Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab Wensleydale

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Wensleydale is the fragrance I go to after a shower and feel like I need to be as clean as possible. Wensleydale is a part of the Good Omens series of fragrances by Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab. You can find them here. Wensleydale

In Bottle: Strong but very reminiscent of a classic bar of soap. Think a bar of white soap and you’ve pretty much got Wensleydale.

Applied: Strong waft of soapiness that’s a little bit sharp to begin with, but the fragrance settles down quickly into a warm clean smell with an added hint of sweetness and cream. I get a wonderful mix that reminds me of stepping out of the shower and wrapping myself up in a warm terrycloth robe. There’s not too much else to Wensleydale, it barely goes through two progressions with the sharpness fading into a creaminess and the fragrance fades into a pretty linear clean cotton smell. But boy do I love it because of how nicely it combines warm, clean, fresh, sweet, and creamy into a scent.

Extra: Wensleydale is named after a character in Neil Gaimen’s Good Omens book. And the Wensleydale character, in turn, was named after a valley in England.

Design: Wensleydale is bottled in the same way as other Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab scents. Amber bottle with a label affixed to it. Wensleydale and the other scents in the Good Omens series feature unique art for their labels.

Fragrance Family: Clean Floral

Notes: Cotton, milk, amber, white musk.

I have no way of knowing what the notes are in this, so it’s all a big guess on my part. It might also interest potential Wensleydale testers to know that Black Phoenix is donating proceeds from the sale of Wensleydale and other fragrances from the Good Omens line to two charities.

Reviewed in This Post: Wensleydale, 2010, 5ml Bottle.

Bath and Body Works Cotton Blossom

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I was surprised to find how many people wanted to smell like laundry. Can you really blame them? Laundry scents are among some of the most finely tailored fragrances out there. While perfumes are an artistic canvas where the lives of the abstract smells dwell, laundry detergent and other household cleaning or hygiene products is the world of the wildly successful but ultimately uniform. And then there’s Cotton Blossom.

Cotton Blossom

In Bottle: Sharp and floral. This smells so benign. And benign in this case is a compliment because what else is Cotton Blossom really trying to achieve but that ultimate laundry smell?

Applied: Goes on sharp and clean. Clean in all caps even as Cotton Blossom wastes no time at all telling you what it’s going to be about. And what it’s about is laundry and soap. This smells like any number of laundry smells you may have enjoyed. It’s slightly flowery, it’s powdery, it’s huge on the soap, it’s sharp and clean white musk and it’ll make you feel fresh and neat and there’s nothing else to it. The opening stage is a bit sharp and this stuff goes on strong. It mellows out a bit in the mid-stage where the sharpness is rounded out a little and the powder becomes more noticeable. Cotton Blossom, strangely enough, smells a bit watery on me in the dry down but maintains its powdery floral personality. Experiencing this was like smelling laundry detergent, pouring it into the machine, then turning it on. Sharp initial blast, mellowed pour, mixed with water. Kudos to Bath and Body Works for this one. If you want to smell like laundry, Cotton Blossom’s your gal.

Extra: For what it is, Cotton Blossom has surprisingly awesome longevity. So while this doesn’t come in eau de toilette or eau de parfum, I don’t think this fragrance needs to be any more potent.

Design: Cotton Blossom is presently available in a body mist form in Bath and Body Works’ older design. So you don’t get anything special. Just a tall bottle that’s entirely plastic with a semi-transparent label bearing the fragrance’s name and theme. The best thing about the body mist at Bath and Body Works is you get a ton of fragrance for very little money. There’s 236ml in a full size.

Fragrance Family: Floral

Notes: Sun dried linen accord, grass, mandarin blossom, jeans accord, peony, cotton, musk, baby powder.

I will never be able to take that notes list seriously. Never. I love how playful the list is though. Anyway, Demeter also has a fragrance that’s supposed to smell like laundry in Laundromat. I vastly prefer Cotton Blossom as it lasts longer and is far cheaper.

Reviewed in This Post: Cotton Blossom, 2010, Body Mist.

Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab Dirty

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Dirty, from Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab is a purposefully ironic interpretation. Dirty, supposedly smells like soap and general cleanliness. Miles away from the gritty undertones of its name, Dirty is a flowery bar of soap sitting on the windowsill wafting in the cool breeze of a manicured garden. Dirty

In Bottle: Something very sweet in this. Sweet and floral this can’t be a single clean linen scent because it also contains what I swear is white floral and sweet herbs. It makes me think of fresh, white sheets blowing in the breeze and an opened window.

Applied: Definitely something sweetly floral in this. It reminds me of Bath and Body Works‘ Sweetpea and Cotton Blossom mixed into one. There’s a great sense of imagery in this fragrance though. I mentioned the clean laundry, the window, how about a little house in the Maritimes with the rolling sea crashing against a cliff edge’s jagged skirt hem? Yeah, that’s it. Dirty starts off with that sweet floral aroma and eventually dries down to subtle soap and clean cotton. It’s like a bath and a change of clothes during midday.

Extra: There’s been some speculation abound about whether or not BPAL uses all natural ingredients or if there’s some synthetics mixed in there. I would suggest you ask the company yourself if this concerns you. As far as my nose goes, BPALs are fun and simple fragrances. If they’re safe to use then whether they’re all natural or synthetic is of no consequence to me.

Design: Presented in an amber bottle and a black twist cap with 5ml of perfume oil.

Fragrance Family: Fresh

Notes: Sweet herbs, white florals, cotton.

Dirty has an interesting case study. It delivers everything it needs to. I find myself conjuring up more vivid images in association with natural perfumes than constructed ones. That isn’t to say I don’t love the constructed ones or they’re somehow less effective. What tends to happen is natural perfumes make me think of scenes, landscapes, sounds and events. Constructed perfumes make me think of people and the cultures that they reflect.

Reviewed in This Post: Dirty, 2009, 5ml Bottle.