When I write about the Lupercalia perfumes from Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab, I usually write an amusing little missive on the ridiculous and corporate nature of Valentine’s Day. However, I rediscovered this from Uncle Warren and I must bow to the master. Especially if he wants to do something naughty.
He’s selling cards of this sentiment for you to give for that special someone. Fuck Hallmark.
With that out of the way… on with the scents!
[ad#longpost]Black Phoenix always selects a range of love poems that cover the spectrum from the highs of first love to the depths of love lost. For instance, The Face Of All The World Is Changed, I Think by Elizabeth Barrett Browning is a poem about how love changes how we see our surrounding and ourselves. The perfume combines the sweetness of the experience but is also a pleasant pungent for the power that the experience of true love can have. Liaison by D. H. Lawrence is more concerned with the lustful aspects of love. The lovers seek shelter from prying eyes and find a dark secluded space to indulge their passions. The Moroccan black musk gives a richness to the scent but the various woody scents gives it a lightness. This is, after all, a light romantic tryst, not a ponderous epic. On The Death Of His Mistress by Abu Sahet Alhedhily does convey the sadness one feels when a lover in beyond our grasp by Death and perhaps wanting to rejoin them whatever the cost. The scent has a definite Middle Eastern profile with violet leaf and patchouli, but the oakmoss and cypress hints at the dark woods where one becomes isolated from humanity.
On a naughtier note, we come once again to Novel Ideas For Secret Amusements, perfumes inspired by erotic prints from Japan’s Edo period. Following Instructions has spiciness in it for obvious reasons, but there is plenty of wood notes for the ‘reference’ materials. Reading up on new and exciting things in the bedroom is great, but women tend not to like it when you’re more focused on the instructions on how to fit Tab A into Slot B than actually doing it. The Hell of Great Heat is where libertines go who use and abuse women for their own selfish pleasures. They are devoured by demons with vaginas for heads and vengeance in their hearts. This is a tantalizing mix of musk and spice which gives a sense of the “nether regions” depicted in the picture. (Editor’s Note: and Chazz valiantly has made the picture at least mildly SFW.) Kagema shows a coupling with a man and a male prostitute. Yes, it seems that what could get a politician kicked out of office today was considered a symbol of status and wealth in this period of Japan’s history. The fragrance is an interesting mix of masculine and feminine as was the kagema.
What has preceded is but a small sample of Black Phoenix’s various perfume lines. Feel free to be wanton with your selections and give yourself to all the variety they have to offer. There is no shame in being a perfume slut. Check out Black Phoenix here.
