BPAL: Vampires Don't Sleep Alone - Cicuta

Over the centuries, vampires have classified their own kind, and in the past, these classifications became the root of a rough caste system that some vampires still adhere to today...

The Cicuta, also called the Rictus, are least likely to be accepted by human society, and are, sadly, also the least likely to be accepted by other vampires in general...

CICUTA:  Dry, dusty rose petals, candle smoke, frankincense, and saffron.

Keep reading for the review...

Buy Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab (BPAL) perfume oils here.

 

Some vampires have a peculiar adverse reaction to the transference of the vampiric pathogen whereby their physical appearance is drastically altered: They lose their hair, their features become elongated, their eyes protrude, and a permanent and irreversible inflammation of their joints causes stiff movement and a clawlike rigidity in the hands and feet. Cicuta minds function as any other vampire's, but their appearance is so startlingly different that they find it almost impossible to find any acceptance whatsoever among humans or vampires. Usually these afflicted vampires choose to live in isolation, either on secluded estates or literally underground. Occasionally, small groups of Cicutas can be found cohabitating, finding comfort and companionship with those that share their condition. The Cicuta were parodied somewhat in F. W. Murnau's 1922 film Nosferatu.

Immediate thoughts:  I try not to be elitist and have never participated in a caste system before, but I gotta say that dude on the bottle is scary-ugly. Cicuta, indeed. I was a bit concerned to sniff, just looking at the picture. Aren't you?

When wet: Immediately upon putting this on, I looked around to see who out out a rose-scented candle. It's got that candle-wax-recently-snuffed-rose scent that's really distinct. But it's not "in yer face" Yankee Candles. No insta-headache here.

Later: Amazing that the rose hasn't overtaken me, leaving me in its wake like an old lady's granny-panty drawer or recently concocted potpourri. No, this is one of the very, very few rose perfumes (even BPAL) that doesn't smack me upside the head and leave me feeling ill. I amp rose like a futher-mucker, and yet apparently not "dry dusty rose petals". At this point, the "snuffed candle scent" is not as apparent. Have I gotten used to it, or has it gone away?

Later still: My oh my, this is a lovely thing. The dry-down is soft and sultry and foreign, but somehow still familiar. This is one that makes me snuffle my own arm constantly, and I don't care who's looking!

An aside: Had you asked, I couldn't have told you what frankincense and saffron smelled like. Not a clue. I don't have the money to keep fresh saffron in the pantry for cooking. (Possibly because I spend all of my -meager- money on cosmetics and perfume oils?) A quick consult with an expert (Wikipedia) tells me that saffron smells of metallic honey with hay notes¹. Asking the same expert, I found that frankincense smells balsamic, spicy, lemony, incense with an undertone of conifer². Well that clears that up, non?

Reflections: Ah, BPAL, I knew one day you and I would meet on common ground with a perfume oil that would allow me to wear the roses I love in the garden (without bursting into tears at the overwhelmingness of it all). This is it. I am now determined to seek out more frankincense scents, because this is just amazing to me. I can pick out the slightest tart lemon tinge and the bit of almost-pine, but they are subtle and only apparent to me now that I know they are there. This is that kind of well-blended scent. Honey, is somewhat present--- maybe "honeyed" is a better description. The freshness of a newly mucked stall (that's horse talk for "smells  a bit like hay") is also there, but with an incredibly light hand. And always the glorious rose tying it together.

Such an unattractive vampire, but so many lovely fresh but solemn scents. If this is what the Cicuta smell like, I will not run the next time I encounter one*.

*OK, I probably still will.

_{Thanks, BPAL, for sending me these bottles to review.
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