ebonykawai

The waves were dead; the tides were in their grave, The moon, their mistress, had expir'd before; The winds were wither'd in the stagnant air, And the clouds perish'd; Darkness had no need Of aid from them -- She was the Universe. Bottled gloom; the essence of oblivion. Blackest opium and narcissus deepened by myrrh. I LOVE THIS. I have to go so far as to say that this may be my absolute favorite scent. The myrrh is very apparent as soon as I open the bottle, but calms down when it's on the skin. After about 1/2 hour, on me it evolves into something just amazing. The narcissus comes out, and the opium, with just a touch of the myrrh. Heady, sexy as all hell, just an incredible scent all the way around. Completely lives up to its name and if I were looking for a signature scent for myself, this would be it.

Named in honor of Vlad III, Tepes, of the Order of the Dragon. Black musk, tobacco, fir, balsam of peru, cumin, bitter clove, crushed mint, and orange blossom. In the Bottle: a lot of fir and a little mint, with just a touch of light floral Wet on the skin: the same, but now I get the tobacco and another note that is very familiar to me. Cumin maybe? I don't get any clove, but there is the underlying floral which must be the orage blossom. It's barely detectable to me. Drydown: Now the tobacco really comes out for me, very similar to Hellfire. I think it's the combo of the musk and tobacco that really makes me smell the similarity. Yes, it must be the musk. It seems like the same musk note that's in Loviatar. But there's something else there that makes this darker than Hellfire. The fir is very much in the background now and I think I'm finally getting a touch of the clove. I think that's the difference. This is not a floral scent at all. I get almost none on the drydown. This is Hellfire's dark and evil cousin. BRILLIANT!!

This smells exactly like talcum powder to me. I don't get any vanilla, musk, no real stand-out florals. It's exactly talcum powder.

OK, getting paranoid here. I can't access the website from work (though I can get on the forum) because our stupid IT team blocks it (it's labeled as a cult ~ AHAHAHAHA!!!!) Anyway, is there a chance I'd miss being able to purchase Beltane? Do limited editions sell out in less than 12-24 hours? Or is it more like a couple days? *biting fingernails*

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh. I have Formula 54. Now I have Santo Domingo. After about 15 minutes, I can't tell the difference. Needless to say, I'm one happy girl.

I adore this!!! The honey is the obvious note when wet, but it quickly gains spiciness with the clove and fig combination. I didn't get much patchouli at all. It throws pretty well too, and is long lasting just like O is on me. Not too drippy-honey-sweet, it's very well balanced. This is wonderful!

I just got this in a swap and I LOVE it. It's not the cloying floral I sometimes come across. The jasmine is not very strong and the honeysuckle is heavenly. A wonderful blend that is just perfect for the hot summer days to come.

I also cannot pick out any notes. However, I will say that this is incredibly powerful in healing work. I have used it to fascilitate healing in some very serious illnesses and I have always been amazed. I plan to use it in my Reiki practice. Just wish I knew how to get more of it! Anyway, I can't call it a floral scent, and it's not spicy. It's also not really herbal or vanilla or...well, you get it. It's almost along the lines of High John, but much lighter in scent (not scent longevity, if that makes sense). If pure white light had a scent, this would be it.

Oh. Oh my. Ooooooh my. This is incredible. It reminds me of a smokey Noir, but much darker. OK, this is what happens when Noir meets Darkness. Oh, goodness. This is my new OMFG scent. WOW.

Hmmm. Fruity/alcoholic/astringent in the bottle. Something sweet that you'd put on an open wound, LOL. On the skin...musk and floral. A similar note is in Le Petite Mort and Hell's Belle, I think. There's something really familiar there. A background of some aquatic note as well. This is great, a very complex scent. I'm happy I got it before it went away.

"White" is exactly what I get as well. A strong morphing takes place about 5 minutes after it's on the skin. Thank goodness. In the bottle, I immediately thought (and said out loud) "Ew?" It smells...I just can't describe it. Medicine-y, but with flowers underneath. It's really weird. There's a definite bitter bite to this in the bottle, but I never give up hope at the wet sniff! After 5 minutes (or less) on the skin, the bite goes away and I'm left with the most gorgeous, delicate, white flower scent imaginable. It's just WHITE. Pure. Exactly what moonlight would smell like if you could capture its scent! Perfect. I am SOOOOO glad I nabbed 10mL of this before it got discontinued. Oh Luna, how I love thee!!

OK, both times I've worn this I've had THE SAME DREAM. That's freaking me out a little bit. I put a dab of this on each temple before going to sleep. I definitely get the lavender, but I'm not sure what this citrus is. It doesn't smell like lemon to me because I hate lemon. It's slightly different and really quite soothing for some reason (usually citrus and I do not get along). I won't be wearing this as a perfume for the same reason I don't wear the voodoos as perfumes. I'll be really interested to see just where my weird dream stuff is going when I put this on again! ETA: Darkling: lemongrass! I think you're right!

FIG!!!! *cough* Sorry... This is the fig in Nephilim that I adored, but faded so quickly on me. It seems to be stabalized for me in this blend and I AM THRILLED!! Ahhh...fig, I've finally found you. OK, so anyway. After about a 15 minute drydown, I get delicious fig, a bit of patchouli, just a hint of rose, and a staying power that I have to attribute to the tonka bean (blends with vanilla and tonka last a long time on me). Another one to add to my bottles list!

I believe this has the same "milk" note that's in Dana O'Shee and Alice. Unfortunately, this note just doesn't agree with me and I end up getting a headache from it. But I can say that lovers of Dana and Alice will probably love this as well. Aside from the only note in all of BPAL that doesn't agree with me, the underlying notes are gorgeous. Damn you, milk!!

I just got this in a swap and it is WONDERFUL!! I agree, in the bottle it's very lavender, but it dries down to an incredible sandlewood scent, with undertones of nag champa (my all-time favorite incense) and what must be the labdanum (I have no idea what this smells like, but there's a warm and almost musky scent that I assume is this). There is very little lavender in the drydown, just a hint of it. I would not call this a lavender scent at all, for those who are not a big fan of it. It's very much in the background after about 5 minutes. As a diabolus, I expected something much darker, but this was an extremely pleasant surprise! This is what I was hoping the now-discontinued Mystery smelled like. I can't really call it a floral or a light scent, but somewhere in between dark and light. A perfect combination and a definite 10mL when I use up my 5mL bottle.

This is GORGEOUS! A slightly spicey honey/vanilla with an undertone of vertiver. It's not fruity at all to me, of which I am very glad because berry smells aren't my favorite. It's not a fruity scent at all, toned down a lot, I assume, by the vertiver and musk. I LOVE IT!!

I won't add anything here to the previous reviews, which are all great. What I want to say is, since I have last year's Samhain and now Samhain 2004, I can honestly smell no real difference between them. Samhain 2003 smells a bit deeper in the bottle and Samhain 2004 smells a bit more piney in the bottle, but on the skin I can't tell the difference. Awesome scent, I'm so glad it was revisited!!

I am in love with this scent and just snatched up another 5mL from dear Lorajc. Hmmm, how to review it...? In the bottle: definitely not something I think I want to wear. It's been said before that the wet scent is akin to evil grape cough syrup and, with that, I do concur. But I've learned long ago to never ever trust the wet scent. Thank the gods I didn't in this case. On the skin, fresh: dark, musky wine, heady and slightly intoxicating. A bit overpowering for the first 5 minutes. The cough syrup smell disappears almost immediately. On the skin, over time: this morphs on me into the most gorgeous spiced wine. I get no rose at all, or if it's there, it's hidden behind the wine. I'm not big on rose, and I honestly don't smell any in here. There is also a bit of a bite to it, an edge that makes me feel like it's saying "Hey! I'm not just a pretty face. I can tear you apart if the need be." I wear this one when I need a boost of in-your-face courage, like while fencing or if stupid crap is going on at work. I think that, for me, Black Widow was an acquired taste. It took wearing it a few times before I finally and fully appreciated what an amazing and complicated scent it is. Now it's in my top 5. Thank goodness I just got another 5mL!!

I had a situation at work that seemed insurmountable. People were making judgements of me without knowing any facts and I thought some major bad stuff would go down. I annointed my pentacle pendant with High John, asking for protection and to look better in the eyes of my superiors, then went in to work. Amazingly, my boss apologised to me and the situation ended in a most positive way I never expected. I LOVE High John. It does exactly what it's meant to do. I seriously cannot live without Beth's voodoo oils. I am totally bummed that some are being discontinued.

This is amazing!! Not at all what I expected from the name and I'm SO GLAD I got it! Beautiful and subtle on the skin, I don't get knocked over with juniper or dragon's blood at all, but with a light scent of fresh greenery and the ever-so-slight hint of roses. Just gorgeous!

Yes, I agree it is MUCH darker than the King of Spades and reminiscent to me of Blood. That spiciness is there, as well as the cherry, but not quite as sweet as Blood. A more exotic scent than the King. King has more high notes and is more fruity/fresh. Queen is darker and is more spicy.

I definitely get the white musk, similar to the note in Embalming Fluid. I also get a citrusy note that must be the plum and blackberry. I'm not getting any vanilla or coconut at all, and I catch only a hint of vertiver. The "woodsiness" sits more in the background. It's really a light and crisp scent on me, and quite masculine in my opinion. ETA: The vanilla came out after about an hour, as well as a light coconut.

Can anyone tell me if Sudha Segara smells similar to Dana O'Shee or Alice? These two have a similar note in it that might be that "milk" scent but I'm not sure. I'm not crazy about that distinctive note (which might be something else entirely), so I wanted to ask about similarities before I give it a try. Thanks!

I was putting together my order today as well, and thinking about what voodoo oils I wanted. It sounds like your friend might do well with Dove's Heart, Horn of Plenty, and/or Block Buster. They are very appropriate to her situation. Also, Aunt Caroline might be a good choice, or Has No Hanna. High John and Van Van are also great all-around oils. Good luck to your friend.

This is the male partner to Hellcat! Now hubby and I can match when we go out. I LOVE the good Baron.