The Maltese Cross of Sanctus Germanus

[motdakasha]

THE MALTESE CROSS OF SANCTUS GERMANUS
Could this contain the secret of eternal life?
Golden amber, blood orange, ambergris, lilac, frankincense, and agarwood.

In the bottle:

Rating (1-5): 5
Notes: blood orange, frankincense
Comment: I was excited about this because French Huguenots also identified with the Maltese Cross and that's part of my family tree. Very sharp and intense in the bottle.

Wet on skin:

Rating (1-5): 4
Notes: blood orange, golden amber
Comment: My nose is a bit fried from weather and allergies at the moment, so I'm not picking up much other than orange.

Dry on skin:

Rating (1-5): 4
Notes: golden amber, lilac, agarwood, frankincense, maybe ambergris?
Scent Intensity (1-5): 4
Comment: I don't generally enjoy floral notes, but this is quite pleasant because it's not at the forefront. In your face stabby orange subdued by pretty golden amber.

Misc:

Duration: N/A
Keyword(s): non-floral floral
Color: Marigold
Smells like: N/A

[ivyandpeony]

I am officially in love with this scent and so glad I ordered it! I do love resins, but I have a complete arsenal of smoky and incensey ones. I was hoping for a delicious, resinous base with a little bit of the spice that seems to come naturally to the amber, some sweetness from the orange, lilac and ambergris bouquet, and frankincense that is happy to be a supporting member of the cast. And this is exactly what I got. I even find this sweet enough to skew to the feminine side. If there is nothing sweet or slightly floral about a blend, my chemistry will make it dry and amp the woods and masculinity, making it as swarthy as can be. So I am thrilled that I don't get anything remotely manly from this combination of notes. I think this is going to become one of my most beloved amber blends.

[Ina Garten Davita]

I adore lilace and blood orange and have found that ambergris is one of those "secret ingredients" that gives some of my favorite scents that extra something special but overall the note listing didn't give me much pause to exclaim, "I must have this!" I had the opportunity to try this yesterday and to the millionth degree!

 

Love at first sniff out of the bottle, the amazement continued as I applied it. I had my forearm to my nose all day, drinking it in. It stayed true to its character for hours and hours, never getting powdery or funky as amber scents tend to on my skin. Resinous without being head-shoppy, incensey but in no way churchy, floral but not heady in the least. I'm at a loss for words to describe how it actually smells because there is this disconnect between reading of the notes on the screen and sniffing the perfume on my skin. This is one of those scents that is exponentially greater than the sum of its parts. I am completely blown away by the style and substance of The Maltese Cross of Sanctus Germanus. Even this morning, the scent memory is making me long to sniff it again, wrap myself up in it.

[alicia_stardust]

Something about this is very regal, stately, antique, glowing. It positively glitters with hues of orange, red, and gold. I get a sort of amber-orange incense; almost sweet, almost feminine, almost candy-like, but definitely glowing amber. The lilac really pops through as a sweet, watery floral and the wood and frankincense really add a nice depth.

[neuilly]

Blood orange, how I love you!! It's very strong in the beginning but alas dies down after a few minutes. Honestly this was a scent I thought I would like. I don't like incense or wood scents generally but this may change my stance. I get no lilac which makes me sad but the interaction between the frankincense, agarwood, amber, and what's left of the blood orange is so intriguing. It's mature yet playful.

[Brianne]

Resin lovers, check this out! Ambergris and frankincense. Rich and golden ones with a touch of amber. Unfortunately for me, ambergris is usually a bit too masculine on me, and that's the case here. Lovely and golden otherwise, I have no doubt this one will probably strike a chord with resin fans

[sadtomato]

mmmm...blood orange and amber, how i adore thee!

this is lovely.

the blood orange and amber are for sure the dominate notes on me, with lovely light florals and a nice woodsy note in the background to balance out the sweetness and make this a warm, gorgeous scent.

[smallvoice]

Blood orange always reads as "gummi bears" to my nose. So when it first goes on and it's wet, it smells like peppery gummi bears. Then it gets on my skin, and the complexity begins. The frankincense must be what is smelling like pepper to me. I bet this is going to age gorgeously. It's smoky and sexy and extremely well balanced. I wish the candied orange would stick around longer, because it's completely gone on my skin right now. It's not exactly me, but it's a fantastic blend.

 

Edit 6/22: You know, the more I wear this, the more I like it. I might actually have to start thinking about adding it to my wishlist! There's something provocative about it... a glimpse of something naughty, so short you almost missed it... maybe you even imagined it. Plus, there's gummi bears.

Edited June 23, 2008 by cordia

[Lycanthrope]

I was hoping for glittery resins as the above reviewers gave glowing reviews, but I'm mostly just getting lilac. A really strong lilac, too. I think around the edges I can detect a little something golden, sticky, but it's just a hint before I get the strong 'pull' of lilac, and the Cross turns into a bright, very sweet floral on me. Maybe I have to try this again...

 

The color I get from this is stark white. Which is very odd.

[savage_rose]

Well, I have to try ignore the lilac as my skin amps it and it's currently pulling Jan Brady-style, middle child antics to get noticed ("Smell meeee, I'm too too floral and I want to make you siiiiiick! Where's my afro wig..."), but barring that this is GORGEOUS! It's a warm, smooth resinous blend, very golden. And I can smell a touch of the blood orange, sweet and rich. It's just so perfectly blended...not too floral ("except for meeeeeee!"), not too sharp. Very elegant and lovely.

[LunaLovegood]

Maltese Cross: OMG! Hello Lover! Love at first scent... and its even better on my skin. I have no idea what it has but its so good! I'm a fan of amber so it might be doing it here. Its complex and lovely and sexy... needs backup bottles.

[LadyLuckDoubt]

In the bottle

Softly warm and ambery, with a cologney zing and some quiet florals. This is pretty and demure.

 

On Me

Ooh, yum: this is a regal, glistening combination: the amber takes a backseat, for once, and the orange is warped by the florals, making it quite hard to tell what's what. I picked lilac, and I picked orange (but not as sweet and citrussy as standard orange) and what I suspect is the ambergris giving out the cologneyness.

 

A few hours later, bye-bye ambergris, it's floral city with a twist of orange. Interesting morph, and a very pretty, fresh perfume.

Edited June 29, 2008 by LadyLuckDoubt

[greenranger]

Interesting. Usually I can pick out Frankincense in a blend right away, even if I have trouble with the other notes, but, this time? All the notes are sticking together and the peppery Frankincense is just one part of the whole.

 

A nice quiet golden scent. It isn't as pushy as some of the resins are on me; it's more subtle. I'll have to see what kind of staying power it has on my skin before I make up my mind. =)

 

---

 

It's just a little over an hour after I started this post, and the scent has vanished from my skin, except for a little bit of something musky smelling that must be the ambergris. This is the second time something containing ambergris has vanished, when otherwise the notes are well known for lingering for a very long time on my skin. This has wood and resin in it! It should be still going strong! Ah well.

Edited July 1, 2008 by Aerinha

[slave1]

THE MALTESE CROSS OF SANCTUS GERMANUS

 

In Bottle: Soft florals and orange

 

On Skin: This scent is orange in feel, warm and so comforting. I feel like I’m sitting in the sunshine in a big bay window. It is innocent and absolutely gorgeous. The blood orange isn’t too tart, it’s sweet and offers the perfect citrus note. The frankincense is spicy and adds to the warm feel. The agarwood offers a nice heady wood base, and the golden amber is powdery and like a plush blanket. The ambergris blends perfectly and adds a nice sweet resinous tone. The lilac is candied and soft… very mellow with the perfect floral sidekick. I am in love with this scent, it is bottle worthy. It’s unlike anything I already wear and I’m excited to start wearing it! It has a light to medium throw and short wearlength.

[filigree_shadow]

Wow, this is awesome. The blood orange in this scent is fabulous. It is soooo not the in-your-face orange scent that I've smelled in other perfumes. It's just lightly playing around the edges and sweetening up the scent. Combine that with the gorgeous scent of lilac and resins, and it's definitely a winner.

 

When it's dry, it seems like it's mostly a dry, resiny, and lightly lilac scent. I definitely want to try wearing this a few times after doing this test. I think I might like it a lot.

[scarletgenesis]

Soooo nice. The blood orange is front and center here with a sweet and sharp scent. But the resins serve to kick up the complexity, and the lilac (my least favorite note in th blend) even adds to it with a tiny floral overtone. I am glad that the floral isn't overwhelming because I got this bottle for the ORANGE...and I got what I was hoping for in this blend. It is all at the same time very crisp and citrusy while maintaining its allure (thanks to the resins).

 

 

Oh, and the amber didn't go powdery on me! Yeah!

 

I hope the staying power on Maltese Cross is long because I want to be able to smell this on me for the whole day.

[Dark Alice]

I was so excited to get this decant because of the notes, blood orange, amber, yummy ! OR so I thought. My stupid skin chemistry amps the gorgeous amber but then the ambergis takes over ! I imagine that this ambergis is a milder version of what they used collect in the old days to make perfume! Stupid Skin Chemistry!

[birdiefu]

Beautiful mixture of notes!

 

First on, I get mostly citrusy orange with a bit of depth from the amber- and this is a full-bodied, rich amber, not powdery or perfumey. As this dries it gets only better- the woods comes out and there is a hint of leather, which I think is actually the ambergris. The orange is still there, but very subdued. There is also just a *touch* of the lilac, giving it a sweetness but not 'OMG flowers!' (I'm not a floral person).

 

Gorgeous blend! Medium throw and staying power on me. Unisex, but oh so lovely!

[SarahScent44]

In the imp, I smell frankincense and orange.

 

On my skin, the orange rides over top - the frankincense is still in play, and the amber lends some warmth.

 

When it's dry - oh wow - definitely amber, orange, a light floralness from the lilac. Contrary to my usual experience, this got lighter, rather than darker when it dried; the frankincense is completely gone, and it ends up being sort of powdery and traditional on me.

[nekogrrl]

In bottle: ORANGE.

 

Wet on skin: LILAC.

 

Dry on skin: GONE.

 

0 for 4.

[midnight_aeval]

At first this was orange, and only orange. As it dried down it was floral

 

Not so much a fan of the floral persuasion.

[Phaedra]

Wet- yes!!! This is very strong oud (agarwood), amber and a hint of orange. When first on this is very perfumey mixed with amber and a sweet floral note. This feels regal. After about an hour this has softened quite a bit and the incense starts to develop. This is a warm and sexy scent. It has a nice sweetness too. This dries down to a very soft, close to the skin powdery scent. There's still a hint of the oud (agarwood) which is lovely. Very nice!

[Bagfish]

A flash of spicy orange and resins swoops past pursued by LILAC which catches them and proceeds to stomp them into submission. Lilac raises its flag and won't surrender.

 

:stupid skin chemistry: :sulks:

[alexandra]

Ooh, lovely.

 

Wet: a whoosh of blood orange, held back by amber. Very juicy. Bits of resin rest on my wrist like blood-black pips.

 

Dry: Lilac comes through but I can feel the orange, pulsing all orangely. The resins give such depth to it.

 

And?: It is lovely to have a rounded, warm citrus blend without spices. This way it works as a year round scent - refreshing in summer, comforting in winter, always grounding and uplifting. Keep it? Oh yes.

[eatingthesea]

i don't normally care for orange in my scents at all, but i heart blood orange itself, so i had to give this a shot, considering it has ambergris and lilac, two faves, and i have no problemo with the remaining notes. sniffing the bottle was a bit of a scary experience, as i was immediately reminded of that industrial-strength orange-scented hand cleanser goop for tough-to-clean dirt! not exactly something i want to smell like. but, i do catch a whiff of my beloved ambergris in the background, so i ventured on. luckily, the orange calms a LOT, and maltese cross becomes mainly a lilac scent grounded by the frankincense and agarwood. it does have the orange tinge to it still, but it's more like a blossomy tinge, not the juice or rind or pulp tinges of citrus! it is indeed a very "rounded" scent, very complete-feeling. not spicy in the least, just a very unusual, pretty, quite deep very-light-citrus floral. i think the amber helps to balance it out and, in fact, i'm not sure i'd like it as much if it didn't have amber. it gives the scent a sparkling layer that it would otherwise lack, making it multidimensional.

 

the one unfortunate gripe is that it's not long-lasting on my skin, which i actually found very surprising; i expected just the opposite. that's fine; just means my bottle will run out that much faster due to constant re-apps! other that that part, me likey, and the label rocks! one of my favorites of bottle art