Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab: Patchouli Clove Bar Soap

One of my favorite soapers, Brooke Perry from B. Perry Studios, created a handful of soaps for Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab not too long ago, all hauntingly delicious sounding. There was some pumpkin spice (this one is still available!), apples, pumpkin cheesecake and this patchouli clove. I decided to pick up two bars of this version.

Patchouli Clove-  Notes: Husky patchouli and bitter clove in a soap swirled with bonfire ash. $12

This 3.5 ounce cocoa butter based bar soap is crafted by B. Perry Studios using BPAL fragrance. It comes beautifully wrapped in an antiqued paper sleeve that even has a castle scene on the back. 

It will be my soap for the month of August, carrying me into the wiles of autumn gently and fragrantly. The patchouli is earthen and herbaceous with woody buds of clove and green hazy woodsmoke wafting about. There is a tang to this soap, as if the good being burned was still bendy and verdant with sap and life. It lathers with tiny bubbles and viscous silken cream. It rinses cleanly leaving behind soft sweet skin.

Now I am eyeing up that last soap in Pumpkin Spice Everything.

I feel like I am ready to bust into the shed and break out my fall stuff. I was planning to this past weekend but things got busy and I wasn't feeling in the right frame of mind with work coming on Monday and a potential hurricane (turned out to be just a few moody rainstorms) and my cycle approaching. I think this coming weekend will be good. Are you decorating yet? Do you plan to?

Sihaya & Company: Winter Box

This box was provided free from Sihaya & Company in exchange for photographs.

The Winter Box: Once Upon A Winter Sky from Sihaya & Company was thoughtfully stuffed with a beautiful assortment of hand crafted and artisan items to create a snug and cheerful wintertime experience. 

To kick it off, a sparkling pair of night-sky inspired earrings from Wyrding Studios dangled in the crinkle paper. Their silver and indigo colors shone delicately with curled silver wire and jewels. Scarlette claimed these beauties for herself once she saw them.

Firebird bath and body featured their lotion in Counting Stars- with notes of dry leaves, pine needles, smoky campfire, chilly night air, and a warm woolen blanket. I have used Firebird products in the past and have always been happy with them. Their lotions absorb easily and are perfect for spring and summer skin needs, imparting delicious scents and light and airy moisturizing. This is non-greasy and soothing. Counting Stars is a wonderful campfire scent with light smokiness accompanied by crisp fall leaves and the subtle scent of dirt roads that meander through woods. I love pairing this with my Solstice Scents Foxcroft. 

Another favorite indie bath and body vendor that I enjoy is in this box too, B. Perry Studios with a bar soap in Goldstone. Notes of burning pine and birch embers, black berries, sweet clementine and bright lemon make for a lovely soap. It is surprisingly fresh and virile but not smoky or sweet. I love how Brooke's soaps lather so beautifully and rinse cleanly. The blue ombre effect brings to mind the layers of the night sky as the sunsets low and the stars slowly emerge. 

I always look forward to the perfume that is included in the Sihaya boxes. This beauty from Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab is called Auriga, with notes of starry white vegetal musk, cold winter wind blowing through olive blossom, sweet labdanum, fossilized amber resin, fir needle, fern, balm melissa, champaca, cypress, and white cedar. From the bottle rises pale flowers and watery musk with swollen ivory tubers and roots pushing along the base. On the skin the champaca flower blooms with paper white bulb headiness and sunflower sunniness. It is braced by evergreens and ferns in a green fougere haze. As it dries down the dark ambers lend a velvety space for the fougere to rest against. This is a beautifully rendered perfume and it will wear well with age.

This isn't my first round with the divine chocolates that Immortal Mountain Chocolates crafts. After having a yummy minty chocolate bar from them lsat year I purchased a handful of other bars from their Etsy store. They are very nice. Smooth, dark and flavorful with a velvety mouthfeel. The bar included in this box is Wandering Star Cacao which contains flavors of star anise, goji berries, ginger root, astragalus root, and reishi mushroom. The combination of flavors is exotic, spices and faraway fruits that taste of bazaars and the earthy tang of edible fungus.

Each Sihaya box comes with a Sihaya candle and they never disappoint. These burn evenly with time and do require wick trimming but they burn strong and smell lovely with a good throw. 

Once Upon A Winter Sky- Notes: Iced pear, frozen cranberry, vanilla sugar, frosty melon, wintery woods, starry night musk. 

I enjoyed burning this one on my nightstand this winter. The spiced fruits and fresh woods along with the deep and dark musk made for a wonderful bedroom scent. The cranberries and pear and melons merged into a sweetly romantic aroma. The tartness of the cranberries and the deep woodsy musk set this scent apart from others I have been melting and burning recently. I loved it so much I bought another one on the Indie Polish Pick Up.

Sihaya and Company boxes are always a pleasure to experience. They make exquisite gifts, especially to those who appreciate handcrafted and artisan products centered around a cohesive theme. The boxes cost $65 and are always valued at more.

Are you burning candles? What perfumes are you wearing?

B. Perry Studios: Salt Soak and Rose Gold Soap

I had a mini shopping spree over at B. Perry Studios a month or so back. These two items were used daily and now are a thing of my past but I wanted to share how fabulous they were as they are still both for sale in Brooke's Etsy shop. 

Strawberry Lovin' Salt Soak is a treat for the bath. It contains real strawberry bits and is scented with ylang ylang essential oil and vanilla bean fibers. A tub runs $12. About 3 tablespoons is the recommended amount to use and disperse under hot running water but I am a bit of an overboard bath junkie and this lasted me three uses as I poured way more than that. It smells incredible. The dried strawberries smell just like dried fruit leather strips and mixed with the peachy ylang ylang and vanilla it made for a summery roadside market atmosphere. There wasn't much bubbling or frothing but I didn't expect any with a bath salt type of product, however, it did make for a relaxing bath salt soak.

I am a big fan of Brooke's soaps. She has definitely rocketed up into my top four soaper list along with Zahida, Tiggy and Kyme. I picked up Brooke's Pumpkin Spice line of soaps but I want to save those for closer to fall for use and review but this bar of Rose Gold was put in the shower rotation very quickly.

Rose Gold- Notes: A cocoa butter cold process body soap with red raspberry and sheer pink magnolia blooms over glowing gold resins. $10

This rich soap is made with not only cocoa butter but also olive oil, rice bran oil and lye. I like that Brooke's soaps aren't made with palm oil. This luxe mauve soap with a fine dusting of gold mica lathered beautifully, cascading frothy bubbles with minimal friction. My husband, girls and I used this whole bar up within a few weeks. It's soft amber and magnolia scent with hushed raspberry tones was a fast favorite. It rinsed cleanly without any tightness or residue but also left the skin soft and supple.

I will be picking this one up again and I did order Brooke's wedding soap and Tiger's Eye soap. By the way, the Pumpkin Spice soaps are on sale for only $5 each and all three scents are still available! I picked some up for myself and for gifts.

I still have my Abalone facial oil I would like to chat about once I start to use it, along with the Pink Pearl mud mask. Brooke has some of those left in her shop too right now. 

What bar soaps are you using? Any skin care stuff you are currently loving?

Arcana Wildcraft and B. Perry Studios Precious Stones Collaboration

These perfumes were sent as a gift from Julia. All opinions are my own.

Julia at Arcana Wildcraft and Brooke from B. Perry Studios are deft hands when it comes to collaboration. Formerly as Villainess, Brooke and Julia would come together for scents, soaps, scrubs and all things fragrant for the body. I tickles me greatly that they are continuing their fragrant partnership as Brooke transitions into B. Perry Studios. In fact, that is where these amazing scents can be found in both perfume and scrub form (though I do think some of the perfumes may be sold out- don't miss those scrubs!). These items are all vegan. Including the scrubs which I will feature later.

Rhodochrosite- Notes: Cheerful pink rhodochrosite is believed to stimulate happiness, love and youthful vigor. Fragrant Monoi de Tahiti with pink lemonade, citron, fresh gingerroot and pink labdanum. $20

Summer. This is summertime on the shore. At first when I sniffed the bottle it hit me with tropical gardenia but then oiled beach skin, bronze and glowing, came to mind too. Living on island time where people amble to the beach front cafe' for lemon spritzers, sand crunching between their flip flops and heels, sunscreen fragranting their shoulders and wild jasmine and gardenias blooming somehow among the cast off shells that roll in dunes. Fresh and wet on the skin the citron and tiare flowers possess a kinetic effervescence that pulses with summer brightness. I need to wear shades. I love it. The heart of the scent is tart and sour, a nod to the lemonade, with a bracing breath of soapy ginger that plays beautifully with the Tahitian gardenias. The dry down is interesting. A cottony clean labdanum and musk that reminds me of stones and shimmery sheets of mica flakes. I think the pink lemonade left a touch of the powderiness behind which translates into the clean cotton scent for me. Unique and lovely and cheerful indeed.

Chocolate Opal- Notes: This burnished stone filled with mysterious reflections is used to bring mindfulness, healing and psychic visions. White chocolate, fizzy raspberry soda, German cocoa CO2 extract, marshmallows and a sliver of young spruce. $20

Sniffing from the chocolately amber bottle reminds me of walking into The Ganachery at Disney Springs. It is this quaint artisan chocolate shop that features exquisite milk and dark chocolates along with a handful of truffle flavors. Dark cocoa, silken and dusky, melts in ribbons, pooling with magenta raspberry sauce. The white chocolate and marshmallow lend a creaminess to the robust chocolate. It is delicious. Soaked into the skin of the wrists the raspberries drizzle out like the sticky syrupy centers of a cordial, dense and flavorful, mouthwateringly delicious. This is easily the most appealing rendition of a raspberry that I have laid my nose on in perfume. It moves from a plump candied berry surrounded by juice and encased in a thin layer of artisan chocolate to having just the merest breath of cherry tobacco within the heart. As it dries down the cocoa takes on more of the nuances of woods while that sliver of spruce lends credence to that feel. All the while the raspberry cordials linger in the background, keeping the scent plush and constant. This is a beautiful chocolate aroma, so much more that it appears from the notes alone. One not to be missed.

Celestite- Notes: The soft, gentle sweetness of ethereal blue celestite helps to alleviate anxiety and calm the soul. Delicate iris, lavender, violet, orris root, confectioner's sugar, vanilla bean creme and white musk. $20. 

Darkly glimmering florals reach out from the vial, as if these rare purple and blue hued flowers existed in a sacred clearing at midnight and were beaded with moon dew and strung with pearls of spiders' web. Draped on the skin the orris root, which comes from an iris plant, exhales its tarry notes with a breath of mint and mystery. The heart of this scent is all about those tranquil florals. Powdery and beautiful like moth wings, iris and violet float like gossamer ghosts on a nightwind, lulling the senses into repose. The orris resurrects itself in the drydown but with soft leather and violet tones that merge with the faint suggestion of powdered sugar. However, on my skin this is never sweet. I think I am naturally drawn to this particular perfume not just because of the notes alone, but also because this time in my life does need soul calming and anxiety soothing. I appreciate having this elixir to wear. I do want to note that when I state that something is powdery, I do not mean "baby powder" it is how I envision a light ethereal softness in a scent. If I mention talc, then I am thinking more like baby powder. Powdery in a fragrance is not negative in my esteem. It is a tactile beauty that has a place and a texture in the fragrance. 

These three scents are beautifully created. I love the theme behind them and hope more precious gemstones emerge from Julia and Brooke with scents, scrubs and perhaps even lotion and bar soap? Hey. A girl can dream. I am rooting for a moonstone muse. I knew I would love Celestite but Chocolate Opal was a surprise favorite for me. Normally chocolate and I do not get along but this one will be worn often. You should go get it. 

How are you doing? What gemstones would you like to inspire a fragrance?

B. Perry Studios: Body Scrubs

Brooke Perry, the original founder and nose behind Villainess Soaps, has been hard at work creating beautiful smells and products to adorn the body with as of late. She opened a new shop in Etsy called B. Perry Studios. I reviewed some of her fabulous soaps that she made in collaboration with Julia of Arcana Wildcraft not too long ago. Brooke mentioned she was making a killer Abalone face oil so while I was busy pre-ordering that I also added some other goodies to my cart. I will be sharing those with you as I get to use them. The first things I could not wait to open up were the two scrubs. 

Cinnabar- Notes: Honeyed buttercream veined with streaks of cinnamon bark and nutmeg and pools of oppoponax and opium.

Cinnabar Cocoa Butter Body Scrub comes in an 8 ounce jar for $15 and is full of nourishing cocoa butter, olive oil and coconut oil. I love the texture of this scrub. It is a little loose and easy to stir with the finger but also scoop out and apply. It doesn't crumble and fall everywhere and applies like a loose cream. The sugar is fine grained but definitely has exfoliating power. The scrub takes on a milky quality when buffed into the skin, feeling like a lotion. My skin is so soft and satiny after using this. I love the aroma too. At first I thought this was going to be an homage to the classic Cinnabar perfume from Estee Lauder done back in the 90's. However, a quick look at the notes told me otherwise. You know I was sold on it once I read it was a creamy vanilla spice. The resinous base and dark sticky opium keep this from being too much of a foodie scent and more of a rustic gourmand. The vanilla and opium notes feature heavily with the cinnamon and nutmeg lending a comforting woodiness. The spice is not "hot" or fiery but simply warm and deep. I see there is only one of these left in Brooke's shop and I am thinking I might need to make it mine.

Citrine- Notes: Bergamot, grapefruit, lemon, with green notes of tomato leaf and cucumber, over earthy oud wood. $15

Don't let these notes fool you. In fact don't let the scent right out of the jar fool you.... get in a tub and lather up with this sunny beauty, let the warm water make it bloom. This scrub has the most amazing smell once the hot steam and water get a hold of it. Sophisticated and luxurious. It smells vibrant with the citrus notes but then that woody oud sends a refined musk through it that really sets it off and makes my eyes roll back into my head. This is one that has to be tried to be appreciated.

I am loving my B. Perry Studios bath and body care. I have the salt soak and some bar soap that I am going to be using and featuring next. I will definitely have some B. Perry Studios goodies to giveaway on my blogiversary here soon. Keep an eye out!

Have you tried any of Brooke's new goodies since she set out on this new venture? What item from her Etsy store would you be most excited to try?