GypsyRoseRed

Your attention is diverted from the pleasures of the Midway and the curiosities within the colossal 13-in-1 by the pressure of a long fingered and lily-white hand on your elbow. You turn and see a woman staring at you. Her hair is raven black, and she possesses all the fragile beauty of a fine porcelain doll. Lazily, she hands you a gold-dusted, sun-yellow chrysanthemum. She tosses her head towards a small indigo and crimson striped tent that stands just off of the Midway and gestures for you to come closer. Her scent is bewitching, almost intoxicating: a sensual incense of crushed mums, red ginger, and pulsing musk. You are overcome with a surge of desire, and like a silent siren, she compels you to follow. As you approach the tent, you see that softly glowing lanterns illuminate a gilded wooden sign that reads, “Chrysanthemum Moon”. The tent is unlike any other that you have seen in the Carnaval: it is tiny, small enough to hold one or two bodies in comfort, and as you pass through the entryway, you see nothing at all within the space save for a framed piece of ragged parchment that reads, “Then Helen, daughter of Zeus, turned to new thoughts. Presently she cast a drug into the wine whereof they drank, a drug to lull all pain and anger, and bring forgetfulness of every sorrow. Whoso should drink a draught thereof, when it is mingled in the bowl, on that day he would let no tear fall down his cheeks, not though his mother and his father died, not though men slew his brother or dear son with the sword before his face, and his own eyes beheld it.” As your eyes pass over the black ink, the ground before you abruptly opens like a hideous yawning mouth, revealing a pitch black stairwell that leads directly underground. Turning back to find your guide, you realize that she has vanished. Still clutching the golden chrysanthemum, you descend into the earth on well-worn steps of grey clay. The only light comes from the bottom of the stairs: a guttering oil lamp that stands as a sentinel before a heavy wooden door. You push it open, and move into a vast, dimly lit room. The ceiling is low and intimate, the walls are terraced with wooden berths and riddled with shadowy alcoves, and the air is thick with leaden brown opium smoke that hangs thickly over a seductive mixture of red musk, body-warmed perfume, and hypnotic Eastern flowers. Ornate braziers of burning charcoal are filled with smoldering poppy tar that punctuates the gloom with bursts of strange, surreal flames. As your eyes adjust, you see that among the thick, plush cushions and elaborate brocade blankets strewn across the floor, bodies writhe. Some lie in hebetudinous repose, heads thrown back in quiet delirium, others sit transfixed like crouching beasts. Flashes of fire burst in tiny circles of bloody light as metal pipes are lit. Sluggish, slurring voices coalesce into a hypnotic susurration. Your mind becomes unfocused, your thoughts abstracted. The scents, the sounds, and the darkness envelop you, and you find yourself falling - falling endlessly into a dream within a thousand dreams. This is the first of the Asian-themed moons that I've absolutely fallen in love with. Some of the others were pretty and wearable, but nothing that needed to be hoarded. This is different. Oh, yes. It's gorgeous. I'll preface this by saying I loved Snake Charmer, Shub-Niggurath, Snake Oil, Mouse's Long & Sad Tale, Antique Lace, etc, so you get some idea of my preferences. This is just as beautiful as these, in it's own way. Similar 'family' of scent, I think. It's a creamy, lightly spicy, warm perfume with one of my absolute favorite notes - *GINGER* - layered over something else that grounds it. It's not neccessarily foody.. *sniff*.. I know this review makes little sense, but this is grown up, very wearable, rounded, smooth and sexy without being too 'dark'. I can't stop sniffing my wrist, and you can bet your ass I'm going to make sure I order multiples of this before it goes away. Mmmm.. Lovely.

Hopefully you're luckier than me. My beloved Snake Charmer smelled lovely on me up until the birth of my second child. Now it's just not the same, almost 3 years later.

I can't wear 'tree' scents - pine usually smells like BO on me. Yes, really. I wish I was exaggerating. In any case, The Most Magnificent Christmas Tree magically manages to dodge this bullet, and while it smells like a freshly cut tree and pine needles, there's also some definite warmth and sweetness in there that balance this out and prevent the dreaded sour note. If you like woodsy scents or pine notes, this is a scent you NEED, even if you have dozens of others. The only downside for me is that I never get to wear pine scents, so to wear one that smells lovely is a distinctly odd experience.

Rory - are they 5ml bottles? Or small vials? If it's a bottle, then wickedgoddess is correct - those sound like testers that are set out for sniffing at will call Lunacy events.

I have to agree with Incendiare - SSS is *gorgeous* in the bottle, but I took a bath in it last night and was surprised by how much lemon I got from it. I wish I got boozy cotton candy!

For rag doll, bellydance Sally I'd recommend Seance or Delirium. For the 1950's housewife/angel I'd say try Grandmother of Ghosts or Lilium Inter Spinas.

It's been that way for a long time because it was just too complicated and extended the turnaround time. In order to make things run smoothly, the different arms of the business have to be paid separately and shipped separately.

I already know the answer to this - no. Etsy and regular stock are handled completely separately. If the GC bottle you want isn't on Etsy, then you have to order them individually and have them shipped individually.

Floria - Love your choices! Personally, I always felt like adult Mystique would be a darker version of Mama-Ji, with a light touch of leather.

Er.. we do frequent drive-bys. I end up having to go to my local trade supply store for one of my jobs that is 5 minutes away from there, so I inevitably drop in and end up buying a room spray or bath oil. We're SO spoiled having a retail outlet throughout the month these days.

As far as I know, there's no Trading Post stock at Le Pink, but Dark Delicacies carries claw polish (limited colors), atmosphere sprays, bath and massage oils, and t-shirts.

I'll start off this review by saying that I *really* didn't like the original version of Black Moon and automatically assumed that this rerelease would be exactly the same - aquatic and 'fresh' smelling. I'm so glad I was wrong! What I get out of Black Moon is dark, spicy pear candy with a kick of sweetness. Surprisingly awesome.

I guess the lesson here is that Evil smells GOOD! This somehow manages to be a scent that evokes the concept that it's supposed to, without crossing into territory that would make it unusable for everyday and I really appreciate that. While this isn't my favorite of the currently released atmosphere sprays, I have to judge it on it's own merits, and although I wouldn't have guessed that I'd be the kind of girl who'd spray my bed in Unspeakably Evil Temple, I guess I am! The roots, mosses and wormwood accord give this a subtle living, overgrown plant feel that could easily be taken for wet stone or 'dankness'. What really makes this so beautiful is the smooth blend of lovely dark resins in it, because they give the scent it's ritualistic, slightly sinister feel. ETA: I could still smell this on my office chair the day after I sprayed it, and it had blossomed into gorgeous, rich resins. Awesome!

I think that's definitely one of those things that varies, but the seller definitely ought to post a picture or accurately specify where the oil level is.

I was so excited about getting to try this that I *had* to post a review. In the bottle, this smells very unusual. I get a touch of something fruity (I keep wondering whether it's peach or melon) and a sugary note. It's almost like candied fruit slices, but I can't explain it any better than that. I tried a dab on my wrist, and over the last 20 minute it's become generally warm, fruity and slightly sweet with very light throw. I wish I knew what was in this, because I don't think I've ever smelled anything similar to it in the BPAL catalog.. Overall, a very light and pleasant blend although definitely not 'me'. Still, I'm really grateful to the Lab for it!

Immediately applied to my skin, I get something that smells like grain, chocolate and spice with a tang of lemon. For the first hour, that lemony note combines with honey to create a horrid smell that's reminiscent of pee, that somehow floats above the main body of the scent which is beautiful spices, light patchouli and cocoa. I had a friend test a dab of this on her wrist, and she didn't get the pee note, so maybe that was just an unlucky twist of my currently odd chemistry. After that first hour passes, that yucky layer is gone, leaving the rest of the fragrance behind and it's lovely. The question is, can I handle smelling weird for the first hour? I don't know.

In terms of scent, I think I get mostly herbs with a background floral note that might be magnolia. It certainly has that slightly creamy quality which is barely detectable under the herbs. I haven't used this for anything yet, but I can already tell that this is going to be good. First off, I'm a Taurus and my birthday was the day before the triple conjunction. I've been feeling so drained and awful today - I even tried an extra cup of coffee but nothing helped. I put a few dabs of this on and within a couple of minutes, I felt so energized. I'm looking forward to using it and reporting back with the results.

I was gifted a sniffie of this by the lovely persianmouse, and am surprised by how lovely it is. In the vial, it's very dark in color and the oil looks slightly viscous. When it's wet, I mostly smell resins, but once it's dry, things really get interesting. There must be ginger in here, because it's reminding me of 2 of my favorite scents - Shub-Niggurath and Storyville. Ginger and resins make for a sexy, unique scent, though it wears pretty close to the skin. This fragrance totally evokes images of the sword swallower. Dark, seductively beautiful and dangerous. I'll be all over this one when it's released!

I have to second Scherezade - it's a beautiful floral incense, and in my opinion, it's the best of that type in the GC. I also love Al-Azif, which is described as a sinister incense, but it's a soft, slightly sweet incense.

How can people not be raving about Harikata II in this thread? Sexy, sex-ay coconut! ETA: I meant HARIGATA II. My bad!

On me, Vamp.Goth is a dark rose, offset by a pretty resin note. No leather, though, which is a shame.

Hm. I *wish* I got the creamy orange - instead, this is a buttery vanilla with gardenia, and although it's pleasantly pretty when it dries, it's certainly not outstanding. Maybe I just own too many awesome BPAL vanilla blends! I'll keep a bottle, but my backup is going to swaps.

I always thought Mia would be more Mama-Ji.

AFAIK, it used to be green, but now it's light yellow IIRC. Doesn't smell any different. By the way, this probably belongs in BPAL Chatter, not BPTP Chatter.

This would be one of the greatest smells ever, if not for the butterscotch and some faintly dusty note that effs up the delicious milk chocolate and ginger. Really, what smells better than chocolate covered ginger? Not a whole lot of things, and yet the butterscotch manages to turn it to dusty fake candy. Oh, well. Guess I'll have to go eat some of the real thing to console myself.