Ill Omen

[DiesMali]

Shortly before his death, as he was told, the herds of horses which he had dedicated to the river Rubico when he crossed it, and had let loose without a keeper, stubbornly refused to graze and wept copiously. Again, when he was offering sacrifice, the soothsayer Spurinna warned him to beware of danger, which would come not later than the ides of March. On the day before the ides of that month a little bird called the king-bird flew into the Hall of Pompey with a sprig of laurel, pursued by others of various kinds from the grove hard by, which tore it to pieces in the hall. In fact the very night before his murder he dreamt now that he was flying above the clouds, and now that he was clasping the hand of Jupiter; and his wife Calpurnia thought that the pediment of their house fell, and that her husband was stabbed in her arms; and on a sudden the door of the room flew open of its own accord.
Suetonius

Dark portents writhing in a cloud of incense and a tangle of entrails: blood, red musk, black frankincense, and wet ropes of gleaming labdanum.

In the bottle: Strong frankincense and labdanum.

Wet on my skin: This is sharp in the bottle, but it goes on smooooooth. I know that word is going to be used a lot in this review, sorry.

Dry: First impressions are that this is dark, dark, smooth, and almost sexy. I thought it was a close to the skin scent at first, but then I realised that there's a wonderful cloud of DEEP RED floating about me. Smooth red musk and black frankincense are on the surface, but this is a smooth and dark frankincense rather than the brighter, almost citrusy sort found in the more ecclesiastical blends. I have limited experience with the BPAL blood musk, but I think this is that - it's definitely not dragon's blood, if anyone was concerned about that particular note. It's a slightly coppery, almost earthy/salty musk. Labdanum is thankfully behaving itself, giving everything an almost leathery incensed feeling. This is a scent you almost FEEL more than you smell, if that makes sense. Dark, deep, smooth, like blood-soaked leather drying in incensed night air. Well worth the bottle purchase even fresh out of the mailbox.

[Little Bird]

I tested this fresh from the mailbox and liked it ('red musk and smoky incense' were my original notes), but I tried to wear it a couple times afterwards as a full wear with no other competing fragrances, and it didn't smell so good to me anymore.

I wore Ill Omen to a party and asked for opinions and was told that I smelled like "pine needles and soap." I was getting that sour pine impression too, along with baby powdery amber.

 

Oddly, it didn't even give off a strong red musk note when I slathered it on.

Powdery amber/labdanum, dusty frankincense, and pine?

Edited April 4, 2017 by Little Bird

[lookingglass]

Labdanum, a resin that is a primary ingredient in many ambers, is my partner's favorite note, but he's also super picky about, so I'm always on the lookout for new blends. He often finds ambers too sweet or powdery...frustratingly so.

 

I snatched up a bottle of Ill Omen because musk and other incense notes WITH labdanum sounded like all the win, and it is! It is an amazingly resinous, incensey blend that sits close to the skin but has a long wearlength. I find it warm, soft, and slightly dry musky incense. The tang of the resins and blood beautifully blends with the slightly floral musky notes, all slightly sweetened with the labdanum. If someone told me this was a "black amber" blend from India, I would totally believe them. It's delicious, sexy, and soothing.

 

My partner says it smells like bourbon, leather, with a touch of toasted marshmallow on him, and he loves it!

[zankoku_zen]

Red musk, frankincense and a touch of labdanum. Soft, resinous, musky. Low throw, good wear length.

[sprout]

Wet, blood musk takes the lead. I may amp it to be fair. I can't say I've ever smelled Black frankincense but this is more airy than Smoky, but it's definitely incense. The labdanum is a supportive note rather than a dominatrix. There is a hint of blood, no entrails or DBR, it's restrained.

 

Drying down, this is a resin lover's dream: seamless frankincense, red musk, and labdanum base notes. This is earthy rather than woody, not dirty.

 

The sillage is modest but this lasts a long time, equal parts musk and resins and well past 8 hours. Full bottle, come to mama!

[LizziesLuck]

Wet: Tons of gorgeous, sweet, resinous red musk. I adore red musk, but sometimes it's really sharp and almost sour. Not here! This is the sweet, rich variety or red musk that I love. The Frank and labdanum combine to add sweetness, and a thick, syrupy sort of resinousness that I enjoy. I pick out hints of Dragon's Blood, but just hints, it's not overwhelming like it often does on me. Red musk is the star. This is actually what I wanted Aries 2015 to smell like. This is a dark red, rich scent. Powerful and brooding. I really like it. Very atmospheric

 

 

Dry: Sweet resinous tobacco. A bit chewy, a bit spicy. A bit earthy and woody. Really good! Trying to decide if I want a bottle.

[Jenjin]

Rich, sublime red musk wafts swirl around me, along with a sweet, deep incense type smokiness that I adore. I'm not getting much, if any metallic blood musk or entrails thank goodness. It's very "regal" in a way and has a poise and seductiveness which makes it sacred, even incandescent overall. This is by far, my favorite of the Idus Martiae, elegantly encapsulating the atmospheric realism of the event while being incredibly sexy.

Edited May 16, 2017 by Jenjin

[patina]

This is a lot like Ketkrokur of the Yules but I like this better. The labdanum is strong, doing a scotch-tape/ bitter green thing at first. The musk is more candylike red than dry, coppery blood musk. There's a little darkness from the frankincense, maybe a smoked feel. I think the frankincense is what's keeping this from having a huge, huge throw. Instead the throw and strength are medium.

 

On drydown I'm surrounded by the scent of pink marshmallow and resins. Nice. Reallynice.

[sarandipitee]

This is very nice - smooth and sweet resins and musk. I didn't upgrade to a bottle because of lack of funds and I'm happy I did pass (only a little though, this is quite nice). I have so many resin heavy blends that outshine Ill Omens a bit more because they lack the red musk element which ends up overpowering everything into single note territory.

 

I'll for sure keep the decant and try it out in my clocket to see if I can pick apart the notes more.

Edited June 3, 2017 by sarandipitee

[ramblingrambler]

I let this sit for a year before I came back to it because it was much, much too heavy on me when I tested it upon its release. Today, over a year later, it is still very heavy, but it has calmed down some. On me, I am hit with a fuzzy fur scent, large and in your face, for about three hours. This reminds me of BTBT and others in some ways with the extremely heavy muskiness and depth. After three or so hours, it finally relaxes into what I love about Blood or Sin, two of my favorites. It’s more subdued with a certain sexy “come hither” vibe you get with those scent profiles.

 

Honestly, I want to let this age more and try to wear it for the drydown stage, but I think I’m going to put it in my boyfriend’s box of goodies to see what he thinks/if he finds it more wearable from the get go.