Anactoria

[Argentwolf]

The scent of the throes of violent passion: entangled limbs, teeth on flesh, furiously grasping hands, the taste of blood and sweat. Golden amber, white honey, red currant, daemonorops, kush, and Arabian musk.

In the bottle, this blend is thick and sweet and pungeant. Throughout wearing it, I think that the amber, honey, and currant were predominant, as it was a very thick, sweet scent. To be quite honest, it reminds me of peaches or oranges, but that's not a bad thing as far as I'm concerned. When it dries, it gets light and powdery with just the hint of a sweet undertone. It has good throw and staying power...it's lasted all day on me, and I'm treated to a golden whiff of it every now and then out of nowhere.

Verdict: This is another bottle that I'm glad I bought! It actually reminds me a lot of Aglaea, only without the slightly cloying air that that other blend had.This is sweet and sexy and mmmm yum. Edited February 29, 2008 by Shollin

[semuelle77]

Amber, honey and musk. This should smell amazing. This should smell perfect on me. This should smell... like something, anything. It does not. I slathered this on but good, and I can only barely smell it when I shove my wrist against my nose. I think the tiny wisp of scent I detect is pretty, but it is so faint I can hardly tell.

 

Grr!!! I am getting no love from the recent update.

[LadyCrow]

In the decant: Something's got a bite to it. Almost boozy.

 

Wet: The amber and thick, white honey (arm-licking time) quickly rise to the top. Yum -- suddenly I'm smiling all over my face for no particular reason.

 

Drydown: As this dries, the red currant comes out but doesn't predominate. The potential oversweetness is definitely tempered by the DRAGONZ BLUD and kush -- readers may reefer to my review of Pisces 2007 to see how I feel about notes in that scent family. The musk comes in later and is very, very sexy. I do get a bit of that trad-perfumey vibe in the throw, but luckily the other notes are keeping the amber from going to powder.

 

Verdict: Yes, this gets tried on the boy. It is that kind of blend -- the scent you want on the date you hope will get... elaborate.

[Iceblink]

OH MY GOD. This smells amazing. The amber/honey blend is very very O-ish, but the currant gives it the yummiest fruity quality, and the musk just makes it feel really sexy and mmmmmm. I love it. Fab throw, too. If you like O, Sed Non Satiata, and that sort of thing, you must try this.

[agnusdei]

Anactoria is soft and light to me, an incredibly gentle and understated scent. I can pick out the honey, amber, and musk, but the rest of the notes are hidden under the pale blur of the former three. If I really search I can detect something smoky, sweet, and slightly grassy deep within the smooth honey musk, but I can’t pinpoint it as any one note in particular. This is a total skin scent on me, with a clean and gently powdery quality that reads as just an amplification of the scent of my own skin. In fact, Anactoria is one of the lightest BPAL scents I’ve worn and I can only really smell it when my nose is pressed to my wrist. The scent itself is lovely, but it's so darn delicate - I wish it had more presence on my skin so I could fully enjoy it.

[dorothy humbird]

Holy. F@ck.

 

I really wasn't expecting to be into this one, for some reason -- I had convinced myself that the "kush" could not turn out well, and it was going to smell dank and weed-y, and I'd just swap it off to some other loving BPALer. But no.

 

No, this had to be amazing just to make it harder for me to decide which bottles I will actually purchase.

 

The instant I put this on today, all I could think was "MUSK. SWEET SEXIN' MUSK." It envelops me with soft sensuality, and gliding over and around that are the honey and currant notes, with only a slight heaviness of the amber (usually amber is very noticeable to me in scents that include it... but here it's chillin', letting the musk cavort and gambol on my skin.) So far I do not detect a hint of dragon's blood, which is fine by me as I tend to avoid blends that feature it prominently. Entering the 5th minute of skin interaction, this still smells sweetly, lightly, refreshingly musky, with a bare softness of powder. It is, as others have said, very much a skin scent.

 

With an hour or so of dry-down time, I think I am able to detect a little bit of the kush peeking out; it's not at all a troublesome note, though. Very well-behaved, and only adding an interesting dry-green sort of aspect to the blend. At this point I'm thinking this could work on a guy as well as a girl - there's something slightly gender-neutral about the blend - it's universally sexy-refined.

 

The throw has quieted down a bit (when I first applied I felt like I was exuding it from my pores) but perhaps that is my nose just being used to it. At any rate, it's still EXCELLENT. I will take the next several days to decide whether I need need need it, but right now it is definitely a favorite.

[dixiehellcat]

I had the same issue as dorothy humbird--I wasn't sure how the notes would work on me or if they would at all. But this stuff is lovely! The amber and musk blend beautifully with a hint of dragons blood, which I love. The honey, which I feared would mess the mess totally up, is behaving itself and not too sweet. YUM.

[zankoku_zen]

When I first uncapped my decant, this was a very strong amber/honey mix that made me think of O. Applied, it is less sexual than O by a bit, slightly softer. If O is the act, then Anactoria is the aftermath - lazy, hazy, content, replete.

 

That being said, I think something in this blend doesn't agree with me because it's this amber + honey with a slight 'wool sweater' smell to me.

[RobotBunny]

I was definitely of the group that thought they weren't going to be hugely fond of this one and was quite happily surprised!

 

Sometimes honey can get a bit yucky on me (cloyingly sweet), but the musk and amber are working back there and toning it down. There's that bit of spiciness in it that I was afraid would overpower the rest but instead it's very delicious and definitely a nose-to-wrist kind of scent, so no worries even if it was overpowering; it wouldn't get to waft and give me a headache! Very delicious all around.

[blu°]

Huh? Am I in the right review thread? :

 

I tested this on my right arm while having Love's Philosophy on the other, and it wasn't sweet and warm at all on me/to my nose. I rather got a really pungent men's cologne-tobacco-y thing from Anactoria. It was way to sharp and biting for my tastes. No honey, no amber, no dragon's blood. Ashy and sharp, like yesterday's half smoked cigar. Definitely not a scent I'd wear. (Thank goodness with regard to my wallet! )

[suileach]

*inhale* Ahhhhhh. Gorgeous! In the vial, I smell a gentle, dry sandalwood-like scent. On me, it's delicate honey, currant, and that dusty-dry note. Flashes of musk come and go. This is exceedingly delicate on me, with little throw. It's very much a close to the skin scent. It reminds me a bit of O, but it's much less..smutty on me.

 

15 minutes later. Whoa, dragon's blood!

 

Later later: And now this is really pretty again! It wasn't a bad dragon's blood at stage 2, but it's not something I would have chosen to wear. Now, I'm not sure... The dragon's blood has blended with the musk and honey, and it's become lovely. Soft, verging so close to powdery but not quite there.

 

*looks at note list* Apparently there is not actually any sandalwood in this... Is it the kush that smells all dry and woody, I wonder?

[Wwindy]

Alas, I do not get passionate sex at all from this blend. What I get is a warm, clean, slightly powdery musk with strong grassy overtones. It seems maybe a touch on the masculine side but very wearable in general, although the throw is pretty significant (I had a friend comment that he liked it but I was wearing too much!).

 

Normally I amp fruit like crazy (not in a good way, either ). There's nary a trace of the currant to be found here, though, at least not by my nose.

 

This must be a real morpher, I guess -- I'm looking back over this thread and noting the discrepancies between the people who thought the blend was strong and those who could barely smell it, not to mention the sweet crowd vs. the dry grassy crowd. Weird!

[bites_the_sun]

I adore this scent. I've worn it every day since I got it. It reminds me of a much more sophisticated and complex version of O - a lovely warm, honeyed base with a cool waft of grassy, sometimes veering to mint-like topnote. It's very sensual and comforting to me rather than 'hot hot sex' but that's fine by me. I think I'll be ordering another bottle before it disappears.

[sanachan1]

Imp purchased for lorajc.

 

In the bottle: Musk, and some other smell that just comes across as perfumy to me. I think it might be the amber. It's quite lovely. To me the musk is exactly like the musk in Blood Kiss.

 

On the skin: Musk! It smells almost exactly like Blood Kiss on me at this point. For about the first half hour I wear blood kiss it's all musk, all the time, and this smells pretty similar. I'm not hugely fond of the musk scent though, so I'm hoping it calms down.

 

Half hour later: Musk! Oh, and did I mention musk?

 

*sigh* My skin already ramps up the sweetest notes of every perfume, I'm hoping it doesn't also amp musk as well. Unfortunately this really isn't for me. Oh well, maybe now I'll actually get around to doing some swapping.

[isyche]

Anactoria was very musky and ambery on me -- at first it was all heavy/sweet musk and traditional perfume-y, and then it dried down to mainly the resin notes. I was disappointed because I had been hoping to get more of the currant and honey, but I guess my skin really amps this particular musk.

[Magda]

Right out of the bottle, this is dry, woody incense. Then, o hai there, honey and musk. I'm glad you came by. I love you.

 

I was a little worried that the kush would make me smell like weed. I'm glad that isn't the case.

 

It's not the same thick amber I love so much in Hermia and Hymn to Proserpine, but it's still quite lovely, a little bit powdery but not overly so. I'm barely getting a touch of the red currant, which is a good thing in my book, just enough to make the blend a little sweet.

 

Everything blends so well together as this dries that it's hard to pick out any one note. I feel surrounded by a sexy, mellow cloud. It may just be the power of suggestion, but this makes me want to go out and find someone to have throes of violent passion with. Yum. A definite keeper.

[moonarcana]

I purchased a bottle of this unsniffed when the Lupercalia update first hit. Because I love so many of the notes - especially amber!

 

I've worn it several times now, with different results. When I first apply it, there's the gorgeous amber with a subtle sweetness. The musk note seems to bring a dry quality to the mix - which suits me just fine. However, it disappears from my skin after about an hour, which makes me sad. EXCEPT it work fantastically in my scent locket! The amber dances with the kush, and the two are well balanced by the musk with just a bit of the fruity currants peeking around the corner. I don't find a honey sweet note in this at all - but then I'm not sure how 'white honey' differs from other honey notes that I'm more used to.

 

It puts me in mind of sort of a 'Hellion-lite'...without the patchouli, but a similar vibe to it.

 

I'm very happy that I took a chance with this one and got a bottle!

[MeiLin]

Amber, honey, musk, currant--what could go wrong? Luckily, this time, nothing. Absolutely nothing. Drop dead amazing gorgeous snoggable nothing wrong. Which makes no sense, but that's what this reduces me to. Unlike Death Cap, my standard for raw sex to which other scents may only aspire, this is sweet but sophisticated, with a little edge. I can wear this in public and feel sexy, whereas with Death Cap I feel like my husband is pressed up behind me with his hands on my breasts. Because he usually is when I'm wearing Death Cap. (Your Mileage May Vary.)

 

Actually, I'm going to try layering this with Death Cap. I just kinda have a hunch it'd work.

 

Bottle-worthy. Very bottle-worthy.

[SeaLady]

Alas, this is not warm or sweet on me like I was expecting. I can see where the totally sexy descriptions are coming from, but this is very dry on me, and I don't often wear dry scents. I may try it on the Boy, and see how it is on him. For the most part, I get dragon's blood and a tobacco kind of smell. I'll try it again, but I don't think I need a bottle. It's a lot like Red Moon, which I already have and don't wear often.

[ravenfeathers]

in the bottle sweet, sensuous and darkly feminine. that red currant is reminding me of mme. moriarty. YUM!

wet on skin any resemblance to mme. m is gone except for that sharp, slightly sweet red currant wisp. this is sooooo pretty, dark and almost smoky. the honey is so bright and pale and the amber starts to go a little bit powdery and slinky.

dry on skin amber-y goodness, which is a phrase i didn't think i'd ever use as i'm not a huge fan of amber, but this is so sweet and musky. i really like this.

 

edit this is tending toward heavy and really cologne-y on my retest. the throw is fairly inoffensive, but close to the skin it's a bit acrid. unfortunately, this won't be a bottle purchase for me, which is probably dumb, because i'm guessing this ages really well and i'll be kicking myself a year from now.

 

edit 2 six hours later, it's still plugging along. good wearlength. throw is kind of a musty, musky feminine flowery scent; close to skin is sweet and weedy.

Edited March 12, 2008 by ravenfeathers

[Epiphany]

This is a golden scent. In the imp I get honeyed tobacco--picking up on the Kush I suppose.

 

Thankfully, once it's on my skin it settles down to a lovely balance of honey, musk, resin, and ripe red currants (though the currants do attempt to be grape-like, they mostly stay in check). An hour or so into the drydown, it is amber and musk for certain, sweetened by the honey, with just the slightest hint of currant. The kush seems to have disappeared.

 

I really like this scent, but I'm not sure that I love it. It is...nice, but doesn't make me constantly smell myself. I was really expecting to be more excited about this one--but even though it's a sensual scent, I think the fact that I smelled the really dirty Luperci '08 first spoiled me. This one is not nearly as...orgy-tastic.

[theseagrows]

ooh this is a really interesting scent! it smells like musky-leather and incense on my skin. i definitely think the kush and arabian musk come out most. i'd love to smell this on a boy, but i like it on myself quite a bit. something underlying about it reminds me of tarot: death. i think it's the woody quality. but death is much darker and vetiver-y than this. i think i'll have to get a big bottle of this one.

Edited March 12, 2008 by theseagrows

[Little Bird]

put off trying Anactoria because it's really not my sort of fragrance. I have trouble wearing everything in this with the exception of the currant. The main notes that I get from this one are a heavy musk that goes rather sharp on me, a sticky-sweet honey, and a slightly earthy, tobacco-esque something, all wrapped up in a dry, powdery amber. I also get a sort of wine-like note every once in a while, that might be dragon's blood or the currant going bad against all of the other notes.

 

After about an hour on my skin, this is mostly powder, perfumey musk, and hints of a honeyed sweetness. I have trouble wearing scents that are very dry or very musky, so this isn't a keeper for me.

[nappunkitty]

When I first tried this on, I was ready to go after a couple of bottles--a golden, sweet, sexy scent that makes me think of Perversion lite. After about fifteen minutes, the kush (that is the dry, dry, grassy note, right?) came through with a vengeance, and I began to change my mind. I like kush--pretty sure I've worn perfumes with it or something like it before converting to BPAL, but wasn't sure I wanted to smell like kush central. And then it got sweet again--definitely that currant finally showing up, maybe backed up by the dragon's blood. The kush is still there, but now I can't stop smelling my wrist...or wondering what this will do on my hubby...

 

I'm going to have to get a bottle after all.

[akiko]

I'm liking this one so far.

 

Imp: resiny. Very resiny.

 

Wet: Er, I forgot to sniff my wrist before I rubbed them together this morning. Right after I did that, it was resiny, probably amber.

 

Dry: I can smell some of the honey, though it's turning vaguely powdery. Still resiny, though.