Eanach Dhuin

[twilighteyes]

If my health is spared I'll be long relating
Of that boat that sailed out of Anach Cuain.
And the keening after of mother and father
And child by the harbour, the mournful croon!
King of Graces, who died to save us,
T'were a small affair but for one or two,
But a boat-load bravely in calm day sailing
Without storm or rain to be swept to doom.

What wild despair was on all the faces
To see them there in the light of day,
In every place there was lamentation,
And tearing of hair as the wreck was shared.
And boys there lying when crops were ripening,
From the strength of life they were borne to clay
In their wedding clothes for their wake they robed them
O King of Glory, man's hope is in vain.
- ANTOINE Ó RAIFTEIRI

Unutterable grief expressed through the scent of balsam, frankincense, blackberry leaf, oud, white rose, driftwood, zdravetz, and bitter clove, beneath the cold waters of the River Corrib.

In the bottle this is a dark aquatic scent. Hard to pick out the notes individually.

On my skin, the white rose and frankincense make an appearance. On inhale I think of a light blue but the exhale is dark blue-green. It is aquatic, but not overwhelmingly so. A bit cologne-y and masculine.

Dry: Aquatic and cologne have left the building. Clove and frankincense are out in force. Woody too. Love!!

How did this go from aquatic to spicy wood?? Edited March 28, 2009 by Shollin

[angelicruin]

Yes, definitely aquatic. On my skin, I can pick out the rose, frankincense, and what I assume is the driftwood with an underlying aquatic quality. As it dries, it sweetens a bit, perhaps the blackberry leaf is contributing to the emerging sweeter note. My skin tends to make a lot of scents go sweet, so it might just be me.

 

I agree that it's a spicy wood scent once it dries down, with just a little bit of sweetness added.

[Heavenlyrabbit]

There were lots of notes in this blend that appealed mightily but the "waters of River Corrib" kind of scared me. Especially with the word "balsam" preceeding it.

 

First on there is a blast of "fresh and clean aquatic". It's followed by a deep incense that is quite "Me" as it has a touch of the Herbal.

 

So this would be an "Aquatic Incense" blend. It is definitely NOT a generic aquatic on or to me personally as so many of these BPAL bends tend to e.

Edited March 18, 2009 by Shollin
Merged with existing topic --Shollin

[tativa]

fresh wood... like a man of the forest after he bathed in a water fall (with irish fairy women all over him... per usual guy fragrance commercial)

A lil to masculine for me, but I will find myself some man in my life who it fits well, and slather my decant all over him. My skin eats this up real quick.

 

Very evocative tho. A soft, but wild, masculine scent.

 

Planty and green, but wooden and clean.

[tartchef]

Woo! Yeah, that's... manly.

 

I was afraid that the white rose would be the bully, but it is almost undetectable... What I do get is a very interesting spicy aquatic, with a healthy dose of balsam. Alternately cool & wet & warm & woody & sweet... I'm having a very hard time wrapping my head around this one. I think in the end it will be too masculine for my tastes, but I'm going to let it sit for a week or two before I decide...

[Dark Alice]

Woo! Yeah, that's... manly.

 

I was afraid that the white rose would be the bully, but it is almost undetectable... What I do get is a very interesting spicy aquatic, with a healthy dose of balsam. Alternately cool & wet & warm & woody & sweet... I'm having a very hard time wrapping my head around this one. I think in the end it will be too masculine for my tastes, but I'm going to let it sit for a week or two before I decide...

 

 

This sums up Eanach for me. Wet....it smells like a spicy aquatic..with a hint of frankincense. Dry this smells like a man that may have just washed himself in the fresh waters of the Eanach....delicious...but I have my Water Phoenix to suit my aquatics needs.

[ami226]

Mmmmm! Hello, man!

 

In the bottle: definitely aquatic. Reminds me of something...

 

On the skin: Ah! I know what that it... Ivory soap! My boyfriend used to use it. Hmmmmm.... this is definitely a very good man scent and makes me want to swoon!

[msbcozad]

Eanach Dhuin

 

This one has a gorgeous blackberry leaf/white rose phase that I wish would stick around all day. The the clove rises up and turns the fruity floral to spicy woodiness. This isn't a traditionally masculine scent, but I can tell it'd be yummy on the right man.

 

Om nom nom.

[TheOneTheyCallLuna]

Wet, this smells like Gilette, the best a man can get. I hate Gilette. As it dries, it redeems itself, but man, that is some bitter ass clove! I really like the blackberry leaf in here, and the white rose...but overall, I think this is going into my boyfriend's BPAL collection. He'll prolly be ecstatic, tho! ...Yup, he loves it!

[sookster]

straight sniff from bottle is a total d00d scent...

 

me old papa's shavin' cream...

 

but once applied...whammo!!

frankincense and woodsiness galore...

seriously high qual frankincense...it

dominates... this scent overwhelmingly which is fantastic for me...

 

another winner~~~

[freneticfloetry]

I can't even muster my usual review format, because this one has me stumped. It's woodsy and sharp and soapy (and not in that "smells faintly of soap" way, it smells just. Like. Soap.), and somehow I'm absolutely loving it. This shouldn't work on me at all. How strange. Eanach Dhuin vexes me. I'm terribly vexed.

[CrazyPretzel]

On me this scent seems much more woodsy than aquatic; I wouldn't have pegged it for an aquatic scent at all, to be honest. Even after drydown it retains some of that spicy men's-shaving-cream scent with an undertone of bitter woods. The frankincense is strong but not as sweet as it usually is on me.

[Dianora]

I got this thinking blackberry leaf, white rose and bitter clove sounded delicious, and was a little put off when I finally had the bottle open for sniffing. Is that the balsam and bitter clove that makes this smell so much like Winter of Our Discontent in the bottle? I think it must be, and I almost didn't even want to try it because last time I wore WoOD I got a terrible headache. But I did try it, and within a few moments that manly balsam was gone, the clove had mellowed, and the rose and frankincense came out. When wet, this is very aquatic and strangely sweet. As it dried, a herbal note and the wood of the driftwood came out a bit more, leaving the rose to give it just a hint of underlying sweetness with just a bite of spice.

 

All in all, I'm not sure about this scent. I love the end result of the spicy wood, but it might be too dry and masculine for me. I'll hang on to it and see.

Edited April 4, 2009 by Dianora

[GalaxyLei]

Cologne, straight up at first, then as it dries it smells like mint underneath the cologne. It reminds me now of cologne and toothpaste. Not for me.

Edited April 5, 2009 by GalaxyLei

[thekittenkat]

In the imp: Water and frankincense.

 

Wet: The frankincense is over-riding everything, but but there's a little sweetness underneath, probably the white rose and the balsam.

 

The dry-down: I'm getting a little of the clove and the blackberry leaf, with a sharp note that must be the zdravetz (a mum--my grandmother grew mums in big pots on her porch, and they were always bitter-smelling in the hot summertime air), but mostly everything is blending together, slowly.

 

ETA: Later: this has slowly faded away to driftwood. And once the oil was on me, there was no aquatic note at all.

 

If you're looking for a summertime version of Lines Written Among the Euganean Hills, this could be it. Lines' notes are skin musk, white sandalwood, balsam fir, frozen black berries, cedar, winter rose, and white amber. There's no musk or berries in Eanach Dhuin, but the other notes are similar enough. It might be an interesting experiment to layer the two, or to layer Eanach Dhuin with The Winter Maiden. I would also like to try this on the bf. I think I'll order a bottle before it comes down.

Edited April 11, 2009 by thekittenkat

[rayvn1]

My skin really eats this one! It goes on similar to Host of the Air, both very similar to dryer sheets. Then where Host goes to the sweet, vivid grasses, this one goes to sweet and clear water with a slightly soapy tinge. That's all I got before my skin ate it I'll be trying again because it's very pretty the short time it's around.

[Little Bird]

Eanach Dhuin sounded great to me, up until the "cold waters" bit. I really don't have good luck with aquatics. And, as I feared, this does go soapy on me, especially in its drydown. I also can pick out a dry wood note and the bitter clove. It has an overall feel of soap and men's cologne. A soapy man slathering on some spiced-woods scented aftershave.

 

Not for me, and my boy didn't care for this one either.

[fairnymph]

Sniffed: Light yellow oil. Cologne! Very manly, and indeed fresh-water aquatic. Reminds me of rain, too. A little soapy and woody, too. I can smell pretty much every note distinctly, except for the frankincense.

 

Wet: Fresher and brighter, a little more herbal. Balsam, zdravetz (i.e. geranium, which is very green and almost citrusy here, just lovely!) and blackberry leaf amped, and I get a bit of ozone, too. Still lots of prominent oud (sort of bamboo-like).

 

Dry: Slow to dry. White rose is a bit sour on me as it tends to be, and I think it might be what's going soapy.The bitter clove is just woody/aromatic, not spicy or sweet or cloying. Frankincense has emerged, and is sweetly smoky.

 

Later: Nm, that clove has become quite spicy, almost smoky, and is the strongest note, now, followed by sweet, incensey frankincense. Still a good amount of fresh, green balsam and geranium, and a whisper of soapy white rose.

 

Summary: Almost bitter clove SN with a touch of frankincense. Smoky-spicy-woody, dark, masculine. Reminds me insanely of clove cigarettes, though somehow cleaner/more cologney. Morphs loads. Decent throw.

 

 

[megank4]

I don't know how to describe this. Very fresh, clean smelling. To me it smells like aquatics and rose.

[zankoku_zen]

Woo! Yeah, that's... manly.

 

I was afraid that the white rose would be the bully, but it is almost undetectable... What I do get is a very interesting spicy aquatic, with a healthy dose of balsam. Alternately cool & wet & warm & woody & sweet... I'm having a very hard time wrapping my head around this one. I think in the end it will be too masculine for my tastes, but I'm going to let it sit for a week or two before I decide...

 

 

This sums up Eanach for me. Wet....it smells like a spicy aquatic..with a hint of frankincense. Dry this smells like a man that may have just washed himself in the fresh waters of the Eanach....delicious...but I have my Water Phoenix to suit my aquatics needs.

 

Triple agreed!

 

It smells like a manly aquatic cologne. Manly in that this is a guy, a la Hugh Jackman, that has gone for a swim in a cool loch, and now smells fantastic.

[edenssixthday]

Eanach Dhuin - This is definitely an aquatic scent, but not the salty, kelpy, marine-aquatic I love so much. It's definitely a fresh-water aquatic. Immediately behind the aquatic notes is the scent of blackberry leaf and heavy, water-logged wood. It's got a strong, cologney scent to it. Overall, this smells like a men's cologne. I think I would really like this on a dude, but I can't wait to wash it off of my own skin.

[devilot]

Thank you Gunny! She very generously sent me some decants in celebration of her own birthday and this was one of them!

 

In the vial: Very sharp and aquatic at the same time. The sharpness is the generic "cologne" scent other reviewers mention, too. Ugh. Not impressed so far.

 

Wet: Still sharp, still very aquatic. I detect a hint of that white rose. Balsam! Yes, sharpish woody note must be balsam.

 

Drydown: Rounding out slightly, not as nose-burningly sharp. Hm, is that the blackberry leaf? Green, yet hinting at fruit. Definitely still a very green and aquatic blend. And on my skin, this is turning almost dusty.

 

Verdict: Throw isn't great on me (though few BPALs ever are on my stupid skin). And it doesn't seem to wanna last v long, either. Not a love by any means. It's interesting and I'm very glad I got to try it. Still debating whether or not to hang onto the decant. It probably deserves a more loving home, though.

[Coldfire]

 

 

 

Bottle: I get the balsam and driftwood.

Wet on Me: Balsam and driftwood and something aquatic

Drying Down: still a woody aquatic vibe….but something else wants to come out and play and I can’t put my nose on it.

Dry: Clove now. Clove-y wood. No more aquatic..just clove-y wood.

 

[catattack]

All I could smell was a non-descript wood and a berry-like note. It's not an overly fruity/red berry. I'm not liking this.

[laslibres]

You know, I don't know how they did it, but this...pretty much smells just like Ireland. It does! It goes through various phases...at first, it's very woodsy and mossy, and a little bit of tobacco (?), sort of like the inside of an old inn or pub.

 

After a bit of wear, there's an ozone-y note that's probably those River Corrib waters, and something green...blackberry leaf? It's like walking along a country lane, and you can still smell the woodsiness, but now you're outside too. The frankincense occasionally kicks in with little whiffs, and that's like you're walking down the country lane and passing a church, which of course are ubiquitous in Ireland (I don't know why there's a service in church on the same day as the pub being open, but I smell both in this scent...just go with it). Ah, clove...maybe that's what made me think of tobacco, but yeah, after a while it does assert itself as definitely cloves.

 

Man, this is so evocative! Ireland in a bottle. Every phase it goes through reminds me of someplace I've been on my many trips there, and maybe that's just the power of suggestion with the name and the poem and all, but I really do think it's a well-chosen bunch of notes.