Heretic

[Mellifluous]

HERETIC
Dark, spicy, animalic: Nagdi frankincense, bois de cade, beeswax, Somalian myrrh, and Laotian oudh.

This is an amazing and rich incense blend. And by rich I mean its got that resin-y sweetness of incense, along with frank and myrrh and omg-swoon-worthy oude, but no powdery blair. This is not the kind of incense that tickles your nose or is smoky.. more like what I'd imagine the workshop of an incense-maker smells like, while they're blending the pastes and what not. Not overly sweet, or overly dark, and definitely not overly herbal. I think this is an incredibly balanced perfume, and would please anyone that is remotely interested in the notes.

[dreamingjune]

Oh my, this is lovely.

 

In bottle: Hello frankincense. I am also catching a whiff of something that reminds me of Gypsy by Carnival Wax.

 

Wet: Lots of woody incense goodness. This has a nice bit of strength to it without knocking me over. It also has a nice sweetness, though not in the way beeswax can sometimes be too sweet. At this stage I am reminded of blends like Cathedral, with some of the richness and sex appeal of Schwarzer Mond.

 

Dry: When I sniff up close this is a very resinous frankincense blend. The myrrh is more in the background with the beeswax, keeping things just rich enough. I can't say the oudh is very obvious, however this is a very well blended scent. It is really more resin and wood than it is smoke. At a distance Heretic is more sexy and less church incense. I am catching a bit of a sexy and dark musk which is what reminds me of Gypsy from Carnival Wax.

 

Overall: If you love warmed up, sexy and dirty resin blends you absolutely must grab this. I tend to make a lot of comparisons to other blends, but this really is unique. With that said, get this if you like blends like Cathedral, Schwarzer Mond, Al Azif, A Dense and Frightful Darkness, Minotaur, and that sort of thing. I would imagine that this is also very unisex. Nom.

[absinthetics]

I don't think I could do another review that was any better than the two that are already here. I will add Midnight Mass as another similar scent, and I am a huge fan of MM. There is something a little more earthy and dark in there, but for the most part it is very similar.

[slave1]

In Bottle: Dark, sweet incense

 

On Skin: At first I am scared... beside the obvious strong incense note from the Frankincense, I get a very dark animalistic feel from the bois de cade and Laotian oud, that is almost overwhelming. But the myrrh tames the beast and grounds it for me. Then the sweet beeswax wins me over as it balances the darkness and bathes me in a warm blanket. Overall this is a decadent, deep and gorgeous resinous scent... not something I would normally wear, but wow, it smells AMAZING on me. My husband has been exclaiming how much he loves it every time I move or walk near him and he gets a whiff of it. I would agree it is in the family of Schwarzer Mond and Midnight Mass (which also actually work on me). It has a very strong throw and wears for quite a long time. Thinking I may need a second bottle. Love it!!

[ltrittipoe]

Oh, how I love Heretic! The first time I tried it, it won an immediate top ten slot.

 

I think "decadent, deep and gorgeous" describes it perfectly. It is sweet, resiny, stunning but an unobtrusive scent - not that it doesn't have decent longevity/throw, but I think it is "unobtrusive" in the way that someone might think "I smell something really good" instead of "someone's perfume smells really good".

 

I can't wait to see how this ages - it is already so gorgeous and I only got it three days ago. Aged, this will be one to treasure! The frank is a touch sharp in the bottle, but don't let that scare you - it mellows out on my skin immediately.

 

And it goes BEAUTIFULLY with Snake Oil. Just sayin'.

[elka_knits]

I like this one on the deep dry down. Wet and during dry down, for me, it is slightly funky. Too animalistic.... There is a waxy feel to it which is good. Not sweet beeswax but you can easily sense somebody handling various resins and forming a little ball out of them. Years ago I used to burn amber and other resins in a little metal thingie so I know they are not malleable that way but still golden and sticky and dense. More like the mass of stuff at the bottom of my burn pot instead of the little nuggets placed into the burn pot if that makes any sense.

 

It is very gender neutral and I tend to prefer feminine scents so there is that during the new phase. After hours, and pleasant ones at that, it has melted and merged fully with me and is just wonderful. It lasts forever. I put this on yesterday afternoon around 3 pm and here we are 10 am the next morning and huffalicious me. For real

[pinkgyrl]

This is extemely resinous - which I typically love. The oil is very dark and thick in the bottle. It smells like a blend of resins, musk, and incense. There is almost a sweet tobacco scent along with the darkness of the scent. This scent "calms" down quickly from the initial application, but it's still not for the faint of heart. Unfortunately, this isn't playing well on my skin yet. I could tell what it was meant to do on my skin - it had this one minute stage where it smelled like a naughty scent with almost a creamy sweetness, but it just didn't hold on me. I love the deep and dirtier scents and was excited about this one. Frankincense is an iffy note for me - so this scent is very medicinal on my skin so far. The bitterness on me is still fading even as I type this - so I'm keeping my fingers crossed that this will continue, and it will come back to that sweet incense smell that I had for a minute in the wet stage.

 

Naughty Rating: It might be a second date

Edited October 15, 2012 by GirlinDenial

[HerbGirl]

I just got a tester of this from a decant circle! Just gave it a first test and I'm not sure exactly why but this smells just like Lust to me (which I love, but already have). This deserves another few tests.

 

ETA: this reminds me of Lust minus the ylang/sweetness. I see how it reminds folks of Sin, but I get more of a Lust vibe from Heretic. Its great and I will treasure my decant. :-)

Edited November 14, 2012 by Herb Girl

[Gwydion]

In bottle: I’d astutely call it predominantly musky woody with a strong incense presence. I was expecting o hate this as juniper and frankincense are not my friends, but it’s quite sexy and intriguing in the bottle. Wet: Oudh dominant. It turns out the bois de cade is more woody and less juniper than I expected. Sort of juniper adjacent. Together with the oudh, the result is rather like cedar. The beeswax blends well with the woods, smoothing the edges between them. The Frankincense and myrrh wind through the scent. It gets significantly more insensey as it warms, while remaining wood dominant. It is beautifully designed and blended but too heavy and intense on me. Dry: It goes all traditional perfume with the oudh standing out from the throng.

[sunshinedaisybliss]

Dark, spicy, animalic.. oh yes, yes yes yes. This is very much a 'You Tarzan, me Jane' kind of scent.. the one that makes you forget to be a strong, independent woman and just allow some manly man to pick you up, throw you over his shoulder and have his way with you. When I first slapped Heretic on (yes, I slapped it on - no wimpy *dab dabbing* or gentle swiping - this BPAL has to be slapped on) - I was immediately reminded of Panther Moon.. it's the same dark brown/gold colour, and does that same *thwap* you in the face with UNFF when it first arrives in your air. There's also a very WILF-like thing going on too. But I soon realise it's not really like either of those.. although it definitely has that same furry animalistic vibe as those two.

 

There's a real patchouli flavour to Heretic, which is perhaps weird since patchouli isn't a listed note.. but somehow I'm getting a patchouli-like smell from it... maybe it's just the overall 'incense' kind of tones that it has. The oudh here is gorgeous.. dark and smokey, but not in an overwhelming way - the beeswax is adding a beautiful creamy softness, and a hint of sweetness, and it's just divine. I was worried about the bois de cade being eau de pine disinfectant.. but nope - not at all.. there is a top note that has a bit of an evergreen, forest-y kind of feel, but it's not obvious. I just want to stick this straight up my nose.. I can't get close enough to it - I want this to be made in blanket form, so that I can snuggle up with it and be enveloped by it.

 

Overall, this is resin-and oude-heaven - deep, dark, smokey, rich, and sumptuous. Beautifully blended, completely voluptuous, and just drop-dead swoonworthy. It's loin-throbbingly good. If you think you're going to like it, you probably will. I knew I would like it, and I was right

 

Cute label, too

 

[Dark Alice]

I have to agree with SSDB. Dark, animalistic, and delicious. This is a scent I can get behind. The myrrh is smooth and reminds me of Panther Moon without the powdery note. I do like this...but my 1/2 bottle will do me just fine.

[Caper]

Sin. This is almost identical to Sin on me, which is great, because I love Sin, but I'll probably skip a bottle ibecause I can get the GC for less.

Edited February 17, 2014 by Caper

[zankoku_zen]

Frakincense, oudh and myrrh. This is a dark, deep, animalistic resin blend with a hint of beeswax.

 

It does sort of remind me to Sin, but deeper and darker.

 

Not my type of blend at all, and slightly too masculine for me.

 

It's like unleashing a predator.

[lookingglass]

I'm a total whore for myrrh, and adding beeswax and oudh to the mix made me just throb with anticipation. Frankincense does not usually place nice with my skin, but he's behaving himself here-not too screechy-just brightening up the rest of the blend, almost entirely made base notes (woot, woooot!). It's pretty darn earthy and gritty, and like sunshinedaisybliss, I'm really surprised patchouli isn't listed, or, I may add, even vetiver. Honestly, it's not as sweet as I expected, though there is that chewiness in the drydown that I love SO MUCH in BPAL's resin/beeswax scents. On me, it wears close to the skin and has a medium wearlength. I find it to be kin to Old Demons of the First Class and Serpent's Kiss (haven't been graced with the above mentioned Panther Moon). It's definitely worth the bit of trouble to grab yourself a bottle if you are into this type of scent. I'm gladz I'z gots one...

Edited November 11, 2012 by lookingglass

[witchling]

I'm in complete love with heretic. Wow. How do I get more of this so I can bathe in it? My bf also likes this one and he wants to wear it so i'll have to hide my bottle since I don't think I can share this unless I somehow get more! It's not too masculine though at all to me. It's just perfect. My only complaint is that after an hour or so it loses a lot of throw so I have to keep reapplying bc I can't stop myself!

[cometgirl21]

I was really not sure about this but I figured if it didn't work it would be easy enough to rehome. Except your now prying it out of my cold, dead fingers.

 

This is dark and sexy and lovely. It's very resinous and dark with something sweet barely hiding in the background. And I can only imagine it will get better with age. I may need a back-up bottle of this.

[cuervosueno]

I really love resins, especially frankincense, though BPAL's frank does not always play nice with me, and is not actually my preferred frankincense (I like mine to smell very true to the way the resin smells burning, which is bright and sometime with a hint of citrus).

 

But this sounded so good, I really thought about just buying a bottle. Luckily, a lovely forumite was willing to swap a decant with me, so I got to try it.

 

It's interesting, but not bottle worthy for me. It's got a nice, dry resin note in the opening, and I do get both the frankincense and myrrh, but somehow they aren't quite as strong as I would like. I would compare this to the smell of the resins themselves, unburned. The scent doesn't quite have that bloom to it that the burned resins have, and it is not at all sweet at first. It does remind me of Midnight Mass a lot at this stage, which was nice, but not a keeper for me, because again, I was looking for the scent of burning resins (which I know so well, because I burn them on my woodstove all winter).

 

But there was a surprise: about an hour later, I sniffed my wrist, and thought, that's wierd, I thought I was wearing Heretic, but this smells like Sin (which I had had on earlier). I thought I'd just forgotten which I'd put on which wrist, but then I tried Heretic again, and sure enough, an hour later, it smelled like Sin again--sweet, incensey, with a hint of spice. Granted, my Sin is very well aged (my bottle is from 2004) so new Sin probably smells nothing like this, but really, I compared them again, and yep, very similar. heretic is not quite as sweet, and is a bit drier, but they are very close.

 

(My bottle of Sin is very rich, thick and dark these days, btw).

 

So that saves me buying a bottle of Heretic, I guess!

[CreamyJade]

In the bottle: Oh my GOD! Musky resins and sweet woods, with an astringent note.

Wet on skin: The astringent note I sniffed out of the bottle is gone and the scent is almost like Siberian Musk, but with resins. There's also a slight powder note.

Dry on skin: Powder is gone and I'm left with frankincense, myrrh, sweet woods and a bit o' musk. The beeswax comes out not as honey, but as a sweetening agent to the mix. IT'S MAGICAL TO MY NOSE.

Final thoughts: I was gifted some bottles of Heretic by the friend in L.A., and I am forever grateful to experience this magnificent perfume. 24 hours after receving the perfume, my first bottle is already just above label. Really. The oil is very dark, potent, and leaves a delicious frankincense & woods drydown. This is perfect, it's top 10 perfect.

Try if you like: Siberian Musk single note, Minotaur, Schwarzer Mond, Panther Moon, Midnight Mass, Cathedral.

Edited November 18, 2012 by CreamyJade

[Ordo_ad_Chao]

I was SO hopeful for this one, because myrrh and resins in general typically love me, and it sounded like it could be one that wanted a bottle and a backup.

 

Not so with Heretic. I tested liberally, anticipating the gorgeous scent- and I got musty, smoky incense.

 

Well, that was wet. So I waited 20 minutes- still the same.

 

3 hours later, it hadn't changed any. I'm sad that I'm not getting any of the beauty that others are- it is exactly like Cathedral and Midnight Mass on me. And both of those were also a rather unpleasant sort of incense, where I couldn't pick out any other notes.

 

I'm guessing this means the lab's frankincense note just plain doesn't like me.

[Monday]

Thanks sunshinedaisybliss for the decant!

 

On my skin wet: Dark woodsy incense, I get a bit of spice after a while. So far so good.

On my skin dry: It hasn't really morphed but it's lighter and spicier. The frankincense is ruining this for me though by going soapy.

 

Some aging might beat the frankincense into submission but it isn't a scent for me fresh.

[milo]

I like this, but it is quite similar to other red musk/incense blends, like Hygiea, only that one is more red musk heavy. This is warm, cozy, and has a bite to it, a bit of sharpness, slightly masculine. Nice, but I think my 2 decants will do.

[Little Bird]

I just have a partial decant of Heretic, and it's probably enough for me, as I do own bpal's that are similar-but-better to my nose. It's mostly a dark, deep incense smell with a perfumey muskiness and what reminds me of earthy patchouli. It reminds me a little of red musk as well, but more flat and not as sweet as red musk usually is on me. I think I'm getting a bit of beeswax sweetness in the drydown, but mostly it turns into a perfumey/musky smelling incense on my skin.

[mymymai]

ITI: It's woody and resinous, like a teak carved wooden box with incense in it. Frankincense, myrrh, and bois de cade.

 

Wet: Still much of the same, although there is more of an earthy tone to the scent now.

 

Dry: Oh yeah, the oudh is strong here when paired with the bois de cade, but I like it. The frankincense and myrrh are still present, but not as strong as before. Sadly, the beeswax doesn't show up on my skin, but I really like the scent as it is.

[brilliantcat]

This is a deep, richly colored oil that smells faintly of red musk in-bottle, along with a swirl of incense and smoke. On me, I get that very slight hint of red musk along with slightly astringent incense that I suspect is the frankincense, possibly reacting with the bois de cade. I catch a hint of the sweet myrrh as well. Now, I'm a red musk whore but I think I've reached my limit for red musk blends without having scent twins. That said, this is NOT one of those! The musk is actually very subtle... shocking! It's mostly incense with a touch of smoke and the slightly clean scent of the bois de cade. The astringency has disappeared. I was hoping for the beeswax to be present more strongly, like the smell of beeswax candles but I catch only the faintest scent of beeswax. It's helping tie the blend together though. Smoky, spicy, incensey, sweet, complex. I think this needs a bit of age on it to reach perfection but I quite like it as is

[Magycmyste]

In the bottle: This is a sweet scent, though I'm not quite sure what that sweetness is - it reminds me a little of camphor and baby powder, but not quite either of them. I should probably mention that I have no clue what oudh, bois de cade, or myrrh smells like, but if I can figure out the notes, I might be seeking more perfumes with those notes.

 

Wet on skin:Definitely more incensey on my skin - the sweetness is just about gone. I like the incense, but I hope it comes back. I'm definitely getting more of the spiciness, and I'm understanding the "animalistic" description now.

 

Dried down: Ooh, this is interesting - when I'm typing and have my hands away, I get that sweet scent that drives me wild. If I sniff my wrists, I get that spicy, incensey fragrance. This is pretty cool.

 

Throw: I'm definitely getting some good throw here. But I have to admit, I slathered this one on a bit, so, um, it could be lighter? I dunno, but it's making me happy.

 

Verdict: ***** Now, I think I'm going to wait on getting a second bottle out until I'm nearly done with the first, but I do like this. A lot. I don't think I would have been nearly as happy with it if the sweetness hadn't come through in the drydown, though. But it did, and it makes me just feel calm and easygoing.

Edited July 18, 2013 by Magycmyste