Venusian Phoenix

[tarotgirl99]

VENUSIAN PHOENIX
HEAV’NLY, illustrious, laughter-loving queen,
Sea-born, night-loving, of an awful mien;
Crafty, from whom necessity first came,
Producing, nightly, all-connecting dame:
‘Tis thine the world with harmony to join,
For all things spring from thee, O pow’r divine.
The triple Fates are rul’d by thy decree,
And all productions yield alike to thee:
Whate’er the heav’ns, encircling all contain,
Earth fruit-producing, and the stormy main,
Thy sway confesses, and obeys thy nod,
Awful attendant of the brumal God:
Goddess of marriage, charming to the sight,
Mother of Loves, whom banquetings delight;
Source of persuasion, secret, fav’ring queen,
Illustrious born, apparent and unseen:
Spousal, lupercal, and to men inclin’d,
Prolific, most-desir’d, life-giving., kind:
Great sceptre-bearer of the Gods, ’tis thine,
Mortals in necessary bands to join;
And ev’ry tribe of savage monsters dire
In magic chains to bind, thro’ mad desire.
Come, Cyprus-born, and to my pray’r incline,
Whether exalted in the heav’ns you shine,
Or pleas’d in Syria’s temple to preside,
Or o’er th’ Egyptian plains thy car to guide,
Fashion’d of gold; and near its sacred flood,
Fertile and fam’d to fix thy blest abode;
Or if rejoicing in the azure shores,
Near where the sea with foaming billows roars,
The circling choirs of mortals, thy delight,
Or beauteous nymphs, with eyes cerulean bright,
Pleas’d by the dusty banks renown’d of old,
To drive thy rapid, two-yok’d car of gold;
Or if in Cyprus with thy mother fair,
Where married females praise thee ev’ry year,
And beauteous virgins in the chorus join,
Adonis pure to sing and thee divine;
Come, all-attractive to my pray’r inclin’d,
For thee, I call, with holy, reverent mind.

A blessing of beauty, passion, and kindness: red rose, benzoin, apple blossom, lemon verbena, red sandalwood, rose mint, sweet cherry, hibiscus, cardamom, tonka, tomato leaf, and vetiver.

This is a remarkable scent--if you like CB: I Love Perfumes, this will be right up your alley. You can literally smell each individual scent: the red rose is the strongest in the bottle and on first application, but little by little, each individual note comes out to take a bow--the lemon verbena, the tomato leaf, the apple blossom, oh, there's the rose mint...sweet cherry. They are like musicians warming up pre-symphony. It is a very complex and morphing and subtle perfume.

It is not for me, but as I said--there will be people who can't get enough.


My first first review.

[Mechanical Death]

A very tart fragrance. "pink" in color like a grapefruit. It smells primarily of tart hibiscus and cherry when wet, with the lemon verbena adding a citrus component. As it dries the rose peaks through, and the rose mint,which has a slight herbal quality. The rose in this is not overpoweringly so.

 

It smells like my favorite Saison beer, IO which is all hibiscus and flowers. Perfectly tart and flowery. Girly with a slight edge to keep it from being all flowers.

 

It's very faint, but in a good way. It would be overpowering as a strong scent. A lovely blend for cool summer days.

Edited December 6, 2012 by Mechanical Death

[Jennifurious]

First review ever! From the description of the notes, I expected something, I dunno, ostentatious. But in reality this is a very calm and subtle fragrance, perfect for the workplace or a warm day.

 

Initially, the verbena came across strongest but on application the sweet roses come to the forefront. Pink and yellow roses, creamy and light. The mint and tomato leaf seem to provide some herbal grounding. Almost no throw, nose to wrist. But perfectly lovely and well-suited for occasions where you want to smell clean and pretty without overwhelming those around you.

[becca_s]

I have tested this twice now to see if it would be different after it had settled down after coming straight out of the mailbox. It has been the same both times.

 

This starts out with a bright red rose and very sweet cherry. The cherry is almost almondy at the beginning. After a while the cherry settles down and it stops smelling like almonds. The rose in this is a juicy kind of rose - it doesn't turn powdery on me like some roses can. This eventually dries down to be a sweet, fruity rose scent mixed with the lemon verbena. The lemon verbena does become quite strong after about 10-15 minutes, there are times when I think it almost dominates the rose. It's generally a 50/50 mix between the fruity rose and lemon verbena on me - I guess my skin must amp it. Overall, this is a nice, bright, sunny kind of scent.

[hlinspjalda]

I bought this bottle unsniffed but expect to like it based on the notes.

 

In the bottle: Rose, cherry, mint, tonka or something else vanilla-ish. Very cheerful and pretty.

 

Wet: Strong sweet rose at first, then softening into cherry-almond fruitiness. There's something in it a little bitter and sticky-resinous, maybe the tomato leaf? No detectable vetiver and very little floral besides the rose. It started off with that questionable note I often get when lemon verbena is involved, like some kind of light musk gone wrong, but that went away pretty quickly.

 

One hour: A cheerful rose-cherry-sandalwood on me, made more complex by a dry floral and just a touch of something like vanilla. More rose than fruit, and a lively sandalwood/spice base.

 

Three and a half hours: This has become a soft rose scent with a touch of fruit and sandalwood. There is something so straightforward about its honest, perky, youthful appeal.

[Lycanthrope]

Hello, rose! How are things?

 

Oh, I see you brought some friends, and they seem like interesting people! Come in, there's plenty of cookies for everyone.

 

Wait?

 

Why are you the only one coming in? Oh, you're THAT rose. The one from Ysabel. Ulterior motive, extreme rose. Like, REI-equipped, climb up the sheer face of the flatirons, overpowering red, red, big, giant blossomy rose. You are like the rose at the party who no one can get a word in edgewise.

 

Oh, wait! I am getting to know your friend, lemon verbena!

 

... and like most lemons/verbenas it's just you two, chattering away like the Real Perfume Notes of Beverly Hills Reunion with Andy Cohen, Yet Another Snarky Jerky Gay Host. Neither of you wants to give up on my skin, but both of you are vying for the top.

 

I can't smell much else. And I'm tired, like an inadvertent peripheral person in a Real Housewives show, picked up by the camera, awkwardly smiling while some kind of hot mess occurs next to them.

 

No... no. Not for me.

 

ETA: Yar, and apple blossom is there, but it's like the not-quite-as-tragic supporting Housewife, but still dramatic and not a good match.

[stellamaris]

Oooh lemon verbena is stomping all over this and killing it for me...please go away lemon verbena, I hate you with all of my being...wait, wait, phew, there are the amazing roses!!!! Yay. Roses and sweetness! I love the dry down of this, I just have to decide if it's worth living through the initial Lemon Verbena Attack.

I smell Spellbound roses here, very nice.

Edited December 21, 2012 by stellamaris

[fairestrocza]

Starts out as a surprisingly nice, but shampoo-ish, smell. It starts to take on a vegetative scent up close, with some nice rose in the throw. The skin scent takes on a bitter quality, and the rose starts to turn. This one had some potential in the beginning, then dried down into the hot mess that was always doomed to be based on the notes of doom.

[surlygurl]

When I received my decants, this was the first one I skin tested. Either it would be brilliant on me, or the death notes would dance all over my skin. With that list of notes, I had to chance it.

 

Fresh on, I got this happy cherry hibiscus with rose undertones. Not bad, considering I can't do cherry or rose. But then demure rose started shouting and making a scene. It smelled... rosey. Sort of a cheap rose... no other notes to be found. It shouldn't disappoint me because it was a long shot. Oh well, I tried.

[Little Bird]

For some reason, this goes on smelling like perfumey red rose and lime popsicles to me. Maybe the sweet cherry and lemon verbena are giving me that impression. As it dries down, it smells less limeade to me and more like a mix of fruit flavored hard candies + perfumey rose. Over time, it's more and more of a perfumey rose on my skin, with the sweeter notes fading away. I kind've like Venusian Phoenix, but there's a bit of a sharp, musky, perfumey edge to the rose that I'm not loving. There are a lot of other rose blends that I like more than this one.

[OctoberGwen]

I'm a lemon verbena fan, and when first applied that's mostly what I'm getting from Venusian Phoenix. Fresh, yellow-green, and lovely; it's like standing in the sunshine on the first warm day of Spring.

 

As the oil warms on my skin, it blooms. I get a soft rose, a very slight coolness from the rose mint, and I can smell the tomato leaf, normally a note I don't like at all but here it provides an earthiness to ground everything beautifully. If I concentrate, I think I detect cherry's stickiness, but only just. I do not pick out any other individual notes, they just continue to meld into a wonderfully complex close-to-the-skin scent. It's soft and fresh, masterfully blended, and I don't have anything else like it in my collection.

 

Venus is my ruling planet, and I think this is an exquisite representation of it. The label art is absolutely gorgeous, too.

Edited January 5, 2013 by OctoberGwen

[mymymai]

ITI: That's rather pretty. I get hibiscus, apple blossom, lemon verbena, and vetiver.

 

Wet: First applied, the apple blossom is stronger than in the bottle. It mingles with the sweet cherry and hibiscus as the tomato leaf vetiver, and red rose settle as mid notes.

 

Dry: Verbena, vetiver, apple blossom, , rose, and cherry are left after 30 minutes. The throw is somewhat weak, but it's a pleasant scent.

[TrailerTrashPrincess]

thinking about this one instantly brings to mind the 3rd Doctor's Venusian aikido!

sniffed from the bottle, it smells oddly almost like spearmint tea. almost. i'm thinkin' that's the lemon verbena, which seems to be the overwhelming scent i get out of this.

[zankoku_zen]

Rose, cherry, hints of lemon verbena, apple blossom, and hibiscus (in that order as it dries).

 

This is a pretty, complex 'pink' rose blend.

 

Pretty, pink, roses.

[midnight_aeval]

This is all lemon, all the time for me. When I first applied/smelling from the decant, it was rose and cherries, but as it's drying down, only the lemon verbena!

[brilliantcat]

Imp: Rose, lemon verbena, perhaps a hint of mint? Very feminine and light.

 

Wet: To my delight, the rose is a mere background hint and the lemon verbena is front and center. I also get something sweet and sugary and a hint of herbal... perhaps the tomato leaf?

 

Dry: Sugared rose petals and lemon verbena. It's quite pretty but not at all for me.

[mistressfizz]

Cherry candy mixed with sweet red flowers. The cherry is definitely more sugary than sour, and there's a good dose of green astringent herbs in the background. The cherry flavor dominates this blend on me.

[milo]

In the imp, kind of a citrussy soap. Dry, less soapy, a more sweet citrus now, but bright due to the sweetness. This is kind of candylike now, like a sweet orange candy. Not for me, but nice to try.

[IambicDearie]

A little too sugary for my usual tastes, but it mellowed out pretty well over the course of the night! A keeper, I think.

[porcelina]

Looking at the notes, I am not sure why on earth I chose to purchase Venusian Phoenix because it is not at all like any of my usual BPAL choices. I do generally like tomato leaf, though, as far as "green" notes go, so that may have been what sealed the deal. Anyway, I do get a lot of that nice fresh tomato leaf note, but there is a little too much citrus and rose for this to be a winner. I like the soft benzoin and tonka in the background but it's just too flowery and ultimately soapy for me to wear.