The Empress

[viciousviolet]

From Tarot Oils

 

Roses, roses, roses! Not the freshly cut wet rose of their Rose Red, nor the dry, Victorian rose of their Old London. This is a bundle of mixed roses of every shape, size and color. There is something regal and haughty under the roses... sandalwood, perhaps? Or a dry musk? Lovely and bountiful. The scent of a benevolent, beautiful young queen. I love this perfume!

[jj_j]

Violet's right ... this is simply stunning. I have never, and I mean that with complete sincerity, found a rose scent with as much authenticity, clarity, and simple complexity as this one.

 

There's a faint, light touch of lemon tea underneath the rose, but it weaves in and out of the fragrance like a butterfly landing on the rose would. The tiniest bit of wood - again, I'm wondering if it's rosewood Beth's using to create such subtle warmth - gives this fragrance unexpected and almost hidden strength, as well.

 

Absolutely amazing.

[oceandessa]

yes, many many many roses. a beautiful scent. a bit sweeter than i personally like my rose scents, but it does have a slightly bitter undertone, which is what gives it that garden feel. it strikes me as a perfect day scent for an alluring woman in her middle-age; it is a very feminine, wise scent, rosy without being too girly, or too dressy.

[ipb]

The Empress and the High Priestess are the two halves of the female archetype in the major arcana. The Empress represents the fertile, life-giving Mother who reigns over the bounty of nature and the rhythms of the Earth. From her comes all the pleasures and joys of the senses and the abundance of new life in all its forms. The Empress encourages you to strengthen your connections with the natural world which is the ground of our being. Too often false sophistications and pleasures take us far from our roots. Let the Empress remind you to keep your feet firmly planted in the Earth.

 

In readings the Empress can refer to any aspect of Motherhood. She can be an individual mother, but as a major arcana card, she also goes beyond the specifics of mothering to its essence - the creation of life and its sustenance through loving care and attention.

 

The Empress can also represent lavish abundance of all kinds. She offers a cornucopia of delights, especially those of the senses - food, pleasure and beauty. She can suggest material reward, but only with the understanding that riches go with a generous and open spirit. The Empress asks you to embrace the principle of life and enjoy its bountiful goodness.

 

source

what they said.

 

this is going on my big bottle list.

[Nadirah]

WOW, this tarot oil smells so different from all the other ones I've tried! This smell reminds me of spellbound but better, not so musky but just a touch, maybe its amber, This is an enchanting scent. One of the best tarot oils Ive sniffed.

[eleventhousand]

Swoon.

 

This goes on the short list. Rose with an edge.

 

**edited to add: I smell violets in this, and something bitter and herbal that is familiar...and driving me crazy trying to place it!

Edited April 2, 2004 by eleventhousand

[Ms. MSGirl]

Hm, this one has me stumped. I don't know what to say -- I was so excited to try it because of the raves it's gotten from everyone else, but then out of the vial I didn't like it at all. It has a sharpness to my nose, a bitter undertone that a couple of people have mentioned, that makes it really unappealing to me -- I know I have ridiculously sweet taste in scents though. On my skin, the bitterness started to fade almost immediately, and now it's a pleasant enough riot of roses, but there's something... woody, I guess, underneath it that just makes it sharp to me. It almost smells a bit chemically, just not sweet or mellow enough for my tastes. It's too... fierce a rose for me I guess. Maybe I did like Spellbound better?! I swapped my imp of Spellbound and got this instead because I thought it would be more delicate and elegant, less dark, but now I think the musk in Spellbound helped mellow it out on my skin and this doesn't have that. I do like it, now that it's calming down, it does have a certain strength that appeals to me. I will wait and see if any moods present themselves where I feel like wearing it.

[Ina Garten Davita]

First Impression: I adore the name, I have been called Empress by my husband in the past. Empress overrules King, you see. And I adore the scent.

 

Second Impression: Yes it is roses and lots of them. But these roses aren't sweet, elegant roses these are wild roses with lots of thorns.

 

Final Analysis: I love the underlying resiny scent here. Rosewood or sandalwood perhaps? I've been wearing it all day. It's pretty much gone from my skin, still faintly scenting my hair, but still strongly wafting from my locket. Just wonderful.

Edited May 21, 2004 by andrabell

[Requiem-of-Roses]

In the vial: Very earthy and herbal, actually. The rose isn't very overpowering - which suprised me...because, after reading the reviews, I thought a bouquet of roses would jump out at me. I do smell quite a bitter note, as others have said, though. It's almost like singed herbs, crushed up and then dusted onto the petals of an aging Victorian tea rose. Hmm...I'm not sure this is for me. But, it could go either way...we'll see.

 

Wet: Oh, this is extremely bitter when wet on me. Extremely. I don't know if I'm going to like this. It may be too extreme of a rose for my nose. I'm almost picking up a burning rose-scented rubber smell when it's on my skin. This was on my wish list to buy in the future, but I got this as a gift from someone, so I was excited to try it...this actually ended up being the very first BPAL oil I've tried on my skin. Unfortunately, I fear I'm going to be sorely disappointed in this one. I'm not going to wash it off, because it's a bit too early in the game for that. I'll give this a chance in the drydown.

 

After the Drydown: Well, while the bitterness mellowed a bit from it's previous stronghold, it is still far too dominant for my taste. I sensed a bit more sweetness trying to come through - possibly a softer, non-rose floral...but, alas, it was too weak to overcome such an overbearing bitter tone. I also smell actual stems more clearly, as well...which probably didn't help the poor, little softer note trying to break through. I hope my chemistry doesn't slaughter too many other oils like it apparently did with this one. I tried washing and washing my wrists to get it off, but there's still a lingering scent of it. It latched itself on very well. I think I might even end up having to wash it's reminents off my computer desk, where my wrists were touching it. So, yeah...for those of you who find out it works for you and love it, at least it's got staying power.

 

Overall: Unfortunately, this is a definite pass/swap for me. How terribly sad.

[heartbeast]

This wasn't quite what I expected; my personal interpretation of the card coupled with these reviews led me to anticipate a "full frontal rose" sort of scent. But this fragrance was, for me, a great deal more refined, reserved and elegant than the motherly femininity I normally associate with this card. The rose was the main event, and the lemon tea was there, with a slight vanilla spice note, as others have mentioned. But it's like a very elegant tea with a Southern lady, very reserved and not effusive like some Southern ladies can be, on the veranda overlooking her rose garden. She's got a big bouquet of freshly cut roses on the table, and she's serving you lemon tea with a vanilla spice cake that is not overly sweet, very mildly flavored like madeleines. After tea it gets a little warmer and the roses intensify, and she takes out her sandalwood fan. Then she seems a little more sexy and slightly less reserved, but she never really lets her hair down. A very lovely and complex scent.

 

Edited to add the comparison to Cancer, which actually smells how I expected The Empress to smell, after reading the above reviews. Cancer and The Empress are sisters. The Empress is the elder sister who is more sophisticated and reserved; she was a business major. Cancer is the baby sister who is more laid back and bohemian; she has a Liberal Arts degree.

Edited July 17, 2004 by heartbeast

[Summerpixy]

Roses and sandalwood..or is it rosewood? It's gorgeous and sophisticated. I'm growing fast in love with this frangrance. It is very formal, and very beautiful. The blending of the scents is just perfect.

 

This might go on the big bottle list.. I need a few more trys to be certain, but I love this rose blend.

[Northernminx]

reserved, elegant and regal, this is, as others have noted a very rosey scent but the roses are not dry and it's almost impossible to even call them roses. It's the scent of pressing your nose into an opening flower.

 

This started off herbal and bitter and I was very surprised when it mellowed like it did. There seems to be a touch of something else in there, carnation? Violet? I can't pinpoint it.

 

Sadly this is a little understated for me and while beautiful doesn't last long enough and soaps out too much to warrant adding it to the list.

[Ishtar]

In the vial and wet, The Empress was pretty much straightforward rose, with a hint of wood underscoring it. Since I love pure rose scents, I thought that I had found the perfect rose blend.

 

After drydown though, the woody note became more prominent, imparting a slight bitterness to the blend. Nothing unpleasant in itself, but it changed the overall mood of the scent, making it a touch more severe and distant than I imagined The Empress. Maybe it is just that I have the wrong associations with the card, as I just started studying Tarot a few months ago.

 

This is a very, very nice scent that I would recommend to all the rose lovers

[helarctos]

Roses upon roses, with an undertone that is either earthy or woody -- it's hard to tell among all the roses.

 

The Empress is mature and confident. The earthy/woody component keeps the scent from becoming a swoon of floral romance; the blend as a whole is very grounded. It also keeps the rose scent from turning to baby powder on my skin, which other rose scents tend to do.

[magikfanfic]

In the bottle: Rose and something herbal. I am in love with Beth's rose blends. Actually, I think I just like roses and the way they smell. also, my skin loves the scent, too, as it always comes out pretty strong on me.

 

Wet: Pretty roses. I love you. I love you. These are sweet roses. Candied like the way the florals smell in The Unicorn, only in this it's candied roses. There's still that faint herbal note in the background that I can't identify except that it reminds me of Dormouse. So maybe an herbal tea of some sort? This is clean and fresh and commanding, the way that the Empress should be. It is beautiful and regal but still gentle and lush.

 

Dry down: Roses heaped upon roses. Corridors of roses. I am the rose queen. I dwell in the house of the rose forever and ever amen. It's getting a little heavier as it dries, but it's still lovely. The tea/sweet note has faded leaving the roses and a more woody note behind. This keeps changing as the multitude of roses in it mingle and dance.

 

Dry: This is a deeper, richer dry smell of roses than I get with Libra. This is a very grown-up scent, and I don't mean that it's old. I just mean that it is mature and vivacious. It knows and has grown with experience. This might go on my big bottle list. But first I have to get my hands on more rose blends so I can compare them all. I love my roses. I love the way that Beth makes roses smell.

[Charmkin]

The Empress reminds me alot of BPAL's Alice...almost as if The Empress is what little Alice will become when she grows up.

It is a very refined scent, one for a dignified woman but not one that is too stuffy, and not one that would be afraid of digging around in the dirt a little bit.

I think viciousviolet described it very well when she said it was a bunch of different roses of all sizes and colors (I'm paraphrasing here).

 

The Empress didn't morph on me at all...it was ROSES in the bottle, 'grown-up-Alice' going on, and stayed that way.

 

This is what I will wear when I have a special event to attend and want to feel classy and ultra-feminine.

[UltraViolet]

This is the only one out of the quite a few rose scents that makes me give a throaty subconcious "Mmmm". The others rose blends may get an "oh that smells nice", or "that's a good one" because they really are all nice in their own way but they don't cause that automatic "Mmmm" emitting from my throat.

Some blends are spicy roses, and some are fruity roses, and a few are even straight on rose like Rose Red but The Empress is the only rose blend I've smelled so far that has some greenery with the rose petal scent. Just a tad. As if you're also smelling the stems of a bunch of closed, dewey roses.. Nothing brain scathing like Rose Red (I expect tomatoes to be thrown at me for that statement but RR does not bide well with my apparently odd chemistry).

"The Empress" is rose in it's most unaldulterated state.

I would buy another 10ml of this and will keep The Empress in my cache until I can't smell anymore or I die, whichever comes first.

[byrdie]

TMI ~ I'll likely be getting my period this week, so my skim chemistry is probably in flux.

 

Vial ~ Uh-oh. Mostly a floral with a slight citrus base. Given the card it's representing, though, I can't say that I'm surprised.

 

Wet ~ Ugh. Strong and round -- the scent is managing to curl and loop its way around my nose. There's definitely some unknown floral here, along with something oddly fruity ... it's like banana, except it doesn't smell like banana. It's a very solid fruit base, rather than something sweet, if that makes any sense?

 

Drying ~ Wow, this wafts. I wish I liked it more, as I didn't use anymore than I usually do. Far from my nose, I'm getting floral whether I like it or not. Close up, I start getting a musk.

 

Drydown ~ It's drying down into a dusty, almost chalky floral, possibly a variant rose. This is more what I would expect The Empress' garden to smell like - the awareness of flowers rather than the threat of them.

 

Dry ~ Alrightie, then. I've got an ashes-of-roses, light-potpourri scent again.

 

Fade ~ Something light and vaguely floral happened to me once, evidently. It's almost sweet, but very powdery.

 

Final thoughts ~ The fade is nice, but not worth putting up with the rest of it for me.

[sarada]

I've been thinking about this one for awhile but haven't been able to come up with a good description other than to agree with the rosy assessment. I like roses, but so far I have only really clicked with a couple of rose scents where it doesn't turn into bathroom spray or powder on me.

 

I would agree that this makes me think of rosewood, rather than rose petals -- it is very soft and comforting, like sinking into your mother's bosom as a child. I wonder if there's a milk component in this as well, softening it and adding a bit of a creamy texture? That would make sense I guess, given the maternal nature of the card. I seem to think of yellow and pink roses, mainly, when I smell this. Ultimately though the powder smell predominates, which is what happens in a lot of rose scents that I like in theory (like Ouija) but which just don't work on me.

 

I think this matches the card perfectly -- it's never been a card that I connected with though, "my" card has always been The Tower! But this is very comforting, soft and feminine and I feel like people are going to come up and hug me and nestle into my cleavage if I wear it.

[shelldoo]

i was super excited to get this one my significator tarot is emporess and i adore roses...

 

well i am not disappointed this is a complex rose scent and i too get a whiff of violet this is going o my top ten i can already tell there must be a touch of musk, possibly amber that deepens this and makes it addictive. excellent! two nostrils up!

[omly]

I love roses so the reviews of of Empress[*b] certainly perked my interest. And the reviews were right. It is quite rosey, but there is something that I just do not care for in this blend. Going through other reviews it might be violet (which tends to give me a general stomach turning sensation) but it is faint enough to be hard to identify. After a few minutes it also gets a bit soapy (though that is more pronounced at different points in my cycle).

[scourgeotheseas]

Empress

 

In the bottle: Rose,a hint of wine.

 

On me: Wow, this is lovely on – a fullblown rose at the height of beauty and maturity. It becomes a tiny bit green as it dries on my skin. With maybe a tiny hint of lemon as well? Mmmm…..

[rhubarbbear]

yep, it's roses alright! there's a darker base to this, tho...i get a kind of smokey rose on the dry down. could be some kind of resin, i suppose! the empress is not just straight up roses, it's more complex and grounded. very nice!

[brownbat]

Lots of roses, and some musk. This is a beautiful sensual rose scent.

[joseybird]

Like The Star, I bought a whole bottle of The Empress before my imp arrived because I was convinced I would love it. I do like it very much, although I don't know if I can use a whole 10 ml of it!

 

EDIT: Actually...yeah...I do love it, and I am glad I'm getting a whole 10 ml!

 

The Empress is fresh and rosey, with a definate undertone of incense. It's not somber or austere at all though. I'd say the rose notes are somewhere between the fresh dewy Rose Red and the dry, sweet London. It fits the tarot card perfectly...when I smell this I imagine a young empress-priestess crowned in a wreath of roses and with the faint touch of ritual incense clinging to her robe.

 

Lovely and a classic rose perfume.

Edited April 13, 2005 by joseybird