Copper Phoenix

[greenranger]

COPPER PHOENIX
Copper's lustrous, rose-tinted Venusian energy inspires creativity and assists in balancing spiritual polarities. It can be utilized as a literal mirror, and a mirror reflecting the beauty of the soul.

Rose-infused dark amber, with sweet orange, honey, cardamom, patchouli, apricot, pink pepper, and red sandalwood.

This is a smooth, polished, calm scent. The scent notes do not stand out individually. They meld into a lustrous smooth polished whole.

I get no ripples or bumps. With as many spices and woods, the orange and the patchouli, smooth wasn't really what I was expecting. I was expecting warm, orangy, spicy and resiny...and it is, in a very, very smooth way. A polished smooth coppery orange substance. Very lovely, and very much not what I expected from those notes.

[marared]

Bottle - Sunny D. Yep. Watery orange-ish drink. If there's scents like patchouli, honey, spices, and sandalwood in here, I can't tell from the bottle! It reminds me of Szepazzsony with orange. I'm not sure how I get an aquatic vibe from this, but there you go.

 

On my skin - there's the patchouli, and also the pepper. I can also start picking out the apricot from the orange. No rose, thank god. No amber or honey either, nor the red sandalwood, which makes me sad, because red sandalwood figures prominently in my favorite blends. Not nearly so aquatic as it presents in the bottle.

 

It's okay, but it just doesn't have any personality to it yet. Patchouli and honey both age like champs, so I think it's worth trying again in a few months.

[thekittenkat]

 

In the bottle: The orange, the patch, and the pepper are front and center, but the honey is deep down underneath.

 

 

Wet: Still all the above notes, but the patch and cardamom are coming on strong. I would almost say that there's some vetiver in here, but it's not listed in the notes. I'm thinking that the patch and cardamon's combination might be giving me this aspect. Oh, yay, the apricot is coming out to play with the sweet orange. There's just not enough orange scents yet for me in the BPAL collection, but this one is beautiful so far.

 

 

The dry-down: Looks like the honey is doing what it should do and blend all the notes together. As it dries, I'm getting hints of the rose, the amber and the sandalwood. I think that this is going to age beautifully, and will be a good winter scent when you want to warm up (especially for those on whom Sol Invictus doesn't work so well), and yet it has a summery air to it. I'll be wearing this next summer as well. It's such a lovely sweet orange scent, with all those other wonderful notes, that I want to nom nom my arm. Luckily, I bought some tangerines at the store tonight.

 

When I first read through the Anniversary Phoenixes, this one jumped out at me right away. It is as lovely as I had hoped it would be.

[pinkstardust420]

I get: Sultry honey, incense (this may be the sandalwood), sweet orange, hints of amber...and a touch of spice. Reminds me of a nature store that used to be at our local mall. Pretty, but not sure this is a keeper.

[Suusje]

The patchouli is quite heavy at first, but it quickly makes it way to the back. Then it starts to smell like orange and pink candy. Not toothache sweet, but more soft, sweet and smooth. After a little while some sort of powder shows up, I'm not exactly sure if it's the amber or sandalwood. And the sweetness is fading and I smell something earthier. Is that the patchouli making a reappearance? I have no clue what's going on here but I really like this one and I think it will only get better with time.

 

[Invidiana]

This one is actually a very sexy Phoenix! Not an overpowering rose blend at all, so for anyone afraid of rose, you should definitely give this a go. It's a harmonious blend of all the notes, one of those in which you can't pick out anything particular but you know it's there. I definitely get the deep dark amber, honey and sweet orange, which isn't very citrusy, as well as the warmth from the cardamom, pink pepper and red sandalwood and just a hint of dark earthiness from the patchouli. The deep resinous sweetness intensifies on me as it dries down. Beautifully done!

[musichappens]

This is a *very* faint scent on my skin, but I am able to detect the orange and patchouli quite well. Once it's completely dry, the amber becomes much more noticeable and the patchouli goes into hiding. If this was a stronger scent on my skin, I'd be picking up a bottle.

[obsidienne]

"Rose-infused dark amber, with sweet orange, honey, cardamom, patchouli, apricot, pink pepper, and red sandalwood?" This sounded like scent-MECCA to me!

 

I was expecting a rich and glorious resin fest with this blend, and instead it is very watery and light! It's also incredibly balanced, so that although I get a very light sweet orange-apricot effect, with hints of pink pepper and honey and mayyybe the amber, everything else seems to be MIA or is merely contributing to the overall effect without being distinguishable from the rest. I live for rose&amber blends, so the missing rose element is bugging me more than I thought it would!

 

I like it... it's beautiful... but I really did want something richer, darker and thicker smelling. I'm going to let this rest for 3-6 months and see where it goes.

 

Edit: further drydown sees the appearance of the rose, but so subtly that anyone who felt trepidation about the rose note should not be too worried! It's quite delicate.

Edited December 20, 2009 by obsidienne

[hlinspjalda]

In the bottle: Deep fruity honey with touches of rose and patchouli.

 

Wet: A very well balanced patchouli-amber with a strong secondary honey note. There's also fruity spice. I love this one; I hope it stays nice on me!

 

Half an hour: This is very well blended on my skin. Since it's composed of a number of notes of love, that's fine by me. The only thing I fear is the red sandalwood, which tends to sour on me. So far, though, this is fine and I like it a lot.

 

One hour: Still very much in my zone; I'm getting honey-sweetened orange over amber and patchouli. The amber has begun to powder up a bit, though.

 

Two hours: Very little change, very consistent. This is sweet, orange, honey, powdery amber, and just enough patchouli to counteract the sweetness. Right in my zone for happy days.

 

Three hours: Still much the same, although the balance has shifted toward the patchouli and away from the orange.

 

Four and a half hours: Mostly patchouli-amber now, with some sweetness from the honey.

 

I liked this quite a lot. It wasn't a home run on me, but it's nice enough that I'll keep and use the bottle.

 

[saralaughs]

 

 

This is very pretty. I wish I loved rose because I would snap up a whole vat of this scent.

 

First applied, I get the honey and sweet orange but mostly the honey. The orange is very subdued and just makes it feel fresh, not citrusy. The apricot comes out quickly as well, adding a bit a sweetness to the honey. About 10 minutes later, I'm getting the rose. It's center stage but is very calm and smooth.

 

A bit into the drydown (like a couple hours) I start to get some amber and a *bit* of patchouli...I wish there were more of it. Never thought I'd say it but I want more patch-u-stinky.

 

Like I said, I wish I was a rose lover...

Edited December 22, 2009 by saralaughs

[reynardine]

In decant: Getting a LOT of amber there

 

Wet: Well, hi there, Patchouli! Are you going to let anyone else out to play? I know I amp you, but still…

 

Drydown: Crap. Getting the sandalwood. Death note—it makes me headachy. Gotta wash this off.

 

[Leopard403]

This is a lovely little scent. I was worried about the patchouli note, but that part of Copper Phoenixis evocative of Clemence, which I like very much. Over that I can smell a honey-bright orange-y scent, with something unidentifiably floral (the rose?) keeping that grounded and far from citrus furniture polish. As it wears I definitely get more of the sandalwood, but that soft patchouli and zesty scent are still there as well. Unexpectedly good!

[silver_springs]

I thought for sure I would like this one. And not to say I hated it. I just thought it was kind of a boring scent, at least on me it didn't blossom too much. Even my fiance's response when I asked him to smell my wrist was "Eh."

 

Pretty much the entire time it smelled like powdered oranges on me. And I like orange notes, I do but I'm begining to realize I'm not too big on dominant orange scents. It's a little sweet and I did pick up the pink pepper about an hour later which added nicely but it wasn't really strong enough to change it too much. I was surprised. I usually do very well with amber but it just gave a powder background here.

 

Ultimately I swapped this one. The irony is that I picked this one up with Tin Phoenix as well thinking that Copper would be the no-fail and Tin was most likely not to work but it was the exact opposite, I loved Tin Phoenix. But again this is the lovely bpal that works wonders and I'm surprised often by my nose.

[cuervosueno]

 

 

I ordered three phoenixes, and I thought this one would be my great love, because rose aside, I love everything in it. It was mostly the apricot and honey that drew me, but I was pretty happy with all the notes.

 

And it's not my favorite (that honor would go to lead phoenix). It is lovely, though it just does not linger long enough.

 

To my nose, all the Phoenixes share a certain something; they are recognizably from a similar family or base. I can't really explain what it is, but it is slightly perfumy, but also like incense....like amber incense perfume perhaps? On top of that, Copper Phoenix has a strong rose amber scent to me. I definitely get the rose, but it's not enough to turn off this rose-hater; instead, it is more amber with a hint of rose. I don't get much of the other notes definitively. It does have a lovely copper scent to it--imagine rose gold, for example. I can smell the honey, but it is not overwhelming (which wouldnt' be a bad thing for me even if it was).

 

I have a hard time describing this because it is so well blended it is much more than the individual notes. And if I only had this phoenix, I might keep it. It is just in comparison with the others that I like better, this just isn't different or special enough to warrant keeping, though I may hold on to it for awhile to see how it ages.

 

It also fades faster than the others on me--is gone in a couple of hours.

[benthic]

When I picked out this blend to try, I'm not sure what I was expecting--something more floral and sandalwoody, I think, with some resin. Instead, citrus! I was not expecting a very nice orange blend out of this, but well, there it is. The rose is there, but it's very subtle at first, which is a feat on me (as I both love rose and tend to amp it, so in any rose blend it's what I end up focused on). The patchouli is also very subtle, which is good, as some patchouli blends are just awful on me. And shockingly, I'm not amping the honey either; all honey blends tend to smell alike on me, but this is not one of them. As it dries, the orange fades and the rose comes out to play, but it's rose with the sweet tang of citrus. Everything else is in the background. I actually don't get the honey at all.

 

This one also has the weird property of fading almost entirely and then suddenly resurrecting itself, in true phoenix style. The stage between the orange-heavy and the rose-heavy phases is very light, and I was disappointed that the oil had faded so quickly into nothing on my skin, but minutes later the rose amped it up again with a vengeance.

 

Orange, rose, and spice is what I get out of this, and I'm very happy with it. Not sure yet about a bottle, but I'm keeping it in mind, because I do love a good citrus blend.

[angelicruin]

Wet on my skin, the pink pepper and sweet orange notes stand out above all others. As it begins to dry, the apricot note emerges. I also pick up a faint bit of rose and a little patchouli, but not in-your-face patchouli. Pink pepper note disappears entirely on dry down.

 

Dry, this is orange, apricot, rose, and amber.

 

This one is going to age nicely.

[sqwook]

In the bottle: Sweet, slightly fruity (fresh ripe apricots)

 

On me: Light, sweet, smooth. Completely blending together into a fruity honey over a warm sandalwood. There are no hard edges at all - the patchouli, pepper, and anything else that might have made this a "spicy" scent are simply lending depth, not overpowering it. Really beautiful. As I wear this, I start to recognize the sandalwood, as a grounding wonderful almost-spicy base. Oh, I bet this would be simply amazing on a sultry summer day.

 

Note for rose-haters or ampers: I am generally too. Do not shy away from Copper Phoenix - I get no rose here so far.

 

If you like this, you may also like: Belle Vinu, Hetairae, Hermia, Pepper, and perhaps All in a Golden Afternoon

 

UPDATE: Okay, when dry for about 3hours plus, this is really just fantastic. It is much more rich & complex than the others I'm testing it against (Belle Vinu, Hetairae, & Hermia) - in fact it loses its resemblance to them - and it's just resinous, slightly peppery, soft, warm, and amazing, kind of the way Inez gets that warm spicy soft scent after several hours. Hmm... to bottle or not to bottle?

 

Edited December 30, 2009 by sqwook

[EdenIris]

Eight hours in, this starts to smell exactly like copper! How's Beth do that?

 

Wet, it's a floral amber. As it dries, the spices and patchouli start to come out, along with some sweet orange. The amber and honey never go to powder. It's a very pretty scent, not something I'd need a bottle of, but I'm happy to have a decant.

[edenssixthday]

Copper Phoenix - This is a really pretty scent. It's very warm, woody, and resinous, but is a lot softer and sweeter than I anticipated. It's blended really well and no single note stands above the others. The predominant notes (on me) are the amber, patchouli, sandalwood, and pepper. The cardamom, honey, orange and apricot are barely discernible, but sweeten and soften the darker, woodier notes. I wish it had a bit more throw and staying power, but otherwise, it's a really pretty scent that seems very gender-neutral to me.

[Iceblink]

Amber, yes, and I get the "rose-infused" part--there's rose there but it's very subtle. The citrus, apricot, and honey are wafting in and out. The sandalwood is there, making a lovely background note. This is a smooth blend and surprisingly light, considering the notes--usually amber and citrus and honey really jump off my skin. Very nice!

[coldandsleepy]

This is the phoenix I most expected to enjoy, and I'm not at all disappointed with it. It's quite beautiful on me-- not too sweet or too simple, but not overwhelming or overly complex.

 

I get mostly rose and citrus resting on a warm bed of amber. There are hints of the other notes, but nothing else really jumps out. If there's anything that really surprised me here, it's that the scent is not as spicy as I expected.

 

Still, it's a big win for me. My husband says it reminds him of the house of an elderly lady he used to know, "but in a good way." I think it DOES smell a little bit potpurri-ish, but also... in a good way.

[Venneh]

In the decant, I get citrusy rose doing a balancing act with patchouli, pepper, and sandalwood; the later three can be death notes, so we'll see what the skin decides to do. Once on, it's rose and citrus at first, with the patchouli-pepper-sandalwood following quickly behind. Damnit. We'll see if it balances out. The rose-amber-citrus tries to fight with the pepper-patchouli-sandalwood, but it doesn't win out, sadly. Swaps/sales.

Edited January 4, 2010 by Venneh

[Schmoozy]

I wasn't expecting to love this blend, but it sure suprised me. I adore how Beth is incorperating rose-infused amber into several blends lately, and this one is no exception. Sweet orange and honey add a little too much sweetness at first, but it settles down once the cardamom, pink pepper and earthy patchouli join in. It has hints of apricot and alongside the rose-infused amber it is fruity, slightly floral, spicy and earthy all together. The late addition of red sandalwood, ties a woodsy vibe to the earthy patchouli and tempers the sweetness from the other notes.

[surlygurl]

Looking at the scent list, I thought this would be a lovely blend. When I put it on, I got fruit. Lots & LOTS of fruit. And incense? Yeah. All the little nuances that others describe were just not there. Instead, what I got was fruity incense, like the kind you buy at 7-11. It didn't change much as it dried. I'm glad it works on some people.

[milo]

I get a spicy, cinnamon-like vibe here, and not much else. Maaaybe a touch of fruit. Not very metallic at all for me. I don't dislike this, but it's not really wowing me either.

 

eta: I just wanted to mention that this really does get to be a "Red Phoenix"like scent on me, and I'll probably get a bottle now, as the morphing turned this into a lovely ambery spicy blend.

Edited January 9, 2010 by milo