Incantation

[sadtomato]

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

i'm usually not a vetiver fan, but it's gorgeous in this blend!
this is truly a dark, sexy and beautiful blend that would be good for a night when you're feeling a little naughty and mysterious.
the dark woods mix wonderfully witht he vetiver and make it not as overwhelming as it usually is.
mmm.
perfection!

[tragedy]

In the bottle: Oooo I love the smell of this, citrusy, woodsy... I can smell it all...

 

Wet: The citrus stays but throws off a powdery scent (why do I get powder from so much?? I know its not the sandlewood)

 

Drydown: Turns into a mens cologne, not a bad one, giving it to the hubby.

[lothien]

Incantation has awesome timing!

 

I have been looking for more warm weather type scents, because I started collecting BPAL last winter, and all my scents are dark and resinous, and I need something more weather-appropriate; this one sure fits my qualifications!

 

I got this in a swap, a little skeered of the vetiver, but wanting to try it, because the reviews said nice things about the vetiver, and I am finding that I am liking Beth's lemon more often than not.

 

It's beautiful, and reminds me a little bit of the sun-heated smell that comes off the trees at the height of summer. Like Zephyr, the lemon rind isn't lemony, doesn't smell like lemon furniture polish (my initial fear), but instead smells like a lemon tree. The woods in it are well behaved and don't amp.

I was afraid I would get something more burnt scented from it but it's only coming across as sun-scorched, not burnt at all, and as with a lot of the "more masculine" scents, it's sweet enough on me that I doubt anyone would think I was wearing a men's scent.

 

I think I must needs a bottle of this for summer!

 

I can SOOOO not make an accurate judgement from the descriptions! This is really not at all what I was expecting!

 

 

[March]

The notes in this all sound great to me, yet somehow the scent doesn't come out right when actually worn. Wet on skin it's nice enough, though rather perfumey. Upon drydown, alas, it turns to bitter soap. I can't even recognise any of my favorite notes in this.

 

 

Off to swaps and a better skin chemistry match!

[crebbsgirl]

There was something quite sharp here at first. An initial blast of vetiver with a hint of lemon I think. As it dries, I must say this bears a striking resemblance to Mole (WItW) on my skin, but Mole's more masculine cousin. I could swear I smell moss in here. It wears pretty close on the skin, and I like it, but I think I would LOVE it on my guy.

[angelicruin]

Sniffing the imp, it's burnt lemon to my nose.

 

Wet on the skin, sharp wood and lemon. Kind of smells a bit like some mens' colognes I've smelled in the past.

 

The vetiver really isn't coming out in my skin, maybe just contributing to the overall sharpness of this scent. As it dries, I am getting some of the sandalwood.

 

Dries down to woody lemon cologne.

 

 

[milo]

This is a strong bpal blend of the masculine kind. I have a really hard time picking out notes in guy blends, which this definitely is. I thought there was musk, but no. To me it smells musky and citrussy, kind of like Spider. Very strong, and great throw. Too bad I slathered this one, as I don't like wearing masculine blends.

[Diva Urd]

This was a generous frimp from the lab!

 

In the vial, this smells like... men's shower gel.

 

On me, this is a dead ringer for Axe body spray. Having been a tomboy in my teens, I overdosed on that stuff years ago. Please change, please!

 

Once it dries, it's still Axe... plus soap. Freshly showered 15-year-old boy.

 

This lasts quite a while, but I am not all that enamored with the scent, so it's going on the trade pile.

Edited August 5, 2009 by Diva Urd

[redderz]

In the imp: A dark wood... and lemon!

 

Wet: Hmm, from sniffing the imp I didn't think that this would be my kind of thing, but on my skin it seems quite nice. Still woody, but not as much as before. There's something quite spicy to my nose! I get some kind of floral in the background too, but that could be the lemon.

 

Dry: Hmm, I like it, and I'm surprised! Still woody, but it's quite sexy.

[Babette]

This is a very sexy and masculine scent. Quite sophisticated, too. It reminds me of a particular cologne -- Dunhill? Calvin Klein? -- that sticks out quite memorably in my childhood memories. There is a story to this actually: My older sister was a class beauty during her school years. One of her guyfriends was absolutely smittened by her (I think they were both 14 or 15 then...?) and so he sent her stuff that he made to demonstrate the extent of his feelings towards her -- 3D coloured paper stars, a bundle of letters he wrote and one in particular had lines of 'I love you, I love you, I love you' all over, many mixed tapes, etc -- and he presented them all in a box cushioned with thick clumps of cotton wool. The cotton wool was scented with this scent and I remember, being that dreamy and romantic girl I was then, sniffing at it and wishing for the day when there would be such a man who would do something like that for me.

 

Little did I know that in real life, this translates into creepy, stalkerish behaviour. *shudder*

 

Anyway, I personally believe that this scent should be in anyone's BPAL collection (if one can carry it off well) since it is classic elegance captured in a container. Once I start working and have a fixed income, I will buy me a bottle and slather on when I need an extra oomph of masculinity to get me through the day. Who needs a man when one has this?

 

ETA: I got so distracted by my reminiscings that I forgot to give a descriptive review for this scent. Sadly, I have the wrong nose for detecting specific notes so I can't really give a very good review like the others did. All I could identify was lemon but it's not the sharp kind that I encountered in Doc Constantine. This lemon flits in the background to give the overall scent a certain kick to it so it wouldn't be too boring. There is a certain darkness but not dark-dark like woods in Death of Summer but just enough for it to be intriguing. Mysterious, posh, classy and refined with a bad boy edge.

Edited October 7, 2009 by Babette

[odalisque]

This is another oil where the lab's description really surprised me after I smelled it. "Dark"? "Crumbling parchment"? Because on me, Incantation is aggressively, soapily "clean". It screams air freshener. I wonder if that's the parchment note, because I know linen notes tend to do the same kind of thing on me.

 

At least it served as an object lesson that no matter how cool it is to evaluate oils blindly, I need to be looking them up first, because "crumbling parchment" could easily have included one of the rot, mildew or dust notes that make my sinuses slam shut and scream.

Edited November 8, 2009 by odalisque

[Lucretia]

Ooh this is really nice! I never would have tried it based on the notes alone, but than you frimpage! This is actually very light and sort of masculine at the same time. It's remarkably sexy and definitely a second skin sort of scent. I think I may need to get a bottle of this one!

[CCretarolo]

Incantation is great!

 

It turns into a dark floral with citrus hints on me and goes great with most of my other scents.

 

With R'Lyeh, it amps up the aquatic notes while making it a little darker. When I add Jazz Funeral to the mix, it turns darkly seductive and reminiscent of a dark forest in the autumn.

[tawaen]

I purchased a 5ml of this without reading the reviews, because this sounds like something I should love. Vertiver? Yes. Sandalwood? Rock on. Charred wood? Perfect.

 

In the bottle it smells crisp and green, but the individual notes are hard to pick out besides the vertiver. The lemon definitely keeps it from being the "dark" smell of the description.

 

When I first put it on this morning, all I could think was, "Wow, that lemon really comes through. I know this smell... What does it remind me of? It smells like my dad after he shaves in the morning." (Note: My dad works in a woodshop, so he always smells woodsy. But after he shaves, he smells like lemon, too.) Definintely a more citrus-y smell on me.

 

After about a half-hour, the crisp lemon is warmed up by the vertiver, but I'm not really getting any charred scent. Smelling it right at the place of application gives more of the lemon, but when it wafts up to me I get more of the warm, exotic wood smell.

 

I can see where people have said this is masculine, but I really like it anyway. About three hours in I put on lotion scented with orange and honey, so that really mellowed the scent out. This is great for work, where I don't want to smell uber-feminine or sexy.

[SophieCedar]

When I smelled this in imp and initially wet, it smelled like yummy thai food? Am I nuts?

 

 

Anyways, warmed up it is definitely dark brown warm deep vetivert. The woods are very strong however this is well balanced. Used in small amounts this could be very facinating on the right person.

Edited March 13, 2010 by SophieCedar

[kunoichi]

This is quite an unusual scent in the vial - it is almost savoury or bitter, backed and softened by something smooth like musk or amber, with a hint of citrus. On my skin it becomes a musky, fir and citrus tree combination, quite interesting and somehow reminds me of a forest, despite the lemon rind! After a few hours the citrus fades, and it becomes a woody musk.

 

It is an interesting scent, but not quite my thing.

[eugmyers]

This is a very warm and calming scent for me. It is dark, yet light. I think it will be a good sleep scent for me because it just seems to relax me so much!

[voorishsign]

A frimp from the lab, and it was on my wishlist to boot Thanks, lab ninjas!

 

In the imp: vetiver and sandalwood. I like

 

On wet: Woods and sandalwood, deepend by vetiver. A spark of lemon rind. I love lemon rind because it's bitter and not as fruity as regular lemon

 

Drydown: Light sandalwood, a well-behaved wood note and lemon rind, barely any vetiver at all - I expected a much darker scent here, but it still is very beautiful, so definitely a keeper

 

[ofthegood]

In the vial, I immediately pegged this as a bold, traditional aftershave or cologne. I got a whiff of citrus, but the other notes are very woodsy and masculine.

 

On my skin, it was still manly aftershave smell, and the citrus note didn't linger long. It reminded me strongly of an aftershave that someone in my life has worn, but I couldn't place it. That's not a dig at all - I'd call this high-end aftershave smell, it's very nice. But I spent the day sniffing my skin and picking my brain for what it smells like! It's not my grandfather's Old Spice, my brother's horrible Axe spray, or the English Leather my boyfriend wore when we started dating. It's driving me nuts, I can't figure it out!

 

Great lasting power, and it didn't really morph on my skin as the day passed. I could still smell it pretty strongly at the 12-hour mark. Impressive. Smells similar on my boyfriend, and quite nice, but not a special enough aftershave-cologne scent to warrant a bottle purchase.

Edited October 22, 2010 by ofthebad

[Suu4LC]

Oh dear god vetiver. I have been on a quest to try ALL of the gc scents, and I keep coming across all of the vetiver scents I have avoided for so long. Vetiver is my doom note. I have never met a vetiver blend I liked. In the imp this is vetiver and something sour-maybe the lemon rind? Not quite as "charred" as other vetiver blends are.

 

What a weird blend-I really get a LOT of lemon rind in this, which didn't expect. The vetiver kind of gets lost in the background. I don't even know how to describe this, because I don't really smell sandalwood either. It's sort of a weird, burnt, lemony smell...O_o

 

This ended up being sort of a soapy smell on me. It's interesting that others say this didn't morph much because on me it morphed TREMENDOUSLY. At least it wasn't vetiver doom, but there was nothing in this blend that appealed to me.

[Urpflanze]

Rich sandalwood and lemon rind. Dry (i.e. not sweet), wet (i.e. clean citrus) yet dark (i.e. burnt wood). I'm surprised that burnt wood can smell so refreshing. I wonder if this classes as 'aquatic' which I usually read as sporty (what most men's deodorant is trying to be).

 

Here is a scent I would feel confident reviewing even if there were no other opinions to gauge by. It comes out of the bottle strong, stays strong, makes perfect sense with its listed notes and has insane, even magickal, throw. The lab took this bit very seriously: "Thou art gather'd in a cloud/ And for ever shalt thou dwell/ In the spirit of this spell." This scent is like armor - bracing, clean and non-stop. Moreover, I can smell a drop of this in the next room. That would be bad, but since it smells great, not so much. It does feel strangely...protective.

 

So many of these scents just confuse me and I have to admit my nose isn't yet up to saying what is good about them or what the problem might be - except too much vetiver, which is obvious (I'm looking at you saturnalia and malediction). But Incantation has bound and burnt its vetiver. I'm happy to see sandalwood own your pushy ass, vetsy. Restrained vetiver is a very good thing: a hint of smoke and dry grass.

 

I see only two dangers in this awesome scent, and they are really interpretive failures:

 

1) it could smell like freshly waxed table, wood and citrus you know. But, hell, I'll be this table. Still, use a coaster. We're not barbarians.

 

2) it could, in passing, evoke men's aftershave/shower gel. I guess I'll just have to deal with the fact that people may think I'm cleaner than I am. Drat.

 

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[Ghost of a Rose]

In the imp: A clear, almost colorless, oil. Sandalwood and bitter lemon. Like new wood furniture polished with lemon oil. Not sweet, maybe even a little salty.

 

On me, wet: Same as above, with the addition of a bright, sharp, grassy note.

 

On me, just dried: The lemon is very quickly and completely gone, as is the brightness. But the green smell of freshly-cut grass remains. That must be the vetiver. There's also an underlying hint of wood. And if I smell it up close, there is a hot spiciness that is clearly a remnant of the original bright sharpness. It makes the back of my nose feel prickly. This blend has a no-nonsense mood and discreet throw that make it ideal for work.

 

After 20 minutes: Once dried, the green-ness soon deepens from grass to something more like a pine balsam. The scent is now mostly fresh-cut pine lumber with a little sandalwood. The prickliness is gone, but some spiciness remains from the balsamic note.

 

After 45 minutes: The spiciness is now distinctly leaning towards a generic men's cologne as the woodiness lightens up. Hopefully the remaining wood and sandalwood notes balance that out when smelled from the distance of another person's personal space. I would like to get someone else's opinion, but everyone else in my house is asleep right now. I hope I remember to reapply it and ask them what they think tomorrow, before I wear it in out in public.

 

After 1 hour: Fortunately, the men's cologne smell was short-lived. It's now a soft wood with a faint trace of sandalwood. It's no longer at all bitter or salty, maybe even just the tiniest bit sweet (that's the sandalwood again.) Surprisingly, there's still a piercing, sinus-clearing stab of pine balsam if smelled right up close. But the sharpness is totally absent from even a couple of inches away - there it's just the lovely clean and gentle scent of pine furniture.

 

After 4 hours: A faint hint of wood and even fainter one of men's cologne.

 

 

I agree that it is a masculine fragrance, but I sometimes do like those and will wear it. I usually prefer very feminine florals, but INCANTATION will be a pleasant way to add some variety to my scent wardrobe.

 

My rating: 4 stars

[Gateau]

This was a frimp from the Lab. Based on the notes I wasn't even going to try it, way too dark for me, and with lots of death notes--vetiver, blackened sandalwood.... But before tossing into the swap pile I figured I'd at least sniff it. Whoa! Not dark at all, in fact very fresh and lemony, and it's a green sort of vetiver that reminds me of good french soap.

 

On my skin it starts lemony and then slowly blends down into something fresh and masculine. My husband, who rarely likes anything, perked up when I put it on, but thought it might be better on him.

[BoneBone24]

Wet: Pale wood with a bit of tartness from the lemon.

 

Drydown: It becomes darker and smokier almost instantly. The vetivert appears and becomes the primary note, giving a masculine edge to this. Rather than smelling "lemon" I pick up on the brightness of the lemon which is counteracting the darker notes and lifting the overall tone of the blend.

 

Dry: Vetivert w/ undercurrents of smoke, woods, and lemon. Smoky and acidic. Gradually sweetens as the day wears on. Lasts all day.

 

 

 

 

6 out of 10 bones

Edited June 21, 2013 by BoneBone24

[Missy_killer]

To my nose: It reminds me of my father...and my father's cousins summerhouse near a lake in Skåne (south Sweden), where I've spent most of my summers.
On me: Surpricingly light and lemony, and the vetiver is behaving nicely in this one! It has a cleaning fluid-feeling to it but not too "in your face"..It's a lovely unisex scent! Not too dark, not too light. I like it.

Edited September 23, 2014 by Missy_killer