Binah

[clover]

BINAH

 

The Womb, Shabbathai, the Uppermost Feminine in the Godhead, Supernal Mother, Divine Sorrow, Supernal Shekhinah, and the source of the 50 Gates of Understanding.

 

Upon first application: I'm not quite sure how to describe it. Slightly floral, slightly sweet...but not sweet in a happy, cheery sweet kind of way, a very serious, earthy sweet.

 

After a few minutes: Ah, I think it's incensy sweet. Incense and wood, and a slight hint of floral.

 

A few minutes after that: Bam! Floral. Soapy florals, which generally indicates either roses or lilies. Unfortunately for me, that means headache.

 

Conclusion: Sometimes I am loathe to review floral scents, as my chemistry is so very, very opposed to them! But I would describe Binah as an earthy/incensy floral, that reminds me for some reason of being in a church.

[siriusstar]

I didn't like this at all in the bottle. It smelled like wet ashes or charcoal, but as I was determined to try it, I just put a little on my wrist to see what happened.

 

The ashiness was present for awhile, but then I started getting a light floral scent mingling with the ashes, finally taking over after about two hours with an added touch of (perhaps myrrh) incense. As of now, (7 hours later) it's pure magic shop scent incense.

 

It's nicer than I thought when I wrinkled my nose at it in the bottle, but not a favorite. I will try it again when I get to studying Binah, though.

[Penance]

First sniff:

 

Oh, man, this is familiar! It's...jasmine, I think, although I could be wrong. It reminds me of Temple of Dreams, but only in passing.

 

Wet on skin:

 

That's what I'm smelling...fennel! I don't know that there's actually fennel in here, that's just what I'm getting from it. It's more like Baku than Temple of Dreams now.

 

Dry down:

 

A sort of non-agressive fennel scent with maybe some jasmine and rose. I definitely smell rose now. I'll be the first to admit I could be entirely wrong about this one, but that's my best guess.

 

The bottom line:

 

I rather like this in spite of the fact that it smells (to me) like two things I don't much care for: jasmine and fennel.

[darkling]

Binah was immediately a strong woody scent. The initial note was a strong, syrupy sap that I could smell in the back of my throat.

 

This settled down on my wrist to a muted wood. I did not get any of the floral notes that others have picked up.

 

Binah was a very neutral scent that did not particularly stand out as a perfume.

[ipb]

myrrh! yum! there's definitely some incensey-wood action going on, with some florals. and like clover, they get a little soapy, so i wouldn't be surprised if there was lily. but mostly, i smell the myrrh. and maybe some musk? it's really light, though.

[astrid]

I really don't know how to describe this scent...it's very gentle for me, maybe a hint of Verbena?, slightly incense-y yet not in a overly hippy way. Could there be a hint of amber as well? I don't consider this a striking scent, but I don't think it's supposed to be either. Similar to Tipareth...

[slave1]

In Bottle: Pungent! Wow! Pine and something spicy?

 

On Skin: Smoky and floral. The smoky is an incense or something of that sort. The floral sweetens it and I smell wood, maybe cedarwood? I am not fond of wood, smoke, incense or floral scents so this one is a miss for me. Also, this scent is very strong. A little dab will do you.

[Ishtar]

Well, it looks like I am rooting for the underdog here, but I for one really, really liked Binah as a perfume.

 

The wet stage was all resin and incense: not incense smoke, mind you, which is a good thing as smokey scents can make me a little queasy, but very aromatic, very high quality hand-made incense that you almost feel like nibbling on instead of burning.

 

There is a spiciness to this blend that gets stronger as it dries down. I keep thinking of clove, but there is also a floral note that is developping alongside the spice, so it may well be carnation or even geranium that I am smelling.

 

Whatever is in it, Binah is a beautiful, layered, complex blend on me. The more I smell it, the more I enjoy it. It strikes me as a very sacred, very cerebral scent, yet it is not austere at all. It is actually quite warm and centering.

 

I am seriously considering a bottle, all the more so that it tends to fade rather quickly on my skin. It would also make a lovely room fragrance and, of course, a perfect ritual scent

[helarctos]

I didn't get any of the incense that other posters mentioned! To me, Binah smells like a garden of leafy greens. All things growing -- a pungent emanation of chlorophyll.

 

*puzzled*

[JazzieCazzie]

Wow ... Upon application, it reminded me a lot of my beloved Peace for some reason ... incensey and clean and sweet and floral and earthy all rolled into one ... I was worried about a soapy lily drydown as some had experienced but instead, on drydown, it reminded me a lot of Spellbound ...

 

So far, having tried four of the Sephiroth, this is definitely my favorite ...

[PurringPulsar]

Binah

 

In the imp: deep incense, resinous with a hint of spice-cloves? I'm sure there's myrrh there too.

Wet on skin: there's a smooth, sweet note, like amber and myrrh, but there's also a sharp, astringent green note there, but it's not too clashing yet…

Dry on skin: this reminds me of Black Lotus, but without the lotus and with the sharp wood/green/smoke note toned down, so it's adds a bit of kick without being dissonant. This could be sandalwood? This is very incensy, very sweet, deep, mysterious. there's a slight hint of warmth, maybe some spice there. It reminds me not just of new age shops, but also of a middle eastern/Egyptian market stall selling all sorts of wonderful incenses, it's so exotic.

After a while: the sweetness of this blend develops and warms, this becomes an enchanting sweet myrrh-amber with a warm ambience-there's possibly some carnation here too, a spicy sweet scent. It's got an almost sacred feel, like this scent would be wafted through some ancient temple. It makes me feel almost meditative. I'm not getting heavy florals like others are, just resin, spice and maybe a hint of floral but it's so well blended and all the notes merge into one.

After about an hour, there's two aspects to the scent-one a light spicy and perhaps floral sweetness dancing on top of an undertone of dark, mysterious scent which I am pretty sure is myrrh. It's really nice.

Verdict: this is such an intriguing blend, it's sweet, and mysterious, and almost sacred. Like an offering of burning incense. It's an exotic blend of resins and maybe woods or spices. At first I was scared it would clash with my skin, but it sweetened out to become a lovely sweet resin blend, heady and deep, but very nice. This would be a nice scent to wear at night, it feels calming and meditative. It's my first sephiroth blend too. I don't know if I'll get a bottle but this little imp I have is a keeper.

Edited June 1, 2005 by yeahbutnobut

[UltraViolet]

~Binah~

 

In the bottle

A light wood and deep incense blend with a floral note in the middle.

 

On

An absolutely fabulous myrrh incense smell. It's a strong scent. But it's not a sharp or bitter myrrh, it is a slightly sweet smokey myrrh.

Here's a bit of "Lush" trivia: It's a sweeter, slightly more floral, smoky version of "Icon".

 

30 minutes

Not morphing at all with the exception of a tad more prominent floral note. I love this.

 

Throw:

More than average.

 

Scent category:

incensey/woody/floral

 

Summary

Once again, Beth proves to me that she is connected to something. Binah does indeed evoke the feminine in the Godhead and the source of the 50 gates of understanding all at once. It's a feminine scent because of the floral note. It's a strong, knowing scent because of the woody and deep myrrh incense notes. I don't think alot of people would like to wear this as a regular day scent. It is more of a "working" scent as far as ritual or meditation I think. And in that vein it is a powerful blend indeed. I am hook, line and sinkered on this blend. I cannot get enough. Very deep, dark, dense and feminine, like looking through the eyes, and into the soul, of the universe.

 

Purchase again?

God yes. A 10ml.

 

1-5 rating (5 being best)

4.5

Edited June 15, 2005 by UltraViolet

[sookster]

ok yum....

 

woodsy, florally, super clean scent.....oh how it reminds me of something i so wore as a teen but i cannot quite put my finger on just what it is grrrrrrrr...

 

in any case if you are looking for a scent with all of the above, puuuhlllleeeeeeeeze....give Binah a whirl.....

 

Amazing.....Beth has "got" to have some sort of crystal ball that she contacts the "perfume fairies" with to come up with some of her creative and astounding blends......OMG......

[OriginalWacky]

Bottle (Imp): Hmmm, some spice, and maybe wood.

 

Just On: Yeah, spiced wood comes to mind.

 

An hour or two later: Yes, quite woody, and a little spiced. An old table that has had it's share of spices soaked into it over the years.

 

Around 6 hours: I'm getting the end of the wood now. It's quite faded.

 

12 hours: Last little bits of wood.

 

Overall: This is definitely a keeper.

 

After reading other reviews: Wow, not a hint of florals on me, and no incense either. Spicy and woods is all I got, and I like it that way.

[grrrlennyl]

at first: a strong, heavy floral.

on: there's a hint of sweetness coming out, but also something slightly herbal. i think there's something incense-y to it, too.

overall: this is ok, just not my type of scent.

[inkstone]

The first thing I get is myrrh overlaid on a wood note. After drydown, I get roses. Unfortunately, I think it's the rose note that makes it go to powder.

[scourgeotheseas]

Binah

 

In the bottle: Woods and resin. But not pine, like juniper only more...woody.

 

On me: Funny, but I detect no woods upon application. Instead, it's super incense-y, with a streak of something really pungent that keeps trying to push its way to the front.

 

Drydown: What is that?!?! It's a very strong resin, I think. Too much for me - even though I can't yet identify it, I must get it off.

[roesmoker]

I absolutely adore Binah, but after reading the above reviews it really shouldn't come as a surprise - I'm a sucker for the deep incensy, wood-y notes a la Cathedral or Black Forest. On me it starts out pure resin/incense and gets slowly sweeter and more beautiful the more it dries. I'm definitely going to buy a 10ml of this one of these days.

 

Edited to add: I thought I'd gone off Binah when I got a different result one time, but it must have been a TOM (time of month) issue because I've worn it since then and I get the same lovely intense sexy dry-down that I fell in love with originally. I made my co-worker smell it (since he claims to be a perfume connoisseur) and he said it was romantic and intimate (as opposed to Malkuth which was more of an "action" perfume - like if you were to burn a candle at a party for many friends).

 

ETA 2: Now that I've tried the Red Musk SN, I am positive this blend has red musk in it. Both Binah and Arabian Nights are almost single-note red musk on me.

Edited July 31, 2006 by roesmoker

[quimerula]

Very green and strong.

I can smell rosemary on it, but I can't identify more single notes.

Dry it goes a lighter masculine scent.

[k00kaburra]

In bottle: Hmmm. Apparently the womb smells of curry.

Or at least something equally heavy on incense and spice.

 

On me: On the skin the initial blast fades to florals. It's like a deep cedar wood with jasmine growing out of it.

[sarada]

This strikes me as a hot, fiery blend. Not spicy, just hot. Like wood heated red hot on a fire...a dry, blasting heat. Is there pepper in here? This kind of wood makes me think of myrrh, though that tends to be spicy on me...maybe there is something spiced coming out in this.

 

It makes me think of a ritual incense or an occult store oil, as do most of the Sephiroth oils. Even though I tend to like things like this, there's something about it that makes me think that it wouldn't be worn as a fragrance, but as part of some sort of ritual. A hot, dark, spicy perfume.

 

None of the Sephiroth strike me as something I would wear for the fragrance, as they are all very heavy and slightly medicinal but this is one of the ones that comes the closest to my kind of fragrance.

[Shollin]

First sniff: Like Tiphareth, this is a very dark scent… but where that one was herbal and resinous darkness, this is a feral darkness. <irreverence warning>Perhaps God’s feminine side is a bit of a wild woman?</warning>

 

Wearing: The darkness in this reminds me a little of the dark-plum/prune-juice scent of Masabakes, when first on. There’s a bit of floral sprinkled over the top, too, just a touch that feels powdery. It’s interesting, but not really me.

[feline.by.design]

If Binah was merely a touch powdery, I think I could handle it. I loved the smell of it in the bottle, but my skin morphed it into a rosey soap within mere breaths of application. Although I like roses when they behave, in Binah they presented themselves as the dry, soapy variant that caused me to be initially a Rose Hater in the beginning. I really couldn't discern much of any other note aside from the rose.

 

Thus, this Sephiroth oil did not work as well as I hoped. Wanted a more resinous, woodsy scent, but instead was stuck with roses that didn't agree with me. If you love roses in any shape or form, especially if they're on the dark and dry side, Binah may be for you. Alas, it isn't for me.

 

-doreen

[Little Bird]

Cedar and sweet golden myrrh. It's spicy and slinky, but I don't really seem to work well with woods notes.

 

After about fifteen minutes, this suddenly turns into jasmine on me. The cedar lingers in the background, but mostly I'm getting smoky jasmine.

 

So... as with most things jasmine... Binah just gives me a headache

[Lycanthrope]

Impressions: Sweet, gummy tree resins.

 

Delicious dark resin city. Smells potent, swirling, mysterious and exotic all at once in my imp, on me it swirls and dances in a blend of amazingly beautiful sacred incense gum. As it settles on my skin, all of a sudden I get an interesting effect – from the resins emerge at first a unified floral note that blooms into… a spicy, rose-like aroma blended with sparkling resins. This, like no other BPAL I’ve experienced, is a dead-ringer for an ‘Aveda’ fragrance – spicy, floral, resinous, all at once. It’s rich, heady and quite potent, a rose swirling in a cloud of incense fumes and emitting a commanding aroma.