Black Taffeta

[suki]

The dry, musty wooden scent of a crumbling cedar trunk dusted upon a gleaming swath of black Byzantine silk taffeta: opoponax and opium tar, Chinese geranium, smoky patchouli, bourbon vanilla absolute, and lustrous black and white musks.

In The Bottle: On first whiff, I get a hint of the mustiness that's so prevalent in Crypt Queen. On second, deeper sniff, I'm getting a mix of the bright, sweet note that is geranium and the bourbon vanilla in equal measure. I'll admit, it's a strange pairing, but I'm intrigued...

Wet On Skin: Okay, this is now blooming into something far more complex. the geranium and vanilla are both still holding their own, but now the opoponax and the white musk are in the picture making this scent, at this point, surprisingly round and soft- without becoming powdery, which is great.

Dry Down: Yes, this is indeed like a length of silk. Sweet, without being cloying; resiny without being overwhelming. This scent is really something special. Even as it sit on my skin, it seems multi-faceted. Unlike some other scents I've tried where there's a high morph factor, this is almost like it depends what quarter-inch of skin I'm smelling to determine what notes I get (over by my thumb, there's more vanilla/patchouli; closer to my wrist there's more of a geranium/musk vibe happening...)

In All: Medium throw, a little goes a long way. Heady, sweet and sultry: I can already tell that this is going to become *sublime* when aged for a while- and it's a fabulous addition to all the "Lace" scents right now.

I may need a backup bottle...or two

[mymymai]

ITB: It's musky, floral, slightly fruity, and resinous. It does remind me of aged black taffeta - delicate while still being alluring.

 

Wet: It stars out with bourbon, then I can pick up the geranium followed by the opium, patchouli, and black musk. It's intoxicating at this stage.

 

Dry: As it dries, it becomes more dusty from the opoponax and patchouli...it certainly reminds me of an attic right now. There is something...a little sweet mustiness, but not in a super positive way - like old cat pee. I'm hoping this changes as it dries further. Okay, phew, the unsettling note is much less prevalent. Now, it's shifted to something more sweetly resinous with notes of bourbon vanilla and opium tar creeping through the darkness. Once dried, this is a beautiful scent!

Edited July 19, 2013 by mymymai

[sharkdiver]

Oh I like this!! I think the combo of the oppanax, opium tar, and Patch are translating in my brain to small like Nag champa incense! I get a bit if sweetness from the vanilla, though not a lot...it's just right! And the geranium gives it an almost herbal/green aspect that peeks out from behind the incense like notes. I also get a bit of dustiness from the cedar, but it's an afterthought on my skin... Not being amped at all. I suspect this will age superbly!

Edited July 20, 2013 by sharkdiver

[EmDPhoenix]

Ok I'm not sure how Beth does it but this really smells like old fabric...like secrets, like things hidden in the attic. Which may not sound like a good thing but it kinda is.

At first I get a strong powdery musty musk. Now for those of you saying "Oh no powder!" fear not, that died down after the dry down. For me the main notes that I can pick out are black musk and the bourbon vanilla with touches of dust and flowers. This is awesome! After the powder calms down this gets sweeter but not overly sweet and it becomes very sexy.

This is a keeper for me just because of the feeling it gives. I'm so glad I got a bottle wonder if I should get another...

[Alethia]

Thoughts before testing: Cedar is usually a note of death for me, but everything else looks so good! I'm hoping that the other notes will keep the cedar from taking over.

 

Wet: Oof. Black musk single note? I can't detect anything else but the black musk. It's a lovely black musk but still.

 

Dry down: Still strong on the black musk, but I can detect a smattering of patchouli. This is hinting at beautiful things, but not delivering

 

Dry: The hint of patchouli is gone after about an hour and the black musk takes over again.

 

Final thoughts: This was bizarre. I thought my nose was going crazy and that maybe Black Taffeta falls into an olfactory blind spot, but I had three other people smell me and all three confirmed that all they could smell was black musk. Don't get me wrong: it's a beautiful black musk, but I was hoping for some of the other notes to come through. It might be a hormonal thing? I'm hoping. I'll hang onto the bottle and retest in a few months.

 

Verdict: Needs to age/be retested.

[stellamaris]

Well, wet this smells absolutely vile. Strange and almost like a bitter malt beer or something, can't put my finger on it but blergh.

Then it dries down. Wow. So amazing. Need so many bottles.

It reminds me somehow of Lot and His Daughters.

It's rich and incensey.

[ellebelle]

Wet, this is all black musk, opium and opoponax. In fact, in the very beginning, it's almost acrid smelling and then it mellows to being just smoky. Then, I don't know what happens, but it's magic time. The musks back off a lot and the vanilla comes out to play, grounding this scent and making it beautiful. I have to assume that aging will only make it better. Gorgeous!

[OctoberGwen]

Smelling this in the bottle: wtf? My son wrinkled his nose and wandered away muttering, "Uh...interesting?"

 

Once it hits my skin, though, it's magic.

 

Everything swirls into a beauteous waft of smoky, rich, gleaming yumminess. The geranium is really fantastic with these other notes, and for once in its godforsaken life the bourbon vanilla is not overwhelming the joint with its nauseating sweetness. Black Taffeta is a perfect, perfect symphony. Kind of musky, kind of resinous somehow, very smooth. Like stretching out naked on a swath of dark satin.

 

I'm in love.

[littlebeky]

Echoing OctoberGwen-she took the words out of my mouth!

 

When I first sniffed it it reminded me of Mopsfledermaus minus Mops' spices. Must be the musk+bourbon vanilla in the two of them. The BF said "One of those smells like a head shop".

 

Once on my skin however the similarities fade and that dark, dusty, smokey feel comes through. I can't wait to wear this in the autumn weather to be honest!

[Coldfire]

Imp: dark, spicy, earthy

Wet On Me: spicy and earthy

Drying Down: woody…the patchouli and vanilla bourbon being tempered by the geranium

Dry: all blended into a loving mash of the patchouli, vanilla bourbon and mellow spicyness.

[DrKate]

This is amazing, it's all dusty dark musk and vanilla on me, I adore it. So glad I got a bottle unsniffed.

[dementia_divine]

Note: Patchouli and I rarely get along, so normally I would have passed on this, but I decided to get a decant and try it out anyway.

 

In the decant: I mostly get a musty vibe.

 

Wet: I would say that it is VERY true to its description at the moment -- all of the notes seem to be very well blended, because I can't really pick out the patchouli!

 

Dry: There is definitely a musty, heady, resin-y vibe. It's still true to its description. I can envision an old wooden trunk, or a really old bookshelf.

 

This scent reminds me of another BPAL scent I have sniffed before, but I can't pinpoint exactly which scent that was.

 

Verdict: This is a lot more pleasant than I thought it would be (especially since the patchouli didn't end up being the dominant note on me)! It's not something I would normally wear, though (I generally dislike wood-dominant scents). That said, I may end up getting a bottle of this, anyway... my boyfriend loves it!

 

*edit* Several hours later, it is a bit sweeter, probably due to the bourbon vanilla in the blend.

Edited August 23, 2013 by dementia_divine

[milo]

I've been wracking my brain trying to figure out what this reminds me of. Hmm, lots of black musk and resins. Why I do believe this is very much like Panther Moon! It may be a teeny bit less musky, but very similar indeed. I really like this, but rarely wear scents like this out in public. I may hunt down a partial or another decant.

[zankoku_zen]

Black Taffeta is very different to me on wet and dry. On wet, it's a much harsher and inkier blend, and I definitely get the 'black taffeta' but its opium tar + patchouli and black musk.

 

As it dries, I get a whiff of the geranium and white musk, and it becomes slightly more wearable. On the drydown, it oddly reminds me to Chinese incense, and it's got a very heavy incense vibe to me.

 

Not something that I adore, but it's very pretty nonetheless. Very different.

[theseagrows]

at first sniff, this is very very pretty. it's a smoky-musky scent, but in a very subtle and not overpowering way. i think i am mostly getting the patchouli, vanilla, musk and maybe opoponax. it's very evocative and it's soft but smoky, and it's an intimate scent. i like this quite a bit

Edited January 10, 2016 by theseagrows

[Monster]

Echoing what a lot of people have already said, Black Taffeta is completely different in the bottle/wet than it is dry. Wet, this is almost unbearable bitter and funky (and for someone who loves dark and bitter scents). Have you ever had candy or food that had too much purple or red food coloring in it? This smells like that tastes. It's that sharp, uncomfortable and jarring bitterness that makes your mouth pucker and wince. It's dark and ink-like and so acrid smelling I was almost too afraid to put it on my skin. However, I did it anyway and I'm sure glad I did. The note listing is too perfect to pass up.

 

As it dries, the bitterness slowly subsides revealing the true beauty of this perfume. I'm also realizing the uncomfortable top note I was smelling is probably the geranium. After about 5 minutes on the skin, its nearly gone, allowing a thick, beautiful black musk to come through. I'm also getting the Lab's amazing opium tar note that I love so much. This really does smell BLACK. In the background I can still detect the tiniest shimmer of geranium bitterness. It's enough to give these dark and dusty resins a shiny feeling. It really gives you the impression of an old, aged swath of black taffeta. I'll never stop being amazed at how Beth can do that!

 

Black Taffeta is such a special scent and I'm really glad I have a bottle, it reminds me a bit of a darker version of Romati.Goth. It's got a really good throw and lasts all day on my skin. A few dabs from a wand cap behind the ears is all I need, no slathering needed, this stuff is strong!

 

Black musk and resin fans, this is a holy grail scent!

Edited November 4, 2014 by Monster

[ayelienne]

Black Taffeta has been lingering around the edges of my collection since it was released and has spent pretty much all its tenure in the "age/maybe swap" pile, so I decided that today was Black Taffeta's day of judgement in my collection.

 

Sometime during the first hour of wear, I decided that this was going to be swapped, due to the frequently aforementioned bitter/musty feel of the geranium and something else.

 

During the second hour of wear, the bitter/musty note settled down, and a dry, slightly sweet patchouli-tinged feel began to emerge. It was at this point, I decided to keep a decant for myself and swap the bottle.

 

About 30 minutes after I decanted an imp's worth for myself, the bourbon vanilla absolute and patchouli began their dance with the black and white musks, and I suddenly I realized that I couldn't stop huffing my arm. What is this sorcery?!

 

I'm now well within the third hour of wear, and at this point, I've slathered even more onto myself because oh my gods is this good - dry, warm, slightly woody, vanillic patchy musk. No question I'm keeping the bottle now. It's beautiful.

[LizziesLuck]

Wet: Mmm. This is rich, resinous goodness! Sweet, with so much depth. Blended so well it's hard to pick out individual notes, but I think the black musk and opoponax are the stars here. I can detect the geranium as well. Uh, this is gorgeous.

 

 

 

Dry: Amazingly rich, dark and beautiful, but unlike most of the "darker" scents that I love, this one isn't crazy strong and in-your-face. I like that, because it'll be more wearable for me during the day. So glad I finally got this! <3

[Lucchesa]

Wet, this is all opoponax and black musk on me. Deep and dark, mysterious and a little musty. As it dries down, the other notes come into play, though I never do get any cedar, so don't be worried if that's the note that scares you off. There's the smoky sweetness of opium and patchouli and bourbon vanilla, a slightly herbal touch of geranium, and maybe just a bit of a crystalline quality from the white musk? I don't usually get along with white musk, but this blend is sensational. As LizziesLuck mentions, it is a darker blend that is nevertheless appropriate for daytime wear, when we want to channel our inner gothic heroines or demon bitch goddesses at work. I'm so delighted I got to try this decant!