Arachne of Lydia

[hkhm]

ARACHNE OF LYDIA
Rukh was standing before a cage that contained nothing but a small brown spider weaving a modest web across the bars. “Arachne of Lydia,” he told the crowd. “Guaranteed the greatest weaver in the world — her fate’s the proof of it. She had the bad luck to defeat the goddess Athena in a weaving contest. Athena was a sore loser, and Arachne is now a spider, creating only for Mommy Fortuna’s Midnight Carnival, by special arrangement. Warp of snow and woof of flame, and never any two the same. Arachne.”

Strung on the loom of iron bars, the web was very simple and almost colorless, except for an occasional rainbow shiver when the spider scuttled out on it to put a thread right. But it drew the onlookers’ eyes — and the unicorn’s eyes as well — back and forth and steadily deeper, until they seemed to be looking down into great rifts in the world, black fissures that widened remorselessly and yet would not fall into pieces as long as Arachne’s web held the world together. The unicorn shook herself free with a sigh, and saw the real web again. It was very simple, and almost colorless.

“It isn’t like the others,” she said. “No,” Schmendrick agreed grudgingly. “But there’s no credit due to Mommy Fortuna for that. You see, the spider believes. She sees those cat’s-cradles herself and thinks them her own work. Belief makes all the difference to magic like Mommy Fortuna’s. Why, if that troop of witlings withdrew their wonder, there’d be nothing left of all her witchery but the sound of a spider weeping. And no one would hear it.”

Soft brown and Tyrian purple: dusty clove and blackcurrant.

imp: this is a beautiful clove scent.

wet: perfect blackcurrant over clove. this is so wonderfully simple, yet lovely.

dry: the clove fades a bit but not much while the black currant stays sweet.

[Penance]

Origin:

 

5mL from the Lab.

 

Preconceived notions:

 

I love clove and I like blackcurrant, so I'm expecting Arachne of Lydia to be a winner. I'm thinking that since the clove is described as being "dusty" that this is going to be something other than a truly foody/fruity scent and something a little more unclassifiable.

 

First sniff:

 

This may sound like an unflattering comparison to some people (and like high praise to others, I imagine), but this smells a lot like Witches Brew (I think WB started out as a Yankee Candle scent and then spread through the etailers' world like wildfire). I believe WB is supposed to be a mixture of patchouli and cinnamon, but it's always smelled just the slightest bit fruity to me, too.

 

I'm not sure if this is a good thing or a bad thing yet, since I got burned out on Witches Brew ages ago after really liking it for a long time.

 

Wet on skin:

 

No real change from in the bottle. It smells just a little bit more like BPAL's Sweet Clove single note, now, though. I'm not really getting fruit from this. It's a definite spice scent for me, with something soft and velvety purple-black in the background. It's a bit hard to describe, but I'm liking it.

 

Dry down:

 

This still smells a bit like Witches Brew to me. They're not identical, but they're definite scent relatives. Cousins maybe, or step-siblings. It's a soft, spicy, dry scent. I don't really get any identifiable fruit from this. Just dusty clove, maybe some cinnamon (although it's not noted in the description, so it could be that I'm being influenced by the WB comparison) and something that I can only describe as soft and deep purple. Like a deep purple, once ornate and beautiful, now faded (and edging towards threadbare) dress that's been hidden away in a trunk in someone's attic, packed away with clove pomanders to keep pests away.

 

The bottom line:

 

I really like this. It's definitely not a fruity scent, so if you're looking for juicy fruit, look elsewhere. But if you love BPAL's sweet clove note and are looking for something soft and spicy and evocative, this is a real winner.

[ltrittipoe]

In the imp: pure clove! I understand the "dusty" part of it, too.

 

On, wet: still mainly clove, but a little fruitiness in the background. Mostly the blackcurrant is just warming up the clove, but it still smells old and dusty to me. But as it dries, it is sweetening just a bit, smoothing out and becoming fruitier.

 

Drying; Something about clove and spiders.... the clove note reminds me a lot of The Smiling Spider from the Salons. Sniffing close to my wrist, I get a huge hit of dusty clove, no blackcurrant at all. But wafting around me as I am typing this, I am getting lovely blackcurrant with an undertone of clove.

 

I apparently amp clove. Most of the fruitness is gone, leaving dusty clove that reminds me of something from my childhood, I think a cologne my grandmother wore.... I wish I got more blackcurrant from this. But if you love the lab's clove note, then this one is for you!

 

 

[tartsquid]

I know that I amp clove and don't care for it much, so this is the one scent in my imp pack that I could do without.

 

If you like cloves, you will probably love this scent. For me it's a single note of sweet clove, not as blech as clove tends to be on me in spicier scents, but still all clove all the time.

[Dark Alice]

I rarely sniff something and roll my eyes in the back of my head to say..Ahhhhhhh! But this stuff is a.maz.ing! Bright currant with soft dusty clove and I love it love it love it!

[zankoku_zen]

This is the same clove that Voodoo Queen has, and I am thinking she might also have black currants in her, because this smells like VQ - except only less complex and more one-dimensional.

 

I can see this going to generic Xmas spice on someone, but I am very much enjoying the clove + dark fruit intersection.

[Blood onmy hands]

I ordered a bottle of this right off the bat, because I normally love clove, and black currant tends to do beautiful things on my skin (juicy, sweet, purply fruitiness <3). Unfortunately, this is all "dusty clove" on me. I actually opened my bottle and said "oh crap," because it's like Fledgling Raptor Moon is back to torment me. I wasn't sure what it was in Fledgling Raptor Moon that went so badly on me, but it must be this particular clove note. It's slightly spicy somewhere deep down, but mostly has this weird baby powder, dust, wood chips, and sickly chapstick smell on my skin .

 

I can't pick out anything fruity or anything like black currant at all.

 

Arachne of Lydia is like a Fledgling Raptor Moon clone on me, which isn't good in my case. I love the story of the little spider and had high hopes for this blend, but the oil isn't working for me...

[Invidiana]

This is a winner from the start. No spice-cabinet clove here; this clove is warm and woody and is in perfect proportion to the dark, voluptuous blackcurrant. The blackcurrant note actually reminds me of a delicious English blackcurrant tea that is one of my favorite teas ever (Twinings Blackcurrant Breeze for anyone who's dying to know ). I do tend to amp clove and it does amp a little but not so much that it reminds me of sticking my nose in a clove jar like Voodoo Queen did. It's amazing how something so simple can be so beautiful.

[edenssixthday]

Arachne of Lydia - Of all the Unicorn Horn blends, this one worried me the most because I can never, I mean never, wear blackcurrant; it turns to the not-too-subtle odor of cat pee on me. So I was absolutely bowled over when I applied this and liked it...and it never "turned." This is predominantly a warm, sweet clove scent, and I would have never attached the adjective "dusty" to it on my own. There's a hint of fruity sweetness in the background that is just lovely and must be the black currant, and I'm excited to finally know what it smells like when it works well! It's a really lovely scent, the best of the bunch so far.

[crebbsgirl]

This smells wonderfully of clove and dark fruit. It's sweet but dry. I'm not normally one for blackcurrants but this is really nice. I get the comparison to VQ, but zz was right on the money regarding the differences. I like it.

[surlygurl]

Brownish purple is right. Neither is sweet. On my skin, it's sour dust. I do get the fruits and the clove, but the sour is overwhelming. So sad.

[Teaotter]

In the imp: Mostly clove, with a hint of fruitiness in the background.

 

Wet: I get a first blast of dust, which settles down very quickly into clove.

 

Dry: This is still mostly clove, but the fruit is there in the background, keeping it sweet and not too overwhelming. The dust note is lighter.

 

I think the dust note is what makes this scent smell almost fuzzy to me, like velvet. I don't know how else to describe it. This isn't a fresh clove scent, it smells more like opening a long-closed box filled with dried cloves and dried fruit.

 

This one has a medium throw on me for the first two hours, then settles down into mostly a skin-scent with occasional wafts from my wrists. It does last a long time that way.

[Iceblink]

I love clove, I love Smiling Spider, I was pretty sure this would be awesome, and it is! It's that lovely almost metallic BPAL clove, sweetened just a bit with currant. Wonderfully dark, especially with the presence of a faint dusty note. I may need a bottle of this one.

[countessmouse]

Warm, woody and sweet clove with a tremendous throw. I don't get a huge fruity note with this, just mostly the woody clove. And I must remember to use this in small amounts!

[SophieCedar]

Another one reminiscent of Christmas Carol scents.

Wet: not sure how much I can say about this one. It's exactly as described. Fuzzy brown clove and port wine-like black currant. Mmm..great. Now I want port wine cheese spread...

 

Drydown: mostly clove and the currant has dried out a bit.

Edited January 5, 2011 by SophieCedar

[cfrancesca]

Lots of dusty clove and some fruity, slightly tart black currant.

[mymymai]

ITB: On first sniff, I get a slightly vanilla-y blackcurrant, but upon deeper inhale, I get a lovely and spicy clove sent.

Wet: The clove takes precedence, but it's sweetened by the fruity undertones of the blackcurrant. Yum.

Dry: The clove overpowers the blackcurrant about 20 minutes in, but I'm perfectly okay with that since I adore the smell of clove.

[ajansuz]

Imp: Clove and sweet, dark fruit. A bit of a dry scent, but very lush.

 

Wet: This reminds me tremendously of a carnation perfume I had as a child. The clove spice and sweet fruit are really similar to that. The clove amps a little, but it doesn't get potpourri or candle, at all.

 

Dry: The clove really faded on me, leaving a sweet, slightly spicy, slighty dry scent. It smells wonderful, but the thing that I believe will prevent me from wanting a bottle of this is that my skin literally ate it within three hours and it never had any throw on me at all. If you're lucky enough not to absorb it all and you like well balanced spicy scents, give this one a try.

[Altaira]

Pretty much just light, sweet clove on me. Not sure how I feel about it. I'm not getting any of the blackcurrant, but I didn't test too long yet. I'm going to have to give this one a day to sort out my feelings and see what it does on long drydown.

[Venneh]

In the imp, I'm getting dark black currant and clove. On my skin, mostly black currant, and kinda manly. Hrm. That edges off quick, though, and it's a gentle, clovey scent with and undercurrent of currants (lulz), very dusky purple. Hrm. May need to seek out a bottle of this.

Edited February 5, 2011 by Venneh

[milo]

Wet, this is a warm, musky clove. I've smelled this amazing musk in other blends, and I'd really like to know what it is, as it is AMAZING. Maybe it's just the type of clove that is translating 'musk' to me. Whatever the case it melds beautifully with my skin chemistry and ends up being warm, sexy musk with a touch of clove. This morphs a bit, and at times, the clove is stronger. I don't get any fruitiness from this blend, but maybe it adds something I'm not aware of. This is going to be upgraded to a bottle, which doesn't happen very often with picky little me.

 

Well, it turns out that the clove really loves me, and this blend is just too much clove. I sure like the beginning stages though...

Edited February 27, 2011 by milo

[lestamore]

I put this on first thing in the morning and didn't like it. I felt like I couldn't really smell much except the feeling of my nose tickling, and I had given up on it after about a half hour. But then I had breakfast and some ice tea and I guess it cleared my palate or something because I started to be more interested in the scent on my wrist and eventually put more on so I could get another opinion of how it smells at the beginning. This time, it seemed quite different, spicy and clovey, still a bit nose tickly, which could well be the dust, and a tiny bit sweet. After a while longer I started to pick out the fruit, which is pretty subtle. Almost more like blackcurrent squash than juice, kindof syrupy and shallow (while still lovely and refreshing) rather than anything tangy or really fruity. Someone mentioned port wine which I can agree with. The clove was definitely pretty intense at the beginning, and seemed almost too strong. But now that it has gone down a bit, I like it a lot better.

 

It reminds me of a certain summer full of road trips and medieval re-enactment: rare self-imported blackcurrent squash, and spicy sekanjabin mixed in whimsically ill-advised cocktails and consumed on blankets spread out in the sun as we gossiped and watched all the athletic young men swordfighting in armor. A treasured memory. I wonder if I could make a clove and blackcurrent carbonated beverage or popsicle this summer.

[mxtine]

This smells like an actual clove. It's a bit dusty as other reviewers have said, and faintly fruity but I can't say that I recognize that as black currant.

[mymymai]

ITB: It smells like aged clove sitting in blackcurrant tea. It reminds me of a very soothing fall drink.

Wet: On me, the clove is a bit brighter, but it is still aged, smelling a bit like that clove gum. The blackcurrant makes it sweeter, but it isn't overpowering the clove.

Dry: Slightly sweetened clove. It's nice and simple.

[invisible iris]

I like to wear Arachne of Lydia to bed. Wet, it's clove & sweet red fruit. But soon, it turns dry, warm, simple, and comforting, with a touch of red-purple in the black-brown. The dust of the clove takes the juice out of the blackcurrant and leaves it dried and cohesive with the spice. Like a retreat into a dusty dream, melancholy, resigned, lost to the world, a threadbare prison, self-designed, of industriously-premeditated safety. It suits the concept beautifully.