Arcana

[blktauna]

The essence of magickal enigmas and long-forgotten esoteric mysteries. Frankincense, rosemary, lavender, neroli, and lemon verbena.

This was an imp I got in a trade and I bought a bottle immediately.

I get Neroli with a rich lavender under note. It's completely consistent wet to dry. I absolutely love it.

[Argentwolf]

In the imp, there is the sweetness of the lavender, spiced around the edges with the prickly sharpness of rosemary.

 

As it goes on, there's still that very sweet tone with the herbal note throughout...I think I can detect the neroli now.

 

As it dries, it gets light and peppery...herbs and perhaps frankincense.

 

While I'm not exactly a huge fan of lavender, it's a nice, soothing, pretty scent, and would make for a great room scent IMHO. Unfortunately it evaporates pretty quickly on me. But if you're a fan of lavender, well, here you go.

[donnatron]

Imp: Frankincense and neroli. It makes me think of a charming man in a top hot wearing a waist coat.

 

Wet: Immediagtely goes bright and lemony. The scent warms to my skin and acquires a slight candy-like smell.

 

Dry: Dry, powdery frankincense tempered by lemon drop candies with a beautiful sugared lavender quality. Although quite masculine it tempers itself into a beautiful feminine scent. It's warm and incensey and inviting, but does have a certain knowledgeable air about it.

 

Throw: Lots.

 

Overall: I've spent the last few days testing scents as a reward for writing pages of my papers (I think I've reviewed about twenty scents in the last two days ) and this has been an amazing surprise. This smells like a wood panelled room in an old library lined with crumbling magical manuscripts with dried flowers on the table along with the remnants of the incense used in a seance the night before. It's absolutely lovely. LOVELY I SAY!

[iiinterstate]

I don't think I like frankincense. Or maybe its the rosemary. Or both.

 

I love lavender, neroli, and verbena. If Arcana was just those three notes I would be ordering up a 5ml right this second, but with the other two the whole blend just smells odd on me. Its not a BAD smell by any means. Just not something I want to wear. Regardless, I keep sniffing my wrists and feeling confused. I think its the rosemary. Maybe.

 

 

Arcana seems like a scent that has deep meaning attached to it that I don't understand, if that makes any sense at all. Lots of lavender, a hint of verbena, and then an herbal earthiness I just can't get comfortable with.

[eyeska]

This is very odd on me until it settles - very citrusy and strange with the other notes beneath it, but once it calms down after about five or ten minutes, it's very close to the skin, vaguely mystical and almost smoky. I adore it, though I suspect I might have to slather it in order to have it stick around for long.

 

. . . oh well! I'm adding this to my 5 mL wishlist.

 

EDIT: Yeah, this definitely fades quickly - within 3 hours, I can't smell it anymore.

Edited April 9, 2008 by Eyeska

[bellacalla]

At first, its very lemony, but not pure lemon. It smells like lemon mixed with a green herbal scent, but not foody herbs. As time goes on it went through a chemically lemon scent, but ended up a nice soft lemon with a hint of herbs. I don't love it but it could be good in warmer weather. I think I'll revisit in the summer.

[Kitrona]

Sounds good. More neroli, whatever that is.

 

In imp: Ok, THIS is astringent. But I like it. Definitely not foody.

 

Wet: I smell the rosemary and lavender strongest. Nice, mysterious.

 

Dry: I like it, but it gives me a headache. Disappointing, as I like most of the notes singly.

[Miss Lynx]

This is one I'd been meaning to try for a long time, but didn't get around to until recently. And it definitely lives up to its name -- it smells much more like a magical/ritual oil, or maybe an aromatherapy blend, than a perfume in any ordinary sense.

 

On first contact, the sharp, sweet lemon-candy scent of the verbena dominates it, as it can be counted on to do with just about any scent it's in. But like most aggressive top notes, it fades down in a short while, lettin the other notes out to play.

 

Lavender is the most noticeable component of the next stage, with a sharp herbal undercurrent from the rosemary. Very aromatherapy-ish at this stage. But that too fades, and it settles down into being a really nice, warm herbal-incense scent that smells like an occult shop, and lasts for a long time.

 

So all in all, pretty good. I'm not crazy about the initial verbena stage, but where it eventually goes is good. It's not going to be a top favourite, but I'll hang onto the imp because there are definitely days when smelling like Eau de Occult Shop is exactly what I want.

 

Grade: B

[thatpirategirl]

Energizing, citrusy herbs... I get mostly lemon and rosemary. After an hour it really softens and the lavender comes out, which made a nice relaxing scent. But soon after, it was gone for good. I couldn't smell a thing, even with my nose right up to my arm. Even if it had stayed in that nice middle area, it reminds me more of something I would like as a soap or salt scrub, not really as a perfume.

[GingerGunlock]

Wet, and for most of the drydown, Arcana was a sweet lemon on me, lemon without any of the mouth-puckering drawbacks, but instead more like the Platonic Ideal of a just-sweet-enough lemonade or lemon candy. As it dried, a little bit of frankincense came into play, but not much. Dry, the rosemary was prevalent under the lemon, in an almost mint-like freshness that was accentuated by the kind of woody-citrus that lavender seems to turn into on my skin. A pleasant, sunny blend that I will use well in imp form, but am not springing for a bottle just yet.

[LadyCrow]

First off, I must quote a study published only yesterday:

 

In a new study appearing online in The FASEB Journal (http://www.fasebj.org), an international team of scientists, including researchers from Johns Hopkins University and the Hebrew University in Jerusalem, describe how burning frankincense (resin from the Boswellia plant) activates poorly understood ion channels in the brain to alleviate anxiety or depression.

 

So what with the calming lavender, maybe Arcana should be in the Panacea section!

 

In the imp: Rosemary and lavender.

 

Wet on skin: After those notes, the neroli is next to come up really brightly.

 

Drydown: The frankincense is the last to show up, and it's warm and really nice, almost -- and this is strange, but it's on a bed of herbs, after all -- foody.

 

Verdict: I wish it had a stronger throw. On the other hand, right after testing it, I wound up falling asleep for a couple of hours -- blame the lavender! So I may have missed the best part. I'll use the imp, but more as aromatherapy than perfume.

[Suu4LC]

This was a frimp from the lab. It would not have been something I'd have picked for myself. In the imp, this is lavender and neroli to me, which a little pinch of rosemary. I do like lavender, but I have a feeling this blend won't compare to the bpal lavender blends I love. I'm not generally a fan of herbal or incense-y scents.

 

Blehhh, this is sooo bitter on my skin. Really strong and pungent. The neroli is really amping and I am not a fan of neroli at all.

 

Yep, this reeks on me and needs to be washed off. Super strong sour neroli with lavender and rosemary just ain't my thang.

[mooncityminx]

In the vial: Citrus, lavender and something I can't identify.

 

Wet: It's the rosemary and the citrus. It's a nice citrus very bright and alert. I think I am smelling the lavender now. I think this would be a great room fragrance or men's cologne. It's a scent with a lot of energy. Sort of reminds me more of a TAL than a regular fragrance, oh it must have some common notes with hand of Hermes? It's very clean.

 

Dry: The feeling of this is enegetic and clean. This would be perfect for some sort of energetic work that requires cleansing. When I got reiki for the first time the reiki master used a spray on her hands. This would be the ideal fragrance for something like that. Nice. *adds the imp to the frequent use pile*

 

I can see this being something I use a lot of.

[greenranger]

In the imp, frankincense, and verbena.

 

Wet, on me, herbs!! Wow, so many herbs. Rosemary and lavender and verbena all at once! They almost smell like they have invited even more friends over, for just a minute.

 

 

Dry, it settles down fast. Mostly there's just verbena left. Maybe, there's a bit of frankincense as well. A nice scent, but, nothing to fall in love with.

 

Wearable, though, and possibly summery. I don't have a lot of summery scents in my collection yet...

[isisonearth]

In the imp: A lovely fresh herbal scent touched with lavender.

 

On my skin: Mostly rosemary and verbena. The scent is crisp and cheerful. Gathered herbs drying in the sun.

 

Drydown: Neroli begins to make an apearence but even with the lemony verbena the scent remains more green herbal than citrusy. The lavender begins to reappear but it is just a whisper among the other notes.

 

Peaceful and relaxing. The magic here is that of a wise woman and her snug cottage full of helpful remedies.

[Kimbernunk]

In the imp, it smells like Lemon Pine-Sol.

 

Once I put it on, it smells really bright and herbal, like rosemary and lemongrass. This phase, unfortunately, only lasts for about 10 minutes. It then goes to a wonky lemony incense scent that, while interesting, isn't really me. Off to swaps.

[Greensleeves]

In the bottle: Medium coloured faintly orange yellow oil. Incense, balsam/pine, peppery lavender and citrus.

 

Wet: Pleasant, very prominent lavender and incense, with delicious lemony citrus

 

After a few minutes on skin: Strong almost artificial lemon (must be the fact that it's verbena instead of actual lemon) underscored by soft, mild floral and a faint smokiness of incense.

 

After first hour: Lemon and frankincense.

 

After two and a half hours: Frankincense with the faintest hint of lemon, and possibly a hint of rosemary, although all the lavender has gone. I don't think I ever got any neroli.

 

After 5 hours: Frankincense.

 

Final Verdict: Very nice, I think this could fit into my top ten, although I wish more of the notes lasted longer.

[gingiemay]

Wet in imp- Frankincense, rosemary and lavender. Very fresh and herbal.

 

Wet on skin - The rosemary and lavender and quite strong, with the frankincense moving to the background.

 

Dry on skin - Frankincense and lavender. It's a little too fresh for me.

[crebbsgirl]

In the bottle this is wonderful. The lavender and frankinscence are in perfect balance, with a bit of a sharper, (lemony?) note. It smells light and beautiful. On my skin, it smells almost perfect, but something is not quite right. This one was a little too green for me. I think it's the rosemary and verbena.

[skepticism]

Feels like the frankincense and rosemary are struggling against the other citrus scents. Schools of magic fighting against each other as their energies collide and swirl and are condensed into this tiny little imp sitting in front of me.

[suki]

in the imp: lemon and lavender.

 

wet on skin: lavender is VERY strong in this.

 

dry down: lemon verbena, with lavender holding it's own.

 

in all: a clean blend, reminds me of soaps i use in the winter to unclog my sinuses. not a bad scent, but with all the really, really amazing things offered by the Lab, i think this one can wait.

 

 

 

i hope not to offend!

[sprocket21]

Unlike everybody else, I get no lavender once this is on my skin. It's lemon cleaning fluid that fades to baby powder. Wow, it doesn't get much worse than that, does it?

[Lunaheretic]

I'm still discovering what I do and don't like in perfume oils. I love this scent, but not on me. I would adore this as a shampoo or lotion, but it just doesn't suit my personality to wear as a perfume. Lovely sharp, intense blend of lavendar and lemon..

[Allumina]

I feel like i should like this but I don't.

 

Sharp spices and mostly herbs, but it somehow still smells kinda girly and perfumed. I don't like the throw.

[goblinshark]

eeee I am so glad the lab included this freebie, I have been wanting to try it for ages!!!

 

In the imp: clean, citrusy, but NOT lemon pledge. .

 

Wet on skin: Aw man, OK NOW it is a bit lemon pledge-esque.

 

Drydown: Heyyy, there is the lavender! Much better. The gross cleanser smell goes away and it's just really nice, clean, sweet citrus and lavender. I feel like this would be a great spring and/or summer scent. Not overly girly or perfumey; grounded by the lavender. I may add this to my long list of desired 5ml bottles, since I'm lacking a really great citrus blend.