The Hierophant and The Empress

[annemathematics]

Let the woman be girt with a sword before me: the many-throned, many-minded, many-wiled, daughter of Zeus.

Red and white roses, everblooming gardenia, violet leaf, Oman frankincense, styrax, honey myrtle, mallow flower.

I've tested this only with five other bpals on my arms, fresh from the post, so it does need retesting and it deserves a proper review, but for the sake of getting something up here, I'll just say that the rose note is similar to my nose as that from plovers above the waves, and although H&E has a bit of sweetness at the start, it is not nearly as over the top sweet as plovers. this rose is lovely and has a lasting power on me that not all bpal roses do. as it dries down, it became a bit more subtle and leafy green notes came forward. very very nice!

[Magycmyste]

In the imp: Sweet florals. Very rosy, with the sweetness of the gardenia rounding it out.

 

Wet on skin: Light roses. This is really faint on my skin.

 

Dried down: Same as above. This actually really reminds me of The Expiration, but fainter.

 

Throw: Not much.

 

Verdict: **** I really like this a lot. I just wish this was stronger. I think I'm going to go find my bottle of the Expiration and compare it tomorrow. This might be another one I may search out bottles of in the future.

[Leopard403]

My reaction on first whiff: Oh holy lord that's good yes I need a bottle! This instantly made me happy and I started to think about buying MULTIPLE bottles, which would be a first for me in all my years of BPAL. For a while I couldn't recall what it reminded me of, then it came to me: There was an e-tailer I was really into a few years ago who had a signature scent called "Sweet Vanilla Rose," and this is the fancy BPAL version of that. So, yeah, it's a bit sweet, a bit floral, and all gorgeous and sophisticated. Oh, man. Love love love.

[elbow]

This goes on as a really lovely rose, enveloped by a deliciously toasty scent I can't name -- a little cocoa-y, a little salty. I don't know my resins well enough to say if that's what this is, but I want to curl up in it... which brings to mind the photo of wee Lilith relaxed in Tom Blunt's arms. Aww.

 

I don't know whether the mysterious warm toastiness is Tom or Lilith in this scent tableau, but it recedes into the background far sooner than I would like. In less than an hour I have trouble finding it, but the rose remains, serene and warm and sweet.

 

If you're on the fence about buying a bottle from the Lab, Tom (a Tarot expert) is offering a free six-card reading with purchase: http://arcanalogue.tumblr.com/post/99977350530/hi-friends-i-recently-found-myself-on-the-label

[zankoku_zen]

Roses, frankincense, and violets.

 

This one is a dreamy, warm, resinous blend. Both the roses and violets give it a feminine edge, but there's something cool and mysterious lurking in the background.

 

Deep, resinous, dreamy.

[theseagrows]

this starts off with florals and an overpowering nuttiness. wth could that be coming from? perhaps the honey myrtle or mallow flower? that doesn't really make sense, but i have no idea what note could be doing this. just my skin chemistry i guess, sigh. at first it's a mish-mash of wet flowers, the kind that smell like they're wilting/dying unfortunately. after about 5-10 minutes the nuttiness finally dies off and so does some of the sourness of the flowers (i think that sometimes violet leaf and white rose do this with my skin chemistry.) thankfully this gets a bit better on me it's more like red roses and gardenias now with violet leaf, but there is still a hint of that sourness still lingering. the florals are pretty strong so it's a bit headache inducing. this might end up nice and soft later on, but right now i want to wash it off, it's just so strong and sour on me and i'm not sure i can handle this stage every time :/

[barilace]

I smell rose to start with...and some floral. Once it dries I get fruit loops.

[Jangzonrice]

In imp: honeyed gardenia and roses

 

Will update when I get to try

[becca_s]

This is a lovely honeyed rose on me I am loving wearing it, especially in the first half hour or so after applying, when it is a really lush rose scent. I am really happy that the gardenia didn't take over and make it smell soapy. My only complaint (and it's a small one) is that it becomes slightly powdery on the dry down. Overall a lovely scent though, and I am definitely thinking of tracking down a bottle.

[milo]

Very feminine and very rosy. This is a sweet rose, and does not turn sour at all. This is the same rose from the Unity set, White Rose, I'm pretty sure. For rose lovers, this is a must, it is a very true rose scent.

[izile]

I'm reviewing this because it's the kind o fthing that I would forget why I didn't like it. The notes sound lovely, and it's not a baby-powder of doom scent, or even an unpleasant scent.

 

It is just straight up fruit loops cereal - specifically the yellow ones.

[mymymai]

• ITB: On first sniff, it does smell like rich cocoa butter, fresh hand-made marshmallows, and gardenia. It's sweetly foody without being too cloying thanks to the white floral tones.

Wet: The gardenia is a touch stronger, but it is the rose that starts to sing on my skin, set against the mallow, honey myrtle, and styrax. I feel like the scent becomes a bit more sophisticated on the skin thanks to the other notes, but it also develops a nutty warmth juxtaposed against the cooler florals. There's a part of me that wishes the mallow were stronger, but I feel like that would make it a little too young for me.

Dry: It smells like sugared vanilla, sweet frankincense, fresh gardenia, and budding rose with a hint of warmth from the mallow. It's absolutely lovely - feminine, foody, and warm.

[Little Bird]

I'm curious about the froot loops cereal that others have mentioned, but I don't get that impression on my skin. On me, the roses amp up and I can smell creamy gardenia and resinous, bright frankincense underneath the big, sweet roses. Maybe the mallow flower adding some creamy sweetness that's vanilla-like.

 

Sweet roses, creamy vanilla and gardenia, and a hint of bright resins. A very pretty rose blend.

[alyelle]

A partial bottle I was given by a friend a few years ago, which I have recently unearthed after two moves and deep storage in our basement. Age has done it a service.

 

In the bottle: rose, violet, lemon myrtle, and what I assume must be styrax, because it doesn't smell like anything else listed or that I recognise. It's very strong.

 

Wet: weirdly, the myrtle dominates, with a touch of gardenia and a whole lot of lemon - my migraine trigger scent, disaster looms! Hints of violet, absolutely zero rose.

 

Dry: thankfully this is muuch more rose heavy on the drydown, so I opted to dab a bit more on. In the end it's a soft rose/frankincense blend with no lemon (phew) or other florals to be seen. I would probably never have bought it blind, but I do quite like what it settles into, and can see a few occasions where I'd opt for it over my other rose-heavy scents.

 

Stars: ★★★★

[doomsday_disco]

2021 version.

 

I was worried when this bottle arrived, because the violet leaf was more prominent than the rose to me, so I let it settle for a week before testing it. That was a smart move, as it was significantly more rose-y after having ample time to recover from mail shock.

 

During the wet phase, it's all about the rose, violet leaf, and gardenia. The violet leaf is still more prominent than I'd like it to be on me (I'm not fond of violet or any of its relatives, and my skin tends to run away with those notes), but still not as strong as it was in the bottle a week prior. It adds a candied violet quality to the rose, and the gardenia helps in the sweetness department as well. Once the scent has been dry for a while, the mallow flower emerges, sweetening the scent further and helping to smooth over the floral notes. The mallow flower adds a marshmallow-like sweetness that isn't full-on-gourmand marshmallow, and I love it. It's sweeter than the floral and mallow combo from De Vos' Unicorn (since the sugared peony paired with the rose in that is not as sweet as the violet leaf and gardenia combining with the rose here, and that one features some white musk that keeps it from being too sweet). It isn't until the end of the day that I get a wisp of frankincense behind the floral mallow, but it really is just a wisp. I'm generally not a fan of resinous florals, and I can definitely say that this is more of a sugary floral scent than a resinous one.

 

I'll be hanging onto my bottle and hoping that the violet leaf does not become more prominent with age, because the rose-y floral mallow phase of this is amazing!

[fairybites]

This review is for the 2021 version!

 

Creamy and waxy pink roses with a touch of the gardenia. It was pretty faint but I hope with age it gets stronger. I couldn't really detect the other notes, this is very very rose heavy. 

[Casablanca]

2021

Gardenias overlay white and pink roses. Very floral.

 

Oh, there's some violet leaf peering out shyly. It's sort of dark green and not quite bitter, but making me thinking a little life bitterness might come up at any moment. After a while, it takes on a dried, aged quality. Violet and I are kind diametrically opposed in vibe, so if she doesn't like me, I'm kinda okay with it. It's cool...

 

Further in, I realize that I am actually smelling marshmallow. It isn't really blending or fitting in with the others... It acts like the rogue stealthing up on you, separate from the rest of the party who are distracting you.

 

This one's kind of an odd one, and not really speaking to me.

[RoseThornAndOak]

Sweet fluffy florals, like my brain right now, lol. Mallowy but fresh florals I guess but not cloying. A bit powdery with the rose, frank, violet and all but it's pleasant. I'm glad I have a sample but probably don't need more. 

[groovyrooby]

Can't believe I haven't reviewed this yet! This was a big 2021 win for me. It starts out a grassy green violet and develops into a sweet floral. The final presentation is a sugary rose that lasts all day long. It’s a fun and lighthearted, very pink-feeling scent, with just the right amount of confidence. It has good throw and a lot to say. My decant quickly turned into a big bottle.

[Lucchesa]

H&E 2021.  This was given to me and was never likely to work.  I love mallow flower and often gardenia, but I avoid violet whenever possible.  And this is pretty much all rose and violet on me.  Any frankincense is very subtle.  The gardenia and mallow are overpowered by the rose and violet.  If floofy old fashioned florals are your thing, you should love this.  ETA that it's pretty darned strong on me. 

Edited January 28, 2022 by Lucchesa