Thanatos

[ShadowsDance]

... Dry white sandalwood and soft Siamese benzoin over a lugubrious blend of myrrh, Moroccan rose, mastic, tomb moss and a thin whiff of Greek incense.

In the imp it's heavy incense, lots of myrrh.

On me the myrrh is still up front, but now there is also an earthy note, slightly dusty..
Sadly, after about 15 minutes it goes into baby powder mode, and never comes back. :/ Going to go ahead and blame the rose for that, since it often seems to be at fault.. Edited May 8, 2009 by Shollin

[TheOneTheyCallLuna]

On me this smells really traditionally perfume-y, like a higher end version of a magazine perfume sample. Ack, I've been procrastinating writing this review, as well...I hate writing negative reviews, but this is not working on me. It's not horrible, it's just kinda sharp and generic and not great.

[Seismogenic]

This was a frimp from a trade with the amazing Rhowan; thank you so much for sending it to me! My allergies are wary of that white sandalwood note, but the other notes sound awesome, so I'm going to try this anyway, with kleenex nearby, and hope the other notes are more significant players.

 

In the imp: Benzoin and myrrh are most prominent, with some of the sweetness of rose. I also get a little of the sandalwood, but not enough to set my nose tingling.

 

Wet on skin: Much less sweet and more woody, though fortunately still not so much that my nose itches. Getting the moss now, but much less of the rose.

 

Drydown: Freshly dry, the rose is back again, though not as a dominant scent by any means. It's a subtle dusty woody incensey rose, and it's quite nice. At one hour in, however, the rose is outpacing everything else; it's sweet rose with a dusty backdrop. Come back, mosses and woods and resins! Come back!

 

Five hours later: Almost completely gone, but what remains is more woody-incensey-mossy. The rose is no longer in the picture.

 

End of the day: Gone.

 

Overall: Of all of the stages Thanatos went through, the wet-on-skin was my favorite. The balance between woody-incensey and rosy was just right at that point - a dry understated rose that's quite unisex. Rose overpowering the other notes is not so much my thing, but at the same time, it is a smell that I like, and I can get away with it if it's subtle. Unfortunate that it was either not-subtle or completely gone here! I'll probably hold on to the imp for a little while, though, and then reevaluate from there.

[HKB]

At first it's white sandalwood- very dry, like bones or white sand deserts, and a bit of lemony-rose. Very dry and still and white. Something a little medicinal, almost like alcohol, sharp-smelling creeps in. It alternates between the rose smelling sweet and dry and more sharp and medicinal.

There was another perfume I tried with benzoin in it and I think it had the similar sharp smell. But I am not confident that's what I'm smelling, just thinking it might be. I like the rose and the sandalwood. This is good but I wouldn't buy a bottle.

[Coldfire]

 

 

 

 

Imp: I get the sandalwood and the resin-y undertones of the incense and myrrh

Wet on me: rose alert! Already wanting to overpower the other notes on me.

Drying down: and it’s turned to canned air freshener rose and nothing else.

Dry: rose. Rose and rose and it won’t let anyone else out to play. To re-home.

 

[marared]

Interestingly, this is one of the very few rose blends where the rose doesn't get amped up to intolerable levels. I think Moroccan rose specifically might be the factor here; I had tried a Body Shop Moroccan rose that was also very nice on me. It plays nicely with the myrrh, but that's really all I smell in the end - rose and myrrh.

[claudia6913]

This sounds interesting ... Spice + florals in the imp.

 

Wet on my skin, it almost disappears! This is the second blend that's done that. Hmm, wonder if there is something in common between the two. I'll have to look it up. What I can sniff of it is light spices and a sweet floral. I'd give more, but even with my nose buried into the spot I put the oil, I'm not getting much.

[aquazoo]

Warm and exotic, but there's something in there that's coming up powdery.

 

[arsenicsauce]

Wet- sweet, fresh wood shavings. I'm thinking maple or maybe red oak. That's... unexpected.

 

Drying- Oh, sandalwood + rose = soap. That's more what I thought was going to happen. They're drowning out all other notes pretty effectively. After a while, it sweetens a little bit, but that just makes it smell like slightly different scented handsoap. I had to give it a shot, but rose is never my friend.

[symphonyinsilence]

It's funny how I list this oil as one of my favourites, even though rose turns to baby powder on me. But I adore benzoin, myrrh and incense of any kind. If benzoin was ever released as a single note, I'd be the first person to buy it. I still remember a couple of months ago when I tried this and it actually turned me on. *lol* Wet, Thanatos is gorgeous - woody and smokey like a cathedral of some sort. It's even slightly gothic. I get most of the sandalwood, benzoin and myrrh. However, as it dries, the rose amps on my skin and morphs into talcum powder. Just as I'm beginning to lose hope, the incense changes my mind and I'm in love all over again. Not sure what tomb moss is but the drydown is definitely worth the wait. If only the rose didn't exsist. I'm still contemplating on the 5ml, but since the scent smells gender-neutral I'm giving this imp to my bf. If he doesn't like it, I'll get myself a bottle.

Edited October 30, 2009 by symphonyinsilence

[ianastar]

Wet, on first application this reminded me of something caramel like...but then it changed to a amber like fragrance. Must be the myrrh?

 

On the dry down, it is mostly sandalwood, warm and inviting. It's one of my favorite notes.

 

It is very incensy, sexy and slightly dark.

 

A keeper!!!

[DeltaCat]

Very manly smell on my skin. Definitely smell the sandalwood. I tend to amp woodsy smells. This is all sandalwood for me.

[SophieCedar]

In Imp: myrrh, incense, rose, dry dry dry sandalwood

Wet: the rose explodes on my skin! Where'd the sandalwood go? It's hiding..

Drydown: rose is still there mingling with some wood that I cannot easily identify as sandalwood. Slight purple fruit essence. Interesting! It actually smells slightly of burning incense!

[Deiicide]

(Aged One year Imp) First sniff predicted a very soft and light scent, reminded me kind of Parlement of Foules with the resin for the first sniff. After applied to my skin, the warmness of the sandalwood comes out.; it ages very well tempering the rose just like parlement was. It almost smells like a dead ringer like that to me, heh. There is a softness which I precluded is the ross, the myrrh sharpness is gone that I normally get, and there is a faint silver of a majestic stone smell in the background. It was pretty much the same from wet to dry.

[impolight]

:::THANATOS:::

 

Thanatos smells like a secretive meeting-place. Somewhere mossy, wooded and deep in shadow. There is something to this fragrance that bristles with angst or despair...

Thanatos seems to have the darker furies of Juniper and Cedar to lend to the overall feeling of an unwelcome, stony countenance. There might be a dallop of blanched Sandalwood trying to smooth things over.

On the skin, Thanatos heats and ripens; almost giving off the impression of having just stepped into a super-heated sauna... Or, perhaps, being mercilessly whipped about the lips with an eye-watering bundle of willow branches...

Thanatos is dark, spartan and no nonsense.

An excellent wintry fragrance for Him.

4/5.

[ami226]

Wow, very incensey. Some rose as well, but it isn't too overpowering. It is quite pleasant, but not for me.

[FathomBelow]

In the imp, Thanatos was the closest I've had a perfume come to smelling like the delicious, dusty-sweet scent of dry pine needles on a forest floor during a sunny day. On my skin, it turned into a faint cedar/sawdust/woody scent quite a bit like Tzadikin Nistarim, which, while nice, didn't live up to my expectations. However, it's quite pleasant and I love the name, so I'll probably be keeping the imp, if only to use as a room scent.

[angelicruin]

Incense and myrrh blended with a soft rose note. Very pleasant.

[sparkleyturtle]

When wet, this is very manly on me. I was surprised to read the rose, until I realized that was what I was smelling on the dry down. I was sure it couldn't be, since I was certain it was a masculine scent, but there it is. This one through me for a loop. It isn't one I could wear regularly, but at least I am learning that I sort of amp the rose scents in the oils.

[milo]

Wet, this is rose. It then turns powdery rose with nothing else. Most roses amp and/or turn powdery and/or sour. I've only found a couple of blends that don't. Oh well.

[snapesgirl34]

In the bottle – I get sandalwood, incense, and myrhh, woo, that’s strong. It makes my eyes water a bit. For some reason I get a bit of a pine smell (is that the mastic? I have no idea what mastic smells like).

 

Wet – I get incense, sandalwood, resin, moss and a little bit of rose. It’s a lot lighter than I would expect. While none of these are notes I enjoy individually, for some reason I’m loving how they smell all together. It definitely reminds me of a tomb and decay, but without a disgusting “dank” smell. It’s very dry, and smells of dry earth and wood.

 

Dry – Earthy with incense without being too over powering, not too much of a change from the wet, except it’s slightly dryer and the rose has vanished. It reminds me of walking in a dark forest. For some reason this smells like a really, really sexy musk to me.

 

Overall – I got this as a frimp, and I honestly thought I would end up hating it. None of the notes listed in the description were smells I usually enjoyed, and it took me a while to pluck up the courage to try some on. Imagine my surprise when I ended up loving it, proof that I shouldn’t be afraid to try new things. The scents I usually like are light, soft florals and fruits, aquatics, and “clean” scents. Thanatos is very dark and earthy, and makes a nice contrast to the others I like. I started wearing this on cold, rainy days since it’s such a dry warm scent it made me feel cozy, which is odd because it’s not normally a smell I would associate with “coziness”. It also lasted a nice long time (lots of smells fade quickly on me) and it seemed to love my skin. This has quickly become one of my favorites, and I may be forced to get his as a 5 mL.

[voodoobaby]

Sandalwood dominates at first. I love sandalwood, but the increased presence of rose and incense later on is appreciated. These are three of my favorite scents, and they blend rather nicely, although it might be a little soapier than I was expecting. It's clean, yet dark, and just a little pungent

 

Something about this gives me a strong positive emotional reaction, and I'm not sure why. It makes me feel very comforted, calm and happy, which is strange given that it's a death-related scent. This is a keeper.

[Suu4LC]

To me, on first sniff, this was almost all wood in the imp. I am very sensitive to woods and they tend to amp on me, so I'm not sure if this blend will work.

 

The rose is desperately trying to peek over the wood, but it is so strong. Not really getting much resin or incense to be honest. It's 85% wood, 15% rose.

 

Yeah, this ended up being a totally meh blend on me. Ended up just being soft sandalwoody scent. Nothing special.

[khazakant]

I can smell the sandalwood, the incense, the rose, but oddly enough, the net effect here seems to be ... violet. This really smells a lot like a less in-your-face Ultraviolet. It's sort of violet with a hint of dry, clean, almost aquatic florals in the background somewhere.

 

I think a lot of that effect might be my skin trying to turn the lab's rose note into that musty citronella scent, AGAIN...especially because after drydown it just turns into rose puke on me. Sad. Was a very pretty unisex scent.

[Ishtar]

I usually don't fare well with this kind of scent, but I have to say Thanatos is much nicer than I expected. It's a fairly elegant woodsy / floral that tends toward the masculine side of unisex, but not overwhemingly so.

 

After drydown, the sandalwood, incense and myrrh become more prominent, and relegate the rose and moss to the background. This makes for a drier, thinner scent that still retains its sophistication and layers beautifully with sugary or buttery scents - so far I've paired it with a number of Snake Oil- and pumpkin-based oils, and the result is always stunning.