BPAL sniffing notes 23 - Quicksilver Phoenix and Silver Phoenix

Silver Phoenix - Lustrous, pliable, delicate, and malleable, silver is as mysterious and radiant as the moon. Silver requires darkness in order to react, and receives light passively.

Opalescent orris shimmering through a blend of mallow, moonflower, wild pear, iris, starwort, juniper, and mugwort.

In the vial, I get iris, orris, and juniper. Smells very clean. Silver is a very appropriate color.

Wet on my skin, wow. I'm not sure what notes I'm getting but I LOVE them. I think it's the moonflower, mallow, and wild pear. Guh.

10-15 minute dry-down - Sweet and musky and a little bit sharp and just... guh. I think the juniper is sharp enough to keep this from turning into old lady soap on me, which suits me just fine. On a side note, I don't know if it's just because my sinuses hate me, but it seems to have a painfully strong throw.

1 hour dry-down - Nummy. The sharpness has tapered off and now it's this beautifully soft musky goodness.


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Quicksilver Phoenix - Mercury exists in three states of matter, just as Hermes, its patron, was the one deity that could move freely through the three classical worlds. In one of the alchemical processes, nitric acid, also called aqua fortis, is combined with Mercury, which then separates into a bed of red crystals and a cloud of red vapor. This experiment symbolizes the soul's transcendence over the polarities of mercy and severity, heaven and earth, light and darkness, life and death. Mercury is capable of forming complex compounds and amalgamating with elements that normally will not bind with others. Combined with phosphor and charged with electricity, it produces light.

Cinnabar and silvery liquid droplets of mastic, white sandalwood, elemi, and lavender.

In the vial, it's all lavender and mastic. I honestly don't think I've smelled a more 'masculine' scent in quite some time. Colorwise, quicksilver is very appropriate -shades of silver, purple, green, all there.

Wet on my skin, Holy Cologne, Batman! Man, I love my Death on a Pale Horse *because* of the lavender, but this is ridiculous!

10-15 minute dry-down - Ok, this is actually making me ill. Smells better on the boy than on me, though. Must wash off.