Night's Pavilion

[Penance]

Not the desperation, desolation and anguish of unrequited love, but the distant, chill and pitiless scent of the object of that doomed desire. White musk, osmanthus, Nile lily and frankincense.

Origin:

Imp from my Imp Pimp, Diana.

Preconceived notions:

I don't see myself liking this even thought it has frankincense (which I love) and white musk (which I like) in it. I may be wrong, though, considering the surprise success fo Parlement of Foules.

First sniff:

Yep, this isn't for me. Far too floral for my tastes. It smells a bit aquatic, but definitely floral with just a hint of white musk.

Wet on skin:

Aquatic florals and not much else. I don't smell any frankincense in this at all, just the florals. It's a fresh, clean floral blend, so it's not bad, but it's still not me.

Dry down:

I'm getting a tiny bit of frankincense in here now, but it's mainly aquatic florals the same as when it was wet. This just isn't for me.

The bottom line:

Definitely not for me, although I didn't expect it to be. Edited June 25, 2006 by Shollin

[valentina]

Night's Pavilion has provoked some gorgeously-written reviews from everyone who's come before me! Good lord, what else is there to say?

 

Well, I always have something to say , and this is a scent that I tried courtesy of a friend who had who ordered it. It smelled lovely in the bottle, much less sweet and flowery than I expected. So I tried it on to be nice and to see how fast I'd want to wash it off. White musk and lilies usually aren't friends of mine.

 

I love it.

 

It's cool, elegant, sublime, inscrutable. Very inscrutable, because I can't tell you what I'm smelling -- but it's sharp and not especially sweet. I do get the aquatic effect, but it's a very cold, deep, dark blue lake high in the mountains, rather pristine and ominous at the same time. The attitude it evokes is very haughty, very "look but don't touch, because if you lay a finger on me, I'll bite your arm off." Imagine Katharine Hepburn, looking down her nose at some hapless male.

 

I dashed off to the swap thread and nabbed a bottle. It's a beautiful creation, and the Lab has proven my strongly-held opinions to be incorrect, once again. I love it when that happens.

 

valentina

Edited February 18, 2006 by valentina

[Khaman]

Like Macha, I got tea at first. I can't get as specific, but sure as hell a rich, herbal tea out of the bottle and at very first dab. At the first drying it smelled a hell of a lot like fresh grass.

 

So I got very, very nervous. I didn't like that first kickoff at all.

 

After a while, though, all that softens and some much better smells come out. The much-spoken aquatic tang, maybe a touch of almost incensy musk. I need to give it a bit to grow. Maybe even the perfume is too new in the bottle and needs to 'set' a bit. But I think, just maybe, it's gonna grow on me as I try it out more.

 

Just gotta get over that initial WHAM of tea.

[jewelbug]

Imp: Slightly fruity sweet (the fruity is somewhere between melony and lotus quality), bright, clean, rather perfumey smell. I suspect that fuminess will mellow.

 

Wet: 750: This goes on much lighter, and less fumy than the imp. It’s a hint woodsy, actually. Still with that same clean fruity quality.

 

Drying: Clean slightly sweet floral musk. There is woodsiness to this, which I actually think is the resin/frankincense. It lends a bit of masculinity. The sweet/clean part of the scent really does remind me of a non-bubblegummy lotus. Under all of this, there is the perfumey/musky/floral. Its actually a really pleasing light scent, and has good throw.

 

About 40 mins in, I swear I smell roots. Like an orris quality. Maybe that's part of the lily? Or the osmathus? I dunno, but it smells good. These roots get stronger and are at the forefront for the next three hrs or so. Under that, the sweet fruity clean smell has started to smell rather like a tea blend. Mmmm, could this be a tea smelling blend that has staying power on me? That WOULD be impressive!

Overall: This is a clean tea scent balanced by a sweet light fruity smell and an earthy rootiness. The musk makes it effervescent. Its smells amazingly sophisticated. This has amazing staying power on me for a "clean" scent. Usually my skin eats those alive. This lasts well into 5-6 hrs.

[mandragora]

In the bottle: Clean white floral. Where's the fruity yummyness from the first reviews?

 

Wet on me: There's a sharpness that surrounds the floral scent. The frankincense?

 

Drydown: Sweet, incensey florals with the white musk giving it a slight powdery note. It'slike standing under a canopy of flowers on a moonlit night. No fruity, no aquatic, just straight up white floral scent for me. Weird body chemistry, I smite you.

 

Verdict: A bit too floral and romantic for me for regular use. But I'm still keeping a bottle and swapping the other (I impulsively bought 2).

Edited February 18, 2006 by mandragora

[sookster]

sniff from the bottle this reminds me a lot of death on a pale horse....

 

upon application it gets more floral....white florals with white or very dry

sandalwood; gotta be the frankincense ....the tiniest amount of something sweet and fruity comes through after 10 minutes or so....

 

interesting...too bad this one doesn't last too long......guess i'll just

have to slather....

[Laurel the Woodfairy]

On me, Night's Pavilion is sweet and aquatic...sort of like a more feminine version of Sea of Glass. The lily has just a touch of the cloying sadness of Eternal, and the white musk has something of the cool calmness of Evening Star--except that E.S. is about a million times more lovely on me. I haven't had much luck with the VD blends, for some reason. Off to swap!

[Voleuse]

This wasn't really on my radar until I noticed a few reviews comparing this to Blue Moon, which I wouldn't have guessed from the description. Sure enough, on first application, I get a sweet cucumber note that is strongly reminiscent of Blue Moon.

 

As it dries, I begin to catch the lily--I'm not familiar with osmanthus, so I can't discern that note. The musk begins to come out as well, but the overall blend stays cool and sweet. There's a light smokiness behind it all that I suspect is the frankinscence. This is a lovely white floral on me, and definitely a keeper.

[Naamah_Darling]

I have no idea what osmanthus is, so research is called for. It sounds like a flower, and it looks like I'm right. Osmanthus is the blossom of the tea olive, Osmanthus fragrans. The extract is very expensive, and prized in perfumery for its delicate fruity-floral scent, reminiscent of apricot. It is, as the name suggests, popularly used as a scent in oriental tea blends.

 

So, what does it actually smell like?

 

In the bottle, this is floral, pale, and light, all flowers and musk. Very pretty, a bit cold. The florals are juicy, crisp, and still a bit green, as if picked before their time. Something in this reminds me of a glossy-leaved flowering shrub that grew on the south side of the house where I grew up. We never knew what it was, but upon looking for pictures of Osmanthus plants, I believe that we have a winner. How interesting! Only here, the scent merges with the lilies and the musk so instead of being sweet and warm, it's cool and white, like a moonlit garden.

 

It dries fruity, musky, and pale, with the lilies breathing a cool white floral over all of it. A very restrained scent, intriguing but not arresting, lovely but not sexy. Indeed, cool and remote, just as the description says.

 

Like all flowers, it goes powdery, but until then it's nice. Not arresting, but serene and still. A background scent, like shadows outside the window.

[ajcj213499]

First, I have to say what a lovely label this bottle has.

 

This is a very light fragrance that smells slightly perfumey. I can smell the frankinsence and a light fresh floral. To me, it smells more airy than aquatic. The scent stays close to the skin and has more of a "my skin smells good" rather than "my perfume smels good" if that makes any sense...

 

I wish the trading post would make a shirt like the bottle's label...

[megumi]

First sniff: Cool, Clean and Fresh. Leafy

 

On my skin: The bouquet of green and white.

Lots of green leaf and sweet lovely white flowers. Maybe this comes from osmanthus and fresh young lilies?

 

Later on: Gets more depth and sweetness on my skin.

I can say this becomes a sweet, elegant, powdery flower. This is gorgeous! I just love the way it glows so gentle and subtle.

 

Mmm...I think this is definitely beautiful and sophisticated blend.

[ancilla_morte]

This reminds me of Buck Moon. a LOT.

It has the same sort of fresh barley smell to it that buck moon does. NOt only that but it smells like a Lunacy Blend in general. it has that 'moon' smell to it. but I suppose it is fitting since it is supposed to be a 'night's' pavillion.

I can smell violets. violets+me=something not good.

but I also dislike it for the same reasons why I disliked buck moon. so yeah, not for me.

 

but if you liked buck moon and/or like violets this is for you!

[Ciircee]

Bought an imp of this of Laurel the Woodfairy (thanks much!)

 

Imp: Cold, white florals. It's like sniffing the white flowers inside the florist refrigerator.

 

Wet: Still cold and white and floral with a cold-water scent mixed in.

 

Dry 5 minutes: A moonlit garden, the cold chill of dew, an aloof and unreachable woman in white.

 

Dry 40 minutes: Still not getting any fruit, but there's a hint of...tea? And the frankincese has come out to play. It doesn't do much to warm up the scent, interestingly. It's like there IS warmth, but it's far away. Very neat!

 

Dry 3 hours: And my skin has eaten it all up. It had an all right throw on it, but it was never overpowering. It did go to powder right before the fade but the incense kept that from being really noticable.

 

All in all: A very interesting blend! Cool and aloof is not for me, but it's still a very neat, complex mix. Hats off to Beth!

[rhubarbbear]

i like night's pavilion. it's a light, white floral on me...somewhat aquatic, as others have mentioned. it's clean without being soapy, and floral without any heaviness or headacheness. very well balanced and crisp...i see this as an everyday perfume, as it seems to go well with so many occasions/moods/events. it does fade a bit quickly, but as my skin eats most scents this is normal for me. sigh!

 

overall, happy thumbs up!

[azhure]

In the bottle: Floral, and quite heady.

 

On the skin: I get a sharp burst of the florals (I think the lily). Very aquatic, as others have noted.

 

Drying down: The muskiness takes over now. While the florals are still there, they are muted down. I also get a very lunar quality to this - it reminds me of being in a garden filled with night-blooming flowers under a full moon.

 

Verdict: Not sure if this one is for me. It's nice, but I'm undecided on it at the moment.

[feline.by.design]

I had expected Night's Pavilion to be lighter and colder for some reason. Interesting. It's a lot more aquatic than anticipated, and with my initial swab... :::shoop!::: my skin sucks it up and mostly hides the scent from me.

 

Where did it go?

 

:::tries to sniff the trail on her arm:::

 

It's weird; every time I think I smell the fragrance, it disappears.

 

:::goes into full-scale arm-huffing:::

 

Okay, I think I've found it. Maybe.

 

Oh hell, I think this oil is just too light or too bland for me. I really can't smell a thing, and I put a decent swab of the oil onto my skin. Okay, I'm going to reapply.

 

So, it's determined that I need a heck of a lot in order to get some fragrance goin', but once it's goin', I am quite fond of it. It's a light, fragranced floral, yes, but it smells as if the blossoms and stems have been ripped and torn apart. It isn't as aquating as other fragrances I've tried, now that I've gotten a good sniff. The floral itself is sweetly-fragranced, but not at all cloying. It leans more to the herbal sweetness rather than heady blooms. I feel like it's cousins to Spirits of the Dead.

 

Night's Pavilion is quite a clean scent, and I do like it, once I've dabbed enough on.

 

-doreen

[abberlaine]

Few! Am I ever glad that my bottle of Night's Pavilion is flying off this morning.

 

It starts out lovely and subdued: tightly packed white blooms and the faintest whisper of white musk. As it dries, however, the musk breaks the dam and half-drowns the other notes. It winds up smelling like white musk coupled with fruity candy: in this case, not the nicest combination.

 

EDIT: This blend has some lovely frankincense in it, though. I'll give it that. Faint wisps of dry frankincense.

Edited March 31, 2006 by Abberlaine Arrol

[Nekomata]

In the bottle I think this smells like sweet hay. Very crisp and clean.

As if dries I get alot more of the osmanthus scent, is smells just like the osmanthus Art Tea(http://www.twohillstea.com/index.php/shop-tea/C7).

 

Doesn't seem to become too powdery, very nice. I really wish this wasn't a limited scent. *sigh*

Edited April 6, 2006 by Nekomata

[niter]

Imp

Very white and pure with the softest touch of religious incense.

 

Wet

This starts out extremely clean and strong of lily.

 

Dry

What started out quite prettily has rapidly changed to soap and wears very softly. It is not a bad soapy scent on me, just rather muted from what it started out to be. Some florals do this on me.

[k00kaburra]

In bottle: Frankincense over an almost lemony base? It's a lemon without the tartness or sweetness - maybe it's the Nile lily. There's a crispness to it, and an inky blackness to its color.

On me: The frankincense fades to an almost invisible base which holds up a delicate white blossomed blend. It's like a white lily floating on top of a pool of crystal clear water, which is reflecting the brilliant night sky and thousands of stars. Yes. There are stars in this blend. It is a chilly fragrance, but hardly in a cruel way. It is the chill of being realized as completely unimportant in the grandness of greater things.

As a side note, it's also a very clean fragrance. ****

[QueenFae]

A creeping, seductive, sensual blend. A gorgeous white combination of the soothing lily and the musk note totally debauched by the sinister frankincense. It conjours images of white witches and fleeting night wood nymphs. This is a unique blend, I don't generally think about frankincense and lily as an appropriate pairing, but it really works. There is just enough "incensey - ness" to this blend to keep me from classifying it as a floral; it's more of a soft resin blend. Absolutely lovely, I like it very much.

[chapatti]

First whiff: aquatic, pretty much.

 

Drydown: ooh, the aquatic-ness is still very much there, but it's brighter than you'd expect. It's, on me, mostly frankincense, on a soft, pale white musk bed, with the bright note from the osmanthus. It's, all in all, a clear, almost crystalline aquatic floral, with a little hint of soap, that fortunately doesn't last.

 

Verdict: I'm not much into aquatics, but this is very pretty. And that's all I have to say about that

 

7/10

[Elrianra]

In the bottle: On the first breath, it's all cold musk with a very soft touch of floral - I suppose that would be the lily. But a moment later, the hazy smoke of what has to be the frankincense comes out to play as well.

 

On me wet: Very smoky, with a bit of spiciness to it, I think that's all frankincense though. The musk is hardly there and the florals give this a bitter-sweet kind of scent.

 

On me drying: Like sandalwood, frankincense apparently adores my skin. I'm coated in a hazy brilliance of the stuff, the musk is toning it down nicely, but where's the florals?

 

On me dry: Hmm, musky smoke, a soft tang of floral. I went and looked up "osmanthus" on [a href=http://www.wikipedia.org]wikipedia[/a] to see what it's supposed to smell like, but could find no reference to what the oil smells like.

 

Final conclusion:

1 Hour Later - Ugh, this one went soapy within half an hour. Smoky but it's lost the interesting smell, bitter and sour... to the point my eyes are beginning to water.

 

Finale:

Okay, I liked this one at the start, but now it's a definite no-go. Too bad really... it is so lovel in the bottle...

[puck_nc]

Origin: Frimp from the incredibly generous OriginalWacky

 

Initial Thoughts: White musk treats me better than most musks, but the combination with frankincense will probably do my chemistry in.

 

In the Bottle: Light musk and very floral.

 

Wet: Huh...of all things I'm getting lemon. Then the flowers bloom and an undertone of the musk evolves.

 

Drydown: That lemon impression hangs around for a while, but eventually the musk takes over. At least it's not MUSK!!!! like I've had with some scents, but still.

 

Verdict: Not bad, but I don't think I'm likely to reach for it often. There is a better home for it somewhere.

[damuddymeg]

in the imp: Cool and very slightly sweet. Aquatic. The floral note is barely there.

 

wet: Light and fresh. A hint of frankincense, adding depth. This is almost cucumber-y or melon-y.

 

dry: The frankincense hangs around for awhile, then slowly slinks off. The musk is always what my skin hangs onto the longest, and this is no exception. It stays even after the pale and fluid floral begins to fade. Sadly, this doesn't last longer than 3-4 hours on me without reapplication, but it's so lovely, it's certainly worth it!