Priala, the Human Phoenix (2006)

[tinyvulture]

Three deep, dark myrrhs, smoke, and cinnamon bark.

this is so smoky and warm. the myrrh just wraps you up in its powdery sweetness, its dark resins intertwined with the thick smoke. the cinnamon bark is there, but it’s not as strong as straight cinnamon and it lingers faintly in the background, adding a gentle touch of spice. this scent is sexy, but not in an over-the-top way. it’s not a raging inferno; it’s a small fire in the fireplace on a romantic evening that keeps on smoldering all night.

[djsiberia]

i love this scent, i kept smelling small batches of cinnamon throughout the day, when it fades, it's myrrh and smoke. the cinnamon completely disappears after a while and thankfully it doesn't turn my skin red and blotchy like inferno.

[grashopper8]

I thought I would love this because I'm a myrrh-loving psycho, but it's just not hitting me the right way.

 

I think it might be the 'smoke' note, it was unexpecedly vetiver-esque to me. Also, Chimera is one of my favorite BPALs, so I'm not that excited to have cinnamon without sweetness (you know, sugar and spice and everything nice....)

 

The more it dries down, the more palatable it becomes to me, but there's still something about it that comes off as harsh. Maybe it's just my chemistry, I dunno. Not for me.

 

2 out of 5

[eyeska]

Purrrrrr.

 

After the "OMG HERE'S CINNAMON" I got out of the bottle as I sadly took a breath and prepared to hate smelling like nothing but as I dabbed it on, Priala is all spicy smoky musk on me. It takes about five minutes for the cinnamon to step back, though it doesn't disappear by any means. Once it's not in the limelight, though, I have hours and hours of deliciousness.

 

This is simply gorgeous, and I'm glad I took a plunge with something a little different from what I might normally be interested in.

[NinjaCowboy]

So far, the carnival scents that I've tried have been rather hit and miss. None of them DON'T work, but there are some that are just.. ok. This seems to be one of them so far. Cinnamon has never been a great note on me, but the decription of cinnamon bark made me think that this one would work better, and it did, but just not that well.

 

bottle: oddly it doesn't smell like veyr much in the bottle. I get a faint trace of cinnamon, and mostly light woods.

 

wet: theres the cinnamon. Very nice though. Nice and warm and woody cinnamon, which works nicely on me. Not much else though.

 

dry: Still about the same. Lots of throw, which is great, and its nice and strong, but its just a very flat scent on me. I think it's one that will get better with time though, so I'm going ot let it age some and see if the other notes come out at all later.

[ImperatrixMundi]

Lots of myrrh and very darkly spicy cinnamon, not a foody cinnamon at all. Not so much smoke here.

 

Sounded nice, warm and dark. Well, it is. But myrrh turns very powdery after a while and this makes no exception. And it looks like I just cant stand smelling cinnamon in a perfume I wear. Love it in the kitchen, hate it on me. If you want a cinnamon scent that is not foody sweet you have come to the right place.

[scarletgenesis]

Holy Smokes!

 

And I mean that quite literally...I instantly get lots of ashy smoke in the imp. And once on, there is an incensey smell to the smoke, like in church; I assume that's the myrrh. There is a slight abrasive spiceyness that really lends itself to something amazing here, and I'm pretty sure it's the cinnamon bark.

 

Honestly, even though this has some of my favorite notes, for some reason I didn't expect to like this. I even passed over the description the first few times I read it.

 

Glad I got a decant, though I'm not sure my wallet is. I will likely want to get a bottle of this at some point before CD goes away.

[megank4]

Ahhh! Almost as bad as dragon's hide on me! Too much smoke and myrhh! Scrub scrub scrub!

[arabella]

First Impression: Resin and cinnamon.

 

Dries down to: Stays cinnamony.

 

Additional Comments: Myrrh isn't a favorite of mine and I'm surprised the smoke isn't showing up at all. This is strongly cinnamon and not much else.

 

Rating: 2 out of 5.

[tereshkova2001]

The scent of things burned, not acrid or harsh but definitely burned. It doesn't smell like fire, just smoke and charred wood. It is, however, incredibly beautiful and powerful.

 

"The world through flaming feathers is washed in gold, scrubbed to gleaming by fire, and the sound of it roars ocean-fierce."--Catherynne M. Valente, The Orphans' Tales: In the Cities of Coin and Spice.

Priala is what that smells like.

[mazaru]

I have an odd love-hate relationship with this scent, and it's the first thing that's made me realise quite how changeable my skin chemistry is. Three out of four times when I put this on, it's not a good smell. The musks amp up on my skin and become powerfully acrid and powdery at the same time - so much so that it gives me a headache and I generally end up washing it off. The fourth time, though, usually on a day when I've drunk a lot of coffee, the musks behave themselves, the cinnamon becomes dominant and the smoke washes in behind it beautifully. It's beautiful when that happens; golden, soft and warm, exactly what I want. I just wish it was like that all the time

[motdakasha]

In the bottle:

Rating: 5

Notes: cinnamon, myrrh

Comment: Cinnamon in the bottle smells kind of rank, but morphs nice on me so hopefully this will do the same.

Wet on skin:

Rating: 5

Notes: cinnamon, smoke

Comment: Liking the cinnamon and smoke together.

Dry on skin:

Rating: 5

Notes: myrrh, smoke, cinnamon

Scent Intensity: 4

Comment: The myrrh has finally presented itself as a really nice dark musk with smoke in the background. The cinnamon is not so prominent as it tends to fade fast on me.

Misc:

Duration: +4 Hrs.

Keyword(s): musky, spicy, smokey

Color: Burnt sienna

Smells like: Big Red chewed by a smoker.

Edited July 2, 2008 by Akasha Tsang

[oakmoss]

This is wonderful. If you like resin and/or incense blends, you will definitely want to add this to your collection. The myrrh is so soft and velvety rich, and the touch of cinnamon makes it so sensual. It's not candy-cinnamon, it's cinnamon incense, a cinnamon stick, dry and spicy. The throw is good but not invasive, and it lasts a long time. I imagine this will age beautifully too.

[nekogrrl]

So far, this is my OMG scent out of all the CD I've tried so far.

 

I LOVE what this does on the skin.

 

Firstly, there is a warm, slightly smoky cinnamon. It makes me feel warm all over. As it dries, the smoke really amps up, and then the last stage, the cinnamon warmth comes back.

 

This is SUCH a sexy scent. I loves it so!

[lilacea]

In the bottle, it's heavy myrrh, a touch of sweet sandalwood, and faint cinnamon. There's something perhaps resinous here too that I can't quite make out? But on my skin, Priala turns to acrid, smokey, dusty myrrh with a suggestion of cinnamon.

[Stephanie]

This begins thick and almost sweet and ends in curls of smoke.

 

I smell the incense reminiscent of church..and a suggestion of sweetness like in Chimera. The drydown, on my skin, is nicely smoky (but not tobacco smoke, more like an incense stick or candle that has just been blown out).

 

Very nice! Very...moody.

 

I love it.

[femmefatale]

Oh wow. wow wow wow wow wow wow wow

 

I doubt I would've tried this, but luckily I got a frimp from a super sweet someone. At first it is warm with a light insense feel to it, but then it starts to sweeten and the spice comes up. It's smokey and spicy and sweet and sexy all in one. I love that it has a touch of sweetness without being foody. And thankfully, my wonky skin chemstry keeps this beautiful and it doesn't go all wrong on me. I can't wait to try it in my locket and I will most defnitely be getting multiple bottles of this one!

Edited August 12, 2008 by Femme_Fatale

[mazikeen]

Sigh. This is yet another CD scent that I was sure I'd love and bought a bottle of unsniffed. Also, I adore the art. In the bottle, I think Priala smells like raisins. On the skin, I get the cinnamon-- it's more of a natural cinnamon bark scent as opposed to a "red" cinnamon, which is good.

 

However, the cinnamon mixed with that raisin-y smell makes me smell like oatmeal raisin cookies. Well, except for the oatmeal scent-- that definitely is not present in Priala, but nonetheless, there it is: raisin cookies. Pass. Yet another bottle I'll have to sell one of these days.

 

ADDED 3 (!) YEARS LATER--

I revisited this one after it's aged a long time. That raisin element is totally gone-- there's nothing food-like about it anymore. Still a brown cinnamon scent. The word that comes to mind is toasted. This is a nice toasted brown scent; fired as opposed to firey. Success! This has found a new home in my main collection... Priala is no longer banished. Horray!

Edited October 11, 2011 by mazikeen

[gnl]

Bottle: Wood smoke with with a little myrrh/cinamon underneath.

Wet: The myrrh is stronger than the smoke now but with an almost foody smell.

Dry-down: At first try, I though that Priala and Phantom Calliope were way too similar to bother getting both. But where PC is more cherry/red hots, Priala is smokier/darker. Like a grown-up version of PC.

Verdict: Definitely keeping the decant. Need to think quickly and compare before I decide if I'm getting the bottle.

 

4/5

Edited October 18, 2008 by gnl

[starwild]

I bought a bottle unsniffed, partially for the art and partially because it sounds so good. So what I'm reviewing is Lab-fresh Priala.

 

Bottle: WHOOSH. What's on fire? Possibly my nose! Very dark and with a smoke note that smells almost like brimstone, it's that dark note that scared me half to death in The Chapel. But this doesn't have that sense of foreboding, and it's not as grim. There's something lighter and spicy. It's a charred scent, like something that was on fire but is now smoldering. To me it's definitely cinnamon BARK, not pure cinnamon.

 

Wet: Almost pure brimstone-like smoke. Kind of stinks, honestly. :/

 

Dry: I'm glad I waited, because now it's less ashy and much more smoky myrrh. Still dark, but with flickers of cinders among the ash. The cinnamon is not sweet and very NOT foody. This is very wearable and mysterious. I'd almost say this is like an alternative to patchouli--it has that kind of "feel" to it, without smelling at all like patchouli.

 

This is one of those scents that really, really makes you think of its namesake. It's a phoenix--not a mythical one, but a real one, if you can imagine that. A human one. Bravo! Will keep this bottle for sure.

[hlinspjalda]

In the vial: Sharp and sour at first, then resolving into myrrh and smoke after it hits the air.

 

Wet: Warm, smoky, dark, it definitely smells like something sappy that's been roasted. I sort of get "used marshmallow roasting stick" off this one, only minus the sugar.

 

Twenty minutes: Still pretty much as described: bitter resinous smoke with an appetizing trace of cinnamon.

 

Hour and a half: Smoke, resin. Barely get the cinnamon now, but it still smells appetizing. And there's something else in there, it seems to me, something almost floral or maybe patchouli-ish. I'm definitely keeping this one, but I'm not sure I need more than an imp of it.

 

Three hours: Patchouli-myrrhish. It smells good, but not strong.

 

Will split a bottle with a friend.

[zankoku_zen]

I have to say that the painting of Priala is one of my favorites in CD. Unfortunately, the notes kinda scared me! I finally tried this baby out and it turned out to be a very nice sweet, incensey smoke blend.

 

Pretty.

[alhbooks]

I got a partial bottle of Priala as a forum swap, so it was somewhat aged, which is reassuring, because it ages beautifully. In the bottle and wet, the smoky quality takes the lead, but as it dries it softens to a warm spiciness that wears really well on my skin. I need another bottle to start aging before the Carnival leaves town.

[jewelbug]

Bottle: Strong, spicy cinnamon.

 

Wet: Okay, this is a skin burner, but I love spicy scents, so I just endure the burning to reap the benefits of deliciousness. Strong cinnamon. Beauty IS pain.

 

Dry: Very dry, spicy incense, on the woody end of incense.

 

Overall: Enjoyable, but not something I need to keep around. This was one of my "most excited about" CD's in this act, but our passions ended up only being lukewarm (after the burning phase, anyhow).

Edited October 1, 2008 by jewelbug

[Lamia]

This is just extraordinary, smoky, thick and not-food-cinnamon.

 

Charcoal burns the back of my throat if I inhale too deeply.

 

I'm surrounded by wafts of scented reddish smoke, waving hands about like an old Bugs Bunny cartoon, leading me ever forward.