Saturn

[Kate]

Saturn: Discipline - Crystallization - Control - Constriction - Banishing - Destruction - Sowing discord - Death - Reverence - Endurance

 

Just received this one in the Celestial Swap Circle.

 

This one looked like something I'd like because it was dark and appeared incensey. In my hurry this morning I went on that alone. It wasn't what I expected at all. It was very powerful and I think contained one of the elements that I am mildly allergic to. Similar reaction as Magus on me, possibly high john essence. It smells vaguely nutty and I get a bad rotten taste in my mouth when I wear that ingredient, whatever it is. It's very woody, possibly cedar. Ick. But since I had no time to wash it off, I wore it the rest of the day and it mellowed somewhat. It lost the bad nut smell and took on a lighter scent that has some creamy aspect - maybe vanilla, or resin and maybe a flowery scent under that. It's pleasant now, but not something I'd wear just to wait through the bad scent. Just the description would be enough to warrant me not wearing it again!

[Silvertree]

Courtesy of the Celestials circular swap!

 

Woody and dark, Saturn is stern and uncompromising. I started to like it, but I don't think that it appreciated my accelerated smell-as-many-as-possibly, hurry-hurry-hurry approach to the Celestials, as it gave me a headache after a while.

 

I'd like to have more time to spend getting to know this oil.

[quimerula]

Masculine and obscure.

 

I can smell resins (mostly myrrh) and maybe some patchouli. It has a smokey and dry touch.

 

A sexy masculine perfume, if you like dark and strong scents.

[UltraViolet]

 

In the bottle

Just as I suspected and prayed it would smell like.

I am very attracted to Saturn's reverse power and those kind of different attributes and so I was pleased to smell almost an anise scent with some myrrh and other goodies in this blend.

 

On

Mmm. Smokey dark myrrh, maybe some nutty sandalwood too. Civet in the background but oddly fitting. Civet and I don't get along at all but I don't mind it in this blend, in fact it is expected and part of what makes this a wonderfly different scent.

 

30 minutes

The initial smell that I thought might be star anise is all but gone. I should hate this by all previous dealings with civet and that, but this is truly an addictive blend. The myrrh, sandalwood, and civet with the resinous scent of (opomax maybe?) is dark, mysterious and broodingly sexy on my skin. I say Opomax because something mildy resinous and sweetly incensed in here which reminds me of "Noir". Or maybe my skin just doesn't hate me today.

 

Throw:

more than average

 

Scent category:

Incense/Animalistic/Resin

 

Summary

Anykind of non polished, ashy black color is associated with this kind of energy. It is the energy of stillness, Karma, Transmutation, Synthesis and that kind of thing. Saturn is also associated with slow movement, difficulty, and tension, hardship and limitation. Because Saturn is a planet that tests the success or tenacity of a person's action, it is positively associated with perseverance and fortitude. Beth has a marvelous representation here.

 

Purchase again?

Yes. If it were possible, a 10ml. Lots and lots of work can be done with this blend.

 

1-5 rating (5 being best)

3

Edited September 23, 2005 by UltraViolet

[Little Bird]

Saturn was very heavy on me and had a lot of throw for about three hours and then it just disappeared. It was a dark, strong presence in my life for those three hours... and when it faded, I felt like something was missing from my life. I'm not sure if I like this, but it was an interesting scent. It was comforting in the way that an overprotective father figure can be.

 

First on this is heavy incense with touches of what smelled like patchouli and sandalwood in the background. After a few minutes it gets a bit more woodsy, with something that smells like cedar, only not as gross as cedar usually smells on me. Smoky incense and woods. After about an hour this has a spicier resinous quality to it that might be myrrh. I'm sadly not smelling any of the civet that other reviewers have mentioned.

 

Very dark and perhaps a bit overbearing, while still being warm and comforting. It's the sort of fragrance that I would get for an older, male family member.

[Nox Eterna]

This is the resurrected Saturn

 

Let me start off by saying..... Saturn

One of my ruling planets so I HAD to get it. In the bottle woody/smokey/earthy

Imagine Satyrs and Nymphs dancing around the fire deep in the forest. Wet on my skin pretty much the same, then it morphs into the most glorious sweet, earthy, vanilla musk Already got a compliment from the male house mate.

Is there really civet in this? If there is, then I have two civet loves...Saturn and Morella. All I know for sure is I NEED to find another bottle of this

Edited April 13, 2006 by Nox Eterna

[gingersnapp]

When I put this on, it was very thick and woodsy, and I was positive there was vetiver in it. I immediately clenched up, because vetiver and I do not get along. But as it's dried, it's turned sweeter somehow. Someone mentioned that dry, this reminds them of a vanilla musk, and I can kind of see that. I don't get any vanilla per se, but I do get some kind of underlying sweetness. And yet, when I put my nose to my skin to see if I could tell what that sweet was... BAM in the face with vetiver. Thankfully, it's not in the throw or I would be miserable right now. The throw is mostly woods and whatever that sweet note is.

[jidabug]

Started off very dry and woody. There are touches of sharp juniper and something kind of darkly bitter. It eventually (after about 4 hours) it mellowed to a kind of musky, sweet, creaminess with very light bitterly woody overtones. An interesting, masculine blend, but not something I would wear normally.

[Bagfish]

Saturn is very strong and very brown. I have to say that I rather like it. When it wafts up out of the bottle it smells sweet, woody and almost rooty/earthy. I don't get any 'animalistic' smell from Saturn, unlike other reviewers did.

 

To start with when wet, it smells really strong and almost overpoweringly rooty. But after 20 minutes or so it dries down to what can only be described as a patchouli-benzoin resin-fest, all sweet and lovely on my wrist. Patchouli-benzoin is a favourite oil burner mixture that I make and I was pleasantly surprised when this strong brown scent turned into a delicious sweet earthiness.

 

I am very pleased that I took a chance on this oil. I think I will be wearing it when I feel the need to be embraced by the earth. It would be a good scent to wear out on a hike or dog walking, there is no nonsense or romance about this oil, and I like that!

Edited April 18, 2006 by Bagfish

[PurringPulsar]

Saturn

 

In the bottle: dark smoky woods (cedar!) and incense, with a hint of musk. This woody scent is much darker and more foreboding than Jupiter's woody scent.

Wet on skin: here comes the vetiver! Now a vetiver note surfaces through the cedar, and I think there's a bit of patchouli as well…and a sweetness underneath.

Dry on skin: whoa, this is intense! A powerful hit of dry, almost burnt woods with gritty vetiver and scorched grass underneath. The scent is parched and stern, and very dark. It's a strict scent with not much to lift it…it smells almost decayed, but not moist-this is an incredibly dry scent, and it also smells dusty and musty…almost antique. It reminds me of old libraries and attics-I can smell old parchment here. (I love that old library scent…) There's a definite feel of age to the scent. It's very appropriate for Saturn, I think.

After a while: eventually, this softens a bit, and sweetens. No longer the dry punch of woods and roots I got last time, I now smell something sweet in the background, maybe amber, or sweet musk, or a sweet resin. I get hints of smoke, halfway between burnt wood and incense. But this sweetness doesn't detract from the seriousness of this scent. I don't get civet here, if it's there, it's a tiny amount.

Eventually, patchouli returns to the scent, and the vetiver is stronger. There's still that lovely sweetness, somewhat tempering the severity of this scent.

The final drydown is that incredibly tenacious vetiver, but sweetened with something almost like deep vanilla, which is very nice indeed.

Verdict: as with the other Celestial scents, Beth has captured Saturn's aspects well in scent. Stern, strict and very serious, this is a deeply woody, earthy, gritty and dry scent with aspects of cedar, vetiver, a bit of patchouli, a little bit of musk, a sweet note like amber or vanilla. Weaving through it are hints of dust, old parchments, aged dark woods, the memories of musty attics and libraries, and a smoky scent reminiscent of either charred wood or incense. A scent which is sombre and deep, with a feeling of weariness and age to it. The vetiver, of course, is the longest lasting of the notes, sticking on my skin until the very end, along with that mysterious sweet vanilla like note. It's quite a masculine scent, and not a light hearted scent at all. but it really embodies the aspects of this planet perfectly.

To sum it up in a smiley:

 

Note: I think Bagfish has solved the mystery of what that vanilla like note was...benzoin! Of course!

Edited April 19, 2006 by yeahbutnobut

[QueenFae]

What the hell does this smell like? I have no idea! It's unique; a little powdery, with an earthy/resiny undertone. Maybe a sweeter type of incense, like frankincense? It's a complex scent, and it smells more like *expensive* powder on me than anything else. Not really for me, but a nice scent just the same, and certainly in a class of its own!

[gwyllgi]

This is certainly a powerful scent, woodsy yet earthy yet spicy yet sweet. (I'm hopeless at picking out notes, tending to associate impressions instead.) I'd hesitate to call it masculine, simply because it seems to bypass gender lines; this is a confident scent, yet distant.

 

It's certainly not an everyday scent; it's so strong that it could easily become overwhelming. I tend to wear it on days when I'm feeling adrift, when I need something to anchor me and stabilize me long enough to get my feet under me again.

 

On my skin, it's almost too strong, to the point of being headache-inducing. In a locket, however, I've found it to be just right - not to mention removable, when it starts to feel overwhelming.

[filigree_shadow]

Incense and resin, that's what this smells like on my skin. A bit like cedar and frankincense. And then it starts to get a bit powdery and much softer.

 

I'm not sure what it is with the Celestials... I've tried 5 of them and none of them have worked for me.

[moon_lemming]

In the imp and wet, Saturn is dark and woodsy and has that aftershave kick. Dry on my skin, it's pretty much the same, but it has a pleasant incense base that makes it low-pitched enough that I can wear it. It's not something I'm in love with, but it's okay.

[sookster]

first whiff from bottle this reminds me of saturnalia's older, wiser brother.......

 

it is all woodsy and deep and rich and smoky ... i love it

 

big edit here from wearing this last night:

 

ok so i had me some crazy and insane dreams and i can only account

it to this scent...i dreamt my dad was waiting for a phone call from

the doctor saying that my grandmother has passed and he was so upset/hysterically crying...mind you my grandmother has been gone since

1983 so i am not sure where this came from...i comforted him as much as possible and then he brought me to this room with a wooden box that had

these bombs in them...6-8...apparently he had confiscated them from

terrorists and was going to get them to the authorities...i was terrified they

were going to go off because what happened if they did was they would

actually fry fingers/hands/arms, etc. off and leave perfectly cauterized

stumps....soooooooooo gross!!

i was watching a movie that took place in holland (wtf?) that was showing

all the effects of said bombs....

 

there you go.....death and destruction....this is some seriously powerful

stuff!!!

Edited May 4, 2006 by sookster

[The_Merf]

In the bottle: Oh Saturn, planet that sits atop my chart and looks down on absolutely everything, how are you? I can't realy identify any notes, all I know is that this has all of Saturn's weight and gravity.

 

Wet: Wow, this is strong. For a moment, I was almost overwhelmed by it, and thought that I would have to only wear it on very special occassions (I don't really do 'rituals,' else I would have used the phrase "ritual oil.") or use it to scent certain important things.

 

Drydown and wear: As my battles with Saturnian issues go, so went my relationship with the oil as it dried down. At first, I was ready to back down, but then I asserted myself and made the oil work with me. And work it does! I won't wear it often, because it is a statement-maker, but when I do wear it, it will be for the most important moments.

 

I love this oil--it is an amazing accomplishment, and in a strange way, one of my favorites.

[slave1]

In Bottle: Woody incense

 

On Skin: I have decided Celestials do not work on me. I have yet to find one I’d actually wear… They all seem to be to earthy and dark on me, or too bright and citrus… nothing creamy and sweet. Oh well. Anyway, this one screams patchouli, my least favorite note and also civet. It has a very dirty, earthy spicy scent. Also very woody… it reminds me of my neighbors sauna… that hot wet wood smell. Very resinous as well with a strong throw. This one is just to much for me. It’s off to the swaps.

[storme]

In the imp: Lots of patchouli and resin and earthiness.

 

On me, wet: wood and vetiver and patchouli and incense. Very dark and stern, somehow. And I think there's civet in here.

 

On me, dry: vetiver tends to dominate scents on me, but here the patchouli fights for dominance. I smell like discarded half-burnt incense sticks, and then eventually like incense stick dust.

 

Verdict: Off to the swap pile it goes.

[Elrianra]

In the bottle, this is strong and sweet but medicinal. There's spicy and sugar and something else that I can't place, smoky really. It's thick and heady and confused but precise all at once. I'm not sure I want to try this on... Uh! It's oaky and dizzyingly sour - no, rancid. It smells like rotting fruit or flowers, the smell of a late autumn orchard - sun warmed sweet-rot, decay. There's something pepperish in this that makes my throat itch and I know I've run across before but I can't place. It's infuriating but more so because I was hoping this scent would work out of me.

[sterlingspider]

As the ultimate "Saturday's Child" I wanted Saturn from the moment I heard about it.

 

In the bottle: Just about exactly what I was expecting, strong pachouli/resin/campherous wood combination. A little sharper then what I usually like on myself, but certainly somthing I thought I could wear.

 

Drydown: Patchouli and incense, very faintly soapy at first, but getting noticeably soapier as time wears on

 

After an hour: Barbecue sauce?!?!??!!?

Obviously this went all sorts of bad places on me. All the wonderful patchouli and wood scents went away (REALLY odd for me, normally I do fabulous in patchouli) to be replaced by this odd oversweet but kinda smoky barbecue nastiness.

 

Happily it was gone by the time I got up in the morning. I'm likely giving this one more try before I chalk it up to bad chemistry interactions and then I'm moving it along to another, hopefully more compatable, home.

Edited May 24, 2006 by sterlingspider

[juniperus]

Bottle: sharp, off-putting. almost medicinal. ouch.

Wet: woodier, but very dark. bitter. earthy.

Dry: masculine. bitter patchouli, and wood, and vetiver perhaps, and a very dark musk.

Later: Saturn and I have had issues. But this is dead-on - amazing image invoking with this scent, brilliant.

[chapatti]

First whiff: urgh!... it's just, ahem, unpleasant ^^

 

Drydown: it's very hard to describe, as I can't identify any note for certain.

Dark, for sure, very dark - color-wise, it evokes dark gunmetal to me... the smell itself is medicinal, peppery, smokey, bitter, almost camphor-ish.

It is, in a nutshell, entirely in accordance with what Saturn stands for. And it makes me want to run in the opposite direction, to tell you the truth.

 

Verdict: I dislike it. And that's coming from a Capricorn Sun, raising and Venus, who doesn't like her astrological overlord at all

 

5/10

[Miss Lynx]

Wow -- this is super earthy! Very much in keeping with its namesake: dark and heavy and sombre. There's a bit of a church-incense feel about it -- I'm guessing a lot of myrrh. And it also has a woody undercurrent -- vetiver and maybe some sandalwood?

 

In general, it seems to be approximately in the same ballpark scentwise as Cathedral, Midnight Mass, and the Pit & the Pendulum -- all of which I have imps of already. So I'm not sure I need to hang onto this, even though I like it.

 

Grade: B+

[edenssixthday]

Saturn - I love this blend! In the vial, it smells dark and menacing with the scent of vetiver being the first note I detect. When I first apply it, I’m not too keen on the scent – it’s all vetiver and musk. As the oil dries down, the scent of patchouli bursts forth, and it’s a surprisingly delightful scent. I kept catching whiffs of this scent and having to stop what I was doing to smell my wrist. I liked it so much that I decided to apply the scent not just to my wrists, but to several spots around my body, as well. The patchouli and vetiver blend gorgeously together, and create a husky and woody fragrance. This reminds me a lot of Capricorn and the TAL Determination. I only have one imp of this and I’m regretting not purchasing a bottle. The throw is strong and the staying power is amazing – this lasts all day on me. This is also a blend that I think would smell absolutely amazing on my husband. This blend is very, very well done.

[sofiaviolet]

This smells musty. Like several other BPAL oils, it conjures up the image of a specific place which smelled musty in this exact way. While it's fascinating to sniff at, this is not a pleasant smell for me.