Fallen

[Caitfish]

Wow, first reviewer!

 

Better to reign in Hell than serve in Heav'n. This is our song to Lucifer, Lucis Ferre, Heosphoros, the Morning Star, the Brilliant One and the Son of the Morning. He is equated with Samhazai, the Heaven-Seizer, and Azazel, one of the 200 Fallen Angels of Enoch. The essence of overweening pride and unearthly angelic beauty. A regal scent, glowing darkly, elegant and patrician, but unfathomably desolate. Cherubic white sandalwood and golden musk with a dark halo of amber, a breath of imperial florals, unbending woods, and the shadow cast by vetiver and violet.

 

In the Bottle:

Dominant notes: Sandalwood and musk overall. The sandalwood is soft, but definately present. I think that the musk may be softening the other elements without making an outright appearance. The amber is definately there, also - it makes this blend almost sweet. I can't really detect any florals or vetiver at this point.

Impressions: Patrician is the right word for this blend.

 

Initial On:

Dominant notes: Suddenly, the musk has control. Amber and sandalwood in the background. The vetiver has now made an appearance - it's bitter and mossy, but not overbearing as in every other vetiver blend that I've tried. This smells like any number of musk-based colognes, but a bit sweeter. It must be the amber creating the illusion of sweetness here.

Impressions: Very warm and clean. This smells decidedly comfortable with itself, as any satanic blend would have to be. Haughty - like a male version of Pride.

 

After a While:

Persistent notes: Musk, sandalwood, and a bit of amber, as above. The vetiver sticks around and gives this a slightly bitter edge. I don't think I ever detected any florals or violet.

 

Overall Impression:

Very evocative blend here. It's the blend of a powerful, haughty, devestatingly attractive man - the kind that men and women both flock to. Overwhelmingly seductive. I must enter a disclaimer - I don't usually wear blends with patchouli or vetiver, AT ALL. But the patchouli here is very cleverly tempered.

 

Personally, I don't think I'll ever wear this again - but if you know the kind of man I described above, buy that man a BIG bottle. And watch his head swell three sizes!

Edited September 16, 2007 by Shollin

[JazzieCazzie]

Ordered in an imp based on the notes listed ...

 

BOTTLE: Sweet, slightly floral, crisp and clear. Invigorating without blowing my head off early in the morning. Definitely a good smell ...

 

Applied to wrists and crooks of arms reasonably liberally ... I likey in bottle.

 

WET: Very very VERY nice! Slightly sophisticated as the violet seems to rise up pretty quickly upon application ...

 

DRYDOWN: The violet and its light powdery scent definitely overrides the sandalwood and musk on me, but though sandalwood is perhaps my favorite BPAL scent so that disappoints me just a tad, I am also a violet fan so it's all good.

 

I think this is definitely not a daytime scent ... it's a lovely evening scent, to be worn when going out for a nice dinner in a slightly elegant restaurant. Not a wild night on the town scent, not even a "who nkows what mystery and intrigue this evening and morning will bring" scent like Black Dahlia ... but a special occasion evening a deux scent ...

 

A keeper, but I doubt I have enough opportunity to get more than an imp of it

 

REVISITED AND RE-REVIEWED MARCH 2013:

 

Wanted to try this again and was able to get in a recent small imp purchase on the forum.

 

IN THE IMP: Sweet, subtle and sophisticated. I'm getting more musk and wood than anything at first sniff.

 

Applied to wrist and crook of arm.

 

WET: Sexy without being "in your face" about it, which I like. It starts off with a lot of promise of musk and then the sandalwood creeps in ...

 

DRYDOWN: ... and creeps back out. I never get any amber at all. On drydown, it goes all floral on me still, the reason I didn't buy a big bottle the first time. I didn't know if my "new chemistry" would change that.

 

OVERALL: I like this, I wouldn't wash it off (though I will since I'm about to go shower before going out tonight) and I will use the imp but wouldn't buy another. It's not bad but it's not really me.

 

On a scale of 1-5 a nice 3.

Edited March 9, 2013 by JazzieCazzie

[jj_j]

Fallen is a round, warm floral with hints of violet's powdery tone when I first put it on. It's nice, but it doesn't really move me.

 

Giving it a few minutes, though, the amber makes its move and this goes right to glorious. The musk in this has an effervescent quality that makes me think of Beth's single note in Siberian musk; I don't know if that's the same thing as the golden musk in her description, but the musk definitely works in this scent. It has a clarity that compliments the amber beautifully.

 

A few minutes more and the florals come forward. The amber and musk haven't really backed off so much as they've wrapped themselves around the base of the flowers and seem to be holding them up; they're not reduced by this change of prominent notes. The impression it leaves is warm and seductive, like a startlingly beautiful woman wrapped in a red silk paisley throw. Why this seems such a feminine scent to me, I don't know - it's not that it isn't gender neutral so much as it has a glow and warmth to it that seems much rarer in men.

 

Toward the end, a light sandalwood and the barest hint of vetiver come to the surface. They're not obvious as distinct notes, but the depth of the scent changes and darkens a bit, and you really have to think about what's adding this extra layer of identify what notes made the change. Without Beth's description, I might have pegged the sandalwood, but not the vetiver; they're very subtle.

 

I don't get a feeling of desolation from this scent, but I suppose that someone trapped in absolute beauty might feel alone and unconnected with others. Fallen won't create that void in your life, though, as it's an up-close, "nuzzle me," sinvitation sort of fragrance.

[wolfie13]

In the vial: I love it - the scents all blend together very well - the overall feel is sandalwood and musk and masculine.

 

Wearing it:

Unfortunately, on me it becomes all violets and vetiver. And I actually do like both of those scent notes, but they are not everyday ones for me, and I prefer The Raven for my "violet" scent.

 

I may try this on the boy to see if stays more like the bottle scent on him.

[Nepthys]

The description of this sounded right up my alley. Unfortunately, this was a complete disaster on me. In the imp I caught some of the sandalwood and musk, though little amber - but on my skin, it quickly dried down to an unpleasant staleness, the vetiver drowning out every other note.

[Astarte]

Its a very dominent floral blend, when first put on, the amber gives the blend a soft base, whilst the florals gently glow against the backdrop of the musk. Unfortunately when the violet and vetiver comes to the forefront, its all I can smell.

 

The image of power wielded deftly with total confidence does come to mind from this blend, and imperial greatness is prominently placed in the blend. Definitely a night scent, I wonder what this would smell like on a man though.

 

Even though its presented very subtly the vetiver still makes me a little nauseous. Gutted.

[phaedrine]

Mmmm....this one is full of all those things I like about guy smells. If I had a boyfriend, I'd drown him in this stuff.

 

I just adore musk and amber, and in this they blend perfectly with the sandalwood...I haven't gotten any florals yet (yay!), but I can smell the vetiver in there grounding things.

 

The notes stay perfect, never going powdery on me.

 

I need to find some way to use this one - my skin eats it up within about 2 hours, which seems to be the trend for the newer blends. Really depressing, as I adore this one.

[larkredblade]

Mmmm this one is so warm and complex. It has a masculine lean to it -- I think it would smell even better on a man.

 

The sandlewood and musk are the dominant notes on me, but behind them both is a sweetness, a floral comes through for me and tends to linger once the scent is warmed by my skin. Florals work very well with my chemistry, so it's nice that I can pull this scent through the sandlewood and musk.

 

This is one of those scents that develops once it's put on. I wasn't crazy about it on first sniff, but it is growing on me rapidly.

[cuervosueno]

I think you've all really pinned this one down, but it is so interesting, as always, the way this scent reacts to different skin chemistry.

I ordered mostly on the basis of the name and notes of sandalwood, amber etc. I was hoping I wouldn't get the floral notes too strongly.

by the time I tried it, I'd completely forgotten what was in. Sniff sniff. Hmmm....smells green, floral, but not that interesting to me. Instead of trying it, I went on to my other preciousses.....

When I did try it, I was pleasantly surprised. In the bottle for me it smells floral, though I also got a strong hint of the amber sweetness, which I'm fond of. I put it on. Yikes! What happened to the sandalwood? Why was it all floral sweet on me?

About two minutes later, sniff....hmmm....its already morphing....the floral (the violet I think which is one of a few floral notes I can tolerate) started to fade and I got a nicely green scent...and the sandalwood began to come through. A bit later, I noted the vetivert, which I'm fond of, and goes nice green with a bit of a bitter bite on me. But the bitterness was tempered with the sweetness of the amber....

Now, about 3 hours later, its faded down to just a hint of sweetness....barely there at all.

Is it regal? Yes. I agree with Caitfish....patrican even. I really enjoyed the way it morphed. And it is a wonderfully complex scent.

But not a favorite, so off it goes.

[cookie]

This is the second time I've tried my mom's Fallen imp. I remember it being lovely and dark the last time - musk and sandalwood.

 

This time, I'm getting the floral in the description. Its not a sweet, spring floral - its the imperial florals that Beth described, with a touch of amber. At first it was very perfume-y and heavy, but the dry down brought more sandalwood out and its very mellow. This totally suits my mom. Very sophisticated and warm.

[Penance]

Preconceived:

 

I ordered this mainly for the description and the name. It sounded so beautiful I couldn't pass it up even though it has amber in it and amber normally hates my skin. I'm really hoping the sandalwood and musk come out and the amber behaves itself because I really want to love this one.

 

First sniff:

 

I smell sandalwood, violet and amber. I can tell there's more to this scent, hiding in the background, but every time I try and pin it down it edges away from before, hiding itself behind the dominant notes. So far I like this! I don't normally care for violet, but the sandalwood and amber balance it out nicely and keep it from being too sweet or powdery.

 

Wet on skin:

 

I don't smell any violet at all anymore. Instead I get all the notes I love (or at least like) - sandalwood, amber, musk, wood notes and vetiver. I was worried about this one being too floral, but, so far, this is a beautifully neutral smelling scent, like light incense and wood with a hint of musk. For some reason this is very light on me, but I love it all the same.

 

Dry down:

 

Sandalwood, musk, light wood notes of some sort and the tiniest hint of violet. This is mainly dry and musky smelling, but there's an underlying floral sweetness that keeps this from being one-dimensional. There's also some amber here, but it's behaving itself and not turning into sour milk on me for once. I really like the way this turned out. I would have preferred more sandalwood and less musk and violet, but this is lovely anyway.

 

The bottom line:

 

Deceptively light, both in feeling and in scent, and surprising given the inspiration for this blend. I like this a lot, but I don't see myself needing more than just this one imp.

[paschat]

This is a bold, masculine fragrance, but I think it can be worn by a woman too. It is a dark, almost medicinal vetiver fragrance. The sandalwood balances out the vetiver, and a soft note of musk and violet (very faint violet) tame down the boldness of the scent. Overall, I think this is a well composed oil, and vetiver lovers should try it. Notes from BPAL include: white sandalwood and golden musk with a dark halo of amber, a breath of imperial florals, unbending woods, and the shadow cast by vetiver and violet.

[Fyre_in_Winter]

I swapped for Fallen mainly because it sounded unique and different from the scents I'm usually attracted to. That said, it smelled quite different from what I had expected, based on the description. It is a very bright white/green floral, helped along by the musk, and almost overwhelming to my nose. It is tempered by the dusty smell of the violets, and the amber and sandalwood provide a surprisingly warm base, though the amber went a bit powdery and with the violets that created an interesting note in relation to the florals. Unfortunately on me, sandalwood and amber at first can produce a somewhat soapy top-note which is off-putting.

 

In almost direct contrast to paschat's review, I was disappointed that the vetiver was non-existant(unusual since my skin usually amps it), since I a) like how it smells and would have added a sharp depth and darkness that Fallen needed (on my skin).

[judas_kiss]

I ordered an imp of this for my husband and he tried it after his shower last night.

 

In the imp: Very flowery sandalwood. Some sweetness to the blend (probably the amber). Overall, this smelled very warm and somewhat asexual in the imp.

 

On my Hubby:

 

Wet: HELLO Imperial Florals! On him, this smelled like a very expensive Ladies' perfume. Very sweet and golden, however. It was as if he were engulfed in a golden halo of scent. Lovely, but he was not lovin' this at all.

 

Drydown: The florals faded a bit and mixed with the sandalwood, woods and amber. A bit of the violet seemed to peek out, darkening the blend just enough to bring forth the feeling of a Fallen Seraphim. This is the scent that lingered for the better part of the evening-into the morning when he woke up.

 

Overall, this was gorgeous, but not for him. He really wasn't into the powerful florals that dominated this blend on his skin. I think I'll be trying this one out myself, however, because it IS lovely! I'll update in a few days with a review on how it worked with my chemistry.

 

On me:

 

Wowsa, talk about differences in chemistry and the changes they make.

 

Wet: The sandalwood is very prevailant here. The florals mix with it well giving it a sweetness that's just gorgeous. I'm sure the amber is playing around here as well. This is a very bright, golden scent. Not golden like honey, but golden like the sun.

 

Dry: This doesn't morph much, it just gets slightly darker, dusky. The violet and musk mix themselves in and give this a kind of a clandestine note.

 

What I love about this fragrance is it personifies a "fall from grace". I didn't get a malevolence or wicked intent behind the beauty, I got almost a "loss of pride after the fall" kind of feel. This is great, and my husband, having smelled it on me wants me to get a bottle...I think I'll oblige.

Edited January 27, 2005 by judas_kiss

[e_miche]

Fallen won't create that void in your life, though, as it's an up-close, "nuzzle me," sinvitation sort of fragrance.

 

I definately agree with the snuggle-up (more or less) idea.

Not that it needs re-application (I did it just to enhance the notes so that I could review), when I first put it on, it reminded me of a mix of Masabakes and Water of Notre Dame - not a bad mix according to my nose.

 

I'm not getting a lot of vetiver- or violet- but I suppose that's why they're "shadow-y"; they're very vague in the drydown. I am, however, getting a beautiful blend of sandalwood and musk -with whiffs of the amber every now and then. It's not as woodsy as I thought it might be- but beautiful nonetheless.

 

I see why people would categorize it as masculine- but I'm a strange girl- and I love the smell of it on me.

 

This will def. go in the " I at least need another imp" wishlist.

[tempete]

Almost all of the notes in Fallen sounded so lovely, except for white sandalwood which has a tendency to turn excruciatingly sharp on my skin. I took a chance and hoped that the other notes would tone down the evil white sandalwood note. Alas... it was not to be. Fallen went very sharp and very woody on me upon the initial application, and stayed that way throughout most of the drydown. It has somewhat mellowed out into a vaguely greenish woody scent in the final drydown. Not for me, so it's off to the swap pile.

[xoe]

I see that many reviewers perceived Fallen as masculine. I did not have that experience at all. For me, Fallen was a pale floral blend. After a good bit of time, the amber came out a little. Never did I get a hint of the sandalwood, nor the vetiver. Sad because those were the parts I was most looking forward to.

 

Fallen was nice, but not really what I was looking for. Oh well.

[Shollin]

First sniff: This is Lucifer’s inspiration? It’s a sweet white floral. Jasmine? Not at all what I was expecting.

 

Wearing: It definitely smells like jasmine… or honeysuckle. Checking the description, of course there’s none of that in there – maybe it’s violet that I’m smelling. Fallen is an odd scent – much sweeter than I expected, and remarkably the vetiver hasn’t gone swampy on me. I’m not sold quite yet, but I’ll give him another try.

[LiberAmoris]

On me, Fallen is all sandalwood, musk, and amber, with a twist of purple florals in the center. I do not detect any vetiver, although my skin doesn’t tend to amp up that note in general.

 

It’s incredibly well-blended, but for me it smells like an extremely good cologne---something I would appreciate on others but wouldn’t necessarily reach for myself unless I was in a very specific mood. This is one I’m going to douse the boyfriend in before taking him out.

 

ETA: I love the quote from Milton in the description. Paradise Lost has the most compelling portrait of Lucifer/Satan I've ever read. A wonderful inspiration for a blend!

Edited April 6, 2005 by LiberAmoris

[shelldoo]

wet: musk

 

drydown:musk, w/ and amber kick, and she is wearing a violet between her teeth....this is gorgeus! i adore all three of those notes, and they did not disappoint me

 

trying this again 8/7/06

i recently was looking to try this again, i was not disappointed. it goes on slightly sharp in the beginning. sharp violet. it mellows and becomes a great sexy musky resinous blend after drydown. just what i was craving.

Edited August 8, 2006 by shelldoo

[paperdoll]

Initial Sniff: Very musky in the vial, with a breath of flowers.

 

Wearing: At first, this is all musk and sandalwood with an underlying sweetness that I assume is the amber. The florals start peeking out as it dries, and soon the violet and vetiver appear. In the final stage this is all vetiver and violet in a weird powdery sharp woody mix.

 

Final Impressions: I so wanted to like this one! But the drydown is not for me.

[joseybird]

Sandalwood, musk, and some jasmine-y florals, all of which soften rather quickly to let the amber peek out. Oooo after a few minutes I can smell the vetiver! And the florals start calming down a bit.

 

This is defintely purple scent, a regal scent. The vetiver definately adds a dark aspect to the scent...a brooding king, perhaps? Or, more likely, a brooding queen (because of the jasmine-y-ness)

[Lucretia]

This is a very pretty floral on me, I don't really get any vetiver at all. If anything it reminds me of an airier black dahlia which i suspect is due to the sandalwood. Very pretty, although probly not my favorite floral.

 

Dry down is light sandalwood, a hint of very pretty musk and a trace of bright florals. This is one of the prettiest musk blends I've smelled to date.

[olympia301]

What several people have said. It's a well blended oil. Hard to pick out the notes individually. It impressed me as a "perfumy" type not a Unique scent but one that would be at home on any perfume counter. It is very pretty. From the first application to it's finish it has a lot of polish and is throughly unjarring.

 

I just like the unique blends. If something smells OK or nice then I usually swap it or give it to one of my friends who won't wear anything at all different. I would recommend this one to BPAL-shy folks. It has excellent staying power.

[quikslvr]

Dark, red spice to begin. Deep, even. Dries to a corrupted, sinister spice--rather masculine. Romantic, exotic, but probably not a work scent.

 

Might work better on an SO, for me.