Samuraibrarian

CLERIC Rose amber, frankincense, myrrh, champaca flower, Peru balsam, cistus, palisander, cananga, hyssop, and narcissus absolute. I did not have particularly high expectations of this one, but I love resins and rose, so I snagged an imp along with the other RPG classes. It goes on smelling like a complex, resiny perfume, like Shalimar. A few minutes in, the rose amber suddenly unfolds- I don't know any way to describe it other than that it's like a deific apparition- and it turns into a gorgeous combination of incense and rose. An hour after it went on, the hyssop and narcissus are coming in and making the blend sweeter and rounder. This one's a keeper.

I wasn't expecting a scent named after a Middle English poem to have so many elements associated with Indian perfumery! I agree with wendyb, it's about intermediate between a more Western, church-y incense profile with the frankincense and amber, and Indian with the patchouli (warm and round, not rooty/dirty/sharp at all; if patchouli is a death note for you, you might still want to give this one a shot) and champaca. It's thick-fuzzy-blanket comforting, and hits all the beats that I gather Snake Oil does for most people.

On me, this smells like coconut meatr (that's probably the tonka and tobacco interacting) with a side of tobacco and a smooth, rather than sharp bit of leather. It's too sweet/foody for my mileage, so into the swap pile it goes.

The tobacco is dominant in this one for me, sweetened by the hay and patchouli. All three of those notes have lignin-y vanillin properties, so they complement each other well. I agree with previous commenters; my initial gestalt impression was "This smells like what scented candles marketed toward men or men's spaces aspire to smell like."

Now I feel less embarrassed about my occasional difficulty with discerning between patchouli and cedar! This one goes on like a more rosy/floral version of Owl Moon (patchouli and honey) and then takes at least an hour for the individual notes to open up, breathe, and be identifiable as themselves. Having listened to the eponymous track, I feel like this is a good illustration of a Tudor/Elizabethan lutenist at practice. You get the lute (teak and cedar) and a little rosewater and sweet oud, from the musician's eau de toilette.

Not unpleasant, but not what I wanted out of a scent of its description. On me, Arcana is pure frankincense, neroli, and verbena, with the latter two coming together to make a note very similar to rose geranium. I was looking for a bracing, herbal, lavender and rosemary, and this isn't it.

Interesting. This is a big heap of sweet, smoky resins; I expected the patchouli to be louder, but the amber-like labdanum, oudh, and myrrh are out front. I'm also getting a gardenia-like floral note that's not listed in the description. Under normal circumstances that would be a deal-breaker, but it's well-blended with the resins and gives the whole "picture" an appropriately funereal, goth-y feel.

When I initially got this one, it was all over the place for me. Now that it's aged for most of a year, it's one of my favorites. The same frankincense that's in Tushnamatay has come to the front and it's gorgeous. The silage isn't super strong, but it has staying power.

This one's a new favorite. A beautiful, incensey blend of resins and woods with frankincense and sandalwood up front, that's not so heavy or overpowering that I can't wear it through the summer in Atlanta.

This is an interesting mix. Discernible notes are bitter almond, cinnamon, and sandalwood, maybe a bit of rosewood on the drydown. For me, this goes on with a very dish-soap-y top note, but that fades in about half an hour and makes it very pleasant to wear.

I expected a "blow up the world with power/elemental mastery" type of Mage. The Mage I'm smelling here, with the dusty spices and resins, is more reminiscent of what I'd expect a magic user's library, lab, or shop of magical curios to smell like. My initial reaction on throwing it on was "It's the inside of a Faerun-ian antique shop!"

I was excited to get this one, because I tried it at a will-call last year and loved it, so I sprang for a 5ml. I think some tinkering has happened with the blend between then and now. In the bottle, and when I put it on, the softwood and berry combined to make something that smelled like fancy hand-milled hotel soap, not the warm, gold, honey/musk/resin scent I remembered. Sad. As the dry-down progresses, the violet, amber, and beeswax are emerging and it's getting more tolerable. I may have to try it under different conditions to see if I like it better. If not, this one's going to the swap pile.