All Souls

[edenssixthday]

... An incense blend that invokes the higher qualities of mercy and compassion, mingled with the soft, sugared currant scent of offertory soul cakes.

All Souls 2007 - All Souls 2006 is one of my favorite BPALs and it's only gotten better with age. I'm not sure what Beth did different with All Souls 2007, but it's completely lacking the "cake and currant" scents and the incense note is incredibly dry and scratchy. This year's blend turns to the charming scent of cat pee on my skin and I can't wash it off fast enough or get it away from me quickly enough. Can't win 'em all, I s'pose.

[Keslynn]

2007 Version

 

All Souls and I have had a strange body chemistry journey. Loved it at ECWC and ordered a bottle. When I first tested the bottle from my order, I wanted to cry because it was weird and bitter and had none of the lovely cake from the WC trial. Then I tested again before dropping it in the swaps box and WOW! Back to love. Maybe it was the time of month? Or maybe I should have let it sit rather than testing right out of the hot mailbox?

 

Okay... so review...

 

In the bottle, All Souls has a lot of cake to it with the weird bitter frankincense(?) smell lurking in the background.

 

On my skin, all I get initially is incense ass smell. This one incense note (frankincense maybe?) smells atrocious to me when wet - almost like a bitter celery - and sometimes dries down funny too. This was the weird smell that ruined the second trial of this perfume for me. As the perfume dries, the bitter celery note goes away and is replaced by this gorgeous soft incense. It reminds me a lot of Chintamani Dhupa without the fruitier notes. Alongside the incense is an equally soft cake scent. This is similar to the dry cake note in Eat Me rather than a moist buttery cake. It's amazing sidled up to that incense. I'm not really getting any currant at all.

 

Verdict: Wet, I don't like it so much, but it dries to a gorgeously soft and haunting blend. The incense and cake go wonderfully together. Definitely glad I have a bottle.

[bulletslc]

All Souls 2006

 

Don't think I ever reviewed this one.....

Received as gift from a switch witch circle (bpalanonanomous on LJ)

 

MMMMMM.........who would have thought that frankincense and berry cake would go so well together!?

It starts out a bit sharp, but the dry down is soft, powdery and edible. Will be wearing this alot this fall season!

[SeaLady]

2007

 

At first, this is SUPER BUTTERy cakes. Mainly butter. On my skin, at least, it fades to a different incense than I was expecting...exotic and eastern smelling, like I get from Temple Viper or Khajuraho. Eventually it fades to something warm and kinda snuggly, but I think the extreme butter is a little much for me

[Finny]

This smells like an incense shop, that is located next door to a bakery. Make that an abandoned incense shop next door to an abandoned bakery. It almost has a haunted house smell to it, a vague dusty aroma.

 

I really like it. It isn't my favorite of the Halloweenies, but it is a melancholy incense scent, and I love incense scents.

Edited October 3, 2007 by Finny

[Northernskygal]

Finny stole my review! I swear I had just told my boyfriend if an incensey/hippie shop was next door to a wonderful bakery and they both had their doors open, the smell you'd get standing in the middle would be the scent of All Souls 2007 - by the time I got on here to type that, the lovely Finny had already stated it!

 

 

This smells like an incense shop, that is located next door to a bakery. Make that an abandoned incense shop next door to an abandoned bakery. It almost has a haunted house smell to it, a vague dusty aroma.

 

I really like it. It isn't my favorite of the Halloweenies, but it is a melancholy incense scent, and I love incense scents.

 

Review stealing aside - .. I love this scent, like.. I want to lick it off my hand. It is lovely and warm and sugary and.. this is like.. an ultimate comfort scent for me, and I usually do not like incensey blends (patchouli = on me). This doesn't even smell cakey to me so much as just.. sugary.. it's like the cake ingredients (flour and sugar and whatnot) sitting in the bowl waiting to be mixed together into the more.. buttery smelling batter.

 

Think of your favorite hippy making you a wonderful cake, how.. warm and cozy and happy that would make you.. that is what All Souls makes me. I can haz more plz?

[nightbird]

this turns into a soft, lovely incense on me -- it puts me in a meditative state of mind, which is wonderful.

 

(2007 version)

Edited October 5, 2007 by Nightbird

[KaliVerra]

2006 (Marlena, I luvs yew, darlin'!)

 

I've got All Soul's in my locket right now and it is slaying me w/it's goodness!!!

 

Freakin' smack-your-lips shugahcakes and Frankincense... OMG I LOVE IT. Period.

 

Bottle art - Mo' witches = mo' bettah!

 

ItB: I want to SCREAM THE "F" WORD... IN A REALLY GOOOOOOD WAY. CAAAAAAAAAKE! I get no berries... I GET CAKE. CAKECAKECAKE... And cake is GOOOOOOD.

 

Wet on skin: SHUT THE FRONT DOOOORRRR!!!! UMPFH!!!! HOT DAMN!! See "ItB"... MAOR.

 

Drydown: CakeyFrankincenseSmokeyYummyHeartOn Can I just smell this forever??? If I don't take my nose away for a break, though, it stops smelling it effectively (wah!)... Okey doke... huff more... yummmmmmm...

 

Nice, nice throw... pretty swell staying power... excellent in der locket!! A keeper & glad I just ran into another 1/2 bottle!

 

5/5... STELLAR blend!

[Lunaratu]

2007 Version:

 

This is very smoky with a tiny hint of the honey cakes behind all the smoke. I can pick up some incense and sandalwood in the foreground as it dries down. Upon complete drydown the smokiness and the warm honey cakes and fresh apples with definite spices and the offertory incense come out. I am loving this scent—it is so fall and is definitely a scent reminder. This is making me smile and paired with The Death of Autumn on my other wrist, which is a bit smoother and has a tad bit more apple in it, this is absolutely wonderful.

Rating: 4/5

[nevarra]

2007:

 

I don't get any bakery or cake-y scent with All Souls but I definitely get a blend of incense with this one. It's not a scent that I would wear but it did give me happy thoughts because I thought it smelled like a witchy bookstore that sells incense and candles and all sorts of lovely things. The kind of shop where you walk in and can't really make out one incense scent over another but smell a great combination of all of them. It was definitely a memory smell for me.

 

After it fades back a little more, it smells more spicy-sweet and foody than a blend of incenses. Not quite cake but definitely food-y, and a bit too overpowering.

[Ohmaude]

Finally got around to getting a decant of this. All Souls 2007.

 

In the imp: I get generic incense and sweet currant cake, like you would get at the coffee shop.

 

On my skin: This is all incense, the cake scent has left me.

 

After an hour or so: The incense calms, but the cake smell never quite returns, but I can detect a trace of it, there is a little too much sharpness in the incense, a note that dominates the others for me.

 

I think I am going to try this in my oil burner, where it my chemistry won't wonk it out. I prefer to smell a little less incense shop-y.

[Bangles]

(2007 version)

 

I love incense. Unfortunately, incense does not love me - most of the time my skin eats the incense up from scents entirely, and every once in a while it goes harsh and perfume-y. This one goes harsh and perfume-y on me, when I sniff my wrist, close up. From far away, though, it's different - I got these wafts of frankincense and cake throughout the day, which is what I was hoping for. And nice as those wafts of incense were, they weren't distinctive enough to keep this for a room scent; I've got plain old incense for that. Swap.

[stasha]

In the bottle, wet, dry, upside down, on a pillow- no cake in sight (smell?)! I love the smell of incense burning in new age shops or my mom's bedroom but smelling like it just doesn't make me feel pretty. I knew there would be incense but I was hoping the sweetness of the cake would smooth it out and make it a less powdery smoke scent and instead turn it into a creamy spicy oil. Unfortunately that did not happen. Even worse, this is an incense blend that turns into old lady powder after dry down.

 

To the swaps!

[porcelina]

this smells like sugary plastic in the bottle and flowery plastic on my skin. no incense, no cake, no... anything. the only good thing about it is that it disappears completely within a few minutes.

[brit_brat100]

I get the incense straight off, with a really subtle hint of currant. After this mellowed down and dried, it was a very pleasant incense sweet scent on me. I like it, but I don't know if it's special enough for a bottle. Very nice though.

[Sushi-n-Sake]

Wow, I love All Souls 2007!

 

At first, I get the frankincense with a strong rush of currants and sweet cake. During drydown, everything evens out so that no one scent overwhelms the others. This is beautiful, meditative, with just enough sweetness to lighten the darkness of the frankincense. I'm so glad I ordered it and am contemplating another bottle.

[Jenesis]

All Souls (06 for me) is one of those like-but-not-enough-to-keep-the-bottle scents. It's much like the description - strong incense with a base of sweet cake. The scent itself is quite pleasant, but the association is what killed it for me; it reminded me way too much of a particularly horrible teacher I had when I was younger. The scent is almost identical to the one she used to wear. So it's not for me

[shadesong]

Reviewing 2007:

In bottle: Sweet, with the incense below.

On me: Huh. I actually smell the currant-cakes in this, whereas last year's was 100% incense on me.

[CYT0SINE]

2007 Version

Even before opening the bottle, I had a feeling this one would not quite agree with me. Not that it isn't lovely, but certain scents give me an awful behind-the-eye headache.

 

Anyway...in the bottle, this is ridiculously sweet, smoky incense. I can't get a more specific description here because too many sniffs of the concentrated form will give me a dizzying headache. I even kind of flinched at first because I didn't expect it to be so gosh darn sweet.

 

Once on my skin, it's this beautiful sweet, buttery incense. It's like there's this heavy smoke wafting all around. And I do mean all around me...it's like I'm surrounded by it. Really kind of nifty.

 

Unfortunately, it's actually really, really strong and overpowering on me. Because of the headache I was getting, I had to go try and wash it off. But it's stubborn and really likes me, so it hung around for hours afterward. But I noticed after a couple hours that the incense died down considerably and I was left with this incredible sweetness wherever I applied the oil.

 

As nice as it smells, I'm gonna have to let this one go. Luckily, it's only 1/3 of a bottle, so I didn't pay much for it.

[Desanera]

In the bottle: Salty currant.

 

On the skin - the first time: There's a sharp purple note, which I assume is the currant, which is ruining this for me. Meh. Off to swaps.

 

(Thankfully I decided to wait)

 

On the skin - this time: Thank gods for ageing of oils. I smell all sweet and incense - not frosting-sweet like Haloa, but a dusting of sugar with a little butter, and a very light spice. I can definitely smell it, but its not overpowering.

 

So if you don't like this, hang on to it for a little. It could change on you. (I very much wish Beaver Moon had.)

[heathercaley]

o..m...effin...g...

 

At first.. its sweet foody.. and I scrunch my nose and all (im not a really foody person) and I ignore it for about 20 minutes. Then I wipe my nose cause it itches and Im all like "whats that?" I look around.. no i didn't light my super hit incense...oh wow.. it can't be...*sniff sniff* But it isssss!! Sooooo yummy incense. If ONLY I had an incense that can smell this way.. I can't keep my sniffer away from my sniffy. Im in Lurrrve!!! Thank you Beth!!! This has got to be one of the best incense scents I've gotten. It's honey sweet sticky incense and abso-lovely yummy!

[yeahbutnobut]

All Souls 07

 

In the imp: tart currant and gardenia? That’s odd, but it does remind me of the incense I get in Midnight Mass 05.

Wet on skin: now it smells less like gardenia and more like burning frankincense with fresh currants.

Dry: mmm, interesting. This is a lot less cake-like than last year’s version. There’s a sweet currant jam scent and just a hint of baked sugar, but none of the slightly buttery, strongly Eat Me-ish scent from 06. Instead I get a very strong, burning frankincense note, piercing and smouldering and sharp. It smells like the frankincense from Meshkenet actually, slight greenish and tinged with a hint of floral. That’s no bad thing because I am very fond of the Vulture Maiden, and this is like an offering of currant cakes for her. It’s not as soft as last year’s.

After a while: the sharpness that I got before has toned down a lot. Now this smells like frankincense resin with sweet currants. Golden, piercing, slightly peppery resin, and the currant even has a feel of resin to it. I don’t smell cake here very much-at least, not as much as with the 06 version. Just a hint, but not as much as last year’s. This is drier, there’s none of the sweetish, ashy, woodsy, nag champa scent I got last year-this is resin, frankincense and maybe a hint of pine, both in it’s burning and unburnt states. The currant note does smell a tad medicinal now though.

Then I can smell a bit of myrrh-it’s not the dark myrrh that I get in things like Minotaur and Priala though, but the golden-green myrrh of Anubis. That and frankincense and currants. The scent still has that golden, warm yet sharp incense scent to it, and I think I smell a hint of brown sugar at this point as well, a touch of caramel.

Then the incense goes into an odd stage which is almost like olive or pickles? I don’t often get pickles with incense scents, only occasionally, but even then it doesn’t distract me. I wonder now if there’s a little bit of rosewood here? It’s not as sweet now, it reminds me of the olive-incense-wood of Riding the Goat now.

Verdict: this version is totally different to a bottle I have from last year which smells of sweet ‘Eat Me’ currant cakes with soft resinous incense which then mellows down to nag champa and sugar, a soft mix of crumbs and ashes. This one has a sharper, more piercing incense note and a more bitter currant note-this isn’t as gourmand, there’s no butter, and there’s even a hint of sharp floral to it. The scent is dominated by a sharper frankincense than usual. I like this scent because I love incense, but I prefer my bottle from 06…this also reminds me of Meshkenet with added fruit notes. I wish the currant note was a little sweeter though, in here it smells a little bit like sore throat pastilles at times, and I'm not sure about the olive like drydown. I don’t need a bottle but I may keep the decant.

Emoticon rating:

Is it a keeper? Maybe.

If you like this, try: Meshkenet, Midnight Mass, Eat Me, Haloa, Anubis, Penitence, Riding the Goat

[Pepperminx]

2007

 

All Souls is one of my favorite of the Halloweenies! I've already gotten a backup bottle, that's how much I like it.

 

On me this is mostly incense. Very very sweet, tingle-in-your-nose incense. I do get a bit of sugary white cake, but again, it's still mostly incense, and I love it. The only drawback is that it lasts, at most, around an hour on my skin before I have to reapply. But I can live with that!

[dzurlady]

2007 version:

 

 

When I first started BPALing I really thought I'd like incense blends, but I found that they're often too dry for me. When I heard about All Souls I was hopeful that the cake note would add some sweetness and balance out the incense, so I was delighted to see it return this year. I was even more delighted to find I was right! All Souls is everything I hoped for. In the imp, it's soft cakes with a underlying layer of incense. The cake note reminds me of Crumpet Rebellion, actually, although it's been awhile since I was able to try it. On my skin it's a lovely mix of incense and sweet, soft cakes. Over several hours the incense comes out more, making it a little dry and boring - I prefer the initial stages - but it's not bad. I think I will wear it in a scent locket or reapply it after a few hours.

[TereFaerie]

No one else gets an evil vetiver dry-down from this?

 

It starts out okay, sweet with a hint of incense, but all too quickly a vetiver smell comes out and pushes all the other smells into the background. (almost exactly the thing that makes me hate MB Biggercritter and Midnight on the Midway.

Bye-bye cake and incense. Oh, well, that's one more LE I don't need to get.