Morgause

[lavinia]

Earth sorceress and mother of Mordred, she is, in essence, the harbinger of King Arthur's doom and the downfall of Camelot. She is a sister, or sister-self, to Morgan Le Fay. A bouquet of five night-blooming flowers deepened by dusky violet, purple fruits and the barest breath of medieval incenses.

As I am such a sucker for anything to do with the Camelot and magical world of Avalon and such, I wanted this from the name alone.
(Hmm...my name is Viviene so maybe Beth will do a Viviane: Lady of the Lake next heehee...but I do digress...)
Aside from the mythical allure of this, the mix of night-blooms and violets, incence and yeeessss purple fruits told me this would be a hit with me.

In the bottle: This smells exactly like I knew it would...yippee! Reminds me of Black Dahlia and New Orleans a bit and being in a fantasy garden at the stroke of midnight but with whiffs of wet violet bunches and red wine and the hue of purple itself layered neatly over the blooms.

On me: I get a little too splash-happy with this and slather it on. It almost is chokingly strong and gives me a headache. I know this is my own dumb fault so I ride it out. It is very potent and vibrant to say the very least...use just a bit when trying at first. I didn't get the incence part of it...this aspect of the blend is very subtle indeed.

An hour later: Okay...now I like it. I really do. I feel decadent and royal This seems like a fancy, special-occasion fragrance. So, I decide to wear it to my friend's haute couture fashion show which -a part of the Mercedes-Benz fashion week and certainly deserving of this regal blend- is packed with celebrities and flash-bulbs going off everywhere I look. The Morgause makes me feel special and I keep catching flashing whiffs of this purpley intoxicator. I notice I walk a bit taller when wearing this one and for us short gals, this is key.

This is a keeper for sure and perfect for anything requiring extra oomph and for when you want to make sure people remember you...lovely and elegant with a dash of pure purple magic straight out of an Avalonian myth...I will wear this when I want to feel special.

eta: spelling boo-boos Edited September 17, 2007 by clover

[Belladonnastrap]

Another review for you all

 

 

First sniff

Eee a dark dark dark floral! Not quite as dark as Midnight but up there, I'm guessing the violet prevents things from becoming too heady.There is the barest whiff of incense, its more as an enhancer then anything else I feel. It feels like a purple scent. A dark rich purple, the kind associated with monarchy.

 

Wet

*blinks* Whoa. Sweetness and bitterness wrapped into one. Still that Midnight vibe but there's some juice now, resembling a thick plum. A bit overpowering actually but nothing too excessive. It's a scent that sort of is misunderstood yet still a bit bad. Much like Morgause herself according to some. The incense holds it all together.

 

Drydown

!!!! Take Queen of Spades, mix it with Midnight and you have Morgause. It's not nearly as flowery now, nor nearly as plummy it's *just right* if you understand what I mean. The fruitiness prevents the florals from overpowering you and the florals prevent you from drowning in juice. It's a quite complex scent now but still VERY VERY heady. A little bit of this goes a long long way. I'll update about staying power later.

 

Aftermath

Well it's not what I was expecting thats for sure! It's way more balanced and juicy. If you liked Queen of Spades and found it too plummy try Morgause. If you liked Midnight but found it too floraly try Morgause. As for me I'll try it a bit more! I'm not SLATHERING RAVING over it but it is quite lovely.

 

 

EDIT: Merged with existing review thread --Shollin

Edited November 3, 2005 by Shollin

[Lucretia]

This is pretty much exactly like the description. Inscence mingled with a whole lot of purple scents. It's a very deep and dark scent, very smokey and very soft. I can get hints of the violet and some other flowers I really can't identify. Although it smells almost like a plum wine on me too.

Very pleasant, but muted. This one definitly doenst jump out at me, but I find it very cozy and warm and reminds me a bit of coming into the warmth after a cold winter walk.

 

edit to add that this one has really grown on me and I love the insence that it leaves on me. Very much a churchy old fashioned insence and not that patchouli stuff I hate..

Edited November 13, 2004 by Lucretia

[isyche]

Had to have this, as another lover of things Arthurian.

 

Wet: Violet with a bit of incense, but very violet. Definitely a purple scent. There might be some jasmine in there too. Not getting any of the fruits yet.

 

Drying: Oh, i think there's some kind of fruit there now. It's not very sweet, but it makes the floral richer and more purple. The hint of jasmine is gone now, which is good. It's getting darker and floating out around me a bit, like a purple cloak or something.

 

I like it - it's regal and elegant and mysterious, if not quite as sinister as what I would associate with Morgause.

[Northernminx]

This seems to have been much lighter on me than it was on others. Violet definitly, but also not heavy violet. A mysterious, wet floral. It brought to mind a nighttime glen filled with flowers where one might go to worship. A touch of incense softens this into something a little smokier. Lovely and while I'll try it another tiem or two a keeper

[LiberAmoris]

Night-blooming jasmine, violet, and smoke. Morgause is very mysterious. If you like jasmine and violet but find that they are normally too sweet for you, this one might be a winner, as the 'incense' aspect blurs and darkens the florals, making them shadows of themselves. Very feminine and alluring, slightly dangerous, and compelling.

 

It reminds me a bit of a hookah bar I went to last year. We mixed jasmine and violet tobacco for our table blend, and this smells so much like that spiraling, dimensional smoke.

 

This isn't my absolute favorite from the last batch of imps I received, but I have a feeling it's the kind of blend that will grow on me.

[fairywingmaker]

Morgause is a lot softer than I thought it was going to be. I'm getting the soft jasmine, definitely not overly floral though. A bit of plumminess is there, and the incense (which I love) is there, making it seem very magical to me. I think Beth captured the spirit of Morgause perfectly with this scent...This is worth a 10ml.

Edited November 3, 2005 by Shollin

[Ina Garten Davita]

First Impression: If there are violets in the bottle, I smell them first.

 

Second Impression: It's purple, the perfect smell of my favorite color. The violets and jasmine are so subtle and well blended that they stay nicely in the background. It's dark, incensey and slightly juicy with fruit. Perfectly blended dark and moody floral.

 

Final Analysis: Violets tend not to like me, but I took an chance and purchased this sight-unsmelled from lorajc and I'm thrilled I did. It's a perfect cool weather, very mysterious and womanly fragrance. I love it.

[ChupaChup]

Sadly, I am not one who can appreciate Morgause. With the violets and fruits, it never stood a chance. I'm glad to hear others enjoy it because it sure sounds lovely to me.

[Electra]

I get no fruitiness from Morgause. Upon first application I get a slightly astringent note. It quickly calms down into a rich floral - smells to me like an old-fashioned, "older women's" perfume, but one that's surprisingly wearable. Sophisticated, rich, and slightly dark.

[inkstone]

The generous Fairywingmaker tossed in a decant of this when I received some other imps from her.

 

In the vial

Florals with the faintest hint of fruits and incense. Let's give this a go.

 

Wet

Ah, night-blooming flowers, you will be my downfall. Much like my experience with Midnight, I feel like someone's beating me over the head with a bouquet of them. Except this time, there's incense along with it.

 

Drydown

In the initial stages of the drydown, I get a beautiful dark floral -- the violets have mingled the night-blooming flowers nicely. There's also a little fruit and a little incense. This was lovely. Unfortunately it didn't stay that way. After a couple hours, the violet, fruit & incense vanished, leaving me with only the night-blooming flowers. Eh....

 

Final thoughts

If it would have stuck in that initial drydown stage, I think I would have liked this. But just night-blooming flowers? Not really my thing. Off to swap for you.

[Damask Rose]

Mmmm.....lovely! A very heady floral/fruity scent. Very heavy - kind of reminds me of purple velvet! It really reminds me of Queen Mab, which I already have a bottle of so I won't be buying this but if I didn't I'm sure I would be getting a big bottle.

[LaLisa]

In the vial it smelled very floral and sweet, to the extent that I was a bit reluctant to try it, but now sniffing my wrist:

 

Wet: Floral but with underlying fruits and spices

 

Drydown: Violets and nightblooming flowers blend with ripening fruits, jasmine sensualizes, and the medival incense steps up its spiciness.

 

Final thoughts: a bit sweet, but wonderful for clubbing, created a heady rapture. The first BPAL I've tried that I would wear again (I've tried Old Dublin, Desire, Libertine and Black Rose) because there's no patchouli or musk and it smells very feminine, not matronly. And on me I definitely smell the underlying spice of the purple fruits.

 

I really really like it!

[Penance]

Another gift from the lovely Sigh!

 

First sniff:

 

"Purple fruits" is right! There's also a hint of powdery violets and the slightest whiff of incense here. This is like the Queen of Spades' baby sister, all light, breezy innocence compared to the Queen's dark, heavy, sensous elegance. This is beautiful and I don't even like florals!

 

Wet on skin:

 

Plums maybe? And violets. This is very feminine smelling, but in an understated way. It still reminds me of the Queen of Spades only lighter and more innocent smelling. I wish there were more incense to this blend, but it's gorgeous as is. Normally I shy away from scents with violet in them, but I had to try this for the purple fruits and incense and I'm thrilled; this is beautiful!

 

Dry down:

 

Slightly stronger than when it was wet, for some odd reason, but basically unchanged. I don't smell any incense in it, which is a shame, but it really is gorgeous the way it is.

 

The bottom line:

 

I don't generally like floral or fruit perfumes, but this is a winner all the same.

[Fishwomon]

Penance sent me an imp's ear of Morgause along with some of her fab imp/ammo boxes, so it seems appropriate that my review appears alongside hers. I was nervous about trying Morgause because, uh, fruit? floral? I was worried. Yet I adore the character of Morgause in Mists of Avalon, and the description of the oil promised incense plus night-blooming flowers (which I've always imagined I'd have planted on my grave, being a creature of the night myself), so I thought maybe ... maybe....

 

And, yes! Ah, Morgause, how lovely. The scent is a woman sweeping her dark purple velvet cloak around her body and leaving the church, out into the cold night under the stars, back to her Goddess, the scent of incense lingering in her cloak, the scent of flowers blooming at night along her path. This is an scent for doing magic - night magic, dark moon magic.

 

More prosaically, the floral and incense is perfectly balanced, and this really does smell the way expensive purple crushed velvet looks and feels. Not too sweet. Not juicy. Not too flowery. Just lovely.

[antimony]

This one hurts my head just sniffing the imp. I put a little bit on, and it was all Night Blooming Flowers. wrapped around cement blocks and getting thrown at my sinuses.

 

Part of it is that I'm sensitive to "night blooming flowers" - part of it is that this blend is *strong*

[Donnababe]

Morgause

 

A very blue floral blend. At first it's quite heavy on the jasmine but then it fades to a what is unfortunately a sharp, generic scent which makes my nose twitch.

[Ishtar]

I was anxious to try Morgause as I love all things Arthurian, as well as the colour purple. From the description, this sounded like the perfect blend for me.

 

On me, Morgause is a very pretty fruity/floral blend with a hint of what could be plum to give it a slightly earthy character. The incense note is there but rather faint.

 

This is very well-balanced but a little too light on me. From the name and description, I was expecting something darker, deeper, maybe more mystical. I think that it would have worked quite well had the incense note been stronger. Still, Morgause is quite enjoyable and I am not giving up on it yet. Methink some layering and experimenting is in order. This can be beautiful if I find something to give it a little more oomph.

[surf-tormented]

This oil is very light on me and falls into the "ok" area of BPAL oils. It doesn't give me any clear notes and fades into a powdery sweet scent with no physical baring of its nature. Oh, what could have been.

 

I tried this twice, under different conditions and it didn't work for me. I get a slight whiff of something fruity and incensey and then...poof...gone.

 

This one is going into the trade pile, due to its lack of empathy with my skin chemistry.

[jj_j]

I hate to say that Morgause and I don't get along. The description is so beautiful, and I love both violets and incense, so I expected this to be a favorite.

 

Those night-blooming flowers killed me. I mean, they're gorgeous, and they're silvery-white, and this is truly a beautiful scent. Its just that it sends sharp pains through my head when I smell it.

 

Now, keep in mind that "white" flowers (jasmine, magnolia, carnations, ylang-ylang, etc.) and I notoriously clash. It's not that Beth doesn't use the most fabulous distillations of them, it's that sharp pain through the forehead thing. There are obviously one or more of those scents in Morgause, and they come out in full force at the first application of the scent. Oddly, this is a GOOD thing, because those of you who love those white florals can delight in Morgause; my headache is proof positive.

 

The scent mellows as time passes, and there's a creamy softness to Morgause that's feminine and mysterious. The violet I love so is more of an accessory to the night-blooming flowers, but it gives them a weight and, at the same time, a wispy-ness that's enchantingly contradictory.

 

Sorry I can't tell you anything about the incense or the fruit. I've sniffed all of Morgause I can manage, and I haven't found them yet, so you'll have to do it on your own.

[Laurel the Woodfairy]

Thanks to dear Minilux for sending Morgause my way...

 

Oh, what a lovely sorceress she is! If you missed Queen of Spades, this is similar, but softer. It's like Queen of Spades crossed with Midnight--that familiar sweet bouquet predominates, with a touch of plums and incense underneath. Softer than I expected, but that makes it very wearable--the Queen can be a little too much on me. I badly needed to feel strong and grounded (yet always feminine!) today, and Morgause does the trick.

[cookie]

This one is going into the trade pile, due to its lack of empathy with my skin chemistry.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

One woman's trade pile is another woman's treasure. thanks for the trade Madame Nyx, because I love this!

 

Its plummy, much like my beloved Kitsune-Tsuki. But it also has some florals (not sure what I'm smelling besides jasmine hmmm) - not too much, not too little, but juuuust right. Wow, how much I do like this! I wish it lasted longer, but that's ok - I'll just have to reapply often.

[Rheliwen]

I did not expect to fall in love with this one (mostly because I don't like violet that much), but I did!

 

In the bottle: Clean florals. I tend to classify scents by color, so this one was parchment and linen to me.

 

Wet: I mostly smell the night blooming florals. The violet (which is very dusky, just as described) blends into the background, providing a nice base for the night flowers. It prevents them from getting too sharp like they do in Midnight. This stage is a beautiful musky floral.

 

Dry: Initially it retained the same qualities as the wet stage. But, after about 1 hour of wear, those purple fruits decided to make an appearance. It's much juicier now and less dry / musky, though it still retains the night blooming florals. The violet has sort of combined with the fruits and is less noticeable.

 

Verdict: I am contantly smelling my wrists, this is so good! It evokes the image of clean linens drying on the line in the windy English countryside. This is a definite big bottle.

[closedacct]

One of the reasons I enjoy BPAL is the way they are named, the description...I absolutely wanted to love this, but it wound up smelling like grape koolaid on me. I tried it twice, each time a week a part ( hormones, don't ya know) and my body was persistant. nothing but grape koolaid.

 

Oh, well. Ya win some, ya lose some.

[Shollin]

First sniff: Morgause is a deep floral, very slightly powdery. Hope it behaves on my skin.

 

Wearing: There’s an immediate powdery sweetness, like dried jasmine. I’ll have to try this one again.