Gold Phoenix

[milo]

Three ambers representing common gold, astral gold, and elementary gold, with verbena, angelica, and heliotrope that has been purified by frankincense and Gum Arabic.

Mmm, this is a lovely lemony spicy blend, with a touch of amber. The spices kind of remind me of some high end dude fragrance, but can't think of what it is. It totally is unisex, though, and I like it just fine. It is a 'dress up, and go out on the town' kind of blend to me. Very expensive, clubbing kind of fragrance. Not so sure that it's 'me', though, I certainly do like it, and am comtemplating a bottle depending how the rest of the trial of this goes...

[veronicafranco]

i tend to like these sunlit sorts of bpals (someone mentioned sol invictus - i would add labores solis, which shares several notes with this). the bright, rich lemon verbena puts this one over the top. after wearing for a while, it does develop a metallic note i only notice close to my skin - but that's pretty cool, considering what fragrance this is.

 

i wore this to work yesterday on a day most places around here were shut down for snow, but we had to go in. i am a poetic little nerd, but it did feel like wearing warm sunshine around the building. it's a great scent for that kind of day!

[nekogrrl]

I was hesitant about trying this one because so far out of the 'sunlight' blends I've tried (Sol Invictus, Sportive Sun come to mind specifically) or blends which have some of those notes in them (Velvet Tiger) they haven't worked. At all.

 

So I was really surprised when it did.

 

Wet, there was a definite ORANGE smell which I suspect was the frangipani as it really reminded me of Velvet Tiger. It was luckily not the 'getitoffgetitoff' type though, which I suspect was due to the ambers. On drydown it became a touch metallic, but still was a very 'warm' kind of scent, which stuck fairly close to the skin. (Which, if I like it, it usually does. If I exude scent, I'm usually gagging.)

 

Definite bottle.

[Blood onmy hands]

I usually hate lemon verbena scents, but I find myself enjoying Gold Phoenix, even with its strong verbena note. Lemon is strong and center stage on me, but the other notes really soften its edges and keep it from going sour. This is a very golden, sunny smelling blend. The amber and heliotrope go powdery on me, and something in this smells slightly herbal and keeps making me think of wildflowers. Verbena is usually sharp, sour lemon on me, but something in this turns the lemon into a sweet, lemon dessert type smell.

 

In the drydown, Gold Phoenix smells like sweet lemon, sun-warmed wildflowers, and a touch of powder & sweet resins on me. It makes me think of laying in the sunshine in a field on a hot summer's day with a glass of lemonade. I expected to hate this, but I'll definitely be keeping my decant

[Coldfire]

 

 

Decant: verbena and heliotrope

Wet on Me: clean, bright and sunny snelling, I get the Heliotrope and verbena and a faint ghosting of the francincense.

Drying Down: Going soapy on me. A Sunny soapy scent.

Dry: Soap. Nice clean sunny soap.

[papermaker]

This is golden sunshine. At first this is all verbena. More verbena. Then just a little more. Then just as fast there was amber It never goes powdery, but it softens the verbena. I like this as a more summery scent.

[Wildbriar]

Wow, this is really different from what I expected! When I first apply it wet to my skin it is very bright citrus (verbena) and really juicy! As it dries it smells to my nose exactly like orange blossoms.... like I'm standing in the middle of an orange grove in the spring. I swear I can even hear the humming of the honey bees!

 

This is yummy but not a wearable scent for me, too floral-y sweet for my tastes but might translate well to a room scent.

[ralenth]

Bottle: Bright, sweet, golden sunshine.

 

Wet: Lemonheads rolled in crystallized sugar.

 

Drydown: Softened a little at the edges, but still a strong core of Lemonheads.

 

Dry: Bright, sunny, citrus sock to the jaw. So cheerful. Oy.

 

Overall: If I ever needed a pick-me-up, I might reach for this, but it's not my normal game.

[MamaMoth]

Of all the notes in this, verbena was the only one that I hoped would take a backseat. (Everything else was <3) So of course, lemony verbena is all I can smell. After it's had plenty of time to dry down, I think I can smell the barest whiff of powdery resin behind it, but unfortunately by this time the verbena has taken a soapy tinge.

[fairnymph]

Bright and citrusy - lots of Pledge-y verbena, metallic gold, beautiful sunny heliotrope, a little rooty angelica and warm resins. It does smell very appropriate for the concept. I get more gum arabic than frankincense.

 

Super, super verbena-y, with also amped angelica and less so, heliotrope. This is really the first strongly metallic gold note I've smelled and I like it! It's amped too, fortunately, as is the gum arabic. The frankincense is still hiding - there's a bit of sweet warmth, but not much wood or smoke or darkness. This is a very bright and clean, shiny-feeling blend.

 

Dry, the verbena has burnt off a little bit - thank god - but it's still the strongest note here, and it gives the blend a very strong throw. The heliotrope has amped quite a lot and sweetens this blend subtly - this is one of the most heliotrope-forward blends I've tested. That angelic has turned a little powdery, but it's nicer like this; I prefer it softened and without that rooty tone. I really like the gum arabic, surprisingly - it's very smooth and comforting and almost creamy, and balances the tang of the gold nicely.

 

Verbena continues to fade but sadly the heliotrope is fading a little now too. Even more sadly the metal note has almost completely disappeared, Angelic and gum arabic are still nice and smooth, frankincense is still absent. Now I feel like I get...lilac? A heady floral. From where, I don't know. I also get a little orange peel. WTH, these came out of nowhere!

 

Final drydown is a mixture of heady lilac and Pledge-y lemon verbena, over much light, almost creamy-smooth, slightly powdery angelica and gum arabic and a bit of glowing heliotrope, and the tiniest little glimmer of golden metal. Unfortunately the surprise lilac note makes my face itch badly, and I can't ever handle this much or this type of verbena. No frankincense at any point, at least. Strong throw and longevity.

[jennnina]

i love this so much! it is pretty soft citrus on me. it reminds me a lot of the smell of sandstone soap from lush. i might have to get another bottle.

[crebbsgirl]

Well, the frankincense here behaved surprisingly well on my skin. Normally it goes to playdoh. This wasn't a powdery blend like I was expecting from the three ambers. It did go a little perfume-y on me though. It was dry and a little citrussy from the verbena I think. The heliotrope was not a predominant note here, but rather something that floated through the blend.

[tartchef]

I requested this on a whim, & once it arrived I set it aside, distracted by other smellies... I feel silly now - to think something this lovely was staring at me for weeks!

 

Normally lemon verbena amps to high heaven on me, but in Gold Phoenix it is remarkably balanced & very true to the real thing - I think the angelica is giving a boost to the green sweetness. The heliotrope & ambers are quite subdued, adding just a bit of silkiness that echoes the frankincense. The end scent is clean & sweet & bright, like the true sunlight of a late spring day. Lovely, & just the thing to lift me out of the winter blahs...

[Argentwolf]

I get sweet, slightly lemony florals from this...and then it poofs away and dissipates. Even hard huffing at my skin doesn't seem to reveal much! Which is puzzling, because a couple of people commented on it smelling nice...so I'm wondering what they hell they were smelling! I suppose I'll hang onto my decant for a while, but it seemed pointless to buy a bottle of something I can't even smell.

[Ancientgirl]

I ordered this scent because I love amber, but the ambers are a little bit shy. When I first put it on, it smells like a lemon lollipop, but in a good way. It's a light, sunny scent that I think will be terrific for the summer time.

After having it on for an hour or so, the amber comes out, a little bit powdery but nice. It's more complex than a straight verbena, though that is the scent that comes on the strongest. It doesn't have a lot of throw, but that will make it a good choice for when I'm self-conscious about wearing something too strong.

Pretty, if not quite what I expected.

Ancientgirl

[hellomoonglow]

100% perfect! I initially thought in the bottle it smells like Tarot: The Sun, because of the citrus but on my skin, it smells totally different. I get lime or lemon, creamy amber and a little vanilla. It lasts for a long time and has excellent throw. At one point when huffing my wrist I got just a spark of tobacco in the back of my throat and then it vanished. This really is a complex, bright, beautiful scent!

[Pika]

This is a surprising hit for me. It's very citrusy at first, but settles to a bright, happy, spicy-florally scent. I had a sneaking suspicion I smelled a little like laundry detergent about 2 hours in, but it was still yummy laundry detergent and I didn't mind. This is a much more "conventional" fragrance than many of the BPALs I like, but it's still unique. It probably helps that it's starting to be spring outside right now, but it's just the lovely, fresh, and a touch girly scent I was looking for, and I might have to acquire another decant.

[yeahbutnobut]

Gold Phoenix

 

In the imp: definitely verbena, with a hint of resin and metal.

Wet on skin: very, very lemony. It reminds me of Et Lux Fuit.

Dry on skin: where’s the amber and frankincense? This is overwhelmingly verbena to me. In small amounts I can tolerate it but in here it’s not a small amount, and it’s my least favourite of the citrus-type notes. I can smell some heliotrope, a bit of metal, and a weird sort of oily undertone that I’m sure is a side effect of the verbena. But there’s very little of the resins and the amber. Just traces-at times I swear I smell a hint of frankincense, and the blend of heliotrope and a lemony note is highly reminiscent of Et Lux Fuit, but it’s the weird oily-bitter undertone this has that I’m not crazy about. Where is the amber overload I hoped for? I can’t even smell the amber!

After a while: interestingly, I smell something a little metallic, a hint of a gold note, but it’s not at all like ozone or the cologney metal note I’m used to. But sadly the verbena just won’t budge. This is unusual because citrus notes usually burn off fast, even the ‘faux’ citruses (like lemongrass and verbena), but in here it sticks around for ages, and I’m not sure if it’s the angelica or heliotrope, but there’s a floral note that doesn’t work here. I smell a bit more frankincense, which I love, but where the heck is the amber?

Verdict: this ranks as one of my biggest ever BPAL heartbreaks. It was supposed to be made of pure and utter win. I was hoping that one day there’d be a Gold Phoenix scent. and when there was and I saw the notes, I squeed with joy. I mean, three ambers, frankincense, just those alone should make this stunning and amberrific and resinous and golden. But then there’s the verbena note. it has a habit of amping to turn into the dreaded lemon soap smell of death, but I thought resins would subdue this troublesome note. Hell no. Verbena stomps all over the resins and completely owns the scent, turning it to overwhelming lemon that turns to lemon soap with a bitter oily undertone and the other floral notes turn to soap. I wanted resins with a hint of lemon, not the other way round! Gold Phoenix, or rather, lemon verbena and florals + my skin chemistry, you broke my heart into a thousand pieces, and ruined what could have been the most awesome scent of awesomeness.

Emoticon rating:

Is it a keeper? *sobs* no!

If you like this, try: Litha, Et Lux Fuit, Helios, No 93 Engine, Sol Invictus, Arcana, Lilith and the Jarocho

Edited May 1, 2010 by yeahbutnobut

[aquazoo]

It almost smells like paper at first. I get the verbena, which is a pretty candied lemon. I can definitely smell the ambers in it, too. This is nice!

[Dharklady]

In bottle: Bright and glittering. A high, sharp scent.

Wet: This feels a lot like a daylight version of Yvaine. Where Yvaine is a clear starry night sky, Gold Phoenix is crisp beams of sunlight shining through a touch of wispy clouds in a clear blue summer sky.

Dry: Dry this has very little morph. It glistens and sparkles and lasts for a good long while.

Notes: Whereas I could practically see the red amber/orange of the Copper Phoenix, Gold is more yellow gold. The verbena really helps it shine just as brightly as the actual metal and it has very little morph. It’s a pretty blend but sharp.

 

Edited May 12, 2010 by Erisea

[Lethran]

In bottle: Obviously it’s amber dominant. Thanks to the other elements, the effect is rather like Amber chewing gum with a touch of frankinsense. The effect is a touch odd, but not unpleasantly so. Wet: The heliotrope is a touch dissonant, but the overall effect is luscious. It’s still Amber chewing gum, but the other elements are more distinct, particularly verbena. Dry: mostly Amber. I’d think there was a touch of sandalwood in this, if I didn’t know better.

[filigree_shadow]

This smells like a kind of acidic orange on me, with the ambers going powdery. Oops. My skin has trouble with a few of those notes, so I didn't really have high hopes for this one anyway.

 

I like the overall feel of it, though -- it does smell pretty golden. I can tell it's my skin chemistry that's botching up the whole thing. I bet it smells lovely on someone else.

[Delirium1009]

In bottle/imp: A sharp blast of lemony verbena followed my silky warm smooth notes of amber and a touch of heliotrope.

 

Immediately on skin: This is very heavy on the verbena, and at first is a very heavy bit of lemon. As I sniff, though, it finishes with a smooth touch of amber and heliotrope, and there’s a bit of resin to this that gives it a nice base.

 

After a little while: This is still very strong on the lemon verbena, with just a little amber and heliotrope making it warm and glowing, and some resins for depth. It’s very assertive and a bit on the unisex side. It’s not sweet, but it is very citrus-y and smooth at the same time.

 

Overall Impressions: This blend is very strong on the verbena with just a bit of amber, heliotrope and resins to temper it and smoothe it out. Very nice, but a bit unisex for me.

[grrrlennyl]

Gold Phoenix

 

On: Wow. I'm mostly getting verbena, with a hint of something sweeter underneath. Beautiful.

1 hour in: Lovely, powdery amber with the citrus scent of verbena. Lovely.

5 hours in: Citrussy amber. So nice.

Overall: This is an incredibly beautiful scent, but I'm not sure if it's something I would reach for often.

[MonkeysInk]

This is a beautiful, sharp golden floral when I first put it on, but within an hour, my skin has eaten it. If I press my hand to my nose, I get a tiny whiff of powdery amber.