Line #31 Website/BlackPhoenixAlchemyLab


1	[[http://www.blackphoenixalchemylab.com/ Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab]] is an online perfume house known for its {{Goth}} aesthetic, large catalog, and devoted fanbase. BPAL bases many of its perfume oils on concepts from the arts, literature, mythology, and various non-mainstream subcultures, which results in the catalog using or referencing many tropes that don't normally show up in [[PerfumeCommercial perfume advertising]].
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3	BPAL is also a major CrackIsCheaper offender among its devotees. While a single bottle is not particularly expensive by the standards of the perfume industry, the sheer size of its collection and the vast number of Limited Editions ([=LEs=]) can make serious collecting an expensive endeavor.
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6	!! The Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab shows examples of:
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8	* ThirteenIsUnlucky: The descriptive text for the ''13''s (limited edition scents brought out every Friday the 13th) specifically references this.
9	* AlliterativeName: ''Stimulating Sassafras Strengthener'', ''The Smilin' Servitors' Hyperdimensional Holiday Hits,'' and others.
10	* BadGirlComic: Dawn and Lady Death get dedicated scents.
11	* BondageIsBad: Averted. Most of the BDSM-themed scents (''Perversion'', ''[[Literature/VenusInFurs Wanda]]'' and ''[[WhipOfDominance Whip]]'') are in the romance and sexuality collection (''Ars Amatoria''), rather than the villainy collection (''Diabolus'').
12	* BrainsAndBondage: They have a few BDSM-themed scents and the company's overall aesthetic is rather cultured and nerdy.
13	* CheerfulChild: Lilith, the proprietor's young daughter and occasional muse.
14	* CircusOfFear: The LE Carnaval Diabolique collection.
15	* ConspiracyTheorist: PlayedForLaughs, with the ''Black Helicopters Over Black Phoenix'' April Fool's collection.
16	* ConversationalTroping: The [[FairyTaleMotifs Fairy Tale]] Inquisition at the Trading Post.
17	** RagsToRoyalty or [[RuleOfThree Three]] [[ImpossibleTask Impossible Errands]] Bath Oil and [[KnightInShiningArmor Knight In Shiny Armor]], Scrappy Damsel or [[CoolOldLady Sympathetic Crone]] Perfume for the heroes.
18	** [[EvilPlan Nefarious Plan]] or [[TheBadGuyWins Unhappily Ever After]] Bath Oil and [[EvilChancellor Corrupt Chancellor]], VainSorceress, or [[EvilMatriarch Wicked Matriarch]] Perfume for the villains.
19	* Franchise/CthulhuMythos: The ''Picnic In Arkham'' scents play this fairly straight, while the ''Miskatonic Valley'' seasonal collections are blatant LovecraftLite.
20	* CuteMonsterGirl: The Hallowenches from the Trading Post 2013 Halloween collection: Callidora the vampire, Lavina the [[FrankensteinsMonster Creature]], and Sylvia the wolf-girl.
21	%%* DarkIsNotEvil
22	* DeathbringerTheAdorable: Some of the perfumes don't smell nearly as intimidating as their names would suggest.
23	** This is probably for the best in the case of the Lovecraft collection, since driving your customers mad with the realistically reproduced scent of an EldritchAbomination would most likely be an unsustainable business model.
24	** The Monsterbait line: Despite being based on [[{{Demonic Dummy}} Demonic Dummies]], Kaiju, and such things, most of them smell rather sweet and foody.
25	* DescriptionPorn: Part of the catalog's SignatureStyle, to the point that scents described with nothing but the notes involved are the exception.
26	* DiamondsInTheBuff: The flavor text/inspiration for ''Les Bijoux'' is a poem that features this.
27	* DontFearTheReaper: The flavor text for ''Santa Muerte'' and ''Wings of Azrael''.
28	* DoubleEntendre: The names of the Lick It series of Yule [=LEs=] (so called because they smell like candy canes), as a RunningGag.
29	* EverybodyHatesHades: Averted. The flavor text of the ''Hades'' scent describes him in DarkIsNotEvil terms.
30	* ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin: The Single Notes.
31	* TheFairFolk: ''Dana O'Shee'' and ''Leanan Sidhe'' were inspired by old-school folkloric fairies.
32	* FantasyCharacterClasses: Several offerings in the RPG line.
33	* FantasyKitchenSink: The general catalog alone features vampires (''Nosferatu''), werwolves (''Loup Garou''), TheFairFolk (''Dana O'Shee''), the TzadikimNistarim, trolls, goblins, SuccubiAndIncubi (''Incubus''), Judeo-Christian angels (''Seraphim''), kitsune (''Kitsune-Tsuki''), Santeria orishas, [[Myth/NorseMythology Odin]], Literature/BabaYaga, Cthulhu... you get the idea.
34	* HistoricalDomainCharacter: Several. UsefulNotes/MarieAntoinette, Creator/OscarWilde, UsefulNotes/AnneBonny, and others get perfumes in their honor.
35	* HorsemenOfTheApocalypse: Two versions, actually: the Biblical version (''The Bow and Crown of Conquest, The Great Sword of War, The Scales of Deprivation, and Death On a Pale Horse'') in the ''Sin and Salvation'' collection; and the three of the Four Horsemen from ''Literature/GoodOmens'' (featuring War, Famine, and Pollution). Poor Pestilence gets no love.
36	* IntentionallyAwkwardTitle: A staple of the Lupercalia (Valentine's Day) limited editions, which often have very sexually suggestive titles, even if the perfume itself is perfectly safe for work.
37	* TheKrampus: Has a seasonal perfume (at Christmas time, of course) named after him.
38	* {{Leitmotif}}: An olfactory variation of this often shows up in scents inspired by the proprietor's real life. Snake Oil represents the proprietor herself, Dorian represents her husband, and, to a lesser extent, lavender is used to evoke their daughter.
39	* LighterAndSofter: The April Fools Salon ''A Tremulous Song'' which features scents inspired by the proprietor's daughter's fridge art.
40	* LovecraftLite: The ''Miskatonic Valley Yuletide Faire'' and ''Valentine's Day in the Miskatonic Valley'' seasonal series. Also qualifies as VillainsOutShopping, considering that the Yuletide Faire series is inspired by a [[AffablyEvil jolly]] midwinter festival observed by the cultists of {{Eldritch Abomination}}s. Or maybe an ''extreme'' case of DarkIsNotEvil.
41	* MonsterClown: The ''Monsterbait: Coulrophobia'' LE series.
42	* NoAnimalsWereHarmed: "With the exception of our honey-based products, everything that comes from BPAL is vegan, and we abhor animal testing. All products are tested on staff, family, and friends."
43	* OurVampiresAreDifferent: The ''Vampires Don't Sleep Alone'' collection.
44	** VampiresAreSexGods
45	* PublicDomainCharacter: There are whole sections devoted to the denizens of [[Creator/WilliamShakespeare Shakespeare]]'s works and ''Literature/AliceInWonderland.'' [[Literature/DangerousLiaisons Valmont and Merteuil]], [[Literature/ArabianNights Scheherezade]], [[Literature/ThePictureOfDorianGray Dorian Gray]], and others also get scents of their own.
46	* PurpleProse: Some scents have entire poems for flavor text.
47	* PirateGirl: UsefulNotes/AnneBonny and Mary Read both get scents in their honor. Possibly a case of AuthorAppeal, as pirate scents are a recurring theme in the collection.
48	* ReferenceOverdosed: Blatantly so, which is part of the appeal to some of the fanbase.
49	* SeriousBusiness: "Simply put: this is no ordinary perfume house."
50	* SevenDeadlySins
51	* SnakeOilSalesman: ''Doc Constantine's Pharmacopoeia'', with a supernatural twist. One of the offerings promises to "promote vigor in undeath."
52	* {{Steampunk}}: The ''Phoenix Steamworks'' collection.
53	* StockYuck: Vetiver and civet have rather controversial reputations on the forums, although the Lab itself has nothing against them. Both of these notes are ''very strong'', long-lasting, can be difficult to wash off, and civet in particular can be downright stinky with the wrong chemistry.
54	* StylisticSuck: A few of their more thematic scents based on unpleasant subject matter deliberately don't smell very pleasant. What would you expect from a perfume called "[[{{Gorn}} Gore-Shock]]"?[[note]]"Pulpy, scorched, pork-like flesh, glistening entrails, and doughy skin with the coppery tang of blood, salty, sweaty musk, filth, and a huff of rusted machinery." - which according to forum reviewers winds up smelling weirdly like smoked ham in practice.[[/note]]
55	* TzadikimNistarim: They have a perfume oil named '[[https://blackphoenixalchemylab.com/shop/general-catalog-perfume-oils/sin-and-salvation/tzadikim-nistarim/ Tzadikim Nistarim]]' on sale under their ''Sin and Salvation'' collection. The FlavorText does a brief historical review of the term while also claiming that said scent is "one of unadulterated spiritual purity, with a taste of the world’s eternal pathos, and the joy of suffering with grace".

Context Website / BlackPhoenixAlchemyLab