The Shrine Where Sin is a Prayer 2024

[Jenjin]

Deep purple Syrah, calamus, myrrh smoke, hyssop, opoponax, bitter clove, burgundy pitch, opium poppy, and violet leaf.

 

I have passed from the outermost portal

To the shrine where a sin is a prayer;

What care though the service be mortal?

O our Lady of Torture, what care?

All thine the last wine that I pour is,

The last in the chalice we drain,

O fierce and luxurious Dolores,

Our Lady of Pain.

 

 

 

 

[Tamarinda]

In the bottle: Wine. Lightly spiced.

 

Wet: Ooooh, this is lovely already. I'm smelling a nice wine note and some clove-y spicyness.

 

Dry: A gorgeous, smokey, clove-forward sweet wine scent. This is so wonderful already. It faded a bit aftter an hour, but this hasn't had much time out of the mail. I will test again later and hope that it stays amazing.

[ghoulnextdoor]

Thinking about this perfume is akin to thinking about stars, or color; as in, the light we’re now seeing is from a star already dead, or how the color of an apricot is what we perceive it to be because some wavelengths of the spectrum are being absorbed and some are bouncing off and what we actually see in the end is all of the colors that it is not. Speaking of apricots-- this is how I know that no matter how many perfumes I smell or reviews I write, I am still no closer to knowing anything at all. Despite not being listed in the notes, apricot is what I smell here. A thickly jelled apricot marmalade into which the slow poison of sweet herbs are suspended and inky drippings of wine swirl like smoke. Imagine dipping a quill into this sticky jam jar; envision penning your deepest buried needs and secret yearnings. Consider that each word preserved in these conserves comes at a cost; know that when you've emptied the pot, the bill comes due. Though much like million-year-old starlight and all the colors we cannot see, these are abstract repercussions, problems for future-us to solve. Let's gather our marmalade wishes while we may. The pot is full for now. 

[Fancyfetus]

To my nose, this is pure jammy wine, clove, and myrrh, but occasionally I'll get a lovely whiff of violet leaf. It's very fruity without being gourmand or feeling juvenile. It puts me in mind of sitting on a patio in late afternoon, while someone is crushing grapes nearby. Warm and sweet, but sultry and unmistakably adult, with the spices the syrah falls somewhere between good sangria and homemade mulled wine.

 

There's something in the attitude of this that reminds me of The Peacock Queen, although they smell nothing alike. Like two sisters who only resemble each other in haughtiness. But where Peacock Queen flaunts rigid perfectionism, Shrine Where Sin is a Prayer delights in self indulgence and excess; too much sweet wine and laughter too late into the night. 

 

This lasts for 4-5 hours on me, though I tend to want to reapply just as it starts to fade. I would love a hair gloss in this scent. It might even be worthy of a backup bottle. 9/10

[doomsday_disco]

Note: I never tried the original version.

 

The Shrine Where Sin is a Prayer is mostly about the wine on me, which is very purple and grape-y, so it's very different than the Lab's usual wine note. And I believe the violet in the violet leaf just adds to the intense purple-ness of this scent. I can smell the hyssop during the wet phase of the scent, cozying up to the wine -- and I believe it is the same note featured in Against Idleness and Mischief. Then it gets more goth: the clove and myrrh smoke overtake the hyssop and mingle with the wine as well as the violet leaf. I'm not familiar with the scent of calamus, and the other notes are not distinct on me. The clove is much calmer by the end of the day, when I'm left with mostly wine, resinous smoke, and violet leaf, with a hint of clove. It is still very purple and very goth.

 

I'm glad I got to try this, but this particular sort of wine note is too grape-y and heavy for me.

Edited April 17 by doomsday_disco