Illyria
The Shakespearean Collection.
Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab’s olfactory paean to the characters from Shakespeare’s plays.
PERFUME OIL BLENDS
Presented in an amber apothecary vial.
$5.75 – $23.00
Orchid, white musk, and bergamot wafting over juniper berries, with a gentle touch of soft, earthy patchouli.
Illyria
The Shakespearean Collection.
Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab’s olfactory paean to the characters from Shakespeare’s plays.
PERFUME OIL BLENDS
Presented in an amber apothecary vial.
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Behind everything crouched the brooding, festering horror of the ancient town, and of the mouldy, unhallowed garret gable where he wrote and studied and wrestled with figures and formulae when he was not tossing on the meager iron bed. His ears were growing sensitive to a preternatural and intolerable degree, and he had long ago stopped the cheap mantel clock whose ticking had come to seem like a thunder of artillery. At night the subtle stirring of the black city outside, the sinister scurrying of rats in the wormy partitions, and the creaking of hidden timbers in the centuried house, were enough to give him a sense of strident pandemonium. The darkness always teemed with unexplained sound – and yet he sometimes shook with fear lest the noises he heard should subside and allow him to hear certain other fainter noises which he suspected were lurking behind them.
He was in the changeless, legend-haunted city of Arkham, with its clustering gambrel roofs that sway and sag over attics where witches hid from the King’s men in the dark, olden years of the Province.
A shadowy, unapproachable forest of maple, birch, dogwood, cypress and pine softened by a garland of New England wildflowers: bergamot, columbine, rue anemone, blue violet, creeping phlox, bloodroot, toadflax, and pixie moss.
The overwhelming agony of passion crystallized into a singularly dark and magnetic blend: bittersweet neroli, black patchouli and black musk, gilded by apple, bergamot, blood red rose, teak, and vanilla.
She herself had short red hair and a face which was not so much freckled as one big freckle with occasional areas of skin.
Pepper’s given first names were Pippin Galadriel Moonchild. She had been given them in a naming ceremony in a muddy valley field that contained three sick sheep and a number of leaky polythene teepees. Her mother had chosen the Welsh valley of Pant y Gyrdl as the ideal site to Return to Nature. (Six months later, sick of the rain, the mosquitoes, the men, the tent trampling sheep who ate first the whole commune’s marijuana crop and then its antique minibus, and by now beginning to glimpse why almost the entire drive of human history has been an attempt to get as far away from Nature as possible, Pepper’s mother returned to Pepper’s surprised grandparents in Tadfield, bought a bra, and enrolled in a sociology course with a deep sigh of relief.)
There are only two ways a child can go with a name like Pippin Galadriel Moonchild, and Pepper had chosen the other one: the three male Them had learned this on their first day of school, in the playground, at the age of four.
They had asked her her name, and, all innocent, she had told them.
Subsequently a bucket of water had been needed to separate Pippin Galadriel Moonchild’s teeth from Adam’s shoe. Wensleydale’s first pair of spectacles had been broken, and Brian’s sweater needed five stitches.
The Them were together from then on, and Pepper was Pepper forever, except to her mother, and (when they were feeling especially courageous, and the Them were almost out of earshot) Greasy Johnson and the Johnsonites, the village’s only other gang.
Wild English roses, French gardenia, vanilla, honey, golden ginger, blood orange, pine resin, pink pepper, crushed berries, tuberose, bergamot, and geranium.
Sensual ecstasy, the blinding red fire of the apex of sexual pleasure: Moroccan rose, Sumatran rose, mandarin, Egyptian myrrh, night-blooming jasmine, bergamot and neroli thrust into Arabian musk.
Isaac Park –
I don’t know how this is possible, but it smells exactly like my grandmother who passed away when I was young. It’s not similar, it is EXACT. She was young when she passed. She was very classy and took great pride in her appearance and environment and her perfume matched everything about her. This one is a very clean floral smell that doesn’t give off too much“old lady” vibes, rather more a timeless smell that any age group could wear. It is extremely feminine so definitely avoid this one if you are wanting to smell manly or gender neutral. I got this as a sample in a previous order. After being blown away and flooded with memories I bought myself a bottle and gave my father the smaller sample bottle to keep for himself. It’s a smell I am confident to wear and it brings me great comfort!
erannah –
My boyfriend’s absoulte favorite scent! A lightly aquatic floral, it smells like lying by the lake in a forest snuggling your significant other in the sunshine.
artimisia –
I love this perfume. I ordered it as part of a group of imps for a friend who loves BPAL. This was my first ever purchase from the lab because I was leery of the idea of buying perfume before you got the chance to see what it smells like. I didn’t think I would ever buy anything for me. But when I smelled this imp, it changed my mind. I gave the imp to my friend (as planned), then bought a bottle for me. And I’ve been exploring BPAL ever since. Because any company that can create scents like this deserves my patronage, even if it means buying “blind”.
It’s taken me a long time to review this one, though, because I’m not sure how to describe it. The orchid is the strongest note on me. I’m not getting an incense vibe from this one at all. Instead it’s a pretty, clean smelling floral. Florals can sometimes become overly sweet on me, but this one avoids that trap. It just continues to radiate a cool, garden scent. I guess that’s what makes it a “white” floral. It’s got a decent throw (not overpowering on me, like the other reviewer said), but enough so you know it’s there. And it lasts all day without reapplication. To me, it’s a perfect perfume.
Sarah –
This is a soft, lovely floral. Sometimes florals go powdery on my skin, but this one fortunately does not. It is very fresh and reminds me of something comforting from my childhood, but I can’t quite put my finger on what it is. Average throw, but has some serious long lasting power. I really like this one!
QueenieBee –
This was a free sample, thank you BPAL! I love companies who promote their products that way. Instant happiness!
“Oberon” is a versatile perfume. On my lady skin it was all white floral. It’s quite sharp at first, but as it drys it mellows into a very soft and delicately clean floral scent with a hint of sweet-smelling powder. It reminds me of my aunts, who were all delicate-boned and lacy.
On my friend’s dude skin it is much more earthy and musky. The patchouli is more dominant and there is an herbaceous note that keeps it from being too “old lady” floral. It smells like a boy who has rolled around outside and ended up in the flower bed.
White florals are not really “me” but if they were this would be one I’d have. The longer you wear it, the better it smells. Good longevity. Non-invasive if applied lightly.
Rmercy –
Was pleasantly surprised to receive this as an extra. This scent is beautiful, softly floral and earthy. As if someone has lit incense in a fresh garden. I wish to bathe in it, and sleep under the moon in an overgrown field. And I never favor floral tones but it lingers delicately.