The Midnight Carnival

[tartsquid]

THE MIDNIGHT CARNIVAL
There were nine wagons, each draped in black, each drawn by a lean black horse, and each baring barred sides like teeth when the wind blew through the black hangings. The lead wagon was driven by a squat old woman, and it bore signs on its shrouded sides that said in big letters: MOMMY FORTUNA’S MIDNIGHT CARNIVAL. And below, in smaller print: Creatures of night, brought to light.

Cruelty and confinement, small magics and penny illusions: galbanum, teak, myrrh, narcissus, patchouli, cacao, labdanum, agarwood, lavender, neroli, and black moss.

I was looking forward to this one most of all, as it seems to be in the resinous scent family that I usually love. I should note that I have a raging sinus infection at the moment, so that might be altering my first impressions.

That said, this comes across as a slightly fruity incense on my skin. I think that what my nose reads as fruit comes from the neroli and lavender. I can hardly smell the cacao and the wood and patchouli notes give a sense of incense smoke. Dried down it smells like soft and powdery resins with just a bit of incense. I think this one has the potential to get much more interesting and have more depth with age.

[ltrittipoe]

In the imp: very well blended mixture of all the notes, hard to pick out any one.

 

On, wet: Inscensy! Lavender-y inscence. I think it's the myrrh that gives it that feel, of smoky evenings outdoors. I get a bit of woodiness, from the teak and agarwood, I think. The lavender isn't overwhelming, but definitely present, mostly giving a "feel" to it instead of an actual lavender scent.

 

This is really lovely. And I agree that it will age beautifully, deepening and smoothing. It reminds me a bit of Black Death only with lavender. I think this one is bottle-worthy.

 

 

[hkhm]

imp: spicy woods.

 

wet: heavy teak, very heavy patchouli and a nice hint of myrrh. i really like this.

 

dry: the myrrh is the strongest note after this has dried with the teak just behind it, gorgeous.

[Siberia]

Midnight Carnival has the spicy complexity of Mr. Jacquel, but is in my opinion sweeter and less masculine. It's well-blended, and I have a hard time picking out the individual notes. There is a resinous, woody base, with a velvety overlay of spicy sweetness. Nothing here really smells floral, but it seems the flowers lend sweetness to the overall blend. There is also what seems like the tiniest impression of smoke. No actual smoke scent, just the impression. I think this is the best incense-y scent that I've tried.

[Dark Alice]

I have no idea what to make of this. It has a light metal note (I guess that's the penny) mildly sweet spiciness and serious myrrh! Gorgeous gorgeous myrrh!

 

This is just gorgeous. It smells like sweet incense and metal at night. There is a gorgeous darkness to this scent that evokes mystery. I just love it.

Edited December 3, 2010 by Dark Alice

[Invidiana]

Whoa, this is really sharp and woody/herbal initially; I get something almost lemony from it. As it begins to dry down all the notes seem to be battling each other for dominance in a cacaphony of scents; at one point I get woods, another resins, another patchouli, another lavender. However, by all accounts every note listed here save the neroli should work on me, so I gave it a chance to dry down fully. I'm so glad I did! Everything comes together on the final drydown and there's no longer a struggle between notes to assert themselves. It's just a gorgeous dark veil of woods and resins with sensual hints of patchouli and cacao and a bit of hypnotic lavender. This is really difficult to describe but it's just so unique and enigmatic, I'll definitely be needing a bottle. It's going to be amazing aged!

[bloody sore]

Oh, why is it always the perfectly blended ones that I love? The ones where you can pick out nothing, it's just amazing?

I'm glad someone mentioned Mr. Jacquel, as I would have never made the connection, but I definitely get a similarity here. This is Mrs. Jacquel, if you will. This is what I think rose smells like when I like it. Dusty and soft, a little sweet but oh oh so good. This is why I keep trying new things an am never content with what I have! This has the base of well aged Mr. Jacquel, with a velvety sweetness on top. I'm glad I took a chance on this one, as it has a few things that I usually don't like, but here, here they are amazing!

Dear god, I think I might have to hoard this.

[crebbsgirl]

This is a fantastic sweet incensey blend! It's smooth and smokey and just a hint of flowers. There's a darkness to this that's very evocative. I quite like this one. I don't find the lavender to be very prominent here.

[Teaotter]

This is probably not the most useful review ever, because this is one of those scents that really makes me realize how few notes I can actually recognize. Because I put it on and said, "I know this note. What is this note? I know I've smelled it before...."

 

I'm still not sure what the main note is, but it was all I smelled when it was wet. The galbanum? It was sweet and floral (the way honeys can be floral, not actually flowery) and only faintly resinous. I swear that was one note, not several, but I can't be sure.

 

Dry, the teak came out a bit more, as did the narcissus. I can just get a hint of myrrh behind the whatever-it-is that is the main part of the scent for me.

 

It settled down pretty quickly into a skin scent for me with very little throw, and disappeared shortly thereafter. I'm sad about that, too, because I think I like this a lot. Maybe with aging it'll stay longer.

[sqwook]

At first, woodsy, teak.

 

Over time, sweeter, and then something wonderful and almost-cologny that you can only smell in the air, not when you lean in closer to sniff it. Sweeter than you'd think, like dried figs or dates. Gender-neutral. I'm not really getting cacao here which is great for me, because I don't like to smell like chocolate.

 

This has the lovely fall-leaves scent to it that I get from Gomorrah, with a bit more spice or oomph to it. Really nice!

[strahlend]

In my decant I don't get any note in particular - and I feel pretty familiar with most of this list of notes. It's a blend that really forms a whole. This scent makes me think of a well aged spice cupboard. It's kind of sweet, dark, hazey, incense - set down to age in a spice cupboard. It's interesting, and I'm pretty sure that if I smelled this on someone else I would think it was lovely but it's triggering a subconscious scent memory for me that makes me not want to wear it.

[cfrancesca]

I find this very complex and resiny. I get slightly sweet, smokey myrrh and other resins, narcissus, a hint of cocoa and patchouli. As it dries I get something like black musk to my nose and tiny touch of fruitiness. Unfortunately, with time it turns slightly bitter and perfumey.

[Little Bird]

I tend to like deep, rich, sweet resins. The resins and incense here are more bright, perfumey, and sharply smoky. I would have guessed that there was grapefruit in this, because I'm also getting something bitter, unpleasant, and sort of citrussy (comes off like an undertone of bitter grapefruit peel, sweaty body odor, and soap). The drydown is like that unpleasant tang, sharp white floral drugstore perfume (the narcissus?), and a hint of sweet myrrh.

 

I love most of the notes listed for this, but it just goes all sharp and wrong on my skin. I had to scrub it off after about an hour, because it was making me ill.

Edited August 12, 2011 by Little Bird

[SophieCedar]

Wet: I'm amping the galbanum and myrrh along with neroli. I know there's a ton more in here, but the notes are very uniformly dark and smoky.

 

Drydown: narcissus and lavender are more prominent and the resins are sweet. There's something dark red and dry.. currant-like. This is much richer in the drydown. I can tell this will be a hit for me at a different time, just not now.

[ajansuz]

In the imp, the only note that really stands out for me is myrrh. Everything else sort of blends together like sweet, liquid incense.

 

Wet I amp the teak, something I always do, and the neroli comes out very orange-blossomy. Fortunately, that stage doesn't last too long as I'm not overly fond of the citrus scents. It smells a lot more like incense after that, complex, a little dark.

 

Dry down: Unfortunately, just as with Arachne of Lydia, my skin decided to eat this scent whole. It faded within two hours to something barely noticeable. It's a shame, because I love the more resiny, incense-y scents and would've considered a bottle of this otherwise.

 

Edit: Oddly, a while later the scent revived, but not in a good way. The lab's lavender is a note of doom on me. It amped up funky and musty, as bad as with Gaueko. DNW.

Edited January 21, 2011 by DarkSinestra

[zankoku_zen]

Patchouli, black moss and lavender. This is like a dark, foreboding lavender. It smells of dark dreams, dirt and danger.

[Altaira]

The Midnight Carnival does smell dark and a bit sinister. There is something mechanical and not quite right behind the flowers. And this is VERY floral. The kind of floral I just can't deal with.

[milo]

Wet, very masculine and incensey. Dry, much the same, though I'm getting something spicy and rum like with a hit of tobacco. So it's even more masculiney now, woody and a touch of sour powder which is making me think there is orris in this blend. Not for me, but may work well with a guys chemistry. I'm not liking the powder, though it is off and on.

[edenssixthday]

The Midnight Carnival - Super sweet, super heavy, and my very first thought is, "This is loaded with blood!" yet, I see no blood in the scent description. As it warms up on my skin, the black moss, patchouli, and myrrh are the most dominant note. I love the depth and texture the moss gives the blend! The labdanum is really bitter and adds an interesting layer to the scent. I don't smell the florals at all, which surprises me, as lavender always goes awry on my skin, and narcissus and neroli are iffy on me. This is definitely a heavy, dark, woody-resinous scent that's simultaneously bitter and sweet. The longer it's on my skin, the more the dark myrrh amps, and the more I really, really love this scent. I'd classify this as a gender-neutral scent, probably well-worn by any man or woman who likes heavy and bittersweet resins and woods. Absolutely my favorite of the first two installations of The Last Unicorn scents.

[lestamore]

I have been wearing this for the last few days and it has definitely grown on me. My overall impression the first time I wore it was pennies. I guess that is the penny magic. But I thought it smelled like poker night when we dump out the huge jar of change and pick out the silver coins from the pennies. I thought that was appropriate because that is what the midnight carnival is all about, exploitation of the mythical for mere metal, dross, prosaic currency in the face of the mystical. But the more I wear it, the more I get the mystical as well. There is definitely sweet smoke, I couldn't pick out the patchouli right away which is good. My patchouli hating boyfriend didn't mind it either despite obviously having that patchouli smokiness. But I do get the myrrh, I get get an almost campfire woodsmoke tang, with the cacao jumping up occasionally and making the pennies and myrrh bitterness into something sweeter, deeper and more lovely. The wood is definitely there in the background too although, maybe I am conflating the teak and the lavender into a slightly camphorous back of the closet type smell. And again, I don't really smell flowers, but the whole thing has a definite sweetness that is fresh and not cloying. When it dries down, I do get a deep creamy narcissus and spice sweetness and at least for me it lasted forever and remained even overnight. This wasn't on my list of must haves, but the more I wear it, the more I am thinking of adding it.

[imaginepageant]

In the Vial: Dark, sharp, smoky, and slightly floral. I like it! I can definitely pick out the teak, myrrh, lavender, galbanum, and neroli. I could swear I'm smelling ginger in this, but ginger isn't listed in the blend's description.

 

Wet: Mmmm, sweet, warm woods. It edges towards talcum powder territory... but it doesn't quite get there. The cacao is slowly coming out, though it's mainly just a generic sweet smell versus a chocolate smell. But now the sweetness is fading a bit. Wow, is this ever a morpher!

 

Dry: That sharpness has returned; I think it's the lavender. The cacao is less sweet but a bit more like chocolate now. Mostly, though, it's talcum powder. NO WAIT. It smells like Brut! I haven't actually smelled Brut in a few years but I'm pretty sure this is it. Mmmm, I love Brut!

 

An Hour Later: It's gotten fairly light, both the amount of scent that's left and the feeling of the scent. It was pretty deep before, but it's light and airy now. And a lot less like Brut because of this. It's so faint I can't really pick out the notes anymore.

 

Overall: Not for me, but I will be trying this out on the boyfriend; hopefully his skin won't totally eat up the oil like mine did.

[theseagrows]

this is a powdery narcissus-patchouli scent on me, with a hint of neroli in the background. none of the other notes seem to stand out much, so they must be blended very well. i also get a very slight sweetness, but i am not sure what it's from. sometimes teak goes bad on me, but it behaves here! this scent is alright, but not amazing on me.

Edited July 30, 2022 by theseagrows

[moonslipper]

Yum! This is one mysterious, complex and wonderful scent! The incense is there and the lavender too, but it's so well blended it's a smooth mix of gorgeous notes and it's difficult to pick out any one in particular. I'm not a great floral lover and I'm not getting a huge hit of flowers here at all. It does smell dreamy and dark as said before, as if something exciting and wonderful is just around the corner - if that makes sense! Hubby loves it, I love it and a couple of hours later it's a tiny bit airier and lighter but still dangerous! Marks: 4.5 out of 5. ~Siobhan

[mymymai]

ITImp: I smell a lovely combination of myrrh, teak, neroli, and patchouli - very incensey, but lovely.

Wet: Oh gosh, yes. myrrh, galbanum, neroli, patchouli (light) and sweetness from the cocao.

Dry: I love the combination of galbanum and myrrh. There is just a hint of sweetness, but it is amazing!

[Doc M]

Aged imp from 2010 horn set.

 

In 2010... This was one of my first BPAL scents. I was too inexperienced to pick out notes. It was all dark incense and smoke to me.

 

Will try again for 2012 aging.