JMorgynWhite

Its's a few days out of the mail now. In the bottle it's a cologne-dark-fruit with a bit of booze. Wet down it has a sort of an expensive perfume powdery element which makes me think of white musk with some ethereal incense and a hint of plum. I am not getting tobacco on its own but knowing it in other laces I can see that its there but I have to look for it. Dry it's faintly plum powder. The effect is super-elegant and sophisticated. To me it's one of the incredibly complex scents that reminds me of department store perfume I would go for. I adore it.

This one reminds me of a graveyard style scent on dry-down. It has all the forest/grass elements with a gorgeous dirt note - which I agree is dry - I want to say baked clay. The wet is almost boozy on me and masculine, but the dry down has the wondrous dirt with the pitch/pine that lingers.

I'm insane about this one. Reminds me of Beneath the Kotatsu- which it doesn't resemble but I think it's because it's def Shunga-like. I'd say peach and pencil shavings on wet then this amazing delicate creamy floral/fruit thing with the cedar on dry which makes it amazing. It's really subtle and ends up close to the skin which is why I think it reminds me of Kotatsu.

I'm trying it tonight and I can't stop sniffing myself. It's a sophisticate. A hit of the bitter orange on my skin but the other notes all integrate and are darn amazing the smoke and the musk marry the tobacco - I generally don't like tobacco but it's a like a suggestion of it. The musk comes out on dry down. The orange is rindy and really works. It's gorgeous but the throw is short. Definitely going to need a wand cap or a lotion layer.

Out of decant I get all of those notes together except for the aftershave - it stands out as faintly lavender lingering. I love oriental style perfume and I wouldn't say it's strongly that, it has a hint of it and the oak and bay rum. Wed down it has a slightly sour -not sure how its going to end up element. As it dries it morphs on me and the woods come up through the cologne. What is utterly entrancing me is what's left behind on the dry down. It's that sheer vanilla powder I hold so dear and I can't stop huffing my arm.

Flos campi and lilium convallium, Rose of Sharon and Lily of the Valley: the blossoms of transcendence and spiritual aspiration. First sniff was pollen heavy floral like orange blossom. Wet down I get intense white flower, I am not a lily/lily of the valley fan but I can imagine this is a white flower fan's dream. The flowers are dusky with almost a medicinal base, so not bright. I could see this being a contemplative scent. It dries down powdery white flowers taking on a department store style classic perfume element as it settles. I can't do white flowers but if I could I'd be all over this.

The twilight in between the stage performer and the Magus; the sleight of hand trick transforms into true sorcerous skill: black silken musk, dark clove, guiac wood, black pepper, frankincense, and cardamom. Herbal wood-spice and a little soapy. Turns into more soap-with a funky wet wood underlying. Some mineral like wet stone and a little alcohol like sniffing an herbal liquor. It’s the funkiness I don’t like, while I can imagine that might be exactly the perfect scent for someone else. It’s not my thing. I expect the funk comes from the clove/cardamom blend. I like both those spices on their own but obviously not together.

Lemon Lime soda and tart-sweet I can see the raspberry - very bright and sweet like bright jam. Dry Down - It's pretty - very summery berry = light and sweet. It has a tendency towards soapy on me. I think it’s too light for me, although I can imagine it would fantastic for the summer.

The Ouroboros, the serpent as he consumes his own tail. Within this everlasting cycle, the spirit is reborn into eternity: frankincense, white rose, balsam, almond flower, and benzoin. The Magician’s Belt is the 2nd darkest. Belt is amazing, I may need a bottle. Sweet sugar with flowers and a spritz of citrus lime, really complex. This one is a hit. It has a cologne style to it - but light. Limes and white rose - which makes sense as it's very fresh rose. The benzoin must be the lime/citrus. The rose is like fresh rose petal kind, not the powdery old lady rose. Drydown it morphs to white rose which lingers on and on.

The sign of life, the sigil of eternity. The mathematics that form the structure of the universe, the finality of Omega, yet also the inconceivable, endless space beyond. Immortality and rebirth, the perfect aspiration of Spirit. Frankincense and black pepper, Himalayan cedar, cognac, and tobacco. The Leminscate is very woody - hard cold wood chips with black pepper. The wood is harsh. Dry down is pure wood with a light wooden element which maybe the tobacco trying to come out. I don't hate it but I don't love it enough I have a couple of hard wood scents already. Reminds me very much of They Lie Thus Chambered and Cold to the Moon. I dont get the warmth of the tobacco or the cognac I had hoped for, they are elements not the main stage on me.

With the Wand createth He. With the Cup preserveth He. With the Dagger destroyeth He. With the Coin redeemeth He. – Liber B vel Magi sub Figura I Clary sage and patchouli for Earth, lavender and yarrow for Air, tobacco and Dracaena cinnabari for Fire, lotus root and myrrh for Water. Magicians Tools is very men's cologne a whiff of tobacco? Does nothing for me. Masculine but not deep/dark. The clary sage is there up front. I don’t get much patch on the wet. I think it’s like the water element softening the impact of the darker elements. Dry down this morphs a bit and the lavender and yarrow come out, but the integration of these elements while magical make it too masculine cologne-y for me. I could see someone else adoring it.

The Carnival King, the embodiment of the liminal space that exists between the death and resurrection of Christ: pomegranate and Lebanese cedar, the martyr’s red rose, and an aspergillum of wine-soaked hyssop. Wowza. I’m a pom-lover and I’m going to need a bottle of this one. It is my fav of the Magician series. On my first try it reminded me of roasted lamb with pomegranate seeds - slightly stinky warm sticky pomegranate. On the 2nd more settled round the pom is brighter but with that meaty-herbal thing. Yeah i could roll in this one, it's a keeper def. Dry down, its got that green herb thing, maybe its the cedar+pom = lamb. The wine soaked hyssop must be the green herb. Love it.

Storyteller is woah - a unique Bpal for me. I’ve never smelled one like it. To me it smells Like lemon spritzed broiled lobster campfire.It’s got this smoked-bonfire-meat thing and I want to roll in it. It has a spritz of lemon so like a bbq dinner heavy on smoke then you spritzed lemon on it - smokey lemon but maybe even with a hint of vanilla or even BBQ'd lemons with some spice like dry rub. Maybe I’m just hungry. After looking at the description. It’s hearth wood and bonfire smoke predominant on me. The beeswax/leather might be what I'm getting 'food' out of I will need a bottle of this just for its uniqueness. Final dry: A lingering trail of woodsmoke which makes it a winner for me.

I get the musks on the wet down and they are strong. Robe is the darkest oil of the lot which made me reach for it first. The first sniffs are sweet and heady - makes me kinda of want to run away. I would say amber musk with some incense and smoke. A lot of incense - Incense is predominant. I don't get any of the nuances of the oudh or saffron. Dry down: Robe is now all stale incense similar to cathedral and Midnight Mass. There's a trail of saffron and the dryness from maybe the frankincense. The incense is the star here on my skin.

I waited a couple of days for it to settle in the mail. So here are my thoughts. Wet down lots of dried lavender with an oily golden tobacco (I generally don't like tobacco, but here its seeming okay - its almost like a liquor maybe that is the cognac in play). The lavender melts into it and you get some light smoke and creaminess on dry with a kind of bitterness underlying and a whiff of the cognac at the end. Definitely huffable stage. Later dry down for me has almost a medicinal golden caramel element to it. I want to say I equate it with dry forest floor which makes no sense but that's where I'm at. The lavender integrates and I'm not sure I'd pull it out if I didn't know what it was ending up with a cologne-y light scent which I rather like with underlying vanilla. This bottle isn't going anywhere.