The Phoenix At Midnight

[Heavenlyrabbit]

THIS is thy hour O Soul, thy free flight into the wordless,
Away from books, away from art, the day erased, the lesson done,
Thee fully forth emerging, silent, gazing, pondering the themes thou
lovest best.
Night, sleep, death and the stars.

The cold fire of distant stars: indigo musk, black iris, orris root, rosewood, night-blooming jasmine, and honeysuckle. This Phoenix embodies introspection, reflection, spiritual freedom, and hope springing eternal.

 

Rosewood & Dark Musk front and center, which works for me.

I do not get the usual Jasmine rush nor the sweet kiss of honeysuckle. They both seem to be mellowing out with the Orris.

This is a deep, inwards scent. Again, captures mood intended very well.

I think many BPAL lovers who shy away from florals should definitely give this one a whirl.

 

[puck_nc]

Origin: Straight from the Lab

 

Initial Thoughts: Honeysuckle is a favorite note of mine. I only hope it shines.

 

In the Bottle: There is some honeysuckle, but there is also something that smells bitter. Not sure if it's the iris, jasmine, or orris root. It does give the impressions of darkness.

 

Wet: The bitter impression turns earthy, which really makes me think the orris root is the culprit.

 

Drydown: I get a touch of sweetness from the honeysuckle and a rich undertone from the musk. It ever so slowly morphs away from the bitter earthiness into a dark, rather understated sexiness.

 

Verdict: Might be keeping this one.

Edited January 10, 2012 by puck_nc

[sharkdiver]

I really love this one! so glad I decided to order the bottle unsniffed!

 

I actually wasn't sure if I would like it, when I sniffed the oil in the bottle, as it had a sharpness to it, that I tend to shy away from - Not totally a floral sharpness, but the musk and floral together. I just thought maybe it would be a little to "loud" and sharp for my taste.

 

wet: The sharpness remains only briefly when it is first applied, but as it sinks into my skin, it fades quickly, and mellows out much more. I definitely can pick out the Crystalline musk note, and some very soft florals behind it that are really very nice. This doesn't smell at all like any of the other BPAL oils I own, which I am very happy about, and it's one of those scents you could easily wear everyday to work, as it's not super strong in your face, and gentle, but it is sexy, at the same time, so it's also a good choice for a night out. Definitely evocative of the stillness, and purity of a cold winter night...at Midnight.

 

I would give this one 4/5

[IndigoWarDog]

Bottle-Scent: Imagine a flower being boiled down into a thin, blue-purple cough-syrupy material and then smelling it. Phew. Makes me hungry all the same, though. Delicious. I'd drink it if I weren't certain I'd miss work.

 

First Applied: Wow. So straight out of the gate, I get a real floral scent. I think honeysuckle? Within 5 minutes, the intensity dulls out and it becomes an almost warm, woody scent. (Is that orris root I smell, or rosewood?) Jasmine just kicked me in the face 2 minutes later, but in a wonderful way. It seems to flit between the wood-scent, jasmine and honeysuckle...

 

15 Minutes: Detecting some musk, the honeysuckle has faded away into the background, but is still a mellow undercurrent that is hardly distinguishable from the wood-scent and the jasmine is still pretty strong.

 

20 Minutes: All of the other scents remain, but what's this...? Do I smell something like fresh-cut veggies? It's so subtle, I barely noticed it until I sat there and really snuffled at my arm for a minute. It's like a mix of fresh-cut cucumber and fresh-cut carrot. Yet it doesn't reek of them, it just uplifts the scent and gives it a very fresh burst.

 

Gonna go play Star-Fox Adventures and then come back in an hour and update...

 

1 Hour: The scent has faded to a light, warm scent. It's very relaxing and has no distinct notes but it has a strong warm, woody scent that peaks and falls as you inhale. I might put some on my pillow an hour or two before bed if I wanna sleep easy. It stirs my libido ever so slightly, but almost in a kind of "Let's wait till the morning, for now sleep in my arms." sort of way.

Edited December 20, 2011 by IndigoWarDog

[cinnamonster]

Darkly musky,yet not in masculine talc way, this quickly brings to mind The Velvets and also Velvet Panther, this is jasmine but not an indolic jasmine. I can't distinguish much else, my nose is not at it's best tonight.

 

I like this very much more than The Velvets, it's more feminine to me. A surprise hit.

 

Edit to add: review number two, since I clearly have morphed into someone else since that review. It smells NOTHING like last time.

 

It's almost fruity, there's a darkness but it's a 'bright' darkness, cloudless sky with lots of moon. Fruity throw, but jasmine-ish on the last part of the inhale, snuffled close to my arm. Ths is totally bizarre! What's happening to me!??

Edited January 16, 2012 by cinnamonmel

[Akurarei]

The Phoenix At Midnight

 

In the Bottle:

Cool musky florals.

it gives me a slightly watery impression as well.

 

On My Skin, Wet:

Water, Jasmine & clean musk.

this is a very pure scent on me... very distinct ingredients and they play with my chemistry very well.

 

On My Skin, Dry:

Jasmine & clean musk - with some residual water notes.

I'm not sure how to describe the water notes I'm getting....maybe very delicate wet greenery?

........

I know! it's reminiscent of the Lab's White Tea note!

so really it smells like jasmine, clean musk and a cup of delicate white tea

 

Verdict:

This is my favorite Phoenix of this year's offerings so far (still need to try Phoenix at Dawn)

it's very clean with a beautiful touch of of jasmine and I absolutely love the water/white tea notes that manifest.

it's a very soothing and romantic blend.

great job Beth & Labbies!

[mistressfizz]

Sniff: This smells like...grass? Weird, not what I was expecting at all. Dewy grass, with hints of light wood, very outdoorsy.

 

Wet: OK, I don't know where the grass smell is coming from, but it's still there. Now I'm getting the flowers too, wafting over the grass. The jasmine is strongest, sweet and light, followed by hints of rose and honeysuckle. I get impressions of ochre and tan, with dusty woodsy undertones. Overall this is very soft and gentle, fragrant without being heady.

 

Dry: This settles into a beautiful light floral musk, very quiet and peaceful. It's fresh without being powdery or sharp, and has a calm grace. Simply lovely and fits the embodiment perfectly.

[Little Bird]

I usually hate bpal's black musk, iris, and jasmine notes, so I wasn't expecting much from this. This actually starts off pretty nice on me, though. It's mostly orris at first, which is like a sweet, cool, powdery violet smell on me, with hints of something like green plants. Then, after about five minutes, the sour jasmine and sharp, perfumey iris come in and take over. The jasmine note has that sourness that makes me think of dirty bathrooms, unfortunately, so it winds up smelling like cheap white floral perfume spritzed in a rest stop bathroom...

 

The Phoenix at Midnight winds up being too sharp/sour floral for me.

[zankoku_zen]

Jasmine, honeysuckle and musk. The jasmine keeps stabbing my nose. It's sort of airy, ethereal and perfumey.

[windbourne]

On me, this one is a strong, headachey jasmine with a background of musk and a bit of dusty orris. It is surprisingly dark for such a floral, and the jasmine is quite fresh-smelling, but this one is not much to my tastes, I'm afraid. Washing wrist (head is actually starting to pound) and sending the decant to the swaps pile.

 

I'm at a 0/4 for this years Phoenixes. :/ Foo.

[milo]

Wet, and for a bit, this is STRONG, acrid perfumey musk, ala female axe if there was such a thing. Fifteen minutes later, the axe is gone, and I'm mainly getting the night blooming jasmine, which smells like Lush's jasmine note, which I quite like. In spite of that, I'm not much of a heady floral gal, and probably wouldn't wear this a whole lot. Nice to try though!

[lilyliza]

In the bottle: I can't place any notes. It smells a little odd to me, and it's not very sweet overall.

 

Wet, on my skin: Jasmine only goes powdery on me when it's with certain other flowers, and apparently honeysuckle is one of those. I don't think I like the honeysuckle note very much now that I've smelled it in more than one scent- it goes musty and way too sweet on me. Between the jasmine and honeysuckle, they pretty much stamp out the other notes.

 

Drying: The rosewood fights its way to the surface first, then the indigo musk. Iris appears to add some complexity to the floral note, but it's getting almost too much for me to take. This is reminding me very much of Donna con Ventaglio. It's like Donna's slightly mellower, nighttimey cousin. It gets better once iris takes over as the main floral note- the other two calm down. I think the orris root probably mellows things out.

 

Drydown: Powdery, musky, musty. This close to giving me a headache, even though it smells nice.

 

It's not bad-smelling by any means, but it's a lot more classic powdery perfume than I expected. I suppose I was expecting something akin to The Moon Gazed Upon My Midnight Labours, but they're completely different. I don't think I'll be reaching for this often, but if classic perfumes are your thing, I would pick this up, especially if you liked Donna con Ventaglio.

[Monday]

Yep orris plus something green like an unripe tomato. I had expected some musk but it doesn't turn up just yet. The orris/ tomato combo sweetens as it dries and finally the florals turn up masking the green scent.

Honeysuckle is at the front melding prettily with the iris, the iris making the blend a bit powdery. There is still a sweet green note underneath that I can't quite place.The musk and the jasmine are the last to turn up they give this blend some strength and throw.

The Phoenix at Midnight is a light scent, I had expected indigo musk + orris = perfumey battering ram but it's quite pretty.

[angelamaria]

In decant: a dark floral, rich and luxurious. Very midnight-ish in feel.

 

Wet on skin: a definite rich dark floral, voluptuous and full-bodied, but not cloying. There's a sweetness present that doesn't overwhelm. I think that this has quite the opportunity to be "too much", but it's not, it's all wonderfully balanced, soft and inviting. It's a soft-smiling woman opening her arms to you for a reassuring hug.

 

Dry: a soft, dark and friendly floral. Very well-blended, and doesn't morph on my skin and staying true to its scent. Very soothing and spot on with the introspection.

 

Verdict: I definitely like it, and I debated getting a bottle of this, but eventually I decided I likely wouldn't wear this as much as my other floral blends as I enjoy lighter blends than this.

[Invidiana]

This is downright beautiful on me and I normally hate honeysuckle. Most all BPAL honeysuckle scents dry down to screaming honeysuckle on me, and taken that I have a scent memory association with honeysuckle and huge wasps that is not a good thing. I think it's a combination of the type of honeysuckle used plus its proportion in comparison to the other notes and the way it blends with them that makes this scent decidedly un-honeysuckle on my skin. It's really more of that beautiful indigo musk also in Nightmare plus the black iris and night-blooming (read: non-cat pee!) jasmine that are swirled together for a dark yet somehow crystalline scent like a clear midnight sky sparkling with stars. This actually isn't much of an orrisy scent on me; the orris does contribute to its softness, and the rosewood is just a background element to anchor and not overwhelming. This and Dusk are the two winning phoenixes for me this year.

[thekittenkat]

In the decant: Something cool and floral.

 

Wet: A sharp note is appearing, probably from the iris.

 

The dry-down: The sharp note of the iris has calmed down, and that cool note, which is probably the indigo musk, has returned. I would like to try this musk again, but not with florals that I don't like: orris and iris.

[Morsigne925]

In the bottle: A very sweet, slightly tangy floral. I think I can pick out the honeysuckle but not much else yet.

 

On skin wet: I get a whoosh of florals - I don't know what iris smells like on its own, or orris, or rosewood, but what I'm getting right now is mostly what I think is the mix of the honeysuckle, jasmine, and iris. Funny I don't get the musk yet at all on me. It smells very strongly floral at this point, and reminds me of little flower soaps.

 

Drying: It still smells like flower soaps/bath oil to me but not in a bad way - I really like the cool, floral scent it has right now. It's still pretty strong and I will probably put a little less on in future, but it's still quite lovely.

 

After a while: IT still seems to have a very "perfumey" smell to it, which I actually like - it doesn't work for me in some scents, but something about the way this one smells, where I might not normally like it, I do.

 

Bottom line: A very lovely floral scent - I give it a solid 4 stars and would wear it particularly when I'm feeling feminine, and in springtime.

[PurringPulsar]

The Phoenix at Midnight

 

In the imp: whoa, rosewood and plenty of it! It’s a harsh, almost medicinal wood in here.

Wet on skin: so much rosewood. I hope the musk and honeysuckle come out soon because the wood here is amping to the heavens.

Dry on skin: spicy, sweetish, dry rosewood. Not as medicinal but it does have that dry rose petals and sawdust smell going on. I think I smell a pleasant jasmine note underneath, as well as a cool dark iris. The wood does seem to calm though as a velvety musk seems to rise up through the scent. No honeysuckle here yet but the floral notes are very pretty, like dewy night flowers, this reminds me a bit of the scents inspired by bats. I think this has the potential to turn into something amazing but I think the notes need to settle…

After a while: and settle they do, and as predicted, this does turn into something fantastic. A haunting blend of iris and dry yet warm wood with the kind of furry musk that makes me want to nuzzle my nose in my wrist in glee. The iris is sweet yet slightly watery and fresh, but it becomes more of a dusty orris a few hours later. The jasmine is so faint, as is the honeysuckle (unfortunately) but I’m pleasantly surprised at the rosewood-normally I’m not crazy about it but here it works very well, reminding me a bit of the sandalwood-orris combo in Staged Moon Landing.

Verdict: this is my favourite of the 2011 phoenix scents. It’s a really beautiful, cool nocturnal musk and despite containing jasmine and rosewood, it works really nicely on me. It reminds me of Cold Hour of Dawn, but it’s darker, warmer, and more mature. The musk and iris go really well together, and the rosewood adds a nice base, this wood is almost spicy in this scent. The only thing that disappoints me about this scent is the lack of honeysuckle…I was hoping it would show up but I think either my skin eats the BPAL honeysuckle note, or it’s a very quiet note. Even the jasmine is quiet here. But that doesn’t matter because this scent perfectly captures the mysteries of the midnight hour.

Is it a keeper? I managed to get a half bottle.

If you like this, try: The Cold Hour of Dawn, Silver Phoenix, Staged Moon Landing, Bat, Blue Moon 2010 (Beth’s), Parthenope

[whitsunweddings]

In the imp: Kinda musky florals with orris particularly strong.

Wet: Rose coming out, mingling nicely.

Dry: Musky florals and yet also sunscreen on me? Odd.

[Ishtar]

A very generous forumite sent me a decant of this in a swap (thank you! ), and as an avowed lover of dark musk, iris and honeysuckle, I jumped for joy when I read the notes.

 

The Phoenix at Midnight is indeed a nocturnal scent, soft and deep and mysterious. It's darkly sensual, not in a dangerous or twisted way, but rather in a muted, brooding sort of way.

 

The musk and iris are most noticeable at first, then the honeysuckle starts blooming. I'm getting images of a triumphant full moon illuminating an otherwise pitch black sky.

 

Jasmine haters don't need to shy away from this Phoenix - it's not a note I particularly tend to amp mind you, but I can't even find a hint of it in this particular blend. Really gorgeous and sophisticated!

[tharsei-thanate]

Got an imp of this from a super generous forumite! This'll be my first Phoenix blend.

 

In the imp: Interesting. Smells a bit aquatic and somewhat sharp. No particular note is jumping out.

 

Wet: Goes on sharp but not a moment later it smoothes out into lovely, bright honeysuckle. The other florals are gently wafting but they're too soft to really pick out.

 

Dry-down: The florals are all blending together nicely with the musk. None of the notes are particularly overpowering. This is definitely a nocturnal blend, though. Midnight blue is the color I'm getting.

 

Dry: Soft, almost powdery florals. Quite lovely. But man, my skin just drinks everything I put on it. There's not much throw to this, haha. But if I put my wrist to my nose and close my eyes it's like being in a moon-lit field overflowing with blooming flowers.

 

Overall, this is a beautiful blend. Not sure if I want a bottle because I have plenty of florals already, but I'm super glad I have an imp of this. (:

[mymymai]

ITB: It's floral, clean, soapy, and a little green. I can pick up the jasmine and black iris along with light orris root, but not too much.

 

Wet: I had trouble really trying to dig down into the notes. The jasmine and iris are incredibly dominant and it is a bit too much for my nose.

 

Dry: It was so overtly floral, strong, and overwhelming that I had to restrain myself from scrubbing it off. It's too much floral and not enough depth beside a powdery tone once dried.

[Morsigne925]

Wet/bottle: Very clean, bright; not unlike irish spring soap to me

 

Drying: lovely floral, and I usually do hate too much floral - it's got just enough darkness coming through from musk to make it quite nice on me.

 

Overall, this is one that smells sort of classic-perfumey to me, but I do like it, so will keep it around! 3.9/5

[anaengel]

I got this soon after it came out, when I still didn't know what I liked smelling. So, this has been sitting for a few years. I wore this without remembering what the notes were.

When it first goes on my skin, I swore it smelled like cherries. Then, I got the musk coming out. The cherry scent stayed with me for about half an hour, turning it into smelling like a cherry coke. This was even feeling like the bubbles that come up. Then, it settled down with the musk fading to the backdrop and rosewood coming out. From there, it clung much closer to me and was nice to have on.

The surprise for me was to read the notes later and am still trying to figure out how it smelled like cherry coke for a bit. The other surprise is that I never noticed the jasmine in this. No cat piss or poop smell came from this at any time. Yay! I may have to remember to wear this a lot more.

[theseagrows]

this is one of those nighttime floral scents, definitely. it's very soft and unobtrusive. it starts off with musk, iris and jasmine, and after about 5 minutes, i get more of the honeysuckle and orris root. night blooming jasmine seems to work much better on me than regular jasmine. it's softer and a bit sweeter and i don't seem to amp it quite as much. it's very soft, pretty and meditative.