Berry Moon is live at BPAL and BPTP!

[kebechet]

Berry Moon is live at BPAL and BPTP!

 

BERRY MOON

In August, the large masses of berries, which, when in flower, had attracted many wild bees, gradually assumed their bright velvety crimson hue, and by their weight again bent down and broke their tender limbs.

-- Henry David Thoreau

 

A golden summer musk with warm fig, orange blossom honey, sweet blueberries, and bright velvety crimson raspberries.

 

 

Both the tee and the perfume will be live at their respective sites until July 9, 2009.

 

 

Also new to the LE’s this month…

 

STINKY

A cure for sweaty bits and sticky wilting. Stinky is a summer refresher ‘foom for people that don’t dig run-of-the-mill “clean” scents: newly-washed skin with a dusting of rice milk, white honey, and baby powder.

 

 

Ars Amatoria has two new perfumes…

 

APEROTOS EROS

Strong as death, and cruel as the grave,

Clothed with cloud and tempest's blackening breath,

Known of death's dread self, whom none outbrave,

Strong as death,

 

Love, brow-bound with anguish for a wreath,

Fierce with pain, a tyrant-hearted slave,

Burns above a world that groans beneath.

 

Hath not pity power on thee to save,

Love? hath power no pity? Nought he saith,

Answering: blind he walks as wind or wave,

Strong as death.

 

Unloving love: benzoin, Indian musk, massoia bark, myrrh, ambrette seed, galbanum, bergamot, and fir.

 

 

WHOSO LIST TO HUNT

Whoso list to hunt, I know where is an hind!

But as for me, alas, I may no more;

The vain travail hath wearied me so sore,

I am of them that furthest come behind.

Yet may I by no means my wearied mind

Draw from the deer, but as she fleeth afore

Fainting I follow; I leave off therefore,

Since in a net I seek to hold the wind.

Who list her hunt, I put him out of doubt,

As well as I, may spend his time in vain.

And graven with diamonds in letters plain,

There is written her fair neck round about,

"Noli me tangere, for Caesar's I am,

And wild for to hold, though I seem tame."

 

Sensual brown musk, rich amber, English rose, oak bark, and moss.

 

 

And a whole lot is going on at the Mad Tea Party…

 

ALICE’S EVIDENCE

There was a general clapping of hands at this: it was the first really clever thing the King had said that day.

 

‘That proves his guilt,’ said the Queen.

 

‘It proves nothing of the sort!’ said Alice. ‘Why, you don’t even know what they’re about!’

 

‘Read them,’ said the King.

 

The White Rabbit put on his spectacles. ‘Where shall I begin, please your Majesty?’ he asked.

 

‘Begin at the beginning,’ the King said gravely, ‘and go on till you come to the end: then stop.’

 

These were the verses the White Rabbit read:—

 

They told me you had been to her,

And mentioned me to him:

She gave me a good character,

But said I could not swim.

 

He sent them word I had not gone

(We know it to be true):

If she should push the matter on,

What would become of you?

 

I gave her one, they gave him two,

You gave us three or more;

They all returned from him to you,

Though they were mine before.

 

If I or she should chance to be

Involved in this affair,

He trusts to you to set them free,

Exactly as we were.

 

My notion was that you had been

(Before she had this fit)

An obstacle that came between

Him, and ourselves, and it,

 

Don't let him know she liked them best,

For this must ever be

A secret, kept from all the rest,

Between yourself and me.

 

‘That’s the most important piece of evidence we’ve heard yet,’ said the King, rubbing his hands; ‘so now let the jury—’

 

‘If any one of them can explain it,’ said Alice, (she had grown so large in the last few minutes that she wasn’t a bit afraid of interrupting him,) ‘I’ll give him sixpence. I don’t believe there’s an atom of meaning in it.’

 

The jury all wrote down on their slates, ‘She doesn’t believe there’s an atom of meaning in it,’ but none of them attempted to explain the paper.

 

‘If there’s no meaning in it,’ said the King, ‘that saves a world of trouble, you know, as we needn’t try to find any…’

Containing nary a neutron of meaning: rum-quince-cassis with prune and a bit of black ginger.

 

 

ALL IN THE GOLDEN AFTERNOON

All in the golden afternoon

Full leisurely we glide;

For both our oars, with little skill,

By little hands are plied

While little hands make vain pretence

Our wanderings to guide

 

Ah, cruel Three! In such an hour

Beneath such dreamy weather,

To beg a tale of breath too weak

To stir the tiniest feather!

Yet what can one poor voice avail

Against three tongues together?

 

Imperious Prima flashes forth

Her edict to 'begin it'-

In gentler tone Secunda hopes

'There will be nonsense in it!' -

While Tertia interrupts the tale

Not more than once a minute.

 

Anon, to sudden silence won,

In fancy they pursue

The dream-child moving through a land

Of wonders wild and new,

In friendly chat with bird or beast -

And half believe it true.

 

And ever, as the story drained

The wells of fancy dry,

And faintly strove that weary one

To put the subject by,

'The rest next time -It is next time!'

The happy voices cry.

 

Thus grew the tale of Wonderland

Thus slowly, one by one,

Its quaint events were hammered out -

and now the tale is done,

And home we steer, a merry crew,

Beneath the setting sun.

 

Alice! a childish story take,

And with a gentle hand

Lay it where Childhood's dreams are twined

In Memory's mystic band,

Like pilgrim's wither'd wreath of flowers

Plucked in far-off land.

 

A bizarre blend of pineapple, tangerine, tobacco, apricot, and seltzer coated with hazy amber and heady sun-baked flowers.

 

 

TWINKLE, TWINKLE LITTLE BAT

Twinkle, twinkle, little bat!

How I wonder what you're at!

Up above the world you fly,

Like a teatray in the sky.

Twinkle, twinkle little bat!

How I wonder what you're at!

 

A sparkly, batty little scent: green tea, melon, mint, lime rind, and champagne grape with lemon balm, mullein, and toadflax.

 

 

Two new subsections have been added to MTP –

 

++ THE GARDEN OF LIVE FLOWERS

This time she came upon a large flower-bed, with a border of daisies, and a willow-tree growing in the middle.

 

IMPERIOUS TIGER-LILY

`O Tiger-lily,' said Alice, addressing herself to one that was waving gracefully about in the wind, `I wish you could talk!'

 

`We can talk,' said the Tiger-lily: `when there's anybody worth talking to."

 

Alice was so astonished that she could not speak for a minute: it quite seemed to take her breath away. At length, as the Tiger-lily only went on waving about, she spoke again, in a timid voice -- almost in a whisper. `And can all the flowers talk?'

 

`As well as you can,' said the Tiger-lily. `And a great deal louder.'

 

(Tiger-lily, ginger root, neroli, purple fruits, and frankincense.)

 

 

SNOOTY ROSE

`It isn't manners for us to begin, you know,' said the Rose, `and I really was wondering when you'd speak! Said I to myself, "Her face has got some sense in it, thought it's not a clever one!"

 

Still, you're the right colour, and that goes a long way.'

 

`I don't care about the colour,' the Tiger-lily remarked. `If only her petals curled up a little more, she'd be all right.'

 

(Red rose, oud, plum, bergamot, and red sandalwood.)

 

 

Alice didn't like being criticised, so she began asking questions. `Aren't you sometimes frightened at being planted out here, with nobody to take care of you?'

 

`There's the tree in the middle,' said the Rose: `what else is it good for?'

 

`But what could it do, if any danger came?' Alice asked.

 

 

HIGH-STRUNG DAISIES

`It says "Bough-wough!" cried a Daisy: `that's why its branches are called boughs!'

 

`Didn't you know that?' cried another Daisy, and here they all began shouting together, till the air seemed quite full of little shrill voices. `Silence, every one of you!' cried the Tiger-lily, waving itself passionately from side to side, and trembling with excitement. `They know I can't get at them!' it panted, bending its quivering head towards Alice, `or they wouldn't dare to do it!'

 

`Never mind!' Alice said in a soothing tone, and stooping down to the daisies, who were just beginning again, she whispered, `If you don't hold your tongues, I'll pick you!'

 

There was silence in a moment, and several of the pink daisies turned white.

 

`That's right!' said the Tiger-lily. `The daisies are worst of all. When one speaks, they all begin together, and it's enough to make one wither to hear the way they go on!'

 

(Daisy, pink carnation, pink pepper, and sugar.)

 

 

`How is it you can all talk so nicely?' Alice said, hoping to get it into a better temper by a compliment. `I've been in many gardens before, but none of the flowers could talk.'

 

`Put your hand down, and feel the ground,' said the Tiger-lily. `Then you'll know why.

Alice did so. `It's very hard,' she said, `but I don't see what that has to do with it.'

 

`In most gardens,' the Tiger-lily said, `they make the beds too soft -- so that the flowers are always asleep.'

 

This sounded a very good reason, and Alice was quite pleased to know it. `I never thought of that before!' she said.

 

`It's my opinion that you never think at all,' the Rose said in a rather severe tone.

 

 

BRUSQUE VIOLET

`I never saw anybody that looked stupider,' a Violet said, so suddenly, that Alice quite jumped; for it hadn't spoken before.

 

`Hold your tongue!' cried the Tiger-lily. `As if you ever saw anybody! You keep your head under the leaves, and snore away there, till you know no more what's going on in the world, that if you were a bud!'

 

(Violet petal, violet leaf, osmanthus, orris, mint, and opoponax.)

 

 

`Are there any more people in the garden besides me?' Alice said, not choosing to notice the Rose's last remark.

 

`There's one other flower in the garden that can move about like you,' said the Rose. `I wonder how you do it -- ' (`You're always wondering,' said the Tiger-lily), `but she's more bushy than you are.'

 

`Is she like me?' Alice asked eagerly, for the thought crossed her mind, `There's another little girl in the garden, somewhere!'

 

`Well, she has the same awkward shape as you,' the Rose said, `but she's redder -- and her petals are shorter, I think.'

 

`Her petals are done up close, almost like a dahlia,' the Tiger-lily interrupted: `not tumbled about anyhow, like yours.'

 

`But that's not your fault,' the Rose added kindly: `you're beginning to fade, you know -- and then one can't help one's petals getting a little untidy.'

 

 

And…

 

++MORAL HYMNODY AND NONSENSE

Lewis Carroll used the Looking Glasses and Rabbit Holes of his fantasy world to mock many contemporary conventions and demonstrate, through nonsense, the strangeness of the human condition. The madness of Wonderland illustrated the absurdities he perceived in the strict, orderly world he lived in.

 

In the first perfumes of this subseries, our scents parallel the poetic parodies: Lewis Carroll versus Isaac Watts.

 

HOW DOTH THE LITTLE CROCODILE

How doth the little crocodile

Improve his shining tail,

And pour the waters of the Nile

On every golden scale!

 

How cheerfully he seems to grin,

How neatly spreads his claws,

And welcomes little fishes in

With gently smiling jaws!

 

Chocolate peppermint, mint-soaked vanilla, pistachio, oakmoss, and green cedar.

 

Mocks…

 

AGAINST IDLENESS AND MISCHIEF

How doth the little busy bee

Improve each shining hour

And gather honey all the day

From every opening flower!

 

How skilfully she builds her cell!

How neat she spreads the wax!

And labours hard to store it well

With the sweet food she makes.

 

In works of labour or of skill,

I would be busy too;

For Satan finds some mischief still

For idle hands to do.

 

In books, or work, or healthful play,

Let my first years be passed,

That I may give for every day

Some good account at last.

 

Pollen-dusted honey, diligent tonka, steadfast chamomile, and goodly hyssop.

 

And…

 

‘TIS THE VOICE OF THE LOBSTER

’Tis the voice of the Lobster: I heard him declare

’You have baked me too brown, I must sugar my hair.’

As a duck with its eyelids, so he with his nose

Trims his belt and his buttons, and turns out his toes.

When the sands are all dry, he is gay as a lark,

And will talk in contemptuous tones of the shark;

But, when the tide rises and sharks are around,

His voice has a timid and tremulous sound.

 

I passed by his garden and marked, with one eye,

How the Owl and the Panther were sharing a pie:

The Panther took pie-crust, and gravy, and meat,

While the Owl had the dish as its share of the treat.

When the pie was all finished, the Owl, as a boon,

Was kindly permitted to pocket the spoon:

While the Panther received knife and fork with a growl,

And concluded the banquet by—

 

A woody, musky-weird base glooping over with blackberry preserves, a twist of mandarin, strawberry juice, pulverized watermelon, and a handful of smushed gardenia petals.

 

Thumbs its nose at…

 

THE SLUGGARD

'Tis the voice of the sluggard; I heard him complain,

"You have waked me too soon, I must slumber again."

As the door on its hinges, so he on his bed,

Turns his sides and his shoulders and his heavy head.

 

"A little more sleep, and a little more slumber;"

Thus he wastes half his days, and his hours without number,

And when he gets up, he sits folding his hands,

Or walks about sauntering, or trifling he stands.

 

I pass'd by his garden, and saw the wild brier,

The thorn and the thistle grow broader and higher;

The clothes that hang on him are turning to rags;

And his money still wastes till he starves or he begs.

 

I made him a visit, still hoping to find

That he took better care for improving his mind:

He told me his dreams, talked of eating and drinking;

But scarce reads his Bible, and never loves thinking.

 

Said I then to my heart, "Here's a lesson for me,"

This man's but a picture of what I might be:

But thanks to my friends for their care in my breeding,

Who taught me betimes to love working and reading.

 

Pious frankincense, angelic gardenia, unsoiled pear, and staunch ho wood conflict with prickly, overgrown thistle, idle labdanum, and lethargic lavender.

 

 

Tiger Lily (Mad Tea Party) is also being discontinued due to the pressure of the current economic stress on our associates. Sincerest apologies for the suddenness of all these discontinuation! – we had no notice at all of two of the primary components of TL going dry, and just received the email with the bad news this morning. All current orders will be filled, and it will be coming down with the Lunacy on July 9th. Imperious Tiger Lily was intended to be a complimentary scent – the Tiger Lily in her element, ordering the other garden inhabitants about and berating Alice – she was meant to be the queen of the Garden of Live Flowers subsection, so to speak. Looks like her inception was fortunate, as her original incarnation has to come down.

 

Or it was a jinx. o.O

 

I wish there was more we could do to stem the hemorrhage.

 

Component issues have been plaguing BPTP, causing bottlenecks with the Warrior Queens. We’re doing everything in our power to get all the WQ’s out as quickly as possible. Thank you so much for your patience!

 

But enough of the gloomy gussitude…

 

We have so many amazing, exciting projects coming up this season. The next set of DD Summer Blockbuster scents will be featured at our upcoming trunk show at Dark Delicacies, and a limited run of the first scents in our California series (these are exclusive to C15) will be available at Convergence 15. We’re still busting our asses to get the next act of CD out as quickly as possible – finalizing some additional artwork now, cleaning up the copy, and securing final sources for the components. Some really fucking great stuff will be debuting at Comic Con on behalf of the CBLDF (details forthcoming!), and we are working with a few brilliant illustrators, authors, musicians, and comic gods on scents that will be debuting late this summer. A new duets series is due at BPTP, and new baths, soaps, and atmospheric schpritzers are coming soon.