Black Phoenix

[ziggystardust13]

Our signature oil. A dark, languid scent. Promotes hedonistic tendencies and extreme self-love. You won’t stop kissing mirrors for a month.

 

I was so disappointed in this one! Especially because I loved it when I first sniffed it out of the imp and upon applying...

But all that cherry almond deliciousness completely vanished and I was left with powdery rose. And I like rose, but not this! How sad. With a name like Black Phoenix, this should be amazing!

[LizziesLuck]

I tried this way back when I first started collecting in 2005. I didn't care for it. But I have recently retried a number of things I didn't like or didn't work with my chemistry way back then and found that I love and can wear them now, so I thought this was worth a retest too.

 

 

Wet: Super strong cherry/almond. There's a floral underneath that I think is rose, and it's doing that citrusy thing rose sometimes does. An interesting combo! But it's going quite soapy already.

 

 

Dry: This dries down to straight-up red rose on me. Which is not that odd, considering I amp rose to high heaven. I certainly don't dislike it at all, however I have A LOT of rose in my collection already, and don't feel this is "different" enough to need a bottle. Really glad to have retried it though! Shows how much my skin chemistry has changed, as my notes from ten years ago indicate this smelled like "fake cherry" on me at the time.

[kajacana]

Wet on skin: cherry! almond! cherry! almond! CHERRY!!! ALMOND!!!!!!!

As it dries down, it morphs completely into a floral -- mostly rose, I think? Soft, pink rose. Totally different from the wet stage, it's like two completely different scents.

Straight-up florals aren't my thing so this one will be finding a new home.

[Casablanca]

On the wand, sweet cherry almond marzipan sort of stuff.

 

When I apply this, I don’t even need to raise my arm to sniff. I’m getting a blast of syrupy cherry almond already. Except… there’s red rose, too. So I sniff. Cherry-vanilla amaretto red rose, and maybe a backup flower or two. It feels like rose might not be the only flower in town here. And, once it dries, some amber or labdanum? Something resinous, anyway.

 

This one isn’t my game.

[Coldfire]

Imp: oh cheeezus cherry almond sticky sweetness overload
Wet on me: now I'm getting cherry almond with air freshener rose
Drying Down: oh this blend and my skin are at WAR!!!!!!
Dry: My skin did evil evil things to this. To trade!

[gloame]

I love this. It reminds me of Dr. Pepper chapstick that I used to have when I was a tween. At first, anyway. Lovely, fat cherries in a thick syrup. Deep, dry resin. Laughter at a brothel. Aged bourbon, without the boozy vibe. Slutty and confident in the best way.

Where I'd wear this: To a dancing girls show, in the 18th century, Paris.

[Samuraibrarian]

This is an interesting mix. Discernible notes are bitter almond, cinnamon, and sandalwood, maybe a bit of rosewood on the drydown. For me, this goes on with a very dish-soap-y top note, but that fades in about half an hour and makes it very pleasant to wear.

[torikitty]

wet: Yeah, I can see cola for this.

Drydown: Instead of going more almond on me, I seem to be amping roses? Powdery roses. Not a fan.

[Lucchesa]

This is a morpher.

Sweet fruity almond turns to

incense and red musk.

 

I'll have to try it

without Bien Loin d'Ici's musk

on the other wrist.

[dementia_divine]

I've tested this one before, but I neglected to review it.

 

In the imp: This is strong on the cherry-almond, which is what I remember it being like.

 

Wet: This is still strong on the cherry-almond, although the cherry aspect was stronger in the imp, and I am getting lots of skin musk now. It isn't long before it just turns into almond and skin musk.

 

Dry: The skin musk reigns, and while the almond is still present, it isn't nearly as strong as it was before. A rose note has also emerged during this stage, and there's a Dr. Pepper-quality present (which I usually get from Florentine iris, but I'm not sure it's that note doing it).

 

After a while, I also get a soft, powdery myrrh note from this.

 

Verdict: This one is okay, but not one I would ever reach for.

[puddingirl]

Frimp. In the imp it smells like something in my food cupboard. A hidden chocolate stash maybe? Looking through others' responses, I can now pick out the almond. It's not too sweet or foody, which is nice. A soapy note is starting to come through now it's drying. It's getting softer as it dries, it's not unpleasant at all, but I was expecting a bit more of a WOW factor from it. It's gone slightly powdery now. I think this will go to the swaps as I don't wear powder scents any more.