Bastet

[tinyvulture]

Bast, Ubasti, Ailuros, Ba-en-Aset. Represented as both a domestic cat and a fierce lioness, she truly evidences traits of both. She is the Mother of All Cats, Goddess of Sensuality, Fertility, and a guardian and protector of women. She is also one of the Eyes of Ra, and in that aspect is an Avenging Goddess, seeking retribution and punishing enemies of her people. Luxuriant amber, warm Egyptian musk, fierce saffron and soft myrrh, almond, cardamom and golden lotus.

i love amber so this scent is perfect for me. when i first applied it, it smelled like almonds. but soon the amber came out, along with lotus and saffron. i wish it were a little stronger on me -- i have to apply more than usual. warm, sweet, feminine, refined.

[stardreamer]

In the vial: oh dear, that's awfully heavy on the almond. Fresh on: drat, I'm having the same problem with this one that I did with Black Phoenix -- it's cherry/almond and not much else. Not getting the amber, saffron, or cardamom at all, though I can catch the lotus underneath. After several hours: getting a bit of the musk now, but I think this one is just too almond/floral for me; I was hoping for something more herbal/spicy.

 

Blast and damn, I really wanted to like this. I may keep it around for a few months and see if aging improves it, but it's not going to get worn very much... especially since R. finds it extremely obnoxious.

[Splendid Molerat]

Bastet is warm and golden, stretching on a rock in the sunshine.

 

It has a passing resemblance to Queen of Sheba, but more soft and furry. Bastet also has a self-contained quality, verging on indifference, and nothing at all like the enveloping, welcoming aura presented by QoS.

 

This is the scent for having some luxurious time to yourself.

[Rosaleen Dhu]

OMG.

Wet in the bottle I wasn't too keen on trying this. It smelled like cherry candy, and I'm not a fan of sweet or cherry scents.

 

BUT stubborness pays off, as this is delish. It's creamy and a little almond without foody and it's warm and oh so very lovely. No cherry at all.

 

And my cats seem to like it.

 

Must order a bottle. NOW. *totters off to the website, abused credit card in hand*

 

edited 'cus my spelling is rotten this morning.

Edited April 14, 2005 by Rosaleen Dhu

[mandalyn]

I almost didn't try this because when I sniffed the imp, I got the overpowering marzipan/almond smell.

 

After reading the reviews, I took the plunge. I put this on when I woke up this morning, figuring I would be taking a shower soon and would be washing it away (wasn't sure if I would like it).

 

At first, it was almond, almond, almond, but within seconds (literally) that faded away, and the sweet lotus came out. Not a minute later, the amber and musky smells evened out the sweetness.

 

Now, a few hours later, I am left with a lovely ambery/spicey smell with a hint of sweetness (slightly cherry).

 

Bastet is a warm, beautiful scent. I didn't believe it was possible, but I believe I love this more than Morocco!

 

At the next update, I will be purchasing a 5ml!

[bellis]

Hellooooo almond! Wet and in the imp, this is a sweet and spicy floral, a lot of lotus with a little bit of musk and spice and almond. Once it begins to dry, the almond takes over the scent. I can still catch the lotus a bit, and there's a hint of amber, but it's mostly just a creamy musky almond on me. Not bad, but also just not me. I'll have to try it again in a few days to make sure my nose and/or skin isn't just having a wonky day, but I may have to swap this one.

[joseybird]

Starts out pure cherry-almond (i think the cherry is the amber in disguised, like in O). Oooo but the drydown... ...musk and saffron! Damn, if this went straight to the warm, sensual drydown I'd want a whole bottle! But the cherry/amber kills it for me =(

[Medici]

Bastet is brilliant. When I first popped the imp for a whiff - I was immediately struck with this sweet, syrupy, cherry and musk (Edit: which I'd later figure out to be amber. I think. So help me, I'm trying to train my nose). At the time it was setting next to wrath (which is red) and I really couldn't see why Bastet wasn't a red scent as well.

 

Dropped two dollops on my pulse points and went about my day.

 

The Onset: Incese, almond, spices - if I could put Egypt in a bottle this would be it.

 

I leave my house and set off to work - the wind's blowing and its wafting those two delicate drops about. I'm struck with this insane urge to prowl - very feline overall. At the time I kept thinking 'this has civet in it and I am a very bad kitty cat'.

 

The Drydown: The scent's been fairly consistent overall - as it settles I get a bit of that cherry from the bottle back. It's extremely sweet but not syrupy - that slinky, feline feeling it evokes stays true. As it settles the almond becomes more pronounced and the sweetness softens somewhat.

 

The longevity of the fragrance is fairly good as well - it was still lingering after five hours or so. This is a keeper for sure.

Edited April 29, 2005 by Medici

[PurringPulsar]

Bastet

In the imp: mmm, this is almond, no doubt about it, but sweet almond as opposed to the bitter amaretto of Eclipse. Makes me think of sugared marzipan. This kitty smells tempting.

Wet on skin: soft, sweet almond with a hint of spices underneath. Yup, I'm also getting that 'Christmas cake' smell that Eclipse gave me, but thankfully without the burnt undertone. This one is sweet and yummy.

Dry on skin: the almond is fading, but the sweet rich smell remains, probably the amber. There's also a spiciness there. Oh wow, as I sniff, it's morphing into a luxurious, rich glistening golden aroma, a very posh, decadent perfume, slinky and sensual. Much like a cat. I can detect musk, I think, with deep myrrh and amber undercurrents. Maybe even a hint of lotus. Me likey!

holy crapola! The radio is playing 'Walk like an Egyptian' as I wear this!! That's got to be more than a coincidence. More like 'Smell like an Egyptian' if you ask me!

30 mins later: as this fades, the lotus is becoming more prominent, but it's there in the background, adding a playful sweetness to the decadence of the musky amber. It's more subtle now, but still luxurious and sophisticated.

Verdict: this is gorgeous, luxuriant, sumptuous and sexy perfume, musky, sweet and mysterious with a hint of spice. It brings to mind the cat goddess in a pharaoh's palace, lounging in a room filled with golden treasures, or a sensual Egyptian dancer, or even just a gorgeous Egyptian kitty spread out on a bed with her furry tummy exposed, with a look in her eyes saying 'stroke me'. It's a bit heavier than most perfumes I wear, but I love it, and I think it would be perfect for evenings out. Maybe I should see what my kitties think of it-one thing's for sure, I wish my cats smelt like this! (one of them has the looks of Bastet, but has fishy breath!!! ). Purrrrfection!

Edited April 29, 2005 by yeahbutnobut

[quikslvr]

First whiff is all almond. Second warms with musk and myrrh, the almond falling to a backnote. Very Egyptian. Spice remains. The end has one weird note, but it's not enough to nix it completely.

 

I went for a bottle of this immediately, and it's one I reach for often now. I suspect that's the almond/musk combo, both of which are notes I love and work well on me.

[wickedgoddess]

Origin - imp, fresh from the lab.

 

Wet - almond and something else. It's sweet, but not too sweet.

 

Dry - the almond fades quickly, which is good, because I am not a big almond fan. I get traces of musk and saffron, but it's hard to pick out any individual notes. About two hours in, this smells like sweet honeyed amber, which is weird, because my skin usually turns amber to powder. This is a lovely, golden scent, but it is very light on me. If it was a bit stronger I would probably go for a big bottle, but it's a bit too soft on my skin.

 

On the wickedgoddess scale of 1 to 5, with 5 being the best, this rates a 4.

[gdogs]

in the bottle, straight, sharp almond, which i love!

 

wet on me, i get a cherry scent, with the strange acetate underwhiff that i sometimes get from cherry.

 

that goes away as soon as it dries on me and i get hard core almonds, just the way i like them! the spice comes out more as it settles down on my skin, and after about an hour, i have a beautiful mixture of honey and spice - i LOVE the cardamom in this! so spectacular!

 

something in bastet keeps the almonds from overwhelming everything else, and it becomes this deceptively sweet woman, who you know has the devil inside her just waiting to come out.

 

that is the woman i feel like when i wear this scent. . . beautiful, and yet capable of anything. definitely a keeper!

[metaldog32]

Received a decant from a very generous E-bay seller...thank you sooo much!!!

 

Okey doke: Bastet....

 

The description alone made me swoon...I absolutely LOVE cardamom and almond....and am now beginning to respect amber..so I have been pleased as punch to have the opportunity to try. Now mind you..I have tried this several times already...just needed to find the RIGHT time to reflect and analyze without feeling stressed or rushed...the weekend for me is perfect for this type of thing...

 

Okay..enough babbling..let's do it!!!

 

Sniffed from decant: Straight up almond..with the cherry vibe thrown in..I like it...

 

Applied wet on skin: Am still smelling the strong almond/cherry note..but I think I smell intermingled in this the amber...wow..this smells really good.

 

To me this really does smell *luxuriant*...like a slow, sure, well-bred fragrance..it gives off to me the lazy/sexy confidence...funny how I am NOT registering the lotus..which in my past experience has always been amped to the point of overwhelming sweetness...

 

Couple of minutes drying on skin: The party consists of golden amber, musk, and almond..with a hint of the cardamom...everyone is having a good time on my skin...including my nose..hee hee

 

Can I tell you how much I am enjoying this????

 

The throw is good on me...as I have stated before I have tried this several times and this particular BPAL oil has impressive lasting power...

 

Dry on skin: Same notes partying..but a bit softer..warmer...hmmm..lovely!!!

 

 

Bottom Line: I absolutely love this. For me this scent can go late summer through early winter..it's that versatile. I love the warmth of the amber coupled with the almond and cardamom..all the notes melded beautifully on my skin..another winner from Beth.

[pensive]

In the bottle: Cherry Almond

Preconceptions: This one I've had my eye on for a long while, and it is included in my first imp set. To say I have hopes for the scent is an understatement.

Wet: Almondy

Drydown: I found amber in that almond. And just of bit of cherry coming back, but not much. It's spicy and good.

Impressions: lazy, regal cat.. golden

Verdict: I am soooooo glad I got this. One for the big bottle list. Pass the incoming imp to someone dying to try it so the yumminess can be shared.

 

I'm doing real good at picking winners lately!

[Gin]

Warm, golden cherry-almond dries down to a warm, golden spicy amber. Beautiful.

[Cagedflame]

This smells like a perfume my mother used to have when I was really young. I can see the color of it... brown-gold, amberish. Thin sloshy liquid in a rather plain clear bottle. Don't know that this is a good resemblance. Seems sort of old ladyish on me, not the sexy slightly spicy scent most others seem to have gotten out of this.

Something slightly smoky under it, and something powdery. Very very perfumey still.

Someone else said that if they put too much on it gets very perfumey. Maybe that's what happened. I'm going to go swab some of it off with some neutral carrier oil.

A little better, but just not me, and not what I was expecting.

[byrdie]

TMI ~ I may drop an egg at any moment now.

 

Note ~ This came in a batch of imps I bought from Gin.

 

Vial ~ Super-sweet marzipan.

 

Wet ~ Starts out the same, almost piercing. It starts to deepen into a sweet, perfume-like scent. Gracious. I'm almost starting to develop a headache. Maybe I should have gone for an aquatic today, instead? Or maybe I should just have some water.

 

Drying ~ Okay, after some water I've decided that part of the headache may be coming from the rather aromatic gentleman on the bus who is sipping beer as a quick breakfast. Hrm. Though maybe I did pick the wrong time of the month to review this oil. It's taking a sharp, talcum-powder turn that I'm not fond of. ugh.

 

Drydown ~ Wow. This has turned very incense-like. Based on my earlier tries, this is not what I signed up for. It's not bad for incense, but I don't like wearing such oils. Maybe it's my allergies, but I always want to open a window.

 

Dry ~ This is a high, sharp, sweet powder combined with spice. It's still unpleasantly perfume-like. Gah. My head is starting to swim. What happened to the spicy nookie scent?

 

Fade ~ The sharpness and most of the spice has left, and now it's mainly sweet powder with a light undertone of incense. It's quite a letdown for me.

 

Final thoughts ~ I tried this a few times and got "spicy nookie," which I really liked. I tried it a few more times and got spiced talc. This is a very skim chemistry sensitive oil, and that annoys me. Though it's also a great theme for organizing oils: by what smells the best at certain times of the month. I’ll probably do a few more experiments to see if I can recreate the stages I really liked, but if not this one is almost certainly going on the swaps pile. Though I guess it'd make a fascinating house scent with the sweetness. Hmmm.

[ginevra]

Very spicy - I'm not picking up the cherry notes. Strong, and long lasting, it seems masculine. Pleasant, but not quite me. I'll put it on my spouse and see what happens.

[Red_Hot_Mama]

I absolutely love this!

 

I don't get any almond or cherries at all, that's a good thing for me. Bastet is liquid amber, warm musk, myrrh & golden lotus on my skin. One Fabulous combination!

 

Bastet has excellent sillage & stays "true" to it's original "wet" phase for many glorious hours.

 

Definitely in my Top 10 & multi-seasonal, as another forumite mentioned.

[VelvetSky]

Bastet smells like cherries and marzipan to me. I like the fact that the cherries in this blend are soft and smooth, as opposed to the sharp cherriness of Kabuki.

 

The myrrh comes through in the drydown, although really this is straight-up cherries and almond to me all the way through.

 

Nice, but not something I'll be wearing.

[moukin]

I nabbed an imp of this from someone on the LJ community. I really wanted to try this before buying some because my fiance and I intend to use this as an altar scent.

 

In the bottle, the almond smell tends to override everything, but I love almond, so I forgive it.

 

Since we don't plan to use this on skin, I started out by adding a drop or two onto a seashell and setting it on the altar. I was basically just looking for a solid object that would partially absorb the scent and hold it for a while. I wanted to see how it would change on something solid like that.

 

The almond dies down and this oil becomes a very pleasant incensy ambery musky smell. I love all the notes in this blend and they go together wonderfully.

 

The next test was to burn a couple drops in an oil burner. Just a couple of drops seems to have great lasting power and the oil just smells divine when it burns. It's soft and powdery, musky, and warm. If I try to, I can pick out pretty much all of the notes separately, but they blend together so well into one scent.

 

I think this blend is quite perfect for our dear Bast.

[ismene]

This is simply gorgeous. Golden and syrupy, you can smell the amber from the moment the bottle is opened and it never wanes. It's sweetened even more by the lotus and myrrh and given depth by the musk and spices. It faintly reminds me of O, but this scent lasts much longer on me and has a richness that O never quite achieves. I definitely need a bottle of this.

[Witch's Dagger]

Bastet

 

This was a freebie from the lab. Thanks!

 

Preconceived notions: I love all the ingredients, though I’m somewhat leery of the lotus.

 

In the vial: a very lush, spicy, watery, amber scent. This is lovely.

 

On me:

It’s golden, yet smoky. Very silky. This *is* rather catlike, though I might not have noticed that without the name. This is lying in the sun and stretching langorously. I’d say the amber is the strongest not for me in this, and I’m happy to say I don’t get any lotus - I think that must be what gives it the “watery” feel. I definitely get the musk and spices though, as a back drop.

 

In 30 minutes:

This is still a very rich, luxurious, and golden scent. The musk is giving it a soft, furry, animal smell, but the amber is still the main note here.

 

In 50 minutes:

This is very much turning into a skin scent - but it’s still luxurious, golden, and soft.

 

In several hours:

Still smelling good!

 

Overall:

I think I need a big bottle of this! This is a basking in the sun scent, par excellence. And it has excellent staying power.

 

Edited to add: I didn't catch any almond in this when I was reviewing it or any of the times I wore it before that, which is strange because I love almond...

Edited June 6, 2005 by Witch's Dagger

[shadow]

Anyway, I grabbed this on my way out of the house yesterday and threw it on because I couldn't remember what the notes were. I figured I liked Nefertiti and Cairo, so I probably couldn't go wrong with another Egyptian blend. Luckily I forgot that amber and musk were in here, because those generally turn to powder on me and I wouldn't have worn it, especially to work where I'm stuck with the smell all day.

 

Once it was on I sniffed and sniffed and sniffed. Obsessively. It was the most beautiful, soft, golden, rich scent I've tried yet. I smelled almond, but it wasn't as strong as it usually gets on me. I smelled something almost aquatic, but more along the lines of lush tropical blooms than water. And I smelled what I was sure was cardamom (which is fast becoming one of my favorite notes).

 

Imagine my surprise when I came home and saw that it had musk AND amber. Seriously, those generally hate me. Just goes to show that no matter what, I really need to try all the scents because it is amazing what the lab can do. I'm incredibly happy, because I've always been just a bit jealous of people who can wear these warm, sexy scents. And now I have one! I liked it enough that I wore it again today, and am considering wearing it again tomorrow. Definitely a bottle.

[grrrlennyl]

at first: the lab included this as an extra in my order. it smells like maraschino cherries.

 

on: sweet. i'm definitely getting a maraschino cherry note, but with something darker underneath.

 

1 hour later: still sweet, but also going sharp and slightly soapy.

 

2 hours later: this is wonderful. the soapyness has disappeared, and it's now a soft, warm amber, with some damp lotus peeking through. i can smell the cardamon, too. this is lovely and sexy.

 

7 hours later: this is more powdery now, but still very nice. i still get that sweet scent wafting around me. this is such a sexy scent.

 

overall: this is just unspeakably sexy. i adore it! if i end up wearing it a lot, i may buy a bottle.