Carved Wooden Cultist Lair

[Silvertree]

Sweet, dark incense swirling around flame-scorched ebony wood

that has been intricately carved with arcane symbols.

[Follow My Nose]

Oh my. So, these miniature cultists are definitely holding naked rituals in their carved wooden lair, 'cause this is a sexy scent!

 

I'm taking guesses at these notes, but I'm definitely getting some red or black musk or combination of the two. It reminds me of the musk in Eldritch Dark or Bright Red Dildo. The incense is a smooth blend, maybe some amber or a bit of dragonsblood included in there. I'm not sure my nose is accurate enough to pick out individual notes. Then there's the smoothly-sanded dark wood underneath everything else, with just a hint of smokiness and sweetness thrown in.

 

This one is going into rotation for date-night perfumes.

[elissamay]

Sweet forest resin incense and smoke. This lair is on the edge of the holiday village, near the woods. Dark and moody, but with a bit of crispness from the woods.

[starbrow]

What the heck do arcane symbols smell like? Well, I decoded the two BPALs that this Cultist Lair reminds me and we're about to talk notes.

 

First of all, I realized that this reminds me STRONGLY of the 2020 Weenie haunted house collection. There are whiffs of several of them here, but the clearest association is Endless Corridors ( A flicker of beeswax and candle smoke casting distorted shadows on a blackened panel of vetiver). There is the suggestion of vetiver in Cultist Lair, which triggered the connection. There is definitely beeswax and candle smoke coming out in this lair too, but it is a lighter smoke and nowhere near as creamy-strong beeswax as Corridors. As far as scorch goes, Endless is scorchier, while Cultist Lair is politely engraved, just maybe SOMEONE in the lair has stood by a campfire lately and smells a bit smoky. This does not smell scary-scorched. These cultists want to recruit fresh blood, not scare them away.

 

Cultist Lair also smells really debonair. In fact...it gives me big RPG Half-Elf ( White sandalwood, beeswax, white tea leaf, oud, and a hint of sophisticated urban musk) vibes. Take the white tea leaf out, and Cultist Lair is a perfect kissing cousin. The incense is definitely a sexy sandalwood, and if you associate that with goth scents, Cultist Lair will smell gothy to you. The beeswax tracks, but remember it's a light and smooth touch here. I would not be at all surprised if there was oud in the lair too along with the silky ebony. And this smells like the same musk to me as Half-Elf, so "urban musk" which to me is a sultry and fancy-smelling cousin of white musk.

 

Is Cultist Lair cologney? It really will depend what you find to be cologne. This stops just short of cologne for me while definitely offering up some sexy masculine energy and a tinge of oakmoss. The woods here have some oud, cedar, and sandalwood along with the ebony, but it is not too dark for me even though the description sounds sinister af. This is more wearable for me than Dee and Hellfire while bringing some of the same atmosphere as those GCs. I think a lot of people will find this sexy. It fades much quicker than Endless Corridors at the moment, but aging can and will do glorious things to a blend like Cultist Lair. Definitely keeping!

 

I would wear this while: playing a Cuthulhu game, no question

 

 

[Madame_mina]

So disappointed! This was like a very strong men’s cologne almost like a pine-scented Axe body spray. Reminds me of Gaueko which was also a deeply masculine, crisp scent. Maybe it’s my skin chemistry— I tried to give this a go, but the scent from the bottle only seemed to ramp up the cologne after-shave astringency to me after application. I did not get any incense smoke at all. Hard pass. 

Edited February 8, 2023 by Madame_mina

[patina]

This smells like heavy ebony and Murphy's wood soap. Add some incense dust. Occasionally some hot metal, like a hot poker laced with the lab's blood note pops out, but that part is fairly subtle. You might like it if you want a dapper, moody cologne and you like wood.

[tinyvulture]

Smooth polished wood and sweet incense smoke. Strong pagan-rituals-in-the-woods vibe. It feels old and mysterious.. I’m not really getting the cologne aspect that others have noticed. I’m gonna wear it to the medieval forest fair in a couple weeks

[Bassmastadroog]

Screechy soap at first. Definitely cologne for me after. Cologne incense, polished wood. It’s incredibly masculine to me. The drydown has less of the cologne and more of the woody incense. It’s actually pretty attractive at this stage. A little goes a long way. I can certainly pull this off and I will enjoy having this as a part of my more masculine scents. Clean smelling wood and incense lingers, as if the wood was not only polished but recently soap scrubbed.

Edited March 11, 2023 by Bassmastadroog
Of instead of if

[ghoulnextdoor]

I am currently reading a book called The Honeys by Ryan Lasala. I am actually listening to the audio version at 1.40 speed because I am attempting to read 200 books this year, and in scheming about all the ways that I can make this happen, I’m trying all the little hacks. So this story–which is marketed as a YA queer novel, described as “Heathers” meets “Midsommer,” but it doesn’t really feel YA to me, but then again, my idea of YA is from 20 years ago– takes place at a prestigious summer camp where there is a secretive, elusive clique of teenage girls. The Honeys. I think they are aspiring beekeepers or somesuch. I’m not very far into the book, and they are not the main character (the MC is a gorgeously witty gender-fluid individual, Mars, who is at the camp investigating his twin sister’s death), but when I smelled the incense component of Carved Wooden Cultist Lair, I immediately thought of The Honeys, and of honey in general. If you heat honey on the stovetop, and the lusty, dusky scent of wildflowers, orange blossoms, and jasmine, warming and cooling and hardening in some sort of arcane incense-making process, results in a series of small vaguely bee-shaped cones, smelling of burnt sugars, resins, musks, and florals. They dry and age on sharp, peppery, balsamic-smelling wooden shelves and are sold on roadside stands and farmer’s markets, and whoever lights a little bee in their home is visited by strange, sweet, stinging dreams. (This doesn’t happen in the book, FYI. Just me letting my imagination run away with me.)

[zankoku_zen]

Wood, dark musk. This smells like a woody dark musk blend, slightly singed. If you're into this, you know who you are. Medium throw and wear length.

[Lucchesa]

Carved Wooden Cultist Lair turns into single note incense on my skin. I wish I got starbrow’s beeswax. Or z_z’s woodsy dark musk.  It’s the exact same incense as in certain other BPALs my brain is refusing to name. It’s nice, especially about an hour in, but my skin has obliterated its complexities.