Ecstatic Revelry

[Imbrium]

Blackened amber, cardamom, cumin, labdanum, tobacco tar, patchouli, and raw honey.

Ecstatic Revelry is such a curious blend. I'm not quite sure what to make of it. I scanned the list of ingredients and figured, well, ding dong. Everything there is something that smells wonderful on me. Hooray, I thought--this will be the Sexiest Best Thing Ever!

Oh, the follies of youth.

I don't know what ingredient it is, but something in this--I suspect the tobacco tar, but I am honestly not sure, takes this odd, mentholated cast on my skin, so that I smell a bit like Vicks Vapo Rub.

I figured, maybe it's a fluke. Waited a day, gave it a second try. After hours, and hours, it settles down into something where I can smell the amber, and the labdanum, and a trace of something smokey--like the smoke of a fireplace, not tobacco smoke. It's actually quite pretty at this point--close to the Sexiest Best Thing Ever! I'd figured I was going to get. But there's still a trace of the weird acridity that reminded me of Vicks, and I doubt I'd wait the hours it took for it to get to this point, either. I might try a scent locket, or an oil burner; I smell a hint of something like the menthol sort of scent in the bottle, but not much. Either way, though, I'm pretty bummed about how this one turned out, especially now that I've smelled what it turns into after 4 hours or so. I'm jealous of those of you who can wear it. Now excuse me, while I go weep softly to myself.

[Gwydion]

In bottle: Intense and unusual. Cumin dominant with strong blackened amber. I’d put labdanum and tar a very strong third. Patchouli a week forth The cardamom and honey are soft and work to glue all these strong personalities together. Wet: Smoother on the skin. Still cumin dominant with amber second. Patchouli is now third., with the other elements forming a backdrop. The elements play together better on the skin than in the imp. It’s certainly unusual. You really have to love cumin to wear this. Dry: Still cumin dominant, but now it smells like the boardwalk just after a summer shower. I think it’s the tar and amber, mostly. The honey is still hovering in the background. The other elements fade to the lightest kiss.

[Invidiana]

I very nearly got a bottle of this unsniffed, but ultimately backed off because of the cardamom and cumin. Despite all the elements here that appear like they'll equal a win on me, the damned cumin is not cooperating with my chemistry. I can definitely pick it out like the cumin in Mexican food (which is the one and only reason I avoid Mexican places when going out to dinner), and I also think it's corrupting the other elements by making them smell like--believe it--printer ink (!) on me rather than thick glorious resins and honey. I thought I'd squeak by the cumin here like I did with Pallas Athene, but it wasn't meant to be.

[kakiphony]

In the imp: I can't pick out individual notes, but this strikes me as high (meaning not a deep scent) and bitter. It smells almost subtle?

 

Wet on skin: Amp, amp, amping! This is much stronger than I expected from the imp. The spices are definitely at the front of this upon application. The cumin is especially strong and I smell a bit like kitchen cabinet!

 

Early dry down (10 minutes): All cumin, all the time. Seriously, nothing is coming through at all but cumin. It's like I rubbed the spice all over my wrists.

 

Late dry down: I washed it off before I got this far. Maybe the cumin would have tempered, but I had a meeting that I couldn't go to smelling like that. (I washed at about 20 minutes in, so it did have some chance to morph.)

 

Verdict: SO NOT A WINNER ON ME.

[Mellifluous]

This is a very dark tar. Patchouli and cumin are also strong players here, with only the tiniest of drizzles of the honey and amber. Way too dark for this guy, but if you like vetiver or black patchouli, this could definitely be up your alley.

[Dark Alice]

This is the same patchouli on me as in Occupy Wallstreet. Dark, earthy and gritty. The amber barely lightens it up but the patchouli and tar make this too dark for me. It smells like bitters sweetened by old honey. Pass.

[strahlend]

Sniffing the decant: this seems faint, maybe herbal – like an herb shop that also sells resins and incense, and I really don't know what to make of it in the imp. Doesn't smell anything like what I would expect from the description.

 

Testing: immediately this reminded me of something that I can't remember and made me smile. I think it's the cardamom that is going wild in here. Oh and the cumin! Lots of cumin. This really smells atmospheric. I think it would make a better atmo spray than a perfume perhaps.

 

The cumin is really blasting through here. I wonder why I keep reading it as anise? Maybe it's the cumin cardamom combination. This is a pretty unusual scent. I can't quite decide how I feel about it.

 

Retesting: cumin and something that's still making me think of anise. This is a unique scent and I find it appealing, but I'm just not sure that I would wear it enough.

Finally remembered that this reminds me a lot of the potpourri I bought at an herb shop. It keeps striking me as appealing, but I'm not head over heels in love.

[Gateau]

At first this was strong, sharp patchouli, tar, and rich honey, and it was terrific, strong and dark, but honeyed. Suddenly it faded, so I applied more. From that point on it was all cumin. I smelled like I'd been cooking all day. Also, the place on my wrist where I'd applied it felt itchy and burning, which doesn't even happen to me with cinnamon. Will pass this on.

[spanishviolet]

I bought a bottle unsniffed because I loved all the notes except the cumin, so all the reviews I saw before it arrived were worrying me. I was spared by the perfume gods, though - it just smells like resiny honey goodness on me. No Mexican food, no blast of cumin. Just spicy earthy honey.

 

The tobacco didn't go harsh on my skin as it sometimes does, which was my other concern. I tried it on my guy and on him it smelled more feminine than it did on me, so it's all mine. Definitely smells better on my skin than in the bottle. I'm looking forward to getting to know it better, and glad I was spared the cumin-blast that everyone else seems to be getting, because I'm not a big cumin fan.

[yewberry]

I'm finding this one endlessly intriguing. Definitely getting the sharp cumin note (reminds me a bit of Dracul), but it calms down a while after application. Warm, muted patchouli is hot on its heals. I think some of this muting is the result of the honey/beeswax note that adds roundness. And finally the cardamom comes out with its typical Pepsi-like fruitiness. The overall result is mysterious and masculine. I'm not sure I'll wear it much, but it's so unusual and beautiful I'll definitely hang on to it...

[sunshinedaisybliss]

Patchouli curry with honey sauce, mixed with cigarettes and garnished with a sprig of mint.

[zankoku_zen]

Patchouli, cumin, and a hint of honey and tobacco.

 

Or as sunshinedaisybliss put it: "Patchouli curry with honey sauce, mixed with cigarettes and garnished with a sprig of mint. "

[ajansuz]

In the bottle, this is earthy and spicy. Patchouli and cumin dominate, but there's enough sweetness to keep it from being overly harsh.

 

Wet: Strangely enough, something in this has a ginger association for me, but not the intense ginger of Shub. It wars between being sweet and spicy, wavering back and forth while a really strong, dirty patchouli anchors it down. (I like dirty patch. I have to agree that it's a lot like the patch of Occupy Wall Street, almost oily.)

 

Dry: The first time I wore this, all of the spices played nicely together and became something fairly exotic and earthy. The second time, the cumin amped and took on an unpleasant BO-like scent. However, my husband said it didn't smell at all like that to him. Since this is shark week, I've noticed my sniffer is off about a lot of things, so it really could've just been me.

 

I don't think I love this as much as I wanted to, but I'm not at all sorry I bought it. I can easily see pulling it out when I'm feeling creative. It inspires that mood.

[karykeion]

Count me in to anything with patchouli and honey in it, throw in spices and we're golden. Decanted by lanas, thank you!

 

In the decant: Spicy and earthy but there's something in here that I really do not like. I think it might be the tar.

 

On me, wet: Patchouli hello there! And something that smells like medicine, which is the note I didn't like in the decant. Wow. I smell the honey and patchouli and amber, and these are all good things, but that medicine smell is kind of ruining it. Luckily, though, whatever the note in question is (the tobacco tar?) starts back off a little bit and now I'm getting a pretty nice blend of honey, patchouli, amber, and spicy goodness. It's still present, but it's less obtrusive, and as it dries more the medicine note sort of fades into something reminiscent of mint, but warmer. Actually, it's starting to get kind of sexy-smelling and I like it! ...Wait. Is that the musk note from Blossoms in Springtime?! No!!

 

On me, dry: Oh no, I think this had a hidden musk note in it Other than that, though I like this a lot. It's different than I thought it would be, less spicy and more warm and gritty and kind of sexual. This is another one I'm definitely doing a full test run of, because it turned out a lot sexier than I thought it would, and the terrible minty medicine note is miraculously pretty much gone. Ultimately I like it, I think.

[ami226]

Very peppery spice. Is there no pepper in the notes list? Smells just kind like burnt spicy pepper. Definitely not for me.

[milo]

This ends up being a slightly spicy dark honey. Sounds good, but there is a odd dusty note, ipI think it's the cinnamon doing it this time. Kind of an earthiness. Not for me.

[Little Bird]

Ecstatic Revelry is a mess on my skin. Powdery amber, a weird and savory spiciness (smells like tacos on me :/) and a dirty smokiness from the tobacco and patchouli. As it dries down, the honey sweetens things up, but nothing about this smells right on me.

[The Planet Queen]

In the bottle it smells strong but not unpleasant . I put it on and it amped, and amped, and amped. I stuck it out for the dry down to see if it would mellow on me. I can usually handle strong notes. After dry down it simply smelled awful on me. I think it is cumin. It's just not working with my skin chemistry and sadly washed what I could off. I think my husband could pull it off and would smell nice on him.

[stellamaris]

So. I did not plan to buy this one, but in my quest to buy all of the Playful Wooden Mallets, the Lab accidentally put one of these in my order. Understandable, as the label art is very similar.

Perversely, I actually really like this! I don't get any horrifying cumin or curry or cigarette ash. It actually reminds me a bit of Arrival at the Sabbath and Homage to the Devil. I will retest in a few days, but seemingly this was a happy accident. Or someone trying to get me to stop hoarding all of the PWM...

[catalyst]

I got this as part of an eBay lot and I couldn't wash it off fast enough. All I got was the tobacco tar and some spices. It was like being in a chainsmoker's kitchen. This guy says thumbs down.

[symbiosis]

Ecstatic Revelry: in the imp this one smells like the amber and honey are playing among anise. I know there's no anise in the ingredients, but to me the combination of the spices smells licorice-y.

 

On my skin: thankfully no licorice shows up here, just a dry, mixed spice scent. It smells a bit like I rolled around in my spice drawer. I can't pick out any one thing, but something on my skin is going a bit powdery. I don't like this scent enough to wear it, but it would be nice in another use, perhaps an oil burner, or on one of my doll's wigs. (It would work great for my hippy character.)

[theseagrows]

this was a frimp. what an interesting scent! at first it almost smells fruity to me, in a gummy/candy sort of way, like the red airheads candy. i don't know why i'm associating it with that, it's not that sweet. after it dries, it stays sweet but is less fruity. i'm not sure what it is maybe the honey + cumin? i am not that familiar with cumin in a scent. it's kind of a nice, autumnal scent. sweet and syrupy, but i am having difficulty picking out single notes. it does seem sweet and a bit woodlike to me, although there is no wood listed, so i'm not sure.

[JazzieCazzie]

This was a scent that, based on notes, I was absolutely dying to try but, based on reviews, I was afraid to get a bottle. So I was ecstatic (no pun intended) to be able to get an imp in a swap.

 

IN THE IMP: Ambery spicy resin with a touch of sweetness. Exactly what I would have hoped for.

 

Dabbed on wrist and in crook of arm.

 

WET: Actually, once on, the honey amps right to the forefront almost immediately (which honey tends to do on me). And ... it's nummmmmy.

 

DRYDOWN: Ambery resinous hypnotic honey.

 

OVERALL: In the end, this turned out to be what I'd hoped for rather than what I'd feared. So I will continue to look for a full bottle.

 

On a scale of 1-5, a 4.2

[LizziesLuck]

This is full of notes of win for me, so here's hoping!

 

Wet: Hmmm! That's different. I think the patchouli and honey are what I am getting most, but it's a different, really woody patch. The spices are interesting. Really really different. Cardamom often fades right away on me, so I need to give this a while to dry before I make any final judgements.

 

 

Dry: Sadly this isn't working for me. It dries down to all very woody, dry patchouli that I don't care for as much as some of the Lab's other patchouli notes. I don't know when I am going to find my perfect patchouli honey mix, but it's not this.

[Cali]

In the bottle something is grossing me out, guessing it's the cumin since it's a sharp brown scent, but there's no trace of this on my skin - it's morphed into a delightful mix of soft smoke across the room, sweet patchouli and amber.