Elli's Song

[edenssixthday]

ELLI'S SONG
“Most shows,” said Rukh after a time, “would end here, for what could they possibly present after a genuine unicorn? But Mommy Fortuna’s Midnight Carnival holds one more mystery yet — a demon more destructive than the dragon, more monstrous than the manticore, more hideous than the harpy, and certainly more universal than the unicorn.” He waved his hand toward the last wagon and the black hangings began to wriggle open, though there was no one pulling them. “Behold her!” Rukh cried. “Behold the last, the Very End! Behold Elli!”

Inside the cage, it was darker than the evening, and cold stirred behind the bars like a live thing. Something moved in the cold, and the unicorn saw Elli — an old, bony, ragged woman who crouched in the cage rocking and warming herself before a fire that was not there. She looked so frail that the weight of the darkness should have crushed her, and so helpless and alone that the watchers should have rushed forward in pity to free her. Instead, they began to back silently away, for all the world as though Elli were stalking them. But she was not even looking at them. She sat in the dark and creaked a song to herself in a voice that sounded like a saw going through a tree, and like a tree getting ready to fall.

What is plucked will grow again,
What is slain lives on,
What is stolen will remain —
What is gone is gone.

“She doesn’t look like much, does she?” Rukh asked. “But no hero can stand before her, no god can wrestle her down, no magic can keep her out — or in, for she’s no prisoner of ours. Even while we exhibit her here, she is walking among you, touching and taking. For Elli is Old Age.”

The cold of the cage reached out to the unicorn, and wherever it touched her she grew lame and feeble. She felt herself withering, loosening, felt her beauty leaving her with her breath. Ugliness swung from her mane, dragged down her head, stripped her tail, gaunted her body, ate up her coat, and ravaged her mind with remembrance of what she had once been. Somewhere nearby, the harpy made her low, eager sound, but the unicorn would gladly have huddled in the shadow of her bronze wings to hide from this last demon. Elli’s song sawed away at her heart.

What is sea-born dies on land,
Soft is trod upon.
What is given burns the hand —
What is gone is gone.

The horrors of entropy, death, and decay: desiccated black mosses, vetiver, olibanum, patchouli, and ashes.

Elli's Song - This is a very dark and bitter scent. There's a bit of sweetness from the black moss, but it's almost a death/decay-like sweetness, i.e., unpleasant, which could be a result of blending it with the ashes, as ashes is a note I rarely like, and often find to be quite off-putting. I don't smell the olibanum or patchouli at all. The vetiver is stinky when first applied, but vetiver warms up to something magical on my skin, which is probably the only thing keeping my testing of this scent from being a "wash it off now!" kind of experience. The sweetness dissippates completely as the oil dries down, and the ash becomes even stronger and stronger, until this scent pretty much smells like an ashtray. Maybe it is a wash it off kind of scent. It's morning, and I haven't my shower for the day, and this is making me think it's time to go jump in the shower.

[zankoku_zen]

Elli's Song is definitely dark and bitter... It smells like smoke, with a slight sweetness. I don't find it as off putting as edensixthday does but it's definitely a smoky scent. There's a slight aquatic base and I think that might actually be the moss.

 

Fairly masculine. Actually, on the right guy, he'd smell like smoke and water.... and uh... deliciously evil? .... YES!

[mimosa]

This smells like Listerine antiseptic mouthwash wet. The strong sweet smoky black scent remains when dry. This is not for me.

[strahlend]

I have a lot of love for this scent. It's reminiscent of a forest but there's no pine, which I'm happy about since pine usually doesn't work for me. It's a very dark black-green sort of scent. Black mosses and vetiver and ashes.... all coming through perfectly clear. I think of this as sort of a forest campfire sort of smell, I think of that as a very comfortable happy scent. There's nothing here that makes me think of death and decay, it's just a mossy, green, earthy, campfire wonderfulness. It's kind of what I hoped the Los Angeles Halloween oil would smell like. I know there is a portion of the bpal population looking for bonfire scents, if you're one of those people give this scent a try - it's very evocative.

[Penance]

Origin:

 

5mL from the Lab.

 

Preconceived notions:

 

I thought I'd reviewed this one already, but evidently I haven't. I had to try Elli's Song as soon as I read the description. I'm a big fan of this sort of scent, although vetiver and I have a sometimes touch and go relationship thanks to the fact that it sometimes takes over scents and completely overpowers everything else. I do love patchouli, moss and resins, though, so I've got high hopes for this one.

 

First sniff:

 

This is definitely a dry, grey-green-brown scent. It's not as desolate as I'd expected, but it's certainly not a bright, cheerful scent, either. I get mainly the mosses with a hint of patchouli and ash in the background.

 

Wet on skin:

 

The same as in the bottle. Dry moss and faint, earthy patchouli and ash. If you took Mole (which I find to be a well-worn, faded, weirdly cuddly sort of scent) and took all the soft snuggliness out of it, then singed it a little, you would end up with something like this. That probably makes no sense to anyone but me, but I tend to have distinct visuals of BPAL scents and that's what I get from Elli's Song.

 

Dry down:

 

Still mainly dry moss. It's vaguely woodsy, but more like the forest floor than the trees themselves. I love this sort of a scent, so it really works for me. Thankfully, the vetiver behaves itself. In fact, I can barely smell it in here. It's not overwhelmingly ashy or scorched smelling. Instead, there's just a faint ashiness in the background, lurking behind the mosses.

 

The bottom line:

 

I really like Elli's Song. It's definitely not the sort of scent that's going to please the masses, but it works for me. This one's definitely a winner to my nose.

[blu°]

I actually like this one. It's bitter at first, but after some time the moss brings out some sweetness. It's a very natural scent. I don't think it is overly masculine at all, but then, I only ever get the man's cologne effect from ozones and certain aquatics. This ends up smelling like woodsmoke. Very pleasant.

[Little Bird]

Elli's Song reminds me of some of bpal's Halloween scents at first (Samhain and Samhainophobia, mainly, but not as sweet and well rounded as either of those blends. Elli has a verrry sour and unpleasant edge on my skin).

Initially, Elli smells like digging through bits of moss, dead autumn leaves, and black soil. For me, the moss is a bit too sour and bitter, and makes this scent hard to stomach. The drydown isn't much better, as the ash part seems to amp up, and that makes me smell like I smoked a pack of cigarettes and then rolled through the ashes.

 

I usually like patchouli, vetiver, and moss, but this blend is too sour, harsh, and smoky for me.

[Invidiana]

This reminds me a lot of Samhainophobia but a bit sweeter. I think I'm amping the olibanum, and the sweet aspect of resins automatically shine on my skin most of the time. I was afraid of Attack of the Vetiver Death here but the vetiver is actually very subtle, just adding to the earthiness of the blend. The patchouli is prominent but smooth and rich. The ash note adds a smoky touch but isn't overwhelming or masculine. Overall this is pleasantly smoky in an autumnal way, very reminiscent of the Halloweenies, and I think I'm going to need a bottle at some point.

[invisible iris]

In the vial: This smells like cologney peanut butter. Weird!

 

On skin: A little less peanut butter and more cologne. I *think* the peanut butter is coming from vetiver, strangely enough. And what I’m calling “cologne” might be a combination of olibanum and ashes? I dunno. As it dries down, the black mosses become more and more prominent. (Peanut butter completely disappears!) The whole scent really mellows.

 

Dry: Dry black moss on scorched ashes with an underlying earthy sweetness. I can detect the vetiver, especially in the earlier stages Elli’s Song has a small amount of the deep black green sickly sweetness that I get in other vetiver blends, but here it’s massively dried out and held under control by the ashes & moss. The overall scent is dessicated and empty in a gentle and resigned sort of way. Like the smell of the fireplace the morning after you’ve had a fire, with moss. Or a bonfire in the woods the misty morning after. I find it oddly comforting, earthy and damp, and there's a nihilistic, organic purity here. It does an amazing job with the concept. It has excellent (& not too heavy) throw.

 

Verdict: Beautiful in its own way and irresistibly haunting. I'm shocked at how I love Elli's Song, considering I was about to write off vetiver as a note of doom. The scent has gotten even better with repetition and as I've adjust my expectations to what it offers. (I love it when I feel like a BPAL blend is educating me, and this is one of those times.) Over a couple weeks of testing, it's gone from an intrigued “maybe” to a definite bottle purchase with my next order.

[ajansuz]

In the imp: Kind of bitter and a little tarry. I didn't think I'd like this on much, even though usually vetiver blends play nicely on my skin.

 

Wet: COMPLETELY different than in the imp. I don't know what olibanum smells like, but since I do know the other notes, I'm going to have to say it's what I'm amping. It's an earthy sweet resin scent with just a touch of soft smoke. Very much campfire in the woods, but it's as though you were also burning incense in your campfire.

 

Dry: The longer this dried on me, the more beautiful it became. I got some definite earthiness I associate with the different BPAL mosses. The smoke faded away, leaving behind sweet and somewhat sophisticated incense. Something in this reminds me just a little bit of Rumplestilschin. A woodsy touch like sandalwood. I'm surprised by how much I love this.

[mymymai]

In the Imp (ITI): Smoldering patchouli and olibanum sitting in a pile o f ash, brightened only bits of vetiver. I’m not smelling the moss at this point, but it may show up on my skin after I apply it.

 

Wet: The ash and smokiness is prevalent as the foremost note. Following is smoky olibanum and hints of earthy patchouli. However, the green notes are not present at all while wet. I’m not minding, through, because the scent is a lovely resinous scent.

 

Dry: After 14 hours, there is only a faint hint of something resinous. On second reapplication, the olibanum, patchouli, and ash are in harmony. I smell a touch of vetiver, but no moss.

[savage_rose]

It smells like mossy vetiver with a hint of...decaying pickle? Weird, weird, weird. Dark, damp, wet, desolate. Wow. Very evocative, but not a comfortable scent to wear.

[t_for_tau]

desiccated black mosses, vetiver, olibanum, patchouli, and ashes.

 

Imp: old-school bpal woody-masc LE deliciousness. Hoping the vetiver - currently a smoky backdrop - isn't going to go berserk on my skin as it's been doing recently.

 

Wet: astringent resiny woods. I wonder where that strong, cedary wood note is coming from? Like I say, the olibanum is giving it a slight taut astringent - I want to say "powdery", but not like baby powder at all, like the actual slightly sticky, gritty powder that clings to dry resin incenses.

 

Drydown: that taut note is stretching out into something soapy-medical. No, don't do this, scent! The woods are still hiding behind it, but the...moss? ash? is stomping all over it. It smells like disinfectant and cheap oakmoss accord and is making me Very Sad. Much less "the horrors of entropy" than "the horrors of a gloomy hospital shower cubicle". And here comes the smell of plasters/band-aids to back it up, with old lady face powder (appropriately enough). It smells like a nursing home, which fits the inspiration in entirely the wrong way. Going to wash this off.

[roseus]

This starts off as mostly moss and a grassy vetiver on me, with a slight astringency and a touch of the smoky ashes in the background. The incense and patch come out, making it smoother and earthy. The moss and vetiver give a slight cool greenness. The ashes stay in the background. A somber incense scent.