The High Priest Not To Be Described

[arsenicsauce]

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

This is the first leather scent that I've been able to identify as such by smell alone. Wet, it's animal-musky with sweet, dry incense (and chamomile? That may be responsible for some of the 'sweet'), and it has some serious throw. A little salty under it all, in an almost aquatic way- that, I guess, is the blood musk. The leather and musk start out as its loudest notes on me, but incense takes a front seat after about ten minutes, still with that salty edge. I can detect the sort of nose-clearing effect of the cypress and pepper if I try, but it's buried deep. I could almost swear there was a tiny, tiny hint of vetiver in this, because despite the incense having a net "sweet" effect, there's a sour darkness underneath that I associate more strongly with vetiver than musk.

All in all, interesting and unsettling, but I don't see myself wearing it very often. I feel like this should be worn with like a steampunk leather queen costume or something.

[ouch!]

oOoooh spicy! I really like this. More than I was expecting to. It kind of reminds me of Sepent's Kiss minus the dragons blood.

 

This oil really opens up during the dry down stage and the incense and chamomile smell so yummy together. This oil really does have a strange list of ingredients but it works. The leather smells differrent to any leather in other blends, it's like leather-lite.

 

It's a spicy yet kinda sweet scent and it's not too heavy. It's really pleasant. Not bottle worthy for me but I'm enjoying my imp today!

 

 

[Aldercy]

Very blackly spicy and spiky in the opening, but it settles a little on the skin and the chamomile and leather (kind of a "hide" scent as opposed to silky, cured leather) peek out a bit. There's a hint of salt spray among the animal musk, sharp cypress and charred spices. Overall, it remains a very bloodthirsty scent-- dark, ancient, rusty, serenely vicious.

 

[Balame]

In the Imp: Certainly fiery, even making my nose tingle a bit. Must be the pepper, but it's combined with a heady, sweet waft of incense.

 

Wet: Holy smokes, it's like you just walked into an spice shop and got bowled over by the sheer smell power. It's not bad, just a little overwhelming right now, which I expect will chill slightly on the drydown. When I focus I can pick out the musk, which is blessedly soothing and not overtly "bloody" as described (not a fan of dragon's blood). Maybe I can appreciate it a bit more relaxed like this.

 

Dry: This actually went on weirdly dry. Like, it took two seconds for my skin to eat it up. It's very "hot", simply put. I haven't tried any of the djinni inspired scents yet but I feel this one would be equally suitable. The leather and musk notes do a good job of calming everything down, while still allowing a lot of, "Why yes I'm a desert raider and I'd love to pillage your caravan". I feel like this has a sexy "Arabian Nights" vibe, lots of adventure mixed with exotic tastes and mysterious secrets.

 

Verdict: Yummy, another winning Lovecraft scent. This is very empowering and unique, both traits I'm fond of. For those who have tried The Hell-Gate of Ireland this has a similar musky zest but without the (in my opinion) too harsh clove, instead replacing it with alluringly gentle chamomile and bringing the heat with all the spices.

 

Rating: 4/5

[voorishsign]

A frimp from the lab! I was always going back and forth on whether or not to buy an imp, but that solves that problem

 

Beautiful. Dark, brooding and gorgeous. I normally have an enormous amount of trouble with leather notes - I love them but they tend to never really work - but here so many other favourite notes of mine - the musk, the cypress, the white pepper and the chamomile - step in and make it worthwhile. Even the leather behaves. Mmh. Not an everyday scent, and perhaps not bottleworthy, but I will wear this on occasion.

Edited January 23, 2010 by voorishsign

[angelicruin]

Spicy blood musk and pepper when applied wet to my skin. I pick up the leather and incense notes as it begins to dry.

 

Dries down to pepper, blood, and incense with a trace of leather.

[impolight]

:::The High Priest Not To Be Described:::

 

The High Priest Not To Be Described is, in fact, almost indescribably beautiful.

There is an extremely unsettling quality to this fragrance that renders the wearer expertly capable of interpreting the Lovecraftian sense of horror that inspired The Lab's line of these fragrances...

 

Upon first encountering The High Priest Not To Be Described, a bizarre vision came to mind; There is a white-haired, Parchment skinned, old woman with infinitely Scandanavian-Blue eyes in a dark-wood paneled attic. There is this sense that she has been imprisoned there. She is ANGRY and vibrating with scarcely containable wrath and rocking back and forth. Fat, crystalline drops virtually spring from her tear-ducts as she glares out the window at a barren, snow-covered field with twisted black trees... Her jaw is clenched so tightly, her teeth can be heard splintering, making her gums bleed... It's difficult to discern whether she's laughing or sobbing...

 

That being said, The High Priest NotTo Be Described is a diabolically beautiful fragrance!

This is the red velveteen pungency of spiced incense, the new-penny tang of bloodletting, the screeching bite of Pimento, and well-loved leather.

The Chamomile in this formula is one of the most amazing varieties of the fragrance so far encountered in this lifetime.

This is a profoundly brilliant fragrance... Were 10 ml.'s still available, there would be two of them, at least, in the very next order.

This stuff's insane!

A must try!

To miss this one would be one of the biggest regrets associated with the entire BPAL experience.

[SophieCedar]

Very complex, appealing and unsettling. Wow.

 

The wine-like smell of Chamomile bolts forward when wet and dissipates. The leather couples nicely with the pimento but takes until drydown to appear. These elements overpower any strong singular essence of musk (thankfully). Really lovely on my skin, which has a sweet undertone.

 

 

[ryannosaurus]

The High Priest Not To Be Described... This is the first BPAL I've ever worn, and I like it! I don't have the olefactory prowess most others here have (yet!) but I can say that I love this one. It started out very cinnamony and slightly herbal, but now that it's dried, it definitely has the incensy, herbal, peppery smell with just a hint of sweetness (is that the chamomile?).

 

The memory it conjures for me? The voodoo shops in New Orleans. Catching a scent of it wafting around brings back vivid images of walking through the cluttered, gloomy, eclectic shops with shelves full of Catholic candles, gris-gris bags, and voodoo dolls.

 

Definitely a keeper! Now I can't wait to try my others - Black Tower and Nyarlathotep, and my frimp of Dracul. After this one wears off, of course.

 

 

 

[milo]

This is a nice blast of raw, dirty incense. As it dries, the leather and cinnamon come out and the incense fades into the background. I think that THP has the leather from Crowley, as the blend itself kind of reminds me of it. This is so very lovely, raw and sexy as hell. At first, I thought this may be too masculine on me, but it seems to be sweetening up some, and I definitely get some pepper now too. This blend would be better suited for fall, and will enjoy it more then. A bottle purchase may be in the future fer sure!

[Venneh]

Incense and wood and pepper in the imp, not encouraging. On my skin, the same. Yeah. Need to wipe this off.

[Altaira]

I can't pick out any of the notes in this. On my skin it is just an unassuming soapy scent.

[tomsawyerv]

I absolutely adore this scent. It smells, on me at least, almost like a dead-ringer for nag champa incense. I love that smell, and it's wonderful to be able to harness it without sitting in a smoky room for hours.

[Roogna]

deliciously smokey dragon's blood (though not as sweet as pure DB) over a hint of leather

but I put a fair amount on and it's a lot fainter than I like. I'm not sure slathering will help but it's wonderful..if only I could smell more of it

[CreamyJade]

In the imp: Oh, hey! This is kinda sexy, kinda mean. It's chamomile, herbs and red musk with a bite.

Wet on skin: Oh wow. Slightly metallic red musk (must be the blood musk), leather, and woods.

Dry on skin: Sexy, but dry, spicy red musk. NOM. It really ressembles Crowley on my skin during drydown.

Final thoughts: This was one of those imps I ordered with my first (ever!) batch of imp packs. I liked it well enough, but always pushed back buying a bottle. Damn, because it's really beautiful and I enjoy this particular Lovecraft character. I'll be reasonable: I have enough spicy red musk blends that while it makes a great addition to my collection, I won't go searching for a whole bottle (thank the heavens!).

Try if you like: Crowley, Loviatar, Dee, Scherezade.

[Dani87]

Imp: all spice, and kind of.reminded me of men's after shave.

Wet: spices, it smells a lot like cinnamon to me. I also smell the chamomile, the smell really good together.

Dry: this dried very fast on me, I still smell the spice, and chamomile, but there is a slight soapiness that is bearly there. Maybe a bit of leather I can't really tell, the spice/chamomile mix is what I smell the most.

Overall: my skin ate this up fast, it was faint within a few minutes. It smells very nice though, but it's not really me. I think it will be super sexy on the husband though, so I will have to try it on him.

[mymymai]

In the Imp (ITI): Deliciously resinous and inexplicably sinister and foreboding. The blood musk is clearly just that, musk with overtones of dragon’s blood resin. This charges the incense and the pimento, both of which waft comfortably over the white pepper, lurking just beneath the middle notes.

 

Wet: Now with the addition of cypress on my skin, the concoction makes on a green quality, like some secluded temple hidden deep within the untamed wilds. The incense along with the musk and pimento are still very clear, while the pepper seems to harmonize with the cypress.

 

Dry: Thick resin with subtle hints of musk, chamomile, and just an impression of leather. This is wonderful!