The Carousel

[Lycanthrope]

Calliope music played: a Strauss waltz, stirring and occasionally discordant. The wall as they entered was hung with antique carousel horses, hundreds of them, some in need of a lick of paint, others in need of a good dusting; above them hung dozens of winged angels constructed rather obviously from

female store-window mannequins; some of them bared their sexless breasts; some had lost their wigs and stared baldly and blindly down from the darkness.
And then there was the carousel.

A sign proclaimed it was the largest in the world, said how much it weighed, how many thousand lightbulbs were to be found in the chandeliers that hung from it in Gothic profusion, and forbade anyone from climbing on it or from riding on the animals.

And such animals! Shadow stared, impressed in spite of himself, at the hundreds of full-sized creatures who circled on the platform of the carousel. Real creatures, imaginary creatures, and transformations of the two: each creature was different. He saw mermaid and merman, centaur and unicorn, elephants (one huge, one tiny), bulldog, frog and phoenix, zebra, tiger, manticore and basilisk, swans pulling a carriage, a white ox, a fox, twin walruses, even a sea serpent, all of them brightly colored and more than real: each rode the platform as the waltz came to an end and a new waltz began. The carousel did not even slow down.

"What's it for?" asked Shadow. "I mean, okay, world's biggest, hundreds of animals, thousands of lightbulbs, and it goes around all the time, and no one ever rides it."

"It's not there to be ridden, not by people," said Wednesday. "It's there to be admired. It's there to be."

A place of power and possibility, of gods diabolical and celestial: glowing amber and heady cinnamon, the green of growing things and the white of thunderclaps, sweet myrrh and sacred styrax, forest moss and blood-soaked battlefields, papyrus and clay, rose petals, wildflowers, abbatoirs, and honey.

I was very excited about this, being kind of an ur-mythology, mixing all these different divine tropes together and into a jumble of tumultuous divinity, swirling and such.

Here goes!

This smells interesting in the bottle, like a tiny touch of green, sappiness, a little snow note. I get a hint of the clay-snow slush from Kumari Kandam, but then it veers off a bit.

Wet, this is still pretty sweet, still green-ish, and musky. There's a bit of an ozone snap but it's not terribly strong. Reminds me a touch of Lightning. And then there's a subtle bump of aquatics, salt? Then honey - followed by a touch of a papery, dry note. All still over the rocky base. The amber starts to hum here, midway through, and what was once initially very elemental, swirling with leaf, thunder, water, elevates into a resinous honey with incense, and then reminds me of Anubis - golden, glowing, yellow thrum of incense. I'm primed to look for 'blood' as a note, which is usually grungy and kind of funky, but I don't get that at all. Near the end of the major drydown, I think I can get a touch of rose petals, but it's not terribly overpowering or strong.

This started off whirling, rotating, turning, and ends up drying down into a supremely smooth amber incense, with moderate chewy sweetness from honey, and a little spice and earth.

[galahad]

In the Bottle:

Softly green and mossy with fresh rain

On the Skin:

Sappy greenery and soft flowers in the background with a hint of nectar. Warm amber and cinnamon creep in gradually, never overpowering. The floral note is really pretty and delicate.

On the Drydown:

As this dries down a touch of ozone creeps in along with a slight blood note. The resins add depth to an otherwise fresh and soft scent. Gorgeous and perfect for summer. I was expecting something heavier and I am pleasantly surprised

[zankoku_zen]

Amber, moss, wildflowers, honey, and a melange of other scents like myrrh, cinnamon, ozone, rose. Gender neutral to masculine on me. Super complex and a morpher. I actually am really digging this one as well. Good throw and wear length.

[LizziesLuck]

I am excited about this, more based on the idea I think - I often don't do well with scents with too many notes, my skin is too unpredictable on what it will pick up and amp to high heaven...

 

 

Wet: There is a green note in this that is stunning, and then something minty? Nope, not minty...but cool feeling. Interesting, I'm not getting any Myrrh and I figured I would amp that to the point of drowning everything else out. One of the "green growing things" is for sure The Lab's grass note, it's now coming through loud and clear. I love that smell. Hoping for some honey though to sweeten it up!

 

 

Dry: It sweetens up, and the ozone manifests in a really beautiful clean, rain-fresh sort of scent. The grass is there still, but there are other green growing things, and it's lovely. It smells like new life. I very much enjoy it.

[whisperstilled]

In Decant: Sweet! Sweet incense, probably the myrrh and the dreaded 'blood' note, plus those rose petals, wildflowers, and honey. This is one crazy noisy scent, as you might expect from the notes.

Wet: Reminds me of a sweet green tea for some reason. No incense so far on the skin. Honey and green sweetness. Surprisingly pleasant given that crazy list of notes.

Dry: There's a hint of the complexity of the description on the skin, but nowhere near as much as I get sniffing straight from the decant. Worn, this is primarily green and sweet, with just a breath of incense. Cinammon usually sets my skin on fire, and I'm only getting the vaguest breath of it here.

[Little Bird]

Goes on very green, pulpy, refreshing, and wet smelling. It smells like the lab's bamboo note and reminds me a bit of the original Banded Sea Snake. Sweet aquatic cologne, wet greenery, and an overall men's cologne feel.

 

This has a huge note list, but I don't smell amber, cinnamon, incense/resin, blood, rose, or honey, and I don't think that it's particularly floral.

 

After about 15 minutes, I agree with the reviewers who mentioned ozone, because the greenery fades and it's more of a high pitched, sharp, dry soapiness.

[Teamama]

On me, The Carousel is very strong while wet. As it dries, it quiets, and reveals all its layers.

 

Amber, cinnamon, honey, moss & flowers are what I notice the most. Ozone, thankfully, just peeks around the edges after a couple of hours.

 

Complex & sweet, along the lines of Kubla Khan. Enjoyable, wearable, glad I got a bottle.

[doomsday_disco]

In the decant: Cinnamon and greenery stand out to me the most. The moss is present, and there’s a touch of ozone, some resins, and what I believe is the same papyrus note found in Funerary Papyri.

 

Wet: There is a lot going on here. I do not think I’ll be able to pick out all of the notes, but the cinnamon, greenery, and moss are the first notes I detect. Then I get a resin, a little bit of soapy ozone, and some fresh, green, and slightly citrus-y papyrus. There are also some florals at play here, but I am unable to pinpoint which ones they are. There’s something slightly sweet in here (not the honey) that I am not feeling, but I am not sure what it is (maybe the styrax?). As it begins to dry, the moss, grass, cinnamon are still the notes that jump out to me the most, with a resin not far behind. Even though the cinnamon in this is described as heady, this is not a scent heavy on the cinnamon (and I’m glad, since I have sensitive skin).

 

Dry: The moss is now the dominant note on me, followed by the amber. I also get a bit of honey. It’s somewhat soapy on me now, but I’m not sure if it is because of the moss and the ozone, or because there are just so many notes in this one. I think it’s probably the moss and ozone, though.

 

After a while, the moss and ozone do give it an after-rain feel, but the honey has become more prominent by this time, so it’s part after-rain scent and part honeyed resin. How curious!

 

Verdict: It’s okay, but there is too much going on in this one for me. Oddly enough, the phase of the scent I enjoyed the most was the one I got after the scent had been on my skin for a few hours.

[Lucchesa]

The Carousel is the kind of scent I used to avoid because of too much going on. But after loving OLLA Eve, I thought I would give this one a whirl, and I'm super glad I did. This actually reminds me somewhat of Eve, both in terms of the ambitious scope and complexity of the scent and in the fact that both have an undercurrent of a rose that works on me. I do not smell a lot of cinnamon here, and I swapped with dementia_divine for this decant, so it's there, it's just my nose or my chemistry that is masking it. Instead, the first notes I get are ozone with a kind of green meadow scent. The ozone doesn't stick around on me at all, and I start to get sweet incense, green honey amber, earth and moss, the aforementioned rose... And surprisingly for such a jumble of notes, it works. It dries down to a skin scent but lasts a good while, and on me I would say it leans to the feminine side of unisex.

[Cali]

Hmm. Reminds me of an overgrown, abandoned garden house in the best way possible on application. 

Ozone, greenery, rose and amber. Definately getting that white of thunderclaps (musk? mint?) in there too, reminds me somewhat of midnight on the midway, however in that bottle it feels more "sugared", this is straight up ice cold thunder. I can definately tell the moss and flowers apart in there too. 

the rose and ozone get a little stronger on drydown but that's all it changes on me -  I like it a lot but I already have on the balcony, which makes this overkill. It's very interesting and oh-so lovely!! 

Edited December 18, 2018 by Cali

[Mister Azure]

Serene atmosphere among divinity. 

 

Wet: immediately I was hit with a eyelid fluttering dose of flora. Moistened, vibrant, flora. Such a rich and welcoming scent that was coated in honey. The honey scent amped on me which I enjoyed paired with the lush greens that accompanied it. The wildflowers are very present and encompassing yet not so overwhelming that I wanted to cringe. 

 

The throw is large for me at this stage. Pungent with a pleasant wham factor. 

 

Dry: Here, the scent of ozone of a storm that’s coming rolls into the background. I still get that oh so pleasing flora and honey scent that remains consistent and that made me visibly smile every single time. The moss pokes through with warm waves of the wildflowers as though I’m on a carousel picking up the various surrounding scents. Yet, that sweet flora scent always remains in the forefront with what must be a the most subtle of spice from the cinnamon that brings added warmth and depth. 

 

The earthy clay fades in a bit with something else that I can’t fully place. It is as though there is a stillness to be had now. A moment of immobility and uncertainty of change to come.

 

With all of this, I’d say the throw is medium which is great since I want to be a little selfish with this one. Just a little. 

 

Final thoughts: This has to be my favorite so far. Everything about this blends together so well that it is absurd. A feeling of divine bliss constantly washed over me as I wore this. Feels warming and fresh. There is even an spot of excitement of what comes next for me as they wears on. The most it settles the more intrigued I become with this fragrance.

 

I want to wear this all the time during the day. I catch myself trying to take slow deep breaths just so I can enjoy this scent little more before this beautiful dream ends. 

 

I may need several bottles of this now. It’s so good and rewarding in how the scents move and shift yet remain constant somehow. 

 

As a welcomed bonus, several hours in, the throw remained rather rather impressive.

[Lux667]

In The Bottle:  Very green, so very lush and verdant.  The release of petichor after a heavy rain.

 

Wet on the skin:  Still green but shifting, the wildflower notes are emerging.  Something light and pretty that settles into something a little more weighted without being overpowering.  It smell like distant magnolias to me.  Something heavy up close but at a distance, it manages to be delicate.

 

Dry:  Wet, upturned earth and  ozone settle in next to the floral notes.  The faintest hint of blood.   Just a tiny sticky note of sweetness, pleasant but distant like the notes of a funnel cake or sweet crepes from a booth on the other side of the carnival.

 

Holy fuck.  I'm in love with this scent.  I really struggled to find BPAL stuff that would work for me back in the day as ocean notes smelled like dishsoap and green notes faded to a papery flatness.  Heavy, rich scents all went the way of the velvet cathouse on me.   Like, beautiful in the bottle but just overwhelming on me like I was a kid who put on too much of her mother's Narcisse or something.

 

I'm not sure if my chemistry has shifted (possible since it's been almost 15 years since I last BPALed) but everything about this just settles so nicely.  

[wordortwo]

I purchased a decant of The Carousel from a kind forumite.

 

When first applied, it smells like Dawn dish soap. Then, the copper tang of blood hits the back of my throat, which I thought was a marvelous little detail.

 

As it dries further, it smells like flowers and honey coated in Dawn dish soap and drizzled in blood. After about an hour, from a distance, it smells mostly like Dawn dish soap, and up close, it smells like honey.

 

So far, this is not for me. I anticipated loving it, so I'm going to give it another test eventually.

[theredkilt]

On my skin, this blooms into a fruity citrus musk. Weird, right? It reminds me of  Tweedledee from the Mad Tea Party collection. Yep, citrus fruit musk.