THE TWO FACES OF LILITH

This is the final chapter in the reviews of the fragrances made for Sheila Eggenberger's Devil Scent project, based on the characters in her novel Quantum Demonology. 

Neil Morris’s Lilith

starts out as a heady mix of flowers, citrusy roses and powdery violets, along with some newly cut grass. It is flowers at their most piercing and insistent, flowers that will simply not be ignored. It’s extremely sweet, keeping just below the threshold of cloying, pushing sweetness to the maximum level at which it’s still pleasant. The sillage has an almost candy-like edge to it, like candied violets.

There’s nothing at all funky about Neil’s Lilith, which came a bit of a surprise. It’s a straight-up floral fragrance that you could wear in any company. No one would raise their eyebrows, except maybe to ask what that divine-smelling floral scent is. This Lilith kills you with love, and you don’t even know it. It reminds me of the old Grateful Dead song lyrics from Push Comes to Shove …

“Shakin’ in the garden, the fear within you grows,

Here there may be roses, to punch you in the nose,

Wrap their arms around you, squeeze you till you cry,

Wrap you in their sweet perfume, and love you till you die.”

That’s exactly what Lilith does. I’m not a big fan of florals, but Neil’s Lilith is an amazingly gorgeous specimen of the floral genre. I would wear it proudly when I want to invoke the soft, super-feminine, seductive side of Lilith. Lilith reclining on a Barbie-bed in her pink lingerie smiling demurely and beckoning to her victim, or Lilith tripping through the sunshine in her flowered sundress, appearing oh so sweet and innocent, never looking at her admirers, but knowing that all eyes are on her and that her victim will inevitably be drawn to her for the kill. Lilith, who pushes her sweet and innocent appearance to the very border of credibility, stopping just milliseconds short of revealing her underlying evil intentions.

Eventually the no-holds-barred florals dry down, leaving a beautiful, soft, powdery comfort scent that makes you want to snuggle up next to it. At this stage it reminds me of a vintage Patou, only better. I could see Lilith becoming my go-to floral fragrance. Kudos, Neil! I’m probably going to "need" a bottle.

Olympic Orchids Lilith

is quite a different creature. LIL is as sharp as Neil’s Lilith is rounded, the floral notes pumped full of piercing kewda, aldehydes, and lime leaf announcing her heartless and evil intentions from the get-go. She’s an immaculately groomed schemer and dominatrix in stiletto heels, her leather underwear camouflaged by a lime-green designer business suit and persuasive smile, her whip at the ready in her designer briefcase. She intimidates her victims with absolute confidence and ruthlessness, using her irresistible will rather than her powers of sweet seduction to force them to their knees. Wealth, confidence, and power can be as seductive in their own way as breathtaking beauty and vulnerability are in theirs.

I’m blown away by how Neil and I managed to invoke these two opposing sides of Lilith so completely, Neil depicting her feminine side, I depicting her masculine side. Put them together, and you have an unstoppable force of nature. I have to go out in public all day today, but next time I’m home alone I’m going to try combining the two and see what happens. One Lilith on the right wrist, one on the left … the yin and the yang ... it should be interesting!

Many thanks to Neil Morris and Amanda Feeley for providing samples of their wonderful creations and to Sheila for inspiring it all. 

[All images taken from the Wikimedia collections] 

THE DEVIL SCENTS ARE OUT!

The DevilScents have finally come out of the lab and their lurking in the perfume underground, and emerged on the website. Last night I spent some time putting at least the minimal information on there, which was not an easy task given the rather cumbersome system for uploading photos and other items. They are listed under a new fragrance category, “Special Editions”, since they really don’t fit in any of the others, and at least some of them may be limited editions.

All of them are available in the usual formats, including a 5-ml spray parfum, 15-ml screw-top parfum, 30-ml spray EdP, and a sample pack consisting of 5 x 3-ml spray vials. I had to price them a little higher than the regular line because I used some very expensive natural materials in significant amounts.

For those who missed them before, these are are the full descriptions that I published on the website (more or less):

LIL

This is the fragrance of Lilith, the original Eve and wife of the Devil. It is floral and fruity in a green, slightly sinister way, more sharp-edged and intimidating than soft, sweet, or cuddly. It is the enthralling scent of a woman with perfect confidence in her powers, a swirling, almost chameleon-like veil of fragrance that is ethereal and nearly transparent, but still vividly and unquestionably present and compelling. The base includes woody notes, cashmeran, musk, and patchouli; the heart features passion-fruit, angel’s trumpet, lily-of-the-valley, geranium, cyclamen, and a tiny hint of rose.  To provide the special Lilith touch, the top notes are anchored by davana and kewda, topped off with a generous helping of kaffir lime leaf. This is the fragrance of a female warrior who not only fights and wins, but seduces everyone in her path.

THE DEV VARIATIONS

The DEV series is a mandala of 4 fragrances, each a variation on labdanum, which, according to Quantum Demonology, is the characteristic scent of the Devil, affectionately known as Dev. Each variation represents a different phase in the narrative of seduction, passion, destruction, and ultimate circling back to the beginning as recounted in Quantum Demonology, and functions in much the same way as a movement in a musical composition. These four fragrances will be issued as a limited edition series, with the second one, DEV #2 eventually slated to go into permanent production along with LIL. DEV #4 has turned out to be very popular, so it may go into the permanent collection as well.

DEV #1: FOREPLAY

The lightest and happiest of the series, it represents the early phase of the story when the female protagonist is being tempted and seduced into a neo-Faustian deal with the devil. It’s the scent of falling in love despite misgivings and against one’s better judgment, a scenario in which bright top notes play against a dark and foreboding base. It contains three kinds of synthetic oud and other woody base notes, black vanilla, tolu balsam, clear labdanum absolute, synthetic musk deer accord, Africa stone tincture, ambergris tincture, synthetic civet, beeswax absolute, frankincense, African bluegrass, giant arborvitae wood from the Pacific Northwest, and cinnamon leaf.

DEV #2: THE MAIN ACT

This smoky, dense, and rich composition is a big, insistent fragrance that represents the romantic phase when the tempestuous love affair between the protagonist and Dev is proceeding in all of its ups and downs. It’s the fundamental seductive scent of Dev, without the darkest and most sinister of the base notes, a spicy, woody, animalic scent that stuns the senses and renders the lover oblivious to any of the horrors and dangers that might lie in wait. It contains three different kinds of labdanum, tolu balsam, black agar, woody base notes, musks, castoreum, civet, cistus oil, incense, immortelle absolute, cade, davana, and the scent of a worn black leather jacket. It’s spiced up with a tiny dab of rose, clove, cardamom, cinnamon, and cinnamon leaf. It combines the spiritual with the carnal in a rising plume of incense accompanied by the riff of a heavy metal bass played by an entity in a black leather jacket.

DEV #3: THE INEVITABLE

This muted, dark, melancholy fragrance is made using 100% natural materials. It represents the stage at which all secrets have been revealed, after the inevitable destruction of people, things, and relationships has occurred, when the two lovers recognize that they have to part ways forever. It contains New Caledonian sandalwood absolute, dark labdanum, clear labdanum, red spikenard, a generous dose of ancient fossilized amber, ambergris tincture, black truffle tincture (the fungus, not the chocolate), cistus oil, cassie absolute, frankincense, davana, African bluegrass, myrrh tincture, motia attar, and cinnamon leaf. It is a meditative scent of loneliness and resignation to fate, but one that promotes meditation and strange dreams.

DEV #4: REPRISE

This is the bare-bones version of all the incarnations of Dev, paring them down to their unifying essence and clearing the way for the labdanum to shine through. It’s the scent of coming back full circle to where one started, but with new eyes, as if the world had been tumbled smooth and worn down by events to reveal the clear, shining gemstone at its center. It is the scent of transcendence and triumph after great loss, the calm vision that comes after having weathered a disaster. It contains clear labdanum absolute, tolu balsam, dark labdanum, a pinch of woody base notes, a little bit of frankincense, and the tiniest bit of giant arborvitae as a top note. It is a simple reprise of the original theme, stripped down to its soul, with no more illusions. It is the aura of readiness to move on to a new and higher level in the infinite spiral of life. 

[Satan sculpture by Jean-Jacques Fouchere, 1836]

THE LILITH EFFECT (AND A DRAWING)

This morning I filtered the first production batch of Lilith (aka LIL) and, as usual, made sure I got some on myself while doing it. It wasn’t a lot, just the equivalent of a medium-sized spray dose. About an hour later I went out for a run.

The first inkling I had of the “Lilith Phenomenon” or “Lilith Effect”, first described by Tarleisio in this blog post, was when I was doing my warm-up walk down our little street to the main road and passed a group of three 7- or 8-year old boys playing in a puddle. As I got close, they all looked up, eyes wide as saucers, promptly stood at attention facing me, and politely said “hello”. They seemed in awe. I was flabbergasted. As I continued on with my run I thought of Tarleisio’s post, and started to connect the dots.


As I made my way around the neighborhood, everyone I passed on my side of the road looked at me, smiled in a friendly way, and made it a point to politely say “hello”. Except for the postal delivery woman, I knew none of these people. Even though I stared intently at people on the other side of the road, they did not react. Now this might not seem worthy of note except for the fact that in the Pacific Northwest, people tend to act uncomfortable and look the other way when they pass another human being on the street or road. It’s very unusual for even one person to acknowledge my presence when I’m out walking or running, let alone everyone I pass. Maybe there’s something in LIL that makes people shape up and be polite.

Have you ever experienced unusual reactions from random people when wearing a specific perfume? If so, leave a comment about the perfume and your experience. You will be entered in a random drawing, the winner of which will receive a 3 ml spray sample of LIL to try for yourself and see whether there’s anything to the Lilith Effect besides our overactive imaginations. Moreover, you’ll have a chance to try this fragrance before it’s officially released at the San Francisco Artisan Fragrance Salon on July 8. The drawing will take place on Wednesday, June 20.

DEVIL SCENTS ROUND ONE

I’m slowly reading through the second half of Quantum Demonology, Tarleisio’s book that started the whole Devil Scent Project, trying to dole it out in small amounts to make it last longer. Meanwhile, I’m busily at work formulating perfumes for the two main supernatural protagonists – Devil Scent pour homme (Dev for short) and Devil Scent pour femme (Lil for short).

There are clues scattered everywhere throughout the book as to what these two perfumes should smell like, especially Dev’s, but actually getting there is another matter entirely. I’m afraid I’m overthinking this project, because I’m not happy with either of the formulas I’ve come up with so far. In fact, I just disposed of my first draft of Dev. It’s the first time I’ve ever done this, since I usually like to keep things for future reference, or to use in something else. It was too animalic, and not in a good way. The problem is that both perfumes need to be larger than life, supernaturally intense and emotionally and intellectually riveting, and I’m still trying to figure out the best way to accomplish that.

As you might have guessed from a previous post, one of my ideas was to use davana in both formulas to represent the shape-shifting, projection-reflecting, highly personal nature of each character’s manifestation to the human world – like the famous snake (Dev) that’s seen with the beautiful woman (Lil) in the picture. Well, it didn’t work as I had hoped it would. The davana seemed to have the odd effect of attenuating everything else instead of enhancing it. I still think using davana is doable, it’s just a matter of getting the right balance and the right effect. I don’t want to evoke any images of snakes, since those are much too retro.

I’m much happier with Lil right now than I am with Dev. At least I haven’t thrown hers away. I wanted to make a scent with a lingering, sharp, almost transparent, woody-musky base, which I’ve done to a first approximation using a combination of ambrocenide, cashmeran, cosmone, and patchouli, along with some other complementary woody-musky stuff. I then added paradisamide for its weird, greenish, passionfruit-like notes, a mix of sharp florals dominated by lily-of-the-valley, rose geranium, and a greenish rose, and then topped it all off with my leather accord, the davana and some ruh kewda. I want to use kewda in Lil’s perfume just because it has such a sharp, earthy, otherworldly, in-your-face character. It’s one of the notes that’s “almost poisonous”. I may add a little galbanum to top it all off, but will have to hold off on that and see how it blends while I go off on my trip to San Diego this weekend, back home on Wednesday night. Lil has possibilities.

For Dev, I’ve decided that in contrast to Lil’s sharpness, his will be natural-smelling, rounded and smooth, dominated by a blend of three different versions of labdanum, the scent mentioned most often by our heroine. I want a strong, sensuous labdanum to pop out as the main theme, the one that lasts from beginning to end. I’ll embellish it with tolu balsam, a church-type incense accord, a few other resinous and woody notes (I haven’t decided how far to go in the oud-ish direction that I initially took), something subtly musky, a good dollop of leather, davana, a tiny bit of motia attar, and cinnamon leaf. I haven’t decided whether to include the “birch” (presumably birch tar, not the root beer kind) and immortelle that were mentioned at one point in the narrative. I might make a second, alternate, version that’s smoky, super-leathery, and sort of sweet. I’m thinking now that I may make a new, more mellow “old, black leather jacket” accord to use in Dev’s formula(s).

I hope I get a chance to mix up at least a preliminary beta-version of Dev before I leave so that it can sit and blend while I’m away, but given all the other things I have to take care of in the next 2 days, I’m not overly optimistic that I’ll get it done.

In any case, now that I’ve kicked off this partial self-disclosure of what I’m working on, I look forward to reading about other perfumers’ devilish plans.

[Lilith painting by J.M. Collier, 1892]