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An ethereal vintage, steeped with dandelion, honey, and red currants. Honeyed wine with juicy red currants. This is honey, white wine, and red currants. It's light, sophisticated, and great for the summer. BRING ON THE SANGRIA.
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Photographs, videos… they don’t do justice to the love that I feel for my girl. The quiet of this moment was special. We weren’t speaking; it was just a dad and his daughter together, enjoying the fleeting time of youth, and all was right in the world. I hope she remembers these special times when she looks back on her childhood. I know that I will never forget them. Dorian, Lilith’s lavender, snowdrops, and soft vanilla. This post is merely a placeholder for future reviews. Whoever is first to review, please report this post using the report button below, so a mod can merge it with yours. Thanks!
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Photographs, videos… they don’t do justice to the love that I feel for my girl. The quiet of this moment was special. We weren’t speaking; it was just a dad and his daughter together, enjoying the fleeting time of youth, and all was right in the world. I hope she remembers these special times when she looks back on her childhood. I know that I will never forget them. Dorian, Lilith’s lavender, snowdrops, and soft vanilla. This post is merely a placeholder for future reviews. Whoever is first to review, please report this post using the report button below, so a mod can merge it with yours. Thanks!
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Photographs, videos… they don’t do justice to the love that I feel for my girl. The quiet of this moment was special. We weren’t speaking; it was just a dad and his daughter together, enjoying the fleeting time of youth, and all was right in the world. I hope she remembers these special times when she looks back on her childhood. I know that I will never forget them. Dorian, Lilith’s lavender, snowdrops, and soft vanilla. This post is merely a placeholder for future reviews. Whoever is first to review, please report this post using the report button below, so a mod can merge it with yours. Thanks!
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Daisy, pink carnation, pink pepper, and sugar. In the bottle, the daisy note is the most prominent note, followed by the pink carnation. After applying this to my wet hair, sniffing my hair is like stuffing my face in a bouquet full of daisies. As it sits in my hair, the sugar starts to come out, as well as the pink carnation and pink pepper, but I get more of these notes in the perfume oil than I do from the hair gloss. It is not as sweet as the perfume oil is on my skin, but you can tell these daisies are sugared. The boy said my hair smelled good, so I am not the only one who is a fan! Some of the reviews for the perfume oil compare High-Strung Daisies to bubblegum. I can see how the combination of the pink pepper, pink carnation, and sugar might combine and give off that vibe on some people, although it’s not like that on me (if it were, it wouldn’t be a favorite sugared floral of mine, since I’m not fond of bubblegum scents). But unless you’re using this as a body spray instead of applying it to the hair, you don’t have to fear that with the hair gloss, which is not as sweet in my hair as it is on my skin. I let my hair air dry, and once it was dry, I got whiffs of the scent on occasion. Applied to dry hair, the scent is far more noticeable. It’s like floral cotton candy. It’s pink, but again, not bubblegum to me. I can still smell it after a full day of wear, but it is not one of the stronger hair glosses. I have been wanting this to be a thing for years, and now that it is, I am able to immerse myself in a cloud of High-Strung Daisies! It also pairs really well with Jiggery Pokery. I am so glad that I bought two bottles! Puddin’, thank you so much for making my dream come true.
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An ethereal vintage, steeped with dandelion, honey, and red currants. I do not use bath oils for their intended purpose, so this review is for the bath oil being tested on my skin. In the bottle, this is all about the wine and currants, although I can smell some honey and dandelion as well. On my skin, the wine and tart red currants are the most prominent notes. I can smell some dandelion in the background, but it isnt nearly as strong as those two notes. After a few minutes, the honey note emerges and becomes strong rather quickly, and I also get more dandelion along with it. Im getting more dandelion from this than I did from the perfume oil, but since I tested that at a convention, where my arms were covered with as many scents as possible, perhaps I just wasnt able to focus on it enough. After a while, the wine and currants remain as the most prominent notes, followed by the honey, and then some dandelion (and theres a lot more dandelion than before). I got more honey when I tried the perfume oil at Drag Con than I do from the bath oil version. The scent has been going strong for hours. This is far fruitier than I normally go for, but I wanted to get this in at least one form, and Im happy to have it as a bath oil. Id pair this with something with a wine or currant note (I could actually see this going well with Eat Me because the currant note is so strong on me).
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Daisy, pink carnation, pink pepper, and sugar. I use bath oils as after-shower moisturizers, and thus, this review is not for the oils intended purpose. In the bottle, it smells just like the perfume oil to me! On my skin, the daisy is the most prominent note, with the sugar right behind it, so it smells like sugared daisies! After a few minutes, the pink carnation and pink pepper notes emerge. As it sits on my skin, the scent becomes sweeter, while refraining from going into bubblegum territory (although I could see how the sugar, pink pepper, and carnation might give off that vibe on some skin chemistries). After several hours of wear, I can still smell it, but it stays close to the skin (and is not as strong as the perfume oil). I am so happy to be able to slather myself in High-Strung Daisies ALL THE THINGS, and if bath oils didnt turn with age, Id get another bottle! If you are a fan of sugary florals, do not let this one pass you by!
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One Big-Ass Lunacy Release: The Empress, Saturn, and More!
Failmingo posted a topic in Announcements
How much glory can you stand? We're testing to find out today with a flurry of releases: this month's Lunacy scent, our #BPAL7wordstorywinner, a fundraiser for a local roller derby squad, and at the heart of it all, twelve scents inspired by The Empress (AKA, the heart of it all). Here she is without further ado, squishy cushions and all: https://blackphoenixalchemylab.com/product-category/limited-edition/the-fools-journey/the-empress/ And here's that Lunacy blend, KARI, visiting all the way from Saturn's orbit: "White pear, dandelion sap, and champaca blossom, chilled by a gust of white musk." https://blackphoenixalchemylab.com/shop/limited-edition/a-little-lunacy-limited-edition/kari/ Amidst all the world's strife, let's not forget to support the kids in our communities who are training to take on ever-greater challenges. BPAL is proud to support our local Angel City Junior Derby 2018 A-Listers with the proceeds from this blend, LIKE A GIRL: "A sleek skin musk with Mysore sandalwood, bourbon vanilla, frankincense resin, and a touch of costus." https://blackphoenixalchemylab.com/shop/collaborations/like-a-girl/ Our story contest concluded recently with this winning GREED-themed entry: "Killed the last rhino for its horn." The resulting scent is a solemn blend of ambergris accord, orris root, and carrot seed.(Congrats again, Melanie C! Keep your eyes peeled for a complimentary bottle in the post.) blackphoenixalchemylab.com/shop/limited-edition/seven-word-story-greed/ Empress willing, may everyone enjoy a little peace this weekend. -
2018's Blue Moon continues to imbue us with hope, awe, and fantasies of vanilla blueberry bubble gum. Beth, Brian, and Lilith's tribute scents are live, plus another installment in our Moons of Saturn series. Enjoy, fellow lunatics! BLUE MOON 2018 The spirit of the full moon is capricious, intense and passionate, yet still distant, aloof and cold. Luna herself governs glamours, bewitchments and dream-work, innocent wonder, transient pleasure and delight, the Moment, impulse, mystery and veils. The Blue Moon is one of her rarest manifestations, and this scent is formulated to encapsulate her most complex and profound nature: Mugwort and bay, for psychic sensitivity… Juniper, for divination through dreams… Orchid and galbanum, for complexity, wisdom and noscere… … with a potent lunar-charged blend of exquisite Asian woods, moonflower, Madagascan ylang ylang, Florentine iris, wild juniper, starry bergamot, elemi, green tea absolute, palmarosa, cucumber, Clary sage, lettuce leaf, melilot trefoils, wood aloes, and pale creeping buttercup BLAUER MOND 2018 Brian’s interpretation. A whisper under the moonlight: blue musk, and indigo amber, myrrh, moonlit oudh, opopnax, terebinth, and tobacco leaf. BLUE UNICORN MOON Lilith’s interpretation. From the Littlest Perfumer: “It’s a happy moon. It is beautiful, shiny and it makes me think of magical blueberries. It makes wishes come true, and puts a smile on your face.” Vanilla blueberry bubblegum. And on't forget our monthly tribute to the Moons of Saturn! Here's the latest: BERGELMIR Winters unmeasured | ere earth was made Was the birth of Bergelmir; Thruthgelmir’s son | was the giant strong, And Aurgelmir’s grandson of old. The father of a new era of Frost Giants, survivor of the deluge of blood that erupted from Ymir’s mutilations. Winters unmeasured: blue spruce blanketed in sleet, cypress smoke, yew berry, and frozen, brittle stems of lavender.
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Hi everyone! L.A. BOO-nacy was ridiculously fun, which those of you who came already know because you're still basking in the glow. Our BPAL photographer Jason Thompson got a lot of great shots, which are now up on Facebook. Find yourself. Find your friends. Find another reason to come to hang out with us. See you next time.
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Hi everyone! Forgive us please for the late notice. We were all at Comic Con, you see. But now we're wrapping our minds around what's next. And what's next is BOO-nacy! Is your Halloween costume so close to complete that you can smell it ... but not quite there? Could that sweet scent of perfection await you at one of these events? Among the Weenies? Come find out or just have fun fooling around with us in anticipation of our all-time favorite holiday. Here are the details. We hope to see you at one or all of this BOO-nacy. L.A. BOO-nacy: Friday, October 20, from 6 to 9 pm BPAL Lab 12120 Sherman Way, North Hollywood, California 91605 Special guests include Drew Rausch. You know him from much of our label art. Photographer Jason Thompson will be on hand to take your portrait. And we have a few surprises up our sleeves … DIRTY SOUTH BOO-nacy: Sunday, October 22, from 5 to 7:30 p,m., Microtel Inn & Suites 6280 Peachtree-Dunwoody Rd, Atlanta, Georgia 30328 VERMONT BOO-nacy: Sunday, October 29, from 1 to 4 p.m. Bennington Potters North 127 College St, Burlington, Vermont 05401
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This Month's Lunacy Scents—and Lucky THIRTEEN—Are Here!
BPALNewsWire posted a topic in Announcements
Hello One and All! It's LUNACY, featuring BEAVER MOON. It'll gnaw-ck your socks off. Our Single Note for the month is BLACK POMEGRANATE. And here's a bonus ... tomorrow is another Friday the 13th, so batten down the hatches and position your bottle of THIRTEEN judiciously between both nostrils. They're online, of course. Or come to our October BOO-nacy event at the lab and smell them in person. That's on Friday, October 20. We hope to smell you there. Thanks! -
Friends! If you felt left out of our summer travel plans (SDCC and Midsummer Scream were outstanding!) then perhaps the following will make it up to you: a cluster of small scent collections serving as a veritable sampler platter of the best 2017 has to offer. Firstly, the path of this month’s solar eclipse has inspired a Limited Edition series of thirteen scents, in addition to our usual Lunacy fare -- Harvest Moon 2017 to set you soaring into September, and Single Note: Honeysuckle to make sure you turn every head along the way. We’re also rolling out the long-awaited next installment of Neil Gaiman’s 15 Painted Cards From a Vampire Tarot, bringing the number of scents in this collection up to 7. These bottles, accompanied by an actual tarot card drawn by Madame Talbot, will raise funds for the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund. Last but far from least, the latest winner of our #BPAL7WordStory contest (ENVY Edition) has finally been announced… and you’re gonna want to sniff those words. In all, that’s a gallery of 19 new creations to wander through as the world outside swelters and the sun itself threatens to go out. On Monday, 21 August 2017, all of North America will experience an eclipse of the sun, with a total eclipse stretching from Oregon to South Carolina. During this event, the moon will completely cover the sun, and the sun’s corona will extend its golden tendrils from behind a shadowed veil. Solar eclipses have been held responsible for the fall of empires, the onset of wars, the birth and death of great people, and the onset of terrible plagues and natural disasters. Is this rare and awe-inspiring event an omen? Grab your nearest soothsayer or augur; it’s big business for seers this year! This series is a paean to this once in a lifetime event: an amber-gilded sampling of the poetry, prose, notable persons, mythology, and historical accounts surrounding solar eclipses. ++ SONGS OF MIDDAY DARKNESS ALL RUINOUS DISORDERS These late eclipses in the sun and moon portend no good to us. Though the wisdom of nature can reason it thus and thus, yet nature finds itself scourged by the sequent effects. Love cools, friendship falls off, brothers divide, in cities mutinies, in countries discord, in palaces treason, and the bond cracked ’twixt son and father. This villain of mine comes under the prediction—there’s son against father. The king falls from bias of nature—there’s father against child. We have seen the best of our time. Machinations, hollowness, treachery, and all ruinous disorders follow us disquietly to our graves. Find out this villain, Edmund. It shall lose thee nothing. Do it carefully.—And the noble and true-hearted Kent banished, his offense honesty! 'Tis strange, strange. - William Shakespeare, King Lear Amber, bergamot, and honeyed saffron blackened by smoked oudh, patchouli, ti leaf, scorched thistle, leather, and yew. DISASTROUS TWILIGHT As when the Sun, new risen, Looks through the horizontal misty air, Shorn of his beams, or from behind the Moon, In dim eclipse, disastrous twilight sheds On half the nations and with fear of change Perplexes monarchs. - John Milton, Paradise Lost Star-touched blue amber, gurjum balsam, pale orris, Somalian myrrh, benzoin, red sandalwood, and ylang ylang. ECLIPSES BE Eclipses be – predicted – And Science bows them in – But do one face us suddenly – Jehovah’s watch – is wrong. - Emily Dickinson Rose amber, carnation, and clove. THE SUN HAS PERISHED …and the Sun has perished out of heaven, and an evil mist hovers over all. - Homer, the Odyssey An evil mist hovers over all: Tunisian amber, wilted asphodel, myrrh, and smoke. ++ HISTORICAL ACCOUNTS, LANDMARKS, AND PERSONAGES 18 JUNE 1860 On this date, the first wet plate photograph of an eclipse was taken. Shimmering amber, collodion, silver nitrate accord, and white lavender. NOTHING IS UNEXPECTED, NOTHING IS FORESWORN Nothing is unexpected, nothing is foresworn and Nothing amazes now that father Zeus the Olympian veiled the light to make it night at midday even as sun was shining: so dread fear has overtaken men. From this time on everything that men believe will be doubted: may none of us who see this be surprised when we see forest beasts taking turns in the salted field with dolphins, when the echoing waves of the sea become Dearer to them than the sand, and the dolphins love the wooded glen - Archilochus Red amber and heady red wine, benzoin, ash, and bourbon vanilla. THE DRUNK ASTRONOMERS Credit for some of the first recorded accounts of eclipses are attributed to the legendary Drunk Astronomers, Ho and Hsi, circa 2137 BCE. Ho and Hsi were royal astronomers in the court of Chung K’ang. They were in charge of predicting the celestial dance – all movements of the Heavenly Bodies. They were also reprobates, and spent a fair amount of their time in debauch, drinking and carousing. In a drunken stupor – though they knew an eclipse was imminent – they failed to notify the emperor of the event, and they failed to perform the sacred rites that would prevent the celestial dragon from consuming the mighty sun. They were summarily decapitated for creating chaos and confusion in the celestial chain by leaving their duties unperformed. Here lie the bodies of Ho and Hsi, Whose fate, though sad, is risible; Being slain because they could not spy The eclipse which was invisible. Jasmine tea, blood musk, and pale yellow amber. IN HIDEOUS DARKNESS The elements manifested their sorrow at this great man's departure from England. For the Sun on that day at the 6th hour shrouded his glorious face, as the poets say, in hideous darkness, agitating the hearts of men by an eclipse; and on the 6th day of the week early in the morning there was so great an earthquake that the ground appeared absolutely to sink down; an horrid noise being first heard beneath the surface. - Historia Novella, William of Malmesbury on the death of Henry I Golden amber and ambergris, sage and white cedar, rockrose, bourbon tobacco, and vetiver. MABEL Mabel Loomis Todd is probably best known as the first editor of Emily Dickinson's poetry and editor of publications of Dickinson’s posthumous works. She was also a fearless and experienced adventuress, eclipse chaser and astronomer, and trekked over the globe locating unobscured sites to witness solar eclipses. She published Total Eclipses of the Sun in 1894, a list of past and future total solar eclipses, and recorded her experiences in her travels through painting and journals. Rose-tinted amber, golden chypre, ambergris, tobacco leaf, and clove. THE SUN IN ANGER SWORE And the moon in haste eclipsed her, and the Sun in anger swore He would curl his wick within him and give light to you no more. - Aristophanese, Chorus of Clouds A withdrawn, seething red amber spiked with dragon’s blood resin, black pepper, red musk, and red oudh. OIL AND PITCH It has been known since antiquity that looking directly at an eclipse can cause serious damage to the eyes. Islamic scholar, Al-Biruni, observed that you could minimize the damage by viewing an eclipse reflected in the surface of still water. In his Naturales Quaestiones, Seneca observed, "Whenever we want to watch an eclipse of the Sun we set out basins filled with oil or pitch, because the heavy liquid is not easily disturbed and so preserves the images it receives." Amber swirled in opoponax, black labdanum, and poplar tar. THE THALES ECLIPSE In the sixth year a battle took place in which it happened, when the fight had begun, that suddenly the day became night. And this change of the day Thales the Milesian had foretold to the Ionians laying down as a limit this very year in which the change took place. The Lydians however and the Medes, when they saw that it had become night instead of day, ceased from their fighting and were much more eager both of them that peace should be made between them. - Herodotus, on a prediction of by Thales of Miletus Red amber and leather, patchouli, champaca flower, frankincense, oudh, castoreum accord, and black musk. ++ BIBLICAL CATASTROPHES The Bible is filled with the eclipse’s ill-omens. Matthew, Mark, and Luke’s blood-red moons and midday darkness have indicated to Biblical historians that the date of the crucifixion was November 24th AD 29 (solar eclipse) or April 3rd AD 33 (partial lunar eclipse). THE CURTAIN OF THE TEMPLE WAS TORN IN TWO By now it was about midday and a darkness fell over the whole land, which lasted until three in the afternoon; the sun's 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. ++ 15 PAINTED CARDS FROM A VAMPIRE TAROT V. THE POPE This is my body, he said, two thousand years ago. This is my blood. It was the only religion that delivered exactly what it promised: life eternal, for its adherents. There are some of us alive today who remember him. And some of us claim that he was a messiah, and some think that he was just a man with very special powers. But that misses the point. Whatever he was, he changed the world. Life everlasting: clove-smoke, benzoin, rose maroc, Jerusalem cedar, cistus, and frankincense. VII. THE CHARIOT It was genetic engineering at its finest: they created a breed of human to sail the stars: they needed to be possessed of impossibly long life-spans, for the distances between the stars were vast; space was limited, and their food supplies needed to be compact; they needed to be able to process local sustenance, and to colonise the worlds they found with their own kind. The homeworld wished the colonists well, and sent them on their way. They removed all traces of their location from the ships’ computers first, however. To be on the safe side. The scent of white-hot metal and stardust, limned with glowing bergamot aldehyde. X. THE WHEEL OF FORTUNE What did you do with the doctor? she asked, and laughed. I thought the Doctor came in here ten minutes ago. I’m sorry, I said. I was hungry. And we both laughed. I’ll go find her for you, she said. I sat in the doctor’s office, picking my teeth. After a while the assistant came back. I’m sorry, she said. The doctor must have stepped out for a while. Can I make an appointment for you for next week? I shook my head. I’ll call, I said. But, for the first time that day, I was not telling the truth. An antiseptic white scent, splattered with blood. ++ BPAL 7 WORD STORY ENVY “Galatea wept as Pygmalion carved new statues.” -- Tyler Butler Marble-white sandalwood, vanilla blossom, and orris root veined with whorls of ambergris accord, rose-touched with life, slowly shattering tears of bitter carrot seed and cistus. ++ A LITTLE LUNACY HARVEST MOON 2017 Harvest Moon is celebrated in almost every culture, and the bounty of the season is marked in a myriad of ways. Harvest Moon touches the Equinox, the festival of Janus, the culmination of Homowo, the "crying of the neck" in Cornwall, and the Women's Festival of the Moon. This is a day that celebrates abundance and beauty, fertility and progress, and the light of this full moon blesses new undertakings and reunites lost loves. The Harvest Moon, by definition, is the Full Moon that falls closest to the Autumnal Equinox, and thus, it shares some of that Sabbat's characteristics. This Full Moon was thus named because it rises within half an hour of the sun's setting, in the Northern Hemisphere, and at this time farmers are able to work longer into the night by the light of this Moon. As the year draws to a close, the Full Moon rises an average of fifty minutes later each night, with the exception of a few nights surrounding the Harvest Moon, which only rises 10-30 minutes later. This moon is also, to the human eye, the fullest and largest of the year's Moons, hanging gloriously huge, yellow and low in the night sky, and many lunar illusions play tricks our eyes at this time. The Harvest ushers in many celebrations, including the Equinox and the Festival of Janus, God of Doors. Janus is the Roman Lord of Gateways, beginnings and endings, and transitions. Thus, the Harvest Moon is a time for blessing new ventures, the onset of new and progressive phases in one's life, and rites of passage into adulthood. This time of year also marks one of the Festivals of Dionysus, Lord of Ecstasy and the Vine. This Harvest lunacy combines the autumnal scents of dry leaves, mulling spices, balsam fir and spruce tips, cedar, juniper berry, clove, saffron, wild apple, sage, yarrow, and lily twined with Dionysus' sacred grapes and ivy, a bounty of blackberry and pumpkin, deep russet sunflowers, the amaranth and lingum aloes of Janus, all touched by a gentle breath of festival woodsmoke and sweet wine. ++ SINGLE NOTES WILD HONEYSUCKLE
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Hello, Los Angeles! While you're out today, pick up some extra feminine hygiene supplies for homeless women which you can redeem for a free 5ml bottle of our exclusive fragrance SANGUINEM MENSTRUUM. We'll be taking these off your hands at tomorrow's Lunacy event at the Lab proper -- see FB event below. https://www.facebook.com/events/163049410739338/ Huge thanks to everyone in other cities who've participated in our drive so far. You have vastly improved the quality of someone's day.
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LTD Lunacy and V-Day Charity Drive, Plus New Exclusive Scent
Failmingo posted a topic in Announcements
At their upcoming Lunacy event on Feb. 18, Loved To Death and LTD joins our crusade to help restore health and hygiene to homeless women. As in our Atlanta, Los Angeles, and Vermont events, donors of $20 worth of tampons and pads will receive the following signature scent: SANGUINEM MENSTRUUM It would indeed be a difficult matter to find anything which is productive of more marvellous effects than the menstrual discharge. On the approach of a woman in this state, must will become sour, seeds which are touched by her become sterile, grafts wither away, garden plants are parched up, and the fruit will fall from the tree beneath which she sits. Her very look, even, will dim the brightness of mirrors, blunt the edge of steel, and take away the polish from ivory. A swarm of bees, if looked upon by her, will die immediately; brass and iron will instantly become rusty, and emit an offensive odour; while dogs which may have tasted of the matter so discharged are seized with madness, and their bite is venomous and incurable. -Pliny the Elder The copper tang of blood musk, swept by a cloud of dying bees and red poppies of madness. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Exclusive LTD ScentAlso, we are very excited to announce a new winter-edition BPAL scent exclusive to Loved To Death, available in-store and online: AUSPICIUM MELIORIS AEVI A sign of a better age: white sandalwood and crystallized vanilla absolute with white amber, Florentine iris, white leather, and red patchouli bursting through melting snow. Event Adress: 1681 Haight St, San Francisco, CA 94117 Time: 4pm to 7pm Here’s the FB event link. See you on the 18th! -
Moons of Jupiter: Adrastea $23 The smallest of Jupiter’s Inner Moons. This is a maternal perfume: warm, comforting, and protective. Goat’s milk accord, white honey, cacao-dusted amber, white coconut, white rose, and benzoin. http://blackphoenixalchemylab.com/shop/a-little-lunacy-limited-edition/moons-jupiter-adrastea/ Happy Full Moon, everyone!
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Moons, Claw Polish, Scalia, Dark Del, and the Carnaval is back in town!
Silvertree posted a topic in Announcements
PSST! -
Continuing with Tabula Selenographica’s trip through the lunar landscape, we are thrilled to present: SINUS AMORIS The Bay of Love: red sandalwood and velvet-thick vanilla with red pepper, oudh, Ethiopian myrrh, and champaca blossom. Want to keep up to date on all the BPAL news? Follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, join our mailing list, visit our Forums, or follow our blog The Black Phoenix Gazette.
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This cycle, we're changing up the Lunacies a bit. From Aries to Aries, we'll be sailing through the dreamstuff of the lunar mare on a voyage that transverses the surface of Luna by way of your subconscious. Continuing with Tabula Selenographica’s trip through the lunar landscape, we are thrilled to present: INSULA VENTORUM The Island of Winds: chilled white tea leaf, astringent white musk, and eucalyptus petals biting through ragged osmanthus blossoms, crystallized white amber, and ice-limned cedarwood. Want to keep up to date on all the BPAL news? Follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, join our mailing list, visit our Forums, or follow our blog The Black Phoenix Gazette.
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LACUS MORTIS The Lake of Death: narcotic indole, pale asphodel, and bone-white sandalwood plunged into in an impenetrable sea of black patchouli, labdanum, castoreum accord, and oak moss.
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The moon is rising, solemn and silent, over Black Phoenix: LACUS SOLITUDINIS The Lake of Solitude: a scent of introspection and introversion. Meditative white sandalwood with rosewood, Roman chamomile, white lavender, marjoram, Himalayan cedar, and oudh. ***************** This month, we revisit the Metamorphosis: The Metamorphosis series is dedicated, as always, to my daughter. Lilith, you are my light, my love, my heart, and the sweetness of my soul. Sword-Wielding Storybook Princess, Valiant Superheroine, Bold Adventurer, Make-Believe Misunderstood Fairy Tale Villainess: it is a privilege to watch you grow, and it is an honor to be your mother. I love you with every drop of blood in my body, and every breath. The sweetness of your heart, the depth of your compassion, and the razor of your wit are all an inspiration to me. Your laugh is my joy. I love you, Little Lady Butterfly. “Just living is not enough,” said the butterfly, “one must have sunshine, freedom and a little flower.” METAMORPHOSIS Lo, the bright train their radiant wings unfold! With silver fringed, and freckled o’er with gold: On the gay bosom of some fragrant flower They, idly fluttering, live their little hour; Their life all pleasure, and their task all play, All spring their age, and sunshine all their day. - ” To Mrs. P——–., With Some Drawings…”, Anna Laetitia Aikin The grace, beauty, and complexity of butterflies and moths have permeated myths all over the globe. The symmetry and elegance of their form and the coquettish rhythm of their dance inspires visions of fleeting romance: The dawn is smiling on the dew that covers The tearful roses; lo, the little lovers That kiss the buds, and all the flutterings In jasmine bloom, and privet, of white wings, That go and come, and fly, and peep and hide, With muffled music, murmured far and wide. Ah, the Spring time, when we think of all the lays That dreamy lovers send to dreamy mays, Of the fond hearts within a billet bound, Of all the soft silk paper that pens wound, The messages of love that mortals write Filled with intoxication of delight, Written in April and before the May time Shredded and flown, playthings for the wind’s playtime, We dream that all white butterflies above, Who seek through clouds or waters souls to love, And leave their lady mistress in despair, To flit to flowers, as kinder and more fair, Are but torn love-letters, that through the skies Flutter, and float, and change to butterflies - ” The Genesis of Butterflies”, Victor Hugo Though in some myths – notably, China’s Butterfly Lovers, Liang Shanbo and Zhu Yingtai, and Japan’s tale of Takahama and Akiko – butterflies are symbols of eternal love and devotion. Most often, butterflies and moths represent change, transition, and metamorphosis. Butterflies are also seen as personifications of the soul, and symbols of mankind’s desire for spiritual evolution. They are harbingers of both love and death, and some believe that errant souls manifest in this form. Moths and butterflies are, to some, symbols of blind desire and madness, perilously drawn to the splendor of light and flame. This mad desire is also portrayed, at times, as transcendence: Tell it none except the wise, for the common crowd defames: of the living I shall praise that which longs for death in flames. In the love night which created you where you create, a yearning wakes: you see, intoxicated, far away a candle burning. Darkness now no longer snares you, shadows lose their ancient force, as a new desire tears you up to higher intercourse. Now no distance checks your flight, charmed you come and you draw night till, with longing for the light, you are burnt, O butterfly. And until you have possessed dying and rebirth, you are but a sullen guest on the gloomy earth. - ” Blissful Yearning”, Goethe, translation by Walter Kaufmann This series, though seemingly simple, is a complex narrative in scent. It was created with the intention of illustrating the beauty of transformation and transcendence, the sweetness of romance, the joy of freedom and personal liberty, and the perpetuity of true love. Wake, butterfly - It’s late, we’ve miles To go together. - Matsuo Basho This year’s series is inspired by our family’s annual pilgrimage to New Orleans: the Butterflies of Louisiana - BLACK SWALLOWTAIL Licorice bark with freesia, jungle orchids, elemi, Bulgarian rose otto, and jasmine sambac. EASTERN COMMA Sweet orange with tobacco absolute and hay. GOATWEED LEAFWING Tonka bean, orange blossom, ambrette seed, and brown sandalwood. LITTLE METALMARK Nagarmotha and sweet musk. PHAON CRESCENT Italian bergamot and neroli with marigold, white jasmine, Himalayan cedar, lemon peel, and a drop of tobacco absolute. QUESTION MARK Blackened vanilla absolute with tobacco leaf, Ceylon cinnamon, orange-bark myrrh, and orange blossom. RED-SPOTTED PURPLE White thyme, yuzu fruit, hinoki wood, blue cedar, white carnation, plum rind, white mandarin, and lime-tinted white musk. SOUTHERN CLOUDYWING Cardamom tea, orange peel, mate, oakmoss, tonka bean, sweet cedar, and costus. WILD INDIGO DUSKYWING Black saffron, frankincense, Florentine iris, blackcurrant, white pepper, black clove, vetiver, and smoky honey. YUCCA GIANT-SKIPPER White patchouli, oudh, vanilla absolute, copaiba balsam, pepperwood, and champaca flower. Butterflies have also descended onto the ‘Post: CHORION HAIR GLOSS A gossamer armor: seemingly delicate, but as strong as adamant. Opalescent vanilla-infused benzoin with silvered iris, white patchouli, mimosa blossom, and white musk. CHORION ATMOSPHERE SPRAY A gossamer armor: seemingly delicate, but as strong as adamant. Opalescent vanilla-infused benzoin with silvered iris, white patchouli, mimosa blossom, and white musk. NECTAR HAIR GLOSS Honeyed camellia and bergamot with sweet honeysuckle and sugared columbine. NECTAR ATMOSPHERE SPRAY Honeyed camellia and bergamot with sweet honeysuckle and sugared columbine. The Earth laughs in flowers. FLOWER CONSTANCY I BATH OIL: AN AFFINITY FOR PASSIONFLOWER FLOWER CONSTANCY II BATH OIL: AN AFFINITY FOR PHLOX Want to keep up to date on all the BPAL news? Follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, join our mailing list, visit our Forums, or follow our blog The Black Phoenix Gazette.
