Eshe, A Vision of Life-In-Death (2016)

[zankoku_zen]

Moving counter-clockwise through the room, you come upon the next stage. The backdrop is shredded, and seems to have been torn in a fury. On the remaining half of the canvas, you can barely make out a faded illustration of the sun setting over a pyramid. On the center of the platform, an elaborate golden sarcophagus has been set upright and propped up towards the edge of the stage. Beside it, upon the ground, sits a hooded lantern. A woman’s image is painted on the front of the sarcophagus, and upon the gold limned body, a tale is being told in hieroglyphics: scenes of murder, carnage, and grotesque, mad passion. Although you do not know the language, the inscription upon the tomb translates within your mind, and the words burn behind your eyes as if they were written in blood and fire: “The Guardian will never part the veil for her soul. Mighty Sutekh, have pity on us all.” A thin, dark-skinned man wearing a linen loincloth climbs onto the stage. His form is frail and withered, he is impossibly old, yet his long, straight hair is as black as the night skies. With solemn, reverential gravity, he slowly moves the casket lid aside. Within the box, you see a skeletal figure wrapped in stained, ragged cloths, draped in a mauve cloth. The dark-skinned man bends low, and lights the lanterna magica. From within the glass, images begin to form, and glowing alchemical symbols cast their eerie light onto the mummy. As the lights touch the creature, the desiccated body swells, and with horrific, agonizing slowness, a woman’s form begins to appear within the wrappings. At her chest, the rotted wrappings burst, exposing sinew and the glinting white bones of her ribs. Her hands reach towards her face, and with a screech of agony and eons-long rage, she tears the gauze from her glittering black eyes.

The perfume of life-in-death: embalming herbs, black myrrh, white sandalwood, black orchid, paperwhites, olive blossom, tomb dust, and Moroccan jasmine.

Jasmine, myrrh, sandalwood and something that smells like papyrus. For me, I am really amping up the jasmine which is covered in dusty book jacket over a resinous base.

Compared to the 2006 version, the jasmine on my skin is definitely more prominent. I get less of the dust and resins, and definitely more white jasmine florals. Good throw and wear length.

[Little Bird]

I didn't like the original version of Eshe (greenish, herbal jasmine, powdery/dusty sandalwood, and sharp, musky/perfumey floral), and this 2016 version smells exactly as I remember the old one, though I can't do a side-by-side comparison. Light, powdery, herbal-floral-jasmine.

[lizabelle]

This one sits very close to the skin on me, and while I thought it would be a favorite, unfortunately it just doesn't have enough oomph for me. It definitely does smell papery and floral, almost like perfumed stationary, with a deep resinous tone underneath and something sharp rounding it all out. My skin is just drinking this, though, so I can't go into much more detail. I guess I'll have to pass this on.

[bkwy.aesthetics]

This was one of my first BPALs and was a total blind buy. I was very intrigued by the notes of "embalming herbs" and "tomb dust" and I knew I enjoyed all the other listed notes, so I committed to a bottle. And I do not regret it at all, as this is one of my favorite BPALs I have gotten myself thus far.

 

In Bottle: A sharp, powdery floral with a heavy earthiness grounding the scent (I'm guessing this is the "tomb dust"...and I like it). It has the essence of black and white florals left in a crypt, very somber.

 

On Skin: The earthiness fades and this fragrance comes to life! The florals and sandalwood completely emerge and the myrrh adds a warm and resinous spice. I think I can detect a cedar note (which, after a bit of research, could be part of the "embalming herbs"). This is actually quite a sensual scent, I'm very pleasantly surprised.

 

Dry Down: This becomes a very soft and exotic floral with a hint of warmth. This is definitely an intimate scent. Slightly powdery, but I enjoy that. Very sexy!

 

Wear Time & Throw: About 6 hours before this became a skin scent and the throw was moderate

[MolyH]

Whatever BPAL's embalming herbs are, I'm not sure they work on me. Alas, this smells very astringent and soapy on me. I don't get any of the notes described--I just smell toilet bowl cleaner.

 

EDIT: Okay, I'm glad that I decided to let this sit a while and not scrub it off. Because when I make it past the first hour of stringent cleaner smell, this actually blossoms into something absolutely delicious--it's very light, airy, ephemeral florals, very fitting with the spectres on the bottles art. I can definitely see this becoming a wonderful locket scent!

Edited April 10, 2023 by MolyH