I have been a negligent blogger but I hope you shall bestow forgiveness upon me. I place a nice fat Halloween order from
Nocturne Alchemy and have been sniffing and wearing them and not sharing that goodness.
Here I am at the eleventh hour to share with you my brief thoughts on these wonderfully spooky scents. The disappear from the Nocturne Alchemy website at midnight PST tonight.
Ghostly- Notes: Vanilla-amber-woods, cemetery musk, a hint of Kashmir blood musk and a drop of vanilla Crystalline absolute. $26
A withering rose skeleton lies like a memento mori beside a derelict sepulcher. Ozonic fog uncurls and drapes over the tomb like the long locks of a ghost. Corporeal musks join the fog and waft of rose to haunt the heart. Ghostly dries down into a smooth vanillic amber musk that has some undertones of oakmoss and honeysuckle. Something bright and floral leaning. It does remind me of some vintage perfume I have sniffed in an old timey Baptist church when I was younger. Very happy with this one.
Speaking with Spirits- Noes: Oudh, black sandalwood, Claifornia sage, Diamond musk accord, smoke accord, smoky galbanum and ember wood accord. $26
The spirit that rises up with this scent is freshly rubbed out of the bottle is a green herbal galbanum ghost. There is a potent astringency to it initially that is invigorating and bracing. Sage contributes to the verdant aura around this spirit. It takes patience for the green ghost to settle into his new realm and take on the darker more smooth and rich tones of the smoky oudh and sandalwood but once he does he becomes a snuggly wee beast who wears like a shadow.
Eternal Ankh Claret- Notes: Kashmir red musk, incense accord, skin musk, black Santalum, white amber absolute, powdered and reconstructed oil of Egyptian vanilla husk and vanilla fleck. $25
I am obsessed with these iterations of the Eternal Ankh that NA has been rolling out. I will review the other colors soon but for now here is Claret (sadly now sold out- but may return next year). Claret opens with reminders that it is indeed a variation of Eternal Ankh. Golden vanilla and sandy amber glow under a veil of soft billowing incense. The creamy sandalwood and vanilla husks almost give a coconut-cardamom nuance to the aroma in its richness. This is a stunning fragrance that captures romance and warmth and elegance.
V by Thoth- Notes: Incense, sweetened spices of cardamom, cinnamon, allspice and cloves swirled with vanilla pods, ghost musk and copal resin. $25
Satiny cardamom and brown sugared vanilla pour along the skin. The spices are subtle and aged, not fiery or intense. The gourmand beginning is soon enriched by buttery copal and light incense. This is an incredible perfume. One that is backup worthy.
Bastet's Ice Cream: Halloween Spice Cake Santalum Creme- Notes: Buttery coffee cake, cinnamon and nutmeg, vanilla bean powder, Santalum sandalwood absolute, a shot of espresso, vanilla Crystalline cream, butter accord, caramel accord, French vanilla bean absolute, vanilla milk accord, vanilla orchid, Crystalline absolute and vanilla sugar. $25
Decadent golden spiced cake with a sprinkling of sandalwood. Not buttery but flavorful and fluffy. The vanilla laden spice waters the taste buds and warms the cockles of the heart. The drydown reminds me of a vintage Samsara I picked up in an antique store, this shimmering and sexy sandalwood that curls my toes. If spiced vanilla sandalwood is your flavor, you need this version of Bastet's Ice Cream. The longevity on this one is amazing.
Skelekin- Notes: Vanilla, vanilla butter cream, vanilla ice cream accord, Kobalt, Crystal, Crystalline and a nice drop of cardamom with a touch of aged patchouli. $25
On my skin this perfume is all about the cardamom at first. Velvety like tonka beans and white pepper. Silken vanilla sheaths the cardamom and makes for a dreamy fragrance. It is subtly sweet and not foodie but plush and a touch dusky with that drop of velveteen patchouli.
Halloween Evening- Notes: Vanilla bean, fall spices (cinnamon, nutmeg, clove, allspice and ginger), pumpkin rice milk, coffee cake and Bastet's Amber absolute with a touch of Crystalline absolute. $27
Delicately spiced vanilla drizzles onto the flesh. Pumpkin rice milk gives this one a cashmere sweater feel with a soft spun texture. Creamy, powdery and otherworldly. This is one of the more unique takes on the sweet pumpkin spice genre and I adore it. Halloween Evening melts into a cinnamon dusted crumb cake with Royal vanilla icing. Amber lies like quiet warm embers at the heart of this perfume and as it lingers it emerges bit by bit. This is one of my favorites from this release.
Pumpkin Library: Number 24- Notes: Copal resin, pumpkin, cinnamon, nutmeg, brown sugar, frankincense and amber resin. $25
Pumpkin 24 does strange things on my skin. I don't see ginger as a note but it is what my nose picked up when I put this one on. I think it may be a combination of a sharp frankincense and perhaps the variety of copal used. I had a friend travel to Belize and send me some fresh copal from a tree and it has these vegetal and edgier green tones. The spices and pumpkin and sugar are quiet and the gingery piquant beginning takes several minutes to fade into a woodsy ginger root skin. It very well can be my chemistry but this wore very similar to Black Cat on me.
Scarlet Bat- Notes: Red sugar, cinnamon musk, black tea leaves, neroli-sugar and NA black patchouli absolute. $25
Fresh on the skin the black patchouli lifts up and takes flight amid a red setting sun. Quickly the carnival like sugars swoop in to briefly highlight the nocturnal patchouli while musks and an anise laced tea flap gentle wings around the dusky furred body. This is certainly a patchouli scent but it does settle into more of a sweet skin musk with the faint reminder of patch that lets you know the bat once flew at night. I love everything I have tried from the Bat line.
I love all of these but Scarlet Bat, Skelekin, BIC: Halloween Spice Cake Santalum Creme, Halloween Evening, V and Claret stole my soul. All of these perfumes except Halloween Evening and Claret are still available until midnight tonight.
Costumes
This Halloween Savanna is building herself a spooky pumpkin faced scarecrow costume. She will be wearing mostly black with one of my flannel shirts, gloves, boots and this creepy pumpkin face mask she found at Spirit Halloween store. Scarlette bought her own costume this year online and it is a grim reaper girl getup with grey flowing tattered tunic, chains for a belt, skeleton leggings and gloves. I think she forewent the scythe but not sure. I may dress up as some robe wearing wizard or other from the Tolkien universe. They are looking forward to Trick-or-Treating.