BPAL sniffing notes 47 - Mme. Moriarty, Misfortune Teller, Western Diamondback, Temple Viper, Champagne bath oil

Mme. Moriarty, Misfortune Teller - A colorless woman bursts from an elaborate gold and ruby tent and faints dead at your feet. Soft laughter emits from the dark entrance to the tent, and the scent of musk, black fruits and incense touches your senses. Looking up, you see that the sign hovering above the unconscious woman is adorned with images of the Major Arcana"s Tower and reads:

"Mme. Moriarty, Misfortune Teller.
No fate too grim, no future too bleak."

A tiny woman with floor-length black dreadlocks walks out of the tent, stepping over the prone body. She is clothed in deep red wrappings, and is bedecked in golden ornaments bearing alchemical symbols and charms representing eternity, chance, and wisdom. She pauses, looks you over slowly, and then flicks a tarot card at your feet.

Red musk, vanilla bean, pomegranate, patchouli leaf and wild plum.

In the vial, sweet and musky and just slightly medicinal. Color, dusty black.

Wet on my skin, I'm anxious to see if aged red musk plays any more nicely than fresh. Oh, my. Mme. Moriarty is very persuasive. I like this... Now to see if the red musk agrees with me.

10-15 minute drydown - Holy Patchouli! It's sweet and resinous and I love it. It reminds me of these black patchouli scented candles I used to buy that I adored.

1 hour drydown - Hrmm... I dunno if I'll be able to wear this. The red musk is starting to amp. I quite like it, but it's starting to take on an overly heavy medicinal quality I've started to associate with red musk and my body chemistry. We'll see how this goes.

2 hour drydown - Ok, I think Mme. Moriarty has won me over. I need a bottle of this one. The notes are playing well, which is what I was worried about, and I think after some aging, she'll work quite well.

*****

Western Diamondback - Snake Oil with leather, tonka bean, red sandalwood, and sage.

In the vial, it smells clean. Like leather polish. I think that's the sage and the tonka. Color, butter yellow, like leather.

Wet on my skin, it's *very* sweet. Gotta be the tonka. This reminds me of yellow tanned leather - that sweet, slightly acrid leathery smell.

10-15 minute drydown - This smells EXACTLY like brand new yellow leather work boots boots on me, right down to the slight oily acridity of the rubber lug soles. Crazy.

*****

Temple Viper - Snake Oil with with sugar cane, frankincense, champaca, opoponax, labdanum, and hyssop.

In the vial, it smells almost like an herbal brown sugar, oddly enough. Colorwise, red gold.

Wet on my skin, ack. I was hoping that age would temper Frank a little... Not so. It smells beautiful, but I can already feel a headache coming on. It's gotta go.

*****

Champagne bath oil - Unreleased prototype bath oil from the Black Phoenix Trunk Show at Dark Delicacies on Sunday, November 29th, 2009.

In the vial, sparkly! It kinda reminds me faintly of ginger ale. I like it! Color, ginger cream.

Wet on my skin, it smells like ginger and limes, with a sparkliness in your nose! OMG I NEED LIKE A GALLON OF THIS as long as it doesn't go to lily of the valley on me, which I suspect it might.

10-15 minute drydown - It's still sparkly and clean and I <3 it.