A Thought and a Legend too Hideous for Sanity or Consciousness

[tativa]

No one spoke to me, but I could hear the creaking of signs in the wind outside, and the whir of the wheel as the bonneted old woman continued her silent spinning, spinning. I thought the room and the books and the people very morbid and disquieting, but because an old tradition of my fathers had summoned me to strange feastings, I resolved to expect queer things. So I tried to read, and soon became tremblingly absorbed by something I found in that accursed Necronomicon; a thought and a legend too hideous for sanity or consciousness. But I disliked it when I fancied I heard the closing of one of the windows that the settle faced, as if it had been stealthily opened. It had seemed to follow a whirring that was not of the old woman's spinning-wheel. This was not much, though, for the old woman was spinning very hard, and the aged clock had been striking. After that I lost the feeling that there were persons on the settle, and was reading intently and shudderingly when the old man came back booted and dressed in a loose antique costume, and sat down on that very bench, so that I could not see him. It was certainly nervous waiting, and the blasphemous book in my hands made it doubly so. When eleven struck, however, the old man stood up, glided to a massive carved chest in a corner, and got two hooded cloaks; one of which he donned, and the other of which he draped round the old woman, who was ceasing her monotonous spinning. Then they both started for the outer door; the woman lamely creeping, and the old man, after picking up the very book I had been reading, beckoning me as he drew his hood over that unmoving face or mask.


The clock strikes eleven: black rose, oudh, rosewood, and sea-kissed patchouli, and the smoke of a snuffed tallow candle.


I've worn this one twice, and am still not quite sure how to describe it. I just know it had no reviews.

The sea-kissed note is similar to the one in Sunrise with Seamonsters... but it's backed by almost a hazelnut masculine foodie note.

This one is super well blended, and for some reason I thought it had leather in it till I looked at the notes, that must be the oude.

The rose isn't too girly, it blends very tightly with the sea note and grounds it to the sweeter earthier part of the blend.

The candle aspect actually smells snuffed out tying it more strongly to the rose and salt, but it definitely connects with the Oude too.

As it dries it goes from the foodie salt focus to the rose and oude and candle focus. The rose really comes out later on in the blend.

This one is very unisex. Not just like either could wear it, but it's both very masculine and very feminine to my nose. If you are a fan of Spellbound or Sunrise with Seamonsters, try this blend.

[patina]

Dark, salty, slightly smoky scent with candles. They're very definitely tallow candles, not beeswax. The rose here is not overwhelming, it's deep and lovely though there is a strong "green stems" element that probably comes with the oude.

 

On the drydown the oude comes out more, giving a strong wood powder to the rose and candles. The general effect is like a very romantic writing desk in the dark.

 

I'd probably get this scent if I didn't already have a rose scent I liked and if the thought of wearing a tallow scent didn't disturb me. Not that it smells bad. It doesn't.

[theseagrows]

first off, i get a foody note from this, like chestnut. not sure what that is, but after it fades i am getting mostly rosewood and smoke, i think. the rose peeks through even later and the patchouli is quite subtle in this, at least on me. there is a slight aquaticness here, which must be coming from the sea-kissed patchouli. it is a pretty scent, i love the rosewood, oudh and rose components, but that slight aquaticness is a dealbreaker for me.

[zankoku_zen]

Dark, salty, roses, hint of patchouli, sea and candles. Slight aquaticness. Definitely unisex.

 

To me, this smells more like a cursed female pirate (perhaps a wraith?) docking her ship in the dead of night. Sort of picture the female version of Davos, the Onion Knight, from Game of Thrones, and that's the sort of vibe I get from this.

 

So far, one of the more wearable Misk Yules I've tried.

[vthesiren]

The rose in this is very light on me. There's a definite salty tang to it. Slightly waxy, smoky, and woody all at once.

 

It's very clean-feeling to me and there isn't much throw. It'd probably be a good unobtrusive scent... actually, this would probably rule in the summertime.

 

eta: Hours after application, this fades down to a VERY dryer sheet-esque type of smell. I've never smelled that particular type of drydown since I usually avoid aquatics, but there you go.

Edited January 11, 2014 by vthesiren

[OctoberGwen]

While I adore zee zee's description above ("a cursed female pirate"? how fantastic), I really couldn't stand this scent.

 

Too strong, too salty, way too aquatic and clean. The anti-me smell, basically.

 

Well, I wanted to know what sea-kissed patchouli smelled like. Now I know.

[Ethaisa]

The oudh and rose here are fabulous, with the rose more woody than bloomy. There's a bit of creaminess that I'm guessing is the tallow (and oddly reminds me of hazelnut!). I generally avoid aquatic scents, and honestly didn't think of this in that category when I ordered it; fortunately for me the hint of salt is more savoury than sea. The oudh really develops on dry down, with a lingering touch of smoke. Looking forward to seeing how this ages.

Edited January 10, 2014 by Ethaisa

[ReallyZeb]

Wet and on first drydown its a rich, dusty, smoky rose. Once properly dry, after an hour or so, I get stronger incensey smoke with a faded rose in the background.

[Monday]

On my skin wet: a hideous combination of sickly sweet greens and salt. It's triggering a headache.

On my skin dry: Rose has amped and a detergent-like aquatic has come forward. The sickly note in the background is probably the candle. Blend all those together, add salt and you get a blend that's definitely not for me.

Bah.

[sunshinedaisybliss]

This is a very strange blend indeed - there's the black rose, rosewood and oudh which for me just blend together into dark rose... but over the top of all that is a very salty, clean and almost menthol-like aroma which I guess must be the 'sea-kissed' aspect. It's the olfactory equivalent of pushing a heavy curtain aside to look into a room... I really have to push past the saltiness to get to the rose. I'm not finding anything related to the candle at all. After fully drying down (about 30 minutes), all I have here is a weird mix of saltiness and soapiness with rose.

 

So as usual, the rose here amps on my skin so that eventually it's all I can smell. Note to self: give up on these rose blends! No matter what other notes are there to tempt me, I should know by now that rose always wins

[brilliantcat]

I feel I should mention that the oil itself is absolutely beautiful, a light peachy pink rose color. In the decant, it's a strange melange of minty/menthol/eucalyptus, sweet/cream, and salty aquatic. I love it in the decant but as soon as it touches my skin, it's all rose. Well, almost all rose, there's a hint of that salty aquatic to keep it from making me run to wash it off immediately. It has a laundry detergent/soapy vibe with strong floral rose.

[Magycmyste]

In the imp: not quite sweet, not quite floral - a little aquatic.

 

Wet on skin: still, aquatic, but with a hint of rubber - latex, really O_o

 

Dried down: still the salty, aquatic note. This reminds me of dragon's tears. There is a sweet, caramelly throw in the air..... but....I've been smelling that all week, even before the decants came in, and some of the other decants smell like that, so I don't think that's what it is.

 

Throw: Almost none of the salty note. I am still smelling a lot of sweet.

 

Verdict: ***1/* I like this. A lot. There's too much I'm not sure about with it, though. And I wish I could smell some of the other notes in this. This is definitely going to be a second chance scent.

[calivianya]

I agree with everyone who said salty/sweet/aquatic. I wasn't really expecting the aquatic part, but as aquatics go, this is pretty nice. It actually gives me a weird mental image - there is a Stephen King book I absolutely LOVE called Duma Key, and in it a man living in the Florida Keys paints a lot of pictures, one titled "Roses Grow from Shells." My idea of what that picture would look like is exactly what this smells like to me. Roses under a wooden house jutting out over the ocean... It's an interesting scent-picture, but I can't see myself wearing it often.

[Aldercy]

I'm really finding myself wearing A Thought and a Legend a lot since I got my decant. It's a thick, molten rose scent tempered by a delicate patchouli-- not overly earthy or raw. I've wanted to like rose/patch scents before, but they never worked out. I think the oudh (one of my new favorite notes) is what's acting as a nice bridge between them here. The saltiness of the "sea-kissed" element does not actually read as aquatic to me. It's salt, for sure, but it's kind of blended with the candle note and the patchouli into a lovely, warm, crystalline salty-sweetness. The scent as a whole is very complex.

 

I'm surprised that this is going so badly for so many people, but it seems to really blossom with my skin chemistry.

[thekittenkat]

In the decant: Salt, patch, and the rose.

 

Wet: Sweeter now--suspect that the beeswax is breaking through.

 

The dry-down: The salt and oudh combine to give both the rose and the wood an almost incense feeling; rather interesting, but not something that I would wear on a regular basis.

[milo]

This one ends up being sharp and sour on me. I think the note combinations are just not working here with my skin chemistry. All the bad things about rose are coming through, not really getting the patch, I'm just amping the nasty qualities of the rose. Boo.

[mymymai]

ITB: This is much more foody than I had anticipated. It strikes me as thick cocoa, beeswax, and a touch of aquatic patchouli.

 

Wet: On my skin, it's still sweet, but it's taken on more of a powdery tone.

 

Dry: It's like light, powdery patchouli, beeswax, and just a hint of chocolate and rose. It's interesting.

[elka_knits]

I don't like aquatics in general but I try try try as many rose scents as I can. The rose in this is lovely and I like the scent after the first half hour burns off the sea. Interesting but a wee bit more gender neutral than I like. I know I won't reach for it so it might as well go to somebody who might appreciate it more

[Balame]

Did I actually get this blend or did it get swapped with Love? I kid you not.

 

Very strange things happened here. Upon first application it's definitely salty and gross in the same way Boundless Vista was. Like moldy seawood/wet dog. I immediately dismiss the scent and leave it alone for about 20 minutes, then I get a whiff of something rosy and lovely. It's... Thought and Legend?

 

Okay then, we're back in the game. Suddenly all I smell is super gorgeous sugared rose with a soft, smooth base of resinous oudh and patchouli. The tallow almost makes it creamy. What the heck happened?

 

I like rose all right but I'm not a big floral person overall, but I have to say this is probably my favorite BPAL rose blend. It ends up a lot like Love on me, but less sharp and candyish. Instead its silken cream rose resin. I really lucked out with the drydown here.

[aquazoo]

Kinda warm & fuzzy. Pretty, I’m getting the rose. Then the rest of it shows up. Wow, smells like a package from Spellmaker!

[Little Bird]

This scent fascinates me and reminds me of the smutty pirate romance novels that I used to read (I was big on romance novels back in the day). The dark, sweet rose and beeswax candles smell so romantic to me, and the hint of salty aquatic and old wood make me think of pirate ships, with the patchouli and oudh giving an earthy, masculine touch. So, yeah, seduced by a pirate on his ship on the sea, in a room full of woods, roses and candles...

Received a frottle of this from the Lab in a recent order and it is soft, powdery woods, a smoky scent like torched notebook paper, and hints of sweet, honeyed wax and sweet, red roses.  Warm and perfumey and goes baby powdery.

Edited March 12, 2021 by Little Bird

[LavenderCoffee]

Several years on! Received this in 2021. 

 

In the bottle, the "sea-kissed" patchouli stands out the most, but there is a distinct sweetness from the black rose/rosewood combo, and an odd suggestion of hazelnut.

My association for aquatics isn't for this kind of scent, but there's definitely a bit of ocean in this bottle, so my brain is struggling with this one! I'm not getting any salt, though. 

 

Wet on my skin, I get more of the oudh and smoke, and the effect is gorgeous. The oceanic note seems to slip away. 

As this oil dries the smoke goes away as well, and I end up with a stunning dark rose perfume.

 

The first time I tried this on, I put "goth rose" in my testing notes, and it still is that, but it's also a lot more than that.

I don't often reach for rose or perfume-y smells, so I had this on my swap list, but it is so pretty!