Damnation

[antimony]

The incense of a black mass, the perfume of perdition. White sandalwood, cedar, frankincense and swarthy vetiver.

Quoting myself from when I first tried it:

Ceder and Vetivert on me combine to create something like moldy trees. Add the sandalwood, and we wnd up with my wrists smelling something like smoky moldy trees.

[jj_j]

Smoky moldy trees weren't all that appealing, so I went REALLY easy when applying Damnation. This seemed to do the trick, as I wasn't overpowered or overwhelmed by the definite black and earthen tones that came from drop I applied.

 

I can believe that this scent is representative of a Black Mass. It's the exact opposite of anything light and clear and "good" - and is instead the heavy, enveloping, almost elegantly disquieting scent of "wrong."

 

Not something that I'll wear regularly, but perfect in what it was designed to be.

Edited May 26, 2004 by jj_j

[Lady_Ell]

OK, so it was reminiscent of smoky, moldy trees, but I liked it all the same.

 

Wet: strong, bracing, biting, gnawing, mossy and tree-y and dark and damp and generally kind of scary like you're lost in woods haunted by demon trees

 

Dry: much nicer. Still a bit sinister and strong, but the tree smell is coming out and the smoky smell is kind of pleasant. I wasn't really in the mood to smell like Fangorn Forest so I put some Snake Oil on top of it, and it worked really well. Usually Snake Oil is too sweet for me, but the smoky-tree aspect calmed it down and made it more balanced.

 

I'm keeping the imp, but probably won't buy a big bottle because I'm usually not in a mood to wear something like this.

[Ina Garten Davita]

First Impression: Like Cathedral only deeper and darker. I don't know about black though. Smells more like deep deep shiny brown.

 

Second Impression: I adore Beth's resiny woodsy scents and this is no exception. The saldalwood and cedar are beautiful and gleaming, like highly polished dark wood.

 

Final Analysis: This is heavy, not for daytime summer use, but for night. This would smell wonderful on a man. This also smelled wonderful layered with Unseelie.

[shriekingviolet]

Initial Impression:

Resin notes flowing over a dark wood base.

 

After Wearing It:

When I first applied this, I didn't like it which I found totally disappointing. It was so dry and almost bitter, the frankincense note heavy over the cedar. It just smelled musty and wrong on me. I wasn't in the mood to be openminded today either so I really considered washing it off, but decided to suck it up and persist.

 

After an hour or so, the scent began to acclimate to my skin. The White sandalwood came through making it a slightly sweeter scent. It was still smoky and woody, but much better. By hour three I even got around to liking it. It reminds me of back in junior high when I'd miss a few classes to serve at a funeral (everyone vyed for these jobs because you missed class and it paid) and you'd come back with your clothes smelling of sweet smoke. Everyone would be sniffing the sleeves of your shirt for the rest of the day, because oddly enough, it was a comforting, soothing scent to have around. That's what damnation smells like on me.

 

Damnation also has good throw and staying power. I dabbed this one on rather than giving it my usual smear and it's still going strong 8 hours later.

 

Final Thoughts:

I do like this, but I'll have to test it once or twice more to decide whether or not I like it enough to keep the imp.

[roisnoir]

Dark incense. Myrrh (whoops.. thats got to be the frankensense - see what I get for blindsniffing?). Something else. Vetiver? This just smells black. Like night or leather.

 

This is the smell of a leather jacket borrowed from the boy your mother dislikes and you know better than to get involved with, but can't seem to stop yourself. I'll have to find a boy to pass this to - it's wonderful, but I can't see myself wearing it.

[TygherRayn]

Damnation:

In the bottle, this smells rather ashy, somewhat like Djinn. Behind the ash there's a little bit of something sweet, almost tempting. Like a delicate fruit being offered from the hand of a demon.

 

Wet, this keeps the ashy scent, though it does seem to soften as it's absorbed by my skin, leaving it not so acrid to my nose.

 

Wearing, this stays quite ashy for a while yet, but it's a bit warmer. This is like standing next to a smouldering fire with a mug of warm cider .. but the ashes overpower anything else. It seems to want to have another scent behind it, but doesn't really. Oddly, I like that. I don't know if I could wear this, but it'd make a wonderful Fire oil.

[glampyre]

Wow. Damnation is dark.

 

Like deep, dark earth, woods, mosses, very animal. This has to be the darkest of the BPALs I've smelled to date.

 

It's haunting and sort of scary, actually.

[Penance]

This is, without a doubt, one of my absolute favorite BPAL scents ever. I'm so sad to see it go and even sadder to know that I never got a bottle of it because I never expected to see it go.

 

First sniff:

 

Cedar, extremely strong cedar. I adore cedar, so this is a very good thing. I can also smell something resiny underneath the cedar and looking at the description, it must be hte frankincense. I've never been good at identifying frankincense or myrrh on their own, so it's no surprise that I couldn't pinpoint them in Damnation. I don't smell the vetiver, but that's probably because the cedar is so overwhelming.

 

Wet on skin:

 

This does smell like a darker version of Cathedral! It doesn't strike an "evil" cord with me, it's actually very comforting smelling. It smells like a Cathedral built out of old, worn cedar and filled with the smell of incense smoke, the smoke working its way into the wood and being trapped inside. This is absolutely gorgeous.

 

Dry down:

 

It's lightened up considerably, but the cedar is still prominent, overpowering the smell of incense but not covering it up entirely. This is so beautiful and so comforting to me. I could see myself wearing this every day if it hadn't been discontinued. Now I'll have to ration it, but I'll cherish it for as long as I have it. Absolutely gorgeous.

 

The bottom line:

 

Dark, deep and cedary, like an church in the forest built out of rough-hewn cedar and imprinted with the smell of incense smoke. This is at the very top of my favorite BPAL scents list. I love it.

[grrrlennyl]

damnation

 

at first: very smoky. uncomfortable. i don't think i'll like this one, especially since i can smell the cedar in it.

on: wow. very woodsy. i can smell the vetiver. i like this right now, but don't think i would wear it.

1 hour later: smoky and woodsy. i like this.

2 hours later: just really bad wood on me.

3 hours later: wood.

overall: i just can't get along with wood scents, it seems. this one is a no-go.

[Eris]

Smoky and woody are the first and strongest notes that hit me as this settles on the skin. I noticed when trying Cathedral after Penitence that the former was more woody and less incensey than the latter, and now Damnation goes a step further into total woodiness. The frankincense may be in there, but it's much less noticeable than in the rest of the blends in this family. The cedar definitely rules in this, in almost too harsh a way for me to wear easily as a regular perfume.

 

After a few hours and some routine handwashings, the strongest and darkest wood notes faded finally, allowing the frankincense to surface a little into a soft, inoffensive fragrance. I'm not sure though if Damnation will join my perfume canon or not.

[lixolux]

dark dark dark dark dark dark dark trees and earth, the resins and the vetiver plunge damnation straight thru to be a lot like the smell i would imagine of the soil a foot into the earth - out of the imp its very mossy maybe moldy and upon wearing it turns very very dry for me, still the same tone - its the darkest driest most somber scent i have encountered so far....

[Theravada]

I love sandalwood and cedar so I was really excited to try this one, but I totally underestimated the frankincense and vetiver! Extremely heavy, thick, and overwhelming. I'm just not a fan of these really heavy scents. I can only handle frankincense and vetiver in very small doses, and as indicated by this...not together!

 

But that's ok, because I know a Part-Time Ninja that is going to be very, very happy to give this little imp a new home

[Witch's Dagger]

Damnation

 

Preconceived notions: I was really intrigued by antimony's review, saying it smelled like "smoky moldy trees." I also tried it late enough to know that Penance is dying for it, so I figured if I didn’t like it, I’d send it to her. After all, we’ve swapped before, so I have her address...

 

In the vial: Ah, a nice smoky cedar. Lovely.

 

On me: Is that, could it be, dragon’s blood? Oh, no, must be vetivert - I get those two confused sometimes. It goes very well with the cedar, though. It gives it a rich, ‘bloody’ warmth, which is very sensual. I’ve never smelled a more sensual cedar. The cedar is still the most prominent note, but that’s usual for me.

 

In fifteen minutes: The sandalwood is coming out now, as is the frankincense. It is a very rich,fiery (both cedar and frankincense are “fiery” for me, rather than woody) , powerful scent. At the same time, it is very calming and peaceful. It would be great for grounding and centering rituals.

 

In forty-five minutes (after originally putting it on): Mostly sandalwood at this stage, but I smell some of the other scents in the background.

 

Over time: This is the second time I’ve tested it. The first time, about two hours later, it morphed into a beautiful soft vanilla-like floral (???), while wafting cedar.

 

It lasts well over 24 hours, mostly as a nice cedar scent.

 

Overall: I love this one. Sorry, Penance, but I’m keeping my imp.

[joseybird]

*sniffed from imp and bit of residue*

 

Blackened ceder. scorched cedar. With dark, partially-rotting moss and a touch of fir. This is an incredibly compelling scent, one I can't even imagine being pulled off as a perfume, though I can easily imagine someone using it for ritual-work. This is a :blink: scent, in a good way! If it were still available, I could be convinced to get a 5 ml, but since it isn't...swappers!

[shelldoo]

beautiful, the resins are deep dark, mysterious. the vetiver when wet is the focal point but it settles and becomes a perfectly balanced blend of sandalwood, cedar, and vetiver...def is nice

[sarada]

I was very generously given an imp of this, to my complete and utter surprise! The generosity of BPALers is truly astounding!

 

I had this on my list of things to buy for sure, when it was discontinued...and unfortunately because I'm either blind or stupid I didn't NOTICE it was on the to-be-discontinued list. If I had to list my four favorite things in the world it would run something like this:

 

Vetiver, sandalwood, cedarwood and frankincense. If you add patchouli to that list you get my five favorite things. So, yes, this is destined to be a favorite. Vetiver stands out the strongest in the imp, and it is similar to Malediction and Umbra (without the cinnamony kick). Drying, it is just incredible...the most perfect deep brown wood scent...with a touch of sweetness, a touch of spice...this is profound. It is the dark interior of a wooden chapel and it is sunlight baking the freshly-turned, moist rich earth. I can only hope that some day a bottle of this most sacred substance comes my way, but until then I will savor this imp.

 

In the meantime, the scents that come the closest are the also-discontinued Capricorn (which I have 15 ml worth, thankfully!), Malediction (which is a little sharper and stronger...I definitely like the softening touches that the sandal and cedar provide), Umbra (wish I liked cinnamon more, but it's damn close...) and Anne Bonny (which is missing the vetiver but makes up for it with the fantastic patchouli).

 

Oh Damnation! If only we had met sooner!

[k00kaburra]

In bottle: Smoky cedarwood and white sandalwood. Thank goodness for the sandalwood - it tempers the vetiver and keeps it from shrieking out of control. In my mind I am transported to a clearing in a dark, old forest, where the trees rise so tall and stretch their branches so wide that even though the ground is clear, the sky and sun are blocked by the trees' massive folliage. This clearing is the perfect setting for a Black Mass.

 

On me: More of the same. Fans of smoky and wooden fragrances, rejoice! This one is for you.

[anmorata]

Damnation:

WHEW. The vetiver combined with the frankincense smells like some bizarre variant of patchouli. I can see why Penance loves this, but I'm going to have to pass.

[OriginalWacky]

Bottle (Imp): Very dark and smoky.

 

Just On: This is *really* smoky and dark.

 

An hour or two later: I can smell the smoke really well, and other stuff peeks out here and there.

 

Around 6 hours: I get more smoke than anything else.

 

12 hours: I can still smell the smoke.

 

Overall: This is hands down the smokiest scent I've tried from the lab.

 

After reading other reviews: I didn't get all the woodsy niceness that everyone else seemed to get (or moldy trees!), I just got smoke, smoke, smoke. Nice enough, but probably not something I'm going to go insane over.

[Little Bird]

I'm fond of incense and sandalwood, and I adore frankincense... unfortunately, cedar and vetiver often smell funky when they hit my skin, and they're dominating this one on me.

 

The cedar has that off smoldering BBQ scent that it often does with my skin chemistry, and the vetiver here smells strangely rotten. It reminds me of the awful black vetiver that went so horribly awry in Lenore.

 

Dark, smoky, decaying... and not something that I'd really want to wear.

[slave1]

In Bottle: Dark woods and smoke

 

On Skin: This is incense, strong and in your face. It is dark, smoky and full of vetiver. Very planty, earthy and smoky. The cedar reminds me of being in a sauna where the walls are made of cedar and it’s damp and slightly mildewy. The frankincese is very strong and smoky… I feel like I am in a church and there is incense burning everywhere. It’s just too much for me. The sandalwood seems to blend with the cedar and not really stand on it’s own. This is not a scent I’d wear, it’s just much too smoky and incensey. Medium to strong throw and long wearlength.

[supremegoddessofall]

Mostly sandalwood, with cedar dancing in and out. This is quite lovely.

[edenssixthday]

Damnation - The adjectives that come to mind are dry, dark, raw, earthy, gritty, husky, smoky, dirty, earthy. You get the idea. This blend contains the perfect amount of vetiver to make me a very happy girl. The frankincense backs up the vetiver quite nicely. I even like the cedar in this blend, which is a first, but it compliments the husky frankincense and the gritty vetiver quite nicely. While I can't smell the sandalwood distinctly, I have a feeling that is what is lending the bone-dry, arid feeling to this blend. This is just gorgeous and I'm thrilled I got to try it out. Lovely scent with a perfect amount of throw and fantastic staying power.

[filigree_shadow]

I got to try a sniffie of this one from a generous BPALer, so I didn't do a full test of it. Just sniffed. It smelled kind of hot at first, but then I realized that was some sort of smoky incense note. It smells like wood and incense, kind of a churchy scent, but not nearly as sweet as Cathedral. Much smokier. It reminds me a little bit of Penitence. I'm glad I got to sniff it, but if it were still around I probably wouldn't buy a bottle. I'm very picky about incense + wood scents, as they tend to go too sweet or too woody on me.