Osculum Inflame

[zankoku_zen]

A scent of seduction, transgression, and danger: crystalized sap, candied red fruits, raw wildflower honey, black amber, and sweet red labdanum.

 

(This scent is vegan because pacts with the devil should be available to everyone regardless of their dietary preferences.)

[bibliophile]

This is such an interesting scent! It's quite different from what I was expecting from this blend of notes. It actually strongly reminds me of an old favorite - Carnaval Noir's Freak Show - on my skin, despite the significant differences in the notes list (fig, pomegranate and cocoa bean with lemon, bergamot, vanilla, mellow honey musk, calamus and tonka for Freak Show); Osculum Inflame wraps its fruits in honeyed resins, rather than honeyed cocoa. The drydown process is a bit cacophonous as the notes jostle for a place in the blend, but they dry down into a soft, sweet, blended fruity resin scent. Black amber is generally a fantastic note on me that only gets better with age; I can't wait to see what happens to this blend over time.

 

edited Feb. 2024 to answer the question of “what happens to this blend over time,” or at least what happens to the wearer’s impressions over time: I pulled this out tonight, having totally forgotten that I wrote this review, dabbed a bit on, and said to myself, “Huh, this smells a LOT like Freak Show. Let me check reviews to see if anyone else thinks so.” 😂

Edited February 6 by bibliophile

[Penance]

This is such a pretty scent, but the labdanum kills it for me.  It's definitely one of those notes that either blends in and disappears and I don't even notice or it goes SUPER MEGA ULTRA COLA and I hate it.  I hate it so much.  And it went the cola route here, at least when Osculum was wet.

 

Once it dried, it turned to a sweet, lovely, well-blended resin scent.  Not a headshop incense or even really "incense incense," but something more subtle.  The honey in this smells like agave nectar to my nose, rather than the syrupy, intense scent I'm used to.  It's still very pretty, but not quite the same.  I'm assuming it's the vegan vs. non-vegan honey component making the difference.  I'm very happy to see Beth making this one open to everyone, vegan or not, though.

[zankoku_zen]

Incense, cola, and a whiff of honeyed resins. To me, the labdanum and incense are the strongest notes, so it ends up in a incense cola sort of hell. Medium throw, great wear length.

[she's a carnival]

This is a really nice amber/labdanum/incense blend right now but the labdanum is a bit too much for me as well. I have a feeling this will be beautiful once aged!

[LavenderCoffee]

This scent is pungent when first applied, a slick labdanum funk of transgression. Once it dries, the red fruit and honey add welcome balance and usher in the softer seductive phase. Darkly resinous and complex.

[MamaMoth]

comes on strong with the resins like WHOA.  has a little of that opening resin funk that i find sometimes which promises good things to come.

as it dries, the fruit comes out.  i think there's probably plum here.  what else?  idk, the fruits are hard to characterize.  they're probably delicious and poisonous. definitely not fresh, sweet but not sugary candied either. like dried red fruits that have been rehydrated in honey water, maybe.  there's a honeyed sweetness but no actual honey smell.

goes a little cologney as it settles in, but the good kind of cologney that is drop dead sexy on any gender.

sweet, deeply resinous, darkly fruity.  slinky and mysterious. it's a definite mood, and i am so here for this one.

Edited June 1, 2022 by MamaMoth

[ghoulnextdoor]

Ah, yes. The legendary salacious kiss bestowed upon the devil’s bunghole. A supposed diabolic perversion of the church’s Kiss of Peace. Classic Witchsploitation. All jokes about the devil’s butthole aside, Osculum Infame is a very intimate scent. Delicate, though. I wouldn’t go as far as to say primal. The notes of raw honey and black amber are soft and languid, but most assuredly at the forefront, heightening and preserving the sweetness of everything in their wake. The sap more crystalline, the candied fruits more sugared, the resinous musk of the labdanum somehow fruitier. The scent of paying tribute to Satan’s fundament smells pretty amazing, actually.