BPAL - Event Horizon

Good things about BPAL scents:

1. They last a long time because they're oil-based.
2. I can actually differentiate the roll-out of various notes over time.
3. They are associated with some of the coolest blurbs ever.

Bad things about BPAL scents:

1. If you hate them, they're hard to wash off.
2. They all smell like incense to me, which I think is true of many oil-based parfums. Eau de toilettes (EDTs) are bound together differently and, I think, smell better.
3. I buy scents based almost solely on the blurbs, which can be interesting, but smacks of being led by the marketing.†

This is one I definitely bought because of the propaganda. I don't even know what most of those things are supposed to smell like.‡ I just wanted to know what an event horizon smelled like.

It occurs to me that part of the reason so many BPAL scents I've sniffed at so far§ smell like incense is because they have classic incense components, like myrrh. Like this one.

Going deeper, it occurs to me that those who work/dabble in essential oils and natural oils to make perfumes may be of a similar Boulder-crunchy philosophy under which they mostly WANT their scents to smell like a head shop.¶

This is delving into PhD-in-psychology territory that I'm not sure I need to investigate right this minute.#

The first whiff of this was pure, resiny, oily incense for me. By the time I got in the car, I was wondering if "a hint of Vick's Vap-o-Rub" was out of line. Then I got to the definition of "benzoin" and I'm feeling better about myself.

I started sneezing and getting a little headachy as I fired up the computer, so after I made Hans smell it, I dipped a paper towel in water†† and scrubbed most of it as off as I could, leaving my right wrist intact.

Now, after lunch,‡‡ it's a pleasant and warm, if unremarkable, scent. The myrrh still dominates, but it's not quite as much incense as it once was.

Things I learned from my perfume today: event horizon, labdanum, opoponax and benzoin.


Black Phoenix says: "A disconcerting scent, heavy and oppressive, through which no light, no matter, and no spirit can escape. Black opium, labdanum, opoponax, black orchid, and benzoin.§§"

Hans says: "Powerful," with fear in his eyes.


†FOOTNOTE (crossed): That seems like a bad thing.

‡FOOTNOTE (double-crossed): It occurs to me that there must be some sort of kit somewhere one can sniff and learn individual scents so one can pick them out.

§FOOTNOTE (swerved): And a lot of other "natural" and "essential oils" scents.

¶FOOTNOTE (paragraphed): Not always a bad thing. See: patchouli.

#FOOTNOTE (pounded): Y'know... brainsssss...

††FOOTNOTE (ddouble-ccrossed): I keep a whole roll of paper towels in my desk because of the likelihood of me knocking over my water glass.

‡‡FOOTNOTE (doubble-crossssed): On a completely unrelated note, I came back from lunch to find my delete key doesn't work. WTF?

§§FOOTNOTE (is it smoky in here or is it just me?): Ha! Got one!