Illuminati Cotillion

[Invidiana]

ILLUMINATI COTILLION
The All-Seeing Eye
Will extend its tentacles
To crush all nations.

The great strength of our Order lies in its concealment; let it never appear in any place in its own name, but always covered by another name, and another occupation. - Attributed to Adam Weishaupt

Ceremonial incense, pipe tobacco, temple roses, and shittim wood.

I was crossing my fingers for this because of the incense, and I do love my incensey scents. Wet I do get the incense for a moment, and it is a lovely mysterious incense note, but unfortunately it fades to the background within a couple seconds on my skin. The pipe tobacco just amps on me like many types of smoke do (such as that in Djinn), and the combination of the roses with this type of wood turns out to be a very dry and dusty type of rose on my skin, not the silky and voluptuous type I like. It is these three notes that end up taking over the whole blend and making it come off like dry roses and pipe smoke backed with old wood with my chemistry. I could even say this borders on masculine, at least the way it turns out on me, because of the smoke and wood. The extreme drydown is all smoke and wood with an undercurrent of dry rose and no incense to speak of. I do wish the incense could have been the dominant note in this since then I would have probably loved it, but that sadly wasn't meant to be.

[Dark Alice]

Incense...glorious incense!!! With the barest hints of Shittim Wood and some rose? It's not heavy, church, incense either. It's the kind that you smell when you go into a shop that is dark and mysterious. I love it!!

[alicia_stardust]

This has a very magical feeling to it, dark and mysterious and yet not heavy or strong. It's not just the scent of resins, but also of tiny wisps of light incense on the air and a smattering of wood and rose petals. It is very well blended, and a must for anyone who likes resinous, incense, and/or occult shop blends.

 

I should also add that this very unique, so even if you have a lot of resinous blends in your collection, you don't have this one.

[amandette]

Very rosy and woodsy. I like it, but I hope I get a little more incense as it ages. It's a little sweet, as well.

[MCS4096]

Feels a lot like Midnight Mass to me, but with more depth-- there's roses and spices. I get more pipe tobacco as it dries down. Very nice

[cyanidenoir]

I was so hoping to like this scent but really, I should have known better. Most blends with rose aren't kosher with me.

 

In the bottle, the incense and wood notes are strong. It reminds me of church. The wood of the pews, the incense being offered, the really boring long wait for the service to end so we could go home and have Sunday dinner. While this is tolerable, it's not my favorite. I can live with it.

 

But once it hit my skin, the rose came out in full force. BLAG. Resins + rose + my skin = a hot mess.

 

Swappadoodles

[lunchboxmonkey]

At first on me, this is a pretty sharp rose scent but within about fifteen minutes, it really mellows. It brings to mind smooth polished wood tables with roses spilled across them and incense wafting through the air. The longer I have this on, the more I'm loving it. Definitely a darker, smooth scent, and completely gorgeous. I'm only getting a little of the pipe tobacco, but this is a sweet, smoky tobacco, not acrid at all. Fantastic.

[Pottersville]

My skin chemistry amps rose to the nth degree, so this one was a bit of a risk for me. of the other notes tempted me to try it, however! On me, Illuminati Cotillion is mostly cloying, sweet incense and heavy, overblown roses. The wood and pipe tobacco are background notes that keep the overall feel of the scent very dark, heavy, and mysterious. I don't hate it ... but I don't love it either. Perhaps the biggest hurdle is that it smells a lot like something else I already have from Arcana or Cobalt Blends. I'm going to give IC some aging time and revisit to decide if it stays or goes.

[angelicruin]

This is a perfectly balanced blend of incense, soft rose, and tobacco on my skin. The wood is very subtle and in the background.

[LadyMedb]

You see, I love incense, and I love rose (I have bottles of Black Rose, the Blasphemare Reliquary, The Last Rose of Summer, The Peacock Queen, etc etc etc), so I had really high hopes for this one. However, the rose used is similar to the one in Two, Five and Seven, which a lot of people love, but I find to be scratch-and-sniff stickery and fruity. I'm glad it's getting all these good reviews from people who like that rose - it's a deserving blend of inky incenses and florals. However, all I smell is that particular rose when it gets on my skin, so I have to pass.

[backthatelfup]

In the bottle, I believe this is very well blended. I get a hint of smoke, rose and things I'm not familiar with. It's really nice, actually!

 

On me: this is walking through Portland and seeing bushes of roses and not being able to keep from putting your face into their nethers. Then rose perfume. Not old lady rose perfume. But never does the pipe tobacco or incense or shittim wood come out to play.

 

Bollocks.

[jizatt]

this is nice when its wet, leaving me a bit undecided on the rose issue. BUt when its dry, its MAGIC. The tobacco/wood combo is smooth and the rose isnt heavyily rosey or sour on me at all. The incense isnt too smoky, or too anything. All very balanced, very unique, very huffable.

[thekittenkat]

Pretty much as advertised. Incense, tobacco that has been smoked, and that stale scent that lingers afterward. If there are any roses here, they are cut roses that dried out and lost any scent that they might have once had. The lack of the rose note surprised me, as I amp rose under usual circumstances. Not for me, as expected.

 

ETA: Retesting, I find that this has a currant or raisin scent to it in the decant (a smiliar note was in the Autumn Moon from this year's Shungas). Hopeful, I decided to retest. No luck. Maybe that currant note is really the tobacco and rose blending together. Still not amping the rose, but once this had some time to settle down a bit, it's better than it was. But still, probably not on the list to buy.

 

The wood is a Biblical term for the wood that the Ark of the Covenant was made from, according to the bf. Very interesting.

 

And here's the really strange and interesting thing. I put the decant down, on the end table right next to the sofa, and now it's gone! As I said, laughing, to the bf, it would be this scent that would pull a disappearing act.

 

ETA2: And it's fading fast, not at all what I would expect from this mix of notes.

 

ETA3: On the bf, the incense is amping like crazy. And that tobacco was smoked.

Edited May 24, 2010 by thekittenkat

[tailoredshirt]

When I first applied this, I got strong, smoky incense. It was so strong that I dabbed a bit off of my arm with a napkin. When I went to sniff again, I got a lot of rose. I like rose, so this isn't bad, but I do get a bit of a laundry detergent vibe from it. As it dries, I get more of the wood and the tobacco, and the rose fades a bit. It is definitely a dark, smoky blend.

 

I like this, but I prefer to wear incense as supporting notes, so this is a bit strong for me. But I think anyone that enjoys incense and tobacco should try this.

Edited May 5, 2010 by tailoredshirt

[Little Bird]

When I first smelled this, I thought that I had picked up a bottle of Midnight Mass by mistake. It has that smooth, dark, sweet, resinous scent.

 

On my skin at first, this still smells a lot like Midnight Mass. I'm surprised that the rose isn't stronger, because my skin usually amps up rose notes. I can't smell any rose for the first 15 minutes or so of wearing this, and then it's just a hint of sour rose that comes in underneath the blanket of sweet incense. I can't really pick out any of the tobacco and this doesn't have a strong woods feel for me either.

 

I like this well enough. I like sweet, resinous scents. I don't know if I'd ever reach for this over Midnight Mass and Cathedral, though...

[Xanon]

Let me start by saying that I really like rose and wood blends.

 

This is a well balanced blend. I think that the rose has a bit of a green tinge to it, which I like. The incense is light, as is the tobacco. I get a lemony note that hints at polished (with pledge) wood.

The longer it sits on my skin, the more the green and lemon come out. Kind of sad... where is the smoky incense from the initial application?

 

I had high hopes for this. We'll give i another try in a day or two and see, but this might hit the swap box.

[fetish911]

OH I sooooo wanted to love this one! I love me some incensey scents like no ones business. But that damn rose just ruines it for me. I should have known rose and I don't get along. I was hopeful that maybe it would have been more of a background note and incense in the front. No such luck. I get all wood & rose. DOH! Maybe this one will age with time and be better. I'll give it the benefit of the doubt and try it again... later.

 

final 1/5 yuck

[blu°]

I, too, love rose-incense blends, but initially I don't get much rose from this. It mostly reminds me of a note shared by many TAL blends... something in the ceremonial incense? A wood? High John root maybe? It also reminds me of Magus a lot. A blend I cherish, and which I classify as green-white. Illuminati Cotillion accordingly doesn't strike me as a dark blend at all.

 

Ok, I can see how there might be some kind of rose incense in this... It's very, very lightly dusty rose-y. Nothing too sweet and lush... more of an airy feel to it.

 

I really like this... not sure that it is so different to Magus on me to warrant a bottle, though. Will have to compare them side by side one of these days.

Edited May 6, 2010 by blu°

[Voleuse]

This is a nice incense blend, with lovely polished woods behind it. It's only vaguely sweet, but nicely smoky. It's not very heavy or churchy, but rather a pleasant background sort of incense, mysterious but not immediately overpowering.

[musichappens]

Dark, mysterious and ... sweet? Once the oil hit my skin, the incense got this sweetness to it that I wasn't really expecting. Perhaps it was the rose? *shrug* During the dry down, it became more woodsy and a hint of the pipe tobacco decided to pay a visit. This is one of the few scents that I've found out of my comfort zone (fruity and floral) so far that I think I'd wear pretty often! Which is good, since I was going to buy a bottle for the concept alone.

[Iceblink]

The wood in this amps like crazy on me...it's wood, wood, wood, with rose and a little bit of sweet tobacco. Makes me think of Pulcinella & Teresina with a dash of tobacco. It's great if you like wood but on me it's just too much.

[fairnymph]

According to my searches, shittim wood is acacia wood which is highly tannic and can be psychedelic. Soft rosy incense is my first impression; faint dried rose petals with a light sourness - not I AM ROSE sort of note, with dusty, bitter, musty incense that must contain a ton of myrrh. I am reminded of a much softer Rose Cross, and I think I get some frankincense in here, too - though that could be the pipe tobacco. Certainly, there is a smoky sweetness here, a little stale, but much softer than I feared. There's a lot of dark, bitter wood that reminds me of black oak notes, but is thinner and higher pitched.

 

Both the incense and roses amp right away on my skin, and they were already dominating in the bottle. I'm now positive about the frankincense and the myrrh is further confirmed - nothing else produces this sort of dark dustiness on my skin. The roses are still sour, and a little fresher, less like the dried petals or stale rose absolute I got initially. With the amped rose, I'm reminded a bit of the Empress - same rose note, but fresher here as it's a newer oil. I'm actually glad for the sweetness of what I think is mostly coming from the pipe tobacco - it reminds me a little of Hearth, but minus the fruitiness - it's a smoky note but with a bit of the gourmand quality of tobacco absolute, and that aspect blooms on my skin. The wood note has changed a lot, it has taken on an almost citrusy tone; it's very polished and bright despite feeling dark, and not heavy at all. It reminds me a bit of black tea, a well brewed type that is smooth and clean. I'm a bit conflicted, bc while I'm loving the wood, and liking the tobacco, the incense and rose are still dominating and both are horrid. So it's like Rose Cross got a little bit of those nice notes thrown in, but it's not enough, and this scent is not anywhere near blended.

 

The roses have amped further, to the point that I take back my earlier statement of it being light or faint - it's pretty strong now, absolutely the rose from the Empress, though it's more subdued than many rose notes are on me - again, it smells old, stale, like it is weak due to age. The incense seems to have thickened into a tangible black cloud that sticks to the back of my throat, smothering. Other than the sour rose on top battling for dominance with the incense, this scent is starting to coalesce more. If I could draw a linear chart of how the notes group on my skin, you'd see rose on the left, all alone, then a big gap to where the incense is overlapping with the pipe tobacco (which is obscured somewhat now, and adds mostly sweetness that is cloying on top of the amped frankincense) - and then just to the right of that middle group, distinct but not far away, is the citrusy/black-tea, polished shittim wood. Both the rose and wood pop out, they both have an acidic tone, though the former is an almost chemical sourness, and the latter is bright and pleasant. As I rather expected, this is a distinctly masculine blend; there are no women in this elite cult.

 

The roses seem to go a little soapy and dusty-powdery, the blend comes together a bit more, making my chart smaller and less gappy, but otherwise this really doesn't morph much beyond final drydown. Sour, almost pickled, mouth-puckering rose rules but only by a small margin; heavy, dense smoky-sweet myrrh, frankincense and tobacco (in that order, with possibly other incenses or resins) cling together like a single ominous, dense presence just below the rose. I'm surprise the shittim wood can stand up to the aforementioned, but it holds its own well from the moment it hit my skin, and is the loveliest note in this blend, IMO - a bright, clean, citrusy-tea like note that feels like dark, polished wealth but without the weight. It's a little like mahogany and a little like cypress, but unique and fascinating. Moderate throw and good longevity.

 

This is not a scent I would ever wear for a variety of reasons, and the early stages were close to intolerable. As I've said, imagine Rose Cross with extra myrrh, pipe tobacco, cypress and mahogany and you have this blend; so it's basically a more complex and woody version of RC. Blech.

 

[CiaoBonefish]

I'm trying to keep these reviews short and simple and to the point, the Helicopters unfortunately didn't work as nicely as I thought on me, that being said some where interesting surprises.

 

In the decant I'm encountering lovely rosey incense. It is surprisingly very sweet. No wood note and I think the Pipe Tobacco is helping to sweeten everything, but it isn't smokey.

 

On my skin... hello rose! Hello ROSE! HELLOOO ROSE! (Can you please go away, you've been heard!) Now I'm getting very sweet rose. More like rose petals actually. This reminds me very much of Saint Foutin. Actually to my nose they smell almost exactly the same on my skin expect the sweetness in Saint Foutin is attributed to the beeswax.

 

That being said... once the blend has time to calm down on my skin I kind of like it. The blend is very much a rose scent with a touch of almost sugared incense and a slightly robust nearly fruity feel to it. I just have to be careful and not overdo it. I'm clearly amping something!

 

Perhaps I'll look for a partial?

[Dianora]

Out of all the Black Helicopter blends, this was the one that stood up and shouted 'buy me!' So, naturally, I did. Now, before I begin let me say I seem to be one of those rare individuals for whom Roses almost always work. I love roses, they love my skin. So it's a win-win for me, really.

 

On me, this blend is just wonderful. I got a lot of roses at the beginning, though they are the slightly drier Roses from something like Zombi rather than fresh, full blown roses. The incense comes out and mingles with it, and for a bit it is a very sweet rose mixed with ceremonial incense-- which is pretty damn good. The wood and the pipe smoke come out to lend it some depth and temper that sweetness, and by the end of the drydown I'm trying to inhale my whole arm.

 

To be honest, this reminds me a lot of the dry stages of Seance and Ouija, but without that strange minty undertone both of those have.

[portalkat]

I'm going for a backup of this one. My holy grail BPAL is Midnight Mass and this falls into that same category for me, only I find it a little more incensy and the wood note is a little drier and deeper. I was hoping that I would love it from the notes, but I didn't expect to love it as much as I do. I also love the pipe tobacco note which serves to sweeten things up. This also reminds me of Blasphemare Reliquary layered with Tabula Smaragdina. Yep, I'm definitely getting a backup of this beauty.