Morning Follows Night

[Jenjin]

Bourbon vanilla, tonka bean, raw cacao, and patchouli root illuminated by yellow bergamot, lemon rind, and white amber.

 

Dreaming as the Summers Die
Thy home is all around,
Sweet summer child of light and air,
Like God’s own presence, felt, ne’er found,
A Spirit everywhere!
– James Staunton Babcock
 

Artist - Nicolaes Berchem

[VioletChaos]

This scent is *lovely*. For me, part of what makes it so is that there's something about this blend and the unusual nature / juxtaposition of the notes that gives this scent a real vintage BPAL vibe. It's what I'd been hoping for when I read the description and my gamble paid off!

In the bottle, I get a deliciously odd melange of the lemon rind, tonka and patchouli. On the one hand, these elements seemingly shouldn't work together, and yet they somehow doo- the patch slips under, providing a rumbling base, the lemon is indeed pithy, not icy, so while it's got that citrus aspect one would hope for, the rind gives it a slight bitter edge, which is balanced by the sweet resin of the tonka. I was hooked!

Wet on skin, the other notes all start to come into play, but the way it warms up, different aspects come in and out at different times- and stick around at different rates. So there was about 30-45 minutes where the scent was intriguingly all over the place, sweet, sappy amber and bergamot and lemon one moment, the bergamot slipping away and the tonka and patch becoming more present, tonka fading and vanilla coming into dance just as lemon heads out the door, cacao showing up and bergamot re-emerging at the same moment...and on and on. I huffed my wrist repeatedly whilst walking around my neighborhood, marveling at every twist and turn, each one a slightly different but equally compelling mix.

Upon full dry down and for several hours after, the scent eventually settles down into a sultry mix of all the base notes- patch, cacao, vanilla, tonka and a bit of the amber. Unsurprisingly, the citrus notes by this point have all left the building for good, alas. Citrus typically doesn't hang around for the long haul (on me, at least) unless it's basically the totality of the scent (like lemon in Happy Baby In A Long Dress or orange in Kingdom of Sweets, for instance) so I was prepared for this to be the case. But that assortment of deeper notes is really gorgeous just the same, so I'm not even mad.

Interestingly, I had to REALLY slather this scent to get it to stay put. I mean, like, re-application three times in the space of ten minutes, because the first two times were just eaten by my skin in their entirety. But the third time really was the charm for staying power. So, take that as you will- maybe you'll only have to apply the usual one time, but don't be surprised if more is required to be merrier. That said, the scent remained quite close to the skin and had a surprisingly low throw given some of the usually-heavy hitters in the  mix.

I end this review as I started it. In all, this scent is *lovely*. It's completely its own thing, but also makes me delight in some of my oldest BPAL treasures all over again. ❤️ 

[doomsday_disco]

This starts off with the bright lemon rind note being the loudest aspect of the scent at first, backed by the skin musk-y bourbon vanilla, amber, and a bit of cacao and patchouli. As it sits on the skin, the lemon calms down, and the bourbon vanilla, amber, and patchouli gain strength.

 

I deathmatched this with White Cat because it has bourbon vanilla and lemon amber. White Cat is smoother and creamier, and the lemon isn't as strong as it starts off in Morning Follows Night. However, the creamy lemon in White Cat has more longevity than the lemon in this scent. Although both scents do become pretty amber-centric by the end of the day, they feature different ambers, with White Cat's accompanied by creamy lemon, and Morning Follow Night's mostly being backed by the bourbon vanilla and patchouli.

 

This isn't one I need more of, as I prefer the creamy lemon amber of White Cat, but it was fun to deathmatch the two.