The Ecstacy of St. Theresa

[edenssixthday]

The Ecstacy of St. Theresa, Gianlorenzo Bernini.

Frankincense, iris, white gardenia, Roman chamomile, amber, and agarwood.

 

I was very excited about this blend because I'm a nut about a good frankincense blend, and the other notes looked like they would blend gorgeously with frankincense. Sure enough, it's a lovely blend. The gardenia is the only note that frightened me a bit, and while it's present, it's so soft and so subtle that I wouldn’t even guess it was gardenia if I didn't know better. The chamomile is probably the most dominant note, but it doesn’t have the soporific herbal quality that chamomile often has when it is a dominant note in blends; rather, it simply blends beautifully with the frankincense, tempering the huskiness of the frankincense with it's smooth, soothing qualities. The sweet soapy-fresh-in-a-good-way scent of iris is slightly noticeable, as is a very tiny sliver of woodiness. Overall, this is an incredibly gorgeous scent that is very classical in inspiration, quality, and design. It's very subtle, but oh-so-pretty and feminine. It's quite lovely and would be a beautiful wedding day scent.

[filigree_shadow]

Disclaimer: My skin has trouble with frankincense and gardenia. Frankincense blends go too sweet on me, and gardenia gets majorly amped. Not sure about white gardenia, though.

 

In the imp: Sweet floral.

 

Wet: The kind of floral scent they make scented soaps with. A bit too strong for my liking.

 

Dry: Much better. I am probably the worst person in the world to review a floral scent because I can't pick out the notes very well, so bear with me for a minute. Does white gardenia or iris smell a little bit like roses but without that distinctive ROSE quality? I mean, like that sort of soft velvety petal smell? I wish I knew what it was because that's what I'm smelling. I'm only familiar with chamomile because of tea, but I can tell that it's softening up the whole scent. This is not a sharp or piercing floral scent, it's soft like petals. And in an extreme departure from the norm, the frankincense is not making this blend too sweet on my skin. It smells kind of golden and fresh, like dappled sunlight in a garden.

 

This is quite lovely. In fact, it smells glorious. That's the perfect word for this scent.

Edited January 6, 2007 by filigree_shadow

[Heavenlyrabbit]

I am also another frankincense lover and second all of edensixthday's comments. You can smell the various notes and it all works perfectly.

 

This is a graceful, younger, more introverted cousin to All Saints. An incense floral.

 

This might work on the days when my cycle is screwing with the florals contained in All Saints.

Edited January 7, 2007 by Heavenlyrabbit

[supremegoddessofall]

On me: Almost all iris and gardenia. A white scent with a touch of green feel. Not getting much amber. Frankincense is sharpening it a bit, but not really being "spicy" at all.

[Blood onmy hands]

The Ecstasy of St. Theresa is hellish when mixed with my skin chemistry.

I get powder and soapy floral; not even the frankincense can save this blend for me . I love the lab’s chamomile and frankincense, but this doesn’t work with my skin chemistry at all. I’m just getting perfumey baby powder and a hint of something herbal & soapy. It reminds me of something like a grandmotherly, sharp, floral dusting powder mixed with baby powder, with some nice hotel soap thrown in.

In the drydown, some of the sharpness and heaviness fades away and I’m left with a sweet, light powder. Still… floral-esque powder. I strongly dislike powdery scents, so this isn’t working for me at all.

I ended up trying to wash this one off after about a half hour. I just couldn’t take this much powder and cliché, fake floral-smell.

 

 

ETA 2016 frimp review:
First on, I'm getting a big blast of golden, dry, herbal chamomile, slightly sour and medicinal. Dry, golden herbs over a big, baby powdery amber with hints of golden frankincense and creamy, soapy white florals.
In the drydown, the sour qualities and soapiness fade, and The Ecstacy settles into a church-y, sweet, smoky frankincense with bold, waxy, creamy white floral and just a hint of amber powder. Very much a church fragrance, which is pretty cool.
I think that this, out of all of the bpals ever, is most evocative of a church as it dries down.

Edited June 14, 2016 by Little Bird

[slave1]

In Bottle: Soft and velvety

On Skin: Wow! What an intriguing scent! It’s really hard to explain, the blending in this scent is so well done!! The florals mixing with the incense create a sweet almost fruity note. The resins give a full deep background that is soft as velvet. The gardenia is milky and sweet and tames the sharpness of the iris. I think it is quite unisex and would be gorgeous on most anyone. I really do get a sexy ecstacy feel from this, pure pleasure but also very innocent. Yes, the ecstacy of a saint…. This is a very lovely scent, but it is also very light. Light throw and short to average wearlength.

[julesofdenial]

mmm... This is another I picked up mainly due to my love of the work of art it's based on, but oh, I think I love it. I'm a sucker for gardenia, though I know it's not for everyone. On me, the throw isn't too very strong, which is probably a good thing because when I get up close to sniff that gardenia is STRONG. It's softened a bit by the other notes, particularly the chamomile, but if someone were to hand me this and make me guess what was in it, the only thing I'd be able to positively identify is that gardenia. But, as I said, the throw is light enough that it doesn't become cloying or headache-inducing, which is always a danger for me with strong white florals.

 

All in all, a really beautiful scent. Not sure that it's one I'll be wearing too very often, but worth keeping just the same.

[Emma2403]

I don’t know what agarwood is and the rest doesn’t sound exactly thrilling but let’s give it a try.

 

In the bottle: a very sweet floral, I can recognize the gardenia very distinctively.

 

On my skin: still very heavily floral. A bit too heavy for me. Very feminine though, but I’m afraid it could give me a headache in the long term.

 

After a couple of hours: this doesn’t last long… I’ve got the faintest herbal fragrance now and nothing else.

 

Verdict: it didn’t work for me.

[yeahbutnobut]

In the imp: iris, frankincense, and dry camomile, and a little bit of spicy wood…no gardenia yet.
Wet on skin: oh wow, this is pretty. Soft white flowers with a spicy background.
Dry: this is what I’ve always wanted to smell with gardenia. This smells like true gardenia, the most wonderful and realistic gardenia scent, nothing sharp, acrid or ‘mutated burnt celery’ about this gardenia at all, just full, creamy, tropical blooms, it reminds me of Tahitian monoi oil. The deep purple-powdery iris and golden-herbal camomile support the gardenia beautifully. But this flowery layer has a gorgeous background of amber and gently smoky frankincense, and a fantastic spicy wood scent. Is this agar-wood, the legendary oude? It certainly smells a bit like the oude note from Possets Orion, exotic and spiced and rich and incense like, but with flowers on top. This is a stunning scent!
After a while: eventually this becomes a smooth, soft, creamy gardenia scent. there’s a hint of spicy incense and oude at the base but the gardenia is the star of this scent now, and it smells very much like tropical blooms, like sniffing a true gardenia flower, it makes me smell like I’m in Tahiti. This is the kind of gardenia I love!
After a long period of almost pure floral, the wood and frankincense notes begin to show up again under the thick mass of gardenia petals.
Verdict: I never thought I’d fall in love with a BPAL gardenia note since many BPAL gardenias (apart from most LE’s with that note) smelt awful on me, until I smelt this. I adore the gardenia in here to bits, it’s everything I hoped gardenia would be. No sharpness or acrid celery or screaming burnt greenness here. This is like sniffing a true gardenia, heady and exotic and full bodied. And it even smells like monoi oil, and I’ve been looking all over BPAL for a monoi-like scent, and this is it. And the other notes here are just as beautiful-the iris, the camomile, a delightful frankincense note, and the wonderful rarity that is agar-wood (oude!), which adds a mystical, rich, incense-spicy woody note under the gardenia. Despite the sometimes ‘tropical island beauty’ scent that I get from the gardenia, this really does fit such a wonderful sculpture, the gardenia is feminine, lush, and white as marble, and the frankincense and oude incenses smell heavenly and gloriously exalted. This is a stunning scent-in that it’s a gardenia scent I love, and with that incense background it smells truly magnificent. I hope that this gardenia note is used more often in future blends.
Emoticon rating:
Is it a keeper? Definitely! This is now my favourite gardenia scent. I might get a bottle some day.
If you like this, try: Euphrosyne, Hanging Gardens, Sacred Whore of Babylon

[maijasu]

This is just much too floral for me. I like to smell the gardenias in my front yard, but not to wear them. The chamomile lends a smooth herbal character to the scent, and all the other notes are very well blended. I think this would be stunning on someone who is a fan of florals. Alas, it is the first of my new Salon imps that will be finding a new home in swaps.

[Ajila]

In the bottle - The spice of frankincense and the cleanness of the chamomile.

 

Wet on me - Soft florals warmed by the frankincense, a very clear scent.

 

Dry on me - Powdery soft and smooth, dominated by the iris.

 

Overall - This was a very pretty scent, but florals are not my style and this was very faint to boot.

Edited February 12, 2007 by Ajila

[siddal]

In the imp this is almost a sharp green scent (chamomile?) and some sweetness...which is probably the amber and iris. Wet, it's mostly white floral (the gardenia). On the drydown the frankincense and amber warm things up a bit and add some spice, but it is still mostly white floral on me. The final drydown for me ended up very soft and sweet without the cloying quality that gardenia usually exhibits on my skin. Surprisingly lovely for me :-)

[emzebel]

Sweet floral resins. This is absolutely lovely! I'm not a huge fan of the particular florals in this, but they blend absolutely beautifully with the frankinscense, and the amber and chamomile add a lovely lightness to this. I would never have picked this as a winner for me, but it really is.

[jessiesquash]

When the Salon blends came out I had mixed feelings. I'm an art history student and so when it comes to art I get a little *um* emotional. St Theresa in Ecstasy is one of my favorites. I love the audacity that Bernini showed in carving such an overtly sexual figure. So it was with some trepidation that I tried it.

 

I definitely get the gardenia right away but it doesn't overpower the other components. The frankincense is there too and not going too sweet. Once it starts to dry down, everything just blends gorgeously together. It really gives that sense of being in a holy space; diffused light, faded incense smoke, a hush and sweet flowers.

 

EDIT: The more I wear this, the more I adore it. Not only did Beth capture the holy aspect of the piece but she also captured the flip of the coin. This scent is also like that moment right after a really good orgasm!

Edited May 3, 2007 by jessiesquash

[solcita]

In the imp: Sharply gardenia. I'm worried about this one at the outset because gardenia always amps up majorly on me, and not in a good way. On the skin: Strongly herbal and GREEN, though thankfully it calms down a little when fully dry. I can make out the chamomile, but I don't get the 'honey' scent from it that I usually do. The gardenia is restraining itself, but I can tell it's there. Not much throw here; I have to get my nose right up to my wrist to detect it, but when I do it's a little sharp, still. Pretty, but not something I would wear.

[Aredhel]

Rating (on skin): 3/5

Summarised in a few words/smilie: Gardenia!

 

In the imp: Very potent frankincense and gardenia. A very strange pairing.

 

On skin, wet: Oy! Gardenia, with a capital G. I can't get my nose around the bloody flower to sniff anything else.

 

On skin, dry: Waxy, white, and fuzzy, this scent; an intriguing, if overpowering, combination of frankincense and gardenia. Slightly green around the proverbial edges. It's bloody strong to boot.

 

Conclusion: This is a scent of grandeur if ever the Lab's made one, certainly. It has a very... bright feeling to it. I have to agree with the above suggestion of "glorious": while not my usual fare, and too flowery for my personal liking, glorious seems a very fitting adjective.

[jiggahava]

These blends are always so much lighter than I expect! All those flowers and incense notes made me think this was going to be heavy and woody. Suprise! It's a pale creamy floral, with the iris and gardenia coming out light and sweet on my skin. The incense is very subdued here as well. I feel like I've put flowers on the alter at a catholic church. Very bright, kind of like the golden light in the painting. I liked this one more than I expected to. The throw is moderate and not intrusive. I really really like this.

[Miss Lynx]

Tried this at the meet'n'sniff the other day. It was a nice, soft, ethereal floral incense... very gentle. A little reminiscent of All Souls, without that slight buttery note that that one has.

 

Unfortunately, it also disappeared from my skin within about five minutes! So while I think I liked it, it really didn't stick around long enough for me to be sure at all...

 

Grade: C+/B- (higher if it had lasted)

[storme]

In the imp: white florals over spicy acrid resins.

 

On me, wet: green and white florals over a bitter, spicy-dry incense.

 

On me, dry: light, airy green and white florals - the incense appears to have vanished. It's mostly chamomile and gardenia now.

 

Verdict: Hmm, it's rather nice, but I have plenty of clean-feeling florals already. I wasn't expecting the incense to vanish. I guess I'll pass.

[CrazyPretzel]

In the decant: violets and something airy and fresh.

 

Wet on me: Strong violets and a vanilla-like sweetness.

 

After a few minutes: I see now from the description that what my nose was reading as 'violets' is in fact probably iris - to me it's a very similar thick sweet blue floral. There's a little bit of warm resin in here but it's surprisingly faint, surpassed by the iris and gardenia, a warmer floral than the iris. Also there's a slight sourness which fades after a few minutes. The gardenia begins to come out more strongly after the first five minutes and is really quite lovely - like sniffing a fresh gardenia flower; very true-to-life.

 

Drydown: Almost pure gardenia with an extra boost of sweetness from the amber and frankincense, and soothing chamomile. I it. Wonderful sweet white floral without a trace of sourness.

[The_Merf]

My biggest fear was that this scent would simply vanish on me, as my previous experiences with iris-based scents have been short (but oh-so-sweet). Thankfully, that is not the case. On my skin this is predominantly a floral scent as opposed to a resinous or resin-woody one. The gardenia and iris are the most prominent notes in the wet stage, and they combine to create a really nice, "tart" floral (in fact, the overall result is somewhat like church flowers). The sandalwood is the middle note, as it were, and the frankincense starts out in the background, but as the scent wears and the other notes start to fade, it remains the strongest note.

[hkhm]

imp: very sweet florals, i think it's the gardenia i smell most.

 

wet: that is some sweet gardenia! almost painfully sweet.

 

dry: still all gardenia on me, this is terribly strong and way too sweet for my tastes.

[agnusdei]

The Ecstasy of St. Theresa is what made me realize how much I love gardenias. Back when I first smelled this blend I knew it was quite unique, but even knowing what the components were didn't help me place it. Now that I'm more familiar with the fragrance of gardenias I can confidently say that this blend is allllll about them, in the very best way. This floral is so smooth and creamy that it's positively buttery and oh-so-lush. The combination of gardenia and iris just oozes sweetness, they're drizzled over the other notes like a candied topping. There's a resinous and woody base and a touch of sharpness underneath, which comes out more as the blend dries until it's just a whisper of warm woods.

 

Gardenia seems to be a love it or hate it kind of floral, despite being so creamy there's a boldness with them that tends to overwhelm, so I understand why The Ecstasy of St. Theresa didn't seem to work for some of the other reviewers. However, if you're a big fan of gardenias like myself, this blend couldn't be better. It absolutely glows with an aura of warmth and comfort with grounding woods and the barest touch of spice.

 

I'd also like to add that the first few times I tried this blend it didn't last as long as I hoped, but I've got it on now after bathing with Bath & Body Works Gardenia shower cream and that has definitely helped it's staying power.

Edited December 29, 2007 by agnusdei

[bryghtrose]

This was an awesome birthday gift from my SW.

 

In the bottle, I smell chamomile. It tends to be overpowering, or perhaps my nose is very sensitive to it as a top note.

 

On my skin it's a gorgeous blend of frankincense and gardenia. It's holy and sexy at the same time.

 

[savage_rose]

In the bottle, it smells like a light floral and frankincense/agarwood. On, something turns into the eraser note I smell sometimes...it smells like that note, and some kind of non-descript sweetness. Over time it fades into a pleasant enough blend. It's ok.