Earth Phoenix

[Aldercy]

Hard work, patience, and harmony: Chinese musk, dark musk, and moist soil with black cherry, opoponax, night-blooming jasmine, plum, woodland tobacco, snakeweed, and cypress.

Fertile, woodsy mud... squishy, juicy, tart black cherry... and that divine Chinese musk. A very dark, unusual scent altogether. Easy to get lost in.

Mostly the mud though. Luckily, I enjoy that authentic dirt smell. Planting Moon is a beautiful earth blend, but it's a bit warmer, sandier... more "toasty brown." This, however, is black earth. And it's also kind of a cold earth smell. The sort full of damp and dead leaves that haven't been disturbed for a very long time. Good for growing ethereal white toadstools and such. If that sounds gross to you, I would not recommend this blend. lol.

The cherry is fat, ripe and decadent, but not sweet. It's understated compared to the cool, musky, feral earth. And the Chinese musk I love in Wood Phoenix is exactly the same in here. It's a very undulating, flowing musk, and kind of in the middle of the spectrum between light and dark. I hope it's used again outside this collection of Anniversary scents.

This is a scent I wouldn't think to wear to please others in a social situation, but it's great just for me. Edited August 12, 2009 by Aldercy

[ouch!]

This smells like fruity dirty flowers. In a good way. The famous "Dirt" note is here but it's prettied up with an oriental fruity vibe.

It's really unusual as always with the dirt note, it's stuck between nice and eurgh.

The flowers are more prominent as it dries and the fruit has subsided...then it fades to a breath of faint flowers.

 

I really like this and don't really have much to say on it. It's not my favourite of the Phoenix's released in 2008 though and the one downside is it doesn't last long at all on my skin.

 

 

[gingiemay]

Upon application, I get the Chinese musk, a yummy cherry overtone and the jasmine giving off cat pee. After about one hour, the jasmine has quieted enough so that I barely notice it. The musk has come up more and the cypress is more prominent. This reminds me of Vecherennya for some reason. It is pretty but a little strong on the musk and cypress plus the early cat pee aspect.

[filigree_shadow]

For me, this scent might have been aptly described thusly: "Moist soil. The end." It's a musky soil, but still soil. Can't really smell any of those other lovely notes in it at all. Woe.

[DifferentDances]

Bottle: Like a Chinese temple after a heavy rain. Woods and damp soil and herbs.

Wet: Soil and herbs.

Drydown: Soil and...cleaning fluid?

Dry: And gone.

 

Would I ever wear this? No.

 

My rating: 1/5

[voodoocatwoman]

This started out as wet dirt. Fortunately, it began to morph almost immediately and what I am left with is a sultry musk with a hint of sweet jasmine.

 

I like it muchly.

[a_llb]

In vial: Musky cherries.

Wet: Earthy, dirty cypress, not recognizing anything else yet...

Dry: Perhaps tobacco or snakeweed? Slightly woody, whatever it is. I think there is a bit of jasmine breezing by, just barely. End result is a faint floral, underscored by neutral smelling dirt.

 

Verdict: No plum for me, which is neither here nor there. Not my style anyway!

[Vega]

Sniffed: A blast of dirt and wet brown leaves, followed by other notes -- cherry, possibly plum and cypress.

 

On skin: Earth Phoenix is firstly and foremostly dirt and brown leaves of the damp, decaying sort: sharp, tangy and sourish. This base is softened, sweetened and rounded by the other notes; I can pick out cherry, musk, and cypress, but they are all blended into something a bit musky, dark-fruity, and resinous. Even so, this cozy fullness can't completely silence the sharp, unfriendly bite of dirt and wet leaves. This Phoenix is definitely dark and dirty, but not heavy. Colour impression is a mixture of black, brown and orange tones touched with old green. Just like a leaf litter, which was actually the visual impression I got from this scent.

 

Verdict: Dirt and wet leaves generally offends my nose, but Earth Phoenix is one of the more tolerable blends. Nevertheless, I don't want to wear this.