Arcana

[The Perfumed Ferret]

The essence of magickal enigmas and long-forgotten esoteric mysteries. Frankincense, rosemary, lavender, neroli, and lemon verbena.

This is lemon pledge on me, sadly.

In the bottle it's lovely. Bright and herbal with just a hint of lemon. A very cheerful scent/

[hellomoonglow]

In Imp: Lime. Mojito. I’m digging this scent!

Wet: Lime with something else in the background I can’t pull out just yet. Something I’m not familiar with. Maybe the neroli? It’s killing the lime now, at this point I’m not liking it all.

½ Dry Down: Lime, lavender and body odor. I so want to like this, I’m really going to give it a chance a little longer. Bill just walked in, grimaced and said, “Man, it smells in here.”

Overall: OMG, this is horrible on my skin. It smells like ass and feet. I can hardly get close enough to my wrist to even make that determination! It’s going to be washed posthaste. As soon as I hit the “Add Reply” button. Like now!

[spidersinmyhair]

The only note that jumps out at me is the lavender.In the end all of the notes combine perfectly into a really nice,old fashioned herbally blend.It lasts quite awhile,but isn't overwhelming in it's intensity.I can't say I love it though it is completely inoffensive.A very safe scent and gender neutral too!

[lilacea]

Wet- this is sharp to my nose, rosemary and frankincense, a green woody fragrance

 

Dry- Lime, lots of lime on my skin, but with a bit of body. Smells a little something like Koola cordial or Lads Love herb.

[walkingundine]

In the imp: Overwhelming green-gold scent, so strong I can't pick out notes (a little scary)

 

On the SO: Green herbs and a little bit of lavender. Much less face-punchingly strong. It's a classic 'guy' sort of scent. The throw is about a 6 of 10, and it has decent staying power.

 

Summation: He thinks he'll be happy with just the imp.

[ravenfeathers]

arcana

 

in the bottlei'm getting lots more of the frankincense off this; it's incredibly incense-y, but the fruit is there, too. i was hoping for more rosemary and verbena, but who knows what this will do on my skin.

wet on skin lemon, all the way. it's a bright, sweet lemon and oh-so-very lemony. it doesn't smell like food or like lemon scented cleaning supplies, it's much cleaner than that. triple milled citrus soap. with sugar.

dry on skin sweet herbal lemon. the rosemary and lavender are coming out a bit, but it's almost entirely lemon on me.

two hours later it's gone slightly powdery, but still has a nice sweet lemon smell. this one is a winner.

[daiconharuko]

In the imp: LAVENDER! I LOVE YOU!

 

On me: Holy crap... LEMON??? Where did you come from? It smells like a tea that you've added some lemon to. It kinda makes me thirsty.

 

I'm not sure if i love this or hate this. I will keep it around to try again to see what I think then. I like it, but it seems like it needs a reason to wear it. Like, if I did something dirty and I want to smell clean again. hahaha!

[Lunaratu]

Oh my is this extremely pungent on first application—the lavender and the rosemary are definitely making themselves known here because this is all herbs on initial application mixed with some kind of lemon scent. As it dries this becomes almost a lemon pledge scent. I really don’t need to smell like lemon wood polish/cleanser so I’m happy when the frankincense decides to come out and play with the rest of the ingredients. However, now it smells like a spicy wood that has been rubbed down well with lemon pledge. While a pleasant enough scent not exactly one I want to smell like.

Rating: 3/5

[TheOneTheyCallLuna]

In the imp: lemons, lemons, lemons! Lemonade, lemon merengue, lemon tart....

 

On the skin: Herbs...rosemary, lemony sunlight...a magical forest with sun streaming through the branches of trees is the image that comes to mind. Yumness!

 

Drydown: The lemon starts mellowing, the herbs come out more. Sweet, sweet herbs, and floral notes. This is exquisite! It reminds me of faeries for some reason. It smells magical, in that white magic, fae sort of way. Some creaaaamy luscious scent I can't quite identify comes into play here, and it is very welcome in this blend! This scent is a faerytale, an herb garden at twighlight or dawn in the full bloom of spring, a delicious forest at sunset, bathed in halflight, full of magic! I adore this one! It will get a lot of wear!!! A+

Edited October 18, 2007 by TheOneTheyCallLuna

[mhickle]

Upon first sniff, I get a ton of lemon. So much so that I am not quite sure what it's supposed to smell like, and make a mental note to check the description on the site.

 

Wet on my skin, it is incredibly lemony - almost in a lemon-scented cleaner kind of way, which makes me sad. As it dries, it starts to smell almost like incense, but still with that strong lemon smell. Finally, it ends up as a lavender/incense kind of smell on me, which I like. It is calming. I'm about to head off to bed and might put some more on before I brush my teeth, so it will be settling into that final scent as I am getting into bed.

 

I settled down on the sofa with my husband a little while ago and he said "what perfume are you wearing?" I told him and asked if he liked it. "Eh," he shrugged. "It's okay."

 

So, I'll try some other stuff!

 

So far, though, I've liked both oils I've tried. Hooray! Can't wait to get the dozen imps I'm waiting for!

[The_Merf]

Man, lemon just does not quit on me. This is a really nice mix of "Mercurial" scents (lavender and neroli and rosemary) in the imp, but it just comes out as all lemons on me. A little bit of neroli and lavender come out--this really is orange/lavender/lemon (with the neroli really coming on strong) as it starts to dry down. There is little herbal or resinous backing from the frankincense or the rosemary. It's a little too citrusy and ungrounded for me, alas.

[Pottersville]

Mmmmm ... I was in love with the first whiff of Arcana in all its rosemary glory. Sadly, it faded to a sticky sweet mess.

[lilirose]

In the imp: Bright and sharp citrus.

 

On skin, wet: Lemon. Just lemon, and nothing else.

 

Drydown: the lemon fades away completely within 10 minutes and I get a soft, powdery lavender with just a touch of rosemary, and enough neroli to know it just isn't right for my chemistry, even though I can usually wear the other notes.

 

Verdict: Very nice, but not “me”.

[Gwydion]

I could have sworn I'd tried this before. certainly, the ingredients suggest it would be interesting, but I have no record of it. In bottle: All lemon verbena with a hint of women's cologne. Not promising. Wet: still mostly lemon verbena, but I think I can catch a hint of the other ingredients under it. Think lemon heads in a room someone burned intense in. Dry: Lemon Pledge, with a hint of Frankincense.

[sparkybish]

A haiku for Arcana:

 

verdancy softens

rosemary and lavender

Herbal softness charms

Edited September 7, 2008 by sparkybish

[Brianne]

Ooooh. As soon as I put this on, I immediately think of a bag of old, dried herbs - pungent, deep and mysterious. The name seems so fitting for this. The lavender and rosemary are dominant to me in this blend, but the neroli isthere - slightly sweetening this up and adding something unexpected to the blend. This makes me think of my Mom, who has always been fond of strongly herbal scents like this. I really enjoy it for being something unusual and I will definitely keep and wear my imp!

[ImperatrixMundi]

The lemon verbena is very strong and dominant but starts to fade a bit after half an hour. It goes through a stage of smelling like tea, a lemony mixture of black tea and verbena with added herbs. Then it goes on to smelling like powdery frankincense with just a lemony touch.

 

Overall it is nice and I liked it very much at first, however the drydown is too much powdery incense which I dont like so much.

[djsiberia]

i'm only smelling the lemon verbena - which is turning out to be a very light scent. i'm not picking up any of the other scents. it's crisp and clean, and what i wish my laundry would smell like.

 

a possible bottle order just to add to laundry

 

ETA: interesting, the second time i'm wearing this and i smell nutty and lemons! weird.

it's kinda making me sick.

Edited March 1, 2008 by djsiberia

[Delirium1009]

In bottle/imp: A very strong herbal, resin, and citrus scent.

 

Immediately on skin: This blend is just so raucous with all of these notes. It’s strong and very loud if that makes sense; the notes all come out and seem to vie for attention. I get dry herbal notes of the rosemary and lavender, smoky, resinous frankincense, and the lemon verbena all at once. The neroli is a little more blended than the other notes, but it’s definitely there too.

 

After a few minutes: This has morphed into a subtler and more blended version of what it was when I first put it on. It’s still a very herbal frankincense and lemon verbena scent, but there’s a warm smoky, earthy feel to the whole blend that ties it together.

 

Overall Impressions: This blend starts very loud, but settles down quite a bit. It’s very herbal with the frankincense and lemon verbena coming through strongly, but as I wear it, it morphs into something a bit subtler and earthier. It’s very bright and not very sweet. It seems to be a more cheerful scent once it dries down.

[DogNPonyShow]

In the bottle: Spicy floral.

 

On: Turns to pure lemon. After a while the lemon fades to a nice herby not, but I can't take the initial half hour of smelling like Pledge.

 

Verdict: Another one for the swap pile.

[eatingthesea]

omg...EAU DE BODY ODOR. once in a blue moon i come across a blend that smells nothing more and nothing less than putrid on my skin. it baffles me that something could go that wonky with my chemistry, but it does happen. then i look at the notes. duh. verbena. neroli. lavender. rosemary. the frankincense is just not enough to save this diaper mess on my skin shame, because i loved the idea of this one. but arcana is just poo on me.

[blu°]

I've never reviewed Arcana, but it's one of my very favourite blends of all time.

 

It's frankincense-verbena-rosemary heaven! Despite being so herbal and not having any headier notes, it's got excellent (read: strong) throw and wearlength, you don't need to slather this one at all. It's totally gender-neutral not tending towards neither the feminine nor the masculine, IMO. It's perfect for ANY occasion: job interview, evening out, wearing to bed, writing an essay, painting a picture, looking at a new flat, doing nothing at home, having a walk in the park,...

 

I coud go on listing the multitude of goodness that is Arcana forever.

 

It does indeed transmit a feeling of power and ancient magic, and I love it.

 

ETA: This review is a bit old. In the meantime, Arcana seems to have become too sharp for me. Somehow the verbena hits me stronger and somehow I have started to dislike its lemoniness. I haven't worn it in a while, though. Maybe I should test it again.

Edited January 20, 2011 by blu°

[seashell]

Wet: Lemon? lime? I love it so far.

 

I totally get the Lemon Pledge reference I read earlier but I LIKE Lemon Pledge. And to me it also smells like the Persian lime trees we had in my yard as as kid- I would take the leaves and crush them and rub them on my wrists and on my dollies

 

Drying:

OK getting the lavender & herbs a bit- still loving it!

 

Dry: Yum just yum this is SO ME!!!

[SarahScent44]

In the imp, this is lemon verbena and lavender.

 

On my skin, it's - mmm, lemon verbena - there's also just a hint of rosemary's herbalness there.

 

When it dries, it's much lighter than I expected - the lemon verbena has faded, but it's still present, and the lavender and the rosemary have come up for a herbalness that's really nice.

[Nightroad103]

In the imp: It's a very, very sharp note of lavender, rosemary and a hint of lemon.

 

Wet on me: Thankfully, the lavender is not so overpowering as it smelled in the imp. It's a lot of lemon and neroli on me now, with a hint of rosemary. I haven't picked up the frankincense.

 

Dry on: Still lemon and neroli, with a hint of rosemary. There's only enough lavender to barely smell, and I can also slightly smell the frankincense -- as an afterthought, almost. Hopefully the frankincense won't turn this into powder, as it has a bad tendency to do on me.

 

Edit: On a second run, it's a little different:

Wet: very lemony.

Drydown: also lemony.

Dry: The other notes finally make an appearance. It's definitely mostly lemon and neroli, but the rosemary and lavender give a nice edge. I can smell the powdery smell that frankincense turns on me when I sniff right at my wrist, but we'll see if it overpowers everything else.

... Nope, it's powdery. And soapy. Swaps pile for this one.

Edited May 23, 2008 by Nightroad103