La Mort Qui Danse

[edenssixthday]

La Mort Qui Danse, Félicien Rops.

Black pepper, white ginger, Calla lily, and lily of the valley.

This is An incredibly strong, floral scent. The slightly pungent and green notes of the lily of the valley are the strongest with the soft, gentle sweetness of the Calla lily backing it up and tempering the lily of the valley. The white ginger smells less like ginger root and more like soft ginger flower. The black pepper never becomes fully discernible, yet it’s obvious that it’s behind the florals, giving a touch of sharpness to the blend that it would have otherwise. This is a very strong, very white floral scent and if it were to be in any other BPAL category, it would most definitely be found in the Funereal Oil section due to the nature of this scent. If you tend to like strong, white florals, this may be a good one for you.

[filigree_shadow]

In the imp: Pepper and ginger.

 

Wet: Spicy lilies. An unusual combination.

 

Dry: When I was doing my scent-by-scent breakdown after the update in which Exhibit II was introduced (in which I try to guess what something will smell like and whether I'll like it), I wrote that I thought this would smell funereal and sad. And it does... sort of. There's something about it that just doesn't seem right. The ginger is giving it a zing that seems off to me.

 

I'm sure other people will like this, but Calla lily is one of my favorite flowers and one of the few floral scents I like, and when I wear it I like it to smell pure. Personally, I don't like this combination. However, for people who normally don't like lily or think a pure lily scent is too strong, give it a try. It's interesting and unusual.

[Little Bird]

I love the lab's Lily of the Valley. It smells like a real bouquet of creamy, fresh flowers and green stems to me. Unfortunately, Calla Lily goes intensely soapy and perfumey on my skin. Together they're like a mix of lovely, fresh, soft lilies and sharply perfumed dryer sheets.

 

For about an hour on me this is a very strong floral blend, and a bit too sharp and soapy for my tastes. Then this softens to a lighter and more powdery floral with hints of spice behind it.

 

I like gently spiced, darker themed lilies, but the soapy Calla in this blend is too strong on my skin.

[supremegoddessofall]

Peppery lilies that tickle my nose. Very "white." Touch of ginger spicing things up. It feels slightly aquatic. Not for me.

[slave1]

In Bottle: Extreme lily

On Skin: This is a very strong floral. The lilies are bring and white with the pepper dancing in the background. The ginger also adds a nice spice and really creates a unique scent. The white giner is much more to my liking than the pungent red ginger I’ve smelled in a few scents that goes all crazy on me. This is a floral though, no question about it. While I like lilies this is a bit too perfumey and not really one I’d wear on a regular basis. It’s a very feminine scent as well. I’d say it has a medium throw and it actually lasts quite long on me.

[Emma2403]

In the bottle: very floral. Very white… lily of the valley, mostly.

 

On my skin: ouch, it’s too heavily floral for me… white flowers dominate. Mostly lily and well, I suspect some jasmine, but maybe I see jasmine everywhere now. I wonder where people smell pepper in there, because I’m usually very sensitive to pepper and here I don’t get any.

 

After a couple of hours: it lasts very long on me. Doesn’t morph much, still heavy white floral.

 

Verdict: no.

[Ajila]

In the bottle - Cala lily on a backdrop of ginger.

 

Wet on me - Green fresh smelling lilies.

 

Dry on me - It fades quickly to leave a faint hint of sweetness.

 

Overall - This was gone in a flash, my skin just ate it up.

[siddal]

In the imp the lillies and ginger smelled to me like a light and refreshing honeyed floral, almost reminescent of a greenish honesuckle. On my skin, the pepper and ginger started to come through to give things some body and a tad of spice. On the drydown this is mostly a sweetish floral.

[PurringPulsar]

In the imp: black pepper with a hint of greenish flower stems.
Wet on skin: hot black pepper and ginger and green lily stems.
Dry on skin: this is very unusual! The most obvious note is the piquant fragrance of cracked black peppercorns. This is backed up by the heat of ginger. However I also smell a bouquet of white funereal flowers-not just flowers but their leaves and stems, stately callas and dainty lilies of the valley. These flowers risk turning to soap, but for now it smells like I've taken the pepper grinder and ground some pepper over some flowers, why I would do such a thing, I don't know, but that's what it smells like. It's a very unusual scent.
After a while: lilies and lily stems. Now it smells like that sharp green stem scent I get in a lot of calla scents, but slightly blackened, almost burnt, and still peppery. It's almost soapy, almost waxy, but not quite. It just smells like slightly burnt, peppered flower stems.
The scent fades fast leaving only a peppery but slightly soapy green flower stem scent behind, now a lot drier than before, it is quite faint after just a couple of hours.
Verdict: at first this was a highly unusual mix of pepper and flowers. Dark, crackling pepper and a little ginger over white, wet flowers and their stems. Spicy flowers with a spike of greenery, and with that florist scent to it. After a while the pepper merges into the blooms and the scent becomes oddly smoky or burnt. The flowers of course do become soapy and sharply green as usual, mixing to form an odd peppery-burnt-soapy-white floral scent. I prefer my calla lily/lily of the valley scents to be well grounded with lots of heavier notes otherwise they turn to soap or waxy petals on me, and the pepper's spice, although interesting, doesn't ground the scent enough, and that also makes it fade fast. A very strange and intriguing scent, unique, and befitting the picture, but not my kind of scent.
Emoticon rating:
Is it a keeper? not really.
If you like this, try: Temperance, Kweku Anansi (if you can find it), The Reaper and the Flowers, Asphodel

[maijasu]

This was a lightly spicy scent on my skin, with the flowers staying in the background. It doesn't have much throw, but it works as a scent to draw you in. I couldn't stop sniffing my wrist the whole time I was wearing it yesterday. A definite keeper!

[Em-]

I love the Lab's lily scents, but am less sure of callas and lily of the valley, so I wasn't sure how this would work on me.

 

This is a lovely scent - the pepper and ginger work well with the already spicy-sweet tone of the lily, but this is just a little to floral for my taste ultimately. If you like the florals in this, though, this could be a must have blend.

[Aredhel]

Rating (on skin): 3/5

Summarised in a few words/smilie: Fitting, but... calla lily.

 

Pre-Review Thoughts: I'm trying this purely out of curiosity, because calla lily is my archnemesis, and lily of the valley isn't particularly fantastic on me, either.

 

In the imp: Pepper and ....grass? Flower stems? Interesting.

 

On skin, wet: Surprisingly vibrant, and definitely green. The calla lily hasn't made its entrance yet, which is a pleasant surprise.

 

On skin, dry: And yet, I speak (type?) too soon. Waxy and white, calla lily spells the death of a scent for me. Struggling to "see" beyond it, there is the most wonderful, peppery greenness.

 

Conclusion: Were it not for calla lily, I might love this. That said, while not my thing per se, it seems a perfectly fitting combination for the artwork.

[zankoku_zen]

In the imp: pepper and lilies

 

On Skin: pepper, lilies and ginger. There's a tinge of green to it.

 

On Drydown: creamy lilies. I don't get as much of a pepper, but it isn't a huge floral explosion as I thought it would be.

 

Verdict: I was originally worried about the pepper, since blends that contain pepper in them tend to be very peppery on my skin. In this case, the pepper and ginger serve as a counterbalance against the florals. The lilies are creamy. This is a very pretty scent, in a non-conventional way. It has a coy tinge to it. Very interesting.

[jiggahava]

Whaddup, black pepper?!

 

I'm suprised that I like this so much. I expected the pepper to be dry and sneezy, but this is a pleasant suprise. I have a pink pepper tree near my backyard, and this smells kind of like that. Sweet, slightly flowery pepper. Definitely bright and happy-feeling. I can't distinguish between calla lily and lilly of the valley, but it's not soapy and domineering. The ginger gives this a slight bite. It compliments the pepper very well. This is a very energizing blend. It's the equivalent of a strong coffee in the morning. This is perking me right up.

Edited June 11, 2007 by Hava

[The_Merf]

In the imp: Ginger with a hint of lily.

 

Wet: Lily is much stronger on my skin wet, and in fact, during the wet stage this is almost entirely lily on me.

 

Drydown and wear: I'm just crushed--I was so excited about a lily with a real kick, but this is just like a lily SN on me--really light and very single-minded. Sigh.

[TrueStar]

In the imp, I could smell the pepper. When I put it on...it really just smelled like suntan lotion with a bit of pepper. A few hours later, I smelled like I had just spent the day at the beach. I didn't get any floral at all.

 

Definitely not for me.

[storme]

In the imp: waxy lilies, very strong.

 

On me, wet: oh, the ginger comes out immediately, stripping the waxiness from the lilies and making this a greener, crisper scent. Much nicer.

 

On me, dry: soft, creamy lilies, with crisp ginger and a sort of dry dustiness from the pepper.

 

Verdict: This would be much more to my taste without the pepper, but I'm not into dry dusty scents.

[jolarocknrolla]

oooh, very unusual, and surprisingly pleasant. It's a creamy floral (with the floral actually not overwhelming at all), with pepper and spice. It's really interesting how all of the different scents "play" together so well since ginger and florals tend to go nuts on me i was pleased to smell them all behaving and blending so well. The ginger does not make it foody at all, it's actually a very urbane scents, but with a hit of wildness underneath.

[hkhm]

imp: gingery, peppery florals. quite peppery, which i love.

 

wet: sweet ginger with a nice peppery bite.

 

dry: it's too bad the pepper vanishes so quickly on me. i'm left with gingery florals which, while nice, is not quite as nice when it's got the pepper over the top. i was that close to ordering a couple of bottles.

[savage_rose]

I can't believe this scent hasn't gotten more love!

 

The flowers are present and tangible, but not too overwhelming. A very fresh scent for the most part...wildflowers and stems, with a soft muskiness about it. Pretty and light.

[soonyi]

sniff from the bottle, definitely smell the black pepper and white ginger over the lilies. the mix together comes off like ink or fresh motor oil - interesting!

 

wet, the mix comes together to something pungent and stank like ass (is that the aspect of the painting this is supposed to invoke? ) . ugh no. this is NOT for me.

[greenranger]

In the imp, pepper!

 

On me, still pepper, but there are flowers rising behind it.

 

Drying, pepper, flowers, and maybe a hint of ginger.

 

This is interesting. If nothing goes awry on my skin I might add this to the very few florals I have in my imp rotation.

[Saya]

In the bottle

Pepper and lots of it!

On My Skin

Ah, there’s the lily! It’s almost like the lily and pepper are in a cage fight duking it out for which one will be the dominant scent. Ginger is in the back corner yawning. About 45 seconds after I put this on I need to hold my wrist up to my nose to smell it properly.

 

After a bit

The lily and pepper have now found a peaceful co-existence that smells beautiful. It’s floral but the spice keeps it interesting and adds complexity to this blend. I really like what it’s doing.

 

Rating 1-5

Scent - 3.5 Throw - 1 Longevity – 1.5

Over all (not an average) - 2

 

Final thoughts

I like this blend but it’s so faint that I have to sniff my wrist to smell it. It also is gone about two and a half hours later. If this was a tad bit stronger and longer lasting I’d pick up a bottle. I think I’ll keep the imp though.

[Smokeybromage]

At first this was a peppery,white floral scent on me which I loved,then after about 15 minutes the pepper faded leaving a smooth,subtle lily scent.I'd probably buy a full bottle of this if the peppery had stayed,it was lovely! Reminded me a bit of Le Feu D'Issey by Issey Miyake at first.

[rayvn1]

This started out as a very fresh, sweetly floral and invigorating scent. Died down to a light floral with almost a rootbeer? background To the swaps!