The Harp of Cnoc I'Chosgair

[sunlitgarden]

Gilded amber, tiare, golden sandalwood, vanilla, cardamom, and tagetes.

In the bottle this smells very woody with a tinge of green sharpness. Wet it's almost all sandalwood, and still has a green/sharp edge to it. These early stages didn't smell like I imagined it would, but the late drydown is a lot sweeter and warmer, somewhat like Lyonesse but without the salt. I just wish it would go straight there! On my SO, it seems to go to the warm stage right away, although she likes it both wet and dry.

[TheIceMaiden]

When the initial glowing reviews of this came in, I decided to try The Harp (I do love sandalwood-vanilla). I wasn't too impressed, however, there was a sourness in the beginning that may have been the tagetes and/or cardamon.

A few weeks later I decided to try it again and The Harp was finally gorgeous! The opening stage had calmed down to (non-sour) tagetes with sandalwood, then a midstage of tiare over sandalwood and vanilla (and I LOVE the Lab's tiare note), and finally a drydown of vanilla with just a hint of sandalwood.

Edited May 28, 2010 by TheIceMaiden

[mimosa]

Bought a bottle unsniffed as it sounded perfect.

Smells like soap, beautiful floral Floris soap,or monai oil (is that the Tiare) beautiful but not for me.

[MeiLin]

The amber is the amber in Gelt; this is Gelt - chocolate + flowers. I will be looking for a partial.

[rinster]

I purchased this unsniffed at the last minute before it went away and I'm kicking myself for not buying more. This is WONDERFUL! It had an odd green edge when I first opened the bottle, but on my skin it's golden and gorgeous. I hope the folks who were less enamored put theirs up for sale or this makes it way into a trunk show eventually so I can get more.

[Schmoozy]

 

Stunning. Dry dusty sandalwood, with spicy tagetes and cardamon sweetened with tiare, vanilla and gilded amber. It's soft, sensual, woody and powdry. It's also very creamy and golden. It feels like the warmth from the sun has been beating down on the blend. Lasts forever and while it is also strong, it somehow sticks close to my skin.

[lilwhiterabbit]

Sadly, the Harp just doesn't work for me. In the bottle it's sweet and green--something halfway between Oisin and Mag Mell, with a warm vanilla base--so I can understand why many people rave about it. I apply it, however, and it vanishes almost immediately. As in, I can't even smell it after a minute or two. I wait fifteen minutes and apply it again and the same thing happens. Some weird skin chemistry must be going on because, on me, The Harp is the magical vanishing scent. Glad I didn't buy a bottle of this! Who wants to wear perfume you can't actually smell?

Edited June 13, 2010 by lilwhiterabbit

[tartchef]

Yowza. The Harp's a strong one, & no mistake... I amp amber like no one's business, & it likes to go powdery if left to its own devices. In the vial, The Harp is thick & sweet & heady, strangely alluring, like some sort of honeyed nectar. The instant it touches my skin, though, it's like I've been walloped with a sock full of powder There's a sharp hairspray note here, as well - I got a similar effect from Black Lace & Arrival at the Sabbath.

 

Left to dry, there's not much more to it - faint ambered powder & a funky aerosol note. No woodsiness, no spices... Well phoo

[Verios]

This was one of the few 5ml bottles I bought from the lab in my first order, and is one of the few BPAL bottles I've ended up buying a second one of, to hoard. I'm still new enough to things that I can't pick out the individual notes like some people do, but to me it smells like a hot summer day, laying out in the grass. It's a sort've sweet, green, fresh-cut grass smell, with creamy golden overtones...and on me, at least, it has pretty good throw, and lasts all day. Absolutely love it.

 

EDIT: Having finally gotten and tried L'Estate, I have to say that the two are very similar (I wouldn't call them identical, by any stretch), in that they both have the same rich golden tone to them.

Edited July 16, 2011 by Vashtya

[pinkgyrl]

Golden is the word that immediately came to mind upon smelling this scent. This is a very soft and delicate scent. It's soft and a little powdery but not in a bad way - reminding me of a lighter version of scents like L'Estate and Leo 2007 (while not identical - just a similar feeling). This is very well-blended and balanced. The amber and the sandalwood are very noticeable to me and were easier to identify - the other notes don't "stand out" as much to me on their own to my nose but blend into just a wonderfully creamy, warm, and woody scent - just beautiful.

[filigree_shadow]

Doesn't work on me. I thought that for SURE something with sandalwood and vanilla would be absolutely amazing on me, and I was really looking forward to this. But... no.

 

It smells like sweet pea or something. That super sweet kind of chalky scent. No creamy vanilla, no dry lovely sandalwood, just that almost piercingly strange sweet-pea-like powdery scent. And it's strong.

 

I did wear this to school one time, and a friend of mine who knows about all my various perfume oils told me that he likes this one -- he thought this was one of the good ones. I just don't like the scent of it, though. I'm seriously really sad that this one didn't work for me.

[Michi]

I missed out on ordering this from the Lab and fretted about finding a bottle for months. Thankfully the wonderful RachelElizabeth offered to swap me her bottle.

 

I was really surprised upon first opening the bottle--The Harp smelled nothing like what I'd expected! I got very little vanilla or sandalwood, even after applying. Just sharp white florals. After drying, it reminded me a bit of Perry Ellis Woman 360. A little powdery, still flowery, and a little sweet. I kind of wondered what all the fuss was about!

 

However, after an hour, The Harp has settled in on my skin, and I'm getting more of the spices. Nothing is really jumping out, but the florals are receding and the other notes are coming out to play. I am hoping that some age will do magical things to the Harp... I can see this being a beautiful blend for Spring & Summer!

[obsidienne]

The Harp starts off a bit weird and confused, like it's not blending together... a jumble of notes... and then as it melts into your skin it starts to smell like a light vanilla musk with hints of sandalwood and delicate tiare. I can't smell the tagetes, really. The cardamom adds a hint of exotic spice. All in all, another perfect ethereal vanilla musk floral type blend that is so enchanting and addictive for me.

 

I really really like this. The only problem being, I have to literally hunt for it to smell it. It is so delicate and faint that it's really just a skin scent on me. I feel like I need to slather myself in a carrier oil barrier in order to protect this particular perfume from my skin, which definitely tends to eat oil. I'll scent locket this to see if it improves and extends the experience. But it is undeniably gorgeous. I just wish it smelled about, oh, a thousand times stronger. If I had known it was so faint, I'd have tried for another bottle since then I could feel like I could wear a bit more!

Edited July 27, 2010 by obsidienne

[mari4212]

Umm.

 

I got a sample of this as a freebie imp from girasol, and I'm so glad I did.

 

This is one of the superbly blended scents, where I often find it hard to pick out individual notes. I'm getting the amber and vanilla predominantly, which make for a creamy golden scent, with just enough marigold to make this have a hint of spice to it.

 

It's a skin scent, and stays right on my wrists and neck without wafting, but it's absolutely lovely there. Good doubles for Harp include Lyonnesse (though it's a bit more grey in tone) and Posset's Madame X.

[theseagrows]

hm, i'm not sure WHAT notes im getting here. maybe it's tagetes, since i don't know what that is. this definitely has a warmth to it from the amber, and i'm thinking "gilded amber" is a more metallic amber, which this scent seems to have. maybe the golden sandalwood also adds a hint of metal, because this smells very much like that-warm metallics. i don't smell any tiare, vanilla or cardamom though.

[juniperus]

Bottle: complex, fresh, warm wood and pale green... like evening air afer a short, but cleansing, summer rain

Wet: I can pick out the vanilla and cardamom ifI concentrate, but still it's layers of browns and greens

Dry: golden and spicy overlays the fresh pale green of before - this is going from lovely to gorgeous

Later: the vanilla is coming forward (I amp vanilla), but it's not done so obnoxiously enough to bury the rest... if the vanilla calms, in time, perhaps it'll go back to gorgeous from lovely (again)

[biocarolyn]

This is a really interesting and beautiful blend. On the skin, I Get mostly sandalwood, but this is rich and warm rather than the really sawdusty, pencil shaving sandalwood. Underlying this is amber and vanilla, with a hint of herbal something (the marigold?). Really nice. I can see the comparison with Ü- the woody-vanilla combination.

[Vega]

I bought a bottle from the Lab right at the end of its limited run. (I also remember being rather nervous, as it was my first unsniffed-bottle-purchase from the Lab!) When I tested it upon receiving, I indeed wondered if I'd made a good choice: the Harp of Cnoc i'Chosgair was mostly high, spicy, dusty florals smothering out the other notes, not all that balanced or pleasant to wear. So I decided to let it age, and I've been sniffing this every month or so since. Now the Harp has aged beautifully! Skin-testing it almost a year after purchase...

 

 

Sniffed: Dry, slightly sweet, bright florals/woods/amber. A "golden-yellow" scent.

 

On skin: The once-high pitched florals have mellowed out significantly, and all the notes are now blending together into a harmonious whole: lightly powdery-sweet from vanilla, dry from amber and sandalwood, and bright from the amber and florals. A grounded yet light blend, gentle, dusty-sweet and cozy. (I happen to like dry, dusty blends, so this is good.) The vanilla gradually emerges as the florals settle even more. Colour impression is a very pale golden-brown with a golden glow. Unfortunately, the Harp is so light and vanishing that I can barely smell it on my skin -- it definitely needs to be slathered!

 

Verdict: I'm so glad I didn't write off the Harp of Cnoc i'Chosgair early on, because it has become a scent of beauty, a unique floral-sandalwood-vanilla-amber blend. There's nothing else in my collection quite like it, so I'll be hoarding my bottle for sure!

 

 

Update Jan 2014:

Just an update on how the Harp has aged over the years. The sandalwood, amber and vanilla are now the core of the scent, touched with a breath of spicy (but indistinct) florals. A very dry, light, gentle spiced wood; a perfect skin-hugging, comforting perfume for a quiet day in. Even though I miss the florals, I still think the Harp has aged well.

Edited January 11, 2014 by Vega

[Gin]

The Harp of Cnoc I'Chosgair is warm and golden. It smells like a cousin to Et Lux Fuit. I get a gorgeous vanilla-sandalwood-tiare combination from the Harp. It feels like it radiates off the skin--not in a loud, brash way, but just in a cozy, comforting way. It's like the perfume equivalent of a security blanket. The powdery amber comes out a bit, but it only adds to the snuggly feel of this. Lovely.

[brilliantcat]

In the bottle: Herbalish floral. I can definitely smell the sandalwood and amber, with a touch of vanilla.

 

Immediately after application: It's hard to describe. A bit herbally, a bit woody. The vanilla disappeared on my skin. I can easily visualize the polished wood of a harp though. The tiare went poof.

 

Warming up: Woodsy vanilla. I rather like it but with these notes, I want to smell it on the husband. It would be just my luck that HE would amp the tiare (gardenia) or tagetes (marigold).

 

Fading: Getting a pretty good amount of vanilla mixing with sandalwood. Yum.

 

Faded: Slow fading woodsy vanilla goodness.

 

Overall: I LOVE it once warmed up, it's lovely wet as well but warmed it's woodsy vanilla, not foody at all. A perfect gender-neutral scent that I really like, at least with our chemistries. We both got the vanilla-sandalwood with amber rather than the floral.

[Melenass]

This is to me like the green version of Mr. Ibis. I like very much.

[Diva Urd]

In the vial: This smells a bit like herby soap in the vial.

 

On: After initial application, there is something that nearly makes me sneeze. However, it doesn't stick around long. At the moment, this smells like the marigolds in my grandma's garden, with some vanilla in the background. It has very little throw.

 

Later: Vanilla sandalwood with a hint of floral. Still no throw. It's quite nice at this stage, but it doesn't have enough oomph for me.

[synthetique]

Received a frimp of this from a very kind off-forum swapper.

 

Wet: Very similar to Snake Oil minus that odd "stinky"/BO factor I always smell in Snake Oil (perhaps the patch?)

Dry: Powdery vanilla, cardamom, and amber.

 

This is sure to please people who are fans of non-BPAL perfumes. I'm glad I found a version of "spicy vanilla" that works for me, but I don't think I'll be wearing this one that often and might just send this on to someone else who will appreciate it more.

[rayvn1]

Amber. We meet again, my powdery, scent-swamping frenemy I can't believe my skin chemistry has changed so much in the last three years that I used to hunt down every bpal that had even a hint of amber because I loved it so when I first got into bpal and now it's a death note. Complete deal-breaker every fricking time. But I live in hope that one day I'll find that amber blend that works again. Sigh.

[KittyHawk]

If there ever was a truly "golden" scent, The Harp is it. The sandalwood is a bit sharp and spicy initially, but it dries to a gorgeous, soft, and deep woodsy vanilla. I don't get much of the floral, but that's okay; it's beautiful without them. This is everything I had hoped Lyonesse would be. I understand now why this is so popular.