[viciousviolet]

From Bewitching Brews

All the glory, warmth and majesty of the sun -- darkened. A delicious blend of bitter almond, vanilla, frankincense and heliotrope, with a drop of cinnamon.

I found Eclipse to be a very cheering scent. The initial scent is a bit too strong for me, but on the drydown it is warm, golden, sweet, and has a very lively, happy and strangely comforting quality to it. To be blunt, it is a great scent to wear when you have PMS. Eclipse has reversed quite a few of my bad moods!

Edited to add, my sister is very sensitive to cinnamon, and this scent made her skin red and itchy. It did not have that effect on me.

[red_jezebel]

Eclipse in the bottle, for me, is: Almonds! It is also very strong in the bottle, so sniff it gently or your nose may not thank you!

Once on, the pure almond smell is complimented with subtle wafts of sweet vanilla and warming cinnamon – so quite a foody scent overall. A warming, golden sunshine scent - think of sitting on a porch outside a kitchen cooking loads of almond cookies watching the sun go down with a beautiful red horizon!

It lasted reasonably well, but not as long as others such as Haunted. A top up may be needed during the day.

I wear this after washing with Lush's (Christmas limited edition) Snowcake soap, as I believe they compliment each other perfectly.

This post has been edited by red_jezebel: 31 January 2005 - 11:42 AM

[shriekingviolet]

Initial Impression:
Sweet, I can smell the almond (which is more bitter than sweet) and the heliotrope prominently with the frankincense and what I'm guessing is the vanilla sweetening up a bit. Intriguing scent.

After Wearing It:
This is a very almondy fragrance, but while this note is *very* strong, it's not so in a way that the oil smells like a single note. This is a smoky almond, a slightly spicy and sweet almond. Close to being a foody scent, but not quite.

Final Thoughts:
I really liked this. It's a warm pretty scent and slightly comforting. I think it must be the almond = food association.

[nic]

When I first put this on, it was all almond and that was pretty much all I could smell in the bottle as well. After a few hours, the almond has sunk to the background (surprising since it was so strong to begin with) and the cinammon is the primary scent on me, followed by the frankincense with a little vanilla and a hint of heliotrope. I wish the almond was still more prominent on me but it's very pretty, nonetheless. I will probably keep it with me so I can reapply and get an additional hit of almond throughout the day. Undecided about whether I'll get a bigger bottle.

[jj_j]

For me, the Black Phoenix scents have been absolutely love or hate, with almost all of them love.

This one falls into the other category, unfortunately, as it was overpoweringly almond, sticky-sweet and instantly generating a headache. There's a spice and cinnamon note underneath that's interesting, but it takes too long to get there through the almond for me to be able to enjoy it.

This post has been edited by jj_j: 10 April 2004 - 01:47 AM

[darkling]

Eclipse is a scent that I never would have ordered on my own. I had no idea that I loved the smell of almonds until Elizabeth included this as an extra in my first order. I was in love with it from the moment I sniffed the bottle.

The vanilla, cinnamon, heliotrope, and frankincense add a sweetnes and warmth to Eclipse that some of the other almond-based scents lack. It is like having a bit of sunlight in a vial.

Eclipse tends to remain strong on me for the first 3 or 4 hours and a mild sweet scent still remains at the end of the day.

[faerowan]

I'm wearing this one right now...'

When I first put it on, it smelled so strongly of sweet almonds. I thought I was in love.


However it dried down to something very foody even for me. I smell a lot of vanilla and frankincense, and while I enjoy the incense quaitly of frankincence. it is used hear to mellow out the vanilla food smell, which I do not like at all....

It is sweet, without being the sweet almonds I was hoping for. Sorry Elizabeth.

[twistygirl]

I first applied this to my inner elbow pulse point, and I could smell a combination of the sweetness of the almond along with the fire of the cinnamon. About three minutes later, I could FEEL the fire of the cinnamon, as my skin felt on fire and I had a large red welt where I had applied.

I was heartbroken as I absolutely adore this fragrance. This is the perfect compliment to Lush' Snowcake soap, which is one of my absolute favorites.

Fortunately, I decided not to give up on this scent and applied it to a few other areas of my body where the skin is a little thicker and I didn't have the burning, welty reaction at all. So this is a keeper for me, and something that I will very likely order a larger bottle of. Now that it's dried down, it is predominantly softly cinnamon with rich (not sweet) almond. And the welt and burning of that sensitive spot went away quickly enough not to frighten me from even trying it there again, to see if it was just a quirky reaction due to that-time-of-the-month sensitivity.

[Joey]

OUCH!!!!!!! Okay, I'm not sure what I am allergic to but this made my skin burn sooooo bad, that I had to take it off immediately. Which really sucks because it smells so wonderful. I know its not the cinnamon that did it, because I was fine with the cinnamon one that I used yesterday.

[allamanda]

I tried this one three times (spread out over several weeks) and each time I developed a red weal as it dried. Not an instant one, this took quite a few minutes.
Obviously I then had to wash it off, but my comments up to that point:

When wet this smells very strongly of almond essence.

As is starts to dry the strong almond smell is abating, I can smell the incensey smell of frankincense and a fruitiness in the background.

The almond disappears rapidly on my skin, but is replaced by what smells like cherry (fruity anyway), backed with incense. Nice until my skin starts to burn and I have to wash it off.

Like Joey I am not sure what causes this, my skin copes with Chimera which also contains cinnamon. The only other oil I reacted strongly with was Mercury.

[Ms. MSGirl]

Eclipse is like the greatest lipgloss *ever.* It's juicy and sweet and almondy to the max, yet with the complexity of the cinnamon and florals and just the lightest touch of resin to round it out. I want to smear it all over myself. Interestingly, this smells very *smart* to me. Like an almondy candy flavored lipgloss, but an extremely smart one. It just has a vibe of coolness and intelligence and chill hipness along with the sweetness that is very, very, very appealing to me. Yay! I knew I would love this one!!

[Astarte]

Ah...
:P
Eclipse is like the sweetest oil ever, on intial impact all you can (and want to) smell are almonds. A few minutes later and a further spicy scent as it settles down. It works perfectly with my body to create a warm, inviting and comforting scent rolled into one. Definitely a foody smell and the vanilla note, I feel, gives the scent, the invitingness.

Out of all the oils I've tried so far, this one has blew my breath away the most, will definitely be ordering a bigger bottle of this soon.
:luvluv:

This post has been edited by Astarte: 30 April 2004 - 10:27 PM

[Ishtar]

When the imp was closed, all I could smell was the frankincense, but then I opened it and of course... ALMONDS!!!

When I put it on, the almond stage did not last and was replaced almost immediately by an incensey smell. I usually strongly dislike smokey/resiney/incensey scents, but here I have to admit that it is lovely.

Once Eclipse settles down, I get a gorgeous spicy/foody scent and the almond seems to be coming back. I now smell like a Middle Eastern almond cookie and I love it!

A very bright and happy scent. Definitely a keeper!

ETA: I wore Eclipse all day today. Once again. the almond disappeared in a matter of seconds, but this time I ended up with a warm, mellow frankincense scent. I would never have thought I would like a scent with frankincense in it, but there you go! I am really glad I tried it. It is so comforting and uplifting. I love it!

This post has been edited by Ishtar: 08 May 2004 - 01:30 AM

[amberbella]

Almonds just happen to be my favorite scent of all time. This scent is fantastic when wet! Why oh why can't it keep that amazing wet smell of almond?

Dry it is a very smooth and warm vanilla on me...more pleasant and richer than straight vanilla would be, but mostly it's soft vanilla. I like the spiced vanilla but prefer the Almond scent.

I'm going to try this with my diffuser necklace...I hope that it will retain the wet smell longer this way.

I'll probably buy a big bottle of this regardless....I think I'd love this as a room scent as well. I wouldn't mind just keeping a bottle with me at all times to take an occasional "hit" of cinnamony almond through the day.

[skg]

:P
So bummed as i really wanted this one to work out.
On opening the imp I got the rush of the sweet almonds but as soon as I put it on my skin it turned to "Luden's cherry flavoured cough drops"
Yuck! :D
I did give it a few hours to "change" but unfortunately that didn't happen.
It did fade rather quickly and become less offensive over time.
I gave the boi a whiff and he was like..
"Eh..."
So this one goes into the swap pile.

[woodlandnymph]

I put this one on yesterday morning. It is supposed to be a blend of almonds, vanilla, and cherry. Initially, got a whiff of sickingly sweet fruit when it was wet. I wanted to wash it off immediately, but decided to be patient and wait for the dry down.

Boy am I glad I waited.

The dry down was a lovely blend of almonds, amber, and vanilla. The fruit smell was becoming a back note. The fragrance lingered on my wrists for a good ten hours. It could easily compliment Dior's Hypnotic Poison [all time winter fragrance] or Victoria's Secret Amber Romance. This one could be a possible big bottle purchase in the future.

[Andra]

First Impression: Hot cinnamon out of the bottle.

Second Impression: The cinnamon note does not last long enough. Pooh! As soon as it's dry, it's gone then it's all almond and amber and vanilla rum. It reminds me muchly of Hellcat.

Final Analysis: I really like, smells great on, but no staying power.

[nevermore]

Straight out of the bottle, Eclipse is nothing but almond/marzipan, but once it hits my skin, the cinnamon becomes more powerful. However, after about 10 minutes on my skin, it really starts to smell like bubble gum – the 5 cent kind that comes with the comics inside the wrapper. I really like it wet and while it’s drying, but I don’t care for the bubblegum-y ending.

[TygherRayn]

In the bottle: Cherries and/or almonds, bathed in melted sugar. This one is so sweet, I almost just dropped it immediately into a 'Swap' pile.

Wet: I don't get the cinnamon in this really at all. This smells almost like a cherry-menthol coughdrop to me

Wearing: Didn't last long. Jason bought a gum once that tasted like this smells. Sadly .. a swap.

[Ctrlfreak]

Ouch! This stuff bites! Almost immediately after putting it on, I felt a tingle, which increased to a burn. I looked at the points where I applied it and while my wrists are fine, the insides of my elbows and my cleavage are red and burned looking.

Here's my right elbow:

http://www.geeklife.co.uk/images/burn.jpg

The scent is nice, but it doesn't hang around long enough to bother with the burning. 25 minutes later, my arm still burns. I'll use it for a room scent, or in my hair methinks.

Whups, huge photo - sorry. :-(

[fairywingmaker]

I'm not familiar with the smell of frakincense or heliotrope, so maybe that is the sweet smell I'm getting. The almond seems to stay very pronounced on me, even after 15 minutes of wearing. The vanilla is also coming up. I'm not getting the cinnamon at all. A soft warm scent. I really like this, and will be ordering a 5ml of it. I received this as a free imp, with my order.

[TheDarkMother]

In the bottle, it is very sweet almond, not really anything else that I can detect. Ok, red flag comes up on this one...I hope the cinnamon can make up for it.

On me, NOW I smell the cinnamon. And it does counter the almond smell very well:) The cinnamon isn't the overtone of this scent though, its like a lingering afterthought. Together the fragrance is very sweet and spicy. This is really nice:)

[AnnetteL]

The first minute is pure almond. Then it suddenly breaks out with the cinnamon - and it's a strong, Big Red Gum kind of cinnamon. Perhaps 15 minutes later the vanilla emerges and everything calms down into a very moreish blend.

It's foody, but subtly so, not like being smeared with a cake. Very nice - it reminds me of Keiko Mecheri Loukhoum (a soft powdery-almond-milky scent that's one of my favourite fragrances) but kicked up a notch with the cinnamon and spices. It is very much like the Lush Marzibain Christmas bubble bar I had a couple of years ago.

I think I need a bottle of this one :) My boyfriend has declared it his favourite of all the BPAL I've made him sniff so far, as well.

[binkyboots]

I love this oil... in the bottle it's all almond, like ammaretti biscuits, warm marzipan and sweet liqueurs...

on it drys down to this incredible spicey, vanilla, sweet almond scent which is just gorgeous, very warm and comforting, just the occasional whiff of incense.

on me it lasts very well indeed, four or five hours after application it's still strong.

[Miggins]

I've said it before and I'll say it again, Eclipse bites.

In its defence, I did manage to throw virtually an entire imp's worth over myself but the few splashes that caught my neck and chin burned and brought me out in severe red weals.

In the bottle, this smells very marzipan. Not the commercial yummy marzipan of Dana O'Shee but a much less sweet home-made marzipan.

On my skin, the bitter almond took hold almost immediately. My skin seemed to take all the bitter elements of Eclipse and let them grow. After 20-ish minutes, I could strongly smell pear drops (an acetone type smell), but so very strong. After an hour or so, it had morphed into the most awful, chemical hairspray type smell and kept going. It just seemed to get stronger and stronger.

One for the swap pile... if I had any left to swap!