#bpal

[boscotron]

you can smell like this art!

All Souls’ Day (Hedwig Cemetery), 1896 by Franz Skarbina (German, 1849–1910)

[angelofthemornings]

RAFFLE FOR GAZA

I have an extra bottle of BPAL's Junji Ito line fragrance Tomie as well as a prototype fragrance labeled AF5. (BPAL sometimes picks a customer at random to give them a bottle of a fragrance they're working on developing. These are rare and can't be officially bought, and they seldom show up on eBay or swap communities!) If you haven't read Tomie yet, let me know in your DM if you would like it and I will send you my (slightly battered) copy along with the bottles. Every 5 euro you donate will earn you one ticket. Please send proof of donation to my DMs and I'll contact the winner afterwards. Contest is open to everyone worldwide and ends the last day of November. Here is the fundraiser I am supporting:

Bear in mind that I also do fic and art commissions, for a 15 euro donation you can have a fic and for 40 euro I'll draw you an entire black and white comic of up to 40 panels. Did you ever feel like writing one of those Tumblr comics that get mega popular but you can't draw...? (Can't promise it'll get mega popular, though. Haha.) Good luck to all who join and good luck to brave @jaber-dah who is just a little kid.

[momdusa]

These buttons from black phoenix alchemy labs are making me wanna pull out my dolls and take pics with them

[catastrfy]

neil gaiman collab update fromthe bpal forums. text in alt

[shiniestcrow]

Hey, so, heads-up: if you're at all interested in any Good Omens perfume, now's the time to get it, as BPAL won't make any more of it

This goes for all their perfumes related to Neil Gaiman properties

This includes but is not limited to: Coraline, American Gods, Neverwhere & The Graveyard Book

100% of the proceeds go to the National Coalition Against Censorship, in case you're concerned about that

[cleolinda]

The work of horror manga artist Junji Ito has wound itself into our brains so tightly, there’s simply no digging it out. As such, it has been an immense honor to develop licensed BPAL products in collaboration with the Crunchyroll series Junji Ito Collection, which includes TOMIE and many other tales.

The first one: Tomie. “‘What’s so precious about a monster?’ A seductive and deceptively delicate blend of rose-tinted white sandalwood, ethereal white amber, voluptuous almond blossom, coeur de jasmin, and a gasp of bourbon vanilla.”

[artemisgarden]

BPAL ORDER CAME!

[snarp]

Theory: BPAL scrapped the original formula for "Snake Oil" because it was based on some accord purchased in bulk for which the formulator never actually knew the individual components, and then they just ran out of it.

Argument Against: They should be able to just take a sample of the old stuff and "Shoot The Juice" through GC/MS - there are literally consumer services for that now, it should be affordable?

Argument For: They can't do that because they're too scared that the GC/MS company will reveal their secret formulation-shortcut shame (potential IP issue? lawsuit risk?) and/or secret snake oil formula to the world.

Competing Theory: It's more likely that the original formula just had too much eugenol and coumarin for regulatory purposes.* Like, if it were possible to legally sell convincing Original!Snake Oil dupes, I'm sure that Al Rehab, Bath and Body Works, and SaveOnScents would be doing it. Snake Oil is probably just illegal.

* (The changes described in the reformulation are the addition of patchouli oil and vanilla absolute, common "safe and all-natural" substitutions for eugenol and coumarin.

Also, like. Snake Oil smells like eugenol and coumarin. I have eugenol in the kitchen and I know what coumarin smells like. That's what's in the bottle.)

Argument Against: This one is slightly less funny.

[boscotron]

This is not a drill, BPAL has done a Carmilla collection for their 2024 Halloween release:

(I don't work for the lab I'm just obsessed)

[valdiis]

I purchased a perfume from Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab (among several of them) that is "Red Oakmoss, Cedarwood, and Sweet Patchouli." What a delight! I get the cedarwood most heavily on fresh application, but now that it's been a few minutes, the oakmoss is coming out. I smell like the woods and I love it.

Just felt I should let everyone know that I smell amazing this morning.

[feytouched]

might you have a few recommendations (on the more affordable side) for warm, sensual, but not sugary-sweet fragrances? i love your descriptions so much

when recommending affordable fragrances, my favourites will always be scent oils; a little really goes a long way with them, and you can find a lot of affordably-priced niche perfumers, my faves being of course bpal and alchemia.

from bpal - o is very warm and one of the most erotic scents i've sampled, but it is also quite sweet. it's a honey sort of sweetness, though, if that makes any difference, with an amber and musk base. bastet is similar but a bit less honey-heavy, leaning more into almond, cardamom, lotus and myrrh. eden also has a strong almond top note, warm and creamy coconut, and a green peek of fig leaf.

from alkemia - vanille amour is a classic spiced vanilla; think chai or wintry spice mixes. may be on the sweeter side, though. if you prefer a less foody vanilla, then incantation vanille is a good choice, featuring incenses and leather; quite sultry and mysterious. promises by candlelight features almond meal and tropical blooms and creates the feeling of a balmy summer night.

[hillbillyoracle]

My BPAL order came in today! Finally got a full size of my favorite perfume of theirs (that I've found so far) Grave Pig. Got Troll and Deep in Earth as frimps. While I love all of my BPAL perfumes (I have quite a few from their collaborative with Sphere + Sundry), Grave Pig has remained a favorite and it was sorely missed.

[golvio]

As a companion to my notes post, here are my favorite BPAL perfumes out of the ones I've tried so far, in no particular order:

Menage A Trois: Golden Amber, Oak, and Muguet (A light, fresh, clean, and warm scent. Pleasant and lasting, but not obtrusive or overbearing.)

Jazz Funeral (The magnolias mixed with the booze and earth notes are heavenly!)

Tomie (Creamy and a little unconventional, floral without smelling like a granny perfume.)

Virahotkantita (Unfortunately discontinued, but I got a bottle of leftover stock for free with my big Christmas order. A lovely lilac and violet medley with some colder notes.)

Plague Doctor v10 (A prototype not for sale, and another free sample with the previous perfume. It's a fresh, clean aquatic scent that reminds me of my dad's aftershave.)

Titus Andronicus (Another "aftershave" scent, but warmer and spicier than Plague Doctor. Great for when you want to feel masculine but also a little bit regal.)

Shoggoth (Really weird and morphs a lot, but all the notes are pleasant. For me the lemon and floral notes were strongest.)

Arkham (Wildflowers and overturned forest dirt, how you'd smell after a strenuous but overall satisfying hike through the New England woods in springtime)

Envy (This one depends on what mood I'm in, but when I am in the mood, the lavender and lime hits the spot)

Cleric (Gorgeous, long-lasting, great throw)

Scherezade (Warm and sweet. Gives me comforting memories of the hippie granola health store I bought the lemon balm tea I self-medicated with in grad school, or that one time I tried burning my own incense as a teenager in my goth phase.)

Juke Joint (Basically a mint julep, very delicious.)

Diana (A little like Juke Joint, strangely, but with a touch more amber & aged leather.)

Endymion (Very sweet and beautiful, but it fades too fast.)

The Bow & Crown of Conquest (I like it for a lot of the same reasons why I like Envy, but it also has incense smoke.)

Masquerade (A beautiful, sparkling, orangey scent, but like Endymion fades too fast.)

Dee (All the things I liked about Endymion's rosewood, but less floral and more like incense and gentleman's cologne. Seems like something a 19th century mystic would wear to seem more "exotic.")

The Lady of Shalott (Really gorgeous, delicate florals and musks)

Chimera (Starts spicy with cinnamon, but then morphs in fascinating ways as the honeysuckle becomes more obvious.)

Lawful (Another gorgeous, incense-y scent.)

Les Bijoux (Sweet, sparkling prosecco with a crisp crunch of tart green apple.)

Rakshasa (Gorgeous rosy scent mixed with sweet patchouli and handsome, down-to-earth sandalwood. Feels like a beautiful masculine and feminine scent simultaneously. If you're being seduced by an otherworldly shapeshifter, they probably smell like this.)

Water of Notre Dame (Very sunny floral, reminds me of when I'd shower with my special Angel's Trumpet soap bar I splurged on as a treat for myself.)

[mlobsters]

kids came over asking for help with something, 8yo asks, "why does it smell so good over here?" shove my arm in his face to find out if that's the smell he's referring to, yes. so i tell him it's my fragrance. his response: "smells like pepsi" and the 10yo chimes in "and pumpkin"

Pine pitch and clove-tinged dragon’s blood resin. (bpal)

or pepsi and pumpkin 🧙‍♂️

[elspethdixon]

Some people have nice shelves or other display structures to hold their perfumes. After over a dozen years of BPAL collecting with a sideline in NAVA collecting, I have an entire closet dedicated to The Hoard:

The top shelf on the lefthand side looks like one row, but it’s actually got bottles arranged in arcs by perfume category.

[rowandriftwood]

Paid $22 on eBay for <1ml of BPAL Saint-Germain (discontinued in 2010). Worth every penny.