Kostnice

[sookster]

A celebration of the Bone Church of Prague. Frankincense, rosewood, lily, and geranium rose.

straight sniff from imp is frankincense and very sweet florals

once applied this turns overwhelmingly green but with that frankincense note it
makes it quite interesting indeed...this is strong...and turns somewhat soapy
after 15 to 20 minutes

with the right chemistry, kostnice would be an incredible perfume...but for me,
it is merely "meh" and far too many strong soapy bubbles

[steffanina]

Kostnice-

 

In Bottle: Incense-y sour. Hmm. I'm already predicting this won't work for me.

 

Wet: I smell orange baby aspirin. I am not making this up.

 

Dry: That smell did linger for a bit, but is gone rather quickly. It wasn't enchanting me, so I'm not sad that it faded.

 

Overall: Not for me.

[Medici]

Wet: rosewood

 

Drydown: Rosewood and a little bit of green, fresh floral. Interesting. It's woodsy and there's a hint of frankincense to dry things off a bit, which I usually dig a whole lot. I'm not really jumping for joy over this, though - it's a little too subdued for me to fling myself at enthusiastically.

[columbus]

In the bottle, this is a very green floral scent. The instant it hits the skin it gets even greener, which I’m guessing is the geranium rose? It’s cool, and crisp, and smells like broken flower stems and running water.

 

As it dries down, I do get a little bit of soapiness, but nothing too alarming. The incense you get from this is very mellow, and not smoky or cloying. This smells like a church that’s been long forgotten and overgrown by the surrounding foliage.

[supremegoddessofall]

Spicy florals. I'm getting more of the rose than the lily. There's a slight aquatic feel here, but not overpowering.

[maribouquet]

imp: incense & a lemony herbal scent

 

wet: rose geranium and dry, ashen incense

 

The lily and the rose geranium play back and forth, and combined with the frankincense (which smells so dry here, it really makes me think of bleached bones - and that's before I looked up Kostnice or looked closely at the Lab's description.)

 

Not green, but strongly lit, like an eyeful of sunlight, if that makes any sense? Almost a high, alkaline note that softens as it dries, strengthening the lily and allowing the rosewood to emerge as a backing.

 

I had a very strong emotional response to this scent. It literally brought me to tears. As with Penitence, to me Kostnice is evocative of grief, but an old grief from many generations. It makes me think of old gravestones that have been sanded down and bleached by time.

 

Very sad and very lovely at the same time.

Edited November 15, 2006 by maribouquet

[klavierbarrette]

imp: weird florals...with the frankincense

 

skin: wood. some florals peek in after a few minutes. reminds me of a really old and beautiful building. layered, i would wear this scent. i don't want to smell like wood, and only wood. nice frimp! hehe

[outofrhyme]

In the bottle:

Florals, pine, something dry? Probably wood...

 

Wet:

Lily, very lovely lily. I get the wood, too, and maybe a hint of the frankincense.

 

Dry down:

It is a lot like a church around Easter. Definitely the wood and the flowers.

 

Final thoughts:

It turns a little funny on me after awhile, but I like the early stages of it, and I think it's really pretty. Probably not something I'd wear very much, though.

[Luhtarian]

Starts off smelling of very loud, green florals... more like a flower STEM than anything else. On me, the rose turns to soap in no time (as roses always do, ) so I don't know how it would have dried down. All I can smell is frankincense and soap.

Edited December 7, 2006 by Luhtarian

[phedre]

I am a huge fan of churchy blends.

 

In vial: this is almost pure rosewood with a touch of lily, and dust.

 

Wet on skin: it's dusty, almost mildewy rosewood, like in a very old building. The florals are overwhelmed by the smell of old wood.

 

drydown: this has gone even more mildewy, like rotting wood and dust. Not good at all! Off to the swaps for Kostnice.

Edited December 24, 2006 by phedre

[oh_the_horror]

In bottle: Earthy and rose.

 

Wet and drying down: Lily and rose. I'm not a fan of lilies. They smell like a medicinal ointment to me. The rose is going kind of sharp and bitter on me. Bah. I had such high hopes for this one. Mainly I hoped that I didn't smell much lily.

 

Dry: It was a soapy floral and eventually turned into dried roses past their prime, and maybe some musky frankincense. Boo.

 

So I guess geranium rose doesn't work on me?

[Carmencita]

I am sick right now (although my sinuses are clear), so I may come back and change my review and try this on my skin when I get better.

 

The same in the vial, wet, and dry (just more intense in the vial).

 

Unlike everyone here, these smell very watery. Drowned grasses and flowers. I smell carnation. Perhaps that's the geranium? The flowers are subdued with gallons upon gallons of fountain water above them. This smells deep and cool and so wet. Soaked wood. An old church with the roof caved in and rain water having collecting in the holy font where dead flowers are.

 

But there is no smell of rot.

 

I'm not sure if I would by a bottle of this, but I might not give away the imp. I think I may just keep it for myself.

[ariosa]

No hint of the frankincense on me at all. It's a very heavy, heavy floral, with great throw --- and unfortunately? I'm also smelling dill pickle.

 

This one is not for me.

[Trish]

A little while ago I saw a thing about the Bone Church in Prague on TV and was fascinated, so I had to give this a go, florals or no florals.

 

In the imp: sweet frankincense

 

Wet: soft florals over sweet frankincense

 

Drydown: Mmm I'm not familiar with lily or rose geranium, but this is lovely! The florals are softening and sweetening the frankincense, but not overpowering it. At one stage I start to fear they will, but then the frankincense moves up another notch. For me, this is a good thing as I am rather fond of frankincense. Luckily it's just as fond of me!

 

Dry: I can just smell a warm soft wood in the background which must be the rosewood, then the florals mingling with the frankincense. A warm, dry slightly sweet incensey floral. After a while the florals fade so it's nearly all soft frankincense. It has a bit of throw and medium to good lasting power.

 

But then, after about 4 hours it turns to powdery florals. Damnit!

Edited February 26, 2007 by Trishek

[GoldenRubee]

I really like this scent. To me it smells like a freshly picked geranium stem with just a hint of floral in the background. I get a lot of green with touches of floral-an overall lovely scent! Light geranium rose a little lily make this a perfect blending of oils to tantalize the senses.

[Brianne]

In the vial:

Okay, yeah that's rosewood

 

On me:

I knew there was a reason I didn't go out of my way to try this one. It's pretty much everything that doesn't work on me. Frankicense which is overwhelming and kind of smelly on me, rose which is overpowering and heady, and wood which is overwhelming on me. It's like a kakophony of awful smells on my skin, it's just too much for my skin chemistry!

 

Final note:

Those who LIKE wood scents (or "churchy" smells like Cathedral) will probably enjoy this one. My chemistry doesn't work with any of these notes though.

[Dinerdulcinea]

Kostnice:

imp: orange blossom and rose

wet: floral...smells a little sour...might go powdery.

dry: too soapy. Nah.

[girl_android]

Seeing as I've got a large backlog of imps to test (*and* I've got things on order, *and* I've got another order waiting patiently to be placed), I figure I might get through some testing ...

 

In the imp, I get sharp white blossoms and something green ...

 

Wet on skin, it's kind of alternately weirdly green and powdery ... I realise that I don't know what all the listed notes smell like by themselves (except perhaps lily), so I'm not sure what's making it smell green, and what's making the powdery thing happen. At the moment, it doesn't smell like anything I'd choose to wear for myself, as it feels a little mature for me.

 

Once dry, there's a kind of soapy thing going on, but with kind of green and watery things going on at the same time. Sadly, it's not for me ): I hope the imp finds a better home!

 

Edit: for spelling!

Edited May 12, 2007 by Girl Android

[Naamah_Darling]

In the bottle, sweet rose and lily combine with incense to make a smell like . . . sweet dill pickle chips. Yeah. Those are lilies, all right.

 

Thankfully, that's gone once it hits my skin, and this becomes a tender floral with an underpinning of polished wood and a rarified air of frankincense that is ever-so-slightly musty. You know that fine, powdery ash that incense leaves behind? This smells a little bit like that. Dry and woody, and faintly floral. A sorrowful, funereal scent, yes, but also a thoughtful, peaceful one.

 

It grows woodier as the scent progresses. The pickle smell flickers in and out – it's not very pronounced, but it is certainly very odd. There's a sweet smell here, like melting beeswax candles, or that faintly sweet air you get in a place where there's a lot of flower and incense traffic. But it's also an empty, roomy smell. Kind of . . . unearthly. I can't say I find it very comforting. It's actually rather barren, for all that the flowers try to cozy up to you.

 

The pickle scent never really goes away, sadly, and it's only at the extreme tail end of its weardown that it becomes something I would willingly dose myself with. At that point, though, it's a heartbreakingly sad mix of faint lily and incense that is at once celestial and dark. I wish it smelled like that from the start! Damn my crazy chemistry!

[zankoku_zen]

In the imp: Rosey

 

On Skin: Geranium BOOM!

 

After a few minutes, I get more of the rose peaking out.

 

After about fifteen minutes, it turns into a soapy rosey floral.

 

On Drydown: The soap bubbles disappears and I get a green smelling incense.

 

Verdict: Definitely not for me. But for someone who likes incensey smells, I would definitely recommend this one.

[kwsix]

In the imp - incense and woods; very soft and pretty

 

Wet on my skin - total morph! Wow, the florals have taken over. I get sharp rose, and yes, I do understand the dill pickle comments now. It reminds me of a Glade floral bouquet air freshener. You know, the ones that don't really smell bad, but they certainly do nothing to eliminate bathroom odors, so you're left with the smell of stinky poo and flowers.

 

As it dries, it gets a little soapy, but otherwise it stays the same as the wet stage. There's no frankincense to be found anywhere.

 

Kostnice doesn't work on me at all. I can imagine that it's beautiful on someone with the right kind of skin chemistry, but that someone is not me.

[ouch!]

This is FLOOOOORRAAAAAL! At first

 

For a little while it's like walking into a huge room filled with Lillies...There is no rose at all really for me duning any part of wearidge!

When it calms down though, it's much more pleasant, it does go slightly powdery but it's an extremely fresh scent. I wouldn't have put this as the scent to evoke the feeling of the church, maybe the gravestones and flowers outside.

I get no incensey notes at all...

 

I would never have tried this one on my own, but regardless of that, it's a very fresh floral, mainly smelling of lillies on me.

 

Ouch!

Edited July 11, 2007 by ouch!

[n3m3sis42]

In the imp:

Florals (like rose) and a very strong wood note.

 

Wet:

First it is all floral, and then the wood comes out in force. Unlike most blends with a woody note on me, though, the rosewood seems to blend in quickly. As it's drying, I could swear I smell lemon. However, the last blend I tried was Shanghai (on my other arm), so maybe I'm still smelling that?

 

Dry:

I spoke too soon about the wood. I smell like floral pencil shavings. I guess this one is not for me.

[forspecial_plate]

I think I mostly smelled lily and rose geranium. I haven't learned to recognize rosewood. I wouldn't have guessed there was frankincense in this. Now, reading the other reviews, I want to try it again for the frankincense.

 

Mostly what I smelled was a kind of golden, glittery floral scent. Not like roses at all. Now that I think about it, maybe the frankincense was contributing. Struck me as slightly soapy. Not at all what I would expect, reading the description and other reviews!

 

ADDED Jan. 5:

 

Kostnice…..sharp, bright floral that quickly starts turning soapy. The soap aspect seems to grow exponentially, and very quickly this was so soapy that it nearly knocked me over. I could wait it out, see if the frankincense comes out with time………but, I have other frankincense blends that work right away, so this one’s just not for me! I think lily was the soapy culprit.

[Delirium1009]

In the imp and immediately on me, this smells very bitter and green with a light green undertone. I am definitely not a fan of geranium, so my nose is picking up that note quite strongly.

 

This fades to geranium with a warm undertone… it doesn’t smell to woody, so I think it might be the frankincense. Basically, if you love geranium you’ll probably like this blend.