Anubis

[Eunice]

... His scent is a blend of holy myrrh, storax, balsam, and embalming herbs.

There is something sweet in the bottle. I am always reminded of pineapple but I don't think that is the secret ingredient. Once on though the herbs and myrrh pop out. I can't pick anything else out of this scent. I do know I love it. This is a head-clearing scent. Very calming and peaceful. This is the scent I would wear to a stressful family function. Anubis is another must have on my list. Edited May 13, 2006 by Shollin

[n0thing]

Initially - Guava! Absolutely in spite of the description, the initial smell to me is really happy, tropical smelling.

 

As it dried though it gets darker & spicier. Brilliantly long lasting, seems to eventually settle down to a heavy but still sweet..perfumed tomb. It is fairly sweet/floral, mature, feminine smelling, & i wasn't sure if it'd be 'me' (Can't stand florals, dubious on anything very feminine!), but it's night time floral, rather than all out happy flowers in your face!

 

Definate big bottle, hopefully soon, brilliant summer nights smell, IMO

[septima_pica]

Y'know, I think I've been wearing this now regularly since the last Will Call and haven't reviewed it yet...I wonder why not?

 

Anyhow. I wasn't expecting anything in particular of this one, but smelt it in the bottle and thought it was pretty nice (through my Will Call-numbed nose). Then I brought it home and stashed it while I went through some of the others. I finally got around to trying it a couple of weeks later, and immediately began wearing it regularly.

 

On my skin, Anubis is smoky-sweet and sacred, with the overwhelming golden glow of late afternoon sun in the desert. Myrrh is hugely present, of course, indescribable and wonderful as always. Honey isn't listed, but I still smell it -- and there's something else I can't place immediately, like crushed daylilies maybe. Some of the herbs or incense, I think, are also reminiscent of Nyarlathotep, another of my favourites. This is a scent for summer, not for cooling yourself off, but rather for when you want to go out in the flaming sunlight and embrace the heat of the day.

 

I absolutely love it. I just have to decide whether I need this *and* Athens, or whether one spicy honey-myrrh blend is enough.

[Celestyna]

This reminds me so much of a well-incensed room.

 

Very light with the wood, but a reeeally nice smooth spiciness that goes throughout.

Very ritual smelling. I really like this. I only got to smell Midnight Mass twice before my little implette ran out, but aas far as I can smell this is as close as I've been able to get to it for now.

[puck_nc]

Origin: Frimp from the Lab

 

Initial Thoughts: Myrrh is one of those red flags when I look at notes. It usually doesn't work well on my skin.

 

In the Bottle: Well, it's very strong myrrh, but I'm also getting a hint of a creamy vanilla, of all things. I have no idea where that's coming from.

 

Wet: MYRRH!! And more MYRRH! I can just get a hint of the herbs and that creamy vanilla background is still there, driving me nuts.

 

Drydown: It eventually goes over to 100% myrrh.

 

Verdict: If that whatever-it-is impression of vanilla stayed, I might have been tempted to keep the imp. But it goes to the swap/sale pile instead.

[bifemmefatale]

Oddly, I didn't get myrrh or storax at first (storax is a rich amber), just some mild herbal scent. After a few minutes, a slightly soapy honey emerges (wtf?), colored by the herbs and balsam. Still no sign of myrrh or amber, which both usually like my skin. Strange. It's ok, but not a scent I adore or anything.

[grrrlennyl]

at first: a bit sweet, but like the inside of the stem of a plant when it has just been crushed.

on: amazing. this is so lush and green.

1 hour later: green and a bit sweet. still lovely, but not as fresh.

2 hours later: an almost-sweet, slightly-odd green scent.

3 hours later: a sweet, warm, green scent.

overall: this is really interesting, but i don't think i'd really wear it much.

[batsy]

In the vial: hrm... can't place this. I know that's myrrh...

 

On the skin: I could swear this is lotus, really... maybe it's just the herbs. It does smell like I'd imagine the resins and herbs they'd use to embalm with would smell like. During the dry down something popped out but I don't know if it was the storax or balsam. This is very manly to me.

[Elrianra]

In the bottle, honey with a dash of myrrh and balsam in the background but prominently - notably - fresh sweet honey. This is not even a little surprising due to the fact that honey was the base of most of the embalming ointments used in mummification by the Egyptians. It does, however, surprise me how strongly it plays from the bottle and makes me a bit hesitant to try this one on. Wet, this is herbally infused honey, sweet and sticky but with a bit of grit to it. Once it begins to dry, this gets a nice tangy myrrh and herbs mix that really livens up the honey - which is a relief because I like honey but I don't want to smell like it and I was afraid this would take the O path and just go foody on me... Dried and warmed, the honey is muted with a breath of bitter herbs bringing out a very archaic comprehension of this scent. It IS lovely, and it breathes a dusty potion of timelessness, but it's entire too sweet for me. As it begins to really breathe out its life, there is a sweet tartness to this that I recognize from multiple other blends and believe is the myrrh finally making a prominent appearance, very lovely on it's die-down and not as much throw as honey typically makes on me. Very nice, as I've said, but a bit too girly for me.

[indicolite]

Anubis is like nothing else I have smelled so far, BPAL or otherwise, but closest to balsam of some kind. Although I would not have thought of myself as an embalming person, I like him very much and keep on sniffing my elbow. His scent changes, but it is quite balsamic.

 

Of my buttload order, this is the first one I must truly say is getting a big bottle soon.

[provocateur]

In bottle: Green herbs and a bitter lemon (is that the balsam or the storax?)

 

On skin, wet: Balsam and herbs. There's a little light note that I can't quite decipher.

 

On skin, dry: Balsam, or storax, which is reminding me of almonds.

 

Conclusion: I wish more of the green had come out to play. Or maybe it was the embalming herbs reminding me of almond. Either way, I don't like almond.

Rating: 0/5

[abberlaine]

Sampled from a friend's imp --

 

Anubis is ripe with Osun's honey -- lookit that! Fresh on, Anubis is exactly how I'd imagined it would smell. It smells like a generous spread of a thick, grey balm. The honey provides the main attraction. I believe there's a sweet, fruit-tinged amber in here -- Egyptian amber, perhaps? As it dries, the scent turns to dust.

 

It's not a favorite, but I do like it a lot. Someone make a perfume balm out of this guy!

Edited June 28, 2006 by Abberlaine Arrol

[nightbird]

I love Egyptian mythology, so I got this imp based purely on its name. I'm not sure how I feel about the scent. I can't put my finger on what I'm smelling. I lift my wrist to my nose to sniff it every now and then - as I do with all the scents I'm experimenting with - and sometimes I like it, sometimes I don't. It's very strange.

 

my husband, on the other hand, simply loves the way this smells. He had a candle a long time ago with a scent that he adored, and he says that Anubis smells exactly like the candle. I'll keep the imp for his sake and play around with it some more. I'm not completely sure I like how it smells on me, but I can always try to put a few drops of the oil in some wax and then heat it up with my tart burner.

 

rating: 3/5

[littlefarmgirl]

Without looking at the notes:

It's a very cloying, thick scent, which puts me in mind of honeyed plums. I'm trusting to my instincts here, and I've never smelled honeyed plums, but that's what it made me think of.

Now I look at the notes I'm rather surprised- how could I smell plum in that?

But I did. Weird.

[edenssixthday]

Anubis - I’m very surprised when I read the scent description of Anubis. The reason I’m surprised is because it doesn't mention honey, yet when I wear it, I smell honey. It’s not just a light honey scent, it’s predominantly honey, and a strong honey at that. In fact, when I first thought it was indeed honey I was smelling, I thought perhaps it was one of the few honey blends I could actually tolerate wearing. Then I read the description and I saw there is absolutely no honey in this blend at all. After about 30 minutes on my skin, the honey note (or whatever is masquerading as honey) begins to fade, and all I smell is something very subtle and herbal, and within the hour, the scent has faded on me completely.

[jarvenpa]

in a very generous gift from a forumite (pondering real name address, wracking mercury retrograded mind--who are you??? (thank you) came Anubis. Just happened to be the first I picked up this morning, and I sniffed (hmmm--sweet, spice, okay) and slathered.

 

To tell the truth, though I am aware of the mythos around Anubis, it was the dog part that drew me here, and a time, long ago, I spent days in the British Museum amongst the antiquities, particularly drawn to a representation of Anubis, and a beautiful figure of a man holding out his hand, upon which a hawk delicately rested. These images come to mind as I sniff Anubis.

 

It is a curiously comforting smell. I think deep amber, which I love, and honeyed fruit of some sort. When I look at the scent notes and see my friend myrrh, I am not surprised (I may not greet this scent with recognition, but many of my favorites have it in their mixture). I would have said sandalwood, probably, but I see none listed--something like pale golden incense.

 

The sun is setting, it's okay. There's a guide here. No one will stumble. Some exotic flower has just burst open by the still river.

 

This may well make my ever increasing list of favorite scents.

Edited July 28, 2006 by jarvenpa

[Seanan]

Wet in the bottle, I can't even tell what this smells like; it's sweet and sharp and seems somehow sticky, and I can't imagine what it's going to be like on the skin. Dubiousness is me.

 

On the skin, the sweetness takes over almost immediately, wiping out the sticky sharpness that I found in the concentrate. Maybe this won't be so bad. And then, as the dry-down begins...

 

...everything changes. Suddenly, there are spices, delicate ones, that make me think of the British Musuem (the Egyptology wing, natch). Suddenly, there is a dusty undertone to the sweetness, making it a veneer, rather than a substance.

 

Suddenly, I am in love.

[audesapere]

In Imp: Really unusal, golden.

 

Wet: Pineapple. Golden pineapple.

 

Dry: I smell like a tropical smoothie.

 

Blasted body chemistry.

[Naamah_Darling]

For some reason I had made up my mind before I tried this that it probably wasn't going to grab me. Boy was I wrong!

 

This smells not at all like I expected. In the bottle, it's sweet crystallized myrrh, with a strong flush of woody balsam. There's also a nutty almond note and a honey note that are utterly fascinating, and it's this that gives the scent its unusual edge. This is so beautiful in the bottle; it actually reminds me quite a bit of Jacob's Ladder. Both have a resinous warmth to them, though Anubis has a faintly herbal and slightly fruity sweetness that Jacob's Ladder does not have.

 

Warm, this is balsam and incense, dry and golden. It doesn't have that floating radiance that Jacob's Ladder had, and it doesn't smell of amber, but it is still beautiful and warm. It also smells faintly of herbs. I'm reminded very strongly of the incense corner of my local new-age bookstore. It has a very specific smell comprised equally of incense resins and just a whiff of herbs from the herb room in back, and from the smudge sticks kept near the incense. The herbal note is just a trace, a bare hint. The rich, rolling balsam and the elegant, mannered myrrh dominate. The honey scent . . . what is that? It's still there. I don't want to say this is a sweet scent, but it is. It's just not foody-sweet at all. Maybe a trifle lotus-y, but not so much that there's anything floral about it.

 

It's not funereal to me at all, though it is very poised and dignified, and quite . . . ritual. It's more of an aura than a scent, and it's instantly transporting. An open, airy temple where offerings of incense are burned. Quite peaceful and calm, and saturated with wisdom.

 

Oh, god, this is lovely. I can't stop sniffing it. I'm sticking with "transporting." I adore it. I really do. What was I waiting for? Why was I waiting to try this? It's simply divine! Even the husband adores it.

 

The weardown is, hallelujah, just as lovely as the opening, a scent that melts away evenly to a fine, sweet softness. It never gets that murky brown smell so common in patchouli and sandalwood scents. It stays clear, it just grows more and more faint. And it lasts damn near forever. I could still smell it faintly over 36 hours later.

 

It's a resin scent, so it's technically unisex, but this has a sweet edge to it that might make it for adventurous males only; while it’s not girly at all, it's certainly not cologne-y or aftershave-y, either.

[sofiaviolet]

It's really odd. I cannot identify a single note in here. It smells like a woody sort of herbal thing. I am really at such a loss. Smells nice, but doesn't suit me.

[kwelge]

Frimp from lab -- thanks guys!!!

 

Imp: Whoa. Strong... something. Some herbs in the background?

 

Wet: Oh god, barely dabbed on and I feel it's gonna eat me. Hell, this has throw! Something is strong and sharp and maybe a bit soapy - oh shit it's not that note in Nyx, is it?? Whatever that was, the jasmine or the myrrh, clocked me over the head and mugged me!

 

Dry: Becomes less weird-soap-like, more complex and sweet. I'm smelling honey! And kind of a resiny feel -- must be the myrrh. And a hint of almond. Interesting.

 

Verdict: I'm intrigued. Will keep the imp for now, continue testing -- I'm not sure how I feel about it! So confused. Not sure if it's really a me scent, either.

 

Thankfully, I think this helped isolate that myrrh is all right for me (go resins!), but jasmine is the headache-inducing thug-scent for my skin.

[The_Merf]

In the imp: I can't pick out anything distinct, but I am largely unfamiliar with storax and balsam. I don't smell a lot of myrrh, which is something I am most familiar with.

 

Wet: This is autumn/Harvest/fall gold. The honey-like quality really emerges, but doesn't go immediately foul like most things with honey do on my skin. There's almost a pumpkin or nutty edge to this. It smells like it could be coming from a freshly baked pie.

 

Drydown and wear: This stays pretty constant, but the pie/pumpkin/nutty/honey edge is a bit rich for me--this almost reminds me of the first stage of Devil's Night that did not sit well with me.

[Diva Urd]

In the vial, it smells... odd. It's a golden-brown type of scent, and it packs a certain kind of sticky sweetness.

 

On me, the scent quickly separates in the unknown component and something I am sure is honey. It smells exactly like the underlying sweetness in Samael.

 

However, the overlying scent turned on me almost from the moment it hit my skin. At some point, my husband commented, "Smells like honeyed shoepolish!"

 

He was right, it actually did smell like shoepolish and honey.

 

While I like the honey note, I do not like the shoepolish smell, and I can always get my honey fix from Samael.

 

Therefore, Anubis goes into the swap pile.

[grifyn_whiffs]

One of my frimps from the last order!!

 

IN THE VIAL: Deeply, deeply ancient. Kind of manly.

 

I tell my husband, "It smells like an old library."

Husand (brow raised): "It smells like an old librarian?"

"LIBRARY. Old llbrary. You know, old brittle paper, leather bindings, sunlight, tea, intense research, the thirst for knowledge."

"Knew I couldn't be hearing that one right."

 

The only note that might be familiar is balsam, and I know myrrh from some other blends (and I like it). *another sniff* Comes on a little strong at first, but very exotic.

 

WET: Wow, that's nice. Scents that start out "nice" on me usually don't end well, or aren't very intereting. It's my way of saying that while it doesn't smell BAD, per se, it might be about as inspiring, scent-wise, as a bar of Dial soap. On second whiff, It seems to smell very alive. A masculine "clean man in the sun" smell.

 

1-2 HOURS: What started as soap is now alluringly ceremonial. Is this the "embalming herbs"? Oh, my goodness -- with my hands at my side, a scent wafts up slowly, brilliant and evocative, and finding something old, and sensing deep meaning from it. Seriously. It hits at a weird place in the ol' reptile brain. I'm not messing around here -- I'm in LOVE.

 

DRY DOWN (2-3 HRS): This one gets more like a ritual, more like a spell, as it goes. The next morning, I could still smell it on my wrist, albeit faintly.

 

This one goes on my favorites list. In fact, it may usurp one of my Top 10. It's just that great. I've also noticed that the fragrances I buy where I know (or think I know) how the notes will work on me are less interesting (unless predictable notes work together in an unpredictable way due to the blend) than the ones where I open the vial and apprehensively say to myself, "I don't know about this..." This one is firmly in that camp. Also, the barely-recovered goth in me really just intensely loves the embalming herbs/ancient Egyptian elements of the whole thing. Call it a bulletproof kink.

[Elemcee]

This smells like gold. Not bright, sparkling gold, but deep, old gold. This probably owes to the spiciness here.

 

I really like it. I do get the sense of ancient ritual, here, with the herbs. Sometimes these oils amaze me.