House of Unquenchable Fire

[Jenjin]

Glittering amber, frankincense, neroli, vanilla silk, and champaca.

 

O garment not golden but gilded,

O garden where all men may dwell,

O tower not of ivory, but builded

By hands that reach heaven from hell;

O mystical rose of the mire,

O house not of gold but of gain,

O house of unquenchable fire,

Our Lady of Pain!

 

 

[MadameGorgon]

Imagine an Edwardian ball, glittering candlelight illuminating everything in a warm, flickering orange glow, bouncing reflections from silvered mirrors, ornate gilt frames, uncountable cut crystals dripping from the chandeliers, the jewels twined through ladies’ hair, dangling from ears, draped around necks.

Two young ladies catch one another’s eye, one swathed in a thorny neroli gown, the other in a candied champaca gown.  They have a secret no one can know.  The love that dares not say its name.  The attraction undeniable, drawn to one another like the moths to the flickering candles.  

The dance begins.  A ballroom full of handsome people in their finest, swirls and dips around the room.  The men in deep gray frankincense and warm brown amber; the ladies in a multitudinous shimmering rainbow.  As the dance intricately weaves around the room, exchanging partners in the various lively steps, our lovers remain locked in one another’s gaze, whether temporarily wrapped in each other’s embrace or on the opposite side of the room with a “perfectly acceptable” gentleman.  Each time they come back together is a silken vanilla sigh that feels both like coming home and like the thrill of first kiss.

Join the dance.

Edited March 11 by MadameGorgon

[HerbGirl]

This was a worrisome whoosh of neroli at first and settled into more of what I remember from the original scent (this was an atmo spray and I know I went through at least a bottle of it) which is more of a light handed amber with some champaca and silken vanilla. Very light. Just arrived two days ago. I'm guessing the scent strength (extremely light) will remain the same and the neroli in the beginning will calm down after a while. All in all this is nice but not wowing me. 

Edited March 13 by HerbGirl
It's so light!

[ziggystardust13]

House of Unquenchable Fire opens up with a slightly bitter neroli. This is very soft with the exception of the neroli which is definitely front and center in the early stages, commanding one's full attention.  It takes a little time for the scent to round out with the help of the other notes, but I kind of enjoy scents that take me on an adventure like this. The champaca and frankincense lend a sort of regal feel, while the vanilla and amber nudge this into a more feminine territory.  Sometimes I associate perfumes with color and this is no doubt Gold. 

[BetteNoire]

Regal is the very word. Golden luxury like a Gilded Age concert hall. Neroli is sharp out the gate but calms down quick. This is not your New Age vegan friend's champaca, thank goodness, and this is no sweet teenybopper vanilla. This is Paris is Burning "OP-U-LENCE, you own everything!"

[Amoraexcena]

In bottle and wet, it's bitter, somewhat herbaceous neroli single note, which was a bit of a surprise. I'm not a huge fan of neroli on its own. But as all the other reviews mention, thankfully on my skin as well, the other notes bloom beautifully. The champaca is similar to the champaca incense note in Sugared Lace, plus the gossamer-light vanilla makes it a cousin of that holy grail. For the first while these are all I can detect, but eventually the sparkling ambers peek out too.

 

I really love sweet ambers, and I've started layering this with Implacable Beautiful Tyrant for more of that golden sweetness. 

 

I was scared by that initial sniff, but I needn't have worried. I think you'd love this if you like lightly-sweet-floral-incense scents like Midnight on the Midway and Sugared Lace (like me!) Another winner from the epic Lupercalia 2024 collection.

Edited September 9 by Amoraexcena

[doomsday_disco]

I had the atmo when it was released, but I used it up long ago. I'm not generally a fan of neroli or champaca, but that atmo was such a gorgeous shimmering vanilla amber swirled with the most tame champaca ever. The neroli was not prominent in the atmo.

 

In the perfume, that's another story. It's a neroli party out of the gate, and it is a force to be reckoned with! By the time it calms down, I'm left with a very light amber swirled with some champaca and a little vanilla. I am honestly surprised how light/how close to the skin it is on me. I recall the atmos having some alcohol in their base, so it makes sense that the atmo would be louder than the perfume, but I really wasn't expecting this to be as light as it is after the neroli fades!

 

Although it's exciting that this was re-released in this new medium, I prefer this scent as an atmo. If that were resurrected again, I would scoop it up without a doubt. But I don't need a bottle of the perfume oil.

 

[Cali]

This has a champagny- woodsy feel to it right off the bat! The wood (which i guess i have the glittering amber and champaca mix to thank for) is not just any wood- it's an ornately carved bannister in an old victorian mansion. Whiffs of a sweet golden vanilla silk cloth passes you by, as you stand there, holding on to bannister, eyes closed, in the flickering amber lights. The night has only just begun.

 

[sunshinedaisybliss]

I have the atmo spray version of this one, from the 2013 Lupercalias, and I have always loved it. In fact, I loveitsoverymuch seriously. So is the perfume oil as good? Well, yes — yes it is!

 

The neroli here is the most obvious note for me, but it's not all NERRROLLIIIIIII shouty and loud — it's soft, sweet, and gentle (except at first, when it is a bit shouty and loud but that quickly goes away). The amber does indeed glitter, but in that lovely dusky way that amber does so well, and the vanilla silk is beautifully lush and smooth. This is like one of those perfumes that they hide behind the counter in those fancy stores because it's $11,000 a bottle — complex but also simple, sophisticated but not snobby, feminine but not girly, and sweet but not candy-ish. 

 

I personally think I enjoy this as an atmosphere spray more than as a perfume, because in the oil form it stays very close to the skin and it has low throw so I have to really sniff around to find it. Whereas a spray it's all there, everywhere around you. But that aside, this is completely beautiful.