Some perfume reviews
Apr. 19th, 2006 01:38 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
rushthatspeaksI recently got a large packet of things from the Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab Maelstrom decant circle I wound up in (the whole Maelstrom collection plus a nice range of freebies), so I've been trying a lot of perfume lately.
Montresor (Maelstrom Collection)
Lab Description: "Drink," I said, presenting him the wine.
He raised it to his lips with a leer. He paused and nodded to me familiarly, while his bells jingled.
"I drink," he said, "to the buried that repose around us."
"And I to your long life."
The black fruit and vanilla oaken notes of fine Medoc and De Grâve, but not a hint of the elusive Amontillado.
Vial: ALCOHOL. REALLY REALLY ALCOHOL. This is my first-ever liquor-based scent, and whoa boy is it liquor. This is exactly like sticking my nose in a glass of sherry, but I'm not entirely convinced that's something I care to smell like.
Wet: Sherry with something very strong and nasty in the undertone. Maybe I should have paid more attention to the mention of black fruits and wood-- this isn't doing the horrible ashy cough syrup death of The Red Queen, but it's chokingly thick and decidedly unpleasant. Alcohol kick is fading, thank gods.
Drydown: Here comes the vanilla. I'd feel better if I actually liked the smell of vanilla. Oh, and the wood has now become definite, a strong oaken warmth which I'd quite appreciate if only there weren't all this vanilla and whatever those fruits are.
Later: I think this did exactly what it was supposed to on me-- an impressive, heady interplay of oak, vanilla and cherry/currant which gives the impression of sherry without the sharpness-- but I just simply don't like two out of three notes, and so this is pretty darned awful. This is the first perfume I've tried in which I attribute my dislike to actually not liking the way it smells, as opposed to 'x note does not play well with my skin chemistry or some other note and is therefore not itself today'. My skin chemistry likes this fine. It's just not mutual.
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yhlee, do you want this? It reminds me a lot of The Red Queen, and I know you liked that one. (weirdquark, this was on your no list, right? Kick me if I'm wrong.)
Parlement of Foules (Limited Edition, Lupercalia Collection)
Lab Description: For the Valentine’s Day purists.
For this was on seynt Volantynys day
Whan euery bryd comyth there to chese his mate.
Medieval romance and courtly love. White rose and soft resins.
Vial: The most delicate, pure, ethereally lovely white rose ever, with something soft and sweet and spicy dancing underneath it. I will love this and hug this and call it George, and if it turns out anything like this on my skin I will need a big bottle. BPAL does such great rose scents, and they're all so *different*-- Rose Red for 'I'm feeling quietly joyous', Peacock Queen for 'kneel to me, peon', Love In The Asylum for 'I am scary crazy but you love me and Two, Five and Seven for 'I want to go take a nice walk in the rose garden'. (AGH WHY AM I ADDICTED TO LIMITED EDITION ROSE SCENTS.) This is in fact the rose of courtly love, high bright pomp, clear air and banners, sunlight on warm stone: this is the rose I'd most like to wear every damn day. (So of course it is also a limited edition and I'll need to haunt eBay for that bottle. Meh.) If I could be sure of getting more of it, I'd start using the vial as a room scent.
Wet: Goes a little sharp for just a second there, and then calms down into exactly like the vial but more present and there and vital. Nice throw on this one.
Dry: Doesn't change a bit. Oh gods eBay here I come. This is right up there on my joy list with White Rabbit, New Orleans and Hanging Gardens.
Thalia (The Gratiae)
Lab Description: Good Cheer.
Plumeria, pear and white champagne.
Vial: Yeah, here there be pears. And definitely some alcohol, and it does smell white, somehow. I'm not getting plumeria, which makes me sad, because I love plumeria.
Wet: Okay, this is confusing. How is it that the combination of what is obviously a nice firm sweet white pear and a very good sparkling sweetish champagne makes a smell as of *three-day old fake crab salad with Miracle Whip*? How? And where, oh where is my plumeria? I smell like a fish market.
Dry: When I sniff hard, I can tell that this is pear, and smell it by itself, and I can tell that this is champagne, and smell it by itself, and the combination is an upscale fish market and it's starting to make me genuinely nauseated because it keeps getting stronger. I can't cope.
Later: I had to go home from the errand I was running, scrub this off my wrist, and take a shower before I became so overwhelmed that I'd throw up. It was a close thing. Damn shame. I really wanted to like this one, but I am never going near this substance again. Note to self: FRUIT DOES NOT LIKE YOU. LEARN TO DEAL.
Twilight (Funereal Oils)
Lab Description: An enigmatic, otherworldly scent, brimming with power and mystery. Lavender and jasmine, with a touch of glowing honeysuckle.
Vial: Not really giving me any presence. I get a vague hint of lavender-musty, but mostly just an idea of old potpourri. Not promising.
Wet: What a difference one's skin makes. I can pick out all three notes here, and am interested to note that it is definitely jasmine that gives me the cold sweet iced-tea feeling I love so much in New Orleans. There it's spiced up; here it's honeyed. The jasmine and honeysuckle are a potent jab of cold fresh air, but the lavender is still, well, old potpourri.
Dry: Lavender starting to Play Well With Others, and grounding the otherwise possibly over-sweetness of the honeysuckle. I'm really enjoying the intertwining of notes here.
Later: This is not quite as perfect as New Orleans, because the jasmine is a little too sharp and the lavender a little too dusty, but 'not quite as perfect as New Orleans' is saying a good deal. Note to self: Honeysuckle good. Jasmine very good.
I don't know how often I'll wear this, but I'd like to keep it around, since it's a good entry in my continuous efforts to find an enjoyable floral that is not incredibly sweet. I've got a lot of good sweet scents, but the spicy/musky ones tend to go to generic incense on me, and every little bit helps.
Tried after Twilight, as seemed proper.
Midnight (Funereal Oils)
Lab Description: 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.
... somebody double the salary of their copywriter. (Okay, I know one says this every twenty minutes with BPAL, but this one makes me laugh every single time.)
Vial: I have never smelled anything remotely resembling this in any way ever. Except maybe, *maybe* organic dried tobacco of the sort the Anishinabe folks I used to know at camp used in ritual things. (rechecks notes) Cool, I can pick out nicotiana. Everything else, though? Floral. Complex. Outside my experience.
Wet: Spicy very green sort of floral, with a dash of tobacco, something a little sweet, something a little prickly... and, not to put too fine a point on it, pussy. This smells like fresh sex. Not in an I-want-to-have-any sort of way, but in a somebody-has-been-having-some-very-close-by sort of way. Huh?
Dry: The prickly has turned a little bitter, the tobacco has mellowed, and the pussy is pussy. I have no idea what to think of this scent. It's certainly different, I'll say that. I need to try this a few more times to sort out the WTF reaction and find out whether I actually like this.
The Masque (Maelstrom Collection)
Lab Description: [extremely long quote from Poe's 'The Masque of the Red Death' snipped] Bold and fiery, glowing with barbaric luster: this is the scent of the House of Prospero, the scent of hubris, mad revelry, folly and indifferent decadence, a measured passage through its lurid corridors and seven grotesque apartments. Honey and carnation, rich incense and rose accord, myrtle, red sandalwood, amber, jonquil and clove propel you through the revel, finally seating itself in the final, patchouli, tobacco and labdanum drenched darkness of the blood-tinged western chamber.
Vial: Generic incense. The oil is dark red. I wore this to a birthday party at a Gothy sort of club, and hoped the smell would be as appropriate as the name and the look.
Wet: Ooh shiny. Finally, a spicy scent that doesn't go to generic head shop on me, doesn't assault me with prickly, isn't over-sweet, and is just a complex melange of interesting things to sniff. I haven't got a clue what the notes are, except that I know all things rose, amber, and honey work on me which is probably helping. There is patchouli and it's not taking over, which is nifty but confusing. The tobacco is sharper and less green-smelling than the nicotiana in Midnight, and a little musty but not in a bad way.
Dry: This scent reminds me of red velvet, opulent, rich, lustrous red velvet which has been laid out over cushions and strewn with flower petals so that you can roll on it. Plush, soft, luscious, crackling with fire. So keeping. I may need a bottle; we'll see. I don't know how often I'll be in the mood for this, but it's a very good mood.
Whoof. I had almost despaired of catching up with those. In conclusion, thank youtelophase for your decant-circle-organization fu!
Montresor (Maelstrom Collection)
Lab Description: "Drink," I said, presenting him the wine.
He raised it to his lips with a leer. He paused and nodded to me familiarly, while his bells jingled.
"I drink," he said, "to the buried that repose around us."
"And I to your long life."
The black fruit and vanilla oaken notes of fine Medoc and De Grâve, but not a hint of the elusive Amontillado.
Vial: ALCOHOL. REALLY REALLY ALCOHOL. This is my first-ever liquor-based scent, and whoa boy is it liquor. This is exactly like sticking my nose in a glass of sherry, but I'm not entirely convinced that's something I care to smell like.
Wet: Sherry with something very strong and nasty in the undertone. Maybe I should have paid more attention to the mention of black fruits and wood-- this isn't doing the horrible ashy cough syrup death of The Red Queen, but it's chokingly thick and decidedly unpleasant. Alcohol kick is fading, thank gods.
Drydown: Here comes the vanilla. I'd feel better if I actually liked the smell of vanilla. Oh, and the wood has now become definite, a strong oaken warmth which I'd quite appreciate if only there weren't all this vanilla and whatever those fruits are.
Later: I think this did exactly what it was supposed to on me-- an impressive, heady interplay of oak, vanilla and cherry/currant which gives the impression of sherry without the sharpness-- but I just simply don't like two out of three notes, and so this is pretty darned awful. This is the first perfume I've tried in which I attribute my dislike to actually not liking the way it smells, as opposed to 'x note does not play well with my skin chemistry or some other note and is therefore not itself today'. My skin chemistry likes this fine. It's just not mutual.
yhlee, do you want this? It reminds me a lot of The Red Queen, and I know you liked that one. (weirdquark, this was on your no list, right? Kick me if I'm wrong.)Parlement of Foules (Limited Edition, Lupercalia Collection)
Lab Description: For the Valentine’s Day purists.
For this was on seynt Volantynys day
Whan euery bryd comyth there to chese his mate.
Medieval romance and courtly love. White rose and soft resins.
Vial: The most delicate, pure, ethereally lovely white rose ever, with something soft and sweet and spicy dancing underneath it. I will love this and hug this and call it George, and if it turns out anything like this on my skin I will need a big bottle. BPAL does such great rose scents, and they're all so *different*-- Rose Red for 'I'm feeling quietly joyous', Peacock Queen for 'kneel to me, peon', Love In The Asylum for 'I am scary crazy but you love me and Two, Five and Seven for 'I want to go take a nice walk in the rose garden'. (AGH WHY AM I ADDICTED TO LIMITED EDITION ROSE SCENTS.) This is in fact the rose of courtly love, high bright pomp, clear air and banners, sunlight on warm stone: this is the rose I'd most like to wear every damn day. (So of course it is also a limited edition and I'll need to haunt eBay for that bottle. Meh.) If I could be sure of getting more of it, I'd start using the vial as a room scent.
Wet: Goes a little sharp for just a second there, and then calms down into exactly like the vial but more present and there and vital. Nice throw on this one.
Dry: Doesn't change a bit. Oh gods eBay here I come. This is right up there on my joy list with White Rabbit, New Orleans and Hanging Gardens.
Thalia (The Gratiae)
Lab Description: Good Cheer.
Plumeria, pear and white champagne.
Vial: Yeah, here there be pears. And definitely some alcohol, and it does smell white, somehow. I'm not getting plumeria, which makes me sad, because I love plumeria.
Wet: Okay, this is confusing. How is it that the combination of what is obviously a nice firm sweet white pear and a very good sparkling sweetish champagne makes a smell as of *three-day old fake crab salad with Miracle Whip*? How? And where, oh where is my plumeria? I smell like a fish market.
Dry: When I sniff hard, I can tell that this is pear, and smell it by itself, and I can tell that this is champagne, and smell it by itself, and the combination is an upscale fish market and it's starting to make me genuinely nauseated because it keeps getting stronger. I can't cope.
Later: I had to go home from the errand I was running, scrub this off my wrist, and take a shower before I became so overwhelmed that I'd throw up. It was a close thing. Damn shame. I really wanted to like this one, but I am never going near this substance again. Note to self: FRUIT DOES NOT LIKE YOU. LEARN TO DEAL.
Twilight (Funereal Oils)
Lab Description: An enigmatic, otherworldly scent, brimming with power and mystery. Lavender and jasmine, with a touch of glowing honeysuckle.
Vial: Not really giving me any presence. I get a vague hint of lavender-musty, but mostly just an idea of old potpourri. Not promising.
Wet: What a difference one's skin makes. I can pick out all three notes here, and am interested to note that it is definitely jasmine that gives me the cold sweet iced-tea feeling I love so much in New Orleans. There it's spiced up; here it's honeyed. The jasmine and honeysuckle are a potent jab of cold fresh air, but the lavender is still, well, old potpourri.
Dry: Lavender starting to Play Well With Others, and grounding the otherwise possibly over-sweetness of the honeysuckle. I'm really enjoying the intertwining of notes here.
Later: This is not quite as perfect as New Orleans, because the jasmine is a little too sharp and the lavender a little too dusty, but 'not quite as perfect as New Orleans' is saying a good deal. Note to self: Honeysuckle good. Jasmine very good.
I don't know how often I'll wear this, but I'd like to keep it around, since it's a good entry in my continuous efforts to find an enjoyable floral that is not incredibly sweet. I've got a lot of good sweet scents, but the spicy/musky ones tend to go to generic incense on me, and every little bit helps.
Tried after Twilight, as seemed proper.
Midnight (Funereal Oils)
Lab Description: 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.
... somebody double the salary of their copywriter. (Okay, I know one says this every twenty minutes with BPAL, but this one makes me laugh every single time.)
Vial: I have never smelled anything remotely resembling this in any way ever. Except maybe, *maybe* organic dried tobacco of the sort the Anishinabe folks I used to know at camp used in ritual things. (rechecks notes) Cool, I can pick out nicotiana. Everything else, though? Floral. Complex. Outside my experience.
Wet: Spicy very green sort of floral, with a dash of tobacco, something a little sweet, something a little prickly... and, not to put too fine a point on it, pussy. This smells like fresh sex. Not in an I-want-to-have-any sort of way, but in a somebody-has-been-having-some-very-close-by sort of way. Huh?
Dry: The prickly has turned a little bitter, the tobacco has mellowed, and the pussy is pussy. I have no idea what to think of this scent. It's certainly different, I'll say that. I need to try this a few more times to sort out the WTF reaction and find out whether I actually like this.
The Masque (Maelstrom Collection)
Lab Description: [extremely long quote from Poe's 'The Masque of the Red Death' snipped] Bold and fiery, glowing with barbaric luster: this is the scent of the House of Prospero, the scent of hubris, mad revelry, folly and indifferent decadence, a measured passage through its lurid corridors and seven grotesque apartments. Honey and carnation, rich incense and rose accord, myrtle, red sandalwood, amber, jonquil and clove propel you through the revel, finally seating itself in the final, patchouli, tobacco and labdanum drenched darkness of the blood-tinged western chamber.
Vial: Generic incense. The oil is dark red. I wore this to a birthday party at a Gothy sort of club, and hoped the smell would be as appropriate as the name and the look.
Wet: Ooh shiny. Finally, a spicy scent that doesn't go to generic head shop on me, doesn't assault me with prickly, isn't over-sweet, and is just a complex melange of interesting things to sniff. I haven't got a clue what the notes are, except that I know all things rose, amber, and honey work on me which is probably helping. There is patchouli and it's not taking over, which is nifty but confusing. The tobacco is sharper and less green-smelling than the nicotiana in Midnight, and a little musty but not in a bad way.
Dry: This scent reminds me of red velvet, opulent, rich, lustrous red velvet which has been laid out over cushions and strewn with flower petals so that you can roll on it. Plush, soft, luscious, crackling with fire. So keeping. I may need a bottle; we'll see. I don't know how often I'll be in the mood for this, but it's a very good mood.
Whoof. I had almost despaired of catching up with those. In conclusion, thank you
telophase for your decant-circle-organization fu!
