Essay

This doesn't smell at all like the other reviewers have described on me. It was one of my first BPAL scents (along with Doomscroll Blocker), and I ADORE it. It's the closest I have to a signature. I find this and the other Twilights really hard to describe because they're so complex but my best shot: In the bottle, this is murky/musky/dark with something sharp (lemon peel?) on top. On, it's a gorgeous blend of blue-purple-black florals, heady and aromatic and so strong they're velvety. Astronomical Twilight is the period when the sun has dipped below the horizon but is still casting up enough light to make the sky blue/purple - it's the last stage before the truly black of Night. The twist of citrus dies slowly over the course of wear, letting this twilight settle in deeper and darker. Amazing throw and wear length. I could sniff this and its sister, Nautical Twilight, all day.

I didn't expect this to work on me because I was worried about the grape turning to wine - which inevitably is oversweet and sour on me - but a friend didn't like it and passed it to me to try and/or get rid of. My instinct were right. Malevolent Laughter starts like a heady cologne, and then as it dries the grapes come more and more to the forefront until they're threatening to be wine. About 30-40 minutes in, once fully dry, it sours from wine into a musty/moldy/rotting smell - something like a brie rind that's started to grow pink mold. If I had to guess, I'd say the icy wine grape collided with the musk and decided to have a rumble where no one came out unscathed, including me.