Valentine of Rome

[rayvn1]

Ecclesiastical incense, Roman flora, and the fruits of martyrdom: cypress, olive blossom, frankincense, myrrh, and blood accord.

This reminded me so much of The High Priest not to be Described - I think that one is an incense with chamomile - may be the Roman flora and olive blossom that give me the chamomile-y vibe. I thought blood may overwhelm this one, but not so! I like it very much - rich, dry incense livened up with some flora. Good times.

Edit to add scent description

ETA: Oy. Skin chemistry change where I now amp clove like I'm covered in pickling spices Alas.

[Aldercy]

Achingly beautiful frankincense! This is an ideal spiced, antiqued Roman frankincense/myrrh blend.

 

Warm wood sap and a slight floral undertone-- I can't really discern any flowers specifically, but they're kind of spiky and bitter, not sweet. Maybe chamomile, maybe dried rose, maybe a little of that olive blossom. But it's hard to say. Slightly metallic in a brassy way. Valentine of Rome is a furious, tingly, smoky, darkly Classical/Catholic scent. It brings to mind fire-lit ruins and catacombs.

 

Not feminine or traditionally attractive-- definitely not an evening-at-the-bar scent-- but perfect for, say, late-night reading.

 

ETA: VoR is the closest thing I've found to a "fireworks" smell, which is definitely a good thing.

Edited September 27, 2009 by Aldercy

[surlygurl]

Last summer I was toying with the idea of swapping/selling this one away. I remembered it being heavy incense /resin that didn't work on me that well.

 

Now that it's winter, this is the most glorious scent!! Dark green cypress, yellow-green olive, frank & myrrh - a dream come true. Luckily, the blood accord must be just a rumor because I don't smell it. As it dries, the 'roman flora' comes out and I smell spices (?) but I can't identify the florals. They may just be there to color the resins. Gorgeous, gorgeous scent!

 

If you like the Penitence-type scents, you owe it to yourself to hunt down a decant of this.

Edited January 2, 2010 by surlygurl

[voodoocatwoman]

All right, who switched out my bottle of incense-y goodness for a bottle of cloves?

 

That is all I smell. Cloves.

 

*sigh*

[Schmoozy]

Herbal, woods, resins and incense. Kinda reminds me of Midnight Mass in a way. Except Valentine of Rome is definitely more woodsy.

It's the cypress, and together with frankincense and myrrh make this really spicy, yet thick incense blend.

[filigree_shadow]

On me this is strong cypress, with a little bit of incense smokiness. It reminds me of church. And it's strrrrrrong.

Three hours later, it's entirely cypress. That's all that's left.

 

This is something that I'd like to smell on someone else. It's a pleasant scent, and I enjoy being around it... for a little while. It's not something I'd personally want to smell for 4+ hours non-stop.

[Penance]

Origin:

 

5mL from occurs.

 

Preconceived notions:

 

I love incense. Any kind of incense, but especially incense that makes me think of a church or a headshop. Cypress should be fine, too. The only thing that worries me here here is the blood. I'm not a fan of the scent of blood (or of the scent of metallics, for that matter, and blood has a coppery smell). Even if it were dragon's blood, it would be iffy, since I tend to think dragon's blood smells like a cross between flowers and cherry syrup. So I'm hoping for the best, but I'm prepared for Valentine of Rome to possibly go wrong on me.

 

First sniff:

 

Clove?! No...carnation. That's all I'm smelling here and it...is...strong. There's no clove or carnation listed in the notes on this, so either I'm misinterpreting something here or it's just one of those unlisted notes that come up in BPAL scents now and then. I see that voodoocatwoman also got clove, so I guess it's not just me, although I tend to think that this is carnation (and a very strong carnation at that), that I'm smelling. It reminds me of another BPAL scent, but I can't place it just yet.

 

Wet on skin:

 

Spicy carnation. Straight up. It reminds me a bit of Clemence and a bit of my experimental blend (which smells like pure spicy carnation to me and reminds me of Lush's Potion/Ruby Red Slippers). And it's not working for me at this point. Carnation is sometimes okay, but it tends to give me a headache.

 

Dry down:

 

I'm finally getting some dry incense here, but mostly I'm still getting super strong, spicy carnation. I don't get any cypress. I don't get any blood. I get spicy florals and a bit of incense. And a headache.

 

The bottom line:

 

I was hoping this would work, but expecting it to be wrong for me in some way, but not for it to go wrong like this. Maybe my nose is broken and there's no carnation (or clove) in this, but that's virtually all I can smell. I guess Valentine will be moving onto a new home since it's not working for me. And I'll continue my search for new resin/incense blends to add to my collection.

[cfrancesca]

2011: I get a spicy, clovey scent (it might be the combination of the notes?), strong smokey resins, and a bit of olive blossom. After a short while I start getting the blood accord, which usually works really well on me.

[thekittenkat]

This is for the 2011 version.

 

In the decant: All the incense notes are being sweetened by the olive blossom and the blood accord.

 

Wet: Mostly olive blossom, and hints of the blood.

 

The dry-down: Finally, the incense notes return, but they seemed subdued. The flora and the cypress are also rather faint. This is sweeter and less resinous and less of the incense notes than expected. The olive blossom and the blood accord acount for that.

[diBenjamin94108]

Herbal and woodsy. If anyone is familiar with Santa Maria Novella, this smells a lot like their potpourri. I think it's a very medieval scent. Evocative. My 4 year old said, it smells like a tree. It's very wearable, I could wear it every day. It makes me happy.

[milo]

Wet to dry, a very 'dry' and warm incense. I really don't get much else. I kind of like my incense mixed with other notes (that come out!), so this is kind of bland for me. Those of you who like incensey blends should try this, though.

[Drarra]

2011 Version - These notes look so perfect for me. Incense? That's completely my thing! Cypress? This is in my favorite Halloweenie! Ooh, excited!

 

In the bottle: This is... floral? There's a touch of resins, but I'm getting primarily a floral smell.

 

Wet: My wrist smells like flowers that have been sprayed with soapy water. But mostly like soap. Wait a second... could that blood accord be a dragon's blood resin? That would completely explain what is happening here.

 

Dry: My skin is amping the floral notes. And the soap. I'm convinced the soap is coming from the blood accord. Curses, dragon's blood resin! Why must you smell so wonderful in incense and so horrible on my poor, unsuspecting skin?

 

Overall: I was hoping for a lovely, wonderful resinous blend. Alas, Valentine was not destined to give this to me. I SO GLAD I did not order a full bottle of this unsniffed.

[Vega]

Reviewing the 2008 version.

 

Sniffed: Rich, heady, slightly spicy-sweet incense.

 

On skin: Cathedral is my "benchmark" for dark, dusty, woody incense. Valentine of Rome is one up on Cathedral: the same fragrant woods and incense, smoothened and sweetened with cypress and olive blossom. I'm not sure how the blood accord is meant to smell, but somehow the scent feels "reddened", but not metallic as fresh blood is. Overall, this is a fragrant, rich incense: deep and solemn and certainly ecclesiastical, but also warm with the redness of blood, and fresh with cypress. The redness fades over time, but the scent remains rich and smooth. Colour impression is charred brown slashed with the dark crimson of drying blood.

 

Verdict: I love Valentine of Rome! It is my favourite incense blend, at once solemn and radiant with piety and devotion. A dark scent that's also comforting to wear. Definitely bottle-worthy. Between this and Sunbird, I have my dark and bright incense covered!

[bheansidhe]

I have found my incense smoke scent!

 

Full disclosure: the Lab's cypress, myrtle, and olive blossom notes love my skin; its myrrh does not. I wasn't sure which would win. The result is dry, woodsy, with a stinging hint of saltpeter or brimstone anchoring a very evocative, realistic incense over burning coals. Gentler on my skin than Brimstone or Djinn, which I enjoy but can't wear in large quantities.

 

This is smoky and the best kind of sinful to me.

[whitsunweddings]

In the imp: This just smells like Christmas in a way I can't really describe. Sweet frankincense is the dominant note.

Wet: Frankincense and blood, which is pretty much identical to clove.

Dry: On me this is really just frankincense and clove, which is fine by me as they're two of my favourite notes. So glad I got a bottle!

[WidgetAlley]

Mine is the 2008.

 

Bottle: Thick, sweet, woodsy incense, heavy on the clove, myrrh and frankincense and much lighter on the cypress. There might be a tiny bit of olive blossom hovering around somewhere, sweetening it all up.

 

Wet: Bitter frankincense and myrrh, followed by splintery clove and a sharp, dry cypress. Little to no olive blossom or blood to smooth out the whole thing. It's woody incense through and through.

 

Dry: Unfortunately, as they often do, the myrrh and frankincense combine here to make this sort of a muddy, incense-y mess on my skin. That's too bad, because for a moment there the clove and woods were just lovely! This will need a new home.

[theredshoes]

2008 version. This might be the scent that finally makes me learn my lesson about green notes. I amp grass and other herbal stuff like it's my job, making perfumes like Two, Five and Seven a disaster on me, but I've had good luck with some BPALs with juniper and cypress in. I love ancient Rome, I love incense and resins, so I took a gamble....

 

In the bottle: Something sweet but also really sharp. Licorice! Carnations? CLOVES. Flashback to artsy college friends smoking clove cigarettes which always made me cough. I do smell some beautiful dark rich incense buried under the cloves, but this is not a good opening.

 

Wet: CLOVES. Clovezilla stomping all over the myrrh and frankincense, probably even the myrtle, absolutely everything else. It's not a sharp headache-causing scent, but kind of sweet-yet-tangy, like fresh-picked herbs. I smell like a spice rack.

 

Drydown: A little bit of dark pretty incense emerges, but it's very faint and mashed into the tracks of CLOVEZILLA. The CLOVES smell finally does settle down a bit (WTF is causing this? the dragon's blood? the myrtle? some combination?) and more incense comes out, sort of, but it's so faint it's hard to tell if that's really happening or wishful thinking.

 

Verdict: If you've ever tasted old-time horehound drops, I now smell pretty much like that, except with more cinnamon (which I don't like as a note) and less mint. I am kinda heartbroken here. I might try this in a scent locket or as a room scent to see if the incense comes out more.

[Jangzonrice]

2014 version: wet: slightly sour incense. dry: frankincense and myrrh, olive blossom grounds it and something makes it a little spicy (cypress??) overall, i like it and i think it will age well and layer with other scents well. throw is good and it's still going strong after 3 hours.

[Magycmyste]

In the imp: That is some incense! Minty incense!

 

Wet on skin: Incense with a bit of wood.

 

Dried down: Still incensey, but much softer. It smells like camphor to me.

 

Throw: Camphor - not very strong at all.

 

Verdict: *** 1/* I dolike this, but not nearly as much as I like other blends. I'll pass on this one.

[MCS4096]

The frankincense is more obvious when wet, but once dried down I get mostly spicy myrrh with a hint of cypress. This isnt necessarily exciting, but it is pretty great stuff. I find it pretty similar to Minotaur (another one that is mostly spicy myrrh to me).

[mymymai]

2014 Version

ITI: It's lightly sweet, but primarily resinous, but daintily so. I do get the incense, frankincense, and myrrh, but the olive blossom and blood resin are very balanced underneath, not overpowering the delicate incense or the light florals.

 

Wet: Olive blossom (light, well-behaved, subtle), followed by frankincense, myrrh, light cypress (which is unusual as that note tends to dominate on my skin), and delicate florals like baby's bread and daffodils. This is really rather nice.

 

Dry: Gosh, the frankincense and myrrh develop nicely once dried down some. The blood resin paired with the olive blossom and floral lend themselves to an innocently sweet yet resinously sultry scent that is really rather beautiful and would be suited for day or evening year. I think I need a bottle of this one.

[milo]

Looks like the frankincense is amping on me:(. After a couple of hours, the incense is showing itself, just a faint one though. Not for me, though I'm discovering that frankincense likes me a lot.

[annemathematics]

2014 version

 

on me all I smell is the clove. a complex clove, supported by other notes, but pretty much straight smokey clove clove CLOVE!

 

big throw, lasts longer than does my desire to wear such strong clove.

[Lucchesa]

Valentine of Rome 2014 is a surprise hit on me.  I was frimped a decant and would probably have avoided it because olive blossom has a history of going soapy on me.  But I don't even perceive it here.  Instead, it is mostly frankincense on me, a gorgeous frankincense with good throw.  I can make out the myrrh too, and the blood is distinct on drydown, but the other notes jumble together in the background,  making the frankincense sweet and warm and smoky instead of dry and woody.  I like Penitence, but it's austere; I think Valentine of Rome is much more wearable for me.  

[LavenderCoffee]

got the 2011 version as a frottle and it is so gorgeous! have to echo the "warm and smoky" vibe from Lucchesa - I find this much more cozy and sensual than I would have expected from the notes. this is going into my fav incense blends category.