prettysniffies

[prettysniffies]

Hullo, friends. Been a while, hasn’t it?

I’m still living at home, which means despite having acquired some new bottles over the years, I can’t really wear them due to my mother’s hypersensitivity. (Made even worse by the pandemic because I went to full time WFH.) However, BPAL recently relaunched their Last Unicorn collection, which contains some of my very favorite scents, with new label art by the incredibly talented @juliedillon! BPAL is releasing the reformulated collection in sets of five, so on release day I picked up The Last Unicorn and The Lilac Wood; it will probably be a bit before the Lady Amalthea reformulation releases.

(As a side note, I ordered these bottles just before a current financial stressor occurred, and they shipped, like, the day before. They were a much welcomed bit of happy today after a week of stress and sorrow.)

But to get back to perfume oils, let’s do a quick comparison of the note descriptions from the original versions and the reformulations:

The Last Unicorn:

Frosty lilac petals, iris pallida root, orris, violet leaf, white chocolate, coconut, wild lettuce, white sandalwood, and oakmoss.

Frosty lilac petals, iris pallida root, orris, violet leaf, white chocolate, coconut, wild lettuce, white sandalwood, white gardenia, and oakmoss.

The Lilac Wood:

Ageless trees, everblooming flowers, brilliant grass, and soft shadows.

Ageless trees, everblooming flowers, brilliant grass, a flicker of fireflies, and soft shadows.

Doing a quick sniff test, both reformulations smells a little...greener. The new The Last Unicorn especially gave me a very strong sense of morning dew, whereas the new The Lilac Wood... Hm. The original is also a bit “green” to me, but there’s something of a misty, dream-like quality to the original, whereas the reformulation seems more. Present? I hesitate to say “dark,” but perhaps, instead of a unicorn’s wood at twilight, it’s a unicorn’s wood at midnight. Going to be interesting to see how both of these settle.

Related, I’ve been thinking of finally restarting my reviews, and include new reviews of some of the oldest oils in my collection to see how they’ve aged! Miskatonic University was the first perfume oil I ever purchased and is about nine years old now; my bottle of Tombstone is only a little younger. Perhaps I’ll start with the Last Unicorn reformulations, and then go back and forth between reviews of my oldies and reviews of the ones I never got around to.

We’ll see!

[prettysniffies]

Honor the passing of Hon. Antonin Gregory Scalia with an olfactory tribute to some of his more poetic statements, accompanied by donations to the Southern Poverty Law Center, The Trevor Project, and National Center for Transgender Equality.

We’ve had myriad political figures throughout US history that have possessed acid tongues, but few in the modern era have provided such a constant stream of colorfully vitriolic superlatives as Antonin Scalia.

He is the federal court’s beat poet of indignation and right-wing rage.

For your pleasure, we present a line dedicated to SCOTUS’ reigning Sick Burn Champion, the cranky, flamboyant, inimitable Justice Antonin Gregory Scalia. Proceeds from every single bottle will be donated to the Southern Poverty Law Center, the Trevor Project, and the National Center for Transgender Equality.

✓ Ask the Nearest Hippie

Obergefell vs Hodges

Who ever thought that intimacy and spirituality [whatever that means] were freedoms? And if intimacy is, one would think Freedom of Intimacy is abridged rather than expanded by marriage. Ask the nearest hippie.

An olfactory guide, created to assist you in locating nearby hippies: patchouli, hemp, smoky vanilla bean, and cannabis accord.

(No, there is no actual weed in this perfume, silly.)

✓ Jiggery Pokery

King vs Burwell

The Court’s next bit of interpretive jiggery-pokery involves other parts of the Act that purportedly presuppose the availability of tax credits on both federal and state Exchanges. Ante, at 13–14.

I dunno. “Jiggery Pokery” just felt like it needed a whimsical scent attached to it, so here’s some pink pepper cotton candy with a sliver of orange peel and a hint of vanilla cream.

✓ Looming Spectre of Inutterable Horror

Arizona vs United States

We are not talking here about a federal law prohibiting the States from regulating bubble-gum advertising, or even the construction of nuclear plants. We are talking about a federal law going to the core of state sovereignty: the power to exclude.

The Court opinion’s looming specter of inutterable horror—“[i]f §3 of the Arizona statute were valid, every State could give itself independent authority to prosecute federal registration violations”—seems to me not so horrible and even less looming.

If securing its territory in this fashion is not within the power of Arizona, we should cease referring to it as a sovereign State.

Wherein Scalia channels Lovecraft: raw frankincense and tobacco absolute with Russian leather, blackened champaca, bitter clove, red patchouli, bourbon vanilla and petitgrain.

✓ Mummeries and Straining-to-be Memorable Passages

Obergefell vs Hodges

Buried beneath the mummeries and straining-to-be-memorable passages of the opinion is a candid and startling assertion: No matter what it was the People ratified, the Fourteenth Amendment protects those rights that the Judiciary, in its ‘reasoned judgment,’ thinks the Fourteenth Amendment ought to protect.

Rosemary is for remembrance: rosemary water with lavender, blackberry, Italian bergamot, and white musk.

✓ Mystical Aphorisms of the Fortune Cookie

Obergefell vs Hodges

If, even as the price to be paid for a fifth vote, I ever joined an opinion for the Court that began: ‘The Constitution promises liberty to all within its reach, a liberty that includes certain specific rights that allow persons, within a lawful realm, to define and express their identity,’ I would hide my head in a bag. The Supreme Court of the United States has descended from the disciplined legal reasoning of John Marshall and Joseph Story to the mystical aphorisms of the fortune cookie.

Almond fortune cookies and a bit of roadside palm reader-inspired incense.

✓ Pure Applesauce

King vs Burwell

The Court claims that the Act must equate federal and state establishment of Exchanges when it defines a qualified individual as someone who (among other things) lives in the “State that established the Exchange,” 42 U. S. C. §18032(f )(1)(A). Otherwise, the Court says, there would be no qualified individuals on federal Exchanges, contradicting (for example) the provision requiring every Exchange to takethe “ ‘interests of qualified individuals’ ” into accountwhen selecting health plans. Ante, at 11 (quoting §18031(e)(1)(b)). Pure applesauce.

Our applesauce is decidedly impure: mashed apples with sugar and honey, slivered with tobacco tar and black tea.

[prettysniffies]

Review: The Lilac Wood (Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab)

It was always spring in her forest, because she lived there, and she wandered all day among the great beech trees, keeping watch over the animals that lived in the ground and under bushes, in nests and caves, earths and treetops. Generation after generation, wolves and rabbits alike, they hunted and loved and had children and died, and as the unicorn did none of these things, she never grew tired of watching them.

Ageless trees, everblooming flowers, brilliant grass, and soft shadows.

Wow, it’s been a while. Sorry about that, folks - life’s been a special kind of clusterfuck for a while, and it wasn’t conducive to wanting to sniff things and write about them. I’m also currently living at home, and as my mother is incredibly hypersensitive to smell, I’ve refrained from wearing any of my favorite oils or testing what few things are quietly sitting in my box.

Still, today I felt an itch to smell pretty, and I asked Mom if she’d mind if I lightly dabbed something on, which she said was fine so long as I picked one of the less intense ones. I have, in fact, worn The Lilac Wood one or two times before, and I finally remembered I had a review sitting in my drafts for this lovely oil. And lo, here I am.

I have waxed poetic about my love of both lilacs and The Last Unicorn before, so I won’t bore you - but this is truly a lovely perfume and one of my quiet favorites.

My other lilac perfume, Noctrune Alchemy’s Lilac Kobalt, is a very deep, rich lilac, slightly sweetened by the vanilla in it. It’s the lilac of bushes in bloom, with no other floral or plant present.

By contrast, The Lilac Wood is a greener type of lilac, one very freshly bloomed. It feels lighter, and oddly a bit cleaner. I’m always impressed by how well BPAL invokes very specific imagery with its scents, but this one takes the cake: I can close my eyes and breath deep, and it is far too easy to imagine myself in the dim twilight of a unicorn’s wood, soft grass underfoot and dappled sunlight peeking through emerald leaves, and young lilacs blooming everywhere.

Definitely a favorite perfume, and one perfect for the coming spring.

[prettysniffies]

A New Dark Delicacies Exclusive - CHAMPAGNE LACE

A glittering celebration: folds of opium-stained, vanilla-smoked lace with white cognac and a splash of champagne.

$24

Champagne Lace is available beginning Friday, January 8 at Dark Delicacies: 3512 W Magnolia Blvd, Burbank, CA 91505.

(More other BPAL/DD collaborations can be found here.)

[prettysniffies]

Introducing CRIMSON PEAK Perfumes, Nail Polish, Jewelry, Atmosphere Sprays, and More

Ghosts are real, that much I know. I’ve seen them all my life…

In a groundbreaking departure from past film tributes, Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab presents a series of scents, jewelry, and more inspired by Guillermo Del Toro’s sumptuous gothic romance CRIMSON PEAK. 

As audiences are already discovering, CRIMSON PEAK is more than mere ghost story or cinematic spectacle: it is a director’s love letter to the dark tales which formed his childhood sense of wonder, nudging him toward becoming the visionary artist he is today. For contemporary viewers this serves as a gateway to an entire form of storytelling – one which may seem as outdated as whalebone or laudanum, but retains its power to shock, arouse, and illuminate.

Perhaps it’s fitting that in the 21st century, the gothic romance genre has itself become a wandering ghost – one which, not unlike the film’s heroine Edith Cushing (Mia Wasikowska), certain among us can still hear, see, and even smell. What is it so desperately trying to tell us?

Set in Victorian New England, Del Toro’s film explores the terrible power of doomed relationships, of love struggling to bloom in a world fraught with death and suffering. Stalked since childhood by the specter of her mother, Edith stubbornly chases the dream of becoming an author, fantasizing about becoming the next Mary Shelley and delicately resisting the advances of her childhood love, Dr. Alan McMichael (Charlie Hunnam).

Edith inadvertently steps into the pages of her own haunted love story when she finds herself being wooed by the dashing Sir Thomas Sharpe (Tom Hiddleston), a baronet seeking investors to help salvage what’s left of his crumbling birthright. A series of tragedies put Edith front and center in the lives of Sir Thomas and his brooding sister, the Lady Lucille Sharpe (Jessica Chastain), and confine her to Allerdale Hall – a decaying British manor that veritably breathes, bleeds, and screams under the strain of the elements, not to mention the spirits of those who’ve perished within. 

Unraveling the mystery of these strange events, Edith is forced to confront her fears of communing with the dead, gradually coming to appreciate her dead mother’s warning – Beware of Crimson Peak – as the line between life and death grows ever fainter in the snowfall in and around Allerdale Hall. While the ghosts of Crimson Peak are far more than “just a metaphor,” Del Toro’s film is unabashed in its emphasis on the uniquely human experiences of loss, grief, and remembrance, painting the supernatural as a realm where pain (as well as love) can linger long after death. 

 Thanks to the director’s artistic vision and penchant for practical effects, the world of these characters (living and otherwise) is astonishingly tangible – an orgy of bold colors and rich fabrics, of flesh both livid and sanguine. Those who feel at home in such a lavish world may consider it an invitation from Del Toro himself: return to Allerdale Hall as often as you dare, and feel welcome to stay a long, long time. 

At Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab, we present Crimson Peak perfume oil blends, $30.00 per 5ml bottle. Presented in an amber apothecary glass vial. Because of the nature of this project, imps are unavailable.

400 bottles were created for each scent.

With the assistance of our sister shop, Black Phoenix Trading Post, you can drape yourself in the myriad colors of the film, adorn yourself with Sharpe Family heraldry, infuse your home with the scents of Allerdale Hall, and conceal your secrets within our cold-cast resin keepsake boxes. 

Guillermo Del Toro is both a master storyteller and a virtuoso of evocative design. All of Crimson Peak is awash in color – vibrant or decaying, somber or aflame. Every shadow has a meaning; every angle has a purpose. Every single hue was deliberately chosen as a thread that binds the tale, and every single hue tells a story within itself. In this nail lacquer series, we celebrate the colors of Crimson Peak: the dark palette that brings the characters to life. The lacquers represent the film itself and four of its characters: Edith Cushing, Alan McMichael, Lady Lucille Sharpe, and Sir Thomas Sharpe. 

Each bottle is silkscreened with symbolism depicting the aspect of the film that the color represents. 

Three hundred bottles were created of each color. 

It is our great pleasure to present a line of jewelry dedicated to Guillermo Del Toro’s gothic masterpiece, Crimson Peak. Bedeck yourself with Sharpe family heirlooms: show your familial allegiance with the Sharpe Coat of Arms and Family Crest, and embrace terror itself with the Fear Monogram. 

 300 pieces were created of each design. Crafted in Los Angeles, CA. 

This is a pre-order; our Crimson Peak jewelry will ship in January of 2016. 

Ghosts fade away – along with the past – like mist in the daylight… Leaving only small lessons behind – Small certainties –

There are things that tie them to a place – very much like they do us – some remain tethered to a patch of land or a time and date… but there are others – Others that hold to an emotion, a drive: loss, revenge… or love…

Those – they never leave…

Memory is an intimacy we share with forces both seen and unseen, a place where the living and the dead co-exist – though not always peacefully. 

Wherever she goes, CRIMSON PEAK heroine Edith Cushing (Mia Wasikowska) seems to uncover an urgent longing, the kind that leaves an indelible stain on time and space. In this way, anything can become haunted: a room, an object, a certain hour. 

In this unique series of atmosphere sprays, Black Phoenix Trading Post conjures singular moments from the past which ache to be relived over and over again, locations which demand to be revisited until their secrets are unearthed. Which carries the greater risk: denying them, or indulging?

For secrets that yearn to be divulged – or atrocities hidden in plain sight – Black Phoenix Trading Post presents Crimson Peak memento boxes inspired by the grim interiors of Allerdale Hall, hand-crafted by Dellamorte & Co. 

THE SKULL CREST BOX 

An irresistible invitation: a relief of the distinctive skull-faced Allerdale Hall crest extruded from blood-red clay: Ad Montes Oculus Levavi Mors Vincit Omnia.

Cold-cast resin, hand-cast and hand-painted by Dellamorte & Co. for Black Phoenix. Each piece is one-of-a-kind, so there will be variations in color.

Crimson Peak: © Legendary 2015. Used with permission, all rights reserved.

[prettysniffies]

New Lunacy Is Live! Dive Deep Into The Lake Of Hate.

The Lunacy is live! We invite you to drown yourself in the Lake Of Hate.

LACUS ODII

The Lake of Hate: blood musk, pink pepper, and neroli boiling in a seething mire of saffron.

Want to keep up to date on all the BPAL news? Follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, join our mailing list, visit our Forums, or follow our blog The Black Phoenix Gazette.

[prettysniffies]

West Coast, San Francisco, & Dirty South Lunacy Events Plus Free Crimson Peak Imps

We invite you to join us for our West Coast, Dirty South, and San Francisco Bay Area Lunacy events this October for your opportunity to purchase the latest scents, and get a sneak preview of what’s coming soon.

The blends that will be available for purchase include those that went live on the Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab website up to and including the Halloween update.

Our Lunacy events are held on the night of the full moon and are always free.

To celebrate Halloween, come in costume and receive a free Crimson Peak imp.

The Dirty South Lunacy Event will be held on Sunday, October 25th from 4 to 7pm at the Microtel Inn and Suites by Wyndham at Perimeter Center

6280 Peachwood Dunwoody Rd (In the conference/meeting room) Atlanta, GA 30328

RSVP for the Event on Facebook.

___

The West Coast Lunacy Event will be held on Tuesday, October 27th from 6 to 9pm at Dark Delicacies.

Dark Delicacies 3512 W. Magnolia Blvd (1 block east of Hollywood Way) Burbank, CA 91505

www.darkdel.com

RSVP for the Event on Facebook.

___

The San Francisco Bay Area Lunacy Event will be held on Thursday, October 29th from 6 to 8pm at Loved To Death.

Loved To Death 1681 Haight St. San Francisco, CA 94117

www.lovedtodeath.com

RSVP for the Event on Facebook.

If you have any questions, please email us at willcall@blackphoenixalchemylab.com.

Remaining Lunacy Event dates for 2015.

West Coast:

Sunday, November 22nd Sunday, December 20th

Dirty South, San Francisco, and Vermont dates TBA

Want to keep up to date on all the BPAL news? Follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, join our mailing list, visit our Forums, or follow our blog The Black Phoenix Gazette.

[prettysniffies]

Enter To Win Three 5ml bottles from Carnaval Diabolique, a collection presented by Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab

We’ve teamed up with gothicbeautymag to give away three 5 ml’s from our new Carnaval Diabolique collection. The contest runs through September 23rd. You can enter here: http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/c5c199106 Good Luck!

[prettysniffies]

*drools over Recalcitrant Dragon*

*continues drooling over Looming Spectre of Inutterable Horror, The Candy Butcher, and The Organ Grinder*

Dragon Con: BPAL and BPTP Exclusives Announced

++ BLACK PHOENIX ALCHEMY LAB DRAGONCON 2015

Here be the limited edition scents for DragonCon 2015! A return to the Peach Pit, and a few stray dragons (and dragon’ish creatures) inspired by Medieval marginalia:

++ BLACK PHOENIX ALCHEMY LAB DRAGONCON 2015: PEACH PIT

PEACH IX

Rose musk, peach blossom, and vanilla cream.

PEACH X

Peach, iris root, King mandarin, and lime rind.

PEACH XI

Peach, white sandalwood, golden amber, gurjum balsam, leather accord, and oudh.

PEACH XII

Snow-touched sparkling peach glacé with green tea absolute, pink grapefruit, and white musk.

PEACH XIII

Peach, red musk, cypress, myrrh, vetiver, champa resinoid, and patchouli.

PEACH XIV

Peach and Moroccan sandalwood with wild strawberry, vanilla pod, and caramelized benzoin.

++ BLACK PHOENIX ALCHEMY LAB DRAGONCON 2015: DRAGON CAVE

ILL-MANNERED DRAGON

So rude! Dragon’s blood resin, coconut, vanilla bean, and neroli.

RECALCITRANT DRAGON

If you don’t finish your peasant, you can’t have any dessert! Scaly green musk, smoked vanilla, tobacco, and white sandalwood.

++ BLACK PHOENIX TRADING POST DRAGONCON 2015: ATMOSPHERE SPRAYS

STILL LIFE WITH PEACHES: HERCULANEUM, AD50

Myrrh incense and olive blossom drifting over peaches roasted in honeyed wine, cumin, and mint.

HOUSEBREAKING YOUR DRAGON

Never an easy task! Thankfully, this spray will eliminate the scent of even the most sulphrous dragon dooky residue: lemon and lemongrass with lavender, sweet orange, pink grapefruit, pimento, and a drop of rosemary.

++ BLACK PHOENIX TRADING POST DRAGONCON 2015: HAIR GLOSS

DRAGON WITH A LLAMA MOHAWK

Golden amber and dragon’s blood resin with champaca, honey, and macadamia nut.

RENOIR’S STILL LIFE WITH PEACHES Auguste Renoir

Peach and orange blossom with amber, apricot, red pepper, cistus, lime, white musk, and vanilla.

STILL LIFE WITH MELON AND PEACHES Edouard Manet

Peach, white rose, and charentais melon with tuberose, French vanilla, Darjeeling tea, white sandalwood, and soft musk.

STILL LIFE WITH PEACHES, A SILVER GOBLET, GRAPES AND WALNUTS Jean-Siméon Chardin

Peach with tonka absolute, walnut hulls, velvet red musk, oudh, black patchouli, smoked clove, and a hint of black grape skin.

Atmosphere sprays are $25, hair glosses are $28, and perfumes are $26. Available exclusively at our booth at DragonCon!

Cosplayers: Our Cosplay Station returns this year for any last minute fixes.

 Booth 1319  Floor 1  Americasmart  235 Williams Street NW,  Building 2  Atlanta GA, 30303

Both Carnival Diabolique and our Scalia Collection will also be available at Dragon Con.

++ THE COLLECTED POETIC WORKS OF ANTONIN SCALIA

Hubris is sometimes defined as o’erweening pride; and pride, we know, goeth before a fall.

We’ve had myriad political figures throughout US history who have possessed acid tongues, but few in the modern era have provided such a constant stream of colorfully vitriolic superlatives as Antonin Scalia.

He is the federal court’s beat poet of indignation and right-wing rage.

For your pleasure, we present a line dedicated to SCOTUS’ reigning Sick Burn Champion, the cranky, flamboyant, inimitable Justice Antonin Gregory Scalia. Proceeds from every single bottle will be donated to the Southern Poverty Law Center, the Trevor Project, and the National Center for Transgender Equality.

ASK THE NEAREST HIPPIE

Obergefell vs Hodges

Who ever thought that intimacy and spirituality [whatever that means] were freedoms? And if intimacy is, one would think Freedom of Intimacy is abridged rather than expanded by marriage. Ask the nearest hippie.

An olfactory guide, created to assist you in locating nearby hippies: patchouli, hemp, smoky vanilla bean, and cannabis accord.

(No, there is no actual weed in this perfume, silly.)

JIGGERY POKERY

King vs Burwell

The Court’s next bit of interpretive jiggery-pokery involves other parts of the Act that purportedly presuppose the availability of tax credits on both federal and state Exchanges. Ante, at 13–14.

I dunno. “Jiggery Pokery” just felt like it needed a whimsical scent attached to it, so here’s some pink pepper cotton candy with a sliver of orange peel and a hint of vanilla cream.

LOOMING SPECTRE OF INUTTERABLE HORROR

Arizona vs United States

We are not talking here about a federal law prohibiting the States from regulating bubble-gum advertising, or even the construction of nuclear plants. We are talking about a federal law going to the core of state sovereignty: the power to exclude.

The Court opinion’s looming specter of inutterable horror—“[i]f §3 of the Arizona statute were valid, every State could give itself independent authority to prosecute federal registration violations”—seems to me not so horrible and even less looming.

If securing its territory in this fashion is not within the power of Arizona, we should cease referring to it as a sovereign State.

Wherein Scalia channels Lovecraft: raw frankincense and tobacco absolute with Russian leather, blackened champaca, bitter clove, red patchouli, bourbon vanilla and petitgrain.

MUMMERIES AND STRAINING-TO-BE- MEMORABLE PASSAGES

Obergefell vs Hodges

Buried beneath the mummeries and straining-to-be-memorable passages of the opinion is a candid and startling assertion: No matter what it was the People ratified, the Fourteenth Amendment protects those rights that the Judiciary, in its ‘reasoned judgment,’ thinks the Fourteenth Amendment ought to protect.

Rosemary is for remembrance: rosemary water with lavender, blackberry, Italian bergamot, and white musk.

MYSTICAL APHORISMS OF THE FORTUNE COOKIE

Obergefell vs Hodges

If, even as the price to be paid for a fifth vote, I ever joined an opinion for the Court that began: ‘The Constitution promises liberty to all within its reach, a liberty that includes certain specific rights that allow persons, within a lawful realm, to define and express their identity,’ I would hide my head in a bag. The Supreme Court of the United States has descended from the disciplined legal reasoning of John Marshall and Joseph Story to the mystical aphorisms of the fortune cookie.

Almond fortune cookies and a bit of roadside palm reader-inspired incense.

PURE APPLESAUCE

King vs Burwell

The Court claims that the Act must equate federal and state establishment of Exchanges when it defines a qualified individual as someone who (among other things) lives in the “State that established the Exchange,” 42 U. S. C. §18032(f )(1)(A). Otherwise, the Court says, there would be no qualified individuals on federal Exchanges, contradicting (for example) the provision requiring every Exchange to take the “ ‘interests of qualified individuals’ ” into account when selecting health plans. Ante, at 11 (quoting §18031(e)(1)(b)). Pure applesauce.

Our applesauce is decidedly impure: mashed apples with sugar and honey, slivered with tobacco tar and black tea.

________________________

Carnaval Diabolique has reappeared, after an extended tour through Malbolge and Cocytus. Acts I & II have returned, and the remaining acts will follow. Art by the inimitable Julie Dillon, represented in the Carnaval as Iulia. A selection of scents have been gently (and not-so-gently!) reformulated in this itieration.

Each scent travels with its pitch card. Purchases of Mme Moriarty come with a randomly drawn tarot card for a little impromptu divination. Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab is not responsible for any dire tidings or baneful portents that may come your way.

And now, without further ado -

CARNAVAL DIABOLIQUE

A Pantomime of Deviltry and Debauch in Seven Acts

++ ACT 1: THE PROLOGUE

Tattered and stained parchment signs lead you through a maze of dark woods and damp leaves; a curl of opium smoke, black musk and floral perfume compels you through the darkness towards the firelight in the distance. The faraway wailing of a phantom calliope grows louder as you approach the isolated clearing, and creaking gates announce your arrival. Massive crumbling statues adorn the gates, depicting a surrealistic scene of cavorting imps, grinning demons, and heavy-lidded succubi. A huge neon sign hums and sparks, marking the entrance:

It flashes, “Carnaval Diabolique”.

It is midnight on the midway, and in the air, the scent of nighttime rain, ozone, and heavy summer blooms mingles with thick incense, and a disconcerting blend of sugar and brimstone. Black and orange banners flutter in sinister gaiety, snapping weirdly in the chill breeze as lightning slashes through the sky. In the gloom, the Carnaval thrums with life and unlife; the murmuration is low-pitched, punctuated by gasps, soft cries, and moans, and the smooth, resonant voices of the carnaval talkers, grinders, candy butchers, and pitchmen carry over it all.

CARNAVAL DIABOLIQUE Straight from the twisted alleys of Dis, by way of the City of Angels: opium smoke, lemon flower, heliotrope, tuberose, black musk, vanilla, coconut, apricot flower.

MIDNIGHT ON THE MIDWAY Lightning splits the sky, illuminating the skeletal skyline of the carnival rides: sugared incense, flickering blue musk, and night-blooming flowers.

THE PHANTOM CALLIOPE Ghostly, glowing, sweet and dark: black cherry, patchouli, cassis, cardamom and verbena.

THE CANDY BUTCHER An exquisite, enigmatic woman sidles up to you, bearing a tray of strange, dusty curios, chocolate creatures, serpentine taffy, and candied skulls. Her skin is dusky, her eyes are heavy-lidded and sensual, her hair is the fine, soft white of spun sugar, and her skin is softly scented with cocoa. She holds a shrunken head aloft, and beckons.

Bittersweet chocolate with a heavy cream undertone.

++ ACT 2: FIAT NOX

A surge of warm, dark bodies buoys you along, pulling you past the crowded, candle-lit entrances to innumerable tents striped in bone white, blood red, pumpkin orange and twilight violet canvas. Through the shadows cast by the gaslamps and swinging red lanterns, you move through the ghoulish entertainment.

MME. MORIARTY, MISFORTUNE TELLER A colorless woman bursts from an elaborate gold and ruby tent and faints dead at your feet. Soft laughter emits from the dark entrance to the tent, and the scent of musk, black fruits and incense touches your senses. Looking up, you see that the sign hovering above the unconscious woman is adorned with images of the Major Arcana’s Tower and reads:

“Mme. Moriarty, Misfortune Teller. No fate too grim, no future too bleak.”

A tiny woman with floor-length black dreadlocks walks out of the tent, stepping over the prone body. She is clothed in deep red wrappings, and is bedecked in golden ornaments bearing alchemical symbols and charms representing eternity, chance, and wisdom. She pauses, looks you over slowly, and then flicks a tarot card at your feet.

Red musk, vanilla bean, pomegranate, black currant, patchouli leaf and wild plum.

THE ORGAN GRINDER A handsome, dark-skinned man weaves and dances his way through the crowd. Veves have been burned into the face of his old acoustic guitar, which he strums casually as he strolls though the crowd. A winged Capuchin monkey is balanced on his shoulder, holding out a rusty metal cup. The guitar player’s melancholy chords begin to mingle strangely with a cacophonous jangling sound. The discordant symphony grows and swells as he moves toward a cloaked and hooded figure; this spectre’s skeletal hands operate a dilapidated barrel organ that stands at a crossroads in the midway. As they come together, the music hits a nightmarish crescendo; your heart heaves with longings unfulfilled, your vision swims, and your head is filled with whispered incantations and gallows secrets. In that instant, you suddenly understand the profundity of deals made in Heaven and Hell, and the price of desire.

Almond milk, sarsaparilla, tobacco smoke, High John the Conqueror root, coconut hull, black patchouli and white pine bark.

PULCINELLA & TERESINA Your eyes are drawn to a gilded miniature stage whose sign reads: “All Praises to the Lord of Misrule!” Upon the platform, a sneering wooden jester waltzes with a hollow-eyed and bleeding wooden maiden, while a wooden devil floats above them.

Labdanum, cedar, teak and red rose.

MELISANDE, THE PUPPET MISTRESS Behind the diminutive stage, the puppet mistress stands, a pale and grinning Professor, the Lady of Chaos. Her hands are tangled in web-like strings; a swazzle peeks through her violet lips. Behind her, you see a wavering image, with all the vague haziness of a mirage: a leaping coyote, a flame-haired and scarred Norseman, a glittering golden spider, a laughing monkey, a leering satyr, a shadowy flutist, and an African youth dressed in black and red.

Jasmine sambac, dark musk, violet water, vanilla bean and mimosa.

DOC CONSTANTINE As you pass the tiny stage, you come across a large canvas tent, illuminated within, the exterior dotted with odd splatters. In front of the tent stands a scorched wooden cart covered in a jumble of bottles, jars, vials and twisted steel implements, and an elaborate, gold-gilded sign reads:

“Doc Constantine Cures What Ails Ye! Liniments, salves, potions and elixirs for every malady of the body and spirit!”

A scream splits the air, jarring you. You see shadows move jaggedly within the tent, there is another scream, and all is suddenly still and silent. After a long heartbeat, the door flap opens. A man steps out wearing a crystal-eyed schnabel mask in the style of medieval plague doctors, carmine streaking his sleeves, vest, and the blonde hair that crowns him. He pulls off the mask, and you see a handsome figure, almost beatific. He rolls a cigarette, lights it, takes a deep pull, and winks at you slyly as he gestures at the multitude of concoctions he has for sale. A bent crone, her body as bowed and knotty as an ancient oak, shuffles up to the wagon with rosy-cheeked, tow-headed maiden following her at a small distance. As she approaches the doctor, the crone gestures at herself, running a gnarled hand down her body in a sweeping movement, and casting a sideways glance at her grandchild. Smiling an angel’s smile, Doc Constantine hands the old woman a potion the color of cold, congealed blood. She drinks it quickly, gasping. Before your eyes her body shimmers and blurs, and a shower of dark sparks seems to engulf her. Where the crone stood, there is now a voluptuous, raven-haired vixen, vibrant, sensual, at the prime of her life and sexual vitality. Her shriek of joy is interrupted by another’s scream of shock: the rigors of age have not vanished; they have moved aside, and the young woman has aged horribly, taking on the crone’s burden.

Sheer musk, cedar smoke, fir needle, chaparral, black amber and leather.

XANTHE, THE WEEPING CLOWN From the corner of your eye, you see what seems to be a swirl of pale, translucent spirits. Ghostly in form, their faces are masks of pain and fury. Their insubstantial bodies churn and roil around a hissing, wailing clown. Her greasepaint is smeared with tears, and her fanged crimson mouth is turned down in a vicious scowl while blood drips from her lips. Her costume is torn and threadbare, and a steel-bright glint around her waist draws your eyes to an arsenal of razors, knives, and cleavers hanging from her belt. She swats futilely at the spirits as she shoves and scratches her way through the crowd.

Guava, orange peel, white pepper, spun sugar and apple blossom.

IULIA, L'ARTISTE du DIABLE A chittering buzz rises from a small crowd that has gathered around an opulent velvet-draped tent. Some are fidgeting impatiently; others try in vain to peep within the tent. Within moments, a slim, stunningly handsome man emerges from the entryway to the sound of gasps and scattered applause. His face is lit with fierce joy, and he bows almost smugly to the assemblage. Grabbing a flirtatious blonde from the mob, he kisses her in a rush of mad passion, his arm encircles her waist, and he leads her directly to a nearby opium den. The crowd disperses, and curiosity pulls you forward. You push open the fringed, beaded tent-flap and enter the dimly-lit room. A lovely, voluptuous redhead stands before an ornate antique easel. Her luminous alabaster skin and the phosphorescence emanating from her paintbrush seem to be the only source of light. As you adjust to the gloom, you see that the walls are covered with atrocities: an exhibit of dissolution. The myriad canvases show men and women in various stages of rot and decay, a panoply of indulgence, teeth set in fury, mouths leering in lust, hands grasping greedily.

The scarlet woman turns her gleaming sightless eyes towards you and, in a husky, compelling voice, she speaks:

“Why let the years tear at your youthful splendor? Why let the mark of your sins stain your fine features? Will you let the cold, creeping grasp of time and the toil of temptation mar your visage? Why should the pleasures of our flesh wreak such havoc?”

She leans in close to you and whispers, “Let me capture your soul on this canvas in oil and blood, and you will be beautiful forever.”

White tea, sugar cane, orange blossom, rockrose, lemon balm, white mint, and honey.

THEODOSIUS, THE LEGERDEMAIN A flash of light and the smell of sulfur seize your attention. A vast black tent stands before you, subtly glowing with an unnatural, almost phosphorescent light. This tent has no pennants, no ornamentation, save for a carved ebony sign, lettered in silver:

“Master Theodosius Legerdemain, Medium, Conjurer One thousand years of marvels. Enter at your peril.”

Another flash blinds you, and from a swirl of smoke a rakish, devilishly handsome man appears, long black hair falling down halfway to his waist, elegant and sinister in an inky silk tuxedo and a voluminous cape. The shadow he casts against the tent, oddly, seems to be that of an enormous corvus, and his eyes radiate a deep azure light. Staring fixedly at you, he snaps his fingers, and two bolts of violet lightning strike the ground on either side of him, blinding you momentarily. As your eyes adjust, you see that two lovely, slender, waiflike women now stand upon the scarred ground beside him, dressed in tattered ballerina costumes the nebulous color of smoke. Turning to his right, he touches the woman’s lips and says, “Seachd seachd uair!” She opens her mouth, and a flock of diminutive bats fly forth from her throat. Turning to his left, he touches the other woman’s hair and repeats, “Seachd seachd uair!” What once was a gleaming mane of stark white hair is now a nest of writhing vipers. She opens her mouth, baring fangs, and spits forth a thin stream of venom. The Master swirls his cape, which suddenly seems to grow and twist like a living shadow, and in a final flash of red lightning and a deafening thunderclap, he and both his assistants vanish.

Earl Grey tea leaves, a white fougere, jasmine leaf, pearlescent white musk, and vanilla bean.

ANTONINO, THE CARNY TALKER As you approach an enormous patchwork tent, a curious sound catches your attention: the rattle of bones and the tinkling of tiny bells heralds the arrival of a gaunt and ghastly creature. An animated skeleton dressed in a jester’s motley saunters towards the front of the tent, waving an orange and black striped cane at the crowd in an effort to clear a path. The jester makes his way past the fog-shrouded, faded, colossal posters that adorn the tent to a platform in front of the massive tent’s entrance. His ivory smile frozen in a gleeful rictus grin, he steps up onto the platform, taps the cane three times, and the jester costume vanishes. Suddenly dark eyes appear in the empty sockets, bones are wrapped in muscle, sinew grows over the bones, blood fills rapidly appearing veins. Before your eyes, the skeletal jester has become a dapper, handsome man, dressed in black and orange, with a skull-ornamented straw hat tilted jauntily upon his shining black hair.

His smile is slick and conspiratorial. With a flourish and arcing wave of his cane, he booms:

“Step right up, ladies and gentlemen! This is Carnaval Diabolique’s notorious 13-In-1: the finest freak show in all the Hells! What marvels await you, you ask? Simply the strangest and most fantastic creatures, human and inhuman, gathered for your entertainment, enlightenment and erudition!”

With the cane, he gestures at the gigantic posters that adorn the tent. The images, once hazy, suddenly come into focus.

“From the depths of the Black Forest: Arachnina, the Spider Girl! From the rain-swept streets of London: Hope and Faith, the Siamese Twins! From ruins of old Aquae Sextia: Wulric, the Wolf Man!

“Thalassa, the Galapagos Mermaid! A vision of life-in-death, Eshe!

"All in all, THIRTEEN anatomical curiosities, miracles of genetics, magick and science, masters of marvels, ALIVE ON THE INSIDE!”

White musk, wild plum, vetiver, black coconut, verbena, fig, and lavender.

Want to keep up to date on all the BPAL news? Follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, join our mailing list, visit our Forums, or follow our blog The Black Phoenix Gazette.

[prettysniffies]

We interrupt your regularly scheduled bar exam hiatus for this important announcement: CARNAVAL DIABOLIQUE IS LIVE AT THE LAB. I SAY AGAIN, CARNAVAL DIABOLIQUE IS LIVE AT THE LAB.

[prettysniffies]

*anguished wailing over Scholar’s Tower* I HAVE NO MONEY TO SPARE NOOOOOOOOOO

Crimson Peak, Vintage Snake Oil and A Lot Of Lunacy

July brings new scents, a vintage favorite, and 4 Lunacy events.

News From The Lab:

We are THRILLED to announce a scent and memento collaboration inspired by Guillermo Del Toro’s Crimson Peak. A million thanks to Guillermo and the wonderful people at Legendary Pictures! Stay tuned for details.

SNAKE OIL: 2009 VINTAGE

Back in 2009, we bottled a hooch-jug of Snake Oil and put it aside in a cool, dark nook. We’ll be selling the fruits of our labor and patience in 100 bottle increments. Each bottle is $50.

We will be making announcements prior to each hundred-bottle release.

SCHOLAR’S TOWER

Tunisian amber and polished wood with white sage leaf, olibanum, benzoin absolute, honeyed patchouli, bourbon vanilla, and a sliver of saffron.

Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab has created SCHOLARS’ TOWER to commemorate “Imagined Realms”, the first in a series of books of fantasy art by award winning artist Julie Dillon.

******************************************

July Lunacy Events

We invite you to join us for our West Coast, San Francisco Bay Area, Dirty South, and Salem Lunacy events this July for your opportunity to purchase the latest scents, and get a sneak preview of what’s coming soon.

The blends that will be available for purchase include those that went live on the Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab website up to and including the Chaos Theory VII updates.

This month, Beth and Brian will also be traveling up north to be at the Loved To Death Lunacy Event

Our Lunacy events are held on the night of the full moon and are always free.

The Dirth South Lunacy Event will be held on Sunday, July 26th from 4 to 7pm at the Microtel Inn and Suites by Wyndham at Perimeter Center

6280 Peachwood Dunwoody Rd (In the conference/meeting room) Atlanta, GA 30328

RSVP for the Event on Facebook.

The West Coast Lunacy Event will be held on Thursday, July 30th from 6 to 9pm at Dark Delicacies.

Dark Delicacies 3512 W. Magnolia Blvd (1 block east of Hollywood Way) Burbank, CA 91505

www.darkdel.com

RSVP for the Event on Facebook.

The Salem Lunacy Event will be held on Thursday, July 30th from 8 to 10pm at Salem Ink Tattoo and Art Gallery.

Salem Ink and Tattoo 201 Derby St. Salem, MA 01970

www.saleminkma.com

RSVP for the Event on Facebook.

Also, if you’re in the San Francisco Bay Area, Beth and Brian will be attending the August Lunacy Event at Loved To Death. We’re including the details below for those of you who need time to plan a trip.

The San Francisco Bay Area Lunacy Event will be held on Wednesday, August 26th from 6 to 8pm at Loved To Death.

Loved To Death 1681 Haight St. San Francisco, CA 94117

www.lovedtodeath.com

RSVP for the Event on Facebook.

Remaining Lunacy Event Dates for 2015

West Coast: Sunday, August 30th Sunday, September 27th Tuesday, October 27th

Future Dirty South, San Francisco Bay Area, and Salem Lunacy Event Dates are TBA

If you have any questions, please email us at willcall@blackphoenixalchemylab.com.

Hope to see you there!

Want to keep up to date on all the BPAL news? Follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, join our mailing list, visit our Forums, or follow our blog The Black Phoenix Gazette.

[prettysniffies]

Lord God Above, let me be employed by the time this goes live.

We are THRILLED to announce a scent and memento collaboration inspired by Guillermo Del Toro’s Crimson Peak. A million thanks to Guillermo and the wonderful people at Legendary Pictures!

[prettysniffies]

FYI: My package was supposed to arrive yesterday, and tracking said it was delivered, but it wasn’t in my mailbox. Went to the post office today, who were trying to get a hold of the mailperson who delivered yesterday. Ran into said mailperson downstairs, who confirmed that if it had been scanned for delivery, she’d had it, and if the package was too big for the mailbox, she had put it with other too-big packages on top of the mailbox shelf.

My package was not on top of the shelf last night, nor did the mailperson accidentally put it in another box.

Which means one of my neighbors stole my package.

It’s been a fantastically terribly week.

Whelp. My package was stolen.

Hopefully I can file an insurance claim. Only way I’m going to be able to afford another bottle of Loved to Death, if it’s even still available if/when I get said insurance.

Going to go cry now.

[prettysniffies]

*strangled whimper* Oh, God, a Chaos Theory release, too?! I want Gourmand and Fougere and Oriental and Woods so bad, but having pre-ordered both retail exclusives, I cannot drop any more money on pretties.

Lunacy, The Return Of Chaos Theory, and Two New Exclusive Scents

This June, the full moon brings Lunacy, Chaos and new exclusives for Haute Macabre and Loved to Death with it.

First up, we are thrilled to present:

LACUS BONITATIS

The Lake of Goodness. A perfume that inspires philanthropy while fostering kindness, affection, and compassion: sweet amber with rose geranium, lavender, amyris, motherwort, orange blossom, honey, apple peel, and angelica root.

********************************************

Our latest collaboration with Haute Macabre is available for preorder!

ESBAT

The silent rays of the full moon piercing the shadows of an ancient grove: a ragged canopy of moonflower and morning glory, dew-touched mosses creeping over gnarled oak roots, and shimmering beams of mugwort, cuckoo flower, and rose mallow.

********************************************

Presenting our newest Lunacy Event partner Loved To Death and the debut of their exclusive Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab exclusive scent.

Loved To Death

A scent of dark corners and forgotten mysteries, secrets unearthed in dark attics, and cobwebbed, timeworn artifacts: vanilla bean, blackened and smoked, with husky clove, cinnamon bark, and a touch of beeswax.

********************************************

Finally, we revisit Chaos Theory.

CHAOS THEORY VII

Turbulent, disordered beauty: sensitive to initial conditions, topologically mixed, and approached by periodic orbits with abandon. A dynamical system expressed through scent.

Each bottle of Chaos Theory is truly unique, a fragrant fractal, and an exercise in the joy of chance and uncertainty! Each is a one-of-a-kind, utterly random combination of scents, the composition of which is based on whim, mood and gut instinct. Each bottle is numbered, and each bottle is unique.

Hail Eris! After a long hiatus, Chaos Theory is back!

CHAOS THEORY VII: EMERGENCE

Chaos is the score upon which reality is written. – Henry Miller

This year, the traditional chaos of our Chaos Theories is convulsing through a handful of classic scent families.

Each CT:7 scent under the auspices of Emergence, has a base of one of the following olfactive families, in wildly varying proportions:

CHAOS THEORY VII:ANIMALIC

Accords of castoreum, ambergris, and civet! Leathers and musks ahoy!

CHAOS THEORY VII: FLORAL

Any manner of flowers - pale or bright, crisp or sultry – will form the base of these Chaos blends.

CHAOS THEORY VII: FOUGERE

Sharply fernlike lavenders and lilacs with a herbaceous, oakmoss-tinted touch.

CHAOS THEORY VII: GOURMAND

Sweet vanillas, thick chocolates, burnt caramels, and spun sugars.

CHAOS THEORY VII: ORIENTAL

These scents possess sensual, languid bases, including amber, benzoin, tonka, balsams, and dark, warm vanillas.

CHAOS THEORY VII: WOODS

The root of these scents (SEE WHAT I DID THERE?) are foresty and camphoraceous, riddled with deep greens and lush brown tones.

From these bases comes a new series of flowing, fragrant fractals that emanate from these three roots. Random combinations of oils have been added to every individual bottle, retaining their sensitivity to their initial component, resulting in a truly unique blend that swirls merrily around its core oil. The end result may or may not encapsulate the scent family of its origin scent; randomness will out.

This is an exercise in the joy of chance and uncertainty! Each is a one-of-a-kind, utterly random combination of scents, the composition of which is based on whim, mood and gut instinct.

Most common allergens have been omitted from the experiment. No pennyroyal, no nuts, no cinnamon, no cassia. Regardless, if you have any sensitivities, please do not participate in Chaos Theory. The contents of the oils are not recorded [that’s the whole point!] and we will not be able to answer questions about specific bottles of CT:7 or guarantee that an allergen is not present in your order.

By purchasing CT:7, you agree to absolve Black Phoenix of any responsibility related to an allergic reaction to one of the oils in this series. Please make a responsible choice, and use caution and discretion when ordering. This is intended to be a fun, exciting project.

Want to keep up to date on all the BPAL news? Follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, join our mailing list, visit our Forums, or follow our blog The Black Phoenix Gazette.

[prettysniffies]

Oh. Oh God, I already pre-ordered Esbat today.

...Fuck it. I’m studying for the bar, I need some happy.

Bay Area fiends! Please join Audra at Loved To Death’s first Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab Full Moon event!

Debuting tonight, a scent that we created exclusively for LTD:

Loved To Death

A scent of dark corners and forgotten mysteries, secrets unearthed in dark attics, and cobwebbed, timeworn artifacts: vanilla bean, blackened and smoked, with husky clove, cinnamon bark, and a touch of beeswax.

[prettysniffies]

*LUNGES*

Our latest collaboration with Haute Macabre is available for preorder! HauteMacabre.com/Shop ESBAT The silent rays of the full moon piercing the shadows of an ancient grove: a ragged canopy of moonflower and morning glory, dew-touched mosses creeping over gnarled oak roots, and shimmering beams of mugwort, cuckoo flower, and rose mallow.

[prettysniffies]

Review: The Last Unicorn (Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab)

The unicorn lived in a lilac wood, and she lived all alone. She was very old, though she did not know it, and she was no longer the careless color of sea foam, but rather the color of snow falling on a moonlit night. But her eyes were still clear and unwearied, and she still moved like a shadow on the sea.

Frosty lilac petals, iris pallida root, orris, violet leaf, white chocolate, coconut, wild lettuce, white sandalwood, and oakmoss.

I could wax rhapsodic about this movie and book for a very long time. I saw the movie long before I read the book, but I fell head over heels in love with the animation and the story and the bittersweet yet hopeful ending, but above all else I fell in love with the unicorn. I still love her: I love her her sweet, arrogant naivety, I love her soft somber regrets, I love her growth and her change and her alienness and her humanity. The book and Peter S. Beagle’s beautiful prose just hammered it all home when I finally got a copy.

The Last Unicorn means more to me than words can convey. And I’d coveted a bottle of the perfume oil based on one of my most favorite characters in film and literature for a long, long time and I was so utterly overjoyed to finally put a bottle of The Last Unicorn next to my bottle of Lady Amalthea. It felt right, having both sides of her together.

(It’s little things like that which leave me feeling deeply satisfied. I am a simple creature, deep in my bones.)

...

I know what you’re thinking. DT waxed rhapsodic about this oil, it must have turned into a disaster. Poor, poor DT.

And you would be wrong! :D

The Last Unicorn was a soft, subtle perfume, and clung very close to my skin, but also lasted for a very long time, and morphed quite a bit, to my initial surprise.

When first applied and during immediate dry-down, the oil was a mix of cool lilac and gently sweet white chocolate. The combination sounds odd, I know, but on my skin, at least, they worked quite well. That it was white chocolate, rather than a true dark or milk, was the key; especially with my skin chemistry, chocolate notes are very rich and strong. White chocolate is much more of a mellow scent by contrast.

The lilac ended up fading relatively quickly, leaving the white chocolate by itself for about an hour. After that, the chocolate faded, but instead I ended up getting more cool florals: definitely the orris, as well as the iris and violet leaf. Very lovely!

By the end of the day, The Last Unicorn had morphed one last time into what I could have sworn was a fresh-cut rose, even though that’s not a note in the oil. Perhaps it was the coconut, wild lettuce, and oakmoss working together? Hard to say, but I loved it nevertheless.

Final verdict: gentle, sweet, and lovely. An absolutely perfect scent for spring and summer. I think I’m going to be wearing this a lot.