Hod

[HappyLoveJoy]

Glory and Majesty, Kokab, God’s Judgement.

(Resurrected 2009)
Never in my BPAL experience have I smelled an oil that can change from day-to-day and application-to-application. When I first tried it all I got was carnation plus the green stems and leaves. It was much later that I started to get a soft, powdery muskiness but by then the scent was nearly fizzled out. I tried it again the next and day thought I may have smelled a tinge of almond in the drydown as well as that wonderful vanilla note in Euphrosyne, and though the carnation was still dominant on initial application, it turned out the be the note that fizzled out the quickest. In fact, I couldn't even detect it. Here I am today, wearing Hod yet again, but now what I get is a most gorgeous vanilla and some sort of flower that isn't carnation. Huh?

And you know... I can't help but think of Mouse's long & Sad Tale when I sniff this on my wrist. It's reminiscent of ML&ST when it made its debut. If you have some from the very first batch to compare , this Hod is sweet vanilla and white musk and pretty little fruity flowers much like that version of ML&ST. Amber is hit or miss with me and I do feel that it's here but not overwhelmingly so. If there's such a thing as white amber that's what I envision. I read the reviews from long ago and saw comparisons to O. I get nothing like that at all and I love O. I wouldn't be surprised if, on my 10th application of Hod, that I will in fact get O out of it. It's that unpredictable!

So, if you find you're not liking Hod too much, don't give up on it. Don't make your decision too soon. I got a decant in a swap (thank you damonkitty!) and didn't think I'd need a bottle. Now I have one on the way that I ordered straight from the Lab.

*I tried to edit to add the description like it is a couple of pages back but couldn't do it like it is in that box. I'll just italicize it for now. Edited January 11, 2010 by Shollin

[Pottersville]

Lovely well-behaved resins and a hint of spicy carnation. But there's also something sour in here that doesn't work on me.

[sprocket21]

I can definitely smell the carnation in the imp, but on me, Hod is baby powder of DOOOOOM. Like, somebody took a carnation and emptied an entire 22oz container of Johnson and Johnson baby powder on it. It pretty much goes without saying that I'm disappointed, especially because carnation is my birth flower, and pink carnations are my favorite flower. Bah. I'm just grateful I was able to try it through a reasonably-priced Resurrected decant.

[morinpm]

Spicy carnations in the imp and on my skin, at least for the first few hours. Once it's had some time to sit, I start picking up a sweet, vanilla-ish note, but the scent disappears completely shortly thereafter. Still going strong in my locket, though. I like this and will keep the imp, but it's not a big bottle candidate for me...I'm just not the floral type.

[kohimame]

Oh Hod, I thought we'd be so good together!

 

With Hod, I was expecting a creamy, spicy carnation blend, and instead got a spicy and slightly metallic scent. It made my nose wrinkle, not what I was expecting. I've never tried a BPAL carnation before, so I don't know if my skin messes with it, or if it's this blend in particular. Oh well, just have to buy more scents!

 

[VioletChaos]

this is for the resurrect, i never had the fortune of experiencing the original. just sayin'.

 

in the bottle: i get the carnation coming on strong, but there's also a black musk note i'm picking up on that has me worried: that type of musk usually turns to wet cardboard on me. i hope it gets better.

 

wet on skin: hmmm. i am getting that hint of vanilla creaminess that others mentioned. the musk seems to be behaving. for now.

 

dry down: the musk from the bottle seems to be waaaay in the background. there, but behaving. whew! as for the rest, it's all spicy carnation and sweet vanilla, but the combo strangely smells like the old style Barbasol shaving cream we used to pelt each other with on Halloween night when i was a kid. so far, i am strangely into it, though.

 

in all: i'm going to see what a bit of aging does. i have this feeling that given time this sent will become full-on yum, with no weird Junior High associations.

 

 

[iletaitunefois]

Hod is...different. It's very, very difficult for me to put my finger on what this smells like on me. In the bottle it smelled like wood. Not dead wood, but live wood. Like a stripped tree, almost? Odd. I can't place what kind of tree.

 

On my skin, it's mellowed out an awful lot. There's still something vaguely woody there, but it's also a little bit sweet, almost honeyed. Maybe a little incense, too? I honestly don't know. I keep sniffing my wrist and contemplating.

 

A very complex blend. I'm not sure I like it enough for a bottle, but it is very interesting.

[bLissKite]

testing notes:

ooh, lovely. like heavenly beeswax mixed with some scent quality that feels like i only knew it in another lifetime.

 

after wearing it for a day:

nauseatingly creamy cloudy carnation. in turn, i love getting whiffs of it and then feel totally repulsed by it.

 

fwiw:

BF backed away w/ "no likee" face.

 

final verdict:

overall, HOD = a love/hate blend on me for the time being, and, all too often, hate wins, as even a dab doesn't sit well (and i'm not talented at layering scents yet). but it's so evocative of something special that i'm wondering if a cellared bottle will be just the ticket. i am incredibly enamored with the reality that HOD exists, but it's not at all wearable for me, at present. weird.

Edited January 15, 2010 by bLissKite

[reconditarmonia]

(First review! I hope I don't fail about notes.)

 

In bottle: Carnations!

 

Wet on skin: More carnations, and a slight sour/metallic note. Somewhat amber-y.

 

As it dries: The sour/metallic smell goes away, and I start to get vanilla.

 

Dry: Vanilla, amber, and carnation.

Edited August 2, 2010 by reconditarmonia

[Lit Chick]

2010 version:

I was hoping for carnation, and I'm not getting any. At all. Perhaps it will age well though. At first, this reminded me of The Gladdener of All Hearts, because of the massive baby power note. So, I went back and tried TGoAH, and it's aged well. I'm thinking Hod will do the same. If not, then I'm fine with that as well.

I love BPAL cream, and I think this has some. It's a close-to-skin scent, mellow and soothing.

I don't get vanilla really - almost very BPAL vanilla note turns plasticy on me, and this does not turn in the slightest. Just lightly sugared cream. The longer it's on, the more the power turns into that cream.

 

In fact, as I huff away.... this might be a good replacement for Chaste Moon. CM is much much sweeter, but what I loved in that was the creaminess - and I think I prefer it with less sugar.

Edited March 18, 2010 by Lit Chick

[apinchofsugar]

Okay, I will come back and write a more formal review of this later, but I just got my bottle and I have to gush about it before I forget.

 

At first, I dabbed some on and in the wet stages, all I got was that powdery amber and some spice underneath that. It was baby powder doom! Which made me sad because I love carnation.

 

I decided to still give it a shot and so I left it on. Now, about an hour later, I AM IN A CLOUD OF CARNATION HEAVEN. No more powder, just spicy, sweet, creamy, slightly cinnamony carnation wonderfulness. I looovvvee this. :love!:

 

(This is for the resurrect, obvs., because I am but a poor law student who cannot afford to buy original Hod.)

 

 

[captainecchi]

I'm trying not to read the previous reviews for this one (because I feel like it affects my sniffer), and failing miserably. Oh well.

 

In the decant: At first sniff, I get a whole lot of difficult-to-parse impressions. There's something spicy, something incense/resin-y, something sweet and something floral. Hard to put my finger on specific notes, though.

 

On skin, wet: Ugh, baby powder. It reminds me of what Queen of Sheba turns into on me, so I'm concluding that there's a similar note there - almond, I think. Likewise, I think the spice is probably either cinnamon or clove, which are both probably in QoS.

 

On skin, drying: Just as I'm about to write this one off, however, it starts to warm up nicely. The baby powder is still present really close to my skin, but there's a nice, warm sweetness wafting from my wrist and chest that reminds me of the almond milk note I like in Eden. Maybe this is the sweet creaminess some of the reviews talk about?

 

Some reviews identified a carnation note in this. I'm not sure I have a good enough handle on carnations to notice that. Likewise, I could see there being an amber or another resin, but I'm not 100% sure of that.

 

On skin, dry: Sweet, creamy, slightly spicy almond and carnation(?) that's just on the brink of going powdery, but not quite. I'd almost call it a foody smell for people who don't like gourmand scents.

 

Verdict: I'm pleasantly surprised by this one. I think I'll keep the imp around, and consider a bottle. I love it when I find new notes to try!

Edited January 26, 2010 by CaptainEcchi

[verbranden]

Resurrected Version: For me, this starts out as a delicately spicy carnation with a creamy vanilla note that surfaces after a few hours. Overall, it's a very warm scent though it stays close and seems very delicate. I ordered a full bottle of this on a whim and it is definitely a keeper.

[RaeiNarcissus]

I smelled this at the lab,and i'm like......what is that.........

 

I kept sniffing and sniffing it when I put it on......... and my only conclusion is that this is the sweet smell that happens when it rains. O.o

[jennnina]

unfortunately with my skin chemistry carnation = raid. this was so foul on me i had to wash it off.

[Lyrical]

In vial: warm amber, sweet honey and soft flowers. Reminds me of O.

 

Wet on skin: reminds me even more of O. It's strong and perfumy, and needs to be applied sparingly, but it's delicious! A sweeter, more feminine version of L'Estate.

 

Dry on skin: mostly amber to my nose, but a very beautiful, sensual, feminine, creamy amber. Wow! After the initial burst of scent, it has a normal throw. This is in the running for my favourite amber blend, but only time will tell!

 

Second day slathering: now I get the carnation, which is rich and spicy. This is possibly the sexiest perfume I've ever worn! It's deep, rich, heavy and luxuriant. Possibly too heavy for work, with a raw, untamed edge to it! It makes me feel ... exotic and dangerous!!! I can't wait to find out how it ages!

[ravenfeathers]

in the bottle smashed carnation and sugarrrrrrrr. it's a beautiful and very true carnation, really lovely

 

wet on skin gah, gorgeous! the spicy, clove-ish waft of dianthus, but much sweeter and less earthy, almost... candyish, in a weird way.

 

dry on skin the sugary sweet bit amps and amps and amps until i feel a little queasy. extreme dry-down brings to mind trident bubble-gum flavoured gum, pre-chewed. O_o

 

the wet phase made me really want to hoard bottles, but the dry phase chilled me out. it's nice, very unique, and i like it lots more than i had imagined i would (and i was imagining enjoyment!) but my all-sweetening skin makes a mockery of the sugar bit.

Edited February 8, 2010 by ravenfeathers

[Argentwolf]

I get lots of spicy carnation. In fact, it alternates between spicy and creamy, to the point where I'd be pretty convinced that there is honey in this blend -- and a nice, sweet honey at that. For some reason, I wasn't liking this very much at all when I was testing it...there was a weird edge to it that I found off-putting. Now that it has had time to settle, it smells much nicer. Alas that I should discover this after it has been taken back to the graveyard of discontinued scents! I guess I will just hold onto my decant, then, and see how it ages...

[Geminirubyshoes]

Oh haiiiii carnations, 'sup? I encountered you before in Alice and didn't really care for you in that but sometimes you show up in places where you smell freakin' awsome. Glad you decided to make Hod your new home

 

This stuff is good. It's hard for me to smell initially as I think that it's a little faint before applied to the skin. Once it's on though it's like a Maury episode: My carnation is out of control and there's nothing I can do about it! however the spices (whatever they are) give it that warm, Morocco-ish kind of feel. The throw (for me) is average but the staying power is totally all there. I can still smell it 6 hours later on my wrists. I think it kind of smells like creamy amber now. Yum!

Edited February 13, 2010 by Duskinhereyes

[iiinterstate]

I ordered this expecting the ultimate carnation blend but I think I just confirmed that almond does not work on me at all, ever.

 

All I smell is the almond, just like in Queen of Sheba. And it isn't good. Too bad.

[fiddledragon]

(Resurrected version)

 

In bottle: Carnation and something sort of medicinal. Hyssop?

 

On me: Very Very Clovey carnation! My skin eats this stuff, so it's not very strong. There's a bit of something more complex under the carnation that I can't really put my finger on. Maybe some sort of resin, or perhaps it's the beeswax some other people are getting.

 

Verdict: Quite nice, and I'll give it a full-body test to see what that's like, but I'm not really getting why this one is so popular. It also seems an oddly gentle scent for Hod. Oh well, if I swap it, it will make someone else happy :-)

[Bagfish]

This is the best BPAL oil I've ever worn, it blows all the others out the water when I wear it on my skin.

 

Beautiful spicy carnation with a smooth underlying creamy scent which reminds me slightly of Dana O'Shee in character. I get no almond from Hod, I can't wear BPAL almond and I think if there is almond in this, there's very little. I think it's more likely to be a milk and honey and amber sort of scent which anchors the spicy carnations in Hod.

 

Whenever I wear this at work, I get complements, and people will walk in and say "what is that lovely smell". All in all I'm really pleased I got a bottle unsniffed, and also that I managed to get another before it was discontinued again.

 

Absolutely delicious!

[TheOnliest]

Resurrected.

 

Virtually no morph. From the bottle to my skin and thereafter Hod was all spicy-sweet carnations. I didn't get much if any creaminess; I might need to roll my bottle. It's a strong, (but, not in a bad way) perfumed scent, one I associate with the grown-up lady perfumes my mom wore when I was a kid. It's warm and soft and lovely, and a little dab will do me.

[anomie]

Bottle: Sweetly peppery carnations.

 

Wet: Floral in a very gentle way.

 

Dry: Whoa, carnations. And something weirdly pungent.

 

Later dry: Hey, the gross pungent note is gone and I'm getting that lovely sweet carnation scent that everybody's described. If I can make it through that first stage this will be awesome for everyday. Snuggly, is what it is.

[thebirdofhermes]

Okay, it's worth noting that I sold/swapped my two bottles of this, so all I have is a quarter decant to review. I don't need to open it again to review, though, because all I can say is this: It smells exactly like Lush Potion Lotion to my nose. In vial, wet, and dry. Just. Like. It.

 

I ordered the two bottles thinking it would be love, because Potion was amazing and I had heard awesome things about Hod Res smelling just like it. I tragically overdosed on said lotion at the end of January. We're talking I was nauseous from the scent and nearly threw up level of overdose.

 

I think we can all see why my two bottles had to go. (But it really does smell exactly the same, for people who want layering options!)