Sol Invictus

[fairnymph]

A radiant blend of solar oils: golden amber, saffron, heliotrope, hibiscus, citron, frangipani, frankincense, tangerine, mock orange, and orange blossom.

In the bottle: Rich golden coloured oil. Bright, slightly sharp flowers, frangipani, bittersweet orange citrus, exotic saffron and a touch of sweet incense. I get loads of mock orange and orange blossom especially.

Wet: More juicy-tart citrus (hello, tangerine and citron!), less saffron. Still very heavy on the orange blossom and slightly bitter mock orange. Some honeyed heliotrope. Slight soapiness, a hint of powder, and still that strong frankincense current.

Dry: It's gone more powdery (amber!), and lost the juicy and tart citrus notes. Orange Pez strikes again! Though, it's not unpleasant. Most of the florals have died off, except for glimmers of frangipani and heliotrope. Light saffron still, and faded frankincense - this is much less incensey.

Later: Moxie without the ginger and with the addition of those light floral notes. Actually, the saffron has turned spicy - almost hot like pepper or ginger - which makes it a saffron version of Moxie. Like Moxie, it has a subtly dry, almost woody heat to it from the spice.

Summary: Faint, saffron-spiced, slightly powdery orange Pez with a little bit of incense and delicate flowers. It does indeed feel warm, bright, sunshiney-happy. Fades massively and rapidly. I like it, but I don't love it and the throw is just dismal. Edited May 18, 2009 by Shollin

[nekogrrl]

In imp: warm floral incense.

 

Wet on skin: Orangey floral.

 

Drydown: The incense note I picked up on on initial sniff is coming out in full force, and it's not mixing well with the floral. It's becoming powdery, probably from the amber.

 

Dry: Aroo? Uhm, that disappeared fast. I get very minor lingering florals, and a bit of the powdery amber, but I have to sniff hard to get it.

 

Verdict: Meh. I like Sportive Sun better. Glad i got a chance to try it, though.

[ami226]

Whoa! On my skin, this smells like orange honey..... I don't see any honey listed in the notes though!! Wow!

 

There is no throw to this scent whatsoever, but up close it smells so yummy!

 

'09 Version:

This one is all orange and citrus! I don't get any smooth honey in this one.

Edited December 12, 2009 by Catseyes

[ralenth]

Source: Tested surlygurl's aged bottle at the MNS.

 

I remember sniffing a much younger bottle of this at one point, and not being too excited. Surlygurl said that back when it was new, it reminded her of walking past an Indian restaurant (which is sort of what I remember). A few years later, Sol Invictus is delightful. It's all golden light and swirls of frankincense. It melds so beautifully on my skin and I can't pick out the notes. It's golden and smokey and fantastic. I'll either need to track down an older bottle or hide the '09 version until it reaches this point. Yum.

[thekittenkat]

For the 2009 version.

 

There's a lot of citrus and other fruits. The florals make it bright. I like the citrus fruits in this, especially the tangerine. There needs to be more BPAL scents with tangerine and blood orange as major notes. (NOTE: I did not pick up blood orange as a note in Sol Invictus.) Dry-down was a soft, warm, golden scent.

Edited November 18, 2009 by thekittenkat

[saralaughs]

2009 Version:

 

First applied this is a hugely citrus scent. I get sweet citron and tangerine right off the bat. This is shortly joined by bitter orange. They are sugary sweet and tart but they are also a bit powdery on me too.

 

After a few minutes (ok, maybe ten), the citrus backs down to something that I can actually handle instead of blowing my nostrils off. The powdery scent resolves inself as well...it becomes this gorgeous floral that is creamy, sweet, and a bit heady/tropical in nature. Frank joins the party and lends a very smooth softness that grounds all the other notes. It isn't very prominent but is like the sky that this sun is rising into. It just gets better from there.

 

A half an hour or so into the drydown, the amber and saffron come into play. They aren't dominate players either but I think they warm everything up. It creates this beautiful ray of light that you can actually sniff.

 

Pretty cool.

[vanessaxxx]

In the bottle: Lovely amber and orange

 

On my skin: just like in the bottle

 

Drydown: nice soft amber w/ hints of citrus. LOVE

 

overall: it was just a perfect blend of the amber and the orange - unfortunatley for me after about 2 hours i could no longer smell it on me anymore

Edited November 18, 2009 by vanessaxxx

[greenranger]

Bright and clean and sunny and sparkling.

 

I'm not getting any particular notes, but, an overall impression of golden sunlight. Not hot sunlight, but, bright golden light over fresh new cleanness.

 

Also, this lasts pretty well on my skin.

 

On me, this isn't floral or fruit or really resinous either. It's just light and bright and clean.

[angelicruin]

Starts out as amber and orange. I agree it's a very "sunny" scent.

 

As usual, the frankincense note emerges several minutes after initial application. And light florals.

 

Dry, it's soft orange, amber, and saffron.

 

 

[Venneh]

'09 blend

 

In the decant, this is a very golden scent, with just a hint of orange. Very reminiscent of sunlight.

 

On my skin, this is a faint gold sort of scent, getting the amber, with the rest of it lurking underneath. Wondering where the orange part of the scent is... Well, it came out an hour into the scent and turned it into soap. :/ Swaps/sales.

Edited November 28, 2009 by Venneh

[Altaira]

I don't hate it, but it reminds me of Jean Naté. As a young child with teenage sisters in the lats '70s/ early '80s, that's not a scent I want to relive. Passing his one off to the swaps.

[Seadreamer]

The '09 Version:

 

Oh, hai there frankincense! Why don't I just lay my brain here on the floor so you can stomp on it with your oh-so-stylish spiked heel, pointed toe pumps?

 

I should have known better. I DID know better. I was just too tempted by the lovliness that is Sol Invictus. But however wonderful it may be, I have to force myself to remember one thing:

 

Frankincense gives me migraines!! AAAARRRRRGGGGHHHH!

 

<-- and that is what it does to my brain.

 

Still pretty though...

[darab]

Sol Invictus 09

In the vial – strong tangy citrus with a coating of amber

On skin – smoky citrus, I can smell the frankincense and orange blossom. It is taking on a very soft honey note – not sure what in the blend is creating the honey note. This reminds me of No.93 Engine.

Dry down – it is still sweet but the citrus notes have dropped off a bit; this also develops into a powdery dusty scent that reminds one of old-time perfume.

[EdenIris]

Sigh. Orange candy turning to soapy floral, then just a breath of gorgeous sunshine followed by powder. I had so hoped this would resemble the amazing Labores Solis, but the citrus wins again.

 

Off to update the swap page.

 

This is the '09 version, btw.

[Leopard403]

How on God's green acres does this become BABY POWDER on me?

 

Maybe I'm at a weird time in my cycle. I'll definitely review again in a few weeks.

[Prism]

A radiant blend of solar oils: golden amber, saffron, heliotrope, hibiscus, citron, frangipani, frankincense, tangerine, mock orange, and orange blossom.

 

2006 Version

in the bottle - frankincense, a spicy/odd floral, amber in the background. There's "citrus" here but I"ll be darned if I get orange.

wet - citrus, frankincense, and floral, it's slightly powdery.

dry - incense went to powder. and there's floral. no thank you.

 

Rating 3/10

 

2009 Version

in the bottle - Amber, orange/citrus, then floral, then sort of a spicy incense note, guessing this is frankincense and maybe the saffron together in the back. Much more citrus much more amber, much less dusty floral than 2006

 

wet - HELLO ORANGE! amber and florals temper this a little. what incense? Why hello again orange. Yes, yes..seriously...I saw you. No really.

 

dry - a little powdery on me, much less than 06, there's still distinct citrus, amber, and floral here.

 

Rating - 4/10. Sadness on the powder...

[HamletsKeeper]

09 version

 

It smells pleasant enough both in the imp and on my skin. The trouble is, it smells exactly like one of those orange glycerine soaps from the Body Shop. Something in this is going to soap on me and while it isn't offensive I just can't imagine any occassion where I would want to smell like a bar of soap. Aha! I see it contains my nemesis frankincense.

 

The orange fades super quick (less than 10mins) leaving behind a somewhat pale base of vague florals. Clearly this is not a scent for me.

Edited December 8, 2009 by HamletsKeeper

[Iceblink]

I love the citrusy brightness of this when freshly applied--so cheery!--but that fades fast and I'm left with a whole lot of amber, and frankincense doing its weird thing on me. Not gonna work on me, although I love the concept.

[Eutectic]

06 on one side 09 on the other.

 

The 06 SI is sweeter, more golden somehow, almost a rich honey note but not honey, that golden though. And a bit like it has some sort of citrus rind in it while 09 is colder, less warm, more herbal almost. I love them both. They are definitely closer than I am making them sound. Closer than siblings, more like fraternal twins. I actually like 09 a little better for overall wear while the 06 is a special "it's freaking cold and dark" scent to wear for those days. I would imagine giving SI 09 a few years it will be more similar, I would chock this up to age difference.

 

I find the fading to be similar though 09 goes a bit faster. Again, I would expect age to fix this as well. 06 fresh was much more of a fader than it is now (it clings and clings so long!) So I will be interested to try both of them again in a year.

[Ishtar]

For the past few weeks, I have been wearing Sol Invictus in combination with other scents (there's just not enough time in the day to test everything when the Yule season rolls around!) and so far, I have really liked it.

Tonight, I decided to give it a proper test, without any other fragrances to interfere with it.

 

Wet on my skin, Sol Invictus is a big burst of happy, sunny citrus - mostly orange, even though it is not listed as a component per se. This opening citrus blast is very similar to Tarot: The Sun, which sadly means I won't be getting a bottle as my boyfriend couldn't stand The Sun on me.

 

Uh oh... as the oil dries down, a pronounced soapiness pushes its way to the forefront, completely drowning what little amber and frankincense was beginning to emerge. This can't be good, unless it is a very fleeting phase...

 

Unfortunately, the soapiness is here to stay, which is a shame as the ambery, slightly spicy citrus underneath it could be really stunning. Given that the decant has had ample time to rest after shipping and recombine by now, I guess it's not going to change markedly in the near future. Off to swaps, regretfully..

[anomie]

In the imp: Sweet sunny citrus and floral. I can smell the tangerine and what I guess is the orange blossom.

 

Wet: It's like lemon candy and flowers!

 

Drydown: Ohhh, okay, there's the soapy note everyone was talking about. I can still smell a little of the citrus but it's mostly powdery amber and maybe a hint of saffron and frankincense. Pretty, and I'll test in my clocket to see if it sticks around any longer.

[DeltaCat]

~09~

 

Very citrusy! The amber and frankincense play nicely in the background giving the citrus a little bit more depth, but other then that mainly a deep citrus with a slight floral.

[MeiLin]

The only note in this that causes serious concern is the heliotrope, which goes very soapy on me.

 

In the decant: Very sunny. The citruses and frangipani. Smells like early summer to me.

 

Wet: This reminds me of last year's Weenie Huesos de Santo without the cream. Mixed citrus, tart hibiscus, orange blossom and frangipani. I have to get right up on it.

 

Dry: Hibiscus first, then tangerine, then the flowers.

 

This reminds me of the Atomic Tikis from 2008, I think from the hibiscus and frangipani. It has a very faint throw; I have to seriously huff. But the scent is indeed the sun triumphant. Its scent says, "never fear, winter always ends." I just wish it were stronger. Not a bottle.

[Sawasdee]

In the bottle- spiced tangerine, very citrusy and warm

On wet: Blood orange and tangerine mostly, with an astringent clear note, saffron?, making this quite sharp

10 minutes in: This goes incredibly soapy on me, not digging the orange soap

Drydown: Very powdery, and warm

 

I'm not big into citrus scents to begin with, and that fact that this has both a soapy and a powdery stage on me, makes this a no-no.

[voodoocatwoman]

All I get is powdery floral. Nice but not to die for.