Divinities Implacable, Doom-Laden

[Seajewel]

Myrrh, black musk, labdanum, and rose.

 

 

[starbrow]

A breath of profound holiness, pitched in darkness. This is a Gothic cathedral at midnight, not alive with people at midnight mass, but shuttered and barred and thick with old incense and dripping myrrh and dried rose petals.

 

The myrrh is strong at first - I recognize the myrrh from the Vetiver & White Myrrh duet - and perfumed. It almost made me decide this one was not for me. However, the more this blend sits, the more the black musk invades it with a deep and grounding darkness that sucks the powdery perfume of the myrrh into its black hole. Yessss this is what I want! I can already tell this will age like a magnificent beastress.

 

I'm loving this labdanum - its the "chunk of resin" kind of labdanum, rather than the cola-esque fizzy-spicy kind. Here, it gives a bit of a spicy-sweet woodiness that reminds me of old church pews and beams without being the usual cedar in these churchy incense blends. The rose is the quietest note here, which is something I NEVER say! I feel like it's almost a smoked rose. Very shrouded and dried and withered. Very goth, very much black rose.

 

I was convinced the myrrh would make this one I didn't need to bottle, but now I'm thinking that I definitely do need to. If you love black musk, blends like Cathedral or Haunted or Penitence, or the myrrh-rose combination that was found in Wander Darkling, give Divinities Implacable, Doom-Laden a try. Divinity and doom are the perfect illustration of the holy and corrupt dichotomy of this scent. Incredible artistry.

 

I would wear this while: reading Anne Rice, if I'm being perfectly honest.

Edited September 1, 2022 by starbrow

[Casablanca]

Sticky-sweet myrrh resin mingles with a sweet dark rose and... actually, amber.

 

Here I'm reminded of labdanum's contribution as an ingredient of amber in perfumery, because as it blends with the myrrh, I keep smelling an especially resinous amber -- sometimes with accompanying hints of cola and leather. The resins almost overtake the rose on my skin, but the flower resolutely continues to offer some dark red sweetness.

 

The black musk remains softer on me than expected. This is mostly about the resins, accented with breaths of blood-red rose.

[theredkilt]

Labdanum mingled with myrrh and rounded out by black musk. The rose is only a whisper on my skin. Later on the labdanum asserts itself and I feel that this blend is related to some extent to Streets of Detroit, only less dense. Labdanum, black musk and a gently glowing dark red rose in the background.

[roseus]

Just a whiff of musk in the bottle, but this really blooms on the skin. The rose is velvety and is the base of the scent on my skin. The resins are resining, they are thick and sweet in that rich, deep way. The black musk is here, but I have a terrible time trying to describe it. It's soft and blurry. Totally agree with the recommendations from starbrow, this is an incredible incense if you can do rose! 

[theseagrows]

this one starts with a lot of myrrh and black musk. the rose and labdanum bloom over time. this is a dry, smoky, resinous rose. smells very vintage to me. love it.

[Poenari]

I just found my decant, apparently batted under the couch by a cat soon after opening the package of decants and fortunately missed by the vacuum! No better time than to finally test it.

 

I applied without going back over the notes first, and nearly swooned over my first inhale of this on my wrist. Myrrh and musk - a lovely combo, with the labdanum adding an ambery touch to them. I don't smell rose, but here I think it supports and sweetens the other notes. This is just a lovely scent and now I'm sad that I waited too long to order a bottle. Added myself to the wait-list in the hope that this returns!

[zankoku_zen]

Resins and a touch of rose. Great wear length on me though, good throw.

[Rane.]

Simple yet it has the same complexity & warmth of Hyakki Yagyō. Smells faintly like it, but unique. I'm in love. This is a 2nd favorite to Hyakki Yagyō!!

[Ennikar]

In the bottle, I didn't think I was going to like this as much as previous reviewers - myrrh and I don't always get along, and it smelled cola-y in the bottle. On skin, though, it really opened up, and I got labdanum with an undercurrent of black musk. Not really "dry" or bitter, but not sweet either; the cola impression subsides quickly. Rose is usually a top note for me, but with this one the rose actually got stronger over time and stuck around for hours, tangled up with dark incense-y resins. That's the clinical description, but I don't know that it captures how good this blend is. When I've been disappointed by other "dark" resins, this is what I was imagining. I've tried other rose blends and found them discordant or unbalanced (which is why my other preferred roses are essentially single-note), but this harmonizes.

This one is an absolute monster in both throw and longevity. At first it didn't seem that strong, but after a few minutes I realized that someone a few feet away could smell it (a real rarity for them and oils), that remained the case for several hours, and I picked up whiffs all day. Fortunately most people seem to like it, but I'll be careful with it on transit/in enclosed spaces. Both my usual betas commented that it was a) strong and b) good. Both of them picked up on the rose aspect, one of them thought there might be some vanilla floating around. I don't really do backup bottles (have bought one in years of indies), but with this... it's a possibility.

[HerbGirl]

I've been wearing this since it arrived in August 2022. This is one of my favorite perfumes. I reach for it most when I feel like curling up with a book. The scent is overwhelming in the best possible way. I want this to overwhelm me with its scent! I can smell the listed notes but refuse to try to isolate them because I don't want to analyze this, I just want to enjoy it. Looking at the notes, I expected a powdery element but this is all velvet. So much love for this strong, comforting scent.

[patina]

Faint red rose suspended in labdanum and myrrh, like one of those flowers captured in paperweights.

 

I love both labdanum and myrrh so this was an easy choice. I expect the rose will get stronger with age.

[Lucchesa]

Rose is iffy for me (this decant was a gift from the incomparable @Teamama), but it is not strong here and reminds me of the dried rose petal note that often works better on me.  Wet it's musk and myrrh and I would have said amber so it's affirming to see Casablanca mention that it's related to labdanum, which I wasn't aware of.  Dead roses on an altar with sacrificial chunks of resins not yet burned as incense.  Goth AF and swoony.