Danse Macabre

[Lethran]

An allegorical expression of the ineffable, indisputable triumph of death, generally expressed in medieval artwork as a violin or flute-wielding skeleton leading a procession of dancers to their graves. Black cypress with oakmoss, frankincense, oude, and a sliver of toasted hazelnut.

I am extremely underwhelmed. Why does the allegorical expression of death smell like a midrange shampoo popular in the '80's laced with a hint of cheap perfume. Uh... Eeeew?

[DurAnorak]

I'm obsessed with the piece of classical music that goes under this name (the version with sung lyrics is even better than the violin one that's more well-known) and I was beyond thrilled to open this imp and discover that it is exactly, precisely, what I would have wanted the scent of Danse Macabre to be.

 

It's deep green and gleeful, dark, dead and unnerving - while I'm wearing it it's like there's a shadow just out of the corner of my eye all the time. waiting for me to give in and dance with it. I seem to be in a minority here, but this is one of my favourite of all the lab's scents - it's perfect, not only cypress trees but the weaving dance between them as well. I love it and would wear it all Autumn and Winter if the damn lab didn't do so many other brilliant seasonal scents...

[CrazyPretzel]

Wet, this is a very sharp balsamic scent, a trifle bitter. On the drydown it softens considerably and becomes warm, dry, earthy, and kind of stale - seems like a good representation for death, and reminds me a little of The Forbidding Foyer LE.

[butcherbaby]

i really wanted to like this scent.....the name is awesome and the scent list sounded like it should be lovely.

 

alas, it just smells like some kind of vaguely woodsy cleanser on me, and by the time any of the other scents come out they are weak and fading. and it was hard to wash off.

 

i ran it by my husband who generally likes earth and forest scents and they usually work on him, but he just gets the soap/cleanser thing as well....oh well, into the swap pile! it was a frimp so i'm not too sad.

Edited February 16, 2008 by butcherbaby

[Reaver]

Danse Macabre

Ars Morendi

 

Oh my. In the bottle, it’s delicious frankincense. Slightly nutty, but nothing too sickly. The drydown in completly cypress and oakmoss, the frankincense stickiness clears up and the overly astringence of the initial cypress calms and this blend becomes a light, slightly peppery foresty smell. Clear evergreens and the scent on the wind in the Catskills.

 

Conclusion: Love, more please.

 

8/10. It’s going to be my back-up ‘fresh’ smell for when I’ve worn Cthulhu too many days in a row and it starts to get boring. 5ml being considered!

[hkhm]

imp: cypress and moss.

 

wet: cypress with a touch of frankincense. i've noticed that whenever hazelnut is listed in the notes, i never seem to be able to detect it.

 

dry: this dries to a soft cypress. unfortunately, it also fades very quickly on my skin.

[djsiberia]

in the imp: woodsy and herbal.

 

on me: herbal and woodsy and not really digging it

[Clammmms]

Wet: incense and black pepper and evergreen

Dry: I don't know why, but my body decided to make this smell like traubenzucker candy, which kind of smells like a mix of fruit and roses (sounds gross, but it's actually kind of interesting).

 

It smells nothing like it did when it was wet, but I kind of like the drydown smell anyway.

 

Meh,

7.5/10, I'd say.

[fairnymph]

Sniffed in imp: Sweet and sharp, with resin and woods. Definitely getting strong cypress and then frankincense, with a touch of oakmoss.

 

Too sweet and lacking floral or fruity notes, but could be delicious on a man.

[DARKBEAUTY28]

At first this one smells VERY SHARP and not like what I want to smell like at all. I wiped it off. I then smelled my skin where I had put the oil again and it smells nicer. It is still astringent, but I am getting "Sweet Tarts" from it. So therefore it isn't that bad of a scent after all, still not sure if it is my "type", but not as bad as I thought it was in it's opening. I might have to test this one again to decide if I like it or not.

[brsis]

Initial thoughts: ... woah. I mean, just... woah. Look at those notes. This is way more interesting looking than I originally gave it credit for, and given that I can happily whirl around the room humming the Saint-Saens composition by the same name, I think it's definately one I should have tried before now.

 

In the imp: Oh my. If I try, I can pick out every one of those scents - the tang of cypress, the dry green oakmoss, the gentle frankincense, dusty woody oude and the wonderful cooked nuttiness of the hazelnut. Overall, this is captivating - tangy but not sharp or bright, with a regal mossy, woody undertone that isn't heavy at all, and that wonderful almost edible nuttiness. Mmmmm...

 

On the wrist, wet: The cypress is coming to the forefront - my, and that's potent cypress - but I can still get the mossy undertone and a tang of frankincense. It's not quite as nice on - the cypress is a little strong for my liking - but it might recede in the drydown so I'll give it a chance.

 

Twenty minutes later: Eh. In the dry-down, this has become the vague trace you'd get from washing your hands with a particularly bland antibacterial hand soap. The cypress just doesn't like me and my skin seems to have drunk all the other notes. What a pity.

 

Verdict: Swap pile you go.

 

Tl;Dr: Tangy, with a woody, mossy undertone and a hint of nut. Fades to nothing on contact.

[savage_rose]

This smells a bit vetiver-y to me, although it's not strong and not listed as one of the notes...hmmm. It's a very bitter, herbal sort of scent to me. It's not really pleasant or unpleasant to my nose...it's just strong and dark.

[ImperatrixMundi]

Uh, it is a bitter, herbal and astringent scent at first. But that sliver of toasted hazelnut claws its way to the front and everything suddenly turns very very sweet. Ugh. That was really unexpected.

 

Swap!

[forspecial_plate]

After reading other reviews, I really wanted to like this, because sometimes I have a thing for the underdog. This doesn't seem to be a hugely popular scent!

 

At first application, I smell something close to juniper, and it reminds me a lot of Golden Priapus. It's woodsy and a little sharp, but doesn't have a whole lot of throw. I agree that it leans to the masculine side, and I actually like it. I kept wondering when the hazelnut would come out, and it finally did, bringing a hint of powdery sweetness to the blend. I tend to amp sweet notes like crazy so I kind of expected hazelnut to ruin the scent for me, and it almost does. It's just shy of too sweet and a little powdery somehow. Still, an interesting combination and not bad on my skin.

 

Overall, this scent is not offensive at all, and I actually kind of like it. It didn't quite work its way into my favorites, but I'll keep my little leaky imp and wear it again a few times.

[rococo]

I have to thank you guys for this review ... I'd had an imp of this for ages, which had been no more than sniffed, and flicking through here, I sensed I was missing something ...

 

In the bottle: Sappy ... I'm not normally a huge fan of sappy scents, thus why I'd avoided this one slightly, but it's interesting all the same. Very strongly cyprus, with just a little touch of what I'm interpreting as spiciness.

 

Wet: As has been mentioned before, slightly anti-stringent, but not uncomfortably so. I can really smell the frankincense here (which I think could be giving it the warmth), as well as a less wet-smelling cypress sappiness. It's a very warm scent, but at the same time, quite chilling, which seems oddly appropriate!

 

Dry-down: Now this is when I'm starting to love this scent!! I can smell the hazelnut very strongly, and it's delicious! Again, it warms up the cold sappy woodiness, quite wonderfully. I find it to be very calming now, and really quite sexy ... it's completely lost the anti-stringent quality, and has turned quite smoky, though still surprisingly fresh. Every time I take a deep sniff of it I end up thinking of the exact picture drawn out in the description for this ... I can almost imagine being stuck somewhere inside a deep forest, waiting for the procession to pass. Makes me think of the Walpurgis Night section of Goethe's Faust. Warm but chilling.

 

Unfortunately, this is just ever so slightly too masculine for my tastes ... it's not a definite male scent, fairly androgynous, but there's nothing too feminine about it. I shall, however, be introducing my boyfriend to this very soon, and hoping it smells similar on him, and that he likes it as much as I do!

[jehrichardson]

In the Frimp: Pine! It must be the cypress... smells like that excellent pinesap that is so much fun to pick off the trunk. Mmm. I like it! Quite sharp and astringent.

 

On the Skin: Piney but warmer, not like pine-sol, more like the woods. Ah, the resins appear... this must be why I think 'pine sap'.

 

After a While: The incense pulls up now. It's still piney, but pine and incense. I'm not really getting the hazelnut, but that could be responsible for the bit of warmth we've got in there.

 

Verdict: I really really like it. It's refreshing and airy, it lets me enjoy pineyness without having to trek to the woods! I'm thinking this would be an excellent winter scent - gorgeous in the crystalline Minnesota January, with the delectable crunch of snow underfoot and all that blinding light. Mmmm!

[gchris]

In Vial: woods

 

Wet: Outdoor, trees and wood.

 

Dry: This has gotten stronger and is astringent. Smells like fresh cut wood.

[skepticism]

The resiny and woody notes layered and turned smokiness/blankety-ness(?) of the frankincense into a scent that is very clean, light, woody and herbal. In the vial I could smell the toasted hazelnut on the tail end, and it was there for a brief moment when wet. But it just turned back into frankincense/woody during the drydown. It doesn't have such a strong throw, which I like when it comes to blends with incense. It gives you just enough incense throw to appreciate it and love it. This is going on the 5ml wishlist!

[gingiemay]

Wet in imp - Black cypress, oakmoss and frankincense. No hazelnut.

 

Wet on skin - Black cypress, oakmoss, and frankincense. Even less hazelnut, if that’s possible.

 

Dry on skin - A pleasant mix of black cypress and oakmoss with the barest tinge of frankincense. It's definitely fresh yet dark at the same time. Still no hazelnut. Darn.

[juniperus]

bottle: dark, but with the sharpness of frankincense poking through

wet: much the same, but the cypress is more noticeable

dry: *cough* cypress *cough* amps on me.

later: omg! cypress! ack (and alas)!

[sqwook]

Wet: pine and woods

 

Dry: Well-blended enough so all the notes mingle and I can't quite pick them out, no one scent overpowering the others. A really beautiful woods, that dries down to a quiet sweetness. Really smooth and gentle, warm.

[rayvn1]

I really wanted to like this one And I DID like it wet. A tangy scent of herbs and something almost like juniper. It's just that it faded so very quickly...one moment there, then *poof* !

 

I think I'll hold onto it and see if it gets better.

[Iceblink]

Why am I smelling something citrusy?? I think my nose is interpreting the cypress that way. Odd. But as it dries I'm getting a delicious whiff of hazelnut and starting to smell the oakmoss--it's getting darker and darker with each passing moment. Interesting. May need further investigation!

[zankoku_zen]

Oh man, this one is a dark, woodsy sort of scent. I definitely smelly the oakmoss in the background, and it's bitter, but there's just a nutty hint to it. I also got this 'pine'/juniper feel to it on wet, which dissipates as it dries.

[GeorgeJr]

Ooooh , ah likez thiz one This is very woodsy indeed , but not in a piney kind of way . It's very much like being out in a damp woods , probably around fall , or early spring before everything has awoken & started growing anew . The oakmoss is really wonderful in this blend . Much more in the forefront then others I've tried . I honestly don't consider this a " dark " blend though . Maybe because I love the scent of the woods during the dormant periods . I'm also getting something besides the cypress & moss , a ever so slight sharpness in the back . Maybe a little citrus , but just barely so . All in all , very much a winner in my book .