In the bottle: Herbs and spices! Where are these roses and orchids everyone's talking about? Like a very strong men's cologne.
First application: Ah, there you are, orchid. Still not getting the rose thing, though. There's still a little punch of gingery-ness to it.
1 hour: Okay, roses are here now... but not fresh ones. Dried, like in a good-quality sachet. Honestly I can't associate this perfume with Mary Magdalene... in my mind I imagine an old sinful woman who enjoyed the hell out of it all, sitting in a parlor and scandalizing her granddaughters Maybe Ninon de L'Enclos.
Overall: A little too heavy for my taste, but I'm pleased with my first BPAL purchase ever. This stuff LASTS, though... I wear a plastic watch at my job and the fragrance from my wrist remains on there for literally days. It doesn't have much "throw"... I have to get right up to my wrist to smell it but it's a lovely languorous fragrance.