Lightning Moon: Black Lilac and Black Tea

[doomsday_disco]

Black Lilac and Black Tea.

[leptonpyr]

Well, I'm not sure how helpful my review is going to be to anyone else, but I feel compelled to leave one considering this is an active Lunacy and mine would be the first! So. I amp indoles unto oblivion. Apparently BPAL's lilac accord (don't know if it's all lilacs or just black lilac, this is my first BPAL lilac) is indolic, because when I first put it on all I could smell was an atomic indole BLAST. Thankfully this calms down within an hour and I start getting something more recognizably lilac-y that is very pretty, although still quite strong. It's nice and fresh and not at all powdery. I did not get even the slightest hint of tea until after many hours of wear, when I think I started to detect a hint of astringency. Now at the very end of the day, after about 10 hours of wear, I think I can finally smell more of the tea, and it's quite lovely as it mixes with the lilac.

 

I guess the most useful thing I can say is: if you amp indoles, this lilac accord is in fact somewhat indolic. I doubt it's as intensely indolic for anyone whose skin behaves normally around indoles, so if you don't share my indole problem and you try this one out, I'd love to see another review so I can get an idea of what this is *supposed* to smell like!

[gentle-twig]

This one is just gorgeous. I have enjoyed some of the lab's other lilac blends, both when I was getting into BPAL a decade ago (Lysander) and more recently (The Serpent in the Lilacs, Eusapia). But I have never actually FB'd any of them. This one might change that.

 

Black Lilac and Black Tea is fairly linear, and is mostly about the black lilac. For those familiar with Eusapia, this is her dark-featured sister. As with Eusapia, the impression is that of sticking your face into the inflorescences of lilacs still on the bush. I agree with (or maybe believe, since I didn't put my finger on it) @leptonpyr that these are indolic lilacs, because they have a luscious darkness that indoles convey to my nose. If indoles are present, that might account for why these lilacs feel so much darker than the white lilac of Eusapia, or the periwinkle of The Serpent in the Lilacs. I wouldn't say that I am imagining black lilacs, but definitely dark purple. The darkness here isn't solemn or sinister, but saturated.

 

After about 10 minutes, I do get the tea, but if you aren't familiar with the lab's black tea note, you may not be able to pick it out. There aren't really any gourmand or spa associations here. Instead, the tea is a steady and abstract, bittersweet thrum beneath the florals. The tea gets stronger over time on my skin, but though they soften from fleshy spikes into an indigo wash, the lilacs are remarkably persistent. This never becomes a tea-centered scent. 

 

The performance is, for me, perfect. Not overpoweringly strong, but definitely present without reaching my nose to my wrist, and weirdly (given the notes) long-lived. Definitely unisex. I think part of the reason I like this better than other lilac blends is that it definitely feels comfortable to me as a man. Eusapia was just as beautiful to me but was a bad "fit" on me. If you like the lab's black tea and lilac notes, I think you will like this blend, but know that it is a heady lilac with bracing tea rather than a fresh lilac with a sugared, indulgent tea. 

 

Overall, Black Lilac and Black Tea suggests the insistent buds of spring. Sap returning through thawed wood. Lilacs do not grow from bulbs, but when I wear this I can even pretend that their buds nudge, nudge their way out of the frosty soil instead of being borne aloft on spindly branches. An inevitable and welcome scent.