Day 1750 – BPAL’s The Lady on the Grey

Tags

Amber, BPAL, castoreum, castoreum bouquet, In Memoriam, neil gaiman, Neil Gaiman's The Graveyard Book, orris, pale petals, pearly sandalwood, resin, sandalwood, soft resin, The Graveyard Book, tobacco, tobacco flower, white amber, white sandalwood

Scent Name:  The Lady on the Grey

Manufacturer:  Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab – Neil Gaiman: The Graveyard Book

Scent Description and Notes: “A huge white horse, of the kind that the people who know horses would call a “grey”, came ambling up the side of the hill. The pounding of its hooves could be heard before it was seen, along with the crashing it made as it pushed through the little bushes and thickets, through the brambles and the ivy and the gorse that had grown up on the side of the hill. The size of a Shire horse it was, a full nineteen hands or more. It was a horse that could have carried a knight in full armour into combat, but all it carried on its naked back was a woman, clothed from head to foot in grey. Her long skirt and her shawl might have been spun out of old cobwebs.

Her face was serene, and peaceful.

They knew her, the graveyard folk, for each of us encounters the lady on the grey at the end of our days, and there is no forgetting her.

The horse paused beside the obelisk. In the east the sky was lightening gently, a pearlish, pre-dawn luminescence that made the people of the graveyard uneasy and made them think about returning to their comfortable homes. Even so, not a one of them moved. They were watching the lady on the grey, each of them half-excited, half-scared. The dead are not superstitious, not as a rule, but they watched her as a Roman Augur might have watched the sacred crows circle, seeking wisdom, seeking a clue.

And she spoke to them.

In a voice like the chiming of a hundred tiny silver bells she said only, “The dead should have charity.” And she smiled.

Ethereal, opalescent, and radiant: pearly sandalwood, white amber, tobacco flower, orris, castoreum bouquet, soft resins, and pale petals.” -BPAL.org

Oil Color: A thinned peach wine color.

Bottle Design and Artwork: This is a standard 1/32 ml imp that has been decanted for me, although I’m not sure by whom. The label just contains the scent name written in pink pen. The label art that appeals on the bottle is as follows:

Image from https://i.pinimg.com/564x/22/f7/26/22f726842659be975e83d5db65806544.jpg

Scent:

• ITI: Oh no, that’s glorious -coolly moonlit tobacco flower and pale evening-blooming flowers, scent-rich and haunting, threaded with thin strands of fruity castoreum and ghostly resin.  Dang it!  I wish this hadn’t been discontinued.
• Wet: The amber peaks through the opalescent tobacco and pale flowers, while still maintaining that fruity and ever so pleasingly musky castoreum and gently wafting resins.
• Dry:  After an 18 hour day, I’m honestly surprised that any scent is left. What lingers is just an impression of tobacco flower. I re-applied and let it settle for 4 hours.  Even after washing my hands, the scent of pale resin musks tinted with amber and tobacco flower still lingers.  

Other Impressions: “Hmm, it’s almost like a clove-y rose.  Dark red rose.” -Tony

Day 1749 – BPAL’s The Waltz

Tags

Amber, Ambergris, ambergris accord, BPAL, champagne, champagne musk, Crimson Peak, In Memoriam, Musk, Rose, rosewood, vanilla, vanilla amber, white rose, wood

Scent Name:  The Waltz

Manufacturer:  Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab – Crimson Peak: In Memoriam

Scent Description and Notes: “The Waltz – Not a complicated dance, really – The lady takes her place slightly to the left of the leading gentleman. Six basic steps – that is all.

However – It is said that the true test of a perfect waltz is for it to be so swift, delicate and so smooth, that a candle flame will not be extinguished in the hand of the lead dancer… Now that requires the perfect partner.

So swift, so delicate, so smooth: champagne musk, ambergris accord, white rose, rosewood, and vanilla amber.” -BPAL.org

Oil Color: Colorless on my skin.

Bottle Design and Artwork: This is a standard 5ml brown apothecary bottle.  The label extends just under halfway around the bottom.  The label features the name of the company along the bottom in a thin white block font along the bottom.  The name of the scent takes up the largest portion of the label in tall Crimson-Peak stylized aged amber block font.  Just over the scent name is a different font, white, block, and more spaced out that displays the name of the collection.  Above that is a smaller bold bock font featuring the phrase “Indulge Your Dark Side.”  All of this is set against a black and smoke Crimson Peak logo. 

Image courtesy of Tiah Schindelheim Rodriguez.

Scent:

• ITB: Pale white rose is followed by vanilla amber fluff threaded with a subtle champagne undertone (minus the fizz).  It brings up images of gilded Victorian mirrors framed by a vase full of delicate roses.
• Wet: Oh, I was not expecting this beauty!  It very much reminds me of swirling rose chiffon gowns swirling atop polished wood, the atmosphere fizzy with champagne and ambered musk.  Wow!
• Dry:  Yes!  This still has decent silage even after 6 hours! What a delightful combination of rose-tinted vanilla amber musk. A faded undertone of rosewood grounds the scent, keeping it from being too cloyingly sweet. Delicate, feminine, and just delightful, The Waltz shines.

Other Impressions: “Playdough.  It’s definitely playdough.” -Tony 

Day 1748 – BPAL’s All That I Possess

Tags

Amber, BPAL, clove, Crimson Peak, dust, guiac, guiac wood, In Memoriam, Leather, myrrh, sandalwood, white sandalwood, wood

Scent Name:  All That I Possess

Manufacturer:  Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab – Crimson Peak: In Memoriam

Scent Description and Notes: “I am here with all that I possess, Sir – A name, a patch of land and the will to make it yield. The least you can grant me is the courtesy of your time and the chance to prove it to you, and these fine gentlemen, that my will, dear Sir, is at the very least, as strong as yours.

Amber, clove and leather takes shape through the scent of raw determination; a fortitude born of having nothing left to lose. In the background, guiac wood, white sandalwood, and myrrh forms the dust of long-forgotten aspirations and hope on the verge of being forever relinquished.” -BPAL.org

Oil Color: Colorless on my skin.

Bottle Design and Artwork: This is a standard 5ml brown apothecary bottle.  The label extends just under halfway around the bottom.  The label features the name of the company along the bottom in a thin white block font along the bottom.  The name of the scent takes up the largest portion of the label in tall Crimson-Peak stylized block font.  Just over the scent name is a different font, white, block, and more spaced out that displays the name of the collection.  Above that is a smaller bold bock font featuring the phrase “Indulge Your Dark Side.”  All of this is set against a black and smoke Crimson Peak logo. 

Image courtesy of Tiah Schindelheim Rodriguez.

Scent:

• ITB: Black leather, dust, and  ground clove meet my nose.  There’s  something in here that reminds  me of polish with cool undertones, but I’m not sure where I’m getting that from.
• Wet: On first application, it’s leather first then  a dusty clove, but given a few minutes, the scent deeps and develops some lovely complexity. Woods and heavy spice dusted over dark leather.  The clove note is dark and aromatic akin to Clove Cigarettes, but the guiac wood and resins and a strangely cavernous or vaulting depth to the scent, like Gothic vaulted ceilings.
• Dry:  A soft, almost mulling-spice clove  perfumed with a hint of myrrh and amber are the only notes that I can discern with some effort after 6 hours of wear.  I wish it had a bit more staying power, but I am enjoying it even if I must reapply. 

Other Impressions: None.

Day 1745 – BPAL’s Edith Cushing

Tags

Amber, ambrette, ambrette seed, BPAL, Crimson Peak, grey amber, In Memoriam, Musk, oudh, patchouli, pearlescent vanilla musk, sandalwood, vanilla, vanilla musk, white patchouli, white sandalwood

Scent Name:  Edith Cushing

Manufacturer:  Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab – Crimson Peak: In Memoriam

Scent Description and Notes: “Love looks not with the eyes, but with the mind: pearlescent vanilla musk with white sandalwood, grey amber, white patchouli, ambrette seed, and oudh.” -BPAL.org

Oil Color: A crystalline white wine color, thin and delicate.

Bottle Design and Artwork: This is a standard 1/32 ml imp that has been decanted for me, although I’m not sure by whom. The label just contains the scent name written in pink pen. The label art that appeals on the bottle is as follows:

Image from https://i.pinimg.com/originals/53/dc/8f/53dc8f302c08df1988c96815e6816a8a.jpg

Scent:

• ITI: Dusky, aged vanilla musk, a ghost of pale amber, and softly resinous sandalwood and crumbling patchouli remind me of decaying lace curtains and gently swaying cobwebs.
• Wet: Soft, delicate, and etheral, for sure.  The vanilla musk and fragile patchouli are threaded together with ghostly grey amber, bone-white sandalwood, and a hint of ambrette and oudh.  As it starts to settle, the amber and vanilla warm and take on a creamier undertone underneath the lacy pale resins, which bloom, porcelain perfumed.
• Dry:  After an hour, the scent still tends heavily toward grey amber and pale vanilla musk tinted with sandalwood and a hint of frail patchouli and oudh.  The ambrette ads a touch of sweetness, but the scent is still heavily one of perfumed gauzy resins. Hauntingly beautifully and sophisticated. 

Other Impressions: “I can’t pick out anything in particular, but it smells purple.  That’s the best way I can describe it, like there’s something in there that should be purple.” -Tony

Day 1744- BPAL’s Sir Thomas Sharpe

Tags

Amber, black amber, BPAL, Crimson Peak, fougere, In Memoriam, Lavender, oakmoss, pale fougere

Scent Name:  Sir Thomas Sharpe

Manufacturer:  Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab – Crimson Peak: In Memoriam

Scent Description and Notes: “Give in to temptation: black amber darkens a pale fougere.” -BPAL.org

Oil Color: A fiery red oil akin to liquid dragon’s blood resin.

Bottle Design and Artwork: This is a standard 1/32 ml imp that has been decanted for me, although I’m not sure by whom. The label just contains the scent name written in pink pen. The label art that appeals on the bottle is as follows:

Image art from https://i.pinimg.com/originals/ef/4e/13/ef4e13fb910f488633cb3c3678b905b0.jpg

Scent:

• ITI: What a beautifully warm resin-spiced fougere with what smells like a dash of fiery musk that smacks of ambergris! Smooth, dark, and deeply seductive, Thomas Sharpe is one dashing scent.
• Wet: Smoldering oakmoss and lavender-tinted fougere is wrapped in thickly dark amber resin with a pleasantly powdery undertone.
• Dry:  Darkly intoxicating warm amber over a lavender-forward but subdued fougere. I regret not getting a bottle. I imagine that this will age phenomenally. 

Other Impressions: “Butter and satisfying workout sweat.” -Tony

Day 1736 – BPAL’s The Creation

Tags

Amber, amber saffron, Art of the Unicorn Part 2, black currant, blackcurrant, BPAL, chypre, currant, fir, fir needle, Frankincense, gardenia, gilded amber, Histoire Ancienne, In Memoriam, indigo, indigo chypre, patchouli, Paulus Orosius, pearl, saffron, white patchouli, ylang ylang

Scent Name:  The Creation

Manufacturer: Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab – Art of the Unicorn Part 2: Paulus Orosius’s Histoire Ancienne

Scent Description and Notes: “Gilded amber saffron, indigo chypre, pearled gardenia, blackcurrant, ylang ylang, frankincense, fir needle, and white patchouli.” –https://blackphoenixalchemylab.tumblr.com/post/148865664973/art-of-the-unicorn-part-ii-scents-sprays-hair

Oil Color: A rich fireweed honey-colored oil.

Bottle Design and Artwork: This is a standard vial / imp size (1/32 oz).  This is a sample from Mystery213.  The label features the name of the company and the name of the scent.  I can’t seem to find the original label art anymore.

Scent:

• ITI: It reminds me of twilight-lit glade set by indigo chypre, frankincense, and white patchouli, which create a sense of serene earthy contemplation.
• Wet: Smokey indigo chypre and patchouli, deepened with cool dark fir needles and an almost spiced ambered patchouli that skews much drier than I had anticipated.  It honestly reminds me of twilight in the Arizona desert. There’s a hint of blackcurrant just under that adds a sliver of sweetness, but not enough to overcome the dry woody resins.
• Dry:  That really is lovely.  Cistus labdanum-smoked chypre is made golden warm with amber saffron and gardenia sweetness.  A breath of frankincense and a sliver of patchouli drift gently underneath, creating a well balanced and gorgeous scent.

Other: “Is that tulip?  It’s like tulip black pepper, or black pepper and something like that.” -Tony

Day 1735 – BPAL’s After the Winter

Tags

Amber, baobab, baobab leaf, BPAL, coconut, Dum Spiro Spero, fig, golden amber, Grass, green grass, leaf, limited edition, orange, orange blossom, Spring, Spring 2020, Taitian vanilla, vanilla, white coconut

Scent Name:  After the Winter

Manufacturer:  Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab – Dum Spiro, Spero : Spring 2020

Scent Description and Notes: ”

Some day, when trees have shed their leaves
And against the morning’s white
The shivering birds beneath the eaves
Have sheltered for the night,
We’ll turn our faces southward, love,
Toward the summer isle
Where bamboos spire the shafted grove
And wide-mouthed orchids smile.

And we will seek the quiet hill
Where towers the cotton tree,
And leaps the laughing crystal rill,
And works the droning bee.
And we will build a cottage there
Beside an open glade,
With black-ribbed blue-bells blowing near,
And ferns that never fade.
– Claude McKay

Turn your face southward toward the summer isle: rolling green grasses, Taitian vanilla, white coconut, fig, orange blossom, baobab leaf, and golden amber.” –https://blackphoenixalchemylab.com/shop/limited-edition/dum-spiro-spero-spring-2020/after-the-winter-perfume-oil/

Oil Color: The color of clarified butter.

Bottle Design and Artwork: This is a standard 1/32 ml imp that has been decanted for me by Dizzystardust. The label just contains the scent name and company name, and the collection information. The Lab image, which is different than the bottle art, is as follows:

Image from https://blackphoenixalchemylab.com/shop/limited-edition/dum-spiro-spero-spring-2020/after-the-winter-perfume-oil/

Scent:

• ITI: Oh yes, there is grass here, almost verdantly bitter just over orange blossom water, thin yet tart.  Underneath all of this a hint of coconut flesh and vanilla, but it’s far at the bottom.  Hopefully, they will have a chance to warm and balance out the top notes some.
• Wet: That’s so much nicer on the skin!  The bitterness of the grass fades away, leaving only its fresh, verdant tones under clouds of Taitian vanilla and amber coconut clouds.  Earthy, sweet fig swirls along the middle, adorned in soft orange blossom.  I’m not sure what the baobab leaf smells like, honestly, but there is a green but woody stem quality that seems to support the bottom of the tropically sweet, late spring-like top tones.
• Dry:  Ooooh, I like that.  Nearly 6 hours in, the scent wafts gentle Taitian vanilla and white coconut flesh warmed with golden amber and hints of orange blossom and dry grass far in the distance.  That is simply gorgeous now that it has dried.” -Tony

Other Impressions: “Powder, basil, and peach nectar.” -Tony

Day 1732 – BPAL’s Every Day You Play with the Light of the Universe

Tags

Amber, amber cream, BPAL, cherry, cherry blossom, cream, Dum Spiro Spero, honeysuckle, limited edition, plum, skin musk, Spring, Spring 2020

Scent Name:  Every Day You Play with the Light of the Universe

Manufacturer:  Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab – Dum Spiro, Spero : Spring 2020

Scent Description and Notes: ”

Every day you play with the light of the universe.
Subtle visitor, you arrive in the flower and the water.
You are more than this white head that I hold tightly
as a cluster of fruit, every day, between my hands.

You are like nobody since I love you.
Let me spread you out among yellow garlands.
Who writes your name in letters of smoke among the stars of the south?
Oh let me remember you as you were before you existed.

Suddenly the wind howls and bangs at my shut window.
The sky is a net crammed with shadowy fish.
Here all the winds let go sooner or later, all of them.
The rain takes off her clothes.

The birds go by, fleeing.
The wind. The wind.
I can contend only against the power of men.
The storm whirls dark leaves
and turns loose all the boats that were moored last night to the sky.

You are here. Oh, you do not run away.
You will answer me to the last cry.
Cling to me as though you were frightened.
Even so, at one time a strange shadow ran through your eyes.

Now, now too, little one, you bring me honeysuckle,
and even your breasts smell of it.
While the sad wind goes slaughtering butterflies
I love you, and my happiness bites the plum of your mouth.

How you must have suffered getting accustomed to me,
my savage, solitary soul, my name that sends them all running.
So many times we have seen the morning star burn, kissing our eyes,
and over our heads the gray light unwind in turning fans.

My words rained over you, stroking you.
A long time I have loved the sunned mother-of-pearl of your body.
I go so far as to think that you own the universe.
I will bring you happy flowers from the mountains, bluebells,
dark hazels, and rustic baskets of kisses.

I want
to do with you what spring does with the cherry trees.
– Pablo Neruda, translation by WS Merwin

Skin-warmed honeysuckle, plum and cherry blossoms, and amber cream.” -https://blackphoenixalchemylab.com/shop/limited-edition/dum-spiro-spero-spring-2020/every-day-you-play-with-the-light-of-the-universe-perfume-oil/

Oil Color: The color of pollen dusting a car.

Bottle Design and Artwork: This is a standard 1/32 ml imp that has been decanted for me by Dizzystardust. The label just contains the scent name and company name, and the collection information. The Lab image, which is different than the bottle art, is as follows:

Image from https://blackphoenixalchemylab.com/shop/limited-edition/dum-spiro-spero-spring-2020/every-day-you-play-with-the-light-of-the-universe-perfume-oil/

Scent:

• ITI: Honeysuckle forward, less skin-warmed and more dew-touched, surrounded by the verdant touch of green stems and delicate, airy cherry blossoms.
• Wet: It reminds me of cool spring dawns, quietly shining yet floral perfumes slowly unfurling in the home of sun-kissed petals.  It’s very similar to what I smell in the imp, although every now and then, a blush of soft plum occasionally peaks through the bright honeysuckle top note. Thankfully, this is not a screechy honeysuckle note, but well balanced and cheerful.
• Dry:  As it settles, I’m thrilled as undertones of a soft, floral cream appear far below the high spring floral musk, like sunlight just kissing petals. After 8 hours, I’m surprised that this still has a fair bit of through, delighting my senses with a honeysuckle and faded cherry blossom musk.

Other Impressions: “Is that carnation?  No?  It’s some kind of floral that I should be familiar with, cream, like milk cream, and verbena.” -Tony

Day 1714 – BPAL’s Song of Hope

Tags

Amber, amber carnation, Ambergris, ambergris accord, balsam, balsam of peru, berry, black pepper, BPAL, carnation, clove, clove husk, Dum Spiro Spero, Leather, limited edition, ochre leather, patchouli, patchouli root, pepper, pimento, pimento berry, Spring 2020, Sum Spiro Spero - Spring 2020, vanilla, vanilla absolute

Scent Name: Song of Hope

Manufacturer:  Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab –  Dum Spiro, Spero – Spring 2020

Scent Description and Notes: “

O sweet To-morrow! –
After to-day
There will away
This sense of sorrow.
Then let us borrow
Hope, for a gleaming
Soon will be streaming,
Dimmed by no gray –
No gray!

While the winds wing us
Sighs from The Gone,
Nearer to dawn
Minute-beats bring us;
When there will sing us
Larks of a glory
Waiting our story
Further anon –
Anon!

Doff the black token,
Don the red shoon,
Right and retune
Viol-strings broken;
Null the words spoken
In speeches of rueing,
The night cloud is hueing,
To-morrow shines soon –
Shines soon!
– Thomas Hardy

A warm amber carnation with patchouli root, ambergris accord, balsam of Peru, vanilla absolute, black pepper, clove husk, ochre leather, and pimento berry.” -https://blackphoenixalchemylab.com/shop/limited-edition/dum-spiro-spero-spring-2020/song-of-hope-perfume-oil/

Oil Color: A cinnamon-infused honey colored oil.

Bottle Design and Artwork: This is a standard 5ml brown apothecary bottle.  The label wrapped around the bottle features the name of the scent in bolded white stylized block font just above the company name, which is in a smaller version of the same font.  The label is an as follows:

Image courtesy of Tiah Schindelheim Rodriguez.

Scent:

• ITB: Cool pimento berries and spicy carnation petals open the scent before tendrils of pepper, patchouli and clove perfume the air.  While not especially forward, it lends the scent a soothing, balanced quality so far.
• Wet: Oh, that’s lovely.  Spiced carnation and pimento berry mingle with a rich clove, fragrant rooty patchouli, a slightly astringent woodiness from the balsam, all of which is warmed by an amber-sweetened ambergris and supple leather with undertones of light black pepper.  What a beautiful and complex oriental scent.
• Dry: Yum!  Deliciously woody and animalistic, laden with  ambergris-rubbed leather atop soft spices, a petal or two of carnation, and hints of ambered patchouli. This is a keeper for sure. I’m surprised to report that after 20 hours, there’s a hint patchouli ambergris musk left on my skin.  I was not prepared to still be smelling this the next day.  Talk about longevity!

Other Impressions: “It smells like cardamom and tobacco.  It kind of has a holiday feel to it, almost.” -Tony

Day 1704 – BPAL’s Pleasure Boat

Tags

Amber, BPAL, carnation, golden amber, golden carnation, green moss, japonica, Kerria japonica, limited edition, lupercalia, Lupercalia 2020, Lupercalia 2020: Shunga - Novel Ideas for Secret Amusements, marigold bush, moss, myrrh, Novel Ideas for Secret Amusements, orris, orris root, Rose, sandalwood, sandalwood rose, Shunga, Shunga 2020, vanilla, vanilla absolute

Scent Name: Pleasure Boat

Manufacturer:  Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab –  Lupercalia 2020: Shunga – Novel Ideas for Secret Amusements

Scent Description and Notes: “Golden amber, sandalwood rose, Kerria japonica, golden carnation, vanilla absolute, plush green mosses, orris root, and myrrh.” -https://blackphoenixalchemylab.com/shop/novel-ideas-for-secret-amusements-shunga-2020/pleasure-boat-perfume-oil/

Oil Color: The color of a young Sauvignon Blanc.

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 on the back along with her decanting information and the scent name. The front of the label contains the company acronym and collection name and date. The label art is similar to below, without the editing:

Unedited image from https://blackphoenixalchemylab.com/shop/novel-ideas-for-secret-amusements-shunga-2020/pleasure-boat-perfume-oil/

Scent:

• ITI: More floral than anticipated, the scent starts out with a soft combination of amber and orris powder surrounding subdued carnation and japonica, gently scented against a billowy vanilla absolute, just over a lazing green moss.  It makes me think that this is what Monet’s Water lily Pond smelled like while he was painting.
• Wet: It’s a softer, lighter floral on my skin, once again infused with ideas of lazy, soft, gently fragrant carnation and marigold petals, adorned with a pale taffeta swag of sandalwood rose.  A lolling breeze gently shifts the petals, smelling of  distant resins and green moss tinged with vanilla.  Wow, this is a delicately sophisticated floral that I didn’t know I needed in my life.
• Dry: Marigolds and carnations linker on my skin just over breathy sandalwood rose with shadows of myrrh and a subdued sweetness.  This is the very essence of spring flowers.  Lovely!

Other Impressions: “It smells like powdery roses.” -Tony

Day 1701 – BPAL’s Libidinous Encounter During the Rice Harvest

Tags

Amber, BPAL, champaca, fossilized amber, frangipani, limited edition, lupercalia, Lupercalia 2020, Lupercalia 2020: Shunga - Novel Ideas for Secret Amusements, milk, Novel Ideas for Secret Amusements, rice, rice flower, rice milk, Shunga, Shunga 2020

Scent Name: Libidinous Encounter During the Rice Harvest

Manufacturer:  Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab –  Lupercalia 2020: Shunga – Novel Ideas for Secret Amusements

Scent Description and Notes: “Rice milk, rice flower, fossilized amber, champaca, and frangipani.” -https://blackphoenixalchemylab.com/shop/novel-ideas-for-secret-amusements-shunga-2020/libidinous-encounter-during-the-rice-harvest-perfume-oil/

Oil Color: A thin apricot honey colored 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 on the back along with her decanting information and the scent name. The front of the label contains the company acronym and collection name and date. The label art is similar to below, without the editing:

Unedited image from https://blackphoenixalchemylab.com/shop/novel-ideas-for-secret-amusements-shunga-2020/libidinous-encounter-during-the-rice-harvest-perfume-oil/

Scent:

• ITI: Okay, that’s nice!  Warm and balanced, the amber, fossilized and a touch dusky, pairs wonderfully with the aromatic champaca, both of which have been sweetened by frangipani and a touch of softness underneath.  It’s warm, resinous, earthy, smoky, sexy, and floral – it definitely evokes images of covert couplings during a late summer harvest.
• Wet: Oh, that champaca is even smokier on my skin, but with that ancient amber and rich, heady floral, it is just beautiful.  There’s a softness to this as well that’s not distinct as rice flower or rice milk, but it provides a gentle foundation for the top notes to shine.
• Dry: After 3 hours, rice milk and rice flower emerge just under the amber’d champaca, adding a soft white creaminess to the scent that marries the resins and the now subdued frangipani. Nice.

Other Impressions: “What is that?  Frankincense?  Myrrh?  It’s very calming.  I like it.” -Tony

Day 1691 – BPAL’s The Scepter of the Empress

Tags

Amber, amber oudh, Aspects of the Empress, bergamot, BPAL, Florentine bergamot, In Memoriam, mandarin, mandarin rind, oudh, The Empress, The Empress - Aspects of the Empress, The Fool's Journey, The Fool's Journey: The Empress - Aspects of the Empress

Scent Name: The Scepter of the Empress

Manufacturer: Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab – The Fool’s Journey: The Empress – Aspects of the Empress

Scent Description and Notes: “One half of the Tarot’s binary expression of archetypical sovereignty, governing comfort and succor, the healing power of the natural world, the fecundity of the countryside, the stability of earth supported by the passionate tides of water, and all that gently nurtures humankind. This is the safety of home and kingdom alike, the promise of enough resources to sustain you and your community, the assurance the fruitfulness of the harvest, benevolent protection, and the wellbeing of generations to come.

Amber oudh, mandarin rind, and Florentine bergamot.” -https://blackphoenixalchemylab.com/shop/in-memoriam/the-scepter-of-the-empress/

Oil Color: A thinly bright orange oil on my skin.

Bottle Design and Artwork: This is a standard 5ml brown bottle from Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab.  The label features the name of the company in small white bold block font outlined in black along the bottom of the label.  The scent name is a larger version of the same font above that.  The label art is as featured below:

Image from https://blackphoenixalchemylab.com/shop/in-memoriam/the-scepter-of-the-empress/

Scent:

• ITB: Mmm, that’s good!  Juicy mandarin, flesh cool and delicious, enrobed with warm, gentle amber and florid bergamot make my mouth literally water.  It’s a brightly delightful citrus-dominant scent swathed with gorgeous spiced resinous tone so far.
• Wet: Amber and well behaved oudh, spicy and cloud-like pair so beautifully with the mandarin (it’s more flesh than rind) and those heavenly bergamot undertones.  It reminds me of a more sophisticated Body Shop citrus scent.
• Dry: I notice that the oud is starting to amp two minutes in, bringing with it  images of damp animal muskiness with a hint of wood.  The mandarin is still trying to hold its own against the oud, and I’m holding out hope that it will because the wet version is just so glorious. After a good 5 hours, the scent settles into a much more agreeable mandarin amber musk adorned with delightful bergamot.  Much better.

Other Impressions: “Musk powder.  It smells ambiguously sexy.” -Tony

Day 1690 – BPAL’s The Eternal Queen

Tags

Amber, amber incense, Ambergris, ambergris accord, Aspects of the Empress, bourbon, bourbon vanilla, BPAL, Faces of the Empress, gardenia, green musk, In Memoriam, Incense, Musk, Rose, The Empress, The Empress - Faces of the Empress, The Fool's Journey: The Empress - Faces of the Empress, tuberose, vanilla, vanilla musk, vegetal musk, vegetal vanilla musk, white gardenia

Scent Name: The Eternal Queen

Manufacturer: Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab – The Fool’s Journey: The Empress – Faces of the Empress

Scent Description and Notes: “A whisper of names: Nandi, Dido, Clytemnestra, Hatshepsut, Merneith, Olga of Kiev, Boudicca, Urraca the Reckless, Makeda, Sasaban, Semiramis, Rabodoandrianampoinimerina, Theodora, Julia Agrippina, Wu Zeitan, Irene Sarantapechaina, Elizabeth. She is every queen that has ever walked on this Earth, and every queen that shall come. She rules the past, the present, and the future; she is the archetypical sovereign, the amalgamation of feminine power – dark and light – throughout all of mankind’s history.

White gardenia and tuberose with ambergris accord, vegetal vanilla musk, bourbon vanilla, and amber incense.” -https://blackphoenixalchemylab.com/shop/in-memoriam/limited-edition-in-memoriam/the-fools-journey/the-empress/aspects-of-the-empress/the-eternal-queen/

Oil Color: Colorless on my skin.

Bottle Design and Artwork: This is a standard 5ml brown bottle from Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab.  The label features the name of the company in small white bold block font outlined in black along the bottom of the label.  The scent name is a larger version of the same font but in yellow above that.  The label art is as featured below:

Image from https://blackphoenixalchemylab.com/shop/in-memoriam/limited-edition-in-memoriam/the-fools-journey/the-empress/aspects-of-the-empress/the-eternal-queen/

Scent:

• ITB: White gardenia immediately presents itself, brilliant and refined flocked by soft tuberose and a lovely green musk around the middle.  It is like the embodiment of a floral made queenly woman so far.
• Wet: The high-pitched gardenia note, stark white and imperious, seems almost trailed by gossamer vanilla and vegetal musk, adorned with tuberose embroidery.  Wet on my skin, white gardenia certainly is the focus.
• Dry: As this settles, the scent, while still heavily white gardenia, takes on a lovely creaminess.  The high pitched white floral is tempered to more of a soprano rather than an mezzo-soprano, soothed by threads of bourbon vanilla, amber, tuberose, and vegetal musk, like whorled leaves framing the stunning florals. I’m not getting a whole lot of ambergris here other than the beautiful muskiness that is more green and vanilla toned than animal, thankfully.  After 4 hours, the highly imperious tone of the gardenia soften alongside the tuberose, sinking into the delightful embrace of almost feathery ambered vanilla musk flecked with subtle verdant undertones far below. Classically lovely as a perfume, I imagine this would wear well from the workplace to an evening under the stars.

Other Impressions: None.

Day 1685 – BPAL’s Queen Butterfly

Tags

Amber, BPAL, Genius Loci, Genius Loci: Los Angeles, golden musk, honey, In Memoriam, labdanum, Musk, orange, orange blossom, orange blossom honey, patchouli, patchouli root, plum, red labdanum, russet amber, wild plum

Scent Name: Queen Butterfly

Manufacturer: Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab – Genius Loci: Los Angeles

Scent Description and Notes: ”

Lady Butterfly
perfumes her wings
by floating over this orchid

Russet amber and orange blossom honey, red labdanum and wild plum, golden musk and a rustle of patchouli root.“ -https://blackphoenixalchemylab.com/shop/in-memoriam/limited-edition-in-memoriam/queen-butterfly/

Oil Color: A cheery yellow oil on my skin.

Bottle Design and Artwork: This is a standard brown 5ml bottle.  The label features the name of the collection in bold white block font aligned along the top, which is echoed by the name of the company in the same font along the bottom.  The name of the scent is in a shadowed white script-like font of larger size just above the image name.  The bottle art is as follows:

Image from https://blackphoenixalchemylab.com/shop/in-memoriam/limited-edition-in-memoriam/queen-butterfly/

Scent: 

• ITI: At first sniff, I’m met with orange blossom and hints of patchouli that give way to what strikes me as sweet sarsaparilla, which I imagine might be from the russet amber and plum.
• Wet: Orange blossom, honeyed amber, floral patchouli, and plum with a soft russet amber and labdanum with a dab of honey.  All together, it still reminds me of sarsaparilla, or more specifically, those root beer-flavored Necco wafers, but with orange blossom floral tones.
• Dry: After 6 hours, orange blossom honey with a dash of amber and plum still linger, and with  about an 1″ of throw, too!  It’s certainly a pretty scent, especially now that it’s lost most of the root-beer tones of earlier.

Other Impressions: None.

Day 1683 – BPAL’s Western Pygmy

Tags

Amber, black currant, blackcurrant, blue lotus, blue lotus petal, blueberry, BPAL, coconut, coconut amber, currant, dried blueberry, Genius Loci, Genius Loci: Los Angeles, In Memoriam, khus, Lilac, lotus, patchouli, tobacco, tobacco absolute, tobacco petal

Scent Name: Western Pygmy

Manufacturer: Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab – Genius Loci: Los Angeles

Scent Description and Notes: “A flutter of bronze and azure blue: coconut amber, patchouli and tobacco absolute with blue lotus petal, lilac, tobacco petal, dried blueberry and blackcurrant, and khus.“ -https://blackphoenixalchemylab.com/shop/in-memoriam/limited-edition-in-memoriam/western-pygmy-blue/

Oil Color: A pleasing creamy pollen colored oil.

Bottle Design and Artwork: This is a standard vial / imp size (1/32 oz). This is a decant from Absinthetics.  On the back, she has the notes of the scent, the name of the scent in orange bold font, and her decanting information in green.  The font of the label features the sample label art as the bottle.

Image from https://blackphoenixalchemylab.com/shop/in-memoriam/limited-edition-in-memoriam/western-pygmy-blue/

Scent: 

• ITI: Brushed blueberry juice, currant, and golden coconut laced with tobacco meet my nose.  It’s warm and dry while being juicy and soft.  Interesting.
• Wet: The blueberry isn’t so forward, but I’d still say that it’s the top note immediately, with a trace of blue lotus petals and currant.  A lovely toasted coconut amber warms after a couple minutes followed by khus, which is just a bit confusing here. It’s not bad at all.
• Dry: Soft, warm, ans gently sweet. Coconut amber with a hints of tobacco and a whisper of a blue-ish floral linger on my skin after 4 hours.  It’s pleasant and certainly would be great for anyone who likes a toasted, exotic coconut scent tone to their scents.

Other Impressions: “It’s like a tiny bit of rose but mostly cocoa butter suntan oil.” -Tony

Day 1675 – BPAL’s Minamoto No Yorimasa and the Lotus Flower

Tags

Amber, black amber, black currant, blackcurrant, blue lotus, blue lotus absolute, BPAL, currant, Frankincense, In Memoriam, lotus, lotus petals, lotus root, lupercalia, Lupercalia 2015, Lupercalia 2015: Shunga, Lupercalia 2015: Shunga - Novel Ideas for Secret Amusements, Novel Ideas for Secret Amusements, petals, Shunga, Shunga 2015

Scent Name: Minamoto No Yorimasa and the Lotus Flower

Manufacturer:  Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab –  Lupercalia 2015: Shunga – Novel Ideas for Secret Amusements

Scent Description and Notes: “MINAMOTO NO YORIMASA AND THE LOTUS FLOWER

Lotus root, lotus petals, and blue lotus absolute with frankincense, black amber, and blackcurrant.” -BPAL.org

Oil Color: A pleasing candied nectarine colored oil.

Bottle Design and Artwork: This is a standard 1/32 ml imp that has been decanted for me by Absinthetics. Her label features the scent notes on the back along with her decanting information and the scent name. The label art is a woodblock print of the mythic Minamoto transfigured from a painting into the form of a man (complete with his tell-tale black hat), making love to a female deity holding a lotus, surrounded by her flying scarves. 

Image from https://www.shungagalleryshop.com/artist/utagawa-kunisada/ghost-scene—vernal-love

Scent:

• ITI: Black currant musk layered over cool, watery, waxy floral tones.  I’m not getting the normal Lab lotus note, which skews bubblegum-y to me, thankfully.  It reads more like a watery magnolia note more than lotus.
• Wet: Ah, there’s the frankincense, although it’s darkened with black currant tendrils, juicy and  deeply purplish red over a subdued waxy, watery floral. Interesting. After about 3 minutes, a subtle but pleasant bubblegum tone rises, huskily wrapped in resin and black currant, which tempers the sweetness of the lotus.
• Dry: After 3 hours, the scent settles in a lovely black currant-darkened amber threaded with frankincense smoke and a very light impression of the sweetness of lotus petals.  It’s a lot darker than anticipated, but almost jam-like.  It makes my mouth water.

Other Impressions: “It’s like musky, leathery, and maybe violet way in the background…something floral way in the background.” -Tony

Day 1662 – BPAL’s The High-Ranking Courtesan

Tags

Amber, ambrette, BPAL, butter, chocolate, Florentine iris, grey amber, In Memoriam, iris, iris butter, lupercalia, Lupercalia 2016, Lupercalia 2016: Shunga - Novel Ideas for Secret Amusements, Musk, Novel Ideas for Secret Amusements, peony, rice, rice powder, Shunga, Shunga 2016, vegetal musk, white ambrette, white chocolate, white peony

Scent Name: The High-Ranking Courtesan

Manufacturer:  Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab –  Lupercalia 2016: Shunga – Novel Ideas for Secret Amusements

Scent Description and Notes: “White peony and Florentine iris butter gilded by white ambrette, rice powder, grey amber, pale vegetal musk, and white chocolate.” -BPAL.org

Oil Color: The color of champagne.

Bottle Design and Artwork: This is a standard 1/32 ml imp that has been decanted for me by Absinthetics. Her label features the scent notes on the back along with her decanting information and the scent name. The label art is a woodblock print of a fully bedecked oiran on her side with kimono expertly hiked, engaging in coitus with a kabuki actor, whose kimono has been moved aside deftly.

Scent:

• ITI: Oh, I wasn’t expecting powdered hot chocolate.  That’s mostly what I’m picking up, but I think I detected a ghostly iris butter for a split second before it vanished behind the chocolate note.
• Wet: Hot chocolate powder and peony are the main notes so far, but I am picking up on a powdery musk and a touch of ambrette.  I’m still not in love with that chocolate note, though.  I could do without it.
• Dry: Now that it’s had a good 5 hours under its belt to develop, it’s much less of a chocolate overload and more and a vaguely chocolate powdered rice treat with a hint of peony.  Much better, but not my cup of tea.

Other Impressions: None.

Day 1655 – BPAL’s Embracing Komachi

Tags

Amber, angelica, angelica seed, BPAL, coconut, grey amber, In Memoriam, iris, iris blossom, Leather, lupercalia, Lupercalia 2016, Lupercalia 2016: Shunga - Novel Ideas for Secret Amusements, Novel Ideas for Secret Amusements, Shunga, Shunga - Novel Ideas for Secret Amusements, Shunga 2016, soft white leather, violet, violet leaf, white leather

I just realized that I have 21 more older Lupercalia imps to review (of which I know).  Yikes! I’m sure this will keep me occupied until the I get my decants from from the Lab’s current Lupercalia release.

Scent Name: Embracing Komachi

Manufacturer:  Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab –  Lupercalia 2016: Shunga – Novel Ideas for Secret Amusements

Scent Description and Notes: “Iris blossom, violet leaf, grey amber, soft white leather, a drop of coconut and a sliver of angelica seed.” -BPAL.org

Oil Color: A lovely snow in the sunlight colored oil.

Bottle Design and Artwork: This is a standard 1/32 ml imp that has been decanted for me by Absinthetics. Her label features the scent notes on the back along with her decanting information and the scent name. The label art is a woodblock print of two figures, a woman whose back is toward the viewer and another who is facing toward her.  I can’t see much more detail than that, however.

Scent:

• ITI: Iris and violet florals shrouded in a silvered cool mist.  I’m not getting much else beyond that.  I am a little worried about that iris on my skin, though.
• Wet: Phew, yep, that iris sure is buggy on my skin.  I’m having trouble getting past that note. Part of me is debating washing it off, but I do want to smell how it shifts once it dries. I think there might be a hint of coconut there, but the iris dominates excessively for me.
• Dry: This didn’t last the 8 hours between home and work, so I had to retest.  After 1 hour, I’m still getting silvered iris with a hint of violet, although a sliver of leather fades in and out of detection.  It isn’t enough to save it for me.  In the swap pile it goes.

Other Impressions: “There’s something lightly burnt, but also leathery.  Actually, yeah, it’s like leather and Russian tea.”-Tony

Day 1652 – BPAL’s You Get What Anybody Gets – You Get a Lifetime

Tags

Amber, attar of oudh, black amber, blackened champaca, Casmir wood, champaca, champaca blossom, dried fig, fig, myrrh, neil gaiman, Neil Gaiman's Sandman, Oneiros: A Hymn to Morpheus, oudh, wood

Scent Name: You Get What Anybody Gets – You Get a Lifetime

Manufacturer:  Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab –  Neil Gaiman’s Sandman: Oneiros: A Hymn to Morpheus

Scent Description and Notes: “An unimaginably ancient scent, older than time. The gentle, fluttering embrace of oblivion: myrrh and blackened champaca blossom, attar of oudh, black amber, Casmir wood, and dried fig.

Words by Neil Gaiman, art by David Mack.‘” -https://blackphoenixalchemylab.com/shop/neil-gaiman/oneiros-a-hymn-to-morpheus-sandman/you-get-what-anybody-gets-you-get-a-lifetime-perfume-oil/

Oil Color: A light rum colored 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 on the back along with her decanting information.   The front features the label art and scent name, which appears as below:

Image from https://blackphoenixalchemylab.com/shop/neil-gaiman/oneiros-a-hymn-to-morpheus-sandman/you-get-what-anybody-gets-you-get-a-lifetime-perfume-oil/

Scent:

• ITI: Austere, shadowed woods and dark champaca blossoms with a dash of oudh.  It’s intriguing for sure.
• Wet: The oudh is strongly primal on my skin, so it shifts the scent to unsettling and vaguely unpleasant for me. It reminds me of crushed flowers and insects, and a hint of animal excretion. As it starts to settle, I can pick up more of the wood and champaca tones, thankfully.  However, there is a sense of the shadow here, looming at the heels of the scent.
• Dry: Okay, that’s gorgeous now that it has had a full nearly 6 hours to settle.The myrrh and amber twine deliciously, sweetened with a hint of dark fig, atop a shadowed wood. It’s sacred, wizened, alluring, and complex.

Other Impressions: None.

Day 1651- BPAL’s Dreams Shape the World

Tags

agar, Amber, BPAL, fossilized amber, Lavender, moon, moonlit musk, Musk, neil gaiman, Neil Gaiman's Sandman, Oneiros: A Hymn to Morpheus, sweet agarwood, wood

Scent Name: Dreams Shape the World

Manufacturer:  Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab –  Neil Gaiman’s Sandman: Oneiros: A Hymn to Morpheus

Scent Description and Notes: “Amorphous streams and sparks of lavender fancies drifting through a moonlit musk, given form on this plane by fossilized amber and sweet agarwood.

Words by Neil Gaiman, art by David Mack.‘” -https://blackphoenixalchemylab.com/shop/neil-gaiman/oneiros-a-hymn-to-morpheus-sandman/dreams-shape-the-world-perfume-draft/

Oil Color: Colorless.

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 on the back along with her decanting information.   The front features the label art and scent name, which appears as below:

Image from https://blackphoenixalchemylab.com/shop/neil-gaiman/oneiros-a-hymn-to-morpheus-sandman/dreams-shape-the-world-perfume-draft/

Scent:

• ITI:  Lavender is definitely the top note, but it’s not a sweet English lavender but much more assertive. Amber hovers like a low-lying mist below the lavender, mingled with a silvered musk.  It’s a fitting scent for Morpheus.
• Wet: Herbal lavender is the clearest top note.  Something has a light bugginess, much like iris does on my skin, but I’m not sure which note would lend itself to that.
• Dry: Wow, that fades down into something much sweeter- a soft amber musk with a hint of woodiness.  I’m not sure where the lavender went, but I like the dried version nonetheless.

Other Impressions: None.