Day 1227 – BPAL’s The Queen of Hel

Tags

Amber, animal musk, black leather, BPAL, gleaming black leather, green amber, hellhound musk, Leather, Lilith, Lilith 2018, limited edition, Musk, polish

Scent Name: The Queen of Hel

Manufacturer: Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab – Lilith 2018

Scent Description and Notes: “’I am Hel,’ she said simply. ‘The dead come to me, and they do not return to the lands above. Why should I let Balder go?’
– Norse Mythology, Neil Gaiman

Lilith loves cosplaying, and while she has done many characters, none has suited her quite as well as Hela has. She debuted this look at C2E2 this year, complete with tiny plush Fenris.

Tiny mistress of the underworld: gleaming black leather, luminescent green amber, and gargantuan hellhound musk.”  -https://blackphoenixalchemylab.com/shop/autumn-collection/lilith-2018/the-queen-of-hel/

 

Oil Color: A faintly green-tinged oil.

Bottle Design and Artwork: This is a standard 1/32 ml imp that has been decanted for me by Yowahoshihime. Her label features the scent notes and her decanter information on the back. The front has the name of the  scent and company name along with the label art, which is as below:

Image from https://blackphoenixalchemylab.com/shop/autumn-collection/lilith-2018/the-queen-of-hel/

• ITI: It honestly reminds me of a rather sophisticated fougere.  The leather certainly is highly polished and the green amber is faintly resinous under the greenness (perhaps lime rind and a dab of vetiver). The light fuzziness of animal musk just dances around the edges of the leather and green amber.
• Wet:  More polish, less leather, but a unisex  scent electrified with a shock of lime makes it invigorating rather than stuffy.
• Dry: The leather develops beautifully as it settles, warming to evoke images of supple gloves against a glorious skin musk tinged with a hint of lime and the delicateness of faint amber incense wafting in the far distance. After a few hours, it’s more of a lime fougere with a tinge of leather.

Other Impressions:  “It smells like coco butter and some other notes of which I’m not sure.” -Tony

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Day 1226 – BPAL’s The Dream is Big Enough for Everyone

Tags

Amber, amber oud, BPAL, cream, currant, fig, honey, honeyed fig, Lilith, Lilith 2018, limited edition, Oud, patchouli, red currant, sugar, sugar-dusted patchouli, sweet amber oud, vanilla, vanilla cream

Scent Name: The Dream is Big Enough for Everyone

Manufacturer: Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab – Lilith 2018

Scent Description and Notes: “We believe that the American dream is big enough for everyone, for people of all races and religions, for men and women, for immigrants, for LGBT people and for people with disabilities. For everyone.

Lilith at the Women’s March DTLA, 2018.

Nasty Woman? Nah, Nasty Tween: honeyed fig and sugar-dusted patchouli, sweet amber oud, a drop of red currant, and vanilla cream.”  -https://blackphoenixalchemylab.com/shop/autumn-collection/lilith-2018/the-dream-is-big-enough-for-everyone/

Oil Color: The color of melted butter.

Bottle Design and Artwork: This is a standard 1/32 ml imp that has been decanted for me by Yowahoshihime. Her label features the scent notes and her decanter information on the back. The front has the name of the  scent and company name along with the label art, which is as below:

Image from https://blackphoenixalchemylab.com/shop/autumn-collection/lilith-2018/the-dream-is-big-enough-for-everyone/

• ITI: My first impressions of it are a spicy, patchouli-infused red hard candy. The vanilla cream coves seconds later, further pushing this into the foody territory for me.
• Wet:  Sweet, stick fig mixed with red currant candy, sugared patchouli, a touch of incense and a faint undertone of vanilla cream.  Unless the sweetness diminishes as it tries, this will be too foody for me.  For someone who likes wintery, almost Christmas-like food scents, this might be worth a try.
• Dry: This is much improved now that is has had a couple hours to settle.  Instead of the cloying tones, the scent is more of musky, like vanilla warmed with beeswax, amber, and a touch of earthy, sweet patchouli.

Other Impressions:  “It smells like coco butter-leather.” -Tony

Day 1216 – BPTP’s Three-Fingered Dad

Tags

Amber, BPAL, bptp, Fatherhood, Fatherhood 2018, limited edition, Musk, neroli, orange, orange blossom, red musk, sweet vanilla amber, vanilla, white musk

Scent Name: Three-Fingered Dad

Manufacturer: Black Phoenix Trading Post – Fatherhood 2018

Scent Description and Notes: “Sometimes I wonder how Lilith views me.

Am I the authority figure?

Her goofy playmate?

Am I the father that drives her all over Los Angeles?

It appears that I am the skinny three-fingered man.  I believe that she captured me perfectly. Don’t you? Red and white musks, orange blossom, neroli, and sweet vanilla amber.“ -https://blackphoenixtradingpost.com/shop/three-fingered-dad/

Oil Color: The color of polished walnut wood.

Bottle Design and Artwork: This is a standard 1/32 ml imp that has been decanted for me by Yowahoshihime. Her label features the scent notes and her decanter information on the back. The front has the name of the  scent and company name along with the label art, which is as follows:

Image from https://blackphoenixtradingpost.com/shop/three-fingered-dad/

• ITI: From the imp, I’m only picking up neroli with musky amber, but the neroli does obscure some of the other tones more than I would like.
• Wet: Wow, that’s a whole lot of neroli and musk.  It’s almost stifling, but there’s enough of the orange blossom wafting through that it adds some nice complexity and much needed citrusy softness.
• Dry: It dries down beautifully.  Mush of the  musky incense notes have faded to a round, warm backing set behind the delicious sweet vanilla amber, laced with tones of gentle orange blossoms.

Other Impressions:  None.

Day 1208 – BPAL’s Loviatar

Tags

Amber, black amber, BPAL, dark myrrh, discontinued, excolo, in mem, Leather, Musk, myrrh, red musk

Name: Loviatar

Manufacturer:  Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab –  Excolo: In Memoriam

Scent Description and Notes: “The Finnish Goddess of Agony, Torment and the joy found in inflicting pain on others. The Mistress of Torture, she has transformed in the modern era into the patron Goddess of Dominatrixes. The slap of slick, hot leather punctuates the warm, sensual embrace of black amber, red musk and dark, lascivious myrrh.” – bpal.org

Oil Color: The color of rich mahogany wood.

Bottle Design and Artwork:  This is a standard vial / imp size (1/32 oz).  The label wrapped around the bottle features an Art-Deco inspired phoenix with the name of the company next to the phoenix. On the other side, the title of the scent written in large, clear black font outlined with red on the front.

• ITI: Wow, that has really shifted in its age.  In Resurrected, the myrrhs and ambers danced forth, but now its strong neroli with lovely aged citrus tones surrounded by light powdered resin.
• Wet: The scent as a whole isn’t nearly as strong and effusive on my skin.  While the neroli is still very much the dominant note in the aged version, the spices come off as a little old or stale.
• Dry: As it settles, the red musk eases forth alongside a dark leather note, just under the citrus-laden neroli. It’s getting much better as the notes warm on the skin.  Even the sillage increase to about 8-9″ off my hand within a half hour, diminishing near the hour mark to 4.5″ throw from my skin. The neroli has now been warmed by the resins and musk, to the point that it smells like there might even be a touch of dragon’s blood within the red musk. The leather note it still present, although lightly so.  Conversely, the Resurrected version is much stronger along the lines of fiery red resins and musks with a tinges of neroli after a hour’s dry time.

Other Impressions: “Oh god, I’m not saying this to be unkind and its probably because we were just on the flight, but it smells like an airplane bathroom.“

Day 1207- BPAL’s Loviatar Resurrected

Tags

Amber, black amber, BPAL, dark myrrh, excolo, Excolo: Resurrected, In Memoriam, Leather, Musk, myrrh, red musk, resurrected

Name:  Loviatar Resurrected

Manufacturer:  Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab –   Excolo: Resurrected

Scent Description and Notes: “The Finnish Goddess of Agony, Torment and the joy found in inflicting pain on others. The Mistress of Torture, she has transformed in the modern era into the patron Goddess of Dominatrixes. The slap of slick, hot leather punctuates the warm, sensual embrace of black amber, red musk and dark, lascivious myrrh.” -https://blackphoenixalchemylab.com/shop/limited-edition/resurrected/loviatar-resurrected/

Oil Color: Slightly reddish oil on my skin.

Bottle Design and Artwork:  This is a standard brown apothecary bottle.  The label wrapped around the bottle features the name of the company and “Resurrected” in orange bold font justified to the left along the top and the bottom of the bottle.  The name of the scent  is in much larger while bold font justified to the right above the company name. The label art is as featured:

Image from https://blackphoenixalchemylab.com/shop/limited-edition/resurrected/loviatar-resurrected/

• ITB: I’ve never tested the original (although I do have an imp hidden around her somewhere), so this is a relatively “blind” review. I’m getting sweet, warm spice flanked by round, golden amber and deliciously mischievous myrrh.  Leather pulsates just underneath, neither overpowering the beautiful resins or undermining the overall sensuous qualities of the scent so far.
• Wet:  Oh gosh, yes.  I can see why this is such a fan-favorite.  The red musk is absolutely exquisite on my skin, heightened to a frenzy by the amber and  myrrh.  Again, the leather exists just along the periphery, augmenting the provocative nature of the scent.
• Dry:  Oh my goodness, yes.  Wow, the must, amber and myrrh are fiery, writhing together in spiced resinous ecstasy.  Where is the leather though after 30 minutes of dry down?  Evident only in the very periphery, but not exceedingly missed due to the sheer genius of the other notes.

Other Impressions: I imagine that the aged version of this is simply divine!

Day 1184 – BPAL’s Slay!

Tags

Amber, amber resin, bakhoor, bakhoor oudh, bittersweet cacao, black patchouli, BPAL, cacao, DragCon, DragCon 2018, event exclusive, fossilized amber resin, Musk, oudh, patchouli, polish, polished black patchouli, red musk, red vegetal musk, resin, tobacco, tobacco absolute, vegetal musk

I was debating what should come next as I have still about 11 bottles from the most recent Lupercalia update along with a whole host of older imps, but I think it’s time to review my DragCon scents!

Scent Name: Slay

Manufacturer: Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab – Event Exclusive: DragCon 2018

Scent Description and Notes: “The consummate host: she can fill oceans of time on the mic and still leave the crowd hypnotized.

Polished black patchouli and blood-red vegetal musk, bakhoor oudh, tobacco absolute, fossilized amber resin, and bittersweet cacao.” -bpal.org

Scent Note: Bakhoor oudh generally refers to the processed incense that contains oudh and other essential oils while oudh or oud refers to the raw chips or resin from the tree itself.

Oil Color: The color of sandalwood on my skin.

Bottle Design and Artwork: This is a standard 5ml brown glass vial.  The label features the name of the scent along the top, centered, in a bold yellow font.  The company name is in the same font along the bottom.  The image on the bottle is a red vampire Queen, smiling, with blood dribbling down the corner of her mouth.

DragCon 2018 bottles. Image (c) courtesy of Tiah Schindelheim Rodriguez.

• ITB: Gorgeous earthy patchouli with some sweet tobacco over red, dark musk. It should age very well.
• Wet: Once again,the patchouli is the most dominant note (although much less earthy), but now I can smell the rich cocoa that twines itself around the patchouli while tobacco and resinous incense twin around the base.
• Dry: Wow, that is lovely once dried.  The tobacco just sings on my skin next to the resinous oudh and dark patchouli while the red musk and amber sweeten deliciously.

Other Impressions:  None.

Day 1183 – BPAL’s Moons of Saturn: Telesto

Tags

a little lunacy, A Little Lunacy - Moons of Saturn, A Little Lunacy 2018, Amber, amber cream, Bengal oudh, BPAL, champaca, cream, golden vanilla, limited edition, Moons of Saturn, neroli, oudh, vanilla

Scent Name: Moons of Saturn: Telesto

Manufacturer: Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab – Limited Edition: A Little Lunacy – Moons of Saturn

Scent Description and Notes: “One of the Oceanids, the Three-Thousand Daughters of Tethys and Oceanus. Draped in a sun-bright peplos of flowing champaca, Bengal oudh, golden vanilla, neroli, and amber cream, she personifies divine blessings.” -https://blackphoenixalchemylab.com/shop/in-memoriam/moons-of-saturn-telesto/

Oil Color: Golden honey.

Bottle Design and Artwork: This is a standard 1/32 ml imp that has been decanted for me by Mystery 213. Her label features the scent notes and her decanter information on the back. The front has the name of the  scent and company name along with the label art, which is as follows:

Image from https://blackphoenixalchemylab.com/shop/in-memoriam/moons-of-saturn-telesto/

• ITI: It reminds me of a crystal or alternative shop, air heavy with champaca and oudh.
• Wet: Wow, so much more interesting on the skin.  I’m still getting the champaca and oudh, but the neroli is much more present and clear against shifting bottom notes that remind me of bubblegum one minute and spiced amber against rich wood the next.
• Dry: Soft, gentle amber note harmonizes beautifully with the musky  vanilla tones just above the wavering impression of incense.  Very nice.

Other Impressions:  “It smells like the herby section of a candy shop.” -Tony

Day 1169 – BPAL’s Woman Dragging Her Aroused Lover Across a Bridge

Tags

Amber, ambrette, ambrette seed, BPAL, hinoki, hinoki wood, limited edition, lupercalia, Lupercalia 2018, Lupercalia 2018: Shunga, Novel Ideas for Secret Amusements, Novel Ideas for Secret Amusements XI, oak, oak beams, Rose, rosewood, Shunga, Shungas, smoke, smoky vanilla husk, sweet amber, vanilla, vanilla husk, wood

Scent Name: Woman Dragging Her Aroused Lover Across a Bridge

Manufacturer: Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab – Lupercalia 2018: Shungas

Scent Description and Notes: “Sweet amber and rosewood, wet oak beams, smoky vanilla husk, ambrette seed, and hinoki wood.” -https://blackphoenixalchemylab.com/shop/in-memoriam/woman-dragging-her-aroused-lover-across-a-bridge/

Oil Color: The color of honeyed mead.

Bottle Design and Artwork: This is a standard 1/32 ml imp that has been decanted by Mystery213.  The back of the label has the scent notes and the decanting information.  The label features the label art that would have appeared on the bottle on front, which is a Japanese ink drawing of a gleeful woman, partially robed, dragging her very aroused lover across a wooden bridge.

• ITI: Husky vanilla breads itself languidly across the  delightful tones of rosewood, full bodied hinoki wood, and a touch of oak.  The ambrette seed isn’t too apparent at this stage.
• Wet: Ah, there’s the ambrette, dancing merrily with the amber.  While the vanilla husk simmers faintly in the background, the hinoki wood and rosewood notes sing against the sweet resins. As it settles, the smoky quality of the vanilla husk peaks out, adding a lovely complexity to the other notes.
• Dry:  Oh, those resins are amazing – rich, full bodied, and sweet without being cloying next to the ambrette seed and deliciously smoky vanilla. The woods intensify the resins, reminding me of  a sweeter version of the way Japanese wooden temples smell in the late summer afternoon.

Other Impressions:  None.

Day 1167 – BPAL’s The Pleasure of Aristocratic Women

Tags

almond, Amber, BPAL, coconut, honey, honeyed amber, limited edition, lupercalia, Lupercalia 2018, Lupercalia 2018: Shunga, Novel Ideas for Secret Amusements, Novel Ideas for Secret Amusements XI, Shunga, Shungas, teak, teakwood

Scent Name: The Pleasure of Aristocratic Women

Manufacturer: Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab – Lupercalia 2018: Shungas

Scent Description and Notes: “Honeyed amber, teakwood, almond, and coconut.” -https://blackphoenixalchemylab.com/shop/in-memoriam/the-pleasure-of-aristocratic-women/

Oil Color: Colorless.

Bottle Design and Artwork: This is a standard 1/32 ml imp that has been decanted by Mystery213.  The back of the label has the scent notes and the decanting information.  The label features the label art that would have appeared on the bottle on front, which is a Japanese woodblock print of two women pleasuring themselves on phallic objects hanging upside down from a pole, which one male is holding.

• ITI: I’m usually pretty worried about honey, but this is nice!  It smells like honey-sweetened almond milk, like the high-end soaps that you’d find at Nordstrom or Bloomingdale’s.
• Wet: Almond milk and a honeysuckle honey with the subtle sweetness of coconut drifts wonderfully from my wrist.  The scent sits faint close to the skin (a 2-3″ throw), so it isn’t going to overpower anyone in an elevator.
• Dry:  I’ve had to reapply this several times as it does not tend to stay on for a whole work day. After about an hour’s dry-time, I’m still getting a very floral honey note with very subtle undertones of amber and just a touch of coconut.  It’s something that I could see wearing frequently on warm summer evenings.

Other Impressions:  None.

Day 1166 – BPAL’s Novel Ideas for Secret Amusements

Tags

Amber, amber cream, BPAL, cream, ivory, limited edition, lupercalia, Lupercalia 2018, Lupercalia 2018: Shunga, mahogany, Novel Ideas for Secret Amusements, Novel Ideas for Secret Amusements XI, polish, polished tortoiseshell, Shunga, Shungas, tortoise

Scent Name: Novel Ideas for Secret Amusements

Manufacturer: Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab – Lupercalia 2018: Shungas

Scent Description and Notes: “Polished tortoiseshell, ivory, and mahogany gleaming with amber cream.” -https://blackphoenixalchemylab.com/shop/limited-edition/lupercalia-2018/novel-ideas-for-secret-amusements/

Oil Color: Colorless.

Bottle Design and Artwork: This is a standard 1/32 ml imp that has been decanted by Mystery213.  The back of the label has the scent notes and the decanting information.  The label features the label art that would have appeared on the bottle on front, which is a Japanese woodblock print of various sex toys for men and women.

• ITI: Out of the imp, the scent smells sweetly perfume-y, but it strikes me as a very feminine and sophisticated perfume.  The amber cream is the first note I detect, which is warm and delicious, right up against a lovely mahogany note. There’s something that is just a touch smoky, but more like a smoky white musk (Ivory, perhaps?), swirling between the two dominant notes. Honestly, it reminds me of a more creamy and slightly more woodsy version of Vera Wang’s “Truly Pink”.
• Wet: What is this shifting perfume? Certainly, the amber cream is still there with a white muskiness that must be the ivory, but there’s a distinct impression of cantaloupe just above the mahogany note (which is much softer on my skin). I certainly wasn’t expecting any sort of fruit with this blend.  The scent now strikes me as a colder feminine perfume draped in silk with a touch of melon.
• Dry:  I’ve tested this 5 times so far, and each time I’m ready to test after my work day, there’s nothing left. Finally, I caught it before it vanished on my skin (roughly 4 hours after re-application). It reminds me something musky, wooden, and faintly polished, like the ballet bar or an older hotel’s banister.

Other Impressions:  None.

Day 1164 – BPAL’s The Pearl in the Volcano

Tags

Amber, amber cream, BPAL, cream, currant, limited edition, lupercalia, Lupercalia 2018, Lupercalia 2018: Shunga, milk, myrrh, Novel Ideas for Secret Amusements, Novel Ideas for Secret Amusements XI, red amber, red amber cream, red currant, rice, rice milk, Shunga, Shungas, vetiver, warm myrrh

Scent Name: The Pearl in the Volcano

Manufacturer: Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab – Lupercalia 2018: Shungas

Scent Description and Notes: “Rice milk, warm myrrh, red currant, red amber cream, and a trickle of vetiver.” -https://blackphoenixalchemylab.com/shop/limited-edition/lupercalia-2018/the-pearl-in-the-volcano/

Oil Color: Colorless.

Bottle Design and Artwork: This is a standard 1/32 ml imp that has been decanted by Mystery213.  The back of the label has the scent notes and the decanting information.  The label features the label art that would have appeared on the bottle on front, which is a Japanese woodblock print of a very detailed vulva.

• ITI: Hmm, not sure if I like this.  The red currant reminds me of fruity bathroom air freshener (the soy kind) with hints of cream and something a little sharp underneath, which might be the vetiver.
• Wet: The red currant on my skin is less air freshener and more cough syrup (almost cherry), followed by amber and and a vetiver note that reminds me of moth balls. I’m starting to think that red currant and I just don’t play well together.
• Dry: Much better dried.  The currant, now much more mellow, provides a sweet sophistication next to the now more prominently delicious, creamy resins.

Other Impressions:  This one is very much worth the dry-down.

Day 1154 – BPAL’s Cat Chasing Butterflies

Tags

almond, almond cream, Amber, BPAL, cream, limited edition, lupercalia, Lupercalia 2018, Lupercalia 2018: Shunga, Musk, Novel Ideas for Secret Amusements, Novel Ideas for Secret Amusements XI, peach, peach blossom, Shunga, Shungas, sweet musk

Scent Name: Cat Chasing Butterflies

Manufacturer: Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab – Lupercalia 2018: Shungas

Scent Description and Notes: “Peach blossom and amber with almond cream and sweet musk.” -https://blackphoenixalchemylab.com/shop/limited-edition/lupercalia-2018/cat-chasing-butterflies/

Oil Color:  A very diluted bluish-green color.

Bottle Design and Artwork: This is a standard 1/32 ml imp that has been decanted by Mystery213.  The back of the label has the scent notes and the decanting information.  The label features the label art that would have appeared on the bottle on front, which is a Japanese woodblock print of a cat chasing butterflies in the background while a man “chases butterflies” under the kimono of the courtesan.

• ITI: Okay, this runs a bit too sweet for me.  It reminds me of  Smarties and cream, which I think is the combination of the peach blossom and the almond cream.  There is a bit of muskiness to the scent, but it is still just a bit too foody sweet for anything that I’d wear.
• Wet:  Ugh, well, now it’s soapy and sweet, although the soapy smell is nice and peachy.  The cream has all but disappeared while the amber has emerged, but not enough to balance out my overall impression of the scent.
• Dry: Thankfully, the dry-down is redeeming.  The peach has gone from Smarties to a very concentrated peach blossom, bolstered by musk and amber.  There’s still a little creaminess to this, but it’s not nearly as cloying as it was before.  It reminds me of a teach cobbler but without any of the pie crust or bready crumbles with a bit more resinous tones.  If you like peach, this might be one for you to try.

Other Impressions:  “I like it.  I don’t know what’s in it, but I like it (in the imp).  On me, I love how it smells like liquor, but it just smells like pure soap on you.  Thank you, biochemistry, for making that smell awesome on me.” – Brad

Day 1153 – BPAL’s Sappics

Tags

Amber, balsam, BPAL, grey amber, lily of the valley, limited edition, lupercalia, Lupercalia 2018, muguet, myrrh, oakmoss, tolu, tolu balsam, Tonka

Scent Name: We Believe That Death Is Not The End Of Man

Manufacturer: Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab – Lupercalia 2018

Scent Description and Notes: ”

All the night sleep came not upon my eyelids,
Shed not dew, nor shook nor unclosed a feather,
Yet with lips shut close and with eyes of iron
Stood and beheld me.

Then to me so lying awake a vision
Came without sleep over the seas and touched me,
Softly touched mine eyelids and lips; and I too,
Full of the vision,

Saw the white implacable Aphrodite,
Saw the hair unbound and the feet unsandalled
Shine as fire of sunset on western waters;
Saw the reluctant

Feet, the straining plumes of the doves that drew her,
Looking always, looking with necks reverted,
Back to Lesbos, back to the hills whereunder
Shone Mitylene;

Heard the flying feet of the Loves behind her
Make a sudden thunder upon the waters,
As the thunder flung from the strong unclosing
Wings of a great wind.

So the goddess fled from her place, with awful
Sound of feet and thunder of wings around her;
While behind a clamour of singing women
Severed the twilight.

Ah the singing, ah the delight, the passion!
All the Loves wept, listening; sick with anguish,
Stood the crowned nine Muses about Apollo;
Fear was upon them,

While the tenth sang wonderful things they knew not.
Ah the tenth, the Lesbian! the nine were silent,
None endured the sound of her song for weeping;
Laurel by laurel,

Faded all their crowns; but about her forehead,
Round her woven tresses and ashen temples
White as dead snow, paler than grass in summer,
Ravaged with kisses,

Shone a light of fire as a crown for ever.
Yea, almost the implacable Aphrodite
Paused, and almost wept; such a song was that song.
Yea, by her name too

Called her, saying, “Turn to me, O my Sappho;”
Yet she turned her face from the Loves, she saw not
Tears for laughter darken immortal eyelids,
Heard not about her

Fearful fitful wings of the doves departing,
Saw not how the bosom of Aphrodite
Shook with weeping, saw not her shaken raiment,
Saw not her hands wrung;

Saw the Lesbians kissing across their smitten
Lutes with lips more sweet than the sound of lute-strings,
Mouth to mouth and hand upon hand, her chosen,
Fairer than all men;

Only saw the beautiful lips and fingers,
Full of songs and kisses and little whispers,
Full of music; only beheld among them
Soar, as a bird soars

Newly fledged, her visible song, a marvel,
Made of perfect sound and exceeding passion,
Sweetly shapen, terrible, full of thunders,
Clothed with the wind’s wings.

Then rejoiced she, laughing with love, and scattered
Roses, awful roses of holy blossom;
Then the Loves thronged sadly with hidden faces
Round Aphrodite,

Then the Muses, stricken at heart, were silent;
Yea, the gods waxed pale; such a song was that song.
All reluctant, all with a fresh repulsion,
Fled from before her.

All withdrew long since, and the land was barren,
Full of fruitless women and music only.
Now perchance, when winds are assuaged at sunset,
Lulled at the dewfall,

By the grey sea-side, unassuaged, unheard of,
Unbeloved, unseen in the ebb of twilight,
Ghosts of outcast women return lamenting,
Purged not in Lethe,

Clothed about with flame and with tears, and singing
Songs that move the heart of the shaken heaven,
Songs that break the heart of the earth with pity,
Hearing, to hear them.
—Algernon Charles Swinburne

Tonka, oakmoss, tolu balsam, grey amber, myrrh, and muguet.” -https://blackphoenixalchemylab.com/shop/limited-edition/lupercalia-2018/sapphics/

Oil Color:  A vibrant apricot color.

Bottle Design and Artwork: This is a standard 1/32 ml imp that has been decanted by Mystery213.  The back of the label has the scent notes and the decanting information.  The label features the label art that would have appeared on the bottle on front.  The image name is in thick, bold white letters just above the thinner and smaller font of the company’s name. The image art is of who women, one reclining while the other holds her sweetly and kisses her.

Image from https://blackphoenixalchemylab.com/shop/limited-edition/lupercalia-2018/sapphics/

• ITI: Gauzy muguet floats effortlessly from the imp, trailed by the balsam and a hint of ephemeral sweetness from the grey amber.  Very feminine and clean.
• Wet:  The amber is much stronger and warmer on my skin, while the muguet (lily of the valley) is still just as light and delicious on my skin as it is in the imp. The tolu balsam rises from a background note to more of a middle, serving as a contrast to the delicate floral note while anchoring the resin in the more woody rather than oriental realm.  There is a subtle waft of myrrh every now and again, although it isn’t too strong.
• Dry: Well, hello there, tonka.  About 5 minutes into the dry-down, the delicious warmth from this note begins to bloom against the delicately gauzy muguet. Oakmoss has also decided to make an appearance, which adds some soft earthiness of the floral and resin notes. After a few more hours, I am left with a gorgeous grey amber, myrrh, and hints of subtle, white floral with a touch of earthiness.

Other Impressions:  None.

Day 1150 – BPAL’s Alabaster Vulva

Tags

Amber, bergamot, BPAL, Italian bergamot, limited edition, lupercalia, Lupercalia 2018, narcissus, orris, orris butter, sheer vanilla, Shunga, Shunga 2018, vanilla, white amber

Scent Name: Alabaster Vulva

Manufacturer: Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab – Lupercalia 2018: Shungas

Scent Description and Notes: “White amber and sheer vanilla, orris butter, Italian bergamot, and narcissus.” –https://blackphoenixalchemylab.com/shop/limited-edition/lupercalia-2018/alabaster-vulva/

Oil Color:  Colorless.

Bottle Design and Artwork: This is a standard imp from moons_storm.  It features the the notes on the back, while the front contains the company acronym, scent name, decanting information, and label art, which is a woodblock print of a vulva of a woman with pale skin.

• ITI: Strong, soapy narcissus leaps from the vial followed by orris butter, masking several of the other notes save for a subtle tea-like bergamot.  I am hoping the vanilla and amber will tone down the heavy floral once applied.
• Wet: Heavy narcissus skews just a little too overly floral as soon as I apply it, but the orris butter and vanilla are a bit stronger, which does turn the heavy floral a bit creamier.  As it settles, the vanilla blooms, bringing hints of amber and bergamot with it.  It’s definitely a very feminine and gently seductive scent.
• Dry: While the narcissus is still distinctly notable, the vanilla and amber add a bit of musky powderiness and sweetness that nearly balance the floral note.  The orris butter exists underneath those more outspoken notes adding a lovely roundness to the scent.  It’s nice, but I’m on the fence about whether or not I want a bottle of it.

Other Impressions: “It’s very floral.  It smells like jasmine, like a white jasmine, maybe a lily, and a honeysuckle? Roughly. It’s sweet without being overpowering.  It’s definitely spring.” – Kelly.  On my girlfriend, it’s very subtle – completely different.  It smells like skin musk and just a hint of orris, but it’s much more floral on me.

Day 1147 – BPAL’s Kubla Khan

Tags

Amber, amber tobacco, balsam, bewitching brews, BPAL, champaca, dark vanilla, ginger, golden sandalwood, hay, hay absolute, ice, jasmine, lily, mandarin, Moroccan jasmine, opium smoke, opium., Peru balsam, sandalwood, smoke, sugar, sugared lily, sun, tea, tea leaf, tobacco, vanilla

Scent Name: Kubla Khan

Manufacturer: Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab –  Bewitching Brews

Scent Description and Notes: “

In Xanadu did Kubla Khan
A stately pleasure-dome decree:
Where Alph, the sacred river, ran
Through caverns measureless to man
Down to a sunless sea.

So twice five miles of fertile ground
With walls and towers were girdled round:
And there were gardens bright with sinuous rills,
Where blossomed many an incense-bearing tree;
And here were forests ancient as the hills,
Enfolding sunny spots of greenery.
But oh! that deep romantic chasm which slanted
Down the green hill athwart a cedarn cover!
A savage place! as holy and enchanted
As e’er beneath a waning moon was haunted
By woman wailing for her demon-lover!
And from this chasm, with ceaseless turmoil seething,
As if this earth in fast thick pants were breathing,
A mighty fountain momently was forced:
Amid whose swift half-intermitted burst
Huge fragments vaulted like rebounding hail,
Or chaffy grain beneath the thresher’s flail:
And ‘mid these dancing rocks at once and ever
It flung up momently the sacred river.
Five miles meandering with a mazy motion
Through wood and dale the sacred river ran,
Then reached the caverns measureless to man,
And sank in tumult to a lifeless ocean:
And ‘mid this tumult Kubla heard from far
Ancestral voices prophesying war!

The shadow of the dome of pleasure
Floated midway on the waves;
Where was heard the mingled measure
From the fountain and the caves.
It was a miracle of rare device,
A sunny pleasure-dome with caves of ice!

A damsel with a dulcimer
In a vision once I saw:
It was an Abyssinian maid,
And on her dulcimer she played,
Singing of Mount Abora.
Could I revive within me
Her symphony and song,
To such a deep delight ‘twould win me
That with music loud and long
I would build that dome in air,
That sunny dome! those caves of ice!
And all who heard should see them there,
And all should cry, Beware! Beware!
His flashing eyes, his floating hair!
Weave a circle round him thrice,
And close your eyes with holy dread,
For he on honey-dew hath fed
And drunk the milk of Paradise.

Through sunlit caves of ice, roses unfurl amidst dancing waves of serpentine opium smoke and amber tobacco, golden sandalwood, champaca, tea leaf, sugared lily, ginger, rich hay absolute, leather, dark vanilla, mandarin, peru balsam, and Moroccan jasmine.” – https://blackphoenixalchemylab.com/shop/bewitching-brews/kubla-khan/

Oil Color: A very faint peach wine color.

Bottle Design and Artwork: This is a standard vial / imp size (1/32 oz).  The label wrapped around the bottle features an Art-Deco inspired phoenix with name of the company next to the phoenix. On the other side, the title of the scent written in large, clear black font outlined with red on the front.

Image from https://blackphoenixalchemylab.com/shop/bewitching-brews/kubla-khan/

Scent: 

• ITI: Mmm, that is delicious.  Dark vanilla and sugared lily practically embrace the sweet mandarin, while the champaca, amber, and sandalwood festoon a resinous veil over the scent.  There’s a touch of hay absolute the more I try to concentrate on the scent, but I’m surprised I’m not getting any jasmine or balsam.
• Wet: The hay absolute is much clearer on my skin while the mandarin steps back to allow the Moroccan jasmine and ginger to take over. Sugared lily still abounds and champaca still reigns true, but the opium, tobacco, amber, and sandalwood are lost under the notes my skin tends to amp (I’m looking at you, jasmine).
• Dry:  What’s left after a full day of running around is a nice blend of vanilla, a hint of sugar, and just a whiff of faded opium smoke.  I really enjoyed all phases of this scent, so in the “to buy” list it goes.

Other Impressions: None.

Day 1141 – BPAL’s Sonnet D’Automne

Tags

Amber, amber incense, BPAL, cocoa, dead leaves, Halloween, Halloween 2014, Halloweenie, Halloweenie 2014, Incense, leaf, leaves, limited edition, Musk, vanilla, Weenies, Weenies 2014, white cocoa, white musk

Scent Name:  Sonnet D’Automne

Manufacturer:  Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab – Halloweenie 2014

Scent Description and Notes: “SONNET D’AUTOMNE
Ils me disent, tes yeux, clairs comme le cristal:
“Pour toi, bizarre amant, quel est donc mon mérite?”
– Sois charmante et tais-toi! Mon coeur, que tout irrite,
Excepté la candeur de l’antique animal,

Ne veut pas te montrer son secret infernal,
Berceuse dont la main aux longs sommeils m’invite,
Ni sa noire légende avec la flamme écrite.
Je hais la passion et l’esprit me fait mal!

Aimons-nous doucement. L’Amour dans sa guérite,
Ténébreux, embusqué, bande son arc fatal.
Je connais les engins de son vieil arsenal:

Crime, horreur et folie! – Ô pâle marguerite!
Comme moi n’es-tu pas un soleil automnal,
Ô ma si blanche, ô ma si froide Marguerite?
–

They say to me, your eyes, clear as crystal:
“For you, bizarre lover, what is my merit then?”
– Be charming and be still! My heart, which all things irk,
Except the candor of the animals of old,

Does not wish to reveal its black secret to you,
Whose lulling hands invite me to long sleep,
Nor its somber legend written with flame.
I hate passion; intelligence makes me suffer!

Let us love each other sweetly. Tenebrous Love,
Ambushed in his shelter, stretches his fatal bow.
I know all the weapons of his old arsenal:

Crime, horror, and madness! – pale marguerite!
Are you not, like me, an autumnal sun,
O my Marguerite, so white and so cold?

– Charles Baudelaire, translated by William Aggeler

Tenebrous Love: a shivering white musk with vanilla-infused white cocoa, amber incense, and dead, dry leaves.” -bpal.org

Oil Color: The color of a pale ale.

Bottle Design and Artwork:  This is a decanted imp.  It features the scent notes on the back.  The front of the label displays the collection name, scent name, and date, displayed in order to frame the image of a lovely autumnal woodland scene. The original label art is below:

Image from https://blackphoenixalchemylab.com/halloween2014-sonnet/

• ITI:  Well, that’s certainly acrid, dead leaves, which is rather unappealing right out of the gate.  However, on further sniff, I can pick up some of the white cocoa and amber incense, but the bitter leaf note really isn’t doing it for me.
• Wet:  The dead leaves note is thankfully more subdued, allowing me to appreciate the delicious layering of white cocoa, vanilla, gossamer white musk, and amber.  It’s much better on the skin!
• Dry: Okay, that’s nice.  Now it’s amber, deliciously rich, musky vanilla, a dash of cocoa, and a hint of leaves.  There’s nothing left of the bitterness I smelled it in the imp, thankfully.  This is worth the dry-down.

Other Impressions: None.

Day 1138 – BPAL’s Dead Leaves, Violet Candy and Sugar Crystals

Tags

Amber, BPAL, candy, dead leaves, Halloween, Halloween 2017, Halloweenies, Halloweenies 2017, leaves, limited edition, Pile of LEaves, sugar, sugar crystals, violet, violet candy, Weenies, Weenies 2017, Weenies 2017: Pile of Leaves

Scent Name:  Dead Leaves, Violet Candy and Sugar Crystals

Manufacturer:  Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab – Weenies 2017: Pile of Leaves

Scent Description and Notes: “Dead leaves, violet candy, and sugar crystals.” -https://blackphoenixalchemylab.com/shop/limited-edition/weenies-2017/dead-leaves-violet-candy-and-sugar-crystals/

Oil Color: The color of diluted lemon Jello.

Bottle Design and Artwork:  This is a decanted imp.  It features the collection name and notes on the back of the label and a copy of the label art on front:

Image from https://blackphoenixalchemylab.com/shop/limited-edition/weenies-2017/dead-leaves-violet-candy-and-sugar-crystals/

• ITB:  Bitter almost greenness, like the smell of a daisy stem when you snap it.  There’s a touch of breathy violet around the fringe of the bitter leaf note, but not enough to decrease the acrid nature of the more dominant note.
• Wet:  Okay, at least I get the violet and sugar notes now, kind of like the hard violet candy you can get from stores that sell retro candy.  The bitterness that I smelled in the bottle somewhat is masked as it starts to take on more of the scent of drying leaves.  I’m still a bit weary while waiting for the dry down.
• Dry:  The dead leaf note stays mostly subdued under the violet, thankfully having lost the acridness that I smelled earlier.  While I like the dry version, I don’t think I’d reach for this one since I dislike the wet version of it so intensely.

Other Impressions: None.

Day 1136 – BPAL’s Dead Leaves, Tuscan Leather, White Amber, and Mimosa Blossom

Tags

Amber, BPAL, dead leaves, Halloween, Halloween 2017, Halloweenies, Halloweenies 2017, leaf, Leather, leaves, limited edtion, mimosa, mimosa blossom, Pile of LEaves, Tuscan leather, Weenies, Weenies 2017, Weenies 2017: Pile of Leaves, white amber

Scent Name:  Dead Leaves, Tuscan Leather, White Amber, and Mimosa Blossom

Manufacturer:  Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab – Weenies 2017: Pile of Leaves

Scent Description and Notes: “Dead leaves, Tuscan leather, white amber, and mimosa blossom.” -https://blackphoenixalchemylab.com/shop/limited-edition/weenies-2017/dead-leaves-tuscan-leather-white-amber-and-mimosa-blossom-2/

Oil Color: The color of diluted lemon Jello.

Bottle Design and Artwork:  This is a decanted imp.  It features the collection name and notes on the back of the label and a copy of the label art on front:

Image from https://blackphoenixalchemylab.com/shop/limited-edition/weenies-2017/dead-leaves-tuscan-leather-white-amber-and-mimosa-blossom-2/

• ITI:  I think I’d like this as a bath oil! The mimosa blossom is gentle and inviting while the white amber adds some musky, almost faintly powdery sensuality to the scent. The leather note peeks from beneath the clouds of delight every now and then, while the dead leaves (more like a falling leaf note) moves this scent into the autumnal category.
• Wet: The mimosa blossom is light and buoyantly floral and slight citrus set against the deliciously sophisticated amber. The leather drifts in and out of the base and mid layers of the scent, while the leaves only tinge the exhalation of the scent.  Wow!
• Dry:  Such a delightful beauty.  After 8 hours, I’m only left with ghostly streaks of amber with a hint of crumpled, dead leaves.

Other Impressions: “Meh, *shrugs* it’s kinda boring.  It’s not bad, but boring and smells like it would come off after a few hours.” -Kelly

“A little soapy, like those tiny floral decorative soaps that are never used.” -Tony

Day 1131 – BPAL’s Odic Force

Tags

Amber, An Evening with the Spirits, BPAL, eucalyptus, eucalyptus blossom, green amber, Lime, lime rind, limited edition, Mint, white mint, yule, Yule 2017, Yule 2017: An Evening with the Spirits, Yules, Yules 2017

Scent Name: Odic Force

Manufacturer:  Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab –  Yule 2017: An Evening with the Spirits

Scent Description and Notes: “The desire to inflict a mortal wound on the monster, Superstition, which, from a similar origin, a few centuries ago, inflicted on European society so vast an amount of misery, and by whose influence not hundreds, but thousands, of innocent persons died in tortures, on the rack and at the stake; — the desire made me wish to make the experiment, if possible, of bringing a highly sensitive person, by night, to a churchyard. I thought it possible that they might see, over graves where mouldering bodies lay, something like that which Billing had seen.

Eucalyptus blossom, lime rind, and white mint coalescing into a green-tinged amber glow.”  -https://blackphoenixalchemylab.com/shop/limited-edition/yule-2017/odic-force/

Oil Color: Colorless.

Bottle Design and Artwork:  This is a decanted imp.  It features the collection name and notes on the back of the label and a copy of the label art on front:

Image from https://blackphoenixalchemylab.com/shop/limited-edition/yule-2017/odic-force/

• ITI:  It smells like lime Hi-Chew candies!  The lime is bright and effervescent, the amber sweet while the mint and eucalyptus add a sense of coolness, like the chill that comes over you when entering a dark. slightly creepy room in the middle of the night.
• Wet: It reminds me of fresh lime gelato garnished with mint.  No eucalypti or amber yet, but I’d be thrilled to pieces if this scent doesn’t change. Yet as I type, the scent begins to shift, taking on a more powder tone from the amber that softens the crisp sharpness of the lime.
• Dry: Wow, that does shift.  The powdery green amber wraps around the lime, diffusing its acidity and fruitiness, leaving me instead with the sweetness of faint lime candy infused with a hint of faded mint.

Other Impressions: “It’s like car air freshener and cider.” -Tony

Day 1130 – BPAL’s The Air and the Ether

Tags

Amber, Ambergris, An Evening with the Spirits, BPAL, Lavender, limited edition, yule, Yule 2017, Yule: An Evening with the Spirits, Yules, Yules 2017

Scent Name:  The Air and the Ether

Manufacturer:  Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab –  Yule 2017: An Evening with the Spirits

Scent Description and Notes: “But on what could an impression be left? An impression of such a nature becomes a material thing and implies a material nexus, however subtle. So far as we know there are only two things there, the air and the ether. The air is a mobile thing and could not carry a permanent impression. But is the ether a mobile thing? It is pictured as a most delicate medium with vibrating currents flowing in it, but it seems to me that a most tenuous jelly with quivers and thrills would be a closer analogy. We could conceive the whole material universe embedded in and interpenetrated by this subtle material, which would not necessarily change its position since it is too fine for wind or any coarser material to influence it. I feel that I am rushing in where even Lodges fear to tread, but if it should prove to be as I suggest then we should have that permanent screen on which shadows are thrown. The block of ether upon the stairs is the same that it always was, and so conveys the impression from the past.

– the Edge of the Unknown, Arthur Conan Doyle

Gentle, almost imperceptible, permeating all things: pale amber vibrating with ambergris and a thread of lavender.”  -https://blackphoenixalchemylab.com/shop/limited-edition/yule-2017/the-air-and-the-ether/

Oil Color: Colorless.

Bottle Design and Artwork:  This is a decanted imp.  It features the collection name and notes on the back of the label and a copy of the label art on front:

Image from https://blackphoenixalchemylab.com/shop/limited-edition/yule-2017/the-air-and-the-ether/

• ITI:  Well, hello there, French lavender and ambergris. My, don’t we make an enticing yet soothing pair!
• Wet:  Gosh, the lavender really is a beautiful note in this blend, so much so that I don’t mind it overshadowing the amber or ambergris, which lend the lavender note a bit of warmth, but don’t stand out individually.  I do hope those develop a bit.
• Dry: Wow, this is lovely!  A gorgeously golden amber wraps itself around the lavender, keeping the herbal note soft and ephemeral, while the ambergris buoys up both notes in a hammock of musky bliss.  Yes, I will have a bottle of this.

Other Impressions: “Okay, maybe it’s because I was chopping veggies, but it smells like orange, lemongrass, and some other leafy green I’m not sure about.  Actually, it smells like lavender plant, not lavender flower, which isn’t a bad thing because I like the way the plant itself smells.” -Tony