House of Night

[hkhm]

A sorrowful graveyard bouquet of somber blooms, funereal boughs, dismal green and laden with grief.

imp: smoky florals.

wet: i get an unusual violet and pine scent with a smoky backdrop.

dry: this dries to smoky cypress. it's a nice moody scent.

[ami226]

In the imp: Oh, no!! Not a smoky scent!

 

On the skin: Whatever is causing the smoky smell has just gotten stronger.... I am afraid that I had to wash this one off as it was making my nose hurt. Just a bit too much of a smoke smell for me.

[Seismogenic]

Lab frimp! I figured it would be appropriate to test one of the Ars Moriendi on the anniversary of an earthquake (Northridge, 17 January 1994) that killed 57 people.

 

In the imp: Dark dusty green and florals.

 

Wet on skin: Something about this smells heavy. It's not a particularly thick scent, but it just smells as if it has weight to it. It is mostly green, a little tree-ish and a little herby, but there's something slightly floral-sweet behind it.

 

Drydown: Freshly dry, the dusky greenness is still the most prominent thing, though whatever flower it is in there has sweetened it up a little further. This brand of green still falls squarely between evergreen and deciduous, blended perfectly enough that I can't pick out individual plants.

 

Five hours later: While the scent on the whole still falls into the category of dusky green, the sweet note in the background has become more and more prominent. Oddly, it's starting to seem a little musky, even though musk is not listed as a note.

 

End of the day: The weird musky-sweet note is still quite prominent, though the green has gone.

 

Overall: In the earlier stages of wear, this is quite a beautiful scent. It implies something dramatic, tragedy on a wide scale, something like the whole family occupying a large ornate Victorian house suddenly has to be buried on the grounds, for some undisclosed reason. The heaviness I mentioned at the beginning is like the weight of foliage under darkness, not an actual thickness of scent. It really works. But as wear progresses, I'm really not sure how I feel about the increasingly sweet note. I wish the heavy boughs lasted longer. I also wish I'd gotten a little of the smoke some other people mention!

[msbcozad]

House of Night

 

I don't like "green" scents because they make my nose itch. The green note in this is very faint behind the flowers -- which I find more shouty than somber -- but it's just enough to make the tip of my nose tickle. This is very pretty, but I'm nowhere near gothy enough to pull off this perfume. Thirty minutes of wear and it's got that dreaded hair spray "aftertaste". Trade.

[maika]

In the imp, herbal and green...but bruised greens, not fresh.

 

Wet, green and, well, green. At this point, it's not working for me.

 

Dry, haven't made it to that stage. It's clashing with me, and I had to scrub it off. Off to trade.

Edited February 13, 2009 by maikastar

[vanillaskwirl]

Imp: Whoa, flowers!

 

Wet: YIKES FLOWERS! I can sense an underlying note that might be pleasant if it ever comes to the fore.

 

Dry: I have a headache and I smell like my Nana. Now, while I loved my Nana, I never wanted to smell like an 80+ year old lady at 33. I think it's just me amping the florals since I can smell the promise in the blend, but it's not working for me at all. This will go in my swap pile where it stands a chance of finding a more loving home.

[riflmom]

House of Night is dry dark floral - not sweet light flowery-floral. The woods blend in to make this lovely and somber at the same time. I see me wearing this often.

[TrailerTrashPrincess]

i'm actually shocked that i haven't ever reviewed this! 'cuz i like it!

 

old wood, dried flowers and the ghosts of a thousand daily scents. smells so familiar but i just haven't ever been able to place what it reminds me of!

[melrose]

In imp and on, wet: fresh, breezy flowers - pretty much the opposite feeling of the name.

 

Drydown: The flowers have mostly faded. I'm left with spices and a hint of something sweet, but I can't describe it further - it's gorgeous, though.

 

Bottleworthy.

[BuxomM]

This smells green and floral and dark. This was a frimp and for foody me, was not a keeper.

[Iceblink]

I tried this once ages ago and couldn't make up my mind about it so went in for a second try...and wow...this is quite beautiful to my nose now. It's on the sweet side--are there violets in here?--and sort of dusty/powdery, but in a pretty way. I don't get "green" from this, just lovely dried florals. Very nice!

[crebbsgirl]

I am getting a distinct violet note here. Violets always translate rather sharply on my skin. This is smoky and somber, with deep woods, dark flowers and greens. Overall, this is a little too sharp on me. The drydown turns into pure powder, so I'm afraid this one just didn't work.

[sarajane]

This is very pretty. The pine overpowers the rest of the blend a bit, but that's okay with me. I like pine.

 

A very pretty darker scent, for someone who usually doesn't like darker scents.

[Mousesong]

House of Night is unexpectedly JUICY on me. It smells thick and wet, and reminds me vaguely of grapes. Looking at the notes, this created a head-scratching reaction on my part, but I don't mind--it's gorgeous either way.

 

I'm not going to be any good for an in-depth review on this one. Suffice to say that it's an appropriately deep purple smell on me (why? grapes? really?) and it's going to be a nasty time while I try to decide whether I need a bottle of this more or Ouija or Bow and Crown.

 

I think... I think House of Night might win. The others are lovely, but this one is very different from my beloved Dee and Dorian--much darker and smokier.

 

Mmm.

 

EDIT: The more I wear this the more I think the "grapes" are maybe blackberries.

Edited August 11, 2009 by Mousesong

[gypsyjolie]

This is a really lush dark foresty floral - pine and humid flowers. The pine keeps it cool and dark and subdues the flowers to a wearable level for me (I'm not a floral girl). I also get a shadowy musky deepness to this, but it's not as Goth as I'd expected at first sniff. This is a rather dramatic deep scent. I'm not sure how much I'd wear it but I am oddly drawn to this. A rich dark floral for those who don't want a girly white floral?

[topazphoenix]

I'm getting kind of a ozone-y powdery darkness, if that makes sense. It's ok.

[superpopkid]

I wanted something dark and eerie to match the mood of tonight's adventures in theatergoing. Aside from the name, it wasn't a promising beginning. This started off a rather cloying evergreen-tinged floral. I am not the greatest at distinguishing floral notes, so I can't be sure, but I thought it smelled jasmine-y. There's no jasmine mentioned in the poem, though, so I have no clue. The flowers hummed along for a while doing their overly-sweet floral thing and I'd mentally consigned this blend to swaps. About an hour in, I noticed the most lovely woodsmoke smell in the air. It was House of Night, turning gorgeous on my skin. The floral elements had blended in or disappeared. I wish I could describe this stage better, but I can say it's dark, autumnal, and very beautiful.

 

It went very light after about five hours and was pretty much gone at five. Medium to light throw. This morphed into the perfect scent after all, but I do wish I could sneak in after the first act.

[Caerphilly]

In the imp: Wooden florals and a bit of dirt. Definite lilies.

 

Wet: Reminds me of Daylilies at the Bottom of the Stairs. Well, it's water lilies, green grass, more water, a bot of wood.

 

Dry: Water lilies and lipstick. A bit of wood. Just like Dayliles at the bottom of the stairs...with powdery lipstick...

 

Overall: I love this scent! Daylilies is one of my favorite scents and the powderiness makes it that much better! I want a bottle.

[Victory]

House of Night is an oil that frightens me when I'm not wearing it because I have bad memories, and then when I do wear it, I think, "oh, it's not as bad as I thought." Wet, there is a sharp evergreen note cutting through some unfamiliar, nondescript florals. It's this evergreen note that I remember and that I really don't like. I don't know what it is; I've smelled fir in Hexennacht and pine in other scents and it doesn't smell like that. Whatever it is, it's a Do. Not. Want. It does cut out as the oil dries, and there's something almost vanillic that comes out. Dry, House of Night smells really familiar. It's a sort of vanilla-floral-type scent, I guess, but I can't quite pin down which scent it smells like. I can't ever get over the evergreen- it ruined the scent for me. The totally dry scent is nice, but not worth going through the wet phase.

[tajana]

Wet: This smells surprisingly... distinctive. But not in a pleasant way. It's harsh and cold. Cypress, sourish myrtle, high florals, smashed greenery, and dusty smoke. It smells dark and shadowy.

 

Dry: The woods are light and cutting, and actually seem to back down with time, or at least blend into the florals to create a powdery aura. I can pick out some violet in here, but apart from that it's difficult for me to tell. There's definitely at least one sort of flower in here that's disagreeing with me, or at least the combination of everything doesn't work for me. House of Night is blending into a sweet-and-sour, smoky floral powder that makes me sneeze when I sniff too closely.

 

Overall: Well, I think it fits the poem. Tons of heavy shadowed foliage and flowers. But I have no desire to wear it. This perfume is just too dismal and musty for me, it smells antiqued, ghostly, and unsettling/unpleasant.

Edited December 29, 2009 by findaghost

[SophieCedar]

Mmmmm.

This is a smoky wood and green smell. Light florals. Sweet undertone. soft and well-rounded. Actually makes me salivate! Smells like a soft modern men's cologne however I would not recommend it on a guy. The subtlety and complexity would get lost.

 

I like it!

[jizatt]

Testing this tonight - I'm never sure what to expect with these blends when the notes arent listed, but I wanted a dark melancholy floralishness -- and this is gorgeous. Swoonworthy. I can't tell what I smell, but the poem leads me to believe "A mournful garden of autumnal hue" is made of: violet, myrtle, cypress, cedar, pine, lotus, poppy, amaranthus, mint, laurel

 

wikipedia tells me that amaranth is also chrysanthemum and helichrysum, which I didn't think were the same thing anyway -- but maybe I do smell that chrysanthemum note here....

 

anyway, randomness aside, I really like this - its exactly what I wanted without knowing what to expect!

[Gwydion]

In bottle: surprisingly sharp and viscous. I’m liking the dark green of the funereal boughs balancing the gentler florals. Wet: My skin ate this. As in, I applied it and it disappeared. No green boughs, just a tiny hint of floral. It’s quite sad as I genuinely liked it in the bottle. Dry: There is a lingering floral mix in the area I skin tested, but it’s too weak to say anything intelligent about.

[mimosa]

Wet - green and almost spicy, smells like the herb Lovage that my mother used to grow for soup making. This could be the Cypress note.

Dry- powdery florals peeping out from under the greenery.

Overall- a surprise like, I usually avoid florals, but this is not typical.

[lunchboxmonkey]

On me, this is a very sweet, purple-blue floral. Its quiet and calm, with a damp greenery in the background. Like walking to a graveside service on an overast, misty morning through slightly damp grass. Its a very pretty, sweet scent, but also somber.