Sol Invictus

[juniperus]

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

Bottle: citrus and frankincense, like how a chocolate orange would smell if the chocolate were replaced by sharp resin
Wet: deeping, layering, but still primarily as above
Dry: the shades of gold are separating and glimmering on their own accounts, the amber identifiable, now.
Later: The florals are competing a bit with the resins, the sweet with the sharp making a sort of fruit-affect to my nose for some reason, but it's mellowing in time. It's not lovely, as in a thing of beauty to behold - it's something to be experienced, like the heat of the sun itself. That makes little sense, I suppose, but that's what I step away with..the fruit keeps this from going sexy on me, the florals keep the fruit from growing too oddly sweet, and the resins keep the florals from a cloying fate. Damn interesting.

[fiddledragon]

I'm glad I got a 1/2 imp before buying a bottle, because this wasn't really what I was expecting. From wet to dry, it's a dusty orange-peel note similar to the one in Fortunato on me. None of the other notes really get a chance to come out. It's a very nice orange peel, but just not really waht I was hoping for. It doesn't say "unconquered sun" to me.

[slave1]

SOL INVICTUS

 

In Bottle: Orange blossom and incense

 

On Skin: The orange blossom comes out in full force in this blend. Wow, it’s usually a light note on me but here it’s in command. Maybe because it has the other citrus notes amping it and the florals amping it’s sweetness... it reamins a velvety soft scent, not ripe, sour or extreme citrus at all though. I smell the super sweet heliotrope, and the soft spice of the saffron. The amber adds to the golden orange feel of this scents and really warms it up and gives it a nice resinous base… a perfect compliment to the frankincense. This scent evokes a warm and comforting feeling with a slight powder feel to it. It has a light throw and short to average wearlength.

[nyxluna]

Another scent I had high hopes for, but it was pure dill or something sour on me- bitter orange with no warmth or softness. Darn my skin chemistry!

[Em-]

Resinous fruit - bright and glittering...a perfect tribute to the sparkling light that is the precious winter sun.

 

I was sniffing my wrists as I drove to work this morning, with bright winter sunshine filtering through barren trees, and a song about winter by the band Sol Invictus came on my iPod, and it was the perfect convergence of scent and sound and vision.

[storme]

In the imp: bitter bitter oranges and frangipani and a trace of resin.

 

On me, wet: oh the bitter oranges - there's also warm amber and dry frankincense under the citrus - it's a very dry, hot, barren scent.

 

On me, dry: soapy oranges and warm dry saffron and amber. This is now a hot dry barren scent that's been well-scrubbed.

 

Verdict: not terrible, but not great either. I don't think I need to keep this around.

[NanookPurple]

Anyone who's lukewarm about their Sol Invictus can send theirs my way. This was a love-at-first-sniff for me.

 

As I cross posted on the Lush forum:

 

"Wearing Sol Invictus. Drooling. Suddenly I feel like a summer sex goddess, despite the below-freezing temperatures and the foot of snow that's fallen this week.

 

It's incensy in a way that has nothing to do with Nag Champa and headshops. It's pure saffron heaven, but sexified with amber and sweetened with orange blossom and tropical floral notes. It sparkles in the way only perfect BPAL oils can sparkle. I want to go to India, to Thailand, to Brazil. I want to shop in exotic marktplaces for rare spices and textiles. I want to eat spicy foods and ride elephants."

 

The frankincense makes me think of Sunday Mass. The saffron, citrus and tropical bits makes me think of sex on vacation. Sex in church is a great way to smell as far as I'm concerned.

[Mountaingrrl00]

This was the Yule blend I was most excited about. I love amber, saffron, frankincense and citrus of all kinds, and it sounded like my dream blend. Sadly, I find the florals overwhelm all the yummy notes I was anticipating. On me, this is a sharp, dry, perfumey floral. It has a pretty strong throw, but not a lot of staying power. I've been imping out my bottle, hoping my decants find users who appreciate it more.

[theseagrows]

my skin mostly ate this up, so i reapplied. it's a warm citrus with a slight sugary note to it. but maybe that's just the fig? this isn't overly ambery on me. in fact, i wish it was more ambery, as it's a bit to sweet for my tastes. a very 'juicy' citrus. i may keep my decant, but probably won't get a bottle.

[AliBabble]

i've been dying of curiosity to try this one, and now it's finally here! it's less orange-y and more sweet amber, than i was expecting. sort of soft, candy-powdery, some sort of blossom, maybe orange blossom or frangipani that i'm a little scared by - i think maybe frangipani is sweet in a way i don't like - too heady, or something. on my skin, it smells more shining and golden-orange, still a little more flowery than i was expecting, with less orange-y tanginess than i was hoping for. i do smell a bit of the frankincense and the saffron (lovely), and the amber..it's a very interesting scent, just not exactly what i was imagining...i was expecting something deeper, i guess, whereas this one is more feminine and flowery on my skin, and somewhat tropical, with a bright, almost metallic feel! i do like it enough that i think this one will grow on me.

next day: trying this again, and i dunno - it's too bright and sharp for me, i guess. too clean for me.

Edited December 16, 2006 by AliBabble

[medvssa]

The drydown of this one was a surprise.

 

In the imp and wet, it is just orange peel, a bit bitter. Slowly, the flowers bloom, a very yellow-orange scent, vibrant, bright, but not really warm, a little bit cologney, nothing special.

 

But, hey, as it dries down, it really warms up, deepens, "goldens". The beauitful amber and other golden notes really transform this one in something truly beautiful. Its like the light winter sun that very, very slowly warms your skin, but never gets really hot, wow!

In fact, thinking of it, it is a bit like sunrise, or the sun openigh through the clouds. And winter sun is my favorite kind of sun! I just avoid him the rest of the year, but now, it is yummy. And this is just that.

Another Yule love

[tarotgirl99]

I love Amber and I love Orange so I thought this would be good. But on, I don't smell any amber--just bright orange and a kind of clear cold wind. It's warmth in winter...and I love it to death. The exorbitant throw made me feel like I was surrounded in a cloud of warm clarity, protected and a bit glorious as I walked through the city in winter.

 

I only bought an imp of this--but will be buying a bottle forthwith.

[phedre]

in vial: sharp lemon, but just a bit. sweet orange blossom and hibiscus. this is q golden scent.

 

wet on skin: it's warming my skin a bit. There's lots of orange blossom and amber, and the frankincense comes out.

 

drydown: The orange flowers and mock orange are overpowering everything else. There's a lot of sweetness and orange citrus here, without anything to counter it. Pretty, but not a favourite.

Edited December 24, 2006 by phedre

[dronzeka]

I nearly passed on the chance get hold of this, but then I thought, What the hell, and I'm SO glad I did. I'm no good at picking out the different individual notes yet, but in the bottle it smelled golden - I'm coming to realize that's the amber, and that I really like it. Very wam and glorious. On, I smell the amber and some florals, a little spiciness that's probably the frankincense. I don't actually get a lot of citrus, which is kind of a shame because I'm a citrus whore, but it's a beautiful sweet sunniness. I get the sense of an overwhelming goldness, like the sun going down in late autumn over a harvested field, gilding everything, when the light is blinding, yet mellow and not at all harsh. (Hmmm, not a very Yule-y image - oh well!)

 

Someone earlier said they thought of sunflowers, and I did too; another compared it to Et Lux Fuit, which also I agree with - they're very similar for me as well. I think I will have to get a bottle of this!

[Brianne]

In the bottle:

Right off the bat, I get a warm incense smell of frankincense and amber

 

On me:

This goes on really strong and overpoweringly incensey. After a while it settles down into something a little less strong and headshop-y. I keep waiting for it to morph into some golden citrus though and that doesn't seem to be happening. I can understand why people are comparing it to Et Lux Fuit though - to me, it seems a bit like Et Lux Fuit but *more* like Kindly Moon on my skin.

 

After wearing it a while I do get a bit of citrus - it's sort of a sharp undercurrent with the warm incense smells. It's not overly evident, but it is there. Once it kicks in, I do like the scent better.

 

Final note:

It's definitely a golden, incense scent. The citrus is the only thing that saves this scent from going immediately into my swap pile - it helps tone down the frankincense and gives this scent another angle. However, this scent still doesn't really "speak" to me and smells more of frankincense than anything else. I'm sad I don't get the sweetness of tangerine or the spice of saffron.

[azhure]

In the vial: Warmth - mostly in the form of citrus.

Wet: The citrus amps up initially. There's something that turns almost bitter on me as well.

Drydown: Faint citrusy amber. Fades quickly.

[ktesedale]

I can't wear amber - it goes straight to baby powder on me. I accidentally bought this instead of one of the other Yules (I was confused as to which was which when I bought it!).

 

I am so grateful I did, though. This is the first of BPAL's amber scents that I've been able to wear. I wasn't even planning on trying this one, but before I put it up for sale I wanted to double check it wouldn't work.

 

In the bottle, it's a warm orange scent - you can smell the bitterness of the rinds.

 

Wet, it's a sharp orange that overpowers, but it quickly dries.

 

Dry, it's a gorgeous warm amber (that doesn't turn to powder!) with a slightly bitter orange scent combined with some sort of sweetness. Very, very faintly you can smell some florals in the background, but they just give it a vaguely elegant air - it's not a 'floral' scent.

 

The saffron and frankincense don't really come out on my skin, but this scent doesn't need it. It's warm and uplifting, though it does make me a little sleepy - like napping on a sunny couch. It's very, very nice, and I'm so glad I made a mistake and got it!

[wikkidraven]

my first thoughts on this were 'fizzy orange drink'. it's very tart from the bottle, but has a sweeter dry down on my skin. i'm not great with citrus, but this will be great for people who love orange notes.

[sarada]

My first impression of this was fairly faint and perfumey so I haven't reviewed it until now. Now that I am trying it on by itself its personality is a little more clearly discernable.

 

This scent broadcasts golden, yellow-orange and white light. It is ambery with a touch of orange and a general fruitiness to it that remind me mainly of Haunted Palace, but without the deeper notes in that blend that make me like it.

 

In the cold and dark of winter it is a cheery, bright scent, though probably not strong or dark enough to last long on me. I imagine it would be lovely in a locket, but I have a lot of scents like this already -- I think Haunted Palace remains the winner in the amber with touches of orange and berry category, but as this dries on me the resins give it a little more staying power and throw.

[edenssixthday]

Sol Invictus - My first reaction to this scent is that it is very much in the same category of scents as The Haunted Palace and Tamora. In fact, when I looked at all three of their scent descriptions, it made sense why I had a moment of insanity and thought maybe I could give up all of my BPAL and just hang on to these three. They share a lot of notes and similar notes in common, leading me to a greater awareness of what notes I like and what notes I like in combination with one another. Sol Invictus is the perfect melding of all the notes in it. I swear every one of these single notes was made with the purpose in mind of joining together to become Sol Invictus someday. This is the perfect scent. It is warm and golden and sweet and slightly powdery and absolutely perfect in every way. I really just can’t get enough of this blend. I wish it had a stronger level of throw and greater wear length, but it’s so gorgeous that I don’t mind slathering and reapplying to get the full effect of the scent. Superb!

[gwynhwyfar]

*reads the notes again*

 

*smells her wrist, sneezes, coughs up a lung and dies ... again*

 

Right. Every single listed note in this thing makes me bounce happily. I even like the smell of citron. However ... the combination wants to kill me. No. Really. It reaches out of the bottle and tempts me in and then I put it on my skin and those so-alluring fingers wrap around my throat, and it's just all over.

 

It hates me. It smells beautiful in the bottle, but I can't even begin to say what it smells like because as soon as it hits my skin, I can't breathe. I tested it twice because, well, I'm clearly a masochist.

 

In the bottle, however, it -is- gorgeous. Sadly ... it's destined to move in with someone else because I can't keep oils around that have secret desires to kill me.

[iankunx]

I like citrus, so for my first purchase from the lab I decided to get a bottle since there's a bunch of it in this one.

 

Then I couldn't wait for *that* and along with a bunch of other imps, I got an imp of Sol Invictus.

 

And oh, my.

 

Bottle, now that I have the bottle: I could smell Sol Invictus in the bottle all day. Citrus, citrus, and when you get tired of that, more citrus!

 

Wet: On me, wet, Sol Invictus is absolutely god-awful, heh. Sharp and herbal and pungent and gah. I was slightly alarmed by this. Fortunately whatever it is that does that goes away very quickly, heh. (Whatever it is, it's in Ra too... Actually, Ra would make a good consolation scent for lovers of this as on me at least they're versions of each other.)

 

Dry, early in: Incense. But not horrible stinky headshop incense. Beautiful incense. Which does not irritate my easily-irritated allergies at all.

 

Dry, later on(15 minutes to two hours, it depends on the day): The incense nearly goes away and this is almost entirely citrus-y sweet floralish love. It lasts for quite a while on me.

 

Best place on me: Side of my right wrist, the side my thumb is on. I don't know *why*, but it smells best there. Great anywhere, but best there.

 

This is what the sun smells like, or at least what it ought to. I can imagine beautiful golden people with golden hair and yellow-orange eyes wearing yellow, orange and golden robes and wandering through a courtyard in a beautiful rose-gold palace full of dozens of varieties of red-orange and yellow-orange flowers that combine to smell like this, with a faint hint of the incense of some glorious solar temple wafting out from a corridor... Mmm.

 

I want a 55 gallon drum of this stuff. I'm certainly going to be stockpiling it. ;;; Keeping my imp, have a bottle, and want at least two more... ;;; It's so good dry I can totally ignore the horrible wet.

 

It would have to be an LE, wouldn't it? At least Ra is so similar that I can make do with it when I finally run out of Sol Invictus... ...Sometime next month. >_>;

[Jenesis]

I got a free sniffie of this in an Imp pack from someone (can't remember who it was, but thank you for all your sniffies! ) and I think I have to finally accept that citrus just doesn't work on me.

 

All I can smell is artificial lemon-scented washing-up liquid although since Swank, Lightning and Aizen-Myoo all smell identical (and disgusting) on me, don't take my word as gospel!

[aestien]

Bottle: bitter orange, soft undertone, is that the heliotrope?

Wet: orange, a little amber, this is a dry orange, almost reminds me of sweet hay in its dryness, but not as sweet

Dry: fades pretty quickly on me, and not much of the frankincense ever appears

 

Unfortunately, on my skin this blend reminds me a little of baby wipes and then fades quickly into powdery nothingness.

[QueenFae]

This is indeed a very red scent. The top notes on me are amber and a combination of citrusey scents. There is a bit of a smoky, incensey note floating in the background, which I guess would be the frankincense. There is a hint of bright frangipani at the very back of the scent. It has medium throw, but I'm wagering quite a bit of sticking power. This is a bright, sharp scent, and very lovely. It is not really my type of thing, but very pretty just the same.