The Masque

[LittleGreyKitten]

He had directed, in great part, the moveable embellishments of the seven chambers, upon occasion of this great fete; and it was his own guiding taste which had given character to the masqueraders. Be sure they were grotesque. There were much glare and glitter and piquancy and phantasm — much of what has been since seen in "Hernani." There were arabesque figures with unsuited limbs and appointments. There were delirious fancies such as the madman fashions. 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. And, anon, there strikes the ebony clock which stands in the hall of the velvet. And then, for a moment, all is still, and all is silent save the voice of the clock. The dreams are stiff-frozen as they stand. But the echoes of the chime die away — they have endured but an instant — and a light, half-subdued laughter floats after them as they depart. And now again the music swells, and the dreams live, and writhe to and fro more merrily than ever, taking hue from the many-tinted windows through which stream the rays from the tripods. But to the chamber which lies most westwardly of the seven, there are now none of the maskers who venture; for the night is waning away; and there flows a ruddier light through the blood-colored panes; and the blackness of the sable drapery appals; and to him whose foot falls upon the sable carpet, there comes from the near clock of ebony a muffled peal more solemnly emphatic than any which reaches their ears who indulge in the more remote gaieties of the other apartments. But these other apartments were densely crowded, and in them beat feverishly the heart of life. And the revel went whirlingly on, until at length there commenced the sounding of midnight upon the clock. And then the music ceased, as I have told; and the evolutions of the waltzers were quieted; and there was an uneasy cessation of all things as before. But now there were twelve strokes to be sounded by the bell of the clock; and thus it happened, perhaps, that more of thought crept, with more of time, into the meditations of the thoughtful among those who reveled.

And thus, too, it happened, perhaps, that before the last echoes of the last chime had utterly sunk into silence, there were many individuals in the crowd who had found leisure to become aware of the presence of a masked figure which had arrested the attention of no single individual before. And the rumor of this new presence having spread itself whisperingly around, there arose at length from the whole company a buzz, or murmur, expressive of disapprobation and surprise — then, finally, of terror, of horror, and of disgust.

Bold and fiery, glowing with barbaric luster: this is the scent of the House of Prospero, the scent of hubris, mad revelry, folly and indifferent decadence, a measured passage through its lurid corridors and seven grotesque apartments. Honey and carnation, rich incense and rose accord, myrtle, red sandalwood, amber, jonquil and clove propel you through the revel, finally seating itself in the final, patchouli, tobacco and labdanum drenched darkness of the blood-tinged western chamber.

The Masque is tied with Usher as my favorite in the Maelstrom. It reminds me of the way I wished Luperci smelled- very beeswax (especially wet) with a spicy, musky undertone. I'm not getting carnation out of it except I suspect the spicy scent is partially carnation. The tobacco and clove are two notes I definitely don't get, though I'm sure they contribute to the whole. It's definitely a lovely scent. The honey in it is different than BPAL's usual honey; I like both, but this one smells more like actual beeswax to me. The amber is not powdery in the slightest, and the patchouli contributes a dark flavor to it, I think. The spiciness beneath the honey is delicious. It gets more complex as it dries. It doesn't last amazingly well, but not bad either- say about 4 or 5 hours. It stays pretty close to the skin on me after it's dried. 5 out of 5. Edited December 12, 2007 by Shollin

[slave1]

In Bottle: Sweet carnation

 

On Skin: I smell carnation right off the bat, it is the dominant note and remains that way after hours of wear. A red one to be precise, this scent screams color. Carnation is usually powdery and bitter on me, but the honey in this scent very nicely sweetens it and makes it quite wearable for me. I really like it, which I thought I wouldn’t. I would like to compare it side by side to Alice since I haven’t smelled that scent in a while, but I remember Alice being carnation, but not as sweet as this scent. The clove provides another sweet, but spicy note in the background… it’s not to strong luckily. The incense is another strong note, pretty and warm but not too smoky. This scent has so many levels it’s very hard to describe! I can a little of the patchouli/tobacco/labdanum mix and it gives the scent a heavy headier feel which really works and contrasts the brighter crisper florals. Overall, I get a red/golden feel to this scent, firey indeed but not cinnamon firey, more of a sweet decadent feel. I am in love with this scent and must get another bottle. It’s so unique and complex, a perfect blend again Beth!!!!

 

Sadly... it completely fades after an hour leaving not a trace... I wish it lasted longer...

Edited March 9, 2006 by slave1

[sarada]

Carnation.

Clove.

Honey.

Then, an intoxicatingly dark, dry woody incense.

 

This scent unfolds in layers. Dark red curtains part to reveal a mechanical puppet show of masks and cardboard scenery. Artful artifice, its mood shifts with every moment, but always in shades of red, carnation, white, brown and purple.

 

This is a complex tapestry of a scent, alternately joyful and fearful.

 

At one moment you se the threads form a picture of jesters and masked dancers. In another moment, skeletal forms burn on pyres and fill dark graves.

 

It is spicy in the way that carnation and clove are spicy: a distant red spice, one that appeals more to the mind than to the palette -- austere, brilliant yet smouldering.

 

The honey falls like dim golden light on the audience before the dark red curtains.

 

As it dries, it becomes more of a faintly sweet, radiant polished wood -- the lingering trace of smoke in the air as the curtains close on Oscar Wilde's "Salome" the night of its debut.

 

Evocative beyond compare, incredibly complex and long-lasting. For a full 24 hours the honeyed clove and carnation radiate from my skin on a bed of rich dark wood. A classic for the ages....and I may break my "no more than one bottle of anything" rule yet again.

[Shollin]

First sniff: Deep, dark, red and complex. A little bit sweet, a little bit spicy, and very very deep.

 

Wearing: I’m putting this on having showered with Lush’s Waylander soap (RIP), which is very patchouli-incense, so I’m expecting that part of the scent to get a boost. But at first, it’s honeyed carnation, with a bit of deep resin beneath. And throughout the drydown it just got better and better. Somehow sweeter and deeper at the same time. I suspect this is one I’ll be wearing a lot one of these years when I get my reviewing caught up.

[GemmaCat]

Sniffing this from the bottle, I'm struck by how Beth keeps managing to produce such well-blended scents. It's sweet, floral, spicy, and deep, and no note has dominance.

 

Once on, the carnation starts to peek out, but there's still a very insistent sweetness that is most likely the honey. Sadly for me, the carnation blooms as it warms to my skin, and the floral note gives me a nasty headache. Even with such a powerful flower forcing its way onto centre stage, I can detect the clove and sandalwood beneath.

 

The drydown on this is lovely. It's all rich, dark cocoa, like the expensice 90% pure bars you buy in health shops. Chocolate notes tend to go sour on me, and drydown super sweet, but this is rich and complex with enough bitterness to make my mouthwater.

 

I wanted to keep this for the drydown alone, but dealing with a few hours of headaches (this blend has great throw and is long lasting) for 30 minutes of cocoa isn't worth it.

 

I'm positive that my loss will be someone else's gain, however.

[shelldoo]

in the bottle this is soft, faint, hardly there. almost baby's breath soft

 

as it dries it gains strength, it becomes a gorgeous carnation. very reminecent of hod, but wait it gets a shot of the honey in o, and this deepens it, sexes it up a bit. it has a skin type attribute that greatly surprises me, there is the slightest hint of incense and the longer it is on the less carnation "innocense" it becomes a dark, smokey, incense, honey blend that it sexy as hell

 

will be ordering a second bottle

[SeaMonkey]

This is VERY strong. i have to use this one lightly otherwise, it over powers. Everyone at ballet class kept asking who smelled like potpurri.

 

I get a bit of cocoa and honey, layered over patchouli. Not a lot of tobacco. I need to try this again, but put a whole lot less on

[sookster]

straight sniff from bottle is aerosol aqua net hairspray and spit *gag*

 

once applied the honey takes forefront but i still get that soury, spitty smell....

 

iggy.....

 

this bottle needs to go off to a loving home without a doubt

[zenvodunista]

On me, this begins with horrors, the scent of a burnt chamber. How strange! It begins to brighten up, retreating from that chamber of horrors and into what the BF called "A Magic Shop", and then further back and further back, until it became something else all together, but i am having a hard time describing it. it's dark and it's tart. it is somewhat reminicent of Lampades, but different too.

drydown fades to something similar to the TellTale Heart, kind of cocoa like, but more powdery and no doeskin. i think i like TTH more than this.

 

n.

[olympia301]

 

There is something unsettling about The Masque, in a kind of thrilling and familiar way. I can really smell the carnation along with a huge bouquet of flowers. There is also a masculine set of notes thumping away underneath it all and adding a grounding air to the blend. I am sure it is the tobacco, and something reminds me of Black Musk...I don't think that's what it is but it reminds me of it (go figure). It's deep sweet and moody all at once. Don't let the flowers turn you away from The Masque, they are made to work so harmoniously with the heavier parts of it all that the total effect is a throughly new combination neither floral or masculine but a scent suited by its nature to be the scent of the last part of winter but not the first part of spring.If all this sounds too lyrical for you, get yourself a bottle of The Masque and discover it for yourself.P.S. don't experience this one too close up. It really needs atmosphere between you and the source, otherwise it distorts and is not shown off in its best lights.

 

N.B.-I found that my review of The Masque had disappeared after the forum downtime in early mid March 2006. So, I replaced my review here. It appeared that mine was no where to be seen, and if it comes to pass by electronic mischief that my review appears twice here, well...I will just have to sigh and say "If I were God, that wouldn't have happened."

[Court Analyst/Strategist]

This was the scent I had predicted I'd like the most out of all of the Maelstroms. Surprisingly, I found it to be the most dissonant on my skin chemistry of the three I've tried so far (The Pit & the Pendulum, The Masque and Berenice). I detect a strongly soapy component when the Masque is first applied, with sickly sweet honey underneath. I usually enjoy a bit of soapiness but this has taken over and warped any other notes present, including that honey. My skin usually enjoys honey very much...so I'm not 100% sure what happened to it...but I am aware that the notes of rose accord, clove and carnation sometimes warp other notes on me, so I'm guessing a bit of foul play from these notes might have been involved here. This is the second time I have tried this on my skin, the first being a few days ago (I had been on the very end of that time of the month at that point, so I waited a couple of days to do a retest due to finicky skin chemistry). The scent is actually developing much differently on my skin the second time around, its become much worse as a result! While the scent simply became discordant and unharmonious on my skin chemistry with my first application, the second try has led The Masque to become overwhelmed with warped soap.

 

Overall Rating (score): 3/10 (when first tested a few days ago, I would have given it a 5/10). I'll be swapping or selling the bottle, unfortunately. Luckily I do have the Pit & the Pendulum to console my sadness over my skin chemistry's failure regarding The Masque.

 

Court

Edited March 10, 2006 by Court Analyst/Strategist

[jewelbug]

Imp: Honeyed spicy floral. There are hints of resin and incense, but predominantly it’s a very sweet honey.

 

Wet: A slightly powdery VERY strong honey. The honey seems to be slightly fermented to me—on its way to being mead. This is a very golden scent, and quite syrupy.

 

Drying: As this dries, it remains sweet honey, but the spicy carnation seems to be coming out more, along with incenses. Unfortunately, the early dry down strikes me as old-world antiseptic—almost like formaldehyde. I don’t know what note is reacting to my skin like that, but that particular aspect makes me think of a doctor’s office.

Later, that odd tinge calms and I get a honey tobacco incense blend, reminiscent of Gypsy Queen, though undeniably sweeter and less dry.

 

Overall: I don’t like the disturbing tinge I get at the early dry of this (lasts about an hour). The later drydown is a now honeyed incense carnation tobacco, complex, sweet, dry and pretty. It reminds me of Gypsy Queen, and just as GQ was not for me, neither is the Masque.

[filigree_shadow]

Wet, this was spicy flowers. REALLY spicy flowers. I completely agree with the Lab's "bold and fiery" description. There is something in this blend that smelled nearly as sharp and pungent as civet to me. I could barely detect the honey, but it did smell a little like roses and a little like carnations.

 

As it dried, it mellowed out a lot, and the sandalwood came out. The flowers retreated to stay far in the background. I was looking forward to the patchouli and tobacco, but it got so faint I could barely smell it after about an hour unless my nose was right next to my wrist.

 

It's a well-crafted blend, but the wet stage is too hot-smelling for my nose, and the lovely dry stage doesn't seem to last very long on my skin.

 

Much too intriguing to give up on, though -- I will try again later.

[Lucretia]

This smells just like Bastet but with florals. It's really a lovely scent, but the incense caught me off guard the first time. Carnation and deep dirty honey. Verrry nice!

[Aredhel]

Rating (on skin): 1/5

Summarised in a word or two: Honeyed incense.

 

Preconceived notions: Based on previous reviews, I'm expecting a spicy floral with a bit of honey.

 

In the imp: Deja-vu, and I don't know why. I've smelled something like this before, and I think it was BPAL. Whatever, I get a bit of amber, patchouli (the non-hippie kind!), tobacco, incense and carnation. This bodes well.

 

On skin, wet: I know where the deja vu came from! It's the honey in O! Or, well, it seems to be, anyway. Thick, not-sweet honey and carnation. No sign of the tobacco, amber, or patchouli, unfortunately.

 

On skin, dry: Honeyed incense, plain and simple. The kind of incense that tickles, and then burns, my nose. Unpleasant incense, in other words. It doesn't smell unpleasant, it just burns the hell out of the inside of my nose.

 

Conclusion: I'm not a fan of incense, and The Masque is almost complete incense on me -- incense with a wee bit of tart, dry honey. It's just not my thing -- especially since I can't sniff it without a bit of a wince.

[Little Bird]

In the bottle this smells like a cool, subtle floral. It strikes me as somewhat aquatic, but I can’t imagine why.

 

On me, very Old Spice-esque men’s cologne. It’s incredibly spicy and incredibly masculine. After a few minutes, the spice calms down a bit and I am getting that aquatic smell in the background again.

 

A half hour later. Spice. Spicy florals, spicy spice, and spicy incense. It’s not foodie spice or even clove and cinnamon spicy... it’s like a sexy men’s cologne sort of spice.

 

After an hour, more of that freshly aquatic scent came into play. It’s like taking a deep breath by the ocean on a chilly day. There’s still the same sexy spice here as well though. The warm spice against the coolness is really nice.

 

I could never really pick out any of the listed notes individually... at times I thought that I smelled hints of carnation or incense. This is really well blended and something that I might wear myself, but would absolutely adore on the boy.

[elphaba]

Sniffing in the bottle, I honestly had no clue how this was going to work on my skin. There's a lot going on here and it's all kind of a jumble at first. The wet phase kind of reminds me of a high, shrieking, insane sort of laughter. The honey is high and clear here, backed closely by the carnation and I can smell the sandalwood lurking in the background like some darkness threatening to cut the laughter short in an instant.

 

The drydown is much darker, but also less jumbled. It's very dry, incensey, and a bit smokey. The florals disappear almost entirely and a subtle patchouli appears out of nowhere. I love this phase.

 

The complexity of The Masque is pretty out of character for my usual fragrance preferences. I kind of can't believe this is working on me and that I'm liking it so much, but I really do.

[PurringPulsar]

The Masque

 

In the bottle: honey and…something red? I can't really tell, it's surprisingly faint in the bottle but I think I detect tobacco and incense with the honey.

Wet on skin: oooh, now the deep red incense starts to come through a bit more…and I think the carnation and rose are appearing.

Dry on skin: wow, this is gorgeous! A sharp honey note starts off the scent, similar to the honeycomb of Pink Phoenix and the honey note of O, and then the tart, red, warm floral scents of carnation and a hint of rose come through. Then comes a wonderful dry incense base (half-woody, half-resinous, darkly sweet-a bit reminiscent of Al Azif) with sandalwood, tobacco, strong sweet clove, and a little bit of patchouli and amber. The scent is slightly sweet but also quite sharp (in a good way), and very dry and almost velvety red in tone, with accents of gold. It has the feel of a fine red wine-though it doesn't smell like one, but does have that same feel to it. It's complex and layered, but also so well blended so all the notes work well together, it's not messy at all. It's rich, opulent and theatrical, but also dark and smoky and mysterious.

After a while: it's not long before the scent smoothes out and tones down, becomes less sharp, and the incense note is now wispy and light and not as shadowy and dark as before, still with clove and carnation providing a spicy red depth, and lingering traces of honeycomb. I think I detect the amber and labdanum working together to add a hint of sweet, deep resin to the scent, and there's tobacco in the very back of the scent, a slight smokiness. It's a lot fainter now, though…I have to sniff hard to pick out all the notes.

Whoops, I spoke too soon. Just when I think scent is vanishing, it still lingers nicely on my skin…a lovely, soft and well blended mix of incense, clove, honey and tobacco and a little bit of amber. it sticks close to the wrist and doesn't show off or waft much, but it's still there.

The drydown after about two hours is of soft honey-incense and tobacco. But now it is so faint…such a shame.

Verdict: I really liked the first stage of this, a bittersweet and complex red scent, with sharp crystalline honeycomb, rich smouldering incense, red notes of clove and carnation, deep patchouli and tobacco all working nicely together. A complex mix of notes which works on many layers that blended together very nicely to give a moving, rich, mysterious scent, evocative of red velvet fringed with gold. The disadvantage? It faded so fast! Traces of it linger, merging from honey to clove to tobacco to incense to amber and each trace of scent being different at any one time, but it doesn't waft as much as I hoped. Which is a shame because this is a lovely scent, very well crafted, very different and unusual. I just wish it was a bit stronger. I will probably keep the bottle because it's one for frequent reapplying and slathering.

[Meg]

In the bottle: Warm amber, sweet honey, some spice and hints of rose.

 

Wet: Uh... it disappears? There's amber and it smells sticky, but extremely discreet.

 

Drydown: Honey comes out forcefully along with something very spicy. Carnation and rose come out, and then it starts morphing towards bitter jonquil, clove and patchouli.

 

Overall: A very sweet honey-amber blend, with spices and some flowers. It's mostly rich and quite decadent, and sometimes veers to slightly sickly jonquil and clove. The patchouli is extremely quiet, which is a good thing. Actually there's a spice in there that reminds me of myrrh. It's a very pleasant scent, but pretty rich and heady.

[blu°]

From imp and freshly applied:

Oh, this is deep.

I can smell honey and carnations, cloves, red sandalwood which smells like rosewood to me.

The Masque seems to be deep and heavy, but then turns around and is suddenly light and breezy. Huh?

 

In the background I can detect rose, I think, with cloves, and there is something quite delicious hiding in there, I can sense that. Wow.

There was a first hint of tabac, and patchouli. Kind of a ghostly patchouli.

 

This is really amazingly light, and soft and sensual. Still a bit fiery indeed. Sparks lightening up, then something sweet --> carnations, rose and honey, but also something slightly tart and almost fresh.

It's great, I really like it. It just really seems to be very light.

A bit later:

I'm reminded of those tiny gum coke-bottles (fruit gum). That slightly fizzy red-brown taste of coke-bottle-gums.

I get a strong tabac note, blending nicely with the cloves. Somehow there seems to be a sliver of Graveyard Dirt intermingling with the other notes.

 

I really like The Masque so far, and it reminds me of something, not sure of what.

I'm thrilled that I like this, as I don't usually like honey and carnations, nor fiery-spicy scents in general.

 

Somehow the ingredients in The Masque combine for an almost fruity scent, somehow citrussy, some sharpish tartness.

My skin seems to amp clove, as that is what I can detect most distinctively among all the other notes. I think what this reminds me of is a kind of mulled wine, like Glühwein. A slightly smokey, not too sweet, spicy Glühwein, although it smells way better than any Glühwein I ever had in my life.

 

I really like the patchouli-tabac-labdanum-musk base in this, it's warm and soft and quite sexy. The cloves in here have a very clean smell, which I like, too.

Still later:

It then turned a bit too herb and masculine for me for a time, too dry as well, but changed yet another time and became sweet and molassy and soft. The honey sort of smells caramelized, but completely unlike the caramel in Miskatonic U or the like. Weirdly fiery yet soft and shiny.

 

On drydown I suddenly got whiffs of rich oriental charcoal incense, very similar to my favourite one from the Egyptian belly dance shop.

Final conclusion:

This is a highly complex morpher and I think I'll have to wear it some several times more, to really get an idea of what it is all about. I really like it, though, to my own surprise. With Sagittarius being quite important in my birth charts, I'm happy to have found a fiery scent that seems to agree with my skin and taste.

 

ADDED April 2:

 

The Masque has been the sleeper hit of my decant round of Maelström scents. I wasn't too interested in it at all, as it combines so many ingredients I'm wary about (honey, carnations, amber....).

 

But: It's gorgeous.

 

It's actually the first fiery blend I've tried that I feel absolutely comfortable with.

 

When first applied, I immediately thought of it as a deep scent. I could smell honey and carnations, cloves, red sandalwood (reminding me of rosewood a little).

It seemed to be deep and heavy, but then grew airy and light almost immediately, although not losing any of its complexity.

 

In the background I could smell the rose combining in an interesting way with the cloves. Tobacco and patchouli were showing up afterwards. Kind of a ghostly patchouli, was what I was thinking.

 

Drying:

It's really incredibly light and soft and sensual, but still quite fiery. Sparkly fiery, then something sweet --> carnation, roses, honey

but something slightly tart and fresh, too. I really like the combination of contradictory aspects in this.

 

At one point during drydown it reminds me coke-bottle-wine-gums, their fizzy reddish-brown taste.

The cloves at one point slightly resemble the scent of Graveyard Dirt, which strikes me as weird, but the association was a clear one.

 

It still reminds me of something else, not sure what...

 

The Masque has an almost fruity scent, somehow citrussy or something... That must be the combination of honey, flowers and cloves, I think. My skin seems to amp the cloves, as they are very prominent in this scent to me.

 

Trying to find out what this reminds me of.... Ah! Glühwein. Mulled wine, that should be in English. A very smokey, not too sweet, but deeply spiced Glühwein. Fruity, flowery, round in its taste, but a bit tart as well. Quite a delicious Glühwein. I don't really think there's any Glühwein available that smells like this, but it would definitely be the most perfect Glühwein ever if there was.

 

So, what's this underneath the top layer of scent? Patchouli, tobacco, labdanum and blood musk? Nice. I think this definitely warrants a bottle for me. It's similar to a lot of scents that didn't quite do it for me despite getting close (Red Phoenix e.g.) but is something special on its own.

The spiciness and fieriness of The Masque finally is one that I like.

 

The cloves, btw, have a very clean, dry smell on my skin, which I like as well.

 

The Masque is a master morpher as far as I'm concerned. While wearing it later turned a bit masculine for a moment but changed back to sweet molassy soft incensey again.

 

This is the one Maelström scent that I'll surely get a bottle of, maybe the only one.

[roesmoker]

I really liked this a lot and I had been afraid of the honey note quite a bit. I'm baffled to read that it may be the same honey note as in O because that one went horrifyingly bad on me. But anyway, the Masque:

 

Wet it is unremarkable, strong carnation and myrrh. I never go by the wet phase of any scent though unless it makes me ill because it doesn't last long enough to really matter.

 

On the dry-down I start getting incense (ah, my beloved), then it gets sweeter until it becomes almost completely chocolate* and clove, incense and a little myrrh. The dreaded honey does not ruin everything, nor the carnation over-spice. It lasted quite a while on me, too - it's been over 16 hours since I put it on this morning and I can still smell it on my wrist.

 

This one is addictive - but I will try my decant one more time before venturing a bottle, because I've been burned before by rushing to purchase (yes, I'm looking at you, Chaste Moon).

 

* - I don't know if it's really chocolate or just some combination of tobacco, labdanum (which I still have no idea what it smells like), jonquil (ditto), clove, etc. that just reminds me of chocolate on my skin, but I don't really care, I love it!

Edited March 29, 2006 by roesmoker

[medvssa]

A really complex and evolving scent, that kind of tells a tale. It has surpised me very favorably, I was expecting something very heavy, more smoky and not so wearable, but is is lighter than I imagined, and more beautiful.

 

In my skin, I don't get carnation, all the notes mix very well and I am only able to distingish what I suppose is the honey, that smells much more of beeswax with a hint of sour propoleum that cuts the sweetness.

 

After a while, the beeswax with a hint of wood covers most of the other notes, so I don't know if I will get a bottle of this, perhaps another decant if I can find it will be enough.

 

Edit, 22 october 2006

 

Gah! I got that other decant and poured both in a bottle I got from the generous person that sent the second decant... and forgot about it.

I tried it yesterday again... has it changed! it is just, hmh, better! deeper, very blended, golden beautifulness. It is so amazing I don't know what to say, except that it ages exceptionally well, and that I am in the hunt for one or two bottles! a bit late but there is hope...

Edited October 22, 2006 by Medvssa

[Abbie]

In the bottle: If you could bottle up being drunk, this is what it would smell like. Heady, exciting, sensual... but at the same time, confusing, and hard to focus on. It's perfectly named: this would be an ideal scent to wear to a debauched, depraved, glamorous party while outside the doors Death stalks the country.

 

On a more pragmatic note, it's sweet. I pick up honey and tobacco and not much else.

 

First on: It's not a very oily oil. And unfortunately it's OMGWTF CLOVES, which are not my favorites. Plus there's a trace (only a trace, but still) of Myrrh, my old nemesis. I could be picking up a bit of patchouli, but that may be wishful thinking.

 

Dry: It fades into something soft and wistful, redolent of spices. Overall I quite like it, though the drydown wasn't so nice.

[Heavenlyrabbit]

Well, patchouli and I do not mix. At this point, my list of BPAL patchouli scents that crashed and burned contains almost every one I've tried. The Masque seems to be the exception that proves my "No Patchouli" rule.

 

My Intuition told me try The Masque and thankfully I listened. Because this has become my Daily Wear. It's what I reach for.

 

Beautiful floral with a heart of incense. The honey sweetens the base just enough to lighten the experience while the cocoa meshes with the patchouli.

 

God I love The Masque.

 

Strong enough to be noticed by not so overpowering it's disruptive. Womanly, romantic. Perfect for Fall, Winter, Spring.

Edited March 30, 2006 by Heavenlyrabbit

[azhure]

In the vial: Very sweet, almost foody to me.

 

Wet Still quite foody. Weirdly, my skin seems to suck this up for a while before it begins releasing any scent. I get a wonderful mixture of carnation (one of my favourite scents) and honey. Very heady and utterly gorgeous.

 

Drying down: I was a bit scared of the dry down with this, since tobacco has proven to not be a good note for me in other blends. However, the tobacco note remains in the background, the whole of the scent settling down into a wonderful dry, forboding incense.

 

Verdict: Another one to add to my love list. I need a 5ml bottle.