Danse Macabre

[Wench457]

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.

Danse Macabre: In the imp, this smelled like a light floral with a hint of smoke.

On: A total transformation. Now it is a sharp resin scent, a bit lemony actually.

Dry: Like scented candles - but not one particular scented candle. Like a scented candle shop where all the scents meld together. A nice enough smell, but not the one for me. Edited September 12, 2007 by quantum spice

[AngellicMystique]

This was woodsy with a hint of frankincense. I thought it was kind of non-descript, and it slighlty burned my skin.

[Fefferbella]

This is a really green/ woodsy scent!

 

Deffinately cypress mulch and dark, resinous frankincense. Very interesting.

[tansil]

The cypress comes out first. It's so woody and sharp that it drowns everything else. Then quietly the frankincense sneaks out a bit. After a couple of hours it's still sharp and hten it quiets down to moss and hazelnut. It's nice but I’m not sure it's for me. I'll put it in the swap pile.

[Neely]

Frimp luvn'! Feel the love Alicia Stardust!

 

In the bottle: pepper (? that isn't listed), and a floral. I want to say a rose dipped in black ground pepper.

 

Wet: rose with black pepper.

 

Dry down: earthy peppered rose.

 

Conclusion: not for me. I don't like black pepper at all! In fact, I hate it in food. I am willing to wear it in scents, but with something to temper it better. What surprises me is the pepper isn't listed, but that is what my nose *taps nose to see if broken* registers something in here as pepper. Yuck for me.

 

Rating on my skin, this is a 1.

[QueenFae]

An interesting scent, I would classify this one as incensey. It's heavy and the frankincense and black cypress, and that's all I smell at first. Now that I've worn it awhile, I can smell the hazelnut softly emerging. It gives it an earthier, sweeter sort of feel. I think this would be really nice on a guy, it's just not for me.

[bellis]

This is sweeter and softer than I was expecting. The frankincense is lovely with the hazelnut and the oude, but the cypress doesn't want to be my friend. I'd love to smell it on someone else, though.

[Caltha]

Dance Macabre

It starts out as a sharp, poisonous herbal/woody/piney smell, dry and warm. As it dries it gets fainter and fresher and I get citrus and schampoo with a hint of pine.

[Heretic]

In the bottle: Frankincense with a sharp green note. This must be the cypress.

 

On my wrist, wet: Much the same, with the sharpness softening a little and the frankincense developing nicely. Oooh! Here comes some moss.

 

After 20 minutes: What an odd blend. I don't know what I was expecting but it wasn't anything this soft (and yet there is just a hint of a sharp edge). It's also lighter than I expected it to be, yet it's still a weighty fragrance.The cypress has stepped back to let the frankincense and oak moss blossom. I like this very much.

 

After an hour: Danse Macabre is ultimately a soft green floral on me. The frankincense is tempered and sweetened, and the sharp note that was so prevalent in the wet stage has completely disappeared. This is a unique fragrance and it sits well on me. I accidentally ordered a 5 ml bottle of this (I meant to order Dance of Death), but it's actually turned out to be a fortuitous mistake. I'll wear this one often.

[Celogrl]

I vacillate over poor Danse Macabre. At times I love it, can't wait to slather more on, and at other times this is too potent for me. It's definitely one of the deeper, darker BPALs. I love cypress, but I can't pick out what that deep note is- maybe the oude? It almost seems like there's vetiver in here! Overall, I find this a very interesting scent and it's almost become a compulsion for me to keep this imp and to keep experimenting with it!

[sarahj]

Danse Macabre

 

received in a swap

 

in vial: cypress

 

wet: cypress and frankincense

 

dry: nice blend of cypress and frankincense

 

verdict: nice, but I don't need a big bottle

[sthenno]

Dark, green, and musty. Very spicy/peppery at first. It makes me think of a dank cellar in a long-abandoned house. Not exactly pleasant.

 

Later on, this morphs into a spicy wood scent. It's now dry and musty instead of dank and musty. Makes me think of a library. While it's better in the dry stage, I don't think I want to smell like this.

[this machine]

Danse goes on and reminds me mostly of cathode - it's clearly the oakmoss, which i love. Unfortunately i just end up wishing i was wearing cathode when i try this, especially because after an hour or so it turns into this public bathroom cleaner smell. Yeck.

[blu°]

I had written a review of this, but it got eaten by the big forum crash some days ago.

 

Basically I was saying that I love Danse Macabre to death.

It just made me realize that I have to get rid of all my second bests, because it was sooo lovely, I never want to wear anything less divine in my life anymore!

 

...well, except for testing, er... yeah.

 

However, Danse Macabre takes a beautiful twist on the oakmoss which I love. And my skin does so, too, amping it like crazy.

 

While oakmoss always turns a gorgeous deep warm golden green on my skin, something in Danse Macabre, probably the black cypress, makes it smell like sun baked earth of the mediterráneo. There's this airy spicy-herbal woodiness, very much like a piece of wood that's been lying in the hot sun for ages. Or the ground covered with dry branches and heat resistant greenery.

 

It's very natural smelling, very much like Andalusia.

 

I had a similar feeling from wearing Gaueko, thought they don't have listed notes in common. They just both managed to be airy yet dark and smelling like the Mediterranean on my skin.

 

I love Danse Macabre more, though.

It's my favourite woody-green-dark-airy-sunny scent ever right now.

[PirateMaggie]

Death is right--on my skin this smells exactly--and I do mean exactly--like rotting corpse. (At work, I often have to deal with rotting corpses; it's a smell I'm quite familiar with.) Obviously, this is not a keeper.

[sideviewhotel]

I think I recognize the oude in this oil, but that's about it. Well, there's a hint of something else but that's all it really is. A hint. A tease of, "hey, you know. if your skin chemistry was different, this would probably smell stronger! hahahaha"

 

When it was wet, the incense was very strong, but nope. Not anymore. I'm not giving up on it just yet, though. I'm gonna try it once more. Maybe I didn't apply enough. Plus, I have Serpent's Kiss on the other wrist and it's overwhelming & interferring. *sticks tongue out*

[WidgetAlley]

In the Imp: Harsh, unforgiving wood, freshly split, with a layering of damp oakmoss and the slight after-spice of frankincense. Rich browns and greens and swampy blue-golds. I don't know what oude smells like, but there's a smooth tone underneath everything else... perhaps that's it? No hazelnut at the moment. This is very complex: biting, sharp and aquatic all at once. Reminds me a bit of Omen. I can't stop sniffing.

 

Wet: Something else quickly emerges as a top note-- something shimmery and gauzy but resonant. It mellows the deeper woods and mosses, and turns them into a gorgeous base rather than a bold vanguard. There's a little sweet-dusty hazelnut hovering around the edges, too, and a touch of salty incense from the frakincense. There's a bit of throw; not a lot, but some. Mmmmm..... I love this kind of scent. It reminds me of the Wood Between the Worlds in The Magician's Nephew.

 

Dry: Woe! It's fading already... the moss and woods seem to have died away, leaving only golden oude, hazelnut and frankincense. This is really gorgeous, while it lasts, but it vanishes so quickly I'm not sure I need to keep it. I'll have to test again (and weigh it against Omen) before I make a final decision.)

 

[edit] I'd like to add that this is a sublime oil to wear while reading The Fellowship of the Ring!

Edited March 28, 2006 by WidgetAlley

[malanna]

This smells like driftwood, which, presumably would be the black cypress, oakmoss (lots and lots of oakmoss), with a bit of frankincense. I'm not sure what oude smells like. I know that Holiday Moon had oude in it, and this does not have shades of Holiday moon. All I can say for Danse Macabre is that it smels of a perfume version of rotting log.

[sissa125]

In the imp: It's like sticking my nose into the thick of a cypress tree. Medicinal but green and fresh.

 

Wet: Juicy fresh cypress. Some bright woods standing underneath.

 

Dry: Alas - it fades in minutes. Don't go away, pretty piney scent! I liked you. Oh the tragedy! The vial smells delightful, but my skin chemistry sucks it all away. But all is not lost. There is the barest sheen of foresty woody comfort lingering on my wrist.

 

It is quite nice, but I think I'm still looking for my ideal forest scent. One that has more throw than Danse Macabre, but doesn't irritate my nose like Burial.

[the_cat_goddess]

Not liking it in the vial...

 

On: dirty grass in an unpleasant way.

Sharp at the beginning of the inhalation, but dulled towards the end.

*Frankincense always hates me!*

Makes me want to wash this off as quickly as possible!

 

Definitely going in the swap pile! : )

[Brianne]

In the vial:

Bitter dark green smell

 

On me:

At first, I absolutely could not stand the smell of this. When it goes on wet, it's so bitter and astrigent, it's nearly unbearable for me. It only takes a few short minutes though before it morphs into a masculine, but powdery green scent. It's pleasant. Shortly after that though, it morphs into a more incensey scent strongly accompanied by dry, spicey wood notes. It's masculine to me, though I'm sure a woman could wear this too - it just makes me think of men. It has a foresty vibe going on, which is strange because it's more incense like than anything.

 

Final note:

Very warm and pleasant, not for me but it is nice

[Medici]

In the imp: Wooo! Moss and cypress! It's a bit aquatic actually, or maybe that's my predisposition to Bayou's Spanish moss speaking. I also get a lot of frankincense from this blend, as well as the oude which freshens it up considerably.

 

Wet: Cypress and cypress and oude. A little tangy, a little foresty, but the frankincense is wreaking havoc on my nose. It turns this blend into insta-pine cone.

 

Drydown: Damned frankincense. My chemistry just amped it up and its drowned everything else out. I smell like one of those car freshener pine trees that you dangle from your rear-view mirror.

 

Verdict: Awesome in the imp, but utterly destroyed by my chemistry.

[Zeljana]

this one is a beauty. it is one of te most unusual fragrances I've ever had a chance to try. this is a wonderful harmony of different kinds of wood and it's just amazing on my skin.

i don't even care that it really is a tad masculine. need to get a bottle of this one.

[Elrianra]

In the bottle, this is wood and moss with a dash of nuttiness - a bit darker and smokier than I expected, actually. On me wet, the cypress and hazelnut compete for the strongest note in a heady attack of wood and nut that leaves me dazed and astounded at the sudden power of it. This was not very strong in the bottle but once on me, it gains enormous throw! Drying, the throw is gone and this has turned powder soft and faint - not powdery, mind, just faint. I have no idea how to describe this after it warms... woody and smoky and nutty all at once, the moss dusts the woods. I looked up oude and found that it is manufactured from agarwood - a wood that is basically bitter and heavy - while the cypress is a slightly whiter wood tone in this, it is the oude that I am finding the oude to be the darkening factor in this blend. After only an hour or so of life, this has faded to almost non existence on me which is both a disappointment and a relief: I cannot say that I was fond of this scent, but it certainly was memorable. However shortlived the scent was, it was brilliantly blended and a very interesting take on the theme.

[edenssixthday]

Danse Macabre - The frankincense and oakmoss are the strongest notes in this blend. I have no idea what "oude" is or what it smells like, so that's definitely a note I can't identify, and the toasted hazelnut doesn't show up on me at all. The cypress is strong when I first apply this blend, giving it a green depth that it doesn't have once the oil dries down and the cypress fades. Upon dry-down, I really fall in love with this scent. The frankincense is the strongest note, and I've recently fallen head-over-heels in love with BPAL frankincense. This scent has really great throw and I have to be careful not to over-apply because the frankincense is so strong it will make me sick to my stomach if I wear it too heavily. Applied lightly, I catch lovely wafts of the scent around me for hours and hours -- it's one of the longer-lasting BPAL oils that I wear, and doesn't start to noticeably fade for about 6 hours, although I don't feel the need to "touch up" the scent until about the 8 hour point. I have several imps of this and will most definitely be enjoying it for a while.