All Souls' Night 1917

[Ashmedai]

You heap the logs and try to fill
The little room with words and cheer,
But silent feet are on the hill,
Across the window veiled eyes peer.
The hosts of lovers, young in death,
Go seeking down the world to-night,
Remembering faces, warmth and breath–
And they shall seek till it is light.
Then let the white-flaked logs burn low,
Lest those who drift before the storm
See gladness on our hearth and know
There is no flame can make them warm.

Embers that give no warmth; cold hands stoking a fire that gives no light. Fragonia, carrot seed, and ashen sandalwood.

Wet on skin: I smell mild white sandalwood and definitely carrot seed - however, it's less like carrot seed and more like sweet, fresh-grated carrots at this stage. I'm very much a fan of any carrot and wood notes, so I'm really digging this. Something else develops rather rapidly, and this is hard to describe (I'm assuming it's the fragonia, which I'm not familiar with at all). It smells almost medicinal, but in a very pleasant way, like light amber blended with very, very faint hints of eucalyptus, lemon and a warm spice, alongside a balsam that reminds me of labdanum or balsam of Peru...but probably is neither. All I know is that it's extremely pleasant but hard to narrow down (this is one of those scents where I hope nobody from the Lab reads my review, because they'll probably break out in giggle-fits. Anyway...). The carrot seed joins it again after a while, and now it does smell like the carrot seed I remember (and love) from "Breathless Horror" or "Solitary and Abhorred", but it's much more subtle here. The sandalwood seems to have cloaked itself in the rest of the notes, because I can't pick it out anymore at this stage.

There's a very faint soapy note on final dry-down, but so faint it's barely detectable, and it soon disappears. Otherwise, this smells sweet, balsamic and very slightly vanillic with a woodsy undertone that reminds me of both paper or parchment and that unique scent a pile of dried firewood has. I think this is one of the more complex scents I've ever smelled, despite its having only three notes listed. While it keeps a vaguely (pleasant) medicinal vibe, it reminds me most of BPAL's "book" or "paper" scents (mostly "Old Moon 2012" without the wallop of vanilla or "The Lurid Library" with a bit more complexity and less sweetness). It's not a typical perfume scent, but I find it extremely beautiful and intriguing, evoking a cozy sense of peace and comfort - not at all the soul-less cold the description would indicate. I think this will be my go-to scent on rainy, cold afternoons. It brings back memories of my great-grandmother's old farmhouse with its wood-burning stoves, the ancient root cellar, bundles of drying herbs, old books and the medley of scents that wove themselves into a blanket of comfort for me as a small child. Absolutely love this!

[zankoku_zen]

Ashy sandalwood, hints of balsam and spice and eucalyptus. It was much warmer and sweeter on wet (I am assuming because of the carrot seed), but it dries to a sandalwood blend, with hints of paper.

 

It's an interesting blend, and definitely more of a 'scent' experience as opposed to more of a wearable perfume to me.

[flyby]

Wet in the vial, this is a pale, ashy sort of scent with a quiet and distant feel to it. Unfortunately the moment it touched skin it turned to soap on me and while 30min later the soapy top note is fading to let some warm woodiness through, it doesn't look like this is going to be a winner for me.

[Drae]

Hmm, not sure what to think of this one. I can get a faint whiff of woods, but for the most part this is slightly medicinal, and unfortunately band-aidish on my skin. There is a very soapy period 5-10 minutes after application, but it burns off.

 

I would say this is a unisex, borderline masculine scent. Interesting, but not for me.

[fairestrocza]

Creepy and desolate. It feels somehow incomplete, which fits the description quite well, but makes this unwearable for me.

[Monday]

This scent freaks me out, it smells really old. It smells like the air in old forgotten rooms full of ancient clothes. (Something about this makes me think of textile somehow.) But dry old rooms not dank ones.

 

I get the carrot seed way underneath a pile of dust and old-ness. I love carrot seed but I don't know if I can get used to the dry old textile feel of All Souls' Night 1917.

 

Great job on this weenie Beth!

[Blood onmy hands]

Sometimes I think that this smells a bit spa-like (medicinal, clean, cool, mentholic, and natural-herbal-ish) and other times it smells very dusty and dry as the sandalwood seems to amp up. It reminds me of some of bptp's massage oil scents.

[PumpkinGuts]

This one's very unusual. It's definitely medicinal-smelling. Tea tree, I think?

I'm not sure why, but the way it reacts with my skin turns it a little bit floral. All I can think about is citronella candle.

[grrrlennyl]

All Souls' Night 1917

 

On: Sharp incense.

3.5 hours later: Sandalwood incense.

7 hours later: Still about the same. A little more powdery.

Overall: This is nice on me, but nothing amazing. I could see layering it with some other BPAL, though.

[milo]

Hmm, all I get is funeral flowers. I wonder if that is the fragonia? Whatever the case, it's not for me.

[thekittenkat]

In the decant: White sandalwood.

 

Wet: Hints of the carrots seeds, and an even fainter hint of fragonia.

 

The dry-down: Once on my skin, this doesn't change much. I like sandalwood, so I knew that this was worth trying. And that it is only three notes makes it elegantly simple. I like that, as the more complex a blend is, the more chance(s) that there will be notes of doom present. Might have to upgrade to a bottle.

 

I did a little research on the wiki to see if this was a special date in history. Didn't see anything in particular, but one must always remember the horrors and deaths of the Great War.