Meskhenet, the Vulture Maiden

[undream]

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

One of the early reviewers said that this one has an almost perfumey quality to it in the bottle, and i had that thought as well(!). it's just a very pleasant, fresh and perfumey scent. once i put it on it warmed into something more woodsy, becoming a soft incense. though something in this smells almost dirty up close to the skin, the throw is gorgeous, almost indescribable, and the scent as a whole is very light; i found myself having to hunt it down more than actually catching whiffs of it.

i'm not sure if i'll be keeping this one, but it is overall a very beautiful perfume.

[calivianya]

Meskhenet is a lot sweeter than I expected. I'm not sure which note brings out this impression in my mind - it may be the hyssop or hibiscus, as I'm not terribly sure of those, but it is pleasantly sweet. The frankincense gives it some spice that keeps it from being entirely sweet and I'm also getting a green smell as well, maybe the river reeds? All I know is that this one is lovely, and I definitely wouldn't mind having a bottle.

 

 

...I don't know if this is aging or what, but I'm wondering what the HECK I thought was so good about this. Maybe my skin chemistry has changed. This now smells a little like cleaning products plus pepper; I am very disappointed.

Edited September 14, 2011 by calivianya

[Penance]

Origin:

 

5mL from the Lab.

 

Preconceived notions:

 

It's no secret that I love vultures. I always have. My mom still talks about how whenever we went to the zoo when I was little, I had to see the vultures first. So Meskhenet's got that going for it right off the bat. I've been putting off trying it because I wasn't sure about the notes, but with the Carnaval temporarily disappearing and the possibility that I might never see it again (if it were discontinued due to a component issue before the Carnaval scents came back), I took a chance on it.

 

I love frankincense and olibanum, apparently, since it's another type of frankincense and I like oris and hyssop. The rest of the notes are unknowns. I don't like florals and non-woody green notes are hit or miss, but something about this sounds really pretty, even if I can't quite imagine what it's going to smell like.

 

First sniff:

 

Soft, feminine and slightly sweet in an aquatic floral sort of way. I couldn't tell you what was in here without the notes in front of me. I'd probably peg it as a sweet, blue-green aquatic (I normally hate aquatics, but a very select few of this variety work) with a touch of something floral in a tropical sort of way. Reading a description like that and comparing it to the sort of scents I normally like, you would probably think I would hate this, but I don't. It's actually pretty and something I would wear, albeit not every day.

 

Wet on skin:

 

Now the more "me" notes are putting in an appearance. It's still mainly a clean, sweet, slightly aquatic floral scent, but there are soft resins here. It's feminine and peaceful smelling somehow.

 

Dry down:

 

I was really loving Meskhenet until it suddenly developed the dreaded pepperiness that I've gotten from several blends in the last 6 months or so. I'm going to guess that it's the frankincense or olibanum. I've never noticed pepperiness from frankincense blends before, but I have a bag of frankincense resin that does have a slightly peppery note to it, so I'm going to assume that has to be the culprit. It's very faint, but it's just enough to keep me from completely liking Meskhenet on me.

 

The bottom line:

 

This is a pretty scent but I know that that tiny little bit of pepperiness is going to drive me crazy, like an itch I can't scratch, so this one might be better suited to use in a scent locket, even though the bottle scent doesn't have the lovely resins that it has on my skin (before it dries completely).

[invisible iris]

In the bottle: Frankincense, palm fronds, and river reeds.

 

On skin: I’m getting similar notes as from the bottle. Frankincense, olibanum, river reeds, and palm frond. Shortly the orris appears, adding a violet-like slither---that has the potential to ruin Meskhenet for me if it takes over.

 

Dry: When sniffing close to my wrist I get frankincense/olibanum (can’t really distinguish the two), palm frond, river reeds, and orris, in that order. But the throw loses some of the frankincense and is therefore surprisingly light and mild, consisting mostly of palm frond and river reeds (it actually reminds me of how hearts of palm taste, almost salty in an odd but good way). Thankfully the orris is tame, and I never detect any real floral, so no hibiscus or hyssop (unless hyssop is an herbal blending with the other plant notes).

 

While not aquatic, this is an organic take on "clean". It’s mild, ever so faintly milk-soapy, refreshing, but also vital and calming (not energizing), with a lingering date-like sweetness (this is how frankincense usually develops on my skin, and I find it wrist-huffingly pleasant). The blend smells vegetal but also arid, the interior milky sap of a desert plant accompanied by sweet frankincense.

 

Verdict: Organic and pure. Meskhenet is nothing like what I expected, but I’m glad I got a bottle before the CD went dark because I really enjoy it. Especially nice to wear after a shower or bath and definitely work-friendly.

[Monday]

This smells ...old fashioned, like an old fashioned ladies perfume. It opens with a gorgeous hibiscus then it morphs quickly to a very purple frankincense and orris. Unfortunately no blend with frankincense in it has ever worked for me, I had hoped this would be different for some reason . The Labs frankincense note just doesn't like me and turns into a sharp soapy smell.

[kscha2017]

(2016)

 

Very pretty, and does an excellent job of evoking sorrow. It smells both wet and dry, like tears and dust. I'm certain I can pick out the river reeds and palm fronds. In my old children's Bible there is a picture of baby Moses being found sleeping in his basket amongst the reeds of the Nile. This smells like that.

[Cali]

In the imp it's a dusty stuffy warm scent. Insence-y and floral. Got something really fancy going on.

Like an I'm-off-to-the-opera-charles type fancy. Lovely hybiscus.
Unfortunately on my skin it turns into more of a cleanser of some sorts, still, with some of the nice notes in there, but it morphed into it's wetter, dishwasher sister.

[whisperstilled]

In Decant: Green and Sharp.

 

Wet: There's the frankincense, made very green by the palm and reeds. This is an almost aquatic frankincense, which I didn't think was a thing! The hibiscus is definitely in there, sweetening things and adding a floral quality.

 

Dry: Dry frankincense and sweet greens, with a breath of hibiscus. A unique scent.