abbacat

Unfortunately my take on this scent is like the others above - The violet and gardenia just didn't wear well with me. I really like the Marc Jacobs perfume that has gardenia mixed with water tones, but here the intense floral just didn't suit my temperament, I felt like I was digging around in my grandmother's makeup box again. In the vial, it is intensely floral, but with a whiff of vanilla. Wet, the floral swelled and swelled (I actually had a bit of a burning sensation on the skin after the first half hour). I could pick out the vanilla if I snuffed the wrist, but only just. The dry down brought out the gardenia even more, unfortunately the vanilla scent entirely went away. It's a very lush scent, evoking 1920's flappers, I think. Might be nice as a bath scent, but just not for me on the skin.

Selune, the Moon Goddess, fell in love with a beautiful shepherd named Endymion. She appealed to Zeus, asking him to cast Endymion into everlasting slumber so that she could be with him for all eternity. Her wish was granted, and every night the Goddess visited her love as he slept. A sweet, wistful blend of d’Anjou pear, Lily of the Valley, bois du rose and white musk. In the bottle, I could really pick out the lily of the valley and the pear. Very sweet perfume. Wet, the pear was very sharp, and then as it dried down, the lily of the valley came out intensely. The lily was very strong for about an hour - if you don't like that sort of deep floral then you may not care for this scent; it has a very old-time-powdery tone to it, and then the scent mellowed to the soft musk & pear close to the skin.

I received a Cathode sample as one of four generous extras in an order I placed with Black Phoenix. After snuffing all of my other imp’s ears, this one was a bit of a shock to the nose with its sharp minty-ness. Something about it was very inviting, so the next morning I dabbed it on. The edge of mint was a nice wake-up but it mellowed away after the first hour, with the moss and verdigris tones swelling out as it dried. Overall it aged into a pleasant, slightly cool and watery aroma that kept me obsessively sniffing my wrists all day. While not something I ever would’ve picked for myself – ‘moss?? Who wants to smell fusty?’ – I’m glad they had the prescience to send it along, it’s a keeper!