Black Phoenix

[ziggystardust13]

Our signature oil. A dark, languid scent. Promotes hedonistic tendencies and extreme self-love. You won’t stop kissing mirrors for a month.

 

I was so disappointed in this one! Especially because I loved it when I first sniffed it out of the imp and upon applying...

But all that cherry almond deliciousness completely vanished and I was left with powdery rose. And I like rose, but not this! How sad. With a name like Black Phoenix, this should be amazing!

[LizziesLuck]

I tried this way back when I first started collecting in 2005. I didn't care for it. But I have recently retried a number of things I didn't like or didn't work with my chemistry way back then and found that I love and can wear them now, so I thought this was worth a retest too.

 

 

Wet: Super strong cherry/almond. There's a floral underneath that I think is rose, and it's doing that citrusy thing rose sometimes does. An interesting combo! But it's going quite soapy already.

 

 

Dry: This dries down to straight-up red rose on me. Which is not that odd, considering I amp rose to high heaven. I certainly don't dislike it at all, however I have A LOT of rose in my collection already, and don't feel this is "different" enough to need a bottle. Really glad to have retried it though! Shows how much my skin chemistry has changed, as my notes from ten years ago indicate this smelled like "fake cherry" on me at the time.

[kajacana]

Wet on skin: cherry! almond! cherry! almond! CHERRY!!! ALMOND!!!!!!!

As it dries down, it morphs completely into a floral -- mostly rose, I think? Soft, pink rose. Totally different from the wet stage, it's like two completely different scents.

Straight-up florals aren't my thing so this one will be finding a new home.

[Casablanca]

On the wand, sweet cherry almond marzipan sort of stuff.

 

When I apply this, I don’t even need to raise my arm to sniff. I’m getting a blast of syrupy cherry almond already. Except… there’s red rose, too. So I sniff. Cherry-vanilla amaretto red rose, and maybe a backup flower or two. It feels like rose might not be the only flower in town here. And, once it dries, some amber or labdanum? Something resinous, anyway.

 

This one isn’t my game.

[Coldfire]

Imp: oh cheeezus cherry almond sticky sweetness overload
Wet on me: now I'm getting cherry almond with air freshener rose
Drying Down: oh this blend and my skin are at WAR!!!!!!
Dry: My skin did evil evil things to this. To trade!

[gloame]

I love this. It reminds me of Dr. Pepper chapstick that I used to have when I was a tween. At first, anyway. Lovely, fat cherries in a thick syrup. Deep, dry resin. Laughter at a brothel. Aged bourbon, without the boozy vibe. Slutty and confident in the best way.

Where I'd wear this: To a dancing girls show, in the 18th century, Paris.

[Samuraibrarian]

This is an interesting mix. Discernible notes are bitter almond, cinnamon, and sandalwood, maybe a bit of rosewood on the drydown. For me, this goes on with a very dish-soap-y top note, but that fades in about half an hour and makes it very pleasant to wear.

[torikitty]

wet: Yeah, I can see cola for this.

Drydown: Instead of going more almond on me, I seem to be amping roses? Powdery roses. Not a fan.

[Lucchesa]

This is a morpher. Wet, it’s that marzipan cherry almond note I’m very fond of. But it’s dries down to rose, a slightly incensey rose, which isn’t working on me.

Edited December 5, 2020 by Lucchesa

[doomsday_disco]

I've tested this one before, but I neglected to review it.

 

In the imp: This is strong on the cherry-almond, which is what I remember it being like.

 

Wet: This is still strong on the cherry-almond, although the cherry aspect was stronger in the imp, and I am getting lots of skin musk now. It isn't long before it just turns into almond and skin musk.

 

Dry: The skin musk reigns, and while the almond is still present, it isn't nearly as strong as it was before. A rose note has also emerged during this stage, and there's a Dr. Pepper-quality present (which I usually get from Florentine iris, but I'm not sure it's that note doing it).

 

After a while, I also get a soft, powdery myrrh note from this.

 

Verdict: This one is okay, but not one I would ever reach for.

[Bamels]

Frimp. In the imp it smells like something in my food cupboard. A hidden chocolate stash maybe? Looking through others' responses, I can now pick out the almond. It's not too sweet or foody, which is nice. A soapy note is starting to come through now it's drying. It's getting softer as it dries, it's not unpleasant at all, but I was expecting a bit more of a WOW factor from it. It's gone slightly powdery now. I think this will go to the swaps as I don't wear powder scents any more.

[Biocarbons]

Received this recently as a frimp. 

 

Wet: STRONG maraschino cherries with just a hint of almond and green in the background.

 

Dry: within 10 minutes of application it dried down and turned into absolute powder (tuberose/carnation). 

 

I was hoping for coca cola, oh well. Into the trade pile it goes.

[neuilly]

Initially this is a strong cherry syrup and almond/amaretto note. After less than a minute I start to get an incense note working it's way in - note sure what kind (I thought at first patchouli but I've seen other people mention sandalwood or myrrh). Fully dry I get much more of a rose soap with background incense.  My favorite note is probably the almond. This is definitely a morpher. None of it is bad, but not of it feels like "me".

[torischroeder9]

In the imp: Almond, almond, SUPER ALMOND, and also cherry. 

 

On my skin:

 

Wet, it's still SUPER ALMOND with a cherry afterthought. Once dry, the super almond and cherry both fade, and I'm left with something vaguely incensey. Given more time to develop, the incense note increases though I can't completely identify the specifics of it. Frankincense, maybe? I also smell rose starting to peek through. 

 

The rose increases and the incense factor decreases until it's very like the rose-infused amber in The Little Wooden Doll (with maybe a little less rose, a little more powder). And once rose gets its thorns into a scent, that scent is now in its final form on me. 

 

The last time I tried Black Phoenix had to have been circa 2006, and I remember it being all almond and cherry on me. Though I'm still not sure I love rose incense, this is a definite improvement. Going to keep this around for at least one more try. 

[Kmichh]

In the vial it smells like cola to me but on my skin it is mostly just roses. 😕

 

If you like roses, you'll probably like this!

[spookyumbrella]

Makes me think of Dr. Pepper, or some spiced soda like that,  mixed with berries and cherries. Unashamedly sweet and I am loving it!

[Brigdh]

In bottle: Almond. Heavy, sweet almond oil.

Wet: Almond and a light smoke, maybe an incense, with a slight floral in the background, I think probably rose.

Dry: Warm, clove and sandalwood, but the dominant note is almond. A perfume that’s evocative of the Middle East to me (seriously this smells way more like Baghdad than the one named “Baghdad” does), but would also make a good winter scent, to give you warmth and cheer on gray cold days. Great last and throw.

[Poenari]

In my 13 years as a Bpalista, I had never tried Black Phoenix! I added an imp to my last order to remedy that. It has that uniquely BPAL smell; is sweet and a little sticky, starts out with a blast of cherry cola that dries down quickly on my wrist, leaving an undertone of incense. Very nice and I don't know why it's not recommended more often!

[roseus]

Starts off as a syrupy cherry-almond. As it dries the almond gets less sweet and more warm, nutty facets with soft musky note around the edges. As it dries it feels more like incense, maybe sandalwood? There is some rose and spice too. In summary, a spicy, rosy, almondy, soft incense. This one almost feels like a dark counterpart to Morocco.

[artisjok]

Thick cherry almond cola, layered over a decadent powdery base, I’m thinking myrrh and maybe some labdanum with a musk. Skin musk makes sense, yet with the darker resins it’s not as sweet clean on me as usual. The almond holds on for the entire wear length, impressive. Black Phoenix isn’t a scent I’d really want to wear, mostly because the powder is so strong on me, and I don’t often want to smell like almonds. Huge throw & wear length. 

[cemeterypolka]

The bottle I have is probably somewhere around 15 years old. I mostly get what I think is myrrh and almond, and spicy rose. There might be clove in here, it's hard to tell. Also, maybe honey. This is a "witch shop" scent, and I love those. It's a candy-sweet witch shop scent. I don't know why I've barely worn this over the years, it's great! 

[hausfly]

I just recently received this over the weekend. It starts off with a lot of cherry, but it immediately disappeared once it dried. All I could smell is nothing but baby powder. Maybe it needs to age a bit? I’m gonna put this to the side for a little while and try it again later on. 

[melandie]

I'm really wishing I got the cherry/almond aspect that others seem to get from this one, but it's straight-up ROSE on me.  

 

Need to scrub this off asap  

[whipwaif]

all cherries and almonds. I wanted to love this, but I think I kind of hate it. 

 

to be honest I spent a lot of time thinking about why this scent was so familiar to my nose....and then there it was. WOOD CLEANER. it smells exactly like a type of spray wood cleaner I keep under my kitchen sink. it's too sickly sweet for me...

 

alas, an imp I will not be upgrading to a full bottle. I typically like almond, but not to this degree. if you're a hardcore almond lover, I couldn't recommend it enough. 

[Estamets]

*sad wombat* This one turns immediately into baby wipes on me… and stays there for the duration. Sour and powdery at the same time. I had to wash it off. 
 

ETA: I got this effect from my first imp, and assumed it was over-aged or something. Finagled another decant to test, and the same thing happened. 

Edited August 10, 2021 by Estamets