edenssixthday

ELLI'S SONG “Most shows,” said Rukh after a time, “would end here, for what could they possibly present after a genuine unicorn? But Mommy Fortuna’s Midnight Carnival holds one more mystery yet — a demon more destructive than the dragon, more monstrous than the manticore, more hideous than the harpy, and certainly more universal than the unicorn.” He waved his hand toward the last wagon and the black hangings began to wriggle open, though there was no one pulling them. “Behold her!” Rukh cried. “Behold the last, the Very End! Behold Elli!” Inside the cage, it was darker than the evening, and cold stirred behind the bars like a live thing. Something moved in the cold, and the unicorn saw Elli — an old, bony, ragged woman who crouched in the cage rocking and warming herself before a fire that was not there. She looked so frail that the weight of the darkness should have crushed her, and so helpless and alone that the watchers should have rushed forward in pity to free her. Instead, they began to back silently away, for all the world as though Elli were stalking them. But she was not even looking at them. She sat in the dark and creaked a song to herself in a voice that sounded like a saw going through a tree, and like a tree getting ready to fall. What is plucked will grow again, What is slain lives on, What is stolen will remain — What is gone is gone. “She doesn’t look like much, does she?” Rukh asked. “But no hero can stand before her, no god can wrestle her down, no magic can keep her out — or in, for she’s no prisoner of ours. Even while we exhibit her here, she is walking among you, touching and taking. For Elli is Old Age.” The cold of the cage reached out to the unicorn, and wherever it touched her she grew lame and feeble. She felt herself withering, loosening, felt her beauty leaving her with her breath. Ugliness swung from her mane, dragged down her head, stripped her tail, gaunted her body, ate up her coat, and ravaged her mind with remembrance of what she had once been. Somewhere nearby, the harpy made her low, eager sound, but the unicorn would gladly have huddled in the shadow of her bronze wings to hide from this last demon. Elli’s song sawed away at her heart. What is sea-born dies on land, Soft is trod upon. What is given burns the hand — What is gone is gone. The horrors of entropy, death, and decay: desiccated black mosses, vetiver, olibanum, patchouli, and ashes. Elli's Song - This is a very dark and bitter scent. There's a bit of sweetness from the black moss, but it's almost a death/decay-like sweetness, i.e., unpleasant, which could be a result of blending it with the ashes, as ashes is a note I rarely like, and often find to be quite off-putting. I don't smell the olibanum or patchouli at all. The vetiver is stinky when first applied, but vetiver warms up to something magical on my skin, which is probably the only thing keeping my testing of this scent from being a "wash it off now!" kind of experience. The sweetness dissippates completely as the oil dries down, and the ash becomes even stronger and stronger, until this scent pretty much smells like an ashtray. Maybe it is a wash it off kind of scent. It's morning, and I haven't my shower for the day, and this is making me think it's time to go jump in the shower.

Back out on the Midway, a huge, leather-clad man leans against a post. He smiles at you, guilelessly, baring a mouthful of sharpened teeth as he hammers huge rusted nails into his skull. Rusted metal, leather, and a pop of pink bubblegum. The Blockhead - Where's the rusted metal? Where's the leather? In the bottle and on my skin, this smells like sweet, pink bubblegum and nothing else. I love it! It's so sweet and reminds me of the Big League Bubble Gum I chewed when I was a kid. It's a scent I probably wouldn't wear often, but it's so sweet and nummy that I know there will be times when nothing else will do but a super sweet, pink bubblegum scent.

Lily of the Valley and opopponax. The Death-Horse - First, let me say: I am not a lover of Lily of the Valley. I think it's a gorgeous flower and I love filling a tiny vase with clippings of the dainty little bells, but on my skin, it's gross, no matter if the scent is BPAL or from some other company. And so, it goes without saying, that on me, this stinks. It smells like floral must and bitter resin. Even the opoponax, which I usually love, is completely tainted by the poor little Lily of the Valley. Must wash it off now...

THE HAG The Hag is astride, This night for to ride; The Devill and shee together: Through thick, and through thin, Now out, and then in, Though ne'r so foule be the weather. A Thorn or a Burr She takes for a Spurre: With a lash of a Bramble she rides now, Through Brakes and through Bryars, O're Ditches, and Mires, She followes the Spirit that guides now. No Beast, for his food, Dares now range the wood; But husht in his laire he lies lurking: While mischiefs, by these, On Land and on Seas, At noone of Night are working, The storme will arise, And trouble the skies; This night, and more for the wonder, The ghost from the Tomb Affrighted shall come, Cal'd out by the clap of the Thunder. Black musk, bay leaves, galangal, bourbon vetiver, blackcurrant, and rum. Oh, I love this! It's heavy on the black musk and rum. The vetiver is light and when it dries, it gives the overall scent the most awesome dark smokiness. The black currant does not turn to cat pee on me (!!!) and is barely discernible. Overall, this scent is darkly musky, darkly sweet, darkly earthy and herbal, and darkly sexy. I would definitely call it unisex. It has really good staying power and a light, but really, really sexy, amount of sillage. Bottle worthy? Oh yes.

DETESTABLE PUTRESCENCE Inspired by Gris Grimly's illustrations for the Facts in the Case of M. Valdemar. Melty vanilla ice cream! Destestable Putrescence - This is another prototype/preview (not sure which) that was out for testing during Cobwebs III and Convergence. Despite the name, this is a yummy, delectable scent. When I first smelled it, I thought it smelled like Werther's Butterscotch hard candies. Later, Beth said it's supposed to smell like melted ice cream. So I went back and tried it again, and I still get what smell kind of like butterscotch, but also reminds me of a dulce de leche type scent. It's yummy and it's one of the few foody blends that stays true on my skin without turning into musty-dusty-plastic. I think that if/when this is released, it will be a big hit with the foodies. ETA: No one else I talked to smelled butterscotch/dulce de leche. I can't help but wonder if it was a chemistry reaction since my skin tends to turn sugary notes into a burnt-sugar type scent. That could be the reason behind the warm, butterscotchiness I experienced with this particular scent. So don't count on it to be butterscotchy for you at all!

MARLEY'S GHOST The same face: the very same. Marley in his pigtail, usual waistcoat, tights and boots; the tassels on the latter bristling, like his pigtail, and his coat-skirts, and the hair upon his head. The chain he drew was clasped about his middle. It was long, and wound about him like a tail; and it was made (for Scrooge observed it closely) of cash-boxes, keys, padlocks, ledgers, deeds, and heavy purses wrought in steel. His body was transparent; so that Scrooge, observing him, and looking through his waistcoat, could see the two buttons on his coat behind. Scrooge had often heard it said that Marley had no bowels, but he had never believed it until now. No, nor did he believe it even now. Though he looked the phantom through and through, and saw it standing before him; though he felt the chilling influence of its death-cold eyes; and marked the very texture of the folded kerchief bound about its head and chin, which wrapper he had not observed before; he was still incredulous, and fought against his senses. “How now!” said Scrooge, caustic and cold as ever. “What do you want with me?” “Much!”—Marley’s voice, no doubt about it. “Who are you?” “Ask me who I was.” “Who were you then?” said Scrooge, raising his voice. “You’re particular, for a shade.” He was going to say “to a shade,” but substituted this, as more appropriate. “In life I was your partner, Jacob Marley.” “Can you—can you sit down?” asked Scrooge, looking doubtfully at him. “I can.” “Do it, then.” Scrooge asked the question, because he didn’t know whether a ghost so transparent might find himself in a condition to take a chair; and felt that in the event of its being impossible, it might involve the necessity of an embarrassing explanation. But the ghost sat down on the opposite side of the fireplace, as if he were quite used to it. “You don’t believe in me,” observed the Ghost. “I don’t,” said Scrooge. “What evidence would you have of my reality beyond that of your senses?” “I don’t know,” said Scrooge. “Why do you doubt your senses?” “Because,” said Scrooge, “a little thing affects them. A slight disorder of the stomach makes them cheats. You may be an undigested bit of beef, a blot of mustard, a crumb of cheese, a fragment of an underdone potato. There’s more of gravy than of grave about you, whatever you are!” Scrooge was not much in the habit of cracking jokes, nor did he feel, in his heart, by any means waggish then. The truth is, that he tried to be smart, as a means of distracting his own attention, and keeping down his terror; for the spectre’s voice disturbed the very marrow in his bones. To sit, staring at those fixed glazed eyes, in silence for a moment, would play, Scrooge felt, the very deuce with him. There was something very awful, too, in the spectre’s being provided with an infernal atmosphere of its own. Scrooge could not feel it himself, but this was clearly the case; for though the Ghost sat perfectly motionless, its hair, and skirts, and tassels, were still agitated as by the hot vapour from an oven. “You see this toothpick?” said Scrooge, returning quickly to the charge, for the reason just assigned; and wishing, though it were only for a second, to divert the vision’s stony gaze from himself. “I do,” replied the Ghost. “You are not looking at it,” said Scrooge. “But I see it,” said the Ghost, “notwithstanding.” “Well!” returned Scrooge, “I have but to swallow this, and be for the rest of my days persecuted by a legion of goblins, all of my own creation. Humbug, I tell you! humbug!” At this the spirit raised a frightful cry, and shook its chain with such a dismal and appalling noise, that Scrooge held on tight to his chair, to save himself from falling in a swoon. But how much greater was his horror, when the phantom taking off the bandage round its head, as if it were too warm to wear in-doors, its lower jaw dropped down upon its breast! Scrooge fell upon his knees, and clasped his hands before his face. “Mercy!” he said. “Dreadful apparition, why do you trouble me?” “Man of the worldly mind!” replied the Ghost, “do you believe in me or not?” “I do,” said Scrooge. “I must. But why do spirits walk the earth, and why do they come to me?” Chains of avarice binding an unquiet spirit: grave-cold phantasmal iron links. Marley's Ghost - This isn't the scent of dark, heavy, rusty chains. Rather, it's bright, crisp, and clean metal that has something about it that reminds me of ozone, although I don't think there's ozone actually in it. It also reminds me of a fine, high-quality men's cologne, although it's not a masculine scent, but more gender-neutral. It's a very nice fragrance, but doesn't really grab me since my scent preferences tend to run in a different direction.

Sekhmet v5 - This version of Sekhmet is completely different from the original unreleased version of Sekhmet. It's nothing like it at all. This version is the arid scent of dry sand and hot air. It doesn't have much character. I was hoping for something more along the lines of the "original" Sekhmet, but it's not even close. It's a very subtle scent that fades quickly on my skin. ETA: I forgot to add a note that after drydown, if I put my nose very, very close to my skin, I can smell something very subtle and resinous, perhaps a bit of light myrrh.

HIDEOUS HEART Inspired by Gris Grimly's illustrations for the Tell-Tale Heart. A macabre Valentine: wild black cherries, licorice root, and cinnamon. Hideous Heart - If I recall correctly, Beth said that this is part of a new Poe series that is going to be released on August 23 at a special Dark Delicacies event, so I believe this is more of a preview as opposed to a prototype. This is a dark, thick, heavy cherry scent, but it's deeper and more sinister than your typical cherry scent. There's something else in there (I have no idea what) that gives the cherry a depth that it doesn't normally have. It doesn't smell medicinal to me at all, although I imagine that on some people, it could smell a bit like Robitussin or Vicks Formula 44D. On me, it's absolutely fantastic to the point that I am anxiously awaiting it's release and will buy a full bottle. The saddest part is the scent doesn't last very long on my skin. It's one I'd have to reapply regularly throughout the day.

Queen and huntress, chaste and fair, Now the sun is laid to sleep, Seated in thy silver chair, State in wonted manner keep: Hesperus entreats thy light, Goddess excellently bright. Earth, let not thy envious shade Dare itself to interpose; Cynthia's shining orb was made Heaven to clear when day did close: Bless us then with wishèd sight, Goddess excellently bright. Lay thy bow of pearl apart, And thy crystal-shining quiver; Give unto the flying hart Space to breathe, how short soever; Thou that mak'st a day of night, Goddess excellently bright. The essence of the pure, unsullied virgin moon and of the huntress that stalks her prey by the moon's light: amaranth, musk rose, juniper, chaste tree, sweet bay, chamomile, rose mallow, Madonna lily, blue musk, wisteria, and iris. Dyan Moon - I tested at least a couple dozen new scents at Will Call, and despite how many amazing scents I encountered, Dyan Moon was the clear winner by a mile. It is so incredibly gorgeous and really well-blended. It was very difficult to pick out individual notes, but I definitely smelled the chamomile, the wisteria, and the musks. It's very much a slightly herbal musky-floral, is really soft and gentle, and very feminine. I don't think I've encountered such a beautiful lunar blend in a very long time. I'm so glad I have a bottle of this coming to me and I'm wondering if I shouldn't try to track down a second one eventually, as well.

The Lantern Ghost of Oiwa, Shunkosai Hokuei. Black tea, cherry blossom, ho wood, calla lily, rice wine, and white mint. Damn, if this isn't GORGEOUS! This scent reminds me a lot of The Snow Maiden in its white snowiness and sweet minty touch. It's one of the few mint blends that doesn't go all wonky on my skin. The cherry blossom is absolutely gorgeous and very soft, and makes me think of springtime in Washington D.C., when the cherry trees are in full bloom, and the soft pink and white petals fall to the ground with barely a whisper. As the blend warms up on my skin, the calla lily is also detectable, but it is so soft and ethereal that it plays hide-and-seek with me and I can’t ever seem to fully grab on to it. This is a really incredible scent, especially considering my normal distaste for Asian-themed blends, tea, and mint. However, it's very subtle, to the degree that I wonder what is the point in wearing it. However, I do tend to prefer strong notes, so someone who likes the softer, quieter scents may find this incredibly appealing. My first instinct is to pass this one along, but it's just so damn pretty that even though it’s not a scent I would normally wear, I think I'm going to hang on to it, and see if I don't perhaps find myself drawn to it more often than I am to other similar scents. I think it would be a wonderful bed-time scent, very quiet, soft, pretty and feminine.

PADUAN KILLER SWARM A swarm of genetically modified, extremely aggressive European bees that were created by Dr. Giacomo Rappaccini. These bees are attracted to a peculiar set of pollens and nectars, and possess a particularly vicious temperament, a lethal apitoxin, and cruelly barbed stingers. Tonka, black licorice, amber, golden sandalwood, ginger cream, bitter clove, stinging nettle, cinnamon bark, and coconut shell. Paduan Killer Swarm - Of all the blends in this update, I was the most excited about this one. It seemed like it would be absolutely perfect for me. It really is awesome, although sweeter than I anticipated. On me, the strongest notes are the licorice and coconut. There's a hint of clove giving some depth to the other two notes, but it doesn't amp on me the way clove sometimes does. I really can't discern any other specific notes because the licorice and coconut husk are both such strong scents -- and really gorgeous together. It's got really strong throw and good wear length. I really love this scent and would definitely recommend it to licorice and coconut lovers.

EBENEZER SCROOGE Oh! But he was a tight-fisted hand at the grindstone, Scrooge! a squeezing, wrenching, grasping, scraping, clutching, covetous, old sinner! Hard and sharp as flint, from which no steel had ever struck out generous fire; secret, and self-contained, and solitary as an oyster. The cold within him froze his old features, nipped his pointed nose, shrivelled his cheek, stiffened his gait; made his eyes red, his thin lips blue; and spoke out shrewdly in his grating voice. A frosty rime was on his head, and on his eyebrows, and his wiry chin. He carried his own low temperature always about with him; he iced his office in the dog-days; and didn’t thaw it one degree at Christmas. External heat and cold had little influence on Scrooge. No warmth could warm, no wintry weather chill him. No wind that blew was bitterer than he, no falling snow was more intent upon its purpose, no pelting rain less open to entreaty. Foul weather didn’t know where to have him. The heaviest rain, and snow, and hail, and sleet, could boast of the advantage over him in only one respect. They often “came down” handsomely, and Scrooge never did. Nobody ever stopped him in the street to say, with gladsome looks, “My dear Scrooge, how are you? When will you come to see me?” No beggars implored him to bestow a trifle, no children asked him what it was o’clock, no man or woman ever once in all his life inquired the way to such and such a place, of Scrooge. Even the blind men’s dogs appeared to know him; and when they saw him coming on, would tug their owners into doorways and up courts; and then would wag their tails as though they said, “No eye at all is better than an evil eye, dark master!” A dry, dusty, soulless scent, flinty with greed, sour with ill-temper: neglected leather, oakmoss, tonka bean, black pepper, cumin, and vetiver. Ebenezer Scrooge - I liked this one a lot. It opens up smelling like a typical, strong men's cologne, but as it dries down, the leather really starts to come out, and it begins to smell absolutely wonderful. I never smell the vetiver at all. The lovely oakmoss and tonka bean leave the scent feeling solid and well-rounded, and very warm and masculine. The leather doesn't really blend with the leather or oakmoss, but sits on top of them, as if the scent has layers or levels. It's not the black leather from Whip, but more of a well-worn, old, brown leather. Lastly, there's a hint of black pepper spicing things up, and I think that, along with the cumin, is of what makes it smell "cologney" to me, as black pepper is a note that's "iffy" on my skin. But it never overwhelms the other notes, and complements them rather well. It's not dry, dusty, soulless, greedy, sour, or ill-tempered. It's actually quite lovely, and while it's a tad too masculine for my own personal scent preferences, this is one that would smell amazing on my husband. It's got a ton of throw and the wear-length is quite long. I think people who went gaga over Rivet.Goth should consider trying this one out.

THE PHOENIX IN WINTER Blood and fire illuminate the darkness of winter: daemonorops, holly berries, and juniper berries in a snowdrift. This is my favorite of this year's anniversaries and second favorite of the whole Anni/Yule II update. It's a stunner. It's a soft wintery snow scent, but there's nothing Snow Whitish about it. I don't smell the daemonorops at all. The berries are what make this scent really spectacular. On the bed of softly evergreen-scented snow are the sweetest, juiciest berry fruits. It's a really pretty winter scent, one of the best winter scents from BPAL, in my opinion, and may actually take L'Inverno's place for my favorite winter blend. It does go a little flat on my skin, but only when sniffed up close. The wafts of scent I catch from it are still stunningly beautiful.

I think their predominant colour was a greyish-green, though they had white bellies. They were mostly shiny and slippery, but the ridges of their backs were scaly. Their forms vaguely suggested the anthropoid, while their heads were the heads of fish, with prodigious bulging eyes that never closed. At the sides of their necks were palpitating gills, and their long paws were webbed. They hopped irregularly, sometimes on two legs and sometimes on four. I was somehow glad that they had no more than four limbs. Their croaking, baying voices, clearly used for articulate speech, held all the dark shades of expression which their staring faces lacked. Black algae, drooping seaweed, salty brine, and crushed coral. The Deep Ones - Another lovely aquatic! It's heavy, murky, salty, and you can almost feel the rush of deep sea currents as you sniff this. The scent has a lot of throw, is very strong, and has excellent staying power. It's very salty initially, but smooths out as it warms up on my skin, and brings back memories of living near the ocean in San Diego, and the smell of the briny salt water as it would waft through my open windows at night. I love it. Kudos to Beth for another fantastic aquatic -- and even more kudos for including it in her GC repertoire!

Recoiling, you back away from the dicing. A large tent striped in many shades of green grabs your attention, and you walk towards it. You peer inside the open tent flap and see a room crowded with people in various stages of profound intoxication. Tables are littered with glasses filled with thick, cloudy emerald liquid, and candlelight glints on discarded silver spoons. The scent of spilled absinthe, opium smoke, lilac blossoms, and rose water permeates the stifling air of the tent. As you close the tent flap and turn to leave, you see a scantily clad server bend close to a rugged laborer that is sitting slumped in a sagging chair. A low velvety voice voice asks, "Another drink for you, Monsieur Lanfray?" Spilled absinthe, scorched sugar cubes, opium smoke, lilac blossoms, and rose water. L'Heure Verte - I was expecting a scent similar to Absinthe or La Fee Verte, but this one is really different. The absinthe note and the sugar note are distinct from one another and the absinthe is definitely not sweet, but does remind me of the scent of real absinthe. The sugar sweetens it up a lot. The rose water adds a subtle hint of floral to the scent and I don't smell the other notes listed in the scent description. On my skin, this is very subtle and doesn't have much throw, but the staying power is quite strong. It loses its sweetness the longer it's on my skin and after a few hours, it's mostly a faintly floral absinthe scent. It's great and I'm really, really looking forward to my CD Act IV & Act V scents to arrive at my door!

SCHMENDRICK Wonder and love and great sorrow shook Schmendrick the Magician then, and came together inside him, and filled him, filled him until he felt himself brimming and flowing with something that was none of these. He did not believe it, but it came to him anyway, as it had touched him twice before and left him more barren than he had been. This time, there was too much of it for him to hold: it spilled through his skin, sprang from his fingers and toes, welled up equally in his eyes and his hair and the hollows of his shoulders. There was too much to hold, too much ever to use; and still he found himself weeping with the pain of his impossible greed. He thought, or said, or sang, I did not know that I was so empty, to be so full. Unexplored potential: sweet, raw tobacco leaves, chamomile, clary sage, Mysore sandalwood, sultana raisins, and caramel. In the vial, this has the slightest hint of men's cologne, but it smells more herbal and complex than the typical cologney scent. Wet on my skin, the clary sage and chamomile jump right out in front of all the other notes, and since I adore clary sage, I can't help but smile and sigh happily when I smell it. As the oil warms up on my skin, the sandalwood becomes noticeable and blends beautifully with the chamomile and clary sage, and I detect a hint of the tobacco leaves, as well -- it sort of reminds me of the tobacco leaf note in Santo Domingo, and seems to be what gives the scent its masculine edge. As the scent completely dries down, the tobacco leaf becomes top dog, with the sandalwood behind it, and the faintest traces of the herbal notes in the background. I keep waiting and waiting for the raisin, as it's not a note used much in BPAL (especially the white Sultana variety, which I don't think we've seen before this) and the caramel, which generally destroys a scent for me, but I'm never able to detect either of them. I'm amazed that this is a caramel scent that I can wear! Still, after dry-down, it's a bit too masculine for my taste. If the chamomile and clary sage remained top players in this scent, I'd like it a lot more, but the post-dry-down result is a really nice scent, fairly masculine, and pretty much not something I'd ever reach for over my other favorite blends.

SAINT FOUTIN DE VARAILLES Echoing the worship of ancient fertility gods, some early Christians attributed the power to grant blessings of reproductive fruitfulness to Christian saints through accidents of folk-etymology. A syncretic saint of questionable origin, he is possibly the result of a merging of the deity Priapus, or Mutinus Mutunus, and the sainted, semi-mythical first bishop of Lyons, Ponthius, often pronounced Fontin by the common folk of France where his veneration was concentrated. Saint Foutin's name is an amalgamation of Pothinus and the verb foutre, which means "to fuck", effectively granting this saint the prerogatives and powers of his predecessor, Priapus. Saint Foutin was said to cure venereal diseases and other genital maladies, grant fruitfulness to women, and restore potency to men. Scrapings of stone from the groin of one of the saint's statues in France was said to cure all sexual ailments. At other shrines, offerings of wine were poured onto the saint's penis, and worshippers molded ex votos in wax shaped to represent their afflicted body parts to leave in his care, either at the foot of his statue or hanging from the roof of his shrine. Beeswax, frankincense, dried rose petals, and a dribble of wine. So far, this is my 2nd favorite from the update. It's GORGEOUS. On me, it's predominantly a dark, tea-rose type scent that's bolstered by the smooth and sweet beeswax, the dark, resinous frankincense, and the tiniest hint of sweet, boozy, dark red wine. It's very feminine in a heavy, dark, and Victorian-gothic-romance type way. The throw is amazing for the first couple of hours, but at around the 2 hour point, it starts to fade quickly, leaving behind a weird after-scent on my skin that's kind of flat and powdery. But that's entirely beside the point because when it reaches that stage, I can just reapply a teeny tiny bit (since a little goes a very long way). This is really beautiful and I can't wait to dress up and wear it on a night out.

ABE SAPIEN A soft aquatic musk with kelp and juniper. Abe Sapien - This is a heavy aquatic scent. It's not a fresh aquatic nor a marine aquatic, but falls somewhere between the two -- more like a brackish-water aquatic. It's a full-bodied scent, very cologne-like in an after-shave kind of way. I think it's more of a masculine blend (as the name suggests), although I don't really want my guy to smell like this, as it's really, really heavy.

TKO v3 - I like this better than the released version of TKO. The released version is, to me, very heavy on the marshmallow and vanilla sweetness. This prototype is much heavier on the lavender. TKO is one of the few BPAL lavender blends I can wear, so I love that this particular version's lavender isn't drowned out by the other notes. It's a gorgeous scent, very similar to the released version, just heavier on the lavender and lighter on the sweeter notes. I think I'll use this more than my released version.

Hellion v2 - What a plum-ilicious scent! On me, this scent is all plum and spice. It makes me think of an evil sugar plum fairy. The prototype is not nearly as dark and heavy as the released version of Hellion, but it's just as amazing -- just in a different way. Hellion v2 is extremely heavy on the plum. It's not a bright, juicy plum, but a dark, sinister plum with tons of yummy spices in the background. I can't tell you which spices. It almost smells like mulling spices -- clove, cinnamon, nutmeg, but not heavy on any one in particular. It's a beautiful scent. It doesn't have any throw at all on me, and I have to practically stuff my wrist up my nose to smell it, even after "slathering", but the scent lasts on my skin longer than the average BPAL blend. I'm just delighted to get to experience this prototype.

LICORICE BATS Black licorice with cacao nibs and anise. Licorice Bats - When I first apply this, I'm disappointed and think it's the first licorice scent I didn't love. When first applied, it's ultra-sweet, and the cocoa note gives off a weird dry scent that doesn't seem to blend well with the licorice. But 10 minutes later, when I sniff my skin again, it's become a lovely, gorgeous, beautiful, fantastic licorice scent. The cocoa is still there, but rather than simply not blending well with the licorice, it's now providing a really nice base for the licorice. The smell kind of reminds me of what it might taste like to eat a Mike & Ike along with a tiny bit of Tootsie Roll at the same time. It's definitely candy-sweet, yet grounded with a dry cocoa. I love it.

ENCROACHING MADNESS It is the strangest yellow, that wall-paper! It makes me think of all the yellow things I ever saw—not beautiful ones like buttercups, but old foul, bad yellow things. But there is something else about that paper—the smell! I noticed it the moment we came into the room, but with so much air and sun it was not bad. Now we have had a week of fog and rain, and whether the windows are open or not, the smell is here. It creeps all over the house. I find it hovering in the dining-room, skulking in the parlor, hiding in the hall, lying in wait for me on the stairs. It gets into my hair. Even when I go to ride, if I turn my head suddenly and surprise it—there is that smell! Such a peculiar odor, too! I have spent hours in trying to analyze it, to find what it smelled like. It is not bad—at first, and very gentle, but quite the subtlest, most enduring odor I ever met. In this damp weather it is awful, I wake up in the night and find it hanging over me. It used to disturb me at first. I thought seriously of burning the house—to reach the smell. But now I am used to it. The only thing I can think of that it is like is the COLOR of the paper! A yellow smell. There is a very funny mark on this wall, low down, near the mopboard. A streak that runs round the room. It goes behind every piece of furniture, except the bed, a long, straight, even SMOOCH, as if it had been rubbed over and over. I wonder how it was done and who did it, and what they did it for. Round and round and round—round and round and round—it makes me dizzy! I really have discovered something at last. Through watching so much at night, when it changes so, I have finally found out. The front pattern DOES move—and no wonder! The woman behind shakes it! Sometimes I think there are a great many women behind, and sometimes only one, and she crawls around fast, and her crawling shakes it all over. Then in the very bright spots she keeps still, and in the very shady spots she just takes hold of the bars and shakes them hard. And she is all the time trying to climb through. But nobody could climb through that pattern—it strangles so; I think that is why it has so many heads. They get through, and then the pattern strangles them off and turns them upside down, and makes their eyes white! If those heads were covered or taken off it would not be half so bad. I think that woman gets out in the daytime! And I'll tell you why—privately—I've seen her! I can see her out of every one of my windows! It is the same woman, I know, for she is always creeping, and most women do not creep by daylight. I see her on that long road under the trees, creeping along, and when a carriage comes she hides under the blackberry vines. I don't blame her a bit. It must be very humiliating to be caught creeping by daylight! —The Yellow Wallpaper, Charlotte Perkins Gilman A yellow smell. Old foul, bad yellow things. Honeysuckle, chrysanthemum, balsam, hydrangea, and helichrysum. Encroaching Madness - "Old foul, bad yellow things." You know what else is foul and yellow? Urine. That's exactly what this smells like when sniffing it in the bottle. It's so gross it's retch-inducing. I wasn't going to skin-test this one, but then someone in the Seattle Will Call thread mentioned how funny it would be if Beth made a scent that smelled horrible in the bottle but lovely on the skin, and I thought... hmmm... yeah, what if? So I hitched up my britches and jumped right in. And wouldn't you know... it actually smells gorgeous on my skin. I mean, so gorgeous that I couldn't stop huffing away at my skin, partly because I couldn't get over how something so god-awful could become so pretty, and partly because it was just so damn pretty. On my skin it's fairly light. I don't smell the honeysuckle at all (thankfully, since it's not a good note for me). I'm not sure what hydrangea or helichrysum smell like, so I don't know what was doing what on my skin, but it is a gentle floral that is very sweet and incredibly feminine, pretty, and soothing. It's such a gorgeous floral that I'm tempted to find a bottle, or at least a partial bottle of my own. And if I wouldn't have built up the courage to try it out, I'd have never known how pretty it would actually turn out to be. It may smell like urine in the bottle, but on my skin, it's really, really lovely.

PLAGUE OF FROGS Rubbery, wet, and warty. Plague of Frogs - I could have the title wrong. It could have an "A" or "The" in front of the word Plague. Sorry, my notes aren't complete. Okay, so this is one of Beth's "silly" scents. It's definitely not one that people will wear and I'll be surprised if anyone buys it if they know in advance what it smells like, but I swear, honest-to-god, this smells like frogs. It evokes really strong memories of being a little girl and wading in the stream with my best friend, grabbing frogs, and following the slimy trails of frog-eggs they would leave behind, and that nasty, nasty urine they would spray all over your hand which would then dribble down your arm after picking up the frogs. This is the scent of slimy frogs, strings of slimy frog eggs in algae-ridden, shallow streams, and the smell of frog urine. Beth mentioned that she had tried to cut down on the "turdy" aspect of the overall smell of frogs. I didn't get any poo from this, but I did get a freaking ton of frog-urine from it. It's just nasty as a perfume, but she NAILED the concept quite possibly better than any other concept scent I've encountered before this.

This was a gift with the purchase of the full Wunderkammer set. No scent description is available. Screaming Mandragora - What a great scent! It seemed fruity and slightly earthy on me, and when asked what was in it, Beth's passed along the word that it's a "rooty fruit." I really couldn't describe it better than that. The earthiness of this scent is not a dirt type of earthiness, but definitely a rootiness. I have no clue what the fruit scent is - something sweet, a little dark, and perhaps some type of red fruit, but I really can't identify it for the life of me. After being on my skin for 30 minutes or so, the earthiness fades and what's left is the sweet, deep fruit scent. I wish I could identify it - plum, perhaps? I have no idea. Anyway, It's been three hours since I applied it and I can still smell it. It's lovely and I'm sooo bummed this isn't more widely available.

POMEGRANATE I Pomegranate, poet's jasmine, and benzoin. Pomegranate I - This is gorgeous. It's a beautiful, sweet pomegranate. The benzoin is far beneath the pomegranate, but gives the scent warmth, depth, and texture. And then there's the jasmine... jasmine can sometimes be scary on me, and it's pretty strong in the bottle, but it turns out to be balanced beautifully with the other notes and once it's on my skin, it harmonizes perfectly with my skin chemistry. This is a gorgeous fruity-floral scent that I just can't get enough of. It really packs a punch (a pretty punch!) when I first put it on, but once it dries, it has a pretty low level of throw and the staying power seems to be slightly below average. I it.