olympia301

 

This is a treat for the flesh. The cinnamon, and dragon's blood are perfectly blended, the orange is in there but wisely kept at such a low voltage that it becomes part of the beautiful full picture instead of grabbing center stage then vanishing. I love the cherry-eque/almondy bits that come in and out of it but it is the handling of the orange which you have to take your hat off to. This is a real good blend. I wish I could say it was vastly original but I don't get the shock of the new from Decadence but I certainly applaud its ability to state the fruit and cinnamon clearly and well.

 

Sad to say, this one doesn't stick around too long but it's great fun while it lasts. If you can get your hands on Decadence, put it on and just treat it as you would a great piece of candy.

(The anthelion is a spot on the parhelic circle (the white arc through the sun and running parallel to the horizon), where the Wegener arcs, the Hastings arcs and the Tricker arcs cross the parhelic circle and increase the brightness. It is a visible band of ice crystals which we don't notice until the sun hits it just right.)

As perfume, Anthelion is just gorgeous. I smell a strange assortment of things in it and they are all crazy good. I detect: clove, menthol (in the most attractive way), some sort of floral, some sort of candy. It's all wildly attractive and smells like the Lab took the best "defining" idea from each era of Great Perfumery and put them together in Anthelion. Just as scents go, it's the list of the academy award winners the most important one for each decade for the last 50 years.


As for what it's good for, that is equally ambitious. I can tell you I needed that just now. I got a nasty shock and was reverberating from it. Anthelion made the pain of living through it go away. So, I can say that I have tried it and it does work. It works in subtle ways like all good natural cures, you don't get a sock in the jaw and a thundering voice from the heavens, you get a gentle hand on your head and a kindly ineluctable giving of the heart. That's what I have found in Anthelion.

I give it a hearty recommend as either a thing of aesthetic beauty or a powerful part of the magic ritual. I may not practice but I do believe.

 

This one is a beautiful lily of the valley fragrance which starts off with a cherry note. Without the cherry I think it would just be another pretty floral, but that foody childlike start really adds the mental image which is needed here. I never would have thought that lily of the valley would combine nicely with a foody scent, but Beth proves me wrong here with Queen of Hearts. It is a delightful blend, yes I agree with those who say it is springtime, it is. Springtime, youngness, attractive and nubile, Queen of Hearts is unusual but harmonious. A real sweetie.

 

On the downside, it is a little bit old fashioned and someone else remarked, a scent that I would pinpoint as being in the department stores around 1960's and fashionable then. But that was eons ago, and I would say this sort of stephanotis and lily of the valley should return and be considered renewed. I would also say that if you are over age 25 (and that is stretching it a bit) this one would be considered juvenile for you. You don't need innocence to pull this one off, but you do need the proof of youth for it to be your scent. I would heartily recommend it for people under drinking age and as a great introduction to the world of perfume for a pre adolescent who is taking her first steps into the grown up world.

 

 

 

Though this is indeed a Mad Tea Party scent, I wanted to finish the four playing card queens I was doing with the icons. I think of this blend as being more of a playing card Queen of Hearts rather than a bellowing animalic looking Queen of Hearts from behind the looking glass.

 

This is a gorgeous scent and just full of orchid. It reminds me strongly of Regan which I love for its almost cloying sweetness. Beth dials floral sweet to the extreme and by all experience I should just detest this fragrance, but I love it! Perhaps this is the mark of a great perfumer, taking things to the limit of womanly endurance and having you say,"Oh, I could not stand one particle more of that which I love!" Like teetering on the brink of an orgasm, leeching as much pleasure out of the orchid as possible before utter saturation.

 

Queen Mab saves orchids from being too sweet, brings in rose as a backup and they blend flawlessly. Orchid just falls into the lap of rose, in other words they have something in common and that mutuality is exploited with the master's hand. Hard to tell where one stops and the other starts. I realize there is musk in here, but it is not allowed to intrude on the orchid/rose communion. Same goes for sandalwood, that is allowed to give a bit of bass to the blend and round out where orchid and rose lack depth. The other ingredients must be in there but their role is overshadowed by the other agents.

 

A remarkable thing, this Queen Mab. I highly recommend it as a classic BPAL which should be tried by anyone who believes them self an aficionada of Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab.

 

 

Strong fruit right out of the imp. Blood being mimicked by berry juice? That's a thought! Starts off something like Jailbait without the sharp resinous undertone. Very attractive, if you smell it closely while it is wet, not only does it have berried in the topnote, there is a perfumy background which is subtle but charming. Maybe I imagine a soapiness here and maybe I don't.

 

As pretty as she is, Lady MacBeth doesn't seem to stay for long. Either my nose goes numb very quickly or she is more fugitive than I would have suspected. I can't help but compare her to Bordello,and on that comparison I can smell violets in Bordello which are definitely not in Lady MacBeth.

 

My final opinion says that though Lady MacBeth is a beauty, a red royal blend with a very sweet and full red fruitiness to her, Bordello is the superior red-blend for me. Same family, different souls. Not different enough for me to own a bottle of each, so I will punt on Lady MacBeth and stick with Bordello for its undertone of violets and over-the-top playfulness.

 

Another great performance art piece by the Lab.For some reason the jasmine/floral part of the blend makes me think "ewwww! a caterpillar!" Crazy man, this blend really reminds me of green wormy things.It has that strange Mad Tea Party ingredient going in the background as well. It's a great blend, why I am squicky about it is beyond me but it certainly does cause me to think of caterpillars. It's a hoot.

 

Lavender is the first thing I get from Dee, there is a lot going on the background but I am having a hard time picking out what it all is. A very well blended brew, this scent is relentlessly masculine to my nose, a perfect man's scent. It is sophisticated, well read, polite and would be out of place on a lout. I can't pick up the English leather, or pick out the tonka either.

 

It reminds me of a classic scent from way back, whose name I never knew. It is an exceptionally well blended thing, I just think it's not womanly enough for my taste.

 

I wanted to love Bengal because everyone was squeeing so hard about it when it first came out. Sorry, no luck. It hits my skin and turns into styrene plastic. Boo hoo. After drydown it does have a tea-like almost floral component but that stays waaaay back in the background. The plastic is what forces me to fight through it to get to the good part. My loss is someone else's gain, though, and I am glad I got to try more than just a tiny dab's worth from an imp.

Severin. It isn't the strongest scent, but it's the lemonyest scent. It does fade fast, thanks to the miracle of citrus (which is fleeting). It lasts till the cows return to the outer shelters, my friend, if you put it in a scent locket however. Yes, Severin in a scent locket is a dream. Had it perking away for over 24 hrs every time I do that.

House of Night. Like Eros said, sad and beautiful. It's like a damaged childhood seen through the wistful eyes of a compassionate adult.

This is a blend which you either love to distraction or it's not you. I have seen people enthuse about Peitho over and over so I had to try it. I was expecting floralness in rounding bounty and it was surprisingly smoky in the wet stage! Could it be our goddess is sneaking a smoke behind yonders cumulus? Amidst the jasmine beds? That's sure what it smells like. I think it's pleasant and pretty, very feminine. She's a bit of a scamp, this one.

 

There is a lingering smoke in the halfway to dry stage, the jasmine comes out more (and it is very very nice jasmine, too), it starts to evolve a candy like background to it. This is becoming fun

 

Finally, it turns into a Grand Lady scent. Heh! Going from the sneaky schoolgirl to the grown up goddess? Yes, it does. The candy like aura is there in the background but it's very faint, and it has turned into a classy jasmine floral with just the hint of a curl of a smile about her lips. I can't say I recognize any myrtle here but it's in there 'cause Beth says so.

 

If you like good jasmine, and I do say it is the "good" variety, I think you will go for Peitho. At least give it a try. I don't blame the Peitho lovers for their fondness, it's worth it.

Sweet and sort of fruity, Lilith reminds me strongly of Wanda without the silly notes. This lady is all business. Fruity and has a scent I only usually find in Chinese food, and I don't know what it is....like the woody note in a good soy sauce. This is attractive and cherry like and wine like. It doesn't last forever though, I would say it has average staying power.

 

This is a good scent, but I think it is one of the older ones and really doesn't have the originality and risky beauty that some of Beth's later scents do. Perhaps it was bleeding edge when it came out, but I have smelled so many by now that I can't say it is memorable compared to some of Beth's Grand Fruit blends like Bordello. Nice as a taste of what these blends used to be like and I would certainly recommend it, but it didn't capture my nose, never mind my heart.

 

The icon is a black apple. Lilith was supposedly the first mate God created for Adam. She fought with him and left, then Eve was created. Lilith was the original, and since the apple is the stand in for all things regarding Eden...I thought a black apple would make the point.

Hmmmm, I don't have you on my spreadsheet for Seance but you know what I mean. This is a case of the blend itself varying widely, or certain notes coming out under certain circumstances, or aging, chemistry, or even mislabeling*. I would just like to know what is causing it. Actually I have found quite a few people who greatly prefer the woody over the rosy form of Seance, so any trades I made coming in or going out have had the net effect of increasing the happiness and satisfaction quota of all involved. However, I have received the extra bonus of curiosity for my actions! Being a Gemini, I can have no other course of action than to pursue it.

 

*Had this happen with Hamadryad and The Hesperides.

 

Very pretty pretty scent. Floral and a little bit old fashioned, like an unabashedly feminine woman a bit out of step with the "Modrens". I can't say that this scent is Hawai'i, at least the place I experienced but it is floral and beautiful. I think it's just itching to go into a scent locket because it won't last longer than a volcano's small explosion, such as *bang*; but I bet it is a great find for the scent locket because it remains true from wet through drydown.

This one certainly is aquatic and it is dark, dank and citrus on the fly. By that last idea, I mean that I would never ever had said "grapefruit' without the famous remark about the Grapefruit of Evil. It just didn't strike me that way. I reminds me of the CT2 I got and it isn't a bad thing, it's just not to my taste. I know that lots of BPAL-ers out there love it so I know it can be given a good home. I had wanted to try this one for a long time and thanks to the lab, I did!

Dang, the plot thickens.

I got an imp of Seance and it definately has a rosy flair to it. I loved it and got a couple more while waiting for my 5ml. I got a 5ml in a swap and when it arrived it was woody, not rosy. I thought that was real odd, and I got another 5ml from someone else. Same thing, woody not rosy. Finally my fresh-from-the-lab bottle came today and it is also woody not rosy.

 

All of the imps I have gotten are rosy. All of the 5ml I have gotten are woody. Has anyone else heard of mislabeled imps of Seance and who would be a good person to send an imp of Seance to to tell me what it is? I would love it if it were a blend which I have not tried, believe me I would buy a 10ml toot sweet if I only knew what it is.

 

Please know that this is only one suspicion I have as to why it's imps vs. bottles, but it's so logical. Could someone who is wise to these things point me in the right direction. Thanks.

An old fashioned kind of perfume with the roses that my mother used to wear. Very pretty, and don't get me wrong, it's a full and fruity floral. But this just has to do with my taste not the goodness of the blend. I have smelled similar perfumes in the past and Seraphim just reminds me too much of them. It's just not enough of the new to make me want to go out and buy a bottle of it.

 

However, it is charming.

 

The icon is a firework which reminded me of one of the seraphim.

 

 

Orange Kool-Aid. I do smell some subtlties, not the rasberry however, but some of the neroli, but this is orange through and through on me. I like it but I don't want to smell like it all the time. If you are an orange fan and you just can't get enough, grab a big bottle of this and bliss out.

Yes. E-mail them again. I have always had the best response from the Lab, and if you are not hearing from them, they probably had a good reason.

A great rose scent which reminded me of why I fell in love with Tamora. It is simple, rose and pomegranate and very juicy...just as Pluto must have seen his prey. Well, he got a bit of yum-yum and clean socks, Ceres got a feckless son-in-law who felt compelled to send her an expensive Xmas present every year, and Persephone...well maybe she got an unlimited credit card to take the sting out of 6 months in gloomy old Hell with boring old Pluto. I like to think that just about everyone was happy once they got used to the idea.

 

The icon is one of the most remarkable pieces of sculpture on earth, The Rape of Persephone by Bernini. Pluto's hands are digging into the soft womanly flesh of Persephone's thigh and waist.

 

I liked Jailbait but it was wayyy too strong for me. I wanted a fruity scent that was joyous and harmonious (which Jailbait is) and Bordello is it. At first it was too light and I thought "well, I love it but I can't quite smell it..." then it started to dry and warm up. Yesssssssss. Exactly what I wanted. It is plummy and winsome. Evil Hawai'ian Punch but it's not really Hawai'ian Punch. It's the BERRIES! Love it love it love it.

 

The icon is a photo done by a member of The Cincinnati Art Club. He was a real crazy old photographer whose name I forget other than "Bob". Bob really loved to photograph the ladies and got this one which I thought was the schnitz. I gave it a place of honor when I was running The Attic Gallery and Bob submitted this picture for the "Seven Deadly Sins" show we had. Bob died a couple of years ago, and that made me sad. I had an image of his work in my old low powered camera and I just made it into an icon which I think is far superior to the one I was using. But, it is a homage to Bob. Buddy, if you're watching....thanks for the picture. Hope all is going well with you and that you know you did manage to make me say "Wow!"

I was hoping for the creaminess of Milk Moon, the rum of Grog, and the spices of sweet Siam. I got something that in no way resembled egg nog on my skin. I didn't even get Play Doh! Dammit! It was fugitive, too. Oh how I envy those who thought it was the real thing.

 

I hope that I have better luck with whatever foody Yuletide blend that the Lab releases this year. Maybe it's my chemistry, maybe it's one of those blends that's like Beaujolais you have to use up within a couple of months. I wish I knew. Boo hoo.

 

Very dragon's blood to me. I wish I knew more about what this oil was supposed to do, I suspect to take control of your anger and use it for more useful things than simply being nasty. It is pink on my skin and it does have that linseed oil smell of Wolf's Heart, as well as a cinnamon in a small dose. It is much nicer than mere Dragon's Blood alone. I say it's scent is very sophisticated overall. Strictly as perfume, this is lovely, more like what very chic European artists would choose.

 

I really recommend London for all your rose needs. This is a classic rose scent with no break in period or getting used to it. Just smell and fall in love. Mmmmm. I like to mix it with deSade to bring out the classical combo of leather and roses, but it's excellent straight out of the bottle and as an amping mechanism it can't be beat. London has spoiled me for all other rose blends.

 

You might try 2,5, & 7 as well. Billions and billions of roses. Try snagging an imp on the swaps.

 

Dark vampire roses? Well, I haven't found that one to the tee, but I would recommend Whip, which is also roses and leather but the roses are totally different.

 

While you are at it, try Alice. Sweet and girlish with a hint of roses cream and tea, Alice is a true beauty.

 

Victorian scents, the one that really hit me as being the quintessential Victorian scent was Desdemona. Why? Just does. Made me think of The Memoirs of Frank Harris (classical literature at its pornographic best, m'dear). Buttttt the Victorians adored violets, and Beth has a parade of gorgeous violet scents to choose from.

 

Marie!!!!!!-Roses and violets! Try it, it is immensely beautiful.

 

May I heartily recommend the Mighty Search Engine for all of your requirements? The one on the Lab's website is awesome and so useful, I would have been utterly lost without it. Hunt for notes you are wanting, you will get a listing of them (don't forget to try the Advanced Search feature...it's the schnitz). You will get the listing and each name is a link to the reviews so that you can get a clearer picture if it's for you. Then use the Mighty Search Engine on this forum to find a swapper or seller who has an imp for you. This is the most efficient way of making up your mind.

 

---->Try bookmarking the page on the Lab's website and clicking on that shortcut to quickly look up any blends that are mentioned in passing and look them up real quick. That has saved me hours of unremunerated toil. Many many thanks to Quantum Spice for making the search engines happen.

 

Good luck, this is a fine obsession.