Dark LE recommendations

[orelmente]

Fledgling BPAL hoarder here. Just wondering if anyone has any dark, macabre, you-haven't-lived-until-you've hunted-it-down-like-a-hellhound LEs I should keep an eye out for?

 

I don't fancy smokey herbals or heavy rose accords much but that's about it I suppose. Anything watery, floral, woody, spicy, gourmand would be lovely, especially the ones that evoke vivid mental images.

 

So far I've tried and loved dark kiss, r'lyeh, dorian, belladonna, vice and hades

[Zii]

Haute Macabre jumps to mind, though it's not a terribly hard to find LE. (In fact someone is selling a decant here if you want to try it.) As for gourmand, the Malignant Dreams of Cthulhu in Love is a really interesting aquatic chocolate.

 

If you like leathers, try to hunt down some of Tontentanz and The Soldier. They are just really evocative, dark, warm scents and are two of my favorites.

[Aviatrix]

For dark and macabre, many things from the Miskatonic Philharmonic or The Festival line from last Yule might work.

 

And since you mention hellhounds yourself, if you can get your hands on some Hellhound on My Trail, that might fit the bill as well.

[ReallyZeb]

Boundless Vista Of An Inner World and The Spell Of The Eastern Sea both come to mind - both aquatic but dark and evocative. I'd also suggest Hesiod's Phoenix is well worth a sniff and Mother Shub's Gingerbread Temples is a wonderfully rich foody.

[Larinessa]

The Soul of La Trivata is a definite one to hunt down. Black plum, black orchid, opium, grapefruit... Its a standout winner. The Black Apple of Saturn is also fabulous with its 'dry' apple note and cypress.

[Balame]

The Final Darkness - Black amber and shimmering moonflower blackened by opoponax, khus attar, smoked oudh, and myrrh and all swallowed by the fathomless depths of a lightless ocean.

 

Schwarzer Mond - Opoponax, Tunisian black amber, night musk, antique patchouli, zdravetz, terebinth, myrrh, and Pimenta racemosa.

 

Countess Dolingen of Gratz - Hailstone-pounded cypress boughs, olibanum, and an ozone blast of lightning.

 

Halloween: Las Vegas - Walls smeared with red and black frosting, copious amounts of spilled red wine, the leftover contents of three full bars, dry leaves and desert flowers crushed into carpet, tobacco smoke, and champaca incense in a cloud of body-heat amped Snake Oil and Dorian.

 

Count Dracula - Black patchouli, neroli, tonka, cinnamon, bitter clove, leather, black musk, coffin wood and fiery ginger.

 

Leather Phoenix - Matcha tea, wild frankincense, champaca, petitgrain, star anise, aged oudh, rose taifi, narcissus, Himalayan cedar, 11-year aged patchouli, and black leather accord.

 

Spanked/(Rev) - Whip leather, cardamom, patchouli, and bourbon.

 

So Below - Amber and black copal with black coconut, Sumatran red patchouli, green cardamom pod, and golden musk.

 

Ship of Hel - Black oak and sprucewood with opoponax, myrrh, black ambergris, and the silent ice of Niflheimr.

 

A Variety of Pleasing Amusements - Honey, leather, tobacco, and myrrh.

 

French Tobacco - The scent reverberates like a deep bass note, possessing a very faint citrus-like twang and an almost animalic caramel richness.

[OctoberGwen]

Lucy, Kissed is my very favorite dark and macabre scent so far. It is super evocative, yet also smells fabulous.

 

Hexennacht '05 is dark and witchy. Voodoo and Whitechapel are super evocative, but they are general catalogue scents and thus don't fit your "hard to find" criteria. (I'm not quite sure why you want to start with super rare LE's, but whatever enhances your BPAL experience!)

[orelmente]

thanks for all the lovely detailed suggestions!

 

I'm no diehard LE junkie though, just looking for a couple more options since I'm snooping the sales threads for a blood kiss bon bon anyways

[tziporra]

Noctiphobia is my favorite dark LE.

 

Sheol is lovely from the GC.

 

Tzi

[boomtownrat]

Palus Nebularum could be right up your alley, as it's a mysterious, watery, mossy, musky green scent: weedy green musk, three boggy mosses, water lettuce, and water hyacinth against a backdrop of glittering moon rocks. At least one person on here has mentioned getting floral notes from it. I'm not sure how hard it will be to find, since it just came down a few days ago.

 

The Clive Barker scent called Imaginer is beautiful: honeyed patchouli, Madagascan black pepper, fossilized amber oil, beeswax absolute, massoia bark, Egyptian myrrh, and a thin thread of blood-red saffron.

[wendyb1063]

Noctiphobia is my favorite dark LE.

 

Sheol is lovely from the GC.

 

Tzi

 

Panther Moon

On Darkness (Yule 2009, I think?)

Black Lace

[Atrous]

Agree with Haute Macabre and So Below.

Some others that haven't been mentioned...

 

Black Tower (GC) - white sandalwood, ambergris, wet ozone, galbanum and leather with ebony, teak, burnt grasses, English ivy and a hint of red wine

Black Forest (GC) - Thick, viscous pine with ambergris, black musk, juniper and cypress.

 

Czernobog (GC) -  A combination of three musks, with splashes of dark myrrh, vetiver and mullein.

 

The Rending of the Rock (LE) - Doom unfettered, the ruin of hope: the tattered remains of Gelgja, smashed stone, feral grey musk, and blackened blood.

 

Wolf Moon (LE) - This is the dead of winter: a frozen night, chill wind, and the sharp, warm perfume of blood, fur, fang, and claw. Winter air, Terebinth pine, juniper berry, dusty orris, deep amber, brown musk, white sandalwood, black cypress, blue cedar, Siamese benzoin, white tobacco, and tonka

 

Pickled Imp (LE) - Cinnamon, clove, vanilla, and pine sap

 

The Malignant Dreams of Cthulhu in Love (LE) - incense, spices, kelp, sea salt, mystery, dark ocean plants, and mixed chocolates

 

Eldritch Dark (LE) - Black and red musks with honey, leather, and sugared black rose

[patina]

Schwarzer mond - heavy on the patchouli and resins

 

The Final Darkness- It's a bit sweet and candy like but I love the black amber

 

Panther Moon - if you don't mind a slight anise smell, this is an incredibly smooth dark musk.

 

Destructive Vagina of the Fox Spirit- coffee, vanilla orchid, dark musk, black amber. And stuff.

 

Count Dracula- Nice clove, patchouli, oak scent

 

On Darkness- weirdly the lavender reminds me of blueberry waffles. Resins turn sweet on me, though.

 

Creature Feature- dark musks that smell a bit like some classical perfume. Very fifties.

 

German Expressionist Horror- If you don't mind pine, this is a very dark, musky scent that reminds me of the smell of old velvet theater curtains.

 

Blood (GC)- Myrrh, cherries, clove, dragon's blood. This smells delicious to me.

 

Ship of Hel- The scent has myrrh and ice notes. The spruce does smell a bit like pineapple though. I still love it.

 

Eldrich Dark

 

Witch's Dance- the red musk and leaves smell dry and a little woody. I think there might be some smoke here, so be cautious.

 

Halloween Los Vegas- cake and a dribble of snake oil yes, just a little smoke, but it's delicious and amazing.

 

Totentanz- another good clovy dark scent

[JasminDreams2010]

I will agree with Eldritch Dark (I didn't think it was very rosy) and I would add haute macabre as above which was very dark on me, a leathery, woody floral I think is perfect for Halloween.

 

Some of my very favorite darker scents are Death Adder, VILF and dia de Los muertos, all of which have a smoky note on me. I love and amp "smoke" notes but even though you don't, those might be worth a try since bpal is different on everyone and some things that I thought were death notes have worked in a different context.