Danse Macabre

[jj_j]

From the Funereal Oils collection: 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.

Out of the vial, this seems sharp and not all that promising. Long ago, though, I committed myself to trying any and all BPAL that came in front of me, so I dabbed in on, anyhow.

The frankincense is the more bitter, resinous note I'm used to, and the oakmoss provides a grounding, earthier tone for it. There's a slight astringent note that quickly warms and blends, and it's reminiscent of a drop of juniper - and a little drop, at that - I don't know if that's the oude, which the internet tells me comes off of the aloeswood tree.

This dries down to warm wood and light, and the barest touch of soft hands on the back of your neck.

Subtle, relaxed, and full of inevitablity, Danse Macabre would have me snuggling up to a man who wears it, and I'd wear it myself, although probably not often enough to use more than an Imp.

[Shollin]

First sniff: Danse Macabre is dry, incensey and sepia-toned, with a touch of gentle woody spice.

 

Wearing: Incense + my skin = sharp-sweet and unpleasant. Drat drat drat. I really liked this for the first, oh, minute and a half before it went funky – it’s strangely warm, raspy-dry, with the barest ghost of sweetness hovering over.

[paperdoll]

Initial Sniff: This is very sharp in the bottle. There is a strong woodsy note, and the frankincense is prominent.

 

Wearing: Almost unbearably sharp for the first 15 minutes or so of wearing, this one passes through an interesting dark forest phase before vanishing completely within an hour.

 

Final Impressions: I'm going to try to convince the boy to try this one, as I think it might suit him. This one just doesn't work with my body chemistry

[Ina Garten Davita]

First Impression: Oh, it smells just like fresh cypress, like standing in a forest full of them on a crisp clear day.

 

Second Impression: Clean, woodsy and fresh. Just lovely.

 

Final Analysis: The longer it wears the warmer it becomes and the nuttiness peeks through. I love the name but I the scent doesn't convey death to me. It's too fresh smelling for that.

[allamanda]

Danse Macabre

 

Oooh dark, woody and incensey, this smells wonderful when first applied. I can pick out the frankincense, but the other notes are too well blended for my nose to separate them. Burnished coffins spring to mind!

 

As this dries there is a lightness I can’t identify, very aromatic and yes, it makes this perfume dance for me. There is an almost floral note in there somewhere.

 

I sought a second opinion and my husband confirmed this smells incredible on my skin. It was so good I actually doubted what I smelt.

Edited September 13, 2004 by allamanda

[skg]

Spicy, peppery, woody with a touch of green and gold.

It's a soft mellow scent with and underlying warm sharpness.

This feels like a meditation/calming scent to me.

Ah geez another one for my ever growing must have list...*sigh*

[Tesseljoan]

At first it smells very woody, but the fresher note which reminds me of Juniper (which, I presume, is the cypress) comes out more and is dominant, which makes this a fresh wooden smell.

Even later on, there is a sweet note peeking out a bit more, which I can't identify.

Overall, a bit of a 'darker' fresh scent.

[magpiedee]

Indeed it is strange. From the bottle and at first dab, I get fleeting glimpses of running from plant to plant in my grandfather's garden as a child, looking for squash big enough to pick. There is a sharp, green, weedy smell to me, and also a deeper, earthy smell. Not dark, rich forest loam, but the drier, lighter, warmer earth from a garden, mixed with red clay and dusty in the sun. I can also smell the wood stakes holding up the tomatoes, and the dust in the air from a hot Georgia afternoon. As it dries down and soaks in, the scent becomes pungent and sweet, in an old, dry dusty way, like leather-bound books kept cradled in a locked room where a fragrant pipe has been smoked for 30 years. Funny how it goes from squash plants in the dry garden to books and smoke. But it does.

 

I believe I would snuggle up to a man who wore this, and nuzzle my lips against that soft place where the jaw meets the neck. A fire in an otherwise unlit room would flicker against his dark flannel shirt, and snow would pelt softly against the windowpanes, and I would be held safe, surrounded by down pillows. Grey, dark, flickery, parchment, old tobacco, pipe smoke, firelight, flannel, polished wood, a library with a rolling ladder, a gentleman in the garden, a scarf against the cold, surety, satiety, dry and dusty and comforting things all.

[grrrlennyl]

at first: another extra from beth that i never would have chosen for myself. very odd. woody, yet spicy, with an undercurrent of something that doesn't seem quite right.

on: hmmm...this reminds me of an aftershave / cologne combination that my dad may have worn. it's comforting, with a hint of dressing-up-ness to it.

.75 hours later: still really masculine. it's very woodsy, with a bit of spice.

1.5 hours later: i am so excited that this hasn't managed to go all sweet on me. it's actually getting sharper and starting to smell a bit like pine. now, it's not only reminding me of dad, but of xmas decorations as well. very interesting, comforting, and special-occasion-like.

2 hours: later this is so going to be my xmas-season scent. or, the scent for when i want to be in that kind of holiday mood. it smells like ornaments, taking the tree out of the box, and all sorts of other xmas decorations.

3 hours later: this has stayed pretty consistent over the past hour. i'm completely in love. this totally reminds me of my childhood. in fact, i'm watching the muppet movie right now. how ironic.

overall: well, once i run out of my imp, i will simply have to get a 5ml. this is just fabulous.

[jessamynit]

this reminds me of drinking way too much bombay sapphire gin : ) delicious but kind of crazy too. still not certain how I like it...

[Nepthys]

Wet, the woodsy notes dominated and smelled exactly like a Southern graveyard in autumn. It dried down, however, to a churchier scent of heavy frankincense - something I'm not fond of. Luckily that only lasted a short time before morphing to a nutty, mossy wet-tree smell and then settling into a lovely scent that I can only describe as burning incense outside on a wet fall day. I would love this on a man but I like it quite a bit on myself as well.

[pkwench]

It smells to me a lot like yew. The longer I have it on, the more the freshness and warmth creep up. It started out very strong and astringent. Then it went through a phase which smelled a little like something had peed on me-that was the yew smell starting to emerge, I think. I think after a while the yew-yness will calm down a bit, but it's just not quite for me. I think it would smell very nice on the S.O., but I don't know if he'd like it. It might be too evergreeny for him. Hmm.

 

Edited: I've taken to liking this one after all of this time. I got a second imp as a freebie and this time around it appeals to me more. I don't know if my body chemistry has changed or if my tastes have just expanded after 6 more months of Bpal glory.

 

There's something very, very dark, yes, when I put it on. It's almost unpleasant. But, weirdly, it morphs into a smell that I find very comforting.

Edited March 20, 2005 by pkwench

[TheDarkMother]

This was one that I wasn't even thinking of trying, but came as a freebie in my last order.

 

In the Bottle: Very dark woods and an herbal scent to it. This makes me think of black, choaking forests that no light can penetrate. The smaller trees grow twisted and dark, thier leafless branches reaching out for something, anything to feed them.

 

On Me: Darker still, but now the hazelnut is starting to show through. It gives it an almost rotting quality to it, of wood rotting from the inside out in the darkness, of dank cellars where the planks chip away at the slightest touch and the whole room smells of things gone to seed.

 

As it begins to mellow out, the scent blends much more. It is still the dark forest, but the rot is hiding, the real image on which the illusion of the other forest rests. The trees here look inviting, but only on the surface. In truth they are waiting for you to trip, so that thier roots can snag, their branches catch, as they reach out to feast on your bones, to open thier maws that you could have just sworn was just a crack, so that they can stave off the rotting just for a few weeks longer.

 

I love it when an oil can give me this much inspiration. I may not wear this often, but this is definately my horror inspiration bottle.

[Belladonnastrap]

Danse Macabre smells like a decadent dark ball.

 

First sniff

Like a darkened wood filled with revelers. The oakmoss really pops out in this. It was much darker then I orginially thought which was odd.

 

When wet

The cypress is more drawn out and there is something a bit aquatic about it..I don't know if thats the oakmoss or my weird nose. Maybe Juniper? There's a slight hint of nuttiness but nothing really strong. If I close my eyes and inhale the scent I get visions of a strong man sweeping me up in his arms..and both of us would smell like this. It's very odd.

 

Drydown

Mmm this turns dark and lovely and RICH.

 

Aftermath

I tend to buy scents for the names more then the ingredients and in the case of Danse Macabre I'm really glad I did! I'm not sure if I'll be buying the bottle but the imp is quite lovely..its a great unisex scent thats quite dark.

[Northernminx]

biting and bitter at first, the frankinsence is predominant and it isn't pretty for a while. It took a good ten to fifteen minutes for this to soften, leaving an earthy touch of oakmoss and something sweeter. Very suiting for an allegory for death, from loss to repose. The herbal hints in this are very medieval in tone and it's a complex scent. Sadly this doesn't last long on me so off to swaps.

[phoefromelsewhere]

I got this one solely for the name and I'm glad I did!

 

In the bottle: YUM! Pepper! Pepper and the men’s cologne counter.

 

Wet: Watery? Like big trees by the ocean with branches blown down from a strong wind and are now scenting the air. I can smell the frankincense, vaguely. There is something else in this but I can’t place it.

 

Drydown: Erm, it smells like a generic men’s cologne or really nice soap on a rope. Shame, I really liked the peppery phase. I’m getting a faint nutty note as well.

 

Later: I really like this now. It’s got just a whiff of sweetness, nut and a bit of spice. Very warming and comfortable. And it lasts for hours.

 

Lovely!

[Falathwen]

This was a freebie offered by the lab. I had no idea what oude was, so I looked it up. Apparently it is a resinous-turpinoid scent which one person described as "the fragrance of God in India." Well, that was intriguing! I tried it on my husband first, because he likes woodsy scents and hazelnut. On him, it was a wonderful blend with cypress and frankincense dominant - spicy and woodsy. Unfortunately it faded quickly - he quipped that that seemed appropriate, since the point of the Danse Macabre was that nothing lasts. On me, Danse Macabre lasted much longer and was stronger, but still amazingly gentle for a blend with cypress, which usually seems very powerful on my skin.

[surf-tormented]

Ok, maybe some of you will laugh at this, but it smells like a dead body when first applied. You got me, I haven't smelled a dead body. I do assume that this is what it would smell like and it wasn't pleasant. It was strong and harsh. Dead. Real dead. Decomposing. Rotten skin and dissolving gums.

 

Then, as strongly as it came in on my wrist of death and decay, it vanished. Probably after 15 minutes max. My boyfriend said he could vaguely smell what amounted to Christmas spices and baby powder before it went. I think this might of been the hazelnut. I didn't smell anything though.

 

This was a real disappointment since I loved the name and I am trading the imp I got. Maybe someone else's skin will love it more than mine did. Or maybe someone will love the smell of decay and hold it by their bosom with love.

[hypothermya]

Danse Macabre

 

Initial Impression

 

A very sharp green smell. I get moss and woods. Very earthy. This is exactly the sort of scent I'd want to wear if I wanted to smell earthy without patchouli or vetiver...

 

Wearing It

 

This actually warms up a lot when I put it onto my skin. I get a very woodsy, resiny scent that reminds me of freshly chopped firewood. It's the nuttiness and incensey scent beneath the woods that make me think of holidays... Every holiday there would be lots of wood fires, lots of nuts, and some frankincence incense to burn. There's the slightest scent of dried moss, but otherwise this is pure wood and resin. Lovely. I think I'm going to make my boyfriend try it out, since it's such a warm, dry, comforting scent. A little too masculine feeling for me, but it should be perfect on him.

[stardreamer]

The description doesn't sound promising, and on first sniff I thought it was going to be much too strong and dark for me; I do better with the lighter, sweeter scents. But it's slowly grown on me with wearing. I really don't catch any particular note, but it's a deep, sexy scent -- certainly not something I'd wear for everyday, but if I were on the prowl... mrrrow! My cat Penny seems to like it; she was on my lap, and licked at the base of my neck where I'd put some on.

 

R., of course, puts it squarely into the "Phew!" category (quote: "Don't wear that while we're in the car!"); apparently frankincense is one of his special hates. He also says it seems to have permeated the den/kitchen area like a miasma, so I suspect I should apply it more lightly. But I don't think I'll get rid of it yet. If I go clubbing with the girls again, it might be a good fragrance for that.

[Penance]

Origin:

 

Lagniappe from the Lab.

 

Preconceived notions:

 

Oh, goodie! I've been waffling over ordering this one for a long time because of the hazelnut, but now I get to try it! Thanks, Labbies!

 

First sniff:

 

Mmm, deliciously dark smelling. I can definitely smell the cypress, oakmoss and frankincense in this, all of which I love. I honestly have no clue what oude is, so I can't say if I smell it or not and, so far, there's no hazelnut, which is wonderful as nuts and I don't get along. This is dark and dangerous smelling, like a forest at midnight but with an underlying spicy resinous quality that makes it a little less threatening smelling. This smells so unbelieveably good so far, I hope it smells this good on me.

 

Wet on skin:

 

Very woodsy smelling. The cypress and oakmoss really come through strong when this is wet. There's still a faint spicy resin in the background, but this is mainly the deep forest at midnight. This is so gorgeous! I never dreamed I'd love Danse Macabre this much!

 

Dry down:

 

This reminds me of Loup Garou with frankincense added. It's woodsy and gorgeous, but spicy and resinous at the same time. I love this blend; it's perfect for me!

 

The bottom line:

 

I waffled about this one for a long time, but this is absolutely gorgeous! I'm going to have to get a 10mL of this one immediately.

[ChupaChup]

This was lovely lagniappe (did I use that correctly, Penance?) from the lovely lab. I was expecting something dark and sinister, just based on the name, but Danse Macabre is very pretty. It reminds me a lot of Kostnice, it must be the lab's wonderful frankincense, but somehow in this blend it is creamier. I would love to smell oude by itself to know if that is what is making the blend so creamy. A very calming, restful scent, I hope I feel this peaceful when I die .

[quinkel]

Not for me this one... I loved the name but there is something reminds me of vetivert

 

I wore it on Christmas day as the notes seemed approprate but on my skin...

[feline.by.design]

Hmm....

 

In the bottle Danse Macabre smelled rather innocent. Once the oil touched my skin, though, the hazelnut (I assume) smell really was brought forward. Wet, my skin gave off the smell of burning woods. Its a smell that I've found before, but I can't recall what fragrance from BPAL smelled similar. Perhaps this is the cypress and oakmoss. Either way, it's quite strong, and was rather unexpected from what I smelled in the bottle.

 

After a while, the fragrance softened, with the woody smell in the background and a more green, floral scent was thrust forth. I liked this stage, but after about thirty minutes or so the floral scent took over and now the skin reminds me of some soap. Good smelling, but a bit too much of the "clean" fragrance I had originally thought of this scent being.

 

All in all, Danse Macabre was really a finely crafted fragrance, however I think this would be better suited to someone else. As previously mentioned, this fragrance would lend itself well with a man's body, so I may give this one to my squeeze to see what he thinks of it.

 

-doreen

[darkitysnark]

Danse Macabre

 

This was a gimp with my next-to-the-last order. I started taking notes but somehow did not manage to finish up my review the first time. Somehow I lost the gimp, and even though I already had another imp on another pending order, I was bereft and felt a little guilty about trying it again (some sort of responsibility=access to the preciouss logic). So finally, before the end of 2004 I tried again:

 

In the bottle

Very sharp and incensy.

 

Wet

Still sharp, but warming quickly. I'm feeling absolutely neutral.

 

Drydown

The incense loses its sharp edge and rounds out to a very straightforward smell: the scent of an altar after incense has been burned. You can still smell the incense, though the impact is lessened as it dissipates. There is a dry burnt wood implication in the background. Extremely grounding.

 

Later

This oil has medium staying power on me. At the end of the day I could still pick it up if I sniffed directly off my wrist. I did not get the hazelnut this second time but (if I don't lose this one!) will try again after my cycle to see if that changes.

 

Conclusion

Nice, but not great. Even with the slight layering of incense and wood this felt like a pretty straightforward scent to me. I think one of the things I like best about Beth's work is that many of her blends are constantly in flux: one note tumbling over another to blend and morph and shift throughout the day. I'll use up this imp and probably move on to other incensey blends (Kathmandu, Nosferatu, Brimstone, Eidolon, Capricorn).

 

I'm still having a little "bad mama" guilt about losing the gimp. Perhaps it'll be a little gift to myself again someday (kind of like those five dollar bills I manage to hide from myself sometimes).

 

ETA: nine months later and this oil has turned into one I loooove. I wore this several months ago to a house party thrown by some of my goth friends and days later, when I picked up the scent on my jacket I could conjure all the wonderful moments of that evening. This oil is permanently linked to that group of friends. Now that I'm on the other side of the country, it's an ol factory key to that room of my memory palace.

Edited September 21, 2005 by darkitysnark