Wander Darkling in the Eternal Space

[fenharel]

This February, darkness will reign as we experience a month without a full moon: the velvet darkness of sweet myrrh and vetiver-laced patchouli, Madagascar vanilla, smoked ambrette seed, and blackened rose petals.

I put this one on and almost fell out of my chair, it's so gorgeous. In the bottle and wet on the skin the myrrh dominates. It's sweet and powdery on it's own, and the vanilla lends even more sweetness. It's soft and fluffy and dark and rich, like a cloud in a black night sky. The rose lends it a soft sophistication - I can sense her standing off in the wings, quiet and self-assured, content to just be there without taking center stage. The rose is not a standout or easily identifiable note on my skin. Does anyone else think ambrette seed smells a little bit like oudh? Because that's the vibe I'm getting from it. As it dries down it transitions into pure, sweet, baby powder puff myrrh with a spine of rich patchouli. A beautiful scent.

[lady_pandora]

Wander Darkling is very much myrrh-dominant on me; I can't make out a lot of the other notes individually, and this scent smells to me like a close relative of some of the other "darkness"-themed scents Beth has done, such as Event Horizon and a couple of the Eclipse 2017 scents I tried. This is awesome, because I've been kicking myself for months for not getting big bottles of any of the Eclipses, and because I love the slight soft rose I pick up in the middle stages of this one, which is gentler than the opium in Event Horizon. Keeper!

[trinitysite]

This is just plain weird on me. It smells incensey in the bottle, but when I put it on whoa is it stinky. Astringent? Maybe that's vetiver? It's almost like oudh? Fortunately, that doesn't last long, and it becomes a spicy patchouli, then fades to a sweeter patchouli/rose with a background myrrh note. I do not know how I feel about this! I think I would like it enough if it didn't have that yucky initial phase? I feel like I'm going to keep trying this "one more time," so maybe my opinion will change or the blend will change some as it ages.

[puellacaerulea]

Rose generally doesn't work well on me, but I liked the other notes (and the concept), so I decided to take a chance on this. In the bottle and immediately after putting it on, it's definitely myrrh-dominant, to the extent that I'm not able to distinguish the other notes. I also noticed a weird, sharp, almost astringent stage as it started to dry down (maybe the vetiver?), but fortunately, it calms down after a little while. This might be one case where rose's tendency to go powdery on me works in my favor -- once that happens and the vanilla comes out a little more after drydown, I get a soft, slightly powdery, but still myrrh-forward scent. I really like this once it reaches its post-drydown stage. If you like myrrh, you'll probably like this.

[zankoku_zen]

Rose, vanilla, and a touch of myrrh. There's a powderiness that reminds me to violets and its the soft pink roses. It's dark, velvety, and the vanilla sweetens up the myrrh. Good throw and wear length. Dark, softly romantic, and tragic.

[archaesophilia]

This is an amazingly balanced patchouli! I haven't found a patch scent as sophisticated since Nasty Woman. The rose and myrrh balance out the patch and vetiver in a way that I wish all patch and vetiver could be smoothed out, and the vanilla and ambrette lurk underneath. Velvety darkness is exactly what this is.

[highgarden]

As someone who gets massive headaches due to florals, I was worried about the rose in this, but thankfully it was only really present in the bottle! When wet, it was still there, but balanced by the myrrh and patch, but by the time it dried, it was all myrrh, all the time. It got to the point where about an hour later, I was smelling like incense and soap and so I had to wash it off, and an hour after that, I got a sweet vanilla residue on my wrist. Alas, I think I have to age this a bit more and test it later so hopefully that vanilla has more of a presence.

[annemathematics]

this opens with a vetiver-heavy patchouli over a light rose. as it settles, the rose remains until the end but functions more as a beautiful emollient than a star player. the vetiver recedes a bit, and the vanilla comes out. a few hours in, the tone is set by warm and fuzzy myrrh, with wafts of soft, sweet vanilla.

 

this lasts overnight on me and has a nice throw that lets me smell it without overwhelming my coworkers. this past week I've been reaching for it every day. it's lovely and very easy to wear. elegant and glamorous but insanely comfortable and happy too.

[ayelienne]

This started off very rootlike (vetiver/patch) with fuzzy resin (myrrh) and dying dark red roses that are a few days away from being thrown out. Very sophisticated. After a while, things settled down with the rootlike and slight decay notes, and the vanilla emerged, morphing this during drydown into a creamy and slightly sweet vanilla/myrrh/rose blend.

[theseagrows]

this smells like resins with hints of patchouli. after a minute or two i get some vetiver, and in the far off distance, a hint of rose. i do believe myrrh is the strongest note though, and it continues to be after several minutes. i don't seem to get any of the vanilla until it's been on my skin about 10 minutes-then i get just a hint. ultimately this is mostly myrrh with rose, with myrrh being the strongest note. a like but not a love.

[ltrittipoe]

Baby oil? I don’t even know what is making my brain smell that, but it smells like .... either Johnson& Johnson baby oil, or baby wipes. I guess they smell kind of the same. My nose must be broken.

[kscha2017]

Dark and sexy, but also sweet and innocent, and a tad bit lonely. I keep getting the image of a lovestruck tiny gothy Valentine Faerie in a black velvet gown kissing the shadowy, forlorn dark moon. If you could make black rose baby powder, it would smell like this. It's lovely, calm, comforting, a bit wistful, a tad heartbroken. I would love this in a linen spray for my sheets and blankets. I think it fits the concept perfectly.

[LizziesLuck]

To be honest, I am not expecting to like this. Patchouli and I aren't getting on well lately, Myrrh and I are love-hate and vetiver is always iffy. But the other notes are gold on me, and I adore the name, so here we are! Lol.

 

 

Wet: Patchouli (dry and dirty and not pleasant, as it likes to be on my skin) quickly overtaken by Myrrh. The Myrrh is not quite as "stomp all over everything" as usual, but it's still pretty dominant. It is actually not mixing well with the patch on me. So it smells like dirty Myrrh. Not the worst thing I have tried, but not good either.

 

Dry: Not bad at all. Sweet Myrrh, mostly. Just a hint of patchouli (not as dry and unpleasant now). I like it OK, but I don't LOVE it. Going to age it a while and see if it changes before I let it go.

[LiberAmoris]

Wander Darkling in the Eternal Space is so interesting. Wet, it smells like peanut butter, jelly, powder, and vetiver. Then it starts to shift and the vanilla, myrrh, and patch take a front seat, with the ambrette and rose petals pouring in between the cracks. It remains a vintage-reminiscent scent on me, with the vetiver retaining an edge that's nearly animalic. I like it, it's almost like a surprise gourmand. It's already smoothed out with some aging, and I anticipate that it will get even better with more time.

[aphrodite]

This scent is so lovely. It's like De Vos Dark. it has that soft, ethereal, sweetened pillow of roses quality, but instead of pink, it's the deep colors of twilight.

Edited June 22, 2018 by aphrodite

[artisjok]

I’d been wanting to try Wander Darkling for a while, and I finally got a swap for it. Wet, the patchouli is the strongest, hints of other notes behind it. The rose starts to amp up, and it’s a strange dirty rose.... hmm.. I don’t really like the combo (and I love both notes usually). This fades pretty quickly into a vanilla tinged myrrh and ambrette scent and stays softly in this phase for a little while. Velvety, for sure. It vanishes all too quickly though! 

 

Seemed like this scent was going to be a hit with me, as I love all the notes listed and the concept worked in my imagination. I’m sad that it didn’t come together like some others experienced, and that the wear length was so short. I’m going to do another wear a different time, when I’m more hydrated, and see what comes of it. 

[starbrow]

With a name like Wander Darkling in the Eternal Space, this Grishaverse fan had to acquire. And the perfume does not disappoint. This is a darkly brooding Romantic, through and through. I could absolutely picture the Darkling wearing it, the smoky elements hinting at his fire-and-brimstone true nature, the sweetness like his lovely exterior. Almost extravagantly blended to be a gothic's dream.

 

Two tricky notes for me, rose and myrrh, are both given a beautiful treatment. The myrrh is deeply embedded into dark smoked resins that keep it from taking over, and the myrrh just brings a lightness to the resins. The rose, meanwhile, is that gorgeous blackened kind that is very mysterious and gothic. Still quite present in the blend, but it doesn't take over either.

 

Blindly guessing, I would have said opoponax rather than vetiver was the lacing in here. The touch of vetiver is very light-handed for this vetiver lover's taste. Either way, it is an elegant resin darkening and smoothing the patchouli. The ambrette seed is deliciously smoky and earthy, almost spicy. Such good presence, representing synesthetically the grey moral area of the Darkling. Lots of velvety (unf) darkness in the three resins, balanced by the lightness of the vanilla and rose petals, and in between, ambrette seed, complex and intimate, at the core of who this Darkling is. 

 

An incredible blend that will only get better with age. Bottle forever.

 

I would wear this while: watching the next season of Shadow & Bone (or reading the next Grishaverse book), duh!