Dance of Death

[ipb]

Carrying bouquet, and handkerchief, and gloves,
Proud of her height as when she lived, she moves
With all the careless and high-stepping grace,
And the extravagant courtesan's thin face.

Was slimmer waist e'er in a ball-room wooed?
Her floating robe, in royal amplitude,
Falls in deep folds around a dry foot, shod
With a bright flower-like shoe that gems the sod.

The swarms that hum about her collar-bones
As the lascivious streams caress the stones,
Conceal from every scornful jest that flies,
Her gloomy beauty; and her fathomless eyes

Are made of shade and void; with flowery sprays
Her skull is wreathed artistically, and sways,
Feeble and weak, on her frail vertebrae.
O charm of nothing decked in folly! they

Who laugh and name you a Caricature,
They see not, they whom flesh and blood allure,
The nameless grace of every bleached, bare bone,
That is most dear to me, tall skeleton!

Come you to trouble with your potent sneer
The feast of Life! or are you driven here,
To Pleasure's Sabbath, by dead lusts that stir
And goad your moving corpse on with a spur?

Or do you hope, when sing the violins,
And the pale candle-flame lights up our sins,
To drive some mocking nightmare far apart,
And cool the flame hell lighted in your heart?

Fathomless well of fault and foolishness!
Eternal alembic of antique distress!
Still o'er the curved, white trellis of your sides
The sateless, wandering serpent curls and glides.

And truth to tell, I fear lest you should find,
Among us here, no lover to your mind;
Which of these hearts beat for the smile you gave?
The charms of horror please none but the brave.

Your eyes' black gulf, where awful broodings stir,
Brings giddiness; the prudent reveller
Sees, while a horror grips him from beneath,
The eternal smile of thirty-two white teeth.

For he who has not folded in his arms
A skeleton, nor fed on graveyard charms,
Recks not of furbelow, or paint, or scent,
When Horror comes the way that Beauty went.

O irresistible, with fleshless face,
Say to these dancers in their dazzled race:
"Proud lovers with the paint above your bones,
Ye shall taste death, musk scented skeletons!

Withered Antinoüs, dandies with plump faces,
Ye varnished cadavers, and grey Lovelaces,
Ye go to lands unknown and void of breath,
Drawn by the rumour of the Dance of Death.

From Seine's cold quays to Ganges' burning stream,
The mortal troupes dance onward in a dream;
They do not see, within the opened sky,
The Angel's sinister trumpet raised on high.

In every clime and under every sun,
Death laughs at ye, mad mortals, as ye run;
And oft perfumes herself with myrrh, like ye
And mingles with your madness, irony!

A gloriously elegant representation of Lady Death. Dry, bone-white orris, black musk, serpentine patchouli and our murkiest myrrh.

mmm myrrh and patchouli. orris makes it super duper dry on my skin, and like shroud, has that "i am sucking the liquid from your tongue" effect, so i'm not really wanting to smell it, and the musk is doing its "hi desert living creature LET ME ENVELOPE YOU IN ME" that the red n black like to do, though not as badly as it does in more musk-prominent scents (glasya, loviatar).


//eta: and as it dries, the orris stops being as dry, letting the patchouli and myrrh speak some more. i'm not sure how i feel about this scent because i don't really care for that interim stage, but the final is nice.

[sarada]

Okay, so you can probably tell by looking at my signature that Dance of Death is a big hit with me, since I just added (Penance's!) icon of it there a few hours after testing this for the first time.

 

Unfortunately I only ordered an imp so I am going to have to keep it going for six weeks while I wait for a full bottle! In the vial, this smells like...."Tramp" by Lush! Yes! I couldn't put my finger on it before but smelling this made me think of something very very deep dark green in color.

 

This makes me think of the picture that I have on a Dead Can Dance t-shirt of a bunch of medieval skeltons dancing on their graves. (ETA: Actually, it makes me think of dead hippies dancing in a graveyard...and this is a good thing!!) It is lush and dark and deathly shadow green. Only problem is myrrh. I have this relationship with myrrh, whereby it becomes soapy violets for a brief time during its stay on my flesh. The trick is to find out if it stays soapy violets, or goes away.

 

This starts out as Tramp on me, and while the myrrh messes things up for awhile eventually it all comes right again. The musk really darkens and deepens the green patchouli shadows...the orris, well, I can't smell on its own but it must be there because I am thinking about bones sticking out of the earth. That's what orris usually does to me. The myrrh eventually settles down into its spicy phase, where it stays. Good!

 

In the end, we have a slightly sweet, spicy, dark green patchouli blend here. This is one for me to cherish. Good for the patchouli and incense fans, and for the dark green/earthy fans. Must...have....more.

Edited April 8, 2005 by sarada

[Nepthys]

I think Beth really nailed this one - this is exactly how Lady Death should smell! It's feminine, elusive and dry as a death rattle. What's unsettling is its shifting faces on me, elegant and ladylike-pretty on top, and then a sinister afternote of dry leaves and arid earth. It's quite remote, so that one sniff doesn't quite sate me - I keep going back for more and more, trying to nail down my impression.

 

I wasn't expecting it, but this was a HUGE hit with two male friends tonight. They thought it was the sexiest scent ever. I know orris root is used in lust spells but that really took me by surprise... I like this ok but they went crazy for it!

[paperdoll]

Initial Sniff: Patchouli and musk dominate in the vial.

Wearing: My skin tends to amplify patchouli, and this is no exception. As it dries, a bit of the musk peeks out, and I think the orris is what is making this blend so dry. The myrrh never makes an appearance.

Final Impressions: I expected to love love love this blend based on the description. While it is interesting, I'm not quite as excited as I had expected. I'll definitely hang on to this one for a while to see if it grows on me.

[grrrlennyl]

at first: the lab included this as a free imp in my order. it's very, very dark and earthy.

on: amazingly earthy. there's got to be patchouli in this. dark. almost like something decaying.

1 hour later: this is very dark and almost woodsy.

2 hours later: i think i'm getting some musk now. this is so dark. i really like it.

overall: i never would have gotten this for myself, but i like it. it isn't something i would normally wear, but there's something almost comforting about it. great for a night in.

[Ina Garten Davita]

First Impression: Orris and myrrh!

 

Second Impression: This scent is so strong and wafts like a mofo. Unfortunately orris and myrrh do not like me and I had to wash it off. It's clinging to my skin for dear life.

 

Final Analysis: Oh, dear. Dance of Death was the kiss of death for me.

[shelldoo]

In the end, we have a slightly sweet, spicy, dark green patchouli blend here. This is one for me to cherish. Good for the patchouli and incense fans, and for the dark green/earthy fans.

i must concur w/ sarada. this is an excellent review

 

the patchouli is the front man on me, but the myrrh sweetens it a bit, and it is very earthy. all in all a beautiful blend beth does it again.

[Scylla]

Unfortunately, I have to concur with andrabell. Dance of Death was the kiss of death for me also!

[blaqpearl]

In the bottle...A dark green scent, if that makes sense. I could smell the myrrh, but I wanted to smell the patchouli.

 

Wet...same as the bottle.

 

Drydown...The myrrh and orris was dominate. I can sense the patchouli trying to jump out.

 

Hours later....this is still going strong. I attempted to wash it off, but it is persistent as death itself.

 

My mom loved this on me, too bad I didnt feel the same way.

[Gemini noir]

I don't think of myself as liking patchouli at all. But I do like this. It helps that the patchouli is so well-blended with yummy myrrh and orris, and that on my skin, those notes really come out to play, with the black musk (and I suppose the patchouli ) adding a nice dark base. I didn't find it at all heavy though (despite the "dark"). It's pretty and yes, dark at first, but not overwhelming ... the green element emerged after about 20 minutes. Chalk me up as another one who thought she smelled violets -- I only thought I smelled them for a short time after I first put it on.

 

I think "dark green scent" is a very good description ... it's a dark green, spicy scent. Very pretty.

Edited April 21, 2005 by Gemini noir

[amrita]

I didn't get any spice with this-- strong patchouli and something else-- I wish I knew what orris smells like. It reminded me of a family friend I hung out with when I was a kid; she used to wear a perfume that smelled a lot like this. Dark and unctuous yet comforting at the same time. I imagine Death sneaking up behind me and closing his hands around my throat. This is just too weird...I had to wash it off. (I would probably think this was a great blend if it didn't remind me of weird childhood times!)

[nhough73]

This reminds me of a woodsy version of Morocco... where Morocco was the dry sandy version during the day, this one is the murky darkness of the Market after hours.

[Penance]

Preconceived notions:

 

If there wasn't any black musk in this, I'd say it sounded absolutely perfect, but black musk and I have a rocky relationship and it's not always pretty, so I'm a bit leery in spite of my love of patchouli and myrrh.

 

First sniff:

 

Smells earthy and powdery at the same time. The powdery bit is either the orris or the musk since the darker musks often end up smelling like baby powder to me. I'm a bit leery of this since powdery scents and I don't get along. At all.

 

Wet on skin:

 

Mmm, patchouli...I'm a patchouli nut (inner hippie, don't ya know?) so that's definitely a good thing. The musk is really popping up, too, though, and while it's not baby powder, it is smelling a bit too much like unwashed animal for me. I'm just not a fan of the darker musks is all.

 

Dry down:

 

Almost all musk on me now, which is unfortunate since I would have really preferred for the musk to take a back seat to the patchouli and myrrh. My skin chemistry amps up musk far more than I'd like, though, unfortunately.

 

The bottom line:

 

Dark, heavy musk and I don't get along terribly well, unfortunately, and my skin chemistry made Dance of Death into Dance of Musk. What a shame.

[fragrantgrasse]

I love Dance of Death, I was pretty sure I would - being an old

 

The orris and patchouli are prominent on me and makes this combination so unusual that I keep sniffing my wrist. It is certainly the dark green and earthy fragrance that other reviwers have mentioned and as it evolves it changes and warms...To me this blend is a study in contrasts. There is an almost loamy, earthiness to it and yet also an aspect of this combination of notes that are entwined and twisted around a sliver of very dry bone.

 

Murky?

 

Yes. Very.

 

But I love it's uniqueness and disquietude.

Edited May 17, 2005 by fragrantgrasse

[tempete]

Earthy patchouli dominates initially, then Dance of Death becomes drier as the orris note takes over, which seems to cause the patchouli note to wither away while at the same time adding a light, violet-like floral (orris is taken from the roots of certain species of iris). It's like an olfactory representation of Lady Death sucking the life out of someone, which is pretty damn cool. After about an hour, the sweetness of the myrrh note breaks through and a slight powderiness also becomes apparent, which is probably due to the black amber note.

 

I didn't like this the first time that I tried it, but on the second wearing, it's growing on me (which is pretty rare for me).

[dreadeddragon]

In the bottle: It's so strong that I can smell it when I open my imp. At first it's all patchouli, the dirty stuff not the incense. This is the herb. I can also smell some orris, but mainly patchouli.

 

First on: Now I smell the myrrh and the black musk as well as the others. Black musk never relaly agrees with me like it's cousin red musk, it goes more civet-y on. I like it right now, but I'll have to see if I start smelling like animal's butt.

 

Drydown: It's staying the same as above, which means I'll probably swap it out, because while part of me really likes it, the other part of me doesn't like waiting to smell like butt.

[ismene]

Dance of Death is very dry and dark on me, but also quite earthy. I keep getting an image of bones decaying and crumbling into dust as dirt seeps in through cracks in the coffin, the spices buried as gave goods still giving off a faint aroma. It's a very evocative scent. It sweetens up quite a bit as it fades, but I'm still getting the same images from it.

[quinkel]

I wanted to try this one because Sarada mentioned the magic word "Tramp"

 

And how right she was!!!

I got it in a swap and opened the bottle even before I entered the house, and yes, it was like opening a bottle of Tramp

It smell fresh and darkgreen like Tramp. It is a bit drier, perhaps some cedar tend to go dry on my skin.

I love this and will stockpile some bottles of Tramp and I will have a happy summer!

 

 

(BTW, I realise peeps who never heard of Tramp will not have much use in my review

[Shollin]

First sniff: This is not going to be good on me. It’s all sharp resin.

 

Wearing: Hmm. At first touch, resin and mint? Mint incense? No, it’s iris… how very odd. Iris is always so powdery on me, and this is no exception. The inspiration is lovely, but Dance of Death is not my thing.

[leapylees]

Whilst wet, I get violet, patchouli and sandalwood in that order. Odd, since only patchouli is listed in the description. Maybe my nose is playing tricks. On the drydown, the 'violet' disappears and the patchouli dominates. I definitely get the Tramp association and will be investing in a 5ml.

[Janie]

The oil smells darker in the vial than on my skin. As it dries down it has a ... sort of powdery, smoky astringency that is most bewitching. I wouldn't call it a sexy scent (on me) but it is a most evocative and noir one.

 

Lovely.

 

ETA: THis is lasting really well. I applied it 8 hours ago and I can still catch whiffs of it as I move around. The sillage is reasonable too - it is not a close-to-you scent. I like it more and more.

Edited June 25, 2005 by Janie

[donsixgun]

This is a ‘dry’ scent...Wet, Im getting the orris and patchouli, and the musk is keeping it from being too floral. As it dries though, the floral is becoming more and more prominent. Which ruined it for me. This would probably smell better on a woman than on me.

[girlmadasbirds]

this smells mostly like myrrh and patchouli with just a bit of floral... it's a spicy floral though, so it isn't completely turning me off.

 

it's getting a little soapy on drydown.

spicy soap.

[SeaMonkey]

This scent lasts FOREVER. Its patchouli, but sweeter and a little deeper. This is a beautiful scent.

[Nisaba]

In the bottle I get dry, spicy musk. Wet the musk bursts out and won't let anyone else play. On drydown however, the patchouli and myrrh come out, and it's very very dry. That might be the orris, I don't really know what that smells like. It lasts a long time on me and now, hours after applying it, I'm getting a very dry patchouli.

 

In short, it's sexydivine. But then, I love patchouli