Ra

[MaidenGenevive]

Ra

Hail unto Thee who art Ra in Thy rising, even unto Thee who art Ra in Thy strength, who travellest over the Heavens in Thy bark at the Uprising of the Sun.

Tahuti standeth in His splendour at the prow, and Ra-Hoor abideth at the helm.

Hail unto Thee from the Abodes of Night!

 

A warm, mildly sweet citrus with amber and light florals in the background. This is inviting and chipper, like a bright summer day.

 

As this wears, it reminds me more and more of a soft men's cologne or aftershave. This makes it feel less like summer and more like a sexy clean-shaven man.

 

[3 - Like] Pleasant, but too masculine for me.

Edited October 22, 2007 by Shollin

[hkhm]

imp: sort of an amber with a warm, yet soft, spicy floral. this reminds me of an incense that i used to buy years ago.

 

wet: warm, rich spices. this has a very soft and warm feel to it. the spices are not overpowering at all. it feels like being in a warm cozy bed when you first wake up to sunlight streaming into the bedroom.

 

dry: even a bit spicier! i'm not getting burned so it's probably not cinnamon but there's gotta be some serious spice in here.

[naeelah]

This is a great encapsulation of the concept! I haven't tried the entire sun cycle, but I'd like to see what the others are like.

 

This is warm, rich resins with soft spices and herbs, pierced by a bright citrus note. It definitely conjures images of a single, bright spot on the horizon in the middle of dusty pinks, oranges, and blues.

 

Wet, the citrus note is very bright. It's very lemony. As it dries, the citrus note evaporates and it smooths out into a soft, fuzzy resin blend, with a light lemon overtone. The throw is on the soft side of average, but the wear life is reasonably good.

[ravenfeathers]

got this as a lab frimp and then? discontinuing! rats!

 

in the bottle spicy and cold. cold? weird.

wet on skin there's honey and resins and a load of spices. it's golden and exotic, but dry and very detached.

dry on skin it gets spicier and spicier in the drydown until it reminds me a little of something purely spicy, like gingerbread poppet, but with that faint golden glow from the other components. it never manages to be warm, though. it's aloof, grand, and a little haughty. it's soon-to-be discontinued and that's a shame. it's really a beautiful blend. i'm glad i got a chance to try it before it disappeared.

Edited January 7, 2008 by ravenfeathers

[Northernskygal]

Ra is very pretty.. very glowing. It is a softer amber scent (and I tend to amp amber like woah so..) I get hints at a floralness here as well.. Ra is nice, but not completely outstanding to me.

[bryghtrose]

Overall, its warm spices and resins, but thankfully no dragon's blood! It's a nice warm spiciness, with a hint of vanilla on the dry-down. It's nice but I don't love it.

[mazikeen]

This is a quinessentially summer scent for me. I am so disapointed that I was dead broke and couldn't buy a bottle of this in time. (I got just an imp, which is better than nothing.)

 

I initially bought an imp just for the name. It was a surprise hit, that I never thought of as a "favorite," yet I found myself wearing almost everyday last summer. It's one of the few imps that I used up entirely in a very short time span. When I heard it was discontinued, I picked up another imp... but I really wish that I had a big bottle. I didn't appreciate it then (in the winter) but now that the sun is out again, I'm pining for Ra.

 

 

 

Ra at first seems like it'd be very heated. (Until it totally dries, sometimes it feels like it makes my skin red.) However, as its worn, Ra is more like the memory of heat. Ra is rich thick spice on me. Almost cinnamon, but not remotely foody. Not men's cologne-y either. It smells great slathered on thickly. While it seems as though it'd be overwhelming in large doses, it isn't. It smells like part of my skin.

 

I'm not an outdoorsy person, and I don't do well in the sun... but I do love the scent of the sun god Ra. It makes me think of summer late afternoon... the sun has been beating down all day, but the heat has subsided. Everything is warm and seems to glow. It's that feeling of utter contentment, getting out of work and knowing that you've got a great evening in store. The kind of evening when just sitting on your back porch with some friends and some beers, enjoying the last rays of the day, seems blissful and almost magical.

[Delirium1009]

In bottle/imp: Spicy flowers with a incensy undertone.

 

Immediately on skin: Immediately, this is a warm and slightly creamy herbal scent. There’s something lightly resiny or incensy in the background… but it’s really hard to pick out the notes. It has a slight unisex edge to it. There’s just a hint of spices as well.

 

After a few minutes: There is definitely some frankincense in this, as well as a hint of spices and something softly herbal. As for the feel of this, it’s very warm and seems like a red to gold scent.

 

Overall Impressions: This is a great sun scent: very warm and slightly sweet. The incense and herbal feel is lovely, and there’s the barest hint of spices (maybe cardamom or clove).

[gchris]

In Vial: Strong and woody

 

Wet: Smells aged. Reminds me of an older gentleman's cologne. Kind of stout. This is powdery now and somewhat sweeter.

[skepticism]

Vial: frankincense, rosemary and woody notes with orange lingering on the tail end

 

Wet: frankincense, incense and woody with rosemary

 

Dry: It's trying to go citrusy and floral, but the incense and wood notes are overpowering it by a good degree. Kind of citronella, but not quite

 

It definitely didn't antagonize my nose, but I don't think that a blend that reminds me of citronella is something I'd wear. Maybe I would diffuse/oil burn it, but not inside the house.

[voodoocatwoman]

This is very herb/woody in the bottle but it dries to a spicy wood. I am not picking up any citrus at all. The wood is grounding and the spice is warm and inviting.

[galahad]

In The Bottle

Slightly sour resins

 

On Application

Golden green, sweet and slightly woody

 

Dry Down

This one is strange. Everytime I take a sniff I want ot like it....but I don't. It has a sour sweat undertone which doesn't do anything for me.

 

Rating (0-5)

1.5

[zankoku_zen]

I enjoyed Ra more than anticipated. It was a dirty, sandy, gritty kind of citrus and warm woodiness. In a good way. It smelled old, golden and like ancient sandstone.

[hlinspjalda]

In the vial: This smells almost like prepared mustard to me: something almost vinegary, a warm sharpness, an impression of herbs. There's also something faint and floral in the mix.

 

Wet: Much warmer right away, the floral intensifes. Carnation? Something very spicy, definitely. I like it, but it is not gentle.

 

Half an hour: A lemony woodiness, like lemongrass maybe. Still the impression of carnation, and I like it. But woody. Definitely woody, or stemmy, or something.

 

One hour: Sweet spicy woodiness with almost a bay rum quality. It kind of reminds me of Baron Samedi, only not so aggressive. I quite like it.

 

Two hours: Wow, I still really like this one.

 

Four hours: It's faded a lot and gone a bit powdery. There's still something carnation-y about, though.

 

[angelicruin]

Sniffing the imp, it's frankincense and wood.

 

Applied to the skin, this is mostly woodsy incense and amber on me. Wish I could smell the orange note, but sadly it is not making an appearance on my skin.

[sylvanusurban]

In bottle: Sandalwoody incensey smell. Less objectionably powerful than other in-bottle scents I’ve subjected myself to.

 

On me, wet: Hmm, an interesting incensey sandalwoody blend. Definitely a warm smell, definitely dry. It smells exotic.

 

On me, drying: I’m getting some spice now, in addition to the abovementioned notes. Makes me imagine a desert caravan with richly embroidered curtains and tingling bells, carrying chests of precious exotic spices through the hot desert.

 

Later: Hmm, cardamom? …Maybe a touch of anise now.

 

I like this. It reminds me of a nice spicy chai tea, and of some of the hippieish shops I frequented in my early teens (as well as the imaginary caravan mentioned above). Too bad they discontinued it! I’ll keep the imp around.

 

Bonus question: Why do these scents always smell stronger on my right wrist than my left? It is a Great Mystery.

 

[Tess]

In the bottle - This really is surprisingly green smelling. I'm getting lavender (it's very soapy) and frankincense, but there's more sharpness to the green than is explainable just by lavender.

 

Wet - There really is a ton of lavender in this.

 

Drying - I wish I could tell what this other "green" floral note is. Probably some carnation in there, as it has that slightly spiced floral note that I love, but it's very heavy on the lavender and the "green." Frankincense is just gone. It's a bright floral scent, through and through.

 

Dry (4 hours) - Lavender was mostly what I could smell until the last hour or so, when everything faded and it was gone to the barest frankincense.

 

Overall - Lavender doesn't work on me in the best of times and this wasn't the best of times. Add to the fact that it didn't give the impression of a sun scent at all...

[stellans]

If there's cinnamon in this blend, it's the barest whisp of scent and no fire on my skin...thank goodness. What is immediately apparent upon application is the amazingly attractive combination of heliotrope and frankincense. The somewhat somber frankincense is wonderfully lightened and sweetened by the lovely heliotrope. This blend makes me think of rich purple with gold trimmings, and I love wearing it. It is the perfect scent for the day named for the Sun. My only concern with this blend is its lightness; there is very little throw and it doesn't last very long on my skin. I give this scent 3 of 5 stars. Edited April 12, 2010 by stellans

[rayvn1]

Originally this was sandalwood and powder - a definite swap, but it turned into a lovely sandalwood incense and smoke exactly like the first pack of incense I ever got as a kid Too light to keep, unfortunately.

[Vega]

Sniffed: Bright, pure and clear. A slightly dusty, citrus scent.

 

On skin: I'm not good at figuring out notes without a list, but I think Ra majors on citrus and resins. At least, I'm smelling notes that remind me of the bright, intense clarity (but not tartness or juiciness) of citrus, plus the slightly dusty dryness of amber, and the depth and body of other resins. This is a clear and limpid scent, simple and clean, but also grounded, not bold or high-pitched. A constant scent that doesn't morph on my skin.

Ra seems like a gentler, clearer version of Kathmandu (a similar bright and powdery blend), and is similar to Summer's Last Will and Testament (albeit purer and less green). It definitely evokes the first virgin, brilliant rays of the dawning sun, rising up into a cloudless early morning sky.

 

Verdict: I've tried both Ra and Khephra, and both definitely embody their respective stations of the sun. Not only is Ra evocative, it also balances the depth of resins and the clarity of citrus, and is pleasant to wear. What a lovely blend that well embodies the dawning sun!