Rose Cross

[Eris]

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.

Despite mixed luck with roses, I had to get this for the sake of the frankincense. The first thing I notice about this is that there is no significant morphing from bottle to skin. Sure, there's the eventual fade-down that always occurs, but it doesn't do any crazy magic acts or change in alarming ways.

That being said, it is exactly as the description claims: rose and frankincense. The rose is a nice rose, very much like what I would expect walking up to a blossom and sniffing, rather than an artificial or commercial rose. The frankincense gives it a nice grounding, sort of thickening the rose and giving the whole scent an incense field. It reminds me a lot of Hymn, albeit less complex since Hymn has more notes. While I do appreciate that simplicity, I do wish it had a bit more of the frankincense or some other spicy, incensey note, simply because those always work so well with me.

Overall, I'm positive about this one and like it as a change to my regular Churchy blends, though I doubt I'll go beyond the imp.

[Reinaluna]

Rose Cross: This blend smells like Hymn and Ouija put together. I smell the frankincense and Rose equally. A keeper to anoint my boarshair brush with.

Edited June 11, 2005 by Reinaluna

[nephthys_lvx]

This is an amazing scent. It started out very rosey on me, but after drydown the frankincense comes out and balances out the rose beautifully. It's definitely a ritual blend, but I can see myself wearing it as well. I can't wait to get this home and try some on a blank incense stick. I did that with Sea of Glass and it made a beautiful ritual incense.

[Muppetk]

Wet: Rich, rich rose, a hint of sweetness at the base. Verrry nice.

 

Drying: Oh dear. I think I figured out what didn't agree with me in Kostnice. It's going through a rose-scented Fantastik (cleaner spray) phase, same as Kostnice did. Apparently I need to be careful with any scents combining rose & frankincense.

 

Dry: Hmm. The fantastik phase is gone, thank goodness. But the scent is confusing me now. One moment it's a pale rose, nice but nothing special. The next it's a moderately rich one. The next sniff it's got the richness of frankcense supporting it becoming pretty nifty. But it keeps changing?! Maybe my nose is confused today by all the new sniffies in my home. This is going to be one I'll have to spend the day sniffing to decide on.

 

Edit: Throughout the day it continued to get stronger and softer. Odd. But what's really neat, is that it makes a fabulous meditation blend. I didn't try it that way on purpose, but I happened to meditate shortly after applying this. My meditation was much quieter and deeper than usual. Verrry nice. I applied it for the next couple of days to keep stress levels down & my mind quiet during exams. I'm fairly happy with it. Will be keeping this one for sure.

Edited June 24, 2005 by Muppetk

[Ailine]

This smells exactly like a tea blend I bought several years ago that was Earl Grey and rosebuds, which makes me extraordinarily happy.

 

This was a frimp from an order where I had ordered an imp of Moon Rose, which I found overwhelmingly strong. I was beginning to despair that rose was not a friend when I found this in my box and decided to try it.

 

I love this rose. It's so calm and quiet and elegant. Two thumbs up.

[magdalene]

in the bottle: strong roses and burning frankincense

 

wet on skin: this is so smokey and beautiful. It's like mixing crushed dried roses with ritual incense.

 

dry: a warm scent, enough to keep me going on the coldest and bleakest nights. It's a scent of hope, of prayer. Of comfort.

[xoe]

Rose cross is just as everyone described. Roses and churchy incense. The incense lasts for hours and hours. This is a perfectly lovely blend.

[Northernminx]

Soft dry roses, tons of them but wierdly no frankincense for me. This was a gorgeous rose scent, very gentle and feminine and light, but it never really did anything different with my chemistry so I'll swap it off to those who may have a better response.

[~AmusedMuse~]

My Impression: Ring around the Rose, Pocket full of loveliness. Upon drydown I get the deeper incense smell. A very different kind of Rose scent indeed. If you can wear rose scents, this is a very nice one.

[QueenFae]

I luuuv the rosey ones, and this one is no exception. I probably won't do it justice, as it amazes me how Beth manages to create so many rose blends that are all so distinctly different from eachother. This one smells like crisp, ripe pink roses fresh off the stem. I actually can't really smell much of the frankincense at all, just pure rose. I love it!

[matilda]

This smells exactly like a wooden rosary I got several years ago at the Vatican. I'd never smelled anything like it before and I hadn't after until I opened this imp. I'm not terribly familiar with the scent of frankinsence, but I assume it's the soft and lovely something that's holding up the (true to the description) very pure rose. There's an undefinable quality to this blend that is utterly calming. I would have never ordered this on my own (thanks lab!) but now I might have to get a bottle!

[tesao]

a gift imp from the lab.

 

and i'm quite glad of it!

 

in the imp, it reminded me a lot of mass as a young girl in brasil -- and it caused me to smile and say mmmmmmmmmmmm.

 

then i put it on and it was rose rose ROSE. i couldn't smell anything else. but mass never reminded me of roses.

 

on the drydown, there were subtle hints of something other. and i liked it. i never could pick out the specifics of frankencense, but the wood and resin were there. i'm not usually much for rose scents, but i'm not swapping this imp.

[Miss Lynx]

My opinion of this one is pretty much the same as my opinion of Rakshasa: I'd really like it if either (a) there was about a third to a half the amount of rose in it that there is, or ( my skin didn't tend to grab hold of floral notes and amp them up hugely.

 

As it was, though, Rose Cross was pretty much pure rose on me for the first hour. Eventually the frankincense begane coming out to play and it struck more of a balance, and at that point it was really fairly nice. Almost like hte rose frankincense incense you can get that's made from heating frankincense resin until it softens and kneading essential rose oil into it, which is kind of the effect I was hoping for from this one. But it took its sweet time, so to speak, in getting there, and was really cloyingly sweet in the meantime.

 

*sigh* That seems to have happened with a number of oils lately: Snake Oil, Dragon's Heart, and now this... All of them eventually dry down to something nice, but only after an hour or more of super-sweet hell. Oh well.

 

Grade: C

[Little Bird]

I've wanted to try Rose Cross for a long while now, on my quest to find a nice incensey rose scent. I was pleasantly surprised to get this as a freebie from the lab today. It was good timing too. Today was my first day of college... the long classes were kind of overwhelming and I came home feeling dazed and oddly depressed. So, thankyou lab!

 

I digress.

 

This is such a happy/playful scent to me. I'm not really sure why, I smell it and imagine a young red rose, splashing about and laughing happily in a bath of frankincense oil. When I first put it on, I can smell both the rose and frankincense equally and it is gorgeous. A sort of spicy incense rose. After about 15 minutes, the rose strengthens and takes over. I was depressed that I couldn't smell the frankincense anymore. But it came back after about an hour and the two merged beautifully once again. The frankincense really takes away the sharp/bitter edge that I usually get from rose.

 

This is very strong on me and has a lot of throw (maybe the strongest BPAL that I've tried to date). The only rose scent that I've liked this much is Whip... and I'm contemplating getting a full bottle of Rose Cross.

 

Rose scents don't work on my skin very often, but this one does and it is *gorgeous*...

[e_miche]

I cannot wait to order a full bottle of this.

 

I love frankincense- love love love. It's hard for me to find something with frankincense in it that I don't like. That said- rose is often iffy. I love roses- but they often die on me. This did not. It was like walking with a bouquet of roses in a church right after a high mass. mmmmm. I can't believe that it took me so long to find this.

[PixieSkull]

In the imp: Frankincense, strong and light rose

 

Wet/Dry: Soft fresh florist shop rose with a frank bottom note

 

Overall: Not bad, but not something I need madly. Will be swapped away.

[LyndaM]

This rose blend is really wonderful. I'm usually not big on frankincense, but here it just seems to add a rich, spicy layer behind the rose.

 

In the imp, I could really smell the frankincense, with a lighter rose note.

 

Wet, the rose came out very strong, and the frankincense moved into the backround. The two scents went together very well. It reminded me of going to church with my grandmother when I was a child; her wearing her tea rose perfume mingled with the lingering scent of Holy days. The rose was really strong for about an hour, then calmed back into a blend again.

 

Dry, the roses faded a bit, but it was very nice while it lasted. The scent faded away after about 4 hours, but it was still lovely when I sniffed my wrist. I'll definitely keep the imp, but I'll hold off on a bottle until I've tried more of Beth's other rose scents.

[The_Merf]

In the imp: I had twelve scents to try on, and on my first sniff of all this imps, this was one of my favorites. However, when I smelled it again, it was very sharp, almost soapy.

 

Wet: Rose. All rose. Frankincense does not amp up on my skin like myrrh does, and it is absent from this blend when it is wet on my skin.

 

Drydown and wear: It remains all rose--I couldn't detect the frankincense at all. I waited the minimum amount of time I will wear a scent to wash it off, and I don't think this is for me at all, but there is something quite beautiful about it. It is a dusty, long-lasting rose that is quite "true" (this does not smell at all artificial). It is old--without being "old lady"--and I do wish that the rose didn't come out so sharply (almost soapy) on my skin. If your skin works well with roses, I can't recommend this particular blend highly enough.

[Monster]

This is rose incense! The rose anf frankincense come out together on me.

 

The rose isn't as fresh as it is in whip. It's more of a musky, mysterious rose (could also be the fact that it's blended with frankincense).

 

Overall, this one isn't for me. It's very beautiful and I can appreciate it, bit rose just doesn't smell good on my body. However, if you love rose...this one is for you. It's really the perfect rose scent.

[aessedai]

There was a feeling of something sacred with this one. The feeling is beautiful. The scent doesn't do much for me or on me, and so, of it goes to another owner.

[Miyabi]

In the imp: frankincense. a lot of it.

 

On skin, wet: There's the rose. It's peeping out a bit, though the frankincense is the star.

 

Drydown: Rose potpourri.

 

Eh, dunno about this one. Persephone and London are more my type of rose scents. Maybe one more time and see if anyone else wants it if it doesn't work on me.

[Julilla Regina]

I love roses and they get on well with me...except for this one. It went very soapy on me. I can't think why, but alas, it did not work. In the imp, it's divine!

[AliBabble]

i loved the idea of this one, and always wanted to try it. so when i received a frimp recently (thank you lab...), i was really pleased. but unfortunately, it's just kind of a "blah" rose on me, with not much frankincense. pleasant enough, but not all that inspiring. still, i can appreciate the simplicity of it...

[sophia_helix]

In the bottle:

 

Fresh rose with a hint of resin/incense beneath

 

Wet:

 

Almost straight-up rose -- mm!

 

Drydown:

 

Dammit. Rose soap. The soap is less pronounced as the scent wears on and the frankincense kicks in, but it's not a very singular scent, and also quite faint.

 

Someday I will find a BPAL rose that works on my skin. Might hang onto this one as a room oil, or for a scent locket at some point.

[shayelea]

Yep, that smells like rose all right. Maybe something a little spicier underneath, but I'm not a rose fan. This goes predictably soapy on me after only a few minutes; not as badly as some other rose scents, but there it is.