Ah Xia

This would be an excellent masculine scent--strong earthy patchouli balanced with a sweet thread of fresh carrot juice, complex, sophisticated and unusual--completely unique.

Gorgeous strong fresh lilac, possibly the best lilac-floral in the BPAL catalogue with just the faintest undertone of clean (not too herbal/medicinal) lavender. It is like an expensive French soap without being "soapy".

Bright and beautiful rose (like Rose Red, but fruitier) balanced out by the herbal dryness of chamomile--something very summery and fruity and elegant about this blend. It reminds me a bit of the discontinued GC Despair, which had rosewood and chamomile in it.

It was on a dreary night of November that I beheld the accomplishment of my toils. With an anxiety that almost amounted to agony, I collected the instruments of life around me, that I might infuse a spark of being into the lifeless thing that lay at my feet. It was already one in the morning; the rain pattered dismally against the panes, and my candle was nearly burnt out, when, by the glimmer of the half-extinguished light, I saw the dull yellow eye of the creature open; it breathed hard, and a convulsive motion agitated its limbs. How can I describe my emotions at this catastrophe, or how delineate the wretch whom with such infinite pains and care I had endeavoured to form? His limbs were in proportion, and I had selected his features as beautiful. Beautiful!–Great God! His yellow skin scarcely covered the work of muscles and arteries beneath; his hair was of a lustrous black, and flowing; his teeth of a pearly whiteness; but these luxuriances only formed a more horrid contrast with his watery eyes, that seemed almost of the same colour as the dun white sockets in which they were set, his shrivelled complexion and straight black lips. A dreary night of November: bone-white sandalwood, ink-black vetiver, Spanish moss, bitter clove, beeswax, and lotus root. This is really lovely--wet, it is almost all beeswax with the darkness from the vetiver and a sweetness from the lotus. If you are familiar with Arcana's Holy Terror, it is quite similar without being as incensey and harsh. It is well-balanced and perfectly evocative of a dreary autumn evening!

CCNOW keeps timing out for me...it is just because so many are using it now? Every time I try to add something to my cart, it refuses to load

DEATH EMBRACES A YOUNG MAIDEN Death Embraces a Young Maiden, Nicholas Manuel Deutsch. Three dry white sandalwoods with gurjum balsam, guiac wood, ambergris accord, and tea rose. Intriguingly sweet and creamy sandalwood which is softened and rounded out by the rose without being an overtly floral blend. It reminds me of Dorian with a tiny rosy edge, sweet, refined and elegant.

GARDEN OF DEATH Garden of Death, Hugo Simberg. A harvest of plants that symbolize death in myriad cultures: belladonna accord, iris petals, red poppy, acanthus, manioc, parsley, yam, urd bean, chrysanthemum, acacia, and cypress wood rooted in dark, rich loam. Beautiful, grassy green with almost a fruity-floral candy-like edge. Pomegranate is not a note, but it reminds me a bit of a greener Swank. It's very vibrant and *alive* and not herbal/dirty/harsh at all. I would probably wear this quite a bit in spring and summer.

Wet, this definitely has a pimento-y sort of note and something that reminded me immediately of growing up on a farm. Not a hay-coumarin thing, but something a bit organic and visceral. As it dries down, it smells a bit dusty and the red musk is more apparent. The scent is not as heavy as the notes would suggest and becomes quite faint with my particular chemistry.

Vetiver, not harsh and scorched as it can sometimes be, but sweeter and very earthy yet still sinister. It's a strange melange of notes that definitely captures the unease one gets from viewing the painting. Very unisex but not too 'cologney'.

Initially there was strong evergreen, but it dries down to a sweet, incense-y blend like Midnight Mass. Sandalwood & frankincense are the most prominent on me, it is not as smokey and unpleasant as you might imagine from the note listing.

Bananas. With an edge of coconut sun-tan lotion. I must have weird chemistry.

I got this bottle by accident in an order, and sniffed it. It reminded me very much of Schwarzer Mond, but I like it better.

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What a pretty name! I'm so glad everything turned out OK, that must have been stressful. Congratulations!

Congrats! Eight weeks is about right to take a kitten away from Mum. I suppose you could feed your cat raw meat or something but I would be worried about parasites and cooked meat isn't as nutritious. I knew a woman who only fed her cat raw turkey and raw rabbit and he grew to be enormous and fit. I know there is a thread on the main board about tips on what to feed your pet (especially after the contaminated pet food of earlier this year) so I know that will have lots of advice.