fiddlehead
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Posts posted by fiddlehead
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When I was little, a summoning went awry at the standing stones in the grove by my house, and the ensuing carnage in the neighborhood effectively ruled out the possibility of trick or treating locally that year. My parents didn't want me to be disappointed, so they drove my brother and m'self to Innsmouth for the night. The people manning the festively decked-out skiffs that were moored in the sand-clogged harbor were incredibly generous with their candy, and my brother and I ended the night as happy as two sugar-high little kids could be.
The strange beauty of the crumbling Georgian houses and their widow's walks is forever etched in my memory, along with the distinct scent of fish and kelpy incense.
Innsmouth: Halloween, 1983. Fish and ceremonial incense.
Cthulhu F'tagn! Don't be afraid of Halloween in Innsmouth. To me, it's a very wear-able incense scent and reminds me very much of other BPAL incense scents I've smelled. If you've been into BPAL for awhile you'll recognize this. There's a "cool" element to this that is like the note I caught in the first year edition of Samhainophobia. Maybe it's meant to be the sea air.
Does it smell fishy/kelp-y? If I use my imagination, it does a bit, especially right at the beginning. And now that I've had it on for about 30 minutes I can still smell that note on one wrist. That being said, I'm very suggestible and do my best to smell what Beth is attempting to evoke in her scents. It's a big part of the fun of BPAL to me.
I like this quite a lot and will wear it during Cthulhu Christmas as well!
Edit: I love this. It reminds me of Arcana, which was a favorite when I first discovered BPAL. If you like Arcana you will probably like this! -
This is an overwhelming floral on me. I'm pretty sure it's Lily of the Valley, the one floral that I just cannot stand. There is a hint of green or something underneath it and it would be lovely on the right person. I left it on a few minutes and had to wash it off so it may have developed further if I'd let it.
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It's been a long time since I was so fascinated by an oil I wore it several days in a row!
Queen reminds me quite a lot of "O". Very honeyed and musky. I put it on just before I began a practice session and a few minutes later I kept getting this waft of *OMFG that smells goooood!* off of my wrist. Subtle in that it isn't a screaming floral but very tenacious and erotic smelling. I could still smell it the next morning and I hadn't put that much on. The best part in that unlike "O", Queen doesn't have the Play Doh note that makes "O" and other scents really un-wearable to me.
If I finish my imp I'm going to get a bottle. This stuff is really nice.
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I took a chance on this hoping that the berries wouldn't be too sweet or cloying. However, I don't get any berries or fruit at all in this on the first wearing. It's a very subtle scent and very natural smelling and warm. I smell nutmeat, something sort of vaguely oatmeal-ish/grainy and what I guess is some sort of musk. It does evoke a furry image in my head. This is sort of what I was hoping Coyote would smell like. It is a bit foodie but not like dessert. Definitely something a bear would eat, I imagine
Not at all what I was expecting. I think this is going to be a winner for me, oddly enough.
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Honey, leather, tobacco, and myrrh.
This is a nicely balanced mix of all the notes listed. At first I get more honey and leather/tobacco. Then the myrrh comes in and veils it all in spice. Still, after 30 minutes I can pick out the other notes. The tobacco note is well behaved in this, at least on me. I'll have to wear it a few times to see if it's a keeper. I think it might age really well. -
This is a really interesting and unique oil. When I first apply it I can definitely pick out the rose and narcissus swirling around with the green tea, leather and soft patchouli. A scent memory has been nagging me and I finally figured out that it's the rose. I had a small vial of single note Damask Rose oil once and that is what I'm smelling here, I think. I love this type of rose because it's so different from other roses to me. More husky smelling, less floral. The way it blends with the other notes is just gorgeous. It eventually dries into a soft leather/tea/rose scent.
I've been wearing this for several days now. Love it
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This is a musky floral on my skin with something sort of fruity note wafting in and out.
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Hmm. This scent must really vary depending on skin chemistry. I can't find any oak or anything that smells remotely oak-like in this scent. I've tested it about 3 times now and what I get is vanilla musk, or something very like it. Maybe the oak notes will emerge with aging.
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The Frost performs its secret ministry,
Unhelped by any wind. The owlet’s cry
Came loud—and hark, again! loud as before.
The inmates of my cottage, all at rest,
Have left me to that solitude, which suits
Abstruser musings: save that at my side
My cradled infant slumbers peacefully.
‘Tis calm indeed! so calm, that it disturbs
And vexes meditation with its strange
And extreme silentness. Sea, hill, and wood,
This populous village! Sea, and hill, and wood,
With all the numberless goings-on of life,
Inaudible as dreams! the thin blue flame
Lies on my low-burnt fire, and quivers not;
Only that film, which fluttered on the grate,
Still flutters there, the sole unquiet thing.
Methinks, its motion in this hush of nature
Gives it dim sympathies with me who live,
Making it a companionable form,
Whose puny flaps and freaks the idling Spirit
By its own moods interprets, every where
Echo or mirror seeking of itself,
And makes a toy of Thought.
But O! how oft,
How oft, at school, with most believing mind,
Presageful, have I gazed upon the bars,
To watch that fluttering stranger! and as oft
With unclosed lids, already had I dreamt
Of my sweet birth-place, and the old church-tower,
Whose bells, the poor man’s only music, rang
From morn to evening, all the hot Fair-day,
So sweetly, that they stirred and haunted me
With a wild pleasure, falling on mine ear
Most like articulate sounds of things to come!
So gazed I, till the soothing things, I dreamt,
Lulled me to sleep, and sleep prolonged my dreams!
And so I brooded all the following morn,
Awed by the stern preceptor’s face, mine eye
Fixed with mock study on my swimming book:
Save if the door half opened, and I snatched
A hasty glance, and still my heart leaped up,
For still I hoped to see the stranger’s face,
Townsman, or aunt, or sister more beloved,
My play-mate when we both were clothed alike!
Dear Babe, that sleepest cradled by my side,
Whose gentle breathings, heard in this deep calm,
Fill up the intersperséd vacancies
And momentary pauses of the thought!
My babe so beautiful! it thrills my heart
With tender gladness, thus to look at thee,
And think that thou shalt learn far other lore,
And in far other scenes! For I was reared
In the great city, pent ‘mid cloisters dim,
And saw nought lovely but the sky and stars.
But thou, my babe! shalt wander like a breeze
By lakes and sandy shores, beneath the crags
Of ancient mountain, and beneath the clouds,
Which image in their bulk both lakes and shores
And mountain crags: so shalt thou see and hear
The lovely shapes and sounds intelligible
Of that eternal language, which thy God
Utters, who from eternity doth teach
Himself in all, and all things in himself.
Great universal Teacher! he shall mould
Thy spirit, and by giving make it ask.
Therefore all seasons shall be sweet to thee,
Whether the summer clothe the general earth
With greenness, or the redbreast sit and sing
Betwixt the tufts of snow on the bare branch
Of mossy apple-tree, while the nigh thatch
Smokes in the sun-thaw; whether the eave-drops fall
Heard only in the trances of the blast,
Or if the secret ministry of frost
Shall hang them up in silent icicles,
Quietly shining to the quiet Moon.
- Samuel Taylor Coleridge
The liberating glory of nature, a celebration of wildness of spirit: fierce musk and immortelle, clary sage and oud, terebinth pine and ambrette seed, ivy and tobacco, honeysuckle and orange blossom.
Frost at Midnight begins with a flurry of notes. It's fresh smelling, which may be the sage and pine, or the ivy. I can't identify the immortelle or other notes. I don't detect any tobacco. But there's definitely a lot going on at once. After it dries for a few minutes the honeysuckle and orange blossom show up but aren't heavy or overwhelming. Frost at Midnight turns into a nice, light floral. I was hoping for more pine and greenery to stick around. I think this will be a really nice Spring scent though I may have to slather it. -
I cannot make any comparisons to Skadi because I've never smelled it. To me, this is Nocnitsa's mellower sister. It has that fir/pine note that I love but it isn't as strong as in Nocnitsa and there is definitely a "cold" sort of note in Ondurdis. And of course there is no dirt note. It's a lovely Winter/Christmas time scent!
My husband just walked in and said (in his best caveman voice) "Woman smell GOOD!". Heh. I'll definitely be keeping this one
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The illustration for #OccupyWallstreet is very appropriate. The first time I applied it, I got vanilla/patchouli. Really grassy dirty patchouli. A little cocoa if I really sniffed. It dried down into something very evocative of a barn, with damp hay and grass. Maybe some animal just out of sight. I can't really explain it better, but my family owned cattle and horses and something about the drydown of this is taking me back to childhood
The second time I tried it I couldn't smell any vanilla or cocoa, just the patchouli and tobacco. I like it, and I like it on my hubby. I'll really bet it'll age well. I think I'm turning into a dirty hippie 
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Awwww Yeaahhhh
Honey and beeswax and frankincense. Lots of other notes as well, but this is dries down into a melted beeswax and frankincense scent on me. Something really smells like lubricating oil in the beginning...amazing. This is definitely in bottle contention.
It reminds me a bit of Arcana but I think that's the frankincense and lemon balm. This is much more complex and rich.
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Can't add much to the reviews already posted. It does smell very close to beeswax candles. When I opened the imp and swiped in on I was immediately reminded of O, but just for a few seconds. I can smell honey in this but it's very subtle, much like it is in beeswax. Can't wait to slather this one
Aaaand this eventually smells exactly like O on me except not a strong.
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Oooh, I knew Yorick was going to be a winner! I wish it were stronger but Graveyard Dirt was also fleeting. This is quite a bit like Penny Dreadful but without the super strong perfume note. PD was a winner on me except for the perfume. This might work better. I'll see if I use my imp up and need a bottle.
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I like this a lot. It's a warm and cozy smell that reminds me of cafes where students hang out to study. Coffee, leather jackets, tobacco. Maybe the carnation is from the bouquet up by the cash register
This is not Barnes and Noble. I'm really hoping the carnation doesn't end up out front as I wear it more. So far, it's balancing nicely with the other notes. Glad I took a chance on this and got a bottle. -
I changed my mind about ordering this at least 3 times. I already have Snake Charmer and Western Diamondback. Love them both. Loved Mme Moriarty and hoped it might be close because they share notes. As soon as I put this on it was love. It reminds me strongly of Mme Moriarty and Snake Charmer both. The chocolate and mint aren't obvious at the moment, they're just hovering in the background. Anyway, if you missed either Mme or Snake Charmer when they were live, get this now
Testing this again today and now it's also reminding me of Midnight Kiss. This scent is made of win for me.
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After the burst of lime and bergamont dissipates I'm left with the distinctive scent of New Age bookstore. Incense, wooden boxes with Celtic designs on them, and crystals galore
It's a nice scent memory for me but I do wish the other notes had stuck around. Still, I will probably wear it occasionally. -
Red maplewood, plum leaves, fir needle, wildflower honey, patchouli, hazelnut, and green cognac.
This is very much like Samhain but gentler. The dry leaves, the fir (which is quite realistic and camphor like). I can catch a little of the honey, though it adds body more than sweetness. I'm not familiar with the other notes but nothing is jumping out at me as a new-to-me scent, yet. I can see wearing this more often than Samhain because it isn't quite as 'loud'. It also reminds me of Samhainophobia. Elegy IX is another really great Fall scent! -
When I first got this I didn't care for it. This year it's really working on me and I'm wearing it a lot. It is indeed very much like Samhain but much more mellow and subtle. I love Samhain but Falling Leaf Moon has a better balance of notes. And oddly enough I catch more of an apple note in this, especially after it's been on my skin awhile. I think because the tobacco is not as strong as in Samhain.
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Ecclesiastical incense, Roman flora, and the fruits of martyrdom: cypress, olive blossom, frankincense, myrrh, and blood accord.
When I first applied Valentine of Rome I was reminded a bit of Count Dracula. There are no cloves listed but that's what I thought I smelled. Reminded me a bit of Stash's Chai Tea. Then the frank came up and it smelled like one of my old GC favorites, Arcana! Perhaps there is some Rosemary in this? We'll see if I can identify the Blood Accord or Olive blossom with further wearings. I really like it so far. It strikes me as a gender neutral blend. Very nice.
Wearing this again today and put a decent amount on. Now I'm not getting much frank or anything much besides a strong Count Dracula-ish scent. Too spicy! -
Another win for me
Very spring-like, as I'd hoped. Green clover and grass with beautiful carnation and rose. I think it's very well balanced. Someone mentioned a similarity to "Spring Rain" from Crabtree & Evelyn and that's very true. If you like that scent you will love this. I'm on my last bottle of Spring Rain lotion so I am VERY happy with The Passionate Shepherd To His Love! Clean and fresh and like walking through a damp meadow. Another possible 2nd bottle for me. -
FINALLY! I do believe I've found a version of Snake Oil that I can wear. I was a bit worried that the leather would overwhelm the other notes like it did in Quincy Morris. I can definitely smell it and also some of the sage. But they float on the Snake Oil base and let it peek through just enough. And that means I don't smell like I doused myself in baby products. I may consider a second bottle of this before the Carnival departs.
Forgot to mention I can also catch a bit of the Tonka. Not sure about the Red Sandalwood.
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Oh yeah. This is pretty much just what I was hoping for. Lots of soil, like Graveyard Dirt. At first there's a blast of Geranium but then it settles right down. I catch whiffs of the Yew and the moss as well. I do believe this will go into heavy rotation with Zombi! Thank goodness it's a GC
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Count Dracula reminded me strongly of Chai.
Pumpkin I (2012)
in Halloweenie
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Wow. This is a really interesting scent. I've never tried a blend with a hay note before but I love the smell of hay. The pumpkin is really subtle in this blend and not foody at all. There's a slighty spicy note and I definitely get the hay note. The leather is very soft and not at all obvious as it is in Western Diamondback or Quincy Morris. I'm getting a bit of something that reminds me of Luctor et Emergo by POTL and I wonder if that's the champaca or the hay.
I'll need to wear this a few times to be sure. Right now it's a definite winner for me.
Edit: I wore this today and was sure there must be cinnamon in it. But I didn't get a skin reaction like cinnamon usually gives me. Today I also didn't get the PotL note as strongly.
ETA: Another wearing and the spicy note is stronger. Now it reminds me of super strong potpourri like you buy at a craft store. It's making my sinuses unhappy