annemathematics

A funereal nest of cinnamon and amomum, cassia and acanthus, spikenard and myrrh, three balsams and sweet frankincense. While I do get wafts of the resins and balsams in the background, overall this is a cinnamon candy scent on me. A very pretty cinnamon candy.

There was much of the beautiful, much of the wanton, much of the bizarre, something of the terrible, and not a little of that which might have excited disgust. To and fro in the seven chambers there stalked, in fact, a multitude of dreams. And these the dreams writhed in and about, taking hue from the rooms, and causing the wild music of the orchestra to seem as the echo of their steps. A blackened lavender mist, thick with opoponax, licorice root, and benzoin. ahhhhh this is one of those scents that's just so perfect, I can start circulating a conspiracy theory that beth made it just for me. lavender and licorice===the hottest dream pairing of 2018?? those two beautiful notes play and blend and support each other so well that they are my new blueprint for #relationshipgoals. the lab's opoponax is one of my favorite resin notes, and it adds its magical richness to this blend. with the name and the lavender, I had anticipated wearing this as a sleep blend, but instead it's become my go-to scent to wear out and about. this blend is one of those "little black dress/favorite jeans" perfumes that has me smelling elegant in any situation from fancy to casual. prob my favorite bpal licorice perfume. thank you, labbies!

A ghost, though invisible, still is like a place your sight can knock on, echoing; but here within this thick black pelt, your strongest gaze will be absorbed and utterly disappear: just as a raving madman, when nothing else can ease him, charges into his dark night howling, pounds on the padded wall, and feels the rage being taken in and pacified. She seems to hide all looks that have ever fallen into her, so that, like an audience, she can look them over, menacing and sullen, and curl to sleep with them. But all at once as if awakened, she turns her face to yours; and with a shock, you see yourself, tiny, inside the golden amber of her eyeballs suspended, like a prehistoric fly. – Rainer Maria Rilke Sleek black fur and gleaming amber shining in the shadows, a rumble of myrrh, and claws as sharp as ti leaf. fans of the beautiful Raven Black and Pugsley hair glosses from the post should rejoice that there is a stunning perfume oil to layer seamlessly with them. inside the golden amber is a beautiful feminine musky black tea scent. soft and sleek and slightly more refined/subdued in feel than either of those two glosses...although both glosses have significantly upped their ooOmph since they first landed, so this might also increase in sillage over time. the label art is adorable

“I have a brother. They say, you put us together, we are like one person, you know? When we are young, his hair, it is very blond, very light, his eyes are blue, and people say, he is the good one. And my hair it is very dark, darker than yours even, and people say I am the rogue, you know? I am the bad one. And now time passes, and my hair is gray. His hair, too, I think, is gray. And you look at us, you would not know who was light, who was dark.” “Were you close?” asked Shadow. “Close?” asked Czernobog. “No. How could we be? We cared about such different things.” You would not know who was light, who was dark: iron and amber, gold-limned white musk and ink-gloomed dark musk. On me, the opening of this is very much about the lab's black musk. Think Haunted after you've stripped away all traces of femininity. Streets of Detroit sans urban grit. This feels like a smeared greyscale watercolor of Dream from Sandman. Beautiful, ethereal, but a little pale, melancholy. The musk retreats and a faint smear of metal remains behind. It all hums close to the skin, almost but not quite fading away completely. It's very pretty. I wager a bit of time will boost its strength but I like how ghosty it is now.

Let the woman be girt with a sword before me: the many-throned, many-minded, many-wiled, daughter of Zeus. Red and white roses, everblooming gardenia, violet leaf, Oman frankincense, styrax, honey myrtle, mallow flower. I've tested this only with five other bpals on my arms, fresh from the post, so it does need retesting and it deserves a proper review, but for the sake of getting something up here, I'll just say that the rose note is similar to my nose as that from plovers above the waves, and although H&E has a bit of sweetness at the start, it is not nearly as over the top sweet as plovers. this rose is lovely and has a lasting power on me that not all bpal roses do. as it dries down, it became a bit more subtle and leafy green notes came forward. very very nice!

Mabel Loomis Todd is probably best known as the first editor of Emily Dickinsons poetry and editor of publications of Dickinsons posthumous works. She was also a fearless and experienced adventuress, eclipse chaser and astronomer, and trekked over the globe locating unobscured sites to witness solar eclipses. She published Total Eclipses of the Sun in 1894, a list of past and future total solar eclipses, and recorded her experiences in her travels through painting and journals. Rose-tinted amber, golden chypre, ambergris, tobacco leaf, and clove. mostly a strong ambergris/tobacco combo, similar to Hag Grey hair gloss, only the tobacco is louder and grittier, enhanced by the spicy sidekick of clove. while I do get some rose in the bottle and when first applied, the floral sweetness vanishes during drydown and I'm left with something strong, dark and authoritative. powerful stuff! eta, after 5 days of settling, this dries down to a dark rich ambergris-focused perfume. the rose amber feels more emollient in spirit and the tobacco clove lend a dark gritty edge to the ambergris: aka ambergrit?

Fields smashed by torrential rain, seared by gouts of celestial fire. a cousin of Oceanus Procellarum, a descendant of the Miskatonic Valley Yule Fest 2013 scents. I like these scents but I have to be a very specific mood to wear them. I other love love love them or need to flee across county lines depending on my mood. dark, rich, salty, somewhat aquatic. movies like the ten commandments and exodus depict the pharoah standing in awe of the flaming hail, and I feel a similar sensation at the strength of this scent. I'm both taken by and overwhelmed by this one.

When Lilith started becoming scared of monsters under the bed and shadows in the closet, wed talk. Id tell her that yes, there are monsters in the closet, but theyre there to watch over you. And yes, there are monsters under the bed, but theyre there to make sure youre safe while you sleep. The stories grew and expanded, and at night, wed say goodnight to the ghosts in the attic, the werewolves in the backyard, and the vampires in the basement. Sometimes, Id forget our zombie friends, and Lilith would take offense on their behalf. We say good night to the bats in the trees, and we say goodnight to the ghost rats in the walls, and we tell stories about what they do during the day when shes at school and Im at work. So, at night, shes snug in her bed, safe with all her monster friends. But then shed have nightmares about rattlesnakes or volcanoes, and while I try to comfort her when she calls out, I know that there will always be something hiding for her, for all of us in darkened corners. All we can do sometimes is reach out to one another and hold hands in the dark. Lilith, theres so much in the world thats gloomy and thick with shadows. I cant protect you from all of it, but the gods know I will try. I will do whatever I can to help you navigate the darkness, and I will be there holding whatever torches I can muster. You are brave and you are strong: you are the wolf, my werewolf, and I know with all my heart that you will always conquer your rattlesnakes. this opens in a fun musky/furry jumble and when it dries down I get a hint of...fruity lollipops? what? yes I do smell of candy now, underneath the nice dark complexity of whatever else is happening.. this reminds me of a lighter cousin to the 2013 yule krampuslaufen.

Hinoki wood, grave moss, vetiver, and cypress. lately I'm drawn to scents that evoke forests and wilderness, and this starts out like a fairy tale woods at dusk, with inky, goth, velvety moss-and-cypress branches casting spiky black lace shadows. there's a trace of grit from the vetiver. this wet phase is stunning, gorgeous. dry, this morphs into something soft and gentle, like pale worn suede. throw is gentle and my skin noms this within two hours. eta: it's been over a week and this beauty has upped significantly in throw and wear-length. it's also morphing and shifting in the most welcomed and delicious ways. currently: dark, gritty woodsy open, leaning more unisex aka cologne-like in the dry-down.

On this date, the first wet plate photograph of an eclipse was taken. Shimmering amber, collodion, silver nitrate accord, and white lavender. Bright, herbal, not-sweet lavender with a bit of the lab's magic-metal-smells over amber. this is big, rich and smooth. I'd kinda hoped that this would take me back to darkroom days by evoking those lovely funky developer/stop/fixer chemicals but it doesn't smell like them. this is a blessing I think for most people, who might not enjoy that level of chemical funk. this is a beautiful perfume, one that I recommend for fans of the lab's lavender scents. eta, having read the haute macabre review of this, I'll just add that to me/on me, I don't get anything even slightly soapy.

Herewith we present the public with a most accurate, well executed likeness of Dr. Henry Slade, the celebrated medium and clairvoyar who has so confounded science, startled orthodoxy, given the lie to old beliefs, and lead minds into new channels, through his powerful mediumship. As the pubic are always anxious to see the faces of extraordinary men, they will scan carefully the likeness here given. – Pomeroy’s Democrat, September 20, 1873. Bay rum and lemongrass with black pepper, cardamom pod, pine resin, red sandalwood, and cedar. the bay rum and lemongrass give this a centerpiece of rich magical voodoo oils, surrounded by a very light hint of spices and an absolutely swoonworthy woods combo. the whole blend is fantastic, gorgeous, amazing, kinda classy. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VmSRcOUmLK8

This smells like a classic perfume, lavender-focused with brightness from the berg. My nose is reminded of violet, prob misinterpreting the lavender+angelica. It's slightly sweet, the vetiver is mellow. Very pretty with big silage. Tested this out during the roller coaster this past week of the chauvin verdict followed immediately by the heartbreaking execution of Ma'khia Bryant. I don't know what I expected(would i wallow in sadness?), but the experience was surprisingly gentle and grounding, comforting, calming. It's been weirdly helpful for me in the mornings kicking away grogginess and being present going about my day.

Scattered leaves, fir needle, and thick honey musk. aw, what a beauty! I almost passed this by, as I have already a good assortment of scents flaunting the lab's fabulous leaf note. some honey notes are wins, others go kinda foul on me. love fir and love the lab's musks. although I can smell the leaves when I first put this on, this isn't a "dead leaves" scent when it dries down. once this hits my skin, the leaves retreat and what shines is a lovely combo of sweet fir jam over an elegant and subdued honey with the barest edge of pale musk. this fir and honey musk combo is DIVINE. very much an in-a-forest-glowing-aura kinda scent. dreamy and magical.

Yellowing parchment and lampblack, a drop of lilac, a smear of labdanum, and a splash of white musk. if the lab didn't already have a scent for good omens' aziraphale (which I haven't ever tried so please don't mistake this comment as implying any sort of death match or informed comparison), I'd nominate this as a solid contender. smells smart, distinguished, pedigreed, a little bit bright (lilac!), a little bookish, unisex in the way that angels are supposedly not quite one gender nor the other. dashing but slightly asexual. the drydown reminds me of a less-sweet, no-tea dorian ancestor. modest throw that lasted all through a 14+ hour workday.

Amber and black copal with black coconut, Sumatran red patchouli, green cardamom pod, and golden musk. very true to the perfume (although a little "brighter" in feel, might be because my perfume is from a few years back, while this is a newer batch) big big sillage and goes the distance. I used two spritzes yesterday and enjoyed a giant halo of musky dark coco-patch-resin bliss. still present today, but with mellower throw. love it!

Dark myrrh, black cypress, fir pitch, and a shuddering sliver of white mint. Puddin is such a wonderful tease, and this was one of Puddin's wonderful teases right before he unleashed the 2016 post yule scents. Violent fit of trembling is a bottle of beloved notes: I adore cypress, evergreen forests are magic to me, peppermint is a mood brightener and myrrh is a base note in many favorite bpals. wet this opens with the cypress and the fir. there is a cool brightness, but I wouldn't think to look for mint in this if I didn't see it listed. this dries down to a deep unisex cologne, more myrrh than fir. it feels a little gritty but not dry. it reminds me a little of german expressionist horror, which I love, for being dark with that touch of evergreen. violent fit is delicious.

Gleaming white frankincense and vanilla-infused benzoin. frankincense scent of my dreams, you are here! the notes read "gleaming" and "white" but there's something about this frank that feels more down and dirty, gritty, rich and raw. it's amazing! as a lover of this resin, I'm considering breaking my no back-ups rule for this stunner.

His hair was a reddish gray; his beard, little more than stubble, was grayish red. A craggy, square face with pale gray eyes. The suit looked expensive, and was the color of melted vanilla ice cream. His tie was dark gray silk, and the tie pin was a tree, worked in silver: trunk, branches, and deep roots. He held his glass of Jack Daniels as they took off, and did not spill a drop. Sleek cologne, the memory of a Nine Herbs Charm, gallows wood, and a splash of whiskey. this is mostly a bright and shiny cologne on me. not actually all that herby, nor really very boozy, although there are faint suggestive traces of each. this smells old school, with a tarnished sheen of respectability and a very subtle suggestion of sleaze. nice big persistent sillage and still detectable the next day. I really like this one.

During the year 1896 considerable stir was created by the investigation of Dr. Hippolyte Baraduc, of Paris, in the line of “Thought Photography,” which is of interest to psychic investigators generally. Dr. Baraduc claimed to have gotten photographic impressions of his thoughts, “made without sunlight or electricity or contact of any material kind.” These impressions he declared to be subjective, being his own personal vibrations, the result of a force emanating from the human personality, supra-mechanical, or spiritual. The experiments were carried on in a dark room, and according to his statement were highly successful. In a communication to an American correspondent, printed in the New York Herald, January 3, 1897, he writes: “I have discovered a human, invisible light, differing altogether from the cathode rays discovered by Prof. Roentgen.” Dr. Baraduc advanced the theory that our souls must be considered as centers of luminous forces, owing their existence partly to the attraction and partly to the repulsion of special and potent forces bred of the invisible cosmos. A number of French scientific journals took up the matter, and discussed “Thought Photography” at length, publishing numerous reproductions of the physician’s photographs; but the more conservative journals of England, Germany and America remained silent on the subject, as it seemed to be on the borderland [Pg 199]between science and charlatanry. On January 11, 1897, the American newspapers contained an item to the effect that Drs. S. Millington Miller and Carleton Simon, of New York City, the former a specialist in brain physiology, and the latter an expert hypnotist, had succeeded in obtaining successful thought photographs on dry plates from two hypnotized subjects. When the subjects were not hypnotized, the physicians reported no results. As “Thought Photography” is without the pale of known physical laws, stronger evidence is needed to support the claims made for it than that which has been adduced by the French and American investigators. “Thought Photography” once established as a scientific fact, we shall have, perhaps, an explanation of genuine spirit photographs, if such there be. – Hours With the Ghosts; Or XIX Century Witchcraft by Henry R. Evans Mercury-limned lavender, palo santo, and ambrette seed. First impressions from a bottle that landed this morning: I know some people associate lavender with sleep scents, old lady smells and/or medicine, and kudos for all of those things, but thought photography is a blend that shows her potential as a sophisticated note in an elegant perfume. Beautiful strong musky lavender, reminding me of bpal's 18 June 1860. Not getting much Palo Santo at this time. Big throw and great longevity.

I love the scent, which is bright and pretty, and I love the act of anointing candles with this on the new moon. A simple basic ritual when I'm overwhelmed with other demands, or made more elaborate as needed/desired. Afterwards everything not only feels cleaner, but also brighter, happier, sweeter. Gentle in nature but with profound effect. 💖

Dry vanilla mint with rosewood, balsam, green sandalwood, green mate absolute, and sage. I love this one. vanilla and mint more elegantly aromatic than foody, over a base of warm dry woods and a rich non-herby green element. I can't describe it better because the thrill of it makes me pathetically incoherant. Eta there is a richness to this scent that is right on the line between wonderful and too much. I could easily see myself overindulging and then not being able to wear it ever again, like too many times on a carnival ride or eating too many sweets/too much greasy food, etc etc. This triggers the part of my brain where something in the horror movie is dangerous but the character can't see it because the beauty has lured them in. A carnivorous plant that ate bpallers might smell like this. Enticing and delicious but with something sinister underneath.

Amphibious green musk with bog moss, benzoin, Mountain sage, Brazilian vetiver, tomato leaf, cucumber pulp, and unripe squash. I admit I was ready to pass this one over, as I enjoy my 2014 lunacy frog perfume and was wary of the vegetable notes. but I tested it and learned that if I were to death match this against my marsh of frogs, this one might be the winner. that lovely green musk really shines in this deeper and richer blend. the benzoin adds a nice soft sweetness and the vetiver (a very gentle and not prominent vetiver on me. possibly a vetiver for people who usually shy away from this note?) adds the perfect rich depth to the sage and veggie notes. my nose sussed out "rich earthy garden" and not "oh, hi tomato, hello cuke and squash." I really enjoyed this blend. it was warm and complex, with all of the parts working together. I don't know if I wear scents like this enough to spring for a whole bottle, but I will definitely seek out an imp or partial.

Blood-soaked soil, scorched cypress branches, and faint remnants of Baphomet's temple incense. still fairly fresh from the post: i suspect this will going to shift as it settles, but right now in the bottle it's heavy, almost swampy rich soil. black and oozy. On the skin it is a much lighter in feel. it dries down with the dirt note supporting cypress and a subtle cinnamon. There's a bit of resin weaving in the back and I can't tell if it's dragon's blood, frankincense or both. (def DB, can't tell if there's frank there or if I'm imagining it). i love me some bpal dirt scents. the dirt note in this one is much more integrated into the scent as a whole, vs standing out and commanding all of the attention. everything in here harmonizes to something warm and rich and actually not that heavy (for a blood-soaked dirt scent!). this is very pretty.

A fair witch crept to a young man's side, And he kiss'd her and took her for his bride. But a Shape came in at the dead of night, And fill'd the room with snowy light. And he saw how in his arms there lay A thing more frightful than mouth may say. And he rose in haste, and follow'd the Shape Till morning crown'd an eastern cape. And he girded himself, and follow'd still When sunset sainted the western hill. But, mocking and thwarting, clung to his side, Weary day!-the foul Witch-Bride. (Aw, c'mon, Allingham. Foul is a pretty strong choice of words, dontcha think?) Pale and lovely, with eyes belladonna-wide: hemlock blossoms and ghostly nightshade veiled by wisteria, white frankincense, black amber, and narcissus resin. I'm at a loss as to how to translate the scent experience of witch bride to words so that you, the reader, could gain some understanding of how it smells and decide if it's something you want to seek out. sorry! I blind bought my bottle based upon the label art and the theme and the notes and I adore it. I don't tend to go for straight up florals, and this isn't that. there's a sweet and warm resiny base, and some light florals (my favorite bpal narcissus experience to date!) on top, and it's just a nice beautiful blend. I only detect the herbal notes if I look for them, and I may only be sensing them because I read them in the description. they are subtle and add a nice bit of complexity (spoken by someone who loves very herby winter stars and the waters of the well of wisdom). witch bride is light to moderate in strength. very addciting.

We lost our darling Pugsley many years ago, but Lilith swears that she can hear his ghost barking at the mailman to this day. Dedicated defender of the household, bane to all small birds. We miss you, Pugsley. Black tea, tonka bean, and licorice root with sweet black musk. just like when you walk into the pound and see all the adorable candidates for rescuing...you want to take them all home with you but then there's THE MAGIC MOMENT when you lock eyes with one pup and know you've found your one? well, this happened to me when I visited the goblin dungeon pound and learned about pugsley. not only is each and every note a super winner in my book, but seeing the combo hit me smack dab in the heart and I could hear the pupper angels howling magical approval as well. puglsey is a divine black musk scent, the watery tea note making it feel light and ethereal and translucent but due to that musk it's also deep and dark and rich. yes..things that might be opposites are true all at once. that's bpal magic for ya, folks. less feminine-perfumey than last year's weenie Raven Black gloss, the musk here is a little bit purrfectly* powdery and warm, dark, stunning. the licorice is light (coming from someone who loves strong anise/fennel/licorice etc) and the tonka just quietly does it's tonka thing without clamoring for attention. who's a good bean? oh yes you are, tonka! yes you are! good throw and lasted a few hours...and after that a ghostly waft would pop back in to "visit" and say hello whenever I moved my head. fabulous scent from a wonderful surprise update. thank you, puddin and goblins * strange irony: this is the bpal that best resembles how my cat smells. he's not sweet with honey nor cedary clean. he's a 'lil musky goofball!