hkhm
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Posts posted by hkhm
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imp: sweet cake!
wet: this is a very sweet blend, the sugar has a toasted scent to it, not quite caramel but warm and rich.
dry: this dried to a creamy toasted sugar scent. i will be needing a bottle.
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THE HARLOT'S HOUSE
We caught the tread of dancing feet,
We loitered down the moonlit street,
And stopped beneath the harlot's house.
Inside, above the din and fray,
We heard the loud musicians play
The "Treues Liebes Herz" of Strauss.
Like strange mechanical grotesques,
Making fantastic arabesques,
The shadows raced across the blind.
We watched the ghostly dancers spin
To sound of horn and violin,
Like black leaves wheeling in the wind.
Like wire-pulled automatons,
Slim silhouetted skeletons
Went sidling through the slow quadrille.
The took each other by the hand,
And danced a stately saraband;
Their laughter echoed thin and shrill.
Sometimes a clockwork puppet pressed
A phantom lover to her breast,
Sometimes they seemed to try to sing.
Sometimes a horrible marionette
Came out, and smoked its cigarette
Upon the steps like a live thing.
Then, turning to my love, I said,
"The dead are dancing with the dead,
The dust is whirling with the dust."
But she--she heard the violin,
And left my side, and entered in:
Love passed into the house of lust.
Then suddenly the tune went false,
The dancers wearied of the waltz,
The shadows ceased to wheel and whirl.
And down the long and silent street,
The dawn, with silver-sandalled feet,
Crept like a frightened girl.
The dead are dancing with the dead, the dust is whirling with the dust: angel’s trumpet, violet, white sandalwood, oude, copaiba balsam, angelica, white tea, olibanum, and oakmoss.
imp: sandalwood and tea. this has a very bright feel to it.
wet: the sandalwood is oddly absent once applied. the tea is still quite strong though. i can't pick out many of the other notes on this one, it's a bright, green smelling scent. i was really hoping the violet would be stronger but i can't smell it at all!
dry: the sandalwood has re-appeared and has balanced the tea nicely while i can barely pick out the oude and angelica. this has a cool, fresh feel to it but tea scents always smell that way to me. -
ROSES, PEARLS, AND DIAMONDS
The youngest, who was the very picture of her father for courtesy and sweetness of temper, was withal one of the most beautiful girls ever seen. As people naturally love their own likeness, this mother even doted on her eldest daughter and at the same time had a horrible aversion for the youngest--she made her eat in the kitchen and work continually.
Among other things, this poor child was forced twice a day to draw water above a mile and a-half off the house, and bring home a pitcher full of it. One day, as she was at this fountain, there came to her a poor woman, who begged of her to let her drink.
"Oh! ay, with all my heart, Goody," said this pretty little girl; and rinsing immediately the pitcher, she took up some water from the clearest place of the fountain, and gave it to her, holding up the pitcher all the while, that she might drink the easier.
The good woman, having drunk, said to her:
You are so very pretty, my dear, so good and so mannerly, that I cannot help giving you a gift." For this was a fairy, who had taken the form of a poor country woman, to see how far the civility and good manners of this pretty girl would go. "I will give you for a gift," continued the Fairy, "that, at every word you speak, there shall come out of your mouth either a flower or a jewel."
When this pretty girl came home her mother scolded her for staying so long at the fountain.
"I beg your pardon, mamma," said the poor girl, "for not making more haste."
And in speaking these words there came out of her mouth two roses, two pearls, and two diamonds.
Red roses, dazzling crystalline musks, and pearlescent coconut-tinged orris.
imp: orris! beautiful, soft orris!
wet: the rose really wants to dominate this blend but for once it's being contained. the coconut-tinged orris is amazingly beautiful and balances the rose well-enough so that it has not turned soapy on me!
dry: the rose just vanishes alltogether after about ten minutes. i was really worried this blend would not work on me since rose tends to amp like crazy and turn soapy. i need not have worried at all! in fact, this might be a bottle purchase for me! -
GRIEF
It is not well, therefore, to mourn long for the departed; else Grief, whose sole pleasure is in such mourning, will be quick to send fresh cause for tears.
Inconsolable: lily of the valley, hyacinth, calamus, muguet, hydrangea, and elemi.
imp: mixed florals, nothing stands out too much.
wet: this is mostly lily on my skin. the other florals are indistinct.
dry: the lily just keeps getting softer and softer and i can finally pick out both hyacinth and hydrangea, if only a little. a very nice springtime scent. -
VERITAS
Falsehood has no feet: now and again something that is false can start off successfully, but with time, Truth will always prevail.
The essence of honesty, integrity, and veracity: frankincense, white carnation, angelica, chamomile, and heliotrope.
imp: very soft florals.
wet: lovely warm sandalwood and angelica. the carnation lends this a creaminess. very pretty!
dry: i smell more heliotrope as this dries but it's pretty soft under the sandalwood. the angelica seems to have faded somewhat but i can still detect a teensy bit. -
EKHIDNA
This was the divine and haughty Ekhidna, and half of her is a Nymphe with a fair face and eyes glancing, but the other half is a monstrous ophis, terrible, enormous and squirming and voracious, there in earth's secret places. For there she has her cave on the underside of a hollow rock, far from the immortal gods, and far from all mortals.
There the gods ordained her a fabulous home to live in which she keeps underground among the Arimoi, grisly Ekhidna, a Nymphe who never dies, and all her days she is ageless.
Mother of Monsters, the Eel of Tartarus, Queen of the Dark Forest, Serpent Womb. Consort to Typhon, the Rotting Lamprey was born from the residual scum left behind after from the Great Deluge.
All the corruptions of the earth: mandrake, dark myrrh, seaweed, swampy moss, black pepper, pimento, opoponax, tobacco absolute, and tarry clove.
imp: myrrh, moss, opoponax, pepper... dark and beautiful!
wet: the myrrh is the most dominant note here, sinuous and dark. i keep catching whiffs of many of the other notes but htey are very hard to detect over the myrrh.
dry: this dries to a peppery myrrh blend, i tend to amp both myrrh and pepper notes though. thinking i'll be needing a bottle of this one! -
ROCKING-HORSE-FLY
` -- then you don't like all insects?' the Gnat went on, as quietly as if nothing had happened.
`I like them when they can talk,' Alice said. `None of them ever talk, where I come from.'
`What sort of insects do you rejoice in, where YOU come from?' the Gnat inquired.
`I don't REJOICE in insects at all,' Alice explained, `because I'm rather afraid of them -- at least the large kinds. But I can tell you the names of some of them."
`Of course they answer to their names?' the Gnat remarked carelessly.
`I never knew them do it.'
`What's the use of their having names the Gnat said, `if they won't answer to them?'
`No use to THEM,' said Alice; `but it's useful to the people who name them, I suppose. If not, why do things have names at all?'
`I can't say,' the Gnat replied. `Further on, in the wood down there, they've got no names -- however, go on with your list of insects: you're wasting time.'
`Well, there's the Horse-fly,' Alice began, counting off the names on her fingers.
`All right,' said the Gnat: `half way up that bush, you'll see a Rocking-horse-fly, if you look. It's made entirely of wood, and gets about by swinging itself from branch to branch.'
`What does it live on?' Alice asked, with great curiosity.
`Sap and sawdust,' said the Gnat. `Go on with the list.'
Alice looked up at the Rocking-horse-fly with great interest, and made up her mind that it must have been just repainted, it looked so bright and sticky; and then she went on.
Shellacked wood, sap, sawdust, and privet.
imp: bright green woods.
wet: this is a very fresh-cut woodsy/shrubby scent. like when you snip back your hedges.
dry: dry aquatic with fresh wood. -
SNAP-DRAGON-FLY
`Look on the branch above your head,' said the Gnat, `and there you'll find a Snap-Dragon-fly. Its body is made of plum-pudding, its wings of holly-leaves, and its head is a raisin burning in brandy.'
`And what does it live on?'
`Frumenty and mince pie,' the Gnat replied; `and it makes its nest in a Christmas box.'
Plum pudding, holly, and brandy-soaked raisin with frumenty, mince pie, and a hint of suet.
imp: very softly plummy.
wet: very plummy and spicy-sweet! there is a hint of pastry as well.
dry: this smells almost exactly like mince pie with plums mixed in once dry. i think i will be needing a bottle. -
So I dug around in the BPAL forums because if anyone has heard of this, it's you guys (moment of panic: WHAT IF THIS IS SOMETHING EVERYONE INTO PERFUME ALREADY KNOWS AND I'VE BEEN AN UNKNOWING BLASPHEMER FOR 16 YEARS?!) but (thankfully?) I couldn't find anything like this. So I started a thread.HEATHEN. How do you live with yourself??
i am a shameless rubber. the best part of applying my oils is when i rub the oil in (not hard but enough so that it's no longer a dot of oil) and then wipe my fingertips off in my hair.
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imp: sweet dark amber and musk.
wet: on the one hand, this is very dark amber and black musk but on the other hand i'm getting a hit of bright lemon. very unusual.
dry: unfortunately, the lemon scent never leaves and instead turn this whole blend strange. darn.
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imp: bright, slightly spicy berries.
wet: very bright berries, sort of smells like the pomegranate scent from the fruit of paradise mixed with the something sweeter and fruitier.
dry: this reminds me a great deal of the fruit of paradise, but where the fruit of paradise has a strong tartness to it, this is all smooth and sweet. i will be buying a bottle with my next order.
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imp: spicy and effervescent.
wet: this is a bubbly nutmeg scent. hard to describe but it has a very antique drug store kind of feel.
dry: nutmeg and sassafras, very dry. almost peppery.
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imp: sweet, creamy vetiver.
wet: this is a very even mix of tonka and vetiver. the vetiver is very sweet while the tonka is creamy.
dry: once dry, this is a light mix of tonka and orris with a beautiful backnote of vetiver. i never once got carnation from this blend but perhaps it's what's keeping the overall sweetness of this blend.
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imp: rosewood with a bit of musk and amber.
wet: very pungent, almost sharp, rosewood. i always feel rosewood should be rich and smooth but this smells more "fresh" somehow.
dry: the doesn't smell as rosewood-ish as i was expecting but may smooth with age. it's a fresh wood scent over musk and amber which is beautiful in it's own right. i will hang on to my imp to see if it becomes a bottle-worthy purchase in the future.
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imp: spicy, almost incense-y red musk.
wet: very strong incense, very similar to nag champa with an undertone of red musk.
dry: the incense fades quite a bit but the red musk is still going strong. this is very heady/sexy, a definite hot date scent.
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bottle: vibrant florals.
wet: this almost smells like it has vanilla in it! it's so creamy and sweet, the florals are tame, nothing cloying here. perhaps it's the snowball giving it such a watery "clean" scent, something puts me in mind of softly glistening blooms and boughs.
dry: i can smell the bergamot a bit as this dries, very faint but distinctive. it's a soft, creamy wet floral that makes me understand how people can love floral scents.
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Ronin
in Lupercalia
bottle: honeyed, peppered sandalwood. i'm already thinking i will need another bottle of this!
wet: the oakmoss appears alongside the sandalwood in this peppered honey masterpiece. this is intensely beautiful and i can see it working equally well on a man or a woman.
dry: the honey and the pepper are dominant but so well balanced, the sandalwood and oakmoss are in the backgrouns but certainly present. i will need another bottle of this!
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bottle: creamy pink floral frosting.
wet: this is almost entirely cherry blossoms on me. the star anise and vanilla are in the background and everything else is so faint i can barely detect them.
dry: as this dries, it gets sweeter and sweeter until i'm reminded of nothing so much as a large dollop of lightly spiced frosting covered in sakura petals.
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bottle: creamy frankincense and orris.
wet: very beautiful orris and spicy cream with a wonderful background of frankincense.
dry: this dries to a soft, lightly creamy orris and frankincense. a definite love.
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i think that this year both prague and amsterdam will be my springtime scents. perhaps some kitsune-tsuki as well.
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i love himerus, not on myself but on my husband. whatever his skin chemistry does to it, it smells incredible.
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Prague
in Wanderlust
imp: sort of flowery but sort of fruity as well.
wet: what a beautiful, effervescent floral scent! it's soft and sparkly and perfect for spring!
dry: i may need a bottle of this. it's so soft and feminine, perfect for springtime outings.
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Bayou
in Wanderlust
imp: very rich florals. magnolia, honeysuckle perhaps?
wet: this went a touch soapy/powdery as i applied it. the florals are beautiful though, rich and strong with a fresh aquatic feel.
dry: the soapiness fades and what remains is a deeply beautiful scent, full of rich heady floarls. this is not the sort of perfume i would have normally selected for myself so i am very impressed by how much i like it.
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imp: rich, spicy florals.
wet: this has a very christmasy floral scent. it's part pine, part spice, part dazzling floral. further, the cinnamon is not burning me at all!
dry: this has more of a wet, lush greenery scent as it dries, but still with pine and cinnamon and florals. whoever said "tropical christmas" said it perfectly.
The Traveller
in Limited Editions
Posted · Report reply
bottle: well-worn dusty leather.
wet: this is a very dry, dusty scent. it has a warm feel to it. it's like wearing well-worn leather boots with a patina of dry sand.
dry: there are the herbs, though they are dried... dry leather, dust, sand, herbs. a very evocative blend!