Activism

In the course of an interview with Unquiet Things, I was able to put my thoughts and feelings about the importance of our activism into words:

Since the day we first opened our doors, helping support and strengthen marginalized communities has been of paramount importance to me. At Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab, we have never shied away from our civic duty, and since the inception of the company, we have made it a point to do everything within our power to support organizations that provide emergency aid and disaster relief, support environmental and conservation causes, help the homeless, protect civil liberties and reproductive rights, and offer succor to the LGBTQ community and marginalized ethnic, racial, and minority religious groups. It is our way of helping to protect and provide for our communities, and we feel it is our obligation as human beings to help those who may not be empowered to help themselves.

In the course of an interview with Unquiet Things, I was able to put my thoughts and feelings about the importance of our activism into words:

A Savage Veil, Severe and Strong Perfume Oil
Black plum, 7-year aged patchouli, nutmeg, and tobacco leaf.

Proceeds from the sale of both of the Hymn to the Erinyes scents benefit RAINN, the United States’ largest anti-sexual violence organization. RAINN operates the National Sexual Assault Hotline, and provides programs to help survivors, prevent sexual violence, and ensure that offenders are brought to justice.

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Abolish ICE Perfume Oil
You can cut all the flowers but you cannot keep Spring from coming.
– Pablo Neruda

Selections from our general catalog of perfumes may have succumbed to frostbite, but never fear! We haven’t lost our molten core of passion for seeing justice served. Consider this our holiday prayer for a reckoning long overdue: May human decency prevail over the corruption and wickedness that endangers so many of our neighbors, and may our government’s assorted agencies be held accountable for their ongoing assault against the civil liberties of those seeking refuge in our land of bountiful freedoms.

Proceeds from sales of this perfume will benefit the Refugee and Immigrant Center for Education and Legal Services (RAICES). For more information about their services, please visit https://www.raicestexas.org

Melt the hoarfrost of this administration’s cruelty with this scent of warmth, safety, and succor: smoked toffee and patchouli with coffee bean, caramelized oudh, clove, and bourbon vanilla.

Art: Thaw, Laszlo Mednyanszky

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Coconut Tree Single Note Perfume Oil
“You think you just fell out of a coconut tree? You exist in the context of all in which you live and what came before you.”

Everything is in context, including this scent: coconut meat, coconut milk, coconut frond, and coconut husk.

Proceeds from this perfume will be contributed to Emily’s List, an organization dedicated to helping pro-choice women win elections. Learn more here!

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Cosmic Critters Perfume Oil
Wild fig, buttercream honey, bourbon cream sweetened with a bit of condensed milk, and warm, snuggly russet patchouli.

Proceeds from the sale of each bottle will benefit Cuddly, who assists rescue organizations and animal-focused non-profits.

Imps for Cosmic Critters were circulated by BPAL’s own Chrissy Lynn (Vex) at Neotropolis !

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ImPEACHment Perfume Oil
A beam of hope for a happier, safer, kinder future for us all: peach and honeyed amber with frankincense, honeyed rose, white oud, apricot, and sweet musk.

Proceeds benfit the ACLU.

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Irish Coffee Buttercream Perfume Oil
Today, the Trump administration announced that they will be reinstating the US military ban on transgender people. This policy not only affects the livelihoods of thousands upon thousands of transgender military personnel, but also paves the way for further acts of bigotry and hate in our government and communities.

We are hosting an emergency fundraiser for our friends at the National Center for Transgender Equality and for the American Civil Liberties Union. The two scents that are going live are being pulled from a future coffee-themed update that was slated for 2018. I specifically chose these scents because they are cheery and uplifting – without the usual highly-specific socio-political context that we attached to many of our fundraiser scents – in the hopes that it will sell well and sell quickly so that we can be as effective as possible in helping out. Help us take an immediate stand to fight this unconstitutional, immoral, and unnecessarily cruel ban.

Even if you choose not to make a purchase, please consider donating to or volunteering with the NCTE and / or ACLU. Stand with the transgender community, and be a compassionate and hard-working ally to all marginalized groups whose civil rights, livelihood, happiness, health and well-being are being trampled by this administration.

Irish whiskey, granulated sugar, brown sugar, whipped cream, buttercream and coffee.

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JK Men Are Very Good LOL Perfume Oil
What a piece of worke is a man! how Noble in
Reason? how infinite in faculty? in forme and mouing
how expresse and admirable? in Action, how like an Angel?
in apprehension, how like a God?
The beauty of the world, the paragon of animals—and yet,
to me, what is this quintessence of dust? Man delights not me-
nor woman neither, though by your smiling you seem to say so.

Due to the way Facebook’s hate-speech algorithms work, casual observations such as “Men are trash” or “Men are scum” end up being treated with the same gravity as words meant to attack and harass marginalized communities.Vanity Fair has covered exactly how this came to pass, and why they won’t be changing them anytime soon.

As a small business that has always drawn inspiration from the historical, the erotic, the political, the esoteric, we have frequently run afoul of Facebook’s policies. Iironic, isn’t it, considering the horrifying abuses that still pass muster by the site’s standards – which larger companies, foreign countries, and yes, certain MEN seem to effortlessly circumvent?

And we’re not alone: our nightlife friends The Nobodies’ event page for their upcoming showcase of drag king talent, playfully entitled “Men Are Trash,” was deleted almost immediately, eliciting a warning from the website.

Their solution was to create a new event entitled “JK MEN ARE VERY GOOD LOL.” But this too ended up being deleted, and as a consequence of back-to-back “hate speech” violations, the group’s entire Facebook presence was removed.

So… what is a man, exactly? And what is it possible to say about him? We really, honestly couldn’t tell you. Would Hamlet’s comment “Man delights not me” end up getting deleted? Will our posts promoting this scent?

At least we’ll all be in great company in Facebook jail.

Pipe tobacco, leather, mid-century aftershave, a belt of bourbon and a grassy smear of mud from a fairway divot.

Proceeds from this scent will be donated to NYC’s Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual & Transgender Community Center.

Follow The Nobodies on YouTube

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Lordy Perfume Oil
For the folksy FBI agent in your life. Reminiscent of a classic 1950’s men’s cologne with a shuffle of paper, a briefcase-snap of black leather, and yesterday’s cold coffee.

Proceeds benefit the American Civil Liberties Union.

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Make America Live Deliciously Again Tee
A million thanks to Aristotle for the art, to Sarah Elizabeth and her wonderful friends for the inspiration, and to Black Phillip, without whom our lives would be bereft of both joy and deliciousness. Proceeds from this parody tee will benefit EMILY’s List, a wonderful organization that supports electing pro-choice Democratic women to office. Learn more here!

These tees are from District, and are made from 50/25/25 poly/ring spun cotton/rayon and as they say on their website, are “the perfect blending of softness and an easygoing look.”

Select Options This product has multiple variants. The options may be chosen on the product page
Nasty Woman Perfume Oil
As you have no doubt heard, during the third presidential debate, Hillary described her plan to raise taxes on the rich in order to fund Social Security. She took a swing at him over him being a tax dodger (which he is).

“My Social Security payroll contribution will go up, as will Donald’s – if he can’t figure out how to get out of it.”

Trump interrupted her and said, “Such a nasty woman.”

These are two things uttered by the same man within the same hour:

“Such a nasty woman.”

“No one has more respect for women than me.”

Amazing.

Let’s put this pussy-grabbing, racist, predatory, misogynistic, hateful, irresponsible, ignorant, immature grotesquerie out of politics for good, and do what we can to ensure that he and his ilk never cast their miserable shadows over our political process again.

Nasty Woman: black fig and patchouli, filthy bourbon vanilla, honeyed amber oud, and loukhoum.

Proceeds will be split between Planned Parenthood and EMILY’s list.

plannedparenthood.org

emilyslist.org

Photo: Women marching in national suffrage demonstration in Washington, D.C., May 9, 1914.

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Nevertheless, She Persisted Perfume Oil
She was warned. She was given an explanation. Nevertheless, she persisted.

A rallying call: golden oudh, frankincense, iris, and steel. Proceeds from this scent benefit EMILY’s List, an organization that supports electing pro-choice Democratic women to office.

Jeanne d’Arc, Albert Lynch

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No Man is an Island Perfume Oil
No man is an island,
Entire of itself,
Every man is a piece of the continent,
A part of the main.
If a clod be washed away by the sea,
Europe is the less.
As well as if a promontory were.
As well as if a manor of thy friend’s
Or of thine own were:
Any man’s death diminishes me,
Because I am involved in mankind,
And therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls;
It tolls for thee.
– John Donne

Warm, dark patchouli, hazelnut cream, coffee bean, cassis, tonka bean, purple sage, and bourbon vanilla.

Proceeds from the sale of this oil will be donated to the Los Angeles Food Bank so we can do our part to prevent and ameliorate food scarcity in the community.

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Obergefell V. Hodges Perfume Oil
In celebration of the 9th anniversary of the Supreme Court case that brought “equal dignity in the eye of the law” to same-sex marriages, we present our latest fundraiser scent, Obergefell v. Hodges. With this landmark 2015 decision, SCOTUS upheld that the fundamental right to marry is guaranteed to same-sex couples by both the Due Process Clause and the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution. This decision meant that all states had to allow same-sex marriages, and recognize those performed in other states.

No union is more profound than marriage, for it embodies the highest ideals of love, fidelity, devotion, sacrifice, and family. In forming a marital union, two people become something greater than once they were. As some of the petitioners in these cases demonstrate, marriage embodies a love that may endure even past death. It would misunderstand these men and women to say they disrespect the idea of marriage. Their plea is that they do respect it, respect it so deeply that they seek to find its fulfillment for themselves. Their hope is not to be condemned to live in loneliness, excluded from one of civilization’s oldest institutions. They ask for equal dignity in the eyes of the law. The Constitution grants them that right.

Love, fidelity, devotion, sacrifice, and family: sun-warmed purple fig, wildflower honey, almond cream, jasmine absolute, mimosa, and bourbon vanilla.

The proceeds from OvH benefit Lambda Legal, whose team of pro-bono lawyers fight for LGBTQIA+ civil rights cases including issues of marriage equality, healthcare and employment discrimination, and gender identity.

Stained glass design by RivenBarrow Glass (Etsy, Instagram)

Also available: Mummeries and Straining-to-be Memorable Passages, a scent inspired by Scalia’s predictably lyrical shitty dissent. Proceeds from the sale of scents in the Collected Poetic Works of Antonin Scalia benefit the Southern Poverty Law Center, the Trevor Project, and the National Center for Transgender Equality.

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Peach Chypre Perfume Oil
A twist on a traditional early 20th century sweet chypre with red labdanum, oakmoss, 3-year aged patchouli, Italian bergamot, and peach.

Peach Chypre debuted at DragonCon this year as a fundraiser response to Governor Kemp’s monstrous and misleadingly-named “Fetal Heartbeat” bill: proceeds from the sale of this scent benefit Planned Parenthood.

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Please Scream
Fuel and fire for speaking out against injustice: a heap of warm funnel cakes with a scoop of cinnamon ice cream.

Proceeds from this scent will be donated to the American Civil Liberties Union. To learn about how the ACLU will be challenging Trump’s agendas in court, visit them here.

Art by Ashton Hansen!

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Resistance Perfume Oil
The Midterms are on November 6th.

We have mere weeks before the election, and the stakes are really fucking high. I am an optimistic person by nature, but the truth of the matter is that if the Democrats don’t win back the majority, we are well and truly fucked. You have to vote like your life depends on it, BECAUSE IT DOES. YOUR LIFE and the lives of those in your community are at stake. The lives of your LGBTQ friends, loved ones, and neighbors. The lives of women. The lives of black Americans. The lives of refugees. The lives of people with disabilities. The lives of the homeless and the poor.

And LITERALLY EVERYONE’S LIFE, as the dismantling of environmental laws will be the death of us all.

It is NOT hyperbole to say that the result of this midterm election will impact the civil rights, the health, the safety, and the liberties of EVERYONE AROUND YOU, and you must act. The horrors of the Trump Administration MUST be held in check.

November 6th. That’s the deadline. Commit all you can to the hard work it’s going to take to wrest back control of Congress. I know you’re tired. I am, too. I know you’re exhausted by the unending onslaught of horrors that the GOP has assailed us with. I am, too. I know that it is getting harder and harder to keep despair at bay.

In order to have a participatory democracy, you have to participate. There is SO MUCH that you can do to push back, to resist, and to make a change for the better. But you HAVE to act. You have to vote. You have to encourage others to vote. You have to invest your time, your voice, and your resources into actually working towards making this country a safe, sane, prosperous place for all of us.

But you have two weeks. Two weeks within which YOU can make a difference. YOU can stem the tide.

HERE’S WHAT YOU CAN DO TO HELP THE BLUE WAVE MANIFEST:

Hey, extroverts! Sign up to phone bank for Democratic candidates!
Phonebank With Indivisible
Phonebank With Swingleft

Also for extroverts! Reach out to a local campaign and see if they need help canvassing, handing out literature, or making calls. You can also search for candidates who are in close races in vulnerable districts. Check out swingleft.org; it will help you find the nearest House district that could swing to the Democrats.

Extroverts! Go door to door!

Hey, introverts! Postcards to Voters is the answer for you! If you can commit to writing ten postcards a day, that’s one hundred and forty votes you might be securing for Dem candidates! If you can manage twenty postcards every day, that’s almost THREE-HUNDRED people you’re encouraging to hit the polls before November 6. If you can get your friends to help, that number increases exponentially. Even if you can’t meet that twenty postcard per day goal, every single postcard matters because every single vote matters.

Tools for working locally:
Resources for How to Take the House Back from the GOP
Find Your Local Indivisible Chapter
Swing Left

If you’ve got some cash to spare, donate it directly to blue candidates fighting for vulnerable seats, or donate it to PACs and organizations that will distribute the funds to boost blue candidates. Some options:
EMILY’s List
Senate Majority PAC
House Majority PAC
The Flippable Fund

Share information on voter ID and residency requirement laws in your state and help people make sure that their right to vote is enforced.
Voter Registration Rules by State
ACLU: Voting Rights
Rock the Vote: Knowing Your Voting Rights
Residency Requirements for Voting

FIGHT VOTER SUPPRESSION:
ACLU: Fighting Voter Suppression
Fighting Voter Suppression

MAKE SURE YOU ARE REGISTERED TO VOTE, and encourage everyone in your network to confirm their voter registration, too.

AND MOST IMPORTANT: VOTE. Vote, encourage others to vote. Overwhelm the polls.

We all have A LOT going on in our lives right now. I get it. I’m trying to run a business and raise a kid on top of all this, but it is now or never. You must find the strength, the will, and the courage to act. You have to keep fighting. I believe in you. I believe in us. I believe with all my heart that we can do this. We just need to do it TOGETHER, and do all we can to encourage others to put in the work, too.

It is hard work. It is an uphill climb. But you can DO this. Do it for your family, do it for your community, do it for your LGBTQ friends and family, do it for the marginalized racial, ethnic, and religious communities that are suffering under the depredations of the GOP.

WE CAN DO THIS.

RESISTANCE
I created this scent as a symbol of solidarity. It is an autumn scent, swirled with fall leaves, huddled against the cold winds of November.

We’re together in this fight. You’re not alone.

Bourbon vanilla and vintage champaca absolute with sweet patchouli, dried red fruits, leather accord, pumpkin rind, and a splash of bourbon.

We have been wrestling with how to disburse funds for this scent for over a week, and decided that the best impact we can make is by helping the ACLU fight voter suppression.

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Single Note: Bluebonnet Perfume Oil
Proceeds from the sale of SN: Bluebonnet will benefit Global Giving’s Hurricane Harvey Relief Fund.

See also, Global Giving on Charity Navigator.

Out of Stock
Single Note: Flor de Maga Perfume Oil
The national flower of Puerto Rico. The proceeds of this scent initially went to support the Hispanic Federation’s Hurricane Maria relief fund; in the wake of Puerto Rico’s devastating January 7th, 2020 earthquake, Hispanic Federation has quickly mobilized to help provide relief for this new crisis.

If you would like to donate on your own, please visit the Hispanic Federation’s website, go to the pull-down menu, and select “hurricane relief effort” (or click here).

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Snaky-Hair’d Moirai Many-Form’d Perfume Oil
Tobacco-threaded incense smoke, labdanum, red benzoin, and blackened vanilla.

Proceeds from the sale of both of the Hymn to the Erinyes scents benefit RAINN, the United States’ largest anti-sexual violence organization. RAINN operates the National Sexual Assault Hotline, and provides programs to help survivors, prevent sexual violence, and ensure that offenders are brought to justice.

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Spiced Rum Buttercream Coffee Perfume Oil
Today, the Trump administration announced that they will be reinstating the US military ban on transgender people. This policy not only affects the livelihoods of thousands upon thousands of transgender military personnel, but also paves the way for further acts of bigotry and hate in our government and communities.

We are hosting an emergency fundraiser for our friends at the National Center for Transgender Equality and for the American Civil Liberties Union. The two scents that are going live are being pulled from a future coffee-themed update that was slated for 2018. I specifically chose these scents because they are cheery and uplifting – without the usual highly-specific socio-political context that we attached to many of our fundraiser scents – in the hopes that it will sell well and sell quickly so that we can be as effective as possible in helping out. Help us take an immediate stand to fight this unconstitutional, immoral, and unnecessarily cruel ban.

Even if you choose not to make a purchase, please consider donating to or volunteering with the NCTE and / or ACLU. Stand with the transgender community, and be a compassionate and hard-working ally to all marginalized groups whose civil rights, livelihood, happiness, health and well-being are being trampled by this administration.

Coffee and rum laced with allspice, nutmeg, clove, star anise, cardamom, and cinnamon gently whipped into buttercream.

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Sustained Boos Perfume Oil
Trump attended Game 5 of the World Series, and when he was announced on the public address system after the third inning, the crowd surged into a “sustained booing” that hit almost 100 decibels.

Both the living and the dead are offended by this administration’s cruelty and perfidy.

This scent is both ethereal and heavy; it is a booming roar of derision, a howl of resistance echoing into the darkness: a chilly aldehyde with blackened clove and coffee bean, black sandalwood, nutmeg, nag champa, white amber, and benzoin.

Proceeds from the sale of this scent benefit the ACLU. Art by Drew Rausch!

Out of Stock
Take a Knee Perfume Oil
This weekend, Trump attacked the US Constitution’s guarantee of freedom of speech and took aim at the football players who are peacefully protesting police brutality, inequality, bigotry, and racism. He’s calling for a boycott of an entire sports league to force the firing of African American athletes and their allies for speaking out about racial injustice.

Taking a knee… this isn’t a protest of America itself, its flag, or anything that this country stands for. It isn’t disrespectful of the US military. On the contrary, it is the acknowledgement that we as a country can do better, that we must do better, and that we must renew our commitment to fight for equality and justice for all. By speaking out against institutional racism and racial injustice, against violence and bigotry, whether it be by taking a knee, locking arms with teammates, refusing to walk out onto a playing field until after the National Anthem has been sung, editorializing on social media, or making protest perfumes, we are honoring our communities, our neighbors, and our nation by attempting to amplify the voices of those who are often not empowered to speak.

It is possible and necessary to love this country and also expect – and demand – that we do better… that we recognize injustice when we see it, and do what we can to fight it. That’s real patriotism.

“We have fought for America with all of her imperfections. Not so much for what she is but for what we know she can be.” – Mary Bethune

This is the scent of apple pie, as American as it gets, and a smudged grass stain. The proceeds from every single sale of this scent will benefit the NAACP.

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Theoi Nomioi Perfume Oil
In response to the National Park Service retweeting a New York Times piece on Trump’s Inauguration numbers, Trump’s fragile ego demanded that his administration order the NPS to stop all tweets.

The National Park Service refuses to be muzzled. On January 24^th, South Dakota’s Badlands National Park social media team defiantly posted a series of climate change facts from the National Wildlife Federation before being shut down. Anonymous employees from the National Park Service started a rogue twitter account, and now they’re on Bluesky:

https://bsky.app/profile/altnps.bsky.social

These courageous federal employees are risking their careers to ensure that the public is kept informed on issues of climate change. They are fighting for transparency, truth, and science, and they deserve every ounce of support we can offer them. Tweet, email, FB, and phone in your support. Visit your local National Parks and thank the employees there in person. Donate to the National Parks Conservation Association and the National Park Foundation.

For them, for us, for the sake of the First Amendment, the environment, our state parks, and our future, we honor the bravery and chutzpah of these NPS employees with a scent that benefits the National Parks Conservation Association and the National Park Foundation.

THEOI NOMIOI
The Theoi Nomioi are the gods and spirits of the wild: the countryside, the pastures, the forests. Under their auspices, untamed nature thrives, the beasts of the wild feast and multiply, the mountains reach to the heavens with their stony, snow-capped fingers, and the forests grow thick and dark with mystery.

The National Parks Conservation Association
“Since 1919, the National Parks Conservation Association has been the leading voice of the American people in the fight to safeguard the scenic beauty, wildlife, and historic and cultural treasures of the largest and most diverse park system in the world. Help us assure the future of our beloved national parks.”

The National Park Foundation
“The National Park Foundation protects America’s special places, connects people to nature and inspires the next generation of park stewards.”

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White Larry Perfume Oil
Honestly, I don’t even know how this started. It’s an old joke between me and my friend Jennifer Larochelle. Some time after the VVitch came out, we decided that there’s this goat… White Larry… that is Black Phillip’s embarrassing cousin. Every family has got one; that one relative that just isn’t quite diabolical enough, the one that makes Sabbats just kinda awkward.

This is the scent of a not-quite-Satanic goat – though he tries! – who does like the taste of butter, probably too much.

Proceeds from the sale of this scent will benefit the Humane Society of Ventura County to assist in their efforts to help animals affected by the Hill and Woolsey fires.

Goat’s milk, buttermilk, and butter. Lots of butter.

Please note: this perfume is not vegan, as it contains butter CO2 extract.

Art by Drew Rausch!

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Activism - Hurricane Helene Fundraiser

Hurricane Helene has caused catastrophic damage and incomprehensible suffering to the Southeast. Snake Oil (deep, rich, earthy notes swirled with vegetal musks, sugared vanilla bean, and dark spices) is one of our most beloved scents, so I dribbled a bit of it into two traditional southern desserts in order to make a pair of fundraiser scents forMutual Aid Disaster Relief and World Central Kitchen’s efforts in the area.

Snakes in the Berry Sonker Perfume Oil
Snake Oil slithering into a pan of baked blueberries, blackberries, and raspberries in a warm pastry crust, topped with vanilla ice cream and molasses.

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Snakes in the Coconut Cake Perfume Oil
Thick slices of coconut-frosted coconut cake dunked in a vat of Snake Oil.

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Activism - Nourishment Wherever Needed

Decorative Image

As a small business we can’t be everywhere, speak for everyone, or do more than we can possibly do. But one small thing we can do is direct funds where they are most sorely needed, and we trust World Central Kitchen to help alleviate suffering by providing meals in response to humanitarian crises.

Their work over the past year in Gaza has been indispensable, and it has cost them dearly: in April, seven of World Central Kitchen’s workers were killed in an IDF strike, forcing them to temporarily pause their relief work in the region (they have since bravely resumed).

They’ve also been delivering aid to Lebanon, Ukraine, and parts of the United States devastated by hurricanes Helene and Milton. We are truly in awe of this network which honors the world’s shared humanity by offering aid wherever it is needed most.

Everything above the cost of producing this series of 5ml perfume oils will be donated; to donate to them directly, or for updates on their current work in Gaza and beyond, visit here: https://wck.org/

Carrotberry Pie Perfume Oil
A surprisingly delightful blend of blackberries, cranberries, carrots, and pumpkin mash.

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Coffee Cream Pie Perfume Oil
A lightly jiggling glop of cold brew, vanilla pudding, dark chocolate, and crushed chocolate cream cookies.

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Grasshopper Pie Perfume Oil
A minty mousse of creme de menthe, creme de cacao, marshmallow fluff, and whipped cream in a chocolate graham cracker crust.

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Maple Pie Perfume Oil
Maple syrup, brown sugar, molasses, and sea salt.

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Marlborough Pie Perfume Oil
Apple custard with sherry and lemon zest.

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Pumpkin Gingerbread Creme Brulee Pie Perfume Oil
Scorched pumpkin creme brulee in a gingerbread crust.

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Activism - Fundraiser for Ukraine

Beside the house, the cherry’s flowering,
Above the trees the May bugs hum,
The ploughmen from the furrows come,
The girls all wander homeward, singing,
And mothers wait the meal for them.

Beside the house, a family supper,
Above, the evening star appears,
The daughter serves the dishes here;
It’s useless to advise her, mother,
The nightingale won’t let her hear.

Beside the house, the mother lulls
The little children for the night,
Then she, too, settles at their side.
And all is still… Only the girls
And nightingales disturb the quiet.
– Taras Shevchenko, translated by Vera Rich

On February 24th, 2022, Vladimir Putin initiated his attempt to redraw the map of Europe, starting with an full-scale invasion of Ukraine. As of this writing, peaceful Ukrainian cities are under strike, but Kyiv has still not fallen to Russia’s military.

Ukrainian civilians are enduring unspeakable suffering. If you would like to help, here are some organizations that you should consider supporting during this dark time:

Voices of Children

Main page

Razom for Ukraine
https://razomforukraine.org/

United Help Ukraine

Home

Emergency Humanitarian Aid for Ukraine
https://www.lphr.org/en/humanitaere-soforthilfe-fuer-die-ukraine/

Revived Soldiers Ukraine
https://www.rsukraine.org/

You can also chip in to help the Kyiv Independent keep reporting:
patreon.com/kyivindependent
https://www.gofundme.com/f/kyivindependent-launch

or donate to the UN Refugee Agency to help people worldwide that have been displaced: https://www.unrefugees.org/emergencies/

to Médecins Sans Frontieres to assist with medical care: https://www.doctorswithoutborders.org/what-we-do/countries/ukraine

or to World Central Kitchen, who are providing meals for Ukrainian refugees at the Polish border: https://wck.org/

We have crafted two scents as a fundraiser whose profits will be split between United Help Ukraine, who are providing medical supplies and humanitarian aid, and World Central Kitchen.

Chocolate Babka Perfume Oil
A diasporic take on an ancestral dessert: braided chocolate rye bread with a sliver of almond paste filling.

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Honey Babka Perfume Oil
Laminated dough topped with sugar syrup and streusel.

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Nightingale Perfume Oil
The national bird of Ukraine. A lovely and powerful song translated into scent: toasted bourbon vanilla, sweet oats and honey, cardamom, and cream.

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Sunyashniki Perfume Oil
The sunflower is the national flower of Ukraine, a symbol of the life-affirming power of the sun that has, in recent days, become a fierce symbol of determination and resistance. This is a scent as bright as the vibrant petals of the sunflower, and as warm and joyous as the sun: flaxen amber, golden musk, neroli, lemon leaf and rind, frankincense, and sweet cedar.

Out of Stock
Syrnyk Perfume Oil
A dessert akin to a crustless cheesecake with a hint of vanilla and lemon zest.

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Yabluchnyk Perfume Oil
A Ukrainian cinnamon apple cake with brown sugar. My grandmother’s yabluchnyk contained black cherries and peaches, so that’s what you’re getting here, too.

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Activism - On Children

Texas governor Greg Abbott is leveling another attack against the LGBTQIA+ community by attempting to criminalize gender-affirming medical care. Abbott is calling on Texas state agencies, including the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services, to classify medical procedures and treatments that align children with their gender identity as “child abuse.” This follows an opinion released by Ken Paxton, Texas’ attorney general, where Paxton states that parents who permit gender-affirming procedures should be investigated for child abuse. Abbott also directed “all licensed professionals who have direct contact with children who may be subject to such abuse, including doctors, nurses, and teachers” to report parents or guardians that support gender-affirming care or face “criminal penalties for failure to report.”

To sum up, Texas’ governor and attorney general are classifying gender reassignment surgery, puberty blockers, hormone therapy, and all other gender-affirmation therapies and surgeries as child abuse under state laws.

It is unclear how this directive is going to actually play out. So far, Paxton’s opinion is not legally binding, and it is still up to Texas’ state courts to interpret the laws and constitution. The ACLU has clarified that the governor’s statement cannot be enforced under the current law, but nevertheless it does “spread fear and misinformation, and could spur false reporting of child abuse.”

More than thirty anti-LGBTQIA+ bills were introduced in Texas last year, and we need to do all we can to fight.

What can we do to help? First off, contact Abbott and Paxton’s offices and show your support of trans kids and their families:

https://gov.texas.gov/apps/contact/opinion.aspx

https://www.texasattorneygeneral.gov/contact-us-online-form

Urge your local leaders to also speak out against anti-LGBTQIA+ legislation. Get on the phone, write to your representatives, show up to protests.

Share trans activism and education resources freely, support trans folx in your community. Here’s a toolkit for protecting LGBTQIA+ students that was drafted by the ACLU in conjunction with Lambda Legal:

https://d3n8a8pro7vhmx.cloudfront.net/lgbt/pages/44/attachments/original/1644292200/LGBTQIA_StudentsRightsToolkit.pdf?1644292200

Use your voice. Magnify your voice on social media, engage in tough discussions with your friends and family, and do what you can to raise awareness and build understanding and compassion in your community.

We have crafted two oils inspired by a poem of Kahlil Gibran’s in order to fundraise for Lambda Legal who has joined the American Civil Liberties Union of Texas, Equality Texas, and Transgender Education Network of Texas to form TxTransKids.org, an initiative that fights for the rights of LGBTQ Texans in the courts, the legislature, local governments, and schools. “We are coming together to ensure that K-12 transgender, non-binary, and genderqueer students and the people that love them have access to the resources that they need.”

If you choose to make donations directly, please consider TxTransKids.org, or any of these following organizations:

Trans Youth Family Allies
http://www.imatyfa.org/

Lambda Legal

Home

Equality Texas
https://www.equalitytexas.org/

Transgender Education Network of Texas
https://www.transtexas.org/

And Though They Are With You Yet They Belong Not To You Perfume Oil
And a woman who held a babe against her bosom said, Speak to us of Children.
And he said:
Your children are not your children.
They are the sons and daughters of Life’s longing for itself.
They come through you but not from you,
And though they are with you yet they belong not to you.

A gentle vanilla sandalwood blend, serene but mighty.

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You May House Their Bodies But Not Their Souls Perfume Oil
You may give them your love but not your thoughts,
For they have their own thoughts.
You may house their bodies but not their souls,
For their souls dwell in the house of tomorrow, which you cannot visit, not even in your dreams.
You may strive to be like them, but seek not to make them like you.
For life goes not backward nor tarries with yesterday.
You are the bows from which your children as living arrows are sent forth.
The archer sees the mark upon the path of the infinite, and He bends you with His might that His arrows may go swift and far.
Let your bending in the archer’s hand be for gladness;
For even as He loves the arrow that flies, so He loves also the bow that is stable.

A woody, deep patchouli with bourbon vanilla, rich amber, and soft golden skin musk.

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Activism - Sorores Genita Nocte, Aigles Kharities

Roe v. Wade was overturned, and in one stroke everyone in America who possesses a uterus is no longer a free and equal citizen of the United States. We are unpersoned. Reproductive rights are no longer federally protected, and the barn door has been kicked down for states that want to ban abortion outright. It is a truly terrifying time: not only are we returning to a era of dangerous abortions, but we are entering a dark unknown wherein pregnancy itself is under state surveillance and even miscarriage can be investigated as a crime.

Not only is the destruction of Roe v. Wade a catastrophe for reproductive and civil rights, it is also a blow to privacy for everyone. It wasn’t until 1965, in Griswold v. Connecticut, that the Supreme Court recognized a constitutional right to privacy, acknowledging that while the Bill of Rights does not specifically enumerate a federal “right of privacy”, zones of privacy – that is, freedom from interference from the government – can be inferred from the First, Third, Fourth, and Fifth Amendments. In concurring opinions, Justices argued that the Ninth Amendment (acknowledging that there are some constitutional rights that are not explicitly outlined or mentioned in the Bill of Rights) and the due process provisions of the Fourteenth Amendment also created a constitutionally granted right to privacy that exists within the penumbra of these protections. Because of this, married couples were permitted access to contraception. Griswold set the precedent for future privacy cases, including Roe v. Wade.

In 1973, SCOTUS held — through their decision in Roe v. Wade — that the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment “protects against state action the right to privacy, including a woman’s qualified right to terminate her pregnancy” and “though the State cannot override that right, it has legitimate interests in protecting both the pregnant woman’s health and the potentiality of human life.” With that, Roe v. Wade ceased the enforcement of individual state laws that were in place that banned abortion before 24 weeks. SCOTUS further affirmed through Planned Parenthood v. Casey that “the fundamental right of privacy protects citizens against governmental intrusion in such intimate family matters.” Basically, individual state laws prohibiting abortion would violate the Due Process Clause if they created an “undue burden” on a pregnant person’s right to an abortion.

The destruction of the Roe v. Wade decision will now call into question all past SCOTUS decisions predicated on a person’s right to privacy, and Clarence Thomas has made it explicitly clear in his concurring opinion that SCOTUS should reconsider Obergefell v. Hodges (2015), Lawrence v. Texas (2003), and Griswold v. Connecticut, the rulings that have protected same-sex marriage, same-sex relationships, and access to contraception. Think about that— look at those dates. As recently as 2003, it was technically illegal for same sex couples to have sex in FOURTEEN states, and not just in many of the same states that are rushing to criminalize abortion, but in states like Massachusetts and Maryland. All Supreme Court decisions based on the concepts of equal protection under the Fourteenth Amendment are in jeopardy, including those that impact rights that were not available to us during the American Revolution. What will tumble next? What rights that we currently take for granted will go back to being determined by gerrymandered state legislatures? Loving v. Virginia (1967) protects interracial marriage, Katz v. United States (1967) currently protects us against government surveillance, Stanley v. Georgia (1969) protects us from being prosecuted for the possession of “obscene material” as defined by individual states, and Eisenstadt v. Baird (1971) further protects our right to contraception outside of marriage. These all crumble away when the right to privacy defined in Griswold is dissolved.

In addition, with the destruction of Roe v. Wade, there are legitimate concerns that private businesses in the United States can now be dragged (or willfully interject themselves) into the enforcement of legislation. We live in a time of absolute and unprecedented surveillance. A hellish whirlwind of geolocating data, menstruation tracking, search history, social media posts, financial data, and private communications hands advertisers, developers, and — consequentially—– law enforcement all the info they need to determine whether or not a person is seeking an abortion. And when the right to privacy set by Griswold and explicitly extended by Katz is gone, private businesses can use your data to aid law enforcement in the prosecution of your porn habits and condom purchases, too.

Here’s what I’m saying: even if you do not have a uterus and even if you don’t care at all about people who do have a uterus, you need to give a shit.

Initially I had written a lengthy post expressing my rage and despair, but you don’t need to see that. There is plenty of rage and despair crackling through the airwaves as it is. Bluntly put, we have no recourse on a federal level, and you can thank Manchin and Sinema for that. Activism is, for now, just about the only recourse that we have. Take a minute to scream, rage, and drool venom, but when that storm has passed… roll up your sleeves. We have a lot of work to do. Vote in every single god damned election, and encourage your network to vote. Protest, fundraise, donate to abortion funds and pro-abortion organizations, and do what you can to support vulnerable people.

Seven perfumes for the Kindly Ones, seven for the Graces: an offering honoring those who would avenge us, and a prayer that those who are suffering under the yoke of this horror will find peace, safety, and joy. These scents are a fundraiser for the National Network of Abortion Funds. If you choose not to purchase a scent, please consider a direct donation.

Elpis is the only good god remaining among mankind; the others have left and gone to Olympos. Pistis, a mighty god, has gone, Sophrosyne has gone from men, and the Kharites, my friend, have abandoned the earth.

Hope remains. Do not despair.

Art: the Furies Before The Gates Of Dis by Gustave Dore, Orestes Pursued by the Furies by Louis Lafitte, detail of Sandro Botticelli’s Primavera.

Some helpful links –

Abortion Finder

The ACLU’s Guide to Protesters’ Rights

Apiary for Practical Support

The Brigid Alliance

The Center for Reproductive Rights

Dopo

Fund Texas Choice

Guttmacher Institute: Abortion Rights

Ineedana.Com

Midwest Access Coalition

Mississippi Reproductive Freedom Fund

NARAL

The National Network of Abortion Funds

Planned Parenthood

ReproCare

Transgender Advocates Say the End of Roe Would Have Dire Consequences

United State of Women

We’re Not Going Back to a Time Before Roe. We’re Going Somewhere Worse.

A Robe All Red With Dripping Gore Perfume Oil
Blood musk, red amber, honey, and threads of scarlet saffron.

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A Torch Steeped in Blood Perfume Oil
Pine pitch and clove-tinged dragon’s blood resin.

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Breathing Destruction From Their Lips Like Flame Perfume Oil
Dried red fruits, pink peppercorn, black fig, nagarmotha, and vetiver.

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Dark-Eyed, Delightful Perfume Oil
Brown sugar, cacao, toasted cardamom, patchouli, vanilla absolute, and benzoin.

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Divinities Implacable, Doom-Laden Perfume Oil
Myrrh, black musk, labdanum, and rose.

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Entwined With Swarming Snakes Perfume Oil
Yuzu, green apple, and ti leaf.

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Every Sweet Thing Perfume Oil
Honey-dripping plakous, rose petals, caramelized hazelnut, and goat’s milk

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From Whose Eyes As They Glance Flowed Love Perfume Oil
Spun sugar, skin musk, orris butter, pale amber, whipped vanilla, and rose petals.

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Pleasure Abundant Perfume Oil
Orange blossom, sweet amber, red honey, pink peppercorn, and frankincense smoke.

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Precious Beauty Perfume Oil
Sweet cream, white fig, sugar cane, honey, vanilla silk, sugared oats, and almond cakes.

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Prospering In Golden Hope Perfume Oil
White peach, bergamot, orchid petals, tobacco flower, frankincense, and white amber.

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Through The Gloom The Sisters Rose Perfume Oil
Blackened pomegranate, tobacco absolute, benzoin, brown sugar, and droplets of inky wine.

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Unarmed and Laughing Perfume Oil
Sugared vanilla amber with a pop of champagne grape.

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Wrapped in Sable Garments Perfume Oil
Cacao, smoked mahogany, tonka, sweet aged patchouli, and white sandalwood.

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Activism - Duets: Louisiana Edition

Map of Louisiana

Proceeds from the sale of these duets benefit –

The Cajun Navy
The Cajun Navy directly assists with search and rescue and offers assistance with clean up, wellness checks, and supply delivery.

Imagine Water Works
Imagine Water Works leads the Mutual Aid Response Network, which is a group of Louisiana residents that activates during floods, storms, and other natural and manmade disasters.

House of Tulip
House of Tulip works to create housing solutions for TGNC people in Louisiana and has created a rapid response fund for transgender and gender non-conforming community members directly impacted by Hurricane Ida.

Activism - Lone Star Fundraiser

Antique Map of Texas

Texas is enduring an absolutely terrifying winter. Millions of households across Texas are without power or potable water, the water crisis in the state is escalating, and while the icy weather is easing up, the thaw will bring a whole host of new problems.

Proceeds from the sale of these three scents – inspired by a few of Texas’ state animals – will benefit the
Bridge Homeless Recovery Center, Austin Disaster Relief and Food Bank RGV Please consider donating directly, or donating to the following organizations, or volunteer if you are able:

Austin Mutual Aid is raising funds for people who are experiencing homelessness.

The Austin Area Urban League is running an emergency donation drive to help obtain shelter and safety for those at risk.

Maximizing Hope is raising money to book hotel rooms and get food and gear for people.

Front Steps is running a blanket drive.

Here are Texas mutual aid funds you can venmo right now:
Austin: @ austinmutualaidhotels
Houston: @ mutualaidhou
Dallas: @ feedthepeopledallas

This is a searchable resource for Texas food banks: https://www.feedingtexas.org/get-help/

Hammy Northern Mockingbird Perfume Oil
A dusty, dry woody scent that manages to be surprisingly flamboyant: white sandalwood, violet leaf, orris root, cardamom pod, and Texas cedar.

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Judgmental Longhorn Perfume Oil
He knows what you’ve been up to. Sweet tonka, smoked vanilla, benzoin, labdanum, amber, hay absolute, cacao absolute, and soft brown musk.

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Muddy Armadillo Perfume Oil
This little fella is a whole mood. Cacao, cacao wood, tobacco absolute, and bourbon cream.

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Activism - Georgia On My Mind

Welcome to Georgia

In November of 2020, the majority of the American people chose decency over depravity, truth over lies, compassion over spite, and kindness over cruelty. Joe Biden is now President-Elect, Kamala Harris will be the first Black, Indian, Mixed-Race woman to be Vice President, and we, as a country, have taken our first steps back towards the light.

The Democrats are the majority in the House, but if we want to have any hope of enacting real progressive change in this country – if we want any hope of combatting Covid-19, fixing our wretched healthcare system, reversing climate change, solving wealth inequality… if we want to overturn Trump’s abominable and inhumane immigration policies, reunite families, and stop family separation at the border… if we want real criminal justice reform and to enact policies that erode corrosive racial bias… if we want equality and civil rights for all… if we want any of this – then the Democrats need a majority in the Senate, too. The Biden Administration is going to have a hard enough time righting the wrongs of Trumpism during a pandemic; it will be almost impossible for Biden to act if he doesn’t have the support of the majority in Congress.

We’ve endured too much and fought too hard to give up now, and hope – real hope – is within our reach.

The fate of the Senate hinges on two runoff elections in Georgia that are set for January. It is imperative that we do all we can to ensure that Rev. Warnock and Jon Ossoff win.

IMPORTANT DATES FOR GEORGIA RESIDENTS
November 18: Absentee ballots begin going out
December 7: Deadline to register
December 14: Early In-Person voting begins
January 5: Election Runoff

17-year-olds – if you will be 18 by Election Day, you can register now and vote on January 5.

Request an absentee ballot here.

REMEMBER: You MUST be registered to vote by DECEMBER 7.

Not from Georgia but you want to help? Please donate what you can to Warnock and Ossoff’s campaigns, chip in to help Fair Fight and Black Voters Matter get out the vote, and sign up to write letters and postcards with Vote Forward, Georgia Postcard Project, and Flip the West. We’ll keep you posted on BPAL’s social media as new opportunities to help arise.

Georgia, you are on my mind, and I will do everything I can to help Warnock and Ossoff – two truly decent people – win Georgia’s Senate seats. Proceeds from these scents benefit Fair Fight and Black Voters Matter. We can win this together.

Illustrations generously donated by Tanya Bjork to help our fundraising project!

I Hear America Singing Perfume Oil
I hear America singing, the varied carols I hear,
Those of mechanics, each one singing his as it should be blithe and strong,
The carpenter singing his as he measures his plank or beam,
The mason singing his as he makes ready for work, or leaves off work,
The boatman singing what belongs to him in his boat, the deckhand singing on the steamboat deck,
The shoemaker singing as he sits on his bench, the hatter singing as he stands,
The wood-cutter’s song, the ploughboy’s on his way in the morning, or at noon intermission or at sundown,
The delicious singing of the mother, or of the young wife at work, or of the girl sewing or washing,
Each singing what belongs to him or her and to none else,
The day what belongs to the day-at night the party of young fellows, robust, friendly,
Singing with open mouths their strong melodious songs.
– Walt Whitman

A bright, sparkling scent, effervescent with joy and fiery with rekindled hope: golden musk and crystalline amber with Calabrian lemon peel, ti leaf, sweet vetiver, ginger root, neroli, and lime blossom.

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Let America Be America Again Perfume Oil
Let America be America again.
Let it be the dream it used to be.
Let it be the pioneer on the plain
Seeking a home where he himself is free.

(America never was America to me.)

Let America be the dream the dreamers dreamed-
Let it be that great strong land of love
Where never kings connive nor tyrants scheme
That any man be crushed by one above.

(It never was America to me.)

O, let my land be a land where Liberty
Is crowned with no false patriotic wreath,
But opportunity is real, and life is free,
Equality is in the air we breathe.

(There’s never been equality for me,
Nor freedom in this “homeland of the free.”)

Say, who are you that mumbles in the dark?
And who are you that draws your veil across the stars?

I am the poor white, fooled and pushed apart,
I am the Negro bearing slavery’s scars.
I am the red man driven from the land,
I am the immigrant clutching the hope I seek—
And finding only the same old stupid plan
Of dog eat dog, of mighty crush the weak.

I am the young man, full of strength and hope,
Tangled in that ancient endless chain
Of profit, power, gain, of grab the land!
Of grab the gold! Of grab the ways of satisfying need!
Of work the men! Of take the pay!
Of owning everything for one’s own greed!

I am the farmer, bondsman to the soil.
I am the worker sold to the machine.
I am the Negro, servant to you all.
I am the people, humble, hungry, mean-
Hungry yet today despite the dream.
Beaten yet today-O, Pioneers!
I am the man who never got ahead,
The poorest worker bartered through the years.

Yet I’m the one who dreamt our basic dream
In the Old World while still a serf of kings,
Who dreamt a dream so strong, so brave, so true,
That even yet its mighty daring sings
In every brick and stone, in every furrow turned
That’s made America the land it has become.
O, I’m the man who sailed those early seas
In search of what I meant to be my home-
For I’m the one who left dark Ireland’s shore,
And Poland’s plain, and England’s grassy lea,
And torn from Black Africa’s strand I came
To build a “homeland of the free.”

The free?

Who said the free? Not me?
Surely not me? The millions on relief today?
The millions shot down when we strike?
The millions who have nothing for our pay?
For all the dreams we’ve dreamed
And all the songs we’ve sung
And all the hopes we’ve held
And all the flags we’ve hung,
The millions who have nothing for our pay-
Except the dream that’s almost dead today.

O, let America be America again-
The land that never has been yet-
And yet must be-the land where every man is free.
The land that’s mine-the poor man’s, Indian’s, Negro’s, ME-
Who made America,
Whose sweat and blood, whose faith and pain,
Whose hand at the foundry, whose plow in the rain,
Must bring back our mighty dream again.

Sure, call me any ugly name you choose-
The steel of freedom does not stain.
From those who live like leeches on the people’s lives,
We must take back our land again,
America!

O, yes,
I say it plain,
America never was America to me,
And yet I swear this oath-
America will be!

Out of the rack and ruin of our gangster death,
The rape and rot of graft, and stealth, and lies,
We, the people, must redeem
The land, the mines, the plants, the rivers.
The mountains and the endless plain-
All, all the stretch of these great green states-
And make America again!
– Langston Hughes

O, let America be America again – the land that never has been yet: waving green grasses, purple-hued amber, smoked sandalwood, bay rum, clove bud, cardamom, and black pepper.

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Wisdom, Justice, Moderation Perfume Oil
A poem about Georgia, sung through scent: red cedar, sweetgum, yellow jasmine, peach, and honey.

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Activism - Triumph in My Song
Black lives matter, and Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab is committed to doing the hard work to ensure that we continue to amplify Black voices and support the vital work of civil rights organizations and other organizations that dismantle and fight white supremacy through education, legislation, legal advocacy, and pushing for systemic reform. We pledge to work for racial justice and true and authentic equitable inclusion, both as individuals and as a company.

Racial justice begins with each of us. At Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab, we are committed to boosting the voices of BIPOC, committed to listening, committed to accepting correction. Unlearning the institutionalized bigotry and structural biases of white supremacy is incredibly difficult. Challenging your own biases, your own prejudices, and the comfort of your privilege can be extremely difficult, and few people want to deliberately give up any perceived power. But we have to do this hard work – all of us do – if we want to combat white supremacy, racism, and institutional brutality. We all have to recognize that privilege is built on the shoulders of oppression and commit to dismantling the structures of white supremacy even when (especially when!) it is frightening or uncomfortable to do so. Every day in this country, Black people are murdered by police, subjected to hate crimes, denied employment, loans, medical services, housing, and equal access to opportunity. What is discomfort in the face of these terrible injustices?

What else can we all do? First, we must pledge to listen to Black voices, pledge to uplift Black voices so they cannot be smothered or disregarded, pledge to de-center our own narratives, and commit to listening when we are being corrected. We must commit to educating ourselves about the history of racism in the United States, commit to decolonizing our media by reading books and watching movies, plays, musicals and television programs created by BIPOC, and commit to using whatever privilege we possess as a shield that protects others. We must refuse to be silent; we must speak up louder than ever before and refuse to allow ourselves to be intimidated into inaction. Do not lose sight of this: your words matter, and it matters when you take a stand against racism. Make a commitment to calling out racism wherever you find it. No, you probably won’t win over most rando trolls on the internet or your racist uncle, but your words will give other people strength, you will foster courage, and you will show vulnerable people that they are not alone. The power of your voice empowers others to speak up. Call out racist actions, racist ideals, and racist policies wherever you find them. When you say nothing – when you do nothing – nothing changes, and silence is complicity. It isn’t enough to not be racist; we must be actively anti-racist.

If you cannot attend a protest, you can help by contributing to bail funds, funds for legal representation for protesters, or by making donations to organizations on the front line. You can make phone calls to your congressional representatives, your mayor, your governor, and to police departments, and you can do the hard work to ensure that you help reform your own community police departments.

I am Asian and I am Ashkenazi; I know that I will never truly understand what it means to be Black in America, but I will do all I can to fight for equality and civil rights. Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab stands with Black Lives Matter, and we will work, listen, speak up, and fight with all our hearts to protect civil liberties, confront injustice, and support organizations and individuals that combat white supremacy. Systemic and institutional racism is a plague on this country, and together we need to bring an end to racism, police brutality, and the policies and constructs that are in place that permit both to exist.

At the beginning of June 2020, we made donations to the NAACP, Black Lives Matter, the Minnesota Freedom Fund, and Know Your Rights Camp. Proceeds from Triumph in my Song will be split between Black Lives Matter, the Center for Black Equity, and the NAACP. Triumph in My Song is an ongoing scent series, and will be updated as we are able.

A Hymn to the Evening Perfume Oil
Phillis Wheatley

Soon as the sun forsook the eastern main
The pealing thunder shook the heav’nly plain;
Majestic grandeur! From the zephyr’s wing,
Exhales the incense of the blooming spring.
Soft purl the streams, the birds renew their notes,
And through the air their mingled music floats.
Through all the heav’ns what beauteous dies are spread!
But the west glories in the deepest red:
So may our breasts with ev’ry virtue glow,
The living temples of our God below!
Fill’d with the praise of him who gives the light,
And draws the sable curtains of the night,
Let placid slumbers sooth each weary mind,
At morn to wake more heav’nly, more refin’d;
So shall the labours of the day begin
More pure, more guarded from the snares of sin.
Night’s leaden sceptre seals my drowsy eyes,
Then cease, my song, till fair Aurora rise.

A gentle scent for peace, safety, and rest: twilit lavender bud and sweet labdanum, hops, red benzoin, patchouli, Mysore sandalwood, and vanilla bean.

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Apostrophe of Time Perfume Oil
O fleeting Time! whence art thou come?
And whither do thy footsteps tend?
Deep in the past where was thy home,
And where thy future journey’s end?

Thou art from vast eternity,
And unto boundless regions found;
But what and where’s infinity?
And what know we of space unbound?

The furrowed brow betokens age;
But who thy centuries can tell?
Was ancient seer or learned sage
In wisdom’s lore e’er versed so well?

Hast thou from childhood wandered thus,
Companionless and lone, through space,
With mystery o’er thy exodus,
And darkness ’round thy resting place.

What lengthened years have come and gone,
Since thou thy tireless march began,
Since Luna’s children sang at dawn,
The wonders of creation’s plan?

How many years of gloom and night
Had passed, long ere yon king of day
Had reigned his fiery steeds of light,
And sped them on their shining way?

Thou knowest — Thou alone, O thou!
Omniscient and eternal Three!
To whose broad eye all time is now —
The past, with all eternity;

In whose dread presence I shall stand,
When time shall sink to rise no more,
In that broad sea of thy command,
Whose waves roll on, without a shore.
– James Madison Bell

The overwhelming incalculability of space, the glow and fade of countless days, the starry expanse of night. A scent that reaches into eternity and towards forever: glittering bergamot, lemon peel, and golden amber, star-flecked labdanum, neroli, and clary sage.

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Early Affection Perfume Oil
George Moses Horton
I lov’d thee from the earliest dawn,
       When first I saw thy beauty’s ray,
And will, until life’s eve comes on,
       And beauty’s blossom fades away;
And when all things go well with thee,
With smiles and tears remember me.

I’ll love thee when thy morn is past,
       And wheedling gallantry is o’er,
When youth is lost in age’s blast,
       And beauty can ascend no more,
And when life’s journey ends with thee,
O, then look back and think of me.

I’ll love thee with a smile or frown,
       ’Mid sorrow’s gloom or pleasure’s light,
And when the chain of life runs down,
       Pursue thy last eternal flight,
When thou hast spread thy wing to flee,
Still, still, a moment wait for me.

I’ll love thee for those sparkling eyes,
      To which my fondness was betray’d,
Bearing the tincture of the skies,
      To glow when other beauties fade,
And when they sink too low to see,
Reflect an azure beam on me.

A love eternal, thrumming beyond death: honeyed red fruits, Bulgarian rose, mimosa, heliotrope, and red sandalwood.

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Limitations Perfume Oil
The subtlest strain a great musician weaves,
Cannot attain in rhythmic harmony
To music in his soul. May it not be
Celestial lyres send hints to him? He grieves
That half the sweetness of the song, he leaves
Unheard in the transition. Thus do we
Yearn to translate the wondrous majesty
Of some rare mood, when the rapt soul receives
A vision exquisite. Yet who can match
The sunset’s iridescent hues? Who sing
The skylark’s ecstasy so seraph-fine?
We struggle vainly, still we fain would catch
Such rifts amid life’s shadows, for they bring
Glimpses ineffable of things divine.
– Henrietta Cordelia Ray

Dusk-purple jasmine and wild plum, orris absolute, honeysuckle, red mandarin, and benzoin.

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Lines to a Nasturtium (A Lover Muses) Perfume Oil
Anne Spencer

Flame-flower, Day-torch, Mauna Loa,
I saw a daring bee, today, pause, and soar,
Into your flaming heart;
Then did I hear crisp, crinkled laughter
As the furies after tore him apart?
A bird, next, small and humming,
Looked into your startled depths and fled…
Surely, some dread sight, and dafter
Than human eyes as mine can see,
Set the stricken air waves drumming
In his flight.

Day-torch, Flame-flower, cool-hot Beauty,
I cannot see, I cannot hear your flutey;
Voice lure your loving swain,
But I know one other to whom you are in beauty
Born in vain:
Hair like the setting sun,
Her eyes a rising star,
Motions gracious as reeds by Babylon, bar
All your competing;
Hands like, how like, brown lilies sweet,
Cloth of gold were fair enough to touch her feet.
Ah, how the sense reels at my repeating,
As once in her fire-lit heart I felt the furies
Beating, beating.

Hair like the setting sun, eyes a rising star, and a heart fire-lit: golden amber, warm nutmeg, cardamom pod, tolu balsam, sweet patchouli, vanilla absolute, wildflower honey, lovage root, and cacao.

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On Imagination Perfume Oil
Thy various works, imperial queen, we see,
How bright their forms! how deck’d with pomp by thee!
Thy wond’rous acts in beauteous order stand,
And all attest how potent is thine hand.

From Helicon’s refulgent heights attend,
Ye sacred choir, and my attempts befriend:
To tell her glories with a faithful tongue,
Ye blooming graces, triumph in my song.

Now here, now there, the roving Fancy flies,
Till some lov’d object strikes her wand’ring eyes,
Whose silken fetters all the senses bind,
And soft captivity involves the mind.

Imagination! who can sing thy force?
Or who describe the swiftness of thy course?
Soaring through air to find the bright abode,
Th’ empyreal palace of the thund’ring God,
We on thy pinions can surpass the wind,
And leave the rolling universe behind:
From star to star the mental optics rove,
Measure the skies, and range the realms above.
There in one view we grasp the mighty whole,
Or with new worlds amaze th’ unbounded soul.

Though Winter frowns to Fancy’s raptur’d eyes
The fields may flourish, and gay scenes arise;
The frozen deeps may break their iron bands,
And bid their waters murmur o’er the sands.
Fair Flora may resume her fragrant reign,
And with her flow’ry riches deck the plain;
Sylvanus may diffuse his honours round,
And all the forest may with leaves be crown’d:
Show’rs may descend, and dews their gems disclose,
And nectar sparkle on the blooming rose.

Such is thy pow’r, nor are thine orders vain,
O thou the leader of the mental train:
In full perfection all thy works are wrought,
And thine the sceptre o’er the realms of thought.
Before thy throne the subject-passions bow,
Of subject-passions sov’reign ruler thou;
At thy command joy rushes on the heart,
And through the glowing veins the spirits dart.

Fancy might now her silken pinions try
To rise from earth, and sweep th’ expanse on high:
From Tithon’s bed now might Aurora rise,
Her cheeks all glowing with celestial dies,
While a pure stream of light o’erflows the skies.
The monarch of the day I might behold,
And all the mountains tipt with radiant gold,
But I reluctant leave the pleasing views,
Which Fancy dresses to delight the Muse;
Winter austere forbids me to aspire,
And northern tempests damp the rising fire;
They chill the tides of Fancy’s flowing sea,
Cease then, my song, cease the unequal lay.
– Phillis Wheatley

The unbounded soul: a vibrant, airy, uplifted amber with smoked vanilla and coconut, tuberose, orange blossom, wildflower honey, and sheer musk.

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Sonnet Perfume Oil
Alice Moore Dunbar-Nelson

I had not thought of violets late,
The wild, shy kind that spring beneath your feet
In wistful April days, when lovers mate
And wander through the fields in raptures sweet.
The thought of violets meant florists’ shops,
And bows and pins, and perfumed papers fine;
And garish lights, and mincing little fops
And cabarets and soaps, and deadening wines.
So far from sweet real things my thoughts had strayed,
I had forgot wide fields; and clear brown streams;
The perfect loveliness that God has made,—
Wild violets shy and Heaven-mounting dreams.
And now—unwittingly, you’ve made me dream
Of violets, and my soul’s forgotten gleam.

Heaven-mounting dreams: a cluster of wild violets, the first lilac blossoms of spring, honeyed honeysuckle, ylang ylang, a touch of fennel, and cerise musk.

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We Wear the Mask Perfume Oil
We wear the mask that grins and lies,
It hides our cheeks and shades our eyes, –
This debt we pay to human guile;
With torn and bleeding hearts we smile,
And mouth with myriad subtleties.

Why should the world be over-wise,
In counting all our tears and sighs?
Nay, let them only see us, while
We wear the mask.

We smile, but, O great Christ, our cries
To thee from tortured souls arise.
We sing, but oh the clay is vile
Beneath our feet, and long the mile;
But let the world dream otherwise,
We wear the mask!
– Paul Laurence Dunbar

This poem – this song – is one that has moved me since my childhood, and it’s so incredibly difficult to translate it into scent. I don’t know if I am capable of doing honor to Dunbar’s words; all I can do is craft something that is akin to how much this makes my heart clench. The scent I have chosen is a soft lavender with dry woods, carrot seed and iris, sandalwood smoke, and wisteria.

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Activism - A Sunburnt Country

Wading through mists of the mountains’ breath
the wet white air,
once thought to be spirits of the dead,
and adding our quota… This chill
that pulls neat water from the air
— a torched leaf trickles,
rolls tears along the blade.

Then the brief downpour.
Gullies, like washing machines switches on,
churn soil downhill.
The bush path is a tunnel into mist,
where every spider’s web is seen
flagged out with silver buoys.
The lorrikeet shuffles dejected feathers,
sipping weak nectar. A huntsman
crosses the path, half crushed
beneath the rain’s broom;
it walks on grass stalks, a blind tightrope walker
feeling in eight directions.
Hairs on a banksia leaf
repel drops and store the dryness
(tomorrow there may be fire).
– Mark O’Connor

These scents are a fundraiser for Country Fire Authority Victoria in the hopes that we can help ameliorate the suffering caused by Australia’s bushfire crisis.

My Country Perfume Oil
I love a sunburnt country,
A land of sweeping plains,
Of ragged mountain ranges,
Of droughts and flooding rains.
I love her far horizons,
I love her jewel-sea,
Her beauty and her terror
The wide brown land for me!
– Dorothea Mackellar

Her far horizons, her jewel-sea: a rose-tinted sunset of amber salt spray azure musk.

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The Kangaroo Perfume Oil
Kanagaroo, Kangaroo!
Thou Spirit of Australia,
That redeems from utter failure,
From perfect desolation,
And warrants the creation
Of this fifth part of the Earth,
Which would seem an after-birth,
Not conceiv’d in the Beginning
(For GOD bless’d His work at first,
And saw that it was good),
But emerg’d at the first sinning,
When the ground was therefore curst; —
And hence this barren wood!

Kangaroo, Kangaroo!
Tho’ at first sight we should say,
In thy nature that there may
Contradiction be involv’d,
Yet, like discord well resolv’d,
It is quickly harmonized.
Sphynx or mermaid realiz’d,
Or centaur unfabulous,
Would scarce be more prodigious,
Or Pegasus poetical,
Or hippogriff — chimeras all!
But, what Nature would compile,
Nature knows to reconcile;
And Wisdom, ever at her side,
Of all her children’s justified.

She had made the squirrel fragile;
She had made the bounding hart;
But a third so strong and agile
Was beyond ev’n Nature’s art;
So she join’d the former two
In thee, Kangaroo!
To describe thee, it is hard:
Converse of the camélopard,
Which beginneth camel-wise,
But endeth of the panther size,
Thy fore half, it would appear,
Had belong’d to some “small deer,”
Such as liveth in a tree;
By thy hinder, thou should’st be
A large animal of chace,
Bounding o’er the forest’s space; —
Join’d by some divine mistake,
None but Nature’s hand can make —
Nature, in her wisdom’s play,
On Creation’s holiday.

For howsoe’er anomalous,
Thou yet art not incongruous,
Repugnant or preposterous.
Better-proportion’d animal,
More graceful or ethereal,
Was never follow’d by the hound,
With fifty steps to thy one bound.
Thou can’st not be amended: no;
Be as thou art; thou best art so.

When sooty swans are once more rare,
And duck-moles the Museum’s care,
Be still the glory of this land,
Happiest Work of finest Hand!
– Barron Field

Wild grass, mosses, lemon myrtle, cinnamon myrtle, and bush nut.

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Waltzing Matilda Perfume Oil
Up sprang the swagman and jumped into the waterhole,
Drowning himself by the Coolibah tree;
And his voice can be heard as it sings in the billabongs,
“Who’ll come a-waltzing Matilda with me.”

Who’ll come a-waltzing Matilda, my darling.
Who’ll come a-waltzing Matilda with me.
Waltzing Matilda and leading a water-bag.
Who’ll come a-waltzing Matilda with me.
– Banjo Paterson

Dusty vanilla bean and Moreton Bay Fig.

Out of Stock

Activism - Unbound
This past week, Georgia became the sixth state to pass Draconian anti-choice legislation, and this series is our response: an emergency fundraiser for Planned Parenthood, the Center for Reproductive Rights, and NARAL. Georgia’s LIFE Act and the other pieces of monstrous, dystopian anti-choice legislation that have manifested in Georgia, Iowa, Kentucky, Mississippi, North Dakota, and Ohio are all part of a wider agenda intended to dismantle the protections of reproductive rights guaranteed by Roe v. Wade. Though this legislation will certainly meet opposition at district and appellate levels, these laws are universally geared towards engineering a hearing before the Supreme Court as swiftly as possible, with the goal of overturning Roe v. Wade now that Kavanaugh has a seat.

Furthermore, these restrictions are part and parcel of a coordinated, systemic effort to restrict the rights and attack the agency of cis women, trans women, trans men, racial, religious, and ethnic minorities, the LGBTQ community, non-binary individuals, immigrants, and low-income people.

Reproductive rights are inseparable from economic security, and these brutal, authoritarian, oppressive anti-choice laws will disproportionately affect populations who already suffer the most and have access to the fewest options.

The curtailing of reproductive rights impacts every single one of us. May we help each other shake off the yokes that suffocate us and deprive us of our basic human rights.

If you are not in the market for perfume or beard oils, please consider volunteering as a clinic escort locally, or donating to / volunteering with the following organizations:

Planned Parenthood

The Center for Reproductive Rights

NARAL

The American Civil Liberties Union

Access Reproductive Care: Southeast

NNAF

The Yellowhammer Fund

Mississippi Reproductive Freedom Fund

Women Have Options

And SPEAK UP. Talk about the real repercussions of these malevolent new laws. Challenge the stigma of talking about reproductive rights and condemn attacks on reproductive rights. Educate your friends, family, and neighbors and mobilize them to fight for reproductive justice.

I Sit and Sew Perfume Oil
I sit and sew – a useless task it seems,
My hands grown tired, my head weighed down with dreams –
The panoply of war, the martial tred of men,
Grim-faced, stern-eyed, gazing beyond the ken
Of lesser souls, whose eyes have not seen Death,
Nor learned to hold their lives but as a breath –
But – I must sit and sew.

I sit and sew – my heart aches with desire –
That pageant terrible, that fiercely pouring fire
On wasted fields, and writhing grotesque things
Once men. My soul in pity flings
Appealing cries, yearning only to go
There in that holocaust of hell, those fields of woe –
But – I must sit and sew.

The little useless seam, the idle patch;
Why dream I here beneath my homely thatch,
When there they lie in sodden mud and rain,
Pitifully calling me, the quick ones and the slain?
You need me, Christ! It is no roseate dream
That beckons me – this pretty futile seam,
It stifles me – God, must I sit and sew?
– Alice Moore Dunbar-Nelson

Silk threads unraveling: sheer vanilla and violet leaf with jasmine sambac, white musk, and tea leaf.

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No Coward Soul is Mine Perfume Oil
No coward soul is mine
No trembler in the world’s storm-troubled sphere
I see Heaven’s glories shine
And Faith shines equal arming me from Fear

O God within my breast
Almighty ever-present Deity
Life, that in me hast rest,
As I Undying Life, have power in Thee

Vain are the thousand creeds
That move men’s hearts, unutterably vain,
Worthless as withered weeds
Or idlest froth amid the boundless main

To waken doubt in one
Holding so fast by thy infinity,
So surely anchored on
The steadfast rock of Immortality.

With wide-embracing love
Thy spirit animates eternal years
Pervades and broods above,
Changes, sustains, dissolves, creates and rears

Though earth and moon were gone
And suns and universes ceased to be
And Thou wert left alone
Every Existence would exist in thee

There is not room for Death
Nor atom that his might could render void
Since thou art Being and Breath
And what thou art may never be destroyed.
– Emily Brontë

I Undying Life: lavender, rockrose, and pale woods.

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Socius Beard Oil
A solid, steadfast blend of patchouli, smoked vanilla husk, ambergris accord, and tawny oudh.

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The Rights of Women Perfume Oil
Yes, injured Woman! rise, assert thy right!
Woman! too long degraded, scorned, opprest;
O born to rule in partial Law’s despite,
Resume thy native empire o’er the breast!

Go forth arrayed in panoply divine;
That angel pureness which admits no stain;
Go, bid proud Man his boasted rule resign,
And kiss the golden sceptre of thy reign.

Go, gird thyself with grace; collect thy store
Of bright artillery glancing from afar;
Soft melting tones thy thundering cannon’s roar,
Blushes and fears thy magazine of war.

Thy rights are empire: urge no meaner claim, –
Felt, not defined, and if debated, lost;
Like sacred mysteries, which withheld from fame,
Shunning discussion, are revered the most.

Try all that wit and art suggest to bend
Of thy imperial foe the stubborn knee;
Make treacherous Man thy subject, not thy friend;
Thou mayst command, but never canst be free.

Awe the licentious, and restrain the rude;
Soften the sullen, clear the cloudy brow:
Be, more than princes’ gifts, thy favours sued; –
She hazards all, who will the least allow.

But hope not, courted idol of mankind,
On this proud eminence secure to stay;
Subduing and subdued, thou soon shalt find
Thy coldness soften, and thy pride give way.

Then, then, abandon each ambitious thought,
Conquest or rule thy heart shall feebly move,
In Nature’s school, by her soft maxims taught,
That separate rights are lost in mutual love.
– Anna Lætitia Barbauld

Too long degraded, scorned, opprest: a bold, strident red chypre with sweet wild patchouli, bourbon vanilla, Tunisian neroli, tuberose, warm red currant, strawberry, and red labdanum.

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They Shut Me Up in Prose Perfume Oil
They shut me up in Prose –
As when a little Girl
They put me in the Closet –
Because they liked me “still” –

Still! Could themself have peeped –
And seen my Brain – go round –
They might as wise have lodged a Bird
For Treason – in the Pound –

Himself has but to will
And easy as a Star
Look down upon Captivity –
And laugh – No more have I –
– Emily Dickinson

Loosed from the satin-pale corset, emerging from a gilded cage, that prison of silence: sweet bourbon vanilla, pale sandalwood, mallow flower, osmanthus, and shards of frankincense.

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Activism - Deliver Them From the Hands of the Wicked

In an effort to justify the cruel, heartless separation of migrant children from their families, Sarah Huckabee Sanders told reporters that it is “very biblical to enforce the law”, and Attorney General Sessions invoked Romans 13 – the same Bible passage so often utilized in the past to justify slavery: “I would cite you to the Apostle Paul and his clear and wise command in Romans 13, to obey the laws of the government because God has ordained the government for his purposes.”

Boy howdy, you monstrous, merciless ghouls, does Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab have a Bible lesson for you.

I have assembled a collection of simple, elegant scents, all of which have been inspired by timely, instructive passages in the Bible. Proceeds from the sales of these scents will benefit RAICES (Refugee and Immigrant Center for Education and Legal Services), a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that provides free and low-cost legal services to underserved immigrant children, families and refugees in Central and South Texas. If you choose not to purchase any scents, please consider donating directly to RAICES if you have the means, or consider supporting one of these organizations:

The Texas Civil Rights Project
The Florence Project in Arizona
Kids in Need of Defense
The Young Center
The American Civil Liberties Union

Call your representatives now and tell them that you demand that the Trump Administration immediately cease this inhumane, horrific system of separating migrant children from their families. Ask your representatives to support the following pieces of legislation:

S. 3036 – Keep Families Together Act
R. 2572 – Protect Family Values at the Border Act
R. 5950/S. 2937 – the HELP Separated Children Act
R. 2043 AND S. 2468 – Fair Day in Court for Kids Act of 2018

Both the ACLU and 5Calls provide scripts that will help if you don’t want to call unprepared.

Protest, call, Resistbot, fax, and show up at your representatives’ offices. Make your voice heard, take a stand against this cold-blooded and brutal policy, and VOTE. Vote these heartless monsters out on their asses.

Label illustration by Gustave Dore, category painting by Vincent van Gogh.

Deuteronomy 10:18 Perfume Oil
He defends the cause of the fatherless and the widow, and loves the foreigner residing among you, giving them food and clothing.

Hay absolute, patchouli, agarwood, and vetiver.

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Exodus 22:21 Perfume Oil
Do not mistreat or oppress a foreigner, for you were foreigners in Egypt.

Myrrh, red currant, opoponax, and blackberry.

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Ezekiel 16:49 Perfume Oil
Now this was the sin of your sister Sodom: She and her daughters were arrogant, overfed and unconcerned; they did not help the poor and needy.

Blood musk and ashes.

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Job 31:32 Perfume Oil
The stranger did not lodge in the street; but I opened my doors to the traveler.

Rahat lokum, bitter almond, wild fig, and roasted hazelnuts.

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Luke 10:25-37 Perfume Oil
On one occasion an expert in the law stood up to test Jesus. “Teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?”

“What is written in the Law?” he replied. “How do you read it?”

He answered, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind'[c]; and, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.'”

“You have answered correctly,” Jesus replied. “Do this and you will live.”

But he wanted to justify himself, so he asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”

In reply Jesus said: “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, when he was attacked by robbers. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him and went away, leaving him half dead. A priest happened to be going down the same road, and when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side. So too, a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. But a Samaritan, as he traveled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him. He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he put the man on his own donkey, brought him to an inn and took care of him. The next day he took out two denarii[e] and gave them to the innkeeper. ‘Look after him,’ he said, ‘and when I return, I will reimburse you for any extra expense you may have.’

“Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?”

The expert in the law replied, “The one who had mercy on him.”

Jesus told him, “Go and do likewise.”

Go and do likewise: golden amber and saffron, white sandalwood, and clove.

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Matthew 18:10 Perfume Oil
See that you do not despise one of these little ones. For I tell you that in heaven their angels always see the face of my Father who is in heaven.

Wool-warm red sandalwood, coconut, strawberry, and blackcurrant.

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Matthew 18:6 Perfume Oil
But whoso shall offend one of these little ones which believe in me, it were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and that he were drowned in the depth of the sea.

White sandalwood, honey, and champaca.

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Matthew 25:34-36 Perfume Oil
Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Enter, you who are blessed by my Father! Take what’s coming to you in this kingdom. It’s been ready for you since the world’s foundation. And here’s why:

I was hungry and you fed me,
I was thirsty and you gave me a drink,
I was homeless and you gave me a room,
I was shivering and you gave me clothes,
I was sick and you stopped to visit,
I was in prison and you came to me.’

Olibanum, labdanum, spikenard, cade, cardamom pod, and olive blossom.

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Proverbs 24:11-12 Perfume Oil
Rescue those who are being taken away to death; hold back those who are stumbling to the slaughter. If you say, “Behold, we did not know this,” does not he who weighs the heart perceive it? Does not he who keeps watch over your soul know it, and will he not repay man according to his work?

Blackened oudh, leather, labdanum, and oakmoss.

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Psalm 82:2-4 Perfume Oil
How long will you vindicate evil and accept the face of the wicked? Give justice to the weak and the fatherless; maintain the right of the afflicted and the destitute. Rescue the weak and the needy; deliver them from the hand of the wicked.

Crystalline musk, red benzoin, and vanilla husk.

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Romans 13:8 Perfume Oil
Owe no man any thing, but to love one another: for he that loveth another hath fulfilled the law.

Almond, wild fig, red rose petals, cardamom, and oudh.

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Activism - Deliver Them From the Hands of the Wicked - Cursed is Anyone Who Withholds Justice From the Foreigner
Last June, BPAL launched its first collection of scents raising funds for RAICES (Refugee and Immigrant Center for Education and Legal Services). Citing the Trump administration’s insistence that its enforcement of immigration laws was “very biblical,” each of our perfumes cited a specific Bible verse underscoring the importance of offering refuge to foreigners, such as Job 31:32: “The stranger did not lodge in the street; but I opened my doors to the traveler.

Twelve months later, the catastrophe at our Southern border has worsened immeasurably. We’ve all seen the pictures and read the statistics: on any given day, many thousands of adults and children are imprisoned in privately-run (read: for-profit) facilities. The dangerously squalid conditions of these camps are making headlines around the world, and many of these children will never be reunited with their families. The taxpayer cost for this atrocity amounts to approx. $700 per child, per day, and yet numerous reports show the most basic needs go unmet.

All of this is by design. As Adam Serwer observed in The Atlantic, “the cruelty is the point.”

In addition to providing pro bono legal representation to those incarcerated, a major portion of RAICES’ fundraising goes to posting bonds that allow detainees to be released from custody. By their count, 98.4% of the immigrants whose bond has been posted show up for their hearings. Follow the org on Twitter for calls to action, breaking news, and success stories about families reunited.

Holding our government and our society properly accountable for these unforgivable offenses will take many years. In the meantime, our warnings have become a battle cry. The following perfume blends draw from biblical precedent describing how the greedy, the hypocritical, the hard of heart can expect to be penalized for their worldly transgressions.

Proceeds from these will help RAICES post additional bonds for individuals swept up in this living nightmare. May justice be served swiftly, and may those facilitating this ill-treatment face dire consequences for it.

Label art: Parable of the Good Samaritan, Jan Wynants

Hebrews 13:1-3 Perfume Oil
Let mutual love continue. Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for by doing that some have entertained angels without knowing it. Remember those who are in prison, as though you were in prison with them; those who are being tortured, as though you yourselves were being tortured.

Sugar blossom, cinnamon bark, and tobacco absolute.

Out of Stock

Leviticus 27:19 Perfume Oil
‘Cursed is anyone who withholds justice from the foreigner, the fatherless or the widow.’ Then all the people shall say, ‘Amen!’

Agarwood smoke, coffee bean, Sumatran benzoin, cedarwood, and nutmeg.

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Psalm 146:9 Perfume Oil
The Lord watches over the strangers; he upholds the orphan and the widow, but the way of the wicked he brings to ruin.

Cacao, labdanum, vetiver, and bourbon vanilla.

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Zechariah 7:9-10 Perfume Oil
Thus says the Lord of hosts: Render true judgments, show kindness and mercy to one another; do not oppress the widow, the orphan, the alien, or the poor; and do not devise evil in your hearts against one another.

White magnolia blossom, champaca, and red oudh.

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Activism - Hymn to the Erinyes
Vociferous Bacchanalian Furies, hear! Ye, I invoke, dread pow’rs, whom all revere;
Nightly, profound, in secret who retire, Tisiphone, Alecto, and Megara dire:
Deep in a cavern merg’d, involv’d in night, near where Styx flows impervious to the sight;
Ever attendant on mysterious rites, furious and fierce, whom Fate’s dread law delights;
Revenge and sorrows dire to you belong, hid in a savage veil, severe and strong,
Terrific virgins, who forever dwell endu’d with various forms, in deepest hell;
Aerial, and unseen by human kind, and swiftly coursing, rapid as the mind.
In vain the Sun with wing’d refulgence bright, in vain the Moon, far darting milder light,
Wisdom and Virtue may attempt in vain; and pleasing, Art, our transport to obtain
Unless with these you readily conspire, and far avert your all-destructive ire.
The boundless tribes of mortals you descry, and justly rule with Dike’s impartial eye.
Come, snaky-hair’d, Moirai many-form’d, divine, suppress your rage, and to our rites incline.

This is the end of silence, the end of shame, and the end of bearing the burden of other people’s crimes.

I see you, I hear you, and I believe you. You are not alone.

Proceeds from the sale of both of the Hymn to the Erinyes scents benefit RAINN, the United States’ largest anti-sexual violence organization. RAINN operates the National Sexual Assault Hotline, and provides programs to help survivors, prevent sexual violence, and ensure that offenders are brought to justice.

If you just want to buy the scent in support of RAINN, it can be done below. In another section, our narrator speaks up about her own experiences with assault. If you want to read it, click here, and be aware that this page contains content about rape and sexual assault.

A Savage Veil, Severe and Strong Perfume Oil
Black plum, 7-year aged patchouli, nutmeg, and tobacco leaf.

Proceeds from the sale of both of the Hymn to the Erinyes scents benefit RAINN, the United States’ largest anti-sexual violence organization. RAINN operates the National Sexual Assault Hotline, and provides programs to help survivors, prevent sexual violence, and ensure that offenders are brought to justice.

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Snaky-Hair’d Moirai Many-Form’d Perfume Oil
Tobacco-threaded incense smoke, labdanum, red benzoin, and blackened vanilla.

Proceeds from the sale of both of the Hymn to the Erinyes scents benefit RAINN, the United States’ largest anti-sexual violence organization. RAINN operates the National Sexual Assault Hotline, and provides programs to help survivors, prevent sexual violence, and ensure that offenders are brought to justice.

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Activism - The Collected Poetic Works of Antonin Scalia
We’ve had myriad political figures throughout US history that have possessed acid tongues, but few in the modern era have provided such a constant stream of colorfully vitriolic superlatives as Antonin Scalia.

He is the federal court’s beat poet of indignation and right-wing rage.

For your pleasure, we present a line dedicated to SCOTUS’ reigning Sick Burn Champion, the cranky, flamboyant, inimitable Justice Antonin Gregory Scalia. Proceeds from every single bottle will be donated to the Southern Poverty Law Center, the Trevor Project, and the National Center for Transgender Equality.

Ask the Nearest Hippie Perfume Oil
Obergefell vs Hodges

Who ever thought that intimacy and spirituality [whatever that means] were freedoms? And if intimacy is, one would think Freedom of Intimacy is abridged rather than expanded by marriage. Ask the nearest hippie.

An olfactory guide, created to assist you in locating nearby hippies: patchouli, hemp, smoky vanilla bean, and cannabis accord.

(No, there is no actual weed in this perfume, silly.)

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Jiggery Pokery Perfume Oil
King vs Burwell

The Court’s next bit of interpretive jiggery-pokery involves other parts of the Act that purportedly presuppose the availability of tax credits on both federal and state Exchanges. Ante, at 13-14.

I dunno. “Jiggery Pokery” just felt like it needed a whimsical scent attached to it, so here’s some pink pepper cotton candy with a sliver of orange peel and a hint of vanilla cream.

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Looming Spectre of Inutterable Horror Perfume Oil
Arizona vs United States

We are not talking here about a federal law prohibiting the States from regulating bubble-gum advertising, or even the construction of nuclear plants. We are talking about a federal law going to the core of state sovereignty: the power to exclude.

The Court opinion’s looming specter of inutterable horror-“[i]f §3 of the Arizona statute were valid, every State could give itself independent authority to prosecute federal registration violations:-seems to me not so horrible and even less looming.

If securing its territory in this fashion is not within the power of Arizona, we should cease referring to it as a sovereign State.

Wherein Scalia channels Lovecraft: raw frankincense and tobacco absolute with Russian leather, blackened champaca, bitter clove, red patchouli, bourbon vanilla and petitgrain.

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Mummeries and Straining-to-be Memorable Passages Perfume Oil
Obergefell vs Hodges

Buried beneath the mummeries and straining-to-be-memorable passages of the opinion is a candid and startling assertion: No matter what it was the People ratified, the Fourteenth Amendment protects those rights that the Judiciary, in its ‘reasoned judgment,’ thinks the Fourteenth Amendment ought to protect.

Rosemary is for remembrance: rosemary water with lavender, blackberry, Italian bergamot, and white musk.

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Mystical Aphorisms of the Fortune Cookie Perfume Oil
Obergefell vs Hodges

If, even as the price to be paid for a fifth vote, I ever joined an opinion for the Court that began: ‘The Constitution promises liberty to all within its reach, a liberty that includes certain specific rights that allow persons, within a lawful realm, to define and express their identity,’ I would hide my head in a bag. The Supreme Court of the United States has descended from the disciplined legal reasoning of John Marshall and Joseph Story to the mystical aphorisms of the fortune cookie.

Almond fortune cookies and a bit of roadside palm reader-inspired incense.

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Pure Applesauce Perfume Oil
King vs Burwell

The Court claims that the Act must equate federal and state establishment of Exchanges when it defines a qualified individual as someone who (among other things) lives in the “State that established the Exchange,” 42 U.S.C. 18032(f)(1)(A). Otherwise, the Court says, there would be no qualified individuals on federal Exchanges, contradicting (for example) the provision requiring every Exchange to take the ” ‘interests of qualified individuals’ ” into accountwhen selecting health plans. Ante, at 11 (quoting 18031(e)(1)(b)). Pure applesauce.

Our applesauce is decidedly impure: mashed apples with sugar and honey, slivered with tobacco tar and black tea.

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