Some Strangeness in the Proportion

[doomsday_disco]

Rich vanilla sandalwood elegantly distorted by oudh, labdanum, scarlet saffron, and pink pepper.

In the bottle: The vanilla sandalwood and pink pepper notes stand out to my nose. The combination of the pink pepper mixed with the sweetness is somewhat reminiscent of High Strung Daisies. It's kind of like High Strung Daisies and Mouse's Long and Sad Tale had a baby (but without the floral notes). If I inhale really deeply, I can smell the saffron and a hint of the other resins as well.

Wet: The vanilla sandalwood is quite prominent, as well as the pink pepper. (If you aren’t familiar with pink pepper, it’s almost bubblegum-like but with a bit of a peppery kick.) The other resins are present, but they seem to be content with background roles at the moment. (I can smell them more in the crook of my elbow than on my wrist.)

Dry: The pink pepper and vanilla sandalwood notes reign on my wrist, but the oudh and labdanum are more prominent there now (and are quite prominent in the crook of my elbow). I also get more of the saffron note in the crook of my elbow.

Verdict: I love vanilla and pink pepper like whoa. I also love it when vanilla is paired with resins, so I knew I would love this one. I plan on ordering a back-up bottle when the Yules go live. It is rather feminine and pretty.

*ETA (edited to add): a description of pink pepper. Edited December 10, 2014 by dementia_divine

[Ashmedai]

A bit smoky on application, and I can smell sandalwood, oudh and labdanum most clearly. Vanilla is also apparent, but not the foody vanilla that turns to plastic on me, but a dark and still sweet vanilla. Damn, this is intriguing! I do smell some pink pepper and saffron as it dries, but it's never in-your-face spicy, and they enhance the woods and resin beautifully. Finaly dry-down is mainly labdanum, a gorgeous oudh, and sandalwood with dark vanilla. Holy hell, this is gorgeous! I may need a back-up bottle, and it's going to age into something unbelievably stunning. I do agree with the previous reviewer that there's something vaguely "pink" here, but I wouldn't compare it to High Strung Daisies at all, it's much too dark and resiny, and yet... there's a little pink dancing around in the darkness, which is a sweet and comforting darkness. Indeed some strangeness in the proportion, but a brilliant one.

[VioletChaos]

In The Bottle: How to explain such a strange experience? For upon opening the bottle, I got, inexplicably, a nose full of fruity scent, yet without the fruit. I can only assume that's the pink pepper working it's magic.

 

Wet On Skin: The scent has morphed, pretty dramatically. Honestly, at this wet stage, I'm a little worried, because mostly it's smelling like nail polish remover on me

 

Dry Down: Morphed again! Whew! And not a moment too soon, for this has become something rather beautiful. The oudh and the saffron have joined with a drop of labdanum to create a sweet, resin-y bit of gloriousness. Many years ago, there was a little mystical shop that carried the most wonderful traditional Kyphi incense and it had actual raisins in it (which made me want to eat it!) and other sweet, heady bits- and that's what Some Strangeness In The Proportion reminds me of. There's an incense-y feel to this, and it's sacred, but not in such a manner that it feels like I need to only wear this on rare occasion. On the contrary, I anticipate wearing this all the time, everywhere.

 

In All: Low throw and just exquisite, I anticipate this scent achieving the kind of greatness in aging generally reserved for something like Snake Charmer.

 

[Suusje]

This is quite a bit sweeter than I though it would be. I reminds me a lot of Celeste...a pink, sweeter and softer Celeste.

[poofie]

I agree that this was very sweet on initial application, almost candy like to me! Drying down the pink pepper is dominant, and now, perhaps 45 minutes after applying to my wrist it's low throw, some sandalwood, a little smokiness, a bit of vanilla. I will need to revisit this, I think. As it was drying I didn't think I liked it but now that it's dry it's subtle and interesting.

[LiberAmoris]

Some Strangeness in the Proportion also smells pink on me...almost like a peppery pink bubblegum when wet! The woods come forward on the drydown, and then I can smell the sandalwood and oudh and vanilla. The labdanum and saffron are subtle, but that pink pepper note remains really prominent. After an hour or so, it's very incensey with a bit of pink sweetness. It's a really interesting combination of notes, but I can't stop smelling (imagining?) Dubble Bubble! I'll set this aside and try it again in a couple of weeks, because there are times when the woods are really forward, and they're absolutely gorgeous. I agree with VioletChaos that this will age like a dream!

[strahlend]

This is a mainly smooth sweet sandalwood-vanilla scent to my nose. It's very bright smelling, not at all foody. I think it's the saffron. It's quite unusual and gorgeous. I don't smell pepper in here at all.

[HerbGirl]

Lovechild of Celeste and Hermia...seriously. if you love those, you should love this...i know i do! Pink pepper and saffron deliciousness. This is a fluffy, comforting pillow. Sorry, maybe thats not the best description but it is the best i can do. Gorgeous.

[mineralgirl]

This went every which way of wrong on me. I won't post what it ended up smelling like on me because I don't want to ruin this scent for anyone.. let's just say it was not good. Bottle is going up for sale! I'm so disappointed.. it sounded really great. Stoooopid chemistry.

[lady_pandora]

When I first opened the vial, I smelled a big whiff of white sandalwood. Some years back, I decided white sandalwood gave me headaches and quit wearing it (which involved giving away my supply of Underpants and Hymn to Proserpine, for which I've kicked myself more than a few times, ha). So I was a little hesitant as I put it on, though I've wondered in the intervening years whether the headaches were really coming from stress or some other factor. Here's another piece of evidence toward that conclusion: Some Strangeness in the Proportion is not giving me a headache. Woohoo!

 

Wet on my skin, I get a lot of the sandalwood and also some vanilla. I can't really "smell" the pink pepper, but I think it's there as a tickle in my nose, a milder version of what happened recently when I tried She Whose Handmaiden Was Love. This pepperiness drops out quickly, though, and after it's gone the scent doesn't morph much on me.

 

What this settles down to is a really lovely golden cloud of mostly sandalwood. The throw, especially, is dominated by the sandalwood, while I can smell more vanilla as I get my nose closer to my arm. This is not a foody vanilla at all--like if I compare it to Mini Mag, which I was wearing earlier, the vanilla note in Mini Mag is way foodier (and Mag isn't really even all that foody). There are occasional wafts of a lovely sweet resin that I think is the labdanum. I am not yet all that educated in oud, and I can't tell you if I smell it or not. It's all really well-blended and sophisticated. This is one of those BPALs that smells like it could be really expensive.

 

It also was really, really familiar to me, and I was racking my brain trying to figure out what it reminded me of. I finally had to dig through my old reviews to figure it out. Aha! I think it was Mr. Ibis that smelled a lot like this on me. For reference, in Ibis, I amped the white sandalwood, vanilla, and musk; and like this, it was a non-foody vanilla.

 

This is really beautiful. As of right now, I think I'm probably good with the imp, but this has the potential to age really well and I may be DISO it on the forums a year from now, lol.

Edited December 19, 2014 by lady_pandora

[barilace]

Is it just me or does Pink Pepper smell like bubblegum? I don't know. I just always think that when I smell bpal's pink pepper.

[Alaeidrel]

Sweet peppery... kinda bubblegum. Not in a bad way. This is so strange... I can't really pick out notes, wet. More of a floral now, with the vanilla fading. All I can think is... wow, odd.

[Haltija]

This smells very pink and very delicate. The pink pepper does give it the bubblegum quality for sure. The vanilla gives it a richer depth but it's got very low throw on me. At times I can barely even smell it, even when I bury my nose to my arm. I don't think a bottle is needed but I will keep testing out my decant.

[aiobhan]

Wet it is all sweet vanilla sandalwood and pink pepper. The oudh is faintly there in the background.

As it warms, it gets a little richer and darker. The labdanum and sandalwood keep the pink pepper and vanilla top notes from being too overpowering.

I think I need a bottle of this. It actually reminds me a lot of Diptyque's Duelle perfume, which I love.

Edited July 15, 2015 by Aiobhan

[Lunasariel]

In the imp: ...Huh, I don't think I've ever smelled anything quite like this before. I think I can smell the sandalwood at the base, but "distorted" is a really good way to describe it. There's sweetness at the top, but it's a a very interesting, unique sweetness. If I were testing blind, I wouldn't have the faintest idea what to do with it, but thanks to y'all, I think I can place it as the pink pepper. There's also a smoky/incense edge rounding things out, if I really dig for it.

 

Wet: I was all prepared for something smoky, woodsy, mysterious, and slightly sweet, but all I'm getting is straight-up slightly synthetic sweetness. Boo-urns.

 

Dry: After about an hour, it gradually fades to the vanilla sandalwood described above (more emphasis on the former than the latter, though). And this may be because I've had both my wrists enthusiastically snuffled by my cousin's dog, which may have rubbed some of it off, but right now it's just...meh. Like, it's only been a few hours since I applied it, but now I really have to shove my nose into my wrist to get anything at all, and what I'm getting is pleasant and inoffensive, but it doesn't wow me.

[urbantravels]

I think this is my favorite of the Ligeias I've sampled and may need to get a bottle. I absolutely do not get "bubblegum" or anything sugary or candy-like. What I do get is a warmly sweet, complex, spicy sandalwood blend. I don't smell anything that smells like actual pink pepper, so maybe "pink pepper" is a conceptual note.

[zankoku_zen]

Sweet vanilla sandalwood (what I was hoping for in A Lady Tall and White) with touches of pink pepper, labdanum and saffron, bringing some spice into this and preventing this from just being a boozy vanilla/sandalwood. Average wear length, low throw on my skin.

 

I find it strangely compelling and am almost tempted to hunt down a bigger bottle.

[astarinel]

Sweet spicy vanilla sandalwood.

 

This goes on a little strongly spiced sandalwood for me, but as it dries the vanilla comes out more and the spice eases up a bit. I actually think I like this scent more the more it dries, and I actually like it quite a lot wet. It's dark and resiny underneath the sweet spices.

 

I don't find this overly sweet, but I tend to wear a lot of sweet scents. This actually skews a bit darker and woodier than my usual scent-wardrobe, but the vanilla and spices keep it lighter and more wearable for me.

 

I also agree with everyone who's mentioned that this is going to age amazingly. I'm very tempted to get a bottle before these come down.

[theseagrows]

this scent is so soft i have to huff my wrist to smell it! it's all toasty vanilla sandalwood and pink pepper starting off, with some saffron in the background. a little while later i smell the labdanum but don't seem to get the oudh. it's a very soft scent, i guess i thought it might be more resiny but it's mostly vanilla and pink pepper. i am not a huge fan of pink pepper, and i was hoping for more oudh, so i think this will be sent to the swap pile. not bad by any means, but i have similar scents that smell better on me. it gets a bit rubbery on me, for lack of a better word. i think it may be the pink pepper.

[inhumation]

this has the same vibe on me as two of my absolute favorite bpals, vasilissa and mouse's long and sad tale, except with a touch of bubblegum-ish sweetness from the pink pepper. I LOVE IT!! I can't wait to get my hands on a bottle of this!

[porcelina]

this is very sweet and warm! there is a sweet resinous quality that i really like and vanilla + pink peppercorn is a lovely combination. my problem is the saffron... i want to love it, and the blend smells so good in the bottle, but saffron always goes flat and weird and plasticky on my skin.

[petrichorandleather]

This is horrid on my skin. I don't get any of the pinkness or vanilla, nothing.

 

I get an assaulting noseful of old fashioned, harsh perfume and I am not

capable of picking out any individual notes in the imp or on my skin.

 

I am always stunned by bpals that go so incredibly wrong on me, especially

with the stellar reviews posted above.

 

Off to swaps. </3

[dottie_doom]

This ended up being my favorite Ligeia decant that I ordered and ended up buying a bottle, so very happy that I did. To me I don't get the as much sweetness as some people have described. I first get hot by the vanilla and sandalwood with lingering of the pink pepper. On me this is a little bit of a transformer once applied to my skin. It starts out a little bit smoky and woody but gradually turns sweeter as the vanilla comes out. I actually wouldn't mind more vanilla in this one but I do think it balances nicely. Overall I think it's a really beautiful scent.

[thekittenkat]

In the decant: Vanilla sandalwood, w/ hints of the other notes.

 

Wet: Much as on cold sniff, but w/ more sweetness and vanilla.

 

The dry-down: The pink pepper comes out to play, giving the rather vanilla aspect a bit of a spicy kick. There may be some drying powder from the saffron. I haven't tried the red version before, so I hope it behaves better than the yellow saffron. In the end, this is a pink vanilla sandalwood, w/ less emphasis on the sandalwood.

[quickdrawkiddo]

I am SO glad I sprang for a bottle of this unsniffed! It doesn't have any of the usual notes that make a scent a must-have for me, but something about it was just calling my name anyway. This is one of those scents where I said out loud "it's so weird! I like it!" on initial application. It went on as vanilla plus something funky, and I mean that in a good way. Vanilla on its own can be kind of flat and cloying on me so I need something else going on to give it some depth. Enter sandalwood! The lab's description hits it on the head, actually -- it really does have an "elegantly distorted" feeling to it. No sharp edges or overpowering notes -- everything is well-blended and balanced. It's totally different from everything else in my box full of musk/leather/vetiver/tobacco bottles so I'm really glad I took a chance on this one unsniffed.