Day 1445 – Haus of Gloi’s Inamorato

Tags

Amber, Haus of Gloi, limited edition, patchouli, Spice, spiced amber, Spring 2019, vanilla

Scent Name: Inamorato

Manufacturer: Haus of Gloi – Spring 2019

Scent Description and Notes: “Vanilla soaked patchouli and gently spiced amber.” -https://www.hausofgloi.com/collections/inamorato/products/inamorato-perfume-oil

Oil Color: A peachy amber colored oil.

Bottle Design and Artwork: This is a standard 1/32 ml imp straight from the company. The front features the company logo surrounded in an ivy cameo, framed by the phrase “perfume oil” in bold black font. The name of the company is in similar but larger font along the bottom of the label. The back of the label features the scent name in black set against a warm purple grey text box.

Image courtesy of Tiah Schindelheim Rodriguez.

Scent:

• ITI: This is a heavy woody patchouli, almost cedar-like, set against dry spices and very subtle amber.  Vanilla is absent to my nose at this point.  It does skew a bit masculine to me, but I don’t mind wearing gender neutral or masculine scents. 
• Wet: Ah, there’s the vanilla-soaked patchouli!  That surges forward before being supplanted by dried, older spices with a subtle amber glow.  It’s warm, woody, dry, and gently resinous.
• Dry: 30 minutes later, I’m getting old spice drawer heavy with older paprika, cumin, and amber, with hints of vanilla patchouli.  After 8 hours, it has mostly faded from my skin save for a hint of amber spice.

Other Impressions: “It smells like men’s cologne.” -Elodie

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Day 1439 – BPAL’s Mars Ultor

Tags

Amber, benzoin, black amber, blackened nutmeg, BPAL, caramel, caramelized tobacco, cistus, In Memoriam, lupercalia, Lupercalia 2015, Lupercalia 2015: Ode to Mars 2015, nutmeg, Ode to Mars, Ode to Mars 2015, smoke, smoky vanilla, tobacco, vanilla

Scent Name: Mars Ultor

Manufacturer: Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab – Lupercalia 2015: Ode to Mars 2015

Scent Description and Notes: “MARS ULTOR

Mars the Avenger

Black amber and smoky vanilla with cistus, benzoin, caramelized tobacco, and blackened nutmeg.” -BPAL.org

Oil Color: A fiery cherry brandy 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 features a black and white photograph of a rather muscular younger man, completely nude and oiled, holding a whip.  The label art is as follows:

Image from https://thegameofnerds.com/2015/03/20/the-darling-nerd-black-phoenix-alchemy/

 

Scent:

• ITI: Oh, that’s lovely!  I’m getting deliciously smoked amber vanilla set against lightly caramelized tobacco and benzoin with a sliver of perhaps a cistus cologne.  I’m not getting much nutmeg at this point, but I don’t mind one bit. 
• Wet: This reads as more clean once applied as the benzoin and cistus push toward the top on my skin, followed by a breathy nutmeg, hints of amber cologne, and a touch of sweetened smoke. Tobacco and vanilla, where are you?
• Dry:  Ooh, that’s fantastic!  Warm blackened amber and cistus over tobacco and smoked vanilla, edged with light benzoin.

Other Impressions: None.

Day 1429 – BPAL’s Hunger Moon 2007

Tags

a little lunacy, A Little Lunacy 2007, Amber, BPAL, Citrus, citrus rind, clary sage, crystallized white amber, In Memoriam, oakmoss, ozone, rind, Sage, sandalwood, Verbena, white amber, white citrus rind, white sandalwood

Scent Name:  Hunger Moon 2007

Manufacturer:  Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab – A Little Lunacy: January 2007

Scent Description and Notes: “When Hunger Moon hangs high in the sky, the fields are frozen, and game is piteously scarce. Sleet covers the ground, and biting winds chill to the bone. This is a quiet, cold perfume: desolate and despairing. It is a clear night sky that and bracing chill wind that bears the promise of snow, sharpened by the pain of hunger, and the sharp, rasping stab of thirst. Ozone, white sandalwood, crystallized white amber, verbena, oakmoss, clary sage, and a hint of white citrus rind.“ -BPAL.org

Oil Color: Colorless on my skin.

Bottle Design and Artwork: This is a 5ml standard brown apothecary bottle.  The label extends just under halfway around the bottom.  The label features the name of the company in a small, thin off-white font along the bottom of the label separated by a line from the image and scent name.  The name of the collection and date follow similar formatting, situated along the top of the label.  The name of the scent is in white bold block font with fangs in between, while the “oo” look like they are bleeding vampire puncture wounds. The label art is as follows:

Image from https://wanelo.com/store/alchemylab.

Scent:

• ITB: Mmm, that’s gorgeous!  It smells like candied citrus sangria garnished with sage and sandalwood.
• Wet: That’s still lovely.  I’m getting delicious white citrus muddled with sage, oakmoss, verbena, and warmed with golden resins. The combination of the green herbal notes almost makes it read like juniper, but it’s softer and more alluring than juniper’s astringency can be.
• Dry: Even after 4 hours, this scent is still light, fruity, and refreshing.  The white citrus rind still reads as candied with a redish tone (like pomegranate and citrus), but I think this sweetness might be from the wonderful amber note. A suble haze of sandalwood drifts around the citrus with just a tint of herbal.  It’s stunning!

Other Impressions: “It’s nice. It’s pine-y and citrus-y.” -Tony

Day 1424 – BPAL’s Pink Amber and Peony

Tags

a little lunacy, A Little Lunacy 2019, Amber, BPAL, In Memoriam, peony, pink amber

Scent Name:  Pink Amber & Peony

Manufacturer:  Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab – Duets: A Little Lunacy 2019

Scent Description and Notes: “A romantic, uplifting floral.” -https://blackphoenixalchemylab.com/shop/in-memoriam/a-little-lunacy/pink-amber-and-peony-perfume-oil/

Oil Color: A colorless oil.

Bottle Design and Artwork: This is a 5ml standard brown apothecary bottle.  The label extends just under halfway around the bottom.  The label features the name of the company in ombre shadowed light pinked magenta font along the bottom.  The name of the scent is  positioned above that in a larger ballet slipper version of the same font shadowed along its borders. Image art is as follows:

Image courtesy of Tiah Schindelheim Rodriguez.

Scent:

• ITB: Pink peony imbued with the watery essence of pink bubblegum over a thin, almost petal pink amber.
• Wet: It reminds me of pale pink ballet slippers and chiffon tutus.  The pink peony is still light, bubblegum pinky floral while the amber adds hints of subtle pink resin that provides a lovely middle tone to help balance the peony.
• Dry: This dries down into a lacy pink peony, a touch of bubblegum, and a roundness that comes from the amber, but isn’t distinctly amber or resinous at this point to my nose.

Other Impressions: “It smells like melon” – Tony

Day 1412 – BPAL’s Scholar’s Tower

Tags

Amber, ash, BPAL, Cedar, Century Guild, Century Guild Kickstarter, Frankincense, frankincense ash, Imagined Realms, Incense, ink, Kickstarter, Kickstarter - Imagined Realms, mahogany, parchment, polish, retail exclusive, Retail Exclusive: Century Guild Kickstarter - Imagined Realms, sweet parchment

This is the aged version from the original Kickstarter in 2014.

Scent Name:  Scholar’s Tower

Manufacturer:  Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab –  Retail Exclusive: Century Guild Kickstarter – Imagined Realms

Scent Description and Notes: “‘Amina and Shula took in stray books and stray cats and filled their home with both. They loved their feline charges as much as their studies, though the former often demanded more attention than the latter.

Together, the two scholars charted the paths of comets, discovered and named new stars, and debated the size and shape of the observable skies. They loved their study of the heavens, but they also strove to keep their inner world full and happy. Some days, all they needed was a sunny spot in their tower to enjoy a few books and a pot of tea together with their horde of cats.’ 

SCHOLAR’S TOWER

Gleaming amber spheres, polished cedar and mahogany, sweet parchment, inks of frankincense ash, and soft plumes of incense.

Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab has created SCHOLARS’ TOWER to commemorate “Imagined Realms”, the first in a series of books of fantasy art by award winning artist Julie Dillon.

Julie Dillon has been working with Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab for many years, doing labels for several series, most notably the Phoenix Steamworks collection, the Vampires Don’t Sleep Alone Collection,  the RPG series, and upcoming re-release of Carnival Diabolique.” -https://blackphoenixalchemylab.com/shop/collaborations/scholars-tower/

Oil Color: A maraschino cherry colored oil.

Bottle Design and Artwork: This is a 5ml standard brown apothecary bottle.  The label extends just under halfway around the bottom.  The label features the name of the company in thin yellow block font outlined in black along the bottom.  The scent name is in beautiful larger golden scroll work above that. The name of the artist is in a slightly larger version of the same font as the company name along the top.   The name of the scent is done in a larger white version along the top.  The image art is as follows:

Image from https://blackphoenixalchemylab.com/shop/collaborations/scholars-tower/

Scent:

• ITB:  Wood lovers, rejoice!  The mahogany here is stately, refine, and polished. Contemplative incense smolders in the background, infusing its golden tones into the marrow of the cedar, frankincense ash, and ink.
• Wet: Wow, that’s gorgeous.  Strong frankincense and wafting incense against luxuriously polished mahogany and cedar with golden gleaming amber lighting the way. The cedar adds a bit of woody astringency to the background, but not enough to detract from the beautify of the more forward notes. Ink is very subtle in the background as a whole.  I want to live in this scent!
• Dry: An hour dry-down yields a golden amber and polished mahogany delight steeped with frankincense ash with a hint of parchment and ink.  Yum! The only downside is that the throw is pretty limited after only an hour.

Other Impressions: “It’s like an acai-flavored pipe tobacco.” -Tony

Day 1411 – BPAL’s Transcendent Luxury

Tags

Amber, amber chypre, BPAL, Century Guild, Century Guild Kickstarter - Flowering Lines, chypre, Flowering Lines, gardenia, In Memoriam, Kickstarter, lemon, lemon verbena, retail exclusive, Retail Exclusive: Century Guild Kickstarter - Flowering Lines, Tonka, tuberose, white amber, white amber chypre, white gardenia

Scent Name:  Transcendent Luxury

Manufacturer:  Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab –  Retail Exclusive: Century Guild Kickstarter – Flowering Lines

Scent Description and Notes: “A lavish white amber chypre with lemon verbena, opulent white gardenia, tuberose, and tonka.” -BPAL.org

Oil Color: A cherry yellow oil on my hand.

Bottle Design and Artwork: This is a 5ml standard brown apothecary bottle.  The label extends just under halfway around the bottom.  The label features the name of the company in thin very Art Deco orange along the bottom.  The name of the scent is done in a larger white version along the top.  The image art is as follows:

Image from https://centuryguild.net/products/transcendent-luxury-perfume-oil-by-black-phoenix-alchemy-lab

Scent:

• ITB:  Watery white gardenia, well-mannered lemon verbena, with a subtle undertone of tuberose drifting lazily by. I’m not getting much amber, but I am picking up very light tones of green from the chypre.  It reminds me of reading a novel near an overhanging garden, listening to the river babbling in the distance.
• Wet: Beautiful gardenia and lemon verbena laced with delicate tuberose absolutely sing on the skin. There’s a subtle warmth far beneath the white florals, perhaps from the amber, but the gardenia and lemon verbena are clearly the stars at this point. Gorgeous and invigorating.
• Dry: After 8 hours, the scent has shed much of its watery white tones and melded into its gorgeous amber chypre laced with tonka and a speckle of tuberose. It’s lovely!

Other Impressions: “Wow, that is citrusy!” -Tony

Day 1407 – BPAL’s Solstice Lace

Tags

Amber, apple, apple wine, bonfire, BPAL, cognac, copal, cream, dark delicacies, fire, lace, retail exclusive, smoke, St. John's Wort, sweet tobacco, tobacco, vanilla, vanilla cream, vanilla cream lace, wine

Scent Name:  Solstice Lace

Manufacturer:  Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab –  Retail Exclusive: Dark Delicacies

Scent Description and Notes: “Bonfire smoke staining vanilla cream lace, a touch of cognac, sweet tobacco, St. Johns Wort, and apple wine, with the suns bright amber and copal setting the horizon aflame.” -BPAL.org

Oil Color: Colorless on my skin.

Bottle Design and Artwork: This is a 5ml standard 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 bleached bone block shadowed script, mirroring the name of the collaborating store, Dark Delicacies, positioned along the top.  The name of the scent is in a larger version of the same font also shadowed just above the company name.  The image art is as follows:

Image from https://scentbase.com/scents/black-phoenix-alchemy-lab-bpal/solstice-lace/201707041909485345

Scent:

• ITB:  It’s more fruity than I would have anticipated.  The apple wine is very clear and crisp, especially in relief against the tobacco and faint tallowed cream note, which might be a combination of the vanilla cream and the bonfire note.
• Wet: Yes, that apple fine is glorious even on the skin. The smoke and tobacco notes follow after, while the apple wine just sings as the top note. I can detect subtle cognac with a hint of smoked vanilla cream lace and tobacco. Therese a glimmer of resin under neath, all of which speak of an Autumn bonfire.
• Dry: Now that it’s had 4 hours to dry, the dominance of the apple wine has given way to thick billows of copal smoke and sweet tobacco with the heavy smoldering ones of bonfire next to the apple wine and a touch of ancient vanilla cream. Nice.

Other Impressions: “Did somebody rub a carrot cake on a leather couch?” -Tony

Day 1404 – BPAL’s Amber & Lace

Tags

Amber, BPAL, cognac, cream, golden musk, golden oudh, Musk, oudh, retail exclusive, saffron, sweet amber, vanilla, vanilla cream, warm golden musk, white cognac

Scent Name:  Amber & Lace

Manufacturer:  Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab –  Retail Exclusive: Dark Delicacies

Scent Description and Notes: “The Golden Hour, casting a glorious light onto all it touches: sweet amber and golden oudh with vanilla cream, white cognac, saffron, and warm golden musk.” -BPAL.org

Oil Color: A  stunning burnished orange on my skin.

Bottle Design and Artwork: This is a 5ml standard 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 bleached bone block shadowed script, mirroring the name of the collaborating store, Dark Delicacies, positioned along the top.  The name of the scent is in a larger version of the same font also shadowed just above the company name.  The image art is as follows:

Image from https://scentbase.com/scents/black-phoenix-alchemy-lab-bpal/amber-lace/201808080749184310

Scent:

• ITB: Yum!  That is the amber note I’ve been looking for! Golden sweet resinous delight emanating a shinning aura of which Apollo would take notice! Like the gentle rustle of chiffon skirts, saffron and vanilla cream peek through and fold around the golden amber musk brilliantly.  The cognac slips around the the other notes briefly and then recedes like the suggestion of sandals under billowy folds.
• Wet: Yes. I’m not sure why I didn’t order another bottle of this.  Sweet amber absolutely shines with the help of a dazzling golden musk and oudh (a faint earthiness that rounds the resin perfectly) while the vanilla cream, saffron, and cognac swell just underneath.  This is heavenly and opulent!
• Dry: What throw and beauty!  I feel like I’m training golden amber clouds of vanilla cream cotton candy clouds spiked with saffron and cognac. Deliciously layered resins, opulent and wildly feminine.

Other Impressions: About 20 years ago, I wandered into an head/occult shop in Old Town Sacramento and found this absolutely brilliant amber resin solid perfume. It was the purest, sweetest amber I have ever smelled and used it until I could no longer scrape the delicious scent from its metal canister. I’ve been looking for a perfume that has just that amber.  Well, this is it and I’m so thrilled to have found it!

“Carrot cake cupcake with nag champa incense.” -Tony

Day 1398 – BPAL’s Queen Mab’s Lace

Tags

Amber, bee balm, beeswax, BPAL, butter, cognac, crushed grass, dark delicacies, evergreen, Grass, honeysuckle, In Memoriam, indigo musk, jasmine, lace, Lilac, lilac butter, Musk, poppy, retail exclusive, tobacco, vanilla, vanilla lace, white amber, white cognac, wild jasmine

Scent Name:  Queen Mab’s Lace

Manufacturer:  Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab –  Retail Exclusive: Dark Delicacies

Scent Description and Notes: “

And pleasant is the fairy land,

But, an eerie tale to tell,

At the end of every seven years,

We pay a tithe to Hell,

I am so fair and firm of flesh,

I’m feared it be myself.

 

The scent of twilight in a secluded grove. A tinkle of laughter in the distance echoes through the woods discordantly, and the shadows are thick with menace: a gossamer vanilla lace enveloped in a veil of honeysuckle, wild jasmine, poppy, crushed grass, evergreen, white cognac, white amber, lilac butter, tobacco, indigo musk, and bee balm.“ -BPAL.org

Oil Color: A faint yellowish oil on my skin.

Bottle Design and Artwork:  This is a 5ml standard brown apothecary bottle.  The label extends just under halfway around the bottom.  The label features the name of the company along the bottom in white ombre block shadowed script, mirroring the name of the collaborating store, Dark Delicacies, positioned along the top.  The name of the scent is in a larger pale pink rose version of the script just above the company name.  The image art is a beautiful print of Queen Mab and her attendants holding her billowing train.

Image courtesy of Tiah Schindelheim Rodriguez.

Scent:

• ITB: It’s like a fresh meadow breeze ruffling sweet grasses, honeysuckle, and lacy lilacs mingled with heady jasmine, a hint of poppy atop a subtle white cognac vanilla lace.  This is such a lovely springtime scent that makes me so excited to test it on my skin.
• Wet: Oh, that’s lovely.  Crushed grass and lilac butter flutter softly against wisps of indigo and jasmine hiding just a sliver of vanilla.
• Dry: 10 hours later and the scent has largely dissipated save the impression of an ephemeral ambered vanilla lace tinged with wildflowers.

Other Impressions: None.

Day 1396 – BPAL’s The Carousel

Tags

abbatoirs, Amber, American Gods, American Gods III, battlefields, blood, BPAL, cinnamon, clay, flowers, forest moss, glowing amber, growing things, honey, metal, moss, myrrh, neil gaiman, neil-gaimans-American Gods, papyrus, Rose, rose petals, styrax, sweet myrrh, tunderclaps, wildflowers

Name: The Carousel

Manufacturer:  Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab – Neil Gaiman’s American Gods III

Scent Description and Notes: “Calliope music played: a Strauss waltz, stirring and occasionally discordant. The wall as they entered was hung with antique carousel horses, hundreds of them, some in need of a lick of paint, others in need of a good dusting; above them hung dozens of winged angels constructed rather obviously from female store-window mannequins; some of them bared their sexless breasts; some had lost their wigs and stared baldly and blindly down from the darkness.

And then there was the carousel.

A sign proclaimed it was the largest in the world, said how much it weighed, how many thousand lightbulbs were to be found in the chandeliers that hung from it in Gothic profusion, and forbade anyone from climbing on it or from riding on the animals.

And such animals! Shadow stared, impressed in spite of himself, at the hundreds of full-sized creatures who circled on the platform of the carousel. Real creatures, imaginary creatures, and transformations of the two: each creature was different. He saw mermaid and merman, centaur and unicorn, elephants (one huge, one tiny), bulldog, frog and phoenix, zebra, tiger, manticore and basilisk, swans pulling a carriage, a white ox, a fox, twin walruses, even a sea serpent, all of them brightly colored and more than real: each rode the platform as the waltz came to an end and a new waltz began. The carousel did not even slow down.

“What’s it for?” asked Shadow. “I mean, okay, world’s biggest, hundreds of animals, thousands of lightbulbs, and it goes around all the time, and no one ever rides it.”

“It’s not there to be ridden, not by people,” said Wednesday. “It’s there to be admired. It’s there to be.”

A place of power and possibility, of gods diabolical and celestial: glowing amber and heady cinnamon, the green of growing things and the white of thunderclaps, sweet myrrh and sacred styrax, forest moss and blood-soaked battlefields, papyrus and clay, rose petals, wildflowers, abbatoirs, and honey.“ -https://blackphoenixalchemylab.com/shop/neil-gaiman/american-gods/american-gods-2/the-carousel/

Oil Color: A peachy colored oil.

Bottle Design and Artwork:  This is the lab’s brown apothecary bottle.  The label wrapped around the bottle features the name of the company in black bold font along the bottom.  The name of the scent is above that in larger font, outlined in red.  The image art is as follows:

Image from https://blackphoenixalchemylab.com/shop/neil-gaiman/american-gods/american-gods-2/the-carousel/    Art by Hugo-winner Julie Dillon.

 

• ITB:  I’m getting wildflowers and moss under thundering skies laced with styrax and a clang of metal, papyrus and clay.  It’s hard to pin down as the notes shift beneath me so quickly.  I’m intrigued.
• Wet: This paints such a vivid sensory picture for me in a delightful whirl of complexity.  I smell ancient deeds written atop papyrus illuminated with images of  electric wildflowers, rolling rose petals, brush strokes of styrax, and sweetening honeyed gore under sun-setting amber rays.
• Dry: This scent is just gorgeous.  It continues to shift in these beautiful, almost sensuous ways throughout the day.  It’s a journey of evolving stories and I have been finding myself eager to repeatedly mark its progress.  After 11 hours, the scent still has about 2″ of throw and retains a beautiful clarity of honeyed, resinous delights sprinkled with rose petals, a dash of cinnamon, the charge of thunder, and a whisper of blood-tinged metal from battles long past.  Lovely.  A bottle might not be enough.

Other Impressions: “Orange-y and fresh.  I like it.” -Tony (30 minutes after application.

“It smells like sugar cookies and like how a Dad smells.” -Tony (on The Carousel dry 11 hours)

Day 1389 – BPAL’s Carnaval Rat

Tags

absinthe, acai, acai berry, aconite, aftershave, almond, almond milk, Amber, Ambergris, ambrette, ambrette seed, apple, apple blossom, apricot, apricot flower, Babylonian musk, balsam, Baltic amber, bark, bay, bay rum, beeswax, benzoin, bergamot, berry, bhay, bile, birch, birch tar, bitter almond, bitter wine, bittersweet chocolate, black amber, black cardamom, black cherry, black coconut, black copal, black currant, black incense, black lotus, black musk, black myrrh, black orchid, black oudh, black patchouli, black pine, black wine, blackberry, blackberry leaf, blackcurrant, blackened vanilla husk, blood apple, blood orange, blood-creme, blossoms, blue lilac, blue musk, bone, bourbon, bourbon vanilla, bourbon vetiver, BPAL, bread crumbs, brimstone, bubblegum, Burmese oudh, calla lily, candied apple, caramel, cardamom, carnation, carnaval diabolique, cassis, Cedar, cedar smoke, champaca, champaca attar, champaca flower, chaparral, cherry, chocolate, chocolate truffles, chrome, chrysanthemum, cinnamon, cinnamon leaf, cistus, clary sage, coapl, cocoa, cocoa absolute, coconut, coconut hull, coffee, coffee bean, cologne, copal, coral, corsage, cream, cream accord, creme, crushed candies, currant, Damascus rose, dark musk, dragon's blood, dragon's blood resin, dry bone, dry flowers, dust, embalming herbs, English ivy, fig, fir, fir needle, flickering blue musk, Florentine iris, flytraps, fougere, Frankincense, French gardenia, French vanilla, gardenia, ginger, ginger lily, golden musk, green sandalwood, green tea, guava, hay bale, heliotrope, hemlock, henbane, herbs, hibiscus, High John the Conqueror root, honey, honeyed leather, honeysuckle, hot metals, hyssop, ice-cold skin, Incense, Indian resins, Indonesian oil, Indonesian patchouli, iris, jasmine, jasmine sambac, Kashmiri tea, kelp, king mandarin, kush, labdanum, Lavender, Leather, lemon, lemon balm, lemon flower, lemon peel, lightening, lilac blossoms, lilies, lily, lily of the valley, Lime, lime fougere, limited edition, linden, linden blossom, lotus, lotus root, magnolia, mahogany, mallow, mallow root, mandarin, milk, mimosa, Mint, Moroccan jasmine, moss, mucilage, muguet, mushroom, Musk, myrrh, narcissus, nectarine, neroli, netmeg, nicotiana, night-blooming flowers, oakmoss, ocean spray, oleander, olibanum, olive, olive blossom, olive leaf, opium smoke, opium., opoponax, orange, orange blossom, orange blossom water, orange peel, orange pulp, orchid, orris, orris root, osmanthus, oud wood, ozone, Pale bergamot, pale white berries, palm, palm frond, palmarosa, paperwhites, papyrus, passion flower, pastries, patchouli, patchouli leaf, pear, pepper, Peru balsam, pine, pine bark, pine pitch, plum, plum blossom, plumeria, pomegranate, poppy, raspberry, red amber, red currant, red gardenia, red ginger, red musk, red patchouli, red pepper, red rose, red sandalwood, reeds, rice, rice milk, river reeds, rockrose, Rose, rose geranium, rose otto, rosewater, rosewood, rum, rust, saffron, Sage, salt, sambac, sandalwood, sarsaparilla, sawdust, sea moss, seaweed, sheer musk, Siamese benzoin, singed straw, skin musk, Snake Oil, snow, Spanish moss, spun sugar, star jasmine, Sudanese myrrh, sugar, sugar cane, Sugared coffee bean, sugared cream, sugared incense, sugared nuts, sugared violet, sweet oudh, tar, tarragon, tea, tea leaf, tea oudh, teak, teakwood, Tempranillo grape, ti leaf, tobacco, tobacco smoke, tobacco tar, tomb dust, Tonka, tonka bean, trees, tuberose, vanila flower, vanilla, vanilla bean, vanilla husk, vanilla mint, Verbena, vetiver, violet, violet water, wet tobacco, white amber, white carnation, white clove, white frankincense, white hemlock, white honey, white mint, white moss, white musk, white peach, white pear, white pepper, white sandalwood, white tea, wild plum, wine, wisteria, wood, wormwood, ylang ylang

Scent Name: Carnaval Rat

Manufacturer: Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab – Limited Edition

Scent Description and Notes: “Derived from the same pseudo-scientific process as last year’s LAB RAT blend, but constrained to the Lab’s Carnaval Diabolique collection. Each bottle contains a slosh of every Carnaval scent currently in stock. The result? An inhalation of the miasma hovering over the midway after a busy, near-endless night of debauchery.

In the interest of peer review, here are our internal notes from the blending process, tracking how the scent evolved as through the collection alphabetically.

A-C: “Chocolate truffles filled with blood-creme, rolled in sawdust.”

D-G. “Two… no, THREE corsaged puppeteers screwing in a hay bale.”

H-L. “Rusty barber’s shears sterilizing overnight in a jar full of rum and rosewater.”

M-P “This is eerily reminiscent of lightning striking a gondola full of off-duty showgirls.”

O-Z “Luminous, opalescent bat wings serving as the bellows for a lunatic calliope, whooshing gusts of wind through blossoms on dying trees, the bark sticky with blood that is, for some mysterious reason, flowing upward. The music! can you hear the music?”

[Sadly, we have been unable to elaborate on these findings as the intern in question abruptly left their post shortly thereafter.]

Eau de Carnaval Diabolique. The cumulative weight of dozens of scents — a cacophony of carnies, haunts, snakes, grindhouse dancers, and other attractions, all simultaneously clamoring for your attention.“ -https://blackphoenixalchemylab.com/shop/limited-edition/carnaval-rat-perfume-oil/

Note:  I tried my best to distill all the available Carnaval Diabolque notes into the scent note section.

Oil Color: A beautiful bay 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 as follows on the front:

Image from https://blackphoenixalchemylab.com/shop/limited-edition/carnaval-rat-perfume-oil/

• ITI: What a melange of notes! Thick, aggressive chocolate cherries, cocoa, black tea, hay, reeds, and brittle bone give way to honeyed hibiscus, cinnamon, atop swaying moss and wild herbs and a hint of fiery patchouli.
• Wet:  The most clear impressions are of red patchouli, chocolate cherries, vanilla mint swirled with bourbon musk and a sinuous trail of kush and cedar smoke.
• Dry: After 17 hours, the scent is still present, although now a subdued tinkling of lavender, lemon balm, cocoa, faint, faded white florals, the subtle tang of metal, and a smidgen of fougere.  I’m intrigued to see how this might shift on someone else, but I actually like.

Other Impressions: None

Day 1378 – BPAL’s Blood for Cat

Tags

almond, Amber, bitter almond, black cherry, BPAL, cherry, currant, dried mango, dried mango plup, golden amber, limited edition, mango, mango pulp, Musk, red currant, red musk, rooibos, rooibos tea, sweet red musk, tea, The Singularity, Tonka, tonka bean

Scent Name: Blood for Cat

Manufacturer: Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab – The Singularity

Scent Description and Notes: “Bad kitty: golden amber, black cherry, tonka bean, sweet red musk, dried mango pulp, rooibos tea, red currant, and bitter almond.” -https://blackphoenixalchemylab.com/shop/spring-collection/the-singularity/blood-for-cat-perfume-oil/

Oil Color: The color of crystallized honey.

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 as follows on the front:

Image from https://blackphoenixalchemylab.com/shop/spring-collection/the-singularity/blood-for-cat-perfume-oil/ Art by Drew Rausch.

• ITI:  Yeah, that’s a whole lot of almond and black cherry.  It reminds me of an Amaretto Sour mixed drink!  When I focus, it’s a bit sweeter thanks to the red musk, mango pulp, and rooibos tea, all of which push the black cherry into a maraschino to my nose.  It still reminds me of a really sweet Amaretto Sour.
• Wet: Maraschino cherries bathed in mango and red currant syrup, surrounded by red musk and fragrant rooibos tea with a whiff of almond that floats in and out of detection.  After 30 seconds, the tonka kicks in, adding some lovely depth to the nearly too sweet fruits.
• Dry:  An hour’s rest yields a much more pleasant scent, one that consists of sweet red musk swirling around a shining golden amber, sweetened with red currant and macerated black cherries set off in the distance.  There’s a huskiness to this scent too, which is I think from the mango pulp.

Other Impressions: None.

Day 1365 – BPAL’s All Head, All Spine, All Limb, All Loin

Tags

Amber, Ambergris, ambergris accord, black amber, black leather, black musk, BPAL, green musk, Incense, Indonesian oils, Leather, limited edition, Musk, oil, oily black musk, sandalwood, sandalwood incense, Serpent Spring, Snake Oil, sugar, sugared vanilla, vanilla, wild musk

It’s time to bid adieu to this year’s Lupercalia imps and delve into spring. I purchased nearly all of the scents in this collection since I tend to love anything with Snake Oil.  The only one I skipped had black oudh, which is…less than pleasant on me. Once I finish with these, I’ll move on to BPAL’s The Singularity collection.

Scent Name: All Head, All Spine, All Limb, All Loin

Manufacturer: Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab –  Serpent Spring

Scent Description and Notes: “Snake Oil and green musk, black leather, black amber, ambergris accord, sandalwood incense, and oily black musk.” -https://blackphoenixalchemylab.com/shop/spring-collection/serpent-spring/all-head-all-spine-all-limb-all-loin-perfume-oil/

Oil Color: Colorless 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 scent in a bolded spring greenish yellow block font just above the company name, which is in a smaller version of the a shadowed white version of the name’s font.  The label is as follows:

Image from https://blackphoenixalchemylab.com/shop/spring-collection/serpent-spring/all-head-all-spine-all-limb-all-loin-perfume-oil/

• ITB: Quickly shifting under my nose, I get something that reminds me of black leather giving way to Indonesian oils and sugared vanilla amber followed by green musk. It’s a whirlwind of complex, beautiful notes.
• Wet: Amber and ambergris smell together with that beautiful sugared vanilla note and the Indonesian oils. It’s Rich, warm, and almost buttery initially. Soon the musk’s move-in, enhancing the resins, followed by that black leather note suddenly slithering 4th to support and push forward the top notes before taking over as a dominant note. After 30 seconds, the Indonesian oils warm along with some of the mosque, but those are much less distinct than the leather, (now on par with) the sweeter top notes.
• Dry: This scent has amazing throw and longevity, lasting 12 hours and still having enough legs to peak others’ interest. Now that it’s dry, it’s a beautiful blend of leather rubbed with Indonesian oils, a hint of spice, and a sliver of warm amber musk.

Other Impressions: Both my mother and the ladies working at the gardens absolutely loved the scent, commenting that it smelled wonderful.  My mother tried it on her and she smelled equally fantastic.  Both she and I will be obtaining a bottle in near order.

Day 1357 – BPAL’s Humorous Copulation

Tags

Amber, amber cream, BPAL, cream, lemon, lemon peel, limited edition, lotus, lotus root, lupercalia, Lupercalia 2019, Lupercalia 2019: Shunga - Novel Ideas for Secret Amusements 2019, Novel Ideas for Secret Amusements, Novel Ideas for Secret Amusements 2019, Shunga, Shunga 2019, tea, white tea

Scent Name: Humorous Copulation

Manufacturer: Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab – Lupercalia 2019: Shunga – Novel Ideas for Secret Amusements 2019

Scent Description and Notes: “Amber cream, white tea, lemon peel, and lotus root.” -https://blackphoenixalchemylab.com/shop/winter-collection/lupercalia-2019/novel-ideas-for-secret-amusements-2019/humorous-copulation-perfume-oil/

Oil Color: Colorless.

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 shunga woodblock print of four individuals with humorously enlarged genitalia. One man is supporting a woman on his member like she flying.  One woman looks like she’s running away while the gentleman below her looks perplexed at his comically enlarged phallus.

• ITI:  That’s pleasant.  I’m getting white tea and lemon peel as the top notes, while the amber cream and lotus notes (lotus reads as bubblegum to me) blink in and out of detection.
• Wet: The sweet lotus is more discernible on my skin, rising up to meet the soft white tea and delicious lemon peel note. The amber cream adds gauziness from the scent, which keeps the other notes from being too bright or too abrasive. It reminds me of a subdued tea party, room flooded with sunshine in the early spring.
• Dry:  Warm, brilliant amber cream sweetened with sugared lotus root and a faintly floral lemon curd.  Lovely.

Other Impressions: “Freeze-dried raspberries, oranges…and pretzels?  There’s something shiny baked about it.” -Tony

Day 1354 – BPAL’s Elegant Vulvas

Tags

Amber, blossom, BPAL, cherry, cherry blossom, golden amber, honey, limited edition, lotus, lotus blossom, lupercalia, Lupercalia 2019, Lupercalia 2019: Shunga, Lupercalia 2019: Shunga - Novel Ideas for Secret Amusements 2019, mallow, mallow root, Novel Ideas for Secret Amusements, Shunga, Shunga 2019, teak, white teak, wildflower, wildflower honey

Scent Name: Elegant Vulvas

Manufacturer: Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab – Lupercalia 2019: Shunga – Novel Ideas for Secret Amusements 2019

Scent Description and Notes: “Golden amber and lotus blossom, cherry blossom and white teak, mallow root and wildflower honey.” -https://blackphoenixalchemylab.com/shop/winter-collection/lupercalia-2019/novel-ideas-for-secret-amusements-2019/elegant-vulvas-perfume-oil/

Oil Color: The color an apricot Jolly Rancher.

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 shunga woodblock print of two vulvas.

• ITI: It smells like vanilla mallow laced with amber, cherry blossoms. There’s a sliver of teak that vanishes when I try to pin it down and a thread of dustiness, too.
• Wet: Amber mallow and gobs of wildflower honey drizzled over light teak jump forth from the wrist.  The scent borders on cloying at this stage for me.
• Dry:  Now that’s nice.  Teak perfumed with amber infused with floral honey and the sublime, delicate beauty of cherry blossoms lingers just under underneath.  For something that was applied over 8 hours ago, this scent still has throw and is lovely and distinct.

Other Impressions: “I don’t really smell much.” -Tony

Day 1353 – BPAL’s Cock Cage

Tags

Amber, apple, apple oudh, apple-crushed oudh, apricot, blackened apricot, BPAL, gilded leather, gold, golden amber, Leather, limited edition, lupercalia, Lupercalia 2019, Lupercalia 2019: Shunga, Lupercalia 2019: Shunga - Novel Ideas for Secret Amusements 2019, Musk, neroli, Novel Ideas for Secret Amusements, Novel Ideas for Secret Amusements 2019, oudh, saffron, Shunga, Shunga 2019, sweet musk

Scent Name: Cock Cage

Manufacturer: Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab – Lupercalia 2019: Shunga – Novel Ideas for Secret Amusements 2019

Scent Description and Notes: “Golden amber, apple-crushed oudh, blackened apricot, sweet musk, saffron, neroli, and gilded leather.” -https://blackphoenixalchemylab.com/shop/winter-collection/lupercalia-2019/novel-ideas-for-secret-amusements-2019/cock-cage-perfume-oil/

Oil Color: The color of old marmalade.

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 shunga woodblock print of a kimono-swathed couple engaging in coitus, women arched back with the male using an aptly-names device on his phallus.

• ITI: At first, it smelled like cat pee for roughly half a second before a lovely apple-oudh and apricot amber note quickly makes me re-think my initial impression.  There’s an airy, colder quality to this scent, which might be from the gilded leather note, which is very subtle under the apple-oudh.
• Wet: Cold apple-crusted cat excrement atop saffron and gilded leather.  Dang.
• Dry:  Okay, that’s so much better now that it has dried.  The oudh is ashen and fragile under the strong neroli and amber musk.  There’s a sliver of apple underneath that makes this’s ever so slightly green. This is worth the dry-down!

Other Impressions: “Ugh!  It smells like nasty-a$$ cat turd rubbed with cheap, dollar-store perfume.  Did you put on more of that turd perfume [The Black Snowman]?  They need to stop using that note.  It’s terribad. That’s a tur-oudh.” -Tony

 

“Oh, god, Tony’s right! It smells like fresh, wet cat shit…and flowers.  It smells like Loki ate a lot of flowers and just diarrhea-d all over the place.” -Kelly

Day 1351 – BPAL’s The Great Brocade Addressee

Tags

Amber, amber incense, BPAL, cream, French lavender, honey, honeyed cream, Incense, Lavender, limited edition, lupercalia, Lupercalia 2019, Lupercalia 2019: Shunga, Lupercalia 2019: Shunga - Novel Ideas for Secret Amusements 2019, Novel Ideas for Secret Amusements, Novel Ideas for Secret Amusements 2019, orris, orris root, Shunga, Shunga 2019

Scent Name: The Great Brocade Addressee

Manufacturer: Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab – Lupercalia 2019: Shunga – Novel Ideas for Secret Amusements 2019

Scent Description and Notes: “Honeyed cream, immortelle, orris root, French lavender, and amber incense.” -https://blackphoenixalchemylab.com/shop/winter-collection/lupercalia-2019/novel-ideas-for-secret-amusements-2019/the-great-brocade-addressee-perfume-oil/

Oil Color: Lightly yellow 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 scent in bolded leaf green block font just above the company name, which is in a smaller version of the a shadowed white version of the name’s font.  The label is a shunga woodblock print of a woman looking at the image of a Noh theater actor and pleasuring herself.

• ITB: Surprisingly floral, the immortelle and orris root remind me of a refined, high-end soap with a lovely undertone of faintly sweet cream.
• Wet: Dang, the orris root goes slightly buggy on my skin at first, but the lavender swells to cover it within seconds, followed by the clarity of the fragrantly feminine immortelle.  There’s a hint of amber under it all if I really concentrate, but this is far more floral than foody on my skin.
• Dry: Light honeyed cream and immortelle dusted with a orris root and a hint of amber.  Feminine, sophisticated, and warm, this is a scent I’d reach for again.

Other Impressions: None.

Day 1347 – BPAL’s Low-Hanging Junk

Tags

almond, Amber, amber resin, bitter almond, bourbon, BPAL, fossilized amber resin, labdanum, limited edition, lupercalia, Lupercalia 2019, Lupercalia 2019: Teddy's Junk Tour, resin, Teddy's Junk Tour, tobacco, tobacco absolute, vanilla, vanilla bourbon

Scent Name: Low-Hanging Junk

Manufacturer: Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab – Lupercalia 2019: Teddy’s Junk Tour

Scent Description and Notes: “Vanilla bourbon, fossilized amber resin, bitter almond, labdanum, and tobacco absolute.” -https://blackphoenixalchemylab.com/shop/winter-collection/lupercalia-2019/teddys-junk-tour/low-hanging-junk-perfume-oil/

Oil Color: The color of apricot jam.

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 image is a statue of a burly man or satyr with his package handing on the vines below him.

 

• ITI: The bitter almond and vanilla bourbon combine to smell a bit like holiday marzipan to me. There’s a hint of something bright and sharp that streaks through the marzipan.
• Wet: Marzipan almond and vanilla, this time with a stronger splash of bourbon, are strongest on my skin. As the scent starts to settle, the beautiful golden amber resin and intoxicating tobacco swirl over the marzipan, replacing it as the dominant notes.
• Dry: Beautifully radiant amber resin swaths soft tobacco and vanilla bourbon and labdanum, now much fainter when compared to the amber.  As for the bitter almond, I have no idea where that went, but I’m pleased with the final dry-down.

Other Impressions: None.

Day 1345 – BPAL’s Pegasus Junk

Tags

Amber, BPAL, concrete, hinoki, hinoki wood, limited edition, lupercalia, Lupercalia 2019, Lupercalia 2019: Teddy's Junk Tour, Mysore sandalwood, orris, orris concrete, rice, rice absolute, sandalwood, tea, Teddy's Junk Tour, white tea, wood

Scent Name: Pegasus Junk

Manufacturer: Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab – Lupercalia 2019: Teddy’s Junk Tour

Scent Description and Notes: “White tea, Mysore sandalwood, orris concrete, rice absolute, hinoki wood, and amber.” -https://blackphoenixalchemylab.com/shop/winter-collection/lupercalia-2019/teddys-junk-tour/pegasus-junk-perfume-oil/

Oil Color: Colorless 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 scent in bolded white block font just above the company name, which is in a smaller version of the same font.  The label is as follows:

Image from https://blackphoenixalchemylab.com/shop/winter-collection/lupercalia-2019/teddys-junk-tour/pegasus-junk-perfume-oil/

• ITB: My first impression is that this smells like buttered popcorn and white tea.  Interesting.  On second sniff, I’m getting gently browned rice and white tea. There’s  a pleasant flutter of orris and sandalwood as well, adding a lovely round resin tone to the tea and rice notes. It’s both refreshing and comforting.
• Wet: White lemon tea and hinoki wood next to a bowl of warm brown rice with orris incense wafting in the background with a hint of concrete in the far background.
• Dry: The orris has bloomed considerably, and mingled with the sandalwood, hinoki wood, and gentle lemony tea reminds me of a tea house during the peak of spring.

Other Impressions:  None.

Day 1341 – BPAL’s Pericardium

Tags

Amber, amber resin, BPAL, clove, Frankincense, limited edition, lupercalia, Lupercalia 2019, Lupercalia 2019: The Hearthstone and the Heat, milk, resin, rice, rice milk, sandalwood, sheer vanilla, sweet clove, The Hearthstone and the Heat, vanilla, white sandalwood

Scent Name: Pericardium

Manufacturer: Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab – Lupercalia 2019: The Hearthstone and the Heat

Scent Description and Notes: “The membrane enclosing the heart: white sandalwood and rice milk shimmering with sheer vanilla, white amber resin, frankincense, and a drop of sweet clove.” -https://blackphoenixalchemylab.com/shop/winter-collection/lupercalia-2019/the-hearthstone-and-the-heat/pericardium-perfume-oil/

Oil Color: Colorless 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 scent in bolded coral pink block font shadowed in black just above the company name, which is in a smaller, pinker version of the same font.  The label art only differs in the name throughout this collection.

Image from https://blackphoenixalchemylab.com/shop/winter-collection/lupercalia-2019/the-hearthstone-and-the-heat/pericardium-perfume-oil/

• ITB:  Warmed, soft rice milk, billowing columns of  white sandalwood, and a gentle, wafting vanilla laced with sweet amber drift forth from the bottle.  I think I’m in love.  This could be a gauzy, sophisticated horchata distillation.
• Wet: Once applied, the frankincense makes its appearance and then quickly gives way to that beautifully warm rice milk and gossamer vanilla.  As it settles, the clove, amber, and sandalwood warm, swirling the top notes together in a beautiful assemblage of soft resins and nostalgic sweetness.
• Dry: Much of this scent vanishes within the hour, but what I am left after 6 hours is a very faint vanilla’d rice milk with a sliver of warmth added from the amber.  This scent would need reapplication throughout the day, though.

Other Impressions: None.