more than the others. Just about an hour ago, I placed another order for some of their Salon scents.



All the freebies they threw in my order. <3



Ugh. This was expensive. And the box is mighty large because all you get is this:



Have you guys tried it? Apparently, the website has a coupon for a Buy 1 Get 1 Free deal. I turned my coupon in so hopefully, they'll ship my second bottle soon. It's only 3ml but apparently, it lasts a while.



I don't usually buy higher end makeup but for some reason, I really wanted a jar of their "Rose" pigment. I went back last weekend and picked up 2 more jars of pigments plus a lip gloss. The sales lady was really good. >_>

Now to catch up on posts. :) Have a lovely weekend everyone! And a great big HULLO to my new followers!

Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab: Beaver Moon + Yule 2010 Preview

I haven't purchased from Black Phoenix for about...7 months now. I have so many bottles and imps that it just didn't seem responsible to purchase more especially since I haven't even tried half the bottles I did buy from the last Halloween/Yuletide seasonal collections.

Oh wait, that's a lie. I did purchase a couple of oil blends from Twilight Alchemy, a subsidiary of BPAL.

I usually don't purchase Lunacies (with each full moon, they come out with a different scent to represent their definition of that moon) but urgh, this one has me salivating.



Beaver Moon - Strawberry and peach cheesecake, heavy on the sticky glaze.

I'm friggin' lactose-intolerant yo. I don't even know how it'd work as a scent (not big on foody scents) but I am seriously enticed.

Go here to check out the rest of their seasonal collections. They've even got a pack of scents up based off of The Last Unicorn. :D

My favorite of theirs still remains to be, Jingu. It's the best plum scent I've ever come across.

TAL Review #1

I got my TAL (BPAL) oils yesterday! It didn't come with any frimps so, sadface. :( But that's okay because I'm super excited to use these oils and see how effective they are! I got French Creole and Mantle of Venus.



From the TAL website:

French Creole- Draws influential, powerful people into your life. Helps make your wishes and desires into a reality.

What's funny is that I really only read the second part. Though I am curious as to how the first part works.

Mantle of Venus- Brings immense success in love and money.

I figured since this was in the "Joy & Inspiration" section, it wasn't love in the romantic sense which is why I bought it. I really just saw the "immense success" part. On further thought, I'm pretty sure it means love in the romantic sense so I might have purchased something not for the reason it was intended.

At $25 a pop, these little guys are a rather expensive bunch. I'm looking to make some major decisions coming along so hopefully, these oils will help me along getting myself there. Not that the description sounds like they'd help. I think there were other ones more suitable for what I'm thinking of so I may actually need to go back and shop. Because they're a bit on the expensive side, that might actually depend on how well these next few weeks go.

Shipping was UBER fast with these puppies. I ordered these 6/28 and received them 6/30. Never got anything faster. I think it even beats TKB by a day. FC smells very herbly and MoV smells super spicy. I am heading out tonight so I'll let y'all know what the results are.

Fyrinnae at home? Sassy Minerals + TAL (BPAL) Preview

Delivery confirmation has indicated that Fyrinnae is "Out for Delivery" so in a few hours when I head home, I should have a lovely package waiting for me. Yippee! I can't wait to get my hands on the new eyeshadows.

I've only tried Nijiro and Pixie Epoxy of the 8-9 items I received from Fyrinnae but I have to say that I absolutely love the sizes. It's pretty standard for mineral companies with the sample option to only give you samples in the amount of 1/16th tsp for $1. It's rare to find 1/8th tsp sample sizes for $1 and to my knowledge, I think only Fyrinnae does 1/3rd tsp for their eyeshadow sample sizes (all numbers and measurements refer to their eyeshadow sample sizes). You pay $2 for it but even if you purchase $2 worth of pigments from the other companies, you still don't get as much as 1/3rd tsp.

Sorry all. I understand quality over quantity but when all these companies are well-respected for their products, then quality is moot and quantity matters. I'm your normal, average consume. :)

Anyway, I will try to do some swatches of my hauls throughout this week. I'm a bit worn out from the weekend. In addition to the other hauls I am waiting on, I also made 2 additional purchases.

From Sassy Minerals (all sample sizes...at $0.75, why not? Ordered 6/24, received 6/30):

- In Hysterics
- Legendary
- Fake It
- Elusive
- Always a Bridesmaid
- All-Nighter
- Don't Blink
- Dreamy
- Jolt
- Make It Work
- Neverending
- No Rules
- Panache
- Prissy Princess
- Rebellious
- Ruby Slippers
- Talking to Myself
- Vixen
- Endless Party
- Fatal Beauty
- Shameless

From TAL, Twilight Alchemy Lab, a subsidiary of BPAL, Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab:

- Mantle of Venus
- French Creole

I could only afford two. At $25 a pop, it was painful pressing that "Pay Now" button. I probably should have waited until I started my new job. Ah well, can't fret now. It's all down and over with. I usually shop from BPAL but TAL caught my eye and after reading for the last two days about how these oils work, I wanted to give them a shot myself. Will definitely keep you all updated on the efficacy of these oils. :)