Alchemical Laboratory

[Iceblink]

ALCHEMICAL LABORATORY

And yet surely to alchemy this right is due, that it may be compared to the husbandman whereof Æsop makes the fable, that when he died he told his sons that he had left unto them gold buried under the ground in his vineyard: and they digged over the ground, gold they found none, but by reason of their stirring and digging the mould about the roots of their vines, they had a great vintage the year following: so assuredly the search and stir to make gold hath brought to light a great number of good and fruitful inventions and experiments, as well for the disclosing of nature as for the use of man's life.
-- Sir Francis Bacon

Frankincense, benzoin, opoponax, rose geranium, daemonorops, and cinnabar accord.

(I didn't see a topic for this one yet--feel free to edit, mods!)
This is very incensey, and sweet from the daemonorops and a bit spicy from the cinnabar. It's quite heavy-smelling in the air in here and might be a bit much in a small space--but will be lovely on a colder day as it's very warm in feel. Well done!

[Monster]

The Alchemical Laboratory. It triggers a buried scent memory…it smells like the hallway in my Grandmothers old apartment by the kitchen. It's such a random thing to remember but this is exactly it, it's bringing back so many memories. Wow.
It's the smell of fresh dish soap bubbles mixed with outdoor air and dried potpourri sitting in little dishes on the shelves near the sink. I really can't explain it any better than that. I'm finding AL very nostalgic.

This is fresh and comforting with a hint of spice. If I spray it on a paper towel and try to analyze the notes I'd say this is mostly geranium and frankincense. It's hard to describe, it just smells like really clean and inviting air. When I spray it is sort of clear the heaviness out of the room (if that makes any sense).

Edited November 7, 2014 by Monster

[hkhm]

a spicy incense scent at first. mellows out a bit to a little sweeter spice scent with the daemondrops in the background. this might be the first scent i order in a full-size bottle.

[Little Bird]

This is all sweet, smooth resins to my nose, and smells dark brown/golden and exotic. I can smell lots of benzoin's sweet, vanilla-y warmth. The scent reminds me of Midnight Mass perfume oil. After a while, this takes on an airy, fresher sort of quality. It's not soapy at all, but it's like filling the room with cool air and sweet resins.

 

I love resins, so I love Alchemical Laboratory. I'll have to buy a full bottle of this at some point

[Lycanthrope]

When I spray this, I get 'smells like high end soap!' in only the most complimentary of ways. It starts of quite smooth with a hint of ferocity, and then the cinnamon-ish spicy cinnabar comes out a touch more. It's very different, spicy, yet smooth, and quite... posh. I don't know how else to describe it. Smells well-blended, and spicy.

[Aldercy]

Alchemical Laboratory actually smells mostly like the rose geranium to me, with a sweet spice laid over it. I don't know where that boatload of resins is hiding out right now, but it's definitely not heavily incensey to me. Still, a good scent-- very smooth.

 

Lasts for many hours, too.

[sunshinedaisybliss]

 

Very, very nice - it is a little heavy at first but then the spices come out and it leaves a lovely dusky, warm and exotic scent in the air. I would describe it as an "old-fashioned" kind of scent, something like you'd find in a 17th century sitting room full of opulent velvet chairs and intricately woven Persian rugs where a lot of pipe smoking gets done by gentlemen with fancy waistcoats.

[TrailerTrashPrincess]

at first, this smelled like metals and lubricating oils, but within minutes it had changed and become something sortof comforting and familiar.

 

Lycanthrope and Monster both pretty much nailed it, too.

 

it's all the colours & scents of dish liquid....mixed

(all the American scents... i've found that washing up liquids in different countries have very different scents)

 

the white, green, pink, yellow, and clear with "bleach alternative"

 

or maybe it smells of frankincense and geranium. and i know it doesn't seem like those possibilities could smell the least bit alike but really...they do.

[zankoku_zen]

Smells resinous, a hint of rosy geranium (more rose than geranium) and very smooth. It smells 'old' but not in the old people way, but rather the way that old buildings with lots of gorgeous dark wood, mysterious pasts and stone smell old.

 

...

 

Yup. Spray this in your room and have yourself your very own gothic novel a la House of the Seven Gables...

[angelicruin]

Sweet incense and rose geranium. I agree that this is a lovely gothic-inspired scent. I bought a goblin squirt to try and now I know I will need a full bottle of this lovely spray.

[KesHiro]

Goblin squirt sample.

 

At first, this was a little bit heavy and a bit too potpourri-ish for my tastes but within a minute of squirting the scent shifted to a more incense, resinous blend. This smells quite posh and high end without being generic. I agree with the previous reviewers: this smells old but in the very best way. Think fancy wood paneled libraries in a well maintained, splendid Victorian manor.

 

This lasts a long time and would be good for fall or winter.

[edenssixthday]

Alchemical Laboratory - Heavy, spicy, rich, incensey, smokey, sexy... I don't know how else to describe it. It's mostly myrrh, then frankincense and rose geranium to my nose, but the cinnabar and daemonorops in particular add a level of depth and richness that the other notes don't have on their own. This room spray is pure, sexy, love. I wish there was a perfume oil that smelled like it. I am absolutely nuts over how good it smells. I can't find words to describe my depth of love for this fragrance. It's really remarkable.

 

edited because I'm a dork

Edited June 6, 2010 by Edens Sixth Day

[ajansuz]

This was the other free sample goblin squirt I got with my most recent order. I tried one downstairs and this one upstairs. This scent is making me cry, not in a bad way at all, but it smells exactly like my aunt and uncle's old house on the lake. My aunt used to sell Avon and all sorts of other things from her home, and the whole house had this general nice, pleasant fresh scent to it that I've never smelled again, until this day. I have such wonderful memories of staying with them during the summers, so I can't really get anything coherent out in this review except to say what a lovely, unexpected blessing, and yet it makes me miss them so much.

[MiasmaResonance]

So good. Very rich and deep, with sweetness. Very nostalgic also.

[strahlend]

When I first sprayed Alchemical Laboratory I thought it seemed like generic soapy florals, and I was a bit disappointed.

 

Since then it's really grown on me. It makes my bedroom feel like I opened the windows onto a fragrant garden and burned some resinous incense. Fresh, floral, airy incense. I really like it.

[Ghost of a Rose]

Daemonorops is a rattan palm from Asia; one kind of Dragon's Blood Resin is made from the fruit. The cinnabar is a bit of a mystery, as the word can refer to several different things (none of which I'm familiar with.)

 

At first, I pick up mostly incense, wood, and spice (something clove-like but milder.) There's also a hint of vanilla and a bit of an aquatic note (again mild, not sharp or piercing as such notes can often be.) This is a very smooth blend, without any notes that stand out in particular. That makes it hard to characterize - I'd say it falls into the "incensey" category, but even the incense is not especially prominent. It is a unique but quiet blend that I think would be pleasant and non-intrusive to almost anyone, and in any setting.

 

I don't get any whiff of chemicals that would make me think "laboratory", alchemical or otherwise. But that is a good thing - who'd want their home or office to smell like chemicals?

 

After a few minutes, the geranium comes out, with its characteristic pungent, spicy, slightly bitter note. But here, it is toned down like all the other notes. There's just enough to notice it, not enough to be actually pungent. To me, it just smells like plain geranium - no trace of rose or any other floral-type note. But then, I thought the same thing about a rose geranium plant I used to have, so the note does strike me as authentic.

 

Once dried on the pillowcases, an ozone-y note appears that imparts aspects of coolness, men's cologne, or - yes, perhaps a chemistry lab (only the pleasant-smelling chemicals!)

 

This blend is not as long-lasting as some of the other Atmospheric Sprays, and when sprayed on my sheets and pillows was gone after 6 hours. But that's long enough.

 

Later, when I sniffed the sprayer top of the empty goblin, I did notice some rose and other florals, which made me like this even more. And even then, it wasn't heavily floral, but nicely balanced with the other notes. Interesting, and lovely!

 

 

Verdict: An excellent choice for an all-purpose room freshener in situations where there will be people who have varied and/or unknown tastes. It would be nice to have a full bottle. But for an incense/spice blend, I like Exotic Bazaar even better - it stays warm and does not remind me of men's cologne. This would be a great alternative for a man or during hot weather.

 

My rating: 4 stars

Edited November 25, 2014 by Ghost of a Rose

[hlinspjalda]

I got a free squirt of this in an order, but I already knew I was interested in it because of the rose geranium and frankincense.

 

Oddly, I don't get resin at all from this. I get a lot of rose geranium and a sweetish woody sort of note I associate with daemonorops (thanks to Anactoria). There's also a heavy-sharp kind of note that seems out of step with the rest of it. That note reminds me very much of the Kinnabari prototype (which seemed related to the base note from Malkuth). It gives me the mental impression of a generous old building full of built-in wood and glass cabinets which has been given over to slightly questionable chemistry experiments.

 

Later the cinnabar note softens leaving behind more of the sweeter notes and especially the rose geranium. It smells very much to me like Aquae, which is one of my favorite scents in the entire catalogue. It lingers attractively, too.

 

I bought a bottle of this, and it's the spray I use in my bedroom. It's my favorite of all the room sprays.

[AnnabelleLee]

I love this! I spray this on my bedroom and I sleep so good! I never thought I would be interested in a room spray but I need to buy a bottle of this.

 

I get a sweet resinous scent and rose geranium. I have to find a similar perfume as soon as possible because I am tempted to wear it as such

[JazzieCazzie]

Received as lagniappe in a swap with a lovely forumite who always seems to go above and beyond when it comes to hand-selecting imps and other sniffies that match my list of favorite notes, and she was, as usual, SPOT ON with this!!!!

 

Not sure that something with frankincense, benzoin and cinnabar could have ever gone wrong, anyway, but this is absolutely divine.

 

Very, very clean and fresh to me, and yet with that ineffable spiciness and resin that keeps it from smelling like Febreze. It reminds me quite a bit of Crabtree & Evelyn's Goatmilk line (which is way too limited for my liking -- just shower gel, body lotion and soap), one of my favorite non-BPAL scents (I don't know the notes in that so I don't know if BPAL has a similar scent).

 

This would make a great bubble bath or bath oil, IMHO, but in the meantime, it's going on my list for future big bottle purchases.

[Gwydion]

Review: mostly Rose geranium. I am unfamiliar with two components, so the rest is grain of salt time. The incense blend is lovely and unusual and a good support to the florals. I’m assuming the deamondrops are the delicate support that makes the rose geranium interesting, and I’m guessing the cinnabar accord is what’s giving such richness to the benzoin dominant incense blend. I’m not good with anything rose, but the design of thins is clever and unusual and quite pleasing.

[Poenari]

I received a free goblin squirt of this in my most recent order, and sprayed it on my pillow that night. I can smell the frankincense, and there is a spiciness to this, but fortunately (for me) there is no real floral scent. It smelled great and made me snuggle into my pillow. The next morning, I could even smell it lingering on my hair. I've amassed an unexpectedly large collection of full-sized bottles of the atmo sprays, and this one is going to be added to the list for an upcoming order. Very nice!

[LizziesLuck]

I received a free goblin squirt of this from the Post in my last order.

 

I couldn't remember the notes at all, and was too lazy to look them up, so I just sprayed some on my sleeve and tried to figure it out. It's quite sweet, and I could pick up hints of incense, but mostly something floral and something else I couldn't place. When I did read the notes the rose geranium made complete sense, I think the sweetness is the benzoin, I don't know what the something I couldn't place was, I'm not familiar with either daemonorops or cinnabar accord, but I guessing it's the daemonorops as my understanding is that's part of the palm family, and that sort of makes sense to my nose. I don't really get anything spicy or that I could pick out as cinnabar accord, though granted I don't really know what that should smell like, and Google isn't helping me any.

 

Anyway, I like this! I'm not sure if I would use it enough to warrant purchasing a bottle, but I am glad to have gotten to try it.

[follis]

This initially smells mostly chemical blended into the other notes-- It almost reminds me of cleaner bleach (without the burning) and soft bright resins in the background. It is not floral, it's pleasant, and gives the impression of an alchemy lab. Unfortunately, it is also short lasting.

[sprout]

I had a chance to buy a partial of this from an off forum decanter who shall remain unnamed.  But I have also had a few Goblin squirts come my way over the years, just never a fresh bottle to review.  Mostly Rosy frankincense with a hint of geranium.  The incense blend is as others have commented cozy, comforting, high end, and nostalgia inducing.  I would describe this as a resin floral hybrid but there is a hint of "cleanliness" in it which it not musk or elemi, I can't put my finger on it.  It does not smell like a dank cellar or a chemistry lab--being a former lab assistant, I am quite familiar with the hint of benzene in the air and bit of sulfuric too.  I would bet that the "deamondrops" or dragon blood resin is the "soapy" hint that reviewers are mentioning.  I have no idea what cinnabar accord smells like but there is a hint of spice to this, which blends quite nicely with the rosy geranium.  Of course the benzoin base note makes this a must sniff more and uplifting fragrance. I am very much in favor.  If this is what the BPAL lab smells like, I would indenture myself just to enjoy this smell every day at work!