Fire Phoenix

[Monster]

Enterprise, adventure, restlessness, impulsiveness, and dynamism: Chinese musk and red musk with hyacinth, cactus flower, cubeb berry, galangal, tobacco, pink pepper, and sarsaparilla.

So strange but this smells like lemongrass to me. Weeeiiirrdddd!

I'm not getting ANY of the notes mentioned, just straight up lemongrass. Where are you sasparilla and red musk?!

As this dries it transforms into Lemon Pledge on my skin. So ODD. This is just like a single lemon note on my skin.

I dunno about this one. I'm gonna have to let it age for a while longer to see what happens. Edited September 18, 2009 by Shollin

[Akurarei]

Fire Phoenix: Anniversary Blend

 

In the Bottle:

Very musky, I think I was expecting lots of smoke & cinnamon, but there's definitely neither one of those notes present.

For a 'fire' scent, it's very calm and borderline cool smelling. Maybe it's just my nose?

 

On my Skin, Wet:

SPICY & MUSKY! yeow! that's pungent! I don't like scents that envelop me this much.

It's almost all musk with the kitchen cabinet full of spices, like all the spice bottles are open and being fanned into my face.

 

On my Skin, Dry:

Musky still but not nearly as intense, thank goodness!

It's developing a nice soda-ish undertone that is fizzy and jubilant. I guess that's the sasparilla

I don't smell the spices as much anymore, though I keep smelling something that reminds me of coriander.

I wish that the tobacco would appear as I love the Lab's tobacco note (strangely enough!)

Cubeb berry, what & where are you? I would like to meet you! Please!?

 

Verdict:

A very nice & unexpected interpretation of 'fire'

I don't care much for the initial wet phase, it's *really* strong.

the dry down is very soothing and really rather comforting.

 

6 of 10 rating!

[tacey]

Sigh. Started out very interesting -- warm but not spicy, lots of depth. No notes I recognized, but I was enjoying it. As it warmed up and matured on my skin (generally takes the first 20 mins or so), it went all cinnamon. LOTS of cinnamon, and really nothing else anymore. <img src="http://www.bpal.org/public/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/mecry.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid="" border="0" alt="mecry.gif" />

 

ETA: Aaaaannnndddd it's causing a bit of a skin reaction -- not on my wrists, but on my throat. Even the spots under my jaw where I rub off the excess bit of oil from my finger/thumbtips from opening the imp (really, a tiny amount of oil). Bright red patches -- so attractive...

 

ETA (11/2013): Ha! So glad I wrote this. I was just browsing the Etsy store and thought this one sounded wonderful. LOL. Completely forgot I'd ever tried it...

Edited November 21, 2013 by tacey

[hlinspjalda]

In the vial: Musk plus something warmly sweet (sarsaparilla?), a floral (hyacinth, I think), and some tingling spice.

 

Wet: So far, I love this one. It's sweet-spicy with a nose-twitching aftershock.

 

Twenty minutes: This smells like a lot of things it isn't: lemon, carnation, fruit. But it's delicious, and if it stays like this I'll definitely have to seek out a bottle. This is the one phoenix I wanted most to love but figured I couldn't possibly based on the notes. But here I am loving it anyway!

 

One hour: Wow, I love this. The impression of lemon and carnation has died back some, but there's still a sort of citrusy tartness about it, and a spicy note that might be the hyacinth. Mostly, though, it's hot sweet warmth over musk. I need more of this.

 

Two and a half hours: I like this so much I think I'm going to make a concerted effort to trade for a couple of bottles of it. Red musk always works well on me, but this particular blend is so restrained compared to some (e.g., Glasya)! And the sweetly spicy top notes are just charming.

 

Four hours: Oh, yeah. NEED!

 

I recently wore this on a two-week camping trip. Somehow it was the perfect choice, even though the last thing I expected was to want to wear a fire scent while cooking over campfires during the dog days of summer. Top ten; I may need more backup bottles!

 

[Aldercy]

Wet: this smells like spiced holiday Coca-Cola! I love that stuff.

 

But it morphs and overall is quite different. None of the Chinese musk that I found in Earth Phoenix and Wood Phoenix (), but I definitely get the red musk. Mmm. Indeed, it is a burning red-orange scent, but I think the tobacco brings in a dark "woodland" feel, making it seem alive and old and fertile. Pink pepper (which I'm finding I love way too much) and some unassuming fruit notes play around and keep it from getting too serious and angry.

 

And there's a faint tinge of anise which I might be imagining.

 

This is unlike any "fiery" blend I've tried and is not particularly spicy other than that first blast of cinnamon-nutmeg-Coke. I'm particularly pleased with the tobacco, which did not strike me as too masculine this time. Very nice.

[redderz]

In the imp: Very spicy, musky and herbal.

 

Wet: I think I smell the hyacinth, and I also get a hint of the pepper. Musks don't seem to go well on me, but I actually quite like this one! It has a slightly lemony and sweet edge that balances out the musk!

 

Dry: Yeah, I like this one. It's very mature and sexy!

[filigree_shadow]

Well, it seems like I can smell a bit of the lemon that some other people have talked about, but I sort of think that might be my nose getting confused by the sarsaparilla. To me Fire Phoenix smells like musk and sarsaparilla. It's sweet and musky, and somehow it manages to smell cute, too. That's probably from the pink pepper, I bet. It smells a little bit spicy, but not hot. The spice isn't like cinnamon, more like pepper.

 

I like this one. Not enough to want a bottle of it, but certainly enough to keep the decant.

[rayvn1]

Spice, musk, and lemongrass. Pretty bold scent. Not something I think I need to hold onto, a little too much lemon for me.

[aquazoo]

Definite spice, maybe a little cinnamon. Problem is, the spices just sit on top and nothing really soaks in. It doesn't become me.

[mryan66]

Well,this a weird one. This was a gift, and I appreciate it because she sent the bottle, and the bottle is lovely. I can’t say this scent isn’t intriguing, but I think it’s more of an experiment in olfactory whimsy than something I’d wear everyday. First sniff out of the bottle is lemonade and sweaty baby feet, not entirely unpleasant, but really odd coming from a perfume. After application, and as it dries, it’s straight up warm tortilla chips, not gross and foody really, but comforting. After a while flowers start mixing with the warm corn, earthy and peppery like chrysanthemums, hibiscus or camellias. The whole fades away into a vague cinnamon woodiness; flowers sitting on an old wooden table in the sun. I don’t get any fire from it, though it is a super ‘warm’ scent. No smoke or ash, just a rather odd déjà vu moment from deep summer. Baby feet, flowers and tortillas aren’t necessarily a bad combination.

[virusq]

This is a really strange scent. I expected something spicy and it wound up being ... berries? I smell the pepper, definitely. It's not quite peppercorns, but it's hot and ashy on my tongue. Behind it is some kind of sweetness, like cherries, which may be the cubeb berries or the hyacinth, I can't really tell. I get no tobacco or sarsaparilla at all.

 

The positive thing is that it doesn't turn into baby powder on my skin. The negative, however, is that it really doesn't last very long.

 

Definitely soft, sweet and unique. I like it!

[Dusk]

At first sniff, there's definitely pepper! Something like smoke, and maybe some kind of resin. And something unexpectedly fruity, even floral. Warm citrus, like mandarin orange. It doesn't strike me as lemon, it's not light/sharp enough for that... unless it's sweet, diluted lemon, like in lemon curd. I can't identify the floral yet.

 

As the initial notes calm down, I get resin and something reminding me of Christmas - cinnamon? Some ginger, too. Still wasn't quite able to identify the floral, until I looked at the notes, and it's definitely hyacinth. But there's also something a bit too ripe for that, a bit like hibiscus or rosehips. There are strong, underlying notes of incense and musk, but it's not really a dark scent, it has too much brightness from the fruity notes. But not fruity in a girly way, it's more mature and indulgent. A forbidden fruit vibe, even.

 

I'm not really finding the tobacco note it claims to have. I do sense some sarsaparilla hovering over the rest, especially at the end of a sniff.

 

As it dries, I'm finding the ginger (galangal, I suppose) emerge more. Overall, it smells drier- for a while it smelled quite ripe, with rich, damp hyacinth and lively citrus. But again, it's not a zesty citrus, just vibrant. But it's like the hyacinth dries out... still very present, just less watery and sweet, if that makes sense.

 

After about an hour, hour and a half, it dries out even more, and I'm having a hard time picking out the fruit notes. There's still some hyacinth, though it's dark. I can blame my skin for that, it tends to ditch top notes fairly quickly. But though it's blended together and doesn't have the same dynamic it did earlier, it's still beautiful.

 

There's something very intriguing about it. It's a bit intoxicating, honestly - maybe it's the grounding of musk and spice, which feels very warm - less like fire than like smoldering coals. The fruit notes keep it interesting and a bit more feminine than a typical spicy scent, though I think it can work on a guy, if he's okay with the more androgynous vibe when it's wet.

 

I love this, I can't get my nose away from my wrist. It also lasts - wrote most of my review last night, and over 12 hours later it's still there. Mostly the pepper, ginger, and incense/resin that I'm having a hard time separating. But maybe a hint of the floral is still alive. Shame it's limited edition.

[JazzieCazzie]

I'm so envious of people who can really identify specific notes. I can do it occasionally but most of the time my reviews tend to be images, evocations, etc. Sooooooooooory

 

Got a bottle of this from the Lab's Etsy site, intrigued by the blend though admittedly not recognizing many of the notes. Decanted an imp to work from.

 

IN THE IMP: Metallic. Desert. And also slightly fizzy which I guess was the sarsaparilla.

 

Dabbed on wrist and in crook of arm.

 

WET: This is so unusual and yet weirdly familiar at the same time. Sand, salt, tang, ironworks. I honestly cannot identify a single note of the many listed.

 

DRYDOWN: It's interesting, though still indescribable. It definitely evokes heat, like red-hot metal, and the "Fire" makes a lot of sense. It's nice but it's not something I can see reaching for in my box of goodies and so will go into the swap box (yeah, yeah, soon to be a major motion picture or at least a lengthy addition to my sales/swap thread ... just waiting till it's done and I'm only moving onto the Gs now).

 

OVERALL: Nice, interesting, unusual and complex but just not for me.

 

On a scale of 1-5 a solid 3.

[Naomi Kelsey]

I get two very strong notes here: bergamot, and ginger/pepper. It's got a lemon-peel brightness to it that I like. There's a slightly cottony/warm buttery note to it (I assume that cactus flower/tobacco). Dry down is lemon curd, as others have pointed out, with a slightly sweet amber/powder note (that almost all BPAL fragrances dry down to on me).