Frankincense

[Shollin]

Frankincense, from Single Notes.

 

First sniff: Heavy and dark incense, more woody than spicy.

 

Wearing: At first touch it reminds me of a campfire on a chilly night in the woods. Within five minutes it’s gone aggressively sharp-sweet, and while it isn’t wafting at all, if I sniff my wrists it makes me sneeze.

 

Incense + my skin = unmixy things. Which is sad.

[sarada]

This is the one and only single note that is in my permanent possession!

 

And a lovely one it is! In the imp it is just like Penitence -- that incredibly warm, sweet, pure resin. Nothing like the smoky incense smell that I remember from church though -- and not quite like the globs of resins that I sometimes burn on charcoal. It is a much more smooth and sweet scent. Try Penitence if you want to have an idea of what this is like -- that is almost pure frankincense, judging from this imp! I will use this sparingly and treat myself when I want some pure liquid resin. I don't know if I would have bought a bottle when this is available, because I like the frank/myrrh combo in Penitence, Cathedral, etc so much that I don't know that I would need the single note...but it's wonderful to be able to pinpoint this marvellous scent.

[Blood onmy hands]

I fell in love with frankincense when I first tried Kostnice & Cathedral. That spicy, dill pickle-ish sort of scent. The singlenote is very strong and has a lot of throw. This is a bit spicier and has more of a woodsy bite than Kostnice, but the two are very similar. I love both of them.

 

As an odd sidenote, my mother smelled this and started rambling about how she wanted a hamburger. It’s a disturbing comparison. Still, this is one of my favorite singlenotes.

[UltraViolet]

3.5

 

Frankincense is an aromatic gum resin obtained from African and Asian trees. Frankincense is also known as olibanum, which is derived from the Arabic al-lubán (“the milk”), a reference to the milky sap tapped from the frankincense tree.

BPAL blends with Frankincense as one if it's ingredients: All Saints, Anne Bonny, Antony, Arcana, Cathedral, Damnation, Danse Macabre, Deimos, Eclipse, Faustus, Hymn, Kostnice, Magus, Nephilim, Pannychis, Penitence, Psyche, Rose Cross, Seraphim, Titus Andonicus, Torture King, Tzadikim Nistarim.

In the bottle

A nice piquant incense smell.

On

We have pinon nuts that grow wild where I live and the Frankincense smells similar to the bitter woody sap that comes from those pine trees. It's not really warm and sweet as most incenses and resins. It's more pine tree bark smelling with the subtle sweet spiciness on top of that.

30 minutes

It hasn't changed much but it is a bit softer and a sweeter on my skin now. Still has that turned up edge of bitter woodiness but it's more rounded than it was when wet.

Throw:

Aa bit more than average.

Scent category:

Resin/Incense

Summary

This blend doesn't morph on my skin, It smells like woodsy pine tree sap and reminds me of camping while sitting around a campfire but a bit more incensey of a campfire.

Purchase again?

Yes. This is a comforting smell.

1-5 rating (5 being best)

3.5

Edited November 28, 2005 by UltraViolet

[Muppetk]

wet: a way lighter version of myrrh, at first, except a little sharp, and not spicy. dry: the sharpness fades a little, and it becomes the mellow sweet scent that I like, but it's fairly light on me. Certainly a lot lighter than myrrh. Very nice, but a very light throw on me. This is one I'll scour other brands for, like Attar Bazaar.

[edenssixthday]

Frankincense - Ooh, it's fabulous to smell this one on its own. I've discovered that in most cases, BPAL frankincense (unlike any other brand of frankincense) works marvelously on my skin. Faustus (tons of frankincense) is one of my favorite BPAL GC blends, in fact. Frankincense SN is much darker, huskier, and smokier than I had anticipated. I'm guessing that once it's included in blends, the other notes usually serve to temper it and keep it from being so thoroughly dark and menacing. Still, it's very sexy and beautiful on its own. It doesn't have much throw on its own, but it stays and stays and stays all day long. I'm so glad I had a chance to try this single note!

[supremegoddessofall]

So this is what frankincense smells like by itself. Smells like a headshop with lots of tie-dyes on the wall. Rich, earthy, and pure. 4/5.

[yeahbutnobut]

Frankincense SN

 

In the imp: ohhh, this is the most beautiful frankincense ever! A golden, soft, warm, bright resin.

Wet on skin: it sharpens a little on the skin, and I see what people mean when they say that it smells like pickles but I don’t get anything really pickled here at all, just a little savoury, but still golden resin.

Dry: and now it gets all beautifully smoky! Its frankincense, but what a complex note this is! It’s golden, dry, bright and warm-a very solar scent-with a piercing sharpness reminiscent of pine sap. I also smell a hint of soft smoke rising from the resin, but it’s not burnt all, it’s like when I burn frankincense resin and it bubbles, releasing fragrant smoke. I think Beth uses different frank notes in her scents, and this single note is a particularly soft frank, and has a slight candle wax like scent at the base, like in King Cobra. It also reminds me of Ahathoor and the old version of Aries, and the ‘church incense’ scents.

After a while: this smoothes out even more, gaining a balmy, soothing scent, and it also is a little bit spicy, almost peppery, at times. It tends to fade away fast though, which is a shame because this scent is so lovely. As it fades it leaves a lightly spiced golden scent behind, radiating warmth. At one point it even becomes a little sweet, like amber, and I love that.

Verdict: this is such a beautiful single note. It’s warm, balsamic aroma is golden and both smooth and sharp, both resinous and smoky, and it glows. It is a very meditative scent for sure, calming and soothing, contemplative, very church/temple like as well. It also smells a little smokier with time, like the scent of frankincense lingering after it has been burnt. Remarkably multifaceted for a single note, this is a stunning fragrance which is wonderful worn alone and I bet it would be beautiful if layered. Another one of my favourite single notes…I want more of this!

Emoticon rating:

Is it a keeper? Definitely! Another one that makes me want to see the SNs released again! Shame I only have a tiny droplet…

[tartchef]

Oh golly. If there was only one thing I could smell like for the rest of my life, it'd be Beth's frankincense. Thanks to some craftiness by ifinena & Wwindy, I'm lucky enough to have a bit to call my own.

 

I own so many frankincense-based oils, it's really interesting to smell it totally unadulterated. Wet, there's that almost cedary-pickle feel, a bit prickly & sharp. At this stage, I'm reminded of Heavenly Love & Earthly Love, and of Cathedral - it almost feels like sandalwood.

 

After a bit, out blooms this fantastic white resin note, almost a high white floral - this is what the original Aries does on my skin. It's almost gardenia, but with a grounding of crumbly resin & sticky sap. I get bits of sharp woodsmoke, too...

 

Finally, there's the dry-down... all the sharpness & woodiness smooths out, and what's left is a stunning resin-&-skin scent. Sweet, but not sugary, silky smooth like a piece of worn rosin gliding over my wrists, ultimately warm & comforting. This, this is what I was meant to smell like. Thankfully, I amp the bejeezus out of frankincense, so blends like Aries, Heavenly Love, Valentine of Rome & Faustus all dry down to nearly frankincense-single-note, meaning my little dribble of the real thing is all I really need. I will cherish it, though, as much for the scent as for the spirit in which it was given

[zankoku_zen]

Honestly, this does smell like.... well, the incense found in the blend Cathedral. It's a bit dry and spicy, and there's a bit cedar/pickle thing that others have smelled.

 

At least now I know what it is.

[mxtine]

Wow.

 

Thanks to Invidiana, I'm able to test one of my Holy Grail single notes.

 

Frankincense is that strange, dill-pickle smell I got from fresh Midnight Mass and Cathedral. I couldn't wear either of them for a year because I didn't want to smell like food. This, however, has been aged for years. It's a smooth, luscious resin that almost brought tears to my eyes because it smelled so damned good. Something reminds me of my grandfather's cedar hot tub that was in a greenhouse off the basement of their Chicago apartment building, too.

 

I wish the Lab would bring single notes back, even if just for a couple of days. I'd buy as many bottles of Frankincense as I could afford.