Sacred Woods and Gypsy Soul

Yesterday I compared the butterfly scents of Midnight Gypsy Alchemy and The Perfume Garden. Today I am testing another scent of each of them. Alma Gitana (Gypsy Soul) is a new scent that I wanted to try because it has tobacco as an ingredient and any scent from Black Phoenix that has tobacco as a note makes me smell as if I have been rolling in wet sigarettes. I wanted to know if another perfumer would use a tobacco I can deal with. Sacred Woods had a note I didn't like the first time I tried it and I wanted to try it again to see if it was as different on me as the butterfly was yesterday. I was so anxious to find out about both that I could not make a choice, but had the gypsy on my left arm and the woods on my right.


Sacred Woods this time was as nice as I had hoped it would be. It is a very soft and round and rich wood scent with a little bit of floral sweetness. 

A blend of Himalayan and Atlas Cedarwood, Jatamansi, cultivated Agarwood from Assam, Ho Wood, Sandalwood, Myrrh and Frankincense resins, with floral notes including Pink Lotus, Rose and Ylang Ylang softening the strong woody scent.

Alas like all perfumes from The Perfume Garden Sacred Woods is very light too. It stays very close to my skin and after two hours it has become so faint I want to reapply it. Because I expect wood to have much staying power I am wondering if it is the connection with the carrier oil that makes it sink into my skin and dissolve there. On the other hand, having applied it four times now I find it stronger, so perhaps it is just the fact that it is less concentrated than other wood scents I have.
Looking at the description I still wonder why jatamansi has a place among the woods in the list, as Nardostachys jatamansi really is a flowering plant from the Valerian family.

Alma Gitana proves to be the first scent containing a tobacco note that I actually can wear. 

A complex and rich fragrance that embodies the gypsy spirit in a daring and bold scent of ancient resins, dark fruit and exotic florals with notes of tobacco smoke. Created with jasmine, tobacco and vanilla absolutes, plum extract, essential oils of bergamot, cinnamon, patchouli, black pepper, and tuberose with resins of myrhh and amber infused with dried plum fruit, cinnamon sticks, peppercorns, tobacco and patchouli leaves.

There is a strange thing with this perfume: I think I smell coffee, but it is not in the description. So what is it then, that I am smelling? My partner thinks it is sweet, the vanilla and amber may be what makes it sweet. But could I really mistake the so hated tobacco combined with some of the other notes for my much loved coffee? I can only say Nina did a great job here! The Gypsy Soul is indeed complex and rich. (And I wonder what plum extract would be. I would love to use it!)
Alma Gitana too is a less concentrated perfume, like all the roll on bottles that Midnight Gypsy sells. I find that with less concentrated perfumes I reapply a few times a day. With the roll on bottles this is easy, because I can take them with me without any risk of spillage and reapplying is done quickly and easily.


I did not mean to compare these two scents, but with one on each arm it is hard not to. I love both, and I can't say I would prefer one to the other. The difference is again in the sophisticated elegance of The Perfume Garden and the more wild spirit of Midnight Gypsy. Unfortunately for me this is also reflected in the price. It will be much easier for me to buy a 3oz roll on bottle of Alma Gitana than a 10ml bottle of Sacred Woods.

La Mariposa and other butterflies

"Oh carry me wind where ever you blow, to far away places I wish to go" 

La Mariposa is one of Midnight Gypsy's new spring scents. Its description sounded so good I bought a bottle of it without testing a sample first and I was not disappointed.

A perfume ode to springtime, new beginnings, change and butterflies in the meadow. A blend of delicate florals, a hint of green grass and sweet nectar. A beautiful blend of blue lotus and vanilla absolute, labdanum resin, essential oils in basil and grapefruit infused with grapefruit peels, basil leaves, vanilla beans and blue lotus petals. An aroma created to have your heart take flight on wings of spring time bliss. 

It is well blended, I can only guess that the grapefruit and basil are there. I do pick out the lotus (I think), vanilla and labdanum, but grapefruit and basil only add their light hearted energy without dominating the blend.  It is a light scent, light as a butterfly I would say and indeed one that lightens the heart.


It is interesting that one of the perfumes of The Perfume Garden has the name Butterfly. Butterfly has in common with La Mariposa that it is less concentrated than the perfumes of Black Phoenix. Other than that it is very different. Butterfly, like all of The Perfume Garden's perfumes, is a more subdued kind of scent, while La Mariposa is a more wild kind of scent. I would say it is like the difference between the citizen and the gypsy. 

Like the flight of a graceful butterfly, this light floral fragrance is delicate and feminine, and perfect as a reminder of sunny spring days.

Main Notes: Lavender Absolute, Neroli, Geranium, Rose, Jasmine, Bergamot and Clary Sage.

For me this perfume is mainly lavender, because my skin seems to amplify lavender. Any scent that carries lavender will refuse to allow me to smell anything else.


Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab too is under the spell of butterflies with their annual Metamorphosis release. As usual they have a number of perfumes that were inspired each by their own butterfly. I have ordered some decants of the new ones, and I may write about some of last year's release in the days to come. That is, if I can pull myself free from the magic of La Mariposa.

Lady in Speckled Pink Kimono

The peony in the picture above was labeled as a Japanese Tree Peony. Although Japanese Tree Peony seems to be a common name for tree peonies, most species of which the origin was specified were found in China. There are about 8 species of woody peonies and about 30 species of herbaceous peonies, of the herbaceous species one is literally named Japanese (Paeonia japonica). 


There is a story in which the peony was once Paeon (or Paean), who in Homer's writings was the physician of the gods. In the Iliad Paeon heals Ares and Hades with his herbal lore. But he has also been seen as an epithet of Apollo and Asklepios (Asclepius). And to make things more complicated there are four more gods who can go under this name. In the story that gives the peony its name Paeon is Asklepios' student and the master is jealous of the pupil. To protect Paeon from the wrath of Asklepios, Zeus changes him into a peony. Unfortunately I have not been able to find more than this one source for this story, so I am not quite sure if the ancient Greek indeed knew it. Paeon is also the name of a song or lyric poem expressing triumph or thanksgiving (source) and the name for a metrical foot (source).


My love for the Lady in Speckled Pink Kimono in which the peony is such an important note made me buy a peony for my garden. The garden centre close to my home had a special offer of rather large plants of the Paeonia lactiflora Sarah Bernhardt which I could not pass. It is in a large pot and it should be possible to keep it in the pot, which may be a good idea because my garden can be quite wet. It is too early to show off its flowers, so for now I'll show a picture that I found online:

Earlier entries inspired by the perfume Lady in Speckled Pink Kimono can be found here, here and here.

Cambienne Bête Noire

I came across the Possets scent Cambienne in the variation Bête Noire through an eBay auction. Before that I had heard of Possets, but only as one of quite a few perfumers making oil based perfumes like BPAL but different. When I read about the Cambiennes I got interested. Fabienne who is Possets perfume describes it as follows:

Cambienne is a fragrance which I change over the course of the year. It follows a theme that I set which could be as universal as the changing of the season, to the journey of life that a woman takes, or it might reflect a novelette which I have included for amusement. In any case, it will be beautiful and each new version of Cambienne builds on the previous one. They are all created in the Master Flask which is replenished and changed to the new version when it is drawn down sufficiently. This happens under the dictates of demand and my creative tendencies so I cannot promise a specific Cambienne to you, but you will get the one which is in production at the time you order it. I think you will be charmed by the risk and by the concept and by the beauty of Cambienne.

I was fascinated. I bought the bottle on eBay and the next thing that happened was that it got lost. All of my mail in that period got lost and I had to submit a complain to the postal services before my mail started to arrive again. New mail. This bottle remained somewhere in limbo for several more weeks, but finally it arrived as the last one of the series of lost packages.

I tested it some days ago on a day when I tested several scents: link and I didn't really like it then. Today it is much the same, it is probably the combination of something sweet and the black pepper. It is a strange combination. Strange, but fascinating. It is both the scent that fascinates me and the process of its creation. So although I do not really like it I keep wearing it, because it fascinates me. And I might even learn to like it some day. 

Raven Spells

A spell to change form by the summer's full moon light,

pluck a feather from the raven to become one with the night.

To the Alchemist Gypsy, the raven represents changes in conciousness and is the symbol of a shape shifter. Ravens are prophets, spell-casters, and messengers and offer knowledge of the world to those open to recieve such magick. (Midnight Gypsy Alchemy)

Raven Spell is another one of my favourite scents of Midnight Gypsy Alchemy. The scent's description suggests it if course, but it does have a sort of purple smell to me, not a bright flashing purple but the kind of purple you might see as a shine on the raven's feathers.

Captured is a bit of raven mystery in a special blend of dark violet floral spice and berries with essential oils of sensual sweet sandalwood, cassia, frankincense and orris root, violet leaf absolute, infused with blackberry fruit extract, dragons blood resin, orris root, real blueberries and apples.

Working with Animal Spirits has a list of characteristics of the Raven as a spiritual guide and also gives you a real audio link to hear Raven's voice. 
Druidry.org has a great page about the Raven in all its aspects, biological as well as spiritual. 
The Raven is also part of the Druid Animal Oracle.

I don't think I have ever seen a Raven in the wild. There are a few couples in my country, but there are many more crows and those are sometimes mistaken for ravens. A friend once told me about ravens who would forage at a certain McDonalds she often visited, but when she took me there what I saw were crows.  

Dragon Moon 2012

This is the third year that Black Phoenix issues a Dragon Moon perfume for the full moon in April. This year the description of Dragon and scent goes like this:

In some cultures, the Dragon is benevolent, bestowing blessings and granting wishes. In others, the Dragon is an icon of destruction and harbinger of catastrophe. In all its incarnations, both baneful and benign, the Dragon is a symbol of strength, authority, and the raw power of nature. This Dragon Moon represents the forces of rebirth and the vigor that springtime brings: dragon's blood resin, galbanum, coriander, patchouli, wild arbor vitae, blue sage, lavender, peppermint, sweetgrass, frankincense, moonglow magnolia, bergamot, Terebinth pine, fire-blackened wood, and green cedar.

 The second part answers my question why April would have a Dragon Moon. I have never found this name for this moon except with BPAL. There has been a Dragon Moon in 2008:

dragon's blood resin, galbanum, blue sage, lavender, peppermint, sweetgrass, frankincense, moonglow magnolia, bergamot, and green cedar.

Looking at the notes that are mentioned this year's Dragon Moon seems to have been developed from the one in 2008. It had the same general description as this year's Dragon Moon. 


The first Dragon Moon in 2006 was  different from these two: 

In Imperial China, the Dragon was the symbol of the Emperor's power, and to this day, the concept and the image of the Dragon is considered sacrosanct. The Dragonis a symbol of power, the Lord of weather and water. The Dragon Moon celebrates the glory and vigor of Springtime: dragon's blood resin, tea leaf, bamboo reed, sandalwood and cherry blossom.

As you can see it was more connected with the Chinese Dragon and the notes reflect that. 

Although I could find no other sources for a Dragon Moon in April, I did find a book with that title. It is a children's fantasy novel by Carole Wilkinson and the last book of the Dragonkeeper trilogy.

Fairy Bites

It has been some time since I last saw Labyrinth (I think I saw it twice). So I refreshed my memory by watching this trailer on youtube. I think I could have watched the complete movie starting here, but I did not intend to spend that much time watching today. Besides, it is always better on a larger screen. The biting fairy after which this scent is named is not very important in the story. I think she was chosen because most of us expect fairies to be like Sarah expected them to be:

‎"It bit me!"

"What did you expect fairies to do?"

"I thought they did nice things.
Like — like granting wishes."

"Shows what you know, don't it?”

This fairy bit when Sarah came too close. But she is not a bad creature, just... careful I suppose. It is not safe to be too trusting when you have the size of a dragonfly. The scent's description too shows that this fairy is not an evil creature, although she does have a dangerous edge:

Osmanthus and raw honey with lavender, chamomile, white peppermint, raspberry, honeysuckle, thyme, bergamot, and Dracula orchid.

I have no idea how a Dracula orchid smells, but there is indeed such a plant. In fact it is a whole Genus consisting of 118 species!  They are not named after the notorious vampire, according to this wikipedia page their name simply means little dragon. The plants have been given this name "because of the strange aspect of the two long spurs of the sepals," the sepals being the green outermost leaves of the flower. However there is a species that is actually named Dracula vampira, so those who gave names were no entirely ignoring our famous Count.

Dracula vampira

The scent starts out smelling mostly of peppermint with a hint of lavender. After a while some sweeter, fruity notes come into play. I suppose that must be the raspberry, I don't really smell the honey in this mix. But even then the osmanthus is already there. It only gets stronger with time and after an hour I smell osmanthus with probably something more, but primarily osmanthus. Since I bought a decant of this hoping for osmanthus I can really smell I am very happy with this. I am afraid this is another scent for my wishlist.