Leather Phoenix

[cfrancesca]

In 2005, I was messing around with some of our rarer oils while creating a blend for personal use. It contained a small bit of wardh taifi, some 22-year old oudh, golden champaca CO2, and narcissus absolute. It was a strange and lovely creation, and jokingly, I called it Leather Phoenix. “Ha ha! Leather Phoenix. BDSM Phoenix. Wouldn’t it be awesome if we actually saw our leather anniversary?” Lord, it seemed so far away.

Holy shit, here we are. (ZOMGWTF?!)

And here’s Leather Phoenix: matcha tea, wild frankincense, champaca, petitgrain, star anise, aged oudh, rose taifi, narcissus, Himalayan cedar, 11-year aged patchouli, and black leather accord.

 

On me this starts out as a complex and smokey matcha/green tea scent, like a dirty green tea! In the background I get this wonderful blend of soft black leather, smokiness, soft patchouli, woods and anise, I find all these notes are well-blended but I can still kind of pick them out individually as well.

As it settles I start getting a little more patchouli, soft smokey leather, woods and anise. I was initially worried about the rose and narcissus but I'm not getting any rose on my skin and only occasional hints of narcissus but I find the florals are very well-blended and they don't stand out at all, at least on me. My skin usually amps anything smokey so after about 15min. this is smokey leather, woods and leather and patchouli and I'm getting a lot less of that citrusy, fresh tart matcha tea scent.

In conclusion this was a morpher on my skin, it starts out as mostly green tea with the smokey leather, woods patchouli and soft anise in the background, these notes slowly start to amp and it finally dries to this unique, very complex and sexy, smokey tea with hints of anise, soft leather, woods and patchouli scent on me.

 

[Mellifluous]

I agree with Cfrancesca about the dirty matcha scent when first applied. After the green tea fades a bit I am left with a very well blended woody scent. As I sniff it, its actually really ambiguous to me. Just soft woods, and a really really mild patchouli. I would like to own a # of that patchouli, lol.

Throughout the dry down it pretty much stays the same (after the green-ness fades) and keeps to the calm and soft woods spiked with patch. Although, every once in awhile I will get a strong whiff of rose, frankincense, and champaca that is a little too perfumy for my liking. Overall, this scent is blended amazingly though, and I think will be well liked by anyone that tends to like traditional perfumes.

 

Btw, I dont get any leather at all from this blend on my skin. Its all woodsy, patch and perfumey floral/incense, with a matcha opener.

[forspecial_plate]

Leather Phoenix reminds me of a classic floral-leather chypre, without the moss that most chypres have. There is a 'skanky' (in a good way) animalic undertone but I don't know what that is....maybe the cedar or oudh? I think this scent is soft and pretty, elegant, and when I wear it I can't stop sniffing my wrist because it's so interesting. It doesn't change much as it dries. If you think that leather scents are masculine by default, this one might surprise you. The leather is really balanced with the softer prettier notes, and overall I'd call it unisex.

 

It also really fits with the other Phoenix scents that I've tried, if you consider them a 'family' of scents.

 

There is a dark layer in my bottle that's really hard to mix with the rest of the oil. I don't shake any of my bottles but I rolled and rolled it, and tipped it back and forth, and some of it mixed in but there is still a little thin layer at the bottom. I wonder what that is? I'm thinking it must be the aged oudh.

[Dark Alice]

Seriously...this is just lovely.

 

Matcha Tea, gorgeous patchouli, and smoky black leather. In my bottle the leather is a little bit stronger but not by much. These notes just blend so beautifully together..the problem is that I think I may need to re-home this due to a possible headache inducement. I can't tell if it is the scent or something else causing it. I am going to have to wait and see after a few days.

[mooncityminx]

I put some on my wrist, and some on the back of my hand, because some scents are somewhat different depending on where I put them.

 

The one on my wrist started out as seductive and masculine leather with hints of patchouli and wood and a tiny bit of lemony goodness. Then it got a little skanky. I don't mean that in a bad way. It's just something very animal peeking out of the well blended cologne. Ten minutes later it is smokey green tea, very nice.

 

The one on my hand is my favorite. The green tea really shines, though the leather is there, and the other notes blend in a way that is a little smokey and really really amazing. It's clean and dirty at the same time and beautiful. Ten minutes later it is green tea and incense.

 

I hope that with some time and experimentation, I will get more of the back of the hand, and less of the wrist. The wrist was a tad too masculine and animal for me to really wear, until it eventually mellows. But the hand is perfect and amazing. Either way this is a powerful and evocative scent.

 

ETA: My bottle totally has that dark layer at the bottom that FSP mentioned. I can't get it to mix. Maybe it will be like the prize at the bottom of my bpal cereal.

Edited December 13, 2011 by Tempest

[hespera4523]

Leather Phoenix has arrived!

 

I have been prowling around my mailbox like an angry cat waiting as soon as the CnS said it was on the truck for delivery, and practically snatched it out of my mailman's hands. Ran inside clutching box to my chest, muttering happily "Leatherphoenixleatherphoenixleatherphoenix..." like it was a Tourette's tic.

 

Oh, sweet Zombie Jesus, is this nice.

Enough to make me despair, since there are so few bottles. I could wear this all the time and not get tired of it. Once it settles down, of course.

I did see the dark cloud at the bottom that separated out, but a few bottle acrobatics and it seemed to mesh back in.

Onto the wrist! First off, patchouli and matcha go BOOM. "Fear us, for we are mighty!"

Mmmkay...

After a few minutes of flexing their muscles they step back, and leather begins a slow tango with rose while patchouli and matcha keep time. Resiny goodness begins to happen in the background. Oh thank you, fickle rose, for being a team player and not ruining this beautiful moment of togetherness for me. And of course, black leather. The kind that spanks. Purr.

I will worship this wee bottle.

[killerklown]

Baby powder. Pure baby powder. Curse you evil rose.

[amanderinorange]

So, right out of the bottle I smell the leather and some nicely aged patchouli. This actually reminds me of the leather in Enkhespalos, which I love, but mostly on my husband. I'm not picking up much else though, as it all seems to be nicely blended.

 

On the skin, at least for the first ten minutes or so, there is a vaguely citrusy smell with the leather. It's a little off-putting and I think it might be the matcha, which was the note I was kinda waffling on when deciding whether to purchase this or not. Fortunately, it burns off and I am left with the leather from Enkhespalos, but a bit softer.

 

It's a little strange that I am not getting any other notes from this, but I am hoping it stays that way as this is a nice, soft leather scent on me. I am wishing now that I had ordered two bottles, but I will definitely cherish what I have.

[kakiphony]

In the bottle: The leather is the dominant note in my bottle. Under it, I smell a little

 

Wet on wrist: It goes on leathery and rich, but very quickly something green, herbal and with a touch of wet and citrus rises to the front. I'm betting that's mainly the match tea, although it has a wetter and slightly floral quality that I'm not used to with tea scents. There is also a slight undercurrent of wet dirt.

 

Early Dry Down (about 10 minutes): More leather, but still very aquatic and dirty on me. There's a "perfume" or "cologne" scent that I do believe is the Frankincense. Overall, this is a much colder, damper scent that what I was expected. I'm hoping the leather and woods amp to give this some warmth and depth. At the moment, I'm not loving it.

 

At the 1 hour mark: This blend confuses me. I can normally tell whether I like a blend or dislike it, but this one is just...odd. One one hand, when I huff my wrists I get some really gorgeous leather and cedar -- deep, rich, dry with just a subtle touch of citrus. It reminds me of Aelopile in the best way. But what I smell wafting around me is NOT the scent. The throw is much more perfumey/cologny with a damp, dirty quality that I don't like. It reminds of the Villainess soap Grundy, which my husband loves I hate. (I make him keep it in a ziplock bag in the bathroom!) I think it's a combination of matcha and frankincense that is functioning as a really ampy top-note on me.

 

Oddly, for someone who loves patchouli, I'm getting none of it here. Normally, the lab's patchouli does a spicy morph on me that ends up being both resinous and a bit sweet. But it seems totally overwhelmed by the other notes here.

 

I think I'm going to wash this one off for today and give it another shot later in the month -- perhaps in a locket rather than on my skin. I really want the scent on my skin to amp rather than the top notes I'm getting. I wonder if it will age into it?

[Heavenlyrabbit]

The smoothest, deepest sexiest combination I've tried in a long time.

 

Not getting that Matcha blast others mention.

 

My skin chemistry goes right to the Resin and Patchouli and Leather.

 

And Patchouli and Leather are highly problematic notes for me.

 

But this and The Ta-Ta are the epitome of soft, supple Leather.

 

So glad I took a chance, this will only become more outrageously wonderful with time.

 

The only reservation I have is it's decidedly unisex. Not masculine, unisex. I don't have a boy to give this to.

Edited December 16, 2011 by Heavenlyrabbit

[boxinghelena]

Holy L.E.A.T.H.E.R batman! Unfortunately, I amp leather and not in a good way, like old person dry-rotted leather that makes me want to gag. I get zero other notes. This is absolutely horrid on me.

Edited December 16, 2011 by boxinghelena

[clockworktomato]

I was going to write up my own review of this, then I saw Kakiphony's review and my experience was identical. This blend has already morphed about three times on me, from leatherleatherleather right out of the bottle, to the woodsy musk of the frankincense, to...wait, what? Citrus? Where did that come from? And in the time of typing this, it has changed again, and I'm getting faint rose under a very soft hint of warm patchouli. This is a chameleon blend.

 

 

This blend confuses me. I can normally tell whether I like a blend or dislike it, but this one is just...odd.

 

Exactly. I don't think this is a scent that I would wear out and about, which I kind of suspected when I bought it, as most of the notes are darker and heavier and outside of my usual realm of fruit and spice. But for just sitting around at home playing with oils, I'm liking this a lot. It keeps changing and changing and changing; it's an experiment in oils and body chemistry.

 

I also hadn't even noticed the darker layer at the bottom of my bottle, so I hadn't mixed that in before testing. I'll have to see if I can roll this around enough to get that to mix in a bit and see what that does.

 

I can definitely see this being one that changes over time, and changes again, and changes again. It seems tricksy, to change so much in just the space of 30 minutes of wearing, then I discover that dark layer in the bottle. I think just the surprises that this oil may give over time and with age really match up as a wonderfully appropriate anniversary blend, in that the longer we stick with it, there's no telling what surprises the oil (and the Lab) will come up with.

Edited December 16, 2011 by ClockworkTomato

[Roogna]

first let me say that I bought three (3) bottles of this and they are all the same

 

I get absolutely NO leather in the bottle or on my skin, and the dreaded ROSE has taken over

 

I'm leaving it on for now (bracing myself for the Rose-headache) just in case it changes....but I'm not hopeful. Rose wins 99.9% of the time

 

it goes a pit Pinesol for about 5-10 minutes, then soapy for 5-10 minutes - then back to Rose with a hint of incense

 

 

**

and it fades down a LOT in 2 hrs...just rose on my skin and maybe a hint of incense...and almost disappears an hour or two after that (just a hint of rose on my skin)

 

NO LEATHER

Edited December 17, 2011 by Roogna

[patina]

Hmm. This is a little powdery. Not baby powder, but matcha powder as if everything was dusted with green tea. The patchouli and leather are first out. The leather note is subdued. It's not nearly as rugged as The Traveller, for instance. Underneath everything is some wood. Powdery, dry wood.

 

This is nice, but somewhat one-dimensional for me. Maybe if it had a little spice or something I'd appreciate it more. I'd love this on a guy, but I think it's a bit boring on myself.

[beachbabealways]

No powder here and the rose is subtle. Thank goodness.

 

Very deep, dark and sexy as hell. When I sniff this, Dracula comes to mind. Like something one of his women may have worn in that big ol castle.

 

It's not a morpher on me.

 

If you like Romanti.goth (which I love) you should try this.

[VioletChaos]

In The Bottle: Yes, the leather is there, but it's not the HAI LEATHER! that I thought it was going to be. And even in the bottle, it still is being tempered by some of the other notes. I'm especially detecting the cedar and possibly the narcissus right now.

 

Wet On Skin: the leather is not playing with the oudh and the narcissus still, and there's another floral I'm getting just a hint of. It's not the rose, so I'm assuming it must be the star anise, but less spicy than I'm used to...

 

Dry Down: Well, it's leather accord, alright. Sadly, though, I'm not getting much of the other notes- and there are a LOt of good ones in here. As with many of BPAL's headier creations, time might be all that's required to really make this oil shine. So I'll put it aside for now and revisit come high summer- 6 months should be enough to make this *really* special.

 

Edited December 20, 2011 by VioletChaos

[steffanina]

Leather Phoenix-

 

In Bottle: (The ingredients in this weren't what attracted me so much as the commemorative nature of this blend.) Sharp cologne-y smell, and leather.

 

Wet: Not quite so sharp and eye-watering as I feared. The leather blooms.

 

Dry: The leather is just too sickly-sweet for me. Sad!

 

Overall: Not the sort of leather blend I can wear. *goes back to Whip and Dead Man's Hand for optimal leather scent*

[Cheri]

Yesterday after leaving the gym, my husband texted to let me know that he brought the mail in, and Leather Phoenix made it in time for Christmas! It's already wrapped and in his stocking, but being the good wife that I am, I tested a tiny bit before wrapping it. It's awesome! And I usually don't do well with leather. Husband asked what I was wearing and I told him a few different samples, but he knows because I wouldn't let him see the contents of the newest BPAL box. Anyway, the scent is kind of sweet, but made me think of cowboys and shiny, new boots. I got a tiny bit of rose, which didn't detract from the scent at all. I would call it a gender neutral scent, so he might have to share it once in a while. Really nice and one of those I wish I had ordered two of!

[Amalthea]

I got this little baby in the mail today and oh me oh my... this is love love love. I bought this impulsively and since my purchase, was becoming increasingly nervous that I had made the wrong decision. None of the notes really appealed to me and leather is usually something I avoid. But from the moment I sniffed this from the bottle, I could smell the leather but it was muted and the rest was almost a lovely sweet floral and a bright phoenix-y hope started to blaze within me. Wet on the skin, I get sweet green tea with a background of leather. An hour later, the leather is still there but fading quick. It is truly lovely and to me, quite feminine. I never thought I'd wear leather until today.

[Akurarei]

Leather Phoenix

 

I'm going to do my best at actually identifying notes, hence the list:

matcha tea, wild frankincense, champaca, petitgrain, star anise, aged oudh, rose taifi, narcissus, Himalayan cedar, 11-year aged patchouli, and black leather accord.

 

In the Bottle:

Old leather & stinky, thick patchouli.

I don't detect anything else in this stage, just old & dirty.

 

On my Skin, Wet:

A blast of the leather & patchouli.

after a minute or so, the leather & patchouli die down, and I start to pick up the cedar note.

I am also picking up on the champaca & star anise, only faintly.

 

On my Skin, Dry:

I think the leather & cedar notes have done some kind of merger - it's a peculiar smell that is definitely NOT floral in nature.

the star anise is still there, just barely detectable.

the patchouli note comes & goes....I would rather that it left & stayed gone, as this is the version of patchouli that I really dislike.

I don't smell any of the following notes right now: Matcha Tea, Wild Frankincense, Petitgrain, Rose Taifi, or Narcissus.

 

ETA:

OK, after a couple of hours more, I am getting hints of the tea & the florals.

this is turning more interesting, but I'm still not really sure that the tea & florals will overtake the leather, patchouli & cedar.

I guess time will tell....

 

Verdict:

I was really hoping that Leather Phoenix would have a nice feminine & masculine balance.

The patchouli isn't quite "in your face" but I would describe it as prominent.

Black leather is the hard, slick variety, and is probably the biggest reason that the patchouli can't just completely overpower everything else.

Cedar amps on me like crazy, so that's why I get such a distinct cedar note.

and really, that's pretty much my experience on this one.

I would love for other, softer notes to make an appearance in the future.

 

Sadly Leather Phoenix disappoints me, but I still think that it was very lovely of Beth & her Labbies to create something so special for us to enjoy.

Thank you Beth for sharing your creation with us!

Edited December 20, 2011 by Akurarei

[joyfulgirl]

in the bottle: lots of frankincense and patchouli dusted with matcha. not picking up any leather at all.

 

wet: leather and rose chime in, but quietly. the frankincense and patchouli are the 2 most solid notes i can pick up, although the cedar and oudh are definitely starting to peek out too. the matcha is a nice top note to keep it from being too "dirty hippie" smelling (although, being a dirty hippie, i wouldn't have minded ).

 

dry: getting what i assume is the petitgrain now (wiki says a greenish-woodsy-orange smell, which i am DEFINITELY smelling)...it brightens up the whole thing and makes it feel a little less heavy and wintery. the rose has died away for me, and the patchouli and matcha have both quieted down quite a bit, leaving a nice blend of spicy frankincense, homey cedar and oudh, bright, fresh petitgrain and just a touch of soft, well-worn leather. i'd say it has medium throw...no one has asked about it, but my sweetie notices it and i can definitely still smell it while moving about.

 

bottom line: i must say that i LOVE leather phoenix! my sweetie liked it, but said it felt a little more masculine than my other sniffies. honestly, i think he just wants it for himself. i'm definitely keeping this and am going to have to find a way to make it last!

[dawndie]

In bottle: dirty dry leather and cedar

 

On skin: kinda sweet! like citrus

 

Half-hour later: the light citrus and dusty leather go back and forth

 

In conclusion: like others have noticed, this is a real morpher. One minute it's the dirty leather and cedar, which reminds me of the stinkbomb that Enkhespalos became on my skin (like a stable, ugh); then it's light and sweet, citrus with just a tinge of green tea; then every so often fuzzy champaca pops in, one of my more favorite florals. This one's worth keeping, to see what happens next!

[stellans]

Well. Let me just begin by saying this blend scared me to pieces when I sniffed it the very first time. I think it was probably I had applied that day's scent -Whoop, which is a sweet, almost foody blend- only a hour or so earlier, and I think it was that which made my Leather Phoenix smell quite unpleasant. My heart sank into my stomach and I felt ready to cry, "This isn't fair!"

 

But then. I'd baked a lot of holiday goodies and felt hot and sweaty, so I took a shower and tried my new Leather Phoenix again. I love this blend. Obviously, I have a new member in my Leather Collection, and it is amazingly kick-ass! There is something about this blend which reminds me of both the earlier leather releases, Sacrifice and Rivet.Goth, but yet it is still unique in itself.

 

On me, the leather note is uppermost (yay!), but the patchouli is there too - it isn't the 'dirty hippy' patchouli found in head shops, but a much smoother, sophisticated patchouli which would take one out for dinner and dancing rather than a rock concert.

 

The leather note is a rather hard one, almost the oiled leather smell of well-cared-for riding tack, especially a saddle (which is what put me in mind of Rivet.Goth, first but then Sacrifice as well), but it softens on my skin and blends with the aged patchouli into what is such an amazing blend, I wanted to sing!

 

Ever so slightly, I do smell something green and herb-ish (I'm thinking this is the macha tea), and it is this slight green smell which makes me think of Sacrifice greatly, because on me Sacrifice is a very herbal leather, with the leather almost playing second fiddle.

 

And lastly, there is a slight underlying incense-y note to the whole, not overly strong one but rather playing hide-and-seek with my nose. It's not exactly champaca the way I am used to smelling it, so perhaps the cedar and other notes are all contributing to this last impression.

 

The scent holds for quite a long time on me without fading, but when it does go, it is very quick. This wasn't the morpher on me it was on some reviewers, but rather a succession of discoveries in the whole. But in the end, when all is said and done, this is primarily a leather blend. Just from my perspective, it is a very unisex blend. I don't have my Mr. here to test it on just now, but he will be home soon. And then...oh, and then!

 

Four of 5 stars for this amazing new Anniversary Phoenix.

Edited December 20, 2011 by stellans

[Ondine]

Very very few leather blends ever work on me. Spanked (original) is one exception. This smells like the leather from Spanked minus the spices. I didn't get much of the matcha or anything else--just leather. Nice, but I'm interested to see how it will age.

[Monday]

Sounds like there was some trouble mixing this scent as some people get only leather and some none at all. I got a bottle with virtually no leather, which I'm grateful for as I'm not much into leather scents ( I know why then order something called Leather Phoenix but I just couldn't help myself ).

It starts out as spicy green tea but in a perfumey way. There is but the faintest trace of leather and no patchouli. The petitgrain shows up on drydown and does smell, like Joyfulgirl mentioned, of oranges and greenish wood it's overall a dark green scent. Leather Phoenix reminds me a bit of the Chanel perfume Cristalle of olden days it's very sophisticated. After a while I can smell the cedar which is making this blend rather masculine it's reminding me of The Triumph of Death.

Leather Phoenix starts out smelling feminine and dries down to an unisex blend, I'm on the fence about LP. The throw is decent.