Mercury

[Shollin]

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First sniff: Lavender and cinnamon! Herbal-sharp and spicy.

Wearing: Ack. On my skin it morphs instantly into Big Red gum. Fortunately there seems to be no throw at all – I’ll just avoid sniffing my wrists for a while. It got a bit more lavender-y before it vanished, but overall I was underwhelmed.

[savage_rose]

In the bottle: Spicy cinnamon and cool lavender...a perfect blend balance.

 

Wet: And it's cinnamon in the lead! Wait, here comes lavender, the comeback kid! It's anybody's game

 

Dry: The dusty heat of cinnamon layered with the softness of lavender. Together yet distinct...it's amazing how complex this scent seems.

 

Edited as I momentarily forgot how to spell!

Edited September 14, 2006 by savage_rose

[Miss Lynx]

Wow -- this is a very sharp, high-pitched scent, but not in a bad way. It's hot and cold at the same time -- maybe cinnamon and mint? A spicy herbal that's composed almost entirely of top notes. I could certainly see sniffing this to wake up your brain.

 

There's an aspect of it that seems kind of medicinal, but in an appealing way, like a therapeutic combination of essential oils. A little more eucalyptus, and it would be liquid Tiger Balm.

 

And as the top notes fade, there seems to a be a light floral component hiding in the background, that leaves it with a lingering spicy sweetness after the more aggressive notes die down, which is a bit reminiscent of Chimera. Honeysuckle maybe?

 

All in all, pretty nice, and definitely evocative of the planet. I don't think I'd wear it as a perfume, but for magical/ritual use I could definitely use it.

 

Grade: B

[Monster]

Sweet, spicy lavender right out of the bottle!

On my skin this turns into lavender and cinnamon. It's like a bunch of those little red cinnamon candies were crushed up with a bunch of flowers. Very unusual!

 

It's a really calming scent (must be the lavender).

[supremegoddessofall]

Very much a red scent. Lots of cinnamon and a dash of vetiver. Tinge of something herbal in the background.

[Extispex]

I'm too thrilled to have gotten a bottle of this, and I'm so NOT disappointed in the scent.

 

In the bottle, its just amazing. Very herby/minty and in your face.

 

I bought it for my altar, primarily, but of course, I have to try it on my skin. When it hits my skin, it goes wild, very tricky indeed. At first its all cinnamon, but a complex cinnamon. Its very stimulating and has me bouncing off the walls with glee.

 

On dry-down, thats when it get really weird, because on my left hand, its still primarily cinnamon, with just a little something else tickling my senses from the background - anise maybe? Its sharp and biting, but in a lovely way that makes me want to be bitten.

 

But on my right hand, its all soft and warm and friendly. Lavender and herby, with maybe a resinous hint. It whispers "trust me, you know you can trust me", but how can I trust him when my left hand is threatening to bite me!

 

Right hand - soothing and healing. Left hand - bitch-slap. I'm actually laughing out loud - its wonderful.

 

This is too much, I love this. The perfect aroma for my Lord, His Divine Trickiness.

[tinyvulture]

when i first apply this, it smells medicinal and astringent. i guess there’s some mint in it, and maybe other herbs. then a strong metallic note comes out. and lavender. and then cinnamon. it’s funny how the notes just keep popping up and announcing their presence. seems so chaotic. it’s just not a good combination of notes for my chemistry.

[dzurlady]

This was a very odd experiance for me - I couldn't really distinguish individual notes (although I'm pretty sure I picked up lavender and cinnamon) and I couldn't decide whether it blended or clashed. It was creamy, but with sharp overtones. I didn't really like the smell, yet it was compelling and I had to keep sniffing my wrists. I'm certaintly glad I got to try it, even though I'm leaning towards swapping it away.

Edited September 2, 2007 by dzurlady

[cranberry]

On the skin, wet, this is spicy lavender. Dry, the spice becomes cinnamon and beats the lavender into submission. It seems like there’s other herbs here too but I can’t be more specific than that. This is beautiful - I really like this blend.

[jewelbug]

Imp: Super peppery, spicy lavendar.

 

Wet: Whoa, cinnamon. And lavendar. And something almost minty? Though I guess that could be the herbal lav. playing with my head.

 

Dry: Fireball in an lavender garden. I really love both lav and cinnamon, and this is a very cool combo, but its unfortunately making my nose itch! Late into the drydown, there is far less herbal/lav quality, and a dusty incense/resin note comes out--frankincense maybe? Or an amber? I'm not quite sure.

 

Overall: This is a truly unique blend, and I enjoyed every stage of it. Unfortunately, it makes my nose a little tempermental, so I'm going to pass on the love.

[femmefatale]

Oh, I am soooo happy I was able to get a bottle of this. I seriously love it. It's a beautiful blend of lavender, cinnamon (I believe, it's definitely a spice), and something vaguely herbal, perhaps lemon balm?

 

Whatever it is, I love it. I might even try to track down a back up bottle, though I have a feeling that may be hard.

[asciident]

Wet: Smells like dry fire. Don't want to put it on.

[zankoku_zen]

Herbal lavender and a hint of cool cinnamon. Very interesting. Pleasant, but not noteworthy for me.

[JazzieCazzie]

Using a self-decanted imp from my own cobalt bottle. I am not positive if this is from the original series or the brief re-issue. I am pretty sure it's an original. I am perplexed as to why I never reviewed it before now, since it is indeed a big favorite of mine (probably a Top 10 BPAL scent). Anyway, making the turn at the M to come into the second half stretch of my journey through my entire BPAL collection alphabetically, revisiting or reviewing for the first time every scent I have while I determine what goes into swap pile and what I need more of LOL.

 

I actually cheated today and skipped from MAGE to MERCURY, jumping over a small handful that I'll test-drive starting Wednesday night ... today I have to drive in the snow from DC to North Carolina AND wear a scent that I know I won't want to wash off somewhere around Richmond!

 

IN THE IMP: No surprises here. Sweetly spicy lavender.

 

Apply generously to both wrists, both crooks of arms, cleavage and behind ears. Yeah, yeah, I forgot about the cinnamon effect.

 

WET: SOOOOOOO divine that the fact that I had the burn factor for about 5 minutes didn't matter. Actually, I've had worse (Malkuth caused huge welts IIRC). I don't know if the blend has mellowed with age in that respect or not (plus, it's a pale gold, though someone else described it as red ... is the oil supposed to be red or were they just describing it as a "red color scent"?) ... This is just the perfect mix of two of my favorite notes, lavender and cinnamon, that seem polar opposites and yet to me they are equivalent in their respective categories and as such just complement each other perfectly ... the scent is sort of like the most delicious breakfast for your garden.

 

DRYDOWN: I think if I get into an accident today it will be because I was so busy sniffing my arms while driving. Gonna let hubby take the first leg until we get past the snow and just surreptitiously sniff myself.

 

OVERALL: As noted above, one of my all-time favorite BPAL scents. I still have much of a bottle, thank God, but will still put it on my list of scents to be ISO. Yeah, I might hoard it. It clearly does not lose any of its appeal with age.

 

On a scale of 1-5, about eleventybillion.

[Cali]

This is a veeery soft cinnamon on me... with what I'm guessing is dragon's blood and something green/herbal very far in the background?