The Phoenix

[Monster]

Sea air, gunpowder, lime, salt-crusted wood, a splash of blood, and a dribble of Snake Oil.

I'm going through my box of BPAL and reviewing scents I haven't...for future reference and all that (some of these have actually gone unsniffed since I purchased them! Yikes!)

This is one ozone/aquatic scent that knocks my socks off!
This is a wonderful fresh breath of salt air with just the teeniest hint of lime. The woods notes keep this from smelling like a dryer sheet on me and the "dribble of Snake Oil" balances this out with just the right amount of sweetness. This is a scent my husband and I both love...and relaly need to start wearing again. It's hard to keep track when you have so many oils.

I took a risk with this one but I'm really happy to have a bottle in my collection (and the art on the lable is just gorgeous)

ETA description from lab. Edited July 12, 2009 by Monster

[Shollin]

First sniff: Wind, rain, sea, and a drizzle of lime.

 

Wearing: The lime is much stronger on me, and really nice. Over time the wood and the tiny hint of Snake Oil come out and turn this into more than yet-another-sea-scent, which makes me very very happy. The drydown is just lovely.

[whisperstilled]

Oh, The Phoenix, I so wish I had liked you as much as everyone else seems to. I was looking for sea air and gunpowder with snake oil, and instead I got men's cologne.

 

In the bottle: Yup, cologne central. I smell the sea air saltiness but I'm missing the wood somewhere, which I was looking forward to. The sharpness of lime is definitely there, but no snake oil.

 

Wet: Salty, less of the lime, which improves it a little. Still smells like the sort of men's cologne scent I'm not really into, personally.

 

Drying: Better on the drydown, actually. I'm starting to get a little sweetness - maybe the snake oil? Which counteracts the sharpness of the aqautic note and lime.

 

Dry: Dry's down to a soapy sort of men's cologne. I still don't really smell the gunpowder, and the Snake Oil, if it was there, is gone. Definitely not my favorite thing, I'm afraid, it's into the swaps for this one. 2/5.

[Sultaana]

It smells like the bite of lime and lick of salt after a shot of tequila when I first applied it, but as it dries down it sweetens a bit with what I'm assuming is the Snake Oil, with a dark bite of gunpowder and a bit of the woody smell. Wow. Only BPAL can make aquatics I love. I think my nose wishes there was just a bit more snake oil, so I busted out a toothpick and dibbled a little Snake Oil on top of this on my wrist for fun and YUM.

Edited August 7, 2010 by Sultaana

[DifferentDances]

Bottle: Salty aquatic with an undertone of wood.

Wet: Definitely salt water on wood, with a touch of....gunpowder warmth? There's a hint of the blood note that doesn't always play nicely with me. We'll see...

Drydown: Still a salty aquatic.

Dry: A very quiet, salty aquatic.

 

Would I ever wear this? No, sadly. The saltiness is an interesting quality, but I'm not a big fan of aquatics.

 

My rating: 3/5

[a_llb]

In vial: Fresh, aquatic, a bite of gunpowder.

Wet: Hello, lime! I almost wanted to pucker my lips it was so tart. I am getting that vague oceanic soap scent I tend to get with aquatics now...

Dry: Still soapy, I can detect the tracest amount of Snake Oil beneath it though. It gives a very slight smoothness, but not nearly enough for my taste.

 

Verdict: Still can't do aquatics. Bah.

[Aldercy]

I knew I was taking a chance with The Phoenix being an aquatic (very, very few work for me), but with the darker, deeper notes included I thought it was worth the risk and something about the description just kept pulling me in.

 

I'm glad I took the risk, because this is a really unique scent to me, a really solid blend. Yes, it's definitely aquatic, but not in a fresh or soapy way. It's briny and oceanic, a very dark watery note with a midnight sea breeze sweeping over it. The salt really leaps out at me as its own element distinct from the seawater. Like a really strong, mineral rime of salt over everything, very realistic. I definitely get the gritty gunpowder, a little squeeze of lime juice, and some wood, but definitely no blood. The Snake Oil is the thing my nose is really searching for. I think its influence is what keeps The Phoenix so grounded and makes what is otherwise very inhuman? impersonal? scent a little musky, but I don't actually smell Snake Oil itself. Perhaps it could come out in the long-term drydown, after everything else has burned off over a few hours (Snake Oil lasts a long time on me).

 

This would be amazing on a man, I think, but is not too masculine that I don't want to wear it. It's really good and not quite like anything else I have, which I always like.

[Fuhrankie]

Aldercy has said pretty much everything I wanted to say about this.

 

In the bottle it is a blast of limey aquatic, and that follows through during the wet on skin stage, until the lime burns off.

Not much morphing happened during the drydown, except it DIDN'T go soapy/too clean (an issue I have with a lot of aquatics).

 

Dry, it sits beautifully on me, and if I huff closely, I can detect traces of sweetness and musk, which I put down to the snake oil, though it doesn't come forward and say 'LOL HI GUISE' like it does in other SO blends.

 

So basically, I love it, and I definitely need to try it on my man when he comes back from overseas.

Edited April 4, 2013 by Fuhrankie

[Cali]

This was a huge risk, as I seriously hate snake oil, but was determined to try all the piratey/nautical blends. I was able to buy a bottle off a lovely forum user and I'm incredibly charmed by the art on it as well, so I took the chance; good thing it all works out for the best!!

 

This is a divinely sexy buccaneer. Or maybe a divinely sexy buccaneer strolling around on the deck of the majestic three-master.

On application it's very salty at first, with a blast (no pun intended) of gunpowder, but that calms down a couple of minutes later. Then, the lime is there, soft and fizzy, with that lovely snake oil (these are the actual words my brain is making me type wow) coming through. The wood and ozone-sky in here ties it all together.

Great throw; I get wafts of sea, wood, and the vanilla of the snake oil. Crazy long wear too! Dabbed a bit on before noon, and I could still smell it 12 hrs later. Oh this works so well on me!!

[MolyH]

This is a shockingly accurate imitation of Febreeze.