The Night Priestess

[Ina Garten Davita]

Who leads the star-dazed hero in a moon-blessed quest for his mythical lover: night-blooming jasmine, clove bud, cardamom, moonlit vanilla orchid, and moonflower.

Beth continues to evolve as an artist. This collection is unique, and beautiful, complex, and stunning.

Oh, she is STUNNING! I adore night blooming jasmine, it's a note I crave but find it lacking in my collection. The evokes a moonlit lover, sexy, deep, but light and bright at the same time. A little spicy, the clove is kept in check by the florals, which is great because clove, while I like it, can be a bit of a bully in some blends. This may be one of my favorite applications of clove I've ever experienced in a BPAL blend.

This blend is so smooth, nothing heady, sharp, soapy, or prickly in this moonlit bouquet of gorgeousness. I can see myself reaching for this time and again.

[Casablanca]

Hello, jasmine dear.

 

On first application, The Night Priestess is as jasmine-dominant as it pleases jasmine to be, with just a trace of cool, moonlit whiteness. This jasmine initially seems like a cousin of the one in Mare Vaporum (white sandalwood, smoky oudh, golden amber, bourbon vanilla, black jasmine), but it's a little rounder, less sharp, and it turns soft and pillowy in drydown.

 

But back to the wet phase: Seconds after putting the blend on, vanilla orchid blooms out of the cool whiteness, as the blend warms on my skin. The whiteness resolves into a moonflower impression that brings Lullaby to mind (moonflower, iris root, French lavender, tuberose, white sandalwood, night-blooming gardenia, vanilla orchid, moss). The Night Priestess and Lullaby aren't much alike to me, other than that orchid-moonflower portion.

 

This is jasmine, vanilla orchid, moonflower. It feels like soft, white night-flowers.

 

The priestess doesn't bring out her spice on me until after drydown: a very mild clove joins the night bouquet. The clove adds interest, without intruding. I don't sense cardamom, but I expect both spices will increase a little with age, and I might notice it later.

 

Lovely moonlight-themed floral.

[tarotgirl99]

My first perfume love was Love's Musky Jasmine. I was mad for it.

 

It is such a strong scent memory for me I've tried to get a dupe a few times, to no avail.

 

Leave it to Beth to give me my dream--with a BPAL twist. The Night Priestess is the Musky Jasmine of sainted memory, but with that occasional Clove spice note to remind me that even the sweetest scent memory contains a sharp note.

 

I have an imp in a bottle, but I think I need a full bottle.

 

Throw is only average, but it hangs in for 9 hours or so.

[zankoku_zen]

JASMINE. A ton of jasmine with whiffs of orchid and clove. Huge throw.

[spookyumbrella]

This smells round, white and cool - like the moon! No real edges to this blend, just nocturnal floral smoothness. I dont get any cardamom or clove, just night-blooming jasmine and moonflower.

[zazkea]

Very interesting scent.

 

Bottle

Night-dark, but at the same time also moon-lit. Fresh. (this is how I wanted this to smell on my skin as well).

 

 

Wet

On my skin, I get Jasmine (usually, Jasmine is nice on my Skin and usually I like it, but this is a bitter Jasmine)
and orchid (I typically dislike to stick my nose into orchids too deeply, as real flowers (which I have), because I find them "cold". So it may be that I dont really like it as perfume either, but i had to try).

 

 

Dry

I get a clear and bitter clove note now, and it is smoothened by something - I expect by moonflower, but I dont know the note yet.
I dont get a vanilla tone from the orchird; only orchid. More vanilla would have smoothened this for me, but also would have made it less interesting.

(And I would have liked a stronger Jasmine at this stage, but only because I would see a night garden, if I had more jasmine. Also, if cardamon is listed, I wish for more cardamon, because I think that some spice would help getting away from this garden-feeling that I have. Yes, I am sure now: actually, I would have put more spice in this, but maybe this comes back with aging. For the Image of a night priestess, low spice like it is, is, however, good).

 

Overal

This is a well-blended scent and its hard for me to capture the individual notes.

I am probably not a real fan of either moonflower or the orchid, because to me, this has a too bittersweet note in it.

 

Associations

I wonder, why this is not a lunacy scent, because my first impression was moonlight White.

In my mind, the Night Priestess is somehow the sister of Anthe, although they dont smell alike. I just imagine the two on the same mental Image somehow. I also have the feeling of something ritualistic or magical in this scent, which I only had by The Initiation so far, which also doesnt smell like this one. But those are my associations, and I dont know where they come from.

 

Image: If I were a hero, I would definately NOT follow this scent or the white, shaky, and somewhat etheral apperance of a guiding-person that comes with this scent, because I would be very alert of this leading to a swamp of Magic, for me to either die or to being forced to procreate on a bed of moonflowers. Before you decide, where to go, I feel like the appearance is a swarm when you see it more closely; an Illusion of a moon-lit path behind it, an unreal smile and a welcoming hand. The appearance is not good or bad, it just exists to misguide heros, and make the journey more winding.

 

In sum: This is not my scent, personally. but I will wear it now and then, to have this weird experience;)

[donkehpoo]

Wet: Helloooo, jasmine! Lots and lots of powdery-smelling jasmine. Like a strong jasmine-scented baby powder.

 

Dry: Still a bucket load of jasmine, but it's less powdery now. There's also a hint of clove popping out as well.

 

Basically... all the notes I was looking forward to never made an appearance.

 

If you like jasmine, I'd recommend this. Just not for me!

[roseus]

In the imp: dark jasmine and thin smoky clove, like someone has a clove cigarette somewhere nearby.

 

Wet: The jasmine sweetens, the clove get fresher, and more sharply spicy. Warm, sandy cardamom comes in.

 

Dry: This smells dark and cool despite the spice, which just now mingles at the back like streaks of dawn coming over the horizon. I was worried I would never get the moonflower or orchid but they are there now, white and a bit waxy. The jasmine is soft and vaporous.

[dementia_divine]

In the decant: I am getting lots of jasmine and some vanilla orchid with just a tinge of the spices in the background.

 

Wet: The jasmine is the main player here, but I am getting more clove than I was expecting from the other reviews… I do think I tend to amp the note, though. I am fine with this, as I thought it would be all white florals and no spice!

 

Dry: The jasmine still reigns, but I can smell some of the moonflower and vanilla orchid behind it now if I inhale deeply. The clove bud and cardamom just add a little bit of spice.

 

After a few hours, I do get more clove and cardamom (yaaaas), but they’re not as strong as the floral notes.

 

Verdict: I was curious to try this because of the combination of the florals and the spices. This is nice, spice-tinged white floral scent (with a kind variety of jasmine!), but I wish the clove and cardamom played more of a role in this one. No bottle for me, but I am glad I decided to try it. I think I’ll keep my decant.