Darkness

[Casablanca]

Bottled gloom; the essence of oblivion. Blackest opium and narcissus deepened by myrrh.

 

On the wand, I get the freshly blown-out candle impression other reviewers mention.

 

On my skin, initially, this is a cloyingly sweet bloom (seemingly darkened with a faint lemony black musk?) and an incense opium. It’s mostly too sweet on my skin for the candle impression now, but every now and then, that smoky image turns up again.

 

Once this dries, most of its notes disappear on me. What remains smells like a basement that might have a leak somewhere, but it’s faint and I can’t find it.

Edited April 21, 2017 by Casablanca

[achildoftime]

I'm not really a big fan of this one. It starts okay with some flowery opium with a smidge of soap because myrrh just does that to me. But after about 10 minutes it goes pretty foul. I don't know what my skin is reacting with, but it's like gym socks. This is the first time a scent has taken this turn on me, even though I've handled these notes pretty well in the past. I mean, myrrh goes to soap a lot but I feel like this is kind of the opposite issue.

[roseus]

Smells dark purple. Wispy and bottomless flowers and opium, with myrrh underneath. Hard to pin down.

[InaraRedCloak]

Age Unknown: Date: November 2016

In the bottle: a very mellow scent. I recognize the opium from opium incenses. The myrrh gives a deep scent that seems to expand in your head. This reminds me of some of the incenses I would use in meditation.

Wet on skin: Opium and myrrh are in the forefront. This is calm, mature and heavy. This exudes the type of attitude that is comfortable and calm in the deep dark. This evokes thoughts of dark rooms, closed and airless. Still a deep meditative scent. Reminds me of a lonely church sanctuary at night.

Worn 30+ mins: Oh wow, where did this floral come from? The narcissus has a very lily like quality to it. This floral adds a very open and airy note to the scent. I'm starting to get that "reefer/music" shop sort of scent - just lie the closed off back room covered in psychedelic posters, shelves covered in hooka pipes and bongs, all lit with a black light.

Worn 3+ hrs: The floral narcissus and opium have faded. The myrrh has mellowed. The elements of the scent still linger behind. This might be a scent that needs to be reapplied. While this scent doesn't make me feel gloomy, I can imagine this scent as a graveyard scent. I can imagine the entrance to an old forgotten mausoleum. This would be the scent that surrounds you as the door the tomb slowly closes.

Edited December 3, 2017 by InaraRedCloak

[dementia_divine]

In the imp: Sweet narcissus and opium, backed by some myrrh.

 

Wet: The sweet, heady narcissus reigns, with the opium right beside it. In no time at all, the opium overtakes the narcissus on me, and after a few minutes, the myrrh note emerges, taming the sweetness of the narcissus and making this a dark floral and incense scent. At least, it does that briefly. Then the narcissus rears its read and decides its reign isn't over, and its sweet aroma tries to declare dominion over the other notes once more.

 

Dry: The narcissus is candy-sweet and reminds me of something like SweeTarts at one point. The opium is still going pretty strong as well. Sometimes, I get more of the narcissus, and sometimes, more of the opium. The myrrh note is content with its background role and doesn't seem to want to challenge either of the notes.

 

After a few hours, the myrrh does end up increasing in strength, but the narcissus reigns.

 

Verdict: Who knew darkness could be so sweet? This one isn't one I can see myself reaching for, but I really like the poem that inspired it, so I'm glad I was able to try it.

[Lucchesa]

I don't wear opium much because it tends to be heavy on me. Darkness is really heady opium and narcissus, melded as if into a single note. The myrrh is there but stays in the background, which is a shame IMO. I can appreciate the loveliness here, and it lasts a really long time, but for me it's a little too sweet, a little too floral, a little too sultry, a little too mature (at 50, I don't feel nearly old enough to carry off this scent).