Solar Phoenix

[hlinspjalda]

SOLAR PHOENIX
HEAR golden Titan, whose eternal eye
With broad survey, illumines all the sky.
Self-born, unwearied in diffusing light,
And to all eyes the mirrour of delight:
Lord of the seasons, with thy fiery car
And leaping coursers, beaming light from far:
With thy right hand the source of morning light,
And with thy left the father of the night.
Agile and vig’rous, venerable Sun,
Fiery and bright around the heav’ns you run.
Foe to the wicked, but the good man’s guide,
O’er all his steps propitious you preside:
With various founding, golden lyre, ’tis mine
To fill the world with harmony divine.
Father of ages, guide of prosp’rous deeds,
The world’s commander, borne by lucid steeds,
Immortal Jove, all-searching, bearing light,
Source of existence, pure and fiery bright
Bearer of fruit, almighty lord of years,
Agil and warm, whom ev’ry pow’r reveres.
Great eye of Nature and the starry skies,
Doom’d with immortal flames to set and rise
Dispensing justice, lover of the stream,
The world’s great despot, and o’er all supreme.
Faithful defender, and the eye of right,
Of steeds the ruler, and of life the light:
With founding whip four fiery steeds you guide,
When in the car of day you glorious ride.
Propitious on these mystic labours shine,
And bless thy suppliants with a life divine.

A blessing of nobility, leadership, and generosity: Roman chamomile, yellow rose, pineapple, bay laurel, frankincense, heliotrope, and Ceylon cinnamon.

I bought this bottle unsniffed. It's got several notes that are good on me, and it sounded very warm and cheerful.

In the bottle: Cheerful, faintly fruity, faintly cinnamon.

Wet: Unexpectedly powdery, unidentifiably floral, with a touch of fruit and cinnamon.

Two hours: Where is the rose? I love rose notes, but I never detected one in this. The cinnamon is very light as well. Nevertheless, this is a warm, slightly prickly soft scent, still a bit powdery. I think the prickly impression is herbal and comes from the bay laurel. This scent is very comforting, the kind of thing I'd like to cuddle up to and just smile about.

Four and a half hours: Still soft, warm, slightly prickly and powdery, but the frankincense is more evident now that some of the more delicate notes have fallen back.

This one was not a 5 on me, but it's a 4: plenty good enough to keep and wear. As a solar scent, I like it better than Sol Invictus, The Sun (Tarot), or The Sportive Sun.

[BoneBone24]

Wet: Cinnamon and sweet florals.

 

Drydown: Glowing cinnamon and something honey-sweet over waxy rose and frankincense. Perhaps a hint of fruity heliotrope below that.

 

Dry: The pineapple is coming through now. Cinnamon and chamomile at the top, with juicy pineapple and smoky frankincense below that. There’s just a hint of florals and bay in the background. Glowing, smoky-spicy, and herbal. Summery.

 

 

 

 

6.5 out of 10 bones

Edited October 16, 2013 by BoneBone24

[Lycanthrope]

Well, this is certainly interesting on my skin.

 

I smell a complicated mishmash of spice and bright floral in the decant vial, on my skin, it's all cinnamon pineapple all the time. I don't think I can wear the pineapple note. I'd take my review with a grain of salt because I amp cinnamon like crazy.

 

It smells yellow, though. Yes.

[stellamaris]

I thought I would love this, but all I could smell was apples when I put it on, when it dried down, bleeech...imagine my surprise when I found out it was pineapple. Hey! Wait! The word pineapple has apple in it!!!! No wonder this is so vile.

Not for me. It smells like some kind of cheap fruit potpourri, sorry Lab, I know it's me, I just hate hate hate this type of scent.

 

Well at least I don't have to buy all these Phoenixes

 

You know, sigh, I am starting to warm up to this one after testing it a couple more times. The dry down was so awesome, lightly fruity and cinnamon heavy, so I am trying it at different times of the day.

 

OK, OK I am liking it...so mad...

Edited December 23, 2012 by stellamaris

[becca_s]

I wasn't sure about this one because it has a few iffy notes for me - pineapple, frankincense, cinnamon but I was really pleasantly suprised and happy that I got a decant. It does start out quite fruity - but it's not obviously pineapple on me, I also get quite a bit of the chamomile at first too. This dry's into a really lovely combination of yellow rose, frankincense and heliotrope. It's very solar and summery ... I think that the cinnamon stays in the background giving it a hint of spice and some depth. The frankincense in this is nice, I am not generally a fan of it but it works well in this blend. I think I may need a bottle of this one

[Caper]

So I keep hearing about those BPAL blends that have a death note, but you try it anyway and miraculously the death note works.

 

This blend is one of those for me. I'm not a fan of rose. I thought I could be back in the beginning of my BPAL adventures, and just no. It always hits too high of a floral note. So I decided that the good could possibly outweigh the bad in solar phoenix, besides, maybe yellow rose is different from all the other types of rose, and I tacked on a decant to my order.

 

This is working so well I may have to consider trying some jasmine, because that is the only other note that has consistently been as awful on me as rose.

 

This oil is sweet and slightly spicy with a hint of fruit. I don't know what happened to the the rose but it is either really gentle, or yellow rose is my friend.

 

I think I'm going to get a bottle.

[surlygurl]

In the decant, this is the friendliest of the anniversary blends. I generally like warm solar blends so I slathered it on.

 

Oooh! Warm golden frankincense... something soft & yellow (rose? chamomile? pineapple?) Very cheery and soft. Also a very good resin scent. As it dries, I think about the other solar blends I have and how I do not need another one. This isn't all that different. But as it dries it gives off a gentleness, like warm summer sun. It's almost too soft; it's a skin scent on me.

 

I really wanted to get a bottle for the solar aspects, but there are other anniversary blends I like better.

[Little Bird]

I like Solar Phoenix for about the first half hour that it's on. Pineapple notes usually turn sour on my skin, but the pineapple here smells soft, yellowy, and sweetly fruity, with a bit of fuzzy, herbal chamomile rounding it out. I get that nice herby-fruity combo over the dusty, incensey frankincense and powdery heliotrope. It's a pleasant, unusual mix of fruity, herbal and resinous. Unfortunately, it fades a lot after the first half hour on my skin, and I'm left with a faint, powdery incense that disappears rather quickly. I wish it had better staying power on me.

[pekeana]

Roman chamomile is one of my death notes. It almost invariably despises my skin.

 

Solar Phoenix is the only exception to this rule.

 

I get the warmth of the frankincense and cinnamon, the juicy smokiness of the pineapple (for the Lab's pineapple notes all invariably go smoky on my skin), and the sweet floral depths of the rose and heliotrope. I can smell all of the notes individually (even the chamomile), but the scent as a whole works as one of deep knowledge, understanding, and comfort with one's self.

 

I'm so very glad I took a chance and got a bottle of this because it really speaks to me.

[mymymai]

ITI: Hmm. It smells like the stuff people use to cure fake nails - acetone (I think) and something a little floral.

 

Wet: It still has that acetone smell with bay, rose, and cinnamon mixed in. I'm still not very fond of it.

 

Dry: The acetone scent has faded and I'm left with something far more pleasant. I now get cinnamon, rose, frankincense, bay, and a touch of pineapple and something that reads as vanilla.

[milo]

Sunshine herbs is what I get. This is like walking into my naturopath's office, I'm getting chamomile, heliotrope and other sunny smells. Bright sunshine reminiscent of summer, I like this, but to me, it's more of an 'atmosphere' feel, and not a perfume. No need to upgrade.

[Dark Alice]

Wet: Chamomile is smacking my nose around and shoving raw pineapple up my damn nose.

 

Dry:Gorgeous. Everything just swirls around into this gorgeous scent! There are no individual notes screaming at me anymore. I love it. I need to find a partial. I just...just love it. Just glorious.

[zankoku_zen]

Pineapple, cinnamon and chamomile. The pineapple is strongest on wet. This smells fruity and sunny, and dries to a cheery cinnamon, chamomile and rose blend.

 

Cheery, fruity, roses.

[brilliantcat]

I have high hopes despite the rose. The other notes all sound amazing so let's see what happens...

 

Imp: This doesn't smell at all how I thought it would! I get mostly the herbal bay laurel and maybe a little floral?

 

Wet: The tiniest smidge of pineapple and soapy florals. I do hope this improves as it warms. It's not offensive to my nose, but it's not great either.

 

Dry: Rose, rose, rose, and rose. Bah.

[neuilly]

This is not at all what I was imagining - but I really like it! It's a lot lighter than expected, and therefore fades relatively quickly, but it's gorgeous until it's gone. It's definitely chamomile, and I think it's a sort of tea element that makes it feel like. There's definitely some light heliotrope in this (a note I LOVE!). I get some of the bay laurel. I oddly don't get the pineapple even though it seems most people do. It's a light but sunny scent.

[mistressfizz]

It's pineapple incense! Really interesting blend. It has a tropical vibe, almost like a South Asian temple glowing in the sun, with hints of warm blooms and soft spices, sweet fruit offerings and dusty smoke wafting over stone.

[PurringPulsar]

Solar Phoenix

 

In the imp: a mix of sweet golden fruit, camomile tea and savoury bay.

Wet on skin: very reminiscent of some other sun-themed scents like Labores Solis and Helios, but more herbal and with added pineapple.

Dry on skin: I love this! It’s warm, balmy, fruity and golden. The pineapple is there but it is subtle-adding a sweet undertone without smelling like a pina colada. The camomile is a very soothing scent here, and it reminds me a bit of sun-warmed hay. The bay isn’t as heavy as in Delphi, but it adds a hint of pleasant herbiness. There’s a gorgeous rose note-reminiscent of white rose, but smoother and softer. The frankincense is that wonderful, golden variety from Helios, it smells almost like it’s been infused with saffron. Not much cinnamon or heliotrope yet. This has a feel to it that reminds me of a lazy sunny afternoon.

After a while: the bay note slinks away into the background leaving a lovely, shimmering, almost fuzzy scent of rose and camomile tea with sweet, juicy pineapple, and a fantastic spiced frankincense note. It reminds me of Pallas Athene by now, probably because of the frankincense and cinnamon.

Verdict: this is a wonderful solar scent-resinous, herbal and a tiny bit floral-reminds me of Helios, Ahathoor, Labores Solis and Sol Niger (prototype), but it’s different to the fruity/sweet/amber-y sun scents lik Ra and Sol Invictus. It’s a scent that captures the laid back, happy aspects of the sun…the scent of warm dried grasses and herbs, freshly bloomed roses and notes that remind me of holidays in far away warmer climes, be it by the Mediterranean (the bay laurel) or somewhere closer to the equator (the pineapple). Perfect for those dreary days when I feel like I need a bit of instant sunshine.

Is it a keeper? Yup-I can’t wait to get my bottle!

If you like this, try: Sachs, Against Idleness and Mischief, Helios, Labores Solis, Pallas Athene, Ahathoor

[Ranna]

I took notes on this when I first received my decants some time ago, but never got around to posting the review.

 

In the imp: a light, sweet floral.

 

Wet: Roses!

 

Dry: Roses and chamomile. So much love for this!

 

1 month+ later: I still wear this fairly often, but I'm sad to say that with aging the pineapple and cinnamon have come out more. It's not that I dislike the scent now, but I was so in love with the roses and chamomile phase that I'm disappointed by the change. I will, however, most certainly be keeping my imp, and may try to snag a bottle if the opportunity presents itself.

[catalyst]

I actually like this a lot. It's a lot sweeter than I usually go for, and I'd like it more without the rose, but it's nice and very golden yellow smelling.

 

It's hard to describe. It's mostly pure chamomile on me, with a little bit of fruit complexity making it amp itself. If that makes any sense? Chamomile turned up to 15? But not just chamomile. All the other notes back it up and boost it into hyper-chamomile. Which, other than the rose making it kind of floral, is really nice.

 

The imp is a keeper. My housemate already has her eye on it, and there may be a shared bottle in the future. She's saying it's the perfect solstice BPAL.

[Vega]

Sniffed: Gentle and bright. Light resins mingled with fruity sweetness and dry floral.

 

On skin: This is one of those scents where I can distinguish all the individual notes, yet smell how they are combining into a more complex, well-blended perfume. Light frankincense (lighter than what I'm familiar with) forms the dry, resin-sweet base. Pineapple clearly contributes the juicy fruity sweetness; the florals are bright and "yellow", and I can distinguish the gentle, spicy brightness of my beloved Roman chamomile. The blend is rounded out with a breath of spice from cinnamon and a hint of herbal-ness from bay laurel. The resulting scent is dry, warm and sweet with a little spicy edge, and gets more airy with drydown, increasing in depth and body but still remaining light and gentle. Indeed, Solar Phoenix evokes a benevolent Sun, warm and life-giving, not at all scorching or harsh. Yeahbutnobut above captures it perfectly in her review: this is a lazy afternoon lying on the grass outdoors; a laid-back, happy Sun.

 

Colour impression is pure yellow-gold with a muted sheen. Solar Phoenix reminds me of Copper Phoenix, which is a similar resin/fruit/floral blend that is richer and more fruity. (I no longer have Copper Phoenix so can't do a comparison.)

 

Verdict: The more I test Solar Phoenix, the more I love it. I think it's a perfect scent for summer: it evokes the season, but is light enough to wear in hot weather. I think it has benefited from some aging, and will continue to age well. Thank you so much to my Switch Witch for gifting me a bottle!

[gloame]

I'm just now smelling this. After 5 years, it's a light, resin-y, perfume scent. The rose isn't overly heavy, but it does give it that 'perfume' smell. I like it, but there's very little throw and it seems to fade within minutes. No pineapple