Day 1898 – BPAL’s The Candy Butcher

Tags

act i, Act I: Prologue, bittersweet chocolate, BPAL, carnaval diabolique, chocolate, cream, heave cream, Prologue

Scent Name:  The Candy Butcher

Manufacturer:  Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab – Carnaval Diabolique, Act I: Prologue

Scent Description and Notes: “An exquisite, enigmatic woman sidles up to you, bearing a tray of strange, dusty curios, chocolate creatures, serpentine taffy, and candied skulls. Her skin is dusky, her eyes are heavy-lidded and sensual, her hair is the fine, soft white of spun sugar, and her skin is softly scented with cocoa. She holds a shrunken head aloft, and beckons.

Bittersweet chocolate with a heavy cream undertone.” -https://blackphoenixalchemylab.com/shop/carnaval-diabolique/carnaval-diabolique-2015/candy-butcher/

Oil Color: The color of a golden peach tea.

Bottle Design and Artwork: This is a standard 1/32 ml imp that has been decanted from an original bottle.  The label only displays the name of the scent, the collection and company name along with the date (09/2015) on the front with the scent notes on the back. I don’t know who originally decanted it. The original label art is as follows below.

Image from https://blackphoenixalchemylab.com/shop/carnaval-diabolique/carnaval-diabolique-2015/candy-butcher/

Scent: 

• ITI: Oh wow, that is chocolate, but it reminds me more of Mexican mixing chocolate than the bittersweet chocolate one might cook with.   Perhaps it is the fragrant sugared cream note that I’m detecting that has the faintest boozy edge to it.  Honestly, I’m intrigued.  This is a whole lot of gourmand, but I’m eager to see what it does on my skin.
• Wet: It’s more of the dusty, deep mixing chocolate or cocoa with a perfumed undertone on my skin and less cream, although there is a faint sugared sweetness far in the background. This is surprisingly sophisticated and not at all cloying.
• Dry: Dark cocoa powder infused with fragrant incense, a touch of spice, and a creaminess that reminds me more of cocoa butter than heavy cream.  It’s reminiscent of BPAL’s Darjeeling Tea, Cocoa Dusk, & Incense, although this has a more perfumed quality to it.

Other Impressions: “It smells like fresh, fragrant chili pepper and caramel cocoa butter.” -Tony

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/

Scent:

• 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 1325 – BPAL’s Laudanum Bonbon

Tags

bittersweet chocolate, black poppy, Box of Bonbons, Box of Bonbons 2015, BPAL, chocolate, In Memoriam, lupercalia, Lupercalia 2015, Lupercalia 2015: Box of Bonbons 2015, myrrh, nutmeg, poppy, sassafras

Scent Name: Laudanum Bonbon

Manufacturer: Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab – Lupercalia 2015: Box of Bonbons 2015

Scent Description and Notes: “Nicely narcotic: bittersweet chocolate with nutmeg, sassafras, black poppy and myrrh.” -bpal.org

Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab’s Labdanum:  The essence of the most debauched hunger encapsulated into a perfume. Desire beyond love, anguish beyond sanity. Nutmeg, sassafras, black poppy and myrrh.

Oil Color: A brandy colored oil.

Bottle Design and Artwork: This is a standard 1/32 ml imp that has been decanted for me by moons_storm. Her label features the scent notes on the back.  The company acronym along with the scent’s name and the decanting information is on the front.  The image on the label consists of who cartoon hearts, but I no longer can find how the original label art appeared.

Image from http://www.blackphoenixalchemylab.com/shop/in-memoriam/laudanum-bonbon/?woocommerce_waitlist=41102&woocommerce_waitlist_nonce=86e22cc835

• ITI:  Bitter, 100% chocolate nibs rules the scent, propelled forward by an inkiness that might be from the poppy, heavily spiced with nutmeg, threaded with the distinctive tone of sassafras.  Interesting.
• Wet: Smoked sassafras drips with inky poppy, a hint of nutmeg, and bittersweet chocolate swirled just underneath.  The inkiness is so intense that it reminds me of black oudh and vetiver, even though I know those notes aren’t present.  I’m not sure how much the chocolate will warm on me, but this scent strikes me as a slightly feral take on sassafras rather than a bonbon.
• Dry:  Oh, I like this now that it’s had several hours to dry.  It’s sassafras and hints of chocolate muddled over myrrh with a dash of nutmeg.  Spicy, sweet but not cloying, and interesting!

Other Impressions: None.