OctoberGwen
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Posts posted by OctoberGwen
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This is beautiful. It’s a soft scent; the incense is blended beautifully with the beeswax, which gives everything a roundness, a depth. As much as I love the herb, I dislike wearing lavender because it tends to overpower everything else. Not so here: lavender smoke is not smoky per se, rather it’s a softer, wispier version of lavender and it’s perfect with the subdued incense note and the slightly creamy beeswax.
The only Travelogue scent I got a bottle of and I’m so happy I did!
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Deux
in Lupercalia
Red rose petals dusted with a trove of ancient spices.
I always love the spicey rose blends, and this one is no exception. Here the rose and spices blend into something sophisticated and lovely; in fact, this reminds me of something that I can't quite put my finger on. It has a very classic feel to it, and would be appropriate for the office as well as a night out on the town. -
I adore this! A perfect blend of Dorian and Antique Lace, without the too-sweet quality each scent has on me individually. I get zero pink pepper and zero lavender - or the latter blends so well with the vanilla and tea that it's indistinct, which is fine by me.
Feminine and pretty, with fairly decent wear and a nice throw. I'll reach for this one a lot.
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Sweet red patchouli and hay absolute with a hint of orange peel, cocoa, and amber.
Oh, I'm SO glad I got this!I'm a patchouli fan, but surely the "sweet red" variety is palatable to all - it's delicious, and the hay note seems to be taking the chewy edge off of it even more (I think it's the hay, anyway.) I definitely get orange peel, which is gorgeous with the patch, and just a hint of amber. I expect this note will deepen and become more prominent with time.
Overall a sweetish, really lovely scent with just a bit of bite. LOVE.
A million thanks to my wonderful D*Con fairy!
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Mmmm, oudh is generally lovely on my skin and it is really gorgeous with amber! This is deep and dark and has an expensive vibe to it. Sometimes the pared-down blends are surprisingly rich.
I will reach for this one often, I think.
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MMMMMmmmmmmm.
I love this, but bear in mind I'm a huge fan of vetiver and patch, and there aren't many musks I don't love.
The patchouli is very smooth and the vetiver is wrapped around it like a shroud. The musk is in the black family, probably, but it's almost like smoke here. There is a slightly dry quality, which I like, and not even a hint of sweetness - also good, in my book.A strong, assertive scent.
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Complex, cerebral, elegant, and neat...this does my firstborn Virgo child proud. Very well blended, the lemon verbena lifts what is otherwise a beautifully earthy - yet somehow bright - scent. I don't get patchouli per se but I know that is what's grounding things here, keeping it from getting too high pitched.
I think this would smell equally good on a man, but it's not leaning masculine. I'd wear this to a night out at the theater or a gallery opening; something sophisticated and dressy.
Virgo is gorgeous, and I don't have any other BPALs like it.
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Beth's best ghostly scent to date, as far as I'm concerned. The "pierced veil" description is perfect: this is a drifting, haunting scent - with my beautiful ambergris and a surprisingly subtle frankincense to keep it from being both too airy and too flowery.
It's not white, it's misty grey. And it's stunning.
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The scent of actual lilac flowers is one of my favorite smells, bringing me right back to my childhood.
Sadly, as a perfume note lilac almost always goes sour on my skin, and the one in this blend is no exception. I was hoping "lilac water" would work somehow, but...nope.
With the correct skin chemistry, I imagine this is a delicate, old-fashioned scent of win, though.
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Floral aficionados take note: Lullaby is pretty stunning.
It's a beautiful, slightly haunting blend that on me is very moonflower-dominant, which I LOVE. Usually if lavender is present, it stomps all over the other notes - but not here, thankfully. I think this is a slightly melancholy cousin to June 23, 1868 from the Only Lovers Left Alive collection; they both have a lovely English cottage garden by night feel, but Lullaby's moss note gives it a lonely, yearning air.
SophieCedar nailed it: this will be a very underrated scent that floral lovers who miss out will be seeking later. Get it now!
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I adore this. On me, the ambergris is front and center (which is perfect, as Beth's ambergris accord is one of my favorite notes.) I detect the white rose, and I'm very happy that the vanilla amber is not turning too sweet on me. I get zero "fizzy" quality, just a light muskiness.
Oftentimes I try these types of scent and they just go sickly sweet - I'm thinking of Ava, and Edith, and Butterflies Flowers & Jewels. This one is a perfect blend for me: sweet, yes, but not cloyingly so, and ambergris-dominant rather than vanilla-heavy.Exquisite, classic, and very pretty. It also evokes the scene in the film it is named for very successfully.
I need a couple of bottles of this one.
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Opium is often not my friend, and when I first tried this scent the poppy seemed to be doing a similar sharp thing on my skin. I put it away (I actually thought I had swapped it), and pulled it out today after finally seeing the film a few days ago.
Can I just say that I am so glad I didn't swap this one? After several months, whatever wackiness was happening has completely smoothed out, leaving a stunning, darkly beautiful scent that falls firmly in my wheelhouse.
There's very little not to like about a myrrh/musk/sandalwood combo, and the poppy lends an Oriental air to all that dark goodness.
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Iris blossom, violet leaf, grey amber, soft white leather, a drop of coconut and a sliver of angelica seed.
Something about this combination isn't working with my skin chemistry. I get a sense of what the light-colored amber/coconut/leather should smell like, and it's beautiful, but on me there is also a very strong, almost chemical smell happening that is overpowering the scent.I think I'm coming to the conclusion that the only type of coconut that works on me is the black variety, and the only leather I can wear is brown, since both black and white go chemical-y.
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Pendulous blue wisteria, white peonies, ho wood, magnolia petals, plum juice, and red benzoin.
This is a very strong, very 'present' floral with perhaps an undertone of benzoin. I don't smell the plum juice at all. There's a slightly spicy quality here as well as something that almost tips into sour territory, but not quite.
Floral aficionados will probably enjoy this very much, as wisteria and peony are very distinctive. I prefer my florals with some musk or a resin that has a bit more presence than the benzoin has here. I will say that the drydown is very pretty, when my beloved magnolia makes more of an appearance. I will reach for this when in the mood for a distinctive non-rose floral, perhaps. -
Red musk and almond husk with sweet fig, Bulgarian rose absolute, blood orange rind, and green cognac.
Oh, this is lovely, and it reminds me of another BPAL blend but I can't put my finger on it. If I think of it, I'll come back and edit.
I happen to looooove red musk, and it loves me, but if you are afraid of it then Daruma Doll is one you may want to try. The red musk is subdued and blends quite beautifully with the fig (normally a note I dislike), almond husk, and Bulgarian rose (one of my favorite roses.) The blood orange rind is just a whisper, lifting things up a little bit, and right now I'm not getting the cognac but this bottle is only a day out of the mailbox and I expect it to show up with a bit of settling.
I love this blend and will almost certainly put it into regular rotation. -
Lemon peel and white incense.
Sometimes the simpler blends can be really stunning, and I've been hoping for a lemon-based one because citrus notes always improve my mood. This is very, very pretty; especially when first applied. The lemon peel lifts and brightens while the incense note gives it depth - I'm not sure how Beth achieved the "white" quality with this incense but that is most definitely what it is. And it's not "lemon Pledge" at all, nor is it juicy, fleshy lemon; it's a bright hint of lemon zest.
There is a point about midway through the drydown when it threatens to go funky on my skin, but that hint of funk quickly dissipates and it's back to being light and pretty. The far drydown is a slightly spicy lemon peel. Really nice.
A very early-Springtime type of fragrance. -
I am a huge fan of the Laces, and this one is really wonderful. Slightly fizzy with all the distinct notes that say 'Lace', it is reminiscent of Antique and also Summer, without the fruit.
Mostly it just makes me feel happy when I smell it. I am so thrilled with this addition to the family.
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There is a leafy wood fringed by Oceanus’ farthest marge beyond the Indes and the East where Dawn’s panting coursers first seek entrance; it hears the lash close by, what time the watery threshold echoes to the dewy car; and hence comes forth the rosy morn while night, illumined by those far-shining wheels of fire, casts off her sable cloak and broods less darkly. This is the kingdom of the blessèd bird of the sun where it dwells in solitude defended b the inhospitable nature of the land and immune from the ills that befall other living creatures; nor does it suffer infection from the world of men. Equal to the gods is that bird whose life rivals the stars and whose renascent limbs weary the passing centuries. It needs no food to satisfy hunger nor any drink to quench thirst; the sun’s clear beam is its food, the sea’s rare spray its drink–exhalations such as these form its simple nourishment. A mysterious fire flashes from its eyes, and a flaming aureole enriches its head. Its crest shines with the sun’s own light and shatters the darkness with its calm brilliance. Its legs are of Tyrian purple; swifter than those of the Zephyrs are its wings of flower-like blue dappled with rich gold.
Never was this bird conceived nor springs it from any mortal seed, itself is alike its own father and son, and with none to recreate it, it renews its outworn limbs with a rejuvenation of death, and at each decease wins a fresh lease of life. For when a thousand summers have passed far away, a thousand winters gone by, a thousand springs in their course given to the husbandmen that shade of which autumn robbed them, then at last, fordone by the number of its years, it falls a victim to the burden of age; as a tall pine on the summit of Caucasus, wearied with storms, heels over with its weight and threatens at last to crash in ruin; one portion falls by reason of the unceasing winds, another breaks away rotted by the rain, another consumed by the decay of years.
Now the Phoenix’s bright eye grows dim and the pupil becomes palsied by the frost of years, like the moon when she is shrouded in clouds and her horn beings to vanish in the mist. Now his wings, wont to cleave the clouds of heaven, can scarce raise them from the earth. Then, realizing that his span of life is at an end and in preparation for a renewal of his splendour, he gathers dry herbs from the sun-warmed hills, and making an interwoven heap of the branches of the precious tree of Saba he builds that pyre which shall be at once his tomb and his cradle.
On this he takes his seat and as he grows weaker greets the Sun with his sweet voice; offering up prayers and supplications he begs that those fires will give him renewal of strength. Phoebus, on seeing him afar, checks his reins and staying his course consoles his loving child with these words: ‘Thou who art about to leave thy years behind upon yon pyre, who, by this pretence of death, art destined to rediscover life; thou whose decease means but the renewal of existence and who by self-destruction regainest thy lost youth, receive back thy life, quit the body that must die, and by a change of form come forth more beauteous than ever.’
So speaks he, and shaking his head casts one of his golden hairs and smites willing Phoenix with its life-giving effulgence. Now, to ensure his rebirth, he suffers himself to be burned and in his eagerness to be born again meets death with joy. Stricken with the heavenly flame the fragrant pile catches fire and burns the aged body. The moon in amaze checks her milk-white heifers and heaven halts his revolving spheres, while the pyre conceives the new life; Nature takes care that the deathless bird perish not, and calls upon the sun, mindful of his promise, to restore its immortal glory to the world.
Straightway the life spirit surges through his scattered limbs; the renovated blood floods his veins. The ashes show signs of life; they begin to move though there is none to move them, and feathers clothe the mass of cinders. He who was but now the sire comes forth from the pyre the son and successor; between life and life lay but that brief space wherein the pyre burned.
His first delight is to consecrate his father’s spirit by the banks of the Nile and to carry to the land of Aegyptus the burned mass from which he was born. With all speed he wings his way to that foreign strand, carrying the remains in a covering of grass. Birds innumerable accompany him, and whole flocks thereof throng in airy flight. Their mighty host shuts out the sky where’er it passes. But from among so vast an assemblage none dares outstrip the leader; all follow respectfully in the balmy wake of their king. Neither the fierce hawk nor the eagle, Jove’s own armour-bearer, fall to fighting; in honour of their common master a truce is observed by all. Thus the Parthian monarch leads his barbarous hosts by yellow Tigris’ banks, all glorious with jewels and rich ornament and decks his tiara with royal garlands; his horse’s bridle is of gold, Assyrian embroidery embellishes his scarlet robes, and proud with sovereignty he lords it o’er his numberless slaves.
There is in Aegyptus a well-known city celebrated for its pious sacrifices and dedicated to the worship of Ra. Its temples rest on a hundred columns hewn from the quarries of Thebes. Here, as the story tells, the Phoenix is wont to store his father’s ashes and, adoring the image of the god, his master, to entrust his precious burden to the flames. He places on the altar that from which he is sprung and that which remains of himself. Bright shines the wondrous threshold; the fragrant shrine is filled with the holy smoke of the altar and the odour of Indian incense, penetrating even as far as the Pelusiac marshes, fills the nostrils of men, flooding them with its kindly influence and with a scent sweeter than that of nectar perfumes the seven mouths of the dark Nile.
Happy bird, heir to thine own self! Death which proves our undoing restores thy strength. Thine ashes give thee life and though thou perish not thine old age dies. Thou hast beheld all that has been, hast witnessed the passing of the ages. Thou knowest when it was that the waves of the sea rose and o’erflowed the rocks, what year it was that Phaëthon’s error devoted to the flames. Yet did no destruction overwhelm thee; sole survivor thou livest to see the earth subdued; against thee the Fates gather not up their threads, powerless to do thee harm.
Sole survivor thou livest to see the earth subdued; against thee the Fates gather not up their threads, powerless to do thee harm: red patchouli, sweet frankincense, and the figs and pomegranates of the seven mouths of the dark Nile.
This will be gorgeous on someone else, but for me it is a miss. I wanted more delicious red patchouli, which I love, and less fig, which I kind of hate. Alas, this is so very FIG! on my skin - which means it is far, far, far too sweet for me. I get a hint of frankincense and a bit of pomegranate, perhaps a whisper of patchouli, and of course FIG!
Fig lovers should get this immediately, and if you are afraid of patch or frank just hope your skin is like mine and then you'll just have FIG! -
This is really, really pretty - it's just not for me. I realized almost immediately that the vanilla musk was what made Ava too cloyingly sweet on me, and so of course the same thing happens with Edith despite the addition of all those lovely, drier grey/white/woodsy notes. I tend to amp vanilla and anything vaguely sugary to the point of nausea.
I'm sure Edith will have legions of fans, though, because she really is lovely.
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Strands of ectoplasm floating through the shadowed air: black plum, inky vetiver, cashmere patchouli, dark oudh, and spectral musk.
Oh, this is glorious.
I have to admit that it was the "cashmere patchouli" that put this one at the top of my short list, but I am also a big fan of vetiver, musk, and oude. This scent is daaaaark and smooth, very well blended - but you really need to appreciate patchouli to love Shadow. The thing is, though, you have never smelled a patch like this: it's so smooth, and soft to the touch (if you will) and...luxurious. Mmmmmmm.
I don't always love plum, but the black variety seems to agree with me; I think it's lifting the scent a bit without making it particularly fruity.
I would put A Shadow In the Elevator in the same family as Panther Moon, Raven Moon, and The Final Darkness. Gorgeous. And not for the faint of heart. -
I'm getting smoothed-out black patch and vetiver with a hint of rich red rose, and it's divine.
This is dark, deadly, and dangerous - in the most feminine way possible. I don't get tonka, plum, or blackcurrant per se, but surely they are lending that sweetish, smoooooooth quality to the blend.
This is not for every day; it's the scent to bring out when you want to be the most fatale of the femme fatales in the room.
ETA: The more I wear this, the more I realize that I really need a bottle. The rose becomes more prominent in the drydown, and if there's one thing I love, it's a dark incensey/rose scent.
I love every stage of this scent: the initial strong blast of smoky vetiver; when the patch comes into play; the rose/patch/vetiver; and the far drydown, which is all incense/rose. It's gorgeous, fairly unique in its category, and long-wearing. And I would put this into heavy rotation, after all. I really love it.
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Adam is the first wearable leather blend for me, and I would imagine that is because of its complexity. There is a lot of depth here and it's one of those blends that is greater than the sum of its parts. It really invokes the film's character. In the far drydown I get barely any leather at all, just a whisper blended beautifully with the slightly woodsy, sweetish mixture of all the other notes.
Like Eve, Adam is gorgeous, haunting, and unforgettable. I'm so happy to have a matched set of bottles.
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Moscow
in Wanderlust
I can't believe I've never tried this.
I need to start giving some love to the GC.There is a reason that flowers are so often used in perfumes - they fucking smell good. People who appreciate good florals will love Moscow. The addition of the musky base and the brightening effect of the bergamot and tangerine are just gorgeous with the rose, carnation, and lily of the valley. The jasmine is so well blended, it's barely a whisper - just adding its distinctive brand of sweetness to the mix.
As Nicnivin said, it is classic and regal in a very 'Russian tea house' way. It's almost a crime that I don't own a bottle of this yet.
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Attributed to Luis Paret y Alcaza
Black lily and black pepper with narcissus, white musk, and white sandalwood.
Lawd, lawd, this is pretty. Very much a classic perfume vibe with the high toned florals, the dry white sandalwood, and my beloved white musk - but with an unexpected kick from the black pepper. In the middle stage I get something that almost has an astringent quality, but then it smooths out again and settles into a slightly musky, slightly spicy floral.
If you like lily and/or narcissus, you should try this.
Smoke and Lace
in Dark Delicacies
Posted · Report reply
Leather lovers rejoice! Alas, I am not one, and it's very prominent on me in this blend. There's also less of what makes most Laces distinctive; that is, the linen note. I get a bit of sweetness and just a whiff of smokiness. Otherwise: LEATHER.