Saturnian Phoenix

[hlinspjalda]

SATURNIAN PHOENIX
ETHERIAL father, mighty Titan, hear,
Great fire of Gods and men, whom all revere:
Endu’d with various council, pure and strong,
To whom perfection and decrease belong.
Consum’d by thee all forms that hourly die,
By thee restor’d, their former place supply;
The world immense in everlasting chains,
Strong and ineffable thy pow’r contains
Father of vast eternity, divine,
O mighty Saturn, various speech is thine:
Blossom of earth and of the starry skies,
Husband of Rhea, and Prometheus wife.
Obstetric Nature, venerable root,
From which the various forms of being shoot;
No parts peculiar can thy pow’r enclose,
Diffus’d thro’ all, from which the world arose,
O, best of beings, of a subtle mind,
Propitious hear to holy pray’rs inclin’d;
The sacred rites benevolent attend,
And grant a blameless life, a blessed end.

A blessing of stability, manifestation, and wisdom-from-sorrow: cypress, myrrh, white lily, cassia, violet, pomegranate, tamarind, and opium poppy.

I bought this bottle unsniffed, and it is full of notes that are good on me. I'm wary of the violets, though.

In the bottle: Fruity yet dark. Delicious.

Wet: Strong floral note that reads like lily, only very dark and evergreeny. There's something almost aquatic about it; it reminds me a lot of the initial phase of The Ragged Wood, where it was all florals under evergreens beside water. The effect is intense, verging on headachy for a minute or two, but with a pleasant heavy resinous fruity undertone.

Two hours: Yes, it started heavy and intense, but it mellowed rapidly into a very round, dark (but not heavy or ponderous), slightly chewy scent with fruit and some slightly tannic note that's probably the violets. Someone who does well with violets might have better luck with this phase than me.

Four and a half hours: Pretty nice, and getting even better as the myrrh and opium notes develop fully. Still noticing the fruity pomegranate note, though. This one really loves my skin.

There was something about this scent I found very appealing despite the initial difficulties I had with the florals. Although it was dark, it seemed a positive kind of dark, and perhaps even a hopeful one.

[Lycanthrope]

So, so weird. But yet I had to try it, mostly for the violet. Anything violet? YA HAR DIS WULF, YAR.

 

It's got a very interesting mix of sharp wood/resin and spice, sweet fruit, and then the opium/violet combines to make it all murky. It smells like shadows. Wet, the cypress is dominant and you can get both the pomegranate and tamarind as a scarlet fruit note. On my skin, I do amp pomegranate, but this dies down pretty quick and I'm left with a bit of spicy opium. The violet is not very strong. Drydown is mostly resinous, hint of spice. It definitely on me does not read as 'violet,' which is why even though I can detect it in the blend I probably won't go into hoarding mode on this one!

[stellamaris]

The cassia is very strong in this one, I really like it though, bottle please...

[lanablade]

I would not have expected to love this from the notes, and mostly got it out of curiosity.

 

Wet: Smells like perfume. Like a perfume you'd get at the perfume counter in a department store. That's probably the Violet and Lily. Underneath I can smell something sharp, smoky, and resinous. Probably the myrrh and opium.

 

Dry: The florals die off fairly quickly leaving the most amazing sharp smoky opium. I don't get any fruit really, or any cassia. The dry down of this reminds me a lot of the dry down of Red Lantern with less sweet. I love this but it smells very similar to other perfumes that I have so I don't know that I need more than the decant that I have.

[fairestrocza]

This one seems to be just on the edge of greatness, but something goes just a little cloying and soapy. The lily is probably the biggest problem here for me. The cassia is lovely, and not overpowering. The myrrh is behaving. Pomegranate and tamarind are always just a little off for me. I'll probably need to wear this a few more times before I know if it will behave or not on a regular basis.

[surlygurl]

In the decant I get myrrh, pom and tamarind. I'm not sure it'll work, but here goes....

 

on my skin, the pom & tamarind come out all fresh & spunky. Then, almost immediately, the myrrh throws a smooth deep resiny blanket over the fruits. All the lighter aspects get covered by the myrrh. But this myrrh blanket opens up a bit and allows the fruits & flowers to soften it. So it is a beautiful soft myrrh, slightly powdery after a time. Wisdom from sorrow indeed.

 

I need to retest this, but it may be bottle worthy.

[Little Bird]

This is an odd scent. I can usually pick out most of the listed notes, but this melts together into a strange, slightly soapy, cloying floral. It sort of reminds me of floral scented fabric softener sheets (where they are, if you smell them up close, a mishmash of sweet, soapy, tart, overwhelming fragrance). Cassia and spice notes are usually overpowering on me, but the cassia here just adds a hint of cinnamon-y warmth in the drydown. For me, Saturnian Phoenix is a bit too soapy, a bit too powdery, and slightly cloying... not something that I can pull off wearing.

[mymymai]

ITI: It's a pretty floral while still being somewhat astringent. The water lily and cypress are the most dominant notes followed by the opium poppy and the tamarind.

 

Wet: I get a good deal of cypress, myrrh, and tamarind upon application, but I get get a subtle floral undertone when I delve past the top notes.

 

Dry: Tamarind, opium poppy, myrrh, lily, and faint violet with a little fruit somewhere. It's an intriguing scent - soft while still being complex.

[ralenth]

Bottle: Dark, wet, and fruity... not what I expected.

Wet: Cassia layered over a warm, murky aquatic.

 

Drydown: As it dries, Saturnian Phoenix mellows into a delicious, resiny floral.

Dry: Gorgeous. The cassia has mostly vanished, leaving me with a floral-softened myrrh blend.

[zankoku_zen]

Cassia, violets and myrrh. This one is an... odd one.

 

It's this resinous floral, with a hint of spice. Lighter than I'd expect.

 

Spicy, resinous, floral.

[milo]

Slightly fruity, but with sweet resin's balancing everything out. Kind of like orange cake with resins. Fades pretty quickly, though it was nice while it lasted. Wow, looking at the notes, I'm nowhere close, but this does smell kind of fruity too me. I get no florals whatsoever.

[ellebelle]

Am I alone that in the wet stage, this smells strongly of tamarind? I'm surprised so few people have mentioned that. It smells JUST like the tamarind candies you can buy at some specialty grocery stores. As it dries down, I start to get the resins - which is awesome - but then I can also smell the violets, which is much less awesome. Violet always smells like cheap commercial perfume to me. I agree with the person who said that this is on the edge of greatness. I'll keep my imp, but no need for a bottle.

[HerbGirl]

I just figured out what this reminds me of: the original Old Spice. I love it and maybe its just my crazy nose but that's what it reminds me of. :-)

[midnight_aeval]

This was one of the first Anniversary Phoenixes I tried, and it may be the one I enjoy the most. The cassia and myrrh temper the florals and create a dark, spicy floral blend. It's rather lovely, but not sure if I could pull off wearing it.

[PinkoCommie]

This was a gift from my two best friends because, it was unanimous apparently: I am the Saturn phoenix. (My best friends are awesome.)

 

I don't know how to describe the way it begins, but the way it ends is with a spicy lily bathed in myrrh incense and smoky opium and I love it.

[brilliantcat]

Imp: Murky, resinous florals.

 

Wet: On me, it brightens considerably and I can get a good whiff of the tamarind. Smoky florals and sweet-sour tamarind. I love it!

 

Dry: Murky, smoky, spicy, resinous. All the things I love in a perfume! The florals fade pretty quickly on me. Not sure I need a full bottle, I think my imp will hold me.

[strahlend]

In the bottle I can smell the resin and spice, which I enjoy.

On my skin this becomes a very 'white', high-pitched, generic floral. Soapy and flowery.

I love myrrh, lily, and opium. I thought I was going to love this. Ah, well...

[mistressfizz]

Thick and heavy - if a scent had texture, this would be like hot porridge. Mostly spices, the cassia and tamarind are very strong, with an earthy sweet & sour base, kind of like wet tobbaco leaves. When dry, it develops a soapy floral layer over the spice mixture.