All Saints'

[kunoichi]

Based on a venerable French pontifical incense blend: monastic frankincense and myrrh, Damascus rose, Russian gardenia, cassia, and lily of the valley wafting on a chill Autumn wind. A celebration of the glory and suffering of the saints and matryrs of the Church.

I have the 2005 edition, and in a 5ml bottle to boot! My friend who introduced me to BPAL gave it to me, along with Salome.

First it was something I wasn't sure about. I liked it more than Salome, but it wasn't really what I was expecting from scented oils. It was a sort of smokey scent, I guess, not like burned anything or like smoke itself, but I don't know how to describe it, really.

On me it smells like incense and some people do detect the rose, which gives it some sweetness. (BPAL scents tend to go sweet on my skin, for whatever reason. Luckily I love sweet smells!) I don't smell the myrrh, which is another good thing about this scent. So it's quite nice.

I wear it for live role playing, where I have a very Catholic church-ish type character. Like the scent, she's dark and mysterious and religious, so I think it's perfect for that reason!

[klio]

In bottle: Very sweet rose, with an incense tang.

 

On: All Saints = Parlement of Foules + Rose Cross + itch.

 

The sweet floweriness of Parlement, the incense of Rose Cross. I adore Rose Cross and it's GC, so Rose Cross is really all I need.

 

The itch wasn't too bad, and the scent was quite lovely, so I kept it on all evening to see if the scent would change into anything unique. It didn't. I'll probably use it up as a room scent. And then I'll have the pretty bottle for my collection.

[medvssa]

I don't have much to say about this one...

 

I mostly smell the rose and other flowers, wih a deeper warm background, that must be my beloved myrrh, but it is not enough to make me fall in love with it...

It is beautiful, certainly, perhaps a bit too flowery on me. It goes a bit baby powder after a while. I will probably use the imp, but I think that is all...

[Elrianra]

In the bottle, this is smoky and thick - the frankincense and myrrh are a heavy base note topped out by gardenia and lily and another floral that I assume is the cassia. The rose is tangible but not as high as the other florals, mixing with the myrrh slightly to sweeten the incense tang. Once on, the myrrh and frankincense take over, stepping into the foreground swiftly as they always do with a throw that could knock out a horse. The florals are faint and heavy at once, as though the air is too humid to support their sweetness. As it begins to dry, it goes acrid - sharp and pungent, it rasps in the back of my throat like smoke and curls around the insides of my sinuses as though I'm choking on it. Overpowering but not completely unpleasant. It's the same effect as Black Lotus had, and the only commonality is myrrh, therefore I must assume the overwhelming smoke-scent is the myrrh. Which is a shame as I like it a lot, but my skin amplifies its effect exponentially until it's an uncompromising smokescreen. Still, I give it more time, it's still early and I hope the myrrh will settle down. After a while, it does and the result is surprisingly fractured: the myrrh is a smoky middle-ground that's mixing with the gardenia and cassia while the frankincense is a softer undertone for a base than I expected, the lily and rose are high notes that are both sweet and full bodied like I always expected a blush wine to be. This is still tart and a bit dry on me, lovely but decidedly not for me. Alas, the myrrh fouls this up on my skin.

[Nisaba]

I have All Saints 2005. I wasn't in love with it at first, but liked it enough to hang on to it for a bit and see what happens. Just recently I was going through my bottles and realsied that I barely had any memory of what All Saints smelt like, so I dabbed(who am I kidding, I'm physically incapable of 'dabbing' BPAL, sometimes to my distress when I'm stuck with an awful whiff all day. One day I'll learn. Anyway...) slathered it on and went out to the supermarket.

 

And hot damn if All Saints hasn't just shot up to my list of top ten (or so...). Deep warm spicy apple cider is the closest description that I get come up with, except I don't like it as I'm really not a foody scent person. But really, so so yum. The woman at the checkout said I smelt lovely and asked me what I was wearing, I wish I had a business card for BPAL to hand out at times like these (I rarely carry around imps, I'm sure I'd end up smashing them the way I throw my bag around).

 

This aging thing is no myth. Wow. Long live All Saints 05!

[Eunice]

I've been won over by Beth's roses and this is no exception. This is rose but doesn't come on as freshly cut or straight from a garden. The resins see to that. This is a very quiet perfume. All the ingredients are so soft and blend well with each other. I don't get a foody scent with this at all. All Saints is just wonderful rose incense on me. Another winner!

[TheFairestLady]

Upon opening my imp of All Saints, all I could think was: Old Lady Face Powder. You know, that kind of powder your grandmother used to wear on her face that turned her all white and smelled strongly of musk and dried flowers. And that is exactly what it smells like dry.

 

Too much of a strong, floral scent for me.

[edenssixthday]

All Saints 2005 is a lovely autumnal blend. I anticipated that the frankincense and myrrh would take over the blend, but they don’t in the least. When I first apply it, it smells like incense and makes me think of Midnight Mass, in particular. However, as the blend dries down, it takes on a slightly spicy scent, which I thought were mulled spices, but which I now know is cassia. It smells like autumn mulling spices. After about 90 minutes, I’m suddenly caught off-guard by a very strong rose-and-incense scent, and I’m really surprised by how strongly the rose has suddenly appeared when I couldn’t smell it before at all, and how the myrrh and frankincense have turned into soft, smoky incense, which compliments the rose so nicely, accompanied by the gentle spices in the background. It is only around the two hour point when the cassia begins to fade and the incense mellows even more that I catch the faintest whisper of sweet, soft lily of the valley – one of my favorite scents of all time. This is a beautiful blend, and if it were to ever be placed in the General Catalogue, it would most definitely go in the Funereal Oils category. This blend is wistful, as well as somber and sacred. It’s beautiful and nothing like I anticipated. The staying power is only a little over two hours, but the throw is just perfect, as I don’t smell it constantly, but catch bits of the scent as it occasionally wafts about me. This is a really beautiful, sacrosanct scent.

 

All Saints 2004 - The 2005 version is beautiful on me and the reviews of 2004 had me very, very excited for this blend. When I applied it, I was instantly reminded of both Hearth ’04 and Harvest Moon ’04, except much, much smokier. It was smoky, buttery and autumnal all at once. Then suddenly, as the oil began to dry down, the smoke scent (which I think must be the combination of frankincense and myrrh) began to amp up on my skin and began to take on a quality that reminded me of Brimstone, which is a GC that I can’t wear. The buttery and autumnal notes were completely overwhelmed by the smell of smoke. I kept it on my skin despite being greatly tempted to wash it off, and about just about the 60 minute point, the smoke dissipated along with all of the other notes with the exception of frankincense, and it’s wafting about me quite nicely. Two hours later, it’s still pure frankincense, but the scent is sticking my skin now. After that first hour, it’s a lovely blend, but I have plenty of other gorgeous frankincense blends that are beautiful from the get-go, so I’ll be passing this one along.

 

*edited to add AS'04 review*

Edited July 22, 2006 by edenssixthday

[dragonryder]

This is my overall favorite holiday (for lack of a better word) scent. Definitely will be stocking up on this next year if its released again. I love the blend of floral and incense. She's done it again!!!

[karengypsy]

In the vial: Frankincense & myrrh. Incense.

 

On me: F&M, plus rose and other florals. I smell a hint of cassia and other spices.

 

Verdict: I don't think I like this very much. It makes the back of my throat itch. Too much F&M. This is definitely going to the sell/swap pile.

 

Rating: 2/5

[juniperus]

Bottle: a very chilly floral

Wet: the resins, I can catch the gardenia and lily, although the rose I could smell at first sniff seems to be taking a back seat. there is a sharpness to something here..

Dry: one of the floral notes is really getting sinus-gripping in an almost-aquatic kinda way..the cassia, maybe?is it the note designed to give the chill-wind affect? (ok, probably) it's not the lily amping and growing sickly sweet, this is a new thing altogether.

Later: I dearly wanted to love this, and with the frank and myrrh and rose I figured I would have a good chance at it...but this damn note is beating on me. I am very sad.

[portalkat]

When I first put this on, I wondered why on earth I wanted it in the first place. All I could smell were the florals and I didn't think that it smelled like the reviews at all. By the time I clicked on the reviews to read them again, the bit of oil had morphed into the most beautiful incense fragrance. I can smell the frankincense, myrrh and the cassia with just a hint of floral notes in the background. This is so well balanced that no one note overpowers the others. The muskiness that I smell really does remind me of autumn leaves falling to the ground. Now I know exactly why I wanted this in the first place.

[themerrybaker]

On me, All Saints is Hymn Revisited. I get mostly rosey floral even after considerable dry down.

[treska]

In the bottle it smells like Medieval Barbie -- girlie florals, but with undertones of something richer (myrrh? frankincense?) . This is not a bad thing, but I don't know if it's really me.

 

After wearing it for about an hour, wow. The rose comes out, but in a very complicated, intricate way. It reminds me of nothing so much as my elegant, warm, classy Dutch grandmother and the gorgeous Tudor house she used to live in. I can't quite unravel if it's the house, or her, or her lovely gardens that smelled like this. Maybe this is just the scent of my memories. I'm compulsively sniffing my wrists, remembering running through that amazing house as a kid, over and under the furniture, through the gardens, climbing the fence, curling up in the window seat.....

 

Wow. This is not what I expected from All Saints, but I love this. It takes me back to an idyllic time in my childhood. This is one to treasure.

[Melantha]

Here are some florals I can like.

 

The incense was very strong when I first put it on, but it has dried down to a lovely mix of incense, gardenia, and lily of the valley. No rose in evidence. Soft and lovely. I'll be wearing this in winter.

[spark]

I am going thru my Samhain LE's from last year to prep for this year:

 

In my years of BPAL I have found that there are two categories of rose on my skin: the kind that is rich and round and sexy and awesome, and the kind that is watery and sad. By this I do not mean "aquatic." I just mean watery -- I have no better description than that. It is the olfactory eqivalent of Kool-Aid or juice concentrate to which too much water has been added, leading to that weird weak watered-down flavor.

 

Sadly, the rose in All Saints is one of the latter. All Saints on my skin is all resin and watery rose. The resin does not have an "incense" vibe to my nose; I think the wateriness of the rose prevents it from really developing that way.

 

Unusally -- at least unusual for the typical behavior of my skin -- the gardenia never shows up (normally gardenia is very heavy on my skin). Just resins and watery rose.

[steffanina]

All Saints-

 

In Bottle: Pine and herbs, a little floral.

 

Wet: Piney and resinous, a teeny bit lemon.

 

Dry: Hmm, remains a resinous scent, not one that has me thinking anything interesting about it, though.

 

Overall: Uninteresting.

[savage_rose]

I have 2005, fyi

 

In the bottle: Deep, dark incense. Mmmm!

 

Wet: Smoky with a touch of citrus...it smells like evil flowers being doused with holy water. Not good...

 

Dry: After the smoke has cleared (ha ha ha), just a warm floral with a hint of smoke remains. Floral incense, basically...wow. This is a lot more flowery than I expected, but I like it. It's floral, but a wistful floral, with just a touch of bitterness. Far more complex than just smoke and roses. Unexpected.

[supremegoddessofall]

2005 version:

 

Definitely an autumn scent. I smell smoke, and tobacco. The frankincense and myrrh are hiding in there and there is a touch of rose in the background. I think I would like this one on my girlfriend, too.

 

Score: 4 out of 5

[Faeried]

All Saints 2006:

In the bottle, pine and herbs, mix with the scent of fall air. It was great.

I was excited about this one, but then on my skin? It ended up not being for me.

 

Sadly I had to let it go. :-(

[portalkat]

04 - This opens up sort of buttery, woodsy and smoky at the same time. There is a hint of floral in the background, mostly roses, but everything is very soft. After about an hour, I can smell something wonderful, but I can't figure out where it is coming from because it was so different than the way this began. The floral notes are stronger now and I can smell the resins coming out, creating some lovely incense. The florals are so pretty - I smell mostly the lily and the gardenia, no longer the rose. This is very beautiful and I'm glad that I was able to get a hold of the 04 version.

 

05 - Please see my review here.

 

06 - This version opens up with a very deep, dark, smoky, resiny incense and I am reminded of Schwarzer Mond. What follows is a medley of florals, but it doesn't smell like rose, gardenia or lily-of-the-valley. It reminds me of more of geranium than anything else. I wish that the original strong incense stayed around longer, but instead it fades and what is left are the floral notes. There is also a sort of acrid note and I'm wondering if there is some ambergris in this. Some of those whose skin eats florals might just get the lovely resin notes. I'll wait to see how this ages, but so far, this is my least favorite version.

[sookster]

straight sniff from bottle the 2006 version is nearly identical as 2005...

i love it very much...resinous and myrrh with some sweetness...

i did a side by side comparison...the only difference is that my 2005 bottles

have aged slightly making them stronger and more incensey...i love them

all but i was hoping 2006 would be just a "bit" more different

[azhure]

In the bottle: A combination of florals, with a tiny bit of incense way, way beneath.

 

Wet: The florals are still mixed, with none of them dominant. They almost smell like they're rotting - sweet, but with a hint of bitterness. Again, the incense is very buried.

 

Drydown: I was hoping to get more of the incense notes out of this. I do, but only slightly, and made somewhat bitter by the florals.

[dnipbhsw]

Oh, this is one of the most beautiful rose scents that I've ever experienced. The incense cuts the sweetness of the rose and balances it out perfectly. It's sweet and young, yet warm and sophisticated at the same time. Genius!

 

This seriously lasted on me all day. I dabbed some on early in the morning, and it was still the same lush rosiness that evening. I love, love, love this stuff.

Edited October 17, 2006 by dnipbhsw

[kwelge]

Bottle: Incense, maybe some floral -- rose?

 

Wet: Oh lord, FLORAL. I think there's some incense somewhere...

 

Dry: OW. Headache, prolly brought on by the intense intense florals. Dear lord, why?

 

Later: Eventually the florals put down the sledgehammer and give my poor aching head a rest -- but that's one baaad hour. It evens out to a rather nice, mellow, incense and rose/floral scent.

 

Verdict: Uncertain. I wanted to like this one, but I don't know if I can withstand the SUPER FLORAL stage. :/ Worth another try, then it goes to swaps.