The Littlest Lab Rat's Scents Are Live!

[kebechet]

 

https://blackphoenixalchemylab.com/product-category/autumn-collection/lilith-2019/

I love you, Lilith. I love you so goddamn much. It is a privilege to be your mother, and it is an honor to be your friend.

ALL MY FRIENDS ARE TURNING GREEN
This year, Lilith made her first studio recording, a cover of Riptide produced by the inimitable Paige Stark and engineered by Taylor Locke at Velveteen Laboratory. I couldn’t possibly be prouder of her.

https://soundcloud.com/user-169723815/riptide-cover-lilith-barrial

When Lilith covers a song, she truly adds a quality all her own: she can make any song – no matter how upbeat and cheery – sound like a funeral dirge, and I fucking love it.

A pop-song-turned-requiem: honeyed honeybush and carnation blackened, slowed, and thickened by raspy aged patchouli, sweet clove, and opoponax.

AND SING, AND SING
Sometimes the mist overhangs my path,
And blackening clouds about me cling;
But, oh, I have a magic way
To turn the gloom to cheerful day—
      I softly sing.
 
And if the way grows darker still,
Shadowed by Sorrow’s somber wing,
With glad defiance in my throat,
I pierce the darkness with a note,
       And sing, and sing.
 
I brood not over the broken past,
Nor dread whatever time may bring;
No nights are dark, no days are long,
While in my heart there swells a song,
       And I can sing
- James Weldon Johnson

A perfume for my songbird: lavender and white musk with sugared tuberose and pale mosses.

BACK IN BLUEBLACK
The color of a raven’s wing, gleaming like an oil slick: cistus labdanum, oakmoss, black vetiver, Italian bergamot, chocolate oudh, French lavender, violet leaf and petal, and sweet aged patchouli.

THE BALCONY SCENE
Arise, fair sun, and kill the envious moon,
Who is already sick and pale with grief
That thou her maid art far more fair than she.

This year, Lilith was cast as Romeo in her Shakespeare group’s production of Romeo and Juliet, which took place in their vision of Venice Beach in the ’90s; the Capulets were preppies and Heathers, and the Montagues were goths and punks. Lilith’s interpretation of Romeo was pure ’90s grunge.

Blood red roses, innocent pale orris root, bourbon vanilla, and sorrowful carrot seed.

BITS OF BIRNAM WOOD
Lilith takes theater very seriously, and when her Shakespeare troupe decided to do Macbeth, she became their unofficial propmaster. She gathered swords, shields, and daggers from her vast collection of weapons (this kid should have her own armory), and brought armloads of apple branches harvested from her school’s farm to the theater. Her faithful assistants – Teddy and I – had the pleasure of lugging those branches and weapons to and fro for months.
 

Great Birnam Wood didn’t just come to high Dunsinane Hill – it marched all over Los Angeles: apple wood, apple buds, squished apples, and apple blossom.

BLOODY MARY, BLOODY MARY
Bloody Mary has a long-standing tradition in our family. I summoned Bloody Mary with my friends in bathrooms all over Southern California; many years later, Lilith and a bunch of her friends summoned Bloody Mary in the school bathroom (she’s probably still there, sorry!); and last year Lilith and Tom played two of the incarnations of Bloody Mary in our school’s haunted maze.

A few years back, Lilith the Budding Exorcist passed on some sage advice to me: if you ever have trouble banishing an unruly spirit, just flush them down the toilet.

Black cherry blood globs over a thick crust of patchouli.

BOOTS
She wore Doc Martens during an entire season of volleyball – the practices and the games themselves – and I just want to remember that forever, is all. God, she’s so funny.

Little Kid Stompy Boots: leather, dust, lavender oil, wood chips, and grass.

BULLSEYE
In order for Lilith to get her certification in basic range safety, we had to get our asses up at the crack of dawn to get her down to the range. Lil, Teddy, Brian, and I all went through the lessons together. Lilith was doing great, but by the end she was really feeling the echo of our pre-dawn alarm. After the class ended, there was a fun little contest to see who could pop balloons with their arrows on the first try. Lilith was resistant; she was tired, kinda /done/ with everything, and just wanted to turn in her equipment and watch us. We all pushed her to at least give it a try – You have your equipment on anyway! Just do it! It’s fun! Well, she did. She whipped out one arrow, and casually nailed a balloon perfectly with one shot.

A perfume of Southern California winter: white sage, lavender buds, sugarbush, squished toyon berries, mugwort, wild rose, black walnut bark, and crunchy oak leaves drifting on a morning breeze.

CANDY, CHAINS, AND FURBALLS
Lilith has always loved Krampus, and Bill Rude of 7 Hells is responsible for so much of that love. He is the first Krampus she ever met – I think she was 2! – and he’s been “her” Krampus ever since. This year, she had the privilege of being invited to join his Krampus crew. Bill is amazing – he presented her with a formal invitation at the Los Angeles Krampuslauf last December, and she was overwhelmed with joy.

In a few scant months, Lilith will be a terrorizing onlookers along with him. Lilith will never, ever forget it. Thank you, Bill. You are the best.

A furry, horned little scent: a patchouli bramble smeared with cacao and black peppercorn.

GNOME RUCKUS
Lilith has been playing RPGs on and off for a few years now, but it wasn’t until 2019 that she really dove into playing them in earnest. She joined D&D games at the cons we went to, she signed up for a D&D group at a local community center, she GMs a small game for a couple of her besties, and she had a Friday night D&D group for most of the year.

Here, our paladin and cleric discuss whether or not to bribe a shady, evasive, closed-mouthed gnome merchant over information he may or may not have regarding a series of strange murders.

RPG night junk food: popcorn, red vines, and cream soda.

THE GREAT VIRGO BAKING SHOW
They’re actually making burgers here, but the Great Virgo Burger Slap just didn’t have the vibe I was looking for in a scent name. They have baked together in the past; you’re just going to have to trust me on that. Unless, of course, you want a burger-scented perfume.

Brian and Lilith bring out the best in each other, and she’s totally his Mini Me. As far as Lil is concerned, everything her Unkie says and does is the “literal coolest”.

Lilith told me that I should make this scent smell like honeyed cream and pecan pie, so there you go.

HEALTH GOTH
A perfume for our Sporty Bat: juniper berry, lavender bud, bergamot, and white incense.

Lilith has always been a sporty kid who wasn’t into team sports, but that changed a bit this year. She’s always loved martial arts (especially kung fu) and yoga, recently took up archery, and is trying to talk us into letting her start fencing, too. Basically, she loved sports that she could do on her own. (Very, very Virgo.) When she was little, we tried putting her in soccer, and she hated it. Brought up softball and baseball – she shut it down immediately. Last fall, she shocked us by joining her school’s volleyball team.

IMPROMPTU GOAT YOGA
This year, we started inviting Party Goats LA to our events, and it has been one of the best decisions we’ve ever made. The people who run PGLA are amazing human beings, and their goats are sweet, charming, and wonderful. There’s something about the presence of these radiant little goats that brightens everyone’s mood. 

Just like her mom, Lil loves goats. Lilith will pass on the pretty dress, but she sure does like the taste of butter – and she’s already living deliciously.

Goat’s milk, lavender buds, white tea, and marshmallow musk.

IN HEL, WE FEAST ON SUGAR PACKETS
I think every dedicated cosplayer ends up with at least one character that’s their go-to… the one they resonate with most, or feel most comfortable portraying. For Lilith, it’s Hela. No matter what new cosplay she comes up with, she always goes back to Hela for at least one day of any given con. It’s her “comfort cosplay”, and I suspect that she’d dress like Hela every day – weather permitting – if she were able to.

Here she’s recharging with sugar packets from a concessions stand at San Diego Comic-Con.

In Hel, we feast on sugar packets: raw sugar and white petals strewn on the floors of the High Halls.

L337 SKILLZ
Lilith loves video games, so it’s little surprise that she got into Fortnite for a while. The first time she played, she finished first almost by accident – mostly by hiding and being in the right place at the right time. She’s not all that keen on shooting people; what she loves is small talk. She’ll join a game, chit chat on a channel, and if no one feels like talking, she leaves.

A pop of fruit punch bubblegum.

LAZY DAISY
Lilith isn’t really all that lazy, but it is the name of her preferred stitch. Four years ago, Lilith took up knitting. Two years ago, it was weaving. This past year: embroidery. Neither Lil nor I are great at it yet, but not for lack of trying. At least no one that comes over to our place is ever at a loss for a tea towel since our embroidery adventure started.

(Tea towels. So. Many. Tea towels.)

Cotton stained with jasmine tea, Earl Grey, and a bit of oolong.

LITTLE ATALANTA
Lilith is a very martial creature. She loves kung fu and swordplay, and has been begging for archery lessons for years. We were finally able to fit it in this past year, and she took to it immediately. Now she’s asking if she can learn mounted archery, and I’ve been joking about sending her to a huntress summer camp with our cousins in Mongolia.

A pleather jacket and a swirl of autumn leaves.

MY TIGER
In folklore, the tiger is a fearsome, ferocious enemy of evil spirits and evil men and protector of the virtuous. The tiger is courage incarnate, joyful power, and a symbol of justice and righteousness. Lilith is my little tiger: a protector and preserver. She is a truly compassionate person, and ever since she was born, she has been a defender of the vulnerable and the meek. She abhors bullying and cruelty, and always stands up for people who are being harassed and oppressed. I admire her moral courage, her devotion to duty, and her dedication to doing what is right no matter the consequences.

A scent of strength and serenity: golden amber and pale lavender, sweet red patchouli and sugar cane.

SATURDAY MORNING
Sunny amber, coconut milk, squished grass, lavender oil, a chomp of lemongrass, and a poof of dandelion.

THE SCOTTISH PRINCESS
Come, you spirits
That tend on mortal thoughts, unsex me here,
And fill me from the crown to the toe top-full
Of direst cruelty. Make thick my blood.
Stop up the access and passage to remorse,
That no compunctious visitings of nature
Shake my fell purpose, nor keep peace between
The effect and it! Come to my woman’s breasts,
And take my milk for gall, you murd'ring ministers,
Wherever in your sightless substances
You wait on nature’s mischief. Come, thick night,
And pall thee in the dunnest smoke of hell,
That my keen knife see not the wound it makes,
Nor heaven peep through the blanket of the dark
To cry “Hold, hold!”

This year, Lilith was cast as Lady Macbeth in one of her Shakespeare group’s productions, and she fell in love with the part. She also takes the Scottish Curse VERY seriously, and god help you if you say “Macbeth” anywhere near her unless you’re running lines with her – I can’t tell you how many times she made me spin and spit during those months of rehearsals. Angels and ministers of grace defend us!

A cherry bomb of guilt-crusted blood, black clove, red roses, and sweet black musk.

SHE SAUNTERED VAGUELY DOWNWARDS
Lilith is in love with Good Omens. She’s in love with the book, and she’s in love with the show. While she adores Aziraphale, she identifies more strongly with Crowley. She admires his nerve, his devotion to Aziraphale, and she is delighted by his sense of humor. This year at DragonCon, she cosplayed Crowley with Chrissy (while Ted, Brian, and I were nuns and priests from the Chattering Order of St. Beryl – thank you, Jenny!), and as a birthday gift to her, I got her a photo op with David Tennant – who is /also/ her favorite Doctor.

A scent for a tiny demoness: sugar and red musk with pink pepper, cotton candy, and a poof of brimstone.

SOCIAL JUSTICE PALADIN
When she first started playing D&D, we talked a lot about alignment: what alignment we think family members are, friends of ours, characters in books, TV, and movies. We all agree that Lilith is Lawful Good – the Lawfulest and Goodest, and a paladin to boot – and she kinda hates it. She feels like Lawful Good is an embarrassing alignment to be, and that people will think you’re an obnoxious, smug goody two-shoes. Now, I get it: RPG paladins get a bad rap. They’re often portrayed as aloof, judgmental bores – self-righteous, bombastic, sanctimonious jerks. But Lilith really is a paladin in the kindest sense of the word: she’s noble and loving, compassionate and just, courageous and protective. She’s generous and empathetic, with loved ones and strangers alike, and not only does she try to do the right thing by her friends, but she also volunteers and fundraises for causes dear to her heart when she is able. I know it’s probably annoying that I blab so much about how inherently good my kid is, but it’s something that I absolutely treasure in her.

She just wants to help, and the world needs helpers.

A shining scent, bright and warm: copal, champaca blossom, sweet amber, frankincense, and lemon peel.

GENERATION SPOOKY
Lilith has been a devout Billie Eilish fan for some years now, so it seemed fitting that this should be Lilith’s first major concert. The show was phenomenal: the production itself was breathtaking, and Billie Eilish is a fantastic performer who really, truly knows how to connect with her audience. Lilith was ENTRANCED.

The whole experience really opened my eyes to who Gen Z is: a generation formed in the throes of horrific violence, born without innocence but steeped in compassion. They are profoundly dark, but without the cynicism of their Gen X predecessors. These kids are unimaginably powerful – forged in fire – and possessed of an empathy, open-mindedness, and tolerance that the rest of us can only begin to imagine. They are the gothest generation – a legion of dark stars – and they will likely save us all.  

They will be the best of us.

A perfume for the creepy kids, the iconoclasts, the revolutionaries: blackcurrant, cistus, blackened sugar, and oud.

JUSTICE FOR MARY
This year, Lilith wrote her first report, and after a lot of deliberation, she chose to write about Mary Todd Lincoln. She was fascinated by the séances that Mrs. Lincoln held in the White House, and she was horrified by how Mary Todd has been remembered by historians and wanted to learn more about her. I didn’t know much about Mary Todd Lincoln myself, so it was educational for me, too, and I was blown away by the conclusions Lilith drew. I’ll let Lil speak for herself –

Who was Mary Todd Lincoln? People said that Mary Todd Lincoln was an unpopular First Lady but I think she should be remembered better than that. She had a hard and sad life and a lot of what happened to her was because of patriarchy, which is when society is run by men and men make all the rules, and misogyny, which is prejudice against women. She had so many people die in her life too. People said she was “crazy” and “uncivilized” and “insane” and one White House staffer even called her a “hellcat.” I don’t think she was insane but she was misunderstood.

Mary remembered her childhood as “desolate.” She was born in 1818 on December 13 in Kentucky. Mary was the daughter of an important banker. She was a privileged well-educated child of a wealthy slave holding family. However, Mary did not like slavery and grew up to be an Abolitionist. Her mom died in childbirth when Mary was six. Her dad remarried two years later and Mary did not like her stepmother. They did not get along. Mary was an Abolitionist but most of her half-brothers were Confederate soldiers that died in the Civil War, which was sad.

Mary met Abraham at a party in Springfield Illinois. They broke up and got back together. Then they got married on November 4, 1842. On Mary’s wedding ring Lincoln engraved “love is eternal.”

When Abraham Lincoln became President of the United States Mary became First Lady. When she first became First Lady people did not like her right away. Mary was from the South and Abraham was a poor man from Illinois. They judged her and were snobby to her. They said she was “uncouth” and uncivilized and unproper. That she had bad manners and bad fashion. A lot of people in Washington gossiped about her and said mean things and I bet that hurt her feelings a lot. She started to throw really fancy parties and spend a lot of money on clothes and to decorate the White House to try to fit in and make people like her. It didn’t work and people just started saying she spent too much money. She got stressed and that’s why she was spending so much money but it actually made people like her even less. She wasn’t good at talking to people and she was easy to influence and manipulate with stuff like gossip, probably because she didn’t have a lot of friends or people she could trust.

Mary had a lot of tragedy in her life and her sadness made her act in ways that people thought was strange. She had four sons: Robert (1848-1926), Edward (1846-1850), William (1850-1862), and Thomas “Tad” (1853-1871). His dad gave him the nickname “Tad” because he had a big head like a tadpole. Only one of Mary’s sons lived to become an adult and all of them died really young. After William “Willie” died from typhoid Mary started going to seances and hosting seances so she could contact his spirit. Seances are where you are bringing back the ghosts of the dead to come talk to you. When Willie died, Mary was all alone. President Lincoln was in the middle of fighting in the Civil War and couldn’t be there for her. Mary started talking to mediums who are the people who spirits talk through and who lead seances. She would have mediums come to do “calls to the dead” in the White House Red Room.

She also had a rough life because her half-brothers were all killed in the Civil War. Her husband was then assassinated in the theater when she was sitting right next to him holding his hand. That’s really sad.

When Abraham Lincoln was assassinated Mary became a widow. She had a lot of debt because of all the money she spent – or other people would say “wasted” – and she had to go begging to the government for money which was probably really embarrassing and hard. She moved a lot and eventually her son Robert asked the court to declare her a lunatic. He had people spy on her, he paid doctors to say she was insane, he paid store clerks and shopkeepers and hotel employees to testify that she was insane. He tricked her and she had no time to prepare her defense. He had people say that she spent too much money, would hurt herself, hold seances, could not take care of herself. The jury only took a few minutes to convict her and she had to spend months in an institution!

Back then, men could use laws to put women in asylums and hospitals if they were troublesome. In Illinois in 1875, there was a law that said that “married women may be detained in hospitals at the request of the husband without evidence of insanity.” Women had almost no rights back then. If men wanted to they could have their wives, mothers, sisters, daughters, and other women in their lives locked up for being annoying, rude, improper, disobedient, strange, or weird. Almost any reason they could come up with. They could probably even do “cuz I feel like it.” Mary was probably a victim of this. She was not mentally unstable and was not in danger of harming herself or anyone else. Her son just thought she was annoying and hard to deal with.

She wasn’t crazy. She was just stressed and sad and worried. When she was younger, people said that she was witty and charming and smart, but also that she had a bad temper and was sarcastic and moody. She was more interested in politics than most women of her time. She didn’t fit in.

In the end, Mary went to live with her sister. She died from a stroke exactly eleven years after her son Tad died.

#justiceformary
 
A forgotten lemon verbena sachet and a splash of rose water, neroli, and orange blossom.

στοργή (Storge)
I love this little girl, this tween, this fierce, tiny beast. The love I feel for her is overwhelming, breath-stealing, and absolute. I love her for all her strengths and glories, and I love her for all her sorrows and flaws. I love her completely, unconditionally, and utterly. She is my moonlight, my starlight, my sunshine.

Lavender-enveloped Snake Oil with cotton candy, honey, and rosewater.

THAT VILLAIN ROMEO
O, she doth teach the torches to burn bright!
It seems she hangs upon the cheek of night
Like a rich jewel in an Ethiope's ear;
Beauty too rich for use, for earth too dear!
So shows a snowy dove trooping with crows,
As yonder lady o'er her fellows shows.
The measure done, I'll watch her place of stand,
And, touching hers, make blessed my rude hand.
Did my heart love till now? forswear it, sight!
For I ne'er saw true beauty till this night.

 

Honeyed lilies, white musk, white pear, and golden amber.

VAMPIRE TWEEN
Two years ago, we had Vampire Princess. Now we’ve got Vampire Tween: blood musk and lavender with bourbon vanilla, strawberry cotton candy, and buttercream.

A million thanks to Tom for this photo!

VIRGOS LOVE POWER TOOLS
It’s a fact.

Lavender, a bloop of Schwarzer Mond, some motor oil, sawdust, and rusty screws.

YOU’RE A DAISY IF YOU HAVE
The second research paper that Lilith did this year had to be on a person or event that took place during the Great Expansion. After a ton of deliberation, Lilith decided to do her paper on Doc Holliday. We found out the hard way that there is a dearth of kiddo books about notorious TB-plagued gamblers of the Old West, so this one was a bit of a challenge. In the end, Lilith did an amazing job on her paper, and she left the project with a newfound love of blackjack and poker – and a profound and crushing disappointment that faro isn’t really a thing anymore. Mixed blessing? She’s got her own cards and chips now. #questionableparenting

Boot leather, whiskey, tobacco smoke, prairie wildflowers, chaparral, white sage, and gunpowder.

And now some words from Lilith's dad -
Creating the Lilith scents every year are always a little bittersweet for me. I love to take a moment to look back and revisit the last year, but there’s also a sadness in knowing that my little girl is growing up and moving away from me. I have watched her become such a strong, brave, smart woman, and I have loved seeing her get closer to Beth as she moves into her tweens. It is a joy to watch them huddle on the couch and have their mom and daughter talks. It is beautiful to see Lilith confide in Beth about everything. I am not jealous of their relationship, but the sting of not being her center of the universe is hard. I love her so much and I sometimes miss her running up to me and saying, "Carry me!"
 
Lilith, I love you infinity.
 
UTTER SOPHISTICATION
Lilith, Beth, and I love the theater and have attended quite a few shows. As all seasoned theater-goers know, it is proper theater etiquette to always behave in a dignified and courteous manner. I believe that we have achieved that. I love my proper, classy daughter to pieces.

Dorian and lavender with beeswax rosin, polished oak, vanilla husk, a couple of stray popcorn kernels, and a dollop of Snake Oil.

BIRTHDAY SURPRISE
Beth does so much for everyone, so Lilith and I decided that it would be great to do something wonderful for her. We decided to surprise our favorite mom on her birthday with a trip to the Happiest Place on Earth. This image shows the joy and happiness that Lilith and I feel when we are dancing down the street after riding the Guardians ride. It might be adrenaline, it might be happiness, but I am pretty sure it is just dad and daughter love.
 
I live for dancing in the streets with Lilith.

Chocolate lava cake: Beth’s favorite.
 
 
CON QUESTIONS
While attending a convention, I dragged my family to watch a Ray Harryhausen panel. Lilith sat quietly while the panelists discussed all the Cyclopes, golden owls, and sword fighting skeletons, but perked up when they offered a yet-unreleased coffee table book about Harryhausen’s work. Lilith, dressed as the Joker, jumped up and said, "Daddy! I want to win it for you." It was so sweet, and when it was her turn to ask a question she asked the panel, "If you could make any monster of his as a plushie, which one would you choose?"
 
The panel loved her question and Lilith won the book for me. I was so proud of her that I cried.
 
I love that brave young lady.

Clowny purples and greens and smeared bits of red: plum and blackcurrant with sugared mint, red currant, and vanilla bean.

 

GO HAWKS!
I might have mentioned once or twice that I love the Seahawks, and I have always wanted to share the love with Lilith. This year for the first time she agreed to attend a Seahawks game with me. I was ecstatic to say the least, and as you can see, the best part for her was plushies! Foam fingers! Popcorn! And hot dogs! Twenty years from now, I am hoping she will remember spending the day with her old man and that the Seahawks won the game. Yay! Go Hawks!
 
I am not sure if I used enough exclamation points, so feel free to add more!

Crisp, wet pine needles, soft mosses, bright bergamot, a bit of Dorian, and Lilith’s favorite lavender.

 

CAT-LILITH AND CAT-DAD
The scene – Dragon*Con 2019
 
The plot – My beautiful Cat-Lilith is prowling around busting up the bad guys, and as you know, crime fighters get tired pretty fast. Enter the Trusty ol’ Cat-Dad, lifting her high in the air onto his shoulders to save the day! I am not sure who is happier to have her up there – me or her. I hope Lilith always thinks of me as her protector and best friend.

Cupcakes are to kids what catnip is to cats: red velvet cupcakes, buttercream, vanilla bean, and coconut cream.

 

LILITH’S FIRST CONCERT
Lilith loves Billie Eilish, and when her concerts were announced earlier this year, I attempted (like every other parent) to get tickets for the local show at the Greek Theatre – but it sold out in a matter of minutes. Backstory time: I worked in concert ticketing for years, so I begged one of my ticketing friends to help get me house seats. She laughed and said it was not one of her shows, and that some of the people in her office tried and failed to get tickets to the Greek show. If ticketing people can't get tickets, the show is a really, really hot ticket. After a few minutes of begging and pleading, she said that if I was willing to travel she might be able to get tickets for a show outside of Los Angeles. As everyone knows, I would move mountains for my Lilith, so of course I said yes. A few days later she emailed me to say that yes, she could get me tickets...but the choices were Red Rocks in CO, Portland, or San Diego. I chose San Diego and gave her my credit card info. As the date neared, Lilith was so excited about the show that she talked about it nonstop. The joy on her face when we arrived at our seats was worth all the hoops that I jumped through. It just goes to show that a father will do anything to make his baby happy.

 

Day-Glo green lime and tea leaf with lavender, white musk, and a bit of Dorian.

 

BREAD LUMPS
Lilith only likes the soft insides of French bread, and she is notorious for eating all of the insides and handing the crust to poor ol’ dad. It has been years since I have enjoyed a whole piece of bread.
 
This is photo evidence of what I get to eat. Please, please just once let me eat the whole piece of bread. Just once.

Honey-drizzled discarded bread crusts.