Hecate

[LaLisa]

Magnificent three-faced Goddess of Magic, the Dark Moon and the Crossroads. She is the Mother of Witches, and the midnight baying of hounds is her paean. Her compassion is evidenced in her role as Psychopomp for Persephone, and her wrath manifests as Medea's revenge. Deep, buttery almond layered over myrrh and dark musk.

I smelled this both in bottle and in an imps given to me my a friend.

My first thoughts were "Who the almond--somewhere between marizpan and cyanide. And I so don't think of Hecate Herself as sweet nor almondy."

But then I put it on.

The almonds disappeared almost immediately, and I was left with just the faintest dark spicy smell that empwered and intoxicated me--the dregs of sweet wine ("must") used in the baking of Her ritual cakes, pehaps...

I actually really like Hecate the scent and will use up the imp and then order another.

ETA: My husband smelled my wrist and said, "It makes me feel woozy." ANd he's right, there's a definite intoxication to the smell and a sexualizing component as well.

[fairywingmaker]

I want to love this so much, and I do, in the vial. On me it's all musk, and not in a good way. My body chemistry usually enhances myrrh, but it's not coming up for me at all, and while I can smell the almond in the vial...it never appears on my skin. I'm so sad

[Caitfish]

Yup, buttery almonds. I didn't ever get any of the myrrh. I have a lot of almondy scents, Snow White, Queen of Sheba and Eclipse - and unfortunately Hecate isn't a big standout for me, though it is lovely.

[aimeceleste]

I didn't like this one very much.

 

Almond and anise are two of the scents I always think I will like and then don’t. Not that anise was in here.

 

It simply wasn't my style, the almond was too overpowering.

[Serenity]

I loved this in the bottle and wet on my skin. Intense perfect almond.

 

Then everything else came through and the almond disappeard.

[requieminblack]

First sniff from the bottle- Almond oil!

 

After 10 minutes- I must really like dark musk and myrrh because this smells gorgeous! The first sniff was all almond, but now it is something dark and sexy. It's almost animalistic yet incensey at the same time. This is what I was hoping Haunted would smell like.... spooky...mysterious...sexy. Hecate was named correctly. It smells witchy.

 

After 30 minutes- Hecate is damn sexy. Wow. This is what all dark haired Goth girls should smell like...smoky, sultry and mysterious. Yum.

 

Summery-

[regyt]

This went through a lot of very fast changes for me. In the bottle, it was dark smoky almonds, which I really enjoyed. As soon as it hit my skin, the smoke became so sharp that it overpowered the almonds completely and my nose actually burned when I leaned into my arm to take a sniff. Then it briefly faded into the sweet almond/cherry that Hearth is for me, and I was disappointed. And finally, finally, the smokiness started to come back, with still a bit too much sickly sweetness under it.

 

I don't think I really like the way this smells on me, but I'll probably keep the imp as a room scent, at least. And give it another try on me in a few days, just in case.

[warmfuzzies]

nothing that hasn't already been said about HECATE, but PURE ALMOND EXTRACT. nice in theory....uh, not so nice on my arm? smelling a little clove as it dries down. where's the butter? i was really excited about this. not bad, though nothing i will be purchasing a bigger bottle of.

[pekeana]

In the vial, Hecate is screamingly almond.

 

On my skin, it's almond and nothing but smoky almond for about an hour, then becomes smoky powder.

 

It's nice enough in the smoky almond stage, but the powder turns me off.

[FireInCairo]

This scent reminds me soooo much of Aveda's Cherry Almond Bark conditioner. It smells like those lovely almond cookies that pop up around Christmas time. It is just like smelling really strong marzipan. I definately dig...

[Aurelius]

This was a gimp from the lab. I am embarassed to say that I wasn't able to try it. As a member of the Anti-Almond League I might have my membership revoked. Actually, I intended to try it, but the almond was overpowering and it makes me ill. This is off to my swap pile to find a happy home with an almond lover.

[blaqpearl]

Almond extract comes to mind. I really could not make out any other notes. I kind of want to leave it in the kitchen for my next batch of cookies.

[cricketshay]

In the vial it is very sweet. I can definitely smell the almond. Scents that smell this sweet usually are duds with my chemistry. I'll swipe it any way. I must try them all you know.

 

Wet- Very almond on my skin. Very sweet. ick! It reminds me of almond extract used in cooking. I think I wanted to try this one because of the musk, but it isn't comng forward at the moment.

 

Dry-Still Almond. The sweetness is dying down a bit. But I'm not getting the smoky scent others experienced.

 

I think this is one for the swap pile.

[slave1]

In Bottle: Pure almond.

 

On Skin: DELICIOUS! I used to make this icing when I was little and it had a lot of almond extract I had to put in it. This is what it smelled like… almond extract, butter and sugar. I have a feeling someone might just think I’d been baking before and spilled the extract on myself. After about 10 minutes the myrrh and musk make themseles known. Very dark and deep… making this less foody. After a half hour, the almond is barely there, it’s just a sweet powdery echo in the back. The myrrh seems strongest… Hmmm. I really loved this, but not sure if I like the incensey note it becomes.

[paperdoll]

Initial Sniff: ALMOND!!! That's all i can smell.

 

Wearing: At first this is a beautiful smoky almond. As time goes by, the myrrh comes to the forefront, making this a lovely smoky myrrh. Then the musk takes over, and this becomes unpleasant.

 

Final Impressions: I liked the first stage a lot, the second stage, was fine, but the third stage ruined it for me.

[girlmadasbirds]

another one that went straight to dove soap on me. almond and i just don't get along

Edited June 24, 2005 by angel sixgun

[glampyre]

Definitely wearing this whenever I need to surround myself in Strong Woman vibes.

[quikslvr]

I smell like sugary marzipan! At first. It darkens fast, though. I'm not sure I like how the almonds and musk interact, though. It's very . . . strange. Pointed, even. It does even out at one point, but I'm unsure that weird stage is worth it. When even, it's beautifully dark almond. Final verdict: I'm pretty sure I love the end result enough to keep this one. We'll see about more.

[olympia301]

There is something about Hecate which reminds me of Alice. It starts off very sharp, but with the promise of something wonderful following. When I say sharp, I mean volatile, like acetone. With Hecate there is a smoke component to it which smells very much like an electrical fire starting. That is a pretty compelling beginning for a scent.

 

As this dries down the smell changes to a metal fire. I smelled plenty of this in the machine shop and it is metal heating up through friction, makes a very particular "iron burning" smell. Usually that means danger, and that is great art in this scent dedicated to the Dark Goddess of New Moons and Black Dogs. Not too pretty but right on target.

 

After the "metal burning" phase, flowers start to blend in. I detect a hint of cocoa. This is one reason why I like the fact BPAL is an oil. Drying down takes a while and the phases a scent goes through really are showcased and stay around long enough to appreciate.

 

Finally it dries down to a pleasant scent which is a nice blend with a bit of burning around the edges. The beginning is magnificent in its inventiveness, it is real art. The middle is the continuation of the spread of oxidation, and then ending it burns itself into a field. Good story and I would recommend it to anyone who appreciates the subtlety in here. I can't see a bottle of this one in my future, just not enough romance about it, but it is another good scent but not for the faint hearted.

 

The icon was taken from a painting of Hecate by the painter/poet William Blake.

Edited May 5, 2005 by olympia301

[darkling]

In the vial and on my wrist, Hecate is rich almond with an edge of sweet cherry. It is juicy and dark.

 

Hecate fades quickly as it begins to dry and a plastic scent becomes prominent.

[anmorata]

Hecate:

Wet: Woo, Almonds! And as always, that hint of cherry that follows all almond scents..

Drydown: still heavily almond. All I can think of is that I bet Penance hates this scent.

Longterm wear: I didn't read the description, so I wasn't expecting OMG-ALMOND with this.. but that's what I got.

[Little Bird]

Sampling Hecate was an odd experience for me. It smelled very strongly of Cherry Dr. Pepper for about five minutes... then, nothing. I seriously had a moment of confusion where I wondered if I had somehow lost the wrist that I applied the oil to. This was the most quickly vanishing fragrance I have ever tried before in my life. It was like my skin ate the fragrance o_O. I reapplied and really slathered it on, same result. I'm going to have to try this as a room scent and see what happens...

[moukin]

VERY almondy in the bottle. I love almond smell, so this wasn't a bad thing for me.

 

After putting it on, the almond faded to the background very quickly and then it smelled musky and smoky for a while, with the underlying sweetness of the almond.

 

I think it's pretty much in its last stage on my skin an hour later, it's still a bit musky and smoky....but mostly powdery. It keeps making me think of baby powder, even though it smells a bit darker than that because of the musk.

 

I'm sad that it went to baby powder smell on me. When I picked my fiance up from work, he told me I "reek of baby". Guess this one just isn't for me.

[iliadawry]

Bottle: almonds! Cyanide, maybe -- fitting.

 

Wet: Smoky, bitter, sharp almonds on my skin. Again I think cyanide -- and again, I think, fitting.

 

Dry: Smoky and hazy and sweet and very, very dark. It lasts, as well; I like that.

 

Definitely a keeper.

 

/ili

[OriginalWacky]

Bottle (Imp): OoooOOOooooh. Sweet but darkly so. A woodsy note?

 

Just On: Yes, dark, sharp, and some sweetness to it. When it first hits the nose, it's sweet, then the woodsy dark thing comes forth. If this stays true... I am *so* going to like it.

 

An hour or two later: Delicious. It's somewhat sweet, spicy, a little bit dark, and it has faded a bit, but is still very lovely.

 

Around 6 hours: Oh Gods I am sooo loving this! It is sweet, powdery, and lovely on my skin. Still a hint of spiciness, and a little dark (which is something like I might expect from Hecate herself). This is quickly moving up the ranks into the favorite scent list.

 

12 hours: The very last vestiges are almost detectable if I put my nose right on my skin and inhale deeply.

 

Overall: I really liked this scent. It does remind me of Hecate, and feels true to her. Beth creates such magic with her blends.

 

After reading other reviews: The powderiness must be the floral note others are getting. The almond was faint (though I didn't know what it was) and I get no butter out of it. Apparently my skin eats almond and takes it out of the mix.