Aziraphale

[bryghtrose]

Ethereal musk, blonde woods, and dusty Bible accord.

In the imp, it smells arid and dry, which is disconcerting, because I don't expect something *wet* to smell that way. I guess it's just the magic of perfume. Wearign it, it's strong, high, dry and dusty. A bookish scent. It reminds me of Mr. Ibis and Clio a little--maybe the papyrus, "dry parchment of scrolls," and "dusty Bible accord" are all the same note.
It's a nice scent, but not for me. I have Clio for my books and academia moods. Edited September 12, 2007 by quantum spice

[storme]

In the imp: cedar and dusty paper and a crisp, light musk.

 

On me, wet: Wow, it vanished. There's a *hint* of a papery smell, but most of the scent went poof on contact with my skin.

 

On me, dry: A very pale, slightly warmed-by-musk paper smell with a hint of cedar.

 

Verdict: Hmm, a bit too ethereal for me, though I suspect it'll age well. Still keeping the bottle, of course.

[Jenesis]

Bottle: Aaack. Alcoholic cologne.

 

Wet: Still alcoholic cologne.

 

Drydown: Weird, dusty, woody cologne.

 

Dry (10 mins): Slightly more interesting. I can smell cedar, sandalwood (I think) and other light, as it says, blonde woods. No "dust" as yet. I think the "cologne" scent must be the musk.

 

Dry (20 mins): Glad I left this, it's lovely now! Sweet, light musks and bright woods. Very sophisticated and fitting of the character. If I ever have a spare $25 I'll grab a bottle of this!

 

Verdict: Leave this to mellow! Smart, sophisticated and uplifting. Sit there with your gold-rimmed spectacles and browse your old books.

 

Rating: 4.5/5

[funkmoppet]

Oh, Beth has just outdone herself with Crowley and Aziraphale!

 

I ADORE this! Where Crowley is growly-sex, Aziraphale is all sweet, gentle academic that makes me come over all :3

 

I get a big dose of the wibbles.

 

Wow, YES bible accord! This is the smell of books! Dusty, wonderful books, with a gentle, soft masculine musk that really only comes out on the dry down. It's library scent perfection. It's a scent I expect I'd smell nuzzling the neck of a foxy, brainy gentleman with a liking for tweed and tea. Guh! Fetish!

 

I am utterly smitten with this one. Thank god these are GC's, the bottle list is growing! MUST have a 5ml of this.

 

GORGEOUS!

[angharad]

MAN. This smells like a man. I swear, I've been close to a man who smelled JUST LIKE THIS. I just can't remember who. The longer it's on, the more woodsy it smells, then turns dusty. Perfect scent for an old bookstore filled to the brim with hidden rare treasures alongside falling apart smutty romance paperbacks. I like it, but I don't think I'll keep it because I'd never wear it. My librarian mother might like to sneak some onto my dad, though.

[Little Bird]

I seem to be in the minority for not loving this scent. Aziraphale is far too dry of a scent for my tastes. It really does have a dusty, dry smell to it along with some dry woods. It turns to dusty cedar shavings on me after a while and makes me think of hamster cages. I even kinda like that smell, but there's something far too dry about this one, like it's going to suck the moisture out of my wrists, lol. Thankfully, I find this to be rather light. It's just very much not-for-me.

[batsy]

In the vial: Yargh. Wood and dust.

 

On the skin: Not much else. I can barely get any throw off this one, other then woods. And not a good woodsy scent. My skin ate it and there was nothing left to smell.

[PurringPulsar]

Aziraphale

 

In the imp: woodsy papery men's cologne. My nose is weird but it reminds me of something from Lush, possibly even Ginger perfume??

Wet on skin: oh, this is pretty…and papery! I also smell the woods, they are almost tobacco-like.

Dry on skin: interesting! I really smell the dusty Bible here! I'm amazed at how much this smells like old worn pages of books, dog-eared and faded, on dust-covered wooden shelves. To make it even more biblical, I even smell a dash of church incense in here. Yet despite smelling like a library, it also smells like a neat, dapper manly cologne with a little hint of dry, pale woods and a glowing, fresh musk which is almost citrus-y. There's something almost Ozymandias-like to it, in that it is dry, dusty, airy, and has a 'vintage perfume' feel to it. It also reminds me of something from Dogs Playing Poker, maybe the 'men's cologne' element of New Year's Eve in Dogville?

After a while: the papery smell is a little less now, it's not as dusty, and now I smell the musk a little more. It's a feathery, shining white musk, very evocative of angel wings, but with a citrus-like freshness reminiscent of aftershave (in the best way possible), and a nice woodsy base. I even smell some tea in here. This blend does smell very handsome, very sophisticated, and now I almost smell something floral to the musk (but not blatant flowers). It still reminds me of DPP-maybe a lighter version of the incense of Riding the Goat meets the cologne of New Year's Eve? At this point, it almost reminds me of Mr Ibis-maybe it's the papery scent? This is a little more cologne-like though.

This actually becomes more floral as time passes! It's not a girly floral, more of a gender neutral one, but the light, glowing musk note has a lovely crisp floral aspect, like orange blossom or hibiscus, to it. The wood is noticeable now, it smells like sandalwood and cedar/teak, dry and solid and pale. I also smell a little more of the books, and a waft of angelic incense. There are points when this is WHOA WOOD and it veers dangerously close to smelling of pencil shavings and furniture, but the musk keeps that in check, the scent becomes a balance of wood and musk at the end with that tea-like note returning to add freshness.

Verdict: fitting its namesake character perfectly, this is a studious, clean-cut yet luminous fragrance. First I smell that collection of Infamous Bibles, a yellowed papery dusty note which has soaked up the smell of burning frankincense. Then the ethereal musk comes out, a gentlemanly and fresh white musk with a touch of classic cologne, a musk note that is luminous yet neat. This scent really smells as if it wears a halo…there's something classically angelic to it, but it's all grounded by a solid, dry base of dusty woods. There are moments when this smells incredibly woody-more so than most, and it's the only BPAL which so far has brushed close to smelling like pencils, but this does get toned down by the gorgeous, almost floral, shining musk and that fantastic papery note with a hint of incense. It really does smell like I'm in Aziraphale's bookshop in Soho, I smell it all-the books, the shelves, and the pleasant perfume of the angel himself, sipping a cup of tea. A scent which is sophisticated, handsome and studious, and reminds me of the Dogs Playing Poker scents, and despite it sometimes leaning towards masculine, this is very unisex, and I love it. I love those old library scents, and this is perfect for when I'm feeling all bookish and intellectual.

Emoticon rating:

Is it a keeper? definitely! A lovely counterpoint to Crowley, and I do love smelling of old books.

If you like this, try: Cathedral, Carfax Abbey, Ozymandias, Mr Ibis, New Year's Eve in Dogville, Dragon's Bone, Isaac, Parliament of Monsters

[Trish]

Wet, this is sweet sandalwood with a touch of light musk. As it dries the sweetness lessens somewhat and cedar appears. Not harsh cedar, but soft rounded sweet cedar. There's also glorious warm golden musk and some dust. Dust that's mixed with incense ash. It's warm, soft, sweet, dry, haunting, calming and a thousand other things that I can't describe. It's provoking quite an emotional response actually. It might be the dusty old books thing - I love second hand bookstores and they always stir some sort of "homecoming" response in me.

 

I love woods, I love musk, I love dust, I love incense, and I adore Aziraphale.

[jade_starlight]

Alas, Aziraphale has broken my heart. I can't smell the dusty books that I was so looking forward to at all. Instead, all I get is a sort of generic perfume smell, at least on me. I am so very, very sad.

[4492]

In the bottle: There's a great waft of dust and then...not much else. Even the dust disappears. Just smells like...old rooms? My house pretty much smells of books anyway, so it may not have been the most unbiased place to test!

 

Wet: I'm having flashbacks to holidays abroad. Mainly to a museum I visited in Spain - the hot, fusty-ish smell you get in old, stone buildings. Books and musk as well. Clinging very close - not much throw to speak of.

 

Drydown: It's becoming a bit more masculine and the books seem to have devolved back into trees! Wierdly it's gotten stronger, unless I have adapted and am able to pick the scent out of nowhere? Starting to pick up memories of generic hotel rooms. (Memories and smells are so closely linked for me it's the only way I can think to describe scent!)

 

Definately one to wear when you just want to curl up with a good book and something warm in a mug. However, you may have to wear it on your upper lip if you want to be able to hold a book and a mug at the same time - I have to plaster my wrist to my nose to smell anything!

 

((ETA: I fell asleep for about 10 hours or so and it's still clinging on! Turned very musky now with a bit of dust underneath. I have a horrible feeling I may be getting another bottle of this!))

Edited August 26, 2007 by minimal23

[Keslynn]

In the imp, Aziraphale is a strange musty woody odor.

 

On my skin, he goes right into being bookish. It's all dry paper with a hint of dust on the edges of the heavy tomes. I'm also getting a hint of the wood shelves. It's one of those scents that's really spot-on for something - in this case, a library. Then, it does something odd. Aziraphale gets a little stinky from cataloging and now smells like books and BO.

 

Verdict: Aziraphale smells exactly like a library. This is a neat scent although I'm not sure I'd want to smell like a library. But... the turn towards BO ruins it. Off to the swaps with this angel.

[Ajila]

In the bottle – Nothing, absolutely nothing

 

Wet on me – Furniture polish

 

Dry on me – Very faint musks

 

Overall – Neither my nose nor my skin did much with this, I guess I’m just not the angelic type

[slave1]

AZIRAPHALE

 

In Bottle: Perfume dust

 

On Skin: This smells like a pretty perfume that has evaporated and turned into a fine dust. Very powdery, very sexy and very interesting. Another image that comes to mind, is old love letters, withering away but still holding the perfume of the sender. The woods are light but still quite dominant. The musk is the sexy note and gives this scent it’s appeal. I could smell this on a man or woman, it’s so very pretty. Normally I’m not a fan of powdery scents or overly perfumey scents, but since this is a more musky perfume and not a floral, it captures me. I would like a bottle of this to share with my husband, if I can get him to wear it. I like that it is softer and more refined than the heavy leather scents I’ve been making him wear most of the time. Absolutely gorgeous. Light throw and short to average wearlength.

[darkblade]

Wet: Hrm. Yep, papery bible accord with bits of musk.. almost if you sat out all day trying to read in the woods in England. Damp book, trees.. but ONLY damp, mind you, not mildewed.

 

Drydown: I'm having a hard time describing this one. It has an ethereal airy quality to it. There's still a bit of the paper and wood to it, but it's a dry wood despite the slight tone of mist. It's a polite scent, and doesn't have a heavy throw range. I'd wear this in professional settings.

 

Verdict: At first I thought, "I like it and might keep it, but do not need to pick up more than this imp." However, I've found that I'm wearing this much more than I thought I would. Bottle!

 

 

 

As for comparisons to Aureus.. I find this to be a similar scent, but it is much, much lighter. (~_~ no puns!)

[moon_lemming]

Blonde woods = cedar? Cedar's red, though, isn't it? Whatever is in this, all I'm getting is cedar. Not for me.

[Lunaratu]

I had to try this gentleman on first when I received my glorious imps—I am just such a bookworm. First on Azi was a good deal of crystalline musk then quickly warmed up by the cedar smell of the blonde woods. At first I’m worried that this is going to start roaring sandalwood/cedar all over the place but it doesn’t. Aziraphale is soft and the throw is indeed like sitting in an old library with aged, well-oiled wood and lovely manuscripts in leather binding just waiting to be read. It feels like a snuggle into a chair and read scent. There’s also something just a tad sweet about it on me—it might just be how the warmth translates onto my skin but I love that aspect of this. If I smelled this on a guy I’d want to snuggle up with him all day in a warm over-sized chair while it rained outside. This is clean, warm, light yet haunting and fairly irresistible in my book.

Rating: 4/5

[Gwydion]

In the bottle, this smells vaguely like a more femme version of polo. Who knew? It settles down rather quickly on application, though, with the musk gentling on contact with the natural scent of skin, allowing the scent of wood to balance it. There is something faint and almost spicey underneath, connected to an element which does smell faintly of old paper. Five minutes in, it is pleasing in a vaguely masculine sort of way, though gayer than a tree full of monkeys on nitrous oxide, as the quote above suggests. As it wears, the library scent grows stronger, the aftershavey scent making it delightfully sexy in an understated way. Very Aziraphale really. It creates the scent ghost of a geeky, repressed Englishman, who's buttons one wants to rip from his shirt and ravish. As with jolly Roger, I am constantly disappointed that scent ghost to the contrary, there is no bookish Geek to ravish where my nose tells me there should be. This should not be held against the fragrance though. OMG!

 

Alas, it doesn't wear nearly as well as I'd hoped, going all dry. Better if mixed with Crowley, Coyote, or Herbert West.

[tinyvulture]

a pale, light scent without a lot of throw. soft warm musk over dry, dusty cedar or sandalwood. gently masculine. i like this musk, it reminds me of the musk in Coyote. i’m not sure what Bible accord smells like, so i thought this might smell like a stack of old Bibles but i’m not picking up any paper/parchment notes. it’s a nice scent, but i wish it was stronger.

[aleciarivas]

I realize the wood note in this blend is Sandalwood, but I SWEAR on my DH is smells like the inside of a Cedar Chest (which is way yummy). I tried this on- briefly- and ew! But on my DH it is yummeh~ And the best part is, he's willing to try all of these on- he's starting to get as excited as me!!!! Well almost. I love him even more now!!! (Didn't even know it was possible!)

[The_Merf]

While this is very clearly a "masculine musk blend" in the tradition of Wilde, Vicomte and many others, it is one of my favorites in that category. The musk is very well blended with the other notes and never really breaks away to give the blend that 'male cologne kick' that I've gotten with some of the other scents I mentioned here. I definitely think that, in addition to the wood, there is some sort of other resin here (I'm not sure if it's cedar, but it does smell like that). The scent is basically a very nice resin/musk blend, and it does not change much on my skin, even after it's been on for nearly an hour.

[Thursdae]

My bottle of Aziraphale arrived. The decanted imp I had was enough to tell me I needed a whole bottle of papery, woody goodness. On me, the scent starts well out of the gate, and over the course of a couple of hours, it morphs through its components: sweet musk first, woods next, then paper, then just a fading aura of glory.

 

It's light and I feel quite angelic wearing it. Also appropriately book-loving. I'm not a fan of masculine colognes on myself, but there's nothing masculine about it to my nose.

 

I loved Bagfish's description above: An angel, not fallen, only slightly slipped.

[TereFaerie]

I never do this, but at soon as I had sniffed Aziraphale I slathered it on without even testing on the back of my hand as usual. I will be needing BOTTLES of this one. The musk reminds me of the body musk scent that I adore in Grandmother of Ghosts, but where GoG adds intensity with the mandarin and pepper, Aziraphale is subtle and sophisticated, smelling of academia instead of ritual.

I smell sandalwood and cedar and old paper.

The "masculine musk" blends like this and Crowley go sweet on me, and usually with pleasant results.

I only wish the throw was stronger, but I'll have to try it in my hair and scent locket as well.

This will make my top ten.

 

Almost a year later, and aging has really made this scent stronger, more potent. It still has that paper, musk, wood smell, but now it is smooth, burnished wood, shiny and dusty at once. It's hard to describe how I feel wearing this one; safe, content, and a little naughty in a bad librarian sort of way, lol. Between my bottle of this and Crowley, Aziraphale gets the most love.

Edited November 12, 2008 by TereFaerie

[emerald_ibis]

I didn't expect to, but I really love this scent. I generally (to my heartbreak) do not have good luck with "wood" notes (they tend to go pencil-shavings on me pretty quickly). This, however, is lovely.

 

It does start out very strong in the wood and dusty-Bible department. Then it goes very strongly pencil-shavings on me for a short period of time (which worried me a great deal). The blend smooths out beautifully, though. I can still smell the blonde woods, but it blends beautifully with the musk and "old books" smell in the background. Overall this is very clean and ... quiet, I suppose, is the best way to describe it. It's not like anything else in my collection, and I very badly want a bottle!

[mazikeen]

Immediately, it smelled like basic perfume. Feminine and light. Not bad, mind you, but boring. Then it faded away into... nothing. I sat at work with my wrist to my nose sniffing furiously (and probably looking like a crazy person) and found only the tiniest trace. Or was that just wishful thinking?

 

How sad. I'll wait a week or so and give it another shot, in case my skin chemistry is just wonky right now. If I get a better result, I'll update this review. If not, it looks like I'll have a bottle available.

 

 

Sigh. Aziraphale, sorry buddy, you're just too much of a sissy for my skin.