doomsday_disco

Sleek black fur, fuzzy tonka bean, bronze amber and yellow bergamot, black patchouli, honeyed chestnut, and pumpkin incense. I and Pangur Bán, my cat, ‘Tis a like task we are at; Hunting mice is his delight, Hunting words I sit all night. Better far than praise of men ‘Tis to sit with book and pen; Pangur bears me no ill-will, He, too, plies his simple skill. ‘Tis a merry thing to see At our tasks how glad are we, When at home we sit and find Entertainment to our mind. Oftentimes a mouse will stray In the hero Pangur’s way; Oftentimes my keen thought set Takes a meaning in its net. ‘Gainst the wall he sets his eye Full and fierce and sharp and sly; ‘Gainst the wall of knowledge I All my little wisdom try. When a mouse darts from its den, O! how glad is Pangur then; O! what gladness do I prove When I solve the doubts I love. So in peace our task we ply, Pangur Bán, my cat, and I; In our arts we find our bliss, I have mine, and he has his. Practice every day has made Pangur perfect in his trade; I get wisdom day and night, Turning darkness into light. – From the ninth-century Irish poem, Pangur Bán, translated by Robin Flower

I love this room spray and should have just blind bottled it instead of going for a decant and then having to upgrade to a bottle (but at least this way, I have a bottle and then some, which is great for travel!). Lime Green Hearse is definitely LIME GREEN and made for lime fans (if you're down for a sweet lime and not just a freshly squeezed lime, as other reviewers have noted). The other citrus notes are shoved into the background (and read as orange-y -- and the petitgrain isn't screaming bitter orange peel, woot!). I get touches of black pepper and bay rum among them, but they are more noticeable later in the day (if you spray this on something instead of directly into the air -- I've sprayed this on a paper towel to test it, on my couch, and on a wool dryer ball to let it scent laundry). The white musk may be adding a slight effervescence to the scent, but it isn't a main player. I love both fresh and sweet lime, so I love this. I think I reach for it the most out of the four hearse atmos that I own. It's especially refreshing during these warmer months!

Vanilla-soaked sugared pear, frankincense, osmanthus blossoms, and hazelnut.

I was silly to go for the decant route on this one, Hot Pink Hearse, and Lime Green Hearse; of course, bottles were inevitable. The moss and dirt are strongest when this is initially sprayed, but quickly retreat to the background. This is mostly about the Snake Oil to my nose, with the musk, the aged vanilla absolute that the Lab is currently using (which reads as thinner and not as bold to my nose), and Snake Oil's spices being prominent, but not the patch. I get the Dorian mingling with the Snake Oil -- the lemony tea note adds some brightness to it, and the two combine in a way similar to No DNA Test Required (a Lilith scent). However, the Dorian is not nearly as strong as the Snake Oil component. I really enjoy this and am glad to have a decant as well as a full bottle of the stuff. This is probably one of my favorite Snake Oil variants from the past few years.

I initially didn't order this because I was wary of the syrup (I haven't been loving maple scents over the past few years), but the reviews, especially SurrealReality's review (as a fellow non-maple syrup scent lover), swayed me, and I decided to blind bottle it before the Weenies were taken down from the website. I'm glad the reviews made me give this a chance. The syrup in this does not smell like most maple syrups. It is really dark and somehow not cloying. The buckwheat pancakes aren't overly buttery. The coffee lingers in the background, reading more as a creamy coffee to me than a black one, but perhaps that is the cruller note mingling with it (I get the glaze of the doughnut more than the doughnut itself). It smells delicious and is such a realistic foodie scent that smelling it makes me hungry. Every single hearse atmo that I tried last year was amazing (I tried all but two from the collection). I'm really glad I grabbed a bottle of this before it went away!

Delightfully moisturizing and fragranced to charm, not overpower. Treat your skin to a touch of luxury with this sumptuous, softening blend. 13-year aged red patchouli, Damascus rose resin tar, blackcurrant syrup, Egyptian myrrh, and crimson musk seed. Ingredients: Water, Butyrospermum Parkii (Shea Butter), Persea Gratissima (Avocado) Oil, Stearic Acid, Emulsifying Wax, Prunus Amygdalus Dulcis (Sweet Almond) Oil, Tocopherol (Vitamin E), Optiphen Plus, and Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab perfume blends.

Once the guardian of the garden of Hesperides, the Dragon constellation Draco coils around the sky’s north pole. Never sleeping and never setting below the Northern Horizon, Draco and its Draconis stars within are now the celestial guardian, forever watching over us all. A protective blend of Dragon’s Blood, Clove, and Amber.

A shadowed meadow stirs under a shrouded moon: crushed bluebells release their bruised perfume, Arctic starflower and wild flax weave cold sweetness into the air. A thrum of patchouli-darkened red musk pulses heavily in the air, spiced with cardamom pods, cacao, and red oudh.

Writhing shadows and jutting gray stones stabbing through a starless sky: dark vetiver and blackened patchouli cling to cold rock, while opopanax and resin-weeping trees smolder into thick, hypnotic smoke.

Lilac-stained labdanum casting a long shadow across a flicker of frankincense smoke and ambergris accord. Odilon Redon

Witches cavort and the Devil stamps his cloven hoot the base of a venerable black walnut tree, the crackle of scorched wood and the fragrant profanation of dry vanilla bean heralds strange heresies.

Ecstasy and heresy on the Heath of the He-Goat: molten labdanum drips like blood onto bare skin, red musk thrums with carnal hunger, and gleaming red amber smolders against the writhing curve of the body.

Then a mason came forth and said, Speak to us of Houses. And he answered and said: Build of your imaginings a bower in the wilderness ere you build a house within the city walls. For even as you have home-comings in your twilight, so has the wanderer in you, the ever distant and alone. Your house is your larger body. It grows in the sun and sleeps in the stillness of the night; and it is not dreamless. Does not your house dream? and dreaming, leave the city for a grove or hill-top? Would that I could gather your houses into my hand, and like a sower scatter them in forest and meadow. Would the valleys were your streets, and the green paths your alleys, that you might seek one another through vineyards, and come with the fragrance of the earth in your garments. But these things are not yet to be. In their fear your forefathers gathered you too near together. And that fear shall endure a little longer. A little longer shall your city walls separate your hearths from your fields. And tell me, people of Orphalese, what have you in these houses? And what is it you guard with fastened doors? Have you peace, the quiet urge that reveals your power? Have you rememberances, the glimmering arches that span the summits of the mind? Have you beauty, that leads the heart from things fashioned of wood and stone to the holy mountain? Tell me, have you these in your houses? Or have you only comfort, and the lust for comfort, that stealthy thing that enters the house a guest, and then becomes a host, and then a master? Ay, and it becomes a tamer, and with hook and scourge makes puppets of your larger desires. Though its hands are silken, its heart is of iron. It lulls you to sleep only to stand by your bed and jeer at the dignity of the flesh. It makes mock of your sound senses, and lays them in thistledown like fragile vessels. Verily the lust for comfort murders the passion of the soul, and then walks grinning in the funeral. But you, children of space, you restless in rest, you shall not be trapped nor tamed. Your house shall be not an anchor but a mast. It shall not be a glistening film that covers a wound, but an eyelid that guards the eye. You shall not fold your wings that you may pass through doors, nor bend your heads that they strike not against a ceiling, nor fear to breathe lest walls should crack and fall down. You shall not dwell in tombs made by the dead for the living. And though of magnificence and splendour, your house shall not hold your secret nor shelter your longing. For that which is boundless in you abides in the mansion of the sky, whose door is the morning mist, and whose windows are the songs and the silences of night. Morning mist and the songs and the silences of night: a soft, hazy nocturne of moonflower, dew-touched lavender buds, rose hips, and night-blooming jasmine.

It is when your spirit goes wandering upon the wind, That you, alone and unguarded, commit a wrong unto others and therefore unto yourself. And for that wrong committed must you knock and wait a while unheeded at the gate of the blessed. Like the ocean is your god-self; It remains for ever undefiled. And like the ether it lifts but the winged. Even like the sun is your god-self; It knows not the ways of the mole nor seeks it the holes of the serpent. But your god-self dwells not alone in your being. Much in you is still man, and much in you is not yet man, But a shapeless pigmy that walks asleep in the mist searching for its own awakening. And of the man in you would I now speak. For it is he and not your god-self nor the pigmy in the mist, that knows crime and the punishment of crime. Oftentimes have I heard you speak of one who commits a wrong as though he were not one of you, but a stranger unto you and an intruder upon your world. But I say that even as the holy and the righteous cannot rise beyond the highest which is in each one of you, So the wicked and the weak cannot fall lower than the lowest which is in you also. And as a single leaf turns not yellow but with the silent knowledge of the whole tree, So the wrong-doer cannot do wrong without the hidden will of you all. Like a procession you walk together towards your god-self. You are the way and the wayfarers. And when one of you falls down he falls for those behind him, a caution against the stumbling stone. Ay, and he falls for those ahead of him, who though faster and surer of foot, yet removed not the stumbling stone. And this also, though the word lie heavy upon your hearts: The murdered is not unaccountable for his own murder, And the robbed is not blameless in being robbed. The righteous is not innocent of the deeds of the wicked, And the white-handed is not clean in the doings of the felon. Yea, the guilty is oftentimes the victim of the injured, And still more often the condemned is the burden bearer for the guiltless and unblamed. You cannot separate the just from the unjust and the good from the wicked; For they stand together before the face of the sun even as the black thread and the white are woven together. And when the black thread breaks, the weaver shall look into the whole cloth, and he shall examine the loom also. If any of you would bring to judgment the unfaithful wife, Let him also weigh the heart of her husband in scales, and measure his soul with measurements. And let him who would lash the offender look unto the spirit of the offended. And if any of you would punish in the name of righteousness and lay the ax unto the evil tree, let him see to its roots; And verily he will find the roots of the good and the bad, the fruitful and the fruitless, all entwined together in the silent heart of the earth. And you judges who would be just, What judgment pronounce you upon him who though honest in the flesh yet is a thief in spirit? What penalty lay you upon him who slays in the flesh yet is himself slain in the spirit? And how prosecute you him who in action is a deceiver and an oppressor, Yet who also is aggrieved and outraged? And how shall you punish those whose remorse is already greater than their misdeeds? Is not remorse the justice which is administered by that very law which you would fain serve? Yet you cannot lay remorse upon the innocent nor lift it from the heart of the guilty. Unbidden shall it call in the night, that men may wake and gaze upon themselves. And you who would understand justice, how shall you unless you look upon all deeds in the fullness of light? Only then shall you know that the erect and the fallen are but one man standing in twilight between the night of his pigmy-self and the day of his god-self, And that the corner-stone of the temple is not higher than the lowest stone in its foundation. Unbidden shall it call in the night, that men may wake and gaze upon themselves: Oman frankincense, Peru balsam, cardamom, and smoked amber. The sales from February, March, and May’s scents from the Prophet series (On Giving, On Eating & Drinking, On Work, On Joy & Sorrow, On Buying and Selling, and On Crime and Punishment) benefit the ACLU because we are in desperate need of civil rights protections right now. The Take Action area of their website presents handy opportunities for speaking out against current and ongoing injustices, even if you only have a few minutes to spare.

Jasmine Rice and White Musk.

Billowing bulbous blobs of grapefruit marshmallows.

Celestial drama. Radiant pomegranate crowned with golden amber and saffron, a waft of singed frankincense, and velvet black cherry. From a 13th century Manuscript of the Apocalypse

Black Fig and Cacao.

Rosenkuchen, coffee, and steamed milk with a burst of celestial amber musk. Paul Klee

Black Currant and Black Violet.

I've worn this a few times, and I've also sprayed it on a paper towel. I still can't pick out any specific notes in this scent, so I'm not sure how helpful this review will be. It is not an overtly floral scent, nor is it particularly forest-y. I also thought it smelled creamy and a little fruity when I sprayed it on a paper towel, but whenever I've sprayed this into my hair, both wet and dry, I get something that reminds me of a glassy musk... which I think would make sense for the 'glam' part of the name. I've paired this with Galerie des Glaces and thought they went together well, and I also think I wore it with some honeydew scents just because I wanted to wear it again to do a review. The hair gloss doesn't have much throw, so you could probably get away with pairing it with a lot of different scents without it clashing with them. I'll be hanging onto my decant, but I don't feel like I need a bottle just yet. I still need to do a proper, non-paper towel test of Celestial Aura HG, but at the moment, I feel like Elven Glam is the new RPG HG that I enjoy the most.

Regal grace and bittersweet beauty, this is a scent woven from wildflowers and court secrets. A verdant morning, sun-drenched and dew-laden, amber-glowing petals hide the tender unrest of violets and myrrh. The perfume of hidden sorrows, the ache of longing, and the weight of duty: white pear, hawthorn, damask rose, ambergris accord, golden amber, white leather, bruised violets, soft myrrh, spring wildflowers, and crushed green grass. John Collier

Electricity, which is an atmospheric emanation from God, and which is moved by his will, is that substance out of which all worlds and their splendid appendages were made. Hence, it will be perceived, that electricity contains all the original properties of all the various substances in being. All the varieties of the universe around us – all the beauties and glories of creation upon which we look with so many thrilling emotions of delight, were produced from electricity, which is the inexhaustible fountain of primal matter. By the living energies of the Divine Mind, electricity was condensed into globes ; not instantly, but gradually. The heaviest particle took the lowest point, or common centre, of our globe, and so on, step by step, lighter and lighter, till we reach the surface, which is a regular mould. On this we find water, a substance still lighter than earth ; next air, which is lighter than water, and so on till we reach the sun, which is the highest point in relation to our system, because it is the common centre. The sun is, therefore, pure electricity. Hence, the twenty-nine globes, belonging to our system, are electrically, geologically, and magnetically made. They are but twenty-nine magnets revolving around our sun as a centre. The sun being pure electricity or primal matter, is but an emanation from the Deity. It is consequently in a positive state. Hence, electricity is continually passing from the sun, as a common centre to the twenty-nine surrounding worlds : on the same principle that it passes from a positive to a negative cloud. Having done its duty in giving light, heat, and vegetation, as well as magnetic power to the globes, it is returned by reaction to the sun, and these two motions from the vertices that roll worlds around him. It is impossible that there can be any inherent attraction or repulsion in matter. Attraction and repulsion are but different dispositions of electricity. The best magnets are now made for the galvanic battery. Hence, electricity, galvanism and magnetism, are but in substance one and the same fluid, and the Eternal Mind, so that all the powers of attraction and repulsion originated in Deity. His will comes in contact with electricity, and through that subtle agent he moves the whole immeasurable universe in accordance with nature’s law. All worlds are in motion. They roll rapid as the lightning’s blaze, and in the most apparent confusion ; yet all is calm, regular, and harmonious. God is, therefore, connected with his universe, and superintends all its multifarious operations. Tho’ he is thus intimately united with inert matter, yet is he distinct from the whole. Thou apart, Above, beyond ; O tell me, mighty Mind, Where art thou? Shall I dive into the deep: Call to the sun? or ask the roaring winds For their Creator! Shall I question loud The thunder, if in that the Almighty dwells! Or holds he furious storms in straitened reins, And bids fierce whirlwinds wheel his rapid car! The Pittsburgh Post, 9 August 1847 The divine spark from which all things emanate; the perfume of the profound, unseen forces that connect us to the cosmos: the cold brilliance of metallic aldehydes, lemon pith, ambergris accord, and white lavender tethered to terrestrial patchouli, violet leaf, and a mineralic musk.

Wisteria and White Musk.

It is rare for me to enjoy scents containing wisteria, because the note is often very high-pitched on me. I own exactly two BPAL bottles of the scent featuring the note: Hanami (which I prefer layered with a sweet scent like Antique Lace Res. to soften the harsher edges of the florals) and On Wednesday, I Will Promise You a Phantom (although that is much heavier on my favorite note, lavender, and happens to contain vanilla). I decided to grab a decant of this to pair with scents like those, and I'm enjoying it more than I thought I would. I am not sure if I'm just coming around to wisteria now, or if it's this particular combination that I'm enjoying (I noticed, while searching through forum reviews, that most of the Lab's wisteria scents contain lilac, which isn't a note that I love... but I also didn't enjoy Honeysuckle and Wisteria based on my review, and honeysuckle is one of my favorite floral notes, so who knows). I tested this in several ways: sprayed on a paper towel, sprayed on the back of my hand, in wet hair, and in dry hair. The scent on the paper towel when I'd fan it in front of my nose was really nice. Both the wisteria and white musk are in full force, but the wisteria, while it still reads as somewhat high-pitched to me, smells better than it smelled on my skin. When I sprayed it on the back of my hand, I still got a lot of both notes, but my skin chemistry made the wisteria note sharper than it was on the paper towel. In wet hair, I didn't really notice it after application. In dry hair, it doesn't have a lot of throw (at least, not in an office environment -- maybe that will change when I step out into the 102 degree heat in 20 minutes). That said, I could still smell it in my hair throughout most of the day whenever I held my hair up to my nose. I have long, straight hair down to my ass, and I feel like the hair gloss was more noticeable for at least six hours of my work day, but it is pretty faint now. I only used two sprays, so maybe it would be stronger if I had used more. I can smell both notes in my hair, but the wisteria in my hair is much smoother than it was on my skin or on the paper towel. I believe the white musk is the same one paired with scents like La Joconde and Griotte, Lime, and White Musk. It's the white musk Beth sometimes pairs with citrus notes. It's not powdery at all, and I agree that it smells fancy. I'm currently debating whether or not I need to upgrade my decant to a bottle, since this is supposed to come down at the end of the week, which means any time now. On the one hand, I'm telling myself I only have two scents featuring wisteria and don't need a whole bottle of a hair gloss to pair with two scents. On the other hand, I'm telling myself that it could be paired with some of the Lab's more mainstream-esque scents, too, like Butterflies, Flowers, and Jewels Attending and Tomie, and if I do end up getting low on my decant, I'm unlikely to find more (unless it pops up on Etsy), as it doesn't seem like it was very popular. So I'll probably end up grabbing a bottle just in case, because what if this is my wisteria loving arc that I never knew would come to pass and I end up with more wisteria scents?! Well, I think this somehow ended up being my longest review ever. I hope my waffling over this wisteria hair gloss has helped someone else make a decision on it. ETA: Just wanted to update and say that I did end up ordering a bottle.