The Parliament of Monsters (2006)

[Heretic]

You pass through the golden mouth, and find yourself inside a narrow, cramped corridor. Large wooden paintings of skeletal hands crook their bony fingers, leading you forwards. At the first turn, you hear a bizarre jumble of sounds: the high-pitched sound of gears grinding, metal on metal, the sound of sultry, low-pitched laughter, a clattering, wings flapping, soft hissing. Suddenly, a sharp howl pierces the darkness. As you make your way around the corner you are momentarily blinded as floodlights flicker to life, and thirteen gold-gilded stages are illuminated, bathed from beneath in sinister, caramel-colored light.

Dust, incense, wet tobacco, and a curl of opium smoke.

In the bottle: Sweet incense.

On my wrist, wet: Nice. Incense and a hint of tobacco hide a thin, sharp note that curls right up your nose.
After 20 minutes: This is wonderful. The opium smoke lends a sharp sweetness that reminds me of a gentle white musk, the sharpness tempered by an unidentifiable dustiness. This is gorgeous on me, but would be damn sexy on a man as well.
After 40 minutes: This ends up with a vanilla-like note that replaces that sharp note from the initial stage. This is a bit sultry, even with the dust, and the tobacco doesn't come to the fore with blazing sweetness like many tobacco blends. Instead, it's almost sweet. The Parliament of Monsters that has my nose glued to my wrist. Another bottle of this one. It's a sexy beast.

[sarada]

My first whiff of this is a dreamy breath of a light, sweet resin and curled pale wood chips. I think of wood shop, actually -- white wood raising a cloud of powdery pale dust and the faint aroma of burning.

 

As it dries on my skin it sweetens though and the note I recognize clearly from Dr. John Seward comes out...that must be the opium smoke. It smells for a bit just like Seward, actually, but the pale woods and clear resinous smell kicks back in. I'm not sure exactly what blonde tobacco smells like but I feel like that must be the kind in this because all I can think about are the palest golden woods.

 

I'm imagining monsters gathered in an old library poring over stacks of books, spectacles poised on the ends of beaks and proboscises, pipes hanging loosely between fangs as coils of smoke laze through the room.

[tinyvulture]

the driest incense blend ever. i’d classify it as masculine, but i like it well enough on my skin too. the lab description leaves nothing out: incense, sharp sweet opium smoke, a distinct tobacco smell, and yes, this actually does smell dusty, enough to make my nose twitch! i envision exploring a mysterious great-grandfather’s dark attic, blowing layers of dust off strange old keepsakes, and the lingering scent of tobacco and opium lingering on his jackets.

[Blood onmy hands]

I wisely just decided to wait and get a sample of this one from a friend. It contains my arch nemesis, opium. Painfully sharp, white, biting. Smelling opium is like snuffing razor blades up the nose for me.

 

Opium paired with a dry, dusty note and the unpleasant, sticky sweetness that I get from tobacco… this is a nightmare scent for me

 

My skin amps up the sharp opium and hints of dirty tobacco as a suffocating dryness lingers in the background. I had to scrub this one off. Awful. If you can handle opium and like resins & tobacco scents, you'd probably have good luck with The Parliament of Monsters.

[edenssixthday]

The Parliament of Monsters - This is incredibly dusty and perfumey. I wish I got more of the opium smoke, but sadly, it's mostly dust and incense and doesn't work on me. The level of throw is moderate and the staying power is average

[emzebel]

This had an interesting sweet edge to my nose - I couldn't really pick out any of the specific notes, but would have banked on a honey, or a fruit note in here somewhere, just because of the sweetness. Perhaps the tobacco was a sweet blend.

 

Anyway, this is definitely a smoky mysterious blend - an entry point, a drawing in to the figures that await in the 13-in-1, and if anything, I almost get a little of each in this entrance. But perhaps that is just my imagination.

[QueenFae]

This smells like sweet opium and incense smoke. This is much sweeter than I expected. I can't smell the tobacco note at all, which is fine with me because that usually doesn't agree with me. It's a very resiney/ smokey blend. The opium note is very dominating. It has medium throw. I like this quite a bit more than I thought I would; it's a lovely take on an opium blend. Not something I'd wear everyday, but nice just the same.

[savage_rose]

I wasn't expecting much, but it's oddly enough a very laidback blend...but laidback in the sleeping tiger way, with eyes closed and paws curled and never truly asleep. At first the opium gives it a heady, spicy edge, but it soon fades into the dusty incense...sweet, and slightly muted. You can almost see the smoke curl. Lovely and odd, and I can't stop smelling my wrist. Although, sadly, it seems to be fading fast. But it was nice while it lasted!

[blu°]

This will be a kind of dodgy review, but well...

I was surprised to like this so much, is basically what I wanted to say. I can't usually wear tobacco well, so I was wary this might be really bad on me. Instead, it isn't. Every single note is lovely and deep and me too, couldn't stop sniffing my wrists when I wore it.

The wet tobacco must be really different from other tobaccoes.

 

Also, the opium smoke in here is quite gorgeous. It's a tad bitter, a tad sweet, but not too much so, it deepens and sweetens the woody/tobacco-ey base. A very wearable, warm and cozy, also sexy, blend.

 

I've already ordered my bottle.

[PilotKitten]

I wish that opium weren’t showing up in so many blends lately. The opium here is pretty strong. A sharp, white smokiness that pierces the other notes. In the drydown, more of the tobacco comes out and this is an incredibly dry, dirty scent. Too dry and too smoky for me. Makes me smell like I rolled around in the floor of a cigarette store

[forspecial_plate]

I'm completely revising my review.....

 

I actually really like this. It smells a little mossy to me for some reason. I love the smokiness. Before, I was confused about the tobacco I think. I thought I was smelling champaca flower. But I think it's just the tobacco. This scent reminds me a little of Midnight on the Midway, a little darker and huskier maybe. I think I'll be wearing this more often and I'm glad I didn't swap it right away!

Edited May 13, 2007 by Forspecial Plate

[Alchemy21599]

In the vial: resinous and sweet. Not a dark resinous scent.

 

Wet: sweet incense, tobacco, and a hint of old book dust.

 

Dry: A lovely scent that is more masculine than I was expecting.

[Court Analyst/Strategist]

When I initially tried this I thought I couldn't wear it, but I am now wearing The Parliament of Monsters a day later and the blend is growing on me. I am usually not one for too much sweetness in a blend and this one is coming dangerously close to that too-sweet edge - but I am liking the scent.

 

On my skin this is a soft, predominantly resinous/light smoke blend and doesn't change much past application. Like Forspecial Plate noted, the sweetness factor has a strangely fruity floral-ish quality that does sort of remind me of the overload of sweetness I encountered with last year's Khajuraho (which had a strong element of the champaca flower he mentioned). However, this level of sweetness is tolerable and lies over a smooth, tobbacco-ish note melded with a lingering cloud of resins and a hint of smokiness. The throw is light to medium with a slightly less than average broadcast of scent.

 

Verdict: Unfortunately, my skin chemistry does make this blend a little too simplistic during wear for my tastes, but its pleasant. Its a toss-up whether I'll keep the imp, but I'll definately test the scent out again once or twice before deciding.

 

Court

[acaciasears]

Oh.. oh yes... YES YES YES

 

I will preface this by saying I love and live with a man who probably wouldn't notice if his sense of smell disappeared overnight. I get so excited when I receive a new blend in the mail and instantly pass it over to him, only to see the same shrug every time. This is a man who won't wear cologne except the occasional Axe body spray, which I argue makes him smell like a damn frat house.

 

Well, he still doesn't particularly care about his sense of smell, but this smells ABSOLUTELY STUNNING on him. which is really all I wanted.

 

In Bottle: Smells like a masculine cologne. A little woodsy, a little sweet, but definitely masculine.

 

On Skin: Instantly a sweet and masculine scent. It fades out fairly quickly, and the drydown is gorgeous. It's soft and sweet and almost a little fruity, but I'm sure that vague fruit note is the opium being sneaky.

 

This will work beautifully on a man OR a woman, but be warned - the initial throw is fairly masculine. Once it starts fading out, it could go either way. This is not a potent or overwhelming scent - you may want to apply liberally. I apply one or two dots with the dabber inside the cap, and it was pretty much gone after 2 hours.

[Laurel the Woodfairy]

Initially, I seem to be getting a decidely feral group of monsters--something like a lighter version of civet. The drydown is a little more incensey, but I wouldn't say it really plays nice with my chemistry.

[Miss Lynx]

Not bad... Incensey scents and I usually get along pretty well, though the idea of wet tobacco makes me a bit queasy. But tobacco notes in perfume seem to come across as very sweet, almost floral, on me, so between that and the opium this scent is considerably sweeter than I'd really expected it to be.

 

But despite the sweetness, it doesn't feel feminine in the slightest. It definitely, particularly as it settles in, seems more like a men's scent to me, though an unconventional one. I'm sure it could work on some women as well, but on the whole something about smelled slightly... not right on me. Can't really pin it down more precisely than that, but it just didn't seem to be a good fit.

 

An overall fairly pleasant scent, though... Just not really one that suits me.

 

Grade: B-

[theseagrows]

this smells more like a fruity green-shampoo scent on me...i dont get much incense or tobacco, unless opium smoke has a sweetness to it. this actually smells more incensy in the imp but more clean on my skin. weird, not what i expected at all. it's not really my style either so i think i'll pass it along.

[yeahbutnobut]

Parliament of Monsters

 

In the imp: mmm, gorgeous frankincense, very similar to the Pit and the Pendulum.

Wet on skin: now a sweeter note, an airy white musk, and some opium appear. Now I get a hint of Stardust mixing with the incense.

Dry: oh, this is gorgeous! It smells like Stardust meets Midnight Mass! I know, it’s crazy, but I swear I get the same ‘champagne and white musk’ scent from here as I do in Stardust. There’s definitely a similar opium and tobacco scent, though the tobacco in here is more like tobacco flower for now. But I smell champagne, or white wine, in here too. There’s a beautiful layer of frankincense at the bottom, maybe some myrrh too, a hint of something dusty, but mainly the Stardust-like opium and tobacco with resinous incense. I love this.

After a while: hmm, this has turned a little odd now. I now smell olive oil in here, which is weird. It’s not too bad but it reminds me of the olive scent that I got in Yule and Alecto. I still smell opium, and Stardust, tobacco and resinous incense as well…but the olive is a little off putting. However, this does sometimes make the scent smell like a martini, with that ‘champagne’ note I got before morphing every now and then into gin (maybe there’s juniper in here?). A very strange reaction I certainly didn’t expect in this scent.

The oddly white musky scent with champagne does move in and out of the scent, as does the strange olive scent, with the gorgeous deep resins and opium still lingering. I’m really torn about this scent…I love the ‘Stardust with incense’ fragrance this has, but that olive note is distracting.

Eventually after about three hours, the olive note goes completely. Now the scent is a white musk, white wine and opium scent with smoky, tobacco touched incense underneath-two distinct layers in the scent. It’s very unusual.

The scent ends up as a thin, ethereal, dusty smoky white musk with poppy…it reminds me of a less floral and dustier version of Euterpe now.

Verdict: this one has me torn. I adore incense scents so much, and the first hour or so of this scent is wonderful. Oddly, this does smell like the lovechild of Stardust and Midnight Mass! There’s opium here but I also smell that same white musk and champagne from Stardust as well…but with an undertone of resins. And then a smell of martinis comes out. (These monsters seem to be partying down in their freak show tent with the booze flowing and the smoke and opium readily available…do the monster mash!) I smell gin here but there’s one note that’s preventing me from enjoying this…a weird salty olive note. I have no idea what this is but it smells like those briny olives or olive oil (not like the nice olive leaf note in other BPALs) and it’s really odd. The scent moves through stages of opium and booze and incense but still keeps that strangely Stardust-y scent. I didn’t smell as much resin/incense in this scent as I hoped. I think I’ll swap this one, if it wasn’t for the olive note, I’d probably love this a lot more.

Emoticon rating:

Is it a keeper? I’m not sure. I normally adore incense scents but the olive note here gives me pause.

If you like this, try: Pit and the Pendulum, Stardust, Euterpe, Midnight Mass, Opium Poppy, Darkness, Penitence, Carceri D’Invenzione

Edited March 29, 2007 by yeahbutnobut

[filigree_shadow]

This is much sweeter than I expected. I normally like the darker incense blends better than the sweet ones, and I thought this would be dark-ish with the wet tobacco. Nope. Definitely sweet. It's not bad at all, it's airy and smoky, it's just not my cup of tea incense-wise. This is the sort of scent I'd like as a room scent but not so much as a perfume.

[Naamah_Darling]

This is a bit high-pitched, moreso than I thought it would be. I blame the opium.

 

In the bottle, this is traditionally perfumey, a combination of opium and other incenses.

 

On, it practically vanishes. Where's the smell? All I'm getting is a sort of woody thrum, a low-grade incense purr that has no throw and virtually no presence even close-in. It does smell dusty. I imagine there is sandalwood in this, and perhaps a faint hint of white pine, like sawdust.

 

It's barely there at all. How odd!

 

This never really comes up, it just sort of fades away. Sad!

[euterpe414]

I didn't order this one right away when it came out b/c I was scared of the 'dust' note. That note is what really ruined Krampus for me, so I was a bit biased. However in this blend I am not getting very much dustiness at all. I get a rich, warm incense with hints of tobacco and opium. Really hazy, thick and sweet. This is definitely a 'lazy' scent- it's making me feel very comfortable and relaxed- but most incense scents tend to do that for me. This is a pretty unique incense blend for BPAL, in m opinion. To make a comparison (I know it's annoying, but I can't help it!) it seems the most similar to King Cobra but without the Snake Oil aspect. However that is a pretty vague comparison. Oh and, PoM, to me, is the epitome of a unisex scent.

 

My only complaint about this one is that it does not last very long on my skin. Maybe that is b/c it is hot out today and I am bit sweaty, but after about two hours there is not much left of it. I will surely reapply, but this fact does make me a little bit sad.

 

All in all, this is a great incense blend to have in 'the collection'. I am going to see if aging makes it last a bit longer, sometimes that works with resins. If not, I will slather. My only caution about this one is- if you do not like opium, you most likely will not enjoy this. However if you do...

Edited April 13, 2007 by euterpe414

[supremegoddessofall]

In bottle: Dry tobacco

 

On me: Mostly opium, touch of tobacco and dust. Interesting.

[batsy]

In the bottle: smoke and incense with carmel.

 

On the skin: It smells 'dirty', if that makes sense. The carmel is in the background, mostly run over by the tobacco. It's similar to Mum Moon with the incense and smoke, but really the manly version of that. Lovely and dark.

[Meg]

In the bottle: this smells like berries, to me - strange... (a similar note as in Krampus, which I find rather berry, too)

 

Wet: this fruity note turns out to be woodsy, which is nice. It really reminds me of spicy blackberry, yum.

 

Drydown: I like this... incensy, thick smoke, but there's this woodsy fruity scent that I can't quite place very nice. There's something musty about it, and I also think I can perceive the tobacco. The opium expresses itself by its bitter, shrill note.

 

Overall: this is a very tart dust, with various smokes coming into it, but mostly, dust. I really like it, actually, there's something interesting and very pleasant about it. It reminds me more of bitter unripe blackberry, which is fine by me. There's something... stuffy, about it, too, which isn't that pleasant.

[Ajila]

In the bottle – It’s almost not there, just a slight tickling of the opium smoke at the very edge of my nose

 

Wet on me – Indistinct spiciness with a touch of metal and a hint of bacon

 

Dry on me – Warm and spicy, slightly creamy and very sexy

 

Overall – This is a wonderful scent and whilst I will wear it I think it would be a great one to test on a man

Edited December 30, 2007 by Shollin