Hecate

[ariansdreams]

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.

First Sniff (in imp): that cherry-like almonds smell, and a little something spicer, or incense-like.

Wet: Almonds with something smoky. This is pretty cool!

Dry: I am getting a clean smell of incense. This blend is really interesting. I do not think I will be buying a full bottle of this, but I will definitely keep my imp!

EDIT: I have worn this a few times, and I must say: I *love* Hecate. And I hate it at the same time. It's very strange. I have gotten...*so*...many compliments when I wear this oil. Even more than when I wear snake oil. I can't inhale it straight from the imp for too long, or I feel kind of drunk. It's very strange. But on my skin it turns to soft powdery almond smoke. I will definitely be getting this as my first 10mL!!! Edited April 9, 2006 by Shollin

[savage_rose]

HecateIn the bottle: Mmmm, intoxicating almond. Almond, almond, musk, almond. I'm in love.

 

Wet: Mmmm, still almond. Must fight urge to eat wrist...

 

Dry: Hey, where'd the almond go? Sweet...baby powder. Baby powder with a little depth, toddler powder if you will. Dang it! The first one I've tried that powdered out. Sigh.

 

The Verdict: Uh, I like baby powder okay, but I am really disappointed that the almond left. Almond baby powder, now there's a scent! Eh, I'll try it again. But this doesn't seem very Hecate-ish to me. Hmmm.

 

ADDED April 6:

 

Ok, 2nd try. I was complaining to the husband, who lets me scent him (I'm fascinated by how different scents smell on him than on me. He's very patient). Anyway, I put a little more on him than me, and I was surprised by how much almond remained. So I tried the same thing with me, putting more on this time. And although it still smells a little powdery, my body sucks less of the almond. And...I am really, really starting to like this sugary almond powder musk that is Hecate for me. Not as much as smelling it in the bottle mind you . But, mmmm. I'll have to order a bottle sometime.

[Meg]

In the bottle: Pure buttery marzipan almond, pretty overpowering.

 

Wet: Marzipan! Sweet, rich almond, very foody.

 

Drydown: The almond subsides a little, leaving a dark, slightly bitter, myrrh behind it. All of a sudden I find myself missing the foody part of the blend, because it's become a little boring now. I don't smell the musk, which is common as it often comes out after a few hours, on me.

 

Overall: It's pleasant and a bit dark, mostly myrrh after the drydown. It doesn't evoke much to me, it starts out pretty foody and then goes pretty much pure myrrh on me, I don't think my skin brings out the right balance between the notes (read: I amp myrrh like hell). Pretty, lovely if you like almond, but not me.

[fiddledragon]

This was a frimp...myrrh and dark musk will be lovely, but I fear the almond.

 

Scent in bottle: Evil Almond with sharp pointy teeth!

 

Scent on me:

Wet -- The myrrh combined with the almond makes it smell almost burnt, but not in an actually bad way. I might be able to tolerate this almond.

Dry -- The almond is still sweet, but it's not the hideous almond-cookie sweetness that it was in the bottle. Myrrh is the right sort of bitterness to layer this with, and the musk is in there making it nice and warm.

 

Conclusion: It still does have a bit of a baked-goods connotation to me, but it's really interesting, sexy baked goods. This one's a keeper, at least for the imp.

[Aredhel]

Rating (on skin): 3/5

Summarised in a word or two: Almond soap?

 

In the imp: Huh. Marzipan-like almond.

 

On skin, wet: Almost instantly the myrrh and dark musk come forward, and strangely, I must say, the almond/myrrh/dark musk combination is... beguiling and beautiful.

 

On skin, dry: Nyarg. Just... narg. Something about this has turned horribly bitter-sweet, and of course, I suspect it to be the almond. Myrrh isn't helping matters. It's almost... soapy. I'd give my skin a "WTF?!" lecture, but it seems I'm not the only one on whom Hecate turns to soap. A lovely soap, mind — a lovely herbal/almond — but soap all the same.

 

Conclusion: I'm holding a friend's imp-box hostage this week (er, I mean to say, I've borrowed it for sniffing/testing), and it is my intention to swap something away for this Hecate imp; I mean to give it a whirl in my scent locket. If it stays fairly true to the wet stage, I'll most certainly be snagging a bottle.

[Sea Opal]

I got this one as a frimp from the Lab and I realy wanted it to work on me, but it didn't. The almonds turned on me badly, smelling like rancid cold cream. I had to scrub it off. It confirmed that almonds and I should avoid each other from now on. Oh well, this is just 1 that doesn't work on me. Time to get back to the 15 that do.

[juniperus]

Bottle: way sweeter in the vial than I imagined it might be - almost maraschino cherry-ish.

Wet I couldn't pick anything out except the fruity odd sweetness that was assaulting my nostrils.

Dry: it looses that fruity sweetness totally and becomes really warm and spicy (not a light or dark spicy.. rather mid-range on that point) with an aftertaste of incense-y qualities I can't put my finger on right now. Like Silk Road Wet = bad, but dry seems to be better for me.

Later: Hovers fairly close to the skin. It smells like an old lady to me...not an icky smell, but that heavy perfume-y/spicy smell that's both enveloping and comfortable, it's a fond sort of old-lady smell...like a Babushka who only wears perfume for 'good' so when you hug her in her good coat you get this really fragrant perfume + baking sort of experience. Ok, that makes little sense. It's pleasant after a bit, oddly not like something I'd wear, but I like it nonetheless. It's crone-y to me...how appropriate.

[urbanruralferal]

hecate...

 

the almond is really strong wet, but upon application it almost immediately is absorbed by the other notes. within 15 minutes, it smells like almond tinted baby powder, and that is how it holds. I am 4 hours into it, and it is almost gone, but not quite...

 

It took me about 2 hours to get a visual on hecate. What finally came up was an image of an old lady's face, all wrinkly and soft, soft as silk tissue. She is smiling, just slightly, she is pleased and at peace.

She knows that soon she will die, and she's okay with it. This scent is not like a shroud, more like acceptance and peace. It's funny, before this picture came to me, and without my thinking about who Hecate is (I was getting her mixed up with Hestia, duh), I was sweeping the floor and singing, "See That my Grave is Kept Clean." Huh? I never sing that song. So, maybe it was my subconscious talking to my waking mind, or maybe is truly Alchemy. Who can say?

 

The upshot of this experiment is that, while I like the smell, it lays on my skin and does not blend into my persona. I think it would make a lovely room scent, especially during times of stress, or as a nursery lullaby. I think I will keep the imp for that use, but probably not get a big one. We'll see. It's awfully nice, and I do like a soft granny.

 

Also, FWIW, for those who smelled maraschino cherry in place of almond, the two flavors are housemates. I have smelled wild mushrooms that are described as smelling either like maraschino cherry or almond. It is considered an indication of toxicity...in a mushroom.

[gwyllgi]

Almond! Lovely sweet almond, almond butter! It's gorgeous!

 

And then I put it on.

 

As soon as it hits my skin, the almond is gone and everything is myrrh. I keep sniffing it in the hopes that the almond will return, but, as time goes by and all I smell is myrrh, it seems unlikely. The myrrh fades eventually, but then it becomes just faded myrrh, not almond. Weep.

 

I certainly like this one enough to try it in a diffuser or a locket. If I can keep that almond longer, this is certainly a keeper.

[puck_nc]

Origin: Frimp from the Lab

 

Initial Thoughts: Myrrh and dark musks tend to overwhelm when they hit my skin. But never say never!

 

In the Bottle: Very, very almond.

 

Wet: And here comes the musk!

 

Drydown: Well, it's not as "MUUUUUSK!" as some blends are on me. At least I can tell that there's myrrh and almond in there as well.

 

Verdict: Not my cup of tea and the imp goes to a better home.

[Nekomata]

Wet I can only smell the almond, it's sweet and smooth and very yummy. I get the myrrh in the drydown, but it's still second to the almonds. Nice alltogether but hunger inducing.

[brownbear]

wow. It is very much bitter almond. It's a little astringent at first. The myrrh starts to come out and mellows it down. Mmm After it is dry the myrrh comes out a whole lot more. I love bpal myrrh. If you like myrrh, you will like this. I think I will have to get more of this.

[grrrlennyl]

at first: very, very sweet almond.

on: all almond. scarily so.

1 hour later: very sweet musk. a pretty, sexy scent.

2 hours later: a sweet, powdery musk.

overall: i can't believe how nicely this turned out. i thought for sure it would remain completely almondy, but it ended up being a lovely musk. gorgeous stuff.

[Ryvre]

In the imp: Marzipan, with a touch of myrrh.

 

Wet: Maraschino cherries!

 

Dry: 30 seconds later I was still trying to decide if I wanted to smell like a maraschino cherry, and the cherry smell was gone! No more cherry or almond- just myrrh and musk. Mostly myrrh.

 

A couple hours later: Still mostly myrrh, but a little deeper and smokier.

 

Really, I wish it has stuck with the cherry. I was kind of liking that.

[darkitysnark]

A thoughtful gimp from my Spring Switch Witch lexile!

 

This starts out very, very almond. Crazy, buttery, wet, creamy almond. Slightly scary almond (not green and biting on me, and not cherry-almond either, just really aggressive).

 

Then it immediately breaks down into myrrh and musk, but both these notes smell like the children of almond. They aren't the crazy almond, but somehow carry the genes.

 

Four hours later I'm getting mostly sweet musk with a vaguely almondy top note and resinous aftertaste (bottom note?). Sort of like al-MUSK-(myrrh), if that makes any sense at all.

 

It's very lovely now, but still sort of overly aggressive somehow. This is the first blend I've tried in a while that triggered a sort of "fight or flight" reaction. Usually it's the smoky blends that do that to me, but maybe I've got some issues with almond. Hm.

 

I would use this again, sparingly, and for those days when I need a kick in the pants.

[Elrianra]

In the imp, this is very almond and buttery... reminds me a milder form of Hellcat, actually. On me wet? EW. Ewewew! This is all almonds. I don't like almonds. Ew. Dry, the musk overlays EVERYTHING and makes this very smoky and heady. Not so bad now... Really after the wet phase, this is just smoky with a touch of buttered nuts to it - nothing identifiably almonds at all. Pleasant but a little too sweet on me, in that not-good sweet way. Alas.

[songtoisis]

Wet out of the bottle, this smells like a dark version of a warm almond cake. Small moon-shaped almond cakes on an offering plate on Samhain, waiting in a mist of incense for someone to finish their divinations for the coming year. On drydown, the strong almond scent fades into the distance and a musky, incense-laden character really comes out. This is the scent of Hecate--powerful, dark, mysterious and yet strangely comforting. This isn't an everyday fragrance for me--I'll reserve it for magickal workings, Crossroads meditations, or other solitary nighttime activities.

[cranberry]

In the imp, Wowza – almond! Once applied, at first all I smell is sweet almond. It dominates the scent. It reminds me a bit of a bear claw pastry, it smells edible and sweet. After it’s been on a bit, it’s almost a bit spicy, something I’m attributing to the myrrh. As it wears, the myrrh becomes stronger. There’s powder too, typical for me from dark musk. Even as the myrrh and musk become more prominent, the almond remains.

 

All in all, it’s an interesting scent, it reminds me of a classic perfume, rich, timeless, haughty.

[jarvenpa]

a forumite sent me an imp of Hecate (thanks dear!)

 

As usual, I didn't bother with reading the lab notes first, because I want to experience these fragrances unclouded by preconceptions of what I ought to be smelling. Of course, given that my nose is untrained and subject to whimsical fits, my responses are often strange.

 

Hecate goes on with a familiar and slightly fruity/herbal scent (I thought of licorice, actually, with some extra sweetness, and then a bitterness beneath the sweet). On me an odd fragrance, but not unpleasant. There was also almost a wine note, again not unpleasant.

 

As the oil dries down there is a surprising shift from the almost astringent darkness of the start to a lovely almost vanilla sweetness (must be the musk, after having gone to read the lab's description. My skin loves all the musks, and just happily wafts the sweetness about for hours and hours).

 

I once named a kitten Hecate (she was a rescue, her forever home person was--appalled at her name and changed it to Heidi). I love the presence of this manifestation of life and death and time, and of crossroads, and have, wearing the scent, a calm and centered feeling. I think I'm going to need to get a larger bottle of this one.

Edited July 17, 2006 by jarvenpa

[Galatea]

In the Imp: Sweet yet slightly spicey almond.

 

Wet: The myrrh just leaps right out and takes command. This is now a very dark, resinous, serious blend only lightened ever so slightly by the almond note.

 

Dry: Eventually the almond dries out and barely plays in the mix of myrrh and musk. Unfortunately the myrrh and musk combo goes rather powdery. It's sweet and dark, but smells like musky baby powder.

 

Throw: Stays fairly strong for quite awhile.

 

Overall: Not exactly what I'd thought it'd be. I don't exactly know why but I thought this blend would be spicier. I think I will have to try this one again to decide finally whether to keep it or not.

 

Rating: +

 

[edenssixthday]

Hecate - When I first apply this, the “deep, buttery almond” is all I can smell, and it is so incredibly sweet and yummy. It has a really high level of throw for the first 10 minutes or so, but as the oil begins to dry down, both the throw and almond scent begin to fade (as happens with the majority of almond scents I’ve tried). After it dries, I have to sniff my skin up close to detect the scent, and I can no longer detect any almond at all, although there’s still a slight “buttery” tone to the scent, but it’s very much in the background. It’s at this point that I smell something dark and musky, and it’s a musk scent that I don’t like at all, as it’s very feral. Mixed with the musk is a light smoky and/or incense scent that I don’t care for in this blend, either. I wish the opening notes would stay strong and sweet on my skin as I wear this blend. If they did, I’d give it a really great rating. This may simply be another one for the scent locket.

[gypsybaby1]

I'm heartbroken!!

 

In the imp and wet, it's a beautiful, almost overwhelming almondy scent. On the drying phase, it's still almondy, but a bit of spice is creeping in... until it turns to soap on my skin once it's completely dried.

 

Talk about confusion! I kept sniffing it to see if I could place it, then I got that icky filmy soap-bubble taste in my mouth and realized that's what'd happened - Hecate, Mighty Goddess, turned laundry-wife on me.

 

I'm thinking this is destined for a room scent rather than a me scent - as long as I can maintain that almond scent.

[Tesseljoan]

Hecate smells so gorgeous in the vial: buttery almond with myrrh.

 

On my skin, this is the fastest soap-mrpher I've ever tried. There are still traces of sweetness, perhaps a hint of cinnamon, but that's not enough to safe its grace.

[jenleigh]

This came my way as a frimp, and it was one of those that was never really on my radar.

 

That said? I'm saving this imp for fall. I'm getting a lovely warm almondy-spicy scent out of this, and smoke that reminds me just a bit of the scent of burning leaves, which reminds me of home. This is lovely, just a bit too heavy to wear during summer. I think it'll be just gorgeous as the leaves turn, though.

[Voleuse]

The almond is strong and sweet on first application, but as always, it turns to bleach on me in a minute. I never get a hint of the other notes. Disappointing, but not unexpected. Off to swaps!