Incantation

[aquazoo]

Incantation

A profound and entrancing potion. Deep, wispy, and unfathomably dark: vetiver, dark woods, crumbling and burnt black sandalwood and a drop of lemon rind.

 

This is nice, although it resembles cleaning products this is the version that is an actual nice perfume. The lemon lightens up so it's a warm, dark spice. There are better spices for me, though.

Edited September 29, 2007 by Shollin

[idoru]

A lot of people have found Incantation soapy/masculine.

 

From my notes --

"Clean, bright, unisex.

Earlier it smelled like a nice woodsy shampoo [gender-ambiguous leaning toward masculine], and now it smells almost like an expensive aftershave. Would like to smell on the SO."

 

 

I never got the deep-dark-wispy-smoky. The more I wore it, the more I got the impression of a shampoo at a posh men's salon. It was nice, but definitely not me.. and I never did get around to putting it on the boyfriend.

[Pottersville]

Ditto to the above .. I'm not getting anything smoky and very little woodsy. I do get the somewhat masculine/soapy scent others have mentioned. All in all, it's a pretty innocuous scent.

[storme]

In the imp: hmm, lots of vetiver and sandalwood - very masculine-smelling.

 

On me, wet: Somehow it's almost aquatic and cologney, with woods and vetiver amping up the butchness behind it.

 

On me, dry: All men's cologne, all the time. Nice enough, but really - a men's cologne.

 

Verdict: Well, no, not really worth keeping around since I have plenty of masculine BPAL scents I'd rather slather on the SO.

[crimescenecleanup]

Wow, this is really unique.

 

At first I get this blast of lemon, and not much else.

As it dries this really beautiful, complex wood scent wafts up. These are dark, rich, warm woods - ebony, walnut, teak, mahogany, cherry. And behind it all is this incredible fresh, light linen scent. Like how I imagined "Dirty" would smell.

 

It smells like I'm standing in an airy room polishing beautiful antique furniture with lemon oil.

 

It doesn't do the lemon pledge thing at all - no, this is a really true lemon.

[valentina]

I could swear I'd reviewed this scent, but I think what happened is that the first time I received a frimp, I promptly gave it to my spouse, for he is inordinately fond of vetivert. This time I had to try it, and it is, indeed, a very masculine scent, but in a rather classic, traditional way. On initial application and drydown, the sandalwood and lemon are top notes that add a lot of sharpness and the vetivert and woods are stronger mid-to-base notes that make the scent smell very earthy and dark. My skin has a way of making sandalwood and lemon go exceedingly sharp, so that was a bit difficult to take, but after an hour or so, the darkness of the scent really takes over. I'm just not a wood or vetivert lover, so while it's tolerable, it's nothing to get really jazzed over.

 

However, it was great on my spouse the first time and it still smells wonderful; I think this scent should be up towards the top of the best BPAL masculine-style scents. Both men and women who love to wear more masculine scents should not hesitate to give this one a try, because if your body chemistry likes it, it's a gorgeous, amazing scent.

[hkhm]

imp: whatever the 'dark woods' note is in this blend it's what i smell. the weirdest thing is that this scent smells almost exaclty like my kendo sensei. i've always told him he has a piney scent (which amuses him).

 

wet: a very crisp citrus pine. very masculine.

 

dry: a nice men's cologne scent. masculine scents aren't for me though, so i'm tossing this once onto my husband's imp pile.

[lilirose]

I really, really love vetiver. I feel like I have to disclaim every vetiver-based scent review to mention that I'm totally biased in favour of vetiver, because it's my personal "perfect single note." That makes me weird, I know- maybe it's because I'm the most earthy Taurus chick you could ever hope to meet.

 

This doesn't smell masculine to me at all. It's sweeter than my other vetiver favourite (Sloth). It smells like a walk in a bright, grassy, damp clearing in the middle of the woods. The sandalwood is there, but it doesn't amp over the vetiver at all- they play very nicely together.

 

I love it and think it's beautiful. 4.5/5.

[Gwydion]

Smells like men's aftershave, nice men's aftershave despite the vetiver. It's very bracing and outdoorsey. Think good looking thirty something in flannel and hiking boots. It is very, very PNW.

[Northernskygal]

In the bottle this is.. sour and sharp. Not really something I am into normally but, in trying to go through my stash I have decided to give all scents a chance on the skin.

 

First on.. this is soapy and clean.. it reminds me of some of my more well liked ozoney scents but.. a touch more manly.

The soapiness, which I would have been happy wearing then turns dark. I see why some people say it smells like aftershave. (Though that isn't really a problem for me in some cases) I think if this had retained the bright soapy scent into the aftershavey phase, it would have been fine, not worn all the time but... enjoyed occasionally. Sadly, to my nose, this turns a bit.. murky smelling. This is the scent that say.. a metro ceo type of guy would wear when he was going to rough it in the woods for a weekend. Nothing wrong with it, just.. not for me. Glad I had a chance to sniff though!

[alicia_stardust]

INCANTATION

 

This starts out as a light, clean scent. I don't get lemon/citrus at all, but I can tell it is there. Rather, it seems to blend with the heavier, darker notes in a way that makes this smell like a tea scent. Yes, that's right: TEA. It is lovely. It's sort of wispy and refreshing and yet has undercurrents of resin and earth (vetiver). Very intriguing.

[FandF]

Green woods...very yummy wet. The lemon keeps it light and bright. The scent is much like a clean man out of a shower. This is a masculine scent on me and smells very familiar. I want to say Drakkar Noir, without quite remembering what that used to smell like! The sandalwood is long lasting as well.

 

I'm not sure I'd personally wear this but I'd want my husband to wear it. It's a really great scent.

[stephencaffine]

MMMMM I recieved this as an extra and hadn't done much with it other than read the description and give the imp a sniff. It went down with all the others in my very large "to try" pile, and then sat there for a couple of months as I tried other scents. Sweed zombie Jesus, why didn't I try it sooner?

 

The imp stick smells pepper-sharp and dark green. But when I put it on my various bits, I smelled basil. Very destinctly a freshly torn basil leaf.

 

I've had it on now for about 20 mins as I read the description and people's replies. I can now smell the smokey sandalwood peeking around the vetiver. I very much like this blend and will add it to my "need to have" list.

 

As a wafting scent, this makes me feel secure and relaxed. Like I have an angel/friend/spirit/what have you, looking after me. when I sniff close up, I get the destinct notes of the woods, vetiver, and smokey sandalwood. I never smelled the lemon rind, although that may have been the "basil" I smelt.

 

*sigh* I like this very much

[djsiberia]

the vetvier over powers everything. even days after and wearing other scnets, all i could smell was the vetvier from this scent. it was ok wet, dry down was terrible. sandalwood and lemon didn't pop out at all and it reminded me of cheap cologne...

 

will pass this one up.

[Laurel the Woodfairy]

Incantation is one of the wonderful suggestions my fellow BPALers turned up for my fella, who loves earthy scents but also citrus. It's really well-blended--a slightly spicy earthen scent with that nice touch of lemon to keep it from getting too "murky." It's pretty masculine to my nose--I always "read" vetiver that way--and therefore perfect for him. The lemon amped on me when I tested it, but the sandalwood amps on him. Anyway, he likes it and it's off to live in his boy-imp box!

[seamor]

"Perfumey", but in a really good way. Shimmering, silken ... more scent in the throw than on the skin. Reminds me of Ted Lapidus' "Creation," which I adore, but where "Creation" shows me a deep night sky filled with moon and stars, Incantation brings me to a more intimate space, enveloped in soft darkness, with something shimmering inside it. Silk? Scales? A spell? This is the smell of power - esoteric, confident, subtle power, disguised by shadow, stretching out a finger almost languidly to ...

 

... do ...

 

... what?

 

 

I really like this! While it does lose most of its throw after a couple of hours, it is still nicely present on my skin much longer, and the scent is remarkably stable.

 

[SarahScent44]

In the imp, I get vetiver and lemon, over the woods.

 

On my skin, it's still strongly vetiver, with sandalwood underneath.

 

When it dries, it's all vetiver with a hit of lemon - vetiver's not my favorite thing in the whole wide world, so I'll pass this on.

[strangemodegirl]

This is full of notes that I really love and I was totally excited to finally get an imp of it.

Yeah, well, this is one of the few that I had to wash off almost immediately. It smelled like sweaty gym socks.

Tried it again a couple of days later, just incase, same thing. Sweat. Ugh.

[Ginspu]

On me, this is straight-up two of my favorite scents – sandalwood and vertiver, playing together nicely. So it’s a natural that I like it.

[voodoocatwoman]

This is just gorgeous on me. I agree with Celtimor- it is very perfume-y but it is breathtakingly beautiful. I guess it is the sandalwood taking the lead and going all warm and cozy. I still don't have a nose for picking out individual notes like some of the folks here. All I can say is that this scent is warm and comfortable.

[gypsysingleton]

Not what I was expecting based on the notes. Better for hubby than me, very after-shavey, but nice for him and tremendous stay.

[Lanet]

It's not really soapy, but clean. Very light lemon - nothing like Embalming Fluid. I can also see my husband trying this out. It has a light, commercial body spray feel to it.

 

But I hate vetiver so how can I like this? I also avoid sandalwood if I can help it. Now I have to go through the entire catalog again and reconsider everything I thought for sure would stink. I hate when my closed mindedness comes back to bite me in the ass.

[Clammmms]

Wet: Slightly baffling. Vetiver and lemon? Overall clean smelling.

Dry: Very bright and clean. Slightly lemony, but a more soapy than anything else, which doesn't bother me at all.

 

I think this is a very strange scent. I can't seem to wrap my brain around what feeling it gives me. It's clean, yet a little dark. I just don't feel like it's very me.

 

I'm pretty indifferent towards it. I'll have to give it another go.

 

5/10

[dluszcz]

I wish I had a man to slather down with this....

 

On first sniff, spicy sweet floral, carnation? But I checked the notes, and well, none listed. And then the sort of warm, sweeter, sandalwood that I've been looking for! But no citrus on me. This develops really quickly into something very masculine, but sweet and clean at the same time. I could totally see this in an antiperspirant.

[VioletChaos]

in the imp: Irish Spring soap!!!

 

wet on skin: same. :D

 

dry down: wow. it has stayed the SAME.

 

in all: not for me.