Christmas is early! (sorta)

[gwyn]

I woke up this morning to some kind of major food-borne illness (can you tell I worked in the health/nutrition info field for a while? I never call it poisoning, I'm such a dweeb) -- severely dizzy and slamming into walls as I tried to get to the bathroom, vomiting my guts up for hours (I thought this was supposed to stop when I got my gall bladder out! Dammit!), massive headache and chills and sweats. I have no idea what I have (my worst fear is e. coli, since my fast-food frenzy last night involved beef), but I guess this is the price you pay after having a fast-food craving from days of not eating anything but crappy packaged stuff and going places where the power was out for two days. I suspect, but cannot prove, that they might have been using stuff that should have been thrown out. Or it's e. coli, one of the two.

I'm not feeling normal enough, local gang, to make it to Torchwood watching, much to my extreme dismay. Two weeks without watching it in a group is too much! I need more Jack and Ianto, pronto.

But!! Christmas came a little early for me in the form of an envelope full of imps from smithereen. I can't believe how generous the BPAL fans have been, and this is my first experience with the Black Phoenix scents (since it'll be a while before my first order arrives). I love them all! They are incredible. So many different aromas and the fragrance just sort of wafts around my head in a lovely cloud -- it's not harsh or obnoxious at all. I couldn't decide between so many lovely scents, but I decided to try Lady of Shalott first, and it's divine. It's actually making my head feel better, so it couldn't have arrived at a more perfect time. (Now if only they had an anti-nausea fragrance...) Thank you, thank you, thank you. I hope I can repay the favor some time.

So, BPAL friends -- how do you decide what fragrances to select? Do you just grab up everything, or spend time learning which ingredients you prefer, and base your choices off that? DO you always buy the LEs sight unseen? Or do you prefer to study the reactions of people in the forums? (I often wonder how many of those people would have a chemistry like mine that I can kind of base my interest on.) There's so much to choose from!

Comments

[mlyn.livejournal.com]

I need more Jack and Ianto, pronto.

EVERYONE needs more Jack and Ianto.

I'm sorry you're feeling poorly! *fingers crossed* it clears up quickly.

[gwyn-r.livejournal.com]

One of my DC co-workers said this morning "You just can't catch a break lately" and boy howdy, do I feel that way.

At least I have purdy smells now, though! ::hugs imps::

[mlyn.livejournal.com]

At least co-worker was sympathetic for once!

[movies-michelle.livejournal.com]

Eee! Well, I'm sorry you're feeling so bad and won't make it to Torchwood tonight. Stay home and enjoy your scents.

[gwyn-r.livejournal.com]

I know, I'm so bummed. Mad, and bummed. Why does this stuff keep happening on Torchwood night? Gah! But I would be a menace on the roads, for sure. I'm still really battling a woozy head.

Hey, it looks like Keith will be here Friday night! So he can hang with us!!

[reginaspina.livejournal.com]

Ack! Sorry you're feeling so horrible and I hope you feel better soon! (And I'm sure you're doing this anyway, but do remember to replenish your fluids :))

[gwyn-r.livejournal.com]

I'm trying to make myself drink some water but I'm scared it'll come back up! But I think it's mellowing out a little.

Speaking of McNulty... ;-)

I finally got to see the last ep of S4. I want to write about it so bad. But I don't know what to say. I just... my god. I cried and cried at the end. Just... Dukie, and poor Randy. And I don't think that Namond can resist that allure of the fancy car... but I want him to so bad. I never expected WeeBey to pony up for Namond like that, but I was so glad he saw the truth. I love Carcetti's leiutenant, right hand guy, but now it looks like he's going to leave. Poor Carver.

But there was also this wonderful stuff -- McNulty's return to major crimes, the way he talked to Beattie about it and how cool she was... I feel such hope for him and his mission to kind of fix this for Bodie (poor Bodie!!). And Bubs, oh, poor Bubs, but maybe his sponsor can help him. I don't know. And Cedric and Rhonda are still so adorable. Omar got away with the score, but I'm sure there will be hell to pay next year.

Just so much to think about. I believe over Christmas I'm going to sit down and watch all of 1-4 again.

[reginaspina.livejournal.com]

I'm only just answering this in-depth because I only just steeled myself to watch this episode on Friday night ...

I too think McNulty's on a mission now, because I think he feels he owes Bodie that much (oh, Bodie!) And perhaps it's a mission as meaningless as Carv's to save Randy (OMG! THAT KILLED ME!) or Prez's to save Dukie (*SOB*) ... I just HAVE to believe that Namond will be OK with Bunny (maybe with relapses, but not permanent ones) because that's the only ray of light for any of those four boys and I just needed that after the way this season ended. (Well, Bunk is kind of a ray of hilarious light ;))

[dine.livejournal.com]

sorry you're feeling poorly - hope it passes soon!

at first I just ordered stuff that sounded interesting - but ran into some ingredients that just don't work well, so I avoid similar items. now, I usually look for the type of scents I'm pretty sure I'd enjoy or that work for me.

I'm on a tight budget so can't afford to buy most of the LEs or Special scents even if they appeal wildly - but some very generous friends occasionally share imps with me. there are some truly wonderful people around the BPAL 'fandom' !

[gwyn-r.livejournal.com]

Hey, you know, if there are some scent likes or interests we have in common, I'd be happy to buy them and we could share them. I was thinking of joining one of those decanting circles, but this might be a good way for me to practice this sort of stuff before I go out and make a fool of myself. ;-) Money's not a big object for me (well, okay, it should be, but since my sister died, I just kind of have been very seize the day about everything and am trying to work around my spendthriftiness), and there is not way I could ever use .5 ml before it goes bad, even if I'm nutso about a scent. It would also be a great way for me to pass on to someone.

[kadymae.livejournal.com]

I spend time learning the names of things I tend to like and make guesses based off of that. Sometimes I am dissapointed, but sometimes I knock it out of the ballpark.

Incidentally ...

{motherhen}
BRATT Diet -- easy to digest foods that are reccomended while you recover from flu/foodpoisoning.

Bananas
Rice (brown, white, cream of rice)
Applesauce (no sugar added kind)
Tea (brew it weak)
Toast (dry)

Hope you feel better soon. I had foodpoisoning 2 years ago and I was miserable.
{/motherhen}

[kadymae.livejournal.com]

Oh, I missed the line about how you worked in health/nutrition for awhile. So, totally preaching to the choir.

---

But a lot of my friends don't know, so ... force of habit.

[gwyn-r.livejournal.com]

No, not at all! I didn't know about bananas, for instance. Maybe I'll have my dad bring me some of that stuff. At least I think I'm finally ready to try some tea -- so nice to have a caffeine headache on top of things!

[voleuse.livejournal.com]

So, BPAL friends -- how do you decide what fragrances to select?

I am actually a weird case, because I grab everything. I've managed to grab imps of the entire GC, and am slowly whittling down the collection. The ones I really, really like, I plan to buy in bottle form.

As for LEs, I will always buy one bottle of a series (e.g. 5ml of Yule out of the Yule collection), and then join a decant circle of the rest. Most of the time, I base the single bottle purchase on how many of the notes seem like they would work for me. (Sometimes I'm very wrong.) I haven't checked on the forum to see if anybody has similar chemistry.

[gwyn-r.livejournal.com]

See, that's what I was actually thinking of doing! I just want to cut a big old swath through everything and try as much as I can. I might, once I get more used to this, try one of those decanting circles -- it sounds like a great idea, especially because I don't think there's any way I could ever use that much perfume in my life, so sharing is a good way to go.

[fishsanwitt]

::pets you:: I hope you feel better soon.

[obsessive24.livejournal.com]

I'm really sorry to hear about the sickness! *sends lots of health vibes* Get well soon.

[smithereen.livejournal.com]

YAY! So glad they got there this time. It helps to put the right address on there. *G* Also Lady of Shalott squeee! Hee. I thought I was firmly anti-floral until I tried that one. I didn't know florals could be that smooth and spicy and watery and awesome!

For selecting, in the beginning I basically just tried as many as I could. I had made a list, but it was really more of a guideline and I wasn't really sticking to it at all. And then I started getting more geeky and systematic and doing the spreadsheet to keep track of notes and reading a lot of reviews, etc. I figured out a few of the things that didn't work for me and some of the ones that surprised me by being awesome, so based on that I swapped a lot more... Now I have a better idea of what works for me (and way too much BPAL) so I buy and swap less. And I've mostly quit buying LE bottles unsniffed because I'm pretty crappy at guessing what's going to work on me with those. *G* If you do want to buy the LEs that don't have a turnaround to allow you to get an imp ahead or read reviews (like the lunacies) I usually haven't had much trouble getting rid of them later if they don't work, so it's not a bad idea to get them if they interest you. For other LEs - decant circles are your friend. But shop around cause there will be several circles to choose from and some charge more than others. (Also you might want to check your decanter's bpal feedback and poke around a little just to make sure they're trustworthy. I haven't had any problems, and I've been in many decant circles but there have been a few incidents of people not getting their imps or not getting them for ridiculously long amounts of time etc.)

There was definitely a feeling of "gotta try them all" for me because BPAL has such range and there have been a lot of surprises in terms of what I ended up falling in love with. And there are some imps I've kept just because it's an unusual scent or an evocative scent that I like to occasionally sniff (not so much wear in public.) But I think for me there also came a sort of saturation point where I'd tried like 400 of them or something, and I just kind of have too much to ever wear at this point. So I went for the total immersion for a while, and now I'm more selective.

[gwyn-r.livejournal.com]

I can't thank you enough -- it's been so fun to sniff things and go back and look up what's in them. I'm going to start charting everything today, now that I've had a chance to try three of them. I have a feeling I'll do what you've done -- go a little crazy and then taper down. And I aprpeciate the decant circle advice -- that's a little intimidating to me still, but I know it makes a lot of sense if I want to try more of the LEs without knowing much about them. My biggest problem is that I'm not good at discerning specific notes -- like, I can often tell some of the bolder scents, but the more subtle ones, or the ones I have no frame of reference for (what does tonka smell like? No idea), I may not necessarily be able to tell about. I'm not sure if I'll ever be able to figure out what does or doesn't work for me.

But that is, of course, half the fun of trying a new fandom -- what's the thing you like best? Where's your bulletproof kink? What pairing is your favorite? ;-)

[smithereen.livejournal.com]

My biggest problem is that I'm not good at discerning specific notes --

Oh God. Me neither. I look at the reviews and some of them are amazingly detailed. BPAL used to do single-notes so some people are able to pick things out because they know what some of those individual notes smell like, but other people I think just have sensitive noses. Me? I go...this one smells like a candle, and this one smells sweet and fruity, and this one smells like plastic, and this one smells clean, etc. So yeah... my nose is not so sophisticated. *G* But doing the spreadsheet at least helped me figure out which notes specifically HATE my skin because even I could see a pattern when everything I tried that had vanilla smelled like "spicy baby powder" and everything with myrrh in it had to be washed off, etc.

That first flush of fandom is so much fun Hee. And I think with BPAL it's kind of about the process of exploring. Even the failures are fun, cause it feels almost like you're doing little chemistry experiments. *G*

[gwyn-r.livejournal.com]

I wish I had discovered this place earlier -- that Snow White empty that you threw in? OMG, I want it so bad. That is incredible. It was a limited edition, wah!!! ::cries:: I have a feeling I'm going to be doing this a LOT. ;-)