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Category Archives: Devilscent Project

Devilscents Part 2: Maria McElroy and Alexis Karl

November 18, 2012 By in Devilscent Project 6 Comments

The Devilscent Project is a collaboration between Sheila of The Alembicated Genie and the following perfumers: Ellen Covey (Olympic Orchids) Neil Morris  (Neil Morris Fragrances), Amanda Feeley (Esscentual Alchemy) Monica Miller (Perfume Pharmer) Kedra Hart (Opus Oils), and Maria McElroy and Alexis Karl (Aroma M/Cherry Bomb Killer Perfumes/Scents by Alexis). Inspired by Sheila’s novel Quantum Demonology, the project explores the scents of key characters in the novel, as well as a host of other themes. A complete list of posts by participating bloggers can be found here. 

Maria McElroy (Aroma M) and Alexis Karl (Cherry Bomb Killer Perfumes/Scent by Alexis) created Lil and Dev for The Devilscent Project. Lil is Lilith, the Devil’s disappointed wife, and Dev is the Devil himself. 

Most of the perfumers participating in this project have not presented their Lilith and Devil fragrances as a pair, which frankly makes sense, given the plot of the novel. (Spoiler alert! There’s trouble in paradise hell.) But Maria and Alexis did, which caught me by surprise and highlighted the very human and flawed relationship between these two characters—one of the things I liked best about Quantum Demonology. 

Lil is a dream for everyone who likes a modern take on a classic white floral. It’s big in the tradition of Fracas or Quelques Fleurs, but not as blow-the-door-down big as either of those. I don’t have a note list, but I think I smell jasmine, orchid, a little tuberose, maybe frangipani. I don’t find it very earthy or green. It’s grounded instead by something more urban: on my skin (as opposed to paper), the florals seem to sit on a note of wet concrete. Instead of a hothouse of blousy white florals, Lil delivers a fully blooming bouquet that is also strangely cold. Tempestuous, but controlled.

In contrast, Dev announces himself with a playful exclamation of chocolate. This is not dark, serious chocolate. It’s chocolate with an overdose of malt. Maria and Alexis’s Dev is the boyish side of the Devil that Sheila introduced so believably and so well in Quantum Demonology, and I’m glad the perfumers showed this side of the character. Over time, something more corporeal (as opposed to inanimate but edible) starts to infuse the chocolate a bit, but the top notes are so resolutely chocolatey that I have to really concentrate to smell anything else. 

After wearing Lil and Dev side-by-side, I quickly saw them as a pair. The impression of open playfulness in Dev highlights the restrained feeling of Lil, and Lil’s ennui and frustration add some much-needed tension to the Dev mix. I think the perfumes would actually wear well layered, but I haven’t tried it. And from the standpoint of a collaboration with the novel, the pairing highlights Sheila’s portrayal of Dev and Lil’s relationship as flawed and tragic, and threatening to the protagonist not just because of how its breakdown impacts her, but because of what it could indicate about her future with Dev. 

Big thanks to Sheila, Maria, and Alexis for including me in this project. The image above is by John Grant, found via the Kew Gardens.

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Devilscents Part 1: Esscentual Alchemy

May 6, 2012 By in Devilscent Project 17 Comments

Tarleisio’s perfume blog (currently at The Alembicated Genie) is home to completely unique prose and an almost mystical exploration of fragrances that speak to her. I never click to The Alemicated Genie with an expectation of anything else than a passionate discussion of a perfume. She has a way of getting into the dark sides of even the most “well behaved” perfumes.

Which is exactly what she did with me through her novel Quantum Demonology. I think you’d be hard pressed to find a reader who seemed less like “the audience” for Sheila’s novel than me. Sheila is leather jackets and spike heels, and I’m jeans and converse. She’s Tuberose Criminelle; I’m Kai perfume oil. She reads Faust; I’m dedicated to The Daily Bunny.

Okay, maybe I exaggerate slightly. I do own a leather jacket, and when I was younger I wore ill-advised amounts of black eyeliner. But what I’m trying to say is that I’m too much of an ostrich about the dark side of life to be immediately drawn to a book about the Devil seducing a metalhead aspiring writer. That doesn’t change the fact that Quantum Demonology drew me in, locked my attention for two solid weeks, and taught me that—surprisingly—I’m fascinated by the inner workings of the Devil’s mind and can easily relate to a character who is in love with a man who is sometimes shockingly brutal and with whom she has no hope of a future.

Tarleisio’s novel is so good. That’s the first thing I want you to get from this post. The second is that I’m still that same bunnies-and-rainbows person, and as great as they are, bunnies and rainbows do not always prepare one to take on perfumes like those prepared by the perfumers participating in The Devilscent Project. So bear that in mind over the course of this project.

The Devilscent Project is a collaboration between Tarleisio and several natural perfumers who created scents inspired by Quantum Demonology. You can read more about it here.

The first scents I received were Devils number 1, 2, and 3 from Esscentual Alchemy by Amanda Feeley.

Devil No. 1

The dominant note in Devil #1 is, to my nose, fir. A fresh branch of fir, just a little bit woodsy. I also think I smell labdanum (a tricky note for me) and something bracing, almost camphorous but not, I think, camphor. At times this note almost smells aquatic on me. Devil #1 feels like a masculine to me. Not particularly dangerous. This is Tarleisio’s Devil when he is at his most “normal.” As Devil #1 dries down, it goes woodsier and a bit sweeter on my skin.

Devil No. 2

Smelling this was one of the most visceral scent experiences I’ve ever had, but unfortunately not in a way that is helpful for me to tell you about it. It smells to me like someone I disliked when I was younger, someone I associate with the smells of mold and dirty skin. Blinded by that, I can only hazard one guess at a note in this scent, and that is that I think I smell a very dirty, hay-ish honey accord.

Devil No. 3

On first testing this, I wrote “a candied version of #1” in my notebook. It isn’t sweet, but it’s a sweeter reprise of #1. There is more frankincense in this, and I think some cedar. As it develops, it is much drier and less sweet, so in that way it is the opposite of #1, but they feel very much like a family to me. And #3 feels more like the dangerous sides of Tarleisio’s Devil; it’s more compatible with fire and brimstone.

Click to read Tarleisio’s review of Esscentual Alchemy’s Devilscent perfumes.

Big thanks again to Tarleisio for including me and to Amanda, for the perfumes.

What the Devil?!

February 14, 2012 By in Devilscent Project 4 Comments

By now, you may have heard some rumblings about the Devilscent Project, a collaboration between Sheila of The Alembicated Genie and several perfumers who are creating scents inspired Sheila’s novel, Quantum Demonology. I’m pleased as punch to be a part of it, and look forward to sharing more here on APB as the project progresses.

In the meanwhile, I suggest you pop on over to the site to read about the novel, stalk the perfumers, and mind the blogs. You wouldn’t want to the devil to take you by surprise, would you?

Perfumers participating in Devilscent are:

Olympic Orchids
Opus Oils
Neil Morris Fragrances
Esscentual Alchemy
Scents by Alexis – website pending
Cherry Bomb Killer Perfumes
Aroma M 

Bloggers participating in Devilscent are:

The Alembicated Genie
Chaya Ruchama
Indie Perfumes
Perfume Smellin’ Things
The Perfume Pharmer
The Perfume Posse
This Blog Really Stinks Perfume
Beauty on the Outside
Redolent of Spices
The Muse In Wooden Shoes

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