All Souls

[portalkat]

ALL SOULS
A day of remembrance and intercession. Without the prayers and sacrifices of their families and loved ones, the faithful departed may not be cleansed of their venal sins, and thereby cannot attain beatific vision. On November 2nd, prayers are sung and offerings are made to aid lost souls in transcending purgatory. An incense blend that invokes the higher qualities of mercy and compassion, mingled with the soft, sugared currant scent of offertory soul cakes.

When I first put this on, I could mainly smell soft incense. I thought that it was my imagination until I re-read the description. I can smell buttery cake notes in the background, but mostly I smell soft incense and what I think is the currant note, rather sharp coming out from behind the incense. My skin will tend to amp the sweet, but maybe others will smell more of the foody notes. I think that this is a lovely combination of foody and incensy, which for me is the best of both worlds

[karmageddon]

This is an incredibly airy, sweet scent. Eat Me light, if you will, without that smutty, snake oil-y note that makes some people sneeze.

 

I don't get much of the incense, though, which makes me sad.

[requieminblack]

First sniff out of the bottle and this is a very sharp rosey incense. Once on my skin the resins come out, as well as something really musky. After a few minutes I smell the current which sweetens it up a bit, but it is still mostly incense to my nose. Being a foody scent lover I'm hoping the 'soul cakes' part of this makes its way out soon because that is what attracted me to getting this.

 

After 20 minutes I'm still not detecting anything buttery or foody in this at all, just currents and a musky rose incense. 30 minutes later it is fading into powdery soap on me as does anything with rose in it. Sorry All Souls, you and I were just not meant to be.

[fairy]

Another amazing Halloween accomplishment. This one has more of an other-worldy, smoky feel to it. I definitely smell the incense and sugary currant. It has a slight sharpness to it. I know this goes against the description but this one had me thinking "up to no good" night out with some friends

 

20 minutes later...ahhhh, there is the cake. Kind of a spicy, sugary cake with raisins in it. Good grief this is good.

[Teggy]

First impression: Tacos? No seriously, my first few whiffs smelled like the spices on a taco shell. It went on wet like that, but changed after a few minutes.

 

I too got the impression that it was an Eat Me cousin, but it wasn't as dry. I describe Eat Me as dry cake, but I wouldn't say All Aouls was moist cake either. It wasn't a foody scent as I expected it to be. It really reminded me of a sweet inscence (pre-burning, not smokey), but not "inscence, cakes, and currants." I'm not in love with it, but I'll give it another shot next week when my body chemistry goes back to normal.

[UltraViolet]

 

In the bottle

Oh my....cookies, butter, fruit.

On

Now the cookie smell is more of a undernote and the currant is primary.

It has a twang to it, almost a smokey, acrid, twang. (you Lushies will recognize the acrid smell of currant as in "Cherie Ripe" message bar but it's not as strong of an acrid currant smell).

30 minutes

Less acrid and a bit more sweet now but not enough for my taste.

Throw:

No

Scent category:

Foody/Fruity

Summary

I love currants and I love foody, so this was a potential a win-win which turned into a "not so much" smell.

Purchase again?

No

1-5 rating (5 being best)

was a five in the bottle, it's a 3.5 on my skin.

[Brianne]

In the bottle:

softly sweet cakey smell

 

On me:

Right on my skin it's kind of incensey and kind of foody, but hard to describe other than that. It doesn't take long for all the scents to meld together so much that it's really like one scent. It's kind of incensey but has a slight sweetness to it. It's not overwhelming. Someone above mentioned a rose smell and I have to agree. It's not obvious though. I am certainly not inclined to call this a rose scent, and yet the incense seems to have a sort of rose vibe to it. Unsual combonation here.

 

The longer I wear this, the more I start to smell a faint leathery note. I swear I really smell it - it's like rose and leather incense now. Very different. I still don't really know what I think of this though - I can't decide if I like it or if I would rather pass it on, that's how hard it is for me to describe this scent.

 

I've left it on my skin for several hours now and what I mostly get is myrrh a this point. It took a long time to get to this stage though, so it doesn't bother me too much (I'm not that fond of straight up myrrh).

 

Final note:

I don't know if I like this or not. I definitely don't DISlike it. I'm going to hold onto it for now and wear it a few more times before deciding how I feel. Regardless, I don't think this is a love for me, but it just might have a place in my collection

[miss apple]

All Souls in the bottle smells quite cakelike. Once on though, the incense comes out and the cake scent moves towards the back. It's amazing how quickly this changed from a foody blend! I'm also getting the impression of something floral like jasmine but my nose isn't that good at deciphering notes so I could be naming the wrong flower. I do wish the cake wasn't so dampened but the incense is quite lovely. Not as heavy as Cathedral - lighter and sweeter. I will probably not get another bottle but will enjoy this one while it lasts.

[slave1]

In Bottle: Sweet yummy cake!

 

On Skin: Of course I was all about this scnet the moment I saw “sugared currant scent of offertory soul cakes”. The dominant note in this scent on me is the cakes for sure. Moist, crumbling yummy goodness. The currant is light and doesn’t really give this scent a fruity feel, just added sweetness and a little color. The incense is smoky and sweet with a little floral but not overwhelming. This blend is fairly light and I have to breathe in deep to appreciate how lovely it is. While it is a foody scent for sure, it isn’t extreme, it’s gentle and soft. I see this as being a darker more Fall version of Eat Me. Sadly, the soul cakes fade fairly quick and I am left with mostly the incense in the drydown. Still a great scent and I’m glad I got a bottle since I will have to slather it. Very light throw and very short wearlength.

[LittleGreyKitten]

Oh wow. How cool is this? A soft, gorgeous incense blend, wafting over CAKE for god's sake! Oh man. This is awesome. The combination of scents is amazing. I love that it has the best incense in it ever. And cake. And together they're even better! The Halloweenies have totally blown me away. Thanks Beth!!!

 

6 or 7 out of 5.

 

I should add that this scent loves my skin- it lingers, and lingers, and throws, and throws. I have to apply with caution or it'll leap across rooms at people.

Edited November 5, 2006 by LittleGreyKitten

[concrescence]

in the bottle the scent is very foody and cakey, which worries me a bit.

 

wet, it smells a lot like monsterbait: underpants. sort of vanilla cake and sandalwood

 

during the drydown, the incense comes out and the cakiness passes away, and after about an hour it smells like rose-currant incense (with maybe a little muskiness). every once in a while i get the scent of lit candles.

 

i really love this. my only complaint is that it doesn't have a lot of throw. i'll have to slather and/or reapply if i want to share this scent with others.

Edited October 1, 2006 by concresence

[tinyvulture]

I get the same soft incense notes that are in Midnight Mass, blended with buttery cake. I actually prefer it to Midnight Mass because the cake adds such sweetness and is a wonderful complement to the powdery incense. The solemn, mournful incense and the happy, comforting smell of cake is a beautiful combination.

[Alchemy21599]

In the bottle: caramel. Well, maybe spun sugar, not quite as "cooked" as caramel.

 

Wet: is this supposed to be floral? I'm waiting for smokey incense goodness and I get ...jasmine.

 

Dry: there must be a molecule of jasmine in here somewhere b/c my skin is amping it and giving me a headache. Off to swaps!

[cuervosueno]

In the bottle: incense with a slight cake note beneath it.

 

On the skin: Much wetter and fruitier than I expected. I really smell something sharp and juicy--the currents? At this point there is no cake, no incense, though it begins to come out after a bit.

 

Now its lost all its fruitiness. It smells like old dry cakes left in a dusty room with the faint smell of incense ash lingering in the room. As if you entered an abandoned church much much later, and found ash and offeratory cakes. Something slightly artificial plasticy in it I don’t like, but that maybe because its mixing in a bit with one of the others I'm sampling.

 

Later: nope, the slightly plasticy note is still there, and this underwhelms me overall.

 

Ah well, can't get it right everytime.

[tindome]

In the bottle it smells very sweet and foody. Too much so

 

on my skin. Where did all the sweet go??? It is a light musty inscense but all the sugar seems to have been eaten by my skin.

On full drydown a little sweetness has emerged but it is so faint that I wouldn't notice it if I wasn't looking for it. I don't dislike it neccesarily but it wasn't what I was expecting and I don't see myself wearing it much.

 

Edited to add 10.10.07 I just retried this and it has aged so well. The cakes must have been breeding non stop in my bottle since last fall because now it is cakey goodness mixed with fanned breaths of smoke from nearby incense. A nice surprise.

Edited October 11, 2007 by tindome

[keltic]

In the bottle: a strong smell of … nothing. No incense, no fruit, just this faint soft nothing-ness that reminds me of yellow cake. Not what I was expecting.

 

Wet: I can smell the incense trying to bloom, but my skin is eating it too fast. It hangs at this half-way point as a sweet foodie note pops out, and I smell like macaroons. Coconut? Yech. A hint of floral in the background.

 

Dry-down: my skin has eaten almost all the incense, but it's leaving this weird hint of "we're here! really! We're trying!" This has absolutely no throw whatsoever, and I'm having to press my nose to my wrist to try and check this. The macaroon scent has faded to a slightly stale sugar, and the floral is still there but slightly turned. Not in a good way. I wonder if whatever my skin decided to eat was the magic ingredient for bringing these altogether in an amazing bland. I can pick of hints of what it wanted to be, but that's all it is: promises killed by my chemistry.

 

Verdict: [sigh] once again, I fail at wearing an incense blend. Glad I had the decant to give it a try, but alas, off to the swap pile.

[maewitch]

I was a little scared to try this since I didn't really pay attention to the "cakes" part of the description - until I started reading the reviews. Cake and buttercream notes tend to go horribly awry on me.

 

But this is lovely. It is, thankfully, all incense on me. Sweet, occult-sore, somewhat spicy incense. Gorgeous, especially that mellow and unexpected sweetness.

[gypsybaby1]

in the bottle, this is wet and cakey, buttery deliciousness. There is a hint of sharpness behind the bottle scent that might be a spiced note.

 

wet on the skin, the buttered cake retreats behind the spice and incense. the blend becomes light and as someone else said, rather airy. it's comforting in an odd way.

 

once it begins to dry, however, I have to bury my nose against my skin to get a good whiff. I only dabbed on a teeny bit, so a more liberal application might yield stronger throw, but at the moment, I'm rather pleased with the closeness of the scent.

 

I wonder how it'll age...

 

ETA: AHA!! the same spicy incense scent that's in Perversion is apparently in this as well! I knew it smelled familiar after it dried completely. Mmmmmm yummy!

Edited October 4, 2006 by Gypsybaby

[birdiefu]

I loved All Saints, so I had to get this as it's buddy. I was a bit scared of the cake part, but hoped the incense would keep it from being too foody.

 

In the bottle: Lightly sweet incense, a little on the foody side.

 

Wet: Sugared roses with light resins.

 

Dry: Soft and light incense. Some rose, but not overpoweringly floral, and there is a touch of amber and bit of sandalwood. There are some spices here that I can't quite put my finger on, but they are light and blend well into the incense. Lightly sugared currants add a bit of fruity sweetness, but this scent is still mostly incense. It is almost going powdery, but is still beautiful. I don't get any cakes (yay!).

 

This is like All Saints lite- a softer and sweeter incense blend. Not a lot of throw but still very nice.

[Eros]

In the bottle it's a light buttery, sugared incense and almost but not quite boozy. The buttery note is very similar to the one in Jack, yum.

On skin it lightens up a bit and the incense is a little more prominent. Goes through a short(fortunately), powdery gardenia phase(ick), but not enough to put me off or give me a headache *whew*. After about an hour or so, I'm left with a beautiful, close to the skin, sweet sugared incense.

Glad to have a bottle

[yeahbutnobut]

All Souls

 

In the bottle: this smells like a buttery Eat Me, or a fusion of Eat Me with MB Closet, buttered fruity cake. Surprisingly buttery but not nauseating…I hope this goes the way of Eat Me and not MB Closet.

Wet on skin: the butter starts to fade as it hits the skin, and resins, woods and dry cake are apparent.

Dry on skin: oh yes, this is good. I'm no longer getting butter but what I am getting is wonderful. A fantastic resin-incense, very similar to Midnight Mass or Cathedral (frankincense and myrrh etc) softened by crumbly sweet sugared cake and a hint of raisins. The cake and incense go together surprisingly well, it's an unusual mix of foody and resinous that really works. I also get a hint of dry polished wood, either cedar or sandalwood.

After a while: this sweetens a little, and the woody aspect of the incense starts to come through more, along with a gorgeous currant and the sweet, sugary cake. The frank n' myrrh are still hanging around at the back. The throw is impressive.

Then I get a scent of squashed currants, or currant jam, with the dry, woody incense. I see why some people say that there may be rose here, but I think it is actually rosewood. It smells quite woody, like there's sandalwood and rosewood polished with resins, and lying on top are currant cakes dusted with sugar. It also smells more myrrh-y now, and I get a slight Parlement of Foules resemblance as well.

The drydown I get is a soft, dry, sweet, well rounded incense. It's much drier, slightly smoky, definitely woodsy, but still with that element of sugar, which is now part of the incense.

But then something really unexpected happens at the very end of the scent, after many hours. It smells like amber and nag champa! I'm not kidding, I definitely get nag champa and something sweet and deep, like amber, in here.

Verdict: I love cake scents. I love incense scents. I wasn't sure what both foody and incensey scents would be like blended as one, but this scent works. This is the perfect mix of sugary cake, fruity currant, resins and incense. they all come together in here without clashing, they just work harmoniously, especially upon drydown. The scent is very similar to Midnight Mass meets Eat Me, but more complex…the incense is a mix of resinous frankincense and myrrh (with emphasis on myrrh) and with woody incenses, almost like good quality Indian incense, like sandalwood and nag champa. There's a rosy note here that may be rosewood. These woods lend a dry, smoky, almost dusty aspect to the scent, the resins add depth and structure, and the cake sits nicely in the middle, it's moist currant-raisin scent perfectly mixed with generous helpings of sugar. But of course, the incense prevents this scent from becoming too foody. This gets better and better over time and I really need to get more of this wonderful, unique and innovative scent! It's the perfect addition to my incense/resins collection and also to my cake scents. Yum.

Emoticon rating:

Is it a keeper? Oh yeah. I'll need to buy more bottles.

If you like this, try: Eat Me, Cathedral, Penitence, Midnight Mass, Al Azif

Edited October 7, 2006 by yeahbutnobut

[saralaughs]

I really don't get any "cake" out of All Souls. It goes on with a florally incense and stays that way...well, the floral goes away but I'm stuck with the incense and maybe a *hint* of sugar.

 

Off to swaps for me!

[oakmoss]

I was a bit apprehensive about this one on first sniff, as it was quite buttery, and butter amps on me in a particularly horrible way. But I bravely tried it on, and ahhhhh, the butter disappears almost immediately, and what emerges is a soft rose incense, slightly powdery with an undernote of gentle spice and old wood. Gorgeous!

[harmonyfb]

This smelled like...well, rancid butter going on my skin. It has dried to single-note frankincense. Ew. I smell like evil church.

[mountainwitch]

Cake! White fluffy wonderful cake! And a bright, sugary fruit--definitely the currants. I don't catch much of an incense scent, just a light, fluffy scent that's just irresistible. I was hoping for something a little more like this in Monster Bait Closet, but that was overwhelmed by the big blackberry-bourbon binge.

 

I don't know that this says "autumn" to me, but of the "Halloweenies" I've tried so far, I'm really crazy about this one.