The Drunk Astronomers

[valentina]

Credit for some of the first recorded accounts of eclipses are attributed to the legendary Drunk Astronomers, Ho and Hsi, circa 2137 BCE. Ho and Hsi were royal astronomers in the court of Chung Kang. They were in charge of predicting the celestial dance all movements of the Heavenly Bodies. They were also reprobates, and spent a fair amount of their time in debauch, drinking and carousing. In a drunken stupor though they knew an eclipse was imminent they failed to notify the emperor of the event, and they failed to perform the sacred rites that would prevent the celestial dragon from consuming the mighty sun. They were summarily decapitated for creating chaos and confusion in the celestial chain by leaving their duties unperformed.

Here lie the bodies of Ho and Hsi,
Whose fate, though sad, is risible;
Being slain because they could not spy
The eclipse which was invisible.

Jasmine tea, blood musk, and pale yellow amber.

I'm in the path of totality, and I'm wearing this. I'm not drunk (yet,) but I smell great. This is in general a perfect lighter summer scent. It smells sunny and indeed a bit boozy, as in a sweet, nectary liqueur. I usually can smell individual components jumping out at me, but other than the initial rush of amber, which is typical on my skin, the blend holds together beautifully. The dry-down is close to the skin and something that warms up with your skin and smells lovely, but not overwhelming. I'd say a bit more, but the eclipse is about to begin and the sun is shining -- thanks to Beth and Black Phoenix for giving me the perfect fragrance for the celebration!

[archaesophilia]

This is a delicious jasmine sibling to Sanguinem Menstruum! Which, blood musk, yeah, should have been expecting that. I normally amp amber like crazy, but this lays in with the musk really well. The slightly astringent jasmine tea is also really well blended, not jarring or sharp to my nose. As above, this doesn't have a lot of throw. Really, really nice!

[theseagrows]

from the start, i get mostly blood musk with hints of amber and jasmine tea, but it's primarily musk. after about 10 minutes the jasmine tea becomes stronger. this is a sweeter jasmine, not a strong and indolic one. if memory serves, it reminds me a bit of the jasmine in venus genetrix. (just checked and the note is listed as jasmine tea in that scent, so it's likely the same.) after about 15-20 minutes it's more smoothed out by the amber but the blood musk is still prominent. i like this one a lot-it's mysterious and makes me think of dark, warm summer nights.

[Little Bird]

Damp, wilting, rotting jasmine flowers in a vase of old water, smelling sickly sweet, a little perfumey, and slightly soapy. I feel like there's a hint of floral dragon's blood as well, and the drydown is all powdery amber and waterlogged jasmine. Leans soapy and musky floral on me.

[LizziesLuck]

Wet: Very powdery. The jasmine is really interesting. I don't do well with jasmine, but this jasmine tea note is totally different. It reminds me of a jasmine candle I had and loved in elementary school. I am not digging this sweet powdery thing happening under the jasmine tea though. I never have issues with musk, or with amber, so I don't quite know why it's weird and powdery, but it is.

 

Dry: Fades really quickly. The musk is more like a skin musk on me than anything. The amber is powdery, which never happens. The jasmine tea is really faint. This one isn't for me.

[roseus]

Hm I'm not sure how I feel about this one. I love the bright amber and the very accurate jasmine tea I get, but the blood musk might not be for me. The musk seems fruity to me almost, and it's not going well with the tea on me. As it dries down it fades a bit and lets the tea shine more but I think just a decant is a enough for me.

[zankoku_zen]

Jasmine tea, amber, and musk. It smells of tea with swirls of delicate jasmine over a bed of amberry musk. Good throw and wear length. It's a very pretty blend, but not for me.

[Juliamon]

In the imp: jasmine tea and amber. Light, sweet, warm, happy.

 

Wet: Sour sweaty blood musk. Ughhhh. Where did all the nice stuff go?

 

Dry: Most of the musk burns off after 20 minutes and I can finally smell the jasmine tea and amber again, but... I just can't deal with that opening. The memory of it lingers.

 

I flew down to visit relatives that lived in the path of totality so I could get the full experience. I was so excited... and then clouds came in literally just as it happened, and passed promptly after it was over. It was infuriating, and then my uncle (who was definitely drunk) and aunt started revealing how transphobic they were and the whole day ended up pretty sour. I was hoping this would be a better memory of the trip as a whole (which was wonderful outside of that one afternoon) but such is life I guess. Keeping it for now as a keepsake, but I probably will swap it away at some point.

[Lucchesa]

The Drunk Astronomers was a longshot for me. Red musk stomps all over everything on my skin, but I've had good luck with blood musk. Ditto jasmine, but I was hoping jasmine tea might be better behaved. Amber is almost always good. Meanly, the two problematic notes gang up on me. And as with Juliamon, the problem is the opening. It's a very nice jasmine, not an indolic one, but it combines with the blood musk to create a powerfully cloying effect on me (I agree with Little Bird that an unlisted jot of dragon's blood resin may be at fault here). It goes beautifully with the story, actually, but it scares me, and of course it has killer throw.

 

20-30 minutes later it has all settled down into a jasmine sweetened by amber with musky undertones. I don't get much tea, but tea notes are often faint or fugitive on me. In this phase I can appreciate its beauty, though it is still far too jasmine-dominated for my taste.

[artemisia]

This is the fragrance I first associated with BPAL more than 10 years ago heavy, sweet, overwhelming even. But, since I had never smelled anything like it, I was smitten. Over the years Ive grown to love lighter blends Dead Leaves variations, Octobers, Envy, for instance. Now this feels like being clobbered with a amber-musk sledgehammer or forced to inhale jasmine pimp oil. Not for me any more, alas. An ancient astronomer might have gargled a little to disguise the alcohol on his breath though and lovers of Haunted, Perversion, Red Queen and the like might fancy it.

 

All that said, I tried to wash it off with lemon verbena soap and 30 minutes later, softened into submission, its still not my huckleberry.

 

ISO: Pile of Fallen Leaves SN, A World with Octobers, Pepper ...

Edited October 26, 2018 by artemisia

[tinyvulture]

I LOVE jasmine tea, but I'm not really picking it up here. It's more like a very light, slightly fruity green tea with a gloss of amber. No blood musk. A light yellow and green feeling blend. Not a favorite but will keep it.

[VetchVesper]

This one is...odd. I don't really get a tea vibe per se. What I DO get is a dark, dry jasmine with a bitter edge.  The blood musk is giving this a sugared quality, while also lending to the bitterness. There's something almost soapy or minty lurking faintly in the back. Perhaps whisps of anise from a black tea note? If so, that's the only clue I'm getting that it's here. I don't know what the "yellow" part of the amber means, but the amber just seems to be grounding this. 

 

It's an interesting melange to be sure, and the discordant notes seem to be coming together as it dries down. It has an oddly Victorian goth vibe to me, like something someone would wear in one of Poe's stories.  

 

ETA:  Ok, upon comparing this to two other yellow amber scents - "Sunrise Kimono" and "Leave Marks" - I CAN detect a fair bit of the note here. I think it's actually responsible for the sugariness as it comes across as a powdery, sugary, light amber, not warm or rich, but slightly more complex, and less high pitched, than white amber. I'm kinda digg'n it. 

Edited July 31, 2023 by VetchVesper