Brisingamen

[Bagfish]

The amber necklace of Freyja, Norse Goddess of Love, Sex, Attraction and Fruitfulness. Her magnificent necklace was bough from four Dwarves [Alfrik, Berling, Dvalin and Grer] at the price of four nights of her passion. When Brisingamen graces your throat, no man can resist your charms. A glittering mantle of rich golden notes: five ambers, soft myrtle and apple blossom, myrtle, and carnation.

 

Amber is a funny one isn't it. On me, Brisingamen when first applied smells of floral baby powder. However, I know the secret of amber on me which is that after about an hour it stops smelling of baby powder and starts smelling wonderful.

 

Brisingamen is the strongest BPAL amber I have tried. To start with I do get florals (which I find quite difficult to wear) and the amber is incredibly strong and powdery. In fact the second time I wore this, I spent an hour trying not to smell it because it was TOO STRONG, but the magical drydown thing happens and it turns into fantastic amber skinscent on me.

 

Brisingamen is a keeper, possibly bottleworthy if I can learn to deal with the floral powder that comes at the beginning.

 

 

 

edited to add description

Edited February 20, 2006 by Bagfish

[sarahmarie]

Amber isn't usually my thing, and the florals in this one are also not-so-much my thing. So the fact that this didn't work out for me was no surprise. Mostly, I got amber when I put it on...and then something weird happened. My skin chemistry really messed this one up, and it ended up being reminiscent of a diaper. Yeah, stupid skin.

 

On to someone whose skin won't ruin it!

[sestina]

This fragrance is pure brilliance.

 

Initially on my skin, it was almost aggressively floral. For the first ten minutes or so, flowers flowers flowers. I am a recently minted fan of carnation so I was very intrigued at the way this blooms - it has none of the spiciness that I usually associate with well-crafted carnation blends. The thing is... the spiciness is what I like about carnation. In this blend, it brings out the softer, somewhat creamier side. And just about forty-five minutes into drydown, this turns into pure heaven. It is a very close-to-the-skin, subtle ambery floral - it has that very warm tone that amber powder seems to have. I found myself reapplying two hours into the drydown, not because it was fading but because I could not wait to experience the transition again.

 

I will definitely purchase this, and it's one that I would recommend that almost everyone try - and give it some time. The drydown is worth the wait.

[batsy]

In the bottle: Amber, myrtle and carnation! Plus minty!

 

On the skin: Smells like the myrtle wood trees of the Oregon coast -- there's tons of shops that sell everything myrtle wood and this smells like you've walked into the shop. The carnations offset with their sharp sour tang, and the ambers are faint but present. Also the apple blossom is soft, like the flowers on the apple trees before they turn into apples.

 

A keeper!

[dragonryder]

Definitely one of the best amber scents. Toned just right with floral. MMMMM . I predict a bottle in the future

[slave1]

In Bottle: Spicy floral

 

On Skin: I’m note sure why I was excited for this scent… the ambers maybe? Well, I don’t like it at all at first. It smells like kitchen spices: cloves, nutmeg, pepper… mixed with fruits and flowers. A very weird and almost thrown together feel. I can really smell the carnation which is my least favorite floral right after rose. It just doesn’t go with me, it smells a bit spoiled. While I love the golden amber base that I smell at first with a quick whiff, I don’t like the spices and florals that come out deeper into the breath. It is an interesting scent, but not me sadly. After it dries down, and about 20 minutes into wearing, the ambers take over a bit more and I like it better. Plus the apple blossom comes out which I really like. But it’s nothing that’s making me drool or go crazy over… oh well…

[Miyabi]

I think it's a good scent, though I don't think it's something I'd really wear. The imp I received smells warm and golden, but it's a bit strong, for one, and I think the spiciness really makes it something I wouldn't wear.

 

Still, it's a lovely golden sweet scent, so I intend to send the imp off to someone who wants it.

[angharad]

So very beautiful. I'm so happy the Lab sent me a frimp of The Lion, making me realize I love amber so I could order this. It's dry, sweet, and ever-so-lightly floral, with a hint of spice (yay for the carnation!), and extremely golden. The longer I wear it, the drier and sweeter it gets. The spice and floral aspects disappear after a while, but this is still a beautiful scent on me. Brisingamen is becoming one of my top favorites.

Edited April 20, 2006 by angharad

[joiedecombat]

Brisingamen is my favorite of the several amber scents I've tried. The notes blended in with the amber strike a good balance, making it neither as foody as The Lion nor as dry as Cairo, warm and spicy-sweet.

 

Wet, the spices are a little too prominent for my tastes, but as it dries down it becomes a little smoother and is a very rich golden scent that I'm quite fond of.

[juniperus]

Bottle: earthy and very perfume-y without being floral-perfume-y. I like the relative weight of amber so the heaviness wasn't a turn-off, YMMV. Definitely very feminine.

Wet: similar, somewhat less heavy once grounded, a sort of almost-minty after affect that I assume is the myrtle (I haven't smelled enough myrtle to be able to comment on that - it's cold up heyah..Only met crepe myrtles once, when in Nashville visiting the Sis)

Dry: More of the floral has stepped forward, but is still certainly not at the front - maybe the carnation.

Later: amber and the lighter apple blossom coming through. yay! The golden notes more intense than I had anticipated, and brighter, so it has a sort of reminiscence older-lady's-perfume sort of affect at first that I was unsure of. I still think it's a more mature scent (than the one yesterday, for example, which was definitely Maiden to me, this one is more Mother, more mature, if I allow my shameless Pagan-ness to shine for a moment.)(Freya - I can see that, this isn't a sweet and innocent love-goddess maiden sort of scent, a Persephone, it's a Baby Got A Brand New Bag Demeter in Control and having a wild fling sort of scent for those of you more familiar with Greek)

[Aurelius]

In the vial this smells earthy, fruity, and a tiny bit spicy. Yum! At first my skin plays nicely with the oil and then WHAM! I turn into an apple candy: way too sweet and sugary. Stupid body! Why can't I play nicely wich such a gorgeous blend? Off to swap.

[harmonyfb]

Amberamberamberamberamber. Did I mention amber?

[theseagrows]

ahhh i cant express how much i love this one! rich warm amber and carnation are the most prominent on my skin. it's a slightly spicy amber on me, and i need big bottle stat.

[malanna]

Brisingamen starts out bam!amber, but it calms down. I'm not a huge fan of amber, but this reminds me of Haunted. It has a dark sort of muskiness with a hint of spice and the amber doesn't smell very soapy. All things considered, this turned out much better than I thought it would.

[lookingglass]

Rich, warm, enchanted glory. It is skin with the Spring's first kiss of sun. The blossoms are so delicate, so new. This is sexy, a little bit spicy, and clean. A freshly bathed Goddess! While the amber is rich, the blossoms lighten it, making it a great resin scent that is wearable in the Spring and Summer.

 

Brisingamen is the best of O (but way more amber), Alice and Phantom Queen together. I feel like I have all of my loves on at once! If O was too sweet, Alice was too girlie, and Phantom Queen was just a bit too appley, please try this. If you have never tried ANY of these, try this!

[kunoichi]

For some reason, when on my skin, this reminds me of a very gentle version of Love Me. It's got a soft, sweet cola-like (my skin tends to make BPAL scents go sweet), a little spicy but also a slightly powerdery scent. Maybe it's the amber that people talk about?

[PirateMaggie]

In the imp, this is beautiful fresh apple blosson and green myrtle backed by golden amber. Wet, it stays this way with a slight hint of carnation. As it dries, it softens and blends and sadly disappears within half an hour. It's beautiful when wet and hints at a light prettiness, but it disappears too quickly. Hopefully it will have more staying power in my scent locket, but as is it just isn't lasting enough to order more.

[puck_nc]

Origin: Frimp from the Lab

 

Initial Thoughts: Amber is hit-or-miss with me, so I figured that with five of them I was doomed. But I quite like carnations and myrtle so I dabbed a bit on anyway.

 

In the Bottle: Lots of the florals with just a tinge of amber.

 

Wet: Very, very amber. It just surges up and takes over.

 

Drydown: On me it stays strongly amber, with very little floral at all.

 

[v]Verdict[/b]: Off to the swap/sale pile.

[ajcj213499]

I am amazed and dumfounded that this didn't work on me!

 

I love amber and carnation and am fond of apple blossom, but on my skin Brisingamen is just "blah". I have no idea how that is possible when I love practically every note that comprises it, but there it is. I've even tried different imps of it, hoping it would work, and still "meh".

 

I hope it works on other people (and it does by reading the reviews), because it sounds wonderful from the description...

[Elrianra]

In the bottle, this is a grand mead: golden ambers that curl and swirl like warm honey, bittersweet myrtle, tangy apple blossom and tart carnations all swell up and subside in gentle waves. On my skin, this is tart carnations and myrtle, sweetened by amber coated apple florets - sweet and tangy, very pretty and veryvery girly. As it dries, the apple blossoms and ambers sweeten this more as the carnations settle down and the myrtle acts as a brittle base note, like dried leaves ready to crinkle apart at any moment. Warm, this is smooth golden ambers with a breath of florals and herbs; sweet and pliable but with a very honey-tone to it. After a good stint of breathing and toning down, this smells vaguely spicy like cloves or fireweed honey. Delicious to the end, but altogether too foody and just plain girly for me.

[eviltemptressdq]

for me... this is pure incense. No apple at all... it is a little spicy, and not too strong...

 

unfortunately, i am not an incense-y girl... so it goes off to the Enabler's pile for testing!

[mirutai]

Brisangamen is so well blended I can't pick out any individual notes. It's a bright golden scent, like a halo of light. Not much throw on me, but a delicious sweet-musk-skin scent.

 

Absolutely gorgeous!

[Ciircee]

This scent is almost entirely amber and apples on me. I get almost no floral but a nice smell of apple blossoms and bit of apple wood cozied up to that round, golden-y amber smell.

 

ETA: This scent gets almost no throw on me but, for a 'lighter' scent, it sticks around a good four or five hours.

Edited June 16, 2006 by Ciircee

[Natch]

in the bottle: very well blended.... there's amber in there, but the notes are really hard to pick out. It's very warm and bright. It's also a pretty golden color in the imp

 

wet: very strong... earthy amber. The florals also come out with a bit of power, but still underneath. Pretty heavy... almost veers on the powdery/headachey side.

 

dry: amber laced baby powder... unfortunetley. It's only one note going powdery and I can smell the amber and some other notes trying to cover it up... but the powder is still there.

 

overall impression: I'm still a newbie with skin chemistry, so I'm not sure what's going powdery, but sadly, whatever it is is ruining the scent. Ah well... what can you do?

[Caltha]

Brisingamen

Mmmm I love amber! BPAL taught me that. It's like sunwarmed skin with perhaps a hint of sunwarmed pine forest. I get a hint of fresh citrus which I guess is the amber since I get it from Haunted too. I also get a hint of soapy freshness when wearing it on my skin, but that may be something other than the amber, a floral maybe? Anyway, I'm not as offended by the soapy note as I would normally be since I love the amber note so much. A keeper for sure.