The Dark Crystal Latest Topics

skekNa the Slave-Master

Wed, 11 Sep 2013 00:36:01 +0000

skekNa the Slave-Master
The essence of vile gluttony: an abundance of spices, sweet cakes, thick creams, and opulent liqueurs mixed with the scent of whip leather and rusted padlocks.

In bottle: A little overwhelming in the bottle. It’s as if the liqueurs have slightly curdled the cream. I blame the rum I strongly suspect is the dominant note. The spices are lovely and blending well with both liqueur and cream as well as tying them together with the soft cake background. The leather and rust form a second faction in counterpoint to the dominant foodie faction. On further consideration, it might be one of these pulling the cream slightly off. The leather is the stronger of the two in this faction, but the rust is dancing with the spice in some interesting ways. I’m not convinced it works in bottle, but my fingers are crossed for how it smells on skin. Wet: Still liqueur dominant, but softer and sweeter on the skin as the cake is now strong enough to smooth the edges. The cream is purer now, so it’s disentangled from whatever was throwing it off. The spices are softer, but continue to tie things together. The cream and spices melt into the leather accord around the edges and the metallics fade into an accent. As it wears, the spices move to dominance as the liqueurs settle down. This is when it really starts to work for me, though I think there may be a scootch too much rum. Dry: Mostly spice over a sweet wash of cake and liqueur.

skekUng the Garthim-Master

Tue, 31 Dec 2013 16:29:12 +0000

skekUng the Garthim-Master
Brute force and destruction: vetiver, smoke, steel, and dragon's blood resin.

Whoa, I'm first

This smells fantastic in the decant! Smoky, slightly woodsy/grassy from the vetiver, a little sweet from the DBR. The steel comes out on my skin and blends with the other notes to create an evocative blend that smells like it should be part of the RPG series. The vetiver darkens it enough to make it just slightly unnerving. I really like this one. Even though leather isn't one of the notes, I get a hint of a leathery scent. This may be a bottle purchase!

skekZok the Ritual Master

Tue, 10 Sep 2013 12:49:50 +0000

skekZok the Ritual-Master
An incense of deception: frankincense, opoponax, hyssop, champaca, and opium poppy accord.

Put a little of SkekZok on, just a small dab behind your ears, and he will stick to you all day, through the night, and into the next morning. He will announce his presence to all and sundry with a shout, so it might be best to apply less than you might with your other scents. Frankincense, opoponax, and champaca are the major notes on me, and I get only a brief flicker of an herbal tone, probably from the hyssop. Opium poppy accord is just an accent on me, and gives it a small hint of sweetness. What lasts the longest are those three main notes and even close to 24 hours after application, I can still smell that trio.

There's something about SkekZok that does induce a sense of ritual and darkness. When I wear this, I kind of want to sit in meditation by a dying fire. Incense lovers should be seeking this one out any way they can, because it's really a classic incense blend. Fans of Smoky Moon 2012 might find this to be a less burnt-smelling alternative because of the lovely (and talented!) champaca. As for me, I vastly prefer it to Smoky Moon 2012.

skekTek the Scientist

Mon, 16 Sep 2013 01:49:47 +0000

skekTek the Scientist
Metal and stone beams of dark light: hyssop, black currant, black viola, passionflower, and myrrh.

When it's in the bottle and wet on my skin, I get very little but black viola from SkekTek. As long as I apply sparingly it doesn't actually make me feel sick, unlike its cousin violet. Wearing more than a dab on one wrist rubbed into both wrists would be too much. Getting it anywhere above the elbows would be asking for nausea and a crippling headache.

Eventually myrrh swirls into the mix and there's a hint of what must be passionflower. Myrrh dominates the blend after it's been on my skin for close to an hour and it starts smelling more like a scent I can wear. At around the same time I notice a hint of sweet black currant. By the time two hours have passed, myrrh and black currant are more prominent than anything else because the floral notes have faded. Gentle hyssop never stood a chance against the other notes on me.

Just a little dab on one wrist packs a powerful throw, especially while it's wet. For the first hour it's very much what people mean when they describe a scent as heady. Eventually it stops shouting and becomes much more wearable for me, but I will reserve this for nights out and hope that the black viola note will mellow with age. I think it could work well on goth night. If you'll be in close proximity to other people, think about applying this at least an hour before you'll be near them.

My brain sees black and deep purple when I smell this, with slivers of acid green while it's still wet. In other words, this could have been called Maleficent.