Table-Turning

[Atrous]

In the month of December, another fair American medium arrived in England. This lady and her husband, Dr. Roberts, attended a course of lectures I was then delivering in Providence Chapel, upon Mesmerism and Animal Magnetism. They introduced themselves to me, and invited me to visit them. I did so, many times; and to them do I owe much; for, through the information I received from them, I have been enabled to inquire more fully into this soul-stirring, and very important subject, after several Seances at Mrs. Roberts's in Dyer's Buildings, Holborn [MD: original], where I witnessed the moving of the table in various directions. This is what is called “Table-turning,” and which has been attributed to Electricity or Animal Magnetism, by many intelligent and scientific persons… I have seen a loo-table suspended in the air, at least six inches from the ground, without anyone in the body touching it.

 

—Hardinge, 1854

 

A heavy, tactile scent that thrums with voices from beyond: black polished teakwood, gullies of ectoplasm, and ghostly white musk.

 

Wet: Starts out unpleasant. Strong camphor scent and sharp lemon.

Dry down: This ones a real morpher. Camphor goes away almost immediately and the sharpness of the lemon starts to subside. Musk makes its appearance and I swear I smell vanilla.

Dry: Okay, this is not what I was expecting but its actually very nice. Sweet lemony tea, vanilla, and musk with a wood smell underneath. I never would have said that it was specifically Teakwood.

[Dark Alice]

This is a wonderful dark, woody, incensey scent. The white musk is almost juicy when it blends with the teakwood. It is truly a lovely scent. So glad I ordered a bottle.

[Gwydion]

In bottle: Sharp white notes over musky wood. Surprisingly sexy, but I suspect too high octave for my skin chemistry range. Wet: Very white musk dominant with wood support. The ectoplasm adds sweet pale mildly ozone spikes, but this works on me way better than I had any right to expect. I really can almost wear this and I think this would be lovely on someone with slightly different skin chemistry. Dry: Mostly musk with some wood to balance. Still sexy.

[zankoku_zen]

Camphor, white musk and musky wood. It dries to a musky wood, and bits of teak. It's slightly masculine, slightly eerie. Good throw, good wearlength.

 

Musk, woods, camphor.

[agirlnamedfury]

Woody with a touch of citrus and herbs. This is actually quite nice wet, but it starts to smell a bit like air freshener on me once it's tried. I may have to try this one a couple more times to decide if it's a keeper or not.

[milo]

Woods and cologne mostly here. Quite masculine, a bit sharp, not very sweet. I'd like to smell this on a guy.

[Eemia]

Lots of dark, smokey woodiness. It's not earthy or soft at all. Very robust. It does have that mysterious, creepy feeling, which could be from the notes or the idea of it, I can't tell. Either way it's something that stays with you, and reminds me of something that I can't quite place. This type of woody smell isn't my usual cup of tea (though I do love wood scents) but I like it. It's unique and I don't think I've smelled another bpal quite like this one before.

 

After about 30 mins or so it lifts into a brighter, more translucent smell, which I'm guessing is the white musk. It never smells sharp or high pitched as I expected. I agree with other people who mentioned the cologne aspect, though it's not a rugged cologne. On me it falls more into perfumey or fougere territory.

 

This is one of those that I can try over and over and I'm always surprised at how strange it is. I've had it for a year now and it smells better now that it's aged.

[Little Bird]

Eh. This smells like hairspray and soap on me (white musk and ozone?). I'm not getting lemon or sweetness, but it has a dry, dark wood note in the drydown, and the musk starts to turn powdery. I didn't care for this one.

[LizziesLuck]

I love teak, and I love white musk! Excited to try this (2017 version)

 

Wet: This is so interesting! It's hard to describe. It really does smell Christmassy. I think I am getting a lot of the ectoplasm though, and it's quite lemony. Like a certain lemon candy I am thinking of (can't remember the name) that tastes of real lemon, not "lemon flavor". It also reminds me a bit of...Neo-Citron. Lol. Which is actually super comforting! That was always my favourite thing when I was sick as a child. The teak is coming through strong - I was expecting teak wood. You know, already cut down tree, made into furniture? This smells more like a living tree. This is much more outdoorsy than I expected, and honestly I know I am doing the worst job EVER describing it. It smells wonderful, despite my rambling. Totally not my usual type of scent, but I am really enjoying it.

 

 

Dry: This dries down much sweeter on me. It's slightly powdery. Clean smelling. Almost-but-not-quite lemony. It reminds me of something I can't put my finger on. It's a lovely clean (in a slightly powdery way) skin scent. Perfect for work, though at this point I have so many work appropriate scents I am not sure whether or not I will need a bottle. Certainly considering it.

[torischroeder9]

(2018 version)

 

In the decant: Something sweet and almost fruity, like an orange hard candy. 

 

On my skin:

 

The scent is somewhere between an orange candy and an orange cleaner, not necessarily in an unpleasant way. 

 

Twenty minutes later, the candy note is gone, and I smell white musk over wood. There might be a tinge of sweetness left, but it's an accent on the blend rather than the main note. Given as much time again, the white musk increases and the sweetness fades until this is just white musk over... polished wood.  I've just now, as I've been sniffing and typing, had the realization that this scent is white musk, wood, and just the tiniest tinge of orange oil, as if the wood had been regularly but not super-recently oiled and polished.

 

The effect, to me, is that of smelling polished wood through the veil of something else. It's cleaner than dust or powder but not so wet or clean as is water. It's softer than ozone. It's evocative of a piece of wood that's been regularly polished but also regularly touched -- like, for example, a wooden bannister in the staircase of an old house, especially one that held a large family -- over a lot of years. 

 

The white musk element of the blend has pretty good throw. If it's typical of white musk for me, it will also have pretty good wear length. Will check back after a couple of wears to see if that holds true. 

[Lucchesa]

Table Turning is not my usual jam but was passed on to me (thank you, dear!!!).  The ectoplasm reads as lime on my skin.  White musk is always iffy on me and is a little screechy here, and instead of teak, this smells more like rosewood to me.  (Sharper -- teak can turn quite sweet with my chemistry.)  So all in all a sharp, clean, bright, citrusy blend, perfectly pleasant, just not what I normally wear.