Tue 20 Feb 2007
The Smell of Chaos
Posted by anaglyph under Perfume, Scary
[6] Comments
Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab are specialists in creating perfumes with a dark, romantic Gothic tone. Their site says “Our scents run the aesthetic gamut of magickal, pagan and mythological blends, Renaissance, Medieval and Victorian formulas, and horror/Gothic-themed…”
You will find amongst their range Funereal Oils, Voodoo Blends and a set of perfumes intriguingly titled Carnival Diabolique.
For the true geeks of the horror domain though, the parfum de choix must surely be their Picnic in Arkham line, a collection based on the works of the great horror master H.P. Lovecraft. Offerings in this set include Cthulhu, Night Gaunt and R’lyeh and a miscellany of enigmatic others.
I’m really hoping that they are not too literal to the Lovecraft ouvre since I can’t see much demand for fragrances based on rotting fish and seaweed. R’lyeh is described as “A hellishly dark aquatic scent, evocative of fathomless oceanic deeps, the mysteries of madness buried under crushing black waters, and the brooding eternal evil that lies beneath the waves“.
It may be a measure of the magnitude of the loss of my sanity, but I really want to be able to go around smelling like that.
I don’t think there’s too much fear of reeking like a fishmonger’s cart though, if the seductive profiles of some of the other perfumes are anything to go by. Shub-Niggurath is spruiked as “A blend of ritual herbs and dark resins, shot through with three gingers and aphrodisiacal spices” and Miskatonic University sounds very appealing as “The scent of Irish coffee, dusty tomes and polished oakwood halls“.
Of course if Lovecraft himself had written the copy, his concise description of the fragrance of something like Azathoth would inevitably have been simply ‘Indescribable’.
I can’t tell you how much I want to try these perfumes. Unfortunately Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab doesn’t sell outside the US.
I don’t think the Elder Gods will look too kindly on that.
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Thanks to Universal Head for pointing me to Black Phoenix!
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Some of those sound like they might be all right on the rocks or with a splash of tonic.
Now that theyr comin up wit death scents, maybe a new Anna Nicole Smiff line is just aroun th corner.
Joey – That is so wrong. But now I can’t help but wonder what it would smell like? I’m guessing cigarettes and old men.
It’s all psych – they have their intended market heading in with an idea of what it should smell like already.
We already know the same scent doesn’t smell the same to everyone, or we’d all be able to tolerate the lone woman in the office who refuses to stop wearing her charlie
meow: >>It’s all psych – they have their intended market heading in with an idea of what it should smell like already.
Well, of course, but you could argue that about any commercial perfume really. And, as in any other endeavour to seek novelty, people like BPAL are wandering on the fringes – I always have time for people like that.
Methinks a lot of the scents are going to be in ones head….not via ones nose.