illuviel

I received this as a freebie with my Hexennacht decant. In the imp: Vetivert! Patchouli! Very dark, solid and earthy-smelling without smelling like actual earth. Behind that, cedar. As a whole scent, it smells vaguely of pencils (graphite and cedar), which in itself is not a bad thing. On, the earthier notes fade a little into the background (which is good, as I'm not a fan of the patchouli, and my spouse definitely isn't), and spicy cedar comes more to the fore. It's definitely a warming scent for me; I feel a distinct, physical flush of warmth while wearing it. It also reminds me of sunwarmed, clean guinea pig, freshly bathed with Wella Balsam shampoo and set in a bed of clean cedar shavings. Given a little time to settle in, it's still very sharply pungent vetivert and cedar, equally strong, and a little peppery to the nose, though I don't detect any actual black pepper. It's a little butch for me (very solid, very ... sharp? no-nonsense? adjectives fail me, but 'butch' works), but I'd love this on meinen Mann ... if I could convince him to try it, even though it's got the dreaded "P" word in it. I also layered this with Hexennacht in an attempt to redeem that scent for me -- I like it better 'anchored' with the earth and forest scents in Malediction than on its own and may be able to get away with this, though it's still powdery and 'sneezy' on me (until later in the evening, then mrowr. Much better then, if I could get through the sneeziness).

I received a decant of Hexennacht in the mail today. I had high hopes for this, based on the intent, description and glowing reviews. I really wanted to adore this one. Unfortunately, this scent isn't one that works for me at all. In the imp, it smells like someone wearing a Guerlain perfume I can't quite name walking through a botanica or occult bookshop's incense and oils section to pick up a bottle of Lucky Money Drawing floorwash -- complex, incensey, powdery, piney, commercial. It reminds me more of sitting with the ladies' circle at a bookshop discussing Brocken Mountain than dancing on the heath atop it. Unfortunately, this first impression only deepened with my interaction with the scent. On the second or third sniff, my eyes started watering and I started sneezing, giving me a tightness in my sinuses and a slight scratching at the back of my throat -- something in this does not agree with my system. Maybe I'd get over that as soon as my nose calmed down from the complex scent? I swiped the wand across my wrist and rubbed my wrists together. On me, it smells quite artificial and does not blend into my skin well at all. Ten or so minutes into wearing, it's still piney incensey voodoo floorwash that makes me sneeze and my lips and throat itch. I washed it off, glad that I had purchased only an imp, and not a full bottle, of the oil. I hope I have better luck with other BPAL scents. (I did, as my review of Malediction will show.) Edit to update (and to tighten this up a bit): Layering this over Malediction anchors and earths the scent for me, making it less commercial-smelling and almost wearable, though it's still 'sneezy'. Later in the evening I was able to compare Malediction, Hexennacht + Malediction and the remnants of Hexennacht alone. Of the three, I prefer the blend; it's lovely stuff layered, post-drydown, sharing notes and qualities with a long-discontinued, mass-market scent I adored, Ultima II's Maroc (the wood + incense). There are notes in this combination I hope to find in other blends.