Midnight

[k00kaburra]

An ethereal bouquet of night-blooming flowers. Evening primrose, ruellia, flowering nicotiana, wild petunia, panani-o-kai, night phlox, night gladiolus, moonflower and the elusive scent of Nottingham Catchfly.

In bottle: A big bouquet mish-mash of flowers. They're night flowers, and have a slight green edge to them. Together they are a light and subtle white perfume.
On me: Invisible on my skin; no matter how I slather the scent remains elusive. It is very faint, but when I do manage to catch it, it has the beauty of a midnight fairy - sparkling and ethereal. I want to keep this and somehow force it to work for me, but I suspect it will end up on the swap pages soon, for why keep a beautiful scent when it is fleeting and clearly doesn't want to play with you?.

[Abbie]

In the bottle: Soooo maaaany floooowers. What are they? I dunno! It's a very light floral blend, but I can't pick out any notes I recognize.

 

Wet: There's definitely an aquatic feel to this one, but not as watery as Ophelia. As it dries I am picking up something that smells like a very light jasmine. It's subtle.

 

Dry: This became quite sweet, almost vanilla-y when it dried, which often happens with florals and my skin. The scent is very faint now and it's hard to get a good whiff of it.

 

Overall: Meh. Not bad but not a favorite.

[arabella]

Thank you to sweet_peanut for the 5mL of this.

 

First Impression: Floral.

 

Dries down to: A light, herbally floral with a "bite". I can't pick out any specific flowers but I would guess they're night-blooming ones. I don't find the scent tropical at all, it's more of an "English Garden by Night" scent.

 

Additional Comments: After reading the description, I see why I can't pick out any particular notes - I'm not familiar with how most of the flowers in this blend smell individually. (I guess I don't do enough "night-crawling" .) There is something in here that has a bitter "bite" to it that fades in and out. It's a different floral blend and, while it's not going to be a "Top Ten" favourite of mine, I'll definitely keep it because it's unique. It stays very light on me so it'll be good for everyday wear. It works best for me in a scent locket - it seems to stay "crisper" and doesn't have the bitter edge that it gets on my skin.

 

Lasted: About 3-4 hours.

 

undefined 3 out of 5

[miss apple]

Midnight

 

In the bottle - yep this is definitely floral. Once on I get the impression of big, waxy, white flowers blooming on a warm night. I can't really pick out any particular flower with the possible exception of something that reminds me of gardenias. The overall impression is sweet florals with a hint of green on a warm night- it's very heady.

[Loligo]

Midnight starts out as an intense, somewhat sweet blend of unfamiliar flowers -- the only note I was able to pick out was probably the night-blooming phlox, since there's something in here a little reminiscent of Pink Moon.

 

Half an hour later, it smells like a completely different perfume -- incense-y and masculine, and then it keeps getting drier and more astringent and soapier until it smells like sandalwood soap. Bizarre. Oh well.

[theseagrows]

florals are hit and miss for me, but this is one i love! it's sweet but not TOO sweet. it does smell floral, but has a darkness to it, hence the name midnight

 

i cant pick out any separate scents, but they all go together quite nicely. this is a scent i wear when i feel pretty.

[herdivineshadow]

This is a very nighttime scent and a bit like damp flowers on a warm night. It's a very soft floral with maybe a bit of herbiness.

[Little Bird]

I have a hard time wearing flowery fragrances. Floral blends often smell cheap and musky to me, sharp and headache inducing. I often do okay wearing rose blends, but it's rare that I have a floral love.

 

And, as far as florals go, I actually don't mind Midnight. This is a pretty night-time floral without any white floral sharpness or heavy musky/perfuminess. The moonflower is the strongest note on my skin. I love moonflower's chilly, soft sweetness, and it's almost powdery soft here. Overall this is a sweet, slightly powdery floral that's dominated by the moonflower.

 

It's enchanting and lovely. Cool toned and sugary.

 

The LE "Midnight on the Midway" scent smells just like this Midnight with some fruity cotton candy added to it. Midnight is also a suitable replacement for "The Evening Star." The strong moonflower note makes them all smell very similar.

Edited November 5, 2007 by Tania

[AngelFireHeart]

Midnight – Out of the bottle this is a very fresh cologne type scent. It reminds me of holidays gone by & of the scent of a mans shower gel. On application the notes separate out a little, so it becomes clear that the scent is of night blooming flowers. I like this a lot, this is a deep floral scent which is nevertheless as clear as crystal too. Very fresh, a perfect summers day perfume. I think this is quite a sophisticated scent

[slugbait]

Midnight is dark, beautiful and mysterious. It's floral yet it smells like there is a bit of incense in there. I can't really pick out what flowers they are. This what I was hoping Nemesis would be. I can't stop smelling my wrist when I wear this. It morphs into an elusive floral, just when you think you might be able to define what the floral notes are, it smells incense-y. The throw is really nice, it isn't overwhelming. I'm in love!

[Hanyaan]

I got to try a friend's imp of Midnight the other day. It smells so nice on her and in the imp, but on me, it turned into straight, pure, Dove soap. Not the fragrance for me.

 

ETA: I finally realized why I disliked the scent so much. Midnight wasn't quite as much the Dove soap (but that WAS there, everybody agreed on that), as it was that somehow, my skin chemistry plus Midnight made me smell like my great-grandmother's bathroom did before she died. Dove Soap and a hint of musty mildew. Too strong a sense memory, so much that I just wrote it off as Dove Soap initially.

Edited September 19, 2005 by Hanyaan

[puck_nc]

This sounded like a unique and interesting floral to me.

 

Origin: Bought in a lot on LJ.

 

In the Bottle: Very floral, buit a cool floral. Definitely makes me think of the night and the moon.

 

Wet: Purple and dark, definitely evocative of nioghttime. Something in it makes me think of violets, but without that awful acrid-ness that usually happens when violet meets my skin.

 

Drydown: It lightens up a bit, and a note develops that I can't identify. Whatever it is, it's sharp and sour and not very pleasant. Phooey.

 

Verdict: Off to be swapped.

[BlackDahlia]

First sniff from the imp:

 

Very strong floral aroma with a strong alcohol bite. I don't know what top note is providing the alcoholish note... but wow ~ is it ever strong.

 

 

Wet on skin:

 

Overpoweringly floral... and I LOVE florals. The petunia in the blend almost smells patchouli-ish on me and patchouli does not like me. With my skin chemistry the floral notes also have a dirty dirt aroma added to it.

 

 

 

Dry down:

 

Now there is a richer, duskier, floral aroma added to the mix. This fragrance has toned down a lot on my skin... and now it smells nicer.

 

 

In Closing:

 

I will try this one out on my skin, again... I think it is worth another try. After the dry down occurs... it is a pleasant, dusky, warm fragrance with a good throw.

[AlaskaSnows]

In the Bottle: Airy, wet flowers. Very light and fresh.

 

Dry: this is saved from the dryer sheet smell by being well mixed with some scent that IS air. It's wild. The flowers are there, but so is a bitterness. The bitterness, on me, ultimately wins out.

[feline.by.design]

Why does my wrist smell like candy? It smells like some sort of sweet candy, not terribly cloying or rich, but... candy.

 

Once the oil dries, the candy-ish note does die down a bit, the sweetness now resembling a sweet floral. I'm really not familiar with Midnight's components: Nottingham Catchfly, night phlox, night gladiolus, wild petunia, panani-o-kai, ruellia, wild petunia, evening primrose, moonflower and flowering nicotiana. I really can't pick out any particular one of these blooms, mostly because I don't know how these smell. Whichever one of these floral notes smells like spun sugar, that one is most prominent on my skin.

 

For those gourmands who have floral leanings, or those who like sweet fragrances, you may prefer Midnight to most other florals. It's quite sweet, at least on me. I'm not sure if I would wear this often, but it would be interesting to wear on a day I'm feeling like a cupcake or something coated in powdered sugar. My skin chemistry gets nothing sour or bitter. It's like I dipped my wrist in sugar. I can definitely see the Pink Moon connection, actually, though I think Pink Moon's a tad sweeter.

 

Weird.

 

-doreen

[jewelbug]

Imp: Flowers and herbs. I can't identify them--I don't even know 3/4 of the names in the description! Sweet, non-heady, relatively light flowers.

 

Wet: Sweet, light, beautiful, pale flowers. Along the lines of honeysuckle, even though its not. But it IS clean, light, sweet and pretty. This is a very familiar floral smell, though I can't put my finger on it…

Drying: Ah! I think this reminds me of the old BBW flowering herbs spray.

1 hr: stays true to the light sweet florals. It's simply lovely, and I'm not usually a floral girl. Still has pretty good throw/lasting power, despite being light, which is a great combo!

 

Overall: This is a great sweet and clean smell, and I would love to have this again come spring. I would also consider this for scenting bath products/shampoos and what not.

I’m just not in the mood for it right now, as I'm feeling like I want warm, cozy, spicy, thick autumn and winter scents. I think I'll get this again come spring, since it’s a floral I really like a lot, and that's rare.

Its beautiful.

[herongale]

pre-conceived notion: what, no lavender?

 

in the imp: A juicy, shy, retiring floral. Something about this reminds me ever so slightly of Elmer's glue… piquant.

 

wet: Really slathering this one on, because it comes off a little too faint to read otherwise. This is a beautiful pink floral bouquet, very sleepy and sweet. Something in here reminds me a bit of honeysuckle, but the predominant note is the phlox. Maybe that's because I actually know what phlox smells like… I used to grow it on my patio at my apartment in Royal Oak, and sometimes I'd sleep outside in the summer. Around the midnight to two o'clock AM hours I'd get a whiff of something that smelled almost exactly like this, and if I bothered to look the flowers would have unfurled from their day-time state.

 

drydown: This is a very gentle, wonderful fragrance that lingers only for a short while… I'd say it's entirely gone in an hour. But it's worthwhile for something like this, which probably should be only used right before bedtime anyway… this reminds me of George Macdonalds' story, The Day Boy and Night Girl, and the scene where Nycteris makes friends with the garden under the "great lamp" (i.e., the moon, for she is a girl who was raised never to see daylight):

 

[small]But the flowers! ah, the flowers! she was friends with them from the very first. What wonderful creatures they were! -- and so kind and beautiful -- always sending out such colors and such scents -- red scent, and white scent, and yellow scent -- for the other creatures! The one that was invisible and everywhere took such a quantity of their scents, and carried it away! yet they did not seem to mind. It was their talk, to show they were alive (...) [/small]

 

verdict: This scent could very easily degrade itself into the category of a fussy perfume, but manages somehow to do the delicate florals it contains a real justice. I like it. I really like it. This could very well become my Chiroptera replacement when I run out; I am fairly sure that it beats out Twilight in a head-to-head contest as well.

 

post-conceived notion: nighttime without lavender is a beautiful, beautiful thing.

Edited November 5, 2005 by herongale

[Leda]

Midnight to me is an aquatic floral. Unfortunately for me, I haven't met an aquatic I got along with and Midnight is no exception. Also peculiar for me was a waxy scent that overpowered the fragrance that I can only assume is how one of the florals behaves on my skin. Reminded me of a lightly floral scented, pale blue wax candle.

[gangstaknitta]

In bottle: warm and a little pungent, but not overwhelming. a dark floral but not as strong as queen mab

 

Wet: a very spicy floral and not at all like queen mab, it goes a little powdery a few seconds after application

 

Dry: very light and powdery--the primrose, I think and I can smell the moonflower in the background, which is a much fresher note so it makes for an interesting combo. It stays close to the skin and lingers just for 3-4 hours before I need a touch up.

[LushNatty]

In the bottle: Interesting—it’s like a light rose vinegar. I know that sounds weird, but it’s not—it’s actually strangely pleasant.

Applied: It turns right into what it smells like for the rest of the time it’s on you—there aren’t beginning or intermediate stages. It’s a very light, innocent floral. The floral is very old-fashioned smelling without being cloying, and just very slightly sweet in the background. I would say that it is just short of being powdery, but isn’t. This is what Juliet would smell like if it hadn’t turned soapy on me from the sweet pea—a dainty, feminine, sweet-natured bouquet. Light to medium throw, and it fades after a few hours.

This is a must-try if florals generally work well on you. I have a hit-or-miss history with floral blends, and this one is very nice but not “me” enough to put into regular rotation.

On a scale of 1 to 5: 3.

[jjean]

Midnight is so lovely. It's the most perfumey smelling BPAL scent I've ever tried, but without the annoying sharpness of an alcohol based perfume. Lots and lots of white flowers. Extremely feminine. I'd like to be able to wear it on "I'm feeling nice and girly" sort of days.

 

Sadly, much like nearly every other BPAL scent I've purchased, this disappears very quickly. My skin just eats scents. It's terrible. Just when I begin to love a scent, *poof* it's gone. The only exception so far has been Snake Oil, so I suppose I'll just have to find more scents with similar ingredients.

 

Oh, Midnight, you were delightful while you lasted. Even if I could faintly smell you with my nose to my wrist after about ten minutes, I'd keep you. But you and I are destined to part.

Edited January 4, 2006 by jjean

[blu°]

I get a lot of white musk from Midnight. Quite similar to the one in Psyche and maybe slightly to sth in Endymion.

 

It lends a dusky sugary waft to the scent shortly after I apply it.

 

The florals seem to be a translucent white. They breathe the way flowers would in a crisp humid night with dewdrops and moonlight and everything already been said in that regard.

 

Reconsidering, there might be some florals adding to the sugariness this develops, similar to the sweetness of orchid or sweet pea.

 

The dewy cool night I could feel in this in the beginning sadly keeps vanishing in sugar dunes the longer I wear Midnight.

 

It's still nice, though. Like the aura of those translucent white sugary florals I can't name bundled and mixed up fairly well with that velvety white musk. It's Midnight with a star clad sky rather than a big moon, if I think about it.

 

This is a creamy sweet and soft white musk scent that isn't unpleasant at all but somehow doesn't quite convince me at the time being.

 

I'll definitely keep the imp, and see whether I can live without it once I run out.

 

It is sweet and soft and quite a happy scent. I think it's nice to wear to bed, too.

 

This reminded me a little bit of BNever's Cocktail fragrance, Midnight being a bit more sparkly and a little greenish and Cocktail a little more pastelle pink and purple velvety.

[Celogrl]

Waaaaaaah. I can't individualize any of the notes in this scent. It's very pretty, but so subtle on me as to be barely noticeable. This would be pale, pale violet if it were a color. It's so very airy and disappears so quickly. I had hopes that this one would have some staying power, but it is not to be. I'll keep trying- maybe a heavier application would help. It really is so pretty.

[lookingglass]

I almost didn't put this on because in the imp it smells like glue, but ON is a completely different story.

 

A rich floral unlike any other. I get a hint of my beloved moonflower, but it is not a white scent. It is more herbal...wildflowery. On the drydown, it gets a bit sweet.

[moon_lemming]

I am always wary of florals, but I read a great review of this one recently and I had just added it to my wishlist when I got a frimp from the Lab.

 

I really can't pick out the florals in this one, it just turns into one big floral scent, reminding me of a huge bouquet of white flowers on a warm dark night. Only on my skin, the bouquet of flowers is a giant sentient bouquet of flowers waiting to ambush anyone strolling past its corner.

 

Don't get me wrong -- it's not bad, and it doesn't turn to detergent on me, unlike a lot of florals. It's just too loud on me. Apparently there is something in that mix that my skin really loves to amp.