White Sage

[hexnut]

White sage is a potent herb of purification, protection, and healing, and has been used as a ceremonial incense for hundreds of years. Medicinally, white sage can be used as an antiseptic, and I think this makes an excellent metaphor: the herb and oil are spiritual disinfectants, preventing putrefaction of the soul.

Salvia apiana is a California native with personal significance for me, and I literally gasped when I saw this single note announced.

It's weak on my wrist but that's typical of BPAL single notes; the skin test was really just a formality. On my sleeve it bloomed into a mildly sweet scent, neither entirely herbal nor floral but somehow botanical. I am well acquainted with the actual plant and this oil isn't as pungent as the smell I remember but it has an insistent throw. Like many of our native sages, this smell has a quality that threatens a headache if inhaled for too long and at too great a strength, but IMO that's part of the "purification" aspect. This goes into an atomizer ASAP and I might get another bottle if it's as good a room scent as I think it will be.

ETA: room/linen spray Sweet Celestia, this is wonderful! I've been misting this all week and it's like I'm addicted. The scent is still mellow and subtle, with nary a headache in sight, and yet has the power to banish staleness and funk. I have never before purchased multiple bottles of a BPAL oil that I can't/won't wear on my skin, but White Sage is in a class by itself.


104 Edited April 10, 2014 by hexnut

[Gwydion]

In bottle: This is stunning. This is very much what fresh white sage smells like. It’s richly floral and herbal, suggesting whole plants. Wet: The herbal sage somewhat overwhelms the floral on the skin, and it smells more like dried smudge stick sage than fresh. I love both versions, but this works better with my skin. Dry: Fast fading, but lovely sage traces.

[zankoku_zen]

Dirty, smudgy, sage. It dries to a more floral sage.

 

But yes, smells like sage.

[thekittenkat]

Basically this is the white floral and herbal scent of white sage from beginning to end., though more floral in the wet stage, and then more herbal as it dries down. Is there a TAL like this? If not, there ought to be one.

[milo]

Clear and clean. Maybe this is why sage is used for purifying. It does not smell like the sage I grew up with, though. There are similarities, but the plant I've smelled is warm and musky with a clean edge. This is just white and clean. I bought this for it's purifying properties, though and not to wear as a perfume. I'll say that it does fade pretty fast, within 20 minutes or so. Kind of a faint musk near the end.

[mymymai]

ITB: It reminds me of white sage and soap suds for some reason.

 

Wet: I still get something else along with the white sage. Now, it's rather floral, but it still has a "clean" tone about it. There is also something that reads slightly like musk. I wasn't anticipating this much complexity from a single note.

 

Dry: t dries slightly more herbal, but there is the white floral aspect that still is relatively strong.

[Ajila]

In the bottle - Remarkably like sage and onion stuffing to be honest with you

 

Wet on me - The earthy greenness of the sage comes through

 

Dry on me - A dark, sweet and yet still earthy sage

 

Overall - Actually this is a really gorgeous scent

[Monster]

This is a lot sweeter and prettier than I was expecting it to be. For some reason I was hoping for a dry, slightly bitter astringent scent. The softness is an unexpected surprise! This almost smells like a sugared bergamot tea.

 

It dries into a gently floral, clean scent on my skin. Very nice.

[AirAmIJH]

This is not the Sage I expected. It lacks the strong earthy musk of Horse, pasture, stable and hay.

In the beginning Its more of a Clarey Sage and Lavender. An unobtrusive pleasant floral sweetness develops, leaving in it's wake the subtle union of lemon and pine.

A Very pure and cleansing scent. Very fresh and very much alive, conjuring a sense of calm and bliss, with the purpose and strength protecting the hearts inner radiance allowing it to shine and thrive.

This is not the masculine heavy, musky, forceful sage of smudge sticks and stuffing that protects and cleanses by active, forceful, confrontation; its strength prevailing. This is the sage of motherly love. She wraps her loving arms around you and with exquisite grace and fierce strength keeps you safe from harm. Encouraging and inspiring the need to "find your bliss"

 

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It is Happening

Discovery is a strange and splendid thing

[elbow]

My experience of this SN was very similar to that of AirAmIJH above. I recognize the note from Amicitia, a more recent (Lilith) blend. It's clean without being soapy and pungent without being harsh. It sweetens as it dries down, increasing the impression of benevolent femininity. I can imagine it would make an absolutely lovely room spray, but I quite like it on my skin as well.