Lead Phoenix

[fairnymph]

A dark and lusterless scent that contains the potential for limitless spiritual radiance: tobacco absolute, hemlock, plum, cypress, styrax, olibanum, and wild lettuce.

Dark and woodsy; lots of evergreeny-hemlock, dark, dark resins, intense, dark tobacco and a little fresher cypress. Masculine, HEAVY, dark. Not getting the lettuce or plum at all, and not even the sweetness of the styrax.

Hemlock and cypress, whoa! This is all about the evergreen woods. The hemlock smells like real pine (not BPAL's usual 'air freshener/cleaner pine' note), like crushing actual pine needles of some sort between your fingers, very evocative. The cypress has that light citrusy aspect that brightens this a tiny bit, but the hemlock is definitely dominating this blend. The olibanum is pretty strong too, sort of smoky-woody, definitely resinous, but not incensey. The tobacco is dark and astringent.

Ohhhhh this is SO much better! The plum and styrax have come out and are gorgeously deep and sweet, jammy in a lovely way. A little wild lettuce has emerged too, it's almost juicy, watery and cool and helps lighten this otherwise still very heavy blend. The hemlock has greatly receded while the cypress has amped a little, so that this is a fresher woodsy scent, again, less dark and less heavy and less overwhelming.

Plum is in command, that rich, black plum note of Hellion and Mme Moriarty. The tobacco has smoothed out into a rich, sophisticated note that reminds me of the note in Quincy Morris, though it's also faded a little. Unfortunately the oibanum has turned much more like frankincense - sweeter, smokier, even a little dusty - this may be the dealbreaker in this blend for me.

I think this is just a shade too dark and masculine for me, and that smoky-woody olibanum makes it so. Such a shame, bc the plum and tobacco notes are utterly gorgeous, the cypress and lettuce lovely though the latter is sadly very faint, and the hemlock is totally manageable. It's resiny, woodsy, dark plum and tobacco. No metal in this blend that I can ever pick out. Great throw and good longevity. Edited March 22, 2010 by Shollin

[crebbsgirl]

I got mostly styrax and olibanum with plum in this one. The lettuce note was a little more prominent in the wet stages, but it didn't stick around very long. I got absolutely no tobacco here, which was most disappointing, as I love me some tobacco. Overall, this just didn't blend well with my skin chemistry I don't think. Something was just off and a little nauseating. It was very masculine on me, so maybe that's my issue.

[naeelah]

I'm not much of a fan of metallics, so I was pretty safe from the anniversary blends this year. But something about Lead appealed to me. I knew it really would smell like lead, but most of the notes (tobacco, plum, resins) are things that I love, and that age beautifully, so if ever there was a metal I'd like, surely it would be this one.

 

Wet, it certainly does smell like lead. (Or, for something I'm more familiar with, pewter.) It's soft and grey with a cold, sharp edge. I can smell the cypress as a part of this cold edge, but I wonder if there's also some penny royal. Something just smells minty.

 

After a couple of hours, the metallic, cold, minty quality wears down and the sweet plum and tobacco core warms up. Once you get past the initial application, it really doesn't smell so much like a metallic scent. It's certainly doesn't have the lab's usual metal notes. It's cool and strong on the outside, but soft and sweet on the inside.

 

It has a very slight fuzzy smoky quality. It doesn't strike me as being like incense, but there is a haziness. The cypress continues to lend a cool top quality that does feel slightly metallic in context. The plum is also a little bit tart. The tobacco is slightly sweet and rich, but it's not strong. Nothing in this blends dominates, to my nose. It's a fairly even blend of cold, warm, smoky, and sweet.

 

This has none of the ozone, vetiver, or aquatic notes of typical metal blends, so it's well worth trying just for comparison. As I'd hoped, this suits me much better than any other metal blend I've ever tried.

 

Very curious to see how this one ages!

[Argentwolf]

I actually do get straight up lettuce leaf from this! It's so weird. It does do well in evoking lead, as it has a dull gray, soft, almost smokey sort of aura to it. Unfortunately, like almost all the phoenixes, it quickly turns to generic cologne and then fades away.

[lizzyshoe]

This anniversary scent is sort of a "branching out" for me, away from sweet fruity bright scents into something darker and complex. Here are my thoughts:

 

In the bottle: Sharp, almost green-gray metallic scent. I think I'm getting mostly tobacco. The bottle art is lovely!

 

Wet: The scent sharpens up even more. It's round and sharp at the same time... there's something almost pine-smelling in it. For some reason I'm reminded of a hardware store as you're walking to the garden center. Mostly hardware, but also plants!

 

Drydown: I think some of the background fruits are coming out now. Maybe plum? It's definitely sweeter now, and the broad tobacco leaf smell has calmed down.

 

Dry: My skin amps sweetness and eats up spice. This scent has just a touch of sweet, and it's got a pretty low throw after it dries. It smells much less like metal and much more like a fruit tree, in spring after the blossoms have gone away it's...mostly leaves with a little bit of metal and a touch of sweetness.

 

I love this one, but in a different way than my daily-wear scents. I'm glad I have a bottle, but I think it's one I'll use up slowly.

[Indigo78]

Kinda vegetal at first. This isn't how the bottle test-wore when I first got it, but I did kinda slather this time.

 

After a minute this is getting really herbal, almost medicinal/camphorous. It reminds me of an Elemi and Rosemary soap cream I had once. *gets sad*

 

I'm going to do something else for awhile and try not to think about this. Worst comes to worst, I'll kill it with Snake Oil.

 

5 minutes - Salad Bar?! WTF.

 

I guess... I remember loving this at first sniff. But I had other scents to wear and put it away to sit. I eventually did slather it with Snake Oil after about 5 minutes because 1.) I already took a shower and I need to go to bed, and 2.) the combo worked when I tried it another time.

 

But... Dammit! Salad? I might need to retest this in another week, because I remember it being *so* beautiful. My chemistry's been everywhere because of not smoking and new life habits in general... So I'll give it another spin in a few days.

 

eta: My skin must have been cold last night. Lead Phoenix did eventually lose that minty salad vibe, morphing into the tart, yummy plum blend that I remembered from that initial test. Then my skin ate it. By the time I laid down it was all but gone even after the ridiculous slathering. Still, I'm happy to have a bottle. It's got the same tartness that's in some of my favorites like Dionysia and Snake Charmer.

Edited April 16, 2010 by Indig0

[filigree_shadow]

Definitely dark and lusterless. Good for people who like resin scents that smell a bit sticky and sweet. This one has a definite edge to it -- it's not entirely resinous. There's something additional in there that smells like a harsh herb (is that hemlock?). It's a bit too masculine for me, but I think my husband might like it, so I'll hand it over to him.

 

ETA: Yep, he likes it. He's keeping the decant. I advised him to take it easy when he wears it though because WHEW! Strong stuff!

Edited July 10, 2010 by filigree_shadow

[grrrlennyl]

Lead Phoenix

 

On: This is crazy. Sort of a lush, damp floral, but the cypress is really strong, too. I don't think I've tried a blend like this before. That said, cypress (and pine, spruce, etc.) all remind me very strongly of xmas, so I'm hoping this doesn't overwhelm it too badly.

Half an hour in: I can't really pick the notes out of this. It's definitely a bit sweet, in a slightly fruity sort of way, with a hint of cypress in the background. Other than that, I'm not sure.

1.5 hours in: Now this seems like a salty, heady floral. How odd.

2.5 hours in: Vaguely woody.

Overall: I don't know what I was thinking, but this is far more complex on me than I thought it would be. Unfortunately, it dries down to a slightly odd wood scent on my skin.

[lady_pandora]

I got a sniffie of Lead Phoenix a while back from a lovely forumite as an extra, and it turns out there was just enough oil for a skin test! It starts out plum and dark incense, and then the plum fades and a note I can't identify takes over; it really does smell like metal a bit! It's faint on me, but that may just be because there isn't much oil. Glad I got the chance to try it!