zankoku_zen

I obviously missed the exfoliating bits description, so that came to me as a surprise. Yup, clean linen as a scent, good lather, seems to have a good wear length. Not drying at all. Mr. zee_zee approves.

Our sister shop, Black Phoenix Trading Post, opened its doors on February 13, 2005! On that shiny, fateful day, Teddy opened the shop with one single item: the BPAL-branded “Established 1350AD” shirt. Carnaval Noir, the precursor to Carnaval Diabolique, went live in 2005, along with the first 13. In 2005, we hosted our first Los Angeles Lunacy event, and Winter of 2005 brought us Black Phoenix Trading Post’s first Inquisition – Naughty or Nice. This is also the year that I did my first “love potions” class, which was basically a fireside kegger with essential oils. We vended at our first convention, Convergence 11: San Diego, and Brian and I drank a lot of gin at our booth. Like, a lot. Lesson learned: don’t drink a shitload of gin while vending. A spurt of 13’s omnipresent cocoa staining a Trading Post-inspired leather accord – reminiscent of tight black leather pants – and more than a splash of gin. GIN GIN GIN GIN. This is basically if I doused myself in a bottle of gin, and after about an hour, I get a pinch of cocoa and a touch of leather. The leather gains prominence as the gin dies. But on wet, its all GIN all the time. Which I sort of enjoyed. I do not enjoy black leather. Despite its repeated attempts to love me. Great throw and wear length.

TCC1 is a green aquatic, that at least on my dries to a plasticky vanilla rubber. Again, this probably has to do with the vanilla that is being used.

Sugared lemon and sour lime. Oh HALLO LEMON. This is all lemon and sugary lime. It's ultra lemony, and ultra limey. The closest equivalent being Lemon Scented Sticky Bat, but that has fur, and the lemon dissipates. In this one, lemon is here and in your face. NUCLEAR LEMON. Great throw on wet, but medium throw as it dries. Average wear length. Because citrus. But hey, if you like sugary lemons blends, give this a whirl.

Orange, vanilla, anise and fennel. This one is an interesting herby orange-vanilla mix. It keeps it from going into an orange creamsicle land, and definitely has both the anise and fennel being present and creating some bitter herbal counterpoints. Medium throw and wear length.

Dreamy blackberry lilacs. There's a springy ozone note to this that serves as a base, but ends up veering too much into air freshner for me. Great throw and wear length, of course.

Powdery vanilla lily. I get mainly a ton of powder, that is vanilla and lily scented. Great throw. Best. talcum. powder. ever.

Sea salt, seawater, peony and a whiff of blueberry, I swear. This is a like a blueberry went to swim in the sea, I swear. Good throw, good wear length.

Orange blossom, honey, plum and amber. Honestly, I get a very sweet orange/mandarin note from this, and then whiffs of plum, amber and maybe a dollop of musk. It has a slight orange creamsicle-ness on me without actually being foodie. Medium throw and wear length.

Orange blossom over some woodsy ashy background. This is mainly orange blossom, and as it dries, you get a whiff of ash on the background. Medium throw and wear length.

Hay, GRASS, and a swirl of vanilla tonka. This is mainly a grassy blend. If you like grass, give this a whirl. Medium throw, good wear length.

Coconut, patchouli, amber, and whiffs of khus and blackcurrant. This is mainly a coconut-patch-amber blend on me. It's sort of deep, brown, coconutty goodness. Good throw and wear length.

Son of Gaia, slain by Hephastus with red-hot iron, incinerated by Zeus lightning bolts. Not a lucky fellow at all. A thunderclap of ozone and red peppercorn slicing through sweet vetiver, black patchouli, and opoponax. Mimas had a very strong grassy note to it - I think it was the ozone combined with the opoponax. It stays in that grassy cool place for a while, but the ultimate drydown is much warmer. I get the vetiver with hints of patchouli coming through, and its like lava erupting underneath a sheet of ice. Oddly enough, this ends up as a gender neutral/masculine blend on me, and I can see it being killer on the right guy. You know, someone who is outwardly cool, but a raging volcano underneath. Medium throw and wear length.

Minty lavender with whiffs of something powdery and almost like a violet note to it. It's a very cool, breezy lavender. Medium throw and wear length.

Cacao and vetiver. Okay, so this one is a super dark sludgy chocolate oil. I get a smoky cacao. This is the pure, bitter, cacao. You know, the stuff without the additional sugar, not an ounce of milk. It's like 99% cacao bitters. If you like your chocolate bitter, give this a whirl.

"What the hell is that?" asked Shadow, but Wednesday touched his finger to his lips, shook his head sharply. Silence. It looked like a mechanical spider, blue metal, glittering LED lights, and it was the size of a tractor. It squatted at the bottom of the hill. Beyond it were an assortment of bones, each with a flame beside it little bigger than a candle-flame, flickering. Dark metal and sour grapefruit creeping over a field of bones. Greasy metal, tinge of bruised grapefuit, and something that smells like it should be a bone shard. This one is dark, electrical, and yet kinda oozy. It's a gender neutral, with heavy chemical undertones. Not my type of blend at all.

Streaks of blue-white lightning slashing through a plum wine sky. Lemony incense smoke with a touch of ozone. This one was much more citrus and ozone than I expected. Medium throw and wear length.

[No additional description provided.] So again, on wet, the pumpkin reigns supreme and I can smell a whiff of light chypre. As it dries, the pumpkin recedes to the background, and you get this light perfumey citrus chypre. It's very gender neutral, and honestly makes me think of sunlight through fall leaves. Bright, autumnal, cheery. Very atmospheric. This is for when every day is Halloween. Even if you have to go to work, in an office. Oh, and it's summer. Medium throw and wear length.

[No additional description provided.] On wet, you get a buttery pumpkin smell with something lurking underneath. As it dries, the burnt smoky weediness comes through and OMG this smells like if you were smoking pot, someone knocks on the door and you desperately grab the nearest air frangrancer which happens to be a generic autumn potpourri that somehow JoAnn Fabric seems to pump out into its store as aggressively as whatever the hell kind of fragrance Abercombie and Fitch pumps out into the mall. Or, alternatively, this is someone smoking pot in a JoAnn Fabric. Great throw, btw.

[No additional description provided.] On wet, I get mainly a spicy pumpkin with a hint of moss. But as it dries, the pumpkin recedes, and you get a tidal wave of oakmoss. It's like a watery mossy with spicy pumpkin notes. It's like a pumpkin patch by a bog. In Arkham. Halloween at the beach? The Great Pumpkin goes surfing? More throw than the rice pudding. More of perfume, thanks to the oakmoss.

From Facebook: Witchs Tea Party is a lilac-dappled earthy green tea This one is one of the more interesting Lilith creations. I get whiffs of lilac and green tea, but there is a citrusy floral in this, and overall it actually reminds me to a perfume in my youth. It's got that blooming floral citrus freshness with a bit of muskiness in the drydown. I can't put my finger on which commercial perfume this reminds me to but I'll edit the review once my brain pings me. Needless to say, because of that scent association, it makes me think of a young teenage girl. This is like the scent of middle school. Great throw and wear length.

Oak, roses, and a whiff of leather and beeswax. Smells like a Victorian spiritualist house - ton of wood, roses, and a whiff of other things happening. Very atmospheric for a nice haunted parlour.

Dried pink rose petals, and a whiff of cream. This is a very pink roses blend, but dried roses. Very rosy. ROSES.

You hear a tittering of laughter: high-pitched and discordant, like bent, cracked silver bells clattering onto sheets of rusted metal. In the gloom of a dilapidated tent, the glow of small red eyes reflects on shining steel blades. Dust and dead, dry flowers, ice-cold skin, the swish of a metal blade, and a memory of honey. On wet, this smells like clean kids shampoo and then dries down to metal, a light floral musk, and a touch of medicinal honey. The Urchins smell like proper Victorian children. You know the type, the kind that enunciate correctly, and then make the governess break down in tears and attempt to end her life through overdosing in laudanum because her charges are horrible. But not in the acting out way, but in the way that someone with great elocution is able to question your qualifications and make you doubt yourself into a crisis. While telling you that the appropriate temperature for tea is piping hot, and nothing less than that for their exacting presence. Good throw and wear length.

By now it was about midday and a darkness fell over the whole land, which lasted until three in the afternoon; the suns light failed. And the curtain of the temple was torn in two. Then Jesus gave a loud cry and said, Father, into thy hands I commit my spirit; and with these words he died. Radiant golden amber suffused with holy incense smoke compounded from acacia, myrrh, cassia, balsam, frankincense, cinnamon, onycha accord, and galbanum. Cassia, cinnamon, galbanum, and amber and smoke. This one is a very spice-cassia heavy blend with amber and smoke. It's golden, and burning, and both a blinding shining sort of blend, and a dark smothering sort. I think its the heaviness of the spices that leads to an almost occlusive quality. Great throw and wear length.