Cleric

[Coldfire]

Imp: resinous incense and flowers
Wet on me: still that lovely resin, incense and whisps of floral
Drying Down: aaahh yes the balsam comes out to play with the others. interesting
Dry: darnit. got a rose *sadface* this is not a bad scent but rose just gets so ugly with me and takes over err'ything!

[Lisa Ing]

Looking over a smoke-darkened and aging painting of a martyred saint in a dark church for the thousandth time, counting the minutes until freedom and fresh air.

 

A heavy and oppressive cloud of frankincense, funeral flowers and the smoke of votive candles.

[spikyfairy]

I originally got this as a frimp, and wondered why I'd never ordered it myself as it is right up my alley. I'm guessing the amber would have put me off, as I generally don't like it. But Cleric is now one of my favourites, and one of the only 2 GC bottles that I own. It's rich & deep & heady, and, as others have said, very goth!

In bottle: Not much really, balsam & maybe a little frankincense & mhyrr.
Wet: A rather sharp woody-frankincense at first, then the narcissus comes screeching in. The intense bit doesn't last too long though, and the resulting combination is glorious, to my tastes. Then the rose comes out and they all settle down together. Lovely.
Dry: Frankincense often dries down to something very sweet on me, but the other notes are tempering it somewhat here - the balsam & woods adding some texture & bite. Gets a bit more floral towards the end, and eventually fades down to just a hint of sweet resins & powdery amber.
I find this very potent when first applied, but the throw rapidly diminishes thereafter. Wear length is low to average for me, but seems to improve with age.

I have noticed quite pronounced changes in ageing this one: I love it when fresh, but after about 6 months the amber becomes much more dominant & I almost can't wear it. If I put it away for another 6 months though, I like it again. Might need to get another bottle to cellar.

Edit: Used up one bottle & got another.. This is the second time batch variation has thwarted me. This one is much more heavily resinous / head-shop incense, with almost no narcissus - I still like it, but nowhere near as much. And as it dries it turns to just sour / green rose & sharp frankincense: how Rose Cross smelled on me, when I was expecting to love it. Very disappointed.

Edited October 10, 2017 by spikyfairy

[Lucchesa]

I have no problem with rose, but apparently I have a problem with champaca. This was frankly more strongly floral than I expected a cleric to smell; I wanted to get more of the incense. I didn't love this the first time I tried it, and I got it out again today when Paramatman was going weird on me to see if it was the champaca I was objecting to. Yep. Champaca takes over on my skin, and it smells like cheap soap that's trying to imitate expensive soap. Cleric is a more complicated blend than Paramatman and there are a number of other notes that kept the champaca from being quite so annoyingly dominant, but it still ruins the scent for me. I will keep my imp, as I keep nearly all my RPGs, in case my goth younger son should ever want them, but I will never reach for this one.

[theredkilt]

Cleric to me is a smoother version of Penitence with the addition of rose amber. It's not rough around the edges, yet still holds the ecclesiastical vibe.

[Pixie-elf]

I expected resins.

 

I got soap at first. Then florals start to bloom. I'm not exactly sure what I expected a cleric to smell like, but it wasn't this lovely scent.

 

It reminds me of something my Granny would wear, and I don't mean that in a "This smells old" way. I mean it smells lovely and floral with a hint of incense. I think she'd have enjoyed it...

[milo]

Hard to describe, but this one is has incense, and something florally. It is pretty sour, so not really my thing. Interesting to try, though.

[doomsday_disco]

In the imp: In the imp, I'm mostly getting the resins (rose amber, frankincense, and myrrh).

 

Wet: This is incense-y and herb-y on me. The rose amber and frankincense are the most prominent notes on my skin, but after a few minutes, they calm down a little. It's soft resins intertwined with some flowers, with the rose part of the amber and the narcissus being the most prominent of the flora notes.

 

Dry: It stays like that for a while, but after a few hours of wear, the sweet narcissus, golden amber, and frankincense are the stars of the show.

 

Verdict: I'm not generally a fan of floral and resin combos, but this was a lot nicer than I was expecting. I don't think I'd wear this one on its own, but I'll probably hold onto the imp for a bit longer to try layering it with some other RPG scents.

[h_yeti]

I've always been a bit afraid of incense scents but Cleric is so soft and pretty, slightly sweet and I really like it! I mainly smell the rose amber, frankincense and myrrh. It's a very calming scent to me and I like to wear it on rainy days. I consider this an intro- incense scent, would definitely recommend if you're nervous about incense like I was.

[melandie]

Oh I was afraid of this one which I received as a frimp and I was right. I DO NOT get along with rose at all, but was hoping the other notes would take over. No such luck. After a good time to wear on me, all I get is powdery rose. On me, this reminds me exactly of a cheap scent my dear departed grandmother wore. I would rather associate my memories of her with her baking.....

 

Off it goes...

[spookyumbrella]

Smells a lot like Rose Cross - slightly dusty roses. If you like Rose Cross even a little, seek this out.

[torischroeder9]

In the imp: Rose amber and frankincense, with an inability to rule out that I'm also smelling but not recognizing myrrh and/or cistus at this point. 

 

On my skin:

 

Wet, actually it's the champaca that's early dominant. As it dries, however, the champaca fades a bit, so the scent is now mostly rose amber, though the champaca does still create some fruity brightness. 

 

Ultimately, this is a nice, bright rose amber with some champaca. It's possible that the frankincense is helping keep the rose note from going soapy, but it's otherwise not prominent. It's a very pretty, light, clear scent that's nice on its own but on me, wants a little layering with something deeper. Maybe Elf Cleric? Orc Cleric? 

[ziggystardust13]

I have a newfound love for Cleric. I’ve reached for it the last few evenings as a source of comfort. It’s a lovely rose/amber/resin combo that envelopes you up like a warm hug. It’s a tad sweet, but not overly so. Even my husband likes to wear this one from time to time. 
 

True story.. I have suffered full and now partial anosmia due to the covid virus. I don’t know when I’ll fully recover my senses,  but most of my bpal collection I can’t smell at all or can hardly smell. For some reason, Cleric breaks through to my senses. I literally cried the night I discovered I could smell it (and it was just as  I remembered, albeit a tad more faint). So I’ll be reaching for this one quite often in the foreseeable future. 
 

 

[gothteacup]

I was sent an imp of this in a recent swap. It looks to be an aged imp, which I am glad about-I can get a good measure of what Cleric is all about.

I first looked up a few of the notes I am not familiar with:
palisander = rosewood

canaga  = ylang ylang 

cistus = laudanum 

 

I am getting a lot of frankincense and myrrh right away (classic, love it) and rosewood, as well as soft rosy amber. There is bit of an herbal, almost medicinal edge which adds a nice touch to this.
The narcissus becomes more prominent as this dries. I don’t get a lot of champaca singled out, but there is an incense vibe floating around it all.
The florals get stronger as it dries, which is kinda disappointing-I liked the initial stages of this better. The resins/wood are still there, but the flowers are rather strong, and start to become a little soapy, like others have said.
 

That said, it’s some fancy, fit-for-a-Queen soap.

[Llanval]

I get got by florals every time, and yet I hope for a different outcome. 

 

This is just straight up opaque, fake rose on me with the faintest hint of some lovely, resinous wood and incense hiding behind the ROSE. On my skin, this is the rose of dried petals and off-brand rose hand cream or dissolving bath petals. And laid over is a sharp/soft church-y incense smoke that turns the whole affair into a powdery dried rose, with juuuuuuuust a hint of...pencil shavings?!  Honestly the pencil shavings save this for me, and make it more enjoyable, lol. I individually love almost every note in this bottle (esp champaca flower and peru balsam), but the rose amber is in charge here, to the detriment of the other notes.

 

As time goes on, I do get other hints of resin-y goodness poking through the rose amber, but it's basically powdery, fake rose with a promise of something deeper, richer and more profound lurking just under all these stiff, dried petals. Boo, skin chem! I really should stop hoping that amber and I are going to be pals, lol.

 

EDIT: I found the culprit - palisander is rosewood. Gettin' clocked with a one-two rose punch, lol

Edited August 25, 2021 by Llanval
Update

[skyturtles]

Rose amber, frankincense, myrrh, champaca flower, Peru balsam, cistus, palisander, cananga, hyssop, and narcissus absolute.

 

I get the frankincense and myrrh right away - I'm a big fan of frank, not so much of myrrh. The rosewood and rose amber bring a Indian-like vibe to this incense-y scent, as in, it reminds me of something that I've sniffed at the Indian grocer. The flowers come out to play over time while drying down. Honestly this is like a more complex version of Rose Cross, and less green. It's so close to being a winner for me, but just not quite there, probably due to myrrh or abundance of florals. Very interesting blend though!

(Frimp from the lab - thanks labbies!)

[LavenderCoffee]

In keeping with the theme of most of the reviews, I had overlooked Cleric and not expected much from it. I have had issues amping frankincense before, so that was my excuse.

Anyway I just got a frimp from the lab, so I looked up the notes again, and was intrigued by champaca and narcissus, and here we are. Thanks to gothteacup for pointing out that palisander is rosewood, that's another winner for me. 

 

Frank and myrrh together form the comforting center of the scent, and there is a lovely haze of champaca around it, with a boost of warmth from amber and rosewood. Rose makes a brief appearance, then takes its place in the ensemble rather nicely. The florals seem to be rather subtle in general for me, it's quite a lovely blend!

[crow-toes]

Another imp that I’m immediately in love with. A captivating blend of incense and roses. Reverent, mystical, and romantic - grounded enough from the resins and woods, delicate enough with the florals, and spicy enough to keep it feeling the right sort of androgynous for my tastes. These incenses and resins are decidedly my sort of scents. A bottle is already in my next order.