All Souls

[Mokiefraggle]

... An incense blend that invokes the higher qualities of mercy and compassion, mingled with the soft, sugared currant scent of offertory soul cakes.

 

2018 edition

 

I like this.  It's just what it says on me: incense and a light cake sweetness, with a tart currant note.  Doesn't really morph or do much on my skin, but it's lovely and has just enough throw that I don't have to bury my face in my wrist to smell it.  I've been looking at this for a while, very glad I got it at last.

[VetchVesper]

2015 version

 

This has a flour-y floral note in the bottle and on my wrist that I associate with other "cake" blends like Mari Lywd, Feeding the Dead, and Dumb Cake.  It's backed by incense that I don't immediately identify.  Possibly frankincense? - along with something else.  I don't get any currant, but its a nice "non-foodie" foodie blend, if that makes sense.  It seems like it doesn't last very long on me though.  

[storme]

My bottle says 2019 version!

 

It's all sweet fruit on my skin at first, and then the incense comes through as it dries. The fruit is quite sharp, and the incense is a touch powdery, but together they make a very pleasing warm-soft sort of scent that has very low throw but what scent there is sticks to the skin for hours.

[lilyluxe]

2021 version!

 

Man, I was really looking forward to this, as it has everything I love as far as notes go! I'm hoping some aging will help with it, but as it is now, it's a very powdery, almost bitter/burnt plasticky scent with a fruity baked goods undertone that makes the blend a bit sickly sweet. There is definitely smoke in there, which I think might be lending to the burnt plastic smell I am getting. When I put it on, the bitter/acrid notes really take over and the sweetness amps up. I had to scrub it off. 😭

 

I hope that letting it age for a while will tone down some of the icky aspects, because I do really like the good parts I am smelling in the form of the smoke and baked goods. Maybe it just needs to tone down a bit.

[rhonorv]

(2021 version)

 

This reminds me a lot of Midnight Mass -- it's heavy on the incense, resinous, and a little spicy... perhaps cinnamon-y? I don't get any of the plastic/burnt-ness that lilyluxe mentions, but I also am not picking up on the currant or sugar or cakes. Perhaps they will come out with age! In the meantime this is still nice, and I kicked myself for not full bottling Midnight Mass last year, so I'm not mad about it. Low throw and staying power.

Edited November 10, 2021 by rhonorv

[skyturtles]

(2006 version)

 

I love this. It starts off as a dessert, but not too sweet. A dusty biscuit, old-fashioned yet a tried and true, comforting recipe. A pious grandmother makes sweets for the congregation after mass. It's dark, soft, and the fruitiness is not sharp... and as it dries down, the frankincense comes out to play. I love frankincense. Former Catholics everywhere, let's get nostalgic! This is a keeper for sure, and I'm glad I finally got a bottle.

[MamaMoth]

2019 decant

 

soft, lightly sweet cake and soft church-y incense.  the currant is lightly tart and fruity, as opposed to say eat me, in which the currant is dark and almost chocolatey. 

 

eat me light, with incense. 

 

gentle, sweet, and soothing

[starbrow]

2006 bottle:

 

This has my favorite BPAL incense, front and center. A dry, woody, crumbly incense that instantly brings to mind dusty books and old wooden bookshelves and ancient incense burners. A little churchy, but not full-on churchy. More monastery as far as scent painting goes, because of its bookish quality. I believe the base resin is frankincense, with perhaps a very relaxed and woody labdanum. 

 

For me, the currant cakes are quieter, certainly a clandestine treat! They bring a charming wink of sweetness to the serious dusty scholarship, a little crumble of gourmand without going over the top into foodie territory. I can tell it's currant, that unique astringent-berry quality that currant has to me, but it's mellow and cozy in this setting. I picture crumbs of cakes around a rough-hewn desk with dust-layered manuscripts piled high, and candles. (No beeswax, it's just a mood.)

 

This is one of my favorite book-adjacent blends, and I have two bottles of 2006, because it's just that dang good.

 

I would wear this while: reading any book in fall or winter, preferably in bed with a candle burning by the bedside.

[Cali]

Not what i was expecting, but still very nice. A soft, sweet incense and very faint currenty (realistic) cakes. The incense is definately the type to be used for churchly and belief-manners, not a loud, but very "respectful" scent. The foodsyness unfortunately gets eaten on my skin and i'm left with butter-clumps in that department, while the incense gets even more toned down too. 

Will work much better on someone else's skin. Whyyyyy 😭