But Men Loved Darkness Rather Than Light

[ami226]

The world will love its darkness: cistus labdanum, ginger, East Indian patchouli, pimento berry, oakmoss, saffron, smoky vanilla, sage, myrrh, and bitter clove.

On the skin: I am getting a bit of a dirt/smokey smell. It is also kind of sweet. Vanilla? Quite spicy as well.

I am not sure if I like this one.... It is the smokey part.

[ljaylh]

 

Ahh.. smoky vanilla.. how I love thee. You, patchouli - not so much, but thank you for being quiet in this one. The ginger makes my nostrils tingle as it always does, I *think* I can detect the saffron and sage, but honestly can't say I am getting any berry out of here and the myrrh is also doing a pretty good job of hiding. After drying down and being on my skin for about 30 minutes, the patchouli has come to the front a little more and the vanilla has deepened its smokiness, and the spices seem to have warmed up.

 

In the sunshinedaisybliss make-believe filing cabinet of BPAL categories, this would be sharing a file with Hellhound, Raven Moon, Sunbird - maaaaybe Le Pere Fouettard (if Le Pere didn't have licorice) - they're some of my dark, mysterious and smoky loves and although this one is really not exactly like any of those (closest match for me would be Sunbird) - it definitely has that same

sexy kickass thing going on. Personally, I'm with the men on this one - I love the darkness rather than light

 

 

[anomie]

Imp: Very wet and clear, somehow. I can't actually pick out any of the listed notes in this. The description of it as melony makes sense, though.

 

Wet: Some of the more heavy things - ginger, patchouli, smoke, myrrh - are coming out. It reminds me quite strongly of Lush's Karma fragrance, actually, which I love.

 

Drydown: Spicy patchouli and wood. This smells like walking into a Lush store, actually, the mishmash of all the different scents and the wooden bins mixing together. Not that that isn't awesome! It's just very surprising from a BPAL scent.

[musichappens]

This is unlike any scent that I currently have in my stash and I absolutely LOVE it! I can definitely smell the patchouli, pimento berries & smoky vanilla. However, there is something else there that just rounds out the scent so well .. I can't tell which note it is exactly, though, b/c I've never tried the others that are in the description. This also lasted all night on my skin! I woke up this morning and it was still going strong. Now for the most important question: should I get one bottle or two?! Edited December 12, 2009 by musichappens

[ladyjc]

This one hits me right in the stomach.

In a GOOD way!! I knew as soon as it touched my skin Friday night that I was in serious love, serious. :love!: It smells really sweet at first...and pretty strong. It dries down to soft, sweet, spicy and a bit incensey. I can't name particular notes with this one because they're all so nicely blended I can't tell one from the other. I adore this...and I think it just jumped into my top 5 bpal of all time...possibly the #1 position. It is so ME it's unreal.

Now, how many bottles do I need of my holy grail scent???

[Iceblink]

Smoky!! Starts out totally smoky vanilla and oakmoss. The latter stages of this are, oddly, quite strong, sweet pimento and patchouli, with the smoky aspect calming down. It's warm and spicy and dark. I'm not sure it's really something I'll wear but I'm going to let it sit for a few days and try it again, because I do like it.

[edenssixthday]

But Men Loved Darkness Rather Than Light - Oooh, this is pretty and very sexy! It's a smoky, dark scent, fully of oakmoss and saffron. It's got a hint of gritty myrrh and biting ginger, and is deepened by the patchouli and sweetened by the vanilla and lightly spiced up by the clove. The labdanum makes it just the slightest bit bitter, while the sage softens it out, and the pimento berry adds the tiniest hint of juiciness. This is the most remarkable scent in that I can smell every single individual note and tell how it contributes to the whole, yet it's so well blended that when I'm wearing it, I don't pick out the individual notes, but experience the synergy of all the notes together. It's really lovely and one of my favorites of the 2009 Yules.

[tdiym]

This has my beloved labdanum, which is an automatic must for me. It also has patchouli and something woody in it, too. There is no way this could go wrong. An automatic 5 ml for me. I love it.

[Schmoozy]

 

Wow. But Men was nothing what I was expecting. Smoky vanilla, herbs and spices with a touch of earthy woods. Patchouli is not overwhelming, just adds a little darkness and earthiness. Bitter clove and ginger combined with myrrh and labdanum help the smoky vanilla become spicier and exotic.

This is seriously a beautiful, dark and sexy blend.

[cyberpuff]

Wow. Okay. In the decant I get cool, wet woods.

 

Wet: I get patchouli and oakmoss, which sadly reminds me of a cleaning solution. It's a cleaner with depth and I don't hate it, but I don't love it in this stage. It's also very sweet.

 

Later: The clove, ginger and pimento berry have stepped up and squashed the cleaner smell. Every so often the smoky vanilla steps up, but mostly it seems like it's a binder for the the rest of these strong notes. I think the smoky vanilla is the peace-keeper, if you will.

 

Overall: This is one I think I'll have to get a bottle of. I can see the comparison that was made to Raven Moon, and like others have noted, the Lab blends that have smoky vanilla as a note age really well. My bottle of Raven Moon has changed since I bought it and now it's a precious favorite, so I think with a little age, But Men Loved Darkness will grow out of the initial cleaner stage. The drydown is a lovely, complex, night-dwellers scent.

 

 

[dluszcz]

I'm afraid this just isn't what I expected. At first it's all cherry robitussin, followed very quickly by Flintstones chewable vitamins. After it dried up and soaked in a bit, I ended up smelling like the Yankee Candle section of any Hallmark retailer. ( This is absolutely nothing like Raven Moon, by my experience. Raven Moon is lovely and spicey and dark and patchouli-i....)

 

HOWEVER during my first period class today, one of my students got all excited and told me that I "smell exactly like Christmas!". I think I will be gifting the bottle to her because I just don't get it. My idea of "Christmas" definately has more of a pierogi essence...(not that I want to smell like pierogies)

Edited December 16, 2009 by kittysdesire

[CreamyJade]

In the bottle: Labdanum, sweet herbs, maybe a little masculine for me?

Wet on skin: Labdanum, the sweetness of vanilla, patchouli (without being heavy or too earthy).

Dry on skin: Sweet incense, vanilla, spicy clove, a slight herbal touch.

Final thoughts: This is delicious on my skin. Definately for fans of sweeter incense & resinous blends. My boyfriend tried it on (labdanum lover), but he said it was too sweet for him. But hey, I was going to keep it anyway!

Try if you like: Zenobia, Raven Moon

[gwynethr]

Wow. But Men Loved Darkness really loves me. I was afraid because of the clove that I would get that stinging spice note that makes my eyes water and makes me sneeze like mad, but it's just very warm and clovey without being sharp. I can smell so many things I know and some that I don't, but they all work together.

 

Someone said that it has a lot of notes they have in other blends, but this smells nothing like those. And that is very true: Nothing else that I have, even though I favor these types of notes, smells anything like this. I'm genuinely surprised how much I like this.

[papermaker]

At first this is all really strong patchouli. As it begins to dry it begins to change It becomes a sweeter scent. The vanilla gives it a nice sweetness, in combination with the berry. The spices all combine to make it a bit incensey. I like it.

[juniperus]

Bottle: Immediately complex in odd ways... indescribable. I both want to yank my nose away and smell more to see if I can figure out what's there.

Wet: Patchouli and ginger, hints of oakmoss and resins behind.

Dry: More bitter, smokier... like an exotic scent-shop that has been around so many decades that the ceiling, walls, and floors exude spices and incense.

Later: Much the same, but deeper and darker. Interesting. It works, but I'm undecided whether it works WELL.

[Dark Alice]

This is lovely. Truly lovely. The pimento berry adds just a hint of fruitiness with vanilla and the sage from keeping this being too sweet or too herbal. I see a bottle or at least partial bottle of this in my future. ETA: I lied. The final drydown turned everything beautiful into crap. Freakin pimento berry ruined everything.

Edited December 21, 2009 by Dark Alice

[alioth]

I wanted to love this. So much I wanted to love it.

 

But no, indeed no. Instead of smoky vanilla and patchouli and clove and sage, I get generic Christmas Berry candle. I get where that one student said that it smells 'just like Christmas' because...it smells just like Christmas air fresheners, which might theoretically have once been based on real things people brought into the house. I'm really really sad about this one.

[DeltaCat]

Warm vanilla clove. Yum!

[dreadpiraterustypants2]

expect-

...to love the darkness. surprise me~

imp-

smokey indeed- a bit incense-y. Was worried of this~second huff reveals a spicy berry underneath! yeehaw pimento! third wiff gives me the ginger and smokey vanilla- I am thoroughly exited!

wet- hot hot hot! All of the above warmed by skin- still a tad puckering. The labdanum is still heavy duty, hand in hand with the oakmoss- we shall see who sticks around for the final level~

verdict-

epp! all incense all the time folks- or at least too much for my sorry skin!~ The Labdanum sits on top of my wish for bitter smoke berries and grinds them to a pulp-

perhaps I'll give it a round 2 sometime...

 

[milo]

This is all smoke wet. As it dries, I'm getting a ginger along with red fruit and a touch of smoky vanilla. I'm not sure what could be giving this blend it's distinctive fruitiness. It actually reminds me of Countess Willie a bit, but without the cocoa and more fruit. The sweet fruity berry is overpowering all the other notes on me, and yes indeed, it does remind me of a Christmas berry candle. I thought this was going to be a no brainer for me, but sadly I don't think a bottle is in the future.

[Wwindy]

So, the thing to remember here is that pimento berry is just another name for allspice. Yes, technically a berry, but really... ALLSPICE! That means an extra-heavy dose of cloves, nutmeg, cinnamon and pepper, or at least their scent-alikes.

 

Indeed, on me this winds up as very spicy, slightly evergreen (from the cistus labdanum helped along by the moss and sage, I think) potpourri, with overtones of dried ginger. I can absolutely see the Christmas tree/potpourri comparisons. Fortunately, the patchouli and myrrh add a little bit of depth and... um... non-potpourri-ness. The "smoky vanilla" is faint now, but I can pick it up if I try -- I suspect that aspect will get stronger with age.

[beliefunwrought]

I might be losing my mind but to me this is a dead ringer for The Masque. The only notes they have in common are patchouli and clove, and that is definitely not what I'm smelling. Both give me the impression of a big lush red flower of some type. But Men Loved Darkness is not quite as sweet, but to my nose it's very similar to The Masque...which makes me very very happy.

[zankoku_zen]

Vanilla smoke, with a hint of ginger and clove. It's not unpleasant, but not the kind of vanilla I'm attracted to.

 

Damn.

[rayvn1]

Yum, yum, yum! One of the first I tried out of my load of decants and I was not disappointed. Lovely and rich with a dusty, fruity darkness that I could have sworn was the dusty plum I love in On Darkness. Must be the pimento berry. The vanilla, patchouli and myrrh combined to leave a long-lasting scent of incense almost like Midnight Mass on my wrists. It doesn't last terribly long on me, unfortunately, but it's gorgeous while it's here. Complete and utter keeper.

[kakiphony]

I tried this yesterday and my result was bizarre. In the imp this was dry patchouli and the deep bitterness of myrrh. When I applied it to my skin it smelled of tart fake berries. It stayed that way all day. Pimento berry must amp like the devil on me.