Eclipse

[kakiphony]

All the glory, warmth and majesty of the sun -- darkened. A delicious blend of bitter almond, vanilla, frankincense and heliotrope, with a drop of cinnamon.

In the imp:
Almond extract and cinnamon. It smelled like someone got confused about whether they were making cinnamon buns or almond cookies! It's a bit medicinal and lacks the warmth or depth of some other almond blends.

Wet:
Astringent almonds. It was not as rich as Queen of Sheba or as soft as Dana O'shee on application. It was a sharp almond note. The cinnamon is there, but barely, and everything is overwhelmed by the bitter almonds.

Early dry down:
The astringency of this toned itself down quickly and the vanilla began to show up along-side the almonds. I couldn't pick out the heliotrope, but the frankincense lent a golden background to the sweet notes.

Late dry down:
By two hours after application, this scent had faded and morphed. I lost all individual notes and the almond was almost undetectable. Instead, what it turned into was a faintly powdery, spicy sweet scent. It reminded me of a Cinnamon Toast Crunch cereal.

Conclusion:
Pleasant, and akin to several scents I've quite liked. However, it lacks the staying power or complex spicyness of my favorite of the almond blends, Queen of Sheba. I suspect I'll use up my imp and would be willing to swap for it again, but doubt I'll ever buy a full bottle.

[joiedecombat]

For me, Eclipse smells like nothing so much as spiced, toasted almond. I get some cinnamon from it, but not red-hots candy cinnamon like in Inferno, and it doesn't prickle my skin like that one did either; there might also be a little whiff of clove or something akin to it. The spices are almost nose-prickling, a little too prominent for my personal tastes, but it's a nice scent.

[Elrianra]

In the bottle, this is spiced almonds - very similar to Hellcat and Inferno to me. On me wet, the vanilla comes out and tones down the almonds a bit so this is like a spicy vanilla and nuts cake; no floral or incense at all for me, just cake. As it dries, the frankincense and cinnamon mix to darken the vanilla and the almonds turn roasted. Finally the heliotrope starts to be noticable as it absorbs the vanilla and becomes a dusty floral taste that hovers somewhere in the middle of this mix. Once warmed up, this has a pleasant smoky-nuts and vanilla frosting type of smell. Amazingly foody but persistently playful at the same time. As this gets time to breath, the vanilla and frankincense become the main keys of this one - smoky smooth and warm, rather like cake batter in my mind. Or pancakes cooked over a real fire... hmm. As it dies out, it becomes vanilla incense: sweet and a little cloying but pleasant enough if that's your cup of tea.

[grrrlennyl]

at first: tons of sweet almond.

on: almond, cinnamon, and some bright heliotrope.

1 hour later: very faint. a bit floral, perhaps?

2 hours later: very light. powdery and sweet, like sugar.

3 hours later: light and sweet.

overall: this is pretty, but my skin just eats it.

[Caltha]

Eclipse

To me, Eclipse is almost an exact twin of Chimera. It starts out with a similar marzipan bitterness (from the bitter almond) and mellows to a scent of gingerbread dough. Not baked cookies, definitely dough. Cinnamony, sweet and creamy. I do like the scent of gingerbread dough, I just don't need another scent in this foody/spicy vein.

[mirutai]

A nice spiced, cinnamon-infused almond scent, which isn't as sweet as a lot of other BPAL almond scents. It's not _too_ foody, too... I actually like this, and I don't like many foody scents.

 

While I like the scent itself, I'm not sure I'd wear it regularly. Morocco is another in a similar vein, and I think I prefer that to this.

[aestien]

Bottle: sweet almond and vanilla

Wet: sweet almond, vanilla, powdery heliotrope, frankincense in the background

Dry: frankincense moves to the front, vanilla and almond round out the scent, just a hint of cinnamon and heliotrope in the background

Throw: medium

 

This was a frimp in my first order and not something I would have thought to have chosen. I'm so glad the lab threw this in, as it is so very lovely, and my skin chemistry loves anything resinous/woodsy/spicy/or earthy, so I get golden resin rounded and rich, gently sweet, enveloping and warmly radiating at the same time. Perfect for daily wear.

[edenssixthday]

Eclipse was incredibly deep and dark, and very much a “hippie” scent on me. The almond note and the frankincense were the only notes I could detect on my skin. The almond was bitter and almost rancid, while the frankincense deepened and darkened the almond. I’m sure this blend works well on many people, but on me, it just smelled awful. It did have good staying power, but fortunately (for me) not much throw.

[TrailerTrashPrincess]

at first: Tylenol and Atomic Fireballs

 

as it dries down, the cinnamon gets itself under control and goes from being bright red candy cinnamon to brown baking cinnamon.

 

the spot where i put this oil is a little itchy, which might just be a random thing cuz i'm not allergic to anything but cats =^. .^=

 

final drydown: smells like the cinnamon brooms i love so much! very faint and almost no throw.

i like it.

[sookster]

straight sniff from imp is all about a very thick and heady almond fragrance...

applied the almond amps up hugely followed by thick cherry... then this turns into

a positively gorgeous floral...!! wow!!! i wish i could pinpoint exactly which floral...something vanilla-like....oh yes...that is heliotrope...beautiful scent indeed

[strawberry_star]

I had got 2 almond blends lately, this one and Queen of Sheba. I love almonds because they remind me of amaretto *looks fondly at Bordello*.

 

Anyways, in the imp it smells like a nice cherry almond. Makes me wanna drink it.

 

On me however it gets sickenly sweet with medicine smelling cherry-ish almond mixed with cinnamon. WAY too overwhelming, so I'm not very fond of this one. Not horrible, but I think I'll hang onto Queen of Sheba instead.

[abejita]

I am the opposite of strawberry star. I got both Queen of Sheba and Eclipse, and opted to keep Eclipse because Sheba was too medicinal.

 

Anyway, this one is interesting to me in how it represents its name so well. The almond, frankincense and vanilla are dark and warm, the cinnamon a blaze of heat. The heliotrope high note is the nimbus around the dark orb. Even the blend's timing keeps in with the name; it starts out with the warm, then you get the heliotrope, and much later, after the fade, it's all just warm and dark again. It's sort of a simple blend, but it showcases each note clearly and well. My only problem was that I have a bit of a reaction to the cinnamon, so I have to be careful where I put the blend. Inner elbows? Ow.

 

Not a big bottle for me, but I have two imps and I like them. 7/10.

[Teggy]

Eclipse is definately an appropriate name for this scent. It goes through 3 phases on me that all smell completely different. I decided to test it 3 times before writing about it.

 

Wet: Armaretto Sour! Very sweet almonds. It reminded me a lot of Hecate at first.

 

Drydown: For the first 30 minutes after initial application, Eclipse suddenly goes very cinnamony on me. I like a cinnamon on my pancakes, not my skin. So those 30 minutes are not so pleasent.

 

Dry: Once Eclipse is completely settled, it becomes very soft and warm. The notes become much more balanced, but I get mostly a warm almond/vanilla with a hint of the heliotrope. Very pleasant.

 

Overall: I find this scent intriguing how it seems to sit a little differently on me each time. During my second test, it skipped the cinnamon phase completely. I can tell it won't last all day, but it's good for a few hours. This could definately become a regular scent for me.

[jewelbug]

Imp: I smell 99% almond, with maybe 1% or so of myrrh/frankincense. No vanilla/spice that I can detect

 

Wet: Immediately on, this is still very intense almond, but the type of almond that verges on cherry. It is quite pungent, sort of like Jergin’s cherry/almond/vanilla lotion, if you’ve ever tried that. There is a dry cinnamon floating far away on the background.

 

Drying: the cherry/almond settles more into the background, and the cinnamon comes out full force. Dry cinnamon sticks. Myrrh kind of smells like syrup to me, and I think that its making an appearance too. The result is a syrupy, spicy scent. But the result is not as foody as it sounds. The early dry-down has that intense cinnamon/cassia type smell that I love so much in blood moon--a dry spice/rich creaminess combo.

Late Dry-down (2 hrs +): Over time the cinnamon weakens, and the cherry/vanilla/almond smell from the beginning re-emerges. The cherry-ish influence is a little too much for me. By 5ish hours, the cinnamon is completely gone, and its mostly like the aforementioned lotion smell.

 

Overall: I ADORED the early dry phase of this with the powerful spice/creamy almond combo. But the cherry smell that comes out in later dry-down was too much for me and I missed the spice. If it stayed like the first 2 hours the whole time, I'd totally buy a bottle, but it wasn't meant to be.

[cranberry]

Motivated to try my imp by the GC Swap.

 

In the imp: mainly almond with a bit of spice far in the background.

 

On the skin, wet: whoa! Almond! Overpowering almond. Cherry-type almond.

 

On the skin, dry: after it’s been on a bit, the almond tempers and other scents come out. I think that’s heliotrope, plus a bit of spice. This stage of the scent is wonderful. Its slightly sweet, creamy with a bit of spice. My skin has turned a bit red where I applied this. It could be because I just did the dishes and the heat has my pores open.

 

Overall: I really like this scent, or as it dries that is. The beginning is strong, but the drydown is glorious. Warm and creamy, It does have a similarity with Morocco but I wouldn't have noticed it had it not been pointed out. I don't know about a bottle but I'll definitely keep all the imps that come my way.

[oedipa]

Frimp from the Lab, and thank goodness!

 

Wet on skin: I actually said, "Oh my god...oh my GOD!" aloud when I put this puppy on. It smells that good - initially I think it's the almond. I then went to read up on the ingredients and freaked out when I realized it had cinnamon because TAL's Caliph's Beloved also had cinnamon and broke me out in welts. Eep.

 

5 minutes: No welts, yahoo! Just a warm cinnamon/almond/vanilla sweet n' foody smell that is making me sniff sniff sniff my wrist.

 

10 minutes: Still no welts! The almond and cinnamon kind of vie for position while vanilla lingers in the background.

 

2 hours plus: I don't smell the heliotrope in this at all - on me it's all foody and I'm incredibly happy with that. Honestly, this was not on my wishlist what with the cinnamon and the frankincense but I am so glad the Lab frimpped me this one - it's definitely a big bottle purchase.

[PilotKitten]

On first whiff I get the almond... it smells almost cherry-ish. There's a faint hint of creamy vanilla in the background too. After the drydown I finally get a dollop of cinnamon as well with a light floral teasing in the background. The vanilla comes out into a bit more headier, sweeter form... almost like french vanilla but lacking in that odd sour note I usually get from it. This is such a nice scent and I'm pleasantly surprised that I like it this much. I'll put it on my bottle wishlist but it's not a must-have-right-away one.

[SultryWolf]

What this smells like to me is an initial cinnamon, drying down into almost pure myrrh ... but there's no myrrh in here! Interesting. Must be a combo thing.

In any case, it's lovely, and I'll sure be trying this again.

[nerdcraft]

in the imp:

Gooooooorgeous almond. Love it.

wet:

Super cherry almond, with perhaps a dash of incense to deepen it. Very sweet at this stage, with a sharp bite underneath.

dry:

The almond mostly disappears, taking a back seat to the vanilla and frankincense. It's a bit odd, really - foody notes combined with a rather assertive incense. I don't get any cinnamon and the heliotrope fades when the almond does.

 

 

overall:

I liked this one quite a bit when I first put it on, but it changed so much as it dried. It went through a stage where I really didn't like it, but has now settled into a not entirely unpleasant rich, resin-y vanilla. Any blend with frankincense has a "church" feel to me, though, which is not my favorite thing to smell like.

[strangemusic]

This is another clear oil, a pale gold-amber, and in the open imp, I get a first whiff of something thickly acrid, which opens up into sweetness. Thick, syrupy, candy sweetness, almost that of children's cough syrup. On top, a peppery bite of cinnamon; toward the rear of my nasal passage, an almost sour tang that puts me in mind of black licorice. It's not quite that, but very, very close. It's a smell that makes the back of my throat rise, and brings a little bit of that mucus-y feeling. (Sorry for the TMI.)

 

On my skin, the cinnamon rides on top of that candy-sweet cushion, getting more peppery than the usual warm curliness of cinnamon spice, and that acrid tang (the bitter almond, I guess) turns immediately to SOAP. Bitter almond SOAP, and not a quality soap, at that. There's also a lurking, skulking sort of... furriness? It's mixing with the cinnamon to make for sneeziness.

 

I'm sad, so very, very sad... oh, I'd wanted this one to work on me. I'm guessing that sugary sweet smell was the heliotrope; I liked it a lot, but it's not strong enough against the bitter almond/cinnamon snappage. *sniffle* And I can smell how this scent would just rock on the right person, too. Waaaaaaaah. *sob* I like cinnamon. I think I'm liking heliotrope, too... just not together.

 

...and, adding insult to injury, the imp keeps spitting at me when I open and close it! Argh!

 

Moderate throw, for this one.

 

C&P from the LJ, dated 4 July 2006

[birdiefu]

First on, this is very almondy sweet. After a few minutes, the cinnamon shows up and I think I can catch some frankincense- but it's still mostly almond. 30 minutes in, Eclipse has changed to soap . This is the first time I had any BPAL scent smell like soap, and it's not scented soap either- just the smell that plain unscented soap leaves on your skin after washing.

[metaldog32]

Eclipse came to me as a frimp compliments of the Lab..thank you!!!

 

I actually bought a 5ml several months ago...but this went to sis so I never did get a chance to try it.

 

HOWEVER...as fortune would have it..the imp comes to me so I get a second chance.

 

Here we go:

 

One more thing..I wore this all day yesterday so this is my 2nd round with this.

 

Initial sniff from imp:Almond...and I get on the back the spice of the cinnamon...and that's it. So far nice.

 

Applied wet on skin:Okay..I get the almond..and now the sweetness of the vanilla comes through..and yep..the cinnamon is in the back. Am not sure if I get the heliotrope or frankincense..but it's early.

 

Couple of minutes on skin: I think along with the almond, vanilla, and touch of cinnamon I am now getting the faint pulse of the frankincense giving this a bit more depth. Really very nice.

 

When I had this on yesterday, all throughout the day of me shoe shopping I kept getting the wonderful waft of the spice/almond/incense melange lazily surrounding me. What a wonderful cloud of fragrance to find myself in..

 

Throw is light to medium...and staying power suprisingly was 6+ hours.

 

Drydown:Soft echoes of the notes...more like a spiced skin scent.

 

Bottom Line: Eclipse is very enjoyable..I see it as a fall to early winter fragrance. I enjoyed it very much and although I won't be buying a bottle outright because my sister claimed this fragrance as her own, I still just might hang on to my imp.

 

Edited for shoddy spell check the first time...darn it.

Edited September 4, 2006 by metaldog32

[Christine Daae]

In the bottle: Cherry-almond!

 

Wet: Yup, that cherryish almond scent, like whoa.

 

Drydown: Mmm, this gets much better on the drydown (the cherryish almond scent is far too strong for me). Warm and lovely and vanillaish.

 

While wearing: Oooh, and there's the cinnamon! This is really lovely, actually, warm and slightly dark and cheerful. I love heliotrope, but I can barely smell it in this, it's much more vanilla-almond-cinnamon. This layers beautifully with Belle Epoque, too.

[kwsix]

In the imp: Spicy cherries! It's a mouthwatering, bakery-type scent. It smells just like the time I made snickerdoodles with almond extract because I was out of vanilla. They were oddly delicious, by the way.

 

Wet on my skin: As I'm putting it on I smell almond extract, cinnamon, and cherries. But as soon as it hits my skin it turns to fresh lavender. Where did that come from?

 

Drydown: Still lavender! My skin ate all of the spicy almondy cherry goodness. It still smells good, just in a completely different way than it started.

 

I don't know what is going on with my skin chemistry that could have produced this result, but I get nothing but fresh herbal lavender from application until the scent completely disappears. It's a very nice lavender - very clean and fresh. I expected Eclipse to be sexy and come-hitherish in a foody way, but instead it's a relax and get comfortable scent. Although it would be nice to have that spicy almond smell stick around longer, I'm sold on a bottle either way.

[vacpl]

Lovely scent. It starts out very almondy on me, almost amaretto. Then after about 5 min., the almond has faded to the background and the frankincense moves to the forefront.

 

This settled at a heady mixture of frankincense rounded by the almond/vanilla and just a smidge of cinnamon for some kick.

 

It didn't last very long the first time I tried it, but I'm wearing it again to see how it does. Hopefully it'll last a while longer.

 

ETA: This isn't foody at all on me. Rather gourmand, but not bakery shoppe at all.

Edited October 8, 2006 by vacpl