Disastrous Twilight

[DiesMali]

As when the Sun, new risen,
Looks through the horizontal misty air,
Shorn of his beams, or from behind the Moon,
In dim eclipse, disastrous twilight sheds
On half the nations and with fear of change
Perplexes monarchs.

– John Milton, Paradise Lost

Star-touched blue amber, gurjum balsam, pale orris, Somalian myrrh, benzoin, red sandalwood, and ylang ylang.

In the bottle: Misty blue. I dunno, that's what it is.

Wet on my skin: I have no idea what this is that I'm smelling. It's REALLY STRANGE but I also can't stop sniffing the crook of my elbow. It goes on smelling a bit like a nice herbal shampoo, but quickly loses that and settles into something I can honestly only describe as "misty blue" as it dries.

Dry: This is a very, very unusual, atmospheric, and honestly just WEIRD scent. It's definitely in the Oriental family, with soft woods and resins lending a lightly golden backdrop to the rest of the notes. The blue amber, orris, and ylang ylang just do this THING, though, and I'm having a hard time describing it in terms of actual notes, because it's exceptionally well-blended and one of those scents that is more than the sum of its parts. It's the colour of the blue-grey mist that rolls over the Midwest in the early morning, as the sun just begins to rise. Cool, soft, a little bit powdery, and very, very smooth. I haven't ever smelled anything even remotely like this before, but I already know that I like it.

[Foodie]

I can't pick out any individual notes in Disastrous Twilight. All I can say is that first of all- it's beautiful. Second of all- it smells exactly like the GC scent French Love. I can't say what it is because French Love doesn't really have a scent description but they smell very, very similar. If you like French Love and want something much the same, get Disastrous Twilight!

[hersphinxness]

In the bottle: Honestly not great. I didn't get an imp, I went straight in for a bottle because THE ECLIPSE IS SO EXCITING. When I opened the bottle, I was convinced I'd just wasted $20+.

 

Wet: Not... bad? Strange. Nothing like in the bottle. Difficult to pick anything out, generally fine but there's something a little funky. But funky in that way where you know it will either dry to something amazing or smell like a urinal.

 

Dry: Incredible. I'm love. There's something about it that reminds me of Stardust, which I love. It must be the ylang ylang because that's all they have in common afaik. But I have other scents with ylang ylang and I don't get this wonderful, sparkly, sexy, lush, delicious smell from them. Whatever, it's beautiful, I'm happy.

[zankoku_zen]

I am amping up the flowers in this one. I get ylang ylang, orris, blue amber, and a touch of sandalwood. But really its sharp white florals over an amber base. It's sort of a starry dark grey blue sort of night. Medium throw and wear length.

[roseus]

Gorgeous: soft ethereal blue amber and ylang ylang are the notes I get most prominently. But I agree with the soft Oriental description completely. It smells like a soft Shunga to me. However this disappears quite quickly on my skin or else it would definitely be a bottle purchase!

[JazzieCazzie]

This had me at ylang ylang. Even with one or two notes of doom, I HAD to get two decants. I love what Beth does with ylang ylang and she doesn't do it enough (IMHO), plus j'adore benzoin.

 

IN THE IMP: Floral but with a "kick."

 

WET: I am DEFINITELY getting the YY here (yay!) along with the amber and red sandalwood (yay and yay!). I had dabbed this on VERY lightly to try it but dabbed a little more on after initial sniff.

 

INITIAL DRYDOWN: This is super nice. Not too strong, so I think it would be a good scent for newbies who aren't sure if they'd like something yet and don't want to make a commitment. While I await the results of the "sweaty myrrh" test, I find the initial drydown to be an outstanding wet/dry blend of resins and floral.

 

FINAL DRYDOWN: Stronger but nice. YY still predominant which makes me happy. This reminds me A LOT of Twilight, one of the first three blind bottles I bought of BPAL when I was FIRST turned on to the company and had a mazillion scents to choose from. I am not sure, honestly, whether the name (Disastrous Twilight) is a deliberate hint that the two scents are somehow linked or just a coincidence.

 

Out of six decants I bought from this series, this is one of the two keepers for me.

[ShannonElisabethJones]

Just got this one in the mail. Squee!

 

In the bottle, it smells dusty. And blue? Something a little warm and floral in there, but mostly dusty.

 

Freshly applied, it smells like cool incense. Definitely getting more florals, which is great. I don't do well with resins normally, but this is okay so far. I'm trying not to concentrate on picking out anything that might not agree with me and just enjoy it as a complete picture.

 

It's not totally wowing me, but it's definitely wearable

[Teamama]

Disastrous Twilight is one of those complicated blends that is hard to pick apart & describe. My take is that it's a gorgeous resinous blend that dries down to a skin scent. I overcome my fear of orris & ordered a decant--instant love.

 

Also, I will now probably blind-bottle any blend containing "star-touched blue amber."

[Minh Scent]

This is so beautiful. On my skin, it is a well blended oriental perfume.The only note which flirts charmingly out of the overall composition for me is the ylang ylang.

[theseagrows]

oh no, right off, something in this is not agreeing with my skin chemistry-it's kind of like an unclean bathroom with an air freshener trying to mask the scent but failing. i am guessing that's the gurjum balsam because it's the only note i'm not familiar with, though i'm not sure i've ever tried the lab's "blue amber". luckily that note fades pretty quickly and then i get some ylang ylang, orris, benzoin and maybe a bit of amber. after about 2 minutes i smell myrrh and the scent is also getting a bit soapy, which i think comes from the amber, balsam and myrrh. it then loses the soapiness, and gets powdery, in the way that myrrh does. this smells classic me, and it dries down to a really pretty  powdery ylang ylang.

Edited February 13, 2019 by theseagrows

[Lucchesa]

Disastrous Twilight is really beautiful all the way through. It's a mysterious floral at first, the ylang ylang the most prominent note when wet but seamlessly blending with all the other notes. And I'm not experienced enough to know what makes it blue amber or Somalian myrrh or gurjum balsam but it is hugely evocative and pretty. The scent is light on me and has no throw; five hours later it is just a soft myrrh. I wore this to see The Shape of Water and it fit the mood of the film really well. This didn't appeal to me when the eclipses were live, but I like it a lot.

[VetchVesper]

I smell blue musk and lots of orris, with an undertone of darkness from the resins. This is sweet and soft and sort of luminescent. It's also VERY powdery on me. It doesn't quite smell like baby powdery though, and I rather like it. It has a cool blue feel. It seems restful and ethereal, as someone above said. I'm glad I got to try it.

[labugsy]

Got this as a frottle and did not expect to like it, but it is STUNNING. The myrrh and orris were aggressive and loud in the bottle and when wet, but both fade pleasantly after less than 1 minute on my skin. I love the smell of ylang ylang but it usually turns screechy on my skin. In this case, however, the ylang ylang is perfectly balanced with all the other notes, and it adds this kind of glittering overtone to the scent.  Overall this smells blue and deep, like a slightly misty, starry sky with a few wispy, powdery clouds. 

Edited January 4, 2022 by labugsy