BPAL Reviews IX
Well. I've spent all week rubbing and sniffing and rubbing and sniffing, and now have opinions on all the Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab Lupercalia Limited Editions.
Smut, Lab description: "SMUT -- What a great freakin’ word. BPAL LOVES SMUT! Three swarthy, smutty musks sweetened with sugar and woozy with dark booze notes."
You all can probably guess that I'm just rabid to try this one, which is why I'm going to try it first. Come on. SMUT. I do it, I look it, I talk it, I write it; it's about time I smelled like it.
I guess we'll find out if it's musk that gives me a headache.
It has that sweet, fuzzy, almost root-beery smell in the bottle. Musk, definitely. And it's almost . . . winey. Very, very sweet.
On, WHOA, that'll knock you back a step. The musk is strong enough on that it opened up my sinuses. The throw smells sweet, like vanilla Coke, but up close it's this wonderful thick, dark musk. It's much less sweet on than it was in the bottle, but it is still a little syrupy.
As it dries, I'm starting to smell something smoky, like whiskey. It's nice. Totally dry, it becomes a swirly mix of musk and booze that is nothing like you think. It's very sexual and sexy, smells like the morning after, when you haven't cleaned the sheets. Not a complicated scent, but a nice one.
This one lasts a long time and was quite stable on my skin. And no headache, either.
Red Lantern, Lab description: "A tribute to the opium den cum bawdyhouses of Shanghai in the 1930’s. Golden amber, blonde tobacco, Sudanese black coconut, rich caramel, black currant, white opium and delphinium laced with a sensual blend of Asian spice."
My! Caramel coconut! This smells lickable in the bottle. The longer I smell it, the more depth I detect - a little incense, some spice way down in there. I slap it on and oh, God, this is a smell I just want to loll around in. Sweet and golden and melting. I've learned; that first flash of a scent after it goes on, that's where I get made or broken, that's when love happens, when everything is still wet and volatile. Here, the opium is clear and bright in the background, along with something floral but wet. It's all drizzled with caramel, though. Enough so that this scent is primarily foody. I suspect that's my chemistry latching onto one note.
This ends up smelling very much like Miskatonic University did on me, only instead of fading, the caramel smell sticks around and sort of lazes in the background, while the opium and the tobacco and the spice play around on top of it, like dirty little fingertips.
It's a womanly smell, a warm, sated smell, like a nice fat wench who's just made you buy her dessert, and is now licking her lips and looking at you out of her slightly feline eyes like you're maybe next. In its own way, it's very me.
This is just scrumptious, and I'm feeling real pain at the sad thought that Sargon isn't going to get the subtlety of it.
Luperci: Lab description: "This scent is for the Luperci, the Chosen of Faunus, the Brothers of the Wolf: raw, down and dirty patchouli, Gurjam balsam, and essence of Sampson Root sweetened with the heightened sexuality of beeswax, virile juniper, oakmoss, ambrette seed over honey and East African musk."
This is thickly masculine in the bottle, a balsamic, juniper smell with just a hint of sweetness.
When I put it on, it unfolds into a landscape of scent. In the hills scattered with olive and scrubby juniper, with reaching cedars, the sap is rising. A few weeks from now, the meadows will be thick with bees. My clothing is saturated with the scent of candles and incense and musky perfume, now blown by the fresh wind. I can smell the spring coming; the smell of it settles over the land first, like a mood. The sun is high and white.
It's actually lighter than I expected, it's not nearly as powerful as it could have been. I was expecting something raunchy and virile; this is masculine and wild, outdoorsy, but just a little wary. Springtimey; the patchouli is the scent of the awakening earth, greened with juniper and oakmoss. I expected more sweetness from the beeswax and the honey, but it's not sweet so much as it is herbal and earthy.
It gentles a lot as it dries, becomes more golden musk and beeswax, a warm skin smell that just flirts around the edges of sexual. This is a much more refined scent than I was expecting, but like a wild animal lying by the hearth with the scent of the wild still in its fur, one should not mistake it for something wholly tame. It's warm, it's pleasant, and it's letting you pet it, but it could get up and leave, or bite the crap out of you, at any moment.
Sadly, then it goes all powdery, and that's always a dealbreaker for me. I wish I knew what was doing that.
I'm going to turn this one over to Sargon, as the opening phase of it is lovely.
Parlement of Foules, Lab description: "PARLEMENT of FOULES -- For the Valentine’s Day purists. Medieval romance and courtly love. White rose and soft resins."
This is a very soft rose scent, nothing else but roses in the bottle.
On, the blast of rose is immediately reined in by a cloud of crystalline resins - I think that's myrrh, but I can't be certain. Simply lovely. There's a sharp tang to this while it's wet that I rather like; it's almost briny. When it settles down, it's soft, romantic, and well-balanced between floral and incensey, with the roses pulling just slightly ahead. It's not an overpowering blend, and for a rose scent is fairly subtle. This rose is delicate, like a veil. It reminds me of curling up on embroidered cushions on the porch, watching the tree-shadows dance, and listening to the birds sing while my lover sits quietly nearby. Romantic, but not in a sexual way. Very fine and refined. I prefer my scents a bit dirtier, but this is beautiful.
Khajuraho, Lab description: "This is a blissful, euphoric blend based on an ancient Indian love potion: honey, date palm, tuberose, davana blossom, amber, white sandalwood, vanilla bean, Damask rose, and champaca flower."
Hmm. On one hand: honey, amber, sandalwood, vanilla. On the other: flowers. This could go either way on me, really. I brace myself for the worst.
In the bottle, this is sandalwood and flowers.
On, it becomes a floral medley in which no one note dominates. I don't smell the roses as roses. There's a flower here, though, that is so beautiful I can't even describe it. Either the champaca or the davana; whichever it is, it's just lovely. This is the scent of warm half-wild gardens with a breath of sweet incense. Radiant sunlight lances down through the foliage. The honey hasn't come out to rasp at me; it's usually a very forward note.
So far, I'm liking this one the best of all the Lupercalia blends. I don't know if it's my favorite, but this is maybe the most beautifully-constructed BPAL scent I've tried yet.
The vanilla mixes with the flowers and the amber to give this a white-gold warmth unlike anything I have ever smelled. It is truly heartbreakingly beautiful. Delicate and lyrical, perfect. I'd go on about it, but really, I'm beggared for words. A scent so beautiful it will haunt my dreams.
The Perfumed Garden, Lab description: "The Perfumed Garden for the Soul’s Recreation. This scent is based on a venerable Tunisian perfume that was used to excite the senses, inspire sensuality and inflame passion. Myrrh and Moroccan jasmine with apple peel, Indian sandalwood, myrtle, quince, citron, and thyme poured over soft musk."
In the bottle, light, sweet, and fruity with the scent of apples.
While it's wet, this smells a lot like my grandmother's perfume. I'm not saying that's a bad thing, I always liked the scent, I'm just amused at the resemblance.
This is a very crisp, wet scent, and very traditionally perfume-y without being unpleasant. I'm bad with florals, but I'm pretty sure that cool white flower note is the jasmine, together with sandalwood's sweetness and myrrh's faint warmth. The quince/apple peel comes out in a fruity roundness that fills the scent out without making it foody. The musk isn't detectable to my nose, but it never really is. I can smell its influence, though, as a sort of radiant, candle-like warmth smoothing all the other scents together.
This is an expert blend in which nothing really predominates, and for someone searching for a perfume that's very traditional yet not utterly repulsive or commercial, this would be an excellent choice. Sweet and cool.
It's floral, so it goes powdery on me, but without lavender or violet, it's not baby powder, it's just a perfumed talc sort of smell. On someone whose skin appreciated florals, this would be great.
Night's Pavilion, Lab description: "Not the desperation, desolation and anguish of unrequited love, but the distant, chill and pitiless scent of the object of that doomed desire. White musk, osmanthus, Nile lily and frankincense."
I have no idea what osmanthus is, so research is called for. It sounds like a flower, and I'm right. Osmanthus is the blossom of the tea olive, Osmanthus fragrans. The extract is very expensive, and prized in perfumery for its delicate fruity-floral scent, reminiscent of apricot. It is, as the name suggests, popularly used as a scent in oriental tea blends.
So, what does it actually smell like?
In the bottle, this is floral, pale, and light, all flowers and musk. Very pretty, a bit cold. The florals are juicy, crisp, and still a bit green, as if picked before their time. Something in this reminds me of a glossy-leaved flowering shrub that grew on the south side of the house where I grew up. We never knew what it was, but upon looking for pictures of Osmanthus plants, I believe that we have a winner. How interesting! Only here, the scent merges with the lilies and the musk so instead of being sweet and warm, it's cool and white, like a moonlit garden.
It dries fruity, musky, and pale, with the lilies breathing a cool white floral over all of it. A very restrained scent, intriguing but not arresting, lovely but not sexy. Indeed, cool and remote, just as the description says.
Like all flowers, it goes powdery, but until then it's nice. Not arresting, but serene and still. A background scent, like shadows outside the window.
These were all limited editions and are no longer listed on the main site, but plenty should still be available through ebay.
I just want to point out that neither Penance nor Diana have done icons for these, so all of those icons are of my own manufacture.
Smut, Lab description: "SMUT -- What a great freakin’ word. BPAL LOVES SMUT! Three swarthy, smutty musks sweetened with sugar and woozy with dark booze notes."
You all can probably guess that I'm just rabid to try this one, which is why I'm going to try it first. Come on. SMUT. I do it, I look it, I talk it, I write it; it's about time I smelled like it.
I guess we'll find out if it's musk that gives me a headache.
It has that sweet, fuzzy, almost root-beery smell in the bottle. Musk, definitely. And it's almost . . . winey. Very, very sweet.
On, WHOA, that'll knock you back a step. The musk is strong enough on that it opened up my sinuses. The throw smells sweet, like vanilla Coke, but up close it's this wonderful thick, dark musk. It's much less sweet on than it was in the bottle, but it is still a little syrupy.
As it dries, I'm starting to smell something smoky, like whiskey. It's nice. Totally dry, it becomes a swirly mix of musk and booze that is nothing like you think. It's very sexual and sexy, smells like the morning after, when you haven't cleaned the sheets. Not a complicated scent, but a nice one.
This one lasts a long time and was quite stable on my skin. And no headache, either.
Red Lantern, Lab description: "A tribute to the opium den cum bawdyhouses of Shanghai in the 1930’s. Golden amber, blonde tobacco, Sudanese black coconut, rich caramel, black currant, white opium and delphinium laced with a sensual blend of Asian spice."
My! Caramel coconut! This smells lickable in the bottle. The longer I smell it, the more depth I detect - a little incense, some spice way down in there. I slap it on and oh, God, this is a smell I just want to loll around in. Sweet and golden and melting. I've learned; that first flash of a scent after it goes on, that's where I get made or broken, that's when love happens, when everything is still wet and volatile. Here, the opium is clear and bright in the background, along with something floral but wet. It's all drizzled with caramel, though. Enough so that this scent is primarily foody. I suspect that's my chemistry latching onto one note.
This ends up smelling very much like Miskatonic University did on me, only instead of fading, the caramel smell sticks around and sort of lazes in the background, while the opium and the tobacco and the spice play around on top of it, like dirty little fingertips.
It's a womanly smell, a warm, sated smell, like a nice fat wench who's just made you buy her dessert, and is now licking her lips and looking at you out of her slightly feline eyes like you're maybe next. In its own way, it's very me.
This is just scrumptious, and I'm feeling real pain at the sad thought that Sargon isn't going to get the subtlety of it.
Luperci: Lab description: "This scent is for the Luperci, the Chosen of Faunus, the Brothers of the Wolf: raw, down and dirty patchouli, Gurjam balsam, and essence of Sampson Root sweetened with the heightened sexuality of beeswax, virile juniper, oakmoss, ambrette seed over honey and East African musk."
This is thickly masculine in the bottle, a balsamic, juniper smell with just a hint of sweetness.
When I put it on, it unfolds into a landscape of scent. In the hills scattered with olive and scrubby juniper, with reaching cedars, the sap is rising. A few weeks from now, the meadows will be thick with bees. My clothing is saturated with the scent of candles and incense and musky perfume, now blown by the fresh wind. I can smell the spring coming; the smell of it settles over the land first, like a mood. The sun is high and white.
It's actually lighter than I expected, it's not nearly as powerful as it could have been. I was expecting something raunchy and virile; this is masculine and wild, outdoorsy, but just a little wary. Springtimey; the patchouli is the scent of the awakening earth, greened with juniper and oakmoss. I expected more sweetness from the beeswax and the honey, but it's not sweet so much as it is herbal and earthy.
It gentles a lot as it dries, becomes more golden musk and beeswax, a warm skin smell that just flirts around the edges of sexual. This is a much more refined scent than I was expecting, but like a wild animal lying by the hearth with the scent of the wild still in its fur, one should not mistake it for something wholly tame. It's warm, it's pleasant, and it's letting you pet it, but it could get up and leave, or bite the crap out of you, at any moment.
Sadly, then it goes all powdery, and that's always a dealbreaker for me. I wish I knew what was doing that.
I'm going to turn this one over to Sargon, as the opening phase of it is lovely.
Parlement of Foules, Lab description: "PARLEMENT of FOULES -- For the Valentine’s Day purists. Medieval romance and courtly love. White rose and soft resins."
This is a very soft rose scent, nothing else but roses in the bottle.
On, the blast of rose is immediately reined in by a cloud of crystalline resins - I think that's myrrh, but I can't be certain. Simply lovely. There's a sharp tang to this while it's wet that I rather like; it's almost briny. When it settles down, it's soft, romantic, and well-balanced between floral and incensey, with the roses pulling just slightly ahead. It's not an overpowering blend, and for a rose scent is fairly subtle. This rose is delicate, like a veil. It reminds me of curling up on embroidered cushions on the porch, watching the tree-shadows dance, and listening to the birds sing while my lover sits quietly nearby. Romantic, but not in a sexual way. Very fine and refined. I prefer my scents a bit dirtier, but this is beautiful.
Khajuraho, Lab description: "This is a blissful, euphoric blend based on an ancient Indian love potion: honey, date palm, tuberose, davana blossom, amber, white sandalwood, vanilla bean, Damask rose, and champaca flower."
Hmm. On one hand: honey, amber, sandalwood, vanilla. On the other: flowers. This could go either way on me, really. I brace myself for the worst.
In the bottle, this is sandalwood and flowers.
On, it becomes a floral medley in which no one note dominates. I don't smell the roses as roses. There's a flower here, though, that is so beautiful I can't even describe it. Either the champaca or the davana; whichever it is, it's just lovely. This is the scent of warm half-wild gardens with a breath of sweet incense. Radiant sunlight lances down through the foliage. The honey hasn't come out to rasp at me; it's usually a very forward note.
So far, I'm liking this one the best of all the Lupercalia blends. I don't know if it's my favorite, but this is maybe the most beautifully-constructed BPAL scent I've tried yet.
The vanilla mixes with the flowers and the amber to give this a white-gold warmth unlike anything I have ever smelled. It is truly heartbreakingly beautiful. Delicate and lyrical, perfect. I'd go on about it, but really, I'm beggared for words. A scent so beautiful it will haunt my dreams.
The Perfumed Garden, Lab description: "The Perfumed Garden for the Soul’s Recreation. This scent is based on a venerable Tunisian perfume that was used to excite the senses, inspire sensuality and inflame passion. Myrrh and Moroccan jasmine with apple peel, Indian sandalwood, myrtle, quince, citron, and thyme poured over soft musk."
In the bottle, light, sweet, and fruity with the scent of apples.
While it's wet, this smells a lot like my grandmother's perfume. I'm not saying that's a bad thing, I always liked the scent, I'm just amused at the resemblance.
This is a very crisp, wet scent, and very traditionally perfume-y without being unpleasant. I'm bad with florals, but I'm pretty sure that cool white flower note is the jasmine, together with sandalwood's sweetness and myrrh's faint warmth. The quince/apple peel comes out in a fruity roundness that fills the scent out without making it foody. The musk isn't detectable to my nose, but it never really is. I can smell its influence, though, as a sort of radiant, candle-like warmth smoothing all the other scents together.
This is an expert blend in which nothing really predominates, and for someone searching for a perfume that's very traditional yet not utterly repulsive or commercial, this would be an excellent choice. Sweet and cool.
It's floral, so it goes powdery on me, but without lavender or violet, it's not baby powder, it's just a perfumed talc sort of smell. On someone whose skin appreciated florals, this would be great.
Night's Pavilion, Lab description: "Not the desperation, desolation and anguish of unrequited love, but the distant, chill and pitiless scent of the object of that doomed desire. White musk, osmanthus, Nile lily and frankincense."
I have no idea what osmanthus is, so research is called for. It sounds like a flower, and I'm right. Osmanthus is the blossom of the tea olive, Osmanthus fragrans. The extract is very expensive, and prized in perfumery for its delicate fruity-floral scent, reminiscent of apricot. It is, as the name suggests, popularly used as a scent in oriental tea blends.
So, what does it actually smell like?
In the bottle, this is floral, pale, and light, all flowers and musk. Very pretty, a bit cold. The florals are juicy, crisp, and still a bit green, as if picked before their time. Something in this reminds me of a glossy-leaved flowering shrub that grew on the south side of the house where I grew up. We never knew what it was, but upon looking for pictures of Osmanthus plants, I believe that we have a winner. How interesting! Only here, the scent merges with the lilies and the musk so instead of being sweet and warm, it's cool and white, like a moonlit garden.
It dries fruity, musky, and pale, with the lilies breathing a cool white floral over all of it. A very restrained scent, intriguing but not arresting, lovely but not sexy. Indeed, cool and remote, just as the description says.
Like all flowers, it goes powdery, but until then it's nice. Not arresting, but serene and still. A background scent, like shadows outside the window.
These were all limited editions and are no longer listed on the main site, but plenty should still be available through ebay.
I just want to point out that neither Penance nor Diana have done icons for these, so all of those icons are of my own manufacture.