Day 1410 – BPAL’s Infernal Creatures

Tags

black orchid, BPAL, brimstone, calla lily, Century Guild, Century Guild Kickstarter, Century Guild Kickstarter - Infernal Creatures, clove, clove husk, In Memoriam, Infernal Creatures, Infernal Creatures Kickstarter, Kickstarter, lily, Musk, opium smoke, opium., orchid, red musk, retail exclusive, smoke

Scent Name:  Infernal Creatures

Manufacturer:  Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab –  Retail Exclusive: Century Guild Kickstarter – Infernal Creatures

Scent Description and Notes: “A viscous splash of red musk, opium smoke, calla lilies, black orchids, clove husk, and brimstone.” -BPAL.org

Oil Color: A thin mandarin 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 very pale blue font that feels a little run together.  The name of the collection is just above that in more generous spacing, done up in a beautiful sky blue.  The image art is as follows:

Image from https://centuryguild.net/products/infernal-creatures-by-black-phoenix-alchemy-lab

Scent:

• ITB:  Opium smoke curls its tendrils around black orchid, which withers slightly under the sooty brimstone.  I’m trying to find the clove husk or the musk, and other than maybe an outline of the musk, but I’m not having much luck.
• Wet: Oh, that’s much stronger.  Red musk, brimstone, and clove burst forth in a cloud of opium smoke. The florals linger just under the flurry of infernal notes, like a smoke bomb before the appearance of a devastatingly handsome creature.
• Dry: I’m surprised at how quickly this settles down. While the clove husk, brimstone, and musk are still forward, it’s no longer an aggressive cloud, but a mellow low-lying fog atop which the opium and florals lazily waft. Feminine, beautiful, and infernal.

Other Impressions: “It’s a little powdery and flowery.  It’s a general nice, pleasant floweriness.” -Tony

Day 1401 – BPAL’s Smoke and Lace

Tags

BPAL, clove, dark delicacies, dried fruit, dried red fruit, green cognac, In Memoriam, Incense, lace, Leather, opium smoke, opium., plum, retail exclusive, riding crop, sugar, sugar-spun vanilla, sugar-spun vanilla lace, sweet dried red fruits, tobacco, vanilla, vanilla lace, white leather, white leather gloves, wild plum

Scent Name:  Smoke and Lace

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

Scent Description and Notes: “Brazen and beautiful, unconventional and daring. The scent of soft white leather gloves and the sharp crack of a riding crop mingled with tobacco, clove, incense, and opium smoke seeped into sugar-spun vanilla lace, all stained with green cognac, sweet dried red fruits, and wild plum.” -BPAL.org

Oil Color: A faint resinous yellow 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 peaches and cream 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 white version of the script just above the company name.  The image art is as follows:

Image from https://scentbase.com/scents/black-phoenix-alchemy-lab-bpal/smoke-and-lace/201902261955426760

Scent:

• ITB: When this first arrived, opium smoke and leather overpowered everything, so I wanted give it a chance to settle before I gave it another go. Nearly 4 months later, the white leather is still cracking smart and assertive here, followed by a tumbling of opium, cognac, and sharp riding crop leather, while hints of plum, lace, and perhaps dried fruit hide in the background, like animals in the forest during a gentlewoman’s hunt.
• Wet: I was expecting the same intensity of leather on my skin, but instead, I’m met with a surge of cognac and dry plum just before the white leather and riding crop leather notes bloom.  The opium smoke surges just after that, trailing that is something insect-like (perhaps dried fruit) , a dusky clove, and faint vanilla’d lace trim. This skews a bit more unisex to me than the other Laces.
• Dry: Ah, the leather has mellowed quit a bit, but it still is the dominant note (both white and whip) next to the opium smoke and gentle vanilla lave with the subtlest dash of clove far in the background.  Nice.

Other Impressions: This makes me think of Bat Cave days – seedy, dark dance clubs filled with leather, lace, spilled drinks, clove cigarettes, thudding Siouxsie or Sisters of Mercy, and thick eye liner. Tony thinks the dried version smells like baby powder and something else, kind of like brown sugar, that he cannot name. He likes the smell of it, but just isn’t sure what it is

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 1147 – BPAL’s Kubla Khan

Tags

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

Scent Name: Kubla Khan

Manufacturer: Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab –  Bewitching Brews

Scent Description and Notes: “

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

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

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

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

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

Oil Color: A very faint peach wine color.

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

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

Scent: 

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

Other Impressions: None.

Day 667 – BPAL’s Silas Ruthyn

Tags

BPAL, dark delicacies, dark delicacies great duets in horror, dark musk, Frankincense, great duets in horror, limited edition, Musk, opium smoke, opium., patchouli, retail exclusive, smoke, tar, Tonka, vetiver

Scent Name: Silas Ruthyn

Manufacturer: Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab –  Dark Delicacies: Great Duets In Horror: Retail Exclusive

Scent Description and Notes: “How marvelously lie our anxieties, in filmy layers, one over the other! Take away that which has lain on the upper surface for so long—the care of cares—the only one, as it seemed to you, between your soul and the radiance of Heaven—and straight you find a new stratum there.

Opium smoke, opium tar, mandarin, dark musk, patchouli, tonka, vetiver, and frankincense.“ -BPAL

Oil Color:  I cannot tell from the brown apothecary bottle.

Bottle Design and Artwork: This is a standard 5ml brown apothecary bottle. The label is primarily a creamy tanned yellow with the title of the scent in red block font set of nicely against it, framed by an ink drawing of a skull with horns and flowers above and  the collection name, company, and retail information underneath in much lighter font.

Image from flickr.com

Scent: 

• ITB: It smells clean, slightly cologne-y with lingering trails of opium smoke swirling around.
• Wet: It’s thick and smoky with opium tar and vetiver with earthy patchouli, musk, and a hint of tonka.  Oh, this is nice!
• Dry: After 16 hours, the scent is very faint a combination of frankincense, tonka, and musk.

Other Impressions: None.

Day 550 – BPAL’s Carnaval Diabolique

Tags

act i, apricot, apricot flower, black musk, BPAL, carnaval diabolique, carnaval diabolique: act i the prologue, coconut, discontinued, heliotrope, lemon, lemon flower, Musk, opium smoke, opium., the prologue, tuberose, vanilla

Scent Name: Carnaval Diabolique

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

Scent Description and Notes: “Straight from the twisted alleys of Dis, by way of the City of Angels: opium smoke, lemon flower, heliotrope, tuberose, black musk, vanilla, coconut, apricot flower.“ – BPAL.org

Oil Color: – (Cannot tell in brown apothecary bottles)

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 top and the name of the scent along and with the words “limited edition perfume oil blend” on the bottom in teal font against a tanned leather brown text box field.  The image is of a neon-lighted banner displaying the name of the carnaval and the  image of a burning phoenix above it.  All of that is set against a dark blue background with some sort of structure in a darker blue.

Image from gaiaonline and blackphoenixalchemylab.com

Scent:

• ITB:  It’s bright and clean – not what I was expecting.  I can pick up the lemon flower, the heliotrope, and the apricot flower.
• Wet: It’s really pretty, even on my skin.  Lemon and apricot flower, tuberose (faint), and bright heliotrope.  I get the impression of vanilla, but it isn’t strong at all.
• Dry: The opium and mus now surround the apricot, lemon, and heliotrope, softening and adding some complexity.  The lemon is still the most pronounced, but the vanilla gives everything a creamy tone, which is oddly relaxing.

Other Impressions:  None.

Day 285 – BPAL’s The Forest Reverie

Tags

bewitching brews, BPAL, forest, grape, grape vine, lilies, opium smoke, opium., Rose, smoke, wild rose

Scent Name: The Forest Reverie

Manufacturer:  Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab –Bewitching Brews

Scent Description and Notes: “ THE FOREST REVERIE
‘Tis said that when
The hands of men
Tamed this primeval wood,
And hoary trees with groans of woe,
Like warriors by an unknown foe,
Were in their strength subdued,
The virgin Earth Gave instant birth
To springs that ne’er did flow
That in the sun Did rivulets run,
And all around rare flowers did blow
The wild rose pale Perfumed the gale
And the queenly lily adown the dale
(Whom the sun and the dew
And the winds did woo),
With the gourd and the grape luxuriant grew.

So when in tears
The love of years
Is wasted like the snow,
And the fine fibrils of its life
By the rude wrong of instant strife
Are broken at a blow
Within the heart
Do springs upstart
Of which it doth now know,
And strange, sweet dreams,
Like silent streams
That from new fountains overflow,
With the earlier tide
Of rivers glide
Deep in the heart whose hope has died —
Quenching the fires its ashes hide, —
Its ashes, whence will spring and grow
Sweet flowers, ere long,
The rare and radiant flowers of song!

A sunlit ancient forest, dotted with wild roses, grape vine, and queenly lilies, clothed in swirls of opium smoke. ” – BPAL

Oil Color: A dark mahogany color.

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

Scent:

• In the Imp (ITI):  Dense pine and juniper are all I can get out of the scent in the imp.  As a fan of green, this bodes well for me.
• Wet: Thin, dense forest (pine and juniper still), with swirls of indulgent opium smoke set against the dimming sunlight.  If I concentrate, I can tease out the rose, but no lilies, which is fine by me.
• Dry: Delicious fresh opium smoke against a faint green backdrop of grape vines and a forest in the far distance.  Delightful!

Other Impressions: Tony claims it smells like a Christmas tree, although this was while the scent was still wet.