juniperus

At Azkatraz I'm (omg) cosplaying the Mistress of Ancient Runes, who Rowling names on her website as Bathsheba Babbling.

So now I'm wondering about scents for the professors who remain (largely) off-screen - Vector, Sinistra, even Burbage.

Nothing has really hit me, yet.

(I'm also doing Alecto Carrow, gods help me, but can't wear Alecto as vetiver and I Do Not Get Along... need to figure out something for her... )

bottle: oooh, lilies! dewy!

wet: I can catch the carnation, too. and grass - fresh, light-green spring grass.

dry: no mums, and boy those lilies are amping!

later: and now so is the rose - my tendency to amp heady, white florals hasn't eased one whit.

bottle: it's... I don't know. not quite floral...

wet: it's heady without, again, being obviously floral. I don't know how to describe it.

dry: floral... pastry? there is something not working quite right on me, that's for sure.

later: nope. this is definitely wrong.

bottle: cherry, sooo sweet

wet: I can catch the myrrh and dragon's blood behind the cherry

dry: dragon's blood moving to the front. still no clove.

later: clove! this is interesting, the cherry isn't gone, but it's really tucked completely into the dragon's blood.

bottle: sweet. smells, er.. red.

wet: the notes are separating... I can discern the musk, sandalwood, and wine.

dry: no cocoa or patchouli yet, but the others are present. I'm hoping the wine doesn't sour.

later: yep, the wine went off on me. bugger.

bottle: buttery cake

wet: buttery cake with fruit

dry: buttery cake with fruit and booze

later: and it smelled just like fruitcake until that inevitable moment when the butter note changed to celery. as it always does on me. lucky me.

bottle: sharp, dark, sharp. did I mention sharp?

wet: darker, still, less sharp. waiting for the vetiver to start beating me up.

dry: hello, vetiver. nothing but vetiver.

later: an interesting juxtaposition of mimosa and burnt motor oil. vetiver, I hate you.

bottle: damp earth and night-blooming flowers

wet: florals stepping forward significantly

dry: stepping forward has changed to striding menacingly. aggressive flowers.

later: aggressive to the point of beating me about the head and neck. O_O omg!

bottle: candy-sweet - no floral

wet: same, some hints of floral behind

dry: still very sweet, but less candy-like. more florals.

later: the candy is gone, replaced by a light amber and the florals (which are not overpowering). it's still rather on the sweet side for me, but it's lovely.

bottle: sweet almond

wet: same, but with more depth

dry: the spices are rich and lovely, and the honey has come to the fore.

later: it's all deepened - gorgeous, sensual... I love!

bottle: forest, dried (nor fresh) herbs

wet: a sweetness that is neither fruit nor sugar... is it the flax?

dry: whatever flowers these are, they are aggressive and sweet on me. nooo, please don't go there.

later: the forest has come back to the fore, but with that aggressive sweetness behind it, it's just nauseating. I hate my skin - this should have worked.

bottle: delicate, what ethereal must smell like

wet: vanilla and cumin identifiable, but reticent

dry: resin sharpness wrapped in vanilla

later: the grape is now doing that overpoweringly-sweet thing on me that I despair fruit notes doing. crap.

bottle: floral, very delicate

wet: violet stands out, growing sweeter

dry: tea coming forward and the sweet vanilla is coming up behind the florals. the white musk hasn't changed to soap yet.

later: growing cloying mandarin-sweet, and getting soapier. *le sigh*

The description of Aziraphale, really makes me think of Severus.. I mean, seriously - Ethereal musk, blonde woods, and dusty Bible accord? Maybe layer it with something putrid and toxic to make it more potion-laby... but all in all, it's really very much like him for me...

(Sorry, but I don't really see Severus as the leathery type - aside from his boots. I see him more of a wooly type - wool, parchment and potions).

Oh yes - wool robes! He may wear leather boots, but the robes (and the way they would hold the scent of the lab) would be so much of it.

(the leather is just in my dreams)

(omg, did I say that out loud?)

I completely agree with Glasgow for Professor McGonagall, but here's some other thoughts. Italicizing the notes that I think particularly suit her:

 

Arcana: frankincense, rosemary, lavender, neroli and verbena.

Bewitched: blackberry, sage, green tea, wild berries and dark musk.

Arkham: maple, birch, dogwood, cypress, pine, bergamot, columbine, rue anemone, blue violet, creeping phlox, bloodroot, toadflax and pixie moss.

The School-House: dandelion, white clover, balsam fir logs, and birchwood switches.

Vinland: crisp northern wind blowing over loganberry, wild roses, prairie crocus, iris versicolor Linné, mountain avens, yellow birch bark, mayflower and maple leaf.

Selkie: the chill waters of the Orkney coast, tea-leaved willow, honey-touched Grass-of-Parnassus, sea aster, and Scottish Primrose.

 

In short, I feel like she would have a lot of woody notes-- she's very inflexible and strong... never fussy or gaudy. I also feel like rosemary and certain berry notes would work for her.

 

I second all of this! I think your impression of McGonagall is a lot like mine, because I was also thinking of strong, unfussy, woody notes. To that end, I suggest The Red Queen, which features deep mahogany and rich, velvety woods lacquered with sweet, black-red cherries and currant. I also think this one is especially fitting because Carroll's Red Queen was always meant to be a stern-but-fair, governess type, and I think the same applies to Professor McGonagall.

 

For Hermione:

 

The Little Sparrow: seeds, sedge, brown amber and sandalwood.

Saint-Germain: gilded amber, lavender, brash carnation and deep mosses.

Brisingamen: five ambers, soft myrtle, apple blossom and carnation.

L'Ecole des Filles: orange blossom, ambergris, orris root, white rose, lemon balm, jonquil, carrot seed and benzoin.

Defututa: olive blossom, honey, smoky vanilla, cinnamon, jasmine, sandalwood and champaca flower.

Licwiglunga: hemp paper, frankincense, dried pomegranate juice, lavender, gum mastic, verbena, fennel, star anise and Dittany of Crete.

Sagittarius 2007: sage, clove, dandelion, Balm of Gilead, fig and chamomile.

Leo 2007: Egyptian amber, walnut bark, chamomile, frankincense and saffron.

Harvest Moon 2005: gladiola, chrysanthemum, aster, dahlia, anemone, bergamot, marigold, sage, verbena, wine-soaked apples, plums, red pears, mulling spices, brown sugar, ivy, amaranth and lingum aloe.

 

A wide variety. I wish I could find more stuff with parchment/paper notes, but most of the ones I find have other notes that are so not Hermione.... I don't know why, but I feel like lavender, carnation, brown sugar and cinnamon also seem to suit her.

 

I also wanted to find something with books or parchment or even leather for Hermione, since she's always researching, in the library or looking for a book. But Dee doesn't sound right, and I do like the idea of some of the herbal scents that you mentioned. Hermione seems like a very non-fussy, herbal sort of girl, and I agree with you about the carnations and spice.

 

And with that in mind, how about Queen Alice? It's carnation, posies, and white amber with a hint of inky treacle, sandy cider, and wooly wine. The combination of carnations, spicy cider, wool, ink and treacle seems a lot like her. (I seem to recall that she likes treacle tart in the books, although maybe I'm making that up. )

Queen Alice - excellent.

And Clio smells like a library, as does the Lurid Library and Carfax Abbey (to me).

Hormones can play a part in scents smelling off whether on the skin or in the bottle.

And there may be notes in gluttony that simply do not agree with you. There are notes that give me headaches, and that awaken (with a vengeance) my allergies and/or trigger my asthma.

I review so I can learn what specific notes to avoid, but (if you don't care to review) at the very least note down as much information as you can so you can learn to avoid what does not like you.

Notes that turn on the skin can also cause adverse reactions - there are notes that turn nasty on me and give me the stomach-twists because they get so very, very bad. (I take note of those, too) Heck, even notes that turn and don't bother me, per se, are disappointing (buttery notes turn to fresh, crisp, celery on me - it's so odd!) but it's just a matter of working through it (skin chemistry is such an individual thing, after all).

Try rubbing alcohol to cut the scent of the oil still lingering on your skin. And don't despair - you aren't alone.

bottle: the fougere and sandalwood vie for attention

wet: add hints of the lemon peel

dry: darkening, the resins coming more to the fore, and the sage is holding back with the lemon in the background. no vetiver, yet (and I hope it stays gone - vetiver is usually awful on me)

later: it's darkening, but the resins are disappearing under the weight of the vetiver... which is shifting to used motor oil, as it always does. damnit.

bottle: light, sweet, and warm without being cloying

wet: sweeter, but woody underneath

dry: muskier, but the sweet is still a little overpowering (although still not quite cloying)

later: the sweet has calmed, thank goodness! it's now warm and woody and musky and a little sweet and a lotta sexy. yussss!

bottle: black, wet, evergreen forst-y. oooh, very dark.

wet: the incense is coming out to play (yay!)

dry: incensey and woody and resiny and eee! I am so loving this...it's dark and subtle

later: subtle and balanced and dark and... I need to go find a man to put this on...

bottle: cedar and the spicy-lemony (right?) litsea cubeba

wet: the cedar is stepping back, and I can almost, but not quite, pick out the saffron behind the spicy-citrusy

dry: the warmth of the amber and musk are moving forward, but the litsea cubeba is still at the fore (but it's not sweet, it's really very pleasant)

later: warm and spicy, but still rather on the sweet side for me. alas... were it just a little less sweet I'd adore it.

bottle: violet and hyssop, but subtle

wet: the same, but sweeter (almost-but-not-quite syrupy)

dry: ylang ylang sweetness, hyssop backed away, violet taking charge. not a hint of the frankincense

later: it's almost all ylang ylang, with the barest hint of violet. I amp ylang ylang, so... bugger.

bottle: sweet! holy apricot over the noggin, Batman!

wet: same, possibly more apricot-y

dry: boozy - more brandy-like and less like apricot syrup

later: very boozy, the apricotness (is that a word?) much less pronounced. alas, boozy notes usually don't work on me - and neither does this.

bottle: dark, but with the sharpness of frankincense poking through

wet: much the same, but the cypress is more noticeable

dry: *cough* cypress *cough* amps on me.

later: omg! cypress! ack (and alas)!

bottle: dark - fire and salt (?) and brimstone at eternal, smoke-filled, dusk

wet: the same - the smoke chokes me

dry: dirt- dry, sooty, ashy dirt (and smoke)

later: this is killing me here - something hates my asthma.

bottle: citrus, foremost, but the teak is discernible

wet: citrus, tea, mint

dry: the lovely orchid is balanced with the pale citrus, but that leather is beginning to take its place (and I fear - usually leather is very unpleasant on me, or amps to high heaven)

later: damn leather - I can't pick up a darn thing but leather and teak, now.