question for my scented-oil-loving friends:
do you know of anything that smells like myrrh, cinnamon, dragon's blood, cedar, cloves, and maybe a touch of vetiver? that would be my purrrrrrrrrrrrrrrfect scent. I'm practically swooning just thinking of it. If you don't know of that exact blend, any recommendation that's strongly myrrh and/or woodsy-with-a-little-snap would be appreciated. Or any combination of the above that doesn't include floral or vanilla notes (ugh). I've already tried BPAL's "Serpent's Kiss" and "Bloodlust" -- I like them but want to try something new.---
with myrrh:
Rumpelstilzchen -- patchouli, cardamom, nutmeg, black pepper, tonka, vetiver, myrrh.
Priala, the Human Phoenix -- Three deep, dark myrrhs, smoke, cinnamon bark. (I want to try this RIGHT NOW)
And There Was A Great Cry In Egypt -- Dark myrrh, white sandalwood, amber, hyssop, frankincense, honey, cypress, red musk, cardamom, saffron.
Aeronwen -- Fig, dark myrrh, amber, redwood, nutmeg, tarragon, black musk, sweet orange.
Omen -- oakmoss, juniper berry, myrrh, patchouli.
Sed Non Satiata -- myrrh, red patchouli, cognac, honey, tuberose, geranium, musk.
Voodoo -- myrrh, patchouli, vetiver, lime, vanilla, pine, almond, clove.
Masabakes -- Thick black currant with the darkest, deepest myrrh, bitter mimosa, mandrake dust.
Laudanum -- Nutmeg, sassafras, black poppy, myrrh.
Malice -- Ylang ylang, clove, Indonesian red patchouli, dark myrrh.
Eshe, A Vision of Life-In-Death -- black myrrh, white sandalwood, black orchid, paperwhites, tomb dust, Moroccan jasmine.
Wings of Azrael -- Warm myrrh, violet, Lily of the Valley, juniper, cypess, cajeput.
Dance of Death -- Dry, bone-white orris, black musk, serpentine patchouli, our murkiest myrrh.
Nefertiti -- Egyptian iris, olibanum with red & white sandalwood, soft myrrh, a breath of North African herbs.
with white ginger:
Mag Mell -- amber, white ginger, lemon verbena, fresh green grass, sage, summer rain.
The Coil -- Ozone, eucalyptus, mint, purple orchid, passionflower, white ginger, purple lotus.
Spider -- White ginger, artemesia, vetiver, nutmeg, King mandarin, bergamot, lime.
The Lady of Shalott -- bold gardenia, crystalline musk, muguet, water blossoms, aquatic notes, white ginger.
woody/smoky scents:
Black Forest -- Thick, viscous pine with ambergris, black musk, juniper, cypress.
Two Monsters -- Oakmoss, vetiver, black musk, champaca flower, leather, patchouli, ginger, Japanese pittosporum, ambergris, white pepper.
Yew-Trees -- Piercingly sweet berries over evergreen boughs, deepened by the tree’s sacred wood.
Hanging Gardens -- date palm, ebony, fir, pomegranate, plum, two pears, quince, fig, grapevine with plumeria, gardenia, dry rose.
Slobbering Pine -- Dewy, wet, whiplike, sticky.
The Great He-Goat -- Haitian vetiver, Egyptian amber, carnation, black musk, pomegranate, patchouli, smoked ginger.
with cinnamon:
Inferno -- cinnamon, bitter almond, neroli.
Sin -- amber, sandalwood, black patchouli, cinnamon.
Saw-Scaled Viper -- Snake Oil with cinnamon, cassia, red ginger.
Eau de Ghoul -- blackened ginger, cinnamon, mold-flecked dirt, with cumin, bitter clove, leather, dried blood.
Tiresias, the Androgyne -- black currant, patchouli, tobacco, cinnamon leaf, caramel, muguet, red sandalwood.
Uruk -- bitter almond, night-blooming jasmine, saffron, cinnamon leaf, red patchouli, river lilies, bergamot, fig leaf, the sacred incense of Inanna.
other:
War -- Red ginger, black spices, patchouli, honeysuckle, three blood-soaked red musks.
Faiza, the Black Mamba -- black amber, caraway, oakmoss, green sandalwood, bergamot, jasmine sambac, gardenia, orange pulp, vanilla, blackberry, black musk, white honey, ti leaf, ginger.
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Also, am I the only one that fucking HATES most of BPAL's descriptions? telling me that something is the scent of sexual coercion (rape), such as in the description of Ifrit, or "the joy one finds in another's pain," etc. is NOT going to make me want to get it! (I don't mind the 'rotting corpse' type descriptions though I find them very silly) In fact, the only way I could get such a scent would be if I cleansed it first and even so, some of the descriptions are just so awful I can't get the scent. I try my best not to read them but some phrases stick out to my ever-questing-for-words eyes.
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would love even as a single note: myrrh, cinnamon, dragon's blood, cedar, white ginger, mimosa
love in mixes/moderation: clove, vetiver, cardamom, almond, pine, sassafras, sandalwood, cypress, redwood, juniper, gardenia, amber, honey, honeysuckle, patchouli, pepper, nutmeg, lime, iris, lemon, grass, smoke, musk. (I can ONLY tolerate crisp, citrus-y floral notes, and then only in moderation)
There's no struggle, no saying 'no,' no trying to escape, so consent is assumed. I don't boycott BPAL over this because it is no worse than your average sex scene in a movie. I find it offensive in the same way I find every description of sex in any book or movie offensive -- because consent is assumed and/or unimportant. The cultures sees force/coercion as sexy. I'd have to boycott just about everything if I boycotted all companies that are linked with that sort of advertising... as it is, I just avoid the specific products with that sort of ad.
As for orientalist, I don't know. Is it orientalist if they have scents named after myths from many cultures and books? (I haven't looked carefully but I know they have greek, hebrew, and egyptian myths also) I think my taste in scents might all run in the same direction, so the names of the ones I'm interested in might seem skewed that way. Here's the website: http://www.blackphoenixalchemylab.com/welcome.html
you have a description which is clearly of rape, which you recognized as rape, but then say your 'average person' wouldnt recognize it as such. you then go on to basically apologize for it by saying you should have said 'sexual coercion - (rape).'
if you believe the average person wouldnt find that offensive then why wouldnt you take this great opportunity you have, to speak to so many people on such an easy and accessible resource, to tell your average person WHY thats rape. and not apologize for it by prefacing it with 'sexual coercion,' which is ridiculous in itself because sexual coercion is rape. if you think the average person finds a difference between the two maybe thats something else you should clear up for your friends on your list.
if this description 'is no worse than your average sex scene in a movie' then whats the problem with boycotting it? because then youd have to boycott 'just about everything' ... so what ? see, whats bugging me is that once the power of rape as a tool of systematic degradation and occupation of women as a result of misogyny is understood people should be horrified. people shouldnt have to find it a pain to boycott stuff that promotes, people shouldnt have to think about it, people will be automatically repelled by it, people wont WANT to read/see/hear about it and will end up essentially boycotting those things without realizing it. if you think books and movies do the same thing as this description then find new books and movies. you would NOT have to boycott 'just about everything' ... i watch movies, i read books, but i wont tolerate anything that includes anything like what youve described above. its not that im a hardass and refuse to watch it, its that i physically cant. its that i see how awful it is, ive learned how it adds to cultural tolerance of rape, it makes me ill to even think about it. what does it mean that you recognize it but can still stomach to promote it ? thats whats bothering me. if you didnt know anything, then who am i to judge? ill think to myself she hasnt had the opportunities to learn about what this means, and that wouldnt be your fault, its a failing of the culture. but clearly you KNOW, clearly youve learned, so how is it you can know but still not just deal with it and instead promote it? how does it not make you sick to your stomach to see comments from 21 different people that overlook or apologize for rape? i dont understand. i dont feel like there is room for gray on this issue. you support rape or you dont. end of story. being horrified at rape while promoting it isnt something i understand, and isnt something im willing to understand. we're at war, simple as that. if people want to find some middle ground in that then theyre traitors.
as far as orientalism...
'Is it orientalist if they have scents named after myths from many cultures and books? (I haven't looked carefully but I know they have greek, hebrew, and egyptian myths also)'
... yes. it is. do we not have the same understanding of orientalism? i mean egypt IS part of the orient! and semitic people who speak hebrew originate from the orient and have not been immune to orientalism! as far as greeks, its not the same as the middle east, but sure, you dont see how greek culture has been stolen and twisted around to fit into a nice package for american consumers?
its like the rape description above, that there is a plethora of orientalist shit this company produces should be upsetting. it SHOULD be upsetting. but its not, and instead by posting it within a positive post its normalized even more.
I don't really know much of what you mean by orientalism, but I think it is a problem if someone from one culture sells another for the purpose of making a profit off of people they've no intention of helping, but if they're drawing from all different cultures I see it more as celebrating various cultures -- it's not JUST the "exotic" it's anything that is mythical or fairy-tale-ish, like Alice in Wonderland and such things.
as far as orientalism, i dont know why to say. i cant have a discussion about how orientalist that shit is if you dont know what orientalism is. its not a difficult concept, nor is it all that rare.. especially in feminist literature. i was going to find stuff but you can google as well as i can. what youre discussing is absolutely horrifying and offensive. it scares me that you think its okay. i think if you read saids book youd think a lot differently about this kind of stuff. i dont need you or anyone else in the west 'celebrating' my culture, or anyone elses culture in the middle east. no one needs the west 'celebrating' their culture. you guys have 'celebrated' our cultures long enough by colonizing, stealing, defiling and destroying our culture. we dont need the west stealing concepts they know absolutely nothing about to 'celebrate' them, go celebrate your own cultures. i mean how is azrael "mythical or fairy-tale-ish" ??? do you even know who that is? its silly to even ask, because if you knew who azrael was you wouldnt call this stuff "mythical or fairy-tale-ish" unless youre comfortable calling one of the worlds major religions "mythical or fairy-tale-ish." our cultures are not similar to alice in wonderland, they are not exotic, they are not fantasy, they are not there for your enjoyment. we arent the result of the wild imagination of some englishman from the 1800s. our cultures are the result of thousands of years and generations of understanding, evolving and teaching. maybe if american 'culture' had the same kind of background americans wouldnt be so quick to steal bits and pieces of other cultures they mistakenly believe are 'exotic' or 'mythical' or 'fairy-tale-ish.' maybe if they had the same sort of background they wouldnt NEED to steal bits and pieces of other cultures because theyd have their own to keep them occupied. whatever the case, im tired of it. go call your perfumes jesus and mary and king louis III and king henry V instead of faiza, nefertiti, azrael and uruk.
As far as orientalism, I just fail to see how it is stealing. I've looked up that book you mentioned and I will check it out -- maybe if I learn more I'll understand what you mean. I don't like the ideas of boundaries of culture, but I'm open to the possibility that they are valuable.
i hope one day my people will do the same.
and as far as boycotting, yes, you are totally right.. if you want to work 100% within the system boycott whatever you like as long as it doesnt interfere with whatever else youd like to do. feminism shouldnt get in the way of real life! if you realize though that the SYSTEM is flawed then you need to rework the system. if rape horrifies you, if the idea of people promoting rape makes your stomach turn then we wouldnt even be having this conversation. you would have never posted that entry. i think i just misunderstood. you told me you liked dworkin, i assumed that meant you liked dworkin... or at least were familiar enough with her writings that what im discussing wouldnt be so far fetched to you. we are at war. if you decide to hang out with SOME of the enemy but not the REALLY bad guys.. well.. ill let you figure out what side that puts you on.
If you watch movies and also practice what you preach, which studios have you boycotted?
and you know what? yes. you SHOULD have already known. im tired of making excuses for people. you want to use other peoples cultures? then learn about them. realize what youre doing. realize what youre taking. why should i give you a chance to learn about something that youve already been doing? YOU chose to believe and use and do the things you do. if youre starting to question if theyre correct or not maybe you shouldve considered the consequences before beginning. maybe you shouldve been more careful with other peoples cultures (that is, cultures that you are NOT a part of and that DO NOT belong to you and thus were NEVER YOURS TO USE!)
i dont watch american films. does that help you any?
im being stubborn about the orientalism, but i dont care, because its clear youve been using our cultures for a long time without thinking twice about it. im NOT being stubborn about rape though because youre the one who told me you were a radical feminist and into dworkin. i was dumb for ever buying it. im done. im so done with all of this. im done with orientalists and im done with people who cant understand how their actions support rape. i hope you figure things out for yourself, but im through with it. have a nice life.
How have I been using other people's cultures??? specifically, how have I been using YOUR culture??? Your culture is not ancient Egyptian, which is the only culture besides American and (very briefly) Irish that I've ever even spoken about, much less anything else. And I actually put thought, time, and effort into learning about that and certainly didn't claim it as my own, so if you consider that to be orientalism/disrespectful then I really don't care.