The Tower

[SeaMonkey]

hrm. This smells like burnt licorice soap. I wonder if anyone else is getting anise from it? It goes a little like burnt grass for a bit. This is nice as a body scent. I don't like it when I sniff my wrist directly, but when it wafts up to my nose, its quite nice. Very smokey and burnt, but with clean soap underneath. It does sound too appealing, but it really is pretty.

[Fefferbella]

The Tower is my favorite Tarot oil.

Catching occasional wiffs from my wirst, it smells very sweet like old-fashioned root beer and licorish.

 

Up close it smells clean like entering an old wood forrest... with hints of damp earth and mosses.

 

This is a very calming scent. Light enough to wear everyday, but unique enough to not become mundane.

[LiberAmoris]

The Tower starts off all dragon's blood and smoke on me, like the embers of a fire. After about 10 minutes, I smell vetiver and white flowers of some kind, slightly sweet. It dries down to a scent that is very similar to the drydown of Serpent's Kiss on me.

 

Like Brimstone, this is one I'm grateful to have tried, for the experience.

[desu]

In the bottle: Smoky, firey resins.

 

On my skin: Smokiness shot with sweetness. Can't really pick out any single note in here. Whatever's in this isn't really getting along with my nose. It bothers my nose in the same way Brimstone did.

[cuervosueno]

I smelled dragon's blood at first, but like someone else noted, it was burnt dragon's blood. Still, that was my initial impression. I was dubious about the vetivert, but I agree now that it could be in here--there is something bitter and green in this. Its very acrid, though it does have a touch of sweetness from the DB.

 

I do think it suits the card quite well--the lightening struck tower. This smells like the charred remains of a field or garden. It reminds me a bit of Hexxenacht--which I found to compare it to. Probably Brimstone too, though I don't have that one around.

[Hawke]

In the vial: Spice muted by earth. This is literally "gritty", like the taste of sand on my tongue. Minerals.

 

Wet: Wow. This is really stone/mineral/earth and grit and sand. There's a hint of an afterbreath of mint. Sticky, almost, like past. And then peanuts and rubber. Weird.

 

Drydown: I did get a hint of smoke, and yes, this is a very destroyed/blasted sort of scent. It's not at all comforting to me, and with all those weird notes... no. Not going to work. I'm glad I tried it, though.

[dreadeddragon]

In the bottle: Cinnamon & dragon's blood mostly.

 

First on: Now I can smell the vetiver. It's not a blend I would have thought to work, but it does nicely.

 

Drydown: It hasn't changed at all. The dragon's blood cinnamon combo gives off a red hots vibe to it, and when combined with the vetiver it darkens and gives a more serious note to it. I like it a lot, it's vaguely similar to Serpent's Kiss.

 

Overall: Gorgeous representation of the Tower. The chaos of the cinnamon with the power of the dragon's blood and the seriousness of the vetiver perfectly describes the path the Tower usually takes.

[filigree_shadow]

The oil is red, which usually means two things to me: 1) It has dragon's blood in it; 2) I will like it.

 

I do like it. I like it a lot. It is deep, woody, sweet darkness. It's smoky -- the kind of smoky I like -- which usually means vetiver. This is exactly the type of blend that sinks into my skin and makes me feel mysterious and powerful.

 

I don't like the Tower card. At all. But I love this oil.

[falcon in the dive]

This is a scent which I never would have got without being frimped it. I just don't care for the card itself. Some see it as dynamic and broad, I see it negative. However, I very much like this scent. It's warm and hot. Like Red Phoenix but less herbal; or Red Devil but less spicy. It's lovely, intriguing. I get more the positive aspects of the card. I like it, but it's not my favorite of the fiery scents

[Elrianra]

In the bottle, this is dry and dusty and mildewy... ick. Wet, it has that sticky gross moldy smell to it, like something decaying. This is not boding well, still, let's see where it goes, hmm? As it dries, a whiff of cinnamon... no, cloves I think... comes out and spices this up which refreshes it. Warm, this smells like smoke, heavy thick, sap-drenched pine, no! not pine, it's a softwood's smoke. That was the resin that was overwhelming before, that sticky green-grey resin smell of wood in a firewood stack, drying and the sap hardening, that slight decay smell the wood takes on for a while... yes, that's what I smelled. This one lingers in a sticky-smoke resin for a while and then fades off on that decay-note again. I'm not sure why this hates me, but it does.

[juniperus]

Sharp, dark, spicy,and harsh at first sniff. Really harsh, acrid - and I'm starting to cough. I recognize a lot of notes but I can't put my finger on them in a way to really describe what is happening here. It's growing sweet, but sticky and headachey sweet in a very food-y way. Is there some sort of buttery note here? There is a creaminess that's almost...greasy. Something here really disagrees with me, and it's getting me right in the back of the throat.

[Caltha]

The Tower

The Tower is a weird scent. It starts out strong and sharp and bitter, vetiver maybe? It dries to a faint, warm, vaguely sweet scent of old, cracked rubber. So if you'd like rubber as a comfort scent, this is for you.

 

Edit: I put some in my hair and could feel it in the air around me all day, even though my hair is cropped short now and can't be tossed by the wind. At first I liked it and found it more interesting than the dry rubber single note on my skin, dark and complex. I got perhaps a hint of incense and mint or some other fresh herb. But after a few hours it turned to mosquito repellant.

Edited July 28, 2006 by Caltha

[edenssixthday]

The Tower - This scent is the red of dragon's blood, but when I sniff the oil in the vial, all I smell is the scent of vetiver. When I apply it, the scent is still predominantly vetiver, but it's a very strange scent that reminds me a lot of The Coiled Serpent. I wouldn't wear this if it stayed that scent, but upon drydown, the dragon's blood disappears, and I'm positive there is frankincense blended in with the vetiver to create a really gritty, husky, and sexy scent. I didn't think I was going to like this one, but in the end, it's really sexy and definitely a keeper.

[nightbird]

when I sniffed this in the vial, I jumped back immediately - whoa, that's strong! once on my skin, it smelled like cookies and smoke. (that may be the strangest description I've come up with for a BPAL oil.) after it dried a bit, I got lots of cinnamon with a hint of smoke in the back.

 

I don't know why, but I like this one.

Edited September 4, 2006 by Nightbird

[supremegoddessofall]

Leather, cinnamon, and vetiver. Vaguely masculine, but not overwhelmingly so. There's a "wind" smell in here, too, that I can't place. It's not foody, but borders on it.

[cranberry]

In the imp: dragon’s blood, something herbal – lavender? Sage? I can’t say for sure.

 

On the skin: still dragon’s blood and herbs. Maybe it’s eucalyptus. Yeah, I think so. Ah, after it’s been on a few minutes, it’s getting a bit spicy and hot – so I’m thinking ginger or pepper. A touch of smoke. Wow – this scent is quite evocative and completely fits with it’s intent. As it wears, it become more spicy, and even hotter. Yep, ginger, pepper and dragon’s blood.

 

I’m liking this one quite a lot.

[The_Merf]

In the decant: Everyone says that they catch dragon's blood...I don't get that at all--unless it's the type of dragon's blood that we see in Bloodlust. (Which, given their respective themes, would make sense). Vetiver? Anise? Civet? Something in common with Black Annis? There is a note in this oil that gives it that sweaty, bloody warrior aura. Again, all fitting.

 

Wet: Perhaps this does have eucalyptus in it, because I am slightly reminded of Loup Garou. It's sharp, but earthy, acrid stone, and a very poisonous smoke. I use the Crowley deck, and I've always thought that its representation of the Tower was much along the lines of Mordor (and the resemblance between Tolkien's drawing of The Eye, Jackson's representation of The Eye, and the Eye that is on the card are all real similar). This is exactly what Mordor smells like.

 

Drydown and wear: This remains remarkably consistent, and it is a fascinating and evocative oil. However, I feel that I can only hold onto one oil that fascinates me despite not smelling 100% awesome, and right now, that is my bottle of Saturn.

[fiddledragon]

In the imp: dragon's blood and...slightly scorched cookies? And maybe some resin of some variety? And pepper?

 

On me: Still cookies. Odd, spiced cookies. The dragon's blood is also there keeping things sweet and resiny. There's definitely lots of ginger here and some pepper, and that sort of faint scorched note.

 

This one's a second cousin to Shub-Niggurath. I really like it; better than Shub, in some ways...but why does destruction smell like cookies?

[ECAmber]

Wet on the wand and straight on the skin: Very first scent out of the imp is sharp and fades almost immediately. There is something very sweet on top, like candy, but not candy you find very easily or eat very often. Vanilla based perhaps. Woods underneath it. Aquatic. Definitely attention getting at first.

 

On the dry down: Smoke. It's a smokey sweetness with water.

 

Further in: Spice (cinnamon I think) is coming out now. Still buttery candy-ness and smoke and water. Wow. Just so much going on in there.

 

Fading out: Wow, more smoke coming out. It's almost like being in the Tower, falling from it and landing in food-y sweet flowers with smoke being carried on water heavy breezes. Oddly I don't actually smell flowers... but it's the impression I get.

 

Thoughts: Starts with a sharp (and oddly pleasant) notes which leads into water mostly with the sweetness. Then comes the earth in the form of wood and something slightly incense-y and then the fire. For the card I think this is really quite remarkable. Follows the progression of images on the card - almost as if from the point of view from someone falling from the top of the card and not the one actually looking at the card.

 

Something about the first few minutes though are rather frustrating... it smells exactly like something I should remember, some memory that I just can't place. This makes for a great distraction from trying to figure out what exactly is going on in this scent.

 

All in all I'm really pleased with this. It's complex, thought provoking, true to the imagery of the Tower.

[theseagrows]

this smells like dragon's blood, cinnamon and almond. at first it smells like smoke with a weird nuttiness to it, then that fades and i am left with smoky sweetness. it does embody the meaning of the card quite well-it is very firey. not sure i'd wear this ever, so i'll put it up for swap.

[Vampy]

What the hell, honey? Am I seriously the only one getting honey from this? Because I'm getting a seriously whopping dose of honey.

 

In the vial it smelled rather like Bloodlust without the clove; then when I put it on it smelled like the lovechild of Bloodlust and Bloodkiss. There is clove, but much lighter than in Bloodlust, and a strong base of vetiver covered in dragon's blood, and a mysteriously elusive floral in there somewhere that keeps peeking out and going back into hiding. (Maybe the lotus that I've theorized is in all the Tarot blends.)

 

And, of course, a sticky film of honey dripping over everything. Am I crazy? Am I imagining things? I swear it's there!

 

I... I actually really like this. I am not sure how to feel about the fact that I really like this, considering the thought of wearing it as perfume disturbs me slightly. It's earthy and fiery and spicy, and has that luscious dragon's blood I love so much without the sickly floral sweetness that all the Ars Draconis blends have on me. It's a bit heavy for the warm weather, but I'm sure it'll be great for the fall and winter... if I'm not too unnerved by the concept behind it to wear it, ahaha.

Edited September 16, 2007 by Vampy

[femmefatale]

Wow, my chemistry must be really off because I'm getting spicy smokey leather and....mint? It's more like a cooling impression. Very odd.

 

I love this and I'm so sad that I won't be able to get any more.

[suki]

in the imp: smoky vetiver.

 

wet on skin: smoky vetiver with some odd soapy flower in the background. :raises an eyebrow:

 

dry down: vetiver, anise and a mild flower soap coming in and out.

 

in all: i guess i had higher expectations of the Tower. as a card i fear immensely, i also have great respect for what it can teach. this scent captured the Brimstone and Fire aspects, but not so much clearing the path for continued growth.

[zankoku_zen]

This one definitely has vetiver and it BLOOMED on my skin. It's a very masculine and strong smoky blend. I think it has vetiver, cinnamon, leather and maybe some dragon's blood in it. Overall, it smells chaotic and smoky.