It took me a while to explore the A Picnic in Arkham scents in the Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab catalog because I thought of them as mainly aquatics, a category I wasn't very interested in. However, that's not the case at all, and I've found some lovely perfumes that flew under my radar when I was first exploring the BPAL General Catalog. For instance, Shoggoth!
Price: $17.50 for a 5 mL amber glass bottle of perfume oil with polyseal cap.
Samples: Not available for this scent.
(More details about price and shipping can be found in our Company Overview post about Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab.)
Description from the website: "An amorphous, radiant, incandescent scent. Ever changing, protoplasmic and primordial: white amber, green coconut meat, iris, palmarosa, Chinese peony, lime, water lily, snowdrop, muguet, lemongrass, osmanthus, wisteria, glassy musk, and hinoki."
At first, this smells exactly like lime Skittles to me! A very green and unmistakable lime note that melts into a sugary floral. The lime note fades after a few minutes and the heart of Shoggoth shines: a refreshing white floral spiked with lemongrass and a light hint of coconut, on a base of soft white musk.
I think Shoggoth is a perfect springtime scent: light, refreshing, pretty, with the tart lemongrass note lifting it and keeping it from smelling too powdery. It smells like if Sprite were brewed with lily of the valley--lemon-limey, but also sweet and flowery and green. I've read comparisons to key lime pie and tropical drinks, but it smells like flowers and lemons and limes.
This is also one of the rare perfumes that my husband has placed his seal of approval on--when I asked him what it smelled like, he at first said "Department store perfume counter," and then, a minute later, asked to smell it again and said "This smells good, actually. What is it?" This happens so rarely that I thought it was worth mentioning, even though it's not really relevant to anyone but me, I suppose.
Not aquatic, not monstrous, very friendly and pleasant and slightly tropical. Maybe not a wonderful match for its inspiration, but a worthy scent for a sunny Spring day.
For other reviews of Shoggoth, you can also check out the BPAL forums, A Scent a Day, or Nouveau Cheap.
Note: this scent is vegan.
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