She Perishes That She May Live

[annemathematics]

A funereal nest of cinnamon and amomum, cassia and acanthus, spikenard and myrrh, three balsams and sweet frankincense.

While I do get wafts of the resins and balsams in the background, overall this is a cinnamon candy scent on me. A very pretty cinnamon candy.

[Ordo_ad_Chao]

This one on me started out REALLY pungent. Almost unpleasantly so, and I suspect that was the balsams. I was about ready to discount it- but you know... always give it a chance. And then I started reacting to it- a bright red spot on my skin for about 10 minutes, which is odd since I regularly wear inferno, uranus, autumn cider, and such things known for reactions. That calmed down. And so did that first blast of WHOA!

 

And now I like it. A LOT. All dried down 30 minutes later, this is a dry, woodsy, cinnamon resin. It reminds me of Egg Moon and TAL Exodus Anointing Oil. There isn't any sweetness to it at all really, but it's also not "oh, hello spice!" like walking into a spice shop. It's more of a dry desert scent.

 

So I strongly dislike the wet stage on this, but the level of gorgeous that comes with the dry-down makes that half hour completely worth it. This is one that I really want to see how it ages, also. I suspect that it is going to be even better with some time in my cool, dark, aging drawer.

[poofie]

To be honest, I expected more cinnamon, since it has cinnamon and cassia! It's cinnamon with a floral-wood, and something that's almost figgy to me. This oil had a lot of things that I'm unfaniliar with (acanthus, amomum, spikenard) so I assume it's one or more of them I smell. Drying down it's interesting, but I don't know that my socks are knocked off. I probably won't be keeping this one.

[zankoku_zen]

Cinnamon, cassia, sour frankincense. I don't think BPAL's cassia note is my friend, and this is no exception. I get a touch of balsam on the drydown after an hour. Good throw, but average wearlength. It's like a spicy/sour resin blend to me.

 

Spicy, frankincense, balsam.

[Magycmyste]

In the imp: Not what I was expecting. Almonds?

 

Wet on skin: Still almonds. Seriously, out of all the BPAL I've smelled, this is the closest thing I've smelled to a single note fresh almond. So, it's possible my nose is going nuts after testing as many anniversary scents as I could before they came down (had my mail on hold over the holidays, so I got my decants today). And I'm not getting any real cinnamon out of this at all.

 

Dried down: The almond has faded to a slightly rubbery scent. It's not bad, but not what I was expecting, or looking for.

 

Throw: Tiny bit of throw on me.

 

Verdict: *** I don't know what it is I'm smelling out of this, but I don't think I can justify a bottle right now. I'll try the decant again in the future, and hopefully if I love it, I'll be able to track down a bottle.

[thekittenkat]

 

In the decant: Spicy cinnamon blend, kind of wettish and fresh.

 

Wet: Now smells as though it's a drier scent, as though the spices were fresh and now they have dried out.

 

The dry-down: Amomum is cardamon. Not sure what acanthus should smell like. Spikenard could be one of several scents, according to the wiki. Except for the freshness aspect, this is not a morpher, and seems to be cinnamon mixed with the other spices. The balsams give it a touch of sweetness. Nice, but a bottle is not needed. I do see this as a good perfume for autumn and winter and is also unisex.

[hammy]

In the bottle - So. Much. Cinnamon. And cassia. I don’t have ANY allergies, and I’m still kind of worried about this oil. It’s THAT strong.

 

Wet - You know those cinnamon spice-scented things they put out at the holidays? Cinnamon-scented brooms and pinecones and wreaths and whatnot? This is what I’m reminded of. Dry cinnamon and spiced wood.

 

Drydown - I wish I could pinpoint more of the notes in this. Once it levels out, it’s very holiday-esque. Or maybe the Christmas association is being triggered by the fact that we put out those cinnamon pinecones at the holidays. Either way, that’s what I get. Christmas spice. Very nice.

 

Verdict - This is a little intense for me, but I get the feeling it’d be great for layering.

[milo]

Something like jasmine at first. Quickly fades to cassia and well, cinnamon. Spice dominates for me. This pretty much smells like you spilled a jar of cinnamon, with the far off smell of flowers in the distance. Not for me.

[stubbornfire]

I gotta start by saying 1: I will have to edit this in a couple of days when I've actually let it rest and chill out some and 2: That I bought it because it reminded me of a RPG OC I created and that I'm going to keep it for sure regardless of what it smells like for that fact alone. :')

 

Cinnamon is definitely here, but sort of..idk sort of throughout the blend but also in the background? Like a good hostess, haha. There's something sort of wood-ish and something sweet, although it smelled more sour when I first applied it.

 

It's definitely spicy more than resinous. Spicy and a bit woodsy. It's very phoenix-y. Warm and comforting without being safe or soft. I really like this a lot, hmm.

 

I can honestly say I don't know how often I will wear this. It almost feels like it kind of should have a purpose when worn, sort of like a TAL oil or a spell component. This could just be because I associate the name so strongly with a character of mine :') so take that with a big grain of salt?

 

I do think I need more though. This sort of thing, I'm sure I'll have purpose for it often enough. And it's lovely either way so.

[Roogna]

this wears very close to my skin

initially it's just cinnamon, then it fades and myrrh comes out and something almost like cola. strange

[LizziesLuck]

Lovely and resinous and spicy. Sweet. Nice. It's not blowing me away though. I have other spicy resin blends that I like more, so I won't need to track more of this down. Glad to have tried it though!

[Lucchesa]

Wet, I was guessing that there was oudh of some description in She Perishes -- there was a note that wasn't pleasant on my skin.  That calmed down pretty quickly and let the woods, resins and spices develop.  It wasn't overly cinnamony on me; there was a kind of dry warm waft of spices as the top note and the balsams and resins underneath.  Probably some of the other notes too that I'm less familiar with.  A gentle, dry spice blend, quite nice but not a standout on me.  

[quantquill]

I bought a bottle from the forum and let it sit for a few weeks and tried it tonight and... I'm gutted. It smells terrible on me. These notes, I love these notes! Yet all I'm getting is a mix of slightly smoky/ashy Vaseline, a muted hint of Tiger Balm and helium-inflated birthday balloons left out in the sun too long, with the tang of antiseptic bandages underlying the whole thing. 

 

This is one of the most evil tricks skin chemistry has played on me. ?

[SmellsPrettyGood2Me]

Came for the cassia and frankincense, and hoped the cinnamon had aged long enough to settle down a bit. In the bottle, I also get a weird unwashed feet smell (maybe the spikenard?) that makes me wonder if perhaps it has spoiled or been contaminated over the years. But, being the brave little toaster that I am, I dab it on anyway. The cinnamon smells only moderately strong, but leaves a very light, mild pink patch of topical irritation, as for me it often does. The toe stank is there, too, but it fades down around 35 minutes in, by which time the olfactory heat of the cinnamon is also long gone. I'm not sure how to interpret the 3 balsams here, other than to acknowledge they are present but without being able to precisely suss out what they are (other than resinous). The cassia is a bit powdery and pairs very nicely with the slightly creamy frankincense for the duration of the wear. No noticeable contribution at any point from the acanthus, which may have been lost to time. Medium strong projection for the first hour, settling into solidly medium territory for the next 6 hours. 

 

This scent definitely has paternal lineage elements seen in other BPAL fragrances that came thereafter. Although I have liked spikenard in some of them, here it was just a bit too much for me to get very excited about. I may see if I can combine this with another scent to bring it down a couple of ticks.