Heksenbijeenkomst

[Seajewel]

Black oud and wild plum, tobacco leaf, black amber, opium smoke, and myrrh tar.

[ND¢]

Okay, this is incredible and I'm so glad I bought it. Also, I want to say something about the opening reminds me of grapefruit. It's sweet with a hint of developing into something verdant and reminiscent of old Jersey Devil... I guess it's wild plum and the tinge of green tobacco leaf... Definite wispy smoke creating a little depth and myrrh tar for sharpness.... Love this. And it's outside my normal run of smells. This is not a stinky oud , for those who might worry. It's sweet, but doesn't veer into funk. A lot brighter and fresher and lusher than I expected. Purple, black, hints of green. 

Edited October 23, 2022 by ND¢

[space girl lost]

Okay, this application was a TRIP. 

 

In the bottle, there's something ever so slightly musky and funky. PLEASANT funky. I'm guessing the oud? At this point, given the witches theme, I'm getting some real dank nature forest vibes. 

THEN I APPLIED IT.

 

The fruitiness of the plum pretty much LEAPED out, slapped me playfully across the face, and retreats back behind the tobacco, the myrrh, and opium. It's been playing around and I swear each time I sniff my wrist one of those four elements are coming forward and retreating separately with the other 3 playing supporting roles. It's fascinating. I'm really looking forward to revisiting this one again in both the short term and the long term.

 

There's something in my collection I feel shares maybe 50% of what I get out of this (that initial oud hit I think) but I CAN NOT PLACE IT.

 

Either way - big winner. BIG BIG.

[starbrow]

I will not lie to y'all, this was stank when it arrived. Not fecal oudh (not quite), but it smelled like foot funk. And red sour plum. YIKES. I didn't have high hopes for it.

 

But, now that it's had a few days to calm from its mail shock, Heksenbijeenkomst is a hekkin good time. The initial onset is still on the sour side, and I'm hoping that smooths out with age as all the resins meld and develop. And those first few minutes have a fair amount of floral opium that thankfully smokes out soon. The foot funk oudh is gone, replaced with something on the better side of the indolic scale for me, a woody floral. WHEW.

 

Within a few minutes of being on the skin, the blend transforms into a beautiful waft that I described as "sugar plums and old wooden Christmas decorations". This plum is almost baked? It's not a sugary syrup like the Sugar Plums of 2021 Yules. It has a nice oven-roasted, naturally sweetened quality. YUM. The floral disappears, the sourness skedaddles, and I'm left imagining chestnuts roasting with plum puff pastries in the oven. (It's not that gourmand, but the scent picture is there in my head.)

 

Meanwhile the other resins are really uniting to create the nostalgic smell of opening up a treasure box that has been closed for a year, and pulling out wooden ornaments and hand-sewn crafts that have absorbed decades of Christmases' various smells. No one single note is punching through. This tobacco leaf is so exquisitely smooth already, I keep forgetting it's there. It drags the opium into that smoky place I want it to go. The myrrh/black amber don't poof up into powder, truly a Christmas miracle! They are snuggly-soft and glowing-resinous, a warm fragrance that's not quite incense but again adds a bit to the Christmasy effects with its suggestion of going to Mass.

 

Shock and awe, I'm kind of obsessed with Heksenbijeenkomst! This is going not in my Weenie box but in my Yules box. I can't wait to wear it on a cold day in December!

 

I would wear this while: decorating the Christmas tree! 

 

 

 

[MamaMoth]

in the bottle this smells wonderfully dark and plummy, and i am HERE for it. but when it hits the skin, that plum gets SERIOUSLY sour for a hot minute. it makes my cheeks want to pucker! then the opium surges forward, taking this to a dark, lush, perfumey-floral place for a while. meanwhile the plum sweetens and mellows, but i'd still characterize it as a more cleanly tart unripe plum, rather than juicy, sweet, ripe one. 

 

eventually the opium recedes enough to let the other elements come forward, but at that point they are so entangled that i can't pick them apart. it's not a dark blend per se, but the base is shadowed and velvety, with just a little whisp of incense smoke to it. now subdued, opium and sour plum still hover in the upper spectrum. 

 

unexpectedly, there's an overlying cleanness to this blend. oudh, tobacco, amber, myrrh... these are some big-presence notes, so i'm surprised that none of them are vying harder for my attention. 

 

after 4 hours, it has mostly vanished into the aether, which is another surprise coming from that note list. 

 

as of now, i'm pleased with it, but not IN LOVE like i expected to be. many of these notes age notoriously well though, so this may be a completely different beast with a little maturation. it has a lot of potential, so let's find out!

Edited October 26, 2022 by MamaMoth

[roseus]

Gorgeous! A deep, purple-blue plummy incense. The opium gives that deep but bottomless/sheer effect. Dark but not heavy. It is dirtied up slightly by the tobacco on the skin. 

[zankoku_zen]

Dark, plummy incense. Tobacco. But mainly citrusy, floral plum with incense. Medium throw and wear length.