Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab

A Tart Roundtable

By Rebecca Buchanan
May 1, 2007

House of Night. Bathsheba. Golden Priapus. Titania. Kathmandu. Dove's Heart. Dragon's Milk. Black Lily. Anne Bonney. The names are exotic, enticing, mysterious — tempting and frightening. Fitting names for fragrances that come from the artists at Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab. Many of us here at Sequential Tart are fans (even ardent fans) of BPAL. Some of us have been enticing our significant others with BPAL scents for years, while some of us have only recently discovered the company. Read on for a roundtable discussion of our favorite scents, our least favorites — and what we would like to see in the future.

1) How did you hear about BPAL?

Ginger: Somebody's LiveJournal. And then I learned on the website that they're a Los Angeles woman-owned small business so I definitely had to give 'em a whirl.

Marissa: I have a LiveJournal, and I started noticing my friends linking to Black Phoenix and detailing with loving care what scents they'd bought, what they liked, what they wanted to trade, and what they planned to buy.

Many of them (being in equal measures literary and OCD) posted accounts of what the scents smelled like out of the bottle, then first on the skin, then at the end of the day. Being an OCD literary person myself, I found these fascinating and was soon selecting scents for myself!

Rebecca: I first read about BPAL in the review section of an issue of Sagewoman (a Goddess/Pagan magazine). The scents sounded wonderful and I was hunting for some new perfume anyway, so ....

Shaenon: A lot of my geeky friends were into it, so I checked it out. I'm not particularly into perfume, but the BPAL scents sounded intriguing, and I was hooked from my first order.

2) Which scents do you love and why?

Ginger: "Arkham Revisited" because it's warm, dark and spicy. This was a limited edition scent and I was ridiculously happy when they brought it back as a regular. Of course the description originally hooked me. All the descriptions at BPAL are great, but the one for "Arkham Revisited" was especially so.

I'm leaning toward "Azethoth" in the same collection, but it's lighter and brighter so I haven't been able to commit to it.

I only wear "Arkham Revisited" in the winter because it's such a strong heavy scent. I wear florals, mainly blends with rose and jasmine from Escential Oils and Lotions in Portland, Oregon the rest of the year. I wear "Arpege" from Lavin sparingly for special occasions or when I need a little extra courage. If I was getting married or on trial for my life, I'd wear "Arpege." I wear it because my mother wore it, and I have happy memories of her all dressed up, wearing "Arpege" and tucking me in before she went out.

Marissa: Three of the ones that instantly spring to mind are not woody or citrusy, which is odd because that's the sort of perfume I've always gravitated towards. They are "Bliss" (milk chocolate, which has failed in every perfume attempt and is gloriously successful in a BPAL oil), "De Sade" (the scent of leather, surprisingly nice on the skin) and "Bon Vivant" (champagne and strawberries, evoking that fabulous middle space between posh and trashy).

I also got a free bottle of "Snake Oil" from the lovely people at BPAL when I interviewed its mistress, Elizabeth Moriarty; at first I must admit that didn't care for it. Then I used it in an oil diffuser a few times, and enjoyed the aroma so much that I thought I'd give wearing it another try. For some reason, the second time around it was just glorious.

Also, any of the "blood" scents seem to work well on me. I've tried "Blood Countess" and "Blood Amber," and both have a marvelous dark warmth to them.

Rebecca: Traditionally, I have leaned towards the flowery and fruity scents; so, I ordered a bunch of those from BPAL the first time. But I've become more daring since then, and expanded my collection into the darker and spicier scents. Current favorites include "Kitsune-Tsuke" (The Husband's favorite), "Hecate" (surprisingly spicy), "Coyote" (which was a freebie; thank you!), "Sea of Glass" (another surprise freebie), "Vinland" (just as dewy fir green as it sounds), "Tenochtitlan" and "Lilith".

The chocolatey-spicy "Centzon Totochtin" is growing on me.

Shaenon: I'm a big sucker for the food scents. I love "Bliss" (milk chocolate), "Eat Me" (vanilla cake), "Jack" (pumpkin), and "Miskatonic University" (Irish coffee). I also really like "Anne Bonney", my favorite so far of the many BPAL pirate scents.

3) Which scents did you not so much love, and why?

Ginger: I wasn't fond of their "Two, Five and Seven" scent because I like rose scents, but they had too many of them in a blend that just didn't work for me. The wine rose scent in the sample I tried was overwhelming and bitter on me. "Black Rose" smelled disturbingly like "Old Spice" aftershave. "Nocturne" was way too sweet for me but would be good for a little girl. "Les Fleurs du Mal" is a nice floral blend, but when it mellowed on me it was much too lilac for my personal taste. I tried "Ave Maria Gratia Plena," which has a good rose tone and everything else in it smelled simply divine on me. I thought this scent would wear well in an office or for going out in the evening, but, oddly never bought any, so I must have been less moved by it than I thought.

Marissa: Some of the scents are too woody, or have notes that I don't care for (like patchouli, my dislike of which may stem entirely from the fact that I attended a liberal college in the Pacific Northwest and couldn't get away from that smell).

I also find that some of the more resinous scents tend to tread a weird line between gummy and syrupy that gets cloying after a while.

Those are okay, though, because I can use them in diffusers and whatnot instead of wearing them; the single oil I own that I can neither wear nor repurpose is "Miskatonic University," which smells like books, oak, and Irish cream. Heavy on the Irish Cream. I tried diffusing it and it made me straight-up start gagging.

Rebecca: Considering that, once upon a time, I wore only floral or fruity scents, I was surprised that I didn't like "Rosalind" more; but it just smelled like every other rose perfume out there. "Persephone" started out as a favorite, but the scent just fades too fast.

Shaenon: I've found that I'm not too enthused about light florals. I like the more exotic and unusual BPAL perfumes. There are only so many places you can go if you want to smell like a pumpkin or a pirate or the New Jersey pine barrens.

4) Around which works of myth, literature and art would like to see a line of scents developed? (Yes, comics count.)

Ginger: Oh, I don't know .... Seven Soldiers maybe?

Marissa: Hellblazer! Scents based on Constantine's world of mad badness at the core of mundanity and the occult, seasoned with booze & ciggies, would be just wild. Scents for Chanterelle and Gemma and Papa Midnite? Fantastic.

I like the idea of lines based on art, and since The Salon features some exhibits that aren't restricted to a particular theme and time period, my votes would go to Frida Kahlo, Alphonse Mucha, Hieronymous Bosch, and Caravaggio. mmmmmm.

As for books, my completely self-indulgent wish would be for a line based on the travel writing of Pico Iyer. Nepalese flowery tea with yak butter as per Video Night in Kathmandu! Vancouver coffee, books and melting snow as per The Global Soul! Japanese salty plums and calligraphy ink as per The Lady and the Monk! Ooooh, I'm getting shivers of delight just thinking about it.

Rebecca: Some classic works that immediately come to mind. The Book of the City of Ladies by Christine de Pisan (the great women of history and myth — Sappho, Xanthippe, Esther, Dido — build a great city together); Spencer's The Faerie Queen (noble knight, virtuous princess, dragon, faerie queen, helloooo). Burroughs' Martian Tales (the scent of Dejah Thoris; come on!); and basically every fairy tale ever written.

From the comic side .... Artesia, anyone? The lady herself; the battle scents; the concubines; the Deities' scents alone. *swoon* And Finder (men would jump at the chance to smell like Jaegar and be jumped by women). And Red River 'cause I wanna smell both like innocent and brave Yuri and conniving, ruthless Queen Nakia. And, finally, everything by Miyazaki, but especially Princess Mononoke and Nausicaa.

Shaenon: Let's see ... a line of Oz perfumes would be awesome. I would buy a perfume called "Patchwork Girl" if it smelled like tuna and old cheese. Or how about perfumes based on the Catholic saints? Therese would be a shower of roses, Brigid would smell like hops and milk, Joan of Arc would be on the smoky side ... the possibilities are endless.

As for comics-based scents, now that Neil Gaiman has BPAL lines based on three of his novels, it's probably only a matter of time before we get a Sandman series. It'd be neat to actually make "Nostalgia" and "Millennium," the perfumes advertised in Alan Moore's Watchmen. Of course I'd selfishly love to see scents based on my own webcomics. But you know what this world really needs? JACK KIRBY PERFUMES!

MODOK: The Mental Organism Designed Only for Killing becomes a Mental Organism Designed Only for Kissing while wearing this cologne with regal notes of Myrrh, Orange Blossom, Delphinium, Orchid, and Kaffir.

The Demon: A gentleman's cologne entangled with incense and brimstone, reflecting the split personality of Etrigan the Demon and Jason Blood.

Mister Miracle: A slippery ozone scent with a tendency to vanish into thin air.

Big Barda: Smells like a cross between red roses and a kick in the crotch.

Kamandi: The last perfume on earth! Marine notes and white musk.

Devil Dinosaur: Prehistoric ferns, volcano ash, and a touch of dragon's blood.

OMAC: Olfactory Mania Army Corps! A terrifying glimpse of musk and leather, shot through with golden amber to represent the all-seeing, hormone-altering space rays of Brother Eye.

Machine Man: In homage to Warren Ellis's recent version of the character in Nextwave, a blend of motor oil and beer.

King Jack: Cigars, whiskey, and ink.

Sold in atomizers shaped like motherboxes. It's a sure thing, I tell you!

Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab — The BPAL homepage
Marissa's Interview With BPAL Founder Elizabeth Moriarty