Eshe, A Vision of Life-In-Death (2006)

[naeelah]

The perfume of life-in-death: embalming herbs, black myrrh, white sandalwood, black orchid, paperwhites, tomb dust, and Moroccan jasmine.

It's a pity this one seems to be so unpopular. This is a light and delicate scent, but in a very rich, beautiful way.

Wet it's a little sharp and dusty, but as it dries the florals come out. Everything is pretty well blended, but I can definitely smell the orchid, jasmine, and soft paperwhites. The jasmine adds a hint of sweetness and doesn't overwhelm the blend. Sandalwood and dust add dryness.

After 15-20 minutes and completely drying, the florals take a back seat to the resinous and dry qualities. There's soft, spicy myrrh and sandalwood, with a faint dusty and herbal quality, and... not so much of the florals. They're there, but I have to look for them.

Pity, because I love the way this starts off. On me, the final drydown is a lovely, light, dusty resin blend. Definitely befitting of the theme. I tend to amp sweet, so the sweeter florals to return slightly after it has been dry for a while, but overall, it's still very much a dry, tomb-like scent -- but in a gorgeous rather than sinister way.

Try this one if you like resins or light florals that aren't strictly floral.

Throw is light, and wear life is a bit below average. Edited February 7, 2008 by naeelah

[taramarie]

I love Ancient Egypt, so I probably would've bought Eshe no matter what the notes were.

 

In the bottle, I get straight herbal. Wet on my skin, there's a whiff of dust, but after that, Eshe is just floral. In fact, on me it smells almost exactly like Poisson d'Avril (they're even the same color), though from what I can tell, they have no notes in common. Don't get me wrong, I love Poisson d'Avril, but I don't really need two bottles of it. I'm hoping that aging this will bring out more of Eshe's notes.

[juniperus]

bottle: sandalwood and florals, gentle florals

wet: myrrh coming behind, sharp behind the above

dry: I can just catch the orchid and myrrh behind, but the paperwhites and jasmine are taking center stage. there is a dryness, as well, but little of the herbs.

later: drat. the jasmine and paperwhites are amping to beat the band, and my sinuses are reacting to this in the usual fashion.

[pepelutivursky]

In the Imp: Alcohol is the first scent that hits me. Whew baby, reminds me of those cheap dollar store perfumes.

 

On: This one turns to powder on me very quickly. I can smell the sandalwood though. Once it dries, it is all very soft powder. It's not bad but it is gone VERY quickly.

 

Verdict: Eh, it's ok. I don't think I'll keep it around though. It kind of fades off on me in no time flat.

[squintywitch]

Nice and complex, this one.

 

In the bottle: smells classically perfumey. Nice, light, classy. Quite alcohol-y.

On the skin: myrrh mostly. There's a sharp smell which I think is the embalming fluid.

Drydown: the myrrh and flowers start to blend. I can smell the jasmine starting to come through, which is nice, not overpowering.

Later on: Very soft, sophisticated white flowers with a hint of resin. Very fresh and nice.

 

Overall: Lovely, but too chic for me and not quite fresh enough. Also doesn't last nearly long enough I'll keep my imp and try her again, but not gasping for a bottle... yet.

[theseagrows]

i got this as a sniffie in a swap i get mostly herbs, myrrh and woods, and maybe some jasmine. not much orchid, sadly, which i love. this is very woody-resiny on my skin and is really just not my style.

[alicia_stardust]

Oh my. This has a strong current of myrrh, with a dry herbal quality to it. The sandalwood kicks in at about the same time that the jasmine springs up. This gives it a sweet herbal quality, with the darkness of the resin sitting just below it.

[stellans]

I bought this, in a group of other LE bottles, from a very generous seller on eBay way back in April. For some reason, this was put away and not thought of again. In fact, I totally forgot I had it until I was looking for another "E" scent...and there Eshe was! I decided to wear it Saturday, and absolutely love it. The florals are nicely tempered, and the jasmine is kept in check quite well by whatever gives the blend its 'dryness.'

 

When I first put it on, the florals are lush and lovely -- but I have other white floral favorites, so what sets this scent apart? The dry note! It's hard for me to put into words exactly, but it's almost like what your skin would smell like after a shower, and after you've toweled off. It's not dry in the sense of a desert, but rather in the sense of a flower garden after the sun has evaporated the night's dew away.

 

The sandalwood doesn't really make an appearance right at first, but then as my skin warms the oil, there it is! The florals then take a backseat to the myrrh and sandalwood, and everything is incense-y, and darkly brooding... and then another shift, and the beautiful flower notes wake up again, but this time don't totally take over, but mix delightfully with the incense.

 

This blend could reduce one to tears, as there seems to be a sadness brought back to joy after death. Rather than sinister (as the description would lead one to believe), this blend is joyous. At least to me.

Edited March 20, 2009 by stellans

[crimescenecleanup]

OK, let me start of by saying, I'm a total ho for anything having to do with Egyptology - real of fictional. I would have totally been down with the Egyptology craze of the early 20th century.

I read Anne Rice's gothic novel of Edwardian-era Cairo "The Mummy, or Ramses The Damned" about a dozen times when I was a little girl.

 

So, of course, I found the idea of a BPAL oil based on a carnival sideshow mummy girl to be irresistable.

 

Out of the bottle: Ooooh. Nice. Another Carnivale Diabolique scent in which all the notes are seamlessly blended and nothing really stands out above the others. This is a dark scent, spooky and mysterious.

 

On the skin: Dry-down is the same as in the bottle. The perfect scent to wear out goth-clubbing.

The myrrh and sandalwood in this are smooth and earthy, but not dry and powdery like they usually are on me. This is the scent of embalming oils and pastes scented with resins, barks, and herbs.

The paperwhites and narcissus (narcissuses? narcissi?) make themselves known, but this is not overtly floral. They just soften the blend a bit. I can't decide if they remind me of fresh spring buds or dried paperwhites at the end of the season. Either way, the flowers in this have a very light, airy quality.

This is the feminine counterpart to Hades, I think. Still an earthy narcissus scent, but cooler and darker with a hint of wet herbs.

 

Absolutely gorgeous. 10/10.

[mspixieears]

Instantly I’m hit with the sandalwood and myrrh though I can detect the jasmine. I’m fairly certain this blend is not to my taste as the herbs come through and I’m not overly fond of the herb blends. I overall find it quite a masculine blend, and quite spicy too.

[SarahScent44]

In imp, this is very dry-smelling - amazing how the Lab does that! I get dust, herbs, and jasmine.

 

On my skin, I smell paperwhites, jasmine, and orchid - but as if they'd been pressed in a dusty book. The dry, dust feeling is definitely there.

 

When it dries, it's a dry scent but skin-warm - it could be really killer, but it's not doing anything for me.

[windbourne]

Wet, this one blindsides me with a burst of pale flowers -- soapy jasmine, diffuse paperwhite, and what seems like an old bouquet of white roses. That fades in moments, turning sweet and rotting as it dries, followed by a long, rather horrible dusty phase, and ending up faded sandalwood with a tussle of myrrh and death.

 

The notes are fine and it smells largely acceptable on me, but I smell like an embalmed corpse, and that just doesn't tickle my nose in the right way. So no Eshe for me. This is the first scent that I've tried that made me want to wash it off after only a few minutes. It was a bit of a long shot for me anyway, so I don't feel bad about passing along the impage.

[NinjaCowboy]

Eshe has probably turned into my favorite of all the BPAL scents that I've tried.

 

In the bottle it is a heavy floral, with an almost soporific edge to it. The dryness doen't come out yet, in fact it smells quite lush. Very strong in the bottle as well.

 

Wet, it is incredible strong. THis isn't a scent for those who prefer their perfume to be quiet and right against their skin. The different layers start to some out now a bit nore. I can smell the sandlewood, but it is covered by the layers of jasmine and herbs, which add a very rich scent to the mix, despite it just being florals. (Florals and I have never really gotten along)

 

Dry, the dusty scent starts to come out more. The florals, and that really rich scent that everythign combines into is all there, but just with an edge of dryness that makes it mysterious. Still very strong, and very long throw. In the end (hours and hours later) it turns into a rich chocolate scent, edged with flowers, which is very interesting. Then again, everything ends up turning into chocolate on me at the end, but this one is particularily remeniscent of it. I have one bottle so far, and I"ll definately be getting another before the Lab discontinues the carnival scents.

[eyeska]

This is absolutely gorgeous wet: it has a dusty, exotic feel to it that is just delightful.

 

However, I have learned a new and exciting thing about my body chemistry: I amp jasmine. So unfortunately, even after an hour (it seems that after 30 minutes, if jasmine's going to fall into the background, it does), it's a very pretty but largely unremarkable floral on me. It has a hint of dry, gloomy intrigue about it, but it's nothing terribly special, because it mostly smells like jasmine.

 

On the right person, though - like my previous poster - it could be phenomenal. On me it's nice, but not "OMG!"

 

EDIT: Okay, apparently after an hour and a half the jasmine seems to die down and the more herbal/resinous qualities seem to pop out. Methinks I might just need to box this for a bit and see if it settles a little more, and the jasmine is something I can deal with a little better. It remains quite lovely, but I'm still not totally sold on it.

 

Edit x2: Leaving this alone for a little over two weeks seems to have reined in the jasmine quite a bit! I'm getting a similar dusty/exotic feel that I do when it's wet! I'm pleased. I don't think I'll get a bottle, but I'll definitely enjoy my decant instead of looking at it and sighing.

Edited May 18, 2008 by Eyeska

[arabella]

First Impression: A very light resin.

 

Dries down to: No change until the florals appear much, much later.

 

Additional Comments: This is a very innocuous blend and considering all the notes, it's surprisingly bland. The florals don't appear until much, much later and, then, just barely - but it is lovely at that stage.

 

Rating: 3 out of 5

[maribouquet]

Wet, this smells lightly sour in a resins and wood sort of way. Not unpleasant. Continues to be sour and alkaline. Just not good on me. Myrrh and jasmine just do not jibe with me. Ah, well.

[megank4]

This is too heavy, perfumy for me. It started out nice, but then I felt embarassed because I felt like I was scenting up the entire room. Not "stinking up" just "scenting up". It felt very resiny on me.

[AEris]

I smell mostly jasmine, the same note that's in the Sleeper and Melisande, the Puppet Mistress.

 

It takes a while for the jasmine to calm down and let any of the other notes come out, but when it does, the resins are soft-hearted and gentle.

 

It's very pretty. It doesn't quite suit me, it's a little 'perfumey' somehow (if that makes any sense) - but I think it's nice.

 

3.9 out of 5

[nekogrrl]

In imp: WHOA FLORALS

 

Wet on skin: HELLO JASMINE

 

Dry on skin: JASMINE with a musky undertone

 

Ugh, all this jasmine is giving me a headache. Not for me.

[filigree_shadow]

I smell herbs at first, and then something that smells like a white flower... doesn't really smell like jasmine to me. Some myrrh and dust and that sweet white floral scent. This one reminds me a lot of the perfumes in the Ars Moriendi category. It smells like a funereal floral to me.

 

It's pretty, but it's a bit too floral for me personally. I tend to like the bright fruity-florals best, and this isn't one of those.

[elizabeth101]

This is a strong powdery floral on me. As I'm always referencing "smell alikes" when I try to describe BPAL, I will say this could pass for Caron's Parfum Sacre. Tres francais.

 

I like it - but I think I'll have to be feeling very grown up in order to wear it out of the house.

[Katherynne]

I feel very feminine and womanly wearing this. My only complaint is that um, I hate jasmine but everything else in this is so lovely and powdery soft, I think I like it more than I imagined I would! It is definitely a funereal smelling oil, which I am totally digging -- I'll have to decide if the jasmine is a dealbreaker, though. For right now, I'm keeping her.

[Deyja7]

Eshe.. She's exactly as described.

 

In the bottle: Light myrrh and embalming herbs

 

Wet: I get a hint of the jasmine and sandalwood, though it dries down pretty quickly on me.

 

Dry: I don't think i'm a big fan of myrrh, cause here it is again, though this time it's playing with orchid.

 

Not that i noted times after dry down, but this morphs on me quite a bit. After about 5 mins, i get the really dry, bookish qualities. But then wait,. it's sweet and floral?

 

Maybe a half hour later it's almost faded, but it's a interesting balance between the florals and myrrh. Very glad i got to try Eshe, and the wonderful Queen Mab sent me an empty bottle that wasn't quite empty along with my decant, lol. So this won't be a big bottle purchase for me, but i'll definitely enjoy the half bottle i have now.

[brsis]

Initial thoughts: Huh... it seems Eshe gets little love. And to be honest, I'm eyeing that jasmine with some trepidation, and nothing is leaping out with a LOVE ME sign attached, and yet...

 

In the bottle: ... Oooh... Lady Mummy... and death.

 

That's basically it - it's very hard for me to put a name to what I'm smelling... it's not overly sharp as sandalwood can be, or overly herbal, or floral, or even particularly dusty... it's not quite 'white', but it's in that general area. But it smells of death. Not decay - death. In a not-bad way, if that makes any sense.

 

On the wrist, wet: On, it smells less 'perfumy' if that makes any sense... this is very soft, subtle, dusty, and utterly heartless. Vividly evocative. Unless it does mad crazy things on the drydown, I want a bottle.

 

Drydown: Hmmm... not mad crazy things exactly, but... things.

 

The florals have come back, and now this smells... less like mummy bandages, more like perfume and coldcream. Still nice, but I wish I could have kept the wet smell. I might get a decant or two to top up my partial bottle, because I think I might like this in a scent locket, but alas it isn't quite as delicious as I had hoped.

[zankoku_zen]

I get dusty florals, but at the very end is the sharp wail of jasmine. It does have a resinous base, but jasmine lurks and stalks this blend for me.

 

Quite effectively too.