Abyssgazesback

Salty, almost popcorn at first. But then, as desired, that dark, musty rich plum rolls out. Salty plum popcorn. Seriously, where is the popcorn coming from? Now, there’s a dark, oozing sweet layer. Popcorn gone. That was weird. Oh LAWD that plum and salt and thick, sticky sweet opium. Almost orchid like. This blend starts out rude and settles into a deep, rich, sophisticated high end goth perfume.

Man soap. Salty man soap.

If you liken the Fire Down Below line to a tour on a ship, Good Ship Venus is what you smell standing at the prow while the ships cuts through the water at high speeds. It’s bright and speaks to sunshine and sprays of salty water over planks of dark wood. It dances on the deck. It’s joyous and full of laughter.

Hanging Johnny struggles to make a good first impression and fails. Please be patient though. Sweet sweet red sandalwood. I smell frankincense, and I stand by my case. I put Anne Bonny on next to it, and Hanging Johnny is sweeter. There’s a billowing quality. Beth’s blending and formulating is just constantly evolving and I’m perpetually in awe. There’s subtlety and finesse where brash volume used to live. I love and value both. Anne Bonny you’d wear to a service industry Halloween brawl. Hanging Johnny, you’d wear to a black tie costume party.

That gorgeous rebel in high school who, if they showed up for class at all, was always late. They wore a black leather jacket, and smelled of patchouli and resinous incense and things your mom would disapprove of. It didn’t matter, you just wanted to chew on them. Down to their chocolate center.

Smooth, creamy, syrupy leather with a little dry patch crackling underneath. Root beer float, but the ice cream is leather, and there’s bondage in the root beer.