Darkness

[dcmo]

Bottled gloom; the essence of oblivion. Blackest opium and narcissus deepened by myrrh.

This definitely is a dark scent! From the imp, this is quite harsh smelling and I was almost afraid to try it but I have learned that on and dry, Beth's creations can smell quite different. This dries down softer and smoother, to be a calming beautiful incensy scent. I really like this.

[grey]

yick. is anyone familiar with the estee lauder signature scent, estee? my mother wore it for years, and to me, this smells just like it- nicer, less commercial, and it certainly doesn't make me sneeze, but too syrupy and overpowering to be enjoyable. definitely not dark.

 

might give it to my mother, at that.

[LiberAmoris]

Darkness reminds me of this poem by Jorie Graham called "In the Hotel (3:17 A.M.)" in which at the end she writes:

 

Oh blackness, I am your servant. I take for mine your green, exactest,

gift,

in which you say yourself, in which you say

only yourself---

 

Darkness is that same mix of blackness, like soot from years of candle-burning or a shuttered room (that I'm guessing is the myrrh and opium) and something green and sweet (that must be the narcissus). It's like a seed of life or a flicker of something vital in the center of decay.

 

Out of the eater comes something to eat, out of the strong comes something sweet!

[darkling]

I am not sure how I could dislike Darkness because I love the scent of opium and I love the scent of myrrh. But I dislike it. Maybe it is the narcissus?

 

On my skin, the scent smelled spicy and dark but with a sour, viscous undertone. It reminded me of the time I spilled Wings of Azrael and it became a swamp of strong, oppressive myrrh.

[paperdoll]

Initial Sniff: Very dark. I can smell the opium and narcissus.

 

Wearing: The myrrh comes out almost immediately. The smoky sweet opium is still there, and the dark narcissus too. Unfortunately, this fades very quickly.

 

Final Impressions: This is the scent of oppressive warm humid darkness. brilliant, but not for me.

[PennyPretty]

Darkness is deep and mysterious. It has a sweetness to it that is almost alcoholic in nature (the opium I'm guessing) that is cut by the myrrh. I occassionaly get a wiff of the narcissus but on me it stays in the background. This is a scent I did not expect to like, but oddly enough I do, I also think it would smell divine on a guy. Darkness to me is not a summer scent, it is something I would wear durning a dark, howling blizzard while curled up on my sofa with candles lit, a glass of red wine and gothic novel.

[Lycanthrope]

In the Bottle or Imp:

Sweet resins, but mostly a very, very sweet floral that I can't quite put my finger on. It's not jasmine, or tuberose, but it has a very similar sweet potency.

Wet, on Skin:

Whoooaaa... this is going to be a doozy on me, I can tell. Very sweet, and that floral note? Amped up like crazy. Is this lily? It's sweet and waxy, but it lacks that soapy quality that lily brings to my mind.

Drying Down:

Ok... here I the resins are warming up and trying to tie down the florals, which are a-bustin' all over the place, trying to knock me out. There's also this very sweet musky aroma that I can't identify.

Over Time/Longterm:

Dark resins. Definitely myrrh on me. I think the florals have calmed down, into a singular, resonant note of ubersweet floral.

Final Verdict?

Not for me. Beautiful, but again, these florals seem to dislike me. (On reading the components of Darkness, I've found that the culprit is probably narcissus. Lily, narcissus, and lotus on me go too strong and sweet. Sigh.)

[slave1]

In Bottle: Dark musky florals.

 

On Skin: Very exotic! The narcissus gives an elegant floral note. The opium and myrrh give a velvet, inticing depth. This is pure woman, very sexy and intoxicating. I want a big bottle of this I think, even if it is a bit perfumey. As it progresses, I do get a soapy sort of ozone note.

[The_Merf]

In the bottle: Mmmm...opium and myrrh. Very deep scent, though it doesn't actually strike me as very "dark" in the bottle.

 

Wet: Myrrh, and almost nothing else. I loff it.

 

Dry-down and wear: The opium comes out as very smoky on my skin, and blends perfectly with the myrrh. I can barely, barely detect the narcissus. It is a very heady scent, and even though I was in my pajamas, I felt quite alluring. For me, Darkness is love. I bought this bottle for my sister as a birthday present, and I'm going to have to lock it away so that it is still there for me to give to her!

[porcelain_doll]

Possession stats: Freebie Imp from the Lab.

 

In the Imp: Dark, murky, full of myrrh and something slightly smoky.

 

On the skin: Wet, we liked okay. Dry-down--a dark, MASCULINE floral? Can this be?

 

Final impressions: Again, I may have to give it another go-round in the fall, but I think this would smell divine on the right male. Masculine floral. . . hmmmmm. . .

[urraca]

I find this a very difficult scent to review because it is so unusual --- it is a real triumph.

 

The myrrh is very forceful and it is the same myrrh I smelled in Wicked, very different from the myrrh in Nefertiti. This myrrh reminds me of Bain de Soleil suntan gelee, of all things. Since I associate that scent with teenage suntans, it adds a strange set of associations to scents that contain it. It blends with the opium to create a fragrance, like many have said, of candles that have just been blown out. It does create the atmosphere of being in a darkened room after someone has doused the candles, waiting for what happens next. Late in the drydown I sometimes get an unexpected waft of sweet floral narcissus.

 

Darkness is not gloomy, rather it is a dark scent for people who like the dark.

[Lilithlefay]

The name of this scent is very appropriate because it just smells dark. This is a heavy fragrance, very dark, murky, has a spice to it. The opium mixes nicely with the spice and myrrh. This is not a summer dress type of fragrance, you need something alot more domineering. Wear this when you want to feel powerful and dominant.

[Blueelm]

Another addition to my list of must-haves. This scent reminds me of wonderful things. The opium notes are long lasting on me so this ends up reminding me a lot of Laudanum, except that there the poppy is on top and then recedes.

 

Wet this smells very traditional, like an old fashioned French parfum, very dry and somber. The narcissus is very sweet and strong, but I like it even more than I usually like lily. It becomes sweeter as the narcissus sits on my skin, and then bitter as the opium emerges. This smoky phase lasts a very long time. I get more and more myrrh as time goes, but only after 8 or so hours does this finally fade to a deep flower-tinged myrrh scent.

 

 

I agree that this is a perfectly named scent. It's also a sensual fragrance to me. A femme fatale effect.

[Little Bird]

Darkness is unlike anything that I've worn before. It is thick in an almost syrupy way. Very smoky. Not like a sweet incense smoke. An eerie, empty smokiness.

 

The smokiness lingers for a few minutes but is then taken over by a musky floral scent. It's strange and sharp on me.

 

I'll probably wear this a few more times to see if it grows on me, it's interesting. I just don't know if I'll ever really enjoy wearing it. It's more of a scent that I'd wear trying to figure out what it is, rather than wearing it because I really enjoy it.

[Nachtwulf]

In the bottle: Honeysuckle! Night blooming flowers, sweet and fresh. I suspect I'm actually smelling the narcissus, but I'm definitely thinking more 'wisteria and honeysuckle' than anything particularly 'gloomy'.

 

Wet: Still kind of a light, sweet floral, though on my skin I can pick up a bit more of the opium flavor (especially if I snort it.) Still not what I'd call 'darkness', but at least it's a floral that doesn't go soapy, it seems.

 

Dry: It warms down nicely, gaining a comforting edge without losing its pretty sweetness. It's not as spicey as I'd expect a myrrh/opium undertone to get, but at least I don't smell like a potpourri sachet, either.

 

(Second Test: It goes amazingly clove-y. I'm SURE I can smell cloves in it. Clove and myrrh, surprisingly sharp.)

 

Final Opinion: Not sure. It's /very/ different wet than it is dry, and it might be a little too sharp for me to be all that attached to. It's not in my Trade Right Now pile, but I'll probably swap it off at some point in the future.

[Muppetk]

It's official. Narcissus smells like band-aids on me. (I tried on pride yesterday and got a bandaid scent from that too.)

 

Wet: Band aid smell with some faintly spicy undertone, maybe myrrh?

 

Dry: Same.

 

Okay, add narcissus to the list of notes that seriously don't work on me.

 

Edit: later the myrrh comes out alot more and it's a rich, sweet skin scent. But the skin still has a bandaid on it. Too bad. I love the sweet, dark element. I need to go see if anything else has myrrh & poppy WITHOUT the narcissus.

Edited September 3, 2005 by Muppetk

[sixthsentinel]

Darkness was my first experience in freaky body chemistry & its effects on perfume. And a damn good example of why it may be best to try something more than once before either dismissing or ordering half a dozen bottles of a scent.

 

The First Wear---

Every sniff of the wrist was an 'experience'. Hard for me to explain, but I'll give it a try. The scent was heady & sexy. To me it is also a heavy scent, not insomuch as it is overpowering, but kind of like humidity is heavy, if that makes any sense. If this scent is the darkness of night, it's not the night with the star-filled sky and a light breeze, but a heavy still night deep into summer with not so much as a cricket stirring. The kind of night that feels like it has a life of its own & is drawn back & waiting for something, almost like the night itself is holding its breath. The calm before the storm, I guess. But somehow, riding the coattails of each inhaled breath is the 'snuffed-out candle' scent I have seen others mention. I also saw somebody describe it as 'acrid' & I think that is the perfect description for it. As I am prone to headaches triggered by certain scents, it wasn't for me...but something about the beginning of each sniff, that heady sexiness, as I can only describe it, would not allow me to discount this scent just yet.

 

Second Wear---

Complete & total hairspray, just like a few others said. This had to be my chemistry acting whacky or something, because it smelled nothing like it did the first time I tried it. As a matter of fact, it resulted in a bit of foot-in-mouth syndrome, as a smoking-sexy guy I was working with that night commented that something stuck. Immediately I was like, "does it smell like hairspray, by chance?" He said no, it didn't smell like anything in particular, just BAD. So it wasn't me, but then he wanted to know why I asked if it smelled like hairspray and, well, it was just awkward.

 

If you DO happen to have the right chemistry though...this just might be a must-have in your arsenal of 'weapons-with-which-to-subdue-and-conquer-the-opposite-sex.' Use with caution

[arabella]

First Impression: Musky incense.

 

Dries down to: a soft, dark, powdery scent with an underlying hint of floral.

 

Additional Comments: I'm not familiar with myrrh. The black opium must have been the "musky" hit I got and the floral is the narcissus. This is nice on the dry down but nothing particularly special on me.

 

Lasted: A couple of hours.

 

Rating: 2.5 out of 5

[aedes]

At first whiff... oof!... heady! florals with a bitterness that must be the myrrh. But as soon as it hits my skin and dries, ah. The myrrh turns utterly soft and warm while the opium and narcissus tango. I thought I smelled lilac, actually. It must be in the interactions. I'd say it smells the way I thought The Raven would smell. Soft, dusty purple-black, like an old, black velvet hat. More of an evening scent, but absolutely lovely!

 

Edit: And the boy LOVED it. Like wow. Unexpected!

Edited September 12, 2005 by aedes

[Dark Angel]

This goes on initially penetratingly sweet and floral, very heavy. I suspect that must be the narcissus, athough it reminds of Easter lilies more than anything else I can think of. I'm a little afraid to go out in public for the first half-hour or so after putting it on .

 

Once it dries down a bit though, it is lovely. Still very sweet but not cloying, with an elusive smokiness underneath. I like it very much at this stage. It lasts 4-5 hours on me.

 

I have discovered however, that I can't wear it during 'that' time of month; it stays sickly sweet during that particular week. The rest of the time, though, it is fantastic once I wait out the initial blast.

[13bodies]

This was a frimp from the lab, and was not one I would likely have tried on my own.

 

This goes on very strong and almost gives me a headache. That passes in a few minutes. As it dries the scent sticks very close to my skin. It doesn't smell dark to me, more like a gloomy murky green-grey. I don't smell any florals at all and it's not the least bit sweet. It has good staying power as well.

 

Though this isn't the type of scent I usually like, I really like Darkness. It goes on the big bottle possibles list.

[Monster]

Ohh the narcissus is strong in this one, it almost gives it a sort of plasticy smell. A lot of floral smell like plastic to me for whatever reason. On my skin this ended up turning to a plasticy myrrh. It's soft, powdery, incensy with the teeniest bit of floral.

 

Unfortunatly, the narcissus ruins this blend for me. If it weren't plasticy I think I might've actually liked this one. :/

[Scarlettfish]

This was a frimp from the lab and I would never have picked it for myself...but I find I am really liking it.

 

This blend smells like darkness, in a way that I can't really identify. It just smells kinda dark and sultry. It is very incensey, but with a dark floral smell (the narcissus, I imagine) underlying it. I think I might be falling in love with this - it's very different to what I usually wear, in that I usually avoid incensey, candle-type smells, but this is so sexy that it just might have to go on my 'must buy bottles' list.

[coulrophobe]

This smells like a very old-fashioned kind of perfume to me - very powdery, and very refined. It smells like a wealthy, distinguished older woman with great taste and impeccable manners. Definitely wearing pearls. I think it's the opium I'm smelling most - it's sweet and a bit heavy, but not in a bad way at all. I keep picturing Anne Bancroft.

 

This definitely isn't an everyday scent for me - but I can see wearing for those little-black-dress occasions.

 

I'm very glad the myrrh behaves itself in this blend - a lot of the time, it turns quite syrupy on me. So... while this scent is lovely, it's not completely "me."

[Orodemniades]

Reminds me of smoke, which would be okay in and of itself, but unfortunately there's this plastick-y sweet odor that's veyr unpleasant on my skin. Actually, it's the smell of a fresh band-aid, and has ruined the taste of the apple I'm eating...

 

Off to the swaps!

 

Oro