Invidiana

The first sniff of this transported me straight outside to the depths of an autumn night. Granted the air outside doesn't smell exactly like resins and pomegranate, but what I really mean is that it evokes that feeling of a September (or October or November) midnight. This is a seriously dark pomegranate note, not nearly as bright as that in Persephone or The Fruit of Paradise. I love how this pomegranate is almost dark enough to be akin to blackcurrant, but still retains that characteristic "red" quality. This is the last pomegranate of the season, whose juice is as bloodred as the edges of an autumn sunset. The resins work to add depth on the drydown, which I can best compare to that same autumn sunset purpling and darkening before it succumbs to completely to nightfall. While the pomegrante note is perfectly balanced between sweet and tart, I believe the myrrh adds just a hint more sweetness--I tend to amp a subtle vanillic sweetness in myrrh. I feel September Midnight is the counterpart to Autumn and Winter, a prequel for what's to come as the days grow shorter and the nights deeper.

This one makes me think of a pumpkin centerpiece at Alice's tea party. It's surrounded by flowers, and alongside a pitcher of milk and a jar of honey. The creamy milk and golden honey are a natural match for the warm, sweet pumpkin, and the milk note works to make the already smooth pumpkin even creamier. There's just a hint of spice that warms up the scent as a whole but doesn't amp even on my notoriously spice-amping skin. As is its nature, the carnation adds a tiny bit of spice as well, but it's very subtle. The interplay of the foody and floral elements here is actually very pleasant. The florals of Alice, as in the original scent, are not overbearing here either (even the rose I swear). They add a feminine element to the whole thing, and I swear that "feminine" and "pumpkin actually can belong in the same sentence. Somewhere in the background there is just a bit of bergamot tea. This is more of a daytime pumpkin, the pumpkin you wear when you're going to meet the parents, perfectly nice and sweet with nothing scandalous about it. I can almost see it wearing Alice's bow and pinafore.

Pumpkin makes an amazing pairing with Morocco. These two were just meant to be. Both are warm scents that amount to double deliciousness when they come together. No doubt that the incensey notes of Morocco make this something of an exotic pumpkin, not the burlesque pumpkin of Sin in the Pumpkin Patch but more of a belly-dancing pumpkin with a sheer red veil (from the red sandalwood of course). The light spice of Morocco, including that from the carnation, also blends perfectly with the pumpkin note, since pumpkin and spice are just a natural pairing to begin with. The spice is present enough to contribute warmth and sensuality but not dominant enough to amp to infinity. I love how the warm musk in Morocco adds something to the pumpkin that's hard to put my finger on but makes it even more warm and inviting. Belly-dancing jack-o-lantern indeed.

This is like a pumpkin doing burlesque. The warm, creamy, comforting pumpkin appears all wholesome until it gets entangled with the blatant sensuality of Sin. Even though I tend to amp cinnamon, it behaves rather well here. The pumpkin note is lightly spiced, and I also think that the pumpkin just being present balances out the cinnamon of Sin so it smells more subtle than that of the original does on me. It warms the blend as a whole, but doesn't stomp all over it. At least on my skin, the most prominent note in Sin that dances with the pumpkin--and probably what makes this such a sexy pumpkin--is the black patchouli. Supported by the amber and sandalwood, which give it additional depth (read: even sexier) it crosses pumpkin over into territory I never thought pumpkin would go to. It's like putting that jack-o-lantern-next-door in black lace stockings that take her from pumpkin shell to bombshell.

As if Samhain couldn't get any better, along comes this. I die. Samhain already has a pumpkin note, but this is Samhain meets the Great Pumpkin meets ultimate autumnal-scent bliss. Like the other 'Patch blends, the pumpkin note is warm, creamy and lightly spiced enough so it adds some warmth but doesn't amp to the high heavens on my notoriously spice-amping skin. Because the original does have spices of its own, this one is slightly spicier than the other pumpkins but not insanely so. Samhain's patchouli, apple and woods are still very much pleasant, just subtler. If the original Samhain is Halloween after nightfall, I'd say this is Halloween during the day. Maybe it's the golden quality of the pumpkin, or maybe the additional sweetness added by it (though it doesn't get anywhere near cloying). Kind of like Samhain with a slice of pumpkin pie on the side. I love them both to death.

Of course, first thing I thought when the update went live and I saw this: Puddin' in the pumpkin patch. References aside, who knew Dorian would go so well with pumpkin? Then again, pumpkin is a natural with tea. Take your favorite pumpkin tea, make it that much better than you could imagine and you've got this. It's all pumpkin wet, and then Dorian quickly comes through until they balance each other harmoniously on the drydown. The pumpkin is that same delicious baked pumpkin note I recognize from Theme in Yellow, dusted with just enough spice. The spice here really plays well with the rest of the blend, doesn't even amp on me and I can amp spice something fierce. It's warm, creamy pumpkin steeped in the aromatic vanilla tea of Dorian, with a hint of Dorian's characteristic fougere swirling in the background. Need I say more?

Pumpkin and beeswax. For me, a confessed pumpkinphile, this was a no-brainer.



Before I start-- no raw pumpkin guts! It's a creamy, delicious baked pumpkin note with just a hint of spice, less than I find to be in Jack or Pumpkin Latte. Wet, it's all that lightly spiced pumpkin, which is delicious enough on its own, yes. But then the magic happens. The beeswax flickers to life and the more it dries down, the more it "glows" in an olfactory sense. The beeswax note most definitely brings to mind beeswax candles with that honeyed undertone, though not actual foody honey. When I was a kid I would just sit there and huff beeswax candles for that reason but that's besides the point. The way that it mingles with the pumpkin into yellow-orange bliss makes it a comfort scent like no other. Mind my synaesthesia but it truly is a scent on the orange side of yellow, warm and welcoming like the candlelit smile of a jack-o-lantern on a crisp October night. Like those candles way back when, I just keep huffing.

If there was ever a beautiful way to interpret ectoplasm, this is it. I love white florals and the lily note alone makes it an absolute win. There is some rose in the background, but it's not a dry or dominant rose that shrieks its presence out to the world. Think more along the lines of velvety white petals mingling with the heady (but not cloying) calla lily. It's all floral in the wet stage, and then as it dries down something moderately sweet enters the mix--that must be the ice wine. As someone who has actually tasted ice wine I can say that it isn't nearly as strong a flavor (or smell) as red wine, and while sweet enough, it's not saccharine. Same goes for the wine note here. It balances the ethereal florals and allows them to maintain that ghostly quality while still adding something extra. If there was any phobia here it was the white sandalwood. Some types can go bone-dry on my skin but it turned out there was nothing to fear because it's very soft and subtle. Phasmophobia conjures images of spectres in flowing white dresses forever haunting an abandoned attic. I do believe any self-respecting phantom would approve.

Menacing, in the best possible way. Let me explain.

This is a scent that conveys the feeling, the very idea of thick, impenetrable darkness through the sum of its parts. You have to give this a chance to dry down a little before you can really experience its true beauty. Wet the first thing I get is patchouli but it's so much more than that. Patchouli just has that tendency to dominate the wet stage of things. It slowly starts to reveal its true nature on the drydown, like the many layers of darkness that make themselves known as the night grows deeper. The oppoponax has an almost syrupy quality to it, and by syrupy I mean dense and rich rather than saccharine--think sticky resin rather than sugar syrup. My skin does tend to bring out the sweetness in oppoponax but nowhere near cloying capacity. The tobacco gives it a pleasant (and very fitting) smokiness, and the dark musk wraps it in a sheer black veil of sensuality. Once you have one sniff of this you will get completely lost in it--and you might not want to be find.

If there ever was an "essence of night" captured in a bottle, this is it.

I cannot begin to express in humble human-derived words how amazing this is. I don't normally spring for bottles of scents that don't have notes listed, but anything with that has the general idea of all-encompassing darkness is the big exception. This is so well-blended to capture that feeling of thick, dark night that it's difficult to pick out notes but I'll make some feeble attempt. There is no single note that dominates from the wet stage all the way through the drydown. I can detect lavender, but not the kind of gun-toting lavender that pierces your nostrils with no mercy. This is a soft, mysterious lavender that spins itself into a veil of what I'm assuming to be a dark musk. Definitely a subtle backdrop of dark woods here too, but while I can't tell exactly what they are (might be a bit of teak or sandalwood somewhere in here) I know beyond the shadow of a doubt that there's no cedar or cypress because my skin amps those to eleven. Possibly a hint of black amber or something close resin-wise anchoring it; there's a very slight smokiness on the drydown. There must be some night-blooming florals here too, not jasmine, but I feel it shares a few things with Midnight and I have no idea what a lot of the floral notes in that smell like on their own. Maybe evening stock, maybe nicotiana. Educated guess. In fact it is kind of like Midnight's older sister, kind of like Death is to Delirium in Sandman.

In other words, if you like Night's Bridge, or my discontinued first love Midnight, run.

This is really delicious. It's all orange cake wet, and then as it dries down it becomes smooth and creamy with the custard coming through. I actually only get the faintest hint of anise with this, which is good, because I was hoping it would be subtle. Surprisingly the hints of floral notes that make themselves known in the very end actually work with the rest of the notes. I was a little leery of them at first but the give a soft finish to the cake, orange and vanilla custard notes. I've never eaten actual huesos de santo but not I want to try them!

This one was very, very vegetal. Initially I got a blast of green vines and earth, then some pumpkin comes to the surface as it dries down. The pumpkin here really isn't a foody pumpkin, but more of closer to fresh pumpkin guts. The green notes still remain the dominant element throughout. Not for me personally, but it really is very true to what an actual pumpkin patch smells like up close and personal.

I'm a neroli fan, so this one really delivered. I love how the juicy peach note, which has that hint of tartness to balance the sweetness(never cloying throughout the drydown), is balanced by the creamy, slightly citrusy neroli. Those two the notes that burst onto the scene initially, but after a minute or two of drying down a light, sweet honey and sheer white tea beautifully come into play. I think this one has put my fears of white peach turning saccharine on my skin to rest.

Holy--give me a moment to breathe here. This smells like my peach trees. Yes, I do live in New Jersey and have peach trees but that's besides the point. Take the scent of sun-warmed grass and flowers carried on fresh air, combine it with subtle wood and fragrant, fresh-picked peaches (more like smelling a the skin of peach that hasn't been cut open). In other words this is basically the bottled version of a fully laden peach tree in early September. I can't get over how realistic it is!

White peach normally scare me because my skin can turn it saccharine, but as a hair gloss it's a different story. The white peach note is gentle and even a bit tart, which I love, and supported by a sheer white incense. This is not an incense to be afraid of; it's very light and supports the peach perfectly. What really makes this for me, though, its the interaction of the champaca flower with the other two notes. The heady (but not heavy), sensual quality it adds is really divine. I wore this paired with Peach I today and the combo was just amazing.

LOVE this, and that's coming for a person who isn't necessarily a peach fanatic either. Wet it starts out with a bright juicy burst of peach. I love how the golden peach note here doesn't border on saccharine at all, like some peach notes do on my skin, but is tart enough to balance out the sweetness. It's got that juiciness to it like a fresh-picked peach from one of my trees (yes I do live in New Jersey and have functioning peach trees but that's a who other story). Then as it dries down the tonka and honey make it a thicker, richer scent. The slightly smoky tobacco and warm red musk are the last to emerge but they give it something of a sensual finish. I never expected to fall for a peach scent this much but there you have it.

The moment I smelled this I imagined falling backwards into a sun-warmed field of golden grasses. There are some drier notes that I simply can't do, but the dry grass note here is just perfect. It's not that kind of suck-all-the-moisture-from-the-earth dry like some kinds of sandalwood, but more of a warm, autumnal kind of dry that's even comforting in a way. It's not woody and not even really grassy in the conventional sense, but closer to hay or wheat or something in that neighborhood. The amber also contributes to the "golden" current that runs throughout, and gives the grass note some mild sweetness along something of a honeyed undertone. Oddly enough I do pick up something playing the part of shadows here. I can't exactly put my finger on it, maybe some type of sheer, shadowy musk? It reminds me of that dry patch in my backyard I loved so much as a kid, just breathing in the scent of that and feeling the warmth against my skin.

I sprang for a bottle of this without even thinking, and I was right. It's thick, rich, creamy, marshmallowy hot chocolate perfection. Made me think of a steaming mug of cocoa with all that melted marshmallow goodness (you know when you leave them there and they just melt into this wonderful white goo) on top. The chocolate note is like the darker side of milk chocolate, not that artificially sweet stuff you might find in the clearance section of CVS but like like a "dark milk chocolate", the kind with about 50% cacao. Anyway, I'm rambling--LOVE.

Deep, dark and resinous. This is a cousin of the original Frankincense SN, but a bit sweeter, which I personally prefer. I wouldn't call it church incense at all, even though a lot of people have that perception of frankincense. It has woody and smoky undertones, but the smoky aspect is more like woodsmoke than church incense smoke. A little sharp in the wet stage (attributing that to the fact that it's fresh and age will change things), it mellows out to a smoky-sweet resin, shadowy and mysterious, the scented equivalent of an antique veil. I can't wait to see how this ages, it's going to be amazing.

I just placed a massive order this morning, I mean really worthy of this ---> even though my wallet was ready. But what I can say about past Weenies that I either own or have tried:

 

All Souls (own): foody and incensey; the incense puts a unique (and I find, highly addictive) spin on the cake and currant notes; if you like Feeding the Dead you will like this one too.

Day of the Skulls (tried): alas a little too much rose for me though I do tend to amp it; it is a sweeter rose scent, so for those of you who like your rose on the sweet side but not necessarily foody this is one to try.

Dia de los Muertos (own): another one in the vein of All Souls though a completely different scent; it has that foody-incensey thing going on along with an extra bit of smokiness and a touch of that dry leaves note I can never get enough of.

Flor de Muerto (tried): pleasant, though not the type of floral that hits the "must have zomgritenao" trigger for me (I'm into the headier and/or darker florals mostly), but it is a light and sunny scent like marigolds and mums on a sunny fall day and very much captures that yellow and orange feeling in the description.

Ghosts in Love (tried): if you are a rose lover then you'll be head over heels for this; plenty of true-to-life rose with the carnation not far behind; too rosy for me personally but I can see how rose aficionados would love it.

The Hell-Gate of Ireland (own): clove doesn't always love me, but I like this one because it's a smoky, smoldering clove that doesn't come out like a spice rack on my skin; it's a no-brainer if you're a huge clove fan, but if you're wary of clove but love the smoky stuff at least give this one a try.

John Barleycorn (own): an unusual but really cool scent, and I promise you won't smell like a sweaty crowded bar; the blood note must have dragonsblood resin in there somewhere because it balances out the wheaty and malty beer note and the toasty barley quite nicely with just a hint of sweetness.

Le Revenant (own): haunting, ethereal white florals (I should mention I'm a gardenia fan); besides heady and dark floral notes I have a thing for the ghostly ones too, and this is true to its theme, a pale white shroud; wagering Phasmophobia is going to be a cousin.

Mictecacihuatl (tried): in a similar vein with Day of the Skulls, except this one is more smoky and resinous; still too much rose for me personally

Samhain: (own multiple years) HOARD THIS SHIZNIT no seriously Samhain is wonderful, you've got the sweet pumpkin and apple swirled with the smoky wood and dry leaves into autumn perfection, and the more it ages, the better it gets; if you're a lover of quintessentially autumn scents like I am get thee at least a bottle!

Samhainophobia: (tried) I think it was the geranium that ended up being the dealbreaker here, I amp the stuff and it made the scent on a whole a little too bitter, but the other notes are wonderfully dark and smoky and I would love to see it as an atmo--hoping Achluophobia will behave as I hoped this would on my skin

 

Also, I haven't tried Ooky yet (though I did jump for a bottle) but what I can say is that if it's anything like that honey-almond pumpkin, I think it was Pumpkin I, from 09 then serious win.

This reminds me of orange spice tea, very well-rounded with the citrus and tea notes balancing each other without the tea going bitter. The spices stay tempered, and this is coming from someone who amps spices. They just warm it up and finish it off, giving it that extra something ideal for a cool autumn night. It's pleasant,and while personally it wasn't for me but I can see why it appeals to so many people.

The one that immediately came to mind when I read your post was Halloween: Los Angeles. It's from a few years back but it really captures that dry-leaves-in-a-bonfire smell: a strange incense of burning brush, junegrass, tumbleweeds, chaparral, and wild sage. Shouldn't be that hard to track down at least a decant of it. Also, I'm surprised no one mentioned October! Dry, cold autumn wind. A rustle of red leaves, a touch of smoke and sap in the air. It tends to reappear every year or every other year, depending. As a fall-scent junkie it's one of my personal favorites. Other past LEs you may want to check out (all find-able):

 

Autumn and Winter: bitter currant and dry leaves, winter wind at dusk.

The Death of Autumn: dark amber, dead leaves, khus, saffron, bitter clove, chrysanthemum, camellia, galangal, and a drop of oud

Meditation in Autumn: dusty, bleak, and withered: old wood, burnt brown sandalwood, and twisted vines

Samhainophobia: Haitian vetiver, patchouli, and clove with a shock of bourbon geranium, grim oakmoss, and dread-inspiring balsams pierce the innocuous scent of autumn leaves. (this one is really dark and smoky, not for the faint of heart)

 

And! Yes Virginia there is something in the GC too! In the Paranorman scents:

 

Blithe Hollow: dead leaves and cold, moist breezes set at the edge of a forest of maple, pine, cedar, and cypress.

This was another one where the notes looked iffy on paper, but on my skin it’s wonderful! It reads almost as a sophisticated blackberry soda to my nose, sweet with the berries, grape and plum sugar but not too sugary, effervescent and with a wonderful undercurrent of jasmine (the non-cat-pee kind) that makes it unique. Sometimes elemi and honeysuckle can break a scent for me but I barely even smell them here. Wherever the honeysuckle is it’s probably blending very well with the jasmine. Plus it has real staying power—I didn’t need to reapply all day.

I think I would love this as an atmo. It's a very unique, very evocative scent that brings saltwater-soaked wood (with the tiniest hint of Snake Oil) to life. I'm surprised that this is one of the few blends with lemon verbena that didn't come out as the Tentacled Verbena of Doom on me. Even though I do amp the Snake Oil a bit more as it dries down, it's a little on the masculine side on my skin, as cedar tends to do, but I'm keeping my decant just for the scent experience.

Another surprise win for me! I tend to be leery of grass notes because sometimes they come out as ridiculously strong grass clippings on me, but not in this case. This is like the scent of fresh grass (not the lawnmower clippings kind), clover and sheer florals wafting in on a cool breeze. I don’t really get much incense, I think it blends in with the hint of sweetness from the floral notes. It’s perfectly and makes me feel like I’m perpetually outside in the middle of a wide-open field, even if it’s actually raining out.