New things!

In case you missed it, we had a fantastic debut from Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab this past month: a gorgeous collection of Montreal-themed perfumes!

The announcement from the Black Phoenix Gazette says it all. :-)

We also have a lovely little collection from Arcana, inspired by the Song of Songs:

SOAPS

Song of Songs: Winter is Past
My beloved spoke and said to me,
Arise my fair one and come away
For, lo, the winter is past--
The rain is over and gone.
Hot ginger, sweet mint, bergamot,
clove, and cedarwood. Made with organic coconut milk, Tussah silk, sweet almond oil, & organic oats.

Song of Songs: Honey and Milk
Honey and milk are under thy tongue.
The scent of honeycomb, sweet cinnamon, cream, emmer, nutmeg, peppercorns, and barley. Made with local, organic honey, finely ground organic oats, fresh goat milk, and a swirl of ground cinnamon.

Song of Songs: A Thread of Scarlet
Thy lips are like a thread of scarlet.
Exotic tuberose, lavender, fresh lime, pomegranate, gardenia, lily
of the valley, heady jasmine, and red currant. Made with organic coconut milk, Tussah silk, golden cocoa butter, and macadamia oil.

PERFUME OILS

Song of Song: Honey and Milk
Honey and milk are under thy tongue.
The scent of honeycomb, sweet cinnamon, cream, emmer, nutmeg, peppercorns, and barley.

Song of Songs: A Thread of Scarlet
Thy lips are like a thread of scarlet.
Exotic tuberose, lavender, fresh lime, pomegranate, gardenia, lily of the valley, heady jasmine, and red currant.

Sweet Anthem test samples

I've been aware of Sweet Anthem for a little while, since perfumer Meredith started out on Etsy about three years ago. I looked them up recently, and came across their lovely website, with an expanded catalogue and gorgeous design work.

I've since had the opportunity to try a variety of samples, and have been delighted!

These are some of my thoughts on a couple of these fragrances...

Anastasia - Champa absolute, civet, dogwood, fresh snow, green tea, honeysuckle, white patchouli

This is delicately indolic in the opening notes - definitely not one to judge by first impressions. The florals cool under that snowy note, their pungent bite softening into something sweet and pretty. As it dries, it reveals a freshness and very light woodsiness. Don't be afraid of the civet - it's all second-skin, baby musk, nothing feral.

Peter - Black currant, champagne, leather, lemon, matcha tea, patchouli.

Although this bears a man's name, it is a great unisex fragrance. The leather is crisp and in some ways unassuming, despite its center-stage presence. It allows the lighter fruit notes enough room to play, but finds its best partner in the champagne. The effervescence and clarity of that note is a perfect counterpoint to the more somber nature of the leather. Very elegant.

Anita - Moroccan mint, peppermint, pink sugar, turkish mocha, vanilla.

Sweet, edible mint, chocolate and vanilla, sugared up something fierce, with just a tiny hint of coffee - something a bit more stoic and bitter around the edges. Overall this is delectably foody and energetic.

I'm really excited by this brand, and hope to be offering a selection of their perfumes at Pretty Indulgent shortly!

(Oh, and if you're a resident of Seattle, check in at Knows Perfume - Meredith teaches a class there.)

Arcana - Shiver Ensemble

The "Shiver Ensemble" is a series of four perfumes that play on the mystery and magic of words, evoking the movement from winter into spring as the cold and darkness falls away to reveal new life. And as a symbol of that life - honey, a note all of these perfumes share.

Shiver Perfume Oil (Limited Edition): An armful of pale flowers: tuberose, royal jasmine, jasmine sambac, white osmanthus, gardenia, muguet, and narcissus; honey, chilled peppermint, and smoky frankincense.

Hiver Perfume Oil (Limited Edition): Ruby grapefruit, French cognac absolute, pink pepper, mirabelle plum, honey, and a drop of aged patchouli.

Hive Perfume Oil (Limited Edition): Honey, wild rose, amber resin, sticky beeswax, milk, and a buzz of rose geranium.

I Perfume Oil (Limited Edition): Rich amber, labdanum, white pepper, black pepper, cognac absolute, honey, cardamom, and red patchouli.

Shiver - I expected to be overwhelmed by the white flowers, or to find the combination of honey and florals too sweet. And this blend is indeed sweet, but not in a remotely cloying way. The lightest touch of mint keeps this a little fresh, and the frankincense grounds it. This becomes a dense, creamy floral that feels as sweet, feminine and cozy as a luxurious white cashmere sweater. Gorgeous, and probably my favorite out of the four.

Hiver - The grapefruit and pepper combine to give this a delightfully astringent top note, that fades into a graceful blend. The patch is a very light note here, supporting the brightness of the plum and restraining any excess the honey might be prone to. The cognac is, to me, undetectable.

Hive - Absolutely beautiful rose and honey blend, with the milk note barely there but softening everything up. It has a faintly "dirty" note that is probably the amber, and keeps this from being too pretty. It feels like something ancient and female, like it would be equally at home on a 1940s vanity as it would anointing a priestess' hands. For someone who doesn't wear rose easily, this is a rose perfume I would reach for without hesitation.

I Perfume - A textured resin blend, that is gentler than I would have expected from the notes. The spices are there, but well balanced by the honey. This dries down, like most resin-heavy perfumes do, to that kind of deep, warm, powdery finish that leaves you snuffling your wrists throughout the day. And if you normally find patchouli too dirty or 'thin', red patchouli will be a pleasant surprise.

All of these are currently available on our site.

BPAL Halloween

And switching gears entirely - look what just arrived this week, right in time for Halloween! Aren't the labels just darling? They were created by Kira/Elixireleven. The soaps themselves were made by Brooke/Villainess, scented with oils created by Beth/BPAL. So much talent from these ladies!

The full Black Phoenix Trading Post - Trick or Treat Inquisition!

And also, keeping the Inquisition company on the cold trip North, a selection from the limited Halloweenie series.

As you can see, I haven't had a chance to unwrap most of these*, let alone test them, so this is less of a review and more of a "Oh! So adorable!" post. And also a reminder that if any of these look appealing, make haste to order, because they won't be up for much longer.

*With such an array to choose from, I dove in a little blind and decided to try out Jack. The soap is spicier than the perfume oil of the same name, full of warm, golden pumpkin, barely sweet peach, and delicious nutmeg and clove. It is Halloween in bar form. LOVE.

Arcana Early Autumn Collection

With snow looming here in Canada, I feel like a brief reminder of days gone by is called for.

Which brings me to the this collection - two lovely soaps and three perfumes, evoking the bittersweet nature of the last days of the Summer season, and the dawn of Fall.

1816 - Shivery peppermint, Madagascar vanilla, white sugar, creamed butterscotch, snowy fondant, fog, sleet, hail, and a tiny bite of silvery fir.

Scathach - Highland grass, green apples, almonds, fir needles, and honey-speared citrus.

1816 is beautifully brisk and refreshing, not quite chilly. Scathach is a distant cousin to my beloved Avalon, which doubles as an autumn fragrance for me.

Danced to Pieces - Blushing candy sweetness and an angelic tangle of strawberry, raspberry, red currant, pink grapefruit, and white sugar weave a spell above a flagrantly destructive, self-indulgent base of dark peppery musk, resinous amber, heady cognac, opiate-laced cassis cordial, and the faint remains of a silver leaf.

The Sunflower's Lament - Tears on the warmest, brightest day: apricot, chamomile, opoponax resin, petitgrain, peach, lavender, green cognac, heather, heliotrope, sweet clove, sticky benzoin, and iron-distilled patchouli.

The Moonflower’s Bliss - Happiness under a starless sky: moon vine, heartleaf milkweed, Calla lily, white tuberose, gardenia, and Madagascar bridal veil with creamy butter CO2 extract, pearl musk, white pepper, and a trace of incense.

Three very different perfumes.

Danced to Pieces has an astringent opening, nose-tickling even, as the tart berries and sharp cassis mix with the sugared booze. This phase did not do well on me, but after a bit it begins to mellow, warm and deepen until it becomes a gorgeous, deeply spiced amber. A surprise win.

The Sunflower’s Lament is the perfect resin for folks who tend to prefer foody notes and shy away from heavier blends. Tons of earth notes and resins, yet what comes across is a bright, golden fragrance, juicy and sweet, that softens gently into a musky, lightly powdered finish.

The Moonflower’s Bliss. Oh. OH. A wonderfully luxurious yet utterly wearable tropical floral. Voluptous white blooms with sheer, light counterpoints, and a gentle, creamy drydown. I really hope this one is brought into the general catalogue.

Actually, I hope all of them are folded into the permanent line. In the meantime, indulge in these last bits of early Fall before we’re blanketed by snow.

Arcana - An Introduction

I want to introduce you to another of my favorite independent soap companies - Arcana Soaps and Perfumes. Julia makes some outstanding cold-processed soap, using scent blends that owe more to perfumery than traditional soap-making.


These are fabulous soaps with a smooth, creamy lather, though the individual properties of each vary with the specific oils used in the individual recipe (i.e.: macadamia, black cocoa butter, etc.). They feel heavy in your hand and look beautiful stacked on your vanity or arranged in a pretty bowl. (I keep them in a pretty hatbox to conserve the scent, but then again I'm a soap freak and need to hoard a stash to last me through the Apocalypse.) The labels are all unique and reflect the concept of the scent blend, and are so pretty that I often hesitate in breaking one open.

Then there are the scrubs, which are generally only made during the cooler months of the year, in order to preserve the luscious texture during shipping.

These are definitely not lightweight. They are thick and scoop-able like cake batter, loaded with oils and butters and scrubby bits to smooth away dry, crackly skin. I confess that I rarely use them in the summer, but I break them out when the weather starts cooling. I like to stock up for the winter months, and I've found that a little goes a long way, as these are potently moisturizing and quite scrubby.


The scent is strong and beautiful in the shower, but doesn't stay too long on the skin afterward, which I prefer as it doesn't interfere with my scent selection for the day.


And then we come to, of course, the perfumes. Hand-blended from both natural and synthtic essences , they range from the straightforward to the subtle and textured. They also, more than any other perfume oil I've tried, improve markedly with aging. Frequently it's only after a year that they become utterly seamless and more complex, as notes mature and meld together in beautiful ways.


The labels are also darling, both for more limited creations and ones in the regular line-up. This is a small example:

Arcana also offers a small selection of facial care, which I have yet to try.

BPAL - Four Seasons Inquisition (vintage)

As promised in BPTP intro post, I will be reviewing some of the products from the Trading Post, as well as vintage collections that are no longer currently available, but that give you an idea of what BPAL is about. This is a review of a past Inquisition.

The Inquisition is a BPAL/BPTP tradition where sets of products (usually a perfume and a corresponding shirt) are available for sale, but the trick is that you have to submit a plea for which version you want and the Trading Post 'imps' decide which one you will receive. (Though of course they will honor outright requests. They're not mean, those imps.) In the case of the Four Seasons Inquisition, the sets included a perfume, an atmosphere spray and a bath oil - by far my favorite out of all the combinations.

The labels were all absolutely gorgeous and of course the scents themselves were divine. They were not identical across the pray, bath oil and perfume versions, but rather each set contained scent blends that were truly evocative of the season and suited to their medium. 

LA PRIMAVERA
ATMOSPHERIC SPRAY - Tuberose, linden blossom, jasmine, rosehip, oakmoss, pink heather, white rose, and sugar cane, with plum, lemon tree, and orange blossoms.
BATH OIL - Lemon peel, tuberose, sugar cane, plum blossom, white gardenia, dandelion, violet leaf, jonquil, iris, sandalwood, Damascus rose, white grapefruit, mint, and sweet orange.
PERFUME - Plum blossom, tuberose, oakmoss, violet leaf, jasmine, ylang ylang, lemon peel, orange blossom, and lemon peel.

L’ESTATE
ATMOSPHERIC SPRAY - Nepalese amber, vanilla infused amber, golden musk,
sandalwood, orange rind, ginger, frankincense, and cardamom.
BATH OIL - Carnation, golden amber, honey myrtle, beeswax absolute, summer peach,
cardamom, and vanilla orchid.
PERFUME - Nepalese amber, vanilla infused amber, golden musk, sandalwood, golden lily, sunflower, and honey myrtle.

L’AUTUNNO
ATMOSPHERIC SPRAY - Fig leaf, patchouli, black tea, and bonfire smoke.
BATH OIL - Sage, myrrh, patchouli, molasses, sweetgrass, cedar, and cinnamon sugar.
PERFUME - Hawthorn, fig, myrrh, carnation, toasted almond, red and green apple, patchouli, wood smoke, and Indian musk.

L’INVERNO
ATMOSPHERIC SPRAY - Snow-laden pine boughs, sleet, white sandalwood, cedar, winter orchid, and honeysuckle.
BATH OIL - Stargazer lily, white musk, winter orchid, white grapefruit, fir needle, star jasmine, citron, and mint.
PERFUME - White musk, winter plum, pine wood, benzoin, orchid, and stargazer lily.

The Primavera scents are a riotous explosion of florals - but a field full of flowers, not a hothouse, in that the air is rich with the scent of dozens of blooms, but there is a breeze throughout. Floral, sweet, with a faint underlay of greenery and fresh citrus top notes, but not cloying or overwhelming. These are still not blends suited to anyone who does not appreciate florals, but for someone who does - pure gorgeousness.

L'Estate are all sensual, languid scents. They are evocative of sultry summer evening, the air hot and humid, the light deeply golden. Ambers and resins dominate these blends, with the perfume having the most mellow character, the spray and oil spicier in nature. I think some people would be fearful of wearing such heavy, oriental-style scents in the summer, but I think they deserve to be appreciated in their full glory, as they expand in the deep, permeating heat. These are very sexual scents, and I greatly favor wearing the bath oil to bed as a post-shower moisturizer.

L'Autunno sound like more masculine-friendly blends, and indeed they can be appreciated most readily by menfolk for their smoky, earthy character. But unless you aggressively dislike wood notes or patchouli, I think they are universal fragrances. They are all balanced very well between the sweeter notes we associate with fall (be it the harvest fruit notes of the perfume, or the molasses and cinnamon sugar of the bath oil) and those deeper, darker notes that are so central to a season that sees the light dwindle and the earth fall into repose. They smell like the best pies, the best walks in the woods, the best gleeful leaps into leaf piles you can remember from childhood.

L'Inverno features some of the most delicately pretty and ephemeral scents yet, with pale musks, dainty florals and cool notes of pine and snow. I don't know how a blend with pine can smell so feminine and lovely, but there you go. The atmosphere spray is perhaps the heaviest on those wintry wood notes, green and crackly and perfect for my home at the Holidays, since I can't have a real tree.

I absolutely adore these blends, and only regret not getting doubles.

Villainess Soaps- An Introduction

One of my favorite indie bath companies - run by one of my favorite people.Villainess  is an artisanal soap e-tailer like few others. Unlike many soapmakers who rely on standard, reliable fragrance formulations, Brooke blends up original scent blends to evoke unique concepts, and then translates them into soaps, scrubs, lotions and perfumes. Her style has always been edgier than cute, but always with an undertone of humour - gunmetal-Victorian chic that's just this side of steampunk.



Her soaps are absolutely to die for. Take Krakatoa:

Krakatoa - Flashes of exotic foliage - coconut, banana, papaya, dewfruit, mango - amidst slightly more domestic fruits - nectarine, red apple, peach, plums, pears, and raspberries - and an explosive burst of citrus - mandarin orange, pineapple, lemon, and tangerine. Light musk, salted driftwood, sugar cane, and dry sandalwood work to ground our island paradise.



Or in other words: NOMNOMNOM.


It is succulent and refreshing and sweet and brisk. It's neither saccharine nor cloying, just perfectly juicy, the faint wood and musk notes keep this from being a tropical fruit punch nightmare. It's great in the summer, and then again in the winter, to remind you of summer. 


Like all  Villainess soaps, the lather is silky-soft and as emollient as you're likely to get in bar soap, without sacrificing that 'clean' feeling. (Very emollient soaps often feel like they're leaving an ooky layer behind on my skin. With these, my skin just feels soft, not slick or overly squeaky.)



Or try Chloroform:

Chloroform is listed as having notes of "crisp cucumber, sickly sweet green vegetation, a dizzy whiff of violets, mind-numbing plum, and a stiff shot of anesthetising vermouth." To me the big standouts are the wet greens and the plum, juicy and sharp and crispy. Not my usual thing, but it's very refreshing, like napping in freshly cut crass.


Of course, the perfumes are equally amazing. As evocative as the scent-blends are in soap form, they are doubly so as actual 'fumes. And also, the CUTEST BOTTLES EVER.

Of course, I didn't even get to the wonderful scrubs! I'll save that for Part Two.

Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab: Part Two, Trading Post

Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab has evolved dramatically over the years. In 2002 it was a fledgeling site offering a small selection of perfumes in just seven categories, as well as incense and soap hand-made by Beth herself. In the nearly eight years since, BPAL has become a truly extraordinary experience - the catalogue itself has grown into something that takes days to peruse, not to mention the various limited edition items and charity projects featured throughout. (I can't even link to all the pages for these charity projects - there are that many!) To say Beth is a prolific, genius artist is an understatement.

I will discuss the details of all the general catalogue categories in an upcoming post - I wanted to take a moment here to introduce you to BPAL's sister site - Black Phoenix Trading Post. The Trading Post emerged in 2005, as an extension of the Lab. It began, like these things tend to do, humbly, by offering a tiny selection of thematic t-shirts. Now we have a bounty of offerings: As part of the regular catalogue bath and body catalogue, we have bath oils, atmosphere sprays, massage oils and soaps. The soaps are a collaboration with Brooke from Villainess, and are beyond delightful!

If things of a smelly nature are not your bag (the very idea of which boggles my mind), you can take your pick from nail polishes, scent lockets, i.d. cases, imps cases, leather goods, statuary, glassware, pouches and BPAL couture. If you are feeling charitable, take your pick from Neil Gaiman inspired scent lockets, t-shirts imprinted with artwork tying in with the Lab's Neil Gaiman perfume tarot series, or atmosphere sprays featuring artwork by Molly Crabapple (which correspond to the perfume series at the Lab).

On a less permanent basis, they have a few other goodies. On a monthly basis, to coincide with the Lunacy (Full Moon) updates at BPAL, the Trading Post offers up a limited edition t-shirt that mirrors the Lunacy oil for that month. The artwork featured on the shirt echos that of the perfume bottle - and like the perfume, it is available to order for only a few days, to celebrate that coming month's moon.

The Trading Post also, obviously, features limited edition perfumes and bath products - the most famous of these are the periodical Inquisitions, which allow you to "plead your case" for a particular perfume blend, which usually comes paired with a t-shirt or bath product. Aside from the Inquisitions, there are also seasonal editions of bath oils and atmosphere sprays, as well as perfume series or pairings devoted to a particular theme: for example, the current "Great Loves and Tragedies of Ancient Greece". Such is my brief introduction to the Black Phoenix Trading Post. I will be posting reviews for individual products and vintage limited edition sets shortly.

Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab: Short Introduction

I wish I could claim that I always loved perfume. It seems like the to have street cred as a perfumista, you need some kind of backstory as a precocious nose, a prepubescent connoisseur of olfactory art. The truth of the matter is that while I always enjoyed beautiful smells and had more than a passing interest in aromatherapy, my perfume experience was sadly plebeian. In high school, I was content with The Body Shop Vanilla. In college, I graduated to l'Occitane Vanilla. Eventually I moved on the Origins Ginger Essence. I felt quite sophisticated walking up to a department store counter to buy it, let me tell you. (There was also a brief and publicly under-appreciated interlude with Poison, courtesy of my BFF's neglected bottle.)

My limited fragrance wardrobe was due to a number of factors, but chief among them was the fact that I have an intolerance for many synthetic fragrance molecules, as well as the fixatives and alcohol usually present in commercial perfumes. Part of that intolerance is physiological, in the sense that certain smells nauseate me or else make my sinuses rampage, and part of it is, undoubtedly, a lack of proper experimentation (and thus appreciation) due to the fear that most perfumes would cause this reaction. I wonder if early exposure to artisanal and niche perfumes would have altered the course of my perfume evolution. It was a visit to the Fragonard factory in Grasse, the summer after I graduated from university, that opened my eyes. Of course I was too cowed to purchase any of their perfumes while I was there, and completely clueless as to where to find something beyond department store offerings when I returned to Montreal. But I was newly intrigued by the possibilities, wide open to the potential of perfume to be complex and extraordinary and transformative.

And then I found Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab. Contrary to the aspiring-to-luxe aspect of most perfumes I was familiar with, Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab presented a wildly different aesthetic. Veering from gothic to kitschy, from romantic to mystical, BPAL - as it is know to fans - appealed to me on a fundamental level. It was so NOT my mother's perfume. The influences on the scent names and the bottle art resonated with me. Drawing from myth and folklore, art and literature, this was perfume that was exciting on both a visceral and intellectual level. I was sold on the concept, and had to order some samples. I was pleased to discover that I also absolutely adored the perfumes - and by Jove, they liked me right back. Part of it is no doubt due to the fact that they are perfumes created from natural essences. That's not to say that such blends are inherently superior than ones based in synthetics, but it's obviously a huge factor in determining what my skin and nose likes best. If I were to estimate, I would say that I can easily wear about 85% of what I have tested so far, and a quarter of them would easily fall into my 'favorites' category. That's a pretty darn high success rate for someone like me. Though the look and style of the company has spawned many imitators, BPAL is the original animal. All the perfumes come in 5 ml amber apothecary bottles, and the regular catalogue blends (as opposed to the limited edition blends) are available for sampling in 'imp' form. The general catalogue has literally several hundred perfumes to choose from, and you could easily spend years of your life sampling and collecting them. Most of the regular catalogue bottles come with a standard label, printed with their names, though some categories do have distinct labeling.

In the above photo: Alice (Mad Tea Party category, new standard label), Asphodel (Rappaccini's Garden, special label, now discontinued blend), Crowley (Good Omens, special label, based on Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett's novel), Brown Jenkins (Picnic in Arkham, special label, based on Lovecraft's works), and an 'imp' of Jack (Bewitching Brews).

There are also Limited Edition blends. There are several different kinds, which I'll elaborate on at another time, and they can be available for order for only a few days or for a few months, depending upon the series. All the limited edition perfumes have unique labels.Some of these series have become traditional, seasonal events. They come back every year at around the same time, sometimes featuring returning blends, and always a few new ones. They can be found on the Limited Edition page.

In the above photo, top row: Al-Araaf (Demon in my View series, based on Edgar Allan Poe's poetry,
sold 9/05 to 1/06) and Ivanushka (Therianthropic companion blend to Lunacy of 10/07). Bottom row: White Moon (Lunacy blend of 10/06), Temple Viper (Carnival Diabolique series,
still currently live) and Hony Mone (exclusive blend celebrating Beth's wedding, 11/07).

I'll be expanding upon this short introduction, explaining different aspects of the company and the community that has developed around it.