Al Azif

[Meg]

... A sinister, sinuous incense of summoning, a herald and paean to the Primordial Gods of Darkness, Chaos, Madness and Decay.

In the bottle: very powerful sandalwood... burnt sandalwood, actually.

Wet: Sandalwood and... it smells hollow? Also, there's something like caramel in here.

Drydown: Lots of wood, and something... almondy, I wonder if this isn't actually the bay rum note. It's a very light scent, but also pretty sickly sweet. The sandalwood is very obvious, very fragrant.

Overall: It's not at all my type of scent, very perfumy and very sweet. To me it's not complex, it's pretty much pure sandalwood with some unexpected sweet additions. I don't know why this smells hollow to me, or even how to explain it, but that sort of works with the chittering of demons, somehow. Edited February 12, 2007 by Meg

[Koumori]

On first application, Al Azif comes across as a sweet incensy floral, a more masculine version of Scherezade or Baghdad; one of the resin and spice scents. It picks up a cola scent upon drydown, and becomes a powdery resin quickly. Vetiver usually goes straight into my sinuses, but while it's a constant presence here, it doesn't quite get overpowering. All the same, it's not a note I much like, and it's definitely there under the powder. Not something I think I want to smell like. 1/5.

[Galatea]

In the Imp: Very sweet and warm. Kind of like incense, but almost like food. Not sure which food really, but still a bit foody.

 

Wet: Warm sunbaked earth (in light of the name of the blend perhaps this is the scent of the dried up old book?) with incense and sugar. Weird.

 

Dry: This dried down to nearly nothing on me. It's still a bit sweet and a little earthy, and certainly still seems sunny. But I have to bury my head in my arm to smell it at all.

 

Throw: Not the best. I wouldn't say poor, but it's not medium either. It starts out ok, but in less than an hour it's down to 'not much at all'.

 

Overall: I like it, I just wish it was stronger on me. It seems to be a scent that turns out strong on other people, so I guess I can just blame my stupid chemistry. Damn, there arn't enough incense scents in the world to please me, when one of them goes south it pains me.

 

Rating: +

Edited February 24, 2007 by Galatea

[Jilara]

I just got this as a sample imp, and am in heaven! I wouldn't have even *thought* of it, but there's the magic of BPAL. Now I want a bottle!

 

In bottle: buttered amber with saffron

Wet: amber and saffron with a boozy quality like Buttershot liquer.

Drydown: The booziness quiets down, and frankincense starts mingling with the amber and saffron. There's a delicious sweetness coming up in the background.

Dry: It's gone golden, with amber and frankincense mingling in a buttered-rum sweetness. There are back notes of resin and musk. If the gods ate pastry, it would have some of this quality.

 

This lasts and lasts. Hours later, it's gone softly musky, but still keeping those delicious golden notes.

 

I think I'm in love.

[storme]

In the imp: hmm, sort of a vanilla/musk/sweet resin blend.

 

On me, wet: This feels like it's all airy topnotes. Sweet, light-yet-musky vanilla... After a few minutes, I can smell the dark resin getting stronger underneath that.

 

On me, dry: oh, my. Dark, sweet, sugary vanilla resin with a powdery creamy feel over the top. Compelling, if maybe a touch fast to fade on me. After a while, it smells like a fainter Oblivion.

 

Verdict: I'll be keeping the imp around for a while, just to see if I do use it.

[lightgatherer]

I do get incense from this, but it's definitely not one of my favorite incense scents. This isn't bad like Cathedral was on me, but it's definitely not inspiring. I swear I kept getting whiffs of baby powder here and there in with the incense.

[Nisaba]

I bought my bottle when this was an LE, and it's aged wonderfully. Thick, warm, sweet but not foody, and the incensey spices keep the sweetness from being overpowering. Al Azif has gotten stronger with time as well - lots of throw and lasts all day. This scent is like a big warm cozy soft comfy blanket to me. It smells like a

Edited March 18, 2007 by Nisaba

[sh1mm3r]

Wow this is not what I expected. The incense mixing with the sweet syrup is very strange to me. Like a pancake breakfast during a high church service.

 

Or eating caramels by a campfire.

 

On me, the smoky smells including incense just magnify with increasing intensity until I wash them off. Yikes.

[n1k1ta]

Incense and maple syrup is what I get from Al Azif in the beginning. There is a faint wood note. It's almost lacquer, but not quite. It's almost nutty, like roasted pecans that are covered in sugar.

 

After about thirty minutes, I get this sharp, pungent note that hits me in the back of the nose. Incense is always harsh on me, but it usually calms down within an hour. Al Azif is no different.

 

By the three hour mark, I'm left with this sweet maple, pecan, caramel perfume. It's very edible and almost syrupy. So much for evil elder gods! This is fresh, warm and definitely foodie. Yummy!

[Schnax]

I got this as a frimp from the kind Labbies.

 

This is a beautiful sweet incense smell through and through. The base note is the sweetness, which I would guess as a caramelized brown sugar. The incense is a more elusive scent, as if it's smoke curling through the air about me.

 

It lasts all day and stays true, just fades in intensity. Eight hours later I can still catch whiffs of it.

 

This is the one that hooked me. I simply cannot say enough about it. Wow.

[GypsyRoseRed]

Okay, don't laugh, but on me Al-Azif is My Little Pony Musk. Straight up Lickety Split. It's a slightly more grown up, richer version of the smell that made me keep huffing my My Little Pony when I was a kid. This is definitely a bottle purchase for me.

[jiggahava]

Vanilla/tonka bean flavored incense? There's a very sweet undertone to this oil. Yummm! It smells wonderful. Sweet, but not sickly sweet. I was told to layer this with Thalassa, the Galapagos mermaid, and so I shall. Very light throw, but it's heavenly when you press your wrist to your nose. A definite keeper.

[eanewsom]

This was very warm and creamy on me, but in a completely different way from other warm-creamy BPAL I've tried, cozy but mysterious, too. I'm guessing sandalwood, amber, and a little vanilla, and maybe a teensy bit of leather, even. I don't get any incense at all. It's very faint, and fades away completely in less than an hour. I'll have to try it in my scent locket- if it does better in there, I'll be buying a bottle.

[CiCi]

This has a very strong incense impression at first, so much so that I can't smell any other notes. After fifteen minutes or so it gets much lighter and I can begin to detect some sweetness and almost a vanilla scent. It is very pretty but didn't last more than thirty minutes on me. I am going to try it again but start off applying more to begin with.

[minnalavender]

My profound thanks to the Labbie who threw Al-Azif in to my last order as a frimp. Wow. Just wow. I LOVE this. I never would have tried it based upon the description - I thought it was be strong and dark. My bad. I would have really missed out!

 

This scent is so farking complex I can't begin to guess what's in it. But on my skin it's a floral, brown sugar, resiny incense with subtle, sweet vanilla layered underneath. I can't stop huffing my wrist! Even though it's quite light, it has good throw and average length of wear. I won't mind carrying an imp of it with me for frequent reapplication either.

 

5ml bottle for SURE. It's so relaxing and pretty, the best of three of my favorite families of notes: floral, sugar, and incense. Yum.

[jade_starlight]

Hmm, this is sort of sweet and incensey, but with something I can't identify lingering in the background. Sadly, whatever that mystery note is just doesn't seem to work on me at all.

[wolfwynd]

Spicey, something dark and yet familiar, sweet. It is an aquired scent I will have to try again to see if it really works on me. The jury is out still

[LadyCrow]

Amazing. I get the deep, rich, syrupy sweetness, like... very evil brown caramel oozing sluggishly through a demonic tunnel someplace. Yes, that's it. Headed for evil, evil French toast. But there's incense all around. Why are the Lovecraft demons eating breakfast in a hippie shop? Because they can, I guess -- but to leave it at that would be to unfairly dismiss what to me is a fantastic and complex scent blend. Toward the end of the drydown, I get woods. I think the sweetness lurking beneath the innocent New England town is strengthening the oomph and staying power of the Vetivert from Far Yuggoth and the resins and whatnot.

 

I love this blend. I love it. Last night I was paying court to Madame Moriarty. Tonight I'm listening to the chittering of maple sugar from beyond the galaxy and myrrh that wants to eat my brain.

[harmonyfb]

Incense and resins are not my thing. But I had to try all the Arkham scents, so eventually I got around to this one.

 

In the imp, it smelled...brown. Soft and brown. Not at all what I'd expected. Wet, it disappeared, and then bloomed up with a slightly acrid smell. Dry, the acrid-ness went away, and in its place was a balanced, subtle, smoky scent. Now I understand why the incense-lovers went ga-ga over this. I can detect sandalwood, and maybe some sort of smoky musk, and it's just gorgeous. Not my thing, but still - wonderful, classic perfume.

[AuntieMaim]

Al Azif has a heady incense scent that I had hoped to like, but am quite disappointed to find that I don't.

 

The scent is very familiar, like something I used to wear in high school, but I can't place it. I want to say, Exclamation, but that doesn't seem right. Obsession, maybe?

 

Gah! It's driving me crazy trying to figure out where I've smelled this before!

[ariosa]

This goes on overpoweringly sweet. The maple syrup others mentioned here definitely applies. However, it rather quickly fades into something that smells very day at the beach, to me. I definitely smell sandalwood, but if I'm not paying attention, for some reason I'm smelling Hawaiian Tropic. I like it, though once it settles, its throw is next to nothing. I'll keep my imp, though.

[elenore]

At first, it's like maple sugar dusted over incense.

Then, whoa-this deep, warm scent comes out that totally reminds me of something-but what? a scent I used to wear, I think-in high school? a musky scent? is this musk I'm smelling? I'm trying to decide if I like it. I'm totally distracted by how it reminds me of this other thing. It's very strong. I also get weird whiffs of warm baby powder. This is too strong for me, though I liked how it smelled at the beginning! But I don't do well with musk.

[JenM]

In the imp: burnt caramel and toffee.

 

On the wrist: Stops being foody and becomes sunnier, almost clinical—by which I mean I don’t quite smell pine but the effect on my sinuses is reminiscent of a sharp pine.

 

There’s an almost sickly sweet smell that goes nearly plastic-y on me. It varies between being sunny and fresh and like a band-aid. That’s on the left wrist. On the right, it’s warmer with a hint of resin and incense.

 

After it reaches that stage, fades quite quickly. 4/10.

[CrazyPretzel]

In the imp: Something a little spicy and almost foody.

 

Wet on me: Ylang ylang. Why does every damn thing smell like ylang ylang to me? This is smelling like an incense-y version of Seduction.

 

After five minutes: Oh GOD the ylang is amping horribly. This is just what happened with Seduction. At this point it seriously smells like paint to me.

 

Drydown: Soap, syrup and solvents. This one does not like me.

 

Swaps!

[Shitow_Haruka]

first sniff: Smells like oak wood with something sweet & slightly scorched (dark caramel).

 

wet: The same...

 

dry: An incense note came out as it dried, & the dry wood strengthened, while the sweet note disappeared.

 

Unfortunately for this blend, my skin's tendency to amp woody notes meant that the foody sweetness some have experienced was no where to be found on me...one for the locket, maybe.