I recently got my hands on some decants of the scents from the Miskatonic Valley Philharmonic collection from Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab. These limited edition perfumes were part of the Halloween release and the website states they will be around "til December"--I'm not sure exactly when in December, but as of this writing they are still available.
The Miskatonic Valley setting is a nod to H. P. Lovecraft, of course, and La Lugubre Gondola, the name of the Miskatonic Valley Philharmonic perfume I'm reviewing today, is a piece by Franz Lizst commemorating the death of Richard Wagner.
Price: $24 for a 5 mL amber glass bottle of perfume oil with polyseal cap.
Samples: Not available
(More details about price and shipping can be found in our Company Overview post about Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab.)
Description from the website: "Golden amber, 7-year aged labdanum, and oudh."
This scent is a mellow amber-based perfume, and the amber note is the main thing I smell in this. As it warms on the skin, the slightly camphor-like, piney note of the oudh separates from the amber and starts to waft up; depending on your associations and tolerance for oudh, you may think "ooh, incense!" ...or you may think "ugh, Band-Aids!" But to me, this is a smooth, velvety soft scent without harsh edges; the cult favorite Snake Oil smells ten times as medicinal to me before it dries down.
It's beautiful, if simple; perhaps the best amber scent that I've smelled from BPAL so far, honestly. Warm and rich and round, resinous and slightly sweetly vanillic, and much cozier-smelling than the musical inspiration might suggest--to me, it smells light and golden, not dark or funereal at all. It smells much softer than amber blends like Bastet, The Lion, or Jacob's Ladder, which all have an amber note that I can find too sharp or harsh.
Conversely, though, this does have a certain powderiness to it that I could see becoming obnoxious on some skins. It smells a bit too sticky and sexy to read as just "baby powder" to me, personally.
It's a blend that's all base notes, so it lingers on the skin for eons and does not transform much after it initially warms up. It doesn't have much throw--I have to bring my nose within a few inches of my skin to smell it. Fairly linear, so if you're looking for complexity and transformation in a perfume, this isn't the one--and if you're not an amber connoisseur, honestly, you might be just as happy with a bottle of amber oil from a head shop. But if you're looking for a simple, rich, gorgeous Oriental amber scent, get a bottle of this perfume posthaste.
Note: this scent is vegan.
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