morganlise

Wow, sounds like I'm in the minority, because this was a strange hit on me! Based upon the smell wet, which is ALL wintergreen, I wasn't expecting it. In the imp, it smells like a complex, woody scent. When first applied, however, it turns into Total Wintergreen Oblivion. This is not my favorite stage of all perfumes of all time, but I guess I am fortunate that I like wintergreen and don't necessarily associate it solely with toothpaste. I'm okay with that part, which lasts about ten minutes on me, (my skin eats perfumes, so it goes fast,) but I'm in lurrrrrrrrrrrrrve with what follows. The wintergreen calms down, finally, and lets the woods shine through, I think it's oak. Wintergreen is still there, but it's more subdued. The whole perfume takes on a sweetness. And at THIS point, and the drydown thereafter where the mint fades even more and it sweetens further, it reminds me vividly of something from childhood that I can't quite put a finger on. This won't be helpful, I know, but this is a scent memory for me. It's very strange, and I can see why so many people don't like it, but for me, it awakens something sentimental. I'm so glad I tried it on my skin! I nearly put this imp up for sale without giving it a fair shake!

This perfume is HEAVEN. It's literally why I keep ordering BPAL, is because I'm hoping that there will be scents like this that knock my socks off. This to me is related to two of my other favorites, Smut and Shadowy and the Sublime, but takes its own unique path from there. It's not as sweet as either, but there's a similar note that just makes me swooooooooooooon. I am pretty sure that I primarily get the opoponax, neroli, musk and tonka. It's deliciously dark. LOVE IT. It's in my next order for sure, possibly with a backup, which I never do.

This is one of my top 10 of all time, I just love it. I love the beautiful floral-amber combo of wisteria, magnolia, angelica and resins. It reminds me of a very expensive niche perfume, which I mean as the greatest of compliments. Just gorgeous! (Sorry I can't be more specific, I find I'm sort of bad at analyzing the ones I really love because they tend to be very complex like this guy!)

Have to agree with Penance, this is VERY peppery. It's almost so peppery that I feel like I'm smelling oregano or a cooking herb... Wet is my favorite stage, where it's freshly ground pepper and something vaguely sweet hanging around in the background which I think is the Peru balsam. (Peru balsam should be a vanillic, slightly sweet scent.) I honestly think some sort of pepper essential oil is an unlisted ingredient here because it's so strong. Regardless, I'm not a fan, but glad I got to try it!

I feel the need to defend this one, because it's so pretty on me! I get a perfect balance of fir and an intangible "icy" quality that lasts and has decent (but not obnoxious) throw. Never turns soapy, just beautiful icy forest straight through. Full disclosure: I do wear lots of conventional alcohol based scents too, not just oils. I don't read this as "cologne-y" but then again that wouldn't turn me off, either. YMMV.

Ugh, this one is a definite miss on me, at least in the early stages. It's strange, because all of the notes appeal to me, but they do something nasty when they're all bunched up together in one scent. It's the interaction of the tuberose, gardenia, plumeria and rose that is just going "YUEERRRRRKK!" on me. I swear I get an indolic note when I first put it on, something smells bathroom-y. It does get better with time. The rose and most of the florals die off a bit and I'm left with a pear note that's nice, but it's not nice enough to suffer through the opening phases. Ah well, glad to have tried the frimp!

I can't really add much to this, or express my feelings coherently beyond, "Good gods, I love this!!" I ordered this one from a forumite a few months ago on a total whim. I own Thierry Mugler's Angel, but have never picked up a classic "chocolate" note from that, nor do I own any other scents with chocolate notes and I was sure I wouldn't care for it. (Which begs the question, "Why did you order it then??" The simple answer is, I'm a Lovecraft fan and the concept of Cthulhu in love was just too funny. The complex answer would have to involve well-placed intuition, I guess! ) This is classic chocolate at the start, like a real cocoa powder, not sweetened. I have no problem with sweet scents, but this is Cthulhu and I appreciate the no-nonsense approach. It's chocolate with watery notes hovering in the background for the first half hour to hour or so, at which point it gives over almost entirely to a salty, very mellow combination of aquatics and possibly some sort of woods/resin/musk blend, I have a hard time telling exactly what. I'm also not usually a fan of aquatics, which makes my love for this all the stranger! Like I said, this was NOT a bottle that made sense for me just from the notes, and I feel so lucky to have taken a chance on it anyways. It also lasts quite a decent amount of time on me in both its phases, too. Since I got this, I think it has become my Favorite BPAL, even though it's hard to pick just one. The creativity blows me away, and the notes are so unique and weird yet so well-blended. :love!:

[Edited, because my previous post was far too long and wordy!] 2010, Lab fresh, just received about 5 days ago. Be forewarned: This is EXTREMELY lemony. The pipe smoke does come out after about 30 - 45 minutes and is quite nice, but it smells a lot like a lemon drop until then. It's not furniture polish by any means, but not at all what I was expecting based on the notes listed. Tried it on a friend and she had the same experience as me. While I don't expect the Lab to give away every detail of their formulas, this is such a strong note that I feel it should have been listed. I'm going to age my bottle to see what happens.

#$*&%%&!!! ROFLMAO, thank you soooo much, I feel like such a doofus! I scrolled down to the appropriate section of the listings on top, not realizing that the Conjure Bag was below it. Thank you, thank you, off to purchase even MORE lovely smellies... (Oh and also: This is a perfect case of "Try using 'Find' before you ask and look like an idiot." Tell your kids.)

All Night Long and Horn of Plenty And just so you know, you can access a scent's review page by typing in the scent name under the search function on the blackphoenixalchemylab.com website. Just type the name of the scent into the search bar, find it in the list of scents that the search produces, and then click on its name. Plainjean, thanks for the reply! I'm sorry, I realized later that I was unclear when I posted this: I was hoping to still buy bottles of these two from the Lab itself. Have they been discontinued? They don't seem to be available on the BPAL site anymore. (Although I realize now, looking at the links, that All Night Long is NOT a Bewitching Brew, as I previously had thought, oops!) Thanks for the help, but I guess I'm still looking for more.

Can anyone help me find Horn of Plenty? It's supposed to be in Bewitching Brews, but I'm not seeing it there. Also, All Night Long, from the same category? Thanks!

I don't think Snake Oil particularly needs more reviews, but I'll throw mine in here because of a very interesting (to me) similarity it bears. First of all, I love and adore Snake Oil. It's the kind of fragrance that was designed for me, heady, vanillic, dark and incense-y. I LOVE heavy, dark scents, and this is definitely one of the heaviest out there, BPAL or otherwise. First application is very nice, but for me it's the drydown that keeps me coming back. Anyways, I finally got to smell a few of the Serge Lutens perfumes this weekend in San Francisco. I had just worn Snake Oil the day before, so the scent was fresh in my mind when I tried Fumerie Turque. I quite liked the SL scent, but realized almost immediately that Snake Oil is a dead ringer for it! So, if you want to avoid paying $120 for a bottle of Fumerie Turque, you might try Snake Oil first.

I got this as a frimp with my most recent lab order. (Thanks guys! Always an interesting selection.) In the bottle, Imp smells a little fruity, but I mostly get patchouli. Wet, I get straight up patchouli and a touch of incense, but almost no peach! Which is a shame, because I think a hint of a peachy note would really make this one pop. Perhaps I don't eat enough fruit and my body decided to eat the peach through my skin? It's about an hour into the drydown now, and I'm also getting a kind of dusty note from it when I sniff it up close. It is really pretty though, and definitely on the "headshop" side of BPAL scents. I just remembered that it might be a weird time of the month to be sampling new fragrances too... Okay, I'll try it again in a week or so and will give it a good shake before application. If I remember, I'll post my new notes!

As I've said before, I'm still relatively new to BPAL, but noticed that Samhain seemed to be awfully popular and frequently discussed. I was overjoyed when it was offered again with the Halloweenies this year because I figured, based on the notes, "concept" and reviews, that I'd be a fan. Let me say, this is true love! It perfectly embodies the spirit of this time of year. On me, it's definitely a morpher. In the bottle, it smells simultaneously sweet AND spicy ( ) and rather a lot like mulled wine. Newly wet, it smells the same. I was a little worried about that at first, because while I found it interesting, I wasn't sure at first that I was in LOVE with it. I didn't have to wait long for the love to come, as about 30 mins - 1 hour in, it blossoms into a heady, gorgeous, spicy apple honey smell. And I'm on the floor and sniffing myself and calling all of my friends to tell them I'm marrying a perfume. The honey smell is what lingers the longest for me, and it does have good staying power and throw throughout. ( ~ 4 hours, and my skin tends to eat up perfume lately.) I've ordered a second bottle already, but I'm already wondering if that will be enough to keep me going through the year. And what if it weren't offered next year? Nuts, better get back on the site and pick up a few more...

Well, this is my first review here at BPAL.org... Exciting! I am pretty new to BPAL, and this is the first scent I ever received as an eBay transaction. I have to say, I've since bought about 5 more bottles from both the Lab and eBay and received about 20 imps, (thank you all so much!!! I love getting those eBay boxes full of delicious imps!), and this, my first purchase, is still my favorite. On me, it smells like a musky spice cookie. It's strong - good throw and lasts quite a while. My boyfriend smelled me across the room about an hour into the drydown, and started sniffing the air. "What perfume are you wearing? It smells GOOD!" Might I note, he doesn't often offer compliments on whatever perfume I'm wearing unless I stick my arm under his nose and demand a reaction. Unsolicited compliment! I just love this scent. On me, it's warm, and definitely Christmasy, and most of all, spicey. Delicious! (Note: Obviously, since I bought this on eBay and it was a Limited Edition a few years ago, my bottle is aged. Might be a different sensory experience for others!)