The Moon Gazed On My Midnight Labours

[Dark Alice]

These thoughts supported my spirits, while I pursued my undertaking with unremitting ardour. My cheek had grown pale with study, and my person had become emaciated with confinement. Sometimes, on the very brink of certainty, I failed; yet still I clung to the hope which the next day or the next hour might realise. One secret which I alone possessed was the hope to which I had dedicated myself; and the moon gazed on my midnight labours, while, with unrelaxed and breathless eagerness, I pursued nature to her hiding-places. Who shall conceive the horrors of my secret toil, as I dabbled among the unhallowed damps of the grave, or tortured the living animal to animate the lifeless clay? My limbs now tremble and my eyes swim with the remembrance; but then a resistless, and almost frantic, impulse urged me forward; I seemed to have lost all soul or sensation but for this one pursuit. It was indeed but a passing trance that only made me feel with renewed acuteness so soon as, the unnatural stimulus ceasing to operate, I had returned to my old habits.

The moon gazed on my midnight labours: Moroccan musk, black opium poppy, clove, and orris root.

First to review this. So here goes nothing!

Wet: Soft but strong musk, which smells almost clean to me. (I guess that's what Morrocan musk smells like) with dry hints of orris.
Dry: Musk, barely there clove (which I hope will get stronger with age) and orris root. This scent evokes a dark image for me. It is a scent for those who do bad things in the night, even if they think they are doing those things for the right reason. It's rare for a scent to evoke such an image from me. But this one does. It's purely clean, soft, and there is no poppy here and barely any clove. I see this being a frequently reached for bottle b/c I love the concept and the scent. However, I can see why it was hard on Beth to create scents attributed to the Frankenstein story.

[MCS4096]

I've never experienced such a soapy scent before. My bf even asked if I'd just showered when he smelled it. I should love it based on the notes, and I'm hoping it settles some with time, but right now it's mostly musk (which I love in all its forms) but close with a throw of clean, clean soap that must be poppy and orris. I don't usually experience soapyness with orris or musk, so I don't know where it's coming from exactly. No clove to speak of.

[Mountaingrrl00]

This is my kind of perfumey scent. It goes on strong, with a very heady opium and blast of clove that's like a traditional spicy-gourmand perfume. It has a lot of throw initially Even with the strength of the beginning it comes across as complex. The orris reveals itself next, dry and delicate and still sweetened by the clove. It dries down soft and musky and has tremendous staying power, but ends up closer to the skin. For me it's an evening, winter kind of scent, wonderful for being dressed-up and festive.

[Altaira]

In the decant: spicy cologne.

 

On my skin, the same but a bit sweeter.

 

I would probably like this on someone else, but it just doesn't work for me.

[strahlend]

Warm snuggly soft musk with a touch of clove to spice it up just a little bit.

 

There is a clean feel to it, but it's reminding me of the kind of clean and clove/spice scents I've liked in the past. Maybe it was Jolly Roger or Spider?

 

It smells like a warm clean body with just a touch of sweet clovey warmth.

 

I'm really enjoying this on myself and if I smelled it on someone else I think I would swoon.

[surlygurl]

When I read the description, I had to have it. A new kind of musk? Yes, please!! Now that it's here, I really wish I could smell the unfamiliar musk, but I get opium poppy with a touch of clove. There's *a* musk in here somewhere, but opium poppy/clove is the main player. The orris isn't a scent so much as something to keep the blend from smelling thick. This is a skin scent on me, mainly because it's so dark & heavy. "Midnight Labours" is right.

[Pynki]

Well, this is a really masculine smell in my opinion. In the bottle it smells like spicy men's cologne. Wet on me? It smells like spicy men's cologne. Old spice comes to mind actually. After it's dry, it softens a little. I could probably wear it, but I think this one is getting passed on to my husband.

[yeahbutnobut]

The Moon Gazed on my Midnight Labours

 

In the imp: clove and musk, and something almost like patchouli.

Wet on skin: warm clove, musk and a bit of dusty orris.

Dry on skin: seems like my suspicious were correct-Moroccan musk does indeed smell like Morocco. That’s what this scent reminds me of at first. The clove takes the place of Morocco’s carnation and plays the same role, as the two notes smell quite similar. There’s a bit of orris, a note common to many of the lunar scents, giving the scent that familiar pale, dusty feel, reminds me of Morocco’s sandalwood. And then there’s the opium. In here, thankfully, it works. It’s a hypnotic, hazy note, not medicinal, perfumey or really strong, this is like the opium from Clermont, which smells more like incense than the traditional perfume scent I get from other opium scents. It doesn’t amp up either, it seems that all the notes are very balanced here. This is a really gorgeous scent.

After a while: the scent doesn’t change much, but that’s a good thing because I love what it smells like already. If anything, the clove and opium are darker and deeper, and the musk is sweeter than before. It still reminds me of Morocco, but more nocturnal.

Verdict: this was the Frankenstein scent I was looking forward to most, and it turns out to be my favourite in the collection. I imagined it as being a sultrier, darker version of Morocco and that’s exactly what it is! The Moroccan musk smells warm and sweet and velvety, the clove is as fantastic as usual, the orris adds a hint of pleasant powderiness. I was a little worried about the opium, but in here it works fantastically, it’s a smoky note snaking through the scent, giving the whole scent a dreamy haze. I don’t get soap or cologne here, nor do I think this is masculine, to me it perfectly illustrates the mystery and and magic of a moonlit night. I think I need a bottle of this haunting scent.

Is it a keeper? definitely, I need more!

If you like this, try: Morocco, Staged Moon Landing, Blue Moon 2009 (Beth’s version), Cytherea

[stellamaris]

Holy guacamole, this is really good. It does not smell too "boy" on me, it seems very lush, clovey and musky. It's dense, in a sort of Caterpillar Lite way. LOVE this one, it is dark and complex but not too heavy for day for me, others might think of this as a night time scent (like going out not passing out lol.)

[maika]

In the imp: sweet, clove-y musk, and a smokey undertone of opium. Gorgeous!

 

Wet: Opium. Beautiful smokey opium.

 

Dry: Impossibly sexy, but with a low throw. That's okay though, a combination of slathering and a scent locket should take care of that. I'm absolutely going to need more of this.

[Juushika]

In the vial: Dark, a bit bitter, a bit dry.

 

On me: The bitterness blossoms as this hits the skin—clove and orris root, maybe, a dark sharp scent. The musk comes out with drydown and the bitterness fades; the scent transforms into a warm, dark spice with a red/purple shift. It's a dense, dark scent that hovers close to the skin, spicy and hot, a bit powdery, musk with clove thorns, sensual and dangerous in the same scent. Throw and wear length are both fairly low.

 

Verdict: I'm not head over heels, but I am solidly won over. The Moon Gazed on My Midnight Labours is what I would expect from the notes, dark and warm and spicy; it doesn't try to play nice by offering up any sort of sweetness (even though musk is usually sweet on my skin), but is gorgeous in its own right. I expect it will age well, too. I'll hold on to my decant, but I don't think I need a bottle.

Edited January 7, 2012 by Juushika

[ljaylh]

Mmmm... Moroccan musk is a favourite, and it's gorgeous here with the opium poppy and clove - dusky, sweet and sliiiiiightly spicy. Orris is not often my friend though, and it's not working for me in this one. Overall, this ends up smelling like a rather generic commercial perfume - it's lacking the depth and complexity that I enjoy about the BPAL oils. In the end, all I get is a kind of bland red/smoky scent on my skin.

[lilyliza]

From when I sniffed this in the imp to when it first bloomed to my skin to the drydown, I kept saying the same thing: "Ooh, this is sexy!" It definitely is a nighttime, indigo- almost black sort of scent. The orris root here is beautiful, and the black opium poppy adds some sweet, dark complexity. The spicy Moroccan musk and just enough clove make this thing gorgeous. It's sensual and powerful- so much so that it nearly skews masculine. When it dries down, I get what smells a lot like the way amber smells on me dry- a deep golden vanilla, along with the other notes faintly in the background. It's less in-your-face but still just as gorgeous. Possibly my favorite of the Yules this year, seriously considering a bottle, generally in love with this.

[milo]

This is delicious musk at first with strong, heady incense with a touch of sweet vanilla. Dryer, kind of a sour vibe, more incense, less musk and no vanilla. This is still early, though, and the beginning stages were so nice, it seemed bottle worthy to me. At this point, the poppy is too loud, but I'm hoping that the musk and vanilla will come back. Will update later.

 

eta: So impressed with the Yules this year. An upgrade here is necessary.

Edited January 21, 2012 by milo

[Lethran]

In bottle: Poppy dominant with a strong musk and orris presence. The clove gives it a spicy warmth. This is heady, a sexy sort of floral This is a lot of musk, so if you are naturally musky, this might be a bad match, but otherwise should be fine. No skin test, orris.

[crebbsgirl]

Musk and clove on my skin. This is soft and sweetly dark. The orris adds a dry touch here. The poppy isn't very prominent on my skin.

[Wwindy]

Ooooh, interesting! To my nose this is Vechernyaya's musk and poppy crossed with The Smiling Spider's strong not-sweet clove, with a bit of Morocco to round things out. It feels like the scent wants to be rather dry and dark, but after drydown my skin chemistry winds up sweetening it up somewhat. As others have noted, the throw seems fairly low.

 

I like the mysterious dusky vibe of this -- I just don't know if I need a whole bottle. But do think about checking this one out if you miss Vechernyaya (or found that one overly white musk-y for your taste)!

[zankoku_zen]

Soft dry clove and musk. Oddly clean, and compelling.

[boomtownrat]

This morphs a lot on me, so that sometimes the musk is predominant and other times the clove takes centre stage. I'm not familiar with the smell of orris root or opium poppy, so maybe that explains why I can't quite describe this other than to say it has a faint smell of a clean man. Having said that, it's really more of a unisex scent.

 

Throw is low on me but it smells good. I'll keep the decant, but I have waffled on buying a bottle. With only a few days left to decide, I'm leaning toward not buying it simply because I don't have a powerful urge to purchase and I'm trying to be good.

[Incendiare]

This is a very soft musk dusted with opium poppy in the vial. Wet, it bam! Goes all dry. The orris root busted down that door and is showing me who's boss. No clove at this point which is sad. After about ten minutes, this doesn't seem like it wants to budge. It's all opium poppy layered over orris. It's a confident, mysterious, unisex blend.

[ami226]

Orris is usually a powder of doom death note on me, so we'll see how this works out...

 

On the skin: There is a bit of powderiness here, but mostly I just get this feeling of cleanness. It smells like fresh laundry pulled out of the dryer when it still has a bit of the detergent/clean smell.

 

Pleasant, but not my thing.

[thekittenkat]

In the decant: Poppy and musk, and a bit of clove.

 

Wet: Much as when sniffed, but with more poppy and less clove.

 

The dry-down: This is an elegant scent, mostly the musk and the poppy. Luckily the orris root never came into play, and the clove adds some spiciness, but doesn't amp. I am surprised by this blend, as I expected it to be deeper and darker.

[Blood onmy hands]

I got a small sample of this in a recent swap package. I was expecting this to be perfumey/sharp with the musk and the opium (which normally smells like hair spray on me), but this is strangely clean and powdery on me. The clove is sharp and gives the blend a slightly masculine feel, but mostly this is like a mix of soap and powder on my skin...

[grnwoodtree]

Earthy, sweet, musky male cologne at first application.It gets very light on me, and I can smell a warm richness that I wish would come out stronger. Alas, I only have a tester imp, and it's about gone.

 

I love men's scents, and this has some of that going for it. Just need more!