Longing

[tartchef]

Rose geranium, frankincense, Ceylon cinnamon, golden musk, bay rum, and bois du rose.

In the bottle, Longing is a sweet & soapy musk, foppishly masculine, if that makes sense...

Once applied, it quickly dries down to fresh green & cinnamon over that same musk, which must be bay rum... it's an oddly compelling combination, bittersweet, fresh yet cozy... Alas, the bay rum & musk combination is pushing the frankincense into powdery territory I smell like a strikingly handsome man who has just emerged from an extravagently-priced spa, steamed & shaved & massaged to perfection... which I am most certainly not. I'll try this on the husband, but I suspect it will be a bit too much for him, as well...

Shame... this is 4 out of 4 Love Poems that just haven't worked for me, and I don't have high hopes for my last two. Phoo.

[suki]

in the vial: a strong men's cologne, coupled with soap and cream

 

wet on skin: men's cologne scent dominates, and is making me feel head-achy

 

dry down: same

 

in all: well, if you like strong man-cologne scents like Drakkar and Axe, then give this a try. me? er...no thanks

 

 

 

 

ETA: ok, i've been hanging out with it on a bit longer, and it's totally morphed! it's become something slightly powdery, but actually in a good way, and there's a beautiful spiciness that's present. wow. ok, so i've decided that if you can get through the first 15 or 20 minutes, this is *totally* worth having!

 

 

Edited March 29, 2008 by VioletChaos

[Eemia]

I was worried about the cinnamon but so far, so good. I tend to have reactions to some spices but this has behaved on my skin perfectly.

 

This is a lusty and grown up rose. Very deep and sensual. But it hasn't suffocated me with florals. It's very refined. Something I would wear at night because it seems almost too heavy for the daytime. I rarely say that but in this case I think it would be too powerful for daytime wear. The rose geranium is the strongest note, followed by the cinnamon. There is something clean underneath. I'm not sure what's creating the clean scent but it's pretty nice. Sort of unexpected with all those heavy/spicy/floral notes.

 

It actually becomes a lot less floral and feminine as it dries. It's more of a pure spicy scent at this point. Maybe slightly musky too. It has extremely strong throw on me, even after a few hours.

 

I think this is a head turner. I got some compliments when I wore it to work the other night.

[zankoku_zen]

I must admit that this was nicer than I expected. This is a golden rose, very warm, kinda spicy. I do get whafts of cinnamon from this, and the rose isn't overpowering or soapy.

 

That being said - it's still a rose blend, but it is less feminine than what I expected. Foppish man? Oh yes. Would he smell good? Definitely.

[alsatia]

Expectations: I love roses and cinnamon, and usually like rum. I might find the combination of notes a little unusual, but it doesn't sound bad.

 

In vial: The first whiff is powdery floral, then the musk and cinnamon appear. No rum yet.

 

On skin, wet: Very powdery. It reminds me of the body powder my grandma applied after her baths.

 

On skin, dry: Mostly floral. I can tell there's supposed to be something else to the scent, but not enough to really smell the something else. It's reminding me of fake florals, and I'm thinking this might be from the rose geranium.

 

After time: At 20 minutes, I finally caught a hint of cinnamon. I'm really not smelling much at all, and just now realized that, considering my sneeziness over the past couple of days, my sense of smell might be a bit impaired. At 30 minutes, it's getting a bit warmer like I'd have expected from the non-floral notes.

 

Conclusion: While I'm sure I'd have a slightly different impression of this scent when my nose is in good working order, I can tell that it wouldn't make it onto the list of scents I love. It borders on being able to make me sneeze even if I wasn't already, and I think if I wore it around my mother she'd be way oversensitive to it.

[edenssixthday]

Longing – This is another favorite of the Lupercalia 2008 update. Rose geranium is my all-time favorite scent in the entire world, so I was ecstatic to try this blend. This blend opens with the gorgeous scent of rose geranium and cinnamon – a combination I would have never guessed would smell so good! The entire blend is very musky, in a soft way that reminds me a bit of Buck Moon, and there’s the distinct scent of bay rum sweetening up the whole thing. I don’t really smell the rosewood or the frankincense in this blend as distinct notes, but I can tell they are darkening and deepening the overall scent. This is just a gorgeous, unique, and stunning scent and really well-crafted. The throw and wear length are both quite strong.

[martiangurll]

Longing

 

 

Preconceptions: I almost did not try this because both cinnamon and rose can be NOTES OF DOOM. The warm amber sounds good on the drydown though. If my skin chemistry amps rose as it is wont to due--FUHGETABOUTIT.

 

In the imp: Spicy floral! Rechecking the notes because this totally reminds me of smelling carnations. I think this is the interplay of the cinnamon and the rose geranium. Hope for this blend lifts.

 

Wet on flesh: warm, spicey floral notes with a hint of astringent herb. (this is pretty faint and for me so well blended that I can't pick out individual notes.) the cinnamon is amping but in a delicious way. I am always afraid cinnamon and rose together will make me smell like a bowl of potpouri, so I am eagerly anticipating the drydown, and anxiously hoping this does not happen.

 

Drydown: I am pleasantly suprised, as I anticipated an old ladyish smell, as Harlot with rose and cinnamon notes was a total disaster on me. I agree with YESBUTNOBUT that this could definitely double as a unisex scent and the cinnamon is much more subdued than expected. The golden musk adds a warm, dry and sweet but slightly musky base along with the golden glow of the amber. My nose is not sophisticated enought to tease out the rosewood (but perhaps my imp is not aged enough) The frankincense adds an incense type of smokiness which develops with the amber. Overall the feel is quite warm, golden and dry. I don't appreciate the bay rum as it seems to blend with the cinnamon. THis is not boozey for me at all, which is a good thing since I wore this to work today and I don't want to smell like a rumhound. The scent develops to become a lovely amber and frankincense with a touch of the rosewood. (guess it took a while to develop for me) The contrasting sweet and spice is sexy and cozy at the same time--like curling under a blanket with a book and a cup of cinnamon spice tea iwith a wood fireplace smouldering in the background. Now imagine the blanket was scented with a hint of rose water and that would complete my little olfactory "scene." Great sillage.

 

Overall Impression: Yes, I may need a bottle, and I think this will be well suited for autumn or early winter. This was a pleasant suprise as I thought the notes of doom would ruin it for me and they behaved. It does evoke a feeling of longing for me, like old love letters scented with rosewater drying in their rosewood box. Okay, I am getting a touch sappy here, so I must close out this review and I wonder if the scent is actually making me wax nostalgia. Even if you don't love rose, this is one to be experienced. You do need to love amber for this to work. The amber reminds me of the warm note in The Lion or Jacob's Ladder. I agree with comparison to Morocco, although the rose and geranium make this more of a floral. But its a floral plus spice that dries down to an incense lover's dream. If you were disappointed by Harlot, give this one a whirl.

[hlinspjalda]

In the vial: Herbal (geranium?), sweet, pungent, warm in that order.

 

Wet: Very strongly herbal-woody, with intense bay rum on top. Smells like it's giong to be a man's fragrance.

 

Half an hour: Wood first, then frankincense. The geranium is still very intensely there too; I can get cinnamon and bay rum, but no musk. Overall it is a pungent herb-wood over a warm spicy base.

 

Two hours: Resin and wood, mostly. The herbal notes are very much in the background now. This is nice, warming, a little sweet.

 

Three hours: Resin cinnamon rum. Yum.

 

Four and a half hours: Resin cinnamon, still yum.

 

Six hours: Nothing left but resin now, but still nice.

[Champagne]

In the imp it`s herbal and it doesn`t seem right for me cause I have a strong rejection for any floral..I put it on my left knee ready to wash it in case of rosey appearance ( ) Instead to my delight I discover a perfectly blended bouquet of soft cinnamon, frankincense and musk that catch perfectly the concept of the longing for a beloved far away. I sniff my knee and feel nostalgic and mellowed out as never. Throw is average and it didn`t last long, but it was a wonderful afternoon experience of late summer. it`s highly suggested for floral haters that want some escape from the usual notes, and for romantic pals too!

[elecktrik]

I wasn't entirely sure about this one on first sniff from the bottle...all I could really smell was the frankincense and the musk.

 

Wet on the skin, this was absolutely delicious. The cinnamon note was the most prominent, but it was more sweet than spicy. It smelled really great on my skin.

 

Dry, it's still quite nice. The cinnamon has faded pretty much completely and the frankincense and bay rum are the top notes here. It's not super cologne-y on me though, the geranium is still prominent!

 

Overall, I'd say it's a very pretty scent, but not coquette-ish...that probably makes no sense, but I really think that this scent would probably work beautifully on both men and women! I kinda wish that it smelled the same dry as it did wet on me, because that was absolutely gorgeous, but it's still quite nice!

[asciident]

Wet: Super floral.

 

First on: Sweet roses are overwhelming everything.

 

Dry: Sweet floral soap, yuck.

[Ceri]

In the vial: Floral soap

 

Wet: Floral soap & wet laundry

 

Dry: Soap!

 

Overall: Not for me.

 

ETA: After 4 hours, this has morph into a scent that's very different from the start. Now it is subtly sweet with hints of musk, cinnamon and rum. Definitely nicer than before.

Edited March 13, 2009 by Ceri

[Zeljana]

I got soapy rose with a minty feel. After it dries this "minty feel" translates into cinnamon. I got a little bit of frankincense but it is well in the background and is not pronounced enough for me not to call this almost a pure floral. It's interesting when it dries, but it is way too soapy for me to wear.

[rayvn1]

Lots of rose of course and a dark spice that I thought was clove, but I see is cinnamon. The combination is very pretty and surprisingly subtle since I tend to amp both rose and spice, but not really for me.

[mgrazulis]

Spiced rose, albeit a dry rose--with subtle rum and musk on the drydown. Just a trace of frankincense floating through. The cinnamon is just a tad amplified to my nose. Subtle and simple.

[Reedsong]

I adore Longing. The mix of spice, rose-sweetness, and resin is just gorgeous, in the bottle and on my skin. It amps so perfectly; I can smell it, and so can everyone around me. I get complimented by everyone, even my mailman!, when I wear this one. It's a beautiful expression of the warm love that every line of the poem exudes, and one of my favourite BPALs ever.

[Invidiana]

I definitely get the rose, but it's not overpowering; rather, it blends beautifully with the other notes to really encapsulate the feeling of longing. In relation to the poem's title and theme, the cinnamon in this is perfectly appropriate, like that spark of passion not quite extinguished but still drowned in too much sorrow to blaze fully. The frankincense and musk contribute to this blend's ghostly quality of lost love, and I do get the trace of bay rum that might be the last drop in a bottle that had been drunk down all the way out of misery the night before. Beth certainly has a way with scenting literature, and this is no exception

Edited November 8, 2009 by Invidiana

[voodoocatwoman]

This blend is cheap men's cologne on me. And then it turns to adhesive bandages.

 

Uh, no.

 

[NicoleJoy]

In the bottle, I can smell the alcohol (bay rum) and cinnamon most strongly. The musk calms it and makes this a much more delicate scent, in my opinion.

 

Wet on skin, it's still heavy on the cinnamon. I feel like I'm smelling perfume while chewing Red Hot gum, lol. At a deeper sniff, the rose and frankincense come out, slightly..

 

Dry on skin, the cinnamon does die down a bit. I smell the musk, rose, and frankincense WITH the cinnamon, instead of under it. It does conjure up the emotions of the poem quite nicely. Once this has softened, I really enjoy it a lot!

[DraloreShimare]

In the vial – A barely smellable floral.

 

On the skin – Bay rum, and a light undertone of musk. A soft spray of roses comes out to play after the initial application.

 

Dry – Just a musky bay rum/floral. I like it, but luckily don’t feel a need to track down more than my decant.

 

I didn't get any cinnamon in this, and just barely got any rose. And I actually didn't get any frankincense, which is what I was hoping for.

[Nymeria]

Cinnamon, with a touch of incense and a lighter touch of rose. A burnt orange/brown scent, very fall.

 

Good for wearing: when I miss watching my mom bake her walnut pie for Thanksgiving.

[LizziesLuck]

Found this in my "to test" box, and cannot for the life of me remember when I got it, or why? Lol (But I don't have a problem, I can quit whenever I want...)

 

Wet: VERY high pitched and perfumey. Florals and Frankincense come through the strongest. The florals are trying to go a bit soapy. Hoping it'll settle on my skin, because there's some promise under there. The musk note peeking through is glorious.

 

Dry: This settles into something fairly pleasant on me - resins and florals- but it doesn't WOW me. It's just...pleasant.

[Lucchesa]

I just acquired a bottle of Longing from a lovely forumite. I hadn't read the reviews; the notes just sounded so lovely. Bear in mind that this is now a decade-old bottle, and my nose is not at 100% due to a cold, but I'm getting very little cinnamon in the bottle and none on my skin. Also no skin sensitivity, which I have gotten from bay rum (that would be you, Baron Samedi) in the past.

 

Wet, the primary note is bay rum, making this a more masculine blend than I had expected. Rose geranium can be screechy on me, but the rum and the golden musk are keeping everything in a lower register, a kind of warm baritone. If I try, I can pick out the frankincense and rosewood, but everything is beautifully melded and mellowed into a warmth and depth and comfort. On the unisex continuum, it is definitely veering toward the masculine, but still something a confident woman can pull off with aplomb. I'm delighted to have it.