The Shadowy and the Sublime - Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab

Details: 
The Shadowy and The Sublime
Gothic Literature Vol 1
Halloweenie 2010
Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab

Notes: 
A sudden and shocking insight into the vast, ineffable, overwhelming power of Nature, stirred by a vision or experience of perfected beauty and perfected terror, that changes the soul irretrievably. An epiphany: Moroccan amber, wisteria, ambergris accord, white rose, magnolia, white mint, angelica, bergamot, and myrrh.

When I first got this, I adored it. This is what I wrote about it back then. 

Anything that includes wisteria, white rose, magnolia... I'm there. It doesn't disappoint either. This is a gorgeous creamy white floral with no really dominant notes that I could distinguish. It's beautifully blended, with a medium throw and reasonable staying power. I wish BPAL would do more of these gentle florals, because they're obviously really good at it.  

Unfortunately, once this perfume had aged a year or so, the amber became really prominent and pretty much took over the 'gentle floral' entirely, and I'm a bit devo because it was so, so beautiful before. Although I can still smell the floral notes, it's mostly just amber, and a really heady kind that makes me feel a bit headachy and nauseated after a while. It's been a long time since I last wore it, but I pulled it out to compare with Estella, hoping that further ageing had mellowed it somewhat. Not to be. This perfume has very high sillage and lasts for ages - I put a teeny amount on my wrist in the morning and when I woke the following day I could still smell traces of it. It's a clinger. I loved you once, lady, but you got old. :-(

Rating: 
2/5

Day 216! 

Cri de Coeur - Possets Perfume

Details: 
Cri de Coeur (Cry of the Heart)
Possets Perfume

Notes: 
This fragrance is a real stunner, a true Posset with large lashings of Vanilla, nougat, coconut, sweet musk, tobacco flower,swirling cotton, a drop of nag champa, chypre, black musk and sugar cane. There is the essence of a very good dragon's blood in it, a small amount of lime, and lime blossom. This is quite a complex beauty. Very sweet without being totally foody, long lasting and strong.

There’s not a lot of change here from vial to dry down. Essentially it’s smooth, creamy, sweet and warm, with a super faint hint of citrus. It makes me think of milk that’s been warmed up with a cinnamon stick and a piece of lemon peel. This perfume sits very close to the skin – barely any sillage at all – and it disappears very quickly. I couldn’t smell it at all after an hour, and reapplying only extended its life a smidge longer. I want to like this, but it’s just too fleeting.

Rating:
2/5 If it had hung around a bit longer I’d have given it a 3, as it is pleasant and comforting.


Day 47!

Parkin - Haus of Gloi

Details:
Parkin
Yule 2010
Haus of Gloi

Notes: 

Glorious ginger cakes celebrating Guy Fawkes Day! Brown sugar, black treacle, oats, a peculiar blend of white spices tossed with chopped roasted chestnuts and coated with the lightest of icings.  

Ginger! This is gingery and sugary and rich. Although it's very foodie, the ginger and spiciness keep it in the realm of something more interesting than the usual vanilla or chocolate gourmand scent. In the dry down, it becomes more creamy and less sugary as the treacly porridge makes an appearance. It's definitely a winter scent, so probably not the best for an Australian summer. I would pull this out again in the colder months and wear it - it's kind of an Aran jumper perfume.

Rating:
3/5 I don't love it enough to buy a full bottle, but I do like it.

Day 9!

The Saw is Family - The Morbid The Merrier

Details:
The Saw Is Family
Halloween 2010
The Morbid The Merrier (now defunct)

Notes:  
A murderously beautiful blend of 5 musks, 3 sandalwoods, a tiny hint of Texas earth, the bite of a steel blade, and a ribbon of cold, hard fear binding them all tightly together.

When I bought this two years ago, I loved it. I meant to get a full bottle and was kicking myself when I realised I hadn't and it was gone. So I've been stingily hanging on to my meagre little vial, barely daring to use it. In hindsight, I should have, because it's changed. A lot.

Here's what I said about it back then:

On me, this is a gorgeous sandalwood musk saved from being too hippyish by a sharp metallic note. I really, really love it.

And now? In the vial it smells musky, but a rather uninteresting musk. A musk I'd expect to smell in one of those $15 perfumes near the front counter of Chemist Warehouse. A pleasant enough smell, but ordinary. There's a tiny hint of something shiny and metallic, an icy steel note that has all but faded away. It's so fleeting and hard to catch, sadly.

When applied, the metallic note is undetectable. Just the musk is there. Once it dries down, it's soapy. Again - something I'd find in a cheap chemist. Just... eh. How disappointing.

Rating:
2/5. I don't out-and-out hate it, but it really didn't age well, and it's very ordinary and unspecial. Probably just as well I never did get that full bottle.

Day 2!