The Magdalena

[Dark Alice]

Frankincense, myrrh, leather, ti leaf, saint wood, benzoin, and labdanum absolute.

If you love frankincense and myrrh GO GET THIS!!!!!

Wet: Light frankincense and myrrh with the barest hints of leather.

Drydown:The frankincense and myrrh blend beautifully to make a wonderful kickass leathery badass scent. I love it!

[zankoku_zen]

Frankincense and myrrh, hint of leather and wood on the drydown.

 

Sweet resins, with enough of an edge. There's something very solemn about this blend. Like someone serious that hates violence but won't shy away from doing what needs to be done.

[calivianya]

Wet: My first impression is that it reminds me of An Altar to Cold, Rigid, Dreadful Death! That first sniff is heavy on the frankincense and woods.

10 minutes: It's like An Altar, but it's so much more. It's starting to smell almost exactly like Cathedral on me.

Dry: No, wait, even more is making an appearance. It's Cathedral with leather. It's a dominatrix in leather at the altar on the day of a funeral delivering a eulogy. I agree that it's a very solemn blend. It's really good, but I have so many scents that are similar to this one that I don't know if this is worth keeping.

Edited April 28, 2012 by calivianya

[brilliantcat]

It smells heavenly in the imp and to my great delight, also smells heavenly on me. Dark and incensey with the barest touch of ti leaf and a slap of leather to round it out. OM NOM NOM.

[KakashiMorph]

In the bottle: Francincense, myrrh and something sweet and resinous that reminds me of vanilla - I think it's the benzoin.

On my skin: The myrrh immediately comes out to play in a very aggressive way, accompanied by the benzoin and francincense. The benzoin quickly takes over though and dominates the entire scent, sweetening it. I never get a whiff of the leather and I have no idea what ti leaf and saint wood smell like.

Drydown: I agree with the solemn votes. It is a solemn scent that reminds me of Church, since it dries down as sweet (benzoin), resinous and slightly smoky to me with a whiff of myrrh.

Edited May 14, 2012 by Kashi

[Little Bird]

Just bought a bottle of this (July 2016) and it smells like it has gone bad. It goes on with an overwhelming menthol and chemical pine, so that it smells just like Vicks VapoRub and PineSol on me. Chemical, medicinal, sharp, and sticks in my throat, making me want to cough. As it settles, I start to smell fireplace ashes, sharp black pepper, and a sickly-sweet, powdery incense that's like a hint of Midnight Mass. Mostly it is chemicals and smoky ash. I can't stand how smoky and sharp this is.

 

Edited August 2, 2016 by Little Bird

[yakiguri]

The Magdalena is pretty much frankincense and myrrh on me--all resins, all the time. Honestly if I didn't know the other notes were in there, I'd think this was nothing but frankincense and myrrh. I like those notes, but they give me a headache if they're by themselves. I'll check back in a few months to see if age brings out the other notes more, but for now I'll keep it just as a resins reference scent.

[stellamaris]

Well this is a big yes. It's not as rich to me as Penitence, my new true love, it's somehow lighter.

I bet some aging would be good for this lady, but she's very excellent young too.

[whitsunweddings]

In the imp: Weirdly like licorice?

Wet: Frankincense and myrrh, leather, a bit musky.

Dry: It's powdery and reminiscent of ambergris. Not a fan.

[Caper]

I love this one.

 

It is my go-to scent when I don't want to fit into any category (woodsy, foody, sweet, incense, citrus) because it just seems like an expensive, sophisticated, grown-up scent.

 

I actually get tea, even though I know that ti leaf is different, and frankincense and myrrh.

[JazzieCazzie]

Got this as an imp in a swap off my wishlist.

 

IN THE IMP: More resins, labdanum and benzoin. Minimal if any leather which is fine with me.

 

Dabbed on wrist and in crook of arm.

 

WET: This reminds me a crazy amount of another BPAL scent which I can't place, but want to say Hellfire -- even though on paper the notes don't seem similar. I am pretty sure it's the labdanum that is creating this unusual note for me since I have SO many blends with frankincense, myrrh, benzoin, etc. But anyway, I seem to be getting all of the notes EXCEPT leather ... and since leather was my one note that I am not a big fan of, while wet, this really works for me.

 

DRYDOWN: Unfortunately, as it sometimes does, the myrrh goes REALLY funky on me ... even on my wrist, not just in the crook of my arm ... which makes it a reluctant swap-pile imp.

 

OVERALL: I like this SO much when wet, it's a shame that when it dries down I get bad myrrh instead of good myrrh.

 

On a scale of 1-5, about a 4 when wet but a 3 overall.

[fisharescary]

Struggling to describe this one with my limited scent-vocabulary...I do get some leather out of this one, a lot of resin, kind of a pale churchy incense vibe...something sweet and mildly chocolatey? Or just sweet so it makes me think of chocolate by association? and a hint of something herbal/minty but it might honestly be part of the resinous aspect. a freshness rather than actual herbs or mint. astringency, maybe? not in a horrible way. I agree with an earlier reviewer, it seems...very grown up. good throw. I can't decide if this is a keeper or not for me, but I'm very glad I'm trying it...it's just very interesting.

[savage_rose]

Frankincense and myrrh tend to powder on me, but this does not at all! It's all incense wet, but dry it turns into a sweet, lovely "grown-up perfume" scent to paraphrase another reviewer. I think I'm mainly getting ti leaf and labdanum. It's sweet, a little sexy, a little kick-ass. Confident and assertive...this is definitely bottle-worthy.

[Aviatrix]

This is like a little slice of resin heaven. I am definitely getting the frankincense as well as the myrrh, with a little labdanum thrown in. I can't distinguish the other notes, though.

 

It feels very warm and cosy on the skin, and has that mysterious resin quality about it that makes you think of ancient enigmas and secret cults.

 

I quite like it, but probably not enough for a full bottle, as I rarely go all-out resinous these days

[Casablanca]

Frankincense sweetened by myrrh and the vanilla fullness of benzoin, and folded over with a little tan leather, thin and soft.

Another gift of a blend for resin lovers. I like best those blends with at least one note that is not a resin, and the leather is what I notice here for that.

Among resinous blends I have, Magdalena feels less heavy and intently serious than In Templum Dei -- she is at once a little sweeter, softer, and more rugged. Her frankincense is smoother, less grainy. I love.

[maudlinrose]

Wet: spicy herbal wood ... Not getting any leather or frankincense.

[Lucchesa]

I was lucky enough to receive a decant of this in a circular swap, and I believe it may be a very well-aged decant.  On me, it's mostly frankincense, with myrrh and labdanum playing backup resins.  This is a treat for frankincense lovers.  I don't get any leather and only a faint trace of wood.  Perhaps the leather is more apparent when it's fresh.  I'm delighted to have tried it, but I think my decant will suffice.