The High Priest Not To Be Described

[cam]

Monastic incense, blood musk, black leather, cypress, pimento, white pepper, and Roman chamomile.

In the bottle, this has a complex, musky aroma. I can definitely smell the white pepper, and a sharp herbal scent from the chamomile. On wet, it's definitely very sharp and loud. Once it's dried for a few minutes, it's much softer. I definitely get more of the musk and incense, and the pepper's nowhere near as strong. The chamomile also comes through, which is interesting and light with all the heavier scents. I really like this one a lot.

[Suu4LC]

This was a lab frimp. I never would have picked this for me O_o

 

Whoa, this is a blast of something sharp and intense and tangy and masculine in the imp. Yes, on my skin this is tangy and masculine-I get the chamomile and the I LOVE the pepper. Damn, this is actually really dark and sexy...the incense and blood musk are just perfect in this blend and I actually lose that sharpness when this is on my skin. It mellows very nicely. Normally I don't like leather notes because they smell like ashtray on me, but I don't get that with this blend at all. The cypress gives it an earthy touch...I just can't get over what a lovely and well blended perfume this is.

 

Ok, I don't think this will go on my wishlist because I just can't see myself actually wearing it (far too masculine for me), but this is a DAMN good blend and even if it doesn't sound like your cuppa, I think everyone should give it a try. It's just SEXY. I may hold onto the imp and see if I can test it on my boyfriend...

[Delirium1009]

In bottle/imp: Spicy, warm, musky incense.

 

Immediately on skin: This smells a little… cloying on my skin. The scent is mainly incense, with thick blood musk and cinnamon (which smells more like cinnamon gum than the spice). The chamomile gives it an odd cool herbal tone. But mostly this is spicy incense with an underlying cool feel.

 

After a little while: This really becomes a smooth, deep, incense type of scent. The blood musk and leather create this almost masculine earthiness, while I also get a nice subtly sweet spiciness that balances it out. This is a bit dry, but very smooth and smoky.

 

Overall Impressions: This surprised me. I don’t know what I was expecting, but definitely not something so smooth. Mostly from this I get a mix of incense, blood musk, leather, and sweet spices (cinnamon, mostly). This is unisex for sure and I can’t wait to have my husband try it. It’s very deep, but warm and dry.

[djsiberia]

wet/in imp: cypress, pepper, musk, and something sweet. also, soda?

 

dry: incense? where? usually i turn incense into band-aids.

 

this one isn't bad..it still reminds me of soda. i can smell cypress only lightly and blood musk makes a small appearance. again, this isn't bad, but it's not grabbing me - it's light and after about 15 minutes i'm having troubles picking out any notes...they stopped jumping out at me.

 

it seems the scent has more throw when it's just applied.

[skepticism]

Vial: Musky cinnamon and leather

 

Wet: Wow, spicy. A faint trace of chamomile, but the leather, pepper, and incense dominant it in every way possible.

 

Dry: Still spicy with a woody tone.

 

Too spicy, so this isn't for me.

[Cereus]

This was the scent that drove me to order for the first time, and it remains my favorite.

 

In the bottle and wet, the smell of the incense is at the forefront, but someone's thrown pepper seeds and dried cherry peppers into the censer.

 

Dry the leather, blood musk, and paper blend exquisitely with the incense, like sinking into an oxblood leather chair and poring over texts until the incense dissipates and the hint of cypress coming in through the window reminds me of my physicality and the hour.

 

I really lose myself in this until the cypress starts to peek through. The chamomile starts to carry through the cypress. After a few hours this dries out to a warm, dry, almost powdery chamomile blended with the merest hints of the other notes.

[tdgnika]

In the bottle, my first association is with the incense. There is a store, for any familiar with southern Wisconsin, off State Street in Madison, called Mimosa. It has new owners and a new location, but when it was next to the knitting store, down from Fontana, it smelled like this. This thick, lovely smell of a place that burns incense non-stop. I loved going in that store for that smell alone.

 

Wet on the arm, I could still smell that permeating incense, but then the leather and the thick sweetness of the musk started to come out.

 

As it dried, it mellowed into a nice blend of the incense, leather with a touch of the musk. Sadly it seems to fade very quickly - only lasting at the intensity I would like for about two hours. This is a wonderfully masculine scent, which I think still suits me (a woman, not a man) just fine.

 

I shall have to try putting more on the next time. Or maybe my nose just got used to it quickly.

[rayvn1]

Woah! This comes shrieking out of the imp. On wet there is a lush leather smell dominating - ooh! and I really get the chamomile a minute later...let's see how this develops The spiciness of the incense is kicking in. Hm, I love leather and incense, but there is a "red" tinge to this one I'm not sure I'd want to wear very often. Damn, that leather is tasty though! Actually, I think this one will get some rotation in my BPAL leather scent collection.

[mochi227]

A frimp in my last order. Immediately loved the name.

 

In the imp: surprising color. I immediately thought Dragon's Blood when I saw the color. In the imp I smell flowers and incense.

 

Wet: the pepper is really potent in the wet stage. there's something else that reminds me a bit of Three Kings resin incense I used to burn. Frankincense. Just a wee bit of chamomile. This is very well blended and interesting.

 

Drying: I love the white pepper and chamomile combo. The black leather note isn't very present. I swear there is dragon's blood in here somewhere. The wood (listed as cypress) becomes more present.

 

Dry: The incense is the most prominent note, and the leather and wood have combined to give the olfactory image of a church. The black leather comes out most in this stage: a thin, papery leather, like the kind used to bind bibles. There is a lingering sweetness to this blend. It is very well blended. The musk is very subtle. This is a calm, resinous blend, slightly sweet, and definitely in the "church" or "incense" category of blends. This scent also reminds me of a yoga studio I used to go to.

 

Verdict: Throw is minimal, lasts several hours and wears as a skin scent. Throws more with body heat and movement. A reverential, calm, meditative blend. 3.5 out of 5. I may end up owning a bottle. More experimentation with my imp is due, but I like the resinous quality of this blend. It's something to wear at home alone, at night, on a Sunday, during meditation, on nature walks, or when you just want to be calm, internal, and quiet.

 

ETA: I think the sweetness may be the blood musk.

Edited October 16, 2008 by Shollin
Removed Lab description --Shollin

[goblinshark]

in the imp: smells like a headshop to me. Very incensey and woodsy.

 

On my skin: turns sweet and cinnamoney, with a resinous undertone. The pepper peeks out after a bit, and also just the slightest hint of...plastic? Unfortunately I don't get any leather from this. I like it well enough and will use up my imp, but I don't think I need a bottle.

[lookingglass]

Smells a lot like Sin with leather...more masculine. I got this as a frimp from the Lab-I would never have bought it for myself but it smells divine on DH. I am not a huge leather lover, but on him it smells very old world...spicy and deep and sexy.

[Brianne]

Definitely an incense blend - this is strong frankincense at first, but settles into a softer tone accented by leather and musk. Has an overall masculine feel to me, though it isn't particular sharp or leathery - it just seems like something a man would wear. I noticed quite a few people were getting cinnamon, but I don't get even the faintest hint of it here.

[crebbsgirl]

Alright I have no idea what happened here. I wanted musky leathery incensey goodness. And it started out that way... before things went horribly wrong. What did I get? Cherries. I have NO CLUE why I would get cherries. (Even if there IS dragon's blood in here, my skin has NEVER turned it to cherry before, so why should it start now?) Oh this is just weird. As I don't like the smell of cherries, this is a pass for me.

[Ajila]

In the bottle – Barely anything at all, but there is a hint of the cypress

 

Wet on me – Thick smoky incense

 

Dry on me – A surprisingly light and airy incense with a sweet, almost coconut-y texture to it

 

Overall – Deliciously moorish

 

[sirensea]

In the imp: Musky and light. Very much an 'incense' smell.

 

On my skin: This is one of my absolute favorite scents, hands down. It's musky vanilla and gummy worms combined. I'm not sure what it says about my skin that I amp the smell of gummy worms, but I don't care, I will wear this one until there's nothing left and most likely invest in a bottle.

 

To prove my point, I shoved my wrist under my girlfriend's nose and said, "See? SEE? GUMMY WORMS!" I got a solemn nod in return. Oh, well. There are worse things to smell like than candy.

Edited April 9, 2009 by sirensea

[Allumina]

The first time I tried it, it was all spices and incense. The second time it started off as sort of a berry smell, with a definite blood overtone. (A bit too overripe and maybe rottingsweet?) After dry down the musk and incense notes are nice, but something before that doesn't sit well with me and makes me uncomfortable. Which I guess makes sense, considering the inspiration...

[heathercaley]

I received this one as a frimp. I totally would not have thought that this is something I would like (blood musk doesn't sound too appealing).

 

What an epic fail on my part....

 

This is a wonderful incense blend! Sweet spices, smokey incense, and a touch of a muskyish undertone. Completely in love!!! It kind of reminds me of Gypsy Queen, but with a hint of something fruity.

 

 

 

[catattack]

Imp: Cypress and cinnamon candy

Wet: Leather, white pepper and something smoky.

Drydown: Leather and cinnamon chewing gum. The smokiness is barely detectable now. I never smelled the incense or the chamomile.

Overall: It's not a bad scent. I just don't know if I want to smell like a leather jacket with cinnamon gum in the pockets.

[donnatron]

Bottle: Warm dragon's blood with chamomile, leather and a sort of metallic/ozone tinge.

 

Wet: The leather dominates for the wet phase along with a sharp peppery scent (the pimento?) and the blood musk smoothes out. Warming incense.

 

Dry: I wouldn't necessarily describe it as lovely or pleasant but it is a very interesting fragrance and smells quite good. There's something a little "off" about it, however. It's not the type of scent I wear when I want to just chill out or have a lazy sort of day. It's very intense and driven and smells like someone who knows exactly what he or she is doing and why it's being done. The technical aspect of the scent is a sort of smooth blood musk/leather with a sharp waft of incense. I definitely retain some of the pepper/pimento/chamomile quality but they sort of drift in and out of the scent--the blood musk and leather are definitely the shining stars in this scent. After the drydown the leather is a lot less aggressive and lets the blood musk really shine through as the dominant note. I love blood musk and it's great being able to smell it as the star player in a scent.

 

Throw: Okay. It's one that definitely reacts to body heat/general temperature. I like wearing it on long road trips during the summer because long after I think it's worn off I'll turn so the sun is coming through the driver's side window and it warms the scent up so I can smell it again.

 

Overall: It's an interesting, evocative scent. Probably one of my favourites of the Picnic in Arkham line and definitely the PoA scent I wear the most. If you're a fan of almost paradoxyically unisex blends--this seems like a combination of pretty aggressively masculine and aggressively faminine notes--then definitely give it a try. If you're a fan of blood musk or any of the blood notes, it is also definitely worth a try.

[tragedy]

In the imp and wet on skin this has a very strange beautiful smell, its like an incensey, spicy, floral, mint.

This reminds me so much of something but I cant quite bring it to mind.

I get alot of the chamomile on drydown, but its a manly chamomile, still spicy, almost a dusty cinnamon. Black leather nowhere to be seen.

Turns into a very light citrusy scent. Very faint, very quickly

 

 

(reminds me of those cinnamon hard candies, the striped ones that have a touch of sweetness!)

[naeelah]

This is so well-blended that it's difficult to describe. The best way for me to approach it is to compare it to similar blends. On me, this smells very much like Mort de Cesar, but without the clove.

 

It's surprisingly subtle and sophisticated. The dominant quality is warm, dark incense. Not brimstone dark like al-Azif, but like velvet. The blood musk adds a slight sweetness, and seems that it may have a tiny drop of vetiver, but that could be a trick of the blend. The peppers are not overly assertive, they just add to the warm spicy backdrop. There's only a hint of leather in the background -- again, not enough to take over, but enough to provide balance to the richness of the other notes.

 

That description applies to everything in this blend: present, but not overwhelming. This is very well-balanced and nowhere near as oppressively dark or menacing as some similar blends.

 

So in short, I suppose I'd describe this as warm, rich, shadowy incense with a cool and slightly bloody undertone.

 

 

Try it if you like: The Blood Garden, the Tell-tale Heart, Tezcatlipoca, the Great Sword of War, Mort de Cesar.

[Coldfire]

 

 

 

 

 

Imp: omg…headshop incense, leather, MAN! musk!

Wet on Me: Already my nose is attached to my arm. Already I can tell this is going to be LOVE!

Drying Down: still a spicy headshop incense. Can’t get enough of this. This is heady and gorgeous and MAN!

Dry: gorgeous incense with an under current of leather. Faint hints of pepper make it spice feeling but not spicy. The chamomile joined the all male dance and gave it a touch of sweetness along with the musk without being at all overbearing! THE LOVE!

 

[GeorgeJr]

More then anything , I get incense out of this . Very spicy & fairly sweet , but not overly so . I honestly am not getting much of anything else form it . Maybe as the day progresses it'll morph . If it does I edit later to let y'all know .

EDIT - After about a hour the sweetness left ( thank god , it was almost kind of fruity smelling ) & this was very nice indeed . Never did get much out of it then the incense though . It is very nice incense .

Edited July 29, 2009 by CoopieCat

[mgrazulis]

Wet~spicy incense, red musk...nice here! As it dries, a leather note followed by powdery floral. Meh! Now the soapiness and off to remove immediately.

[topazphoenix]

Spicy, cinnamon-ish incense with musk. It's pleasant, but not really something I can see myself wearing.