Say that the men of the old black tower,
Though they but feed as the goatherd feeds,
Their money spent, their wine gone sour,
Lack nothing that a soldier needs,
That all are oath-bound men:
Those banners come not in.
There in the tomb stand the dead upright,
But winds come up from the shore:
They shake when the winds roar,
Old bones upon the mountain shake.
Those banners come to bribe or threaten,
Or whisper that a man’s a fool
Who, when his own right king’s forgotten,
Cares what king sets up his rule.
If he died long ago
Why do you dread us so?
There in the tomb drops the faint moonlight,
But wind comes up from the shore:
They shake when the winds roar,
Old bones upon the mountain shake.
The tower’s old cook that must climb and clamber
Catching small birds in the dew of the morn
When we hale men lie stretched in slumber
Swears that he hears the king’s great horn.
But he’s a lying hound:
Stand we on guard oath-bound!
There in the tomb the dark grows blacker,
But wind comes up from the shore:
They shake when the winds roar,
Old bones upon the mountain shake.
A sepulchral, desolate scent. Long-dead soldiers, oath-bound; the perfume of their armor, the chill wind that surges through their tower, white bone and blackened steel: white sandalwood, ambergris, wet ozone, galbanum and leather with ebony, teak, burnt grasses, English ivy and a hint of red wine.
charlotteescher –
In the vial there’s a strong sweet chocolate cake smell.
Wet on my skin it smelled very much like a fudge cookie with coconut shaving drizzled over it.
As it dries the warmth of the sandalwood and myrrh cut through that chocolate.
This scent has a lot of soul.
Warm, delicious, inviting, a little mysterious, a little sexy. Absolutely delightful. Definitely a favorite as I find myself trying to dab a little of it all over. Will have to buy a larger bottle.
yashendwirh –
Soft, sweet, powdery warm scent. Only a little gourmand-y. IMO, very feminine.
yocum.molly –
I randomly got my hands on an imp’s ear size of this. I had never tried Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab or perfume oils in general, but wow, this scent blows my mind, and it’s the reason I just placed an order for more samples (and, of course, a full size of this). I didn’t think I liked scents like this–warm, sweet, sensual, but the way it mixes with my own body chemistry. It makes me instantly feel sexy. I definitely recommend this to anyone looking to try BPAL.
Leann86 –
This is one of my new favorite scents, and I really didn’t think I’d like it at all. Chocolate scents aren’t my favorite. But this one…it goes on smelling like yummy hot chocolate, then the cocoa and vanilla notes balance out with the sandalwood (I think.. It could be the myrrh. Whatever it is smells wonderful.). This may be my new daily scent for the winter. Definitely need a full size bottle!
dinnercakes –
I love this. My husband loves this. But sometimes, a little goes a long way and I end up smelling like a chocolate donut for the rest of the day.
Claire –
this smells so ummy nummy and chocolatey with such an nice vanilla
gmr2broadway –
In the bottle, Velvet is pure chocolate fudge: the dark, rich kind. It’s incredibly literal and makes your mouth water, but is a bit of an odd choice for a perfume.
Wet on the skin, the chocolate is immediately tempered with… smoke? Tobacco? Ah, it’s sandalwood, but an incredibly dry version of the scent. The fragrance is less foodie and more like a hot fudge sundae sitting in an old library. Strange, but nice.
Dry, the scent is 90% dry, dry sandalwood (it almost reminds me of the scent of a sauna), and 10% sweet dessert (the vanilla and chocolate notes muddle). It’s not for me, right now, but I am anxious to try it again after a few weeks of settling.
Julie –
This smells like the most amazing chocolate vanilla spice cake. It is so warm and makes me feel good wearing it. This will definitely be my go-to winter scent.
thecoffeeslayer –
In the bottle: I’m not sure what I’m smelling. Chocolate & vanilla definitely, but something that’s there but isn’t. It’s sharp & a little sweet.
Wet: OMG, now I smell the sandalwood. Kinda punches you in the face, right? The myrrh is now recognizable. The two are battling & the chocolate & vanilla are hiding in fear.
Dry: incense, but not the stuff that sets off my allergies. This has to be the myrrh & sandalwood blending with the cocoa. The vanilla still is absent.
1/2 hour later: see dry, but the vanilla comes out occasionally as vanilla incense- which makes me want to hurl. And, curiously, sometimes the sandalwood beats everything down…
aftermath: I was going to wash this off. Then got caught up in work. It’s been a few hours now. It smells almost spicy-floral & vanilla on me now. Very strange morphing there. I do like the end result.
Alisha –
This smells like an aged paperback book and chocolate. It’s very warm and comforting, not sweet. It’s not something I would have chosen for myself, so I’m happy to have received a sample and will possibly buy a bottle of this in the future.
Elizabeth –
I am not totally sold on this one. The sandalwood and cocoa are very strong, but I do not detect the vanilla, which I think would really make this great to me. Maybe it just needs to age, as the sandalwood and cocoa seem rather sharp and bitter in my imp.
olgaleshchova –
I received “Velvet” as one of the Imp Ears, with two full sized Black Phoenix Alchemy lab perfume oil’s, I was gifted, this Christmas. And, i absolutely love it! In the little vial, freshly applied on my skin, and dried down; “Velvet” smells ecactly like, a fleshly cut piece of red velvet cake. It’s a delicious, Gourmand scent. That, I’m happy to now have in my perfume oil collection.
Donna –
Chocolate cake. So much chocolate cake.
Mary –
This needed a couple weeks to settle for me. Now it is the perfect no scent scent The dry down smells of warm skin. Its soft, cozy, interesting- Velvet.
[email protected] –
SEX. In a bottle.
dementia_divine –
In the imp: I get all of the notes in the imp! The dusty quality of the sandalwood and the deliciousness of the cocoa vanilla are the most prominent, and the blend is deepened by the myrrh note.
Wet: The cocoa note reigns at first, but I’m getting more of the resins the longer the scent sits on my skin. The vanilla note sweetens the blend, preventing it from being a really dry and dusty chocolate and resin combination (which was my experience with Gelt). As the vanilla sweetens the scent, and the sandalwood emerges more, I’m somewhat reminded of Kit from the OLLA line.
Dry: Yes, this is very Kit-like now, as the cocoa note hides in the background. The myrrh note becomes stronger over time, making the blend drier, but it gives off the impression of a velvet tapestry hanging in an old library (with some cocoa powder is sitting open on a nearby table because someone is about to make hot chocolate, of course).
Verdict: I like this! I don’t feel the need to upgrade this one to a bottle (since I already have lots of chocolate scents and two bottles of Kit), but it’s really nice.
Soothinglotus –
This is my absolute favorite BPAL scent! Most of the time when I wear sweet smells, they get cloying and smell mostly gross. This starts off with a lovely cocoa/vanilla powdered sugar smell, and settles to a soft sophisticated sandalwood/myrrh softened by cocoa-vanilla. It’s slightly sweet, but not cloying, as well as slightly warm and mysterious. Wonderful!
WinteryCate –
I love a lot of BPAL fragrances, but Velvet is *my* signature scent. When it first goes on, the cocoa is quite prevalent, but with a spicy whisper of myrrh that brightens the darker notes beautifully. Once it dries, the sandalwood takes centre stage, but maintains a soft kiss from the earlier cocoa vanilla. It might not react well with other people’s body chemistry, but on me? This is absolute poetry.
It’s dark, sensual, mysterious, and regal. I couldn’t possibly love this scent more, and if it’s ever, EVER discontinued, I will buy the entire stock just to ensure that I have enough to last me FOREVER.
[email protected] –
I do so well with myrrh, sandalwood and vanilla blends, but the cocoa in this threw the lot off and turned it a bit fuzzy. Though appropriate to the name, it didn’t sit very well on my skin. I gave it to a friend who appreciates chocolate scents and hope it works well on her.
jessecake –
Velvet started off smelling like chocolate cake on my skin but after about ten minutes all that chocolatey goodness was gone. It morphed into a really elegant powerful scent, the kind you would not wear during the day but would definitely want to wear to a dinner party or night on the town.
Then it morphed again and was less sexy and started to smell like something a grandma would wear. I’ve tried this on two separate days and it did the same thing both times. I am sad that it doesn’t work on me, but it could be worth trying because I can see it smelling amazing on the right person.