I’ve tried two of the fragrances you mentioned. (Disclaimer: I'm severely hyposmic and synaesthetic, so my perceptions may not reflect common experience.)
Cockaigne
The Land of Plenty, also called Luilekkerland, the Lazy, Luscious Land: milk and honey, sweet cakes and wine.
Anticipated synaesthetic color: none; this was a bonus imp.
Synaesthetic color: warm golden-brown with a glistening white overlay.
In three words: iced oatmeal cookies—a dangerous smell for a diabetic to keep around the house. This might be suitable for children, and I could also see the oats and sweetness tying into a Celtic Fae aesthetic.
Black Rose
Exquisitely melancholy. The background scent to an ancient exequies. Heavy, dark and floral: a blend of roses, with a touch of amber and musk.
Anticipated synaesthetic color: matte charcoal black touched with muted crimson and ashes-of-roses—the sort of color scheme The Lady of the Manners would embrace.
Synaesthetic color: nothing.
The description and the forum comments made it sound like everything I’d enjoy; frustratingly, I registered nothing whatsoever beyond an initial feeble sixth-magnitude whiff, faint and fleeting as the image of a cryptid on a Buzzfeed video. I handed it off to the sister-in-law, whose summary was, “glamorous.”
I’ve never tried Dorian (from inside my skin, I’m afraid that tea is hot leaf juice), but it boasts one of the all-time great BPAL Forum reviews, courtesy of Ina Garten Davita:
First Impression: Sweet tea.
Second Impression: Oh. My. God. This is like having a cup of strong but sweet tea laced with a hint of lemon in a posh Victorian parlor whilst sitting opposite a very civilised Victoran gentleman. And as soon as the maid serving the tea is gone, this proper Victoran gentleman fucks you six ways from Sunday.
no subject
Cockaigne
The Land of Plenty, also called Luilekkerland, the Lazy, Luscious Land: milk and honey, sweet cakes and wine.
Anticipated synaesthetic color: none; this was a bonus imp.
Synaesthetic color: warm golden-brown with a glistening white overlay.
In three words: iced oatmeal cookies—a dangerous smell for a diabetic to keep around the house. This might be suitable for children, and I could also see the oats and sweetness tying into a Celtic Fae aesthetic.
Black Rose
Exquisitely melancholy. The background scent to an ancient exequies. Heavy, dark and floral: a blend of roses, with a touch of amber and musk.
Anticipated synaesthetic color: matte charcoal black touched with muted crimson and ashes-of-roses—the sort of color scheme The Lady of the Manners would embrace.
Synaesthetic color: nothing.
The description and the forum comments made it sound like everything I’d enjoy; frustratingly, I registered nothing whatsoever beyond an initial feeble sixth-magnitude whiff, faint and fleeting as the image of a cryptid on a Buzzfeed video. I handed it off to the sister-in-law, whose summary was, “glamorous.”
I’ve never tried Dorian (from inside my skin, I’m afraid that tea is hot leaf juice), but it boasts one of the all-time great BPAL Forum reviews, courtesy of Ina Garten Davita:
First Impression: Sweet tea.
Second Impression: Oh. My. God. This is like having a cup of strong but sweet tea laced with a hint of lemon in a posh Victorian parlor whilst sitting opposite a very civilised Victoran gentleman. And as soon as the maid serving the tea is gone, this proper Victoran gentleman fucks you six ways from Sunday.
no subject
And for linking that review. That had me LOLing for a good solid minute.