Anathema

[dreadeddragon]

A scent as heavy as thunder from the Vatican, with notes that inspire every sin and excess. Black opium, with vetivert and honeysuckle.

In the bottle: Sweet, sweet opium, how I love you.

First on: HONEYSUCKLE! Odd, it makes me remember when I broke up with an ex, I had a crystal that matched his. It smashed in 2 and I smelled honeysuckle for 3 days straight. Could never figure out where the smell came from, and no one else could smell it. I hope the opium and vetiver come back.

Drydown: Mmmm..... the honeysuckle has faded and it's a gorgeous blend. Still in the sweet & nice category, but it's only been 30 minutes or so. Maybe it'll get darker, so I can get a 5ml.

[FireInCairo]

Very very thick and heavy fragrance. The vetivert really shines through in this scent. It smells of a thick opium den.... I like!

[RainyDayGrey]

In the bottle: Honeysuckle, with just a hint of something deep and dark lurking in the back ground.

 

Wet: this one goes strait to honeysuckle single note when first applied. And stays that way for quite a while.

 

Drydown: This one takes a while to develop on my skin, but when it does, OMG. I think it just knocked Three Witches out of the top three. Honeysuckle remains the top note untill the very end, but after about an hour of wear the vetiver and opium notes come out. It's kind of a confounding scent because honeysuckle is so light and sweet and innocent to me, and the vetiver and opium make it dark, slightly sweet, and smoky. The sweetness definatly comes from the opium note, and it's not the same sweetness as the honeysuckle. Honeysuckle to me is a genuine sweetness. A little girl in pigtails curled up in the grass taking a nap kind of sweet. The opium is a seductive and deceptive kind of sweet. See what I mean about confouding. Oh, and if you're worried that this one will be to much, I'm not a big fan of overly sweet blends, this is just right

 

This was a gift imp in my last order. There was a total of six blends in that order, and of course I had them all slathered on at once. This was the one that I could not stop smelling! I was drawn to it all day, I just could not get enough of it. It also answered a big question I had. I was planning on including some oils with Vetiver in my next order, just to see if it worked for me. I've noticed it's one of those love it or hate it, and most seem to hate it kind of notes. Vetiver is definatly of the good.

[mmcfa2]

This is darkness meets New Orleans! I was at a miniswap with a few friends and swiped this on one hand. about 20 minutes later I had to dive through the pile trying to find what it was that smelled SOOO good! If vetiver scares you, don't let it! This one is only grounded by it and is a fabulous wicked lush floral!!

[Orodemniades]

Anathema turned into pure Dragon's Blood on me.

 

And that's how it remained. For hours. I tried to wash it off, but not, it was there to stay.

 

Alas.

 

 

Oro

[gingersnapp]

I was hesitant to apply this as vetiver is one of my major arch-nemeses. But the honeysuckle is tempering it very well. Like someone else mentioned, this actually does smell quite a bit like dragon's blood, which I like.

 

I was kind of hoping for a bit more of an edge from the opium, but right now it's all honeysuckle and vetiver. Nice, but... I don't know.

[OriginalWacky]

Bottle (Imp): This smells rather dark and foreboding.

 

Just On: Perhaps flowers.

 

An hour or two later: Hmm, it's a bit soapy, so I'm thinking flowers again.

 

Around 6 hours: Yeah, soap is me on this one.

 

12 hours: It's disappeared.

 

Overall: I'm not terribly sure about this one, but I do know it went awfully soapy for a while, and that's just my skin ruining things.

 

After reading other reviews: I have to agree with the ones who got dark florals out of this, or flowers in general. Usually only flowers turn that soapy on me.

[Nachtwulf]

In the bottle: Clear, fairly sweet, but with sharp edges all over the place. I also believe there's a note in it that I can't smell at the moment, due to my current state of partial hyposmia. (There are some types of scent that come off as 'burnt chocolate' to me whatever they are. Rose, coffee, and cat pee (okay, no loss there) are among them. I'm picking up a whiff of that in here, so there's something I suspect I'm not catching.)

 

Wet: Mmm. Opium. Mostly, I think it's that, with vetivert, and what I /swear/ is myrrh. It might have myrrh in it, but I can't find any honeysuckle in it at all. It's a warm, woody scent overall, with a touch of flowers creeping in at the edges.

 

Dry-down: It gets woodier and darker as it goes, the floral notes subsiding to the background. It's not sweet like a musk, or spicy like sandalwood, it's a little incensy, and with a few sharp edges left but nothing acrid. It's more pleasant at a distance, a faint hint of an incense-soaked cathedral, than if you put your nose right on it, when the sharpness carries.

 

Final deduction: I like it. I'm not big on florals, so the fact that the floral notes subside as it dries is definitely a plus. What's left reminds me of old dry arrangements on an altar, sodden in the residual incense of an old church.

[olympia301]

Evil, evil, evil, wicked BIG FLORAL!!!!

 

There is honeysuckle in here from now until Good Friday, and a backlash of sweet sweet excess that is as gardenia like and Southern and pretty as you can imagine. Floral lovers, don't miss Anathema. I also would say that this is Big White Flowers. Nothing spicy or sooooothing about Anathema. If you hadn't guessed it, it's not particularly subtle either, just like an anathema from Rome. Ka-boom! That's the point.

 

Not for the shy, not for goody-two-shoes.

Edited August 20, 2005 by olympia301

[magdalene]

in the bottle: massive honeysuckle.

 

wet on skin: This is all honeysuckle and opium, and I'm not getting much vetivert though. It's not as woody as I thought it was going to be (from the lack of vetivert, maybe?), but the honeysuckle is one of the best I've smelled.

 

dry: There's the vetivert. A bit late for the party, much like I usually am, but finally here.

[Little Bird]

Honeysuckle is one of the few florals that I love (along with black orchid and daffodil), but it tends to be too strong in perfume blends for me to actually wear. Vetivert is often too darkly woodsy/earthy for me to wear. I was hoping that the two would balance each other out nicely in Anathema.

 

This smells like burnt wood and dried ashes on me. I waited for 2 hours before I tried to scrubbed it off (and this stuff does not come off easily) and gave up on it. It was such a strong burnt smell. Odd. I'm not sure what opium smells like or how it works on my skin chemistry... maybe it was the vetivert that went bad in this blend for me. I don't know. All I know is that I never smelled any honeysuckle at all. I just smelled like a recently burned down wooden building.

 

-I love olympia301's icon for Anathema, though the actual imp will be headed for my swap pile-

[Sistinas]

a review of Anathema

 

Vial ~ Initially all I am picking up is the honeysuckle, light and floral.

I cannot detect any trace of vetivert or the black opium.

 

Wet ~ on my skin the vetivert is coming out a little bit. The scent is

something more than just pure honeysuckle, I think I am picking up on the

black opium also. So far I am truly impressed with this scent.

 

Drying ~ It is light,clean and sweet. I don't find it cloying at all tho.

I didn't find this as an in your face scent, but it is stronger than some

of the lighter scents I have tried.

 

Dry ~ The scent has stayed true to the drydown. This one is a winner.

I think I will be needing a bigger bottle of this one.

 

Fade ~ Anathema is hanging tough with my skin, not fading away quickly, and

has a slight throw to it.

 

Final thoughts ~ I really love this scent, it is not over the top and is

very beautiful to smell. On a scale of 1 to 5,I would give this a 5.

[QueenFae]

This is a really interesting one. The honeysuckle is definitely on top, but it's totally debauched by the underlying black opium. It's a clean, soapy scent, but the spicy quality of the undertones gives it some interesting depth. Sort of sense - boggling and nose confusing. Like incense over a blossoming summer evening. I think I like this and I'm gonna hold on to my imp and see how it works for me.

[carolinachiquita]

Gorgeous, this is such an amazing scent - I don't go and search out floral blends as I seem to convince myself I don't like them but this is just fab. Beth I love you for this one!! Its going on my 5ml wishlist!! In the imp bottle I didn't like the smell much but as soon as it was on my skin it is just amazing - its a calming silky scent that is really smooth. Its floral but there is a sweetness to it that is just divine. I love it. I want it!

 

[Fefferbella]

Opium! Not opium poppies, the real thing... opium.

 

This is a very nice blend, but it needs a few minutes to really show it's potential. There is a strong honeysuckle note that threatens to ruin the scent for me, but it disapears quickly and leaves a pleasant sweetness behind.

[herdivineshadow]

This is a lush, heavy floral on me with oodles and oodles of honeysuckle and... pretty much nothing else. All I get is honeysuckle, which isn't a bad thing but I don't think I could wear this too often.

[coulrophobe]

I'm always a bit leary of vetiver, as it tends to smell like motor oil on my skin - but figured I'd give it a try.

 

In the imp: Well, I can't smell the vetiver - that's a good sign!

 

On skin: Honeysuckle! One of my favorite florals, but this blend manages not to be too flowery. This is honeysuckle, but the blooms are deepened and perverted by the smoky, spicy opium. As drydown continues, the honeysuckle tones down just a bit, making it more dark and seductive, but still very feminine. I can catch whiffs of the vetiver occasionally, but it's not overwhelming.

 

This one surprised me quite a bit, it works with my chemistry much better than I expected!

[wingedcorset]

Wow, this is so heavy. In the vial the opium comes on really strong. It mellows as it dries, into a really pretty really intense floral. The honeysuckle comes to the forefront, but it deepened and darkened by the other ingredients. It's not something I would ever wear, and thus, off to the swaps it goes.

[k00kaburra]

In bottle: Smoky, and almost resin-y? The honeysuckle sweetens this uniquely, so that it is especially unique amongst darker fragrances. Very thick and heavy.

 

On me: A slightly darkened honeysuckle - it's practically a single note. Lovely floral, but faint on the skin. I admit I feared the vetiver, but I didn't even manage to locate it in this blend.

[LiberAmoris]

Wow, darkness and light. Anathema pairs dark, sensual opium with ebullient, heady honeysuckle and it's a really unusual combination. The vetiver is barely there for me, lending just a smidge of green to the honeysuckle which makes it seem all the more 'alive.'

 

The honeysuckle is the dominant note on me all the way through to almost the very end, when I'm left with a skin scent of opium.

 

If I loved honeysuckle, I'd be even more into this one. As it is, I'll keep the imp for the springtime. I just won't be wearing it to any picnics, as this seems like a blend that would draw the bees.

[tinyvulture]

jasmine is one of those notes i used to hate, but it’s grown on me thanks to bpal. i absolutely love it here blended with the smoky black opium and sweet honeysuckle. i can not smell any earthy/dark vetiver here, so don’t be afraid of that! it is a strong scent, but a fresh, vibrant one. wow! incredible.

Edited January 1, 2006 by tinyvulture

[Blueelm]

Wow. This is not at all what I expected. I wanted opium! I've slathered myself with the imp several times and I amost like it. But not quite.

 

If you had asked me, without a description, what notes were in this I would have guessed Lily, honeysuckle, and perhaps Jasmine. All very light, with a faint green note (perhaps the vertiver). I do happen to like white florals, so this is still a pleasant smell.

 

This is a light green/white floral scent on me that has decent lasting power and is extremely unoffensive. I don't dislike it, but it's not what I thought it would be. It's not a standout to me though, and hardly seems anathematic. More... well... actually it smells like pure innocent spring breaking through the snow. Or perhaps dryer sheets.

 

 

Strange the magic that individual chemistry can work.

[ashtoreth]

Anathema:

 

In the imp, I smell a lot of opium and vetiver, making for a very interesting combination. It’s spicy and robust – nothing subtle about this. I’m not catching much from the honeysuckle; I think that it may be overpowered by the opium.

 

Wet on the skin, the Honeysuckle is starting to play, the vetiver is fading quickly, leaving the opium and the sweetly-sick flowery notes of the honeysuckle to mingle. At least, I’m assuming that the oversweet note is the honeysuckle as described. It actually reminds me more of the wisteria that hung heavily on my back porch at an apartment I lived in with my then-boyfriend many years ago.

 

On the dry down, the opium is still strong, as are the sweet flowery notes, leaving it as a strange flowery and decadent scent. As the evening progresses, the opium fades and the lingering flower scents remain, subtle and unassuming. When putting nose to wrist, it smells almost like baby-powder, but the occasional gust of cold air on the clear evening bring the scent wafting through my hair and to my nose, reminding me of time not yet spent on other matters.

 

-=-=-=-

 

I decided to try this scent for a new character I was playing for a LARP (someone just shoot me now). Interestingly, I didn’t have a real idea for the character other than a name and a character sheet – the costume put itself together from things in my closet that I’ve been looking forward to wearing and a desire to be warm on a cold Sonoma county evening – however, once I had the costume on and the scent in my head, a voice for the character emerged. I don’t think that I would wear this scent on a day-to-day basis, but it’s certainly perfect for a character. I’ll likely be buying a bottle in the nearish future.

[elphaba]

Got this as a frimp from the lab. Just on my skin, the first note to be immediately recognizable was the vetivert...perhaps because I just tested Iago recently and the scent was fresh in my mind.

 

I had to look up notes to identify the other elements, although I was sure there was at least one heady floral swirling around with the vetivert. It struck me as a rather torpid scent. I can blame that on the opium, which lasted just long enough to give me a headache before the honeysuckle came out, high and sweet. I hate that opium always seems to do that to me. I used to adore opium incense, but I don't think any BPAL opium blend has failed to make my head hurt.

 

The final drydown is honeysuckle and vetivert with just a hint of the opium but this blend is decidedly not working on me. Off to the swaps.

Edited January 25, 2006 by elphaba

[Brianne]

In the bottle:

Powerfully heavy honeysuckle

 

On me:

Imagine that you have a honeysuckle incense. That's what this is. It smells like sweet honeysuckle, but it also smells like incense. It's rather sweet, but it's right in between being floral or incensey, and I really like that. That's about all I can say about Anathema - it's honeysuckle incense.

 

Final note:

I wouldn't buy a bottle, but I can see myself wearing this on occasions where I'd want a more "womanly perfume" thing going on. So, I will definitely keep the imp