All Souls

[luzblah]

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

2007 version:
Bottle: Cakey and intoxicatingly sickly.

Wet: Evens itself out a bit when applied and isn't such a full whack of cake but smells more like cake.

Drydown: Once the cake has faded the currants and incense take over.

Its nice but the incense that is left does not suit me, it would be nice as a room fragrance maybe. Will give it another try but I think it may get put in my swap pile.


Eta description for new page.

Second edit: Having tried it again and applying more liberally it smells more creamy vanilla to me than I described before. I think its a 3.5 out of 5 - as its a 5ml i'll be keeping it as my collection is low at the minute. Edited January 3, 2010 by Loozie

[voodoocatwoman]

2007

 

I find this scent to be very soft- it is definitely sweet but not overly foody. Is there a touch of incense in there with the currants?

 

Very pretty. I like.

[devilot]

All Souls 2007

In the Vial: Dusty moss. *blinks*

 

Wet: Ooh, delicious incense. Whoa, bad shift, bad! Now it smells like freaking MOTHBALLS! *retch*

 

Drydown: Sweetness coming forth. Yay! Cake note! Boo, incense has fought back. I don't mind some incense, but this to my nose and with my skin chemistry is NOT a good incense.

 

Verdict: No thank you. The cake note, for the nanosecond I could smell it, was amazing. But the mothball effect? Ugh. I really don't think I'll snag me a boy-thing anytime soon if I'm stinking like a walking mothball.

[SophieCedar]

Mmmm.. Maybe because this is aged it smells a bit sweeter than it would have in 2007?

 

Amber and frankincense incense with sugary cakes and dried fruits. Exactly as described. Warm, beautiful, and ethereal. I really like this one. Very calming and dreamy on my skin. A slightly bitter tang comes out in the drydown, however it's not offensive. Actually rejuvinates and renews the perfume, keeping my interest.

[AmyO'Shields]

Let me start off by saying how much I love this oil: I LOVE THIS OIL. I used to love incense. I mean really love it. I think I got to the point where I was collecting it... There's an Incense From India incense that is purple, and I can't for the life of me remember the name...but it was one of my favorites. When I sniffed this (2007) oil, I smelled sweet (almost berry, but not quite) incense. When I put it on, I said, "Purple incense! This is my Purple incense!" Truly, this is one of the best smells. It really takes me back to the last time I enjoyed that incense (November 2004), and good memories are far too precious to forget. I will remember every time I wear this. Thank you Beth and Co.

 

ETA: I just found a pack of the incense! It's called Purple Haze by Incense From India (The Incense Sampler). Amazing how similar they are!

Edited January 11, 2011 by Herb Girl

[amanderinorange]

All Souls 2010

 

I just received this in the mail today, so it might need to settle a little more.

 

Straight off this smells like incense. No cake, no sugar, just incense.

 

Once applied, it gets a little sweeter, but only just. That's pretty much all there is to it. It's not unpleasant and reminds me of another BPAL I have, a GC one, but can't remember which at the moment.

 

I'll let this settle for a day or two and try it again.

[AnArtfuldodger]

2010

 

In the bottle: HELLLOOOOOOOOO incense!

 

Wet on wrist: Incense incense in-cense incense incense in-cense *hums*

 

On the drydown: My skin just amps the incense, so any of the currant cake notes get quite lost. It's pretty, but a little overpowering for me personally.

Edited September 2, 2010 by AnArtfuldodger

[plainjean]

I was almost 100 percent sure this would be excellent on me. I can do incense, currant, and cake really well. I figured this would be like an incense-y Eat Me, which is one of my favorites.

 

In the bottle, it's very much like Eat Me, but a little dustier and smokier. Wet, it smoothes out quite a bit, though something odd is happening that makes it smell a bit..strange. Not bad, just different. I'm not quite sure how to explain it. Once dry, however, it's lovely. Soft, smoky, cake-y, currant-y..it's like small cakes floating in a swirl of incense smoke. Beautiful. It's very faint, and there's not much throw, but you know what? I'm okay with that. It's a very intimate, comforting scent, and I'm so happy I have a bottle.

 

ETA: One month later, and it just doesn't work for me anymore. Now it's really sharp, kind of sour incense with a bit of cake in the background. Sigh.

Edited October 9, 2010 by plainjean

[LRogera]

Hmm. This is pretty. It's pretty much just straight up incense. There is a little something sweet in the background though. It smells sort of like a cake sitting in the middle of a room with incense swirling all around it. It's hazy and the cake can only be seen through the swirling smoke. Is there lavender in here? There's something almost herbal, maybe it's lavender? I'm not really sure. I have a LOT of incense blends though and I just don't think this is really all that special. I still haven't found an incense blend that I think is better then Haunt's Empire. I think I will test this once more and then send it off to swaps if I'm not blown away.

[DraloreShimare]

In the vial - A sharp, spicy almost aftershave.

On the skin - Incense and sharp currant sugar.

Dry - Smells like Nag Champa incense.

[reynardine]

Rather heavy on the incense in the beginning, but dries into a lovely, rather soft scent. I’m trying to decide if I like it or not. It is pretty, though. On second testing, I do like it, but as I rarely wear incense scents, I’m going to pass on getting a bottle. But if you like incense, this is a nice one.

[femmefatale]

In the decant I get an almost salty smelling incense. Something like one of those "ocean" scented incense sticks. I actually kinda like it. Not getting any cake.

 

On the skin though the incense becomes very light smelling and sweetens quite a bit, though I never would guess cake. It almost has a sweet floral note to it that's rather pretty.

 

I might have to see if I can swap for a bottle.

[Iceblink]

Strong incense when fresh, but as this dries the cake underneath blooms and makes this more interesting. It's not at all foody, though--more of a light, sweet incense thanks to that cakeyness! Really unusual and I'll need to try this again for sure.

[Gryphon]

No incense, no cake, just flowers. Very weird!

[moon_lemming]

2010 version

Ooohkay. I'm not sure if my decant's mislabeled, although I doubt it, unless the bottle it came from was mislabeled. I do not get anything but a floral perfume in the imp. Like, department store perfume.

 

Maybe it's a very floral incense? I smell white flowers on my skin, sweet ones. I don't get cakes, currants, or compassion. Weird.

 

eta: Ha! I see I'm not alone, thank you for reassuring me that my nose still works, Gryphon.

Edited September 24, 2010 by karen

[obsidienne]

I've noticed that there are some incense notes in BPAL blends that smell the same from blend to blend. There's a lush incense, that's a bit sexy and warm, and a drier incense, that takes some time to warm up and find its feet. I think this one has the latter. The freshly wet stage is alarmingly weird smelling, but as it dries down it starts to come together. Incense, a lightly buttery cake scent, and light sweetness from the sugar. The currant note is very subtle. However, a kind of funky scent is developing! I think this is what my skin is doing to the incense & cake. Boo.

 

Once this has been on for a while and I go back to sniff my wrist, there's just a subtle incense sugar scent left. Hrm.

[angelicruin]

2010 Version:

 

Buttery baked goods and Iicense on me while wet. As it dries, it takes on a "soapy" quality that kills the scent for me.

[cherrycherry]

Sweet, soft and comforting. I adore the incense note. I only get the very slightest whiff of baked goods sadly, but maybe it will increase with age.

[milo]

This ends up being a slightly tart soft incense blend. I detect a bit of a 'jam' note here. Very unassuming, and a 'blend in' kind of fragrance if that makes sense. If you didn't want to be noticed, this is a very mild, close to the skin scent. Nice, but not really my style.

Edited October 9, 2010 by milo

[sunlitgarden]

All Souls 2010

 

Mostly a resiny incense. It is on the sweeter side, although I can't pick out the currant on its own. I'm not really into incense smells in general, but there have been exceptions so I wanted to try All Souls out. It's going soapy on me though, so I think it's off to swaps.

[mxtine]

Smoky incense and faint cake. It's very sour and blackened incense, like the cheap stuff that has black smoke pour out when it's lit. Swaps...

[Amaranthus]

I admit that I did not like All Souls the first time I smelled it. My initial impression was of nail varnish, flaky pie crust, cheap incense sticks, and dust.

 

I suppose it needed time to settle because today it smells like a plume of incense smoke and warm sugary currant pastries.

 

The currant note is not strong. It peeks out every now and then, but faintly. The pastry is no longer dry flaky pie crust that gets stuck at the back of my throat, but soft baked sugary golden warmth.

 

The incense note smells like the sort where you burn chunks of resin, rather than like an incense stick. I think I smell frankincense specifically, but where frankincense usually has a sparkling texture to my nose, this is smoothly resinous. Every now and then the smell of warm dry wood emerges.

 

As the perfume fades off my skin, the sugar and the incense blend together and smell like delicious candy incense. Maybe what a hippie would smell like after baking. Or a baked hippie. HA!

 

It is amazing the difference a few days can make. I am glad this one decided to like me.

[ami226]

2010 Version:

 

For some odd reason I am getting a flowery cake scent. Very interesting. There is also something in this scent that really hurts my nose though. It's not like it is too strong or anything.... Weird and definitely not for me.

[lilwhiterabbit]

This and Flor de Muerto are my favorite of the 2010 Weenies. All Souls is a soft, warm, crumbly cake scent that isn't overly sweet and only slightly fruity. The incense note is very light and faintly smoky, with a hint of something floral. If it's rose, it's a very light watery rose and not something full-bloomed. Overall, the blend is very subdued and otherworldly, and it lingers for quite a while. That's not to say it doesn't have a lot of throw or staying power, but it doesn't hit you over the head and demand your attention. It's much more subtle.

[thekittenkat]

This is for the 2010 version.

 

In the bottle: A very light incense that's had currant cakes dipped in it.

 

Wet: The incense really comes forward, and the sweet currant cakes back way, way off.

 

The dry-down: This has turned into a sweet incense blend, but very light. I'm glad that the currant note faded. There's a lot of currant in this year's Halloweenies. I like currant, but it can amp on my skin and become too rich, too dark, too fruity. At any rate, this is a nice scent to wear when you would like to wear scent, but just want a nice skin scent.