Day 1153 – BPAL’s Sappics

Tags

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

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

Manufacturer: Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab – Lupercalia 2018

Scent Description and Notes: ”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Oil Color:  A vibrant apricot color.

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

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

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

Other Impressions:  None.

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Day 340 – BPAL’s Thirteen (13): August 2010

Tags

13, balsam, bergamot, BPAL, champaca flower, chocolate, golden honey, herbs, honey, limited edition, paprika, pepper, pimento berry, pink pepper, thirteen, thirteen 2010, thirteen august 2010dark chocolate, tobacco, tobacco absolute, tolu balsam

Scent Name:  Thirteen (13): August 2010

Manufacturer:  Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab – Limited Edition

Scent Description and Notes: “A base of bitter dark chocolate with thirteen baneful and beneficial bits including pimento berry, pink pepper, tolu balsam, bergamot, golden honey, tobacco absolute, champaca flower, and paprika.“ – BPAL

Oil Color:  I’ve had this since it debuted, so some of the darker resinous participates have settled at the bottom, leaving a light yellow oil when not mixed.

Bottle Design and Artwork:  This is a standard vial / imp size (1/32 oz).  Decanted by ralenth, the label features the name of the scent and notes on the back.  The side has her decanting name.  The front displays the collection, the name of the scent, the date, the company acronym, all of which surround the number 13 in black and orange thick, shadowed numerals.

Scent:

• In the Imp (ITI):  Thick chocolate, honey, pimento berries, and wine.  It’s an odd combination – not exactly something that is soothing, foody, or something I cannot easily classify.
• Wet:  Bitter 85% dark chocolate, pimento berry, thick honey, something that reminds me of clove, and  some shark woodiness from the tolu balsam.  There is also something in here that has a wine note to it, but I’m not sure what it is.
• Dry: After a few hours, much of the scent had faded.  What has lingered is pretty: chocolate, pimento berry, tobacco, and honey.  I like this spades better when dried.

Other Impressions: “It smells like an almond croissant.” – Tony

Day 149 – BPAL’s The Harpy Celaeno

Tags

bergamot, black clove, BPAL, clove, horseradish, orange, orange flower, patchouli, the last unicorn, tolu balsam, vetiver

The imps from The Last Unicorn line are always a draw for me, both because of their notes and because of my positive association with the movie and novel from my childhood.

Scent Name:  The Harpy Celaeno

Manufacturer: Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab – The Last Unicorn

Scent Description and Notes: “The unicorn began to walk toward the harpy’s cage. Schmendrick the Magician, tiny and pale, kept opening and closing his mouth at her, and she knew what he was shrieking, though she could not hear him. “She will kill you, she will kill you! Run, you fool, while she’s still a prisoner! She will kill you if you set her free!” But the unicorn walked on, following the light of her horn, until she stood before Celaeno, the Dark One.

For an instant the icy wings hung silent in the air, like clouds, and the harpy’s old yellow eyes sank into the unicorn’s heart and drew her close. “I will kill you if you set me free,” the eyes said. “Set me free.”

The unicorn lowered her head until her horn touched the lock of the harpy’s cage. The door did not swing open, and the iron bars did not thaw into starlight. But the harpy lifted her wings, and the four sides of the cage fell slowly away and down, like the petals of some great flower waking at night. And out of the wreckage the harpy bloomed, terrible and free, screaming, her hair swinging like a sword. The moon withered and fled.

The unicorn heard herself cry out, not in terror but in wonder, “Oh, you are like me!” She reared joyously to meet the harpy’s stoop, and her horn leaped up into the wicked wind. The harpy struck once, missed, and swung away, her wings clanging and her breath warm and stinking. She burned overhead, and the unicorn saw herself reflected on the harpy’s bronze breast and felt the monster shining from her own body. So they circled one another like a double star, and under the shrunken sky there was nothing real but the two of them. The harpy laughed with delight, and her eyes turned the color of honey. The unicorn knew that she was going to strike again.

Clanging metal, smouldering hatred, and terror: vetiver, myrrh, patchouli, tolu balsam, black clove, bergamot, orange flower, and horseradish” -BPAL

Oil Color:  A dark honey 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 the the name of the company at the right-hand side of the label. The other side is a bit different since this is an imp specifically from a special collection.  It features the words in a grey color that read “Peter S. Beagle’s The Last Unicorn” at the very top.  Just below that in a warm mandarin orange field box is white text that features the name of the scent.  Along the outermost side, written down the side is the web address of BPAL.  The image is a beautifully rendered drawing of an off-centered harpy with wing outstretched.

Label art was created for us by Renae De Liz, the artist on IDW Publishing’s six-issue comic miniseries of The Last Unicorn. Renae worked on The Last Unicorn comic with her husband, colorist Ray Dillon.

Scent: 

• In the Imp (ITI):  Ooh, that’s horseradish right there.  It reminds me a little of the wasabi scent in Velvet Cthulhu, which is one of my all-time favorite scents.  There is also a lovely greenness underneath (from the vetiver I imagine) that makes me think of a jungle for some reason (or Lush’s Jungle)
• Wet: I get chills when I sniff this.  I think The Harpy Calaeno is the first scent since I started testing 149 days ago that has evoked a visceral, positive response such as this.  The spiciness of the horseradish and the wonderful combination of bergamot, vetiver,  and orange I guess make my nose extraordinarily happy.  I tested out the wet scent again, and yes, I’m still getting chills every time
• Dry: Yum!  Spicy horseradish, patchouli, balsam, and clove-infused orange.  After a couple hours, the horseradish calms down and I’m left with a wonderfully resiny scent of patchouli, clove, orange, and just a little vetiver.

Other Impressions: This is lovely and I’m contemplating purchasing a bottle.  

Day 56 – BPAL’s Il No Hayata Kills the Nue at the Imperial Palace

Tags

Amber, antiqued amber, balsam, bay, black pepper, BPAL, brown musk, holding back the night 2011, limited edition, Musk, pepper, tolu balsam, West Indian Bay

This is from Holding Back the Night 2011 collection, the scents from which I sought for their notes.  I’m excited to try this!

Scent Name: Il No Hayata Kills the Nue at the Imperial Palace

Manufacturer:  Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab – Holding Back the Night 2011

Scent Description and Notes: “Brown musk, antiqued amber, black pepper, tolu balsam, and West Indian Bay.” – BPAL

Oil Color: A light peachy color.

Bottle Design and Artwork:  This is a standard vial / imp size (1/32 oz).  This is an imp from ralenth, so it features a well-designed label with the original bottle artwork (below), the collection, and the name of the scent on the front.  Around the spine, one can find the decanter’s name.  On the back, the notes are listed as they appeared on the BPAL site.

Yoshitoshi image from BPAL site.

Scent:

• In the Imp (ITI):  What a lovely, woodsy scent.  I smell the tolu balsam infused with the astringent and clamming properties of bay.  There are hints of sweetness, either from the amber or the musk.  It’s lovely so far.
• Wet: The balsam is now warmed by the amber, and the astringent quality of the bay prevents the sweetness from becoming cloying.  There is just a hint of pepper in the background, but it’s a lovely scent that reminds me of the ryokan in Japan.
• Dry: Sweet amber-infused wood with a slight hint of bay when dry.  It’s a lovely warm wood scent.

Other Impressions: Hubby likes it wet, but dislikes it dry.  Ah, my nemesis is amber to his nose.  I still like it though.