BPAL Review: Somnus & Dragon's Hide

Over an entire year ago now I realised that it was no longer an unreasonable expenditure to pick up some imps from Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab, a perfume maker that was extremely popular in my LJ circles ages (15 years? 18?) ago -- and so I did! I have been enjoying them very much, even the ones that do not work on my skin, and my children enjoy them as well.

Somnus is named for the Roman god of sleep. It smells green and lavender and other florals in the bottle to me, sharper rather than sweet, but unfortunately on my skin it goes immediately to powdery soap. It does, however, help me relax and fall asleep, so I do use it occasionally, but usually not on my wrists because I do not want to smell it.

Dragon's Hide, on the other hand, I absolutely love. It smells warm and spicy to me, a little like leather and incense on a summer's day, and on my skin it stays in that range, maybe a little stronger on the spice, which I think is from dragon's blood (which I have just learned is a plant resin from a genus of tropical trees!) being one of the main ingredients.

More imp reviews to come, and if anyone else is a fan of BPAL I would love to hear about some of your favourites!

good things on a Wednesday

1. When my son (7) came to wake me up this morning, he said both shyly and proudly, "I helped Dad make you breakfast!" And indeed, when I went downstairs there was coffee and freshly made chilaquiles, one of my absolute favourites. My son very happily watched me eat it and told me how he stirred eggs and various other tasks.
   
   
2. Purring cat in my lap, right now, and when I post this and then go lie in bed to read he will come and purr on top of me there as well.
   
   
3. Taking a shower before bed after a very hot day and using Lush's Lord of Misrule shower gel, which is vibrant green and smells of pepper and patchouli -- I strongly have the (negative) association of patchouli with hippies but I do not care, it turns out I like the smell so I am not going to deny myself a pleasure. This particular scent combination makes me think of Puck, whom my daughter (10 1/2) aspires to play someday.
   
   
4. Said daughter saying thoughtfully while I was putting her to bed, "I think I understand why people write fanfic! It is because they want more, or because all the questions weren't answered... I'm going to write fanfic about the book I just finished reading and I'm going to put myself in it because why not? I'll write fanfic and be an actor!"
   
   
5. Said daughter then bursting into my room 45 minutes later very excitedly to read me the first four pages of her fic!
   

Now to bed!