Dark Delicacies

[Voleuse]

Black Phoenix's Dark Delicacies blend is the embodiment of sinister sensuality. It is a heady and darkly romantic blend of devil's trumpet accord, black orchid, tonka, coconut meat, fruit gums, osmanthus, smoky resin, myrtle, and Indonesian patchouli. Made for and sold exclusively through the Dark Delicacies bookstore.

In the bottle: In the bottle, this is all smoky resin, as well as something I can't identify. Hmmmm.

On first application: I'm reminded of incense--the smokiness of the resin, I think. After a moment, the patchouli kicks in, giving the blend a sweet earthiness. I'm having trouble picking out the rest of the notes, but I do detect a hint of unsweetened coconut.

Dry: The floral notes have all blended on me, but they're definitely there. They balance well with the patchouli--when I sniff my wrist, I think of earth first of all. It's only after a moment that I recognize the floral notes, murky in the background. The coconut lends a roundness to the blend, but it's not very strong in itself.

In summary: This blend doesn't quite work on me. It's a pleasant intermingling of patchouli and smoldering florals, with a hint of creamy coconut behind it. Warm and earthy, but not sweet. It's not a keeper for me, but I can see where it might turn out gorgeous with somebody else's chemistry. The throw is decent but not overwhelming, and it lasts about two or three hours on me--which is much more than I get from most blends. Edited September 13, 2007 by Shollin

[AliBabble]

how the hell did this arrive so fast? i just ordered it, like, 2 days ago...

here are my thoughts...at first, i thought it smelled nondescript in the bottle, slightly floral and mysterious. the more i smell it tho, the more i like it, tho the flowers are slightly abrasive. on my skin, a lot bit more begins to happen...i smell night flowers - what i'm guessing is the devil's trumpet, cause it smells like night-blooming blossoms i've smelled, slightly tropical (this may be the orchid too) - like bat-woman in feeling, but with more darkness lurking...quite spooky/swampy...like creeping around a dark lagoon at night. a spicy, resin-y incense begins to emerge, and at this point the scent has really taken on its character, and is quite interesting. i'm not getting the coconut, so much, but i'm pretty sure i smell most of the other notes - it is smoky and incense-y, but also tropically floral - it reminds me a bit of black moon for some reason, in its "moonlit lagoon" feeling, but with smoky incense thrown in. i think this is a pretty unusual scent - it's definitely got a night time, spooky, swampy-garden feeling to me. quite sinister, actually. the more it dries, it does threaten with some soapiness, but the smoky resins and patchouli help counteract that. eventually i do get the tiniest peek of coconut meat.

 

eta: after a few hours, this did end up extremely soapy/"perfumey" on me. i'll try applying less, next time?...the throw was quite strong. this may not work on me after all.

Edited February 2, 2007 by AliBabble

[sookster]

holy fastassshipping!!!

 

first sniff from bottle is mainly resinous...a touch of coconut meat

 

once applied this is a heady and resinous floral blend...extremely strong

throw; almost too sharp...after 30 minutes this calms down and remains

resinous and floral...very different and quite unique; i betcha this ages to

perfection in a few months or so

[Tramp]

In the bottle this smells like...not a lot. It is almost a neutral smell, even after warming up for 6 hours in my house. But on, well that is a whole nother story. I can't think of another blend that blooms so dramatically once it hits my skin. The florals come out, with a sort of pineapple undertone. The coconut is most prominent in the first 10 minutes where it added a creaminess to the florals. After a half hour or so that pineapple note goes sharp and bitter on me while the florals remain dominant

[alicia_stardust]

In the bottle it smells very neutral to me, meaning that I can definitely smell *something* but nothing really stood out enough for me to note it.

 

On my skin, it amps and warms immediately. I get a resinous, alluring, heady mix of florals and coconut with a bit of swarthy earthiness to it. This is one of the first blends with patchouli in it that did *not* turn into dirty hippy on my skin once all the other notes had faded. It's very lovely, and definitely dark and sexy.

 

This one has a strong throw. It made my eyes burn a little bit because I put too much on. I was ambivalent about the scent but I tested it again. My second skin test went much better with a lighter application, and I love it the second time around. Now I think I must keep the bottle.

[edenssixthday]

Dark Delicacies - I opened this right away upon receiving it and didn't smell much at all. I figured that was because it was so cold when I brought it in. I let it warm up in my home for several hours, then opened it again. I smelled a bit more, but it was still fairly light and ethereal, reminding me of some of the lunar blends -- Black Moon, in particular. Once it touched my skin, however, it was a whole different story. It started off as a very green and almost bitter floral, almost like flower stems instead of flowers and I'm guessing this is the myrtle note really coming out strong on me. The longer it stayed on, though, the warmer and less bitter it became. Upon full drydown, this has turned into a gorgeous scent. It's dark and deep, yet has a tropical touch to it. The coconut isn't the creamy, sweet coconut I'm used it. It definitely smells meatier, like the inside of a coconut rather than the sweet scent of pina colada coconut. The orchid is evident and I really, really like it. It's nothing like the BPAL of the same name, "Black Orchid." Even though this scent is deepened and darkened by the patchouli, it definitely doesn't amp up in this blend and is very soft. Overall, it's a dark blend, yet fresh and pretty. I really like it. It's very, very pretty. The throw is really strong initially, but upon full drydown, it softens. It lasts about two hours on me before I feel the need to reapply, but for me, that's not a-typical. I'm very glad I opted to pick this one up.

Edited February 3, 2007 by edenssixthday

[themerrybaker]

Although I need another bottle of perfume like I need a hole in the head, I'm glad to have gotten Dark Delicacies. It came packaged nicely in a little black bag, and has a cute little skelly label. When I first tried it on, I guessed patchouli and gardenia and thought "hey this is unusually good smelling gardenia". That's because it contains orchid and devils trumpet instead. I think the coconut adds something cool and cucumberish to the blend.

 

I am a fan of Beth's night blooming flowers, had good luck with Black Moon, and mostly love perfumey perfumes - so this one is very much a keeper.

[sixthsentinel]

So weird! This smells just like Niflheim once it dries down on my skin! Murky, smoky and earthy. When I first put it on, the tropical flowers are in the foreground, but it is not very long at all until they are overrun by the Niflheim element. Seeing as how I really like Niflheim, I think this will be a keeper for me.

[Brianne]

In the bottle:

Sort of a dark fruity floral

 

On me:

I have to be honest and say that the only reason I purchased this one was because of the coconut. I'll take any coconut blend I can get from Beth! Because of the coconut, patchouli and tonka in this blend, I was expecting something warm, slightly sweet and earthy. What I got was something similar and yet... not what I was expecting.

 

When it goes on wet, it's very much a dark floral. It's not slap-you-in-the-face floral, but the floral is definitely there. Coming off somewhat exotic actually. I have no idea what Devil's Trumpet is supposed to smell like, but I can say that this blend - when dry on my skin - ends up being mostly resinous anyways. Smoky resin is correct, it does definitely have a smoky quality to it. The patchouli is very present as well and lends a dark, earthy tone to this scent. Behind the patchouli and resin I would say it's just a generally fruity floral scent. Very hard to pin point exactly what floral, but it has a fruity note to it and is quite "perfumey" and darker (not like some of the airy or "white" florals like lily).

 

Final note:

This is way more floral than I was expecting and the coconut note - the whole reason I bought the blend actually - doesn't even show up. I do like the patchouli in this one, but I think this is just a little too perfumey for me. I'll hold onto it for now and see if my opinion changes the next few times I wear it!

[blueroses]

I always hesitate to review floral blends, because aside from rose, violet, and wildflowers, I tend to avoid them and thus I never get any better at identifying the different notes. But I do like this one enough to make an exception.

 

In the bottle, all I smell is patchouli and an exotic, perfumey floral. On, there's a very fleeting, sharp floral note and the patchouli warms up. There's also the scent of a floral-y resin, and just a touch of something sweet. There's a bit of a really fresh green note in there as well. It dries down to a smoky floral incense.

 

This is one of those scents that really make me feel the "tone" of the perfume. "Darkly romantic," indeed. I put this on Saturday afternoon and spent the rest of the weekend wanting to curl up on the couch with Jane Eyre or Rebecca.

[slave1]

DARK DELICACIES

 

In Bottle: Dark floral

 

On Skin: First off, I’m not the biggest fan of florals. But this one is GORGEOUS! Oh my, it really is a perfect scent for me. Dark, elegant, womanly… it is a drop dead sexy scent. I love it! And it came in this cute little BPAL bag. Ok, the notes… I smell the orchid right away very regal and in command. The smoky resins give it the dar edge but are not overwhelming at all. It’s the perfect balance. The patchouli even works on me which is another happy surprise. The tonka is the right amount of sweetenss and the coconut is not rich and creamy, it’s more subtle but still gives a slightly exotic tropical note that compliments with the orchid beautifully. I am in love with this scent and it will be the first one I reach for when I’m in a floral mood. For other scared of florals, give this one a try. It’s such a sinister floral scent, not the typical overly perfumey kind you might be frightened of. The resins and frutiness of the scent tame the florals and keep them in check. It has a strong throw at first but mellows out a bit and a medium wearlength.

[phedre]

In bottle: A floral I can't identify, which must be the devils trumpet. A touch of orchid and coconut. A bit of spicy smoke.

 

On skin: Orchid is my nemesis, and the main reason I was leery of ordering this scent. It immediately leaps to the foreground. There's a musky note too, but the orchid is almost headache inducing. I'm crossing my fingers for it to fade quickly.

 

Drydown: I smell cocoa here, along with sweet resin and patchouli. This stuff has some POWER to it. Normally, BPAL scents linger so close to my skin, but this one's leaping around shouting "HI! I'm HERE!"

 

The fruit gums are emerging. This is pretty, and definitely growing on me. The headache-inducing orchid is now under control, but still very present.

 

This is nice! I'm not sure if I love it yet or not; I'll have to try it a few more times to make up my mind.

[minnalavender]

Mmmmm. I'm glad I gambled on this scent (orchid makes my head go owie ). It's absolutely gorgeous!

 

In the bottle - faint patchouli and resins, with a slight floral undertone. On my skin, all the florals bloom like mad, as they are wont to do. Oh, there's orchid, the bitch! Thankfully, the resins and the patchouli keep the florals from taking over the whole show, and what emerges is a very slinky, spicy, and mysterious bouquet. I detect the tonka note from Bitter Moon as it dries, but the coconut stays very much in the background on my skin. The throw is close on me, for some reason!

 

Even though this is primarily spicy, it keeps a freshness about it that I love - kind of like clean skin smell, if that makes any sense. I really like it.

 

EDIT: After a few more hours, the orchid has taken over and killed my head. DD is off to a more loving home.

Edited February 6, 2007 by Mattie

[Blood onmy hands]

Ugh. My bottle of Dark Delicacies had a crack in the cap and leaked all over. I got a good amount of it on my hands trying to get it out of the packaging though, which makes for easy reviewing, lol. I wonder if it was outside in the cold for long or something. Meh.

 

I thought that this would be a sweet fragrance with creamy tonka & coconut backed up by some earthy resins and patchouli. It's not. This is a horribly musky floral on me. It's so sharp and heavy that it literally makes me cough when I smell it. Perfumey. Like bad drugstore perfume... like Britney Spears' Curious...

 

This is all perfumey, unnatural, 'floral' smell. Sharp and bitter and not at all sweet on me... and it doesn't get better in the drydown. It gave me an awful headache and I had to remove the packaging from my room.

 

I thought that I may have overapplied initially (on accident), so I took a bath and tested only a little dab of this... it's still just as overwhelming and unpleasant to me.

 

Musky, perfumey, sharp, metallic, bitter floral... none of the sweetness or resins that I was hoping for

[Inanna9]

This is divine.

 

In the bottle, I catch a soft patchouli and a whiff of floral that reminds a little of the orchid in The Premature Burial, coupled with something lightly sweet.

 

On, this baby blooms into a hybrid of two of my favorite blends: the dusky, dark florals of Black Moon with a base of sweet resins and smoooooth patchouli that is so very reminiscent of Mme. Moriarty. I don't know if anyone else is getting this, perhaps I just have really lucky skin chemistry, but this is unbelievably gorgeous. The final drydown is a little powdery, but still very dark and smoky. If this blend were a color, it would be deep purple for sure.

 

I cannot stop sniffing my wrist, and I wish I'd bought two bottles. I will need to go begging for more of this one.

[QueenFae]

When I first applied this one, I thought that it reminded me of Hexxannacht. Then I applied some Hexx to my other wrist to compare, and they are quite different. But, Dark Delicacies has that same, lovely, smoky, earthy feel to it. It's an incensey smell, but has a gorgeously smooth undertone that prevents any sharpness at all.

 

The longer I wear it, the more the smooth coconut note comes out. It fades to a beautiful patchouli scent with a creamy base of orchids and coconut. I can definitely see the comparison to Black Moon; this has the same dark, naughty feel to it. It doesn't have a ton of throw, but it is lovely enough to reapply.

 

This is just a gorgeous blend, very sexy and soft. I love it, definitely a keeper.

[zenvodunista]

Like others, I can't smell much in the bottle, on my skin though? This is the most gorgeous floral, ever.

 

The Devil's Trumpet is the common name for the highly toxic and mythos laden plant, Datura. It grows as a weed occasionally, and when I have been lucky (or unlucky!) enough to see it, I always take a deep sniff. The floral here is definitely that heady smell - rich and ripe and almost dangerous - especially if you know of the properties that make Datura such a dangerous species to mess around with. I won't even pick the flowers - though I will always smell them.

 

That first blast is all floral, but as I wear it, the fruit gums - richer and darker than fruit itself, like the rich sweetness of dried fruit, almost musty but more intense and richer than the fresh fruit - begins to come out. The coconut and tonka mellow out the edges of what could be a harsh scent.

 

This also reminds me of Black Moon - sans the pear that goes to rotting fruit on my skin. Instead I am left with what I was hoping for when Black Moon came out, a mysterious womanly perfume. God, I feel sexy in this and it's only the tiniest droplet on my hand.

 

I'm not huge into florals - I would say that my "scent profile" consists mainly of the "oriental" type scents. I love things like Snake Oil & Tezcatlipoca - earthy and heavy and rich - yet I love this. This is an "oriental" floral and shares those properties while being utterly different. In fact, it reminds me of my first favorite (and still the only commercial perfume I love) perfume: Poison. Not now - but when it first came out - that dark purple bottle, that heady fruity swirling scent that was beautiful and dangerous.

 

I am blown away by the artistry in this scent. It conjours up images in my mind of the great moon caught in the branches of trees, of mist swirling about a Mysterious Personage, of lonely walks with a cloak wrapped figure in the distance, of empty moors, of ravens in flight, of a woman's blood red lips that turn out not to be painted with lipstick but something else far more dark and sinister.

 

It is everything it sounds like, a Dark Delicacy indeed.

 

 

N.

Edited February 7, 2007 by zenvodunista

[Athenae]

My skin EATS this. Good thing I have a whole bottle.

 

At first it's all thick heady floral, which I think is the orchid. Underneath is something spicy and a little powdery, maybe the patchouli going powder on me. It dries down to a lovely, faded, spicy-floral scent that's very, very sexy.

 

Love. So glad I ordered this on impulse. I'm not normally a floral girl.

 

A.

[LittleGreyKitten]

Very deep, dark, sexy floral. It reminds me for some reason, just a bit, of Trick #1, perhaps the patchouli? I love the idea of a datura based scent, I love the flowers- though I admit I have no clue what they smell like, but in my imagination they would sure smell like this! I cannot pinpoint coconut but I do get a creamy base to this smell. This is one of those blends that nothing particularly sticks out, just a wonderfully sexy smooth dark scent. It is definitely a floral but as a dead sexy non-heady one I'll be way more likely to wear it than most. The creamy-with-patchouli base note helps a lot too. It isn't that potent, which pleases me- throw is medium to light, way less obtrusive than it initially seems like it ought to be. This may be a favorite of mine, it really is the most wearable sexy floral I've run across. Does fade fairly quickly on me, in about a half hour. I suspect this will age really nicely and last a bit longer as time goes on.

 

5 out of 5.

[ChupaChup]

I just don't get this scent. When I put Dark Delicacies on, it smelled kind of planty. That's all I can say, I really couldn't pick out any of the notes but I'm guessing it is the patchouli that gave it the earthy, planty feel. After about half an hour, it changed and smelled flowery. That's it, again, I couldn't really pick out any of the notes. I seem to have this problem with some of the more complex BPAL blends - other people have nosegasms from them but to me they just smell like the kitchen sink, all muddled together. I don't dislike it but there is nothing exciting about it for me. The bottle, swathed in its cute little bag, is on its way over the pond to hopefully a more receptive owner!

Edited February 14, 2007 by ChupaChup

[dawna]

In the bottle: Holy strong musky almost boozy scent. Its the coconut and tonka mixing with the darker scents that is creating an almost boozy aroma to me.

 

On the skin: It softens a lot almost on contact. The coconut is in the background and there is a creaminess to it. The orchid, musk and resins are most prominent. I am not a lover of floral notes but I do like this on the skin.

 

On drydown: It has calmed down a lot. This is a very dark, deep scent. Rich with the musk, patchouli and orchid with a creaminess at the very back of the scent. Its very perfume-like, and while I wont wear it often I plan on aging this to see how it is aged.

[Heavenlyrabbit]

What to say that others haven't?

 

Dark Delicacies is the perfect name for this blend. It describes it exactly.

 

I had to sell my bottle of Trick #1 to pay for acupuncture but this is very similar in its quiet, womanly sexiness.

 

Not much of anything in the bottle, it opens with a fast succession of patchouli, then florals, then fruit. I am left with a slightly fruity patchouli scent. How nice. It wasn't that long ago that ALL patchouli blends sent me screaming to a sink to wash it off.

 

Beautiful drydown that wears very close. This is a great anytime scent with such a nice earthiness giving it an understated sexiness.

 

I would love this as a soap and body lotion.

Edited February 8, 2007 by Heavenlyrabbit

[sarahmarie]

This one is hard for me to describe. Is it perfumey? Yes, sort of - but it's so much deeper and more complex than "perfumey" implies. It's surprisingly light and wears very close to my skin once it dries down, but it's still darkly sexy. The florals are present, but never sharp or overwhelming. The patchouli works nicely, even though patchouli isn't usually my bag. The fruitiness isn't overly perky - it's lucious and sexy instead. It dries down sort of woody on me, which is interesting, but very nice.

 

Overall, this is a very sophisticated, darkly sexy perfume.

[euterpe414]

Wow, this one is powerful and gorgeous. The firs thing that came ot my mind when I put this on my skin was: Black Moon goes on a tropical vacation. I am really getting a Black Moon similarity, but sans the pear and with coconut and a bit of something richer and darker in the background (patchouli?).

 

Like others have said, this scent stays close to you- not a lot of throw at all. However it does last a long time. I really like this, because I can wear it and feel very sensual and dark, but I don't have to invade others' space at the same time, like some of the other dark blends I prefer. Dark Delicacies is my own personal dark vacation!

[shelldoo]

i will preface this review, w/ the sad announcement that i only ordered one bottle, totally expecting the floral aspect to kill this scent for me.

 

 

in the bottle: musky, sticky flowers.

 

wet: strong resins, musk, and orchid.

 

as it dries this is incredibly sexy. it definitely has an incensy quality, it also has a very soft feminine edge. and it has quite a bit of throw. this scent deserves the name dark delicacies. it is so delicate, and yet darkness, and depth to keep it from being too fru fru on me. the whole thing is blended so seemless, that it is almost impossible to defrintiate between notes, and at the same time i can feel almost everything listed. this jumped straight on to my top 5 list, and i promptly ordered several more bottles.

 

ps the label totally rocked my socks too.

Edited February 12, 2007 by shelldoo