And There Was A Great Cry In Egypt

[steffanina]

Dark myrrh, white sandalwood, amber, hyssop, frankincense, honey, cypress, red musk, cardamom and saffron.

And There Was a Great Cry in Egypt-

In Bottle: Hmm, sweet, chocolate-wood?, sharp like men's cologne.

Wet: Yes, that was chocolate-wood. That's how I smell vetiver, and I also smell the musk now.

Dry: This is a heavy sweet musk, almost cloying but not quite, and it gets better and better the more it dries. I don't think I'll use it a lot but I see myself breaking it out every once in a while, when I'm all moody 'n' stuff.

Overall: I like, conditionally. Edited March 3, 2008 by Shollin

[ND¢]

Very warm... initially sharp (probably the musk or cypress or both?) but deepened to a gentle, amber/frankincense scent with the ambience of chocolate some people have mentioned. It was very interesting. I'm glad I tried it!

[myoubi]

How beautiful. This is my favourite currently-available blend I've tested so far, and lands at number two on my overall top ten, just below the inimitable La Fee Verte.

 

It's a warm, dry scent, and while it's certainly not definitively femenine, I don't get the cologney vibe a lot of people have mentioned. It's very subtle, slightly sweet, and it has body without being -heavy- (a problem for me -- I can't wear heavy fragrances, they just don't love me back ) I get velvety resin-smells with sandalwood, and the amber and the red musk come out to play about 20 minutes after application.

 

So glad I found a bottle. Will be ordering more post-haste.

[zankoku_zen]

I got to try this one at jewelbugs. Thanks luv.

 

Preconceived notion: Based on the ingredients, I thought I would like it.

 

In the imp: Incensey.

 

On skin: I can't smell anything other than the frankincense and the myrrh.

 

On Drydown: It stays close to the skin, and it's an incredibly complex scent because I can't pick out any individual notes. It's not floral at all but rather in the warm, incensey sort of category.

 

Verdict: I'm glad I got to try this one. But it didn't turn out to be (one of the many) true loves of BPAL for me. I might have to give it another whirl sometime.

[Voleuse]

On first sniff, this is cologne to my nose, reminding me of incense and astringent. The incense note(s) get stronger over time. After a while, however, the cardamom and saffron and musk come into play. This ends up being sweet and a little spicy, but in a woodsy way, instead of foody. Complicated and gorgeous. I like it!

[luna65]

Thanks to Blood onmy hands for the decant.

 

Decant: An astringent sharp top note of hyssop.

 

Skin: The woods are not warm in this one, but rather dry, and the frankincense is strong as well.

 

Drydown: It's funny, I thought there would be some resolution between the woods and the spices and the sweeter elements, but the woods and the bitter herb have pretty much trampled the entire mix. This one is decidedly masculine to me, in that it's the sort of blend that works with expectations of what a man should smell like. It becomes a little warmer over time, but still so very dry, which naturally suits the character of the composition, though I'm not sure if it's for me.

[forspecial_plate]

This is quite a nice blend....I can appreciate the complexity, and really like the mood that it evokes. Makes me think of burnished copper or brass for some reason, just a mental image I am getting. Also it reminds me a bit of Carceri D'Invenzione, which I like a lot. This one though, ends up being just a bit sweet and powdery for my taste, which I think is the amber. I do get the dry wood notes (cypress I guess, and maybe the sandalwood too), and a lot of resin (definitely a frankincense and myrrh blend for me). The rest of the notes add complexity and I honestly don't really pick out individual notes. I think I'm getting just a little bitterness from the saffron, although that could be the myrrh also.

 

Anyway, it's another great salon blend. I'm really glad I got to try it but I think I'll pass it along, since I avoid most powdery scents and that's what this verges on for me. I bet this would smell even better with some aging, though.

 

Edit.....almost 3 years later, I continue to wear this scent. It's really beautiful and I refuse to give up on it. I should just get a bottle. It's one of the rare scents that is sweet (honey) and powdery that I actually like. I usually don't like honey in perfume but this blend is just fantastic. Definitely has a place in my permanent collection.

Edited November 3, 2009 by Forspecial Plate

[moon_lemming]

This was a maybe for me, as far as whether it would work or not. Half of the notes hate my skin, half of them want to make out with it.

 

In the imp, it's a very complex blend that gives off a bit of an incense vibe -- that's probly the myrrh and sandalwood. As it dries, it seems a little "dryer" to my nose, more powdery than before. I can sort of pick out the sandalwood and something that seems musky, but really it's too well-blended for my nose to pick much out.

 

It's a pretty blend that goes well with the artwork, but it's a little too incense-y for me to pull it off.

 

eta: Weirdly, even though the oil on my skin is "dry," it's tacky to the touch. Not sure what's up with that. If the smell changes drastically later, I'll amend this review.

Edited December 20, 2006 by karen

[talula_fairie]

In the bottle this smelled strong, sharp, and dry.

 

But on skin it is totally different. It reminds me a bit of Indigo Wild's Frankincense and Myrrh lotion. It's soft and sweet with a touch of resin-y dryness. My skin eats most of the scent by the time it's dry, and it doesn't have a lot of throw, but it's not bad. A very lovely, complex scent I will be wearing again for sure.

[Em-]

Mmmm...sweet and woody. I am a great lover of honey scents, and it is just perfect in this - not foody at all, but a rich thick moist sweet counterpoint to the dryness of the other notes. I will definitely be looking for a bottle of this beauty.

[theseagrows]

this smells musky and resiny, and unfortunately, i detect the frankincense, which turns to pencil shavings on me :/ however, it's pretty subtle, which is good. it's warm and resiny and a tinge masculine, and i sense some sort of subtle floral, but have no idea which note is doing that. after half an hour the frankincense disappears and it smells like sweet incense. i'll have to give this one another try before i decide to keep it.

[mooncityminx]

In the Imp: Herbal, Spicy and a unique floral that reminds me of some perfume I've smelled before but can't place.

 

Wet: Woodsy spice. Sandalwood. The herbal and spicy notes come to the front as well. Very slightly powdery.

 

Drydown: More powdery than before, still spicy. This is sophisticated but a little too much amber for something I would wear everyday. Although in a scent locket I think this could be marvelous. *is keeping* Ahhh, extra woodsy sandalwood. I may get a bottle of this eventually.

[phedre]

In vial: men's cologne. It's very strong! spicy sandalwood and deep myrrh.

 

wet: very masculine. The woods and musks are ruling the day. It's got an aquatic quality.

 

drydown: *wrinkles nose* woods and red musk, and not for me at all. Something in this is completely off with my chemistry. It's just far too masculine for me.

[lightgatherer]

I wish I could give this scent a better review, but it never really smelled like anything on my skin. Wet, I couldn't smell this at all - it was like I'd put canola oil on my wrist. As it dried, if I shoved my nose into my wrist I could smell hints of amber and honey. After a few hours my skin gave off the particular odd scent it does when I've had red musk on it, but that's it. I'm going to have to swap this in hopes it will go to someone who has the skin chemistry to make it actually have a scent.

[jiggahava]

This DOES smell alot like Scherezade. This is very Middle-eastern in feel. Exotic, spicy and sophisitcated. It's well blended, so I can't pick out all the notes, but I get the woods and myrrh right away, then the musk and honey come out to play on my skin. Lovely and definitley bottle worthy. Oh, and medium-strong throw, at least on me. I love it.

[dreadeddragon]

In the bottle: Cardamom & saffron are the first notes I detect, though the blend altogether smells like an eastern incense market (or what I imagine one would smell like anyway)

 

First on: Am I wearing oil? Maybe my sniffer is broken from sniffing too many scents (and I don't have any coffee here to sniff) but I can barely smell this. I wore it to bed a few nights ago and seem to remember it lasting longer than 5 minutes. It's a vague resinous spicy cologne-y scent, from what I can detect.

 

Drydown: I can see where it is on my arm, but I smell nothing. If I remember from the last time I put it on, it faded nicely into a powdery incense scent with a slight spice.

 

Overall: I like it, and will probably keep it, but I wouldn't buy it again.

[tinyvulture]

on my skin, the strongest notes are the resinous myrrh and frankincense, the warm red musk, and the woodsy cypress. i love woodsy and incense blends, so i’m glad to have this imp. i can’t really smell the honey or saffron or cardamom, but i think that’s just because this is so well-blended that you get more of an overall effect rather than really strong individual notes. the downside is that it’s not very strong. i’ll leave it to age awhile longer and see if it develops a bit more throw.

[Shollin]

First sniff: Thickly resinous, and a little pungent. I figured out long ago that frankincense hates me, so I don’t expect this to work.

 

Wearing: The edges soften on my skin, and it’s weirdly quite a bit nicer on me than it is in the vial. Still decidedly resiny, but with a bit of soft sweetness to back it.

[hipslike___cinderella]

This is my first Salon blend review, and I've decided to skip out on reading other reviews until mine is fully prepared. So now I'm surprised to read these and see words like "brooding" and "masculine" for this blend.

 

Initially this is a seamless meld of resins. It's hard to tell whether myrrh, amber, or frankincense is the most dominant. There's the perfect amount of cypress and saffron for spiciness; just enough to keep the incense from getting too heavy. On my skin, this stays close and is soft. I do echo other people in saying there is a "perfumey" quality... I just can't pinpoint what or why, exactly.

 

Later on, I notice instead of fading, the perfume warms and grows. I thought this would stay mute but it's become glowing, kind of like the color amber itself. Honey is the shining note now, and is the last lingering thing I smell hours later. I'm not usually fond of honey notes, but this is a rich and sophisticated honey.

 

This blend is very smooth and warm. It's not entirely something I'd dig enough for a bottle, but evocative nonetheless.

[storme]

In the imp: a sticky, dark, herbal resin blend. Hmm.

 

On me, wet: a dark, spicy, herbal resin. It's sort of smoky and pungent, but in a sexy way.

 

On me, dry: Ye gods this has quite the throw. A smooth, mellow, dark-wood-and resin blend with a touch of spice and musk and pepper around the edges.

 

Verdict: This is lovely - but my SO probably won't go near the stuff, and it's a bit butch for me personally to wear.

[Miss Lynx]

A sweet, lovely incense scent, a little similar to Bastet, especially when fresh. It's actually astonishing to me that there are no floral notes listed, because when first applied, it's really sweet, and I would have sworn there as some kind of floral there -- lotus, maybe, or iris. Plus a sharp, clean, acidic herbal note that I suspect is the hyssop.

 

As it settles in more, those elements diminish a little, giving way to a more aromatic, resinous, amber-licious inensey scent. It's kind of like a hybrid between Bastet, Fenris Wolf and one of the heavy church/ritual incense scents -- Al-Azif or Cathedral, or maybe even Schwarzer Mond. This is where the true beauty of it really comes out.

 

If it weren't for the greatness of Lot And His Daughters, I'd be tempted to say that this is the winner of the entire Salon category. Yes, it's that good. It's got all kinds of layers of complexity and depth, and the best description I can think of for it is that it's like a really beautiful, high quality ritual incense or anointing oil, mingled with the scent of sunlight on hot sands -- definitely very Egyptian in its feel.

 

I was so wanting not to have to buy any Salon bottles given how much more expensive they are than regular scents, but there are bound to be a few exceptions, and this is definitely one of them. Must. Have.

 

Grade: A

[hkhm]

imp: cypress with a hint of myrrh.

 

wet: myrrh. there is a lovely undercurrent of the amber, musk, sandalwood and frankincense but it's mostly myrrh on me.

 

dry: myrrh, musk and sandalwood. this is a very dark, deep frangrance. very nice scent for the painting.

[bulletslc]

Thank you to fountaingirl for gifting this to me ages ago!

 

This is a beautiful resin blend! Much less musky, deep and masculine than my favorite, Minotaur. It is resin-lite! The softness of amber. The woodsy balance of white sandalwood and cypress. The spiritual lift of myrrh and frankincense. The dusty sugar of honey. The spicyness of cardamom and saffron. The sweet feral whiff of red musk. (I'm not too familiar with hyssop so I don't quite know where it fits in.)

 

Its a more feminine version of Schwartzer Mond and Minotaur. A must for resin/wood lovers!

 

It lasts several hours on me, has decent throw, and is definitly a mood lifter, which I desperately need these days!

Edited December 12, 2007 by Bulletslc

[maribouquet]

Oooh! This smells like Ozymandias to me, only peppery somehow. The honey begins to emerge almost immediately. Within two minutes this is starting to smell weird - almost like meaty nail polish remover. Hmm, myrrh, is that you being horrid? I have no idea who the culprit(s) is/are.

[arsenicsauce]

I'm very slightly stuffed up today, so I may come back and edit this later because I think I may be missing something. This is a subtle scent, moreso than I expected reading the reviews before I bought it. I might call it unisex, but not masculine; definitely a lot of resin, but the honey is louder than I thought it would be, and it balances out the smoky incense-y sharpness of the rest of it nicely. Something about it makes me think "clean", but fortunately it's not soapy, which sandalwood sometimes does to me. I can't really say it smells "like" any one thing but I like it and I'm keeping the bottle.