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Weight | 1 oz |
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$32.00
An unimaginably ancient scent, older than time. The gentle, fluttering embrace of oblivion: myrrh and blackened champaca blossom, attar of oudh, black amber, Casmir wood, and dried fig.
Words by Neil Gaiman, art by David Mack.
Out of stock
Weight | 1 oz |
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Carrying bouquet, and handkerchief, and gloves,
Proud of her height as when she lived, she moves
With all the careless and high-stepping grace,
And the extravagant courtesan’s thin face.
Was slimmer waist e’er in a ball-room wooed?
Her floating robe, in royal amplitude,
Falls in deep folds around a dry foot, shod
With a bright flower-like shoe that gems the sod.
The swarms that hum about her collar-bones
As the lascivious streams caress the stones,
Conceal from every scornful jest that flies,
Her gloomy beauty; and her fathomless eyes
Are made of shade and void; with flowery sprays
Her skull is wreathed artistically, and sways,
Feeble and weak, on her frail vertebrae.
O charm of nothing decked in folly! they
Who laugh and name you a Caricature,
They see not, they whom flesh and blood allure,
The nameless grace of every bleached, bare bone,
That is most dear to me, tall skeleton!
Come you to trouble with your potent sneer
The feast of Life! or are you driven here,
To Pleasure’s Sabbath, by dead lusts that stir
And goad your moving corpse on with a spur?
Or do you hope, when sing the violins,
And the pale candle-flame lights up our sins,
To drive some mocking nightmare far apart,
And cool the flame hell lighted in your heart?
Fathomless well of fault and foolishness!
Eternal alembic of antique distress!
Still o’er the curved, white trellis of your sides
The sateless, wandering serpent curls and glides.
And truth to tell, I fear lest you should find,
Among us here, no lover to your mind;
Which of these hearts beat for the smile you gave?
The charms of horror please none but the brave.
Your eyes’ black gulf, where awful broodings stir,
Brings giddiness; the prudent reveller
Sees, while a horror grips him from beneath,
The eternal smile of thirty-two white teeth.
For he who has not folded in his arms
A skeleton, nor fed on graveyard charms,
Recks not of furbelow, or paint, or scent,
When Horror comes the way that Beauty went.
O irresistible, with fleshless face,
Say to these dancers in their dazzled race:
“Proud lovers with the paint above your bones,
Ye shall taste death, musk scented skeletons!
Withered Antinoüs, dandies with plump faces,
Ye varnished cadavers, and grey Lovelaces,
Ye go to lands unknown and void of breath,
Drawn by the rumour of the Dance of Death.
From Seine’s cold quays to Ganges’ burning stream,
The mortal troupes dance onward in a dream;
They do not see, within the opened sky,
The Angel’s sinister trumpet raised on high.
In every clime and under every sun,
Death laughs at ye, mad mortals, as ye run;
And oft perfumes herself with myrrh, like ye
And mingles with your madness, irony!
A gloriously elegant representation of Lady Death. Dry, bone-white orris, black musk, serpentine patchouli and our murkiest myrrh.
As she stood there a third man on horseback came galloping up. His face was black, he was dressed all in black, and the horse he rode was coal-black. He galloped up to the gate of the hut and disappeared there as if he had sunk through the ground and at that moment the night came and the forest grew dark.
But it was not dark on the green lawn, for instantly the eyes of all the skulls on the wall were lighted up and shone till the place was as bright as day. When she saw this Vasilissa trembled so with fear that she could not run away.
Black leather, oppoponax, tobacco, and black amber.
Upon the next stage, a primitive cage has been erected. It is made of heavy, dark sticks bound with strips of deep brown leather. The stage is as dark as pitch, and from the shadows, you hear soft hissing, spitting, and an ominous chorus of weird rattling sounds. You approach with some trepidation, and peer between the bars. Your attention is seized by writhing forms on the straw bottom of the cage. As your eyes adjust to the gloom, you realize that the floor is seething with serpents, dark and colorful, languid and large, swift and small. You hear a sultry chuckle, and you see bright, unblinking emerald eyes staring at you from the corner of the cage. A woman crawls through the snakes, her scaled body as sinuous and lissome as the creatures that share her home. She reaches towards you languorously with her sharp-clawed hands and sighs.
A sensual blend of twisting, exotic, serpentine oils: black amber, oakmoss, green sandalwood, bergamot, jasmine sambac, gardenia, orange pulp, black cardamom, vanilla, blackberry, black musk, blackened vanilla husk, white honey, ti leaf, and ginger.
Seduction, sensuality, the Act, and the aftermath all in one. The scent of warm, damp skin flushed with the glow of passion, touched by the luxuriant potency of ylang ylang and myrrh.
atflyaway –
The first couple times I opened the bottle I was immediately struck by an odd animal smell that I found very off-putting. I suspect it’s the champaca. But that particular scent doesn’t linger very long when you wear it. The black amber begins to stand out more, which is what I find appealing… a very deep, warm fragrance. With this one, a little goes a long way.
Azure –
Something old and known that lingers with us all. We try to deny it. Try to shy away from it until it comes. Yet the meeting is comforting and sweet. A needed release that comes with an embracive smile.
Old and ancient woods waft into the foreground. It seems nearly primal and always present in a way. Like something we cannot remove ourselves from. Layered with this is an honored and sacred scent of myrrh and black amber that gives a sense of reverence. The cumulation is something sincere and beautiful in a way that we all need.
Wearing this scent is a potent and lasting fragrance. It holds a throw that is medium to long and gives a pleasant wafting for any that are nearby.
When it is first applied to the skin, it is somewhat jarring and surprising in a way; 40-60 minutes after the dry down, it takes on a sweeter and more subtly pleasant appeal. I will admit that at first I was not certain I would want to wear this fragrance often, yet after a weekend of wear I can confidently say: this scent is most definitely something I needed in my lifetime.
ReallyZeb –
Since this arrived I’ve been struggling to pick anything else to wear at all. It’s old and dusty and endless and burrows right into my soul. When I try to separate the notes I end up with tears in my eyes because it is so damn beautiful. It’s the most beautiful blend I have ever owned. I wore it to my father’s funeral and it gave me comfort.