Kostnice

[500ml]

A celebration of the Bone Church of Prague. Frankincense, rosewood, lily, and geranium rose.

I like Kostnice, I really do... but not as a perfume. I see it more as a high class room scent. The fresh flowers smell glorious and I love the hint of greenery, but I'm definitely only going to be using this in my oil burner. Edited September 13, 2007 by porcelain

[xeresana]

I'm really enjoying this one. I love the hint of wood and the flowers. Very pretty. So far (though I'm a total newbie) this is one of my favorites.

[ClareN]

I am not a big fan of most floral scents, and I never would have tried this if I hadn't received it as a frimp from the lab (via a decant circle). To my surprise, it's lovely!

 

In the imp: A very true lily scent with a nutty, woodsy thing going on.

 

Wet on skin: It immediately turns to a high-pitched floral scent, but in a good way. I've tried several scents that start out with a similar pure floral opening (The Lady of Shalott, Euphrosyne, Water of Notre Dame, Hymn), but they inevitably turn bad in some way - aquatic or jasminey or powdery - and I'm apprehensive that Kostnice is going to do the same thing. This stage is pretty, though, it reminds me of magnolia and rose.

 

Drying: I'm waiting for it to turn into The Bad Kind of White Floral, but there's no jasmine in sight. I look up the notes and see that jasmine isn't on the program, and breathe a sigh of relief. I see that what I thought was rose is actually rose geranium and rosewood, two of my favorite notes.

 

Drydown: The frankincense is there in the background, but it's behaving itself (frankincense is not normally a favorite note of mine). I don't usually like lily either, but the lily is actually really nice here and not as air-freshener-y as it usually is on me. The rosewood and frankincense become stronger as time passes but the lily is still there. I wish the rose geranium were stronger, but this still a gorgeous scent. I probably won't need a bottle because it's just not the sort of thing I wear often, but I'll either hang on to the imp or give it to my mom; I have a feeling it's right up her alley.

 

Reading about the creepy church in the Czech Republic that is the inspiration for this scent makes me even more intrigued by the perfume! There is a chandelier there made out of at least one of every bone in the human body.

[TheOneTheyCallLuna]

In the imp: a little sharp, a little cleaning fluid-ish, like Windex. I'm feeling a bit apprehensive - my family is from Prague and so I really want this one to work!!

 

On the skin: Ok, ok, here we go! Begins morphing into something else...something that's still quite sharp but developing some incense and some somber notes.....this ain't my mother's window cleaning solution anymore.

 

Drydown: Some florals are coming out...but not big juicy blooming flowers, no. These are of the dried crushed and burning variety...floral incense wafting through a dark dank underground place. This is interesting...I love the incense and floral notes coming out...I'm just not altogether sure about the sharp note...

Wait, it's not windex anymore, now it's suntan lotion!?!

Alright, here we go! As it mellows more on my skin, the sharpish note disappears to the faar background and is replaced by more creaminess and flowers. NOW, this smells lovely and like something I can wear. It indeed smells like a cathedral now...this has become very nice! Just gotta remember my patience through that trying beginning part to get to the drydown and the somber incense and pretty flowers! There's still something a little sharp in the background, but it gives this scent depth and darkness - the impression of a dark cavernous eviiil location. This is good!

Edited October 18, 2007 by TheOneTheyCallLuna

[Twink]

Kostnice...

 

How do I love Thee...

 

The moment that I first put this on I sniffed and smelt Rose Geranium. I was a bit concerned... how can I possibly wear this? Maybe a room scent.

Very nice but too astringent... then it sat and got comfy and mellowed into this most lovely rich soft musky-without-being-musk scent. I see the golden arches of light from the Frankincense and the colour red (or maybe dark pink?) of the Rosewood. Is the sweet from the Lily?

 

At first I thought 'Room Scent' but after letting it sit on my skin I'm thinking that I will be getting this for perfume.

 

Love Love Love.

 

Twink.

[jcdracon]

This was a frimp with my last order, so far I've had pretty good luck with the Wanderlust scents, here we go.

 

In the bottle: very dark florals, it's very sharp in my nose. There's something else in there too... probably the frankincense, but it's mostly floral

 

On Wet: Pretty much the same as in the bottle.

 

Dry down: ugh, not liking this one at all, it's too pungent. I'm not getting enough lily to save it, it's almost entirely dark, bitter rose.

 

Off to the swaps pile it goes.

[taramarie]

Kostnice on me smells like frankincense, a little floral, and a hint of vetiver. It's nice but I think it needs to age a bit, so I'll keep it around.

[hkhm]

imp: woody frankincense.

 

wet: very woody, like old dusty woods. there is a hint of florals in the background but they are quite faint on me.

 

dry: sweet, old woods perfumed by decades of incense smoke. this is quite lovely.

[purplemoonshoes]

I really can't smell much in the imp, somehow. Earthy and very subtle on my skin. Mostly rosewood, and I don't get any frankincense. Morphs into lily. Needs more throw for me.

[CrazyPretzel]

This scent is almost pure geranium on me, but after it dries there's an undertone of solemn frankincense and a very gentle woodsy scent. Dry, dusty, somber, and a little rosy-sweet. A very beautiful church scent, and I think I'll try to get a bottle before it disappears.

[Tulliver]

I ordered a bottle of this on checking the description after it was announced as to be discontinued. I thought it sounded quite lovely but, if it didn't work on me, I'd have no trouble finding it a good home.

 

I won't be looking to offload it. This... isn't one of my favourite blends, and I doubt I'll be getting a second bottle, but it will certainly get some wear. It's lovely, a real woody frankincense with a non-sweet floral playing around in the background. I imagine it will only improve with age.

 

... perhaps I will get a second bottle after all. It's a lovely daytime blend.

 

Hmmm.

[aleciarivas]

Resinous, piney, floral. Must be the frankincense that I don't like. Too much resin and too much floral. Ew.

[bryghtrose]

In the imp it smelled of incense and wood.

On my skin it smelled of geraniums (ugh) and wood. Geraniums and I do not get along.

[djsiberia]

strange, i put this on because i love church incense. all i smelled was candle wax.

[LadyLuckDoubt]

I bought myself a bottle of this just as it was being discontinued because it sounded so pretty...

 

In the bottle it smells dry and not particularly overpowering, with a hint of fresh, juicy florals. It's exotic-smelling and different.

 

On me? It smells like I've burned a lot of incense and then rolled around in the ash for awhile. The floral vanishes on me and it's just smoky, dusty incense. It doesn't smell unpleasant but it's not something I'd wear as a perfume or have much use for otherwise, unfortunately.

[twilighteyes]

In the bottle: Woody! Maybe the rosewood? Also a bit floral.

 

On skin: Still woody with a bit of a bitter rose or geranium bottom that is smoothing out as it drys.

[fairnymph]

Sniffed in imp: Very sweet, woody, heady-incensey floral. I can't handle frankincense generally, and not in this.

[savage_rose]

There's a note in this that smells like celery that's gone bad. I can't get past it, and I can't smell the lily. It makes me want to go clean out my fridge and search for rotting vegetables.

 

And after time has passed...cologne with rotting vegetables. No, no, no.

[lucy gray]

Resiny, woody, and very, very sweet...so, pretty much what the component list would lead you to expect. I've visited Kostnice (my avatar is from a photo I took there, actually) and don't find this blend especially evocative, but I imagine on someone else it would work better, both as a perfume and as a capturing of the spirit of the place. Unfortunately, rosewood really doesn't agree with my skin, so it's just not going to happen for me.

[mgrazulis]

In the imp: lillies

 

Wet on skin: lillies, rose, frankincense

 

Dry:a bit of rosewood, green florals

 

Verdict: not really jumping up and down for this one. Smells like church flowers during a funeral to me. The lillies dominate. Headache material for me.

 

[Tess]

In the bottle - This is heavy on the lily, extremely light on the sandalwood. Very, very floral.

 

Wet - Oh, it's teasing me with the rosewood.

 

Drying - The geranium rose is getting stronger, which is nice, but it's still so heavy on the lily. Rosewood is making an apperance, too, which is very nice, but I'm getting no sandalwood at all. Lily really is owning this, though.

 

Dry (1.5 hours) - This is still incredibly floral. The lily is in the front with a hefty backing of the rosewood. The sandalwood has never shown itself on my skin.

 

Overall - Far too floral for me.

[catattack]

Imp: Tombstone with something tart.

Wet: Tombstone with sharp florals and something tart and sour. Could be frankincense.

Drydown: Tombstone & Penitence. After several minutes, I turns green and plant-like.

Overall: This is going horribly wrong on my skin.

[milo]

Hmm, this is the type of floral I thought was jasmine, as it is going pretty much straight to powder. I generally like powder (to an extent), but not when jasmine causes it. Must be the lily. To bad I'm not getting any frankincense, as this would probably temper the sweet, heady floral. Bit of rose here, but unfortuneately, this is a pretty big miss on me.

[rayvn1]

Nice. Strong blast of rosewood while wet - very earthy! Like dirt stuck to a bulb's roots you've just pulled from the ground as well. Slightly spicy from the frankincense. Glad I got to try this! Much more nature-based of a perfume than I often get. The feel of being outdoors weeding

[sirensea]

Smells like an old, dusty church. But it also has this strange sudsy note, too. It must be the lily or the rose. Very interesting!