Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab • Allison Gross • Fragrances
(2 reviews)
| Average Rating. | 3.5 |
| Would buy this product again. | 50% |
| Package Quality | 4.0 |
| Price | 2.5 |
| Ingredients | |
*TOP REVIEWER* girlndocs on 12/5/2009 1:36:00 AM more reviews by girlndocs
Age: 30-35 Skin: Sensitive, Fair Hair: Other, Straight, Fine Eyes: Grey
If I had read the notes before trying this scent on, I'm not sure I would have tried it at all. I never wear herbal or green scents, I steer clear of massive amounts of floral, and I've never had BPAL's dragon's blood succeed on me.
What a surprise. This is a stunning blend, maybe the most impressive one I've tried so far because it blends such disparate notes so well and does such a good job of evoking the feel of its namesake. It begins slightly sharp from the rue and mugwort and quite perfumy from the muguet and maybe the peony. The sunflower is distinct in the wet stage. As it dries, it becomes spicy and green, but green in an entirely believable vegetal, slightly dry way, not a mountain-fresh dryer sheet as so many other green scents are on me -- bundles of herbs that are dried, but well preserved and potent, not dusty or musty. The dragon's blood musk stays out of the production entirely until very late in the dry stage, when it emerges as a skinlike and slightly sweet musk similar to the golden musk in Berry Moon or the skin musk in Les Bijoux. A bit of chrysanthemum or rue tang, a little saltiness from the ambergris, and an unbelievably subtle breath of florals remain.
Very sexy and very appropriate for the poem; this is not a sexy Gothic dominatrix sorceress or a shimmering ethereal fairy enchantress but an altogether mortal witch of a certain age, still lusty, who knows what she's about.
EDIT 10/2011: Several years on and my love for this blend has only grown. I believe it to be the best thing Beth has created. It has aged into slightly more sweetness and richness, with a white rose note in particular becoming more prominent; but it's still complex, fascinating and utterly well-balanced.
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*TOP REVIEWER* haloinrverse on 6/29/2009 8:06:00 PM more reviews by haloinrverse
Age: 25-29 Skin: Combination Hair: Brown Eyes: Brown
a little lunacy 07
notes: Dragon's blood musk, ambergris, sunflower, chrysanthemum, muguet, and rue, with gingered lily, moonflower, bluebell, peony, nightwort, and white rose.
in the vial: predominantly a note that reminds me of scents like annick goutals eau du sud. its some sort of popcicle wood scent that i can detect before the scent ever hits my skin. maybe its some sort of reaction that one of the florals has with my sniffer. this is sweet and pleasantly floral in a light and herbaceous way.
wet on skin: i dont much care for that woody note, and the heat of my skin of course amplifies the note. its gone after several minutes, and this morphs into a heady blend that is pretty heavy on the ambergris, which to my nose means powder.
dry down: rich and honey-like floral...with that damn powder. if thats your bag, this is probably just gorgeous.
verdict: feh. it opened as something slightly interesting, if not pleasant IMO, and it took a turn for the worst as it settled down. absolutely not for me.