Midnight on the Midway (2006)

[GypsyRoseRed]

Lightning splits the sky, illuminating the skeletal skyline of the carnival rides: sugared incense and night-blooming flowers.

Initially, I detected a similarity to Carnivale Noir's Midway, but this is equally beautiful in it's own way. As far as I can tell Midnight on The Midway has a similar base, that smooth, sweet scent of yummy sugar-dusted treats, but with the addition of a light and creamy floral that could be honeysuckle of jasmine.. but it's not overpowering in the way I'd expect from a jasmine note. Initially, this sounded like an unusual combination, but it's perfect, and where Midway used to disappear on me after about fifteen mnutes, Midnight lasted for close to an hour on the edge of my wrist. I'm looking forward to making this a bottle purchase!

[graycat]

when i first sniffed the bottle i was surprised, i expected it to be heavy on the florals since night blooms usually are quite strong but not so. on the skin it really stuck out with a nice warm nag champa smell which was quite lovely, kinda vanilla and sandalwood if you haven't had the pleasure. on the dry down the white floral did come out more but not too bad. all though i don't really jive well with the flowers i would definitely like an imp, but not a whole bottle.

[zillah37]

In the bottle: This reminds me of a more floral Midway. It’s more grown up then Midway, but with the same sugar background.

 

On my skin: The florals come out strong at first, but they seem to be coated in sugar and spice. I can’t really smell it after a few minutes even with my nose right up against my knee (I’m out of arm space) which is exactly what happened with Midway too. Bah. It was really starting to get pretty there.

 

Final verdict: This is a grownup Midway that fades immediately. *sighs* I wish it didn’t because it was starting to turn into a sugar scent that worked on me.

[korshka]

In the bottle: Beautiful blend of sugary florals and airy incense.

 

On Me: soap, sad, sad, soap. I keep sniffing and checking. It's there; I can tell, but it is covered up by soap. It's great smelling soap, though. This is the first time I've had this happened.

 

I'm going to try it a couple more time over the next few weeks b/c it's right be fore my period, so I hope that is what is happening. Or maybe like Bearded Lady and its baby powder, it'll clear up and come through clear and beautiful during that time. I'll come back and edit if something changes.

[luxuria]

In the bottle: Night blooming flowers and something smoky.

 

On the skin: Pretty much the same. It's a little reminiscent of Midway but much, much less sweet and definitely floral. It's nice, but there's something kind of sharp and powdery about it that keeps me from compulsively wrist-sniffing like I usually do. It's mellowing the longer it sits, luckily.

 

Overall: Pleasant, but not quite what I was hoping.

[Magda]

In the bottle: Soap

 

Wet on skin: Flowery soap

 

Drydown: Very luxurious incense and floral French milled soap

 

Overall: Well, poo. I had such high hopes for this. I'm going to stick it in the back of my BPAL box and see if aging makes it any less soapy on me.

[portalkat]

I hesitated about ordering this unsniffed because of the night-blooming flowers, but since I am on an incense note kick, I took a chance. The first thing that I smell after applying is strong, strong flowers. Okay, I need to let this sit for a bit.....................oh, that's better. The flowers have mellowed out and have gotten musky and deeper. After a bit longer, the sugared incense comes forward and now this is really more like the description. For something so floral, this has such a dark feel to it and I really can imagine a carnival at night during dramatic weather. I'll probably most definitely need more than one bottle of this.

Edited September 5, 2006 by portalkat

[Brianne]

In the bottle:

A sorty of boozey, floral incense

 

On me:

At first, Midnight on the Midway goes on soft and sugary with the whisper of a very familiar floral. I find this to be very different from Midway - Midway on me was funnel cakes and cotton candy. Midnight on the Midway is lightly sugared vanilla with a faint floral. In fact, it makes me think of Antique Lace.

 

The longer I wear this, the more it makes me think of Antique Lace. And also Regan a little bid. Definitely a vanilla floral. So, if you like that sort of thing get this! The sugared aspect of this is very soft, it's not too sweet and it's not too floral.

 

Final note:

I like this, it's very pretty. However, I'm not sure how I feel about it in regards to keeping it. To me, it's very like Antique Lace. I will probably keep it because the floral in this actually smells really nice on me, and because it's Carnavale Diabolique

[savage_rose]

In the bottle: Equal parts CN Midway and Floral.

 

Wet: OH DEAR GOD THAT IS SO STRANGE...this smells exactly like this hotel room that I stayed at with my parents when I was an early teen...the same vacation we saw "Groundhog Day" on "Spectravision" (::snort: and I was reading Piers Anthony's Incarnations of Immortality series, Bearing an Hourglass (coincidence? I think not!). I can't even tell what it is that reminds me of that room...something like one of the air fresheners? A scary thought. But there's no more sign of the Midway, it's all, er, Midnight. It's floral coming out my eyeballs, and I hope it's not this scent making my sinuses go wonky. This never happens to me!

 

Dry: Um, it's not bad, and time definitely makes it a kinder, gentler floral...but YIKES, what was that thing! It was like being Alice in the Wonderland garden (cartoon version), being pushed out by really, REALLY pissed off flowers. I didn't know flowers could be that aggressive! I guess I don't smell enough "night-blooming flowers" in my day-to-day existence.

 

Dry after 5 minutes: A tangy, complicated floral. Still a little like that hotel room...I mean, it was a really nice hotel room, and I loved that Piers Anthony series, so I like the scent...but I am so going to have to try this again. I wonder if something wacky is up with my body chemistry. Hmmm...

[CLFilm]

In the bottle: Smoky...flowers? Hard to describe.

 

On, wet: Sweeeeeeeet. To me this is nothing like CN Midway - that to me smelled like burnt marshmallows in the vial and rancid marshmallows on my skin. This just starts out with a ton of sugar, a little smoke, and a vat of crushed white flowers oozing scent all over.

 

On, dry: The sugar never goes rancid, which for me is a big win, the flowers calm down and it grounds a little with the smoke. Doesn't change much beyond that though. This is a little like what I had hoped Night's Pavilion would be and wasn't (I guess I mean Midnight on the Midway has the sense of melancholy but with sweet remembrance, rather than melancholy with bitterness that N'sP was for me - sorry, tangent!). The flowers are not too cloying. In fact, there's a flower in here that reminds me a bit of Snow White without the rancid plastic (emo tear) thing that made me have to wash off Miss White.

 

Honestly, now that I think about it, I'm wearing Carnaval Diabolique on one wrist and Midnight on the Midway on the other, and I can really see how they are day and night versions of each other. Midnight just brings the flowers to the fore and leaves the smoke in the background (other way round for CD).

 

I think I will end up liking Midnight quite a bit if I wear it in the right mood.

[Diana]

In the bottle: sugary flowers; a bit perfumey.

 

Wet: Eep. Super strong jasmine. A tiny bit of incense (the kind in Sybaris) is very faint in the background.

 

Drydown: as it dries, it gets sweeter, more candy-like. It does retain a bit of the jasmine, but the other note smells a lot like those candy necklaces! Whoa. And yum! I think this smells a lot more like candy than the other Midway smelled (more like funnel cake and candied apples). The more it dries, the more it smells sugary & sweet, and the flowers just add a soft breath of a note to the blend. This is super pretty, and not what I expected at all.

 

eta: now that this has been on for almost 2 hours, there's more of a smokiness to it, and the floral notes just add a cool lightness to the blend. Now I like it even more!

Edited September 3, 2006 by Diana

[gangstaknitta]

Wow, this one is complex.

 

In the bottle, it's very floral to my nose...but then, in the background, sugar...cotton candy? Not so much with the incense.

 

Once on my skin, some dryer-sheety note comes out and overwhelms everything else for about 10-20 min. It then fades to a very-close-to-the-skin scent. Ahhh....there's the incense...and a touch of sugar, but not syrupy sweet. It's very mellow and comforting on the dry-down.

 

I love it towards the end, but the dryer sheet thing kinda gets my nose a-twitchin'.

[blueroses]

In the bottle: The sugared incense of the description.

 

On: The florals have totally stamped out the sugary incense. I will admit that I don't really like heavy florals to begin with, and can't even tell most of them apart, since they usually smell soapy to me. I think I smell jasmine here, but my nose may be having a scent memory of Melisande. In any case, Midnight on the Midway ends up smelling like floral perfume.

 

Actually, it reminds me a little of Bearded Lady - that kind of sweet-plus-floral smell. The sweetness of Bearded Lady was also overpowered by florals on me, but people who were a fan of that scent will probably love this.

[zenvodunista]

I never liked Midway, I'll be honest. Very few of the foody scents have been workable on me. They generally are too sweet or too buttery, and Midway did that on me. Was so buttery I felt like I was greazy. Blech!

 

However Midnight on the Midway is a whole different story. I had done a spot test to confirm no skin evils, and so slathered it on with abandon yesterday. All day I kept getting whiffs of it -- it's incredibly atmospheric. Not that it's "ozoney" or has "air notes" but that it wears not like a perfume at all in the classic sense. I kept smelling it, and it would smell like the *approach* to the fair. Or the the fairgrounds at night, which is appropriate. It had the funnel cake thing going on, wavering in the background, and whiffs of the incense from the swami snakecharmer's tent, and it was faint yet clung to me all day. THe fair was at MoMA, the Museum of Sex, at a japanese restaurant, on the M4 busline. IT was every where, gently haunting me.

 

I loved it!

 

I don't think that I'll get many compliments on it mostly because i think the inclination will be to say, "Where is that smell coming from?" rather than "Your perfume is amazing." I expect that like Midway this will age nicely, intensifying and getting richer.

 

I absolutely love this. The name says it all in the end, it is Midnight on the Midway. Haunting, nostalgic, atmospheric, and beguiling.

 

Wonderful work.

 

 

n.

[cuervosueno]

I got this because I can't imagine anything better than sugared incense, and with the florals, I had a vague hope it would be like my much beloved Dia del Los Muertos 04.

 

Not at all.

 

But this just rocketed to my all-time top 5. Ok, top three.

 

This is gorgeous. I got the package yesterday and opened it first. I was with a friend. We both smelled it in the bottle and went "meh." In the bottle it is like smoky perfume--uninpiring. I put it on, and what I got immediately was a slightly powdery, slightly soapy floral. I do not smell any jasmine at all in this--and my skin amps jasmine like crazy. It is a white floral, a tropical floral. Very familiar.

 

Then I realized what it reminded me: Nag Champa soap that I get sometimes at the Indian market. That has the gorgeous nag champa (champaca flower I believe) scent, but of course a bit of soapiness too. I didn't mind the soapieness for once because it was very mild.

 

And it disappears entirely. What I'm left with is the most glorious incense scent ever. It smells like the ash left after burning Nag Champa incense--sweet and powdery. And--I can't stress this enough--exactly like incense.

 

I couldn't stop sniffing my wrist, but after an hour or so, it seemed to have gone. Then my friend, who was standing quite a ways away from me, said my god I can still smell that and it's beautiful!

 

I have to concur with zenvodonist:

 

I don't think that I'll get many compliments on it mostly because i think the inclination will be to say, "Where is that smell coming from?" rather than "Your perfume is amazing."

 

For hours and hours I was surrounded with the most beautiful aura of incense--and is less like perfume then a cloud of sweet haunting beauty.

 

It is utterly unlike anything I've smelled. If you like incense scents, get this: it's the holy grail of incense scents.

 

eta: but after wearing it for awhile, I discovered something odd. I finally got a scent locket, and since Midnight on the Midway fades fairly quickly on me, I decided to put it in the scent locket.

 

Where it doesn't work nearly as well. On me, it softens to the remnants of nag champa incense, but in the locket, it stays strongly floral and sweet. Its just not nearly as good.

 

Guess the scent locket will bring new adventures in BPAL as I figure out what works and doesn't.

Edited August 18, 2007 by Shollin

[LiberAmoris]

I have to echo what others are saying above---Midnight on the Midway reminds me of nag champa! And I love nag champa. I tried a few drops of this in my oil burner last night and my entire apartment was filled with smokeless incense. My neighbor came by to say hello, and he was utterly amazed by how good it smelled and couldn't believe that it wasn't actually incense.

 

There's also something about this that reminds me of Snow Angel. On my skin, it's kind of like Snow Angel (minus the slushy snow note) plus nag champa. This makes me very happy.

 

After I few hours I smell a slight buttery note that reminds me of Midway, but it's very faint. This truly is midnight on the midway, with most of the sweets put away and just the lingering smell of them mixing with the smell of night flowers and incense.

 

I think I might have to get another bottle of this before the Carnavale ends just to use in my oil burner!

[shelldoo]

in the bottle: hmmm i am not getting the cn midway connection some have, this is incensy floral

 

wet: somewhat floral, very clean

 

this went pretty floral soap on me.

 

i am gonna age it a bit and see what comes up, cn midway became stronger and more beautiful w/ age, maybe this one will too.

[lorajc]

I've only tested this so far. Yesterday, I could barely smell it but today testing it, it is a bit stronger. It doesn't really remind me of Midway. It's floraly and incensy and sweet. This is very unique. I think this will wear a lot differently than testing. I'm looking forward to wearing this. I'll update this afterwards.....but right now it's sugared incense with a slight soft floral tinge. Very nice.

[saralaughs]

Midnight on the Midway is definitely one of the ones I'm undecided about.

 

In the bottle it is all sugary incense, as some have said. Immediately upon application, I get a floral/sugar soapy-ness that I'm not sure is the right type of scent for me.

 

Don't get me wrong. It's beautiful and smacks of a black sky, one with a high moon...and just-crushed petals under your feet.

 

Wait. The incense just poked it's head into the picture, saving the scent from becoming all out soap for me. The florals are still there, along with the sugar. They've blended together in a way that is clean yet "trampy" smelling, if you ken it.

 

This is turning out nicely on me. I think I may keep the bottle.

[summer]

GORGEOUS. This is defnitely a sultry night-time floral. It reminds me of the Santa Monica pier -- a kind of moody and haunted and very "noir-ish" place. It smells like sweet incense and sweet, heady flowers. I don't get a lot of "sugar" from it, but there is definitely a wispy, lingering sweetness to it. I also smell an almost aquatic layer here.

 

Beautiful, grown-up perfume that is still mysterious and interesting.

[valentina]

In the bottle, Midnight on the Midway is mainly a dusty, sugary floral. Once it's on my body, it initially turns into that same dusky floral with a bit of sweetness. I'd assume the night-blooming florals might include lily and maybe cereus, because it's sweet, but not brightly floral or extremely heady. I keep coming back to the word "dusky," because that's the mood of the floral scent that I'm picking up. This is the aroma that lasts for about an hour, and then burns off so the sugary incense kicks in. It is yummy! On me, unfortunately, my body eats up the sugary incense smell the way I'd eat cotton candy and it's largely gone after another hour. This is a dark, mysterious sort of scent with very intriguing layers. It really is like a darkened circus midway on a summer night, with the flowers in bloom and the overtones of the circus smoke and sugar lingering in the air. It's pretty, yet a bit foreboding and mysterious, and I love that; I only wish my body chemistry didn't do such silly things with the scent.

[Melantha]

Wow, this is sweet! So much sugar! At first, that's all I smell; then some flowers come out to play; possibly honeysuckle? It's hard to tell.

 

This is quite strong on me. I like it, but I'll probably only keep my imp. I'll wear it a few times to see.

[euterpe414]

On me this is a gorgeous floral incense. It is a bit sweeter than traditional nag champa, but still very reminiscent of it. I was very worried about the floral component in this, but it just melds so beautifully with the sugar and incense. I feel so feminine and mysterious when I wear this. What a fantastic scent! I can't wait to see how this will age, as well. In short, .

[Kittyflop]

Sugary flowers, some spiciness behind it. Is that the incense? This was the most unexpected of the CDs so far on me. It's like meeting a woman who is wearing an old floral perfume reminiscent of past days - and far off in the distance you can smell the sugary candy smells of the midway and the smoke, grime and incense of the carny booths.

 

This has good throw, too, and isn't fading a bit yet (3 hours after application). I'm floored. Love this.

[Laurel the Woodfairy]

I absolutely adore Midway for sticky summer days, and I'm hoping Midnight here will be a Gothed-up variation suitable for this year's darker Carnaval. The description is vague, though, so I don't know whether to expect night flowers that love me (moonflower) or night flowers that hate me (jasmine).

 

Whoa, this smells very strong and like...jasmine soda-pop?? Insane-sounding, I know. What I mean is that there's a "fizzy" note that hits the front of my sinuses; the night-blooming jasmine in Luna does that as well. There's something sweet, pink, and deep-fried way in the background--just a touch of Midway's cotton candy and funnel cake. I like the concept here, but the combination is odd on me; it seems to clash rather than blend, and I put that down to jasmine's usual dislike of my skin.

Edited September 10, 2006 by Laurel the Woodfairy