The Haunted Palace

[minnalavender]

The moment before the ruin, frozen. The scent of captured glory, of glowing pearls and rubies, of golden sunlit joy and regal grandeur: red rose, Tunisian amber, blood orange, toasted vanilla, heliotrope, gardenia and red musk.

Oh, my freaking Gawd. This is the most beautiful scent on me yet. Wet: Orange/neroli blossom, amber, red musk - they all blend into the most gorgeous melange of cheerful deliciousness EVAR. Then the drydown is just glorious, spicy and powdery roses and vanilla and yum. This kind of bpal is why people tell me DAMN you smell good!

WHY IS THIS AN LE FROM LONG AGO???? WHY?????? lol Must I hock my firstborn yet again for a whole bottle of this lovliness? She's getting awfully tired of being in hock. lol! Maybe I should hock my son this time...

So. Effing. Beautiful. I'm in looooooove and must find a bottle!

[oh_the_horror]

I tried this long ago, and I didn't like it at all. The orange was too strong and smelled bad on me. As a whole it just didn't work. I tried it again today, since I was going to swap it away and holy crap.

 

In the bottle: Beautiful complex bubblegum? Gorgeous.

 

Wet and Drying: Yummmm. It smells like ravenous,but more interesting and wearable for me. Bubblegummy, sweet, rich, creamy, spicy, god this is heavenly. Syrupy and sticky, and a little mysterious.

 

Dry: Super sweet, spicy, beautiful wood. So strange, so yummy.

 

This aged like a dream. Oh god, I only have an imp.

[azhure]

In the bottle: A faint dusty floral.

 

Wet: The vanilla and musk amp up initially - the musk isn't like it is in other blends on me. It's a lot softer, probably tempered by the other notes. I expected this to be quite floral on me, but the florals are very subdued.

 

Drydown: This dries into a lovely soft ambery scent, with the dusty florals remaining as well.

[metaldog32]

The Haunted Palace....

 

Based on the notes alone I knew this would be a winner for me. I love blood orange and amber, can appreciate vanilla, heliotrope, and gardenia, and am developing a growing respect for red musk. This blend can't POSSIBLY go wrong on me.

 

I have always loved rose..but I don't wear it much in fragrance

 

Initial sniff from bottle:Fruity...gotta be that blood orange...I love it. If I take a deep whiff I get something faint in the back..is it the floral and maybe a throb of the red musk??? There is a touch of sweetness here..so that's gotta be the vanilla..all good in my book.

 

Applied wet on skin: Blood orange....and then in about 3 seconds I get wave of musky/sweetness pushing the orange out of the way...it's almost all red musk and amber and the vanilla..but that's kind of peeking...in the tail of this whiff is the gardenia and rose...

 

 

Couple of minutes on skin:Holy cow..the players have changed again. Blood orange is MIA and to the forefront now is the gardenia/rose/heliotrope duo...with the amber/vanilla/musk playing supporting roles. Huh?? I never figured that would happen...

 

In the first couple of minutes of this scent blooming on my skin I kind of thought that this was going to be similar to Red Moon...but now I see it only held that resemblance in the opening blast.

 

I still am enjoying this fragrance very much...it suprised me a bit which is always a good thing.

 

Half an hour later:It's all good...the warmth of the vanilla/amber/musk cloaking the florals..I get a touch of fruit WAY in the back...it's a predominantly warm floral on me..

 

What can I say??? You pair almost anything with amber on me and I love it. I am partial to Beth's amber blends..I admit.

 

Haunted Palace sort of reminds me of pairing between Tamora and Bastet..sort of.

 

Drydown: It's all soft and gorgeous gardenia/rose/heliotrope with the warmth of the amber/vanilla/musk and fruit.

 

For me throw was soft and lasting power 3+ hours

 

Bottom Line:Haunted Palace is a beautiful warm floral on me with a touch of fruit..perfect for late summer and fall. Love it.

Edited February 14, 2007 by metaldog32

[bristlecone]

A friend sent me a decant of this ages ago, along with a bunch of other Demon in My View scents, and this is the first time I've tested it.

 

Wet, it smells a bit like... a root beer float? Kind of sweet and vanilla-like. But a little fresh too, from the flowers. Not completely foody.

 

Dry, the red musk comes out. All I can really smell any more is red musk and vanilla. I don't smell any amber at all, and usually amber is quite prominent on me.

 

It's nice, but I never would have picked it out for myself, either pre- or post-testing.

[storme]

In the imp: hmm, a lot of vanilla and heliotrope - there's almost a ylang ylang feel to this, in fact.

 

On me, wet: orange and ylang ylang and a faint trace of musk and rose. It's very sweet.

 

On me, dry: very faint sweet orange and baby powder.

 

Verdict: Sigh. Apparently my skin didn't want to give this a chance.

[forspecial_plate]

Amber is what I smell mostly in the Haunted Palace, but that could be the power of suggestion. See, moonarcana gave me a decant of this, and as I was sniffing it for the first time, she said "It has amber!" (we were on an amber kick that day), so immediately that's what I smelled!

 

Anyway, it's a beautiful scent that I really enjoy. Before I knew what notes were in it, I just thought it had a characteristic bpal-incensey feel to it. I didn't guess that it had that many floral notes. Whatever, I love it, and I know I can get away with wearing this somewhere, at some time.

 

Right now it's reminding me a bit of Snake Charmer, maybe because of the amber, musk, and/or vanilla. I have to say, I can almost imagine how this would have smelled brand-new. I bet the orange was stronger (I can barely smell it now), and the notes may have stood out more from each other, whereas now they are all blended together seamlessly. That's just a guess, though...for all I know, it smelled pretty much the same! But I do think the citrus has faded, and the scent really hasn't suffered for that (not that I don't like orange, because I do). I will cherish my decant, but I doubt that I need a whole bottle of it.

Edited April 19, 2007 by Forspecial Plate

[bulletslc]

Oh, this is lovely!

 

In the bottle and on wet I smell three notes...amber (which always amps and lasts on me), rose, and blood orange.

 

Dry--the rose comes out more but the orange and the amber really sweeten it, so it doesn't turn dusty or soapy at all.

 

As this fades it turns to sweet amber on me. All scents with amber in them get to the mostly amber stage on my skin, but this retains a hint of the sweet orange and the floral rose. Very very nice!

 

Never really caught the other notes....though the gardenia and vanilla might have helped sweeten the rose as well. No hint of the musk at all.

 

**Edit**I do eventually smell the musk, but it is very faint....more like a warm base for the other notes rather than a big player in this scent's character list.

Edited June 6, 2007 by Bulletslc

[LadyBug]

The orange and vanilla are prominent scents in this blend. I was very surprised how much I liked it because I am not an amber fan...but I couldn't really smell much strong amber. I would wear this scent at night time any time of the year. I will not buy a bottle but I will try to find another imp!

[filigree_shadow]

I always like red musk, and I like it in this one even though it's not very strong here. It's sweet from the blood orange and vanilla, and soft from the rose and heliotrope. I like all the listed notes for this scent except gardenia, and I can't smell that in this. So I suppose it's not too surprising that I like The Haunted Palace a lot. It smells sexy, warm, and sweet. I wouldn't go so far as to say that it's my very favorite red musk blend, but it's up there.

[alicia_stardust]

The Haunted Palace is a warm, glittering scent that has a wonderful balance of musk, floral, and citrus. The blood orange sort of warms this up and gives it a high, bright note. The heliotrope is very lovely. I can definitely detect the rose but it does not take over the scent but rather sits in the background and mingles with the other notes. My favorite part of this is the subtlety of the red musk. I love red musk and it's definitely there, but it's different here. This is my absolute favorite scent of the Demon in my View series.

[KaliVerra]

This is one of my FAVORITE scents of all time... Sweet, smokey, sweet, smokey... ummmmfh... I just want to roll around in the incense-y, sugary, goodness of it all... it is a really deep, golden, warm, scent with magnificent throw and a hint of sparkle... whenever I wear it, I get "leaners"

 

A true 5/5 on every level!

 

~Kali V.

[Lunaratu]

God, this is gorgeous, like roll-eyes-back-into-your-head gorgeous. Resinous, golden, lightly spiced, sweet, and so wonderfully sexy. This is the summer scent for all of us resinous lovers out there. I am certainly holding onto this imp with clutched hands because I can see reaching for this quite often when I want that perfect happy, golden, hazy afternoon scent. So gorgeous. I really wish it’d be easier to track down a bottle of this beauty.

Rating: 4/5

[dirtytrip]

It's a lovely scent, just wish it didn't "haunt" me so! :B (That's my icon for "doy!") Hardy har, what I mean is it my skin eats it up within a couple of hours. But while it lasts, it's a sensuous red musk scent. The florals do stick to the background, kind of like a supporting chorus, while the vanilla and musk play together. Wet, it is very bright and blood orange; I agree with most of the reviews I've read on that. Really charming. The only thing I don't like about it is that I do get some dusty overtones to it, which is a big turnoff to me. Still glad I got to try it tho.

 

Update: Since I'm selling my imp, I thought I'd do a quick double-take on the old for comparison purposes with the retail re-release. The amber and oranges together really make this scent something special. The red rose also plays very nicely in the middle, with the red musk taking a backseat for once and lending a lovely basenote. I don't know how gardenia fits in, but it seems to be a gardenia I can wear, which rarely happens. In all, I have to amend what I said before - this could be worth at least one bottle, particularly if it's aged a bit.

 

Update update: Now comparing the new with the old. The new is quite pretty, but it doesn't have the heart-stopping loveliness that the DIMV formulation does. Maybe it's the aging process. The new is much brighter and I get much more heliotrope-orange combo action. Still very much worth your time, but try and get an aged bottle first.

Edited January 25, 2008 by dirtytrip

[brownbear]

It starts out waxy orange with a little spice. It is warm and floral as well. Then after a bit, the rose starts really taking over (this happens on my skin) and then after a little longer it starts going weird (I just know it is the vanilla doing this). Grrr stupid vanilla.

[Lethran]

In the bottle, it smells like the Spring party my parents through every year to celebrate their joint birthday, the flowers and perfume of the women, over liqueur and my father's homemade sorbet. The rose/gardenia/heliotrope meets the amber/musk combo to evoke the shades of all those women in their best dresses fussing over me and my little sister. Wet, the musk and the rose are strongest, with the citrus adding something that reminds me of candies. Dry, it's a light floral. Meh.

[AliBabble]

i've been curious about the haunted palace for years - i didn't order it the first time it came out, so when it came to dark delicacies, i had to try it. it's not the greatest scent on my skin - red musk can be problematic for me - something like an artificial-smelling bathroom freshener, i dunno...

but i can see what haunted palace is supposed to be...it reminds me somewhat of hollywood babylon, with the addition of orange - it's a pretty, candy-ish orange-vanilla...i really don't get much rose, to speak of. somehow this just doesn't work so well on me though...smells a bit too artificial and sweet. oh well.

[Delirium1009]

In bottle/imp: Very sweet with rose, amber, and a touch of vanilla.

 

Immediately on skin: This is sweet and floral, with the rose coming out the strongest and melding with the amber and vanilla. There’s a bit of sweet muskiness. This blend reminds me a bit of Red Moon 2007 plus rose.

 

After a few minutes: This is still going strong, and it’s very sweet. I can smell the rose, amber, vanilla, and red musk all melding together. It’s still very reminiscent of Red Moon 2007, but it seems to have a fruitiness to it almost like plum. The rose is still the dominant note, but everything is blended together nicely. It’s a creamy, musky, floral scent with a lot of sweetness.

 

Overall Impressions: This scent is very well blended, and is very warm and sweet. The rose isn’t overpowering at all, but is the most recognizable dominant note to me. All of the other notes mesh together to create something sweet, floral, creamy, and musky. This is very reminiscent of Red Moon 07 on me though, so if you didn’t like that blend, you might want to avoid this one.

[dixiehellcat]

Such sadness, this didn't work on me. There were so many notes I love, like amber and vanilla and orange, but red musk is the kiss O death for me. And it and the rose (and my skin is very particular about BPAL roses) danced together and did unpleasant things. So I must continue to search for a Poe that works for me.

[Nightgaunt]

I know I commented on this before when it came out the first time, but I have something new to say:

Until BPAL comes out with a "Lost Carcosa" scent (hint hint hint hint!), this essence of royalty will be what I wear when I want to be in a King in Yellow frame of mind.

[medvssa]

(from Dark Delicacies)

 

This is a perfectly fine and beautiful blend, just, especially in the wet phase... not my thing. It is too sweet, too purple, too bright. Kind of haughty.

 

While it is still wet, the blend is bright and flashy, the notes kind of clash like complementary colours: each of them is a saturated, rich colour: red, orange, purple, yellow. And this is in fact a very good interpretation on the subject.

 

The vanilla has a sweetness that is too foody for me, and the gardenia is such a lady bloom that I cannot cope with her.

I love the rest of the notes, and luckly those two notes become more subdued on the drydown, when I can actually discern the rose and the amber and red musk. By then the vision of the Palace has kind of faded, but I am not going to complain, since I like it a lot more like this. Much warmer and quite a bit humbler.

 

Still, it is not my style of perfume and I doubt I'll use it much.

[jupiternf]

I only have an imp of this, and as I test it I am fervently praying that it isn't too wonderful...

 

In the imp: Solid and worn wood coated with bubblegum- the two scents seem so disparate that my brain is turning inside out!

 

Wet and Drying: Spice and resin emerge out of the sweetness- like the first warning that you are in a horror story and should turn back- I love this stage!

 

Dry: Sticky-sweet, and again the aged wood smell- the crazed hilarity of ghosts rampaging through old, old wooden rooms, knocking over silver platters and dissapearing again into the walls.

 

This scent seems full of tales to me- I will treasure my imp and use it when I bust out something spooky to read.

Edited December 12, 2007 by jupiternf

[SarahScent44]

This is the retail-only version.

 

In the imp, it's orange and vanilla - very light and sweet.

 

On my skin, I get toasted vanilla and amber with a light overtone of the heliotrope and gardenia.

 

When it dries - mmm, really nice. The rose comes out and plays very well with the orange, the vanilla, and the amber. Keeper!

[ekolmus]

In the bottle: Resinous. I definitely smell the orange and musk.

 

Wet: Whoa! The musk is really elbowing its way out in front here.

 

Dry: The other players are finally starting to move out onto center stage. I'm getting a spicy, floral, orange musk scent now - it's really lovely!

 

I only used a very little, and it's getting very quiet now, after about 90 minutes. There is a rich spiciness to this perfume that reminds me of the nearby herb shop. I like it, but all my housemates liked Oval Portrait better on me.

Edited January 5, 2008 by AnneOnymous

[naeelah]

I have the second generation version, from DD. This scent is so well-blended and also so young that I'm having a hard time reviewing it.

 

In the bottle/wet, I smell pretty much everything but the red musk -- gardenia, vanilla, rose, amber, and orange. It smells a lot like biggerCritters, actually.

 

As it dries, I really can't pick anything out. The red rose and gardenia seem to be two of the foremost notes, but well-blended with soft, vanilla amber and orange zest. I don't usually like heliotrope as a top note, but fortunately, it's pretty soft in this blend. The longer this dries, the more the red musk emerges (but it never becomes one of the most prominent notes -- this isn't at all a musky blend, it only adds zest).

 

Dry, the overall effect is of a vivacious red rose with beautiful, glowing amber. Such a perfect interpretation!

 

So far this is very soft, and it seems to fade quickly. I have to slather it. I think it's beautiful now, but it's not grabbing me by the gut. But I think this is a blend to age, so I'll keep it and see what it's like this time next year. These are notes that should age well, and if the older version reviews are any indication, this should become something heart-stopping!

 

Try this if you like: Versailles, Moscow, biggerCritter, Lovers' Parodies of Sumo Holds, Unheavenly City