Cathedral

[lainevierge]

Venerable and solemn: the scent of incense smoke wafting through an ancient church. A true ecclesiatical blend of pure resins.

Wow, dusty. I'm getting nothing but dust off of this, but I still like it. I smell like a musty old basement. Edited December 12, 2007 by Shollin

[TrailerTrashPrincess]

oh, wow ... this truly is like the smoke that comes from the brass censer in a church...

 

i can't even begin to describe it, other than to say i'm glad i'm not an alter boy.

[erraticprophet]

Initial Impression: incense, sharp wood

 

On Wet: church pews

 

On Dry: wood with some incense

 

Final Impression: very soft and a bit dusty smelling

 

Rating (on a scale from 1-5): 2

[ophidiae]

IN THE BOTTLE: Incense smoke.

 

WET ON SKIN: A strong blast of frankincense, but beneath that is some kind of wood note.

 

DRYDOWN: Wood again. It reminds me of an old-fashioned pencil box. And ... looking at the other reviews here, I see I'm not the only one to have this association.

 

DRY: Old, dry cedarwood, with a hint of smoke.

 

OVERALL: It starts out very much like Penitence, but where that stays smokey and sweet, this goes dusty dry. It's a gentle, peaceful smell, but it doesn't make me think of cathedrals at all. What it does make me think of is a small side chapel, close and warm and tranquil.

[dluszcz]

Wet on the skin, this was extremely black peppery, wafting to patchouli and settling down into something mildly reminiscent of Catholic church incense.

 

The more this dried down, the sweeter and waxier it got, until all rich peppery spices were gone. The lingering, faint scent reminds me of cheap tea lights and paper candy.

 

I don't know, but a cathedral needs some Murphy's Wood oil soap and that weird un-watery scent of holy water hanging out in the founts too long, besides the hints of lingering incense...

[Rosaleen Dhu]

Oh but I love love love this!

 

Wonderful resins, a bit of smoke and wood and slightly dusty on dry down. This is beautiful on me.

[VioletChaos]

in the imp: the vaguely turpentine smell of a painting studio. not unpleasant, but...

 

wet on skin: the turp becomes stronger. erm.

 

dry down: more of the same, with an undernote of something citrus, like gum copal.

 

in all: not for me or my skin chemistry, i'm afraid.

[Rouge]

In the vial - This seems quite a dry and harsh blend at first - it's not sweetly smoky like some other incense blends.

 

Wet on the skin - Much nicer! Frankincense seems the prevalent notes here, and I think I smell something almot waxy as well. While it's sober and quite grounded, there's an underlying sweetness that wasn't there in the imp itself.

 

Next stages - Something faintly woody emerges soon after application. It's not unpleasant, just not somethig I'd want to smell like.

 

Dry down - I won't be wearing this as a perfume, but I think I'll try it in an oil burner.

[mollyxus]

This one surprised me. I was expecting something a little sweeter and smokier.

 

In the bottle, it's dry and sharp and dusty. I smell wood and old books, no smoke.

 

When it dries on my skin, I smell old wood and dusty books. There is a teensy bit of smoke that I keep catching fleeting wisps of, but it's more of a suggestion than anything.

 

This reminds me of those old miniature Lane cedar chests. My grandma received one her senior year of high school (1930s) and this smells so much like it, it's eerie.

 

I very much like this, but not on me.

[inurbanus]

I used to love Cathedral when I was beginning to get into BPAL, then I stopped wearing it for a while, and now I like it again. Compared to the other resin scents, Cathedral seems more scattered and hazy. It's wonderfully evocative of an old church, and every time I wear it I think of the cathedrals I've visited and smile. While I wouldn't describe this one as especially comforting, it's a very warm scent, perfect for cold weather. Cathedral doesn't have a very strong throw, so in order to get the full effect, I have to douse myself in it. I think it would smell really good on a guy.

 

4/5

[Delirium1009]

In bottle/imp: Sharp resin… not deep and smooth but more woody and maybe even a bit of cedar.

 

Immediately on skin: Strong cedar and some light smokiness… but mostly cedar.

 

After a little while: Dry cedar, but there is a slight smoky resinous note to this as well now. It’s not overly sweet and is rather dry.

 

Overall Impressions: This didn’t impress me at all… almost all I smell is cedar, though there is a hint of resin. I’m not a big cedar fan when it’s just about all I get from a blend and this is no exception. This blend is rather dry, and I would definitely say it’s unisex.

[djsiberia]

i really liked this scent in the imp...when i put it on it instantly turned into a plastic band-aid smell.

 

i did try it again a couple months later, and it's still smelling like band-aids.

[bryghtrose]

It's very dusty. It doesn't smell anything like the incense I remember from Holy Thursday Mass (it's the occasion that most screams "Incense" to me). I think it smells more like unlit incense than actively burning incense. Also, it's making my skin where I'm testing very itchy.

[melrose]

I like this very much, probably because it smells somewhat like my beloved Dee. It's not as sweet, nor as complex. This seems apt, as the image it's meant to convey isn't as complex.

 

I don't get the leather or parchment notes, so it's mostly dusty wood and a hint of something high and sharp.

 

Yep, much more like an elegant cathedral than a small church in the woods.

 

A big bottle is in my future.

[chibirisuchan]

When I put this on, my very first thought was "hardware store" or "woodshop." I'd been to the hardware store 4x today and cutting a lot of pine boards, and at first I thought maybe I'd still got pine sap and shavings on me, so I washed to the elbows and made sure I didn't still smell like woodworking, then tried again -- yeah, bam-pow fresh-cut sawmill wood, pine and cedar most of all.

 

Now that it's dried, it's a little dustier and softer, but the cedar's still jumping out at me.

[Valtristus]

Cathedral is absolutely lovely. When I first uncapped the bottle, I got a heady whiff of cedar and perhaps a touch of incense that itched my nose a bit. On my skin, the incense all but disappeared into the background, and all I could smell was dust and resins. Maybe half an hour later, the scent balanced itself out wonderfully on my skin. My only disappointment is that it faded fast and I have to stick my nose to my wrist just to smell it after an hour or so. Definitely going to beg for a 5ml bottle for Christmas.

Edited May 27, 2008 by Val

[greenranger]

Wet, on me, dusty resins.

 

Drying, frankincense, possibly myrrh...and wood of some sort...cedar and pine? Possibly other wood as well, but the cedar and pine are the most identifiable. I smell a woodshop...fresh woodchips all over. What I am hoping will happen, is that the myrrh will sweeten and come forward, and the wood will drop back a bit. It needs the wood to be different from Penitence, which I love, but maybe not this much wood.

 

I tried this one again, and I do love this too. The pine scent stays fairly close to the skin, and the resins waft about more freely. If I sniff close to the skin, the pine *is* the dominant scent...but, I crave this scent and it is different enough from Penitence to be its own lovely craving.

 

Wood and resins also really love my skin. It lasts forever on me.

Edited July 21, 2008 by Aerinha

[quigza]

in the vial: sweet smoke & woody resins (myrrh? frankincense?)

 

wet: Sweet oily resins & smoke & cedar

 

dry down: A definite cedar note blasting through, the sweetness is gone

 

aftermath: Faint faint woody sweet smoke that varies between "dry" and "oily." I can't think of a better way to put it.

 

This is an interesting scent. But, I'm not sure I want to smell like wood. (Can you tell I'm new to wood notes?)

 

Oh! My male roommate insists that it smells like strong flowers. But, he says that about any perfume that isn't foody.

 

Edit to add:

I put it on the roomie. He gets the same wet & dry down notes. The cedar blast upon dry down is eye-watering on him. After about 20 minutes (and the end of his patience with the experiment), he announced it smells like "weird" then washed it off.

Edited July 11, 2008 by Lemonlife

[stillalive]

first sniff on my skin: EEEEEK. Yuck.

 

Second sniff: kind of pine-y? It reminds me of... something...

 

Third sniff: it's definitely not a perfume, but I might use this to scent my rosaries.

 

Fourth sniff: Okay, it's turning straaaaaaange on my skin. Like coleslaw. ew.

 

Hopefully this would be better on clothes or in a jewelry box.

[plunderparlour]

This really reminds me of the funeral incense used at a very old cathedral here in my town. It's a nice scent for a visit but don't think i'd buy a bottle. Nice frimp, though,.

[ladyver]

Wet on skin: woody & musty

This quickly evolves into polished wood and then back to a damp wood scent - but not in a bad way

After an hour or so I get the smoky incense as well

This is really evocative of walking through an histoic building which is slightly damp and dark with some insence that has been mysteriously left burning

[elizabeth101]

Smells exactly like a solemn high mass. Cool!

[Champagne]

It`s a real feeling of being in a semi obscured church, silent, cold but warmed by the frankincence smokes in the air. I can see the coloured windows filtering the sunlight far above and the statues of martyrs in extatic agony. Perfect, to have this is a real dream come true.

[fairnymph]

Sniffed in imp: Light gold-yellow oil. Very woody with incense and resins, just as described. Dry, dusty. Cedar, rosewood, patchouli. Maybe a hint of sweet frankincense.

 

As expected, not at all my thing.

[gingiemay]

Wet in imp - Strong resin. Doesn't exactly smell like church insense, but pleasant and warm.

 

Wet on skin - Resins and a faintly powdery undertone.

 

Dry on skin - smells just like a church, if your church uses incense in a censer! After reading reviews I do get a faint woody undertone, but it all fits in to the "cathedral" vibe. This would be great in an oil burner too. I love this scent--definitely resin, but not too strong. Ave Maria!