Aureus

[supreme_c0rt]

Aged patchouli, cedar, frankincense, white sandalwood, a light copal, amber, a drop of myrrh  I'm getting Palo Santo on the edge. It's spicy and dry and sandy like a hot desert wind or a dry sauna. Smoky like wood ash. A box of raw ceremonial incense. The longer it's on, the warmer and cozier and deeper it gets. Everything in this is working for me. 

 

This reminds me a lot of like ... an stronger, drier, thick incense version of The Coiled Serpent (which is already kinda incensey). I love it, truly. It's so warm and mysterious and sacred-smelling. And one of the few blends that never goes sweet at all. 

[Viiinylflowers]

The scent of this out of the bottle and when wet is THE scent I’ve been searching for all this time. If I could just get that exact same thing to last somehow… ugh it’s just absolutely beyond perfect. 
 

it smells like this resinous deep woody soil laden dusky aged amber with maybe some dark patchouli to me, and somehow evokes like an old glorious decrepit but beautiful church with some golden beams of sunlight peeking through areas of age and erosion, and the little bits of dust floating in them.  It makes me think of my favorite scene in FFVII, in the beginning in the church with the little flowers on the ground. 

 

once this dries down on my skin it starts to evolve, which for me is unfortunate because the wet version of this is in every way the elusive scent I keep searching and searching for.  Is there a scent somewhere in the catalogue that smells just like that and stays that way pretty much? Aaa 
 

Something in this starts to smell singed and sour on me a little bit, which makes me think maybe there’s a little vetiver hiding in the mix.  My skin chemistry does the most horrifying things to vetiver 99% of the time. 
I think I might also be getting some Palo santo? which is kinda fighting in a funny way with that sour aspect. 
 

The amber starts to warm up and sweeten, and on anyone else’s skin chemistry it would probably smell warm and lovely and resinous, but my skin is taking that maybe vetiver and giving it a singed pickle-ey wood sort of thing up close with increasing intensity. 
I can smell the lovely warm amber floating around despite it. 
 

a really amazing scent that I will probably FS and wear in a locket or something, because it is THE amber of all ambers for me, at least in the beginning : 0 

 

absolutely shocked because I’d never have tried this if it hadn’t come as a frimp in an order.  I would have just been all “eh I have so many warm glowy ambers, I want that special amber I keep looking for…” and I’d have totally missed out : p 

Edited July 15, 2021 by Viiinylflowers
Forgot to add something

[theredkilt]

Aureus really reminds me a lot of the now discontinued Sri Lanka. Sandalwood, frankincense and  maybe a hint of musk. Very well suited for meditation sessions.

[amokslime]

I totally agree that Aureus smells like a wood church. It smells how a stave church looks. It has a smoky-resinous quality that brings back memories of stepping into one of those log houses in reenactment villages. It's making me feel so gender euphoric, because it has that robust woody smokiness, but also that soft resinous sweetness. Sometimes I just want to look soft and cute while smelling like a ruggedly handsome D&D blacksmith NPC, and this fragrance delivers exactly that. I'm a firm believer that all scents are for every gender, but if you're looking to revel in an outdoorsy masculine scent, this is a great one!

 

It's a bit hard for me to pick up the notes in this one because it's so seamless to my nose, but I'll do my best: Smoky, slightly camphorous wood and golden fossilized amber.

 

Edit: I just recalled that back when I first got the imp, there was much less smoky woodiness than there is now. It was way sweeter. All the delicious stave church qualities showed up after about half a year of aging.

Edited December 16, 2022 by amokslime
adding info about aging

[ShadowEtienne]

I got this as a frimp, and it seemed worth testing out. The description is interesting but not super helpful in guessing what it would smell like.

 

Amber is an iffy note for me, and I think that this is one of the amber notes that turns odd and gummy resin on my skin, with perhaps a tiny bit of offputting to me sharp sweet myrrh (a note that truly hates my skin).

 

Not for me, I'll pass it along to someone whose skin chemistry doesn't play so poorly with whatever's in here.

[HerbGirl]

I have been wearing Aureus for more than a decade and am finally getting around to randomly reviewing my loves.

 

I love this. It truly glows. Maybe more like smolders. Amber and copal are obvious, possibly a touch of white oakmoss, maybe a bit of patchouli. I see many reviews mention 'church', 'incense', sandalwood and/or cedar but I don't feel or smell any of that. I do love Viiinylflowers' review mentioning FFVII...and am in total agreement because of the feels (nothing to do with typical 'church' though)! 

There is a definite older BPAL vibe that exists in the older GCs that is completely absent in the collaberations and trademarked series oils that I love but can't pinpoint. It's a shame there's so much more focus on the LEs and the ginormous releases than the fabulous GC that showcases the true gloriousness behind the brand, but that's an unpopular opinion, and my own.