Cicuta

[theseagrows]

Dry, dusty rose petals, candle smoke, frankincense, and saffron.

ooh this scent is very gothic. it makes me think of withered old mansions full of cobwebs and candleabras. like an old black and white vampire horror film! it smells like candles and dusty roses, but i also sense something very slightly watery here, not completely dry, like the description. the saffron adds a nice oomph, and luckily the frankincense is subtle or undetectable, as it can sometimes turn on me. i'm happy to find this scent...it reminds me of gypsy queen but less musky. the first rosy scent that has wowed me in awhile!

[imaginepageant]

In the Vial: This is beautiful. Very old-world, wistful, and lonely. The rose is prominent, and definitely dry and dusty. The candle smoke lends a sweet creaminess, and the frankincense gives it a sharp, smoky edge. I'm not sure I'm getting the saffron; nothing is screaming Middle Eastern or spicy to me.

 

Wet: Please, please, please don't turn into single note rose! It gets a little sweeter at first, then really sharp, and then... single note rose. Oh skin, how I despise you.

 

Dry: Okay, maybe not quite single note rose. It's definitely ROSE! but there's something else there, too. Something perfumey. And almost a little foody, so I think it's the saffron. But yeah, the rose is so strong on my skin that when I sniffed the imp again to compare, I didn't even notice the rose anymore because it's so much fainter in the imp.

 

An Hour Later: A bit softer and sweeter, but still a perfumed rose. Which I prefer to the soapy rose I usually get.

 

Overall: I really loved this in the imp, and I hate my skin for ruining it by amping the rose. The end result was quite nice, though, and better than rose blends usually end up on me, but still, I wish the other notes could have stuck around. This may be the one rose blend I keep in my arsenal.

[sunstone]

In the bottle and wet, Cicuta smells of pungent roses and beeswax. I don't know if it's the oil Beth uses for all candle notes, or just my nose interpreting the combination in this particular blend. At least I'm not alone in the "beeswax candle" deduction. Anyway, after a few minutes it turns smokier, and the frankincense emerges. It brings up a mental image of a dusty, candlelit study strewn with mature roses, the favorite nook of a lonely, malformed vampire. Good for rainy, introspective days. Lasts a long time, too, at least on my skin.

[Glambie]

I took a chance on this in a swap because I love The Last Rose of Summer so much, and they sounded quite similar in their descriptions. I'm SO glad I risked it! It should be known that I'm generally not a fan of rose in perfume, with the exception of those grounded by incense notes (i.e. frankincense).

 

Very often bpal's rose note turns almost to a latex smell on me, but this one is absolutely GORGEOUS and very much evocative of its inspiration. And personally, I imagine that this is what Christine Daae would smell like as she gets whisked away to the Phantom's lair, with candles burning all around her, feeling entranced by his magnetism. I plan to wear it around the end of September and through October, as it truly captures an eerie, Gothic, haunting feel. But I have to admit, lately I've been wearing it to bed almost every night, as it's incredibly soothing and romantic!

[mymymai]

ITI: Drying red rose petals and frankincense. Oh, this is rather nice.

 

Wet: Gorgeous rose petals, musky frankincense, and saffron with a bit of a heady tone.

 

Dry: It's much sweeter now, although the rose is still apparent. The frankincense now smells like it has been sweetened by honey.

[Aviatrix]

The rose is the strongest note in this one to my nose. It is followed by the saffron, and the frankincense remains in the background. I am not getting much candle smoke, sadly.

 

It is a rather pretty, and Gothic!, blend which definitely leads you to think of old dusty attics with dried flowers draped over old velvet or something.

 

Actually, I am getting some of the same vibes as from Eve (OLLA), only the rose is stronger in this one. But they are definitely in the same family, so if you missed out on Eve, you might want to give this one a try!

[DevilsCandyCane]

Blind bottle purchase, it's been morphing like hell, but I think I'm in love with it - it's clearly a little temperamental with my skin chemistry, but now I've eaten and my body's doing the stupid radiator thing it does after food, the heat of my skin's turned Cicuta unbelievably smoky and dark and sinister, zomgggg, this is *exactly* what I wanted from him! ...I actually just ordered a pair of running shoes, so if Cicuta needs hot skin to really blossom, I think he'll be my new running buddy!

 

Fresh/in the bottle, it's very sad and beautiful - roses and candles and loneliness, I love that this is a dark candley scent, leaning more towards my beloved Hand of Glory than the happy sweet beeswax of Light of Men's Lives. The downside of its morphing was that for a while it developed a cold, salty-metallic note, which is the same cold tickly one that put me right off Blood Popsicle. Happily that seems to be a brief, occasional thing, so I'm hoping it's mostly a peculiarity of winter shipping, and with a few days in a warm room that aspect will be wholly gone.

 

But the dark smoky thing he's doing right now on my super-heated skin is unbelievable, it's so atmospheric. Earlier on he was weeping piteously in the cobwebbed recesses of his dusty old castle, and right now he's throwing a furious tantrum and burning all his books - I like him when he's angry and demonic!

[Poenari]

Decant from azurephoenix' circle. I'm finally getting to try out the rest of this line of scents besides my long-beloved Tombeur.

Cicuta is as many reviewers have described: dry, dusty rose with incense. I can see the similarities to Rose Cross, but that turned into soapy rose on my skin. Cicuta's rose is the type that I have only recently learned that I can wear. The scent stays close to the skin, and is lovely. This is almost a ghost of the Nosferatu vampire, hiding and ghostly white in the tombs.

This scent bears a startling and happy similarity on my skin to the Trading Post's Rose Petals and Champa hair gloss, but without the wine note that is in the hair gloss. I look forward to wearing them together!

[ziggystardust13]

The description for Cicuta is dead on. I'd like to add that this is the most beautiful and subtle rose I've ever encountered in bpal so far. It definitely translates as dried, dusty rose. And it's so lovely paired with the other notes! I adore this scent. It has such a gothic, romantic feel to it. Instant love

[lady_pandora]

Cicuta is not really a morpher on me--I get mostly a lovely soft rose and frankincense throughout. I can't really identify beeswax or saffron, but something is making it a little sweet, and something is making it just a bit spicy and exotic, so they're here. This is a beautiful classic incensey rose. I get a visual from it--this is in a cut-glass bottle on your grandmother's vanity, if your grandmother is a stone fox. I think maybe Hymn is a little like this, but it's been yeeeeaaaars since I smelled it, so who knows. Anyway, I really like Cicuta. It doesn't smell like gnarly nosferatu at all. It smells like old-fashioned glamour.

[LizziesLuck]

How is it that I've not reviewed this?

 

I love Cicuta. It's one of those scents that smells a little different every time I wear it, but it's always good. Sometimes it's a bit more rose dominant. Sometimes it's really incensey. It's always pure love. There is something haunting about it. It's really beautiful, and hard to describe, but I cherish it.

[Cali]

It reminds me of a dark catacomb-like cellar, and lovely dusty rose petals on the ground, with strings of dancing frankincense in the background. There's something slightly pulsating in there, something red, I think it's the saffron. But again, it's just light enough.
Might be what other people on here call that metallic note, I personally wouldn't call it that but I totally see where they're coming from.

 

It really doesn't morph from the bottle besides going a little warmer in the process of drying down.

A great homage to the ancient, "original" vampires.

[Convallaria]

Mostly candlewax and sweet rose spiced with saffron. Doesn't morph a lot, moderate wear length, stays close to skin.

[Bassmastadroog]

I have tried Cicuta three times now- and I like it, but I don't love it. I wanted to love Rose Cross, but as the beginning of that particular scent is very high pitched, I find this superior to that in that the saffron sweetens up the introductions. Cicuta is slightly watery and metallic at the beginning. I can envision the scents as they come through like this- a few dry, or maybe even dusty fake rose petals on an old dresser in an attic. I don't necessarily find true rose to be the star of the show here, more the idea of a picture of rose petals. Maybe it's the plasticky edge of the wax. Saffron and frankincense almost run through my nose together like sheer red fabric.

 

The dry down is a soft, sweet, dusty saffron. I think this bottle will get a lot of use, but I don't think I've quite found my perfect rose incense just yet!

[roseus]

In the bottle I get bright frankincense and the thin smoke of a blown-out candle, with a whiff of red rose.

 

Wet: Lots of frankincense and that earthy dark sweetness of saffron. A little smoky at the edges.

 

Dry the incense and saffron calm down and the dry rose petals come back with a dribble of candle wax and smoke. It all blends seamlessly together giving the impression of an old library to me.

[RoseThornAndOak]

Trying two different rose-franks today: Cicuta and Hierophant & The Empress. To my nose, Empress is much sweeter and not highly comparable. Cicuta, in the imp and wet on the skin has a Rose Cross vibe but a touch sweeter, less of a sharp powdery rose, and more of a candle/ritual incense atmosphere. Drying down there is a note reminiscent of honey, possibly the saffron dancing with the rose.

 

Also what the heck, I don't find cicuta that gnarly to look at. The least hot of the VILFs for sure but still cute in an undead sort of way, plus he smells good. I could see a vampire that creeps around in a musty old castle smelling like this. Crumbling walls, dusty antiques, incense from his travels. Timeless, like the dude hasn't changed his M.O. the past 2 thousand years: wake up, light candles, burn incense, bite necks, take rose bath, arooo at odd wolf, read, sleep.

 

During drydown, I do get the metallic bit others mentioned. Maybe dude dropped the soap in the metal sink he installed 121 years ago, or his skin musk literally wafts that much blood and iron it seeps through his pores. There's a bad vampire and garlic joke in here somewhere but I'm too lazy to find it.

 

There are prettier rose blends, but this is still a bottle contender. Try if you like Rose Cross, Eve, The Empty Coffin, or Deep Midnight Perfumes Ishtar Gate, Chartres Rose, or The Lost Lady. Try If dry, dusty, incensy rose w/ a bloodlike, metallic twang is appealing.

Edited October 20, 2022 by RoseThornAndOak

[PumpkinGuts]

Dusty, crumbling roses in a similarly crumbling castle. How are these candles still burning? (Computer, load CountOrlokintheDoorway.gif) This is the same dried rose note that works so beautifully on me in Zombi, it'll be nice to have options when I'm not feeling the dirt.

 

The candle smoke becomes more noticeable the longer I have this on my skin, along with the wax drippings of long neglected candles. I've heard saffron can smell honeyed, so maybe my brain is translating that as candlewax. Either way, this is gorgeous, and I love how gothic it is.