Black Honey, Spicy Black Rose, and Amber Oud

[Seajewel]

No additional description.

[marared]

Oudh always makes me a little nervous - sometimes it's stanky, sometimes it lends incredible depth. It's the latter in this case. And when you put this on, do yourself a favor and do a good deep inhale - get it all up in your sniffer. It's not going to be the same scent going in your nose as when it hits further back in your olfactory receptors. The rose is rich but it is not loud. It's slightly powdery at first sniff, but the petals are sweet at the very end of that deep inhale. There is not much honey here - it's just a deep dark rose with an undercurrent of non-barnyardy oudh.

[LavenderCoffee]

Spicy black rose? Yes, please! This note takes center stage, and I can't quite place the spice. Shadow Games on the opposite wrist says it's not black pepper, and I don't think it's cinnamon either. Perhaps someone else in the pepper family, because it gently tickles my nose and my skin. Black honey and amber oud create a smooth velvet backdrop that gets slightly sweeter with wear. There is an elegant touch of powder to this, without being overly powdery. 

[lozenlady]

Fresh out of the mail.

 

Wet - Heavy on the rose, almost SN red rose to me, this is soooo close to becoming powder but never quite gets there. Its very reminiscent of the "old lady rose" I was hoping to avoid.

 

Dry down - There is something pulling this out of "old lady rose" territory, not sure what it is, but I'm guessing it's the oud.

 

I get no honey from this, was really hoping for a sugared black rose, but instead it's freshly cut red roses with the faintest hint of woody oud. 

 

I'm far from convinced I need to keep my bottle but I'll give it a chance to settle and see if some early aging can give the honey/spice/oud to wake up.

Edited April 11, 2022 by lozenlady

[wolf_truffles]

Rose usually turns soapy on me but I was hoping a spicy rose with honey could keep the soap away. I was wrong! Soapy, but rose lovers will like this. 

[Casablanca]

I've tested this blend a few times, and I only ever get a blackened red rose... extraordinarily powdery and a little soapy. I never find any other notes.

 

I enjoy some roses, but this one is showing emotional incompatibility with me.

 

[theseagrows]

i get rose soap with hints of spices and oud. no honey or amber per se. it's a refreshing rose with spice mostly. it has a vintage vibe, then after awhile the rose just gets stronger and stronger-it's almost sour. i love rose but sometimes it goes sour and it's happening here to an extent. i was sure i'd love this one as i love all these notes, but no, it's just turning to a soapy rose without much else-my skin chemistry is just not having this one.

[Poenari]

OMG this is so beautiful! A deep dark spicy rose. On my skin, the other notes aren't distinct on their own, which is just fine. They simply meld with the rose and enhance it. BPAL honey can often turn musty on me in an unpleasant way, but not here. I also get no soap from this, unlike the rose in Peacock Queen. The sum is so much better than its parts! Upgrading my decant to a bottle.

Edited May 9, 2022 by Poenari
Autocorrect fails

[Tamarinda]

In the Decant: Fresh roses.

 

Wet: Soapy fresh roses.

 

Dry Stage 1: Very loud, slightly sweet, soapy fresh roses.

 

Dry Stage 2: This took about two hours for the honey to finally come out. Whereas in the wet stage and first dry stage, the throw was moderate, now this has become a skin-close scent. I've got to jam my nose into my arm to smell it, but what is there is nice. It reminds me of the rose note in Budding Realization. The honey smells a bit musty, but I'm guessing that's the amber oudh blending into it.

 

I wish the first dry stage didn't happen and that the second dry stage had more oomph. I might set this decant aside for another month and check again.

[zankoku_zen]

Red roses over some ambery oudh. Yep, that is what that smells like. Mainly red roses. Good throw, great wear length on me.