Wood Phoenix

[TheOneTheyCallLuna]

Flexibility, cooperation, expansiveness, and altruism: Chinese musk and five woods with newly budding bamboo shoots, hyssop, chamomile, pink clove, magnolia, walnut, and fig.

Ugh, I am *so* kicking myself that I just let a bottle of this slip through my fingers...I love, love, love this one! Did I say love? YES! Woodsy soft snuggly, mulchy cedar sandalwood that's been sugared and lightly brushed with cloves. Guh...this is SO me! I'll be tracking down a bottle or ten real soon.

:love!:

(eta: scent description) Edited May 1, 2009 by OneTheyCallLuna

[ShadowsDance]

I'm a sucker for anything with fig in it, so..

Hmm.. it's sweet in the imp. Really nice, wood and green, with a very sweet current running through it.

On my skin it smells like sweet and.. burning? After a while it morphs into a grass like scent. Then it becomes spicy grass. It's strange, but interesting.. In the end though, don't think I'd wear this.

[ljaylh]

 

This is a really interesting blend.. it really does have an Asian feel to it, which I'm attributing to the Chinese musk or perhaps the bamboo - it's got a top note that's very spicy without being obviously spicy (if that makes sense?!?). Lovely lovely rich brown wood, slightly nutty, the fabulous fig is rich and velvety, the other notes are obviously mixed in there somewhere but I'm unable to pick them out separately.. except maybe the chamomile, which I think makes an appearance after about 30 minutes on my skin.

 

I suspect this one will get better with more age, when the woods deepen and the walnut/fig softens up and blends more with the woods. I'm not sure that I need a bottle just yet, so I'll be testing from my decant again in a few months' time to see how it's changed.

 

[Aldercy]

Definitely very flowing and Asian in its mood. I feel transported.

 

This was medicinal (yes, like cough drops! I thought I was going crazy until I saw someone else say that too) for a bit, but on the skin there's a nice buttery nuttiness coming to light-- which is good because the walnut was the main component I was excited for in Wood Phoenix. A nice outdoorsy, spiced walnut with currents of musk running through it. The Chinese musk is strange, dusky and cooling. This oil seems good for fall or spring, to me-- it's very temperate.

 

I'm really pleased with this. I only wish it were a bit stronger.

[steelfaerie]

I was so excited for this and it was a horrible letdown. In the imp it smelled REALLY nutty and buttery, but on my skin I got the mental image of being in a stinky craft store and the guy behind the counter was drinking a big old cup of medicinal Theraflu. I get no fig and no wood.

 

Not my bag.

[hlinspjalda]

In the vial: Something sweet and rich, then magnolia, then wood. Smells nice.

 

Wet: The herbiness of hyssop reads a lot like celery; the overall impression is fruity-sweet over wood. I like it, it's interesting.

 

Twenty minutes: This is as pleasant as I remember from when I tested it at the meet ‘n sniff. It's a little out of character for me, being so very woody, but it's also fruity and spicy and herby and even a bit floral.

 

Three and a half hours: Mostly wood now with just a touch of magnolia and something sweet. But it's not dry, or tannic, or dusty, just pleasant.

 

Six and a half hours: The complexity, sweetness, and fruit have gone away now. Nothing left but gentle woody notes over a gentle musky base. I'll keep this one, at least for a while.

 

[ouch!]

Oh dear. Another dissapointing phoenix for me. Fire Phoenix was also a dissapointment! So...at the moment Pink Phoenix still reigns as my number one scent!

 

This smells nothing like woods to me, it's completely different to what I had expected. This smells like slightly burnt brown sugar and some sort of fruit with musk.

It's the sugar you find in Sugar Moon & Sugar Skull but lighter. In fact this is exactly what I thought Sugar Skull was going to smell like except I got major burnt sugar overload.

 

The musk is nice, this definately smells like a brown Autumnul scent. But doesn't smell like what it says on the tin with my chemistry.

Edited September 11, 2009 by ouch!

[alianthe]

In the bottle: high and light, bright woods and pale spices

 

On me (wet): spicy woods, warm and dry and comforting, winter appropriate

 

On me (dry): hot and spicy, still warm, a little cedary. Still comforting and winter appropriate. Hits all the same happy notes as Mort de Cesar, but differently.

 

 

[Redillon]

In the imp: Cherry Cough Syrup. Blech!

 

On skin: No more cherry! YEAH!!! Woody & spicy. I'm diggin it!!!! Glad I got the bottle

 

Dry down (NOT EVEN AN HOUR AND I WAS HEAVY HANDED TOO): Gone.

 

Why do all the Phoenix has such a short life??

[angelicruin]

Pink clove, magnolia and wood are strongest notes. This is sweet, but not over-the-top sweet on my skin. Like it, but content with a decant.

[alioth]

I bought a bottle of Wood Phoenix awhile back and it's been sitting in my drawer ever since, because when I opened it the peculiar scent of Luden's Cherry Cough Drops smacked me in the face. But after rereading the reviews, I decided to be strong. After all, there's always rubbing alcohol if necessary.

 

And wow, am I annoyed at myself for waiting this long. The Luden's scent is gone as soon as it hits my skin, leaving warm deep woods and spices and a sweet something that I'm guessing is fig going right for me. It dried quickly and stayed close to the skin, or at least it did on my (admittedly really dry) hand. For some reason I find myself surprised by this one despite the fact that woods and I generally have a fantastic relationship. Definitely giving this one a full wear tomorrow--it has the sort of warm weight that's perfect for cold weather.

[gingiemay]

There's something in here that comes up cat pee, and I suspect either the hyssop or the bamboo shoots. After about an hour, the chamomile comes out with the pink clove, but there's no musk or magnolia. There is a woody undertone, but overall this is not as much as I hoped. Swaps!

[Dharklady]

In bottle: A bit green and strong, I’m catching walnut, wood, and something a touch sweeter, maybe the fig?

 

Wet: An utterly delicious blend that puts you in the middle of an forest after a rain storm storm in summer when everything is wet and earthy and simply wonderful smelling.

 

Dry: This mellows out to a lovely woods scent that is complex and simple at the same time.

 

Notes: Hmm I may need to hunt up a bottle of this somehow...

 

[imaginepageant]

In the Vial: There are so many scents in this, I don't think I'll ever be able to pick them all out. The walnut is the strongest note to my nose, and it is so delicious. I also get the fig, clove, some woods, and musk in the background.

 

Wet: The magnolia and chamomile come out to make this even more complex than it already was. The walnut mellows as all of the notes start to even out.

 

Dry: This is the scent of a sunny autumn morning: spicy and woodsy, yet fresh; warm and comforting, yet cool and crisp. I am head over heels in love! I only wish this was stronger - it's very faint on my skin. I wish the walnut and fig would have stuck around, too, but alas.

 

An Hour Later: Pretty much gone. All I get is the teasing hint that woodsy lovelieness once existed on that patch of hand.

 

Overall: This seems to be an oil that requires slathering, which means I MUST HAVE MORE. I love this.

Edited May 11, 2011 by imaginepageant

[AnyseLawsBray]

In vial: Something intense. Soy sauce? (uhhhhhhm. something salty anyway)

Wet: Oh, maybe it was the walnut? I think I recognize this. Straight up walnut, bitter, oily & husky. It quickly softens to a tolerable level, it's actually quite lovely. After a while it's a highly musky wood, & I am getting prickly hyssop, reminds me a bit of the same note in The Sluggard.

Dry: A bit of dusty chamomile emerges along with a (very) faint creaminess from the magnolia. I think a spark of pink clove interjects every now and then, but it's not spicy- more 'snappy' if that makes any sense. It smooths out eventually, with the ultimate result being a woodsy, lightly floral fig. I really didn't expect the fig to come out, but it prevailed! Fig is a favorite of mine, so I was quite pleased.

 

Verdict: From vial to drydown, I would have NEVER thought I would end up with what I did, the stages are so utterly different. It is almost reminiscent of my favorite blend, Intrigue. They are both 'woodsy fig' blends, after all. All in all I am quite pleasantly surprised with Wood Phoenix because from smelling the vial, it was spectacularly odd and almost repulsively strong. I wouldn't wear it because I have (and prefer) Intrigue & the raw, natural chocolate I get from it to the almost tingly whitish fig I get from WP. Worth trying though, because it proves the test everything rule!

[Vega]

Sniffed: This is woody, alright, but coloured and enlivened with something nutty that must be the fig and walnut.

 

On skin: Wood Phoenix is a specimen of a complex woody scent. I can smell a variety of woods here (though I can't identify what they are), all harmonizing together and not degenerating into flatness, unlike what other woody blends have done on my skin. And fig and walnut add depth, body and a nutty sweetness and make it more than just a straight-up woody scent. Maybe the other notes are peeking in, but I don't smell them so much. Wood Phoenix is a rounded, full, nutty-woody scent. Colour impression is walnut brown.

 

Verdict: While Wood Phoenix is a fine example of a woody blend, it's still too woody for me.

[TilHelvete]

In the imp, it smells like my box of imps. I thought I might be smelling it on the paper label, but it smells that way wet on the skin initially.

 

The drydown is very sweet and foody, it reminded me of Pecan Pie... maybe that's the walnut? There is a Creamy Nutmeg air freshener at Bath & Body Works that it reminds me of, if it were less creamy and a little darker. I couldn't really tease out any particular notes, it's mostly walnut, fig and "pink clove". The bamboo, chamomile, magnolia and musks are in there somewhere, but I can't smell them individually (I'll also admit I have no idea what bamboo smells like). It gives it a perfumey dimension, but overall I found this to be a foody, and not a woodsy, scent.

 

It's not really for me, I just found it to be too sweet. You will like it if you are a fan of Sugar Skull.

Edited April 26, 2012 by TilHelvete

[Winter_Wanderer]

-

Edited October 7, 2016 by Winter_Wanderer

[mymymai]

ITB: It's sweet and herbal, almost like herbal lozenges, although there is enough musk, fig, and clove to keep it interesting.

 

Wet: It's a bit more woody on my skin - clear walnut and some other, warmer wood. This is followed by a musky fig tone with clove. The lozenge-like note I believe is the bamboo, which is still pretty prevalent.

 

Dry: Once it begins to settle, the fig warms up and, together with the clove, becomes a lovely tone paired with the wood and bamboo.

[cvelis]

Why repeat oneself when PurringPulsar & Akurarei said it best, Wood Phoenix is Australian Copperhead + Leo 07 love child. It's that perfect mix of musk, walnut, and a touch of berry bringing warmth, comfort with a slight touch of sultry goodness. I'm in love.

[filigree_shadow]

It's 2015, and this came out in 2008, so this oil has been aging for 7 years in a decanted clear vial. It's well-aged at this point. And, amazing.

 

I remember not liking it much when I first got it, and the poor thing has been sitting around ever since. I've been going through my old pile of untested/swappable imps recently, and I got this one out half-heartedly, remembering I wasn't impressed. I was very, very pleasantly surprised.

 

It smells like a sweetly figgy, smooth chamomile, gentle wood scent. Well blended, soft, and, almost... luxurious. I'm super tempted to try to track down a bottle, even at this late date, although I'm a little worried that whatever has been sitting in a bottle won't smell quite like this. Oils age differently in clear vials than they do in bottles. So I don't know what a bottle would smell like. But I sure can vouch for this little decant I have... pretty heavenly.

[claudia6913]

I love BPAL's bamboo note, but the walnut ... not sure about that. I know almond is no good on me. Ooh, the bamboo is very apparent when wet and the fig gives it a nice juicy sweetness. I believe it's the clove giving a touch of spice. The musk is gentle and blends very well with the floral. The chamomile is giving the fig a nice boost. The walnut isn't very apparent to me. The woods are soft and inviting. Wow. This is a terrific blend! You would think the woods would be heavy, but they're not. This would be an awesome blend for the spring/early summer. Reminds me of the shungas.