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- Today
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Ceaselessly By My Side the Demon Stirs
SmellsPrettyGood2Me replied to doomsday_disco's topic in Limited Editions
Quite a dusty sweetness in the bottle; is that the vetiver root and amber? On skin it gets even softer and fuzzier, with a counterbalance of light spice (cinnamon?) from the non-tannic tea. If the tonka bean is smoked, it's with incense and not campfire. I'm having trouble detecting any vanilla or patchouli at the 1 hour mark, but I keep checking for it. There is most definitely a yin/yang thing going on between the sharper and softer notes, but rather than competing with each other they sit nicely next to each other as if one is there for each side of your nose. The "brownness" is actually pretty prominent for me, and I agree with others who mention it seems fabric-like. I like it, but have to figure out where it fits in my rotation from a season and mood perspective. I can see putting it on before bed to both induce relaxation and act as a talisman against bad dreams. -
Hmmm, this smells a lot more oud-y in the bottle! On skin, the eucalyptus leaf and ambergris bring out an aquatic coldness that hangs around in watery pallor for an hour. The incense gets it's turn next, with the woodiness of the oud getting somewhat washed out by the remnants of the ambergris. Projection is low to moderate, and it lasts just under 5 hours on skin. I was not familiar with the poem that inspired this scent, but I can see how it fits. As soon as I put this on, my first thought was "Winter is Coming". This is a very Ned Stark coded scent to me, evoking a vision of bands of masculine travelers roaming around the countryside.
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Beautifully dusty honey and deep, chocolate-y patchouli in the bottle. Applied to skin, the honey gets even lighter and more floral, while the patchouli almost seems to have a bite to it (not animalic, but with a smooth pungency). I used the tiniest dab from the cap to apply it to my wrist and it filled quite a scent bubble around me. Please apply sparingly and mindfully if wearing in public spaces! Lasted well over 9 hours. This is a gorgeous, perfume-y scent that begs to be worn with leather, tightly pulled laces, and come-hither 5 inch stilettos. These Blood Milk scents have all been a big hit, well worth the slightly more premium pricing.
- Yesterday
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This reminds me A GREAT DEAL of Jiaolong!!!! I kid you NOT! Maybe here's less red musk, but in general both scents are almost twin brothers.
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Wet: rooty, pugnacious, herb-y, and peppery; the jostle of many leather boots stomping down a 19th-century street lined with sun-warmed brick and broomstraw (neither of which is a listed note, but nonetheless crowd into my nose's olfactory auditorium with the rest of the jostling crowd). But while the notes roar, the volume is bearable. The clove, surprisingly, is muted, and the green patchouli (maybe?) reads more as a dried ground ginger root. With wear: the tobacco and leather notes emerge, giving the blend a surprising brash but charming bad-boy vibe twinned with sorcerous patchouli root. Honestly, if I were blind sniffing, I'd think it was a Walpurgisnacht-themed collab. It's got quiet oomph.
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This is my favorite so far of the VILF series. Looking at the notes, it's probably because of the frankincense. I am indeed a sucker for frankincense. It elevates the tobacco and woods into something more sophisticated, or elegant. I remember looking up what "bunn" is a long time ago, but I do not remember, and an initial search isn't yielding immediate results. 🤷♀️ It isn't perfect for all moods, but I find myself grabbing it far more often than the other VDSA blends. Gotta catch 'em all, though! One day.
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The opening of this read as jasmine to me, which can happen with chamomile blends on occasion, more sweet than herbal. The drydown is like a dry berry wine, slightly aquatic and metallic. It's just okay.
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Trying on an aged decant without looking at the notes, I get orange blossom and grape juice, very bright, joyful, and springlike, unexpected for a Christmas Carol blend. After looking at the notes and inspiration, it makes sense. I don't get much vanilla, sandalwood, or tea until the drydown, where the sandalwood dominates and smooths out the orange blossom. I prefer the opening to the drydown, but it's nice overall. Fades kinda fast.
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This was a skin fail. I don't get along with the lab's snow slush note, which developed in my skin. Something lemony akin to the white tea note shows up, but the slush note still dominates here for me.
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If you enjoyed Coconut Lavender Creampie oil gifted as a Black Friday freebie imp then you might like this too. I get the fluffy airy cake and the lavender brush. The fluffy cake part stands out more on my skin. No sign of the carrots.
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Sweet sweet butterscotch and mildly suggestively milky. can't trace any booze. it's very addictive.
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my skin amps up the pumpkin spice part. It seems to be mellowed out by the eggnog, but still retains the slightly cinnamon kick. If i hadn't known, I'd have believed i was smelling a Weenie
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parma violet candies but fancier but not as tart sweet as they can taste. short wear sadly
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A true pleasure to wear such a beautifully aged scent! Soft, clean, lightly fuzzy sage, sweet sandalwood, a warm incense, slightly soapy muguet, and a very unassuming patchouli all meld together with delightful results. I'm not much into florals and find the intensity of them here to be just right. I can't recall if this is the first scent I have tried with Balsam of Mecca as a note, but I love it. Despite starting off quietly, the intensity and projection increases significantly as it dries down. I put this on mid-day and could still detect it 10 hours later at bed time. Catching a whiff of myself while wearing this was a joy every time. Time has only made it more lovely, perfect for all seasons and situations.
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Upvoting @VioletChaos. Very well put. But while I really like how it smells and enjoy sniffing, it's not something I think I can wear all day without succumbing to a headache from the perfumey aspect.
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Twizzlers. Is that the worst thing? Definitely not. But that's all I got.
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Alas, the allspice is too much for me. Allspice and clove are migraine notes for me, but I can see the beauty in this, just from far away. Very amber forward on me.
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I don't have enough in my felties to try this, but I bet layered with Lines Written by a Bear...would be absolutely banging. This is gorgeous. Buttery, warm in the amber sense, vanilla without being Vanilla. My brain tells me that this lives too close to Lines Written in my satisfaction of the scents, so I'll pick one to FS. Right now this is winning
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What @wilhelmscream said. How is this both warm and cool? Beautiful and light.
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Smells completely different between the bottle and skin! Wet in the bottle is the somewhat dank stickiness of the opium tar mashed up with the lightly sweet earthiness of the patchouli root. Applying to skin completely transforms the scent; floral, fragrant, sweet berries are front and center, intermingled with a powdery backdrop. Wow, this smells amazing!! Reminds me of a premium early 90's perfume in it's sophistication. I normally don't care for opium as a note, but it blends well underneath the overall caramelization. This patchouli root isn't stinky or particularly potent at all. The berries stick around for quite some time, and the scent as a whole lasts 8 good hours. I can easily see this as a daily wear option in cooler months, and I desperately hope it returns some day so that I can grab a few more bottles.
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Glittering gold and loss beyond understanding: antiqued amber, English lavender, vetiver, and tea rose. Time has burnished this scent down to a faded dried bundle of lavender and dribbles of vetiver in the bottle, evoking a "past life" type of nostaglia. highly remniscent of a Victorian era gentleman. On skin, this impression persists with the arrival of the tea rose (almost rosewood-esque, that must be connected to the antiquing quality of the amber). It sits softly close to skin, with a light, glimmering echo of copal giving it some warmth. Reading historical reviews, I think the scent packs much less of a masculine punch now that it has rested well, although it still leans that way. As a person of the female persuasion, I think it smells pretty nice on me, too. Although it is a Yule, there isn't anything specifically winter or holiday coded about it.
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"Intoxicating" is the first word that comes to mind when sniffing it from the bottle. There is a dark, plummy, purple sweetness from the black kyphi that dominates, and the myrrh swims alongside it. On skin, the scent blooms and becomes even jammier. The red musk and indigo oud are present, but restrained. Two hours later, the overwhelmingly beautiful sparkle of the scent is largely gone, leaving behind a sweet, dry woodiness. This gives an incredibly premium, sophisticated open that was truly incredible to experience, but then pretty rapidly disappears. For the sake of comparison, I applied a dab to a tester strip to see if my skin was the culprit in chasing it away. Although it took a bit longer for the top notes to fade (maybe another 30 min) the end result was the same. The quick retreat of intensity makes it a little challenging to wear; your choices are to apply more liberally and risk overdoing the open, or to reapply more often not to lose the bloom entirely. I rarely wish for a scent in EDP format, but this may be one of those fringe cases where the blend needs a different base to "stick" a bit better. Truly a gorgeous blend, just needs a bit more enduring potency. 9/10, highly recommend. (Note: The label and official Blood Milk website spell the scent name "Bhelena".)
- Last week
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A clear channel for communication and reflection reach into a splendent garden of stillness. Ambrosial flowers float in pristine pools, nestled underneath trees weeping frankincense tears, and oh so gentle sandalwood incense curls across the space. The lotus blossoms’ mouths are wide and resonant, emitting fragrant hymnals of devotion to the timeless divinity that pulses in every speck of creation. One emerges completely renewed. On Prayer is, understandably, very similar to Venus Caelestis (Blue lotus absolute, grey amber, white myrrh, frankincense, and sugared lemon peel.), without the sugared lemon, and some extra texture from the white sandalwood. The blue lotus has some of the bubble gummy feel to it, and the frankincense is bright. I should probably compare them to see if I should keep both of the bottles.
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it kills me that this is running bubblegum on my skin 😫 the spicy cinnamon candy is nice but it's definitely no golden amber which is breaking my heart because the lion is such a big pick when amber recommendations go around. over time some of the dryness peeks its head with time but mostly this is a pretty chemical/artificial sweet smell of candy. my imp was pretty aged and deeply red so maybe i should have tried it fresh instead. bummer!
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There's something cozy about this that reminded me of Mary Llwyd. Something baked, and sweetness, but not an overwhelming gourmand.
