En Eski Aşk Şiiri

[Katlyntje]

This is a traditional Sumerian perfume, composed of juniper, tamarisk, almond, lavender honey, sesame, myrrh, olive oil, cedar, and rose.

In the decant I am getting mostly juniper and cedar with a touch of lavender and olive oil.

Wet on my skin there is still a lot of cedar but the tamarisk ( I think) and almond are definitely making their way to the fore front. As it dries I am also detecting the sesame, myrrh, and a faint floral which must be the rose. Gradually the rose is pushing it's way through the rest of the scents and the almond, sesame, and tamarisk have taken up a supporting role with their nutty fragrances. There is a touch of cedar and juniper behind that and the honey lends a unifying though gentle sweetness that blends it all together beautifully.

Overall this has a nutty-woodsy aroma drizzled with honey and a scattering of rose petals. I am definitely going to need to get a bottle of this

[crebbsgirl]

Ah rose, I see we're still not getting along. This is sharp rose/juniper on my skin to start with. Throughout the drydown the cedar, almond and honey come out a little more to round and soften this a little bit, but the rose stays pretty dominant on my skin. Stupid skin chemistry.

[surlygurl]

In the decant, I wasn't too sure about this. But once on my skin, this becomes an edible rose jam with sesame butter and olive oil. Maybe a little honey to thicken it. If "antique" is antique, this is ancient. The smell of dried rose petals soaked in fresh olive oil, a bit of sweet almond, some olive. I can definitely see this being a high end perfume in ancient times. I'd love to smell how this ages!

[hlinspjalda]

As a student of ancient history and literature, I was very eager to test this one based on its Sumerian inspiration. It's also got several notes that work well on me.

 

In the vial: Almond, honey, and a touch of slightly foody sesame. This has the same type of honeyed almond impression as Queen of Sheba. It also smells somewhat like my beloved Seraglio, although it is sweeter and less rosey, without the citrus.

 

Wet: Honeyed almond.

 

Half an hour: Where did the almond go? My skin seems to have drunk it down. What's left behind is some honey, cedar, a bit of rose, and something I can't quite identify, a sort of round green note. I like this.

 

Three hours: Very gentle honey, cedar, a touch of rose, something green that doesn't read as juniper. I never got any myrrh, nor lavender. But what I did get is very well blended, though, soft, fragrant without being obtrusive. It doesn't grab you and demand attention.

 

I could see this as a daily use perfume and am considering getting a bottle of it.

Edited March 4, 2013 by hlinspjalda

[HighPriestessIce]

This is a big blast of pure almond, which my nose always registers as marachino cherries for some reason, and it stays that way for quite a while. About 20 minutes later it changes completely. The olive oil starts to creep in and morphs it into a nice beeswaxy smell. It's the smell you have after a black taper candle has burnt out. I quite like it, but I'm not sure if I'm willing to wait out the cherry smell to get it.

[parrot_suspect]

This is a light, pleasant scent. On me it starts out almondy, almost foody, then changes to a woodsy, lightly spicy, herbal honey. Kind of unisex. Subtle and elegant. I am not getting any rose at all (rose is a note I can't stand, so for me, that's a good thing!).

 

I'm not sure I'm going to need a bottle of this, but it would be gorgeous as a room scent or candle. It smells "warm" and comforting, and very natural.

[mymymai]

ITI: Think almond paste, astringent juniper, sesame, and something that reminds me of evergreen (tamarisk?). It's intriguing, but odd.

 

Wet: This slightly smoky, junipery, some lavender, and a full bodied undertone from the olive oil and cedar.

 

Dry: I was surprised that the scent was still distinct (and not just a generic "perfume" scent) later in the day, The myrrh, olive oil, honey, and sesame all stood the test of a 14 hour day and still smell gorgeous on my wrist.

[OctoberGwen]

I am so, so grateful that I had a chance to try this. Come on: a scent based on a traditional Sumerian perfume! What!

 

When first applied I get distinct almond, but after a few minutes it blends seamlessly with the other notes instead of choosing to amp on me. There's a lovely waft coming from my wrists...if I concentrate, I can smell what has to be lavender honey and rose, but really everything just blends together in a seriously gorgeous way.

 

I agree with the reviewer who said this is an ancient fragrance: it feels timeless to me. I can completely imagine the wealthy women of an ancient civilization smelling of this. It's quite beautiful, and I will treasure my decant.

[brilliantcat]

Imp: Almost pure almond. Mmm.

 

Wet: Rose is making herself known. We usually disagree but so far she's held in check by the other notes. I also get cedar and what must be the tamarisk adding a sweet/sour feel.

 

Dry: A melding of rose, tamarisk, and sesame oil. Such a lovely idea but the rose isn't working for me, sadly.

[milo]

Muted lavender and almond at first with a bit of fruit thrown in. Ends up smelling like a classic mid-Eastern perfume. Coconut, dates almond and a bit of floral. Reminds me of Baghdad and a bit like Khajuraho. This one was nice in the imp, but ultimately, not for me.

[fufu_berry]

This is super well-blended! I'm having a hard time picking out individual notes, but it smells kind of earthy and sweet (but not like foody sweet), which I would wager is the sesame, almond, myrrh and olive oil, mostly. The rose keeps threatening to overpower, but it hasn't so far - as long as it keeps behaving itself, I could see myself hanging on to this. Very unusual - if you've been on the fence about this one, I'd give it a shot.

[zankoku_zen]

Cedar, rose, almond. This smells vaguely Middle Eastern, and quite a bit spicy.

 

Interesting, but not for me.

[Little Bird]

This starts off as a blast of cheap smelling almond extract on my skin (a bit like maraschino cherries, but sharper). The drydown is perfumey, sweet rose, pine/juniper, and a hint of that almond. The mix of rose, almond extract and sharp evergreen is a bit weird and unpleasant on me.

[tinyvulture]

Was expecting a strong woodsy blend, but the almond and lavender honey are what I notice straight off. Lavender, honey, and almond are lovely together. The myrrh, olive oil and rose linger in the background. It's syrupy sweet and resinous and very seductive. Still no cedar or juniper after five minutes, but I don't care...it's beautiful!

[Zorra]

At the time I was too late for a decant of this in the decant circle that had all the other decants I wanted, but my decanter was so kind to send me a testable tiny bit of it. I loved it, but I couldn't order a bottle then (Europe, I need a lot of money and place a big order with the shipment cost). I got one much later through eBay. And then it didn't smell at all like my lovely decant, it was screaming (fake) almond on me with perhaps some sour honey, very unpleasant. I left the bottle to age because I suspected that the tiny bit in the decant had gone through a rapid ageing process. And I may have been right, because today my bottle smells like once the decant did. And now I find it hard to describe, because I don't really get any individual notes. The almond is still there, but it no longer screams. There probably is some honey too, but no longer of the kind that makes me wash off scents. I don't get individual cedar or myrrh, but I can imagine them being there in the blend. Olive oil? I don't smell anything that smells like the olive oil I use in the kitchen. Nor sesame. On the other hand: there is much more in this blend than the notes I do smell or could imagine, so they could be there. I like to think it's just so well blended that this is the reason I can't pick out individual notes.

[Teaotter]

Wet, this gives off a wave of fresh pie cherries -- not cherry pie filling, but fresh sour cherries, pitted and juicy and waiting to be turned into pie.

 

The cherries calm down after a minute, enough that I can tell there's an herbal honey in the background. Lavender, maybe a little thyme, and some other dark fruit -- maybe dates - and a hint of rosewater.

 

Once it's dry, it settles into something not at all foody, just a lovely honey-herbal incense with occasional wafts of dates and cherries. I get a hit of cedar here and there, but nothing that threatens to overtake the rest of the incense.

 

Looking at the notes, my nose clearly confused almonds and cherries with this. I usually amp rose and cedar, so I'm thrilled they stayed well-behaved here. This is a lovely soft incense with a Middle Eastern bent.

[theseagrows]

as this opens i smell the almond, sesame juniper and myrrh. it smells nutty and sort of airy-sandy. a few minutes later the florals come through and they're gorgeous. the drydown contains the same airiness and it's a melange of honeyish florals. such an interesting scent, i don't think i've smelled a bpal quite like it.

[Lucchesa]

My experience was very similar to tinyvulture's. I was expecting a big initial blast of evergreen, and I've really been grooving on the outdoorsy scents lately. This is not one of them on me. I get quite a bit of honeyed rose and almond - in fact, it reminds me a little of the Deliver Them scents Job & Romans. If you love En Eski and can't find it, those would be great options. The myrrh keeps this from being foody; instead it's got that Middle Eastern bazaar feel, a little incense, a little rosewater, some halvah. Just lovely, and it developed beautifully on my skin.

[bellumed]

In the imp: a sweetly herbal tree. Smells more like a tea than a perfume. Comforting but otherwise nondescript.

 

Rose emerges more on skin, then the drydown is a very quiet herbal rose scent.