Thursday, November 20, 2014

Deep Midnight Perfumes

I honestly can't remember where I first heard about Deep Midnight Perfumes.  Most likely, it was someone raving about it over on IMAM.  What pushed me into making an order was finding out that there were a trio of Dragonlance inspired perfumes.  After that, it was just a matter of figuring out what else to sample first from the extensive catalogue.  I decided to pick from the Gothic, Vampires, Magic section because.... who doesn't like vampires?  Well maybe werewolves.  Too bad no one cares what they think.  

At least I'm house trained.


I ended up doing a five piece sampler of Black Throne, Blood & Donuts, and the Triple Moons.  I couldn't decided between Nocturnis or Velvet Harlot for my free sample; after going back and forth for ages, I just asked Cat to pick for me.  Color me surprised when I read her note that said first time buyers get two free samples so I got to have both!





You can tell how well loved they are by the makeup smudges.



Black Throne:

She is bewitching, inviting, sensual... and very dangerous.  She is the dark temptress who welcomes you to her tower and all the thousands of ancient nights past she has seen.  Her skin is anointed with sexy black opium and oriental white florals, accented with rich teakwood, tonka bean, dark tea, rich vanilla, and patchouli then finally caressed with notes of soft rose.

In the bottle: Exotic florals and vanilla, I think.


On my skin: Very oriental.  While wet, I pick up florals, vanilla, and something musky-but-not?  It might be the teakwood or the tonka since I'm not sure I've smelled either of those before.  After about 15 minutes, the floral notes are gone and I'm left with a warm vanilla-dominated fragrance.  

Wear Time: Lasted around four hours.

Sillage:  Light. It's teasingly there, but if I want to try to pick out individual notes, I have to bring my wrist up for a sniff.


Blood & Donuts:


The smell of humans is strong in his nostrils.  He longs to be with them, to caress them, to be one of them again.  Another scent drifts in and awakens older desires, of pleasures long forgotten, and then he sees it...  The Donut Shop on the corner.  Dark egyptian amber and gaharu wood. well blended and served with creamy vanilla, cinnamon spice, rich chocolate, and a splash of turkish coffee. It's... to die for.


In the bottle: Mmmmm Chocolate!  

On my skin: I can't decide if it reminds me more of Hot Chocolate with cinnamon or a chocolate glazed donut.  Whichever, it's chocolate and it's good enough to eat.  After about an hour, it fades down to reveal cinnamon and vanilla.

Wear Time: Lasted about an hour and a half on me.


Sillage: Light.  This is something you'd have to hug me to smell on me.



Nocturnis:


She awaits him in her elegantly appointed rooms, just as the clock strikes midnight.  Darkly seductive lips breathe the sweetness of eternity upon his neck, and he is lost from this world in a rapture of his senses.  Remember... naughty is always nice :)

A darkly sweet and seductive scent comprised of main notes: Ripe velvety plums, sensuous sweet myrrh, Virginia cedarwood, warm amber, and enhanced with background notes of Egyptian musk, buttery frankincense, pink peppercorn, patchouli and white florals.  

In the bottle:  Ooh.  This is gonna be a good one.


On my skin: Opens with plums and a bit of floral hiding underneath.  As it dries down, the florals come out more and the amber warms it up.  This is a heady, sensuous, and intoxicating perfume.  I can sit here with my face in my wrists all day.    It's like taking a midnight stroll through a night-blooming garden.  I don't know if you can tell, but this one was definitely my favorite.


Wear Time: Two hours


Sillage: Moderate.




Triple Moon Sampler Set:  Here we have the reason I decided to bite the bullet and order from Deep Midnight.  I am a huge fantasy nerd.  My first and favorite world has always been Dragonlance.  I first read Dragons of Autumn Twilight in 9th grade and was instantly captivated.  So to find out that there was a perfume set inspired by the settings' three moons filled me with joy.


Inspired by the World of Dragonlance and the three moons of Krynn.  


Dark Moon:


The Moon of Darkness.  The darkest of orchids captures lush notes of black heliotrope, smooth earthy labdanum, and a shaded woodsy forest.  Dark, bold, mysterious!


Exotic florals.  This is a very light and teasingly mysterious fragrance.  I can't pick out any of the individual notes.  It fades down to a base that's softly woody after barely 15 minutes.  Much like Nuitari the Black Moon, it's hard to spot unless you know where to look for it.  It's also fitting that it's so fleeting: out of all of Krynn's moon's, Nuitari has the shortest orbit at 8 days. No, I didn't need to look that up (despite the fact that it's been a decade since I touched any of my Dragonlance handbooks).  Yes, I know that I'm a nerd.


Wear Time: An hour.  And barely at that.


Sillage: Faint.  I had to literally put my nose on my wrist to be able to smell it.



Red Moon:


The Moon of Neutrality:  heady red musk swirls with tendrils of vibrant hibiscus flowers, plump dark red currants, and magical resins in a veiled embrace.  Sexy, earthy, warm!


In the bottle: ....it kind of smells like flowery soap from a hotel


On my skin: Dammit. there's that flower soap.  Thank goodness, as it dries down the soapiness goes away and there's a beautiful spicy earthiness that must be the red musk coming out.  It blends nicely with the florals to create a heady and exotic scent.   More Krynnish Lore, in case you were interested (and if not, too bad):  The moons of Krynn bear the names of the gods of magic.  While Nuitari is a creepy sallow looking dude, Lunitari is an earthy, sexy redheaded goddess.  This is something I'd definitely seeing her wearing.  

Wear Time:  Two hours.  

Sillage: Just this side of Moderate.  I can smell it all around me, but I can't pick out notes.



White Moon:


The Moon of Light: The palest most sensual amber envelopes notes of mimosa, orange blossoms, ginger, and finishes with delicate notes of lighter florals, ozone, and woods.  Sensual, bright, and magical!


In the bottle: I got a citrusy-floral..


On my skin: Orange blossoms.  I'm assuming Orange blossom and not Orange-the-fruit as the later only lasts a bare half hour -on a good day- on me, and the orange note hung around the entire time this lasted.  There was something underneath it that I couldn't decipher.  Looking at the notes, I think I was smelling mimosa.  The orange blossom & mimosa combo lasted for about 45 minutes; then it was still orange, but I could also detect a different, lighter sort of floral along with it.  Don't ask me about Solinari the god: I didn't pay that much attention because most of the good aligned schools of magic are boring.  I do remember that Solinari the moon has the longest orbit of 36 days.  (I pulled all these moon stats out of my ass.  Then I went to look it up and realized I was right.  And then I spent over an hour wiki-walking around the Dragonlance Lexicon because I am a giant nerd.  sigh  Meanwhile there are days where I can't remember which kid is which.   sighx2)


Wear Time: About an hour and a half.  I could still smell faint traces of it another two hours later.


Sillage:  Moderate.  I could smell it around me, but my husband had to get in my personal space before he smelled anything.



Velvet Harlot:


You come out at midnight, looking for your prey.  Seductive notes of black cherry, dark chocolate, rich vanilla, and a kiss of sangria tempt all you encounter.


In the bottle:  Mm cherries!


I didn't get sangria or vanilla.  What I got was a perfume that smells exactly like a Dark Chocolate Cherry Cordial.  This one earned the highest of praise from my husband:


grunts "That smells really good on you babe.  I like it."



Wear Time: I got two good hours out of it, and an additional hour where there was a faint trace of chocolate clinging to my wrist.  


Sillage: Quite Good.  I can definitely smell it all around me, but others have to get into my personal space before they can tell I'm wearing perfume.



I think this is gonna be the last time I bother writing down how long scents last on me.  Everything is gone within four hours.  On the one hand, I kind of hate how fast my skin eats perfume because I'm lazy and don't always remember to reapply.  Then again, if I decide halfway through the day I want to wear something different, I can go ahead and slap something else on.  


But that's beside the point.  The point is that Deep Midnight perfumes are amazingly well blended, complex, sexy, and all around worth spending money on.  Which I will be doing more of in the very near future.  


~M.


You can find Deep Midnight Perfumes over on Etsy.  Now go buy things.  



No comments:

Post a Comment