The Death Of Sardanapal

[aedes]

 

The Death of Sardanapal, Eugene Delacroix.

Red wine, gurjum balsam, dark myrrh, honey, cassia, lemongrass, palmarosa, elemi, cognac and olibanum.

 

I have to admit, the smell in the bottle was rather sickening. Sweet, sordid, and chaotic. I'm so glad I tried it on, though, because there's a spiciness and warmth here that tempers all of the honey and grape smells. It's still sweet, that honey really kicks things up a notch, but the woods and myrrh hold their own, too. It's stronger than the other Salons I've tried, though I'm not sure it's my favorite. My boyfriend, however, likes this one the most.

 

Actually, it reminds me quite a bit of Lilith, which I also have. So I'd say it has its time and place, but it certainly is an exciting, bold, and luscious scent.

Edited September 15, 2007 by Shollin

[shelldoo]

in the bottle: wine, cassia (most prominent), and cognac

 

wet: holy wowsers, this almost burns my nose. the cassia (which i amp up btw) is LOUD

 

as it dries it is a myrrh, cassia, and honey mix w/ just a hint of cognac peeping in. i like it alot better after the initial cassia blast (i am a cassia fan but it stung my nose and made my throat a bit itchy for the first few seconds.)

 

while lucretia is the standoffish snob of scents this one is more like a fun alcholic matron, one who isn't a mean drunk, just a funny old drunk woman, with a great slur and bright red lipstick....wait i think i actually know her

[slave1]

In Bottle: Herbal wine

 

On Skin: When I first smelled this scent I was quite taken aback. Um… ick? The wine smells a bit past it’s prime and the herbal notes make it a bit medicinal. I also get a deep sweetness and spice. I figure the spice is from the elemi and cassia and the sweetness is from the honey and palmarosa. I don’t really smell the usually obvious lemongrass… hmm.. The cognac mixed with the wine is so overly boozy I think that is what is killing this scent for me. Kind of like the wine note in Kali, it kills me for the first half hour until it finally develops into something beautiful. I’m hoping The Death of Sardanapal will do the same. I do like the myrrh note, but then again I always love myrrh. I try and compare this with the artpiece the scent is named for, I see glutton and debauchery and chaos. This scent fits that perfectly. Sadly, I wouldn’t call this a honey scent either since I really don’t smell the honey individually. As the scent develops the cassia remains the strongest note. Cassia and I are not friends no I don’t think this is a scent I will wear that often, but it is quite interesting and will probably get me lots of comments when I do wear it. . It has a very strong throw and a nice long wearlength.

[Court Analyst/Strategist]

When first applied: boozy holiday spices and apples marinated in...well booze and then stewed. I can however distinguish cassia (through warped by something that reacts in here to my skin) and the red wine and cognac. Not much else seems recognizable (althrough most of the other notes should be, in my experience with my skin chemistry). No sign of lemongrass (which I have tried outside of bpal and loved but never witnessed in a bpal blend). I was hoping for something less 'generic holiday spice' and obviously, wasn't even expecting the apples association. This doesn't change much after drydown, except for perhaps the booze falling more to the back of the scent and the 'holiday spice' thing getting more dominant. Something in this blend just doesn't agree with me at all, probably the wine (which has given me trouble before) or the cassia in combination with something else.

 

Verdict: This really does remind me of a really soaked batch of stewed apples at a harvest festival. Not something I would love to smell like...I will very likely sell or swap this bottle.

 

Court

[ladytaga]

I actually really liked this one..I smelled honey and a really warm comforting scent almost reminded me of tea..

but after about 10 mins my arm started to turn red and itched SOOOO I am guessing this isn't for me and it is going in the to be sold pile..

I don't really know how it would smell after a few min. it usually changes because I had to wash it off.

[urbanruralferal]

Wow, this scent was really pretty wrong on me. When I opened the imp, my daughter said, "Rotten raisins!" and on my wrists it was for all the world like... Moldy Oranges! Huh?

As it dried, it took on more character, going from moldy oranges, to very sweet moldy oranges with some spices stuck in them, then getting a bit of a dusty coating, to finally smelling a little powdery with the sweetness and he fruityness and the spice better balanced, but still, no way.

The whole process took a couple of hours, and it was straight forward unpleasantness on my skin for about an hour and a half of that.

 

I will swap or sell this and someone out there will be stoked.

[blackheartedangel]

Out of the imp, this smelled like a sickly sweet honey wine ... the scent didn't bode well. I dared to put it onto my skin anyway ... Now my arm smells kind of like standing in a craft store in front of 50 different kinds of potpouri. Fruity, spicy, sweet craft store smells. This oil ain't my thang ... off to swaps it goes!

[sookster]

straight sniff from the bottle is an extremely sharp cassia/cognac note and slightly herbaceous...

 

once applied this stays pretty sharp for about 10 to 15 minutes and then warms with my skin to become quite a unique perfume!!

 

i actually get a moist borkum riff tobacco smell...must be the cognac...and the cassia (cinnamony goodness) ... i absolutely love the way this morphs...as i wave my wrists around i even get some of that honey note....this is truly gorgeous

and i can only imagine that as this ages, it will become positively spectacular

[quikslvr]

The first breath was an initial turn-off: just a strange mix hit me. I let it settle (not even for very long!) and this morphed into a simply entrancing mix of wine and honey.

 

The myrrh and cognac (possibly the olibanum and gurjum balsam too) peek through after that: the depth and waft of this are mystical, bewitching--like you're there, in the painting, laying back and watching events unfold.

 

The drydown is mostly honey and myrrh to me, and reminds me a bit of Athens. Goes quite light and ethereal. Lovely. Definitely want more of this.

[Lycanthrope]

Whorf! It smells... interesting in the vial. On skin, it's a whomp of strangely sour grassy floral, and then it smells kinda... peppery, but not. This is really, really spicy. Not sweet at all. Oh, that's cassia! Egads, it's kinda reminding me of the spiciness of Three Witches (revisited). In fact... it seems that is all that is amping up on me.

 

... where are the other notes?

 

 

 

 

... boo cassia...

[sofiaviolet]

According to my mum, this smells like apple pie! Reading the list of notes, that makes no sense, but I find myself agreeing. I'm not really keen on pie or apples, so I'll probably swap it, but it's a fascinating scent!

[Tesseljoan]

Wet it smells like overwhelming wine and sourness. When this dries, it does to something glorious: honey, myrrh, and a hint of spiced apples, oddly enough. Very beautiful and a candidate for a big bottle for me.

 

 

ETA: *stares at red patch on wrist* What could possibly be in here that I'm allergic to? *Whines* I have skin of steel! It can take Inferno with no problem! Why now? WAH!

Edited July 22, 2006 by Tesseljoan

[Little Bird]

The Death of Sardanapal was the last of the current The Salon blends for me to try. I saved it for last because it smells kind of promising in the bottle, and so far none of The Salon blends have worked on me. The boy is mildly fond of a couple of them, but I haven't found a blend for me yet. Maybe this is it?

 

I love cassia, and I can definitely smell it in the bottle, mingling with sticky-sweet honey and some dark wine notes. It smells dark and has a very sexy, heady quality to it.

 

On me, The Death of Sardanapal reminds me of the way those "old-time country" stores smell. You know, the country stores where you can smell the wood foundation, along with the homemade jams and wines and honeys and spices. It has that yummy, comforting smell.

 

Cassia is one of my favorite BPAL notes. I don't like cinnamon, but I love the darker, more woodsy smell of cassia. This is a wonderful blend of it and the fruity red wine, with the other notes swirling in the background. In the drydown it gets more of a sweet, sugary note to it and starts reminding me a bit of cinnamon toast (cassia toast?).

 

After an hour, the spice has calmed down and the honey is getting stronger. Honey usually doesn't work on my skin, but it's silky, golden, and perfectly sweet here. I love it. It does remind me a bit of apple pie and honey after a while (and that's a delicious thing, in my opinion).

 

This is my winner of The Salon. It's the only one that has been full bottle worthy on me. Kinda foodie, definitely spicy, and with a mingling of pleasantly sweet and comforting notes.

Edited July 23, 2006 by Blood onmy hands

[Aredhel]

Rating (on skin): 3/5

Summarised in a word or two: Confusing!

 

Pre-review thoughts: I honestly have no idea how this'll turn out.

 

In the imp: Honey, wine and cassia. Definitely boozey, but herbal.

 

On skin, wet: This is a bit odd; very sweet and syrupy. I don't think I'm liking this, but to be honest, I'm not entirely sure. It's one of those "I shouldn't like this, and I don't think I do, but I can't. stop. sniffing" scents.

 

On skin, dry: As ladytaga mentioned, there is something here that reminds me of tea, specifically tea with several heaping teaspoons of honey. Sweet and boozey -- mostly red wine and honey -- and for some reason, I like it. This confuses me.

 

Conclusion/Notes: I'm on the fence on this one. I liked it when I sampled a drop while decanting, and so found a bottle on the LJ comm. I still like it, most of the time. Other times, however... This one's going to give me grief, I see.

Edited July 27, 2006 by Aredhel

[this machine]

Sniffing it out of the imp, it about knocks me over. So sharp and strong, it's all red wine, cognac, and cassia.

 

When i wear it i can then get the honey and a good bit of the balsam, but it all remains overpowered by a sour wine, extremely heady boozy scent, and the cassia. For me the mix is mildly nauseating.

 

I'm glad to see that there are some that like this scent, because i think it is an extremely unique, distinctive scent. If you wear this i doubt you'd ever smell like anyone else, and that's pretty cool.

[euterpe414]

I was really scared of this one as I sniffed it from the bottle. It was so loud and intimidating (guessing that this is the cassia that makes me feel this way). But on my skin, it became a beautiful wine scent, cassia & wine with a touch of honey. The only problem is that my skin sort of burns a little bit....but I am kind of ignoring that because it is such a gorgeous scent. (if it keeps up the burning I will just put this in a scent locket).

 

I am so happy I took a chance and ordered this bottle. It really fits the painting to a T, also.

[PurringPulsar]

The Death of Sardanapal

 

In the imp: mmm, spiced wine! Cinnamon spiced mulled wine-it's a very sweet wine too.

Wet on skin: spicy cinnamon/cassia filled wine with sweet honey, and a slight greenish herbal note.

Dry on skin: very nice! This is like honeyed mulled wine with an exotic twist. The cassia is very strong, as usual, a dark cinnamon scent, mingled with the wine it actually smells very festive. The honey in here is of the sweet, runny kind, and I get a wonderful smoky incense background which I'm guessing is myrrh, as well as deep, boozy cognac and a slight greenness from palmarosa. The lemongrass is surprisingly subtle here. This scent is very decadent and almost woozy with its extravagance. The scent close to my wrist is gorgeous but I'm sure that the scent away from it is oddly cooking-oily (extra virgin olive oil, in fact), which I'm not sure about.

After a while: the scent becomes less intensely boozy, the cassia calms down a bit, letting some of the more herbal notes (very quiet lemongrass and palmarosa) and possibly the resins and the balsam come out a bit more. There's a slightly oily feel to it away from the wrist (not as much as before) but close up, the scent is very pleasant, warm and spicy-incensy with just a hint of honey wine.

Then the scent takes another turn for the better but it's also quite unusual at this point-I'm getting a dry, pale wood scent. behind all the honey-wine and spicy incense is a lovely warm pale resin-wood scent-maybe that's the gurjum? Or the elemi (which I think is a sort of pale resin scent)? It also reminds me of sandalwood, for some reason. The honey in here is fabulous, I must say. It's like Litha's honey.

Verdict: this is a lovely, unusual, decadently exotic scent, warm, languorous, spiced and rich. the honey-wine with a hint of incense reminds me very slightly of Litha without the herbs and flowers and with a much stronger wine note. The cassia is fantastic, adding a 'mulled wine' scent to it all, with incense and exotic herbs making it even more delightful. I adore this scent when I sniff my wrist-from the boozy beginning to the golden, woody drydown, but for some time I get a very odd olive oil scent far from the wrist-it's a greenish, oily scent, slightly honeyed but ultimately reminding me of olives. Shame really because the scent around the wrist is so good-I'll give this a try again since I'm still debating whether it's worth getting a bottle.

Emoticon rating:

If you like this, try: Red Phoenix, Athens, Cockaigne, Tanin'iver

Edited September 28, 2006 by yeahbutnobut

[portalkat]

This is the second time that I have tried this so I thought that I should try to review it. It confused me the first time around and the second try is no different. The first time I thought that I was smelling olive oil, but now I can pick out some different notes - thank goodness. The first thing that I smell is the cassia, honey and I think the balsam. I'm surprised because cassia usually does not smell like cinnamon on my skin, but something a little less spicy and earthy. I think that it smells different here because I can now smell the palmarosa mixing in and along side it, the resins. This is such a complex scent and I'm glad that I gave it a second chance so that I could get beyond the initial thought of "olive oil." It will be interesting to see how this smells in a few months. I've noticed that all of the Salon scents are more like skin scents on me. I wish that they had a stronger throw.

[grrrlennyl]

at first: just generally sweet, with a hint of red wine.

on: odd. there are sweet, generally foody notes in this, but they're combined with more resinous and herbal ones. i'm not sure about the combination.

1 hour later: this just keeps wafting up. when i first put it on, i wasn't sure if i loved it or wanted to wash it off. it's mostly deep and resinous. i think i'm really liking it now, and it sure has a lot of throw. also, it reminds me of something, but i can't put my finger on what.

2 hours later: still rather strong. i think i'm getting a bit of oddness (if you will) from the balsam, in addition to the resinous base.

3 hours later: this is sweet, but still sort of odd. i can't really place the non-resinous notes.

4 hours later: a little softer.

overall: this was definitely a happy surprise. i'm not sure if i'll get a bottle of this; i'll probably see how often i reach for my imp.

[BrightRedScream]

Got this from SevenSins' decant circle

 

In the imp: Woah...hello cognac and red wine! I feel like I've stumbled into a bar!

 

Wet on the skin: Very heavy, intoxicating...the booze is there pounding in the front...the lemongrass and cassia are under just a bit...giving this more than just booze...it's rich and heady. Wow...so so complex..I feel a little light headed just breathing it in.

 

Dry down: This is...sweet? But spicey...but..woody? Wierd. This is one of the most complex ones yet!

I keep smelling my wrist..I think I might want this in a larger bottle..but we shall see.

So far this is my favorite.

Edited August 20, 2006 by BrightRedScream

[theshapeshifter]

Someone upthread described this as chaotic, and I'd have to agree. It's all notes I like - the red wine, honey and balsam are most prominent on me - but my skin chemistry never seemed to allow them to settle down and play nice with each other. Off to a happier home it goes!

[seadragon]

I got olive oil at first too, wet it reminded me of the olive bar at Whole Foods, peppery and spicy with that rich olive oil smell underneath. Dry it settled down to spicy honey with a hint of something juicy and boozy, like a dessert wine, or hard cider or mead perhaps. It's OK but not a favorite, but even that much is amazing considering most BPAL blends with any honey in them turn into rotting corpse on me almost immediately!

[edenssixthday]

The Death of Sardanapal - The very first note I detect is honey followed strongly by the scet of cognac. Behind that is a very light cassia -- just the right amount to add a bit of pizzazz, but not so much as to be overwhelmingly spicy. The scent is oddly almost tea-like in its quality, and if I wasn't looking at the ingredient list, I would have guessed there were tea leaves in this blend. The red wine note, although listed first in the ingredient list, is hardly noticeable. It's very faint, which I found quite pleasant, as red wine tends to usually overpower most blends on my skin. This scent is full of notes I don't recognize, so I am not able to tell what other notes I'm smelling but can't identify. Overall, the woody honey and tea-quality of this blend means its definitely one that's not going to get worn by me. The throw is very light as is the staying power. It lasted less than 90 minutes on me.

[sarada]

My friend told me to get a bottle of this unsniffed because I love wine scents, like Lilith, and I've had a good track record with honey lately (Honey Moon, Litha, etc). I just have a partial bottle of this now but wow, she was right! This does wonderful things on my skin.

 

In the bottle my first thought is "raisin bread", though. I don't like to compare things to baked goods, because I hate foody scents, but I put this on because I know it will change.

 

The grapey, raisiny wine scent is probably just the sweetened, spicy honey, mingling with woody myrrh, which also has a touch of spice to it, I've found. It's a dark red-purple with touches of rusty brown, in my mind. From across the room, someone says I smell fantastic. I think that the cassia is picking up and giving a sort of cinnamony incense ambience to the room.

 

I was worried about lemongrass taking over, but I don't smell it at all. Don't really smell the palmarosa either, it's mostly wine and honey streaked through with spicy myrrh. If you like the lab's honey but don't generally go for "foody" scents this is a good compromise between the glowing, radiant golden honey and a mix of woody, spicy, incensy and deep grapey wine that really stands on its own.

[cranberry]

In the imp - yes, this does smell a bit like a bakery product. Trying to deconstruct aside from that, in the imp I get mainly honey and cognac with a touch of red wine. Oh, and that olive smell that I get in Succor.

 

On the skin - on the skin, the olive smell is stronger. There’s something astringent or tart almost in here. There’s a bit of spice and the sweetness from the honey. As it wears it continues to move away from the olive smell and is sweet, spicy, and exotic smelling. It morphs in a wonderful way and this is definitely a scent to try on the skin - in the imp gives it no justice.

 

After it’s been on a bit, it’s a honeyed spice scent with resins underneath. Beautiful.

 

All of the Salon Scents have blown me away with their complexity and I’m finding I need to wear them a couple times to get them.