cfrancesca

I saw-with shut eyes, but acute mental vision-I saw the pale student of unhallowed arts kneeling beside the thing he had put together. I saw the hideous phantasm of a man stretched out, and then, on the working of some powerful engine, show signs of life and stir with an uneasy, half-vital motion. Frightful must it be, for supremely frightful would be the effect of any human endeavor to mock the stupendous mechanism of the Creator of the world. A pale student of unhallowed arts: fading Georgian cologne and split O3 molecules. This is really interesting scent! I was expecting something more familiar or a traditional type of cologne blend but I had a hard time trying to even figure out what I was getting, most of the notes are well-blended in here. On my skin I get a blend of some pine and perhaps a little juniper, woods, there's a slight fruitiness which could be from a citrus note, light resins (the kind that usually end up smelling like tea on my skin) with hints of incense, soft smokiness and perhaps also a light musk. I'm sure there's other notes in here because it smells very complex. It has this strong but hazy feel to it. After a little bit I start to get a sparkling and almost effervescent scent, which is how metals usually smell like on my skin, at this stage it almost feels like the scent is buzzing with electricity. After it settles I find the blend fresh and pleasant, not what I was expecting but a very special scent in my opinion.

COMFORTING PLUSH COMPANION Warm, snuggly honey musk with sweet vanilla and a hint of rose and sugar plums. What a snuggly pretty scent! I'm getting the honey, vanilla and a hint of sugared roses, I'm not really getting the sugar plums (which I prefer) . I also seem to be getting a foody cake note but it's not listed. A very comforting scent, a bit too light but I'll give it a couple weeks to retest when it isn't so fresh.

THE KING'S DAUGHTER There were a prince and a princess sitting by a stream in a wooded valley. Their seven servants had set up a scarlet canopy beneath a tree, and the royal young couple ate a box lunch to the accompaniment of lutes and theorbos. They hardly spoke a word to one another until they had finished the meal, and then the princess sighed and said, "Well, I suppose I'd best get the silly business over with." The prince began to read a magazine. "You might at least –" said the princess, but the prince kept on reading. The princess made a sign to two of the servants, who began to play an older music on their lutes. Then she took a few steps on the grass, held up a bridle bright as butter, and called, "Here, unicorn, here! Here, my pretty, here to me! Comecomecomecomecome!" The prince snickered. "It's not your chickens you're calling, you know," he remarked without looking up. "Why don't you sing something, instead of clucking like that?" "Well, I'm doing the best I can," the princess cried. "I've never called one of these things before." But after a little silence, she began to sing. I am a king's daughter, And if I cared to care, The moon that has no mistress Would flutter in my hair. No one dares to cherish What I choose to crave. Never have I hungered, That I did not have. I am a king's daughter, And I grow old within The prison of my person, The shackles of my skin. And I would run away And beg from door to door, Just to see your shadow Once, and never more. So she sang, and sang again, and then she called, "Nice unicorn, pretty, pretty, pretty," for a little longer, and then she said angrily, "Well, I've done as much as I'll do. I'm going home." The prince yawned and folded his magazine. "You satisfied custom well enough," he told her, "and no one expected more than that. It was just a formality. Now we can be married." "Yes," the princess said, "now we can be married." The servants began to pack everything away again, while the two with the lutes played joyous wedding music. The princess's voice was a little sad and defiant as she said, "If there really were such things as unicorns, one would have come to me. I called as sweetly as anyone could, and I had the golden bridle. And of course I am pure and untouched." "For all of me, you are," the prince answered indifferently. "As I say, you satisfy custom. You don't satisfy my father, but then neither do I. That would take a unicorn." He was tall, and his face was as soft and pleasant as a marshmallow. When they and their retinue were gone, the unicorn came out of the wood, followed by Molly and the magician, and took up her journey again. A long time later, wandering in another country where there were no streams and nothing green, Molly asked her why she had not gone to the princess's song. Schmendrick drew near to listen to the answer, though he stayed on his side of the unicorn. He never walked on Molly's side. The unicorn said, "That king's daughter would never have run away to see my shadow. If I had shown myself, and she had known me, she would have been more frightened than if she had seen a dragon, for no one makes promises to a dragon. I remember that once it never mattered to me whether or not princesses meant what they sang. I went to them all and laid my head in their laps, and a few of them rode on my back, though most were afraid. But I have no time for them now, princesses or kitchenmaids. I have no time." A matter of formality: lilac musk, sandalwood, sweet pea, watermelon accord, pale woods, elemi, and oakmoss. On my skin, this starts off as a cool, sweet, juicy (almost watery) pink watermelon musk with a bit of moss, sweet pea and lilac in the background, it's really pretty! As it dries, the other notes start to amp and I start getting more oakmoss, lilac, very soft hints of woods and a little bit of the elemi is coming through now. At this stage the blend it starting to become a little earthier, the notes blend and create a background of soft mossiness with the barest tinges of citrus and herbs, and soft pretty sweet florals backing up the stronger watermelon note. This finally settles into a less sweet watermelon musk with softly earthy oakmoss and soft florals in the background, similar to how it started but not quite the same scent. The King's Daughter took me on a beautiful ride. It started off sweet and youthful, struggled to gain ground in the middle and ended with a beautiful more mature, wiser scent still baring a resemblance of how it started but with a few changes and added elements it gathered in the journey along the way.

It's Friday the 13th in the Miskatonic Valley! A base of Mother Shub's dark chocolate fudge, raw vanilla, and sibilant black incense dusted by thirteen merrily malefic, ill-omened herbs, resins, and flowers: prune, musk seed, baneberry, myrrh, wild tobacco, hemp, datura, bluebell, cypress, hemlock, snakeweed, opoponax, and black hellebore. I LOVE this! When I first put it on I mostly get a musky, sweet fudge for a few seconds then as it begins to bloom on my skin I start getting it all- the sweet dark musk, vanilla, fudge, tobacco, incense and resins with a just a smidgen of herbs, but it's very well blended. As it starts to dry I'm starting to get the prunes, which are not my favorite..but it's kinda working. It finally dries to a fudgy, smokey prune with some musk. In conclusion, if it wasn't for the prunes I seem too be amping (which makes it a tad too sweet and tiny bit boozy) it would be amazing! But I still like it very, very much! I hope with some aging the fudge, resins and tobacco come out more. Edited to add: This is a big morpher! A couple hrs. later it's starting to remind me of Mme Moriarty without the red musk..it's tuned into a lovely sexy vanilla scent on my skin!

TIME DOES NOT BRING RELIEF Time does not bring relief; you all have lied Who told me time would ease me of my pain! I miss him in the weeping of the rain; I want him at the shrinking of the tide; The old snows melt from every mountain-side, And last year's leaves are smoke in every lane; But last year's bitter loving must remain Heaped on my heart, and my old thoughts abide. There are a hundred places where I fear To go - so with his memory they brim. And entering with relief some quiet place Where never fell his foot or shone his face I say, 'There is no memory of him here!' And so stand stricken, so remembering him. (Edna St Vincent Millay) Remembrance: Parma violet and leather accord with beeswax, Egyptian musk, orange blossom, white tea, lavender, myrrh, and copal. I find this one a very complex scent. It starts out as fresh white tea, Parma violets, lavender, orange blossom (which keeps threatening to amp but thankfully stays soft) with a backdrop of Egyptian Musk and beeswax. The other notes are also there, but remain well-blended and don't stick out on me but give it more complexity. I was hoping for more leather but I'm hardly getting any. Once dry, the Egyptian Musk starts amping, and the violets turn slightly powdery and vanillaic (similar to violet pastilles), the tea gets a little sharp (this usually happens with tea-blends on my skin),I get a bit more lavender and orange blossom and now I get hint of leather but it's still very soft.

THE TA-TABoiled leather, carnation blossom, coffee absolute, and tobacco. I love this picture so much. The Ta-Ta reminds me a lot of Arabian Dance but closer to the batch that had a little more coffee, I actually find them so much similar that I kept thinking I had the Arabian Dance on. They do share many of the same notes except for carnation here, but I find the scent a little similar to some of spice notes in Arabian Dance, and there's also no hazelnut here so this doesn't have much of that sweet nuttiness in the coffee. I was a curious (and I admit a wee bit worried) about the 'boiled leather' but it smells like a lovely soft leather. I'm getting a foody, dark roasted, sweet and smokey coffee with that soft, slightly sweet leather note I love (similar to the leather Le Pere Fouettard, CC Female, Liz etc) and hints of carnation. The tobacco, which I amp with time, adds a smokey, sexy aspect and the soft, sweet spiciness of the carnation also comes through a little bit more after a while. It's a really lovely blend, after a while the tobacco does get a little bit more stronger than I wish it would but I still like this very much. I just have to now re-evaluate my stash of the Arabian Dance, since I'm not sure I need to keep so many bottles of it.

OVERPROTECTIVE POSSESSED TALKING DOLL A sweet and disquieting mix of mimosa and strawberry. Ohhh.. I LOVE this strawberry and mimosa combo! It's very sweet and has a lot of throw on me. Very cute!

She lighted another match. Now there she was sitting under the most magnificent Christmas tree: it was still larger, and more decorated than the one which she had seen through the glass door in the rich merchant’s house. Spruce pine with hints of silver birch and warm, dark woods. I love pine scents (Black Forest is my favorite) and I'm always on the lookout for new ones to try and was very excited about this one. On me it smells like a very atmospheric and realistic pine tree and soft woods scent, like walking through a pine forest looking for a Christmas tree. When I smell it up close I get smokey woods (which I'm not loving too much), but from afar the wafts are all gorgeous pine tree, birch with some slightly smokey, earthy woods. I really like this and I love the throw it gives off, but I think I might prefer it as a room scent. This actually reminds me of a cleaner version of Phyllocrania Paradoxa v6.

To me this smells of scorched wood, dirt, vetiver, lime, I'm also getting some with some effervescence (maybe gin?), it reminds me a little of Nosferatu but with lime and gin. I'm also detecting some leather and musk in here too. After a few minutes, it's all going a bit powdery on me, and it's starting to smell a little like smoky bergamot.

Brown musk, leather accord, toasted sandalwood, clove, labdanum, and champaca. Lots of frankincense, toasted sandalwood (mmm...), oh no...here comes the champaca to ruin the party, my skin amps the champaca within seconds. After a few minutes, the brown musk peeks through but remains soft and warms up the blend, I start getting a bit of the labdanum too. I think the champaca is overpowering the leather and clove because I'm not getting much of either. The final dry-down is toasty sandalwood, frankincense and lots of champaca. I find the overall scent warm, woody and just slightly smokey. I really liked Dancing Koi (it actually reminds me a little of last year's Prosperity of a Country) but I was hoping for a lot less champaca, sadly my just skin amps it too much, it would have been a keeper for me if hadn't been so overpowering. ETA: After testing it a few days later, I decided it's a keeper. I love the warm, toasty, woody goodness that the frankincense, brown musk and toasted sandalwood create, so much so that I can tolerate the champaca (I think it has already mellowed out in just a few days) and actually like it in here.

WEREPUPPY My little girl has caught her fair share of sniffles and sneezes in the past sixteen months, and some time ago it was brought to my attention that these illnesses seem to, without fail, occur right around the full moon. Coincidence? A fuzzy brown honey-dusted musk covering freshly-washed baby skin and a howl of milk breath. In the background, there's the barest hint of upturned soil and dew-covered squished stems from a trampled flowerbed. In the bottle: creamy baby fur! Wet: a soft baby smell, like in Gladdener of Hearts, I'm also getting a little honey and that lovely "furry musk", no soil,(yay!) stems or flowers. It's like if Ivanushka and Stinky had a baby. On my skin: the fur dissapears , a little baby powder comes out and as it dries it reminds a LOT of Stinky, just creamier and softer. It's a keeper for me because I love baby smells and of course the label is too cute!

Sharp is the night, but stars with frost alive Leap off the rim of earth across the dome. It is a night to make the heavens our home More than the nest whereto apace we strive. Lengths down our road each fir-tree seems a hive, In swarms outrushing from the golden comb. They waken waves of thoughts that burst to foam: The living throb in me, the dead revive. Yon mantle clothes us: there, past mortal breath, Life glistens on the river of the death. It folds us, flesh and dust; and have we knelt, Or never knelt, or eyed as kine the springs Of radiance, the radiance enrings: And this is the soul’s haven to have felt. - George Meredith Black midnight winter skies glittering with points of light: chill air, champaca flower, white musk, fir needle, papyrus reeds, and grey amber. I find Winter Heavens really evocative and atmospheric, I was surprised at how it really captures the winter night. Most of the notes are well-blended and they create this dark fruity scent with soft sparkly musk and hints of chilly air and pine trees. After a while the champaca and chilly air peeks a little more. The entire scent is softer and fruitier than I was expecting and it falls a little flat on my skin but I could see this working well on someone with the right skin chemistry.

Wild plum, lemongrass, frankincense, honeysuckle, and teak. I find this one a resiny, mildly fruity, tart, floral blend. I get soft, but very present, frankincense, lemongrass (I don't find it quite as sharp as it usually is), plum, and soft honeysuckle. ETA: After a short while the plum really amps up and it started to remind me of Dionysia.

On me, this smells like a blend of sweet crisp apple, citron musk, light lavender and maybe a hint of vanilla-tonka, I find it unisex and very fresh and sweet smelling. It dries to a fresh, sweet citron-lavender and apple musk with hints of cologne. I love it, but sadly citron usually goes soapy on me and this is no exception.

BETTE NOIR The Paradigm's martial artist and weapons master, Bette carries a grim secret--that she alone knows Plutonian's one true vulnerability. Benzoin, wild plum, smoky amber, bergamot, orange blossom, myrrh, and dark berries. I was generously given a tester of this proto to try. I get sweet, fruity plum and lots of orange blossom (the sweetness may also be coming from the orange blossom), as it dries I'm getting some smoky amber. I think I was expecting this to smell a bit darker, I'm surprised it's such a young, bright, fruity, and sunny scent but with the subtle smokiness (I'm getting a little myrrh) in the background. Orange blossom is one of my favorite notes, but I've noticed when it's blended with fruits or florals they don't really work on my skin, and have a tendency to remind me of "fruity hairspray" (I had the same reaction with Zarita, The Doll Girl), but it's just a personal association I have! I predict this will be popular especially for the summer months. It has great throw too!

GHOUL-HAUNTED WOODLAND OF WEIR ATMOSPHERE SPRAY Misty darkness and soul-chilling dread: Terebinth pine, black spruce, and black oak surrounded by creeping mosses, drooping vines, and wilting blossoms. This is very evocative, I find myself transported to a dark, misty forest. I'm getting the scent of dark green plants, leaves, smoke, woods, and damp pine and spruce trees.

In 2005, I was messing around with some of our rarer oils while creating a blend for personal use. It contained a small bit of wardh taifi, some 22-year old oudh, golden champaca CO2, and narcissus absolute. It was a strange and lovely creation, and jokingly, I called it Leather Phoenix. “Ha ha! Leather Phoenix. BDSM Phoenix. Wouldn’t it be awesome if we actually saw our leather anniversary?” Lord, it seemed so far away. Holy shit, here we are. (ZOMGWTF?!) And here’s Leather Phoenix: matcha tea, wild frankincense, champaca, petitgrain, star anise, aged oudh, rose taifi, narcissus, Himalayan cedar, 11-year aged patchouli, and black leather accord. On me this starts out as a complex and smokey matcha/green tea scent, like a dirty green tea! In the background I get this wonderful blend of soft black leather, smokiness, soft patchouli, woods and anise, I find all these notes are well-blended but I can still kind of pick them out individually as well. As it settles I start getting a little more patchouli, soft smokey leather, woods and anise. I was initially worried about the rose and narcissus but I'm not getting any rose on my skin and only occasional hints of narcissus but I find the florals are very well-blended and they don't stand out at all, at least on me. My skin usually amps anything smokey so after about 15min. this is smokey leather, woods and leather and patchouli and I'm getting a lot less of that citrusy, fresh tart matcha tea scent. In conclusion this was a morpher on my skin, it starts out as mostly green tea with the smokey leather, woods patchouli and soft anise in the background, these notes slowly start to amp and it finally dries to this unique, very complex and sexy, smokey tea with hints of anise, soft leather, woods and patchouli scent on me.

Dragon's Musk (especially very aged) is the most carnal, sexiest BPAL I've tried, I think it's the deep very sexy musk and incense that makes it divine. But I find even most days it can be too much for me so I use it only occasionally. A close second is Lucy, Kissed, I thought this one had an almost pulsating, throbbing intensity to it that I've never found a in perfume before, it was like it was alive. I didn't like the scent so much for me personally but I think it's a very beautiful and special oil.

ANNE BEANY This year, Lilith, our little Beans, is having a pirate-themed party, and the perfume created to commemorate her second birthday possesses a silly, playful scent - a toddler's nod to cartoon pirates. Rum cheesecake with a hardtack crust, topped with rum ice cream and a drizzle of butterscotch topping. Happy birthday, my angel! I cannot believe you're already two! This is pretty amazing! In the bottle and for the first few minutes I mostly get butterscotch and rum, but, little by little, the cheesecake starts amping like crazy on my skin and becomes a sinfully rich rum and butterscotch cheesecake. It's like a mix of Creepy (without the apple), Beaver Moon 05, and lots of extra buttery, slightly salty butterscotch on top, I don't get too much ice cream but there is a creaminess throughout. This one is super foody and strong. ETA: A few hrs. later it's still going strong but most of the cheesecake has faded, it's now mostly butterscotch and rum ice cream. It's interesting how this scent changes!

Unreleased prototype, no notes or description given. This is pretty! I found it little difficult to try to pin down, but on me it smells like sugary, fuzzy, soft vanilla-tonka musk, a light, fresh, tart citrusy bergamot (there might be another citrus in there as well) and some pretty florals. As it dries, I also gets a bit of soft, smokey frankincense coming through, maybe a hint of sandalwood as well.

Soft, smokey leather, resins, incense, dusty sandalwood, soft musk, and a hint of champaca maybe? This smells like Dancing Koi! I would definitely purchase a full bottle of this, but I would love it if it were just a little bit stronger scented (it takes quite a few sprays for me to smell it).

Luminous, otherworldly wet and piquant odors mingling with black incense, the pitch-stench of Yuggoth, and fungal lichens. I knew this one would be interesting. My nose is not very sophisticated but here goes my attempt at my first review.. In the bottle: Fruity lime/citrus (almost like a lime fruit punch), creamy and slightly aquatic. I also detect a linen note, almost similar to Antique Lace. On my skin: as it dries I'm still getting lime, sugar and cream with a perfumey (aquatics tend to go perfumey on me) note. After 30min. I'm still getting a Antique Lace lime and cream scent. I asked my brother and he said it was all bubble gum to him. Go figure! It's a really lovely scent, but I don't like citrus scents so I don't think I will keep my bottle.

Most terribly cold it was; it snowed, and was nearly quite dark, and evening– the last evening of the year. In this cold and darkness there went along the street a poor little girl, bareheaded, and with naked feet. When she left home she had slippers on, it is true; but what was the good of that? They were very large slippers, which her mother had hitherto worn; so large were they; and the poor little thing lost them as she scuffled away across the street, because of two carriages that rolled by dreadfully fast. Snow settling on cold skin, tea rose petals, and dusty, threadbare linen. I mostly get a clean fresh-linen scent from this one, very much like clothes just washed with a soft floral fabric softener, as it dries I start to get a little bit of pine-tinged snow. It settles into just-washed linen scent with hints of snow and pine and surprisingly I'm not getting rose on my skin but it's maybe blended into the linen scent and that's what is making it smell like a soft floral fabric softener to my nose. I like fresh clean laundry type scents so I find this pretty and actually my favorite from the batch I purchased, but I was hoping it would smell like a Pink Snowballs with soft linen but the fresh laundry scent overpowers everything else.

This smells like a summer cocktail. I get sugary lime/lemon verbena and creamy coconut with soft pretty tropical flowers in the back, perhaps tiare. It's a very 'breezy' scent to me if that makes any sense. It has some strong throw too. I think this would make a great beach or summer day scent.

Prototype, unreleased, no scent description. I mostly get resins, patchouli and light herbs from this one. I find the notes to be smooth and well-blended, nothing sharp or harsh. Once dry, it kind of reminds me of heavily steeped black-tea, I wonder if there's actual black tea in here or it's coming from the resins, at times it also smells cola-like. There could be a just a bit of musk in here as well. It's an interesting scent, that's for sure! ETA: As I gave this a final farewell sniff, I also detected a hint of smokiness which I didn't get before.