Thanatos

[Vega]

… Dry white sandalwood and soft Siamese benzoin over a lugubrious blend of myrrh, Moroccan rose, mastic, tomb moss and a thin whiff of Greek incense.

Sniffed: Deep, solemn resins with a touch of wet green moss and the faintest whiff of light rose.

On skin: A dark resinous/incense blend, full and warm. Faintly sweet rose and wet green moss add a bit of lightness and interest to what would otherwise be a very lugubrious scent. A close, sombre fragrance that nevertheless isn't too heavy; one lesser aspect of Death, but not its fullest manifestation. Thanatos is (not surprisingly) similar to the vampire blend Silenti, a bit heavier on the incense and less on the florals.

Verdict: I'm not quite feeling it. A fitting scent for this lesser personification of Death, but it's not really distinguishing itself.

[Diva Urd]

In the imp: I immediately pick out the sandalwood, everything else seems to play second fiddle. If I try hard enough, I get a minuscule amount of rose, which gives me hope that this will not turn into rosey soap on me.

 

On: The rose DOES amp on me, though the other notes seem to keep it from completely running off into soap territory for now. It's still quite prominent as it dries down...

 

Later: My nemesis has reared its pretty red head again. ROSE.

[GeorgeJr]

Man , this really is reminiscent of my try out of The Caterpillar . Very smoky & full of incense , but flowery as well . Oddly I don't seem to be getting either the sandalwood or the benzoin here . I've had allergies lately so that may be not helping me . This is nice , but I don't think I'd go out of my way to buy it ( this was a frimp ) . I prefer the aforementioned many legged , hookah smoking bug to this . this is just a little too sweet smelling for my liking . Would probably enjoy sniffing it on a lady though . Letting it settle in good and proper on my arm & yeah , too much rose & nyrrh for me . Sorry .

[Ryokumuji]

Frimp from the lab. Smoky, woody, floral, and a little bit sweet. Good staying power too!

 

For some strange reason, it made me remember my old favorite, Queen Mab. I think it's because Thanatos contains a couple of notes (sandalwood and rose) that Queen Mab had. Definitely would recommend this to anyone who liked QM.

 

I probably wouldn't have ordered this on my own because I thought I didn't like incense blends, but maybe I should rethink that. Thanks to the lab for frimping me this!

[Poenari]

I was completely surprised by this one. The woods, incense, and sandalwood are very strong, to the point that I was shocked to discover that there is rose in this blend. As it dries down, it remains woodsy but there is a dark pine or cypress kind of note present. This scent reminds me of The Night Hag Visiting the Lapland Witches- which was one of my favorites from the last Halloween series. However, this one falls short enough that it would never serve even as a replacement. I might use up my imp layered with Silent Forest Bath Oil, however, as I think it will be complimentary.

[fufu_berry]

The very generous stellans gave me a frimp of this. It sounded lovely, as I like most of the notes in it, but I hadn't tried anything with rose. Unfortunately, the rose was a big bummer - it was very very strong immediately, and hung around until I had to rinse it off. On me, it smelled extremely perfumey and almost sharp, somewhere between a very fancy lady and Aquanet. My mom took a whiff and said, "ugh, old lady's closet!" So I think this is probably not a keeper. :/

[JazzieCazzie]

Working my way through my BPAL collection, retesting, revisiting and reviewing from A-Z and so, clearly, I'm coming to the end of this experiment as I reach my imp of Thanatos. I purchased this from the Lab in February, I believe, choosing it based on its notes and am really, REALLY surprised that it had escaped my attention before this ... usually, sandalwood and incense and benzoin would be enough to lure me in and let me take my chances with the rose component. It's from this imp that I tested:

 

IN THE IMP: Very light and lovely and sharp, sandalwood and incense and benzoin. No florals.

 

Dabbed on one wrist and in the crook of arm.

 

WET: It amps quickly into a light "cola" note, one I love, but a little sharper and less fizzy than the ones I associate with scents like, say, Third Charm or Schwarzer Mond. I do get a little more of a floral hit as it amps and floats up ... floral/sharp/resiny scent. It's like Third Charm on steroids.

 

DRYDOWN: I like this. I do I do I do. It's pretty true to the scent in the imp and wet on my skin, and it has everything I like. But there is just something about it that makes it hard for me to decide does it go into the keep-and-wear box or the swap-box and finally, being true to myself, it goes to the swap box because I DO have several scents much lke this one but with just a little more soft resiny scent and a little less sharp or floral scent, and so those are the ones that will get the love.

 

OVERALL: People would love this. People should love this. It's a well blended and complex and lovely scent.

 

On a scale of 1-5, about a 3.9.

[ziggystardust13]

Thank you lab for this frimp!

 

Thanatos is beautiful. Great for resin lovers! And don't fear the rose - it compliments the scent well and doesn't take over. I kept sniffing my wrist because I have smelled this before, but was having a hard time putting my finger on it. Oh yeah! It smells just like Fred Soll's benzoin resin incense!

[Lunasariel]

In the imp: Sharp overtones floating over a broad, smooth base. For some reason, my first thought was "Victorian??" - possibly the rose?

 

Wet: The rose is coming forward, but I don't think I'm amping it too much. Actually, this reminds me a lot of Lilith - a dark, complicated rose. After a few minutes, the incense and benzoin start to be a little more noticeable, but the rose still dominates. So far, it's nothing I would have picked out as particularly groundbreaking, but it should be noted that, at this point, my boyfriend (who NEVER comments unprompted on my perfume - he has nothing against it, but he's a foot and a half taller than me, so it just doesn't reach him most of the time) said that this one "smells amazing."

 

Dry: A deeper, broader scent, with the rose fading almost entirely. I would call this a resinous scent in the neighborhood of incense, but not actual incense - it doesn't go sour at the very end the way incense does on me, and it doesn't bring back :\ memories of 8:00 AM mass.

[Veronica]

Wet/in the bottle this is very herbal and medicinal, kind of soothing--assuming this is the moss and myrrh resins. Dry, this becomes warm, woody resin spiced with incense. I don't get a strong rose from this at all. Really interesting and pretty, but not my type of scent.

[lucycat]

This was a frimp from the Lab.

 

In the imp: I can identify the rose and incense. There’s more going on here; there’s clearly a base of other notes, but I can’t pick them out.

 

Thanatos smells very classically feminine. It’s a much brighter blend than I expected, given the inspiration; there’s an almost citrus quality to it at first.

 

The sandalwood comes forward briefly when the oil is wet on my skin and for a short time after, but the rose very quickly dominates it. Pretty soon, this is rose with an undertone of incense. Apparently my skin amps rose even more strongly than it does wood notes, which is saying something.

 

Thanatos is a very beautiful blend, for someone other than me.

[lady_pandora]

Frimp from the Lab.

 

I really hoped to like this one as I have some attachment to the Greek gods of death, and I did end up liking it quite a bit. It was not without its weird stages--I actually physically moved it into and then back out of my swap compartment in the middle of testing it.

 

It starts out dark green notes and something cleanser-y. It reminds me of a cleaning product my mom used when I was a kid but that I don't use--like maybe Comet powder. I have no idea what note is causing this impression.

 

It develops into rose and myrrh and cleaner, and then eventually just rose and myrrh without the cleaner. After an hour, it's almost all myrrh. It reminds me of a (non-BPAL) single note myrrh oil I have and sometimes use in ritual. Really pretty, and appropriately somber.

 

And then later there's sweet smoky wood to go with the myrrh. After an inauspicious beginning, it ends up really nice. I was reading the Phoenix update while testing this, and kept forgetting this was supposed to be Thanatos and not a Phoenix scent. It's certainly smoky/resiny enough to be one. Smells sacred and temple-y.

[lexyOZ]

Not sure how old my imp is as it came from a forumite.

I really like this and I agree with the reviewer above who said it represents a lesser aspect of death. It's solemn, but not morbid. Weighty without being heavy.

The woods and resins are prominent, but the rose is equal in strength on me so it's quite a lovely balanced scent. The rose is very old fashioned and dry, like a bunch of roses left on a grave that have dried to paper in the sun. The incense is spicy yet mellow and kind of just pulls everything together.

It's not one I would have picked from the notes, but I'm glad I tried it. It's quite lovely.

[freyasfae]

Wow, this has so many death notes for me, yet it works! The rose is a spicy rose, and spicy to the point of almost foodie, then it dries down to woods. I love how BPAL surprises me when I am ready to write off notes as death notes.

[LeBateleur]

In bottle: Bitter medicinal herbs with a sting that reminds me of grain alcohol the way it clears out my sinuses.

 

Wet: A nice spiciness mixes in with the herbs. I'm getting all resins and none of the Moroccan rose, but that's fine by me because I love resins.

 

Drydown: Now a nice incense-y complexity emerges.

 

A few hours in: There is no 'a few hours in.' This scent disappears entirely within 20 minutes.

 

I love the way this one develops in the drydown phase, but with no throw or staying power, it ends in disappointment.

[Casablanca]

My first thought on applying Thanatos is a reminder that I loathe the lab's graveyard and loam-type stuff. There's a little of that tone here -- not a lot, but just enough to make me want to take a wee step back at first.

The tomb moss is strong, smelling dull, dark green and grey to me, with a little conifer-blue. It smells like moss, a little decaying mint or camphor, blue juniper and/or spruce, and maybe a hint of pine. In the early phase, this is all I get from the blend.

But Thanatos dries into something more pleasantly spooky. I start to get dry sandalwood -- a lot of it -- and a smoothing base blend that I think is the benzoin and mastic. Except that I smell balsam rather than benzoin's usual full-bodied vanillic thing. So, huh. Siamese benzoin?

The incense smoke also wafts in, reminding me of Cathedral. These notes feel like the needed foundation for this olfactory temple ruin strewn with dying moss and conifers.

Eventually, I catch myrrh, and with it, a little rose.

I'm glad I tried it. Complex and interesting, if not for me.

[Kay Torres]

It's official, I can do white sandalwood.

 

This was almost straight resin on me with the other notes giving it a hint of complexity, but never quite distinguishing themselves. I still love it. It's very calming and makes me think of being outdoors more than the grassy/woodsy/herbal scents. I dabbed some on this morning, and it inspired me to create an monochromatic afghan with a repeating tree pattern and flying crows as a divider... So very like this scent, complexity that appears simple

[lizabelle]

Huh. So I think myrrh amps on me, because I'm pretty sure that's what I smell here. It's cool and almost soapy, but the moss and incense keep it dark and smoky instead. Weirdly my skin is completely eating the rose here, as well as the sandalwood. I usually amp (and love) both, but they're missing. I don't mind the scent as-is, but I think I would like it a lot more if I could smell those two--this deep spiciness under a soft rose would be gorgeous.

[spikyfairy]

I often dislike sandalwood, and it usually seems to depend on what it's blended with. I also nearly always turn anything with a moss or dirt note into something very very rank & unpleasant. This, however, is one of those magic blends where those problem notes somehow balance each other out & everything just works.. The pine-y mastic, mhyrr, and I think even the moss really deepen & counter the overly-smooth, slightly sickly feel I sometimes get from sandalwood.

I don't detect any rose at all really, but I anti-amp it, & I think it is there in the background adding some freshness. This one lasts a long time on me, & pretty much maintains it's opening balance for the first several hours.. But somewhat sadly it dries down eventually to mostly the "Greek incense" I think, which I'm not overly keen on - has a bit of an oily vibe, to me.
Will definitely use up the imp, but not sure yet if I'll need more.

[LizziesLuck]

Wet: Uhg, Vicks Vaporub! The mastic, maybe? This smells mentholated and medicinal on me, but strangle soothing. That aspect fades quickly though, and it gets more resinous and incensey.

 

 

Dry: This fades down to a very faint incense. It's pleasant, but not amazing on me.

[achildoftime]

Myrrh strikes again. Soapy florals is almost all I could get out of this one, I'm afraid. I get a little bit of sandalwood in the beginning, but after that I just get heady, soapy rose. I know it's not because of the rose because of my history with myrrh, but it doesn't do anything to quell it either. Talk about a total takeover.

[doomsday_disco]

In the imp: I'm getting the white sandalwood, Moroccan rose, what I believe is the mastic note, moss, and some myrrh.

 

Wet: The resins dominate the scent. I'm getting the white sandalwood, mastic, and myrrh the most, followed by the moss and rose. The moss is stronger on my skin than it was in the imp, and the rose note seems to be getting stronger over time.

 

Dry: This is all rose, resins, and moss, accompanied by some incense. The scent is somewhat sweeter during this phase thanks to the emergence of the benzoin, but it is not a main player on me. The rose and moss give the scent a somewhat somber feel.

 

Verdict: Roses plus resins are not my jam, but I'm glad I got to try it.

[Lucchesa]

My imp of Thanatos smells, and looks, exactly like Thanatopsis. I think I got a mislabeled imp. Sigh.

[alouettesque]

I waited almost 3 years to try this imp and I have no idea how much it changed in that time because I didn't smell it when it was new. Thanatos is very powdery and incensey on me, but I couldn't really differentiate the notes very well beyond that. It faded very, very nicely into a soft, sweet incense. I feel like the ideal progression for this scent is like... you apply it at night before your seance/dancing in the woods under a full moon with your witchy friends/etc. and then over the course of the night, it softens until, at dawn, as you finally get ready to sleep after your nighttime festivities, it’s just this light, sweet scent that lulls you to sleep. But that’s just the Ideal. 

[VetchVesper]

Thanatos is a somber, resinous rose on me. It's rather gentle smelling, but has depth.   I think myrrh plays heavily in this, and myrrh is a note that often barely registers for me.  The imp I have has aged quite a bit, but I don't recall this one ever being loud or heady or opulent. This is the smell of dried roses laid upon a forgotten tomb. 

 

 

 

ETA wanted to add, this does seem like a pleasant, if unconventional sleep scent. 

Edited July 23, 2021 by VetchVesper