Meskhenet, the Vulture Maiden

[dixiehellcat]

Frankincense, hyssop, hibiscus, river reeds, orris root, palm frond, and olibanum.

it's not as floral as I expected. If it has any floral character to it at all, it's a subdued, spicy floral that is slightly sweet but not sickening.

Couldn't have said it any better. LOVE IT.

[Meg]

In the bottle: ubersweet, acidic yuk. Plus frankincense.

 

Wet: Frankincense liek whoa. Had I mentioned my allergy?

 

Drydown: The frankincense attacks my throat and nose immediately. I get a sweet perfumy floral-type scent, probably the hibiscus and orris, and something herby. It's not good at all.

 

Overall: It hits right into my allergies and I don't like the way it smells anyway, too sickly and frankincensy. It reminds me of a sickly sweet perfumed plastic doll I used to have as a kid. Begone, Vulture Girl! It's a shame because I loved the art.

[filigree_shadow]

Okeydokey, here goes the suckiest review of all time.

 

The only notes that I'm really familiar with in this are frankincense and orris root. (Also, I thought olibanum was the same thing as frankincense?) Frankincense is a sweetness culprit on me, but in this it's very successfully tempered and balanced by the other notes. Orris root is a very dry almost-planty scent, if I recall correctly, and I think I might be getting some of that here. I honestly don't know what the other notes should smell like or what they're doing to the scent.

 

Does hyssop smell sort of wood-like? Or is that the reed/frond I'm picking up on? Reeds usually smell a little green to me, and I can smell that here. And hibiscus... we can't grow those here in Chicago so I don't know what that smells like. Don't think it really matters anyway because I don't smell anything floral at all in this.

 

I can say that this is one of the very few frankincense scents I can wear. It's what I wish ALL frankincense scents would smell like on me. It smells like frankincense should smell, without my skin chemistry interfering. Dry, nicely incensey, and only slightly sweet.

 

I like this much, much more than I thought I would.

[taramarie]

On my skin, Meskhenet started out as floral with a hint of green. Drying, there's a definite wood smell. Sandalwood, maybe? I think she's fading, which is a pity since she smells so good. I hope aging will make her stronger.

[The_Merf]

In the decant: Lovely cedar-y resin and the brightness of hyssop.

 

Wet: The fruity hyssop is actually stronger than the frankincense--for just a moment. Then the reeds and herby-ness take over, and I get a lovely golden warmth that I really wanted from scents like Anubis, Sol Invictus and Ra.

 

Drydown and wear: This is very evocative--most of the scent is a dry (this can only be the orris at work, I deem), golden desert, but there is just a bit of juice, of life, representing a river. I'm definitely going to mull this one over long and hard and consider a bottle. I'm sad that it took me this long to get around to trying this particular blend.

[jasmine]

This is a low, warm, slightly prickly smell. It has depth and subtlety; I applied more than I meant to, but it doesn’t overwhelm. Instead, it lingers. Instead of commanding the air around it, it changes the existing scents ever so slightly, like using a Hue brush in Photoshop to turn the world golden brown, or even sepia.

 

In an effort to smell this more clearly, I’ve bounced my nose off my knee (side-of-knee application) twice now. Since Meskhenet is on my nose, I can’t possibly smell it any more clearly, but it’s still subtle and I still can’t section the notes apart from one another. It’s subtle, broad, deep. This is a scent that emotionally suggests observation and patience.

 

Initially, Meskhenet blends into my skin, and I mentally categorize it as a scent for a day when no one needs to notice what I’m wearing, but when I will feel glad to be wearing something. To my surprise, it finally blooms after half an hour. It’s still a golden brown smell that suggests incense and dried reeds. I like this.

[SarahScent44]

In the imp, I smell the orris - it's medicinal, funereal - and maybe the hyssop?

 

Once on my skin, I get a little of hibiscus under the orris/hyssop - like a peek of freshness and life.

 

This warms up and rounds out after I've had it on for a half hour - it's nice but not WOW.

[Eemia]

When I wore this I was expecting something earthy and maybe musky. But in actuality it doesn't smell like anything I recognize. I can't pick out the notes or break it down into its individual parts. Overall I have an impression of a very expensive perfume. It has a dry, chemical, perfumey fragrance. Nothing that screams for attention. It's subtle.

 

It feels perfect for a need to impress situation. It wore well all day without any second applications, and it didn't morph. It held that same perfumey fragrance well into the drydown. This is much more unusual than I would have thought. I've been wearing this one to work quite a bit and have received some nice compliments on it.

[CrazyPretzel]

I am not a big fan of iris or orris root, but I can't detect the orris in this blend. What I do smell is frankincense combined with a dry but gentle herbal scent. This is a resinous scent that's not too sweet; very calming and beautiful.

[samarablackcat]

I added this to an order from a decant circle on a whim. I am so happy I did.

Light, fresh, airy, like a zephyr from afar or from wings stirring the air

Much sweeter than I expected, but not floral and not cloying.

Frankincense, but subdued, like the scent lingering after being burnt.

Refreshing, yet somber. Perfect. Big bottle worthy.

[arabella]

First Impression: Metallic, oily incense.

 

Dries down to: Resiny incense and greenery.

 

Additional Comments: The mental picture I get is of patchy grass in the parking lot of an industrial complex covered in oily residue from the surrounding smokestacks. This one's not for me.

 

Lasted: Barely two hours.

 

Rating: 1 out of 5.

[maribouquet]

My chemistry stomps all over this; I mostly get a super sweet acidic hibiscus smell.

[athirat]

For me, this perfume was like taking a olfactory journey that lasted all day. It started out full of incense with a sweet, dry floral and woodiness that brought up images of the Nile (it just screamed desert river to me), and moved into a more pure frankincense that made me think of a temple. It was a slow change and the smell lasted all day for me, although it did turn a bit powdery at the end. Usually that's quite the disappointment for me, but after the heavy incense smell, the addition of a slightly powdery scent seemed to lighten it up in a pleasant way. Overall, a definite keeper for me, and one of my first real favorites.

[nekogrrl]

In imp: greenery and hibiscus

 

Wet on skin: Uhm, did I step in something? *checks shoes* Cause this is NOT what I signed up for. I think it's the frankincense that's throwing me off.

 

Dry on skin: Sickeningly sweet. Can't pick out any one particular note - they're /all/ there, seems like, and they do NOT like me.

 

Away it goes!

[tinyvulture]

i’ll try not to let the fact that my forum name is “tinyvulture” bias my review

 

when i saw the description, i didn’t immediately think “bottle!” but now i’m glad i’ve gotten around to trying a decant before it goes away -- because i may need to stock up. my feelings about frankincense are usually middle-of-the-road, but i’m really loving it here! dry and spicy and resinous, it combines with the various soapy/herbal reeds and fronds to make a subtle yet lovely perfume. it’s very light, like curls of exotic incense smoke wafting through the air, but it leaves a lasting impression. a must-have for frankincense lovers.

[butcherbaby]

i was generously frimped with about a fifth of a bottle of this by a forumite who saw it on my "want to try" list.

 

it's taken me a few applications to get used to it...but on my skin it needs to be liberally slathered to get the right effect.

i'm not individually familiar with most of the notes (and i grew up with a beautiful large hibiscus tree in my backyard, but have no memeory of the scent) so i'll just have to describe the impressions it gives me.

in the bottle: both pungent and sweet. rather medicinal

wet on skin: SHARP penetrating frankinsence. woodiness, a little bitter. not unpleasant at all though. this softens down and a smokiness begins to show. it is almost to much but then settles with the frankincense to become a lovely spicy resinous insence. i can imagine the smoke of this wafting from a slowly swung brass censer, or burning in an egyptian queens chamber.

it sweetens up as time passes, but doesn't lose the smoke or the subtle, pleasant bitterness underneath.

it has a beautiful throw, and medium wear (could be longer now that i am marinated)

wow. i'm really glad i persevered with this. i love it and am going to be picking up at least two bottles, since i need to drown myself in it.

[Dark Alice]

Green hisbiscus. Not as strong as Boo Bam. It's also mixed with the dryness of the orris root!

 

This smells like a dry plant version of Cytherea without the yummy tea note.

 

This is something my great aunt would wear!

 

But I am glad that I got a chance to try it.

[brsis]

Initial thoughts: Hmmm... I'm not familiar with many of these notes - well, I am in that I know what they are, but not in that I know what they smell like. Still, I'm expecting a dry, greenish incense.

 

In the bottle: Green incense! Very reedy/palmly, and yet theres the dry whisper of the orris and the incense notes coming through.

 

On the wrist, wet: Still very much the frankincense softened by the 'dry green' notes from the reeds and palm.

 

Drydown: Wow. Wowowowowow. This is beautiful - soft greeny-reed and dusty-orris goodness with a gentle but warming frankincense underneath. This has an almost feathery quality, as well as being as sensual and sorrowful as the description says it should be. I love it, and I want another bottle.

[zankoku_zen]

So this one was a green floral at the beginning, and it's dried to a super sweet hibiscus and powdery sort of floral.

 

Erm. Yeah, not very helpful. But I don't like how cloyingly sweet this has become.

[rayvn1]

This was very strange because I don't really smell... anything. Hm. I get a hint of something spicy - but it disappeared after a very short time though I applied pretty generously. Off to the swaps!

[milo]

For some reason, I'm getting DBR from this blend, especially wet. The floral gradually fades, but is in the background to some incense. I get a bit of powdery orris there. This isn't bad, but even though DBR isn't listed, it smells too much like it for my tastes.

[Andrea912]

Meh.

 

Dark, warn. Mainly frankinsence and hibiscus, but I think I can detect the river reed...

[angelicruin]

Inside the imp, mainly hibiscus.

 

On my skin, hibiscus and orris root to begin with. Frankincense comes out shortly after application. There's a bit of sweetness in this blend. Maybe the Orris root which sometimes goes sweet on my skin.

 

Overall, I like it. Not sure I want a full bottle, but I will enjoy my decant.

[arsenicsauce]

This was not what I'd expected at all. Wet it was strangely fruity, and I'm not sure what was causing that. I don't know hibiscus but I have a suspicion that might have been it. It dries down strangely sweet, and then pulls the best vanishing act I've ever seen within the hour- I seriously cannot even detect a trace of it with my nose right on my skin. It wasn't dark or spicy on me at all, so I think there's something in here I'm amping like crazy but I can't figure out what.

 

In short, passing it on to someone with better chemistry.

 

ETA: Aged 9 months:

Before putting my bottles up for sale, I tried each of them one last time, and this one has changed a bit. Instead of the fruity, wet scent I remember, it starts as a dry, slightly spicy gorgeous frankincense that reminds me of the things I like about And There Was a Great Cry in Egypt, one of my all-time faves. But unfortunately when it dries, it does that same powdery grape candy morph. But wow, it's really nice before I start amping that one note, god knows what it is.

Edited October 11, 2010 by arsenicsauce

[mazikeen]

I can't believe I haven't reviewed this yet. I've had it for about a year, and while I loved it from the start, it has become one of my Top Ten Favorites. It's especially great for warmer weather when something airy and dry is appealing.

 

Yes, light, dry, airy, feminine, strong. Meskhenet is the scent of a desert wind. (Or how I imagine the spirit of a desert wind. I've never been to a desert.) Warm and cool. Weightless and grounded. Sand and feathers.

 

Big throw, long wearlength. Great for warm weather, or for heading into an unknown situation. Like a job interview or a party/function where you don't know anyone and aren't sure if you'll be dressed appropriately. Meskhenet's got your back.