Ocean of Dreams

[zankoku_zen]

This perfume encapsulates the sensation of descending slowly and languorously into a warm pool of dark water, and holds within it the voices from the nights before night existed, before twilight bisected the day; whispers burbling from our primodial subconscious, sending omens, portents, and symbols on dark wings. This is the stuff of your dreams, the dreams of your ancestral line, the dreams of your future selves, and the flotsam of dreams that buffet around you and buoy you.

 

The bottles were bathed in water steeped with blue lotus petals, clary sage, and rose mallow, and charged under the auspices of Jupiter on Sunday, August 26th from 7:28-8:21PM beneath the full moon in Pisces. This oil has been crafted to be worn as a perfume and to be used in a ritual capacity.

 

Signs and symbols, both subtle and shrieking, drifting like thick-tentacled currents through the black ocean before time: blue lotus absolute, white champa flower Co2 select, French lavender essential oil and buds, armoise mugwort essential oil, styrax essential oil from sapwood and bark tissue, liquidamber orientalis, CO2 extract of butter, marshmallow root, frankincense carterii essential oil and gum, coconut oil, bay leaves, and orris root and butter, all steeped for a full lunation in kewra and oudh attars.

 

Please note that these bottles may contain solid plant matter, and each bottle contains a piece of amethyst.

 

Ocean of Dreams reminds me a ton of the Neptune Conjure Bag (which makes sense since Moon-Neptune, and Neptune being the ruling planet of Pisces).

 

It's got that heavy watery quality. Not silvery (which is often much more Lunar). This is deep salt water. I got a bit of lavender and mugworth, and a touch of both frankincense and bay. 

Anything Neptune related isn't a natural fit for me (as a Sagittarian with strong solar and a ton of earth in my chart), and it feels more like as if I went into a sensory deprivation chamber. I do remember having a very very long deep sleep, but honestly can't recall any dreams from that.

 

I'm going to try and use both the Neptune bag and Ocean of Dreams in the next full moon, but since I'm on travel in December, this probably won't happen until the new year.

[VetchVesper]

Odd and herbal.  Mugwort is the note I get initially, though there's probably some lavender at play as well and possibly some bay.  It smells very green and medicinal.  After a bit, something oddly foody creeps in, not sweet, but almost like an undertone of cooking grease?  Perhaps the CO2 Butter?  There's a powdery depth to that emerges and grows stronger with time.  I'm guessing it's coming from the frankincense or the orris.  Further along the dry down, the fragrance becomes less green and more softly woody.  I get more of a forest quality from this than water.  It's a very odd blend of notes.  It's pleasant, but not really something I'd wear as a perfume.  I'm glad I got to try a sample of it though. 

[doomsday_disco]

I am reviewing the scent only.

 

This starts off as an intensely herbal blend. Mugwort, lavender, and bay are the notes that stand out to my nose. It is somewhat medicinal, but very relaxing, and smelling the scent during this phase really did evoke this feeling of submerging oneself in a dark pool of water. It's definitely not something I would wear as a perfume, but I thought it would make a nice, herbal sleep scent. I say 'thought' because then the oudh showed up, and it is a variety that makes me think of a dirty red patchouli type of oudh, like the kind in Half-Elf. The end result was oudh, backed by the herbal notes (especially the mugwort and bay). It still feels relaxing, but I am just not feeling the herbal oudh scent that it morphed into on me. But at least it wasn't an orris party on my skin?

 

I'm glad I got a chance to try this, but it's not something I could see myself reaching for again because of the oudh.

Edited February 12, 2019 by doomsday_disco