Priala, the Human Phoenix (2006)

[Dharklady]

Three deep, dark myrrhs, smoke, and cinnamon bark.

In bottle: Myrrh and smoke, no cinnamon.

Wet: Wooph this one has some throw. A deep rich blend that is definitely fitting for the concept.

Dry: The combination is enthralling, the cinnamon bark and myrrh’s mix is fantastic and it definitely evokes imagery of something exotic and mysterious.

Notes: Strong, this is not a scent to slather on. It has great lasting power. Distinctive and not for the weak of heart.

[LadyMedb]

This is just stunning - spicy cinnamon without being foody, anchored by dirty smoke and deep resins. The myrrh and the smoke smell a bit like the bottom of the censer as nice loose incense is finishing up being burned, and the cinnamon is closer to the skin than I'm used to it being. This is not to say that this is a weak scent - it's quite strong, and has some throw, especially after it's been on for a few minutes. It goes a tiny bit powdery after many hours, but only the tiniest bit, and kind of in a nice way after the onslaught of the original blend.

 

Priala is simple, elegant, assertive, and perfect for me. It quickly rose into my top 10 of all time, and I've smelled a lot of BPAL.

 

As a side note, the artwork is particularly beautiful on this bottle, as many above have noted.

[Sabir]

I can't decide if I really like this scent or not. It's very strong as many have noted and it lasts for quite a while.

 

Myrrh seems to be very temperamental with my skin chemistry. Priala has a nice rich undertone that I really like, but something in the top notes feels like it's conflicting with that undertone and the two battle it out until it settles down a bit.

 

After a while I do get that hint of smoke and the myrrhs blend together and this scent comes together as a whole. I don't get much cinnamon out of this blend at all. On a whole, it's rich with a bit of spice, but maybe a little too thick for my tastes. It certainly has a dark, smokey quality to it that I like however. I'm on the fence about this one.

Edited August 18, 2010 by Sabir

[Penance]

Origin:

 

5mL from the Lab.

 

Preconceived notions:

 

I love myrrh (I love all resins and incenses, really, as long as there's no rose involved). And I like cinnamon. So Priala ought to be my kind of girl. I'm expecting smoke and spice, with some incense action.

 

First sniff:

 

Wow, that's myrrh? There's something in here that I would have assumed was vetiver if I didn't have the notes in front of me. It makes me think that there's a kind of myrrh that I've been mistaking for vetiver (a light version of it) for a long time. It smells similar to something that's in Tarot: Death (although I'm positive that Death also has vetiver in it). Smoky and gritty and dark. Earthy, even. There's cinnamon here, too, but the main impression is darkness and grit. It reminds me a bit of Umbra, in that earthiness meets a touch of spice way.

 

Wet on skin:

 

The "pseudo-vetiver" note amps up even more as soon as it hits my skin and for a few seconds, that's all I can smell. Luckily, I like that sort of scent. It's just not what I was anticipating from this, even though the ashy grittiness is appropriate for a human phoenix. After I give it a few seconds to calm down, I get a small hint of resins and a touch of cinnamon, but it's still predominately smoky.

 

Dry down:

 

Once Priala finally dries, the cinnamon really puts in an appearance. The resiny myrrh scent comes out, too, and I get a mix of smoke, resin and dark spice (this isn't friendly gingerbread man cinnamon, it's darker, deeper and smokier smelling...but that could just be the result of being combined with smoky notes). This is definitely a dark scent and I love dark scents.

 

The bottom line:

 

For some reason (in spite of the name), I wasn't expecting something quite so smoky, so Priala is a bit of a surprise. But I really like it. It's got a nice, dark spiciness to it that doesn't make me smell like I've been baking cookies and it's also got the resin and smoke that I love.

[blu°]

Priala, to me, is the best interpretation of fire and smoke so far. It totally captures the feeling of something burning, and the scent of woodsmoke with it. I've become a bit tired of myrrhs lately, but this has always been one of my favourite myrrh scents. Instead of taming the myrrh down as the partner notes in other scents might do, the cinnamon in here deepens the myrrhs' character, goes into the heart of it and lights up a flame right there.

 

I think I should wear this again some time soon...

[aniemel]

This smells so good, so why the headache? The first time I tried the oil I spilled a little on my jeans and went directly outside to a campfire without changing, hoping that the crisp air and campfire smoke would take the edge off but all I could smell was Priala! So the next time I tried it (being very careful not to spill) still just too strong- but a very nice scent. I think I'll dilute it with some carrier oil and try again, can probably make 5 bottles out of 1 with this super heavy scent, hopefully without the headache cause' it's really lovely.

[ACVail24]

Priala, The Human Phoenix

 

In the Bottle:

Heavy smoke note, with a burnt cinnamon edge

 

On my Skin, Wet:

Sharp cinnamon & damp smoke - like smoke in a very humid place.

This one is strong & hurts my sinuses a little.

 

On my Skin, Dry:

Ahh, this is better.

I get the myrrh(s) now, with an undercurrent of cinnamon and a very small whiff of smoke.

It *almost* gets a creamy quality to it, but it's not at all milky. More like a cinnamon frosting, heavy with sugar.

 

Verdict:

This is a scent that will never be used in the hair or scent locket, it has to interact with the skin to reach that pretty creamy resin & cinnamon phase.

Not at all a fan of the wet phase, but the dry down is quite unique & beautiful.

Edited July 16, 2011 by Akurarei

[DeCuvieri]

Priala is very, very different. A part of me feels like I need to acquire a full bottle, but I can't think of many situations when I would actually wear this. I will say if the cinnamon is putting you off because you're afraid it's going to be foody, don't let it. This is the dry, burnt cinnamon that smells nothing like Christmas cookies. Think less Saw-Scaled Viper, more Sin.

 

If it's the smoke that's got you worried, I can safely assure you that this scent is feminine. I feel like people who enjoy the Steamworks line but feel some scents were too manly or aperfume will really like Priala. That said...

 

Priala is a gritty ash, crumbling bits of charred cinnamon with wisps of sweetened smoke still wafting off it. Normally myrrh ruins a scent for me, but it really works here and brings across the phoenix image perfectly. Priala is just sweet enough to wear comfortably (and I mean that as BARELY sweet at all), but for me it's a special occasion scent. I'll probably exhaust my partial this fall and not miss it come springtime because it's so dry and warm.

 

I love this, it works on me, but Priala has a very distinctive and loud personality that keeps her from being a staple scent for me.

[starfish327]

Priala is very, very, very nice to me. Apparenty i get along well with the human phoenix.

 

on my chemistry, this is a much more wearable version of slaugh. slaugh is one of my favorite blends but it's definitely an aggressive sasparilla. this is very much the same feel (i'm guessing it's the myrhs and the smoke interacting) but it's much lighter and sweeter. on my skin she's got a definite hit of vanilla which i think is making me think of slaugh. the cinnamon keeps fading back and forth. the blend verges on plastic but it stays far enough away from it to be wearable.

 

very nice.

[Gin]

Oh my gosh, Priala has way too much myrrh for me. I know that's what I was promised, but I still didn't expect MYRRHMYRRHMYRRH! There's smoke and cinnamon, too, but they can't cut through the syrupy resiny-sweet myrrh.

[brilliantcat]

Website Description: Three deep, dark myrrhs, smoke, and cinnamon bark.

 

In the bottle: Warm, resinous myrrh.

 

Immediately after application: Cinnamon, underlaid by the myrrhs and a whiff of smoke.

 

Warming up: Cinnamony myrrh and smoke. Very evocative of a phoenix imo.

 

Fading: The cinnamon has faded and it's mostly resin and smoke. It captures the life cycle of a phoenix in its wet, dry, and faded phases. Very nice!

 

Faded: Average throw, average wear.

 

Overall: I love the idea of it and it really did remind me of a phoenix.

 

Rating: 4/5.

[JazzieCazzie]

Though I had only tried a few of the CD scents back in the day, perusing some of the descriptions in my spare time had me add this to my wish list and was able to snare a partial imp on the forum, about 60% full or so ... enough to test drive to add to my alphabetical journey through my goodies and save for occasional use for the future.

 

IN THE IMP: There is something really odd and unique and familiar about this scent in the imp that I cannot place for the life of me. It may be the smoke, but it's ever so slightly metallic and sharp. I'm a huge cinnamon fan (one of those people who thinks there's no such thing as a BPAL blend that isn't made even better by adding cinnamon), but in the imp the cinnamon is more bark than spice.

 

Dab on wrist and into crook of arm.

 

WET: Not totally unexpectedly, this sweetens almost immediately upon hitting my skin. The myrrh and cinnamon amp followed by a very unique spiciness that I still can't put my finger on. Whatever it is, the elusive scent sweetens and softens the scent but not to the point of cloying. It still holds that smoke and bark ...

 

DRYDOWN: I love how this morphs continuously, and differently between the wrist and the crook (if I think I will like a scent, I'll apply it in both places because the wrist is really dry whereas the crook of the arm has just enough perspiration to create a different throw and in the long run I need to like BOTH In a keeper). On the wrist, this is absolutely fabulous. Sweet and spicy and resiny and smoky and everything that is good. In the crook, it has more spice but also, for a few minutes, has that "BO" wonky scent that myrrh has on me when it amps/dries down (but thankfully it doesn't last too long).

 

OVERALL: This is absolutely a keeper. And the fact that I don't have a lot of it in the imp actually makes my life easier because I probably wouldn't make it a "go to" scent for application on any part of my body which sweats LOL (crooks of arms, cleavage, even behind ears) BUT it's DIVINE DIVINE DIVINE on my wrists and maybe my neck. Which will make it last longer.

 

On a scale of 1-5, I'd give it about a 3.5 on the sweat points, a 5 on the dry points and a 4-ish overall.