All Saints'

[Koumori]

Based on a venerable French pontifical incense blend: monastic frankincense and myrrh, Damascus rose, Russian gardenia, cassia, and lily of the valley wafting on a chill Autumn wind. A celebration of the glory and suffering of the saints and matryrs of the Church.

I don't much like florals... but I do much like resins, so a scent like All Saints can go either way with me. I got this one in a swap, and in the bottle I was overwhelmed by the floral components. However, almost as soon as I put it on, the resinous notes come forward; there's almost a foody component to it as well. It's still quite sweet from the gardenia, but the whole becomes a very incensey scent on me. Nice.

[joseybird]

Florals and spices and resins and something almost...yeasty? Definately something foody going on here. I can see the comparison to Dia de los Muertos.

 

I picture poor worshippers eating bread after a Catholic service, with the holy incense still wafting in the chill air very nice!

[theshapeshifter]

Initial application: It goes on buttery, almost like the buttery note in Gluttony. There are other notes underneath, but I can't quite pick them out.

 

Drydown: Okay, there's something in here that doesn't like me. It's almost faded entirely away after an hour, for one thing. What's left is a nice hint of spicy wood (the cassia and incensey notes), but overpowered by a smell of.... bug spray. Damn you, skin chemistry.

 

Oh well, you can't win 'em all. Off to the swaps.

[blaqpearl]

This one didnt go very well on me. All I could smell were spices that I dont really like. They went funky on my skin.

This was the first LE i ever smellled since being introduced to bpal. I think my nose was a virgin back then. I wish I could get my hands on some again so that I can test my nose again with it.

[OriginalWacky]

Bottle (Imp): This is flowery and maybe a little woodsy.

 

Just On: About like in the imp.

 

An hour or two later: It's got some soapiness to it, but not a lot.

 

Around 6 hours: This has pretty much disappeared, so I can't really say that it smells like anything anymore.

 

12 hours: Totally gone.

 

Overall: This isn't too bad, and while it does get a bit soapy, it's not much. It fades very quickly on me though.

 

After reading other reviews: I didn't get food-y or buttery out of this one. It's a nice scent, beautiful in the imp, but my skin rather mucks it up.

[QueenFae]

Wow, what a complex scent! I don't even know where to begin. When it first goes on, it's this really bizarre mix of a foody, Jack-like halloween smell combined with a heady, floral perfume. At first I'm thinking this is definitely not working for me. But after about a half hour, the foody undertone fades to a light, barely there cinnamon, and the florals take over for a pleasing result. This is definitely one of those chameleon oils, you have to give it time to morph with its environment. I defintely like the end result.

[~AmusedMuse~]

Im not sure I get any of the description from this scent maybe its just me but I found it crips and clean like a detergent smell....I was somewhat disappointed will try this as a room spray

[malanna]

I was expecting something more along the lines of Cathedral (I think there's a scent called Cathedral...if not, I'm thinking of Hymn)--y'know, the scent of a worn-in pew. I get that initial impression, but afterwards, All Saints' is like a holy bouquet, with the florals and frankincense and myrrh wafting over. It still makes me think of the color brown...probably because I associate religious scents with that color.

[brownbear]

Oh man, I have to stop trying imps of LEs that are gone. I love this.

It's very foody. It's all warm and nutty and buttery and then, what's this? rose. I'm going to eat my wrist off. There's a hint of incense that comes a bit later and there is the potential for soapiness. Aha and now for the amazing trick of my skin... the rose is getting waaaaaaay stronger. hmmmm I wish it didn't change so much on my skin, but I still like it. damn. mostly rose now. it's a good thing I like rose, but I really liked all those other earlier notes too. hmmm

[inkmonkeys]

I finally feel like I can review this scent after living with it for the better part of a year.

When it first arrived in Autumn 2004, I had very little BPAL experience and slathered myself in the stuff, effectively over-applying and bringing on The Migraine From Hell. The poor bottle got relegated to the back of my closet and I didn't touch it again in fear of a return of the Heady Floral Monster.

 

Fast forward to this week, when I decided to revisit all of my BPAL's and pulled All Saint's out from its hidey-ho. I don't know whether it's chemistry or seasonality or California or what, but it's a completely different experience now. I apply a couple of tiny drops to my skin, a few run through my hair, and I get an opening that very much resembles the nutty foodiness of Dia de los Muertos, which morphs after a few minutes to rosey incense. Gorgeous.

 

Like most of Beth's oils, it does morph while being worn, so there will still be occasional moments when the HFM peeps out, but those are vastly outweighed by the beautiful wafting incense that lasts all day, into the next day. I wear this to bed and wake up with the most beautiful soft powdery rose petal scent lingering on my skin and hair.

 

I like Samhain a bit better than this (the woods/apple in that blend act similarly on my skin to the incense/floral in this), but it's one of the most gorgeous Autumnal florals out there.

[Dustbunnyxox]

From the bottle:

Fallen autumn leaves. Smells exactly like fallen leaves, some fresh, some decaying.

 

On me: wow. cinnamon. and a few incenses. soemthing crisp in there like autumn days covered in leaves.

 

Two hours later: gorgeous. absolutely amazing. THIS is what autumn smells like. rish, cloves, and cinnamon, incenses and leaves. it did end up turning out to be more like a purfume. but mmmm is it nice.

[Thorne]

I swapped an imp of Gypsy Queen to VelvetSky for this one, and wow, am I glad I did. It's amazingly gorgeous, and brings back some really vivid memories for me.

 

First off, this reminded me of being very young and going to the Russian Orthodox church with my grandparents. My parents didn't raise us as Christian, but we were allowed to go to church with the grandparents now and then, and I loved going to church with my grandma. This smells so much like the incense and candles that permeate the Russian Orthodox church. It brings me right back to my grandmother telling me to light the candle carefully, say a prayer and kiss the icon. Wonderful.

 

On a less personal note, this actually reminds me of a more solemn and pious Gypsy Queen. There's the incense note, the lovely rose, the myrrh - both evoke a strong sense of mystery, but it's a different type of mystery. I'm so pleased that I got a chance to try them both, and should this ever come back, I'll certainly be buying a full bottle.

[magdalene]

in the bottle: floral and incense, very church-like.

 

wet on skin: vaguely sweet, like fresh floral arrangements in church. Normally, I don't like straight-up florals, but the incense tones it down into something I quite like.

 

dry: lots of happy throw. Very long-lasting. The incense just keeps getting better and better.

[Nachtwulf]

Bottle: Eugh! This smells like Grog, or something! Waugh, butter! In skimming the other reviews, though, I'm glad to see I'm not the only one that was wondering if they got a mislabel.

 

Wet: Phew! Icky butter smell goes away. It goes kind of resiny, and honestly, goes almost exactly like every other incense type I've tried (Anathema, Seraphim). Not, mind you, that I don't -like- that scent, but... there are catalog scents that duplicate it...

 

Dry: It calms down, becoming warmer, softer, and sweet yet still very much incensey. It's comforting. It makes me want to curl up someplace warm and feel watched over and content. There's something gently floral about it, yet so muted by wood and incense that you can't identify it; it's just there to soften the force of the impact and make the scent more approachable as a whole.

 

Final opinion: Out of the bottle, it's awful. BUT. Thankfully, as soon as it touches skin, it ceases to be 'slightly rancid butter' and turns into something positively lovely. It has a lot of throw, but not so much as to become gagging, and remains a lovely sweet incense. Here's hoping that the 2005 version is similar, 'cause I have a whole bottle on its way!

[Little Bird]

I was hoping that this would smell like some of my other favorite churchy incense blends (Kostnice and Cathedral - 2 of my favorite BPAL scents)... I love spicy resiny scents. Unfortunately, this isn't much in the same vein as Kostnice or Cathedral in my opinion.

 

In the bottle and first on my skin, this has an almost buttery caramel smell to it, held down by a smokiness that reminds me of a campfire. Burnt buttery caramel. That quickly fades away and this takes on a soapy floral smell, most likely thanks to the lilies. I hate lilies... they always turn to dish soap on me.

 

15 minutes later this is a *very* light floral incense smell. Like walking into a room where incense was burned an hour or two ago. Over the course of a few hours this gets to be a sweet powdery flower smell. It's too light and too floral for me to love it. I'm going to try the remainder of my imp as a room scent and see how that goes.

[quimerula]

Wet I can smell frankincense and myrrh over all the flowers, specially the rose.

 

As it dries down I pick a soft sweet note like the one I can smell in Samhain. Weird, isn't it?

 

Dry it turns into a very soft perfume with hints of rose, quite different from its wet stage.

[sarada]

Another one I thought I already reviewed!

 

This is the 2004 version. I will want to try the 2005 version as well, in case the resin notes are stronger in it...

 

I was surprised by the reviews that described this as having a foody quality since the ingredients would suggest nothing of the sort. I thought it would be something of an incensy scent with a touch of smoky florals. It does, however, remind me a little bit of bread with a touch of perfume about it. Strange, that. Like a richly perfumed woman taking little cakes out of an oven?

 

I do get more of the frankincense as this dries -- I am very familiar with the lab's frankincense and myrrh, and I can sense a bit of that Penitencey aroma in this but it is much more peppery in this blend. It just takes the part of frankincense that smells like something baking, and spikes it with pepper....and then the florals come out in a warm sort of glow. Co-workers remarked on how they smelled flowers, when I wore it. I don't get much of the flowers myself out of it.

 

This was great to test but I don't think I'll wear it again, now that I've sniffed it a few times...I'll just wear Penitence and Cathedral when I want frank and myrrh. I hope to sample this year's version to see if it changed at all.

[Scarlettfish]

I have the 2005 version of this on order, but was offered the chance to have a sniff of the 2004 version...and I'm glad I did because I am now really looking forward to my bottle!

 

All Saints is a very appropriate name for this scent because it smells just like a church. Fragrant incense, with whiffs of the flowers that sit on the altar. I can't pick out a particular floral, except perhaps for lily of the valley, because they are well blended and convey a sense of flowers rather than one specific flower in itself. There is something vaguely foody about this - I agree, almost like bread baking - which just adds to the almost sacred nature of this blend because it is very reminisicent of the Catholic communion. It's really evocative and beautifully blended. Definitely a good autumn-y scent.

[Freyja Lux]

I was lucky enough to have a friend mail this to me (thanks Cinder!) and it is an amazing scent. A very floral, somber scent, as the name aptly implies. It does remind me of fall, but doesn't smell like it. It's the sadness, the heavy mood that reminds me of fall and All Saints Day. I hardly celebrate Halloween in this way, and the Christian version in All Saint's Day (a polar opposite of Dia de Los Muertos) is a more serious way to remember the dead. This smell reminds me of it. I'm not a big fan of heavy floral scents, but it is gorgeous and makes a memorable perfume.

[quikslvr]

Courtesy of the random LE swap circle.

 

Ooooh frankincense. And then the myrrh. I don't get the buttery or the florals others have. Pure high ritual Christendom here, and that's it. As it dries, it becomes a bit sweeter. The rose comes out, and now I understand why people think this is foody. It has a touch of spiked cider to me at this stage, but I don't find it incredibly foody. On the other hand, it isn't incredibly floral, which is a good thing to me. The rose and florals blend beautifully with the other notes involved. It's a lovely blend, and one I could see myself wearing.

[Aredhel]

2004 Version

 

Rating (on skin): 2/5

Summarised in a word or two: Confusing.

 

In the imp/bottle: Thick incense and strong, wilting rose. This strikes me as a very sad scent.

 

On skin, wet: This is... strangely foody! I can't figure out what it is, but it's very rich and creamy, almost buttery. There is, of course, also the very strong rose, as my skin amps up rose like you won't believe, and the incense. A very strange, but pleasant, scent.

 

On skin, dry: Only a very slight change from wet, as it continues to warm up and take on a very interesting, slightly-sugary quality. The rose also becomes more and more prominant, until I have to strain to catch anything else.

 

Conclusion: This scent confuses me. One moment it seems foody, then incensey, then spicy, then floral, then sweet, then all five! It's intriguing, but is ruined by the rose.

Edited June 1, 2008 by Aredhel

[lorajc]

ALL SAINT'S 2005 -

 

This is the other Samhain blend that is slightly noticeably different than last year's blend. Does everyone remember last year's All Saint's had that buttery top note that was in last year's Harvest Moon? and then when it dried down, the incense and Autumn wind came thru? At least that's how last year's wore on me. This year's is a bit rosier in the top note and ever so slightly on the dry down. Other than that, I think it's pretty much the same only without the buttery top note. I think this may be slightly weaker than last year's. I remember 04's used to have to get thru a really strong phase on me before I felt comfortable in public. I don't think this one will do that. All in all it is the rose/gardenia floral mix with the myrrh and incense as a base. I haven't yet got to the Autumn wind, but that part usually doesn't appear until the scent is very faint on me and I've just applied an hour or so ago. I may update this after I actually wear the scent.

[dreadeddragon]

2005 version

 

In the bottle: Dried florals. Roses mostly, but some others that I can't distinguish are in there as well.

 

First on: It's what I wanted Black Rose to smell like! Dried, decaying roses but without that rotten sour smell I got from both Black and Blood Rose. I can smell the gardenia when I look for it, it's probably what's keeping the rose from souring on me. There is definitely no buttery note to it, like there seems to have been in last year's version. If I really search, I can smell a bit of myrrh.

 

Drydown: Ok now the rose has soured a bit, to where I almost wondered if it had musk or civet. If I don't try to shove my arm up my nose though I can't smell that scent though. It's mostly gardenia and incense, with some rose & myrrh in the back. It's a very lovely, very sad scent that makes me kind of lonely. I love it, but I need a hug.

[hangingfire]

2005 version.

 

Bottle: Roses and lilies! There's an earthy sweetness that I guess comes from the franckincense and myrrh, but overall it's a lot more floral than I expected. Still, I like the roses, so that's not a bad thing.

 

On, wet: Mainly it's the roses. It's reminding me a lot of Magdalene, although All Saints is less ethereal, more grounded. The resiny notes are understated, and the other florals fairly subdued.

 

Drydown: While the rose is still the main note, the spicy resiny aspects come through a lot more strongly on the drydown. Really lovely balance of the florals and the spices.

 

All Saints is similar to, but much more "me" than Magdalene. Like Magdalene, it's a melancholy scent, but it also brings me back to my first communion, and to the churches I visited in Europe. Definitely a keeper.

[olympia301]

 

Roses. I only get roses from this blend. Maybe the other notes will come out with age but I do love roses so I am a very happy person here. They get stronger and stronger for about an hour. It's amazing. I just touched All Saints on in two spots on my arm and I started to worry that people thought I reeked of roses! Then, it just stopped. All that broadcasting came to a halt. I sniffed my arms where it had been and it is magnificent. It's past its throw stage and is ultra close to my skin but what a treat. I love this blend and am so glad I got All Saints this year.

Edited October 18, 2005 by olympia301