Black Cat

[doomsday_disco]

A very tricky kitty, indeed. Used most often as a key to bringing back the joy one needs to have in life in order for living to feel worthwhile. Brings back a sense of delight in simple pleasures, and creates a surge of childlike curiosity and a youthful sense of fun. This blend can also be used to reverse troublesome lesser crossings, create a playful air of catlike sexuality, and, because cats will be cats, it can also be used to throw minor, irritating or bothersome hexes, causing small amounts of chaos and disruption to your foes.

 

A small amount of this oil was decanted from an imp and has aged for 4+ years.

 

In the decant: This one is strongly resinous! I think I am getting a sharp, dark myrrh.

 

Wet: Yep, this one is pretty heavy on the dark myrrh. I think there may be some benzoin in this as well, and there's a smattering of herbs in the background. There's also some rose (perhaps dried rose) mingling with the myrrh and herbs (one of which I believe is lemongrass, but it's not as strong as it usually is).

 

Dry: This is still a predominantly resin scent on me, although the myrrh is softer now, but I am getting more of the rose and herbs (there's definitely a bit of lemongrass in here, and something minty) during this phase.

 

Verdict: I cannot attest to the oil's purpose as I only tried it for its scent. It's okay, but resins and rose aren't a combination I really enjoy, so I don't think I'll continue holding on to it. I am glad I got to try it, though!

[Joyleaf_]

I have two vials of Black Cat, the older one is much more yellow than the new clear vial.

And all I can smell is myrrh in the imp, and I know that myrrh is just straight baby powder on my skin. I know why I let the old one age so much, forgotten in my imp box. To be swapped or gifted, as this is not going to be worn.

[Lucchesa]

Rose, there's definitely rose in Black Cat, and powdery myrrh. I'm not getting mint like so many other reviewers -- which is good, I'm not big on mint -- but there is definitely something herbal, and I would not be the tiniest bit surprised if it were catnip, which I think is in the mint family. This is not something I'd wear for the notes; I hardly ever wear rose blends unless they're sugary. But I may keep the imp around for its voodoo properties.

[monocainsheresy]

Citrusy, herbal, and musky. There's definitely rose. Very soapy, a little cologne-y.

It does smell a bit like cat.

[torischroeder9]

In the imp: Something floral, something citrus, something green and herbal. 

 

On my skin:

 

Wet, it smells like bitter orange peel. Once dry, the bitter orange peel fades, and rose becomes the dominant note. I can't say that the orange peel is gone entirely, but rose is a pretty insistent note on me. As it develops, I get a bit of powdery resin, which on me could be frankincense or myrrh. The end effect is that of a powdery tea rose. 

[Myrrha]

Light resin and rose. This works really well on my skin with the resin very clear and not at all powdery. The rose is an elegant dried rose note and there is something green in here as well, magical herbs? I like that the rose is light and discrete. I get a sense in my mind of fluid movement with this scent and that is what seems cat-like.

 

I will keep this imp and maybe experiment with wearing a little bit every day and see what happens. 

[SophieCedar]

This was the 1st imp I grabbed from my lab-fresh package. Fitting considering I have two wonderful curious 10 week old boy kittens purposely distracted with the priority cardboard box in order to keep them away from the bpals....Black Cat seems to already have been in effect before it even arrived!

 

Anyways, this is a clean soapy rose with I think myrrh and maybe oppoponax. Smells sleek and clean.

[biggnerd]

This smells like the deodorizing stuff I sprinkle on my catboxes.  It's clean, fresh, and a little dusty.  It definitely reminds me of my black cats since they love playing in clean litter.  

[queenshaboo]

From the description I expected a floral blend with catnip in it, a bit more herbal or feral perhaps but this was straight up rose soap. No one will prob get this comparison but UK peeps might, this is uncannily similar to Crabtree and Evelyn's rose soap on my wrists; on my armpits this was straight up Ponds cold cream, which I used to love smelling on my mother's dresser but which people unfamiliar with would recognize as the original dove soap smell, like cold cream mixed with those little tea rose soap bars you get in (ahem lower priced) hotels. It's the epitome of what people like calling (but which I think is an offensively ageist phrase) "old lady" scent, in that only people of a certain age probably still use products with this type of scent. There's no powder though just the generic scent of cold cream which is a white floral mix similar to baby powder but without the actual powderiness, I know that makes no sense grammatically but what I mean is the kind of powdery aspect to notes like violet or musk. It's not the quality and inventiveness I've come to expect from BPAL tbh, much as I like the smell of cold cream this is a definite miss, unless you love smelling like rose soap I guess then you'll adore this. 

 

As far as energetically, I'm unable to convince myself of any magical properties from something that smells like hotel soap so I felt nothing. You'd be better off making your own anointing oil using herbal/hedge magic princlples instead imo.

Edited June 24, 2020 by queenshaboo

[splendidissima]

Herbs...lemon...rose? There's something in here reminding me of Parlement of Foules - some combination of herbs/resin + rose? I initially thought it was going to go the lemon-rose cleanser type of scent, but then...it didn't quite do that, maybe because of the herbs. (Maybe catnip?) Strong throw.

 

This is definitely interesting, and I'm glad I have an imp - we live with a big black cat (and I mean BIG - she can reach our kitchen counters, when she stands up!), so of course I needed this! I don't know if I need more, but it is *intriguing*, and I feel like that's a good descriptor for a Black Cat!