Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab has launched a collection of 20+ fragrances inspired by Neil Gaiman's novel, American Gods. (A television series based on the novel will debut on Starz later this month.) The proceeds from the fragrances will benefit the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund.
We are marking the ten-year anniversary of our American Gods collaboration with Neil Gaiman by introducing the next installment of scents inspired by his beautiful, harrowing, heart-shredding novel. It is one of my favorite books and Neil is one of my favorite humans, so this project is extremely dear to my heart. In the first installment, we are introducing sixteen new scents: Believe, Black Hats, Coin Trick, Eostre of the Dawn, For the Joy of It, Glass Eye, Laura, Low-Key Lyesmith, Media, Mister Wednesday, Mr. Czernobog, Shadow, Technical Boy, and the Zoryas. Our sister shop, Black Phoenix Trading Post, has launched an American Gods atmosphere spray line, so you can invoke the spilled beer and fries of the Crocodile Bar, the horrors of the Bone Orchard, the Hall of Forgotten Gods’ long-dead incenses, or the biting cold of a Lakeside winter. Nail lacquers will be coming to the Post in future installments!
Believe ~ "A scent of compression and release, of heat and faith, of plunging through the jet-shadowed darkness of uncertainty. The heart of the land: roots plunging ever deeper into thrumming black soil through the graves of faith, disillusion, and skepticism."
Bilquis ~ "Honey, myrrh, lily of the valley, rose otto, fig leaf, almond, ambrette, red apple, and warm musk."
Black Hats ~ "Gunpowder residue, patent leather, pomade, and aftershave."
Coin Trick ~ "Glittering gold and silver, rolling over knuckles – concealed in palms – and pulled from the sun, the moon, and the stars."
Eostre of the Dawn ~ "Jasmine and honeysuckle, sweet milk and female skin."
For the Joy of It ~ "Whiskey, mead, honey, gold, sweat, and blood."
Glass Eye ~ "The depths of Mímisbrunnr: mugwort and frankincense, grey amber and ash."
Laura ~ "Violets, upturned earth, mothballs, formaldehyde (mixed with glycerin and lanolin), and the memory of the taste of strawberry daiquiris suspended in twilight."
Low-Key Lyesmith ~ "Black clove and cassia flung onto glowing cinders and mingled with slow-dripping poisons."
Mad Sweeney ~ "Barrel-aged whiskey and oak."
Mama-ji ~ "Spices, cardamom, nutmeg, and flowers."
Media ~ "A news anchor’s cologne, a soap star’s perfume: perfect, pixelated, and glamorous; aglow with cathodes and anodes, coated with phosphor."
Mister Wednesday ~ "Sleek cologne, the memory of a Nine Herbs Charm, gallows wood, and a splash of whiskey."
Mr. Czernobog ~ "Unfiltered cigarettes, the leather and metal of sledgehammers, aortal blood slowly drying, and black incense."
Mr. Ibis ~ "Papyrus, vanilla flower, Egyptian musk, African musk, aloe ferox, white sandalwood."
Mr. Jacquel ~ "Golden amber, hyssop, North African patchouli, and embalming spices."
Shadow ~ "Grey oudh and bay rum luminous with amber."
Technical Boy ~ "It’s all about the dominant [expletive] paradigm, Shadow. Nothing else is important: vape smoke and burning electrical parts."
The Ifrit ~ "Desert sand, red musk, blackened ginger, dragon’s blood resin, black pepper, cinnamon, and tobacco."
The Norn's Farmhouse ~ "Dusty, ancient wood, horehound, and sage, with viper’s bugloss, mugwort, chamomile, nettle, apple blossom, chervil, and ashes."
Zorya Polunochnaya ~ "Pale amber and ambergris, gossamer vanilla, moonflower, and white tobacco petals."
Zorya Utrennyaya ~ "Sweet black coffee and a touch of ambrette seed."
Zorya Vechernyaya ~ "Red musk and wild plum, orange blossom and jasmine, juniper berries, sweet incense and vetiver-laced sandalwood."
The Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab American Gods fragrances are $26 each for 5 ml Perfume Oil.
(via blackphoenixalchemylab)
Some of these sound amazing! I’ll have to check these out.
Also, I sent you a message on FB to NST, Robin, not sure if there is any other way to contact you.
Oh, I am terrible about FB so good you told me here, I will go look.
This is my favorite collaboration to date, I’m really excited to try ALL of these (even the Technical Boy, although I don’t think I’d enjoy the smell of burning electrical parts). For any other fans of American Gods, I personally liked Anansi Boys more. I’m a little surprised Black Phoenix isn’t drawing inspiration from “Mr. Nancy”, that would be a fun one!
Gosh, I think they’ve covered lots of Gaiman’s works over the years — have they really never done that one?
One of my co-workers was just saying how I had to read Anansi Boys since I loved American Gods. He said he personally likes it better.
Yes! Anansi boys is much more “fun” and a lighter read within the same universe.
I too preferred Anansi Boys over American Gods! I hear it’s being made into a TV series so I’m keeping my fingers crossed they cast Bill Nighy as Grahame Coats.
I love Neil Gaimon b/c he loves public libraries and he is a brilliant writer in so many formats for all ages and types of reader! It is my fondest wish, my ultimate dream, that someday he’d walk into my library and tell me how much he loves it. Sit down in a corner and read to our library kids and inspire them to write their weirdest dreams and ideas. Sign the wall with a big fat sharpie! “Neil was here!” I’m probably not going to have the chance to sample any of these, but I applaud someone honoring his work with beautiful fragrances. He is so committed to creativity and learning and literacy and libraries. He is a remarkable person. I wish the world was full of more people like him.
I like him too.
Side story: My son was very disappointed they would not read him in the “modern” portion of honors British lit, and the teacher told him it was because he was American, not English. I think this was the first time he was able to correct a teacher 🙂
Anyway, I think American Gods is possibly his favorite novel ever, but I admit I have not read it although he has pestered me about it.
My fav novel of his is the teen audience “The Ocean at the End of the Lane” which is just terrifically beautiful. Everyone should read this and it only takes just a few hours.
And good for your son that he could out Brit his teacher! I hate when people restrict reading for kids, esp. teachers who should know better.
I know he read that one too because I bought it.
In defense of the teacher, she was just restricting the class to British authors because it is a Brit Lit class — that’s reasonable, isn’t it?
I’ve read enough Neil Gaimen to know I’m not a fan. Fantasy is wonderful and the Britisher the better. I don’t know why he doesn’t speak to me. Stardust was one of the few times where I liked the movie more than the book.
That said, I’ve usually enjoyed BPAL so I might take a stab at these.
How about Sherlock Holmes or The Last Unicorn? She’s always got plenty of other literary stuff.
I love it! They have an incredible sense of humor.
Oh thats an overwhelming amount of releases.
I never saw this brand here…is it any good/worth ordering a few samples from overseas (I see they ship to Europe)?
My favourite Neil Gaiman is his collab with Terry Pratchet, Good Omens. I need to re-read it soon!
And I like Sandman series and a bunch of his other graphic novels.
His latest novels do not click with me that well though…
BPAL has an avid following but probably less so with perfumistas, I’m guessing? I haven’t tried anything from them in years so don’t have a good answer.
Good Omens was my intro to Neil Gaiman – I still quote bits of it at people 🙂
As a big Neil Gaiman fan, and of American Gods, I’m terribly excited about these.