Insupportable Misery

[Lycanthrope]

“Cursed, cursed creator! Why did I live? Why, in that instant, did I not extinguish the spark of existence which you had so wantonly bestowed? I know not; despair had not yet taken possession of me; my feelings were those of rage and revenge. I could with pleasure have destroyed the cottage and its inhabitants and have glutted myself with their shrieks and misery. “When night came I quitted my retreat and wandered in the wood; and now, no longer restrained by the fear of discovery, I gave vent to my anguish in fearful howlings. I was like a wild beast that had broken the toils, destroying the objects that obstructed me and ranging through the wood with a staglike swiftness. Oh! What a miserable night I passed! The cold stars shone in mockery, and the bare trees waved their branches above me; now and then the sweet voice of a bird burst forth amidst the universal stillness. All, save I, were at rest or in enjoyment; I, like the arch-fiend, bore a hell within me, and finding myself unsympathized with, wished to tear up the trees, spread havoc and destruction around me, and then to have sat down and enjoyed the ruin. “But this was a luxury of sensation that could not endure; I became fatigued with excess of bodily exertion and sank on the damp grass in the sick impotence of despair. There was none among the myriads of men that existed who would pity or assist me; and should I feel kindness towards my enemies? No; from that moment I declared everlasting war against the species, and more than all, against him who had formed me and sent me forth to this insupportable misery.

Insupportable misery: violet leaf, saffron, gunpowder tea, bruised lilac, and despairing lavender.

Misery is a stark, biting scent. Shrill, and appropriately so, it conjures a keening emotion. The combination of elements here all come together to produce a singularly frightening effect.

I mostly get the lemony tang of tea, and the topnote of lilac. The violet leaf is mostly the gritty pungent leaf (no petals here!) and the lavender is contributing mostly the balsamic woodsy part, an herbal chomp.

Yowza!

[tativa]

Misery starts off very abrasive... and settles down to be sharp and powdery at the same time!

 

I get the lemon tea and lilac that lycanthrope did... the lavender is supporting it, subtlely. Not something I am used to lavender being.

 

Nice and refreshing. But not my type of scent.

[lohengrin]

In the bottle: Lavender and something a bit sharp and green, probably the violet leaf.

 

On skin, wet: Lavender, sharp greenness, and a hint of soap.

 

On skin, dry: Lavender and soap, dang it all.

 

After an hour: Now this is really surprising. Most of the soapiness goes away after a little while, though not all of it. The lavender, however, does go away entirely. Now it's slightly soapy, a little green, with a hint of tea. I'm not entirely sure yet that it works well enough to go through the soapy phase, but definitely worth a re-test.

[angelicruin]

I get mostly tea, violet, and lavender out of this scent. Very pretty on my skin. I generally love lavender scents and this one is no exception. The only question is whether to stick with just a decant or order an entire bottle.

[Antoinette]

I am ordering an entire bottle because my decant will not be enough.

 

This is a nice mix of violet, lilac and lavendar - but I think the lavendar is predominant. The saffron is subtle and the gunpowder tea gives it all an edge that I really like. This scent is in the sharp range, totally my thing, and truly a wonderful blend on my skin. Very excited this one is a winner!

[Upstart Crow]

It's a miracle. I have finally found my lilac scent! I love lilac, but my skin devours it within half an hour. While Misery isn't as long-lived as I'd like it to be, it stays around for a lot longer. Even better, it's buttressed but not overpowered by violet and lavender, other scents that I also adore. I get something a bit sweet in this as well that I think is the tea. I don't smell saffron.

[Dark Alice]

This is gorgeous. I am always looking for more lavender scents to add in my rotation of sleep blends and this one doesn't disappoint. The lavender is the strongest note here...juicy and powerful. The lilac smells clean and fresh but it is barely there. From wet to dry down the lavender and lilac are the dominant notes. This is beautiful and I think I will pick up a bottle.

[Little Bird]

I usually enjoy violet, lilac, and lavender, but Insupportable Misery turns soapy and sharp on my skin. I don't know that I'd pick out the lilac and violet, as it's more like lavender soap and a spritz of sharp floral perfume on me. It smells like lavender soap and sharp iris perfume on my skin, which I'm not loving. The whole thing fades a lot within an hour, leaving behind a vague, clean, perfumey floral smudge.

[Minerva]

It's a miracle. I have finally found my lilac scent! I love lilac, but my skin devours it within half an hour. While Misery isn't as long-lived as I'd like it to be, it stays around for a lot longer. Even better, it's buttressed but not overpowered by violet and lavender, other scents that I also adore. I get something a bit sweet in this as well that I think is the tea. I don't smell saffron.

 

I agree! The lilac lingers around here for a long time! There's a stage to the perfume that actually smelled like freshly- cut spring lilacs. So pretty. The other notes balance everything.

[lunaticana]

sniffed from the bottle, it remins me of Yvaine

[Ah Xia]

Gorgeous strong fresh lilac, possibly the best lilac-floral in the BPAL catalogue with just the faintest undertone of clean (not too herbal/medicinal) lavender. It is like an expensive French soap without being "soapy".

[reconditarmonia]

This is reeeeally similar to Needlework. I'm going to have to deathmatch them when I'm back from vacation and have all my stash with me. A lot of what I recognize as lilac, but it's not as realistic as the lilac in Cordelia, which may be the influence of the other components.

 

Post-deathmatch comments: Misery is cooler in color (more bluey-purple and less pinky-purple, scent-association-wise) than Needlework and now that I'm sniffing them together there's something really strong that I'm picking up in Misery that I don't have the experience to identify - the violet or saffron, I guess. Needlework is better, but I'll be finishing my decant.

Edited February 11, 2012 by reconditarmonia

[milo]

Very 'cool' at first, it really doesn't smell like misery per se, but rather pretty with a bit on an astringent bite. After a bit, the lavender peeks out, and it's mostly violet leaf, lavender, and something that is making this blend feel very cool and crisp, but it's not the snow note. I like this, but I don't think an upgrade is necessary. This blend would be great for sleeptime, especialy in summer.

[Gwydion]

In bottle: Very purple. The violet leaf is wonderfully sharp, yet blends beautifully with the lilac and lavender. The saffron gives it body. The gunpowder tea is understated but ubiquitous. Wet: Less fun on the skin. My chemistry curdles the violet leaf, turning it artificial and nasty. The flowers are still lovely and blend with the tea in interesting ways, while the saffron is a touch more assertive. I’m heartbroken by the way my skin reacted with the violet leaf as this is otherwise lovely and unusual. Dry: The gunpowder tea really comes out. The florals soften and blend well with the tea. The violet leaf is still problematic with my skin chemistry, but improved.

[zankoku_zen]

Shrill lavender and lilac. I love the smell of lilacs but there's something very sharp about this blend. On the other hand, this would make an awesome room scent.

[lilyliza]

In the imp: Why does this remind me of mustard? The only note I can really make out is lilac, faintly. It's not quite as strong as mustard, but it has that same sharp sour tang.

 

Wet, on my skin: Sour. So sour. Well, this is certainly making me feel miserable.

 

Drydown: Once the violet leaf beats down the sourness, it allows the lilac and lavender to make small supporting appearances. Now it's a very soft, quietly sad floral.

 

Dry: The same quiet floral, although the sourness pops up now and then. It blends better and isn't as offensive now, though. It doesn't have much staying power.

 

Dry, this is nice, but it's not worth the wet stage and lack of staying power for me.

[Incendiare]

Lavender tea in the vial. Wet, although the lavender is still the star, is softens and loses a bit of its medicinal quality that it can have. After a few minutes, this takes a turn and develops into a sharper lavender. No other changes from this point on.

[thekittenkat]

In the decant: Lots of lavender.

 

Wet: And now the sharp green of the violet leaf comes on stage.

 

The dry-down: What a morpher! I ended up with saffron and gunpowder tea, a bit spicy. Interesting, but don't need any more than my decant.

[ami226]

On the skin: An herbal, lavender scent. Misery is green? This definitely feels like a green scent to me.

 

After a bit, this takes even more of an herbal turn. Kind of reminds me of this soap I used to have. It's actually kind of pleasant for an herbal scent.

 

A bit later, the sharp greenness fades and this scent just smells.... pretty! I'd say that is some lovely lilac!

 

This one is quite a morpher, but not for me.

[mymymai]

ITI: Gunpowder tea (spicy and peppery), lavender, and soapy lilac.

 

Wet: Light lavender, saffron, violet leaf, and faint gunpowder tea. It's a reflective blend.

 

Dry: It's light, airy, and warm now that the lavender and tea have mellowed to let the saffron shine.

[Mountaingrrl00]

In all my years of BPALdom, there've been only a handful of scents I've felt compelled to buy a second bottle of after using up the first one. Insupportable Misery is one. It's fresh and deep, floral and smoky, and yes, a bit lemony too, though that gives way to the saffron aromatic sweetness on drydown. Lilac is the easiest note to pick out, but really everything is beautifully blended into a soft violet-grey cloud of gorgeousness. Mmmph - can't stop huffing my wrist!

[stubbornfire]

Will come back to edit later as I've been testing a lot of things and am leaving the house soon,but i knew wanted to get a hit of this down.

 

Thoughts upon seeing notes: worried about lilac (cloyingly sweet to the point of smelling like sick when there's too much of it).

 

Initial thoughts upon sniffing: I know this feeling.

 

Fresh on: Lavender, and greens- it's sharp and herbal. There is a bit of lemon to it, and knowing there's lilac in let's me zero in on a bit of sweetness in the background. (The 'floral' other reviews mentioned, which isn't floral at all to me- just a vague, nonfoodie sweetness.)

 

Drying down some: sharp greens, less distinctly lavender but still herbal with a twist of lemon and a - bruised really is a good way to put it! - sweetness.

 

I know this feeling! It's weird to smell a feeling in perfume form. I like it, quite a bit, surprisingly. I think I'll save it for those bad days when I don't want people to mess with me. Between the oil and my resting "bitchface" I should be good to go.

[doomsday_disco]

In the decant, the notes that jump out to me are the lavender, violet leaf, tea, and lilac.

On my skin, those are the notes that I get at first as well, with the lavender and gunpowder tea being the most prominent, making the scent pretty astringent, with some violet leaf thrown into the mix. Violet is a note that often stomps on other notes and makes things a sweet, powdery mess on my skin, but so far, violet leaf doesn't seem to be doing the same thing. Then the lilac joins the party, and overall, it reads as a sharp, purple scent. It doesn't take long for the lilac to steal the show, and it remains the dominant note after several hours, with some tea, lavender, and violet leaf behind it, and just a touch of saffron.

I think this is evocative of its name and inspiration. I feel like it would be too sharp to wear during the day, but I may try using it as a sleep scent, as I do like it, but don't think it's something I'd reach for very often. I don't need to hunt down more of it, but I plan on hanging on to the decant!

[Greensleeves]

In the bottle: Herbal lavender with a hint of tea.

 

Wet: A bit of lavender and lilac, slightly similar to Villain, also a bit to Calliope.

 

Dry: Herbal lavender and lilac.

 

After a few minutes: Sweet lavender and herbs with a little hint of powdery soft lilac coming out to play.

 

After first hour: Soft powdery lilac and herbs.

 

After two and a half hours: A hint of lilac.

 

After 5 hours: Faint herbal lilac.

 

Final verdict: I'm already on the lookout for a backup bottle.