Philtre #5: Embrace - Arcana Soaps

Source

First sniff: 
Straight up musk, a classic oriental.

First applied: 
Musk and a looooot of amber. Bit worried this one is going to amp the amber and give me a headache but we will see what happens. It's quite potent on first application - I can smell it all around me.

After 30 minutes: 
Thankfully this has mellowed a bit - the amber is still prominent but it's not head-kicking crazy. The musk is a creamy one, very smooth and compulsively sniffable. I really like that note but I wish the amber would get out of the way.

After 3 hours: 
Vanilla! Where did that pop up from? There's a slight candy note and it seems more lollyish and less incense-y now. It obviously likes warm places - I can barely smell it on my wrist but it's wafting up still quite powerfully from my cleavage (TMI!).

Longevity: 
Wrist, maybe a couple of hours. Between the bewbs, about 7-8 hours. 

Actual notes/description: 
Then you breathed my breath and slept against my fluttering heart. This sensuous formula is believed to induce delicious caresses and kisses without end. Three ambers, French vanilla, Bourbon custard, golden musk, sweet coconut milk and a soft whiff of skin musk. 

Availability:
The Rhinestone Housewife
General Catalogue
Full size only. 

Snake Oil - Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab

Details: 
Snake Oil
Ars Amatoria
Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab

Notes:
By far our most popular scent! Magnetic, mysterious and exceedingly sexual in nature. A blend of exotic Indonesion oils sugared with vanilla. 

It's been a long time since I wore some of my classic favourites, so I dragged a couple out for a run around the block, starting with Snake Oil. It's no surprise this is BPAL's most popular perfume - it's awesome. It's one of the few I ever get asked about when I wear it. My bottle is from December 2009, so it's aged a bit and I can't remember what new Snake Oil smells like. I have been intending to get a back up bottle sometime, but their shipping is so ridiculous (both cost and length of time) that I only order from them once or twice a year.

Anyway, Snake Oil is a sweet incensey perfume, very deep and sexy. I sent a sample to Nadja who said it reminded her of something else but she couldn't think what, and I've been having that same problem for years. It reminds me of one of those headkicking orientals from the 80s - like Shalimar or Opium, but it's neither of those. Damned if I can figure it out. The sillage on this is high - it's definitely not one for work if you sit in close proximity to others. Lasting power is excellent too. I put it on in the early morning and could still smell it the next day when I got up.

This is one perfume that I think everyone should try - you might hate it, but you might just fall in love.

Rating: 
5/5

Day 125!

Spellbound - Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab

*I'm still a couple of days behind after bailing during the heat, and I probably won't catch up on that (or comments and other people's blogs) until the weekend. But I haven't forgotten you! 

Details: 
Spellbound
Ars Amatoria
Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab

Notes: 
Perfectly enchanting! An irresistably sexual, utterly rapturous blend of three roses, radiant amber, and sensual red musk.

In the vial I was confused about this before I looked at the notes.

"Smells like rose. Wait... is it? No... maybe lotus? No, wait - I'm sure that's rose. Noodles, what does this smell like?"
"Niceness."
"Thanks. Super helpful."

It's kind of rose, but kind of not. It's more of a super musky sweet oriental than overtly floral. Very feminine, very sexified - a good perfume for a night out when you're frocked up and have got the spanx and your fanciest earrings out. The dry down brings the rose out a bit more for a while, but that doesn't last more than an hour, and then it's back to musk. This perfume has quite a lot of throw and lasts for ages - I was pretty conscious of it most of the day and wondering if I'd gone a bit OTT with it. On the downside, for the first hour or so it made me feel a bit sneezy. I wouldn't buy a full bottle of this because I don't frock up very often and it's not the kind of thing I'd just wear out and about, but I do like it quite a bit.

Rating: 
3/5

Day 51!

Bathsheba - Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab

Details:
Bathsheba
Ars Amatoria
Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab

Notes:
Carnation, sensual plum and Arabian musk.

So the carnation is what made me hang on to this one for testing, but I can't distinguish it from the other notes. In the imp this smelled a little honeyish to me - not honey itself, but those blossoms that have a honeyish nectar. It's very pretty. Once applied I can smell a hint of something fruity - presumably that's the plum. Normally I can't stand fruity perfumes, but this note lingers in the background and is nicely blended with the floral, so it's not 'fruit' as much as just sweetening up the flowers.

The dry down is a lovely floral musk. There's something a little old-ladyish about this scent - not in a bad way. It's like something a sophisticated older woman would wear on a night out. Lasting power is excellent - I put it on about 10 hours ago and I can still smell it. The throw is not too strong - I can smell it when I move my wrist, but only snatches, and it's not at all overpowering.

Rating: 
3/5 I like this one quite a bit - not sure I need a whole bottle of it, but I'll definitely enjoy using the imp.

Day 13!

Dangerous Oil - Possets

Details:

Dangerous Oil

Possets Perfumes

Notes:

Dark and heady, what even Madame X would wear if she had to be assured of a conquest. Dangerous Oil is infused with the finest of rare things. 6 musks from blackest black up through a rare and gorgeous in itself purple/blue musk hybrid. A good jolt of labdenum (sic) and an edge of cognac. The heart note is an entire chypre made only for this project and used for no other. There is a fresh and almost gardenia-like part to this (but there is no gardenia in it), it is not a floral but a resinous blend but there is a mesmerizing beauty to it.

Well, that’s a dramatic description of a perfume if ever I saw one. What I get in the vial and when first applied to the skin is musk. Musk, musk, musk. Very deep but not at all overpowering.

When it dries I get what does indeed smell a little like gardenia. It comes and goes and is hard to catch, but it’s there. I’m iffy about resins – a lot of the time I find them too masculine for my taste, but this perfume is darkly feminine and seductive. It’s what I’d call slinky. I say that because I would imagine someone like Lana Turner slinking around in this, twisting idiot men around her little finger, manipulating and scheming against everyone around her to get what she wants. It’s very film noir.

Sillage is strong - my apologies to anyone who had to come within 5 feet of me at work today. And it lasts for ages. I put it on at about 8am this morning and it's now 5:40pm and I can still smell it.

Rating:

4/5 I’ve had this little vial for at least 2 years, maybe closer to 3, and I always intended to get a full bottle but never got around to it. I think I have to push it closer to the top of the list now that I’ve tried it out again. I don’t know where I’d ever wear it – my slinking around days are well and truly over – but I’m sure I could find a use for it.

Day 11!