absinthetics

HAGSGATE “When those words were first spoken,” Drinn said, “Haggard had not been long in the country, and all of it was still soft and blooming – all but the town of Hagsgate. Hagsgate was then as this land has become: a scrabbly, bare place where men put great stones on the roofs of their huts to keep them from blowing away.” He grinned bitterly at the older men. “Crops to harvest, stock to tend! You grew cabbages and rutabagas and a few pale potatoes, and in all of Hagsgate there was but one weary cow. Strangers thought the town accursed, having offended some vindictive witch or other.” Molly felt the unicorn go by in the street, then turn and come back, restless as the torches on the walls, that bowed and wriggled. She wanted to run out to her, but instead she asked quietly, “And afterward, when that had come true?” Drinn answered, “From that moment, we have known nothing but bounty. Our grim earth has grown so kind that gardensand orchards spring up by themselves – we need neither to plant nor to tend them. Our flocks multiply; our craftsmen become more clever in their sleep; the air we breathe and the water we drink keep us from ever knowing illness. All sorrow parts to go around us – and this has come about while the rest of the realm, once so green, has shriveled to cinders under Haggard’s hand. For fifty years, none but he and we have prospered. It is as though all others had been cursed.” An accursed bounty: rich black soil and hay, cucumber, tomato, red lettuce, summer squash, black eggplant, arugula, grape vine, artichoke, and a tangle of herbs marred by an undercurrent of vetiver, patchouli, and black moss. An evil, wooden gate a midst a deeply wooded area. The wood is old, gnarled and worn with time. This scent is woody but green. The lettuce, tomato and eggplant make this a sharp, interesting blend. They come out brightly when worn, but in the bottle they make this a cloying green scent like none I have smelled before. Though there is a dirt/soil note it's not dominant either in the bottle or dry-down. This is much more complex then something like Premature Burial. There is an herbal note like Marshwoman's Beer. The vetiver and patchouli add to the depth of this scent but they are not something that would ruin this for people who dislike those notes. Overall this is a VERY interesting scent! Recommended for RP scent people, you could create an interesting place with this.

WITCH-CURSED CASTLE You whom Haggard holds in thrall, Share his feast and share his fall. You shall see your fortune flower Till the torrent takes the tower. Yet none but one of Hagsgate town May bring the castle swirling down. Beyond the town, darker than dark, King Haggard’s castle teetered like a lunatic on stilts, and beyond the castle the sea slid. Drinn stopped him as he raised his glass. “Not that toast, my friend. Will you drink to a woe fifty years old? It is that long since our sorrow fell, when King Haggard built his castle by the sea.” “When the witch built it, I think.” Schmendrick wagged a finger at him. “Credit where it’s due, after all.” “Ah, you know that story,” Drinn said. “Then you must also know that Haggard refused to pay the witch when her task was completed.” The magician nodded. “Aye,” and she cursed him for his greed – cursed the castle, rather. “But what had that to do with Hagsgate? The town had done the witch no wrong.” “No,” Drinn replied. “But neither had it done her any good. She could not unmake the castle – or would not, for she fancied herself an artistic sort and boasted that her work was years ahead of its time. Anyway, she came to the elders of Hagsgate and demanded that they force Haggard to pay what was due her. ‘Look at me and see yourselves,’ she rasped. ‘That’s the true test of a town, or of a king. A lord who cheats an ugly old witch will cheat his own folk by and by. Stop him while you can, before you grow used to him.’” Drinn sipped his wine and thoughtfully filled Schmendrick’s glass once more. “Haggard paid her no money,” he went on, “and Hagsgate, alas, paid her no heed. She was treated politely and referred to the proper authorities, whereupon she flew into a fury and screamed that in our eagerness to make no enemies at all, we had now made two.” He paused, covering his eyes with lids so thin that Molly was sure he could see through them, like a bird. With his eyes closed, he said, “It was then that she cursed Haggard’s castle, and cursed our town as well. Thus his greed brought ruin upon us all.” In the sighing silence, Molly Grue’s voice came down like a hammer on a horseshoe, as though she were again berating poor Captain Cully. “Haggard’s less at fault than you yourselves,” she mocked the folk of Hagsgate, “for he was only one thief, and you were many. You earned your trouble by your own avarice, not your king’s.” Drinn opened his eyes and gave her an angry look. “We earned nothing,” he protested. “It was our parents and grandparents whom the witch asked for help, and I’ll grant you that they were as much to blame as Haggard, in their way. We would have handled the matter quite differently.” And every middle-aged face in the room scowled at every older face. One of the old men spoke up in a voice that wheezed and miaowed. “You would have done just as we did. There were crops to harvest and stock to tend, as there still are. There was Haggard to live with, as there still is. We know very well how you would have behaved. You are our children.” Weed-strewn oak, opoponax, wet stone, creaking redwood, and desolate olibanum. Wow. I literally said 'wow!' when I smelled this scent in the bottle. It's perfect. It's deep, dark and terrifying without any sort of dirt note in it. It's terrifying, and woody. If you close your eyes and imagine the place and then smell the scent you would be instantly transported there. It's foreboding and heavy. I'd recommend this to anyone who would like to create the scene in an RP session with the RP scents. It calms down when you wear it, but it lurks for a long time. This and Hagsgate are incredibly complex.

His eyes were the same color as the horns of the Red Bull. He was taller than Schmendrick, and though his face was bitterly lined there was nothing fond or foolish in it. It was a pike's face: the jaws long and cold, the cheeks hard, the lean neck alive with power. Dry cedar, bitter balsam, and ashes. Overall this is a startling dry scent. You could almost leave it as its notes-- it smells like ashes and cedar. The cedar isn't sharp like cedar can be. It's the dried, splintery kind that you can't activate with sand paper. There is a bitter quality to it that speaks of something else, un-nameable, in the mix. I can't imagine this being a person, more like the withered, husk of what a person once could have been. In keeping it in mind that this is King Haggard, it makes me kind of sad. If a scent could be lonely, this would be the one.

KUMARI KANDAM The hollow scent of a vast antediluvian civilization, now frozen and buried, smothered by a thick sheet of ice and trapped deep beneath the ocean. Thick incense, clay, stone, and hothouse blooms with a spike of frost, a hint of decay, and heavy, dolorous aquatic notes. This scent has inspired me to be a first review, even though I doubt my ability to pick out notes. So I will review it... a bit more on impression. In thebottle -- this scent is a cool, wet incense. I have to say it smells like a beloved child of Whippoorwhill and Ice Queen. The spike of frost is a touch piney, a touch sharp. But the papery and aquatic feel of the whippoorwhill-like notes wet it down, and melt the queen to something a bit more somber. It's amazing how something green and aquatic can hold that 'hint of decay'. Beth did something amazing with that. Wet -- Wet, she dies down a bit. The clay, the dark, and cold grotto chambers of the sunken city come to mind. Long abandoned hallways, memories of inhabitants... the piney scent dissipates into an incensy aquatic. Something I've never smelled before. It's delicate and old, but you never forget the 'ice'. On the skin, and dry down-- For me she sweetens up a bit. The incensy notes become more accessible and it becomes a bit more delicate, a bit more vacant and haunting. I can't decide if this scent embodies a perfect winter scent, or would be a lovely solace from the staggering summer heat. Regardless, on the dry down she gets a little more earthy, and the 'clay's begin to form. You can also get the feeling of those 'hothouse' blooms, as they seperate from the aquatic notes.

LYONESSE Then rose the King and moved his host by nightAnd ever pushed Sir Mordred, league by league, Back to the sunset bound of Lyonesse -- A land of old upheaven from the abyss By fire, to sink into the abyss again; Where fragments of forgotten peoples dwelt, And the long mountains ended in a coast Of ever-shifting sand, and far away The phantom circle of a moaning sea. Golden vanilla and gilded musk, stargazer lily, white sandalwood, grey amber, elemi, orris root, ambergris and sea moss. This scent has inspired me to be a first review, even though I doubt my ability to pick out notes. So I will review it... a bit more on impression. In the bottle -- If this scent had a colour, it would indeed be golden ambers-- like the faded golds of medieval ikon halos, flaking but vibrant... and haunting. The ambers and musk are beautiful and somehow bright. In the bottle it seems a bit more traditional than I expected, the vanilla is a bit hard to find under the sandalwood and orris root. There is definitely an aquatic-ness to it, but it's almost like an afterglow. Primarily though, i would say it was definitely an amber-musk at this stage. Wet -- Here is where the vanilla leaps out at you, Lyonesse shows its character when wet and on the skin. It's a little more light hearted and feminine here. The gold has softer edges and becomes a bit more 'princessy' when you thought it would be more for a 'queen'. I can smell the lily now, when I didn't think I could before. The vanilla adds a creamyness to the floral. On the skin, and dry down -- On the drydown, the two natures seem to intermingle, and the scent just seems to ... glow. It is feminine and pretty, but regal and elegant. The stargazer lily comes out even more so now and it doesn't seem as creamy as it did before, but you can certainly tell there is vanilla in there. The dryer tones come out here, yet it somehow remains vaguely aquatic. I suppose it smells 'older' when it dries down. And reminds you of the history behind the beauty that are the legends of Lyonesse. In a way it's this 'mature' and musky vanilla scent. The dry down is my favorite part, and really... it simply 'glows'-- a happy, perfect, even a bit yummy 'glow'. All in all, Lyonesse is extremely beautiful and every girl should have a bottle.

Five honeys with vanilla orchid, gardenia, dragon's blood resin, gingergrass, and turmeric. I expect this to be one of the favorites from this series. In the bottle: Honey, orchid and gardenia. There is a heaviness in the background that could easily be the dragon's blood resin, made even deeper by the gardenia. On: the dragon's blood comes out more, and this deepens. The honey is still delightfully there but the flowers are coming more to the foreground. After 20min: lovely honeyed vanilla orchid and gardenia. Only a hint of the dragon's blood in the background that gives it some depth. Beautiful foody floral.

Cacao, tobacco absolute, Chilean coffee bean, osage-orange, and ebony. You do get a deep understanding of the cacao note the second you put this under your nose. I think it's dancing somehow with the coffee bean, that isn't quite coffee. There is a dark smoothness to this scent that is very elegant. I don't know if it's specifically the ebony, or ebony + the tobacco. The orange is just the slightest bite to the nose in the bottle, but really comes out more when worn. So far, I think this is the most bottle worthy scent in the butterflies.

What would you recommend for this 'idea'? I'm looking for the dark, manipulative seductress. The kind of girl that smirks, lurks in shadows...uses knives. Either seductive evil, or Ninja Geisha evil. It's a femme-fatale sort of thing. Or the female Anti-hero. I could write a paragraph discription but... My possible examples (though they are lacking) may be Scherezade, Salome, Devil's Night, Black Lotus, Bastet... maybe leaving the more incensy and going to more fruit...some Cobra Lily, Blood Countess, Lampades, Medea, Lady Macbeth... This is why I am trying to find Snake Charmer, Gypsy Queen, Fire Eater.. I am deathly afraid that Storyville and Voodoo Queen are right up there. Do you think they are? I have exhausted my other two 'categories' and now I am looking for these types of scents. (My other two categories being: 1. The 'icey' catalogue for the Ice Queen (imagery wise, not the exact scent) kind of girl. Things like Snow White, Snow Bunny, Nuclear winter. (Trying to stay away from mint though, and trying to stay away from 'pine' and sandlewood interpretations of winter.) I haven't had a chance to get my actual hands on 'ice queen'. =/ 2. the Etheral, gossamar, untouchable, misty aquatic sides. The girl that can vanish in a fog, pale, dissipating... Lady of Shalott, Sea of Glass, Beatrice, The Evening Star, Szepasszony, City in the Sea, R'lyeh, ) Hmm, so, any suggestions? Particularly on the Femme-Fatale scents.. though I would take them for the others too ^^ I'm pretty new to BPAL, so this is all really overwhelming.

THE SNOW MAIDEN The Snow Maiden is the daughter of Spring and Frost: as lovely as the first snowfall, and as striking as a sliver of icicle. Isolated because of her chilly otherworldly nature, and unable to know love, she longed for the companionship and warmth of mortals. One bright, white winter's day, the Snow Maiden came upon a gentle, handsome shepherd named Lel. She grows fond of him, and beseeches Mother Spring to grant her the ability to feel. Her mother is moved by her daughters plight, and blesses her, but the moment the Snow Maiden is struck by the depth of love she feels for Lel, her heart warms, and she melts. Ylang ylang, osmanthus, spring berries, and daffodil cloaked in hoarfrost. In the bottle: The daffodil and hoarfrost carry with it the chilly pine scent added to the somewhat acidic daffodil. The berries bubble up after the pine and remind one certainly of Ice Queen, it can't be helped. However, she's gentler. Wet: The Ylang ylang and osmanthus snake out of the bottle and mute the pine scent. I'm glad of this as I love the winter scents but really don't like pine nor mint. When this is wet it becomes a touch incensy. Drydown: The pine takes more of a back seat and lets the berries dance. I can barely tell her aparty from Ice Queen to be honest. But she's kinder, and as I am not so much of a pine fan I prefer this to the Ice Queen's harshness, but when she grows up she wont be Snow White.

Red mandarin, mimosa, pink grapefruit, copal, petitgrain, and black amber. The mandarin was the first thing I smelled in this. And it's true, there is a redness to it I can't really explain other than putting it exactly that way. There is some grapefruit, like from baoban sith. All of this is made just a touch darker by what I assume is the black amber. I'm not that familiar with petitgrain so I couldn't tell you if that was the note in there. I do see some mimosa to it. This is a fun, but grown up fun scent =)

BLACK ICE Lovely, dangerous, slick, and bitterly cold: chilly white sleet-like notes with a hint of vetiver, a breath of smoky asphalt, and winter wind. In the bottle: Vetiver for sure. This scent is unique in the Yule category, in my opinion. It is cold, but by being a cold 'perfumey' scent. It's interesting how I can pick up the 'winter wind' aspect. This scent is hard to pin down, it is light and airy in some way. Wet: There are things in here I could not tell from smelling the bottle. There is something dirty and almost acidic. I suppose this is where the asphalt comes in. It's a little plasticy and man-made at first. But I can already tell it's disappearing upon dry down. Drydown: The Vetiver is calming, and I once again can percieve that chilly, air feeling to it. The airy feeling though has finally become 'cold' somehow. The perfumey is becoming a bit more ethereal and less 'in your face'. I have to be honest, I didn't think I would buy another bottle of this until it was completely dry. I really enjoy it at this point, it's calm, and cool and delicate, yet a vibrant 'perfumey' blend. This would be great on a boy, too. It starts to remind me of being outside on a brutally cold night. This scent is definitely a wrist-sniffing scent.

Wow! The alcohol note in this is strong! There are other foodie notes in here that I am trying to discern as it dries down. Maybe some cake....

And I looked, and behold a pale gourd: green patchouli and white pumpkin with yew berry, black cypress, white sandalwood, spectral niaouli, eucalyptus petal, and dry white mint. The white pumpkin is a touch sweet and bright. It is only further brightened by the eucalyptus and mint. This Death is certainly aglow with green licking flames, as the label implies.

I have to say this has the ozoney and hazy quality that was also found in Thriambus atmo spray. Which I did very much like. Since there is gothy club mist in there, I imagine that's the same note.

Opium tar, frankincense, lemongrass, ambergris accord, Himalayan cedarwood, coffee absolute, coconut meat, clary sage, tobacco flower, vetiver, and white plum. In the bottle, you can pick up the incense and the sharpness of the vetiver and lemongrass. The wood is there in the background, along with the sage. However straight from the lab, there is no hint of coffee nor coconut right now. Oddly enough, this smells like an incense I used as a teen and takes me right back there.

Iris, iced lemon peel, anise seed, red current, coriander, cilantro, and white musk. Iced lemon peel is the first thing to hit the nose. Next there is the wite musk and red current. The cilantro is hiding in there under the lemon peel which gives it a really neat depth. I'm not usually a fan of lemon scents but this one is really lovely. I can't wait to skin test.

Tahitian vanilla flower and white sandalwood with honeyed patchouli, cacao, and mallow flower. Chocolatey and sweet. This is a lighter and more etheral version of Black Temple Burlesque Troupe. It is not as cloying and much less earthy. The patchouli is very mild. Though you can pick up some of the honey note, it is not a very honey scent. As it dries, the mallow flower and sandalwood kinda dance around the cacao. I do love foodie scents, but sometimes you get a weird look when wearing them, or someone asks who is baking brownies. This probably wont get those questions, but will definitely cause people to smile as they pass by. =)

JÓLASVEINAR The Jólasveinar are the seventy-some offspring of Grýla and Leppalúði, an ogre couple with a taste for chomping naughty children. This impish brood delights in causing discomfort, sowing confusion, and all-out raising hell during the Yule season. Their names are indicative of their malicious intentions -- Strap Loosener, Door Slammer, Window Peeper, Sausage Snatcher, Doorway Sniffer, Icebreaker -- and their creepy natures -- Lamp Shadow, Smoke Gulper, Crevice Imp. The devillish Jólasveinar finally cease their mischief and head for home at Þrettándinn. Their scent is a mishmash of snow, dirt, Icelandic moss, marsh felwort, and the smushed petals of buttercups and moorland spotted orchids, with the barest hint of the scent of pilfered Christmas pastries. In the bottle: Warm, round, Christmas goodness. It is a distinct mixture of the winder florals with the tasty baking in the background. My nose can't decide if this would be foody, or floral. I was expecting the pastries to be more in the background, but they really give a good fight. Wet on the skin: The foody is warm and almost crafty. Crafty as in craft-store edibles. It definitely smells like Christmas, it smells like your a room away from people eating and laughing. I don't know how she got this smell in a bottle. On drydown: Honestly, it moves between floral and foody still. I can barely determine between the two. This is a very complicated scent, I'll buy another bottle just because it's so mysterious.

Gleaming metallic gold flares of a powerful imagination. The gilded sheen of a muse’s kiss, the glimmering, vivid glow of a story burning to be told. This is a metallic nail polish that clearly has some yellow to it, but resides in between a silver and a sunlit yellow. One coat does the trick! Edit: Wow. I have had this on since the 22nd, and it is now the 28th and it HAS NOT CHIPPED! This is some crazy dark magic! WOW!!! There is some wear at the tips of the nails, but I mean... I have not been kind to them. I go to the gym every day, and I have cooked for the holidays and it has stayed on!

Smoky brown musk, cucumber, green-tinged ozone, cypress, white mint, jungle orchid, and juniper berry. I will say that I am not a mint or juniper fan. I was not looking forward to this one at all. But wow! It is something totally unique. I can't really explain it, and it really is just kind of a ghost-flash of it, but there's almost something watermellony in here. The mint is barely there, for anyone who doesn't like mint I would not rule this one out because of it. I think there is a cucumbery-ness (look at all the words I am making up haha) that adds that fresh splash that makes it all smell a little like watermelon. And I really do mean just a little. Yet, as bright and green as this is, there is an earthiness to it that is really amazing. I recommend everyone sniff this one at some point.

A staircase ascends past jutting balconies towards a crumbling ceiling as misshapen shadows creep through the gloom. Ancient dark wood, decades of dust, floorboards oozing with red clay, and a roaring fire that casts no warmth. This atmo is very different from the other house themed atmo. This is much drier and more dusty. There is a sharpness to the dark that even has a slightly peppery scent to it.

The first time I saw a ghost, I was ten years old… It was my mother’s. A slightly morbid admission: I lost my mother when I was 15, and I still remember how it felt to hold her hand after she passed away. The scent I’m trying to capture here is love mingled with grief and a peculiar horror, reminiscent of the chill of her skin and the weight of her hand. English roses as a symbol of the love a child feels for her mother, chilled by eucalyptus blossom, iris root, and white lily aldehyde. This sharp is bright and light hearted, with pretty roses and iris, but the aldehyde and eucalyptus are this strange, sharp essence in the back ground. They become this chemical bite to the scent that is very hard to get beyond.

Darkness engulfing a child’s collection of dolls and books: beeswax, leather-bound paper, and white gardenias; porcelain and wood, lace and shadow. This is a young girls room bright with books. The floral is very light, while the leather and beesewax fight for attention. This is very inviting and a lovely room scent idea.

Green apple, bergamot, vanilla orchid, and tiare. A gorgeous and slightly sharp green apple, made only sharper by the bergamot. The vanilla orchid and tiare take that sharpness down a notch but it very much feels like there are two things going on here, rather than a smooth blend between the two qualities.

Just a hint of gorgon blood: bright nectarine, honey, sandalwood, green musk, sea buckthorn berry, and oakmoss. This scent is a beautiful fruity but somehow earthy scent. It has a very far throw. The sandalwood is very present while the buckthorn berry turns the nectarine a little bitter. But not in a bad way! I recommend at least getting to sniff all the Pandy scents. They are lovely!