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Last night, while soaking in the bath and re-reading The Vampire Lestat (it’s been a hectic couple of weeks, comfort reading is necessary), I realized part of the reason I love blackphoenixalchemylab's Blood Popsicle so. Yes, it is a perfect olfactory tribute to that scene from Only Lovers Left Alive, but it also reminds me of the Vampire Lestat scent from Body Scent, a long-since-vanished Seattle perfume shop.
Body Scent was a tiny store that specialized in scented oils. One wall of the shop was full of tiny shelves crammed with testers of the hundreds of scents they had, while the rest of the store had soaps, shower gels, lotions, oils, room sprays, and incense. You could buy vials of the scent oils, or have them blended into the lotions or other products. And in the early 90s, Body Scent created their own line of scents for The Vampire Chronicles.
IIRC, Claudia smelt sweet and powdery, Louis was green notes with a base of some dark wood, and Akasha was incense-y. But Lestat? That scent smelled like honey and red velvet, and I loved it. A part of me wishes I still had the empty bottle of it, but I’m consoling myself with the harsh truth that I do not need to keep every memento or trinket, there’s not enough room in the WORLD for that.
I know there are other shops around nowadays that offer similar services - custom scenting of skin care products - but there was something magical about walking into that tiny cramped shop. It was one of the places that I always stopped at when I was in the U-District; there, Gargoyles (which still exists, thank goodness!), and that one huge and labyrinthine store that was like a cross between a head shop, Spencer's Gifts, and a new-age "occult" store.
Now I am full of 90s goth nostalgia. I wouldn't want to live through it again, but it's sweet to think about.
Body Scent was a tiny store that specialized in scented oils. One wall of the shop was full of tiny shelves crammed with testers of the hundreds of scents they had, while the rest of the store had soaps, shower gels, lotions, oils, room sprays, and incense. You could buy vials of the scent oils, or have them blended into the lotions or other products. And in the early 90s, Body Scent created their own line of scents for The Vampire Chronicles.
IIRC, Claudia smelt sweet and powdery, Louis was green notes with a base of some dark wood, and Akasha was incense-y. But Lestat? That scent smelled like honey and red velvet, and I loved it. A part of me wishes I still had the empty bottle of it, but I’m consoling myself with the harsh truth that I do not need to keep every memento or trinket, there’s not enough room in the WORLD for that.
I know there are other shops around nowadays that offer similar services - custom scenting of skin care products - but there was something magical about walking into that tiny cramped shop. It was one of the places that I always stopped at when I was in the U-District; there, Gargoyles (which still exists, thank goodness!), and that one huge and labyrinthine store that was like a cross between a head shop, Spencer's Gifts, and a new-age "occult" store.
Now I am full of 90s goth nostalgia. I wouldn't want to live through it again, but it's sweet to think about.
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