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Breathless Horror

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I had desired it with an ardour that far exceeded moderation; but now that I had finished, the beauty of the dream vanished, and breathless horror and disgust filled my heart. Unable to endure the aspect of the being I had created, I rushed out of the room and continued a long time traversing my bed-chamber, unable to compose my mind to sleep. At length lassitude succeeded to the tumult I had before endured, and I threw myself on the bed in my clothes, endeavouring to seek a few moments of forgetfulness. But it was in vain; I slept, indeed, but I was disturbed by the wildest dreams. I thought I saw Elizabeth, in the bloom of health, walking in the streets of Ingolstadt. Delighted and surprised, I embraced her, but as I imprinted the first kiss on her lips, they became livid with the hue of death; her features appeared to change, and I thought that I held the corpse of my dead mother in my arms; a shroud enveloped her form, and I saw the grave-worms crawling in the folds of the flannel. I started from my sleep with horror; a cold dew covered my forehead, my teeth chattered, and every limb became convulsed; when, by the dim and yellow light of the moon, as it forced its way through the window shutters, I beheld the wretch –the miserable monster whom I had created. He held up the curtain of the bed; and his eyes, if eyes they may be called, were fixed on me. His jaws opened, and he muttered some inarticulate sounds, while a grin wrinkled his cheeks. He might have spoken, but I did not hear; one hand was stretched out, seemingly to detain me, but I escaped and rushed downstairs. I took refuge in the courtyard belonging to the house which I inhabited, where I remained during the rest of the night, walking up and down in the greatest agitation, listening attentively, catching and fearing each sound as if it were to announce the approach of the demoniacal corpse to which I had so miserably given life.

Breathless horror: icy white musk and thick olibanum with niaouli, carrot seed, white mint, and camphor.


This scent is so mild that I'm initially having a hard time getting a sense of it.
What I can smell is a slightly sweet, mildly earthy effect of the carrot seed. What I'm NOT getting is white musk, white mint or camphor.
Honestly it's making me think of when I had a rabbit, something to do with the faint scent of wood chip bedding and food mix. I wish I could describe this better because I don't want anyone to get the wrong idea, this is very gentle, healthy, natural, barely sweet, and earthy in a sort of grainy way.
The more I smell it, the more I love it.

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First impression, herbal with carrots coming through. No icy musk so far, no mint and no camphor. this doesn't really smell like a perfume. I don't know how to describe it other than to say it is not for me.

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Wow, I thought it was only me. I was hoping for something really icy, but this is a wisp of a scent on me. I was hoping for a scent to use to calm headaches and this seemed to fit the bill because of all the icy notes -- icy musk, niaouli, camphor, mint --- but not even close. It smells like a very slight herbal with an equality faint woody note, that might be the resin. I get no carrot from this either. How disappointing. Glad I only got a decant of this.

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In the decant: A clean skin musk with a hint of camphor. Very promising.

 

On skin: Musk, soap, and woods. This is the best light musk I've ever tried from BPAL. It smells like freshly washed skin with a bit of dry woods (probably the combo of frankincense and camphor). Seriously considering a bottle. This is awesome. :wub2:

 

10 minutes later: Apparently I'm allergic to one of these ingredients because I can't breath through my nose and a nasal congestion headache is squeezing my brain. :cry2:

 

I'm so sad I can't wear this. After washing it off, I'm still getting wiffs of the musk where it rubbed on my clothes and it is still wonderful. I think it's the camphor I'm reacting to, but can't be sure. Whatever it is, it changed what was going to be a bottle purchase to something I had to scrub off my skin. Because of this, I can't comment on how long it lasts.

 

If you like other light musks like Neutral or Mr. Ibis, you should try Breathless Horror.

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This was the surprise standout of the Yules for me. Perhaps the surprise standout of the entire year actually! I'm not sure what drove me to get an imp of it-- probably the name :lol:

 

Breathless Horror is truly unlike any other BPAL I've smelled-- it's not often I can say that, because I tend to associate blends into "scent families" or "feeling families" etc and I've smelled a LOT of BPAL. I never would have thought I'd like something with camphor, that's for sure. Anyway.. wet this is a little obtrusive and sharp from the cold mint and camphor, with a weird note (that must be the carrot seed) that you'll really have to smell to understand, because it' s quite unusual-- it's organic, herbal but not in the tradtional way like a spice rack, more like something wild but clean. On my skin the musk blooms and the mental image I get when I smell this is of cool air blowing through an oak tree. I say oak because it does smell woody (tree woody, not table top woody) but not like pine obviously. It's cold and despairing, but the musk is warm so it's like having a scarf up around your neck while that wind blows.

 

It wound up being quite evocative to me, and like I said, very unusual so I didn't hesitate to order a bottle (in place of my Wiley Grasser in a recent order, boohoo). I may even get another bottle before the Yules go down. I have to say I'm a little surprised it's getting so little love!

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whoa, this is an interesting scent. it's a very earthy, herbal smell. kind of reminds me of the smell of a natural grocery store. i think i am mostly getting camphor and carrot seed?? this definitely smells like an herb i've smelled before, but i cannot place it. unless that's the niaouli talking...not sure what that smells like, besides a woody scent, after googling it. this scent is really interesting, but it's not really very me.

 

 

 

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Wet to dry, loud, aggressive, astringent and downright awful on me. This would probably smell like a herbalist shop with some disinfectant. Also, my mom grows herbs and makes tinctures, and this really smells quite similar to valerian. Very evocative, but definitely not me.

 

eta: This really reminds me of Lush's Icon after a couple of hours.

Edited by milo

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In bottle: Camphor is dominant and genuinely interesting with the mint, carrot and more delicate elements. It’s sweetly medicinal and certainly unusual. No skin test for mint.

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Herbal and musky. I get whiffs of camphor, carrot and it smells almost medicinal. Not bad, but it would be more apropos in my mind as a bath scent.

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In the bottle: A light musk with mint and camphor.

 

Wet: A sweet note, probably from the niaouli, is now present.

 

The dry-down: The sweetness is slowly fading away, and the white musk (more a skin musk) is left, along with the mint. The camphor has disappeared, mostly, and the frankincense is only lightly there. The icy scent turns towards the sunny feeling of the carrot seed.

 

The beginning stages of this remind me of Moon of Ice. But that scent stayed cool on my skin, whereas this softens and warms.

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Weird! In the vial, Breathless horror is all ice and bitter carrot seed. There is musk in there too but that bitterness is in control. Wet, it's the exact same. I don't know, this is nose-wrinkling to me. It's outdoorsy but in a weed-like way. Oddly I don't pick up any camphor, though. Pass and immediate trip to the sink.

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Breathless Horror smells like some sort of herbal, medicinal salve to me. The ice and mint give it a mentholic feel and the carrot and camphor have a bitter, herbal, slightly earthy quality. Not good on me.

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ITB: I was expecting lots of mint, but it's a warmer scent than I had anticipated. I think it might be due to the olibanum, niaouli (has a slightly sweet, fresh scent), and carrot seed.

 

Wet: It's a bit woody, slightly minty like natural toothpaste, and faintly resinous. Interesting.

 

Dry: Herbal , musky, and earthy. It's faint even after roughly an hour. I wanted to smell more omph!

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Breathless Horror is mostly camphor and frankincense (olibanum) on me for the longest time, with some white musk that emerges more with wear so that it ends up being a resinous white musk scent with just a hint of coolness by the end of the day, and what I think may be the carrot seed? It has that melancholic vibe that I feel like must be the carrot seed. I also get a citrus-like quality to this that isn't quite citrus -- perhaps that is the niaouli (although Google says that's more along the lines of eucalyptus?). The citrus-y note and white musk are giving me late drydown La Joconde vibes.

 

I like the end result of this more than the beginning, but I'm a little sad that the white mint never got a chance to shine, as I love that note! I think I'll hang onto the decant for now, although I'm not sure how often I'd reach for it (especially over Travel Buddies, which I enjoy more).

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