Hecate

[gchris]

Magnificent three-faced Goddess of Magic, the Dark Moon and the Crossroads. She is the Mother of Witches, and the midnight baying of hounds is her paean. Her compassion is evidenced in her role as Psychopomp for Persephone, and her wrath manifests as Medea’s revenge. Deep, buttery almond layered over myrrh and dark musk.

In Vial: Bitter almond and berries

Wet: Strong almond and cherries. Something powdery comming.

Dry:Getting a touch of clove. Still getting baby powder.

[AthenaRose]

Another frimp from the lab, and i was glad to recieve this one because i love almonds. I use almond milk in my tea, and marzipan is always the first one i grab out of a box of assorted chocolates.

 

In the IMP: Amaretto, yum.

 

Wet on my skin: Amaretto/Cherry Twizlers Nibs.

 

Drydown: Smoky sweet perfume with an edge. The almond doesn't last very long, which is a little dissapointing to me. Strangely, this seemed to affect me emotionally giving me almost a false sense of importance, like my fiancé should be worshiping me, and then annoyance that he wasn't because he was distracted by other things (like driving the car). Silly, since i wouldn't really want him to be so distracted by me that he wasn't paying attention to the road, that would be dangerous!

 

After a few hours: This one fades very quickly and after about 2 hrs it's only a faint hint of a memory of any smell to me at all. Very subtle, and smells very close to my own skin, warm skin, sweet sweat. Attractive, and not repulsive. I have dark hair, so maybe that's why dark musk seems to blend with my chemistry nicely. My fiancé says this one is his favourite one yet. I reapplied it, and an hour later, i felt VERY drowsy and took a nap for 3 hours! I'm not sure if it was the oil that made me sleepy, or if it was because it's hot out today.

 

4/5 because i wish it had a bit more staying power, but it's really nice. I think i'll apply it again, for a 3rd time today.

Edited July 14, 2008 by AthenaRose

[WickedQueen918]

I wanted so badly to love this one.

 

In the vial: Almonds and smoke. I like it...hope it smells this good on my skin.

 

Wet: Excessively thick (I think I'm learning that my love for almond scents is unrequited) and reminiscent of the soap they have in some public restrooms. I like the smell of that soap, don't get me wrong, but I certainly don't want to reek of it either.

 

Drydown: Baby powder and incense. Curse my wretched body chemistry!

 

Conclusion: I don't think I like it very much...sadly

[ouch!]

Oh dear...what a mess!

 

Like all of the other blends I've tried with Almond in them this is the same at first. Whoosh..in your face almond.

About 20 seconds later...it's gone! And I get the Myrrh and musk. It's quite nice..

 

About a minute later???

 

PLAY-DOH!

 

This is the first time I've experienced this...grr! I've had the powder thing happen to me, but no..this is fake plasticy play-doh.

 

Nevermind, 1 out of 155 can't be bad!

 

ETA: Whoa what a complete 180 I'm having on this scent. The Play Doh thing was happening from a little swipe across my hand and a little bit on my neck! I have now discovered that if I slather this one..(Yes it does knock out a few people) I actually can experience it properly..

I do get ALLLLL the musk and myrrh after the intital blast of the almond. And YES it IS extremely sexy too! My SO commented when I hugged him. Twice last night! YAY!

I take back the play doh part of this review.

Edited September 3, 2008 by ouch!

[Iceblink]

The almond in Hecate backfires on me big time--in the imp it's yummy amaretto goodness but on my skin it starts to smell...dirty, and not in a good way. Must be the butteryness! Not good.

[gingiemay]

Wet in imp - This smells like Amaretto musk.

 

Wet on skin - A dark, musky almond.

 

Dry on skin - Musky dark almond. Very little throw.

[crebbsgirl]

Alright, I am not getting ANY smoky vibe here. Wet, Hecate is pure almond extract. The kind you use for baking. As it dries, I get a distinct amaretto smell. The almonds seem to be sharp on my skin. I cannot detect the myrrh or the musk in this one. After about an hour and a half, the almond finally chills out and I can smell the myrrh floating around in the background. All in all, this is too foody for me.

[Juushika]

In the vial: Deep buttery almond indeed, and quite potent.

 

On me: The almond is a touch perfumey, which would normally drive me away from a scent. But Hecate is lovely. The almond is neither cherry-like or bitter; it's smooth, rich as butter, golden warm—simply divine despite its generic perfumey edge. There is just a touch of shadows: The dark musk adds depth but, coupled with the myrrh, remains on the sweeter and lighter side. Over time, the musk amps up, casting a darker shadow over the golden almond. The scent becomes much darker, verging on the edge of bitterness, and the almond's perfumey aspect disappears. This is a powerful, unusual feminine blend, a lovely match to Hecate Herself. The color is golden brown, darkening significantly during wear.

 

Verdict: I adore it—more than I remember from when I first tried it (my imp is now aged ten months). I wish that the earlier stage, where the almond is more prominent and the scent is buttery gold, stayed around longer; the darker, muskier stage isn't bad, but it's not as lovely or evocative. Still, I'm quite in love and will definitely keep and wear my imp.

[OhioSky]

This is an oh.em.gee. to die for scent in the imp. I get fruitiness out of it somehow... cherries. Like the bright red, sweet cherries in the Red Queen, not the dark cinnamon cherries of DB. Cherries and sweet musk and sweetness and goodness and oh my... And it stays that way for all of about 5 minutes after I put it on before something goes terribly, horribly wrong and it becomes a sickly bitter, soapy... awful smell. Just bad. I don't think I've ever been this disappointed in a BPAL scent.

[angelicruin]

This is all spicy almond on me. I love it.

 

As it dries, I do smell cherries too. But it's beautiful on me wet and dry on the skin. Definitely a keeper.

Edited October 15, 2008 by angelicruin

[topaz]

Wet: pure almond, almost marzipan scented. Brings back memories of Christmas past when mom would make marzipan fruits from molds.

 

Dry Down: sweet floral. The almond quickly faded to the background.

 

30 minutes later: Powder? Frackin' Johnson & Johnson baby powder!

[Andrea912]

Imp: gag; almond extract; Queen of Sheba is supposed to be a straight almond note, but this smells more like a straight almond note...sickly sweet...

 

Wet: myrrh and musk is the aftereffect, but the almond is still strongly present

[tajana]

This was a frimp that I was hoping to try ever since I saw the note description. In the wet stage, ALMONDS! Pure almond. Queen of Sheba was also total almond on me, but Hecate's almond has a buttery instead of a powdery finish. It's much like Bastet's almond note to my nose, but much, much more prominent. For a brief time, it's still all delicious almond, but in a gradual, linear way, the scent unfolds. A deep, musky element is the first to emerge. Dark musk seems to have a quite dry aspect on me, and its presence nixes the foody aspect. Still later, the warm scent of myrrh takes on a bigger role and for about two hours this scent is of incense smoke and dark musk blended with buttery almond, mmm. However, after two or three hours... it smells a bit like... marshmallows! Not in a bad or artificial way... it smells comforting and a bit cute. Not really reflective of its namesake, but whatever. Myrrhshmallows! I'll keep the imp around, and perhaps someday I'll buy a bottle. This would be *great* for layering because it's simultaneously a straightforward scent and one with some 'depth'.

[zankoku_zen]

This one was an intense cherry cough syrup. And then it dried and the almond came out to duke it out with the cherry. And now it's a death match between almond and cherry.

 

Uh. So not a win for me.

[Smokeybromage]

This is almost perfect on me. In the bottle all I could smell were very strong,bitter almonds (like a LOT of marzipan) which was a little offputting, I hadn't expected it to be quite so overpoweringly almondy. Wet on my skin, it still smelled that way, then the almond scent calmed down and the myrrh and musk took over. The almond-ness has mellowed now, but is just that little bit too sickly-sweet in the background for this to be gorgeous.

[thelaurenator]

This is lovely. A nice, buttery almond layered over deep myrrh.

[sassenacch]

wet & in the vial: cherry-almonds...where do i know that scent from??

 

JERGENS! (i went through a huge jergens phase; i looooove almond scents)

 

on me: i'm getting whiffs of the musky-myrrh now...it's a lot more florally than i usually like, but i can still catch hints of the almond so i will go back to it again & again

 

later in the day: very faint, but it's settled back into that jergens cherry-almond scent - i looooove it! I was surprised, i didn't read the scent listings before i put it on, & for some reason the name threw me off. so wearting it today without knowing anything other than the first sniff was a leap of faith. but i love it!!

[Electrogirl]

I got this one as a frimp with my last order. Almond, myrrh, and musk, eh? Sounds worth a try.

 

Wet: Cherry cough syrup?! Blech!

 

Dry: Thank goodness, the cough syrup phase was brief. (Perhaps because I applied a very small amount, so it dried fast?) Now I'm getting the musk and myrrh, with a subtle hint of buttery almonds. Kinda nice, but it doesn't wow me.

 

Verdict: It's going up for swap. The dry phase is not awesome enough on me to put up with the overpowering odor of cherry flavoring every time I open the imp.

[starcr]

In the imp, it's pure almond, and when I first put it on it stays that way. The almond quickly fades into a generic perfuminess, which alarms me, but then that in turn gives way to the myrrh. There's still just a hint of sweetness and almond still lurking behind it. I can smell the musk just occasionally, too. The longer I wear it, the more balanced the scent becomes.

 

Verdict: I had to give it about an hour to settle out, but once settled, I like it very much. The more I wear it, the more I like it; I can't stop sniffing my wrist. This may just go on the "get a bottle sometime" list.

[sirensea]

In the imp: It's a fizzy, sweet smell, like almonds and champagne. An unusual combination, but it works!

 

On my skin: The almond is still the strongest note I can detect, but there's also a hint of cinnamon, as well. Spicy and sweet at the same time. Not at all what I expected, but I'm pleasantly surprised.

Edited April 9, 2009 by sirensea

[Asafoetida]

In the imp: almonds and myrrh. Sweet and dark.

 

On, wet: Myrrh, musk, where are you? I smell exactly like an amaretto sour. And I do mean exactly. I mean, I love amaretto sours, but it might not be such a good idea to go to work smelling like my favorite drink.

 

Drydown: Well, the amaretto sour impression did fade and the butteriness came out a little more, but it was still pretty much straight almonds. I never got any myrrh and I especially never got any musk. It smelled delicious, though. Warm and almondy, mm-mm. It faded more quickly than I'd have liked, though, barely any trace of it left by lunchtime.

 

Verdict: I'll give it another shot, but I doubt I will love it enough to buy a bottle... which is disappointing because the notes sounded fantastic. I hope my skin doesn't make EVERY almond scent boozey like this!

[Lyrical]

In vial: myrrh and almond - I don't like this combination in Bastet, and I'm not keen on it here, but I suspect it will age nicely.

 

Wet on skin: sweet marzipan. If I sniff deeply this one really tickles my nose! Very buttery/nutty/foody, with no detectable musk.

 

Dry on skin: very buttery, without being completely foody, and nicer than Bastet. Pleasant, but kind of dull, compared to other BPAL.

[catattack]

Imp: Cherry candy

Wet: Sour candies. My nose must be translating "almond" as "cherry"

Drydown: Smells similar to the Jergen's cherry-almond lotion. Starting to get powdery. After about 45 minutes, it disappeared.

Overall: I liked this, but I wish it would stick around longer than 45 minutes. Not much throw.

[ljaylh]

 

Wow.. as soon as I opened up the imp... marzipan!! For the first few minutes on my skin.. very strong marzipan - this is almond, and lots of it!!

 

15 minutes later, that initial blast of marzipan has calmed down, but the almond is still very strong. I think I smell the myrrh purring away in the background there, but no sign of the musk yet.

 

Woo hoo! 30 minutes in.. the almond has powdered right down and the lovely myrrh has come out on top. The musk has finally made an appearance and it's definitely a dark musk, slightly smoky.

 

After 45 minutes, everything has really softened up and faded - unfortunately this didn't keep the lovely richness it had at the 30-minute stage, now it's quite faint and slightly soapy. I just checked it again, it's been on 2 hours now, and I can barely tell where it is on my arm. Nice while it lasted!

 

[writergal969]

Holy cow! Lovely smelling, but the imp I have is amaretto-tastic. Smokey, barhouse amaretto, and lovely, but still super almondy. It makes me want a mixed drink. Lovely, but not for me.