Faustus

[asciident]

An infusion of incalculable power and irresistible temptation. Truly an exercise in megalomania and self-gratification: frankincense and cinnamon, darkened by violet.

Wet: Sour body odor. Don't want to put it on.

[Allumina]

I think at this point I am certain that I really dislike frankincense. No cinnamon, maybe violet but I can't tell. It's interesting, but not me. Not sweet, but perfumed and a bit soapy. Grandiose. Heachache inducing. I'm sure it will be fabulous on someone else.

[WidgetAlley]

Imp: Sharp, bitter frankincense, thin cinnamon and bitter violet. Ugh.

 

Wet: At first, potatoes. No lie. Must be the violet, it smelled like carrots last time. Root vegetables seem to be its thing. Then banana-scented soap. WTF? Frankincense must have a banana smell on me, I got that in Midnight Mass '06 a little as well. Banana soap and cinnamon. Aww, man, it's making me crave fried bananas!

 

Dry: Boy says: "Smells like cinnamon bananas and diapers." Definitely not for me.

[ImperatrixMundi]

The good news: Frankincense and Violet make a dark, smooth and sweet combination. I have some greek violet incense that smells wonderful.

 

The bad news: Cinnamon is nowhere to be smelled and the damn frankincense becomes stale powder in no time at all.

 

Le Sigh.

[djsiberia]

hm. violets? where? cinnamon and frankincense. this is just yuck....

 

[isentropic]

Faustus

----

 

First impression: wet, spicy, very fall, something that reminds me of the spice in event horizon. rich, masculine, maybe cinnamon

After dried a bit: getting a potpurri vibe kinda, a little too sweet -- probably the violets. not really digging this.

Two hours later: softened way down. potpurri-y still but its not bad. very violet and frankincense and fake cinnamon. its not unpleasant, but nothing to get excited over, imo

 

Lasting power: began fading about 2.5 hours after wearing.

 

Overall: Not bad, but probably won't wear it again unless I put it in a sent locket.

 

[bubblefish]

This was surprisingly pleasant. It's this lovely warm mix of light florals and a touch of spice with a background of dilute incense. Over time it gets a little more spicy

[angelicruin]

Inside the imp, I'm just getting violets.

 

Wet on my skin, frankincense and violets at the start. A bit of cinnamon as it begins to dry on my skin.

 

Dries to mostly violet incense. A bit soapy.

[hkhm]

imp: i'm mostly smelling light, sweet frankincense here. this is much sweeter than frankincense usually smells to me.

 

wet: very sweet, slightly powdery violet over frankincense. the cinnamon is absent, i get no burn from it and can't smell even a hint of it.

 

dry: the frankincense is most dominant. the violet is sweet, but far in the background, making it more of an afterthought. nice.

[melrose]

First on: nice, interesting, very masculine.

 

Drydown: musty old man.

 

Not for me.

[Xylis]

as a rule, i truly fear frankincense. even when it's not one of the dominant notes, my skin has the nasty habit of amping it up to the point of being obnoxious. however, i couldn't resist ordering faustus because i just love his story. so i was feeling adventurous last night and decided to give it a run. and i was so gorgeously surprised.

 

in the imp

 

this is hard to believe, but it actually smells really good! it's distinctly frankincense, but this version of it is sweet without being cloying or innocent. it's power tempered by something more fragile and i guess, at the heart of the matter, that was what faustus was. sheer, crazy ambition, and yet, it was all founded by a dream.

 

 

wet on my skin

 

God bless the violet. it's really soothing the frankincense, blending it so that it becomes like a perfect unity of two lovers. this scent is strong, yet delicate all at once. i can't pick out a distinct note of the cinnamon, but it's there, warming the scent.

 

 

the drydown

 

i'm surprised. i'm really loving this scent. in fact, i wish i could slather it on my fiance, i'm interested to know how his body chemistry would react to it. on me, it's kinda androgynous in a good way. i think i may just be a violet fan, i love what it's doing to the frankincense. this is a really warm blend, and i feel just that bit more confident wearing it.

 

hours from my first application, it's started to fade into a slightly powdery version of a mild frankincense that's not unpleasant. this blend has rather good staying power.

 

 

verdict

 

i'm surprised to say that i actually liked faustus. i'm not crazy about it, because frankly, i can't imagine myself wearing this out of the house as a scent, it's just not me. but i think this would be delish on a man ie my fiance or my father. i'll be keeping my imp, but a bottle this shall not be. still, i enjoyed the ride, and will gladly reach for it again.

 

 

[Usagi]

Imp:slightly fruity floral perfume; rose

Wet:rose and something else that is slightly sharp

Dry:scented handsoap. I think get a little bit of violet in the throw, kind of sweet and warm

 

 

[arsenicsauce]

Wet: Woah, this is a darker frankincense than I've encountered before. It's sour, in the musty way that vetiver is sour.

 

Dry: ...Yeah, not much change. Very musty. Frankincense is usually a note I like, so I'm not sure exactly what in this blend is setting it off so badly on my skin. There's an unpleasantly strong floral making itself apparent, and if it's violet then violet smells a lot like rose to me in the "soap" way.

[Aldercy]

This is one of those nonsensical scents in which I love all the listed notes and yet somehow hate the resulting perfume. Faustus is metallic, chemical, mildewy BO on me, and I really don't know why. It's more violet than anything, but a very, very corrupted violet.

[jamethiel]

In the imp: Cinnamon and violet.

Wet: cinnamon and almond.

After five minutes: Violet comes out: the almond has faded. I can't smell the frankincense at all.

Ten minutes. The violet gets stronger. It's got quite a lot of throw.

After 15 minutes: FINALLY the frankincense is coming out, but it's very sweet for frankincense.

 

The drydown: sweet frankincense.

 

TBH, there are other BPAL scents with frankincense that I prefer. Too sweet for me. To the swap pile!

[Venneh]

In the imp, I'm getting frankincense and violet. Hrm. On my skin, it's pretty much still frankincense and violet, with maybe some cinnamon in there? Not sure what to think just yet. Smells like incense soap. Ehhh.

Edited January 20, 2010 by Venneh

[Greenwoodtree]

I really love wearing straight frankincense, and cinnamon is nice.

 

However, this smelled best in the imp. As soon as I put it on, it turned into this dry, powdery smell with a slight spice undertone, and frankincense WAYYY in the background.

 

Im really disappointed...had high hopes. Its boring and old smelling.

[Roogna]

talk about disappointed.

 

I normally amp cinnamon and violet in good ways but I get neither of those here

 

it just smells like flowery baby powder on me

[Saya]

When first applied the frankincense and violet are pretty strong, I don't get much in the way of cinnamon. After a few hours the violet burns off and I'm left with a single note frankincense blend. It smells nice, but not something I'd wear.

[animalcule]

I can't pick out any of the listed notes. All I know is that this smells awful to me (can't describe how). And it's ridiculously strong, I don't know why I applied it to my skin, but after I did I could smell it on me after like three scrubbings with detergent.

[raisin]

Too sweet, but easily the best that cinnamon, violet, or frankincense has ever smelled on me. These notes go together surprisingly well, but I just can't dig the end result. It manages to simultaneously walk those three lines I don't like to cross: foody, floral, & incense. It doesn't actually cross them, mind; it just walks them. Expertly.

It is a devastatingly interesting blend, though. I'm sure I'd love it on someone else, but I'm just not courageous enough to wear it. I'm not sure who this blend is for, but I kind of want to know that person.

[Gold Dust Kitten]

Woo, this is strong. Frankincense is definitely the front runner here, violet next. I don't smell cinnamon and the oil isn't burning my skin. Initially this had some promise but it ended up smelling like generic perfume.

[SophieCedar]

Can't say I even remember seeing this one, so thanks for the frimp, lab!

Wet: arm away from nose, I smell something rosey? This is strange.. Oh wait, there's violet in this being distorted by cinnamon. That's it.

Drydown: this has to be the weirdest, most undefinable scent I've received yet. The mix of these 3 ingredients is so confusing that I can't identify any elements on a blind test! But seriously, it smells nice. A bit powdery, green, floral, and sweet. I balanced but powerful masculine blend.

 

Men, go forth and confuse!

[la belle dame sans merci]

The throw on this is incredibly strong! My daughter could smell it in the other room. I had to go wash it off and we can't smell it on me anymore but the entire house smells like Faustus now, which does smell like sweet frankincense, a little violet, but no cinnamon. Mostly, it smells like industrial antibacterial soap to me.

[milica]

An unexpected like.

It is a bit soapish because of the violet, but nice soapish. Smells like very delicate violet incense, no cinnamon for me, good throw, lasts for hours. But imp will be enough for now.

Edited October 12, 2010 by milica