Anathema

[czuba]

A scent as heavy as thunder from the Vatican, with notes that inspire every sin and excess. Black opium, with vetivert and honeysuckle.

In imp - grassy green with "easter" flowers: lilles, Hyacinths

On Skin Wet - Still those darn "easter" flowers then is starts to get incensy as it dries

On Skin Dry - Once dry is becomes really faint on me, barely there incense


I don't think this one is for me, as much as I loved the name and wanted it to work.

[smelly]

This is pretty flowery. I guess it's the honeysuckle or opium I smell, almost rosey. And I don't smell any smokey vetiver, unfortunately. It smells kind of green in the bottle, but that goes away once applied.

 

Smells like there's a 50/50 chance this will give me a headache after a while.

[renaissancerouge]

Wowzers, this is nothing like what I expected. Granted my schnoz is a little wonky right now, but this smelled so rich and sweet to me! Like a pomander ball with honeysuckles instead of cloves. It was definitely more...luxe...than austere, and I was expecting smoke, ozone, fire, brimstone. It's very Borgia orgy in the Papal apartments.

[PirateMaggie]

This smells like burning plastic and latex gloves on me. Drat.

[Heretic]

In the vial: Sweet floral.

 

On my wrist, wet: Sweet and musky-- grounded, smoky, and swarthy honeysuckle.

 

After 20 minutes: The vetiver in this blend really puts a cap on the sweetness of the honeysuckle. There's also a somewhat spicy bottom note that keeps everything from becoming cloying.

 

After an hour: Anathema is a surprise honeysuckle scent that ends up being more spicy and warm than white and cloying. I'll definitely use up my imp and see if it grows to bottle-worthy status.

[Ajila]

In the bottle - Oddly the first thing I smell is lettuce, there is something darker, more airy behind it, but I don't know what.

Wet on me - Green and yet dark and yet sweet. Very interesting and not unpleasant.

Dry on me - The green becomes more spicy, for a while it smells of geraniums. It fades quite quickly, becoming sweeter until it disappears.

[jidabug]

Starts off all honeysuckle, but then there was coarse soapiness coming out over the honeysuckle sweetness and the whole thing headed towards darkness. To finish with it was all icky soap and mustiness that just doesn't work for me at all.

[themerrybaker]

Another scent you wouldn't expect from the description.

 

This is a light spring fragrance with only a little bitter smokiness from the opium poppy and hardly any harsh undertone from the vetiver. The other notes contribute to the blend just enough to avoid candle/body lotion boredom.

 

I'll have to remember to edit this post when I get inspired to execute some excessive, depraved sins.

Edited April 21, 2006 by themerrybaker

[filigree_shadow]

I loved this from the very second I opened the imp. Put it on my skin... gorgeous. Just the right kind of combination for me. It's a little sweet, a little bit spicy, and a little bit dark, and not too far in any one direction. In truth, the sweetness of it reminds me of tangerines at first. But the vetiver and opium poppy make for a languid combination, and they end up dominating in the end.

 

Yep, I love this.

[GreenJeanz]

In The Bottle: Intensely sweet, almost syrupy kind of scent with a heavy contrast between the dark, crisp background odour and the floral notes.

 

 

 

On My Wrist: Still dark, with the flower odour enhanced and brought to the front.

 

 

 

Dry: An almost incense-like, resinous odour is created as it reacts with my body chemistry. It smells faintly of florals and smoke and is extremely rich.

 

 

 

How Long It Lasts: Anathema frequently lasts all day and night til the next morning on me.

 

 

 

What It Mixes With Well: Venom & Dracul.

 

 

 

How It Makes Me Feel: Decadent, gothic, sensual and beautiful. Like I want to put on my heavy makeup, a black victorian dress with veil, and drape myself over a tombstone.

 

 

 

Images It Brings Up: Ornate stone crosses, tombs, cathedrals, vampires, black or purple flowers trailed on a wrought iron trellis.

 

 

 

Anathema is easily one of my favourite parfumes of all time.

[cupide430]

A bit powdery at first, I wasn't sure I'd like this. But after a short time, it became a gentle gorgeous honeysuckle on me. This has a gentle creamy edge to it. A lovely floral, I'll be adding a big bottle to my collection with my next order.

[yellowrose]

Anathema is a creamy, floral sledgehammer. Brash, bold, and almost all opium and honeysuckle on me and destined to induce headaches. This is not subtle. It announces its wearer.

 

Being passed along for others to sample, and, hopefully the right person will enjoy it emphatically.

[brownbear]

Not sure where it's coming from, but my first impression of anathema is . . . peanuts. I can't figure it out but something is just not working on me.

[edenssixthday]

Anathema is a strong and acrid scent. The opium scent is gorgeous, as always, but in this case, it seems to serve as little more than a battlefield on which the honeysuckle and vetiver meet like a clashing of the Titans. As it dries, the honeysuckle pushes the vetiver back and takes the dominating position. However, not long after that, the honeysuckle seems to fade as well, leaving behind nothing but a faint trace of opium. It's such a strange scent that distracts me from everything going on around me, and I don't think I like it, despite the fact that it finishes off fairly nicely, albeit subtly.

[themerrybaker]

Anathema is tart floral on me and reminds me a bit of Danube. It throws like a major leaguer. The smokiness of the opium develops on drydown. I don't think I use this for an everyday scent - it's really an in-your-face sweet floral.

 

 

 

I like it, but don't need a bottle.

[provocateur]

In bottle: Black opium in all it's delicious glory

 

On skin, wet: More black opium and vetiver and a hint of honeysuckle.

 

On skin, dry: Vetiver and opium.

 

Conclusion: This is very deep, rich and succulent. How did this one escape me for so long?

 

Rating: 5/5

[Meg]

In the bottle: Pretty!! Very fresh florals, sweet honeyuckle.

 

Wet: Vetiver coming out alongside the honeysuckle, and a rather dusty, perfumy scent that could be the opium. It keeps on smelling green and fresh, though.

 

Drydown: Honeysuckle mingles with the unfamiliar scent of a sweet, slightly dusty poppy seed smell that must be opium. Vetiver has drifted to the background, but still gives off bright green and slightly salty flashes from time to time.

 

Overall: A langorous blend, very warm and sensual and at the same time green and fresh. Vetiver really is at its best in this blend, quietly playing in the background, making it heavier and thick with foreboding, while the honeysuckle and opium play in the foreground in a truly sinful way. A very evocative blend, and a delicious one too!

[valentina]

On me, Anathema is a dead ringer for the Yves St. Laurent fragrance "Opium." Only it's better. I wore Opium a long time ago, but it did tend to be a bit on the overwhelming side, and just a little too chemical. My body tends to amp the black opium in Anathema, but the honeysuckle in the blend, and perhaps even the vetivert (usually a monster on my body) mellow it out. So it's a real opium kick, but not a headachey or eye-crossing kick.

 

To me, this smell is sex on a stick. Of course it would provoke naughty and excessive and wonderfully heathen behavior, thank the Goddess. I want a bottle ASAP.

[The_Merf]

In the imp: honeysuckle planted in blackest soil

 

Wet: Yee-haw--this is a really dark honeysuckle

 

Drydown and wear: This is a very spring scent--I agree with the person above who called it Easter flowers. Perhaps its the Triduum flowers; Eos is the joy and unrestrained light of Easter. There is a dignity and austerity that the darker notes lend to this scent. It is on the brink of joy, but something holds it back, something is being considered. This is fantastic, and it will go on my bottle list.

[whitecrow0]

In the bottle: Oh, I still have such an uneducated nose, such a dearth of scent vocabulary. This smells masculine to me; floral, but a dark, calculated bouquet, as if created for a (nefarious) purpose other than mere enjoyment. I'm picturing blooms that are drooping and "overripe." There's also something spicy in there. (I don't know whether or not it's the vetivert?)

 

Wet: There's a tanginess to this that I can practically taste at the back of my mouth. I can feel a fuzz, a buzzing on my palate. I'm not entirely comfortable with that. I'm not sure if it's the opium or the vetivert, but something seems as if it should be pleasant - however, I find it not. Not directly, just a sort of unease I'm associating with, projecting on to it.

I was really hoping that this would "work" for one of my Greyhaven characters - the description called to mind one of my darker men, such as Eldritch, Kage or Jason, though I had high hopes it would fit Rade. Alas, it most definitely isn't Rade. It might work for Sam. It has his calculation and slickness.

I must admit, I tried this once before, right out of the shipping box and away from any note-taking, and was severely disappointed because that day all I could smell on myself was Old Spice. (Now, I once said Anne Bonny reminded me of Old Spice, but in a good way. Anne Bonny doesn't have any of the same notes in it. My nose and my brain need help, obviously. But I think the reason that I smelled Old Spice with Anathema was that it did turn sort of soapy on my skin.) Anathema was going to be my first definite swap, but now that I'm trying it again, I'm not smelling the same thing, and I'm not certain. Still... I don't think I want to smell like this.

 

Drying: There's a bit of a powdery or soapy feeling coming to play. It's very strange, but I did not smell the honeysuckle either time tried this imp. There's a hint, but it's ... wrong. Twisted. This is disappointing and disconcerting.

 

I'm associating this scent with someone who has power; a kind of white-collar power and social standing. A slick lawyer who fleeces his clients for all he can get (though he does win their cases.) Not staid enough to be a banker. Not a doctor; there's no hint of "trustworthy" or "comforting." A bit too upper crust and established to be a used car salesman. A politician, perhaps. But this is the scent of somebody I just don't trust. It puts me on edge.

 

It's rich, and it's a dark floral. As I read the forums, I'm beginning to think it's the opium note that is bothering me. I notice that the word "menacing" cropped up more than once; I can "smell" that.

 

Afternotes: Okay, there's the honeysuckle, but it's still off; bitter and soapy. This scent, on me, seems musty and cloying. It's too heavily floral for me personally, and perhaps a bit too floral for Sam as well. I think at least one of my male characters might like to smell completely manly. The more I think about it, the more this smells like a bossy older lady used to getting her way. A grande dame.

Compared to my completely positive reactions to scents such as Absinthe and Chimera, this one is a definite throw-away. I'm vacillating about getting rid of it, because I'm a terrible pack-rat, and what if? What if I don't find another scent that channels Sam as easily? Well, then, I guess I could try another imp. Life is too short! I don't want to smell like this. I don't like it. It was different before, but I didn't like it then, either. And there are too many other interesting descriptions out there to try. I just hope that someone who has good experiences - or hopes for good experiences - with honeysuckle or opium or vetivert will want this after I've stated what I think. o.O

 

Scott-sniff: N/A

 

Verdict: SWAP!

[kunoichi]

From the vial this is a piercing, sweet fragrance with honeysuckle on a darker base. This is a scent that wafts from the skin, giving a different smell in the air compared to against the skin: Against my skin, it becomes harsher with vetiver (though thankfully it is nothing like Undine!) and smells more like a commercial perfume because of the harshness, but the black opium and honeysuckle tempers it. Yet it is the black opium and honeysuckle that seems to float like a lovely cloud around me for a while after applying this scent – a gentle sweetness on a dark base. The harshness soon fades. After it has been worn for a couple of hours, it is a rounded and subdued scent that, though not with the strength it originally held, is still quite pervading in it’s own, quiet way. I actually quite like this one, though it is not my normal style of fragrance!

[storme]

In the imp: honeysuckle! with a hint of sharpness that I think is the opium.

 

On me, wet: hey, where'd it go? all I get is the faintest waft of sweetened vetiver and a slightly sappy greenness.

 

On me, dry: very very faint dried honeysuckle with a smoky tinge of vetiver and opium. VERY faint, but what there is is lovely.

 

Verdict: grf, and I had fairly high hopes for this - I guess I'll have to try to find a different honeysuckle blend to try out.

[BrightRedScream]

I don't even know how to describe this...

Other than - I don't think I like it.

 

It smells like..sweet wood on me.

I don't enjoy it at all...

 

Probably the shortest review ever...

This just isn't me, and I don't like it at all...

Bleh.

It almost smells like a room deodourizer...or...as someone else said - hairspray.

 

Swap pile for you!

[buzz23666]

I feel like I am in a hospital room filled with flowers.

 

Wet - lots of honeysuckle and the very crisp smell of the vetivert. Since I have not had the chance to put straight vetivert on my skin I can only assume here that I amp it. This is very clean almost to the point of being clinical. Not at all what I was expecting.

 

As this dries it I get almost equal amounts of the honeysuckle and the vetivert. Like they can't seem to decide who's boss. I also get the feeling that this one is going to fade on me fast.

 

Not an unpleasant scent, in fact, the crispness kind of wakes me up. I'm just not sure that this is one that I would go out of my way for.

[tracey]

Hmm .. very sweet honeysuckle scent in the bottle, that's all I smell. On, wet, it's still very sweet but there is a soft edge to it now after a couple minutes. It' melting into my skin and smells so lovely .. a surface whiff is soft, sniffing deeper I get a sharper honeysuckle scent. I don't really smell anything else with this but I like it.

 

Strangely it reminds me of the smell of hair that's been washed in some sort of balmsam shampoo. Dunno ..

 

I'm sitting under a fan and I get these wafts of it every so often that smell nothing like it does on my arm. It's interesting.

 

Actually this reminds of those stick perfumes that Avon used to make in the floral scents, they rolled up like lip glosses.

 

Overall I like it but don't know if I'd wear it with any regularity.

 

ETA: it smells SO nice right now, it actually reminds me a girly version of Old Spice.

Edited August 31, 2006 by tracey