Nightmarchers v5

[midnight_aeval]

Prototype, unreleased, no scent description.

 

From the bottle this blend is lavender infused vanilla musk, on my skin it's much of the same and pretty strong too. The drydown reminds me of the drydown of Lilith Victoria + TKO, but where TKO is heavy on the herbal lavender, this blend is softer and sweeter - like TKO if it had more vanilla and less bite. I have this Lavender & Chamomile baby powder and the lavender in it is the same soft one that I get in Nightmarchers. I read the Hawaiian myth of the Nigthmarchers and it seems that you want to avoid looking into their eyes so you should lay on the ground and 'play dead' so as not to bring attention to yourself. I told the person I was reviewing this for that this is a scent you could go into a trance with and zone out everything around you - that might be the intent if you had Nightmarchers around!

Edited June 5, 2010 by Midnight Aeval

[Dark Alice]

The previous writer suggested that this was a lavendar infused vanilla musk. And folks, She was right on the money. This TKO lite...less herbal lavendar...more vanilla with hints of musk to it. This will find it's way in my nightly lavender, TKO Lilith Victoria rotation for sleep aids. It's goregous.

[fireweaver]

This starts off like a sweetened musky lavender when it changes. There's some sort of wood in here. I think it may be sandlewood. the wood amps up so I have a slightly sweetened lavender-wood scent. I don't get the awesome vanilla musk at all

[zankoku_zen]

My guess is lavender, vanilla musk and sandalwood. It goes a bit powdery on me, and reminds me a little more to Lilith Victoria as opposed to straight up TKO. There's also something slightly dark and herbal in there that I am picking up, which just adds to the 'night' part of this blend.

 

Gorgeous.

 

ETA: So Nightmarchers is a very dark, herbally lavender blend. I get much more opium, black musk, and black amber and possibly a dark orchid note.

 

I sort of wished it was a cross between the blend that I tested originally and this super dark lavender that I have. Boo.

Edited May 19, 2014 by zankoku_zen

[Invidiana]

Lavender and vanilla musk? I don't think so. I'm getting something that definitely comes out as what I'm believing to be opium, black musk, black amber and dark tropical florals (definitely a dark orchid in there, possibly the same note in the Black Orchid proto). I am also familiar with the myth of the Nightmarchers and this really is evocative of phantoms roaming the tropical darkness. It's powerful blend that commands your attention and does have something of a trancelike effect, namely from the opium. Wet it's primarily dominated by the heavier elements but as it dries down the tropical florals emerge and give it a sensual and mysterious quality, and I also detect something that hits me like a cool island breeze--a sinister one, if you will. The floral and resinous/musky components do battle for a while, but it finally settles down and balances itself out into the perfect proportion of exotic dark florals and trance-inducing opium incense. It's ominous and unsettling and yet irresistable. I love it.

[sunshinedaisybliss]

From wikipedia:

According to Hawaiian legend, night marchers (huaka‘i po in Hawaiian) are ghosts of ancient warriors. Legend has it that if you look a night marcher straight in the eye, you will be forced to walk among them for eternity, but if you have a relative taken by them, you will be spared. Hawaiians say that in the presence of night marchers, one should lie down on their stomach, face down to avoid eye contact, stay quiet, breathe shallowly, and don’t move. Some say that they may nudge you to provoke a reaction so they can take you.

 

First up - I have to side with Invidiana's excellent review on this one.. for me also, it's very dark and exotic. Actually.. she's pretty much nailed it - I'm not sure I can add anything of value here, but I'll try anyway

 

I definitely don't see this as a TKO/Lilith Victoria smell-alike - it's way too scary and sinister for that. It starts off with a big burst of menacing blackness, enough to make me pull back from inhaling it - I was kinda scared it was going to come off my arm and bite me. But thankfully it didn't, so I left it alone for 15 minutes and then leaned in for another try..

 

At the midway point, it's gone from being scary to being quite sensual - where before it was pushing me away, now it's luring me in! I can detect something down deep in the layers that's reminding me of Glowing Vulva - that 'flesh' kind of smell, quite intoxicating.

 

It changes again once it's fully dry (45 mins on my skin now) - yep, there's the exotic tropical thing.. but still dark - it hasn't turned into a daiquiri cocktail or anything, it's just perfect for the legend - I can imagine that a band of ghost warriors walking across Hawaii at night might be doing so in air that smells like this. The tropical feel is reminding me just a little of The Night Parade of 100 Demons which is a CD prototype that I tested a while back... I wonder if Nightmarchers v5 is somehow related to that one? Anyways - this one is really mesmerising and I do believe I'm going to carry this with me in case I come across any night marchers.. not because it will keep them away, but because I think they'll like it

 

 

[jizatt]

I got to try this thank to a VERY generous forum friend =)

 

I didnt get anything that was specifically lavender or vanilla or musk -- I got a very dark slinky sweet opium, not sharp or herbal. This reminded me more of the Sleepy Moon types than the LVs or TKOs. I very much want to test (own!) the final version when/if it comes out!

[edenssixthday]

Nightmarchers v5 - I get dark, heavy, tropical soap?

[crebbsgirl]

I'm not getting much in the way of TKO or Lilith Victoria here. I'm getting a really dark lavender blend. There's definitely some musk and some sweetness, but on my skin there's also some really dark notes, I really really like this!

[Little Bird]

This kinda reminds me of Gaueko more than TKO at first. I get a sweetened lavender feel, but also a dark resin and dry woods undertone. As it dries down, it's less sweet and goes slightly powdery and has a bit of a soapy, musky feel to it. Looking over the other reviews, I guess I can see the tropical floral feel as well. I wish that I had more of this one to test, because I kinda want to try it on my husband...

[milo]

This sniffie is from a kind forumite, Thank You! I'm getting lots of black musk at first, and then it dries to a warm, ambery black musk. This is kind of like aged Haunted and Panther Moon, though it seems more warm and musky somehow. I really like this, and would definitely spring for a bottle if it were to become available.

[Monday]

Civet, the same floofy civet as in Lil' Menes' Feline Entertainments but without the cat pee I got from that. There is black musk in the background which amps when it dries down. I don't get any lavender out of this but there might be some amber; it has a hint of Haunted. Dark and strangely menacing but also soft and velvety.

[mermaidsdream]

Someone mentioned this in the Etsy thread, and after reading the descriptions here, I bit the bullet and bought a bottle. It arrived today.

 

In the bottle: soft & resinous. I can pick out a little vanilla, but I'm not sure on the other notes.

 

Applied: still resinous, with a little floral and something sweet underneath.

 

Drydown: Spicy! I'm not quite sure what the spicy is in this, but I like it! There's some floral, creamy, powdery, vanilla.

 

I love this. It's not the usual heavy, sultry red musk I usually go for; I think I may have to buy a second bottle. I just bought a second bottle. It took me all of 5 seconds to decide.

 

ETA: There's something in this that reminds me a little of No. 93 Engine. Maybe it's just me, and I need to do a sniff test with Nightmarchers on one wrist and No. 93 Engine on the other (since there's no lavender listed for No. 93 Engine). It'll be interesting to compare the two.

Edited January 14, 2014 by mermaidsdream

[OctoberGwen]

Thank you, sunshinedaisybliss, for including this tidbit in your review.

"From wikipedia:

According to Hawaiian legend, night marchers (huaka‘i po in Hawaiian) are ghosts of ancient warriors. Legend has it that if you look a night marcher straight in the eye, you will be forced to walk among them for eternity, but if you have a relative taken by them, you will be spared. Hawaiians say that in the presence of night marchers, one should lie down on their stomach, face down to avoid eye contact, stay quiet, breathe shallowly, and don’t move. Some say that they may nudge you to provoke a reaction so they can take you."

 

 

Like mermaidsdream, I saw the mention of this on the etsy thread and then ordered it after reading the reviews here - specifically, ssdb's wiki quote above. I had high hopes for a dark tropical oil named after a band of ghosts.

 

I am not disappointed.

 

This is gorgeous. I don't really get lavender, but maybe. I do think there's some vanilla here, but it's not the sort that smells like plastic on me. I find this a little powdery, which for me is good thing, and definitely get the dark, tropical floral vibe. It's a little dangerous, and I love whatever is lending this particular blend of spiciness to the mix.

 

Really wonderful, I am so happy I got a bottle of this!

[yakiguri]

This is a super dark, herbally lavender mixed with something that's turning the blend to ashes and burnt plastic on my skin. Since black musk is the only note that does that, I suspect that's the culprit.

 

Black musk only behaves on my skin after YEEEEAAAARRRSSS of aging (I nearly got rid of BTBT numerous times because of this) so I'll keep it in the aging box and hope it marinates into the awesomeness others have mentioned above.

[kbrown926]

Gorgeous! I recently purchased a bottle off Esty and wish I had more. It is a lovely combination of vanilla, lavender, dark resins and other things that tease out from the blend. Maybe musk, light touch of floral, maybe even light coconut but not sure. On me, the blend goes on dark but develops into the incense shop of your dreams. Makes me want to beg the Lab on bended knee to release this scent. Be still my heart!

[ka hulu]

I’d love to know the scent notes for this one someday. This morning it is very labdanum, with cooling threads of lavender. I don’t get incense or florals; it’s smoky, but like a distant wildfire, and with some lush greenery trampled beneath.