Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab: For Each Ecstatic Instant (Lupercalia 2015)

purchased and reviewed by ThoraSTooth

BPAL For Each Ecstatic Instant (Lupercalia 2015) -- velvet-red roses and sensual aged patchouli with night-blooming jasmine, caramelized bourbon vanilla, labdanum, black amber, and oudh.

In the bottle this smells very deep, mostly resin and patchouli with some jasmine and a touch of vanilla.  Wet on my skin the patchouli and jasmine spike immediately.  This smells like it's going to be similar to the Sumatran Red Patchouli single note.  The oudh comes up, and there's a tiny velvety bit of rose impression too.  Overall, it's very dark, opulent, and intense.

On drydown, it's a dry and slightly powdery scent, woody at first but then more resinous, more jasmine than patchouli.  I keep wondering where the sweetness of rose and vanilla have gone!  But there is no mercy in this scent.  It is not ethereal, a picturesque ninteenth-century mourner's statue draped over the grave of former ecstasy.  This is the full awareness of loss, the forceful downside of loving completely.

I'm always delighted when I find a perfume inspired by one of my favorite poets.  It's even more delightful when I can actually wear it and find it meaningful.