Rose Cross

[ipb]

A profound symbol of an individual’s personal initiatic process, spiritual refinement and evolution, synthesis, grace found as a result of trial and suffering, and the alchemical process by which we transform the raw essence of our souls through light in extension. This is a holy oil, a representation of the triumph of spirit over matter: purest rose with sacred frankincense.

first off, i've got to preface by saying that i'm a huge fan of beth's roses (even if i don't wear them regularly, they just smell so wonderful). and like so many others, i grew up in the catholic church, so frankincense is a scent i tend to enjoy as well.

the combination? fabulous. it's actually exactly what i thought it'd be, though not as in your face. rather peaceful. i'm thinking this just may be a 5ml oil.

[sarada]

As I expected, this reminded me very much of some of my favorite incense that I used to burn in college. Before BPAL I was never a perfume person, only an incense person. So it makes sense that those are the oils I go for. All the lovely smell, without the smoke and dust! This is a very sacred-smelling blend...it makes me think of some of my favorite Indian incense (rose and sandalwood, though this is frankincense...it has a similar quality, of a rich rose blended with something more woody and earthen). It makes me think of hippies...and church...at the same time! The rose is strong but it doesn't scream "flowers!!", because that woody resin scent blends in and makes it pure lovely incense.

 

Very peaceful, calming and...well, sacred! I don't think I'll buy a bottle quite yet because I don't always want to smell ~like~ roses, even though I enjoy them. I seem to have more than enough scents with rose in them...but I can see this becoming my go-to rose scent in the future when I get through some of my others!

[Lit Chick]

I am so sad! I had success with a few rose blends before, so I hoped this would like me as well. Nope. The second it hits my skin, the lovey, beautiful rose scent turns into soap.

I envy those that can wear it. It was so pretty in the imp!

[shelldoo]

I love beth's rose blends.

 

this is a summery rose, grounded by frankincense, the frankincense adds and earthy quality i love, i also get a hint of a dried grass type smell, this does smell almost like a sacred blend.

 

all in all very very beautiful

[Ina Garten Davita]

First Impression: Potent roses!

 

Second Impression: My skin really amps up the strong sweetness of roses and Rose Cross is no exception. It's almost overpowering. That said, the longer it dries, the more the roses fade and that lovely incense comes to the fore.

 

Final Analysis: After the drydown, this does morph into a balanced, beautiful and peaceful blend.

[TrinitySydney]

I took a chance on this one, buying 5mls without a sample or even reading any reviews. I am SO glad I did!

Tell your grandmother's rose scents to move over. There is nothing sharp, dusty or overpowering about this rose, but the rose itself is still as true as it can be. The frankincense is there only enough to add an earthy softness to it. And I'm sure that it's either my imagination or my chemistry, but I'm smelling just the *slightest* tinge of ....well, something sweet and creamy, but it's not vanilla.

 

Hmm..strange, but relaxing, peaceful and highly sophisticated. This perfume and I were meant to find eachother.

[LiberAmoris]

Rose Cross is definitely an ecclesiastical rose incense, very lovely. Beth's a master with the roses and I find Rose Cross to be in the same vein as Blood Rose, The Empress, and Spellbound, all of which I love. A warming, beautiful, and penitent blend.

[eleventhousand]

This smells clean like expensive soap on me. Neither note comes through very much at all. I don't get a true rose or any incense...very soft and pretty though.

 

I am still trying to decide if it is me. I don't think it is.

[gingersnapp]

I loved this in the bottle. I smelled a beautiful rose and spicy soft incense.

 

But on me, it immediately turned to a bitter soapy smell. No rose, no incense.

[Lady Ravenglass]

Turkish Delight Not sickly sweet, but a definite hint of rose and icing sugar. Roses do strange things on me though, so don't take my word for it! It's rather nice, but probably not a big bottle scent, until I finish Black Rose at any rate. It's also probably more suited to colder weather.

[astrobabe]

Beautiful scent with complete rose in the bottle.

 

On me it smells of rose and instead of frankicense. . . I think I get hints of sandalwood. As it dries it has the potent smell of when you first open a bar of Chinese Bee and Flower Rose Soaps.

[quinkel]

I got this in a swap from the lovely Gingersnapp

 

I did not care much for rose scents before i discovered BPAL and even then, i really didn't know how a rose was supposed to smell Now my nose is more educated and slowly i am beginning to love Beth's Rose Blends. Zombi, Old London, Rose Red and Spellbound all so very different. And then I got Rose Cross.... And it's almost unbelievable but again sooo different than all the above mentioned blends.

 

This is a huge red rose combined with something sweeter underneath and at the same time it's crisp and fresh. I can see myself wearing this to Church. Makes me feel very feminin and a bit ... scacred,innocent, virgin(No i am not )

The opposite of a seductive scent, very beautiful. It's how i picture a young Mother Theresa would smell. It's not an old lady scent btw.

 

ETA: Did not wear it for a while and therefor had a kind of renewed contact with Rose Cross today. OMG how I love this scent, It is soo Juicy and sweet, without being soapy or powdery. I think I have to update my top10....

Edited November 2, 2005 by quinkel

[Scylla]

I received an imp of Rose Cross with my Chaste Moon order, and I almost swapped it away unsniffed because roses and I generally don't get along. They usually make me smell like a "powdery old lady," or so my husband says!

 

But I tried Rose Cross today and I really like it! It is decidedly rose-y, but this particular rose doesn't turn powdery or old lady-ish. And I tried it without having read the review, so I had no pre-conceived notions of what the notes were (other than rose, of course!)

 

That said, I didn't notice the frankincense at all! What I get is rose and VANILLA! Sounds like an odd combination, right? Not so! It smells really great.

[rdeadline]

I bought a 5ml unsniffed because I loved the discription and I love roses. Right now I think I have five of Beth's rose blends but they all smell unique. Rose Cross smells beautifully like a rose in the bottle. On it is full but not overpowering and very calming. It reminds me of Trapp candle's valentine Cashmere Rose candle. I love it.

[PurringPulsar]

Rose Cross

In the imp: ooh, lovely fresh rose! And the frankincense is there too. The rose smells 'freshly picked', makes me think of moist, fresh petals.

Wet on skin: roses and frankincense, the rose smell is lovely, so much like a fresh flower, the frankincense adds another dimension…it makes it lighter and 'holier'.

Dry on skin: same as the wet stage really, just the most awesome rose smell. Will this take over from London as my favourite rose perfume? I have a feeling it may…it's like someone's taken the most fragrant red rose and squeezed all the fragrance from it into this perfume-that's what this smells like. There is frankincense there, which enhances the pure rosy-ness of this and adds a sacred ambience.

Verdict: amazingly beautiful. I love the way this smells so much like a real, true, just bloomed rose with a spiritual dimension. It's the purest form of rose, but is more than that. Magnificent, and a possible big bottle smell for me.

[misfitroxy]

Wet, this oil is very light. Like juicy rose petals, powdered but not dry.

 

Once applied to my wrist, I catch the rose right off. Since I enjoy rose blends and have tried several from the Lab already, I’m surprised at how different the floral that pops out at me is. It’s a heavy rose – more a perfume than a garden scent but not overtly artificial.

 

It does remind me of my grandmother’s favorite dusting powders, though (she, for the record, never smelled “old lady like” or whathaveyou to me, so I’m not intending to imply that that’s the case with Rose Cross. Instead, it’s more of a classic scent. It reminds me a lot of LUSH’s Fever massage bar in this way, in fact). The kind of rose one would expect from a large bowl of crushed petals, perhaps.

 

It becomes sweeter as it warms. I believe I’m starting to detect the resin, but I can’t be certain yet. It still smells very rose-y to me, but in the best possible way.

 

Well, I stand corrected. Even after sitting with it for a while, it doesn’t seem to be budging past the initial rose stage. That’s fine by me, though.

 

In fact, I think this is not only the purest BPAL rose I’ve tried so far (ever-true to its description), but also my favorite out of the bunch. I’m sure it will layer gorgeously or stand alone as the ultimate feminine beauty scent (in my opinion, at least).

[isyche]

Ooh, Rose Cross is a gorgeous pure, sweet, fresh rose. Like the platonic ideal concept of rose, high and spiritual.

 

It's similar to the red rose in Whip, but with incense instead of leather...this is the sacred to Whip's profane.

 

I really like it, but I already have so many rose scents on their way!

Edited May 13, 2005 by isyche

[Ishtar]

Yet another beautiful rose blend by Beth! I love both rose and frankincense, so no wonder I really enjoy Rose Cross.

 

The rose and the frankincense are very well balanced. The frankincense is in a supporting role here: it grounds the blend and gives it substance without becoming overpowering or bitter as is sometimes the case. It is actually easy to forget that there is any frankincense in Rose Cross and simply see it as straight rose.

It is a rather dignified rose, however, that on me is most comparable to Spellbound, only much lighter and without the sultry darkness.

 

Lovely

[oceandessa]

Once again the lab's intuition is astounding. I love roses, and I love frankinscence, and what do I get as a freebie in my Chaste Moon order? Yep, Rose Cross.

 

I am absolutely thrilled with this scent. Rose Cross is the Holy Virgin to the whore that is Spellbound, and Spellbound is my favorite sex-drenched, night-time BPAL scent.

 

A gorgeous, pure oil. The frankinscence provides the scent with a high nose, wet note that is absolutely magical. The rose is fluttery and sweet. Rose Cross stays true to its in-the-bottle scent when it's on the skin, and it lasts for a very long time. It has the same throw as Spellbound, the same quality, but this would work much better for a day scent than Spellbound does.

 

I love it!

[violetblue]

I really wanted to love this one, but sadly it reminded me of my grandma who is passed away, and who I was extremely close to, When I sniffed it, I honestly almost started bawling. So, I swapped it. It was a really old fashioned rose smell to me, not something one could find anywhere else, ovely, but I'm too sentimental.

[olympia301]

 

This is a pleasant scent and I liked it. Though not a triumph of the Lab's perfuming skills, I would heartily recommend this one to a new BPAL user, anyone who was not very adventuresome with scents or anyone who had a strong tie with the Rosicrucians. It is a pretty perfume and one that could conceivably lift one up to spiritual heights. My mild criticism extends only to saying that it does not have the unique quality I found in London and does not make rose perfume into another entity, so it neither tops London or plows new olfactory ground.

[Sheila]

This was a giftimp from the lab (though it was on my wish list also--eventually I would have ordered it). Thank you, lab, for letting me try this!

 

I really thought I'd love this scent (I love the imagery and I love frankincense), but unfortunately, it doesn't agree with my skin chemistry. In the imp it smells lovely, but on me, it smells like a dirty rose. (The same thing happened with Spellbound, Black Rose, and Rakshasa, too--all strongly rose scents.) I think I need to avoid dark rose scents. Off to swaps where hopefully it will find a happy home.

 

ETA: Layered with Dorian, this is sweeter and more "wearable" for me. Yum!

Edited October 1, 2005 by Shollin

[nineveh]

Rose Cross smelled so good in the vial, but the roses went sour and soapy on my skin, and the frankincense seems to have fled.

 

As it dries, I catch a whiff of olive oil. What's going on here?

 

I guess I can only do certain roses. The roses in Kali, Wanda, and Magdalene have all been wonderful on me, but the ones in Othello, Zombi and now Rose Cross have gone weird.

 

Too bad, this one did smell great when it wasn't on me. I love the idea of rose and frankincense together. Hm, maybe I can layer Anne Bonny and Black Rose...

 

edit: I took a nap and when I woke up a few hours later and sniffed my hand, it smelled exactly like it should, but faint. Maybe this one needs to age a bit, since the aging thread says that rose and resins age well.

 

I also just tried laying this with Anne Bonny, and it smells pretty good!

 

edit again: I must've been having a stupid skin day when I first tried this. I tried it again today and now the roses smell good and it's a nice balance of the rose and frankincense. I don't like it enough for a big bottle, but now that it's doing what it's supposed to, I'll use up my imp.

Edited May 28, 2005 by nineveh

[Phaedra]

This is pure dark rose and patchouli. It reminds me a little of Delirium but is much darker than it. This doesn't change much while wearing and doesn't last very long on me. This is nice but there are other BPAL rose blends that work better for me. I ended up swapping this.

[autumn24]

A dark, pure, wet rose with the sacred, hollow smell of church incense behind it. Something about it is VERY reminiscent of Spellbound, but where Spellbound is pure dirty sex, this rose is pure holy knowledge. Roses at an altar, swathed in high, clear resin smoke -- this scent is untouchable and mysterious.