Magus

[urraca]

An ancient blend, swollen with arcane power: galangal, high john essence, frankincense, cedar, and sandalwood.

Immediately I get a blast of wood, like a sawmill. That thankfully fades down to a dusty cedary scent with a sweet background.

[Fishwomon]

Bear with me here: this scent smells like an old man ... but in a good way. I swear. It's a bit musty. Tan wrinkled hands. I could smell a well-worn sweater. Parchment. Candle wax. He's bent over his books, working alone in his study. Very evocative.

 

I like it!

[hangingfire]

In the imp: Magick shop. There's just no other way to describe it. The frankincense and High John essence are right up front, with the sandalwood and cedar providing a backdrop.

 

On, wet: Stays true to the imp smell. Very specific smell-memory impressions evoked here.

 

Drydown: Frankincense, High John, sandalwood ... and beeswax? It really smells like beeswax candles on me. Beeswax candles in a magick shop, anyway.

 

I really like this. I don't know if I like it enough to buy a whole bottle, but I'm so keeping the imp. I think I'll use this as a quasi-ritual scent, for embarking on creative endeavours. And I think I've got a guy friend who could use an imp as well.

[Khaman]

In the imp - sharp, rich wood. I rather liked the scent of the imp itself.

 

I put it on my boyfriend and we started to sniff. Through every stage save for a little while towards the end... wet cedar chips. He continually remarked that he smelled like a lumber yard.

 

As it started to finally fade away - great staying power, if you dig the wood chip thing - it got much softer and there was a bit more hint of real scent to it. Unfortunately, his body chemistry just amped the whole WET WOOD OMG thing to no end. If it'd picked up a bit more lemon scent it would have worked on him.

 

Oh well. I still like the in-imp whiff. Maybe I'll give it a shot and see how my body treats it.

Edited October 7, 2005 by Khaman

[arabella]

First Impression: Musk

 

Dries down to: A resiny, musky, powerful scent with very distinct wood notes.

 

Additional Comments: This isn't a blend I would wear; it's more of a ritual oil and very masculine smelling - feels very strong and powerful. I like the frankincense, cedar and sandalwood tempered by the ginger-y galangal. I'm not familiar with high john essence - maybe that's the "musky" note I get, which I really don't like.

 

Lasted: A few hours.

 

Rating: 1.5 out of 5

[Ajila]

In the bottle - soft slightly sweet sandalwood

Wet on me - Sandalwood and something slightly sour smelling, sharp.

Dry on me - much the same as when wet - this is not for me.

[sarada]

When I first smelled this I immediately wanted a full bottle. It immediately became one of my favorites in the wood/resin category, very clear and strong with frankincense and soft woods at the top but not nearly as heavy as, say, Anne Bonny or Penitence (other faves of mine).

 

I gathered four or five imps...gave all but one away since I wasn't using them often enough...but I still love it every time I sniff it. The only problem with Magus is that it has almost no throw on me and doesn't stick around on my skin for very long. It is the most clear and golden of these woody resin scents, which I'll attribute to the galangal and high john essence though I have no idea what those smell like.

 

A very clear, pale resinous wood. This is a majestic scent and I still think I'd do well to have a bottle some day but since I already have so many resin/wood scents that are much stronger I will stick with them for now. I like my oils to float around me in a halo of incense for hours, and this fades almost immediately on me. Probably a chemistry thing.

 

It does make me think of dust, parchment paper and candle wax as I think several other reviewers have mentioned. Writing on parchment by candlelight with some incense burning nearby, without being overly smoky.

[lookingglass]

Wet, this is very raw wood...not juicy, though...dry...it tickles the back of my throat.

 

At first I think that I am not going to like it, but on DH, it gets sweet, like a well used woodwind instrument...handled, loved, worn smooth, with traces of the distinguished users cologne.

 

He's keeping it to wear to work; he is a professor, and makes him feel distinguished and not as sexual as many of the other blends in our collection...

[Lady_Snakette]

Well, i have just tried Magus for the first time and my review might not be up to scratch but i have to start somewhere right?

Wet i wasn't sure i would like this. It smelled like the cedar chips a few other people have mentioned.

 

On Drydown, its thankfully softened nicely. It has a kind of powdery scent now, a hint of sweetness. And definately sandalwood coming through, which is in itself a sweet smelling timber. And its sitting well on my skin. I like it.

 

Given that this is only the second oil i have tried i am loathe to score it out of 10.

[looneyluna]

In the bottle I thought this was really interesting, but a bit too intense for my personal tastes. The cedar smell was lovely, but more as the way a room would be pleasant rather than a person. I did try it on my skin, but within 10 minutes I had to go scrub where it was applied as I quickly was developing a migraine.

 

Lovely blend, but not for me. To be swapped.

[melange]

Imp: sharp, strong, wooden rather than woodsy, a wand.

 

Wet: even sharper. This is worked wood, its heart exposed.

 

Drydown: calming down somewhat. I wish I knew what the high john essence smells like, so I could pick it out. I think the woods blend and the frankincense gives it some depth, with the other notes making it more complex and individual than the woods alone.

 

Worn: It may be traditionally masculine, but I rather like it on me. I feel somewhat professorial, aloof, and as though it would be good to repel insects of the six-legged but also the human varieties. I could grade papers, I could use red ink and a dip pen, but let's not talk about waving magic wands. It lasts a couple of hours, and I'm happy to reapply.

 

Conclusion: I'll have to test this out against some others, such as Kathmandu, to see whether I want a bottle. In the meantime, though, I'm definitely enjoying the frimp.

Edited December 22, 2005 by melange

[SeaMonkey]

mmm, cedar and frankincense. I get a strong raw wood smell, that I love. It reminds me of working in the woodshop at the art studio. The frankincense is just enough to keep it from being woodshop. This is very beautiful

[Neely]

Frimp luvn'!

 

In the bottle: green, sharp, bitter, herbal.

 

Wet: bitter green herbal and smoke (like cigarette smoke)... hmmm.

 

Dry down: It lightens up considerably! It is a sharp green cool herbal. This is lovely.

 

30 minutes: still sharp green herbal, with that metallic smell like pencil lead in a sharpener or right after the pencil has been sharpened. Strange, but not turning me off to the scent in anyway. Still like it.

 

Conclusion: I like it. Buy a big bottle, maybe. It would make a good Summer scent.

 

Rating 1-5 on my skin, 3.5.

[grrrlennyl]

at first: lots of cedar and frankincense. i don't think i'll like this one.

on: this is sweeter on me than in the imp. there's still a lot of frankincense, but not as much cedar.

half an hour later: all cedar.

1.5 hours later: sweet and woodsy.

2 hours later: cedary.

overall: once again, cedar doesn't work on me.

[Naamah_Darling]

In the bottle this is keen and woody, with an unfamiliar high note that is at once floral and incensey – the galangal and high john, I assume. There's cedar in here, too.

 

On the skin, this is wonderful – herbal and sweet, a little incensey, and quite distinctive. Cedar! It's quite dry, and faded rather quickly on me to the scent of cedar and frankincense. Then even the cedar burned away, and left only the scent of frankincense, sandalwood, and that same high-pitched scent. It's not a sexy come-do-me smell, it's more of a contemplative, mystical scent.

 

On my husband, it's almost pure cedarwood with an incensey blush to it. Low-key and thoughtful and very clean, not really sexy.

 

This fades fast, within a couple of hours, leaving only a resinous scent of incense. Quite beguiling and lovely, but a bit subdued on me. I think I'll wear this when I want to be noticed, but I don't want my smell to be noticed, if you know what I mean.

[Imptress]

Hrrmmm... I love me some incense and resins, but this one was just... eh for me. When I first applied it I couldn't think of anything but pencil shavings. You know, the "sawdust" from the pencil sharpener in elementary school. That cedary, sandalwoody sharpness faded back, though, when I began amping the frankincense. I really, really like frankincense so that's what made this wearable for me. I never did get any whiffs of the high john or galangal (not that I know what galangal smells like). When I got home from work, hubby buried his nose in the back of my neck and then promptly recoiled with a "What is THAT?" He sniffed again a couple of times and wouldn't tell me for a while what it reminded him of. Finally, though, I got it out of him: he said it reminded him of the way a peep show smells ! He said it smelled to him like sweat and.. something else. Anyhow, even though I liked it okay this isn't one I'll be wearing again given Mr. Imp's reaction!

Edited February 21, 2006 by Imptress

[snidegrrl]

When I opened the imp this morning, it didn't give me the resistance the others put up, and out popped what I thought was the vibrant smell of cocoa bean. Dark chocolate! I thought immediately. I hate wearing foody smells. You eat edbile things and you wear... wearable things! I don't cross the lines. But I needn't have worried because my mind was probably just playing tricks with the cedar and frankincense, making the combination fool me into wanting chocolate. This, again may have something to do with my crazy hormones. At any rate, the greeny galangal only ran as an undercurrent as this scent dried out such that I smell like the inside of a cedar chest, not a bad smell but a little... aged for my tastes. Many reviewers used the word "sawdust" in their posts and that's a perfect word for it. I can imagine myself using this on days when I want to feel the entitlement of the crone. I hope to find something like it, but fresher, instead though.

[t_for_tau]

I liked this as soon as I sniffed the imp - wood and incense, and that warm scent that I think must be the galangal because it's the same as in Loup Garou.

 

I didn't get the raw wood/sawmill smell from this that other people have, just an undertone of it; over all the scent is rich, warm, golden. The incense and woods blend beautifully It doesn't morph a lot or have any specific notes that stand out on my skin - just this lovely enfolding scent, masculine without being aftershave-y. This one scores a big thumbs up, my lady likes it, and I will probably be ordering a big bottle.

[MistressTera]

Fresh From The Imp: Whoa, booze.

 

Wet On My Flesh: Still boozey. I'm not getting a single one of the notes mentioned, but then again, I'm not familiar with half of them.

 

Drying Down: Alcohol's gone, leaving what seems to be coconut and sandalwood.

 

Hour To Integrate: A really faint, not-spicy-at-all sandalwood is all I'm left with.

 

End Of Day/Final Report: Swapping. I'm *so* swapping this.

[niter]

Imp

Cedar overwhelms the nose, but it is a good cedar note.

 

Wet

Wow. The cedar (for a change on me) is tempered by something amazing. No clue what that is though.

 

Dry

Well that amazing thing never had a chance. The cedar ate it up and then lit itself on fire. This smells like a burnt hamster cage on me and I am left wondering what happened!

[Miss Lynx]

Hmmm... There's a strong bitter note to this that I don't much like. There are other notes in it that smell more pleasant, vying with the bitterness, but they seem to be being pushed into the background. It's definitely an incensey scent more than anything, but a somewhat harsh one.

 

It does mellow a bit as it settles in, though, and the eventual drydown is not bad. And it has that occult-shop ambiance about it that I could see making it good for ritual work - it definitely evokes its name; I would associate this scent more with ceremonial magic than any other kind.

 

Grade: C+/B-

[joiedecombat]

The cedar of Magus is its most recognizable note for me. That is really just fine; I grew up using cedar chips as horse and dog bedding, so the scent has positive associations for me. However, I wouldn't care to wear it as a perfume...

 

...which is where the other notes come in. These, I'm not as adept at picking out, but they combine to give the scent a warm smoothness along with the cedar. There's a bit of spiciness too, but it isn't sharp, and it only adds to the clean, dry warmth of the scents.

 

The day after I tested it, I could still smell it lingering on my skin. By that point, the cedar was no longer apparent, but it was still smooth and warm and woody-spicy and very pleasant.

 

It's really more masculine than I like to wear myself, but I love it anyway. If I had a boyfriend, I'd try to get him to wear it; as it is, though I don't really have much expectation of wearing it myself, I can't bear to give it up for swapping. I have vague, faint hopes of finding something similar but just a little sweeter somewhere in BPAL's catalogue.

 

Apparently I went on about it at enough length that a friend of mine, who'd been resisting BPAL, decided she had to have some based solely on my descriptions. Which makes me an official BPAL pusher now, I suppose.

Edited April 24, 2006 by Joie de Combat

[kourika]

Magus turned out to be a heavy smell that made me seem old and apeing masculinity. While I'm not the world's girliest girl, Magus just smelled wrong on my skin. I'm also slightly allergic to something in the blend, so it goes off to a friend who loves the darker, more masculine scents.

[bookishgrrl]

Oh, Magus, I'm sorry I waited so long to test you...

 

Wet on Skin: woody with faint citrus and sweet dust on top

 

Initial Dry: Sweet citrus and dusty/piney/cedary woods underneath. I'm wafting a delicious sweetness from farther away but bringing my wrist up to my nose the woods come back and I can feel a high sharpness in the back of my throat. Mmm i really like the scent of the throw on this. It's far more 'incense'-y than I thought I would like but ... something about it is just right.

 

Later: One hour in most of the underlying sharpness is gone, leaving a simply divine sweetness. I can't stop sniffing my wrist!

 

ETA: Decided to try some on bookishguy... all cedary blah on him. Whee! More for me!

Edited April 29, 2006 by bookishgrrl

[Eunice]

In the bottle: Very green and sweet, like pineapple without the bite.

 

Wet: That sweetness and green is still there but now there is the addition of the sandalwood. I keep being reminded of a trip to Florida and stopping by the side of an orange grove. Only this smell isn't quite orange

 

Dry: There's the cedar! The other scents are still there. I like how each new scent is in addition to the old, instead of replacing them.

 

Overall: I ordered this just for something new to try and didn't research the notes first. I am glad I picked this! This comes across as an honest, clean scent to me. Very nice!