BPAL Review:

The Grindhouse and The Ladies of the Grindhouse

Ladies and Gentlemen, fragrancehounds of all ages... come one, come all to the review of Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab's Grindhouse and its associated other scents!

If you aren't yet familiar with Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab ("BPAL," as it's known to its fans), you are missing out on the most wonderful experience! These hand-blended perfume oils are a somewhat underground phenomenon, known (and traded) the world over. It's not terribly mainstream, the BPAL, but that's part of what makes it so good. (Would Snake Oil be as decadent and spectacular if everyone on the subway or in Subway was wearing it? NO!)

The creation of Beth Moriarty, Nose-slash-Perfumer-slash-Alchemist-slash-Poet-slash-Artist, BPAL oils are genius-inspired blends of scented oils paired with snippets of literature and poetry, both new and old, and pops of classic and more modern fantasy-type artwork. Most "perfume houses" are feasts for one sense, but BPAL feeds them all but taste (the oils probably don't taste good and aren't recommended for consumption, even the ones that are quite "foody").

The BPAL website, www.blackphoenixalchemylab.com, gives consumers a variety of themes from which to choose, including (and here I list a few of my favorites because it's my blog!) Wanderlust [scents from all over the world, including my beloved Morocco!], Ars Amatoria [the name of Ovid's work, translated as The Art of Love, with scents relating to this romantic and heated of subjects], Mad Tea Party [scents from the other side of the looking glass] and Neil Gaiman [a tribute to and collaboration with the amazing and equally versatile author-slash-comic book writer-slash-artist-slash-animal activist, in which proceeds are given to Comic Book Legal Defense Fund and Orangutan Foundation UK ].

The scents I'm about to review are nestled firmly in the incredible theme of Carnavale Diabolique. While not at all related to my favorite but sadly short-lived HBO show Carnivale, this show helps flesh out my vision of the characters portrayed in this BPAL theme. At any rate, this diabolical carnival is quite gritty and odd and intriguing and even sexy - and quite a spectacular scent journey!

Within the Carnavale Diabolique exists a madame and her girls - and these are the scents I'm going to review. I have had them for about 2 weeks and have dabbled with various scents, but wasn't in the right frame of mind to review them until now. I'm going to try to do one a day, but if my Muse is missing I'm going to skip a day so as to give these fragrances the best possible coverage. I am madly in love with BPAL and I don't want to half-ass my reviews.

To keep things honest, I'll let you know that the set of scents were a PR offering. And I'll also let you know my honest opinion of the scents, as always.

Stay tuned for the reviews: