Perfumistas All Star Halloween Top Ten Ball!

Welcome to the first ever Perfumista's All Star Halloween Top 10 Ball, taking place at the same time in 4 bewitching cities and hosted by the four Fragrance Examiners, Liza in Washington DC. , Sali in New York City, Donna in Portland and myself in Cleveland.  My fragrant friends and I have prepared a night for you full of seductive surprises, gorgeous fragrances and more than a little neck nibbling, although beware....you really don't know who may be lurking around the next velvet curtain. Because I have always been a slave to masked balls and mischief, I couldn't think of a better time to throw a party than on an chilly October eve such as this one and because my bestial nature always forces me to throw history , fantasy and quite a bit of fiendish fun into my cocktail shaker, tonight we're at The Cleveland Museum of Art in the famed Armor Court, surrounded by implements of torture, memories of clandestine romance and murder.  You may not recognize me, but you’ll know me by my scent.....I’ve chosen Juliet, a bewitchingly beautiful soft floral/ oriental that seems just perfect for stolen kisses in the candlelight. 

 I’ve bright torches lit specially for this occasion and some of my favorite fiends are lurking happily around every corner. The walls of this massive chamber are chiseled stone, covered with feudal flags and tapestries and their dark passageways lead into several gorgeous rooms that are gently illuminated to showcase the splendid collection of medieval artwork and allegory  found here.  Its a perfect place to be bewitched and there are places to sneak off into around every corner. Just be sure to watch your pretty necks. That very handsome stranger smelling of  Absolument Absinthe may very well desire a good bit more than the delectable scent of your Bal A Versailles or a lick of the Datura Noir as he sensuously runs his teeth against your wrist, his lips against the nape of your neck. 

Trust me when I say, that the vampires are all here including the very wary yet indescribably handsome Louis de Pointe du Lac, cloaked in velvet and Royal English leather,  simply watching and waiting for his beloved Lestat. Louis is the safest one to chance a dance with, but make no mistake. He has spent centuries denying his vampire nature and yet fiend he is , a complete and total gentleman but vampire nevertheless with the most breathtakingly carnal of natures.  

There are merry clusters of Fey folk and an enticing witch around every corner. The fairies are such beautiful creatures with sparkling gossamer wings, blowing beautifully scented bubbles of mint, citrus and pear and playful tossing their glamoury all around. No one can make you forget yourself as quickly as a fairy. Just one whiff of their natural fragrance “Q”, an oak filled magical spell that they’ve gotten from their mistress Roxana is enough to distract you completely and they are having too much fun tonight. The last gentleman that we found under their spell was lying naked , defenseless  and humming to himself in front of the Water Lilies panels.  He had previously been dressed as  a young Will Shakespeare and wearing “The Unicorn Spell “ by LesNez.  Poor chap, he didn’t have a chance and someone really should have warned him about how much the fairies love violets.....

All around us are gypsy’s and fortune tellers with their Tarot cards and crystal balls. There are even minstrels dancing in every gallery, playing their lutes and violins singing tales of gallant journeys , fanciful beasts and long lost loves. Delightfully beautiful young men are they dressed in velvet with their fragrant hair  gleaming and unbound, their passionate sweat mixed with the honeyed scent of Miel de Bois, making them all but impossible to resist. Choose one of them to be  yours for the evening but  do choose carefully for there is danger luring in at least one pair of those innocent eyes. The Vampire Armand , made as a young boy in 16th century Rome by his master Marius is here, a beguiling young yet ancient monster with curly auburn hair and ebony eyes. Choose him at your peril...pay attention because on the surface like all of the others he is simply beautiful like all of the others, yet taste his lips just once and you will know him for sure. They will be tinged with the taste of your blood and the dankness of grave dirt. By then it will probably be too late and you’ll be bargaining for your life....

 Breathlessly you notice that the gypsys are everywhere, mysterious women, with smoky skin and husky voices. You can’t help notice the most provocative perfume spiraling around  them  and you recognize it as similar to Le labo’s Patchouli 24, an untamed blend of Vanilla, Patchouli and Birch, smoke filled and leathery all at the same time. It seems well suited to their nocturnal natures and you can’t help but move in closer to notice the strange compelling scent. Swirling and dancing they laugh as they spin you between them, stripping you of your senses and bring you close to the edge of fear and delight. They want you to see the familiar ghosts dancing among us all and suddenly, there they are, swept in by a witches spell of mandrake, sage and boxwood scented Mandragore. Shut your eyes and make a wish....for the witches have brought you  ever so briefly the gift of their second sight and only for a very short time are the veils between the worlds thin enough to allow you to clearly see the dead...... at least the dead who are not still walking among us clearly undead. 

For some, it’s just too much and with all of your senses on overload you fall passionately backwards into the arms of a beautiful blond man who laughs as he catches you and murmurs gently into your ears with his exquisite and ancient French accent. You barely notice that his arms and skin feel as smooth as polished marble, that his kisses are as cold as ice as he carries you towards the beautiful French beds, cloistered away privately in the next gallery .  He whispers his name.... Lestat and as he wraps you in his cloak of velvet and wolf fur you are aware that he is not quite alive, but it’s impossible to care. His manner like his scent, Carnal Flower is  so narcotic , so  intoxicating that whatever happens next is simply and completely welcomed. Like the deadly Carnal Flower there is only one Lestat de Lioncourt and you have just met him.  Beware.........



My Halloween Top 10 (with two bonuses) appears in no true order and I am in mad mad love with them all..........

1. “Juliet”, by Juliet Stewart
2. “Absolument Absinthe”
3. “Bal a versaille” by Jean Deprez
4. Serge Lutens “Datura Noir”
5. “Royal English Leather” by Creed
6. “Q” by Roxana Villa
7. “The Unicorn Spell” by LesNez
8. Serge Lutens “Miel Du Bois”
9. Le Labos “Patchouli 24”
10. Anick Goutal “Mandragore”
11. Frederic Malle “Carnal Flower”
12. Francis Kurkdjian Bubbles scented with Herbs, Pears and fresh Mint
    

What are your personal favorites for this windy witchy season? Please let me know and while you're still able to please continue the merriment by dancing over to the Perfumista All Stars Halloween Top 10 Balls that are being hosted by my good friends, fragrance adorerers  and fellow perfumistas: Donna Hathaway Portland Fragrance Examiner, Liza Wade DC Fragrance Examiner and  Sali Oguri, New York Fragrance Examiner