Akurarei

THE GRINDHOUSE Throaty laughter captures your attention. Across the lane you see a buxom Venetian woman standing before a huge black and red striped tent. Her head is inclined towards a dapper, leering man, and they appear to be sharing a private joke. He reaches into his waistcoat and produces a gold coin. The woman plucks it from his fingers. He bows, and walks into the tent with a swagger. A sign flashes above the tent flap in letters that seem to be aflame: The Grindhouse, Dead or Live Girls. The Madam turns towards you and smiles. As she approaches, someone within the tent strikes a few keys on a tuneless piano, and begins to play Jelly Roll Morton's 'the Crave'. The light within the tent illuminates the interior, shining behind the silhouettes of naked women gyrating lewdly upon raised stages, writhing in time with the music. In the distance, behind the tent, you hear a whip crack, and a man's scream. Tittering laughter follows, and the screams continue. "Voulez-vous un morceau de la boîte de bonbon?" she asks, gesturing gracefully towards the tent. The Madam's perfume envelops you. Florentine iris, red musk, mimosa, magnolia, Damascus rose, clove, and vanilla bean. In the Bottle: I smell red musk and mimosa! it's a clear, clean scent to me, which is unexpected - I was thinking this would be thick and sexy - like a very 'couture' version of Smut and a floral bouquet squished inside for good measure. On my Skin, Wet: MUSK!! overpoweringly so! ::moves wrists away from face:: ah - better. From a forearm's length away, I can smell the red musk but now the iris blooms and seems purple green. so at this stage, it's red musk and Florentine Iris. Mimosa seems to have taken a hiatus. On my Skin, Dry: Still predominantly red musk - and while I keep expecting it to be sexy, it's very clear - almost like 'sexy after a refreshing shower' kind of feel to it, which I assume must be some other ingredient tempering it and "lightening" the effect. I wonder if it's the magnolia doing that? I do not smell any rose, though the green feeling I got in the wet stage could be the rose, since RR'07 smells much more green than I was expecteing....similar rose note perhaps. There is no clove nor is there any vanilla bean for me right now, which is a surprise since I tend to amp vanilla like crazy. While it's surprising that neither of these notes are detectable, it's a nice change to be different from expectations! Verdict: A scent that defies ideas about a "grindhouse madame"! on me this is a very clear, clean scent that has hints of debauch hiding in the shadows. It's an interesting play of notes and one of the most complex scents I have come across in quite a while - I am very pleased! 7 of 10 Ranking! Synopsis: Bottle: Red Musk & Mimosa Wet: Red Musk & Florentine Iris Dry: Red Musk, Magnolia, Floral (Blend between Florentine Iris and Damascus Rose) Total: Red Musk fans - this one is worthy of attention ^_~

L'ESSENCE DE LA PASSION Red musk, carnation, myrrh, and honey. In the Bottle: Myrrh & red musk - with a touch of carnations. On my Skin, Wet: The Myrrh blossoms with a center of red musk. There is also a prominent honey note in this stage...like carnation infused honey. On my Skin, Dry: A very nice balance of red musk & Myrrh. The carnation infused honey adds a touch of flirtyness to this sensual blend Verdict: this is a lovely blend indeed. very well balanced and with just the right amount of youthful girly-ness to an otherwise womanly scent.

With a dribble of caramel and flecks of white sugar. The Post has made yet another spectacular hair gloss with this one! It smells like fresh, caramel drizzled apple slices with a squirt of sweet crystalizzed lemon. Buying backups of this one too. ::snuggles gloss and goblins::

Gingerbread & Lavender Sugar In the Bottle: Sweet lavender, but not in an "herby" way, like candied - creamed lavender On My Skin, Wet: Sugar!! SUGAR!! ... Mellows out quickly, then I get that lovely sweet lavender again - it does have a creamy quality to it, without invoking dairy though (which is nice, IMHO) I detect just a tiny amount spice, it's like a waft coming from another room On My Skin, Dry: Creamy sweet lavender, with a pop of spice here and there. The spice is not quite 'gingerbread' but it does have ginger characteristics, just not the bread characteristics....maybe a bit of aging is in order. Verdict: I this one! I just adore the Lab's Lavender note, and I eat my weight in gingerbread treats this season - seemed like a perfect match for a Yule offering (and it is!) BPTP - if you are reading this - this perfume would make a PHENOMENAL hair gloss! ::hint, hint, nudge, nudge::

BLACK BUTTERFLY MOON Sister of the first-born light, Type of sorrowing gentleness! Quivering mists in silv'ry dress Float around thy features bright; When thy gentle foot is heard, From the day-closed caverns then Wake the mournful ghosts of men, I, too, wake, and each night-bird. O'er a field of boundless span Looks thy gaze both far and wide. Raise me upwards to thy side! Grant this to a raving man! And to heights of rapture raised, Let the knight so crafty peep At his maiden while asleep, Through her lattice-window glazed. Soon the bliss of this sweet view, Pangs by distance caused allays; And I gather all thy rays, And my look I sharpen too. Round her unveil'd limbs I see Brighter still become the glow, And she draws me down below, As Endymion once drew thee. Soft, deep, and luminous: Lady of the Night orchid, benzoin, opopponax, currant, black chypre, white gardenia, ambergris, damp, wooded mosses, and black lily. Initial thought: Based on the notes I imagined this lunacy to be very faint and delicate, almost un-noticeable. In the Bottle: Quite strong and surprisingly dark and eerie! I smell lots of resins, and they are *very* dark and menacing. I smell the mosses in the bottle as well. They are earthy and wet all at the same time. The mosses I find hard to describe, they seem to be there and yet disappear behind the resins. very odd. On my Skin, Wet: Potent and deliciously dark! I am blown away by how strong this blend is! It it beginning to remind me of Venom's evil twin - very evil! This butterfly is poisonous, bewitching and completely enveloping. She lures you in with her golden and dark resinous eyes, comforts you with her soft moss covered body and delights you with her dark lily wings. On my Skin, Dry: Yes! there is the black lily! and it's the most gorgeous lily I've ever encounted in BPAL deep, luscious, intoxicating and even somewhat menacing. She offers up a plate of almost black currants at this stage - and I gladly accept and delight in the sweetness of them! Yes, you can flutter about me all day and all night, you wonderfully dark shadow! Verdict: Fabulous! This is the equivalent of a sultry lounge singer concealing a poisoned dagger. tempts you, teases you, intoxicates you and pierces your heart - and you couldn't be happier about it! I suspect that the orchid deepens all the other notes, and does so in supreme grace; as there is not a hint of dustiness with this orchid. great job Beth! 10 of 10 Ranking!

VESPERS Alma Redemptoris Mater, quae pervia caeli porta manes, et stella maris, succurre cadenti, surgere qui curat, populo: tu quae genuisti, natura mirante, tuum sanctum Genitorem, Virgo prius ac posterius, Gabrielis ab ore, sumens illud Ave, peccatorum miserere. Aromatic woods, frankincense, saffron, pine pitch, black amber, and balsam. Doesn't smell like much of anything in the bottle with the protective cap removed. upon spritzing, it smells like a combination of Catholic church a few hours after a ceremony involving incense and Scorpio 2007. the duration of the spray is about 1 hour in the living room per 1 spritz. I will try it in smaller rooms and see if the duration lasts longer. ETA: I tried this in a bedroom, and the effect was definitely better! there emerged a cinnamon/ginger scent in the smaller room that I missed in the larger room. after about 2 hours, there was a slight maple note that gave it a sugary, festive quality to the whole room. This is the best room spray ever! Verdict: I love this! it's very nostalgic of Catholic Christmas masses that I have attended in the past. additionally, I *LOVE* Scorpio 2007, so this is a great blend! I just wish the duration would be longer than 1 hour I guess that just means I have to buy backup bottles!

This one is gorgeous! I get a lovely combination of the pear, lavender, and some blend of vanilla, bergamot and sandalwood. It's very soft, but has a good amount of staying power. It strikes me as a very feminine version of Dorian tbh.

This is equal parts white, creamy chocolate and subtly spiced soft pumpkin

October is just amazing! It is a true copper-bronze and the formula is thick but not gloopey I have been using it as a pedicure color, and it's amazing on my pale, almost translucent, skintone *

Edvard Munch Ribbons of wild plum, French lavender, and calla lily rolling over hills of thick snow. This one is gorgeous! It's rich purple plums, and cold,cold florals. The plums are juicy, moderately sweet but not sugary or reminiscent of honey either. The florals are just the right touch! They strike me as white and barely-there pinks and yellows. I don't get the snow note, but I'm sure it's what is causing the 'cold' effect on this scent. A very unique Yule!

A maddeningly festive blend of warm, buttery rum, cocoa, coconut, vanilla and a jolt of peppermint. It’s a sweet, decadent, slightly silly scent, reminicent of rum-laced holiday cookies. SPOOKY HAIR GLOSS! This hair gloss was all boozy coconut - a surprisingly summer blend, I did not detect any chocolate (as some people have mentioned in the perfume oil). There was a very quick and subtle burst of mintyness at first, but it faded almost immediately. Very pretty, very summery!

Red apple, cacao, and bourbon vetiver. First? oh my! In the Bottle: My bottle needed a good shake - it was very distinctly separated between ingredients. The scent was surprisingly subtle. I could detect all three notes but I really was expecting the vetiver to jump out and dominate. On my Skin, Wet: A blast of the vetiver, then some boozy chocolate & vanilla (?) with just a hint of the apple. On my Skin, Dry: The vetiver has subsided a bit, the chocolatey note comes out more, and the apple has become more subtle. After a few hours: mostly a chocolatey scent now. I can still detect traces of apple, and the vetiver has died down quite a bit.

George Frederick Watts A memory of English oak and iron shrouded in a thick fog, caked with salt, and a tangle of weeds dragged from the depths of the ocean. A Sea Ghost is a cool, crisp night on the shoreline - with something foreboding, like a sudden storm. I could pick up on the wooden note, and the salt of the sea was pronounced but not overpowering. It reminded me of visiting the south Texas coastline in January.

And how should we break faith who have seen Those dead lips plight with the mist between, And how forget, who have seen how soon They lie thus chambered and cold to the moon? How scorn, how hate, how strive, we too, Who must do so soon as those others do? For it's All Souls' night, and break of the day, And behold, with the light the dead are away. Cedar coffinwood, davana, tobacco flower, and white rose. In the Bottle: Fairly strong cedarwood. It's VERY distinctly cedar - my Husbeast woodworks and the cedar smell was extremely accurate. I did not detect another other notes at this stage. On My Skin, Wet: A blast of more cedarwood, then some very light white florals. it was reminiscent of a freshly cut & polished piece of raw cedar with a small cluster of wild white flowers tossed on top On My Skin, Dry: Still strongly cedar, but now a bit 'dusty' somehow. the florals become just a wee bit more pronounced, and I think I can detect the rose as it's own note at this stage. A Few Hours Later: Again - mostly a musty cedar, but I can definitely detect the white rose from time to time. it's a 'close to the skin' scent, and captures the essence of a Halloween night perfectly. It's woodsy, ancient, and has a specter of beauty lingering. While not remotely similar to Samhain as a scent in my view, it's quite lovely and encapsulates a more specific Halloween vision. I think if you like Samhain you will probably like this one just as much if you aren't too sensitive to cedar.

This is a beautiful color - to me it's got more of a reddish brown & gold glitz tone to it, but I don't apply more than 1 medium coat. I would also classify this one as more of a Halloweenie color than Yule, but it's very pretty all the same.

Is the more grown up version of El Dia De Reyes, or perhaps an older cousin. Less chocolate, more coffee. It's predominantly coffee, but it has a smokey and barely sweet quality to it. This one is more subtle on me than the Reyes blend, but still quite noticeable after several hours.

SNOWBLIND CLAW POLISH This is a gorgeous silvery-blue glitter! It's got an 'Icy' quality to it from a color perspective. This is my first GLITTER polish from the goblins, and it's texture is more gel-like than I was expecting. I enjoy it as a sparkly layer over a solid color underneath. I am currently wearing OPI's I Am what I Amethyst under SNOWBLIND, and it's a cold looking pedicure.

This one is glorious! On me, it's a rich sweet tea, with peeks at the mahogany leather! It's pretty straightforward to me, but it's components are deep and luscious. This one might end up being backup bottle worthy!

I also am getting some kind of mild fruit from this, which does a great job of keeping this blend from being too over the top green and snowy. It is a gorgeous blend of cold, crisp greenery and sparkling white snow and ice. Those berries (?) make this blend interesting beyond pure wintery coldness.

This one reminds me of pumpkin latte but minus the coffee note(s). it's sugary & pumpkiny!

Candied red fruits! Not too sugary sweet, a little bit tart - just right!

I think I was hoping for more of a blueberry scent on this one - but it's still very evocative of something otherworldly. It's pretty heavy on the eucalyptus at first, then musk dominates for a little bit, then I get the blueberries It reminds me of one of the Blue Moon blends - it must be the blue musk. This hair gloss is lovely, and quite different from the other glosses I have.

Sweet, sugary lavender & just a touch of pumpkin. It's a very straightforward scent for me, and I really like this one! It's kind of like the Beaver Moon that was a lavender cheesecake, but without the cheesecake, and pumpkin instead.

I love this one! It's a maple-laden autumn/winter scent. I can detect the leaves, but this leaf note seems fresh, not dried. It was so soothing that it put me right at ease to fall sound asleep after a thin application to my dry forearms. This one is back-up bottle worthy!

Dead Leaves and Lavender Buds is somehow a bit musky, but you can easily detect the dead leaves note, and the lavender is soft & sweet. I get equal whiffs of the dead leaves and the lavender buds - I do like the musk quality of this one, even though that doesn't seem to be a component. It's a romantic fall scent - and quite feminine.