Fascinum

[waternight]

Golden amber, golden musk, litsea cubeba, cedar, and saffron.

Ok. I just got this yesterday as a frimp, and I thought, spiced amber? The Lion was pretty "meh" on me, so I didn't have high hopes for Fascinum.

Bite my tongue. Fascinum is amazing.

Its golden, warm, sweet resins that are kept from being sticky or cloying by the cedar and saffron. It's spicy in the very best way possible. It has hints of cedar from time to time that stay modestly in the background. It smells strong in the imp and when first applied, but it quickly settles down into a gentle scent that stays close to the skin. It's like my beloved Anubis but less sweet and more spicy and musky.

It is made of ABSOLUTE WIN.

[Indigo78]

Recieved as a frimp with my first order ever, I had no expectations before dabbing this on. I read the description, but had forgotten everything except the Roman phallic symbolism involved.

 

In the imp: Spicy, spicy spicy. Eeps...and not in the way I am fond of. Fascinum cleared it's throat and stated loudly: "I AM WHAT I AM". Blisteringly strong.

 

Wet on skin: It is still biting my nose. Cinnamon popcorn glaze, red hots, some sort of holiday spiciness as well (think: cloves?). The spice and resin are assailing. The bittersweet scent is overpowering at best, and I agree with the notion that it resembles some kind of men's cologne. Maybe Old Spice on steroids?

 

10 minutes later: This needs to be washed off. Unevolved as it may sound, I can't identify these notes because I am not fond of them. Now I know that. Tremendous throw.

 

Late Dry Down: Tolerable now, but simply not my thing. The warmth and sweetness have overcome the initial sharp notes, kind of powdery but with pronounced spiciness still going strong.

 

This would probably work well for someone, but not myself

[Aredhel]

Rating (on skin): 5/5

Summarised in a few words/smilie: Sexy!

 

Preconceived notions/pre-review thoughts: I love all the listed notes (save cubeba, simply because I've never experienced it in a perfume). Generally, this bodes well!

 

In the imp: Rich, musky amber and the most wonderful cedar. So far, so good!

 

On skin, wet: Musky, spicy cedar. Very strong and very warm. I'm definitely digging this, but I do hope the cedar backs of a bit -- while I do adore cedar, I'm hoping this doesn't end up as a cedar single note!

 

On skin, dry: As it dries, the saffron begins to make more of a pronounced appearance. When dry, Fascinum is thick, warm, musky, woodsy, and very spicy. It's no surprise, then, that I'm terribly fond of it.

 

Conclusion: Fascinum is absolutely beautiful. I don't think of this as a 'masculine' scent at all. To me, it's simply a spicy, musky, sexy scent I'll definitely be getting a bottle of.

Edited May 28, 2008 by Aredhel

[suileach]

An interesting scent of the woodsy-oriental type. Much less dry than I was expecting! There's a sweetness lying underneath, almost a tang of fruit. This smells rather like a masculine version of O - sex and powdery amber - the honey replaced by saffron and woody notes. The cedar is strong but functions mainly as a backdrop, grounding the sweet, heady golden amber. After an hour, it has become sweet enough to remind me of another phallic scent - Harikata.

 

Overall: Pretty sexy! I amp sweet notes and amber, making this much less dry and incensey than I think it would otherwise have been. Very wearable for me personally, and a scent I would love to smell on someone else.

[greenranger]

On me, it's a sweet golden scent with a good deal of staying power. I know from other scents that cedar and musk tend to last on my skin. There are other notes that are also lasting well, though. I haven't encountered litsea cubeba before, and amber and saffron I haven't tried enough of yet to know how well my skin likes them. There's a warmth to the scent that might be saffron, but, I'm not certain.

 

 

Well, it is a spicy, musky warm scent that is lasting fairly well on me. I'll probably use the imp fairly often.

[idoru]

Directly from my jotted notes:

 

'Golden' scent, warm & dry -- unisex, the cedar more mellow than expected after initial ping. Its throw elicits a feel of a gold shimmery aura, but almost 'copper' in depth. I agree w/ the forum "sweet resin/mild incense"-y feel.

 

Of course, I have 0 idea how the cubeba fits in.. it's just a deep, bronzy, spicy skin scent. I'd love to put this on my SO -- it might smell even better on him than on me. Right now, it's one of my amber/musk/spice go-tos.

[midnight_aeval]

Soapy? But why? There don't seem to be any offending possible soap notes, so why must it be soap on my skin.... Spicey soap. Now, this is weird, it reminds me of when I was in pre-school which was in an old church. Maybe the wood notes are surfacing. Slowly the soap goes away which is good.

 

Upon drydown the soap is pretty much gone and now I'm getting wood + playdough that's probably why it's reminding me of preschool.

 

Still a slightly odd scent...

 

I guess I could keep this one around for my husband to test, maybe it'd smell better on him.

[kjirstiben]

Fascinum was the first really bad experience I've had with BPAL so far. Not sure what did it, but something started to amp after it hit my skin and it kept getting worse, and worse, and worse, until I had a headache and a burnt-out nose... I scrubbed it off--with several rounds of soap--and it mostly went away, thank goodness!

 

In the bottle: Amber and cedar. A resiny scent.

 

Initial application: Cedar, mostly. Slightly masculine, herbal.

 

A little later: Quite masculine. Cedar and... something... reminds me of old-man aftershave... strong, heavy. Almost minty, but not in a sweet way... tangy, almost bitter

 

Eventually: Something in this started to amp into screaming generic male cologne, of the headache-inducing, taste-it-in-the-back-of-your-throat variety. Overly pungent and extremely masculine on me.

 

I had to wash it off because it was taking over the room.

 

I find this terribly disappointing... I like amber, cedar, saffron... all those golden scents. But this just would not play with my skin chemistry. Perhaps I'll set it aside and see if aging improves it.

[diamondstars]

In the imp this smells quite masculine and not something I'd usually go for, so I'm glad I gave it a chance on skin. Spicy cola!

[ND¢]

Lemon verbena and red hots... a not-too-pleasant combination with a sharp, gritty clash where the two scents meet.

[auburnette]

FASCINUM

 

Dark golden; thick

 

In bottle: spicy, smells quite masculine, but a lovely roundness underneath, and floral? I think I can smell vetiver (or something that is in Highwayman, anyway) but it's warmed wonderfully by the softer notes.

 

Wet, on skin: Astringent, almost a hydrogen peroxide smell at first! Then...argh...erm...

semen

. I really hope this stage passes quickly. Well, it certainly represents its name during this stage...

 

Dry, on skin: It's softening up and smelling quite lemony but I can still smell that smell. I'm not going to be able to keep it on for much longer if it continues to smell like that...I can't tell if it's my body chemistry working with it or against it!

 

Nope, can't take this one, going to have to wash it off. Sorry Fascinum, you could be quite fascinating in the right circumstances on the right person, but not on me.

[zankoku_zen]

This one was a lovely, soft resin. I got an almost 'rose' overtone to it - it was warm, soft, feminine. The cedar wasn't too much.

 

I found this to be a very 'skin' sort of scent. The kind that invites you to come hither.

 

It's a pretty scent but it didn't knock my socks off.

[juniperus]

bottle: cedar and the spicy-lemony (right?) litsea cubeba

wet: the cedar is stepping back, and I can almost, but not quite, pick out the saffron behind the spicy-citrusy

dry: the warmth of the amber and musk are moving forward, but the litsea cubeba is still at the fore (but it's not sweet, it's really very pleasant)

later: warm and spicy, but still rather on the sweet side for me. alas... were it just a little less sweet I'd adore it.

[Kimbernunk]

Before this comes near my skin, while it's just in the imp, it smells like a really lovely, androgynous perfume.

 

When it touches my skin it turns into SOAP on the order of Irish Springs or some other really cheap drug store soap. It's TERRIBLE.

 

Dry, after an hour: It's resiny, slightly citrus, slightly spicy. And still, fundamentally, and underneath all of the pleasantness just described, it's SOAP.

The soap is making my nose run.

 

Not for me, at least on my skin. It's lovely before my skin ruins it, though, so I may try it in a locket.

[forspecial_plate]

I got to try this recently, and I think it's a real winner. Very golden, musky, amber....spicy. I get a big hit of pine, and not much cedar at all when I wore it. It's pretty strong, and lasted for hours on my skin, which eventually made me a little weary of it. I think applied more lightly it would be a perfect scent, and I wouldn't really need a big bottle. An imp would be just right.

[crebbsgirl]

Alright on me, this went to indiscriminate male cologne. I got the cedary-amber-spice with a bit of herbaceous edge to it but ultimately, I don't think this worked on me. Also, this had a LOT of throw for me. I just used a dot on my wrists and the woman across the room at work said she could smell me.

[mansku11]

Wet, on skin: Astringent, almost a hydrogen peroxide smell at first! Then...argh...erm...

semen

. I really hope this stage passes quickly. Well, it certainly represents its name during this stage...

 

I thought I was crazy. I get exactly that same weird, kind of gross smell; and it REALLY amps up to the point of obliterating everything else. I really wanted to like this one, and it smells awesome in the bottle, like rich, golden incense. Maybe the fact that I amp that note says something about me!!!

[goblinshark]

In the imp, it smells like a dentist's office. On me, though, it goes nice and spicy-soft, and the cedar, for once, does not take over. Not sure if it's love, but I am strongly in like with this scent and will certainly use up my imp.

[olive]

What the hell? How is this scent not hugely popular?! I've had this imp sitting here a week or so but just got around to trying it today, woa damn! I've gotta say I'm really, really, really, REALLY impressed with this.

 

Fascinum starts off with something of a muted cinnamon (must be saffron+cedar) meets musk (a really refined and elegant musk, not the semi-synth musk from Bachelor's Dog, Brom Bones, etc). The cinnamon-esque fragrance peels away shortly after drydown and what's left is a super rich and glowing amber (I'm a certified amber hater but occasionally I come across scents so perfectly done that I fall in love with amber, Fascinum is a perfect example) mixed with what smells like my absolute favorite tea in the world, Tazo Passion. So yeah, a spicy tea with gorgeous amber and divine musk.

 

This scent is freaking magnificent in every way. Sometimes I feel myself getting a sense of "bpal burnout" then scents like this come along and rejuvenate my nose and appreciation for this fine company. I can't recommend this enough to anyone. A new top 10 easily. I can't stop sniffing my wrist!!! LOVE IT!

[porcelina]

i randomly stumbled across fascinum, a blend i hadn't heard of, ever, and was intrigued by the golden musk/resin/wood combo. i was so excited to try it, and with good reason! this stuff is great... elegant musk and woods with amber and a touch of saffron, how could you go wrong?

[Iceblink]

Fascinum=mostly a generic amber/musk on me. It's not bad but it's a bit boring, like one of the main components is still waiting to be added or something. Might be nice to layer with.

[Brianne]

Most of these notes work well on me in other scents, but in this combination... they just don't jive with me. This comes off as slightly spiced lemon verbena with a touch of woodiness. It's not bad at all, in any regard. It just reminds me of a soap...like a soap you would get at Crabtree & Evelyn or something, a spa soap sort of.

[galahad]

In The Bottle

Musk, cedar and a touch of saffron

 

On Application

Surprisingly spicy musk

 

Dry Down

Warm and airy. I like what the saffron does in ths blend. Spicy, golden and slightly medicinal this is a grown up scent.

 

Rating (0-5)

3.5

[jrk1857]

I love this one oh-so-much. (Whichever BPAL is the newest tends to be my favorite, so right now this is it.)

 

Amber tends to become yellow Dial soap on me, and I do get that here at a certain distance from my wrist. The throw, though, is a beautiful golden spice, with just the tiniest dab of cedar. It's a lovely and complex scent, which is especially nice given that most spicy perfumes flatten into generic cinnamon when I wear them. I have a feeling this is definitely this year's holiday party choice, even over my "real" Yule blends. It's the perfect balance of sexy grownup perfume and comfort scent.

 

It isn't manly at all on me, although I could definitely imagine a man wearing it.

[Sapphiremo0n]

Sharp and Golden are the two thoughts I get on first whiff. It strikes me between the eyes like a ray of sunlight warm and golden.

On my wrist I smell lots of spice, the saffron is entwined with the cedar in this delightful mix.

Musk and sweet amber are dominating on the time-elapse. This smells like something Really expensive, would make a great scent for dressing up and going out on the town or into a business meeting.

 

I give this scent a 7 out of 10, very nice.