Dorian
by Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab

I tried Dorian because it was one of the BPAL scents that people notoriously list as being sweet -- Dana O'Shee being among them. Compared to Dana O'Shee, Dorian is less sweet. It has a ton of vanilla, like Dana O'Shee. A TON. In fact, early on, that's mostly what I smell. But there's also a bit of a lemon twist in there. I get no "cinnamon red hots" from it, as I do with Dana O'Shee, and that actually makes it less sweet and more tolerable to me than Dana O'Shee. But definitely, if you do not like vanilla amplifed, this is not a good scent to try.

There's a touch of tea, which Barriel says she put in there. But really I mostly get vanilla. And a manly smell -- the fougere part, I suppose.

Unlike previous reviewers, I had no problems with longevity, with only two swipes of the imp wand. In fact, it was so oily (as all BPALs are oils, I assume) I had to smear it onto my other wrist to keep it from dripping onto my clothes! The scent was with me all day, but morphed throughout the day. Early on, mostly vanilla and tea and a VERY faint fougere-like scent -- herbal vegetal smell.

About 4 hours later, my sillage was predominantly sandalwood. A very sweet sandalwood.

And much much much later on in the day, like 8 hours later, I could finally smell a bit of white musk -- and only after the vanilla died down!

As for how this relates to Dorian Gray -- well, if one lives forever, one can indulge in these excesses -- vanilla = food; sandalwood = environment; musk = sex. But, again, who wants to live forever? I like this scent very much, but sometimes I like to wear something dark and death-like. This scent is totally sweet. There's not a bit of dryness in it. If you like sweet scents, this is definitely one you might try.

There's no patchouli. Definitely.

4th August, 2011.

Sugared tea with a touch of smoke. It's really nice scent and smells full however Dorian has a short lifespan, about 2 hours.

28th April, 2010.

I feel that there is a slightly overripe, corrupt scent that speaks to the story of Dorian Gray in this perfume. On the other hand, I should think it would become more corrupted on the drydown, but it doesn't - it gets sweeter and purer. There is definitely a bit of tea and sugar in this smell.

25th October, 2009.

Oh, I suppose that it’s a nice scent… it’s another sweet one from BPAL – this one a cup of tea: Tea, sugar, lemon (lots of lemon), and milk form the cup of fragrance that is Dorian. In a way it’s an excellent scent – it’s well done and it has pleasant notes, but in another way, it’s a cliché… I don’t think it’s very unique. I like it but I don’t love it, and I also don’t get the connection between this scent and Dorian Gray (the concept). It seems to me a Dorian Gray scent should represent two opposing extremes – one young and fresh and the other old and moldy. What I get from Dorian is a very nice cup of tea. Decent sillage and somewhat poor longevity.

17th October, 2008.