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Showing results for tags 'The Emperor'.
Found 15 results
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The Old King is sacrificed, dismembered, and returned to the earth so the land may be renewed and nourished. The death knell of the Old Order so life may begin anew: juniper and yew berry, black pine, white sage, soil, and pyre smoke. Fresh on my wrists, the Eternal King is black pine, dark juniper, and woody yew berries swirling with a ghostly sage smoke. As the blend starts to dry, I also start to smell black, hard-packed soil. And then the yew berries mostly take over, upon drydown, as they did on me in that earlier moon, Bergelmir. Eternal King dries into yew berries and black earth. The Eternal King begins with the mood of a dark mystery. It's like a found-footage reel showing nothing but a shaking view of shadows and smoke in the woods at night, with some running and panting (and falling). It's not footage that answers any next-morning investigator questions about where all the screaming kids went and what's with the burnt effigy and large footprints. I wish I were drawn to the way yew berries smell on my skin. We don't seem to quite love each other, so I think the decant will be enough. But I'll hope for sage and smoke and conifers together again sometime.
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The foundation of a stable and just society, the keeper of tradition, the enforcer of laws: bay leaf and olive blossom with ambrette seed, white oakmoss, petitgrain, lavender, cedar, and leather. I really like this one, it's probably a full bottle upgrade and a surprise winner. From the notes list, there's plenty going on but it's all copacetic. To start, mostly herbal, lavender and petitgrain. Maybe a hint of osmanthus sweetening the whole. Hard to say really as I rarely see petigrain showcased in a scent especially with these basenotes. Early dry phase I'm less fond of because the oakmoss is a little high pitched but the bay and maybe the cedar prevent it from taking over. Drydown this is rich and on the manly side of unisex, but just a bit. Bay, leather and cedar form a nice thrumming heart with a hint left of the lavender. This is almost seamless, certainly well balanced, being neither sweet nor floral not resinous per se but with nuance from all those scent categories. I'd say the leather holds it's own but the lavender, bay and petigrain add a warm roundness and citrine golden quality. There's no osmanthus at the dry down but I'm okay with that. The juxtaposition of the leather with the petitgrain and lavender works better than I would have hoped. I didn't tease out the ambrette but it is probably tying this together and adding a golden warmth and sweetness. The ambrette and leather create a superbase as the leather almost never lasts like this for me, my skin eats it. Another blend where this combination works is Mythological Scene with Warrior Mansion and Classic Ladies... Well, this is difficult to describe but all the notes are present, well blended, and beautiful. This is up there with Spanked and Perversion for me, but I love the leather. Love how this never goes sharp, cologne like, or powdery. Definitely unique in a large catalog of scents.
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Leading a host of spectral hounds, he scours the earth in search of errant souls: black pine and vetiver, leather and clove. First? Really? Wet: spicy woody incense. Dry: this stays pretty much the same on me the whole time I'm wearing it. It's so seamlessly well-blended that I can't pick out individual notes. The clove is definitely there, but it isn't screaming its name the way it usually does on me. I wish I could describe this better, because it's GORGEOUS! A little smoky, a little spicy, just a bit of leather and pine. I get the impression of cool incense smoke dispersed from a swinging censer under high trees. Soothing and centering.
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Fucking hipsters. Sweet tobacco and raw patchouli with Italian bergamot, pine needle, vintage dime store musk, and red sandalwood. Welp. Sadly this is my first fail. The sweet tobacco and dime store musk...are a nauseating combination on my skin. I amp metal, so I should have known that when Beth said dime, she meant it. I am releasing this out into the world in hopes that someone else will like it. Thank God it's only an imp.
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The aspirations of man, both in the material and spiritual worlds: clove, birch tar, red ginger root, and frankincense. I guess I'm up first! In the bottle: GINGER - antiseptic and tbh smells like the adhesive on really strong stickers if that makes sense? Fresh on the skin: still lots of ginger, with a bit of powdery frankincense. There's something gooey in the background - I think that's the clove; it's gentle. Could be the birch tar, but i don't know what that smells like so don't take my word for it. Overall it gives the impression of something just starting to catch fire, something smoldering but still cold (edit - this goes away ) Dry: This is definitely a familiar scent, almost like Christmas, but early Christmas when you're opening up all the boxes of decorations - it's the smell trapped in the box from last year's holiday cookies. This is much much gentler and more tame than i expected for something called "The Fiery Mountains". I wanted something a little more exciting. Almost plasticy, borderline mainstream, reminds me of a Yankee Candle (not in a bad way, it just has that kind of uniformity. Does smell a bit like a lit unscented candle). One could definitely get away with this an everyday scent. I'm hoping this ages well and warms up - I'll revisit it in a few months
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The intuitiveness, compassion, sensuality, and creativity that nourishes and sustains Order: lavender buds and gentle bells of Lily of the Valley floating on a calm river of lychee, ylang ylang, and white magnolia. First on, The Stream is a dewy lavender lychee. Especially the lychee. I pick out the lily of the valley after a bit, but only with help from the notes list. Mostly, this is an aquatic-leaning lavender lychee in its early phase. During drydown, I get a little more lily of the valley and the first of the magnolia, but they are really paying their respects to Emperor Lychee. Once The Stream has fully dried, that up-and-coming courtly magnolia comes to her own, partnering with the lychee for a time, and then mostly taking over. Ylang ylang blends closely with her and adds to her sultry aspect. The lychee lingers for a time. The blend becomes a fresh and quirky white floral. Gradually the lychee and dewiness fade and leave a white floral. The lavender-lychee combination reminds me of the fresh quirkiness of lavender and grapefruit together, like in Sugar Phoenix. I don't see lychee growing on me as much as that combination did, but I'll enjoy the decant.
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Absolute power in the temporal world: red musk and leather streaked with tomato leaf and tobacco. This is just beautiful. The red musk and tomato leaf blend effortlessly on my skin and the tobacco just hangs back in the cut gently to give this scent some balance. I am glad I ordered a bottle. It is truly wonderful.
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A symbol of Divine Power made manifest in man, of the order of the universe being executed upon earth. It signifies the apex of glory, triumph, and immortality, and the extension of dominion: a symbol of rulership blessed by celestial providence. Self-control that leads to self-realization: frankincense and styrax with bergamot and lemon peel. My first first review! I'm glad it's for something I like a lot. Wet, The Emperor's Crown is frankincense and realistic lemon. Fresh, bright, golden yellow like the crown and the globe and scepter in his hands. I always think of frankincense as a righteous scent, a cut-through-the-bullshit scent -- a little austere but with its own inner light. As the scent dries down, the bergamot becomes more apparent to my nose, so it's sunny citrus and frankincense and a hint of something vanillic which is probably the styrax. Wikipedia suggests that styrax may be the same as benzoin, and while I'm sure Beth has perfectly good reasons for the varied nomenclature, it does get confusing. The wear length is not outstanding, but that may well improve with age. If lemon and frankincense sounds lovely, well, it is.
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Power does not corrupt. Fear corrupts. – John Steinbeck A talisman against fear: Roman chamomile, frankincense, ylang ylang, vetiver, and Italian bergamot. Citrusy chamomile, ylang ylang and a base of frankincense. This is a chamomile-ylang ylang blend, and despite being floral, is more of a gender neutral blend. It's soft, approachable, and comforting. Medium throw, good wear length.
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Twin symbols of Aries, signifying courage and aggression: dragon’s blood resin, red peppercorn, red poppy, red musk, and red amber. RED! Dragon's blood, red musk, and amber. It's mainly a musky ambery DBR. Great I think for the men folk. It's a very gender neutral blend, and great DBR if you're into that. Medium throw, great wear length.
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He is seated upon the throne whose capitals are the heads of the Himalayan wild ram, since Aries means a Ram. At his feet, couchant, is the Lamb and the Flag, to confirm this attribution on the lower plane; for the ram, by nature, is a wild and courageous animal, lonely in lonely places, whereas when tamed and made to lie down in green pastures, nothing is left but the docile, cowardly, gregarious and succulent beast. – Aleister Crowley, Book of Thoth Tobacco leaf, stone-grey ambergris, cistus, benzoin, and Himalayan cedar. A cedar that actually works on me! HOT DAMN! The cedar with the grey ambergis and benzoin make this beautiful. I am tempted to get this for myself, however I wonder if my BIL would like it too. This is a very unisex scent. I love it!
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Formed into the crux ansata, symbolizing his absolute power over life and death: golden myrrh, calamus, iris root, and cardamom. Wet: the myrrh goes to baby powder on me immediately, darn it. That's unusual for my body chemistry, and doesn't bode well. Dry: yep, baby powder. I get a bit of spice and floral if I stick my nose right against it, but the throw is all baby powder. Decent throw, but it only lasts a couple of hours. This would probably be beautiful on someone else's skin, but it's not for me.
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The world over which he rules: bitter almond and gold oudh. Freshly applied, The Orb gives me a potent blend of some orange (I want to say sweet mandarin), an only slightly bitter almond, and a mellow oudh. Sometimes I think I get a hint of blood orange or red mandarin in this citrus, but for all that, the citrus feels smooth rather than sharp. It softens the blend in a watercolor of gold and orange. The Orb reminds me of Scepter of the Empress, with that one's mandarin and amber oudh, but without the extra lift from its bergamot. I also don't get the animalic tone from the Orb's oudh that I did from the oudh in the Scepter. This feels like a grounding and supportive background oudh. Could this be more of the blend I wanted from the Scepter? This also reminds me a bit of Like the Flashing of Light, a blend that developed beautifully over the months. When I realized how nicely it had aged, I wore it once or twice a week until it was gone. This one has some of its mood. I might need to indulge in a bottle of this.
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Lord of the cycle of death and resurrection, he is the personification of the rhythms of order found deep in the cycles of nature. He is the embodiment of virility and male fecundity and shepherd of souls to the afterlife. Ash and white cedar, frankincense and acacia, holly and oak, verbena and nettle. Verbena (which adds this citrus edge), cedar, frankincense. This smells like manly cedar. Or more like a manly cedar perfume. There's a bit of greenery peeking through which is either holly or nettle. Good throw and wear length.
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Commanding his legions to secure the safety of his people and promote the expansion of his lands: steel and gold wreathed by a crown of bay and iris. Bay, metallic steel (warmed up by something golden) and a touch of powdery iris. If you love bay, give this a whirl. It's a sophisticated perfumey bay. I am putting this on mr. zee_zee's pile. It's gender neutral but definitely more along the lines of expensive cologne, which he tends to favor. Medium throw and wear length. Regal, sophisticated, manly.
