Temple: Egyptian

[fallow deer]

I bought this from The Apothecary's Cat, and on their website there is no description, only that this oil is not to be worn as perfume.

 

Out of the bottle, this is a sweet resinous blend, quite high pitched and almost balsamic.

 

Although I won't be using this as a perfume but for meditation, I did dab a little on my wrist to see how the scent would unfold.

 

I don't know much about Egyptian perfumery/incense, but I know there is a blend called kyphi which is a component of Anubis, and that I recognise it here.

 

A yellow fruity note comes out, and some floral, perhaps rose. The scent remains still sweetly resinous - there's almost definately some amber here as well as the possibility of frankincense (see how I'm hedging my bets! )

 

This is a clear, sweet, clean, pure & almost medicinal blend that feels golden yellow in tone. It's very balanced, not too cloying or heavy but not really ethereal either.

 

I'm looking forward very much to using it.

[yeahbutnobut]

Temple: Egyptian

In the bottle: totally different to what I was expecting. This is a rich, intense and mysterious scent. I can't recognise it straight off, but I think I can detect a hint of wine, or something slightly sweet and fruity? I think there's definitely some resins and spice there too. This isn't just an Egyptian temple, it's a dark Egyptian temple in the middle of some mysterious, occult ritual. I'm not sure if I should wear this, but I'll try.

Wet on skin: still much the same as the bottle, but now it's becoming a very hot smell, like the fierce Egyptian desert sun. I think there must be spices of some sort in this to cause this. There are some sweet dark resins, probably myrrh, in there too.

Dry on skin: It smells quite similar to Black Lotus with it's sharp woody/smoky/burning note, but less 'dissonant' like that scent was on me. This is a hot, mysterious, dry smell, yet deep and dark. There's probably myrrh and sandalwood in this causing this. It's intense and piercing, yet has a occult mystique about it. There's also something sweet at the end of each sniff, probably amber or lotus, there's also some spice too, maybe hot cinnamon, I'm not sure.

After a while: the lotus is becoming more prominent, with a woody note which is similar to the one that put me off Black Lotus, but here it's less off putting. I think I can make out resins here too-ones that are burning and smouldering. It's like burning incense and offerings of lotus flowers on the altar of an ancient god-probably Osiris or Anubis, one of the death related gods, since this scent has dark undertones.

After an hour or two this becomes a very nice, soft lotus. Very gentle. It's actually more lotusy than Black Lotus!! (So lotus haters, beware!)

Verdict: This is a very intriguing scent, really does conjure up images of Egyptian rituals, smoky burning incense, mysterious, even dark, occult rites, in the depths of a desert temple, with hints of the hot sun outside the temple's darkness. The lotus adds a welcome sweetness and softens it up a bit, but here's what I think-if the Duat (the underworld of the Egyptian gods) had a scent, this would be it. It's completely different to what I was expecting, I was expecting something more like Khephra, but this is more like Black Lotus. I'm not sure if I'll wear this much, I'll have to get used to this I think, hopefully it will grow on me, but I think this will be an interesting blend to use as room fragrance, as I prefer it in the bottle.

Edited May 4, 2005 by yeahbutnobut

[harlequin]

This is pretty much a really bad review of the scent only. I'm trying this as part of the Oblation caravan, and want to send it off, so I'll not get a chance to use it (besides, there's just an imp of it and I don't wanna hog it.)

 

In the vial, it's definitely deep, warm and resiny, though I can spick out something sweet backing that up. What it is, I'm not sure. Unfortunatly, i think it's far too humid right now to decipher much more than that.

 

Just as far as the scent goes, I like it.. not going to try wearing it, though.

[wickedgoddess]

Origins - received from yeahbutnobut

 

Disclaimer - While I know that this is not for personal use, I couldn't resist trying a bit on my skin for review purposes.

 

Wet - there is a somewhat astringent smell to this. It reminds me very much of Cairo, but darker, much darker.

 

Dry - Yes this definitely contains Kyphi, which I adore, but there is something else here, something that seems powerful. It feels very wrong to be wearing this. As a scent, this is much darker than Cairo, but very different from Anubis. I will probably hold on to the imp as I love all things Egyptian.

 

On the wickedgoddess scale of 1 to 5, with 5 being best this rates a 4 (as a fragrance only).

[The_Witching_Hour]

Temple: Egyptian

 

This is a gorgeous blend! I know they say these are just working oils and not necessarily worn as fragrance but I dabbed this one ever so lightly to get a feel for it.

 

Out of the bottle: this has a similar feel to that of Scarecrow (arid, dry as dust) but somehow darker. Maybe the same feel but whereas Scarescrow strikes as 'high-noon' this blend would be just as the sun started to set at dusk in the desert.

 

After an hour: the lotus whispers its presence through the incenses (ever so slightly since this is no way a floral blend to my nose) almost as mysteriously as if you were traveling down the nile, basking in the sun behind protective netting smelling temple fires in the distance and there....in the water, ever so gently, spinning lazily.......floats a lotus flower.

 

Truly time-transcending!

[OriginalWacky]

Bottle (Imp): Smooth with some bite and herby.

 

Just On: Herby for sure, a bit of bite.

 

An hour or two later: Herbs herbs herbs. Okay, there seems to be a sweetness underlaying as well, but I get more herbs than anything else.

 

Around 6 hours: Herby and smooth. A incensy kind of smooth, smoky, but much richer than mere campfire smoke.

 

12 hours: It's faded away to pretty much nothing.

 

Overall: I like it, and it does have an Egyptian feel to it, so it might be good for certain rituals.

 

After reading other reviews: I'm not sure if my nose matches up with what others are saying, but I think it's close enough. Since this isn't really a fragrance oil, but a working one, I'm reasonably certain it will work nicely for that.

[UltraViolet]

In the bottle

Fruity, resinous, herby goodness

 

On

It almost smells like Kephri incense with a touch of floral and a hefty herb/wood undertone.

There's either definitely some citrus (orange) in here or it's a Kephri mix.

 

30 minutes

 

Throw:

more than average

 

Scent category:

Floral/Incense/Resin/Citrus?

 

Summary

It's nicer in my opinion when wet, bright incensy loveliness.

As it dries it turns kind of celery like undertone but it's not yukky really because the goodness that is in the bottom or middle is so good that it can even make the dreaded celery smell be worth it to smell the lovliness underneath. I like the other BPAL Kephri blend better than this one but this is very nice indeed.

 

Purchase again?

Yes. A 5ml.

 

1-5 rating (5 being best)

4

[coulrophobe]

Like others in this thread, I know this isn't meant as a perfume oil - but rituals don't factor into my current belief system, so I'm wearing it, dammit!

 

I'm definitely getting a warm, resiny feel with a hint of citrus - and at first there was an undercurrent of savory spice (not sweet spice like cinnamon/cloves, but more like the spices that were in India Bouquet... foody, but in a vaguely curried way). The bizarre undercurrent went away with drydown, and I was left with something that just smelled light, sunny and sweet. It reminded me a bit of Sol, except that the sweet note was stickier, almost sap-like.

 

Temple: Egyptian is an interesting blend to wear; I'll leave any reviewing of its ritual effectiveness to the experts, as I wouldn't even know where to begin.

[sihaya09]

Temple: Egyptian::

(Origin: TAL circular swap.) Lotus and incense. I've smelled two imps of this as well, and both smelled different. One was quite heavy with incense-- myrrh and the like, and gave me a very warm brown feeling. The one in the TAL swap gave me a watery-blue feeling, with the predominant feel of lotus. Interesting, but as I don't tend to do much work within the Egyptian pantheon, this is not one that I feel that I'd need.

[Shollin]

First sniff: Dizzying darkness and bittersweet orange blossom. I know this scent. I’ve been here before.

 

Wearing: I dabbed a little on before bed so I could concentrate on it... This is powerful. I’ve never felt a strong pull to the Egyptian pantheon – I was a Greek mythology nut when I was younger, and have since gotten to know the Celts to some extent – but this blend resonates in a way I can’t really describe. It’s dark, enigmatic, and heady.

[k00kaburra]

In bottle: Sweet and resin-y. The warmth of several spices and incenses dance with a fruity, almost pear-like note.

 

On me: There's an orange-candy-like note here, and it's beautiful with the incense. Rich and warm - I wonder if the candiness is brought about by lotus? I really expected to see lotus here, since it's so classically Egyptian and all. At any rate, this is much lighter and brighter than I expected; I'm surprised at how much I like it. But it's a very pretty fragrance.

[Northernminx]

Dry sweet grasses and resin. Holy smokes the resin.. strong, mysterious, dark, temple hallways and a touch of fruit at the end. I was really surprised at this blend as it was amazingly complex scent wise and extremely useful for the deep meditation I tried today. Verra nice and one i may have to nab a bottle of.

[Blood onmy hands]

First on, I think that this might have myrrh in it, as I'm getting that sweetly golden resin scent that I get from myrrh. There's also a smoky wooden note that might be sandalwood.

 

After a few minutes, this is a spicy-herbal with smoky incense and a burnt orange peel sort of smell Orange blossom often smells like burnt orange on me, so I wonder if there's some of that in this blend.

 

I'm not getting any lotus (which I actually like), but this has morphed into a smoky incense, herb, and burnt citrus scent on me.

 

I probably wouldn't wear this one... it wreaks havoc with my skin chemistry.

[edenssixthday]

Temple: Egyptian is a really nice scent. I don’t know how it is intended to be used or for what purpose, so I can only review the scent. It’s a light scent, yet very warm and golden. I would guess there is some sort of light amber in this blend and something that reminds me a lot of The Lion. It is slightly sweet, but not sugar-sweet, more like the sweet smell of fresh grass and maybe there’s even a hint of date palm in this blend? This is not a scent of the Egyptian desert as much as it is a scent of the stretch along the Nile River. Sweet, fresh, fertile, and warm. I love it. I could easily wear this as a fragrance. I just really wish I knew what it was intended for as TAL blend.

[eternalargus]

I used this in my rituals as an offering and for perfuming the statues of my deities. Upon opening the bottle I'm immediately aware of the resins in this blend, along with something sweet. Upon application to the statues the scents begins to dry down into a honeyed, powdery, warm scent with a hint of spices.

I'm really happy with this one as I got the overall sense of being pleased from my dieties and I found my meditations to become easier.

[alicia_stardust]

Scent: There is an herbal quality to this, and possibly some Kyphi. I know there's more to this, but I am having trouble picking out notes. It's quite pretty, though it's very strong.

 

Use: I use this on my altar as a blessing or offering oil. I also use it for dressing candles, depending on circumstances and intentions or needs.

[Ishtar]

Now that I have been able to use this oil in an appropriate context, it is much easier to review it.

A couple of months ago, I was fortunate enough to go to Egypt. I had been there before but I had never been able to get to Abydos, as foreigners are discouraged from travelling to Middle Egypt. This time, though, I was determined to visit this holiest of sites and walk in the steps of the Ancient Egyptian pilgrims.

 

I used Temple: Egyptian in two ways: I wore it everyday (without any ill effects) and I made offerings of it, as well as water, every time I entered a temple or tomb.

It works very well with my chemistry and has above-average staying power for a TAL oil. While I was in Egypt, it turned into a soft and warm "second skin" scent after a few hours. Here where I obviously sweat much less (!), it remains quite distinct from my own scent but never becomes overpowering.

As for the religious use of it, I had the distinct feeling that the offerings were well-received and that this blend obviously helped me attune to the sacred places I was visiting. There even were a couple of numinous occasions, like that one time at Medinet Habu when an invisible yet almost palpable presence filled the room I was entering. It was a solemn but quite benign presence and I would have gladly spent hours in that one room. Who knows, maybe whoever that presence was, enjoyed the scent I was wearing?

 

These days, the scent of Temple: Egyptian never fails to take me back to every morning and evening in Luxor, when I would go salute Khepri and Atum as the rising and setting sun, perched on a stone wall overlooking the Nile River, facing the Theban Mountain. These moments were truly magical, as is Temple: Egyptian to me.

[Nimthiriel]

Scent in the vial:

It's a lot darker than I imagined – and it's herbal and earthy, with a bit of a bite to it, and some sweet floral. I think there's citrus in there as well.

 

Scent “in use”:

I anointed my shrine items with this oil, since I follow an Egyptian tradition. It's gone to a more incense-like scent, with an almost sweetly fruity touch to it. It's dark, warm and exotic – I like it!

[puddingirl]

Wow, the smell instantly brought to my mind Ancient Egyptian tarot deck, I saw lots of the images from the deck and the smell seemed to merge beautifully with them. I will definately test this out when I read from that deck. I can pick out a slightly foody note, a slightly boozy note and a lavendar note.

 

I will update with how it works when I have used it.