Midnight Mass

[Iceblink]

... This perfume is a traditional Roman Catholic sacramental incense, most often used during a Solemn Mass. Traditionally, five tears of this incense, each encased individually in wax that has been fashioned into the shape of a nail, are inserted into the paschal candle. This is, of course, represents the Five Wounds of Our Risen Savior. Symbolically, the burning of the incense signifies spiritual fervor, the fragrance itself inspires virtue, and the rising smoke carries our prayers to God.

 

Very much like Cathedral in the wet stage but the drydown is cedarcedarcedar. Cedary incense.

[rayvn1]

This is the epitome of incense blends Every time I've tried a BPAL for its incense - THIS is what I was looking for!! Amazing, long lasting, great throw. A dark, rich incense without any of the citrus from the Picnic in Arkhams to get in the way. Simple and perfect.

[Dark Sparkle]

I agree, this is The Perfect Incense blend - warm, sweet and smokey, it almost has a vanilla note on my skin. Incredible throw and long lasting. I love Midnight Mass

[themerrybaker]

There is incense and then there is Incense-Woot-Woot-Woot!!

Midnight Mass evokes the canonical idea of smoky, burning incense perfectly. I only wish it had more throw and lasted longer. That wish may be unrealistic, since adding something to increase the sillage might mean less Incense-Woot-Woot-Woot!! and something more like a muskrat snuffling around in the church.

Love it....

[lilirose]

2008 version. This was the first one I had to try from my latest order. Very high hopes!

 

In the bottle: Ooooh. Sweet, lovely incense.

 

On skin. wet: Wait, what? It’s gone to almost pure sandalwood.

 

On skin, dry: The sandalwood stays predominant for a while, but then slllloooowly fades. After a couple of hours it turns into the scent I’d prayed for. The myrrh rises up, balanced by frankincense. I get a slight hint of wax, as well, but not the standard BPAL beeswax note.

 

Verdict: Love. Awesome resiny incense scent. I’m so glad I bought a 5ml unsniffed.

Edited December 10, 2008 by lilirose

[kjirstiben]

Ahhh, delightful, delovely...

 

This isn't much of a morpher--it goes on as resiny incense, and stays sweet, resiny incense for hours upon hours. It has a certain "dusty" character after a while but that only adds to the aura...

 

Very nice. Very much what I was hoping for. Midnight Mass is a winner!

[iiinterstate]

wet, this is BPAL's famous incense note (one of my very favorites).

As it dries, I detect heavy woods... cedar for sure. Normally I don't care for cedar, but combined with the resins (I suspect frankincense and myrrh) along with the beeswax, I really like this, and will buy a bottle.

[Kimbernunk]

This is GLORIOUS.

 

Wet and during the drydown it had a faint vanilla note, which then went through a brief sandalwood phase.

 

Dry, this is EXACTLY the incense used at Midnight Mass in my church every Christmas Eve. I was blown away - every sniff made me think of bells and candlelight and clouds of incense and waking up the next morning with my hair and pillow smelling just like the church did the night before.

 

I *need* a bottle of this!

[VioletChaos]

this is for the 2006 version.

 

in the bottle: *heavy* frankincense, a tiny hint of myrrh.

 

wet on skin: ohhhh, it's changing! it's a rich sweet, resin-y incense now. just beautiful!

 

dry down: yes, that sweet resin incense-y wonderfulness has stayed true.

 

in all: this is the incense scent to end them all- rich and heady, but with surprisingly low throw, this oil stays close to the body, giving the impression that the wearer makes holy all they come in contact with. a great, magical scent.

 

 

 

[oakmoss]

I put on some of my 2005 bottle last night and was swooning with how beautiful it is. It was gorgeous to start, but aged, oh my. For the first time, I caught a tiny hint of fresh forest within the heady incense, as if this cathedral is deep within a winter wood and someone opened the door for a moment on a snowy night. Not pine-y sharp like other snow-winter blends, just a touch of something living, a wreath of Yuletide boughs laid on the altar, perhaps. I just love love love this blend. A masterpiece, truly, and one I hope keeps on developing new nuances over the years.

[femmefatale]

This is stunning.

 

Beautiful sweet, warm, resiny incense. This does stay close to the skin, which I like with a scent like this. It just add to the magical feeling it has. I feel like stripping naked and dancing under a full moon. Maybe not exactly the church vibe intended.

[Indigo78]

Imp: Pine that starts out dark, then is joined by a sharp something I don't recognize. I like pine, but that sharp note is worrisome.

 

On the skin this gets a lot more resinous, but it doesn't smell like Mass incense to me. There's only a suggestion of smoke, and it is very green on my skin. Either I am having major chemistry issues (very possible), or it needs some time.

 

The incenses in this take forever to break out of that initial herbal stage, but here it finally comes. There's the frankincense, myrrh, and sandalwood that were mysteriously absent for the first fifteen minutes or so. We're getting holy now.

 

After an hour it settles into a smoldering, golden resin - but that initial sharpness won't disappear. This went so weird on me that I'll probably retest when my skin chem isn't completely inverted.

[MisterShrapnel]

2008 version. I'm so glad there was a version for it this year!

Ohoho yes. Spot-on for the warm, slightly sweet church incense. Smoke and fresh Christmas wreaths. I don't know my different resins to name the ones I get here, but just picture a dark cavernous chapel. Gives me shivers (the good kind!). After a few minutes I can smell some beeswax and it's heavenly (no pun... er... intended).

It seems pretty similar to Cathedral, though maybe with a little less "pine-y-ness" and of course the beeswax...

And the bottle art is great too!

[caitilarkin]

In the bottle: Incense and freshly cut wood

 

Wet on skin: Well-blended incense and wood (not pine but not massively cedar-y either)

 

Dry on skin: Becomes lighter and sweeter with time and lasts only 3-4 hours

 

I like this pretty well now, but based on past reviews it will probably improve hugely with age.

[PurringPulsar]

Midnight Mass 08

 

In the imp: frankincense, greenish myrrh and something woodsy. Like the last MM.

Wet on skin: frankincense, and lots of it.

Dry on skin: oh yes, this is MM, very similar to previous versions and every bit as beautiful. I’d say this is more like 06, as 05 was a little sharper, 06 had a woodsy background. This seems to have elements of both-the piercing frankincense and greenish-honeyed myrrh of 05, the mellow woods and softer dark resin aspects of 06. I think there’s cedar and/or mahogany in here, like polished pews. The scent is both resinous and smoky. This is less sweet and heavier than the Magi.

After a while: oooh, I really like what it does as it develops. It lightens, sweetens, develops a nice ‘ashy’ scent and smells just like incense smoke wafting in the air. It also gains a scent, golden and almost fruity, which reminds me of Tzadikim Nistarim. Maybe there’s some olive and spikenard in here as well as the frankincense? This is something I didn’t smell in previous MMs, but I love it.

Eventually this becomes beautifully sweet, and smells like a wonderful sweet resin and smoke scent, sweetened frankincense and dark glossy myrrh with a soft woodsy base.

Over time it gains that same gorgeous frankincense smoke scent I got in Magi. Not as sweet as Magi thanks to the lack of vanilla, but similar.

Verdict: I think this is my favourite MM version. This to me has a bit of the soft ashy woodsy scent of 06, with little hints of opoponax and wooden pews in there, with the greenish-gold sharper resins of 05 dominated by fresh myrrh and frankincense and olibanum. But it gets even better as it dries down, and gains a truly beautiful smoky scent which smells just like frankincense burning, and touch of candle smoke. I also get something sweet and almost fruity to it, but the soft balmy smoke then fills the scent with that incredibly realistic ‘incense lingering’ scent I love so much. This is the darker version of the Magi, to me. A nocturnal incense, for sure, but not at all gloomy. It evokes candlelight in the darkness, thick clouds of incense, and the wonderful sound of carols sung by choirs. It’s a really beautiful, calm and refined incense scent and it goes to show that I can never get bored of Beth’s resin scents.

Emoticon rating:

Is it a keeper? of course-I love resins and incense.

If you like this, try: The Magi, Cathedral, Penitence, Pit and the Pendulum, Scattered Gloom

[VioletChaos]

just got the 2008 blend and wanted to compare with my experience of the 2006 variety.

 

in the bottle: frankincense and myrrh, in equal amount.

 

wet on skin: there's low morph at this stage-i'm getting much the same as what i encountered in the bottle.

 

dry down: the frankincense is far more prominent now. so much so, that i'm a bit surprised.

 

in all: this is one of those instances where aging can really make a difference. so far as i know, all the components are the same as the 2006 variety i reviewed earlier. this batch, however, seems far less complex and mysterious than the other, older one. don't get me wrong- this is still a lovely incense scent. but i'm definitely going to let this age for a while before wearing it again.

 

 

 

[kamikat]

The description of this made it seem like the ideal scent for me. When it arrived, I was so disappointed. In the bottle, there was something that made my eyes water. The last 2 BPAL orders will filled with scents that I didn't like. I was ready to give up. Boy, am I glad I didn't.

Wet-PINE, screaming to the heavens. It was like I had gone swimming in Pine-sol. I thought about washing it off, but had to go pick up the kids.

Dry- it smoothed out and turned into the more heavenly incense scent, just like they use in my Greek church. So far, it has lasted several hours and I can't stop smelling my wrists.

I tried using a splash of it on a piece of cotton shoved into my car vents. I get nothing but the overwhelming pine scent. Not a good car scent.

[voodoocatwoman]

What an evocative scent. Just the tiniest dab on the wrists takes me back to St. Louis Cathedral and the early '70's midnight mass I attended with a friend. Do I detect sandalwood? Someone mentioned cedar and I think I pick up a tiny bit of that as well. Normally, cedar and I are not friends (HAMSTER CAGE!!) but it's not obnoxious in this blend.

 

This is beautiful.

[heavywhitewove]

This was part of a last minute yule panic order that consisted of Mme. Moriarty and a generous helping of the Shunga and Aphrodite collection. Of all the bottles I ordered, this is my favorite.

 

In the bottle: wet pine - like a fresh cut tree (no weird chemicals detected) wait for it

 

On the skin: wet pine (still fresh) and then it begins to morph. For the next 15-20 min the pine mellows out and something else emerges wait for it

 

Dry: :bow: Pine is gone. Here it is - the completely unexpected note. Warm asian spice - call it incense if you want- but this is not head shop material. We are talking warm, smokey sexy sexy sexy stuff. Hint of opium in there too. This is grown-up, midnight naughtiness. It is everything I hoped for in the Shunga scents and did not get. Moderate throw - lasting time on me was 3 hrs. Way longer than any of the Shunga or Aphrodite collection.

 

Win for the lab. If you are like me and prefer the spicier BPALs you will want to try this complex scent.

 

5 out of 5

 

80 year old mother's reaction to scent in the bottle: doesn't smell like christmas to me!

[veronicafranco]

true story:

6:45. pitch dark outside and the air and floor in my bathroom are really cold. i am grudgingly washing my face. gotta be on the road for work in an hour.

in walks my 4-year-old daughter with a really bewildered and just-woke-up face.

"what are you doing?"

"getting ready for work. i do this every monday and wednesday, you just don't usually see me."

"but it's the middle of the night."

out of the mouths of babes comes my bpal choice for the day.

 

oooh, this smells like penitence only much more so. as it dries, it just gets sweeter, richer, more complex. a little more evergreen, which i never would have thought i'd like, but i do. it is almost velvety when fully dry. on my skin, it's not exactly church incense, but it is just as beautiful. i have no idea if it's work appropriate or wacky hippie or what. i've worn it again a couple of workdays since, anyway. pretty sure it will get tucked away when spring comes, but for now, i am loving it.

Edited January 31, 2009 by veronicafranco

[pinkstardust420]

Meh. Not sweet enough for me. Up for swappie poo it goes.

 

 

[FandF]

I'm not getting catholic incense from this. And wet it's very dusty smelling. I don't know if it's ashes or wood shavings or rotted wood...it never seems to leave this zone for the scent whether it's dry or wet or the dry down 5 hours later. Smells like a head shop to me about 10 hours later on my skin. I have never developed any love for this scent and i had high hopes for it. not "incense" to me!

 

[zankoku_zen]

This one started as a nice rich smoky incense, and ended up in plain old cedar.

 

Nuts.

[savage_rose]

2008 smells just like the earlier incarnations, bread and incense. I don't wear it often, but it's one of those warm, comforting scents that you're glad that you have when the mood strikes.

[Jinerviet]

Fly-by review: I smelled my boyfriend's neck today, and got a major whiff of Chapstick. Very odd. He claims he was wearing Midnight Mass.