La Fontaine de Sang

[doomsday_disco]

The exquisite agony of a heart that cannot stop bleeding, though no wound can be found. Every desire becomes another thirst, every kiss another vein opened, every love another mouth at the fountain. 

 

Crimson rose, black cherry, garnet wine, velvet pomegranate, dark patchouli, smoked labdanum, antique mahogany, and a single drop of red musk.

 

Il me semble parfois que mon sang coule à flots,
Ainsi qu'une fontaine aux rythmiques sanglots.
Je l'entends bien qui coule avec un long murmure,
Mais je me tâte en vain pour trouver la blessure.

À travers la cité, comme dans un champ clos,
Il s'en va, transformant les pavés en îlots,
Désaltérant la soif de chaque créature,
Et partout colorant en rouge la nature.

J'ai demandé souvent à des vins captieux
D'endormir pour un jour la terreur qui me mine;
Le vin rend l'oeil plus clair et l'oreille plus fine!

J'ai cherché dans l'amour un sommeil oublieux;
Mais l'amour n'est pour moi qu'un matelas d'aiguilles
Fait pour donner à boire à ces cruelles filles!

- - -

It seems to me sometimes my blood is bubbling out
As fountains do, in rhythmic sobs; I feel it spout
And lapse; I hear it plainly; it makes a murmuring sound;
But from what wound it wells, so far I have not found.

As blood runs in the lists, round tumbled armored bones,
It soaks the city, islanding the paving-stones;
Everything thirsty leans to lap it, with stretched head;
Trees suck it up; it stains their trunks and branches red.

I turn to wine for respite, I drink, and I drink deep;
(Just for one day, one day, neither to see nor hear!)
Wine only renders sharper the frantic eye and ear.

In terror I cry to love, "Oh, put my mind to sleep!"
But love for me is only a mattress where I shrink
On needles, and my blood is given to whores to drink.
— English translation by Edna St. Vincent Millay

[LavenderCoffee]

that big BPAL cherry note is always first out of the gate but then first to calm down, and it's no different here. I alllmost got a FS of Resembling the Passion of Love from the Carmilla line, which also had vampy cherry patchouli, and here it comes again, but with moody rose, wine, pom, and mahogany! I pounced. 

the drydown is more somber and complex than you might expect from a cherry-tinted fountain of blood, and I'm enjoying it immensely. the cherry + mahogany ends up smelling similar to cherrywood, if you have any of the carved wooden village yule scents with that note. and it's not a smoky perfume at all, the smoked labdanum just adds a nice moody base. really lovely and glad to have this one. 

[grrrlennyl]

In the bottle: Bright rose and bourbon.

 

At first: Red rose and rich red fruit.

 

2 hours in: Juice red fruit with roses and musk.

 

4 hours in: More musk forward now, but still with roses and a bit of sweetness from the fruit.

 

Overall: Another winner for me. 

[ghoulnextdoor]

 Crimson, cardinal, carmine, cochineal. Vermilion, poppy, paprika. Garnet, oxblood, madder. Florid, flushed, rubied. Bleeding-heart paint chart instead of a flesh wound, harvested and juiced, a bewildering ultra-life, cold-pressed, sweet/sour, pulp/pulse.

[skyturtles]

Sniff the decant: Very fruity!

Wet on my skin: The cherry, wine, and pomegranate are all playing. There's just a hint of rose, but that's how I generally like my rose. 

Dry down: A bit of the smokiness and patchouli is coming through. The sweetness of the fruits is calming down. The throw diminishes. However, that rich mahogany wood is blossoming.

This has changed so much! What could have been a gourmand quickly evolves into drops of decadent dessert wine on a high gloss, mahogany casket. You are lured in closer by the bewitching blend of labdanum and musk coming from within... Fountain of blood, a promise.

 

If you liked the 2022 Yule "Up the Stairs We'll Dance the Tango," this is the same black cherry and musk loveliness, but even better.

 

(Fun fact: When I sold caskets, the most expensive wood casket was mahogany.)

 

Edited August 30 by skyturtles