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Showing results for tags 'Halloween 2017'.
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I smiled, — for what had I to fear? I bade the gentlemen welcome. The shriek, I said, was my own in a dream. The old man, I mentioned, was absent in the country. I took my visitors all over the house. I bade them search — search well. I led them, at length, to his chamber. I showed them his treasures, secure, undisturbed. In the enthusiasm of my confidence, I brought chairs into the room, and desired them here to rest from their fatigues, while I myself, in the wild audacity of my perfect triumph, placed my own seat upon the very spot beneath which reposed the corpse of the victim. A jubilant and deranged lime absinthe. The lime is particularly prominent on wet, and it reminds me to the limes you find in margarita mixes, and then you get the same absinthe note that you get in Pumpkin Spice Absinthe. This is a very lime Absinthe, and I LOVE IT. For all of you that love absinthe-based blends, gives this a whirl. It's like absinthe decided to go to Mexico and adopted limes as a component. Medium throw and wear length.
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Cracked oak beams, sagging, moth-shredded velvet curtains, beeswax and streaks of ancient greasepaint, shadows of broken props, a memory of tobacco smoke, a discarded ballet slipper, and a broken marionette. This is a favorite. I smelled red leather, like the old theater, mahogany and other wood.I love it.
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Polished mahogany blanketed by myrrh. This is smooth mahogany with silky myrrh. So good. So glad I bought this from the lab. It's just lovely. This will age well.
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Upon the eighth night I was more than usually cautious in opening the door. A watch’s minute hand moves more quickly than did mine. Never before that night had I felt the extent of my own powers — of my sagacity. I could scarcely contain my feelings of triumph. To think that there I was, opening the door, little by little, and he not even to dream of my secret deeds or thoughts. I fairly chuckled at the idea; and perhaps he heard me; for he moved on the bed suddenly, as if startled. Now you may think that I drew back — but no. His room was as black as pitch with the thick darkness, (for the shutters were close fastened, through fear of robbers,) and so I knew that he could not see the opening of the door, and I kept pushing it on steadily, steadily. Thick darkness, black as pitch: opoponax, oily labdanum, and birch tar disrupted by a bubbling carnation chuckle. I can't believe no one has reviewed this! This is honestly my new favorite. I'm hoarding this like crazy. This GORGEOUS, rich and spicy end resinous and sweet. This is the scent I've been looking for with scents like Lydia and Midnight Mass. The carnation is the perfect addition to all these luscious resins, and there's no stage of this I don't love. It lasts ages and it's already gotten me a ton of compliments. Beautiful. Can't rave enough!
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And every night, about midnight, I turned the latch of his door and opened it oh so gently! And then, when I had made an opening sufficient for my head, I put in a dark lantern, all closed, closed, that no light shone out, and then I thrust in my head. Oh, you would have laughed to see how cunningly I thrust it in! I moved it slowly very, very slowly, so that I might not disturb the old mans sleep. It took me an hour to place my whole head within the opening so far that I could see him as he lay upon his bed. Ha! would a madman have been so wise as this, And then, when my head was well in the room, I undid the lantern cautiously oh, so cautiously cautiously (for the hinges creaked) I undid it just so much that a single thin ray fell upon the vulture eye. And this I did for seven long nights every night just at midnight but I found the eye always closed; and so it was impossible to do the work; for it was not the old man who vexed me, but his Evil Eye. And every morning, when the day broke, I went boldly into the chamber, and spoke courageously to him, calling him by name in a hearty tone, and inquiring how he has passed the night. So you see he would have been a very profound old man, indeed, to suspect that every night, just at twelve, I looked in upon him while he slept. Midnight observations and false cheer: moon-shrouded indigo musk illuminated by a thin, wavering amber light, punctuated with erratic bursts of nerolis sharp affability. This is definitely going on my list of most favorite scents ever. The amber is deep and warm, and the combination with the musk reminds me somewhat of Haunted. The musk is hard for me to describe but it's cool-toned and narcotic. I get just a little halo of floral from the neroli. It's such a beautiful and addicting scent.
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"Why do you wait at your door, woman, Alone in the night?” “I am waiting for one who will come, stranger, To show him a light. He will see me afar on the road And be glad at the sight.” “Have you no fear in your heart, woman, To stand there alone? There is comfort for you and kindly content Beside the hearthstone.” But she answered, “No rest can I have Till I welcome my own.” “Is it far he must travel to-night, This man of your heart?” “Strange lands that I know not and pitiless seas Have kept us apart, And he travels this night to his home Without guide, without chart.” “And has he companions to cheer him?” “Aye, many,” she said. “The candles are lighted, the hearthstones are swept, The fires glow red. We shall welcome them out of the night— Our home-coming dead.” - Winifred M. Letts A welcome for the home-coming dead: an incense of dried ivy and maple leaf with honeyed fig, black cypress, and grave dirt. AHHH first review!! No pressure. ITB: Green dirt. Basically Beth's graveyard dirt is my favorite thing, and I leaped at the chance to try this. There is also a deep, almost vetiver like feel to this in the bottle that I love. Wet: The green dirt is now lightened by the honey, but the smoke in this really keeps the cloying in check. The dried leaves are very much burning incense and not just leaves, which gives this a super smokey and evocative feeling. Drying: The harsh smokey edge has worn off, making this much more rounder and balanced. I think I can smell something that must be fig as the honey fades a little, and it's really surprisingly wonderful and not foody. Dry: I had no idea I was going to find this sexy when it dried, but something about the honey and fig combined with the smoke and dryness of leaves really reminds me of some sort of fall/Halloween seductress. I can imagine Morticia Addams smelling like this. The smoke and leaves are very much in the back now, but they ground the sweeter scents really well and add really interesting dimension to this perfume. This is really feminine without being at all typical or overly floral, and I can see this aging amazingly. So glad I tried it!
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[No additional description provided.] It's a hard little number to figure out. First what caught my attention wasn't a plastic smell at all. It was the orange smell. Slightly diluted by something else but very much there. It reminded me more of orange suckers then actual orange. Then after a bit the chemical smell showed up. It smelled like a cross between soft plastic and what reminds me of electrical tape. Ok so after a bit it turns into the smell of a plastic pumpkin that has been sitting with no candy in it for a few days. The candy smell lingers a bit (Orange suckers) but it's mostly chemical. I'm sort of sad about this one. I was hoping for that huge candy smell (Bubble gum, kit kats, those orange and black peanut butter candies, Jolly Ranchers, etc.) mixed with the plastic fume that you get by smashing your face into the pumpkin opening. Long lost childhood memories.
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[No additional description provided.] Dead Leaves and waxy sweet pumpkin spice. I really don't get candy corn per se from this but its' a very Fall blend - pumpkin spice, dead leaves, sugary. Medium throw and wear length.
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[No additional description provided.] Rich cherry, cherry syrup and a touch of spice. There may ba a small trace of almond. Strong throw and lasting power. Quiet artificial smelling, but not bad.
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Truly the scent of autumn itself -- damp woods, fir needle, and black patchouli with the gentlest touches of warm pumpkin, clove, nutmeg, allspice, sweet red apple and mullein. I'm not sure if this is a particularly helpful review as this was a limited edition scent and no longer available, but I guess it might be useful if any turns up on Ebay or as a swap somewhere... The first scent of this is heavily fruity: it smells like black cherries. When I put it on, this note lingers, but is deepened with a scent like tobacco flowers and cloves. It mellows into a rich musky scent with a little crushed greenery. Conventially speaking, I'd say it's definitely an evening perfume: I guess most people would find it too heavy for during the day. Not that I pay any attention to such things Overall, it's one of my favourites so far, totally different to anything I've smelt anywhere else, and for me now inexorably tied to memories of autumn.
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A fair witch crept to a young man's side, And he kiss'd her and took her for his bride. But a Shape came in at the dead of night, And fill'd the room with snowy light. And he saw how in his arms there lay A thing more frightful than mouth may say. And he rose in haste, and follow'd the Shape Till morning crown'd an eastern cape. And he girded himself, and follow'd still When sunset sainted the western hill. But, mocking and thwarting, clung to his side, Weary day!-the foul Witch-Bride. (Aw, c'mon, Allingham. Foul is a pretty strong choice of words, dontcha think?) Pale and lovely, with eyes belladonna-wide: hemlock blossoms and ghostly nightshade veiled by wisteria, white frankincense, black amber, and narcissus resin. I'm at a loss as to how to translate the scent experience of witch bride to words so that you, the reader, could gain some understanding of how it smells and decide if it's something you want to seek out. sorry! I blind bought my bottle based upon the label art and the theme and the notes and I adore it. I don't tend to go for straight up florals, and this isn't that. there's a sweet and warm resiny base, and some light florals (my favorite bpal narcissus experience to date!) on top, and it's just a nice beautiful blend. I only detect the herbal notes if I look for them, and I may only be sensing them because I read them in the description. they are subtle and add a nice bit of complexity (spoken by someone who loves very herby winter stars and the waters of the well of wisdom). witch bride is light to moderate in strength. very addciting.
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Hearkening to the Death Watches in the Wall Atmosphere Spray
zankoku_zen posted a topic in Atmosphere
I had my head in, and was about to open the lantern, when my thumb slipped upon the tin fastening, and the old man sprang up in bed, crying out Whos there? I kept quite still and said nothing. For a whole hour I did not move a muscle, and in the meantime I did not hear him lie down. He was still sitting up in the bed listening; just as I have done, night after night, hearkening to the death watches in the wall. Doom: aged red patchouli, macerated red peppercorn, gloom-black musk, and creaking planks of dry oak. Patchouli and oak, gilded by powdery black musk and a whiff of spicy peppercorn. It smells very intensely in the sprayer, but it calms down to a powdery, slightly dirty oak blend. Medium throw. -
Sweet orange candyfloss with a hint of lemon peel and a husky breath of candy corn. Super strong throw on this one! It opens with a blast of citrus (more lemon than orange for me) with just a hint of candy corn underneath. I'm not getting much pumpkin from this, except maybe just the barest whiff of cinnamon at the edges. As it warms up, the citrus backs off a bit and I get more of the waxy candy corn. Still only a little bit of pumpkin, and I'd like a bit more for depth. Hoping the pumpkin shows up more with a bit of aging, but as a major citrus fan, this is definitely a winner for me!
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Spiced rum with cinnamon, apple butter, nutmeg, and thick vanilla cream. Had to get this one... apple is almost always a win note for me! In the bottle... smells of a pleasantly sweet apple and vanilla cream. It smells buttery, but not butter as in on popcorn or toast! On skin, oh this is so good!! It is a still, creamy vanilla apple! The rum comes out a bit... not getting any spice from this as of yet. As it dries, it stays close to my skin, but it keeps the vanilla/apple scent. Like a lightly baked apple that was dipped in heavy cream. This is very good!! If you are afraid of the cinnnamon and/or nutmeg, don't be. That are way in the background...this smells so good and I am hoping it will get better with age. If not, it is still a wonderful winner!! Edit to add: Been about 45 minutes and this is still going strong and yummy. The nutmeg comes out at last, but it is still a background player!
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Sweet and darkly warming. Testing this directly on my skin as a moisturizer. The pomegranate is sweet, velvety, and dark. The clove is very, very light. It spikes the pomegranate just enough to give it some warmth make it festive. Overall it wears pretty light on my skin and I could get away with wearing it as a moisturizer on my whole body, I thought it was going to be too overpowering. Simple and lovely.
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Pumpkin spice them carnies! This is warm, pumpkin spice, with a hint of cardamom, nutmeg and cinnamon with SNAKE OIL!!! This is a double bottle for sure and I believe it will age beautifully!
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Vibrant with the joy and sweetness of life in death! A blend of five sugars, lightly dusted with candied fruits. I am nervous to be the first here but everyone is clamoring for a review. In the bottle: This smells like opening a new package of brown sugar- deep, fresh, bright. It reminds me of bartending and making my own simple syrup on the stove-top before work. When the sugar becomes heated and begins to boil, the scent rises up like this. Mmmm...almost like the crusted shell of a freshly-made creme brulee. On my arm and wrist: Whoa! This is suddenly taking on a new shape and I am falling in love There is a snap to the smell now that was undiscernableb/f in the bottle. Its almost spicy and definitely gives an edge to the sugar smell. I keep on sniffing my arm, wanting to smell it agian and again. It reminds me of something...hmm...what is it?? Kinda reminds me of Demeter's Snow fragrance which is clean and makes you feel pure and happy. Except that this being Bpal, it is far more complex and provocative. Something in this smell makes me think of Big Red gum but I don't know why...I don't get a cinnamon hit off this oil but I keep coming back to this impression. A few hours later: This has mellowed but is still going strong. Now, it reminds me of marzipan with maybe a hint of mint or something refreshing like that in it. I love it! This one has really surprised me...I generally don't go in for the sweet scents but this one has bite and legs must be the "skull" in the "sugar"!
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Mod Note: There is a review topic for Day of the Skulls release years 2008 and 2013 located here. Per our Review sub-forum topic policy, a new review topic has been created for the 2017 release due to slightly different name: Day of Skulls versus Day of the Skulls. The scent description is the same for both review topics/releases. In Bolivia, many people hold to the tradition of keeping the skulls of their ancestors with them in their homes, caring for their remains. It is believed that each person has seven souls, and one of those souls stays with the skull after death, enabling a spirit to grant protection and prophetic dreams to their descendants, and to bless their families with good health and prosperity. The Bolivian Fiesta de las Natitas, or Dia de los Natitas, is a day of honor for these ancestors. Their skulls are dressed with fragrant blossoms, and offerings of cocoa leaves, alcohol, and cigarettes are made. White sandalwood, beeswax, and frankincense crowned by hydrangea, rose, and kantuta blossoms, dressed with tobacco, cocoa leaves and flowers from the sacred Cactus of the Four Winds. Day of Skulls! Beeswax sandalwood tobacco floral incense cocoa magic! I didn't know about this blend. It wasn't on my radar & I got a decant on a whim. Now I am totally obsessed. The interplay between the different notes is intoxicating. The kantuta flowers are a revelation, so lush & enticing. Wet, the flowers & beeswax take center stage, mostly the kantuta, which is new to me. The rose & hydrangea didn't really register for me at this point. The cocoa & tobacco are present, but not emphatic. The frankincense & sandalwood come & go. As it dries down, the tobacco & woods are more noticeable, the beeswax also gets more rounded as the flowers move out of the spotlight. I love this blend!
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A barrel of beer, a pyramid of cakes, and three sticks of incense. Wet: Sweet, almost peanutty. A tinge of sourness cutting through the cakes. Not smelling the incense much. Dry: Incense, cake and beer, it's all there but nothing is overpowering the other two. Fantastically blended and not overly foody. Sweet, musky, with a hint of something....extra. I will be getting backup bottles of this! Yum! Lasting Power: Light/Medium. Throw: Light
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Thick lumps of pumpkin cake with cardamom-cream frosting and a dusting of cinnamon. Absolutely love this. The perfect blend of pumpkin and cake, just like I wanted. This reminds me of visiting roadside cider/donut stands in the fall, where you could pick out a pumpkin and then buy some fresh-baked sugary treats to take home. Some of the Lab foodie scents turn cloying on me but the pumpkin keeps this fresh.
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[No additional description provided.] As a lover of violets, sugared florals, and dead leaves, I just had to get a bottle of this without sampling. It is everything I hoped it would be. A sweet floral that edges more on the sugary than the floral side with a gasp of cologny-dead leaves behind it. It's an unusual fall scent, and I think it could be worn year round, really. Another violet winner! Definitely pick it up if you think even one of the notes would appeal.
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Ay, thou art welcome, heaven's delicious breath! When woods begin to wear the crimson leaf, And suns grow meek, and the meek suns grow brief And the year smiles as it draws near its death. Wind of the sunny south! oh, still delay In the gay woods and in the golden air, Like to a good old age released from care, Journeying, in long serenity, away. In such a bright, late quiet, would that I Might wear out life like thee, 'mid bowers and brooks And dearer yet, the sunshine of kind looks, And music of kind voices ever nigh; And when my last sand twinkled in the glass, Pass silently from men, as thou dost pass. Dry, cold autumn wind. A rustle of red leaves, a touch of smoke and sap in the air. This is the scent I've looked forward to - some of my favorite autumn smells, all rolled into a single perfume. In the bottle, this was sharp and masculine. Ooo, very sharp. Wet, it transformed immediately to the scent of mouldering leaves, with an overtone of men's cologne. Dry, the throw is all wet, decaying leaves (which I find quite pleasant), but unfortunately, when I bring my wrist to my nose, all I smell is cheap men's cologne and a whiff of musk. On the whole, I think my skin chemistry has played me false once more.
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ALL SOULS A day of remembrance and intercession. Without the prayers and sacrifices of their families and loved ones, the faithful departed may not be cleansed of their venal sins, and thereby cannot attain beatific vision. On November 2nd, prayers are sung and offerings are made to aid lost souls in transcending purgatory. An incense blend that invokes the higher qualities of mercy and compassion, mingled with the soft, sugared currant scent of offertory soul cakes. When I first put this on, I could mainly smell soft incense. I thought that it was my imagination until I re-read the description. I can smell buttery cake notes in the background, but mostly I smell soft incense and what I think is the currant note, rather sharp coming out from behind the incense. My skin will tend to amp the sweet, but maybe others will smell more of the foody notes. I think that this is a lovely combination of foody and incensy, which for me is the best of both worlds
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Lyric night of the lingering Indian Summer, Shadowy fields that are scentless but full of singing, Never a bird, but the passionless chant of insects, Ceaseless, insistent. The grasshopper's horn, and far-off, high in the maples, The wheel of a locust leisurely grinding the silence Under a moon waning and worn, broken, Tired with summer. Let me remember you, voices of little insects, Weeds in the moonlight, fields that are tangled with asters, Let me remember, soon will the winter be on us, Snow-hushed and heavy. Over my soul murmur your mute benediction, While I gaze, O fields that rest after harvest, As those who part look long in the eyes they lean to, Lest they forget them. - Sara Teasdale A myrrh-darkened amber chypre sweetened by newly-ripened black pomegranate. The first sniff of this transported me straight outside to the depths of an autumn night. Granted the air outside doesn't smell exactly like resins and pomegranate, but what I really mean is that it evokes that feeling of a September (or October or November) midnight. This is a seriously dark pomegranate note, not nearly as bright as that in Persephone or The Fruit of Paradise. I love how this pomegranate is almost dark enough to be akin to blackcurrant, but still retains that characteristic "red" quality. This is the last pomegranate of the season, whose juice is as bloodred as the edges of an autumn sunset. The resins work to add depth on the drydown, which I can best compare to that same autumn sunset purpling and darkening before it succumbs to completely to nightfall. While the pomegrante note is perfectly balanced between sweet and tart, I believe the myrrh adds just a hint more sweetness--I tend to amp a subtle vanillic sweetness in myrrh. I feel September Midnight is the counterpart to Autumn and Winter, a prequel for what's to come as the days grow shorter and the nights deeper.
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That whisper takes the voice Of a Spirit, speaking to me, Close, but invisible, And throws me under a spell At the kindling vision it brings; And for a moment I rejoice, And believe in transcendent things That would make of this muddy earth A spot for the splendid birth Of everlasting lives, Whereto no night arrives; And this gaunt gray gallery A tabernacle of worth On this drab-aired afternoon, When you can barely see Across its hazed lacune If opposite aught there be Of fleshed humanity Wherewith I may commune; Or if the voice so near Be a soul’s voice floating here. —Thomas Hardy Marbled white iris, white tobacco flower, Italian bergamot, white leather, and Mysore sandalwood. Iris and tobacco flower on wet, but it dries to a white sandalwood with touches of leather. So it goes from a very cold white floral blend to a sort of powdery white leather blend. Low throw but good wear length.
