13 is significant, whether you consider it lucky, unlucky or just plain odd. Many believe it to be unfortunate...

... because there were 13 present at the Last Supper.
... Loki crashed a party of 12 at Valhalla, which ended in Baldur's death.
... Oinomaos killed 13 of Hippodamia's suitors before Pelops finally, in his own shady way, defeated the jealous king.
... In ancient Rome, Hecate's witches gathered in groups of 12, the Goddess herself being the 13th in the coven.

Concern over the number thirteen echoes back beyond the Christian era. Line 13 was omitted form the Code of Hammurabi.

The shivers over Friday the 13th also have some interesting origins:

... Christ was allegedly crucified on Friday the 13th.
... On Friday, October 13, 1307, King Philip IV of France ordered the arrests of Jaques de Molay, Grand Master of the Knights Templar, and sixty of his senior knights.
... In British custom, hangings were held on Fridays, and there were 13 steps on the gallows leading to the noose.

To combat the superstition, Robert Ingersoll and the Thirteen Club held thirteen-men dinners during the 19th Century. Successful? Hardly. The number still invokes trepidation to this day. A recent whimsical little serial killer study showed that the following murderers all have names that total thirteen letters:

Theodore Bundy
Jeffrey Dahmer
Albert De Salvo
John Wayne Gacy

And, with a little stretch of the imagination, you can also fit ”˜Jack the Ripper' and ”˜Charles Manson' into that equation.

More current-era paranoia: modern schoolchildren stop their memorization of the multiplication tables at 12. There were 13 Plutonium slugs in the atomic bomb that was dropped on Nagasaki. Apollo 13 wasn't exactly the most successful space mission. All of these are things that modern triskaidekaphobes point to when justifying their fears.

For some, 13 is an extremely fortuitous and auspicious number...

... In Jewish tradition, God has 13 Attributes of Mercy. Also, there were 13 tribes of Israel, 13 principles of Jewish faith, and 13 is considered the age of maturity.
... The ancient Egyptians believed that there were 12 stages of spiritual achievement in this lifetime, and a 13th beyond death.
... The word for thirteen, in Chinese, sounds much like the word which means “must be alive”.

Thirteen, whether you love it or loathe it, is a pretty cool number all around.

... In some theories of relativity, there are 13 dimensions.
... It is a prime number, lucky number, star number, Wilson Prime, and Fibonacci number.
... There are 13 Archimedean solids.

AND...
... There were 13 original colonies when the United States were founded.

Says a lot about the US, doesn't it?

Art thou pale for weariness
Of climbing heaven and gazing on the earth,
Wandering companionless
Among the stars that have a different birth,
And ever changing, like a Joyless eye
That finds no object worth its constancy?

Each month we offer a unique, limited edition Lunacy perfume oil, corresponding to the upcoming full moon. These remain available on the website for a very limited time. These scents will be accompanied by a series of duets (simple, two-note fragrances), along with a themed Hair Gloss, Hand & Body Lotion, and Nail Polish. We’ll also make Drew Rausch’s label artworks available as collectible sticker designs. 

We’re also continuing our series of monthly scents inspired by classical artworks, now collected under the name ARS ANNI, and a ritual blend from our sister shop, Twilight Alchemy Lab.

Each month in 2026, we will be adding to our new "At The Root" collection, which will be raising funds for organizations which are defending basic human rights. The scents themselves will incorporate essences from the rootiest components we have on hand, to produce a series of grounding and inspiring perfume oils lending stability to thought, clarity to purpose, and stubbornness to cause.  

Check here monthly for the latest in lunatic fragrance trends!

Lunacy Duets
Our duet scents are designed to flatter, compliment, or enhance different aspects of the Lunacy blend that they are born from. They can be worn alone or layered with their siblings and their parent Lunacy.

Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab is an independent gothic perfumery founded in Los Angeles in 2002 and now handcrafting artisanal fragrances from our home in Philadelphia, where we blend every indie perfume oil by hand in small batches, drawing on literature, mythology, folklore, horror, the occult, and the dark romance of vampires and Victorian mourning to create scents for goths, dreamers, and anyone who wants their perfume to tell a story. 

Alongside our alcohol-free perfume oils, which are made to be worn close to the skin and unfold slowly over hours, we make scented lotions, hair glosses, beard oils, room sprays, and atmosphere sprays, along with ritual and condition oils, “Claw” Nail Polish, limited-edition seasonal releases for Halloween, Yule, and Lupercalia, and licensed collections inspired by film, television, and literature. Gamers will find a whole world of fantasy perfume and RPG-inspired scents designed to enhance tabletop and TTRPG sessions, from the tavern and the dungeon to the wizard’s tower, and our sister brand, Twilight Alchemy Lab, carries the same handmade niche spirit into its own corner of the dark. 

Discovery sets are available to sample our atmospheric and nostalgic perfume oils so that you can find your signature scent. All BPAL products are cruelty-free and never tested on animals.