DEVIL SCENTS ROUND 4

I'm  finally coming to the end of the Devil Scent series, at least the ones I could get my hands on. These are the fourth in each series, names notwithstanding, so all that's left to review are the two Liliths. They're coming soon! 

Neil Morris Devil Scent #3

At first this smells a little more bitter than the others, with herbal notes that remind me of Amanda’s compositions in spirit, but of course nothing like the same scents in reality. At first it’s strong and full of intense green cut-grass and floral notes, accompanied by campfire smoke and spice. I’m probably one of the few people who dislikes the smell of fresh-cut grass, and here I find it incongruous when smelled next to the other notes. Sometimes incongruous is good, but here it’s just strange. Eventually the cold, wet, cut grass goes away, leaving a lovely floral-incense fragrance that’s rather subtle and warm, definitely more to my liking. As it runs its course, it eventually develops into a musky labdanum and incense base that smells a lot like some of my own Dev bases. That phase lasts a good while, subtle but clearly present. Even after a few wearings I’m still trying to figure out what to make of Dev #3. Maybe the mix of cold and dead, illustrated by cut grass, and warm, illustrated by smoke and spice, depicts the conflicted feelings of the heroine when the lost love of her life reappears. 

Coda by Amanda Feeley 

Starts out very spicy, scented with lemongrass and rose, much warmer than her other three. The same bitter herbs that were in the first three Devil Scents are still there, just buried under the strong spice and floral notes. As Coda develops, it becomes sweeter, almost candied, with vanilla undertones. It is full-bodied and rich, quasi-gourmand, and I really enjoy it a lot. I think it’s all-natural, so the sillage is very good, and it lasts for a respectable time. After wearing it a few times I’ve discovered that the lemongrass-citrus and herbal notes at the beginning are more or less prominent on different days. Overall, this is a soft, sensuous, romantic fragrance, a beautiful, happy ending to a difficult story. Amanda, you must release this so that everyone can enjoy it!

DEV #4 by Olympic Orchids

My DEV #4 (Reprise) is a calm variation on the starting notes of DEV #1, a stripped-down version that emphasizes the labdanum, with just enough of the other notes to recall the promise held by the beginning of the journey and to suggest that a new journey is about to begin. 

Once again, the three different perfumers’ interpretations of the story’s ending fit together like pieces of a puzzle to provide a coherent whole. Neil’s perfume suggests that the heroine has an approach-avoidance dilemma when Dev comes back into her life, one that is ultimately resolved in calm resignation. Amanda’s interpretation is a joyous celebration of the end of a long struggle, and the sweetness of being reunited with a loved one. Underlying the sweetness is the memory of the bitterness of the past, but the bitter notes make the sweetness all the more beautiful. My interpretation is that of a purifying and cleansing process in which the new beginning of the relationship is stripped of its old baggage and is free to continue on an honest basis of mutual understanding and acceptance. I was particularly struck by the fact that both Amanda and I chose to interpret this phase as the ending segment of a musical piece. In my version it was a reprise of the overture that included the final cadence, and in Amanda's version, it was a climactic and happy final ending. 

[cut grass photo adapted from Wikimedia; flowers and fruit by Georges Jeannin, 2011, Susanna's bath by Theodore Chasseriau, 1839] 

THE DEVIL AND HIS PERFUMERS: PART 3

The numbers are probably confusing, but Neil's first Devil Scent was named, not numbered, so his #2 is actually the third in the series. Once again, the quality of these fragrances is impressive. 

Neil Morris DevilScent #2

Sweet, resinous, and just a little bit bitter to start with, with faint notes of wintergreen, this version is lower-key than the previous two, but still extremely compelling. A few minutes in, I think I smell a lot of cumin along with some labdanum and sweet floral notes. For a while the cumin dominates, a raw smell of freshly crushed cumin seeds. However the strength of the cumin seems to fluctuate.  I smelled a lot more cumin the first time I tried it than I did on the following trials. Maybe I was just expecting it on subsequent wearings, so didn’t notice it as much. The strong spicy mixture sweetens as it develops, becoming almost like candy or amaretto, but still with a hint of cumin.  In this phase it’s incredibly rich and sensuous. As it continues to dry down, I start smelling some sort of animalic musk. At this point the fragrance changes completely, becoming quietly gorgeous, almost a “one’s own scent but better” feeling. It doesn’t last as long as the others, only 4-5 hours, before it’s pretty much merged imperceptibly into my skin.

Amanda Feeley Devilscent #3

Devil Scent #3 is another bitter fragrance, but this time it’s more green, Artemesia-like herbs than wood or sawdust, almost like a purified version of #2 with a tiny hint of citrus and some resinous labdanum. As it develops, it becomes a little bit spicy and peppery, then luminous, almost translucent. It’s quietly beautiful, a scent to meditate on. Towards the end, it becomes sweet and slightly incense-y. Longevity is excellent. It’s a truly lovely fragrance that reminds me of walking through a field of sun-warmed dried grass and sagebrush, a fragrance that I want to sniff and sniff. It’s my favorite of Amanda’s Devil Scents. I want a bottle of it!

My own Olympic Orchids DEV #3 is my primary go-to scent when I want to relax. I wear it sometimes when I sleep, and always have amazing dreams. It’s 100% natural (as I think Amanda’s is, too). It starts out with a spicy-boozy-fruity note that reminds me of an old-fashioned plum pudding, but gradually becomes darker, more animalic, and almost sinister as the labdanum, ambergris, and African bluegrass come to the fore. If I put it on at night, it lasts until well into the next morning. For some reason it reminds me of my grandmother’s room when I was a kid.

I think we all based our #3 fragrances on the part of the story when Dev and the heroine part company, convinced that it will be forever (literally, since they are both immortal at that point). It’s the adagio movement of the piece, in a minor key as they both walk away from each other. Neil turned it into a traumatic parting followed by a swirl of conflicted memories as the heroine revisits the past, viewing it through a new lens, gradually making her peace with it all. I think Amanda and I both interpreted the separation process as a sort of quiet resignation to the inevitable. Her fragrance evokes the heroine crying a few tears initially, but walking quietly away with fond thoughts of the past, looking forward to peace and an almost religious enlightenment in the future. Mine, like Neil’s, has her kicking and screaming a little as she says goodbye, but then walking away in quiet resignation, into a bleak future in which she sees an empty, dark stone tomb extending outward into infinity. As before, all of the perfumes complement each other, like different musical instruments playing their parts in a single piece. 

[photos from Wikimedia. Paintings (top to bottom) by: Herbert Maxen, 1950, James Tissot, 1871, Heinrich Vogler, 1898] 

THE DEVIL AND HIS PERFUMERS

It was fascinating to discover that at least three of the perfumers who worked on the Devil Scent project came up with a suite of four Devil perfumes, each connected to a different part of the narrative of Quantum Demonology, the novel by Sheila Eggenberger. After my Devil Scent suite had been completed and released, I was curious to see what the other participating perfumers had come up with, so suggested on Facebook that we all do an exchange. Neil Morris and Amanda Feeley were kind enough to exchange their creations with me. Both of them had independently come up with a set of 4 Devil perfumes, just as I did, each representing a stage in the narrative. Amanda and I even both thought of them as variations or sections of a musical composition! This parallel thinking on the part of three perfumers who had not talked to each other at all kind of blew my mind until I realized that Sheila’s novel had had the same effect on all of us, that we were just acting as the agents of the story, and that these perfumes could not have been created in any other way.

Trying all of Neil’s and Amanda’s perfumes was the most fun I’ve had for a long time. Neil’s perfumes arrived in the mail first, so I initially thought I’d write about all of them before sampling Amanda’s. However, because our Devil Scents are conceptual triplets, I thought it would be fascinating to compare Neil’s, Amanda’s, and my interpretations of each stage. To avoid a single blog post that grows to the length of a novel, I’ll be doing these comparisons in four or five separate posts.

Another thought I had is that it would be a wonderful idea for someone to package and sell sets of the four stages, each containing three different interpretations by the three (?) perfumers who went this route, with a fifth package for the perfumers’ different interpretations of Lilith.

I’ve always had a special liking for the work of Neil Morris because I feel as if he makes perfumes that I could have made, and sometimes wish I had made. His work is not only far removed from mass-market mainstream, it’s far from niche mainstream, too. And yes, there is such a thing as mainstream niche fragrances - lots of them. I think all of the Devil Scents lie somewhere far outside this particular circle of Hell.

Neil Morris Devil Scent: Midnight at the Crossroads Café

As I understand it, this was meant to be the prelude to Neil’s other Devil Scents, which go by number, not name, and represents the protagonist’s first meeting with the Devil. The first spray took me by complete surprise with a sharp, burned scent of fire and brimstone along with an overdose of stale, excessively hoppy-malty beer. The second time, when I was expecting this combination, it seemed less like a violent punch in the face with a wet bar towel, and more like the dramatic opening of a magic show. After just two wearings, I’ve actually become quite addicted to Midnight’s unique opening. The explosive “POOF!” of light, sound, and smoke in which the Devil first appears eventually clears away, revealing the spices, resins, flowers, and woods that are at the heart of the perfume. It’s absolutely gorgeous. Seductively gorgeous, as well it should be. To quote the words of an old song, it makes me happy when skies are grey, as they are today due to freezing temperatures and dense fog everywhere. Neil’s Midnight is the best thing I’ve smelled in ages. After the first hour it is spicy, slightly powdery, slightly floral, and slightly resinous, with a lot of subtle sillage that ripples and drifts around in a now-you-smell-it-now-you-don’t fashion. The sillage-producing stage has excellent longevity. In the end it turns into a slightly powdery vanilla skin scent that lasts a good while longer. I would wear this anywhere, public be damned.

Prior to the Devil Scents, I had not tried anything from Esscentual Alchemy, the brand of natural botanical perfumer Amanda Feeley, so had nothing to use as a reference point. I do have another one of her non-Devil fragrances, Hokkabaz, which I will be reviewing later.

Amanda Feeley Devil Scent #1 

This one starts out all bitter herbs jazzed up with a little citrus. It quickly adds a lovely woody note, so that the fragrance comes to remind me of a freshly carved wooden chest that’s been used to store spices. I’ve smelled some sort of wood like this before, but can’t identify it with a name, although I can picture it. It's not like the wood grain in the photo, but it does convey a little of the feeling. Strange. It smells like an all-natural fragrance, herbal and spicy from start to finish. Sillage is moderate, but it lasts on my skin for about 5-6 hours, which is really good for an all-natural composition.

Last night I revisited my own Dev #1, so that I could compare it to the other two. The giant arborvitae top notes give it a cheerful, buoyant, and almost translucent opening quality that’s very different from the others. However, it darkens as it develops so that by this morning the African bluegrass and incense base dominates, providing a foreshadowing of what’s to come.

After smelling three different versions of the first perfume in the series, it was clear that we each interpreted the heroine’s initial meeting with the Devil in very different ways. Neil had the Devil making a dramatic, fiery, smoke-filled, drum-roll-enhanced entrance, but then turning sweetly seductive once he sat down with her. Amanda had him appearing grouchy and dangerous in a low-key way, appealing to the cynic in her and convincing her that he was her friend and partner in disillusionment, ultimately comforting her with his strong presence. I had the Devil starting out suavely seductive and smiling, turning more mysterious and threatening once he had her completely hooked on his charms and promises. All of these interpretations are totally right and, taken all together, they convey even more of the underlying psychological complexity of the story than any one by itself. 

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]