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absinthetics

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Everything posted by absinthetics

  1. absinthetics

    Lyonesse

    LYONESSE Then rose the King and moved his host by nightAnd ever pushed Sir Mordred, league by league, Back to the sunset bound of Lyonesse -- A land of old upheaven from the abyss By fire, to sink into the abyss again; Where fragments of forgotten peoples dwelt, And the long mountains ended in a coast Of ever-shifting sand, and far away The phantom circle of a moaning sea. Golden vanilla and gilded musk, stargazer lily, white sandalwood, grey amber, elemi, orris root, ambergris and sea moss. This scent has inspired me to be a first review, even though I doubt my ability to pick out notes. So I will review it... a bit more on impression. In the bottle -- If this scent had a colour, it would indeed be golden ambers-- like the faded golds of medieval ikon halos, flaking but vibrant... and haunting. The ambers and musk are beautiful and somehow bright. In the bottle it seems a bit more traditional than I expected, the vanilla is a bit hard to find under the sandalwood and orris root. There is definitely an aquatic-ness to it, but it's almost like an afterglow. Primarily though, i would say it was definitely an amber-musk at this stage. Wet -- Here is where the vanilla leaps out at you, Lyonesse shows its character when wet and on the skin. It's a little more light hearted and feminine here. The gold has softer edges and becomes a bit more 'princessy' when you thought it would be more for a 'queen'. I can smell the lily now, when I didn't think I could before. The vanilla adds a creamyness to the floral. On the skin, and dry down -- On the drydown, the two natures seem to intermingle, and the scent just seems to ... glow. It is feminine and pretty, but regal and elegant. The stargazer lily comes out even more so now and it doesn't seem as creamy as it did before, but you can certainly tell there is vanilla in there. The dryer tones come out here, yet it somehow remains vaguely aquatic. I suppose it smells 'older' when it dries down. And reminds you of the history behind the beauty that are the legends of Lyonesse. In a way it's this 'mature' and musky vanilla scent. The dry down is my favorite part, and really... it simply 'glows'-- a happy, perfect, even a bit yummy 'glow'. All in all, Lyonesse is extremely beautiful and every girl should have a bottle.
  2. absinthetics

    Femme Fatale Scents

    What would you recommend for this 'idea'? I'm looking for the dark, manipulative seductress. The kind of girl that smirks, lurks in shadows...uses knives. Either seductive evil, or Ninja Geisha evil. It's a femme-fatale sort of thing. Or the female Anti-hero. I could write a paragraph discription but... My possible examples (though they are lacking) may be Scherezade, Salome, Devil's Night, Black Lotus, Bastet... maybe leaving the more incensy and going to more fruit...some Cobra Lily, Blood Countess, Lampades, Medea, Lady Macbeth... This is why I am trying to find Snake Charmer, Gypsy Queen, Fire Eater.. I am deathly afraid that Storyville and Voodoo Queen are right up there. Do you think they are? I have exhausted my other two 'categories' and now I am looking for these types of scents. (My other two categories being: 1. The 'icey' catalogue for the Ice Queen (imagery wise, not the exact scent) kind of girl. Things like Snow White, Snow Bunny, Nuclear winter. (Trying to stay away from mint though, and trying to stay away from 'pine' and sandlewood interpretations of winter.) I haven't had a chance to get my actual hands on 'ice queen'. =/ 2. the Etheral, gossamar, untouchable, misty aquatic sides. The girl that can vanish in a fog, pale, dissipating... Lady of Shalott, Sea of Glass, Beatrice, The Evening Star, Szepasszony, City in the Sea, R'lyeh, ) Hmm, so, any suggestions? Particularly on the Femme-Fatale scents.. though I would take them for the others too ^^ I'm pretty new to BPAL, so this is all really overwhelming.
  3. absinthetics

    The Snow Maiden

    THE SNOW MAIDEN The Snow Maiden is the daughter of Spring and Frost: as lovely as the first snowfall, and as striking as a sliver of icicle. Isolated because of her chilly otherworldly nature, and unable to know love, she longed for the companionship and warmth of mortals. One bright, white winter's day, the Snow Maiden came upon a gentle, handsome shepherd named Lel. She grows fond of him, and beseeches Mother Spring to grant her the ability to feel. Her mother is moved by her daughters plight, and blesses her, but the moment the Snow Maiden is struck by the depth of love she feels for Lel, her heart warms, and she melts. Ylang ylang, osmanthus, spring berries, and daffodil cloaked in hoarfrost. In the bottle: The daffodil and hoarfrost carry with it the chilly pine scent added to the somewhat acidic daffodil. The berries bubble up after the pine and remind one certainly of Ice Queen, it can't be helped. However, she's gentler. Wet: The Ylang ylang and osmanthus snake out of the bottle and mute the pine scent. I'm glad of this as I love the winter scents but really don't like pine nor mint. When this is wet it becomes a touch incensy. Drydown: The pine takes more of a back seat and lets the berries dance. I can barely tell her aparty from Ice Queen to be honest. But she's kinder, and as I am not so much of a pine fan I prefer this to the Ice Queen's harshness, but when she grows up she wont be Snow White.
  4. absinthetics

    Passion Butterfly

    Red mandarin, mimosa, pink grapefruit, copal, petitgrain, and black amber. The mandarin was the first thing I smelled in this. And it's true, there is a redness to it I can't really explain other than putting it exactly that way. There is some grapefruit, like from baoban sith. All of this is made just a touch darker by what I assume is the black amber. I'm not that familiar with petitgrain so I couldn't tell you if that was the note in there. I do see some mimosa to it. This is a fun, but grown up fun scent =)
  5. absinthetics

    Black Ice

    BLACK ICE Lovely, dangerous, slick, and bitterly cold: chilly white sleet-like notes with a hint of vetiver, a breath of smoky asphalt, and winter wind. In the bottle: Vetiver for sure. This scent is unique in the Yule category, in my opinion. It is cold, but by being a cold 'perfumey' scent. It's interesting how I can pick up the 'winter wind' aspect. This scent is hard to pin down, it is light and airy in some way. Wet: There are things in here I could not tell from smelling the bottle. There is something dirty and almost acidic. I suppose this is where the asphalt comes in. It's a little plasticy and man-made at first. But I can already tell it's disappearing upon dry down. Drydown: The Vetiver is calming, and I once again can percieve that chilly, air feeling to it. The airy feeling though has finally become 'cold' somehow. The perfumey is becoming a bit more ethereal and less 'in your face'. I have to be honest, I didn't think I would buy another bottle of this until it was completely dry. I really enjoy it at this point, it's calm, and cool and delicate, yet a vibrant 'perfumey' blend. This would be great on a boy, too. It starts to remind me of being outside on a brutally cold night. This scent is definitely a wrist-sniffing scent.
  6. absinthetics

    Drunk Uncle

    Wow! The alcohol note in this is strong! There are other foodie notes in here that I am trying to discern as it dries down. Maybe some cake....
  7. absinthetics

    Kumari Kandam

    KUMARI KANDAM The hollow scent of a vast antediluvian civilization, now frozen and buried, smothered by a thick sheet of ice and trapped deep beneath the ocean. Thick incense, clay, stone, and hothouse blooms with a spike of frost, a hint of decay, and heavy, dolorous aquatic notes. This scent has inspired me to be a first review, even though I doubt my ability to pick out notes. So I will review it... a bit more on impression. In thebottle -- this scent is a cool, wet incense. I have to say it smells like a beloved child of Whippoorwhill and Ice Queen. The spike of frost is a touch piney, a touch sharp. But the papery and aquatic feel of the whippoorwhill-like notes wet it down, and melt the queen to something a bit more somber. It's amazing how something green and aquatic can hold that 'hint of decay'. Beth did something amazing with that. Wet -- Wet, she dies down a bit. The clay, the dark, and cold grotto chambers of the sunken city come to mind. Long abandoned hallways, memories of inhabitants... the piney scent dissipates into an incensy aquatic. Something I've never smelled before. It's delicate and old, but you never forget the 'ice'. On the skin, and dry down-- For me she sweetens up a bit. The incensy notes become more accessible and it becomes a bit more delicate, a bit more vacant and haunting. I can't decide if this scent embodies a perfect winter scent, or would be a lovely solace from the staggering summer heat. Regardless, on the dry down she gets a little more earthy, and the 'clay's begin to form. You can also get the feeling of those 'hothouse' blooms, as they seperate from the aquatic notes.
  8. And I looked, and behold a pale gourd: green patchouli and white pumpkin with yew berry, black cypress, white sandalwood, spectral niaouli, eucalyptus petal, and dry white mint. The white pumpkin is a touch sweet and bright. It is only further brightened by the eucalyptus and mint. This Death is certainly aglow with green licking flames, as the label implies.
  9. absinthetics

    Single Note: Fog Machine Juice

    I have to say this has the ozoney and hazy quality that was also found in Thriambus atmo spray. Which I did very much like. Since there is gothy club mist in there, I imagine that's the same note.
  10. absinthetics

    Zebra Heliconian

    Opium tar, frankincense, lemongrass, ambergris accord, Himalayan cedarwood, coffee absolute, coconut meat, clary sage, tobacco flower, vetiver, and white plum. In the bottle, you can pick up the incense and the sharpness of the vetiver and lemongrass. The wood is there in the background, along with the sage. However straight from the lab, there is no hint of coffee nor coconut right now. Oddly enough, this smells like an incense I used as a teen and takes me right back there.
  11. absinthetics

    Sphaeromachia Gaumeri

    Iris, iced lemon peel, anise seed, red current, coriander, cilantro, and white musk. Iced lemon peel is the first thing to hit the nose. Next there is the wite musk and red current. The cilantro is hiding in there under the lemon peel which gives it a really neat depth. I'm not usually a fan of lemon scents but this one is really lovely. I can't wait to skin test.
  12. absinthetics

    Little Maggie

    Tahitian vanilla flower and white sandalwood with honeyed patchouli, cacao, and mallow flower. Chocolatey and sweet. This is a lighter and more etheral version of Black Temple Burlesque Troupe. It is not as cloying and much less earthy. The patchouli is very mild. Though you can pick up some of the honey note, it is not a very honey scent. As it dries, the mallow flower and sandalwood kinda dance around the cacao. I do love foodie scents, but sometimes you get a weird look when wearing them, or someone asks who is baking brownies. This probably wont get those questions, but will definitely cause people to smile as they pass by. =)
  13. absinthetics

    Jólasveinar

    JÓLASVEINAR The Jólasveinar are the seventy-some offspring of Grýla and Leppalúði, an ogre couple with a taste for chomping naughty children. This impish brood delights in causing discomfort, sowing confusion, and all-out raising hell during the Yule season. Their names are indicative of their malicious intentions -- Strap Loosener, Door Slammer, Window Peeper, Sausage Snatcher, Doorway Sniffer, Icebreaker -- and their creepy natures -- Lamp Shadow, Smoke Gulper, Crevice Imp. The devillish Jólasveinar finally cease their mischief and head for home at Þrettándinn. Their scent is a mishmash of snow, dirt, Icelandic moss, marsh felwort, and the smushed petals of buttercups and moorland spotted orchids, with the barest hint of the scent of pilfered Christmas pastries. In the bottle: Warm, round, Christmas goodness. It is a distinct mixture of the winder florals with the tasty baking in the background. My nose can't decide if this would be foody, or floral. I was expecting the pastries to be more in the background, but they really give a good fight. Wet on the skin: The foody is warm and almost crafty. Crafty as in craft-store edibles. It definitely smells like Christmas, it smells like your a room away from people eating and laughing. I don't know how she got this smell in a bottle. On drydown: Honestly, it moves between floral and foody still. I can barely determine between the two. This is a very complicated scent, I'll buy another bottle just because it's so mysterious.
  14. absinthetics

    Dream Awake Nail Lacquer

    Gleaming metallic gold flares of a powerful imagination. The gilded sheen of a muse’s kiss, the glimmering, vivid glow of a story burning to be told. This is a metallic nail polish that clearly has some yellow to it, but resides in between a silver and a sunlit yellow. One coat does the trick! Edit: Wow. I have had this on since the 22nd, and it is now the 28th and it HAS NOT CHIPPED! This is some crazy dark magic! WOW!!! There is some wear at the tips of the nails, but I mean... I have not been kind to them. I go to the gym every day, and I have cooked for the holidays and it has stayed on!
  15. absinthetics

    Juniper Hairstreak

    Smoky brown musk, cucumber, green-tinged ozone, cypress, white mint, jungle orchid, and juniper berry. I will say that I am not a mint or juniper fan. I was not looking forward to this one at all. But wow! It is something totally unique. I can't really explain it, and it really is just kind of a ghost-flash of it, but there's almost something watermellony in here. The mint is barely there, for anyone who doesn't like mint I would not rule this one out because of it. I think there is a cucumbery-ness (look at all the words I am making up haha) that adds that fresh splash that makes it all smell a little like watermelon. And I really do mean just a little. Yet, as bright and green as this is, there is an earthiness to it that is really amazing. I recommend everyone sniff this one at some point.
  16. A staircase ascends past jutting balconies towards a crumbling ceiling as misshapen shadows creep through the gloom. Ancient dark wood, decades of dust, floorboards oozing with red clay, and a roaring fire that casts no warmth. This atmo is very different from the other house themed atmo. This is much drier and more dusty. There is a sharpness to the dark that even has a slightly peppery scent to it.
  17. absinthetics

    The First Time I Saw A Ghost

    The first time I saw a ghost, I was ten years old… It was my mother’s. A slightly morbid admission: I lost my mother when I was 15, and I still remember how it felt to hold her hand after she passed away. The scent I’m trying to capture here is love mingled with grief and a peculiar horror, reminiscent of the chill of her skin and the weight of her hand. English roses as a symbol of the love a child feels for her mother, chilled by eucalyptus blossom, iris root, and white lily aldehyde. This sharp is bright and light hearted, with pretty roses and iris, but the aldehyde and eucalyptus are this strange, sharp essence in the back ground. They become this chemical bite to the scent that is very hard to get beyond.
  18. absinthetics

    Young Edith's Bedroom Atmosphere Spray

    Darkness engulfing a child’s collection of dolls and books: beeswax, leather-bound paper, and white gardenias; porcelain and wood, lace and shadow. This is a young girls room bright with books. The floral is very light, while the leather and beesewax fight for attention. This is very inviting and a lovely room scent idea.
  19. absinthetics

    Eve's Big Apple Hair Gloss - Green Apple

    Green apple, bergamot, vanilla orchid, and tiare. A gorgeous and slightly sharp green apple, made only sharper by the bergamot. The vanilla orchid and tiare take that sharpness down a notch but it very much feels like there are two things going on here, rather than a smooth blend between the two qualities.
  20. absinthetics

    Alcie

    Just a hint of gorgon blood: bright nectarine, honey, sandalwood, green musk, sea buckthorn berry, and oakmoss. This scent is a beautiful fruity but somehow earthy scent. It has a very far throw. The sandalwood is very present while the buckthorn berry turns the nectarine a little bitter. But not in a bad way! I recommend at least getting to sniff all the Pandy scents. They are lovely!
  21. absinthetics

    Salma

    Crisp linen, a smudge of ballpoint pen ink, soap-touched skin, apple shampoo, and effervescent science fair experiment residue. Considering the fact that I always do science experiments, I'm excited to review this one. This scent is very...generic though. It smells like a few different shampoos that we all know, combined. It seems that the ballpoint pen ink (i love writing things!) and the science fair experiment kind of tame this bright apple/fruity shampoo aspect. The linen and soap do the same, in much the way that you would expect, but unfortunately they both add to the "generic" aspect of this. There is a touch of "perfumey" edge, but for the most part it is a nice, clean soapy apple. Wear this if you need someone to absolutely know that you use great hair products and just took a shower =D After it dries down a bit the tame/linen...somewhat dry/husky background do come out a bit.
  22. absinthetics

    Cushing Manor Atmosphere Spray

    A stately brick mansion glowing with warmth: bay rum, fine whiskey, white carnations, and hearth wood. Oh what a beautiful, warm scent. It smells like a place where dinner is cooking, and all candles are lit for you to sit with loved ones. There is a sweet spiceyness that must come from the carnation. This sweetness becomes foody from the bay rum and whiskey notes. But underneath it all you get some of that hearth wood that settles it all down some, but not after first being quite foodie.
  23. absinthetics

    Paysage

    Je veux, pour composer chastement mes églogues, Coucher auprès du ciel, comme les astrologues, Et, voisin des clochers écouter en rêvant Leurs hymnes solennels emportés par le vent. Les deux mains au menton, du haut de ma mansarde, Je verrai l’atelier qui chante et qui bavarde; Les tuyaux, les clochers, ces mâts de la cité, Et les grands ciels qui font rêver d’éternité. II est doux, à travers les brumes, de voir naître L’étoile dans l’azur, la lampe à la fenêtre Les fleuves de charbon monter au firmament Et la lune verser son pâle enchantement. Je verrai les printemps, les étés, les automnes; Et quand viendra l’hiver aux neiges monotones, Je fermerai partout portières et volets Pour bâtir dans la nuit mes féeriques palais. Alors je rêverai des horizons bleuâtres, Des jardins, des jets d’eau pleurant dans les albâtres, Des baisers, des oiseaux chantant soir et matin, Et tout ce que l’Idylle a de plus enfantin. L’Emeute, tempêtant vainement à ma vitre, Ne fera pas lever mon front de mon pupitre; Car je serai plongé dans cette volupté D’évoquer le Printemps avec ma volonté, De tirer un soleil de mon coeur, et de faire De mes pensers brûlants une tiède atmosphère. – – – More chasteness to my eclogues it would give, Sky-high, like old astrologers to live, A neighbour of the belfries: and to hear Their solemn hymns along the winds career. High in my attic, chin in hand, I’d swing And watch the workshops as they roar and sing, The city’s masts — each steeple, tower, and flue — And skies that bring eternity to view. Sweet, through the mist, to see illumed again Stars through the azure, lamps behind the pane, Rivers of carbon irrigate the sky, And the pale moon pour magic from on high. I’d watch three seasons passing by, and then When winter came with dreary snows, I’d pen Myself between closed shutters, bolts, and doors, And build my fairy palaces indoors. A dream of blue horizons I would garble With thoughts of fountains weeping on to marble, Of gardens, kisses, birds that ceaseless sing, And all the Idyll holds of childhood’s spring. The riots, brawling past my window-pane, From off my desk would not divert my brain. Because I would be plunged in pleasure still, Conjuring up the Springtime with my will, And forcing sunshine from my heart to form, Of burning thoughts, an atmosphere that’s warm. — Charles Baudelaire, translation by Roy Campbell The pale moon pouring magic: Tunisian opium and mugwort with blackened bourbon vanilla, tuberose, glittering white musk, datura accord, wild plum, and tobacco absolute. This scent is absolutely gorgeous and will certainly be a hit for years to come. The burbon vanilla has a lot of burbon in it which is really magnified by the tobacco. The Plum is barely a fruit note while the datura does temper it so it's not that foody. Excellent!
  24. absinthetics

    Day-Old Ham

    Wow. This is absolutely true to life. You can even smell the salt of the ham and the juices are a little less juicy because, well, it's a day old, right?
  25. absinthetics

    The Bear in the Cellar

    Whiskey, tobacco, and incensed bear musk. The bear musk is a nice brown quality that probably takes the bite out of the whiskey note. This is a very smooth, brown scent that has great throw.
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