Dee Favorite of ‘07

It’s a full moon over the San Fernando Valley and you’ve been asked to appear at the Black Phoenix Alchemy Labs to pick up your fragrance at will-call. You remember signing up for the email list but had no idea there were Full Moon retail events. The email also says, “come as one of the undead.” What’s all this then now?

Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab is possibly the most hip perfumier in California. When I first visited their full moon open-to-the-public salon I was amazed. The theme that month was debutantes, and I arrived with my friends, each of us wearing plastic tiaras. Most of the other people there were too; one gal was attempting to get her boyfriend to wear one. Refreshments were served, a free “imp’s ear,” their 1/32 oz sample (the website assures us that no imps were harmed in the making of them) was handed out, and we were ushered into what looked like the foyer of a fashionable Victorian funeral home, complete with cabinets of curiosities, darkly draped windows, and row upon row of apothecary bottles of scent.

The dozens of fragrances that Black Phoenix produces were there to be tried, and those who had ordered ahead could pick up their orders, which include perfume oils, soaps, t-shirts, lockets, and perfume cases. The rest of us could try scents to our heart’s content, pick up soap samples and then purchase whatever fragrances caught our fancy.

I had ordered a variety of imps’ ears over the Internet, which is the usual way to procure Black Phoenix fragrances and I was pleased with the diverse samples I had acquired. How to describe the product line at Black Phoenix? Well, the fragrances are grouped by type. Want to smell like a Neil Gaiman character? Click on the link for the Neil Gaiman fragrances. How about a Lovecraftian monster? Click on the link called “A Picnic in Arkham.”

Out of the dozens available in product lines with names like “The Chakras”, and “Ars Moriendi”, after trying numerous scents – everything from Black Lotus to Miskatonic University to Santa Muerte, I chose one from the “Bewitching Brews” line as my signature: DEE, named after Dr. John Dee, the Elizabethan mathematician, astrologer, channeler, and—it is rumored—a spy for Queen Elizabeth herself.

DEE is a blend of rosewood, tonka bean, English leather, and what the product list calls “a hint of incense, parchment, and soft woods.” I would add a top note of amber and perhaps something mysterious, a hint of lime or maybe something mystical of the other world from whence Dr. Dee channeled the mysterious Angelic language called Enochian.

I suggest sampling several imps’ ears if you cannot get to the monthly full moon event or to a trade show where Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab occasionally appears.

Their next full moon open house events are November 24 and December 23, and they will have new fragrances available for the holidays, just as they had for Halloween, such as Samhain and Dia de Los Muertos. I guarantee, Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab is like no other perfumier you’ve ever seen. Who knows what the theme will be next month: Perhaps Hollywood party girls in jail? We can all come wearing those special anklets from the Sheriff’s Department…

Perfumes can be ordered at:
www.blackphoenixalchemylab.com

For more information, email customer service at:
answers@blackphoenixalchemylab.com