doot doot doot
Feb. 13th, 2010 03:53 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
inmyriadbitsWow, haven't done one of these posts in a while; looks like almost three years, in fact, yikes. Just some BPAL reviews that I'm clearing away so I can sell a bunch off.
Chaos Theory IV: Edge of Chaos [LE]: Each bottle of Chaos Theory is truly unique, a fragrant fractal, and exercise in the joy of chance and uncertainty! Each is a one-of-a-kind, utterly random combination of scents, the composition of which is based on whim, mood and gut instinct.
I have no idea what was in this, and never will; it turned into instant soap on my skin.
Baobhan Sith [Diabolus]: The ghostly White Women of the Scottish highlands. They seduce unwary travelers by night with their unearthly beauty and mesmerizing dancing. They engage their victims in a wild, hypnotic dance, and once they reach exhaustion, exsanguinate their partners with their vampiric kiss. Grapefruit, white tea, apple blossom and ginger.
This is somewhat elusive, especially at first when it's primarily apple blossom sweet floral and citrus. It really started inducing Compulsive Wrist-Sniffing Syndrome on dry-down; the grapefruit stopped being generic citrus and revealed its character, the tea brought a grounding dryness to the apple blossom, and the ginger adds welcome spicy dimension. A warm but crisp citrus-floral, with citrus and floral notes enough off the beaten path to keep it interesting, and delightful dry edge. Fascinating.
Belle Epoque [Bewitching Brews]: “The Pretty Era”, France’s Golden Time: an age of beauty, innovation and peace in France that lasted from the 19th Century through the first World War and gave birth to the cabaret, the cancan, and the cinema as well as the Impressionist and Art Nouveau movements. Sweet opium, Lily of the Valley, vanilla, mandarin and red sandalwood.
Curse you, opium! Why must you turn pretty perfumes into powdery-synthetic nastiness that smells like band-aids and latex gloves?
Depraved [Ars Amatoria]: A salacious, lecherous, leering scent - dirty and dark, slapped with a wet sweetness. Earthy black patchouli swelling with apricot.
I am very saddened by this drydown. It starts off exactly as delicious as promised -- dark and earthy apricot. Oh, but then. Then it fades down into just the patchouli note. In Anne Bonny, this is a robust cedar-like spiciness; in Depraved, it smells like...the cedar chips in the bottom of a hamster cage. *sobs*
Grand Guignol [Bewitching Brews]: In 1897, a new form of entertainment was presented to the people of Montmartre, Paris: the Théâtre du Grand Guignol. During the course of an evening at the theatre, one would watch several small plays, ranging from crime dramas to sexual farces, a violent, throat-ripping, eye-gouging, acid-tossing good time, which always included shock topics such as infanticide, necrophilia, insanity, murder, paranoia, vengeance and death by common household object. Our Grand Guignol perfume is a shot of sweet apricot brandy; just enough to settle your nerves after a ghoulish, gory brush with the macabre.
This must have the BPAL "spice" note in it somewhere, because it turns to potpourri. >:(
Lyonesse [Wanderlust: Phantom Islands]: Golden vanilla and gilded musk, stargazer lily, white sandalwood, grey amber, elemi, orris root, ambergris and sea moss.
The vanilla overwhelms in this scent, rendering it far too sweet even when the drier elements start making their presence known. It becomes both too sweet and too sharp at the same time, which is a unlikeable combination.
Hades [Excolo]: The gloomy Hades enriches himself with our sighs and our tears. The Unseen. Eldest brother of Zeus, Husband of Persephone, Lord of the Underworld and Commander of the Demons of the Underworld, God of Wealth, whose epithets are Clymenus [Notorious], Eubuleus [Wise in Counsel], and Polydegmon [He who receives many / The Hospitable]. Though he is a dark, morbid and morose deity, fierce and relentless, and is stern, pitiless, and sometimes cruel, he is by no means an evil God. His justice is true, even-handed and absolute, and he is possessed of unbreakable loyalty, single-minded devotion to duty, and immense courage. A dark, palpably sacred chthonic blend: black narcissus and cypress, stephanotis, opoponax, labdanum, onycha and ambergris.
Hades definitely reminds me of Wings Of Azrael -- the resinous/incense/floral combination is just as lovely here. Hades is less cool and mournful than Wings Of Azrael, though. There is a sort of salty, sea-like note that floats up on drydown (which I fancy is the onycha, which is apparently made from the closing flap of certain sea snails and was used for sacred oils back in the day) and makes it more skin-relevant, less detached than Wings Of Azrael. It's like the difference between the Greek and Judeo-Christian gods; the Greek had almost human personalities, albeit on cosmic scales. Lovely. I think I'll keep it around for sad and thoughtful days.
Mata Hari [Bewitching Brews]: A renowned exotic dancer and courtesan, possessed of aristocratic elegance, matchless charm, an iron will and a streak of fearlessness. The actual events of her life have met with much speculation, and to this day it is unclear whether or not she was truly a German spy. Despite shaky evidence of her guilt, she was tried for espionage by a closed court-martial and was executed by a French firing squad in 1917. Her scent is striking and bold with a delicate yet dark undertone: five roses with soft jasmine, warmed by vanilla, fig, tonka bean and mahogany, spiced with a drop of coffee bean.
Wow, the jasmine in this ruthlessly takes over the scent. I like to imagine it has all the other notes tied to chairs and gagged, while it prances about giving me a headache. That's the only way I can understand why the roses, vanilla, and tonka never even showed up at all. *sigh*
The Hesperides [Bewitching Brews]: The Hesperides are the Nymphs of the Evening who dwell in a verdant garden located in the Arcadian Mountains, guarded by the terrible three-headed dragon, Ladon. Within their garden lives the tree that bears Hera’s sacred Golden Apples. Their perfume is that of sturdy oak bark, dew-kissed leaves, twilight mist and crisp apple.
This goes on sickly-sweet candy apple. The sickly-sweet fades, but the synthetic apple does not change. I like fake-apple scent well enough on candles and such, but I do not like it on my skin.
Hmm. There were a high proportion of unfortunate my-skin-hates-these-notes scents in this batch. :(
Chaos Theory IV: Edge of Chaos [LE]: Each bottle of Chaos Theory is truly unique, a fragrant fractal, and exercise in the joy of chance and uncertainty! Each is a one-of-a-kind, utterly random combination of scents, the composition of which is based on whim, mood and gut instinct.
I have no idea what was in this, and never will; it turned into instant soap on my skin.
Baobhan Sith [Diabolus]: The ghostly White Women of the Scottish highlands. They seduce unwary travelers by night with their unearthly beauty and mesmerizing dancing. They engage their victims in a wild, hypnotic dance, and once they reach exhaustion, exsanguinate their partners with their vampiric kiss. Grapefruit, white tea, apple blossom and ginger.
This is somewhat elusive, especially at first when it's primarily apple blossom sweet floral and citrus. It really started inducing Compulsive Wrist-Sniffing Syndrome on dry-down; the grapefruit stopped being generic citrus and revealed its character, the tea brought a grounding dryness to the apple blossom, and the ginger adds welcome spicy dimension. A warm but crisp citrus-floral, with citrus and floral notes enough off the beaten path to keep it interesting, and delightful dry edge. Fascinating.
Belle Epoque [Bewitching Brews]: “The Pretty Era”, France’s Golden Time: an age of beauty, innovation and peace in France that lasted from the 19th Century through the first World War and gave birth to the cabaret, the cancan, and the cinema as well as the Impressionist and Art Nouveau movements. Sweet opium, Lily of the Valley, vanilla, mandarin and red sandalwood.
Curse you, opium! Why must you turn pretty perfumes into powdery-synthetic nastiness that smells like band-aids and latex gloves?
Depraved [Ars Amatoria]: A salacious, lecherous, leering scent - dirty and dark, slapped with a wet sweetness. Earthy black patchouli swelling with apricot.
I am very saddened by this drydown. It starts off exactly as delicious as promised -- dark and earthy apricot. Oh, but then. Then it fades down into just the patchouli note. In Anne Bonny, this is a robust cedar-like spiciness; in Depraved, it smells like...the cedar chips in the bottom of a hamster cage. *sobs*
Grand Guignol [Bewitching Brews]: In 1897, a new form of entertainment was presented to the people of Montmartre, Paris: the Théâtre du Grand Guignol. During the course of an evening at the theatre, one would watch several small plays, ranging from crime dramas to sexual farces, a violent, throat-ripping, eye-gouging, acid-tossing good time, which always included shock topics such as infanticide, necrophilia, insanity, murder, paranoia, vengeance and death by common household object. Our Grand Guignol perfume is a shot of sweet apricot brandy; just enough to settle your nerves after a ghoulish, gory brush with the macabre.
This must have the BPAL "spice" note in it somewhere, because it turns to potpourri. >:(
Lyonesse [Wanderlust: Phantom Islands]: Golden vanilla and gilded musk, stargazer lily, white sandalwood, grey amber, elemi, orris root, ambergris and sea moss.
The vanilla overwhelms in this scent, rendering it far too sweet even when the drier elements start making their presence known. It becomes both too sweet and too sharp at the same time, which is a unlikeable combination.
Hades [Excolo]: The gloomy Hades enriches himself with our sighs and our tears. The Unseen. Eldest brother of Zeus, Husband of Persephone, Lord of the Underworld and Commander of the Demons of the Underworld, God of Wealth, whose epithets are Clymenus [Notorious], Eubuleus [Wise in Counsel], and Polydegmon [He who receives many / The Hospitable]. Though he is a dark, morbid and morose deity, fierce and relentless, and is stern, pitiless, and sometimes cruel, he is by no means an evil God. His justice is true, even-handed and absolute, and he is possessed of unbreakable loyalty, single-minded devotion to duty, and immense courage. A dark, palpably sacred chthonic blend: black narcissus and cypress, stephanotis, opoponax, labdanum, onycha and ambergris.
Hades definitely reminds me of Wings Of Azrael -- the resinous/incense/floral combination is just as lovely here. Hades is less cool and mournful than Wings Of Azrael, though. There is a sort of salty, sea-like note that floats up on drydown (which I fancy is the onycha, which is apparently made from the closing flap of certain sea snails and was used for sacred oils back in the day) and makes it more skin-relevant, less detached than Wings Of Azrael. It's like the difference between the Greek and Judeo-Christian gods; the Greek had almost human personalities, albeit on cosmic scales. Lovely. I think I'll keep it around for sad and thoughtful days.
Mata Hari [Bewitching Brews]: A renowned exotic dancer and courtesan, possessed of aristocratic elegance, matchless charm, an iron will and a streak of fearlessness. The actual events of her life have met with much speculation, and to this day it is unclear whether or not she was truly a German spy. Despite shaky evidence of her guilt, she was tried for espionage by a closed court-martial and was executed by a French firing squad in 1917. Her scent is striking and bold with a delicate yet dark undertone: five roses with soft jasmine, warmed by vanilla, fig, tonka bean and mahogany, spiced with a drop of coffee bean.
Wow, the jasmine in this ruthlessly takes over the scent. I like to imagine it has all the other notes tied to chairs and gagged, while it prances about giving me a headache. That's the only way I can understand why the roses, vanilla, and tonka never even showed up at all. *sigh*
The Hesperides [Bewitching Brews]: The Hesperides are the Nymphs of the Evening who dwell in a verdant garden located in the Arcadian Mountains, guarded by the terrible three-headed dragon, Ladon. Within their garden lives the tree that bears Hera’s sacred Golden Apples. Their perfume is that of sturdy oak bark, dew-kissed leaves, twilight mist and crisp apple.
This goes on sickly-sweet candy apple. The sickly-sweet fades, but the synthetic apple does not change. I like fake-apple scent well enough on candles and such, but I do not like it on my skin.
Hmm. There were a high proportion of unfortunate my-skin-hates-these-notes scents in this batch. :(
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
(no subject)
Date: 2010-02-14 12:07 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2010-02-14 12:26 am (UTC)Well, which ones do you have? I've tried a bunch. And, well, there's a spreadsheet. :D?
(no subject)
Date: 2010-02-14 12:32 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2010-02-14 12:34 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2010-02-14 12:49 am (UTC)Imps:
O
Katharina
Snake Oil (aged 4 years)
Coyote
Hymn
Utrennaya
All Night Long
The Apothecary
Chimera
Dragon's Eye
Eclipse
Catherine
Yuletide 2005
Bottles:
F5
Hungry Ghost Moon
Lithia
I just remembered that I sold the Peony Moon 2006 that I had. :(
(no subject)
Date: 2010-02-14 01:20 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2010-02-14 02:56 am (UTC)