Vampire Tarot: The Magician

[angelicruin]

I. THE MAGICIAN
They asked St. Germain's manservant if his master was truly a thousand years old, as it was rumored he had claimed.

"How would I know?" the man replied. "I have only been in the master's employ for three hundred years."

Burmese rosewood, olibanum, benzoin, turmeric, currant leaf, and oude.

In the bottle, woodsy and vaguely sweet.

Upon initial application to my skin, the rosewood note is very much there. The turmeric makes this quite spicy on my skin.

I'm undecided on this scent, mostly because it is making my skin smell like Indian cuisine and, while it smells good, I'm not sure I want that scent as a perfume.

I'll likely let it settle a while and then re-test. Edited November 19, 2009 by Shollin

[GreenSpine]

This is a really tough one to review. The rosewood is strong and gorgeous, but I can't really pick out any of the other notes in the scent individually. Incense, definitely, but there's something very smooth about it and an underlying, subtle sweetness that I don't normally associate with incense scents. It doesn't have a very strong throw, at least not yet.

 

It does vaguely remind me of going to church when I was younger, more of sitting in one of the wooden confessionals than of an actual mass.

 

I'm not sure yet whether I like this one or love it.

[Little Bird]

This reminds me of blends like On Darkness and Scattered Gloom (only this isn't as good as those two blends are on me). It smells of dark, syrupy sweet resins and woods. I can't pick out any one of the listed notes exactly, but it smells like dry, polished wood buildings covered in something sticky and sweet, that makes me think of molasses. The smooth, resinous quality reminds of Midnight Mass and Cathedral. And then there's an odd undertone to the whole thing that I'm not liking (it almost smells like menthol or something medicinal?).

 

The Magician smells similar to a lot of blends that I already own & love, but not as good, so I won't need a full bottle of this. I probably won't keep my decant...

[Nadirah]

Out of the bottle The Magician smells bright, sweet, and crisp, not sure where this is coming from.

On me the Magician turns to woods and black pepper. This definatly smells like someone is brewing a potion. Smells like smoky fire, and this reminds me of a kitchen, it is not foody, but it must be the Turmeric that is doing that. I see how all the elements are getting action here. The Magician goes from Airy to Watery onto Fire and back to Earth . This really is delightful, The Magician is very subtle, but the scent lingers there as the hours pass...

I want to use this in ritual because all of the elements are present in here.

Good Work!

(also like to add, this smells like The World from the earlier Tarot oils with less of an earthy note)

 

a lovely scent that works well with my skin chemistry.

Edited December 10, 2009 by Nadirah

[zankoku_zen]

Woods... black pepper... and curry?

 

I get a ton of turmeric from this, which just makes me think of curry. It's a woodsy curry blend.

 

...

 

Odd.

[edenssixthday]

Vampire Tarot: The Magician - I love this scent! It's heavy, dark, black, smoky, woody, resinous and spicy. The rosewood is definitely the heaviest note, and I'm not really sure what each of the other notes smell like except for benzoin, which I don't detect at all. This is a warm, comforting scent for me. It's heavy in the bottle, but subtle on my skin, and it lasts for a long time. I'll catch little wafts of it and it immediately eases me into a state of peace and serenity. I really love it!

 

[iletaitunefois]

Ohhh, I wanted to like this oil, but it just didn't like me. Well, it might be warming up...

 

Let me start at the beginning. When I first opened up this scent, I was like WOW, lemon! Yum! I love citrus. So then I applied it. Eek! Pine-sol. Pure and simple. After about a half hour, it started to mellow itself out, and headed back to its delicious lemony roots. However, a half hour is kind of a long time to smell like a cleaning product.

 

I think I'll give this baby another try or two, because I desperately want to love it. Thinking it might be a crash and burn, though.

[ralenth]

I'll admit I wasn't a big fan when The Magician first arrived. But, now that it's aged almost six months, it's lovely. Warm, woodsy incense, with a bit of smoked incense in the background. I like it even more than Midnight Mass, which is my go-to for an incense scent.

[fairnymph]

Rich golden oil. Herbs, flowers, a little soapy - definitely reminds me of many of the original Tarot blends. Similar herbal, slightly medicinal feel. Woody too.

 

Drier, much more woody. Sandalwood and CEDAR. The herbs are a little bitter and also feel dried, not wet and green, but brownish and crumbly. Maybe some yarrow? I don't think this is actually floral, it's more that some herbs are giving a vague soapiness I associate with flowers.

 

Wow, lots of morphing. The bitter and medicinal herbal aspects have burned off, and the sandalwood (red? I think based on the warmth and it reminds me of the note in Morocco) and cedar have melded into a beautiful sauna-esque woodiness. Something sweet and rich, almost honeyed but not quite, has emerge - I think some benzoin, and there's definitely some musk in here, too. A dramatic morphing.

 

Final drydown is a musky, golden, woodsy scent and a lovely smoke note has appeared, somewhere between high quality incense and a fireplace, or woodsmoke in the Winter. Possibly some frankincense, and definitely some benzoin and/or tonka to sweeten things up. Something about this blend really reminds me of Pinched With Four Aces - it's that same smoky-woodsy quality. Very complex and seamless, unisex to masculine. Low throw but great longevity.

[Ryvre]

I'm not sure what to make of this scent. It's nice, but doesn't smell like perfume on me. It smells like a very clean wooden table. Or possibly like the pews at the church I used to attend. Something wooden, but not tree-like or outdoorsy.

[crebbsgirl]

This is incredibly masculine on me, and a little sharp. The olibanum smells like frankincense on my skin, and as the blend continues to wear on my skin, it does the usual playdoh thing. The beginning stages are quite nice, although not as rounded as I would like. Woods and resins with a hint of herbs.

[spiresinthesnow]

I don't know why but I didn't care much for this at first, but I keep comin back to it. Its definitely growing on me! I get lots of wood, sun warmed, and something that reminds me of lipstck?! Like a sweet sheer lipstck, cherry chapstick maybe! Its mostly very strong magical woods. Reminds me of Magus alot! May need to pursue a bottle.

 

[sarandipitee]

Very herbal and medicinal like and I pretty much hate the initial wet stage. Yet as the oil dries this deep, complex sorta like root beer/licorice in the woods thing happens and I kinda dig it. I would love to smell it on a guy as it is quote masculine, even for me. I think I'll re skin test in a few months. I may end up loving this for October.

Edited July 13, 2010 by sarandipitee

[Ashenrook]

You know, when I smelled this I wasn't sure I was going to like it... Well, this is proof that love at first sniff doesn't always apply.

 

In the Bottle

Eugh. Very medicinal and herbal, rather greenish-brown, but it's not sharp at least.

 

On Skin: Wet

Hm. Well. It is medicinal, yes, but... it's surprisingly not bad. I've been having a bad string of luck with anything that resembles green herbs, so this is a blessed relief. It's also nowhere near as strong as I thought it would be.

 

There's a smidge of wood scent in the background.

 

On Skin: Dry

Mmm... Okay, this is really nice. The wet green phase has shifted into warm rosewood, but there is a sweetness to this that makes me think of a flower. While it's by no means a floral, I can't help but be drawn to likening this to a very light psuedo-tuberose, backed by all wood and resin. The greenery before is still in the background and some spice is starting to come to the surface.

 

It's a very velvety, reassuring, confident, and mystical sort of smell. Spot on, Beth.

 

Afternotes

Warm woods and spicy turmeric (which is thankfully complimenting the wood rather than overpowering it). Mmmm.

 

Verdict

On an American scholastic grading scale, I'd give this an A.

 

Yeah, this was definitely a hit with my skin. It lasted a long time, but there was no residual single notes still clinging to me and turning strangely a day after use. This is one of the better "incense-y" scents I've tried in a while, since most of them tended to be way too strong on me. But, no, the rosewood is fantastic and the perfume is light while the throw is good.

 

This is definitely big bottle material for me.

[SophieCedar]

Wet: wow. really impressed with this one. Memories of from the 1990's flood back: ethnic shops, new age shops with tons of oils incense and resins, the smell of manic panic herbal base, essential oil mixing perfumeries tucked in weird cramped locations, hummus plates in the smoking section of wonderfully eclectic restaurants. (One with antique wood cathedral where people smoke hookahs with fresh tobacco and the other with a steady big fireplace at my back.) I can't believe I found a scent that properly interprets the whole thing! I think it's mostly the burmese part of the rosewood and the tumeric. During the wet phase, this is sweet rosewood, currant leaf, benzoin, frankincense and oude. All there obviously. Just enough unique notes that I can pick all of them out.

 

Drydown: gets sweeter and there's something that reminds me of the indian and arabian sandalwood oils I used to buy as a teen. Must be the burmese rosewood and benzoin. It's pretty dreamy at this phase. 10 out of 10.

[rayvn1]

This starts out way to strong, almost unpleasantly so. After about fifteen minutes it mellows out and smells exactly like a rosewood box i once had that was scented with incense The turmeric lurks a bit in the background. Lovely!

[naeelah]

First, let me say, my imp is at least 5 months old. I seem to recall it turning up shortly after the Magician went live, so I might have had it way longer than I realize. (Since it's a wood and resin blend, that means it's probably pretty different, and much better, than fresh.)

 

Dry, I smell wood overpowered by dry, musty resins. It's almost chokingly dusty. Tons of turmeric, with a bit of smoky resin and dry, bitter foliage.

 

As it dries, the rosewood blossoms, and the turmeric calms down. After about 15 minutes, it morphs into a very smooth, fragrant rosewood scent. The natural smoothness and sweetness of rosewood is offset by the resins and turmeric, which make the overall scent extremely dry. There is a faint hint of curry, but primarily, this is all dry, slightly bitter wood and resin. As it wears, it becomes slightly smokier, covering up the sweetness of the rosewood.

 

It isn't as resiny and smoky as similar blends. This brings to mind a heavy wood table with lingering traces of previously burnt incense more than it does incense itself. A table scattered with herbs and ingredients for potions.

 

Throw is quite light, staying close to the skin, as wood scents often do. It reminds me of a woodsier, far less sweet Scattered Gloom. Likewise, a much drier and more bitter Heavenly Love and Earthly Love. Actually, it's perhaps most similar to Parliament of Monsters, with its dry, ancient feeling. I like it. It's an intriguing combination, and it manages to avoid being like any other incense blend. Try this if you want a dry, lightly smoky wood blend that isn't very heavy.

[Jupita]

This smells a lot like my dear Dragon Claw, but without the dragon's blood.

It's some soft powdery and dark woods...

Lovely.

Yet, I have to admit I prefer Dragon Claw, as far as I'm concerned, its a little bit more feminine.

This is DC male brother. I really see a man wearing this... it would smell soooo good on a man...

Gosh...

I really like this.

[filigree_shadow]

I didn't like this much when I first put it on, but when it dried it got a whole lot nicer. I like rosewood -- Seance is one of my favorite scents -- and this is great. I probably only need one rosewood blend, and I think Seance is the one. This is a close runner-up, though.

[theseagrows]

got a frimp of this in a swap!

BPAL's woods go really wonky on me unfortunately, and this is no exception. i get mostly rosewood, benzoin and currant leaf, methinks. it's like a sweet-woody cloying scent that is kind of stomach-turning with my skin chemistry. i dunno why i have such bad luck with woods, but oh well, still glad i got to try it!

 

 

 

[mymymai]

ITI: The benzoin here is strong, but appealing when paired with the turmeric and the oude.

 

Wet: The rosewood is much stronger on my skin, although the benzoin is still one of the top notes I get. There is just a hint of turmeric still.

 

Dry: I get olibanum now, rosewood, benzoin, and just a touch of turmeric. It’s a rather resinous scent.

[JazzieCazzie]

Ecstatic to have received this as an extra in a swap from one of the world's greatest forumites! Off my wish list!

 

IN THE IMP: Oh, shazam! The benzoin (which I adore) is prominent, as are the oudh and olibanum. This is a good thing.

 

Dabbed on wrist and in crook of arm.

 

WET: Yowza yes yes yes. Very resiny and woody and evocative of headshops and haunts of my youth. I don't recognize turmeric in here (and I tend to cook with it) but perhaps the images I get of Indian tapestries are subliminal from that. MINIMAL rosewood, thankfully, though rosewood tends to work more nicely with me than rose per se. And NO currant, which is also good because that has ruined many a blend for me in the past.

 

DRYDOWN: Slightly different on my wrist and in the crook of my arm, but both are divine and delicious. Spicy and resiny and peaceful.

 

OVERALL: I am definitely on the lookout for more of this now. A definite keeper!

 

On a scale of 1-5, a 4.5

[Cali]

Hmm... What to say about this one. I feel like I know this from something or somewhere but I've no idea what.

The only distinctive thing in this to me is benzoin; then again I have to admit that I'm not entirely sure what the other components should smell like. In the bottle: dark, twisted, dusty, woody, just sharp enough, and a lot of benzoin.

My skin seems to adore this as tones down the benzoin a bit but keeps everything balanced out nicely... as to what is actually is balanced out to I can only describe as a smooth and dark looming incense.

[Casablanca]

Rosewood and a soft turmeric. After a minute, I smell the benzoin and oud. Later still, a hint of red currant. The benzoin and olibanum smell strongest to me eventually.

Woody, resinous, just a little sweet. This makes me think of a glossy floor and shelves of some red wood -- not the varnish or chemicals, just the idea of polished wood -- with cream-colored walls. It smells like a well-appointed library not yet populated with books.