September Midnight

[Invidiana]

Lyric night of the lingering Indian Summer,
Shadowy fields that are scentless but full of singing,
Never a bird, but the passionless chant of insects,
Ceaseless, insistent.

The grasshopper's horn, and far-off, high in the maples,
The wheel of a locust leisurely grinding the silence
Under a moon waning and worn, broken,
Tired with summer.

Let me remember you, voices of little insects,
Weeds in the moonlight, fields that are tangled with asters,
Let me remember, soon will the winter be on us,
Snow-hushed and heavy.

Over my soul murmur your mute benediction,
While I gaze, O fields that rest after harvest,
As those who part look long in the eyes they lean to,
Lest they forget them.
- Sara Teasdale

A myrrh-darkened amber chypre sweetened by newly-ripened black pomegranate.

The first sniff of this transported me straight outside to the depths of an autumn night. Granted the air outside doesn't smell exactly like resins and pomegranate, but what I really mean is that it evokes that feeling of a September (or October or November) midnight. This is a seriously dark pomegranate note, not nearly as bright as that in Persephone or The Fruit of Paradise. I love how this pomegranate is almost dark enough to be akin to blackcurrant, but still retains that characteristic "red" quality. This is the last pomegranate of the season, whose juice is as bloodred as the edges of an autumn sunset. The resins work to add depth on the drydown, which I can best compare to that same autumn sunset purpling and darkening before it succumbs to completely to nightfall. While the pomegrante note is perfectly balanced between sweet and tart, I believe the myrrh adds just a hint more sweetness--I tend to amp a subtle vanillic sweetness in myrrh. I feel September Midnight is the counterpart to Autumn and Winter, a prequel for what's to come as the days grow shorter and the nights deeper.

[Dark Alice]

The chypre is the culprit! Wet, this is a glorious myrrh tinged pomegranate juice filled dream....and then the chypre comes in and turns it into a floral pomegranate. Where did my myrrh go...and my glorious dark filled pomegranate? *sigh* Up to the sales this goes!

 

This is the one I was so excited about too.

Edited October 3, 2013 by Dark Alice

[Lycanthrope]

Wo-pah, there's the pomegranate. I love eating the fruit. Years of buying The Fruit of Paradise ineffectively should have taught me that my skin does not play well with BPAL pomegranate. Wet, I can get the slightly smoky scent of myrrh taming some of the fruitiness into submission, and on, it's less syrupy sweet powerful. Over time, this does seem to be a pomegranate for me of a more wearable variety. The myrrh resin tempers the sweet but it still retains some juiciness. I'm not getting a lot of floral but on my skin this went directly to smokymyrrhfroot. Grown up pomegranate.

 

I will continue to play around with this bottle.

 

If you like resinous scents, like Penitence, and also a hint of bright autumn fruit, get this. I'm not so sold, but I'm a cold stone violet mint kind of wolf.

[OctoberGwen]

SEPTEMBER MIDNIGHT

 

God, I love this Teasdale poem.

 

This scent is very pretty, but also very hard to pin down and describe properly. It has an airy quality, which I wasn't expecting from the amber/myrrh combination. In fact, I do not really detect either of those notes per se. I do get dark pomegranate, but it is not juicy here at all. Overall there is a slightly perfumey feel; perhaps that's the airiness.

 

I love what this captures, but ultimately I know this is not something I will reach for. I like deep resins and earthy musks, and this is just too airy for me.

 

It is really pretty, though, and pomegranate fans should definitely try it.

[sharkdiver]

This is a very mature scent - the amber has a perfumy (though not a cloying) quality, that has the overtone of Myrrh. The pomegranate is in the background as a nice fruity backdrop, though it's not a sweet or foody Pom, it's almost dry in a way like a fruit wine (without the booze note)

 

Lovely!

[yakiguri]

I don't know whether to blame the chypre or the pom but my skin reads this as dusty desiccated fruit. Odd, since there's not a single death note here...I suppose these notes are fine on my skin mixed with other notes but brought all together I get fruit powder.

[fiddlehead]

Autumnal pomegranate. Mmmm. The pom is really nice and juicy-tart and smells amazing with the amber and myrrh combo when wet. It's sort of plush smelling. I was very curious about the "chypre" part because I don't remember seeing another BPAL with it. I thought I smelled something mossy for a bit underneath the other notes.

 

It gets powdery-dry smelling eventually but I can still smell the pom wafting around. Appropriate for the season, for sure!

[JasminDreams2010]

I wanted to love September Midnight. The poem is beautiful and I like both pomegranate and moss in the right context.

This didn't do anything evil on me and the effect was soft and foresty. But I wanted something darker, dammit, something with blood, passion, maybe some resins, patchouli, honey or a menacing dark wood to lurk in the background. It's pretty. But I have enough scents I'm only keeping what is spectacular.

[Mountaingrrl00]

The way this morphs is fascinating. Wet, it's a dry woody perfume with an ozone edge. I worry that it may give me a headache, and I can't smell the pomegranate at all. Then the oakmoss comes out and the ozone fades away. On drydown, there's the pomegranate in soft oakmoss with subtle hints of resins that make me want to huff my wrist. This will definitely be an evening dress-up kind of scent for me.

[Laurel the Woodfairy]

September Midnight smells like a cross between Persephone and Haunted on me, a beautifully blended spicy amber/pomegranate scent. And it got rave reviews from my mechanic. No, seriously: I took my car into the shop and the guy said, "Wow, what is that fantastic smell?! Is that you?" He kept raving about how he wanted to buy some for his wife because it "smells nothing like any perfume I've ever smelled, but it's so fancy and nice!" So I wrote down the BPAL info for him. Another convert.

[SophieCedar]

Completely evokes night air and pomegranates, for me. Sweet, broody, benevolent to the skin chemistry. Nice but fades quickly.

[cuervosueno]

Pretty, slightly reads as slightly floral with a bit of the redness of pomegranate, but unremarkable. I don't get the myrrh, and I can really read the chypre either....

 

I was hoping for a lot more resin.

 

 

It is pretty enough, but kind of a generic scent on me--nothing I would reach for. Off to swaps it goes.

[Ella LaRose]

I got this as a blind bottle. And tested it thinking I was disappointed. But I keep reaching for it!! A beautiful dark Pom, with a deep sweetness of resin, a bare touch of florals that fade pretty quickly and then a dry down of a deep red amber with hints if dark juicy goodness, I am in love!

[ladyjc]

I think myrrh might be a problem for me :-/

 

When it's in certain blends that have a lot more notes, I think I'm ok...but because this is just a few notes, I'm amping sweet powder like crazy. Don't get me wrong! It's a delicious powder...reminds me of a powder a rich lady might dust herself with (smells expensive). However, I can't wear straight up powder. I was hoping for more fruit!

[puck_nc]

Origin: decant circle

 

Initial Thoughts: This is one of the few times I fell for the name. I'm 90% certain that this won't work on me, but my birthday is in September and I'm used to the Weenies having October/November references instead of September.

 

In the Vial: Very dark resins and green chypre with an underlying bit of harvest impression, probably from the pomegranate.

 

Wet: And the amber amps as amber so often does on me. Something is lending a woodsy turn to it.

 

Drydown: Wow, this one didn't stick around on me. I've got the faintest traces of amber left after less than thirty minutes.

 

Verdict: It was worth a shot, but not for me. Those who like the idea of an apple-less harvest scent might give it a try.

[Erinofhere]

I hated this at first. I was expecting more pomegranate.

 

After my initial try I flung it into the swap pile. Last night I got it out again thinking I didn't really give this scent a fair try.

 

I'm not sure a week made that much difference or if my nose was broken when I first tried this. But crap I really love this now.

I am amping the amber and thankfully it did not turn into powder on me. The pomegranate is there only not very strong and the chypre is holding everything together and giving this an earthy balance and keeping the whole thing from being too sweet.

 

I really can only get ONE weenie this year. Unfortunately my list of only 4 possibilities have grown now to five.

[Poenari]

Dark pomegranate, sweetened by the myrrh and amber, and then a green note that makes it go sharp in my nose. I really loved this at first, but that green note ruined it for me.

[patina]

This smells like Haunted plus light juicy pomegranate to me. I wish it was a tiny bit more spicy or woody, more fall-like. The pomegranate sometimes threatens to become overly sour/ sharp, but doesn't quite go there. It'll be interesting to see what aging does with this, whether it becomes sharper or more mellow and whether the pomegranate fades with time.

[Lethran]

In bottle: Lovely dark pomegranate with a smooth incense blend in support. The chypre blend is unusual and less overwhelming than in the atmosphere spray from last year. Wet: The chypre really comes out on the skin, pushing the pomegranate into the background. This is rather a shame as the balance in the bottle was unusual and gorgeous. The amber dominant incense blend is still lovely, but rather strong on me. If you love chypre incense this is for you. Dry: The chypre calms down as it wears and ends up doing lovely things with what remains of the pomegranate. The effect is smooth and sweet.

[theredkilt]

Testing September Midnight was a journey!

 

Upon application a very familiar smell greeted me, but for the love of GOD, i couldn't remember where i've smelled it before. Turns out it's Omen from GC. Yep, juniper-piney -musky smell and i though Oh, no!

 

I was already at peace with the fact that the oil is a miss for me, but sniffing my wrist half an hour later, i got this fragrantic ozoney fresh tart whiff! It was to die for !!!!!

I took a chance and ordered a bottle and it all worked out! Happy as a bee!!!

Edited November 5, 2013 by theredkilt

[zankoku_zen]

Night air, pomegranate and myrrh. This one smells, like dark pom but with a very distinctive 'airy' quality to it and smooth incense in the background.

 

For you pom lovers out there, give this a whirl.

[MCS4096]

When first applied this is like Minotaur + pom I was worried when people said this turned floral for them, but that doesnt ever happen for me. The myrrh is glorious and slightly smokey, and the pomegranate is almost plum like. With time the myrrh becomes less prominent and the fruit more so.

[dementia_divine]

In the decant: Resins and dark pomegranate.

 

Wet: The pomegranate is fighting for dominance with the other notes, and I think it is going to succeed.

 

Actually, the pomegranate seems to be blending with the chypre rather beautifully.

 

Dry: The pomegranate is still present, but the chypre seems to be dominant now. It is very perfume-y, for lack of a better term. The chypre has a very masculine quality to it.

 

Verdict: This ended up turning out to be too masculine for me to wear, and it was somewhat powdery as well. I'm glad that I was able to try it, though.

[Floria]

Pomegranate - love it as a fruit, have mixed feelings as a perfume note. It's okay in La Bella Donna Della Mia Mente, but in Eve, To Adam In Paradise it turned into cough syrup. I mostly got this to see if pomegranate worked on me when not combined with potentially problematic florals (rose doesn't always like me).

 

In the bottle, this is pomegranate city, with a worrisome hint of potential cough-syrupyness. Just applied, it briefly goes dry chypre, and I wondered why I bothered, as I'm not much of an oakmoss fan when it's the star of the show. But then the scent warms up, and the pomegranate takes over again, supported by the other notes.

 

The pomegranate is not a candy-sweet fruit at all. It's a bit tart, with an almost bittersweet edge. This makes the scent a little more sophisticated and adds to the "autumn evening" feeling, but unfortunately, I have very strong negative associations with the smell of cough syrup. Fortunately, it never falls over the tipping point of being too tart or bitter or medicinal too enjoy. The resins and chypre are definitely the supporting cast, with the resins lending richness and the chypre adding a bit of darkness to the base. The chypre is earthy and not too bitter.

This is not a powdery scent at all during the wet phase, but in the far drydown as the pomegranate fades, the resins get a bit powdery and the chypre goes a bit dusty. Still not Powder City, however.

 

This is definitely fruit + resinous chypre to my nose, not resinous chypre + fruit. It's interesting as a sophisticated, grown-up red fruit scent, but I wouldn't recommend it if you don't like the idea of smelling like classy pomegranates.

[astarinel]

Goes on fruity, but dries strongly resinous. My boyfriend got a bottle, and this definitely reads as masculine to me. He loves it but the myrrh doesn't play nice on my skin. I do like the fruity pom blast at the front, but that's about it.