Wings of Azrael

[antimony]

Azrael is the Angel of Death, marked as the last being to die in the Apocalypse. Though a harbinger of doom, his duties are an act of mercy: he curtails human life before world-weariness and despair destroys our spirits. Warm myrrh swirled with a bittersweet blend of violet, Lily of the Valley, juniper, cypess and cajeput.

Quoting myself from when I first ordered this:

Don't get me wrong, this is a marvelous perfume - for someone else. Lily of the Valley just doesn't suit me. However, if any of the rest of you smell good in flowers, you will *love* this one.

[Koumori]

Interesting - on me, the myrrh note comes to dominate. Not to the extent of smothering all the others, as cinnamon tends to do on me, but I definitely get more myrrh than flowers. Unfortunately, myrrh is one of those "sharp" scents that I really don't want to be smelling all day long, so this is definitely not a big hit for me; but I gave my sample to a myrrh-loving friend, and she can't get enough of it! I *might* wear this at night or for a special party, but it's not to my taste for regular wear.

[jj_j]

For me, violet is the striking feature of this scent. It's not too powdery or sweet, and it just breezes over the lily of the valley, keeping it gentle. Myrrh is most definitely a "warming" factor to this one, but it doesn't get bitter or take away from the airy, ephemeral feel of the scent. While I never smell them individually, the juniper and cypress must be what balances this so well, since Azrael never feels top-heavy.

 

No pun intended, but this is just divine. It's absolutely spectacular, and in a light, almost insidious way. It creeps into my senses and firmly establishes itself, while I look around for the lovely springtime flower in bloom that I smell floating past on the breeze. I can completely relate to this scent as representative of release and renewal.

 

By the way, I'm not a floral fan. This ranks up there with Ophelia and Unseelie for me, which should tell you something about how fantastic this is. It's certainly worth a try, even if you don't prefer florals, as it may change the way you think about florals on yourself.

Edited March 9, 2004 by jj_j

[darkling]

I feel the need to preface this review by stating that I do not have the talent common to so many others on this forum of being able to identify specific and distinguishable scents from a perfume.

 

However, I do possess the talent of knowing precisely what I love and hate.

 

Wings of Azrael is the scent that began my fascination with BPAL and it remains one of my absolute favorite perfumes.

 

It doesn't smell at all flowery on me which is a blessing as I generally despise flowery scents. It smells warm and dark and suggests the feeling of being enveloped and protected.

[Ina Garten Davita]

First Impression: Violets. This is the first time, I think, that I've smelled one of Beth's violet based scents.

 

Second Impression: This reminds me of a "walking through the mall smelling perfumes scent", perhaps it's Gap Dream or something from Victoria's Secret. It's very airy and the name suits perfectly.

 

Final Analysis: Though a pretty scent it just isn't "me". But I do think that my best friend Nerissa will fancy this. I've ordered a few BPAL's for her birthday and this is going in with them.

[AmberBreathing]

Feminine, very striking but not over powering, floral but not “flowery” or girly; a very clean scent. When others say something is “clean” it often translates to “smells like soap” this isn’t a soapy scent at all.

When I was sniffing this throughout the day I kept picturing a striking woman in black with a gothic aura, the kind of person that seems intriguing and confidant in herself.

[la-roja]

Amberbreathing let me try some of her imp.

 

To me this is a white floral with green tones that keep it from being too flowery. It is very pretty and feminine.

 

White and green scents just aren't me so I won't be getting a big bottle but it is a lovely scent.

[TygherRayn]

In the bottle: Wet violets and mulch, oddly enough. Not pine straw mulch, but good, thick bark mulch.

 

Wet: This remains rather green on me, and while it's a very clean, soft, soothing scent, there are so many more that are moreso for me.

 

Wearing: This one is just not me. I think my skin is bringing out the juniper and the cypress more, and I'm just not sure those two work well with my skin. I'm very glad to have tried it, but it's going to join the swap pile.

[Effluvia]

Weird. I'm listening to The Cranes as I first smell this and type this, and there's this feeling of total oneness. This scent is melding with my musical experience perfectly...there's this perfect blend of complete and utter all-consuming sadness with a glimmer of hope and innocence, and impossible beauty. I'm visualizing very, very old angel statues in a cemetery on a gloomy day, flowers strewn about the ground. Children playing in cemeteries. I'm EXTREMELY intrigued by this!! I want MORE!!!! MOORREEE!!! lol

 

DAMMIT, I didn't think I liked light blue/light grey/grey scents!! I have to spend SO much more money, now!!! Thank you, Beth, for creating these things that help us to expand our minds and horizons and introduce us to worlds we'd never thing of entering ourselves.

[Tesseljoan]

When I'm reading this reviews i really think this is a scent that is VERY much affected by body chemistry (unlike, say, bordello). For me, the fresh green tones dominate, and the violet takes a back seat. The fresh (presumably juniper-) scent gives the violet an ethereal feeling.

Strange but beatiful.

[enozgirl]

In the bottle: All fresh and flowery. Wet flowers. Very vibrant scents. I can't wait to get this on me.

 

Wet: Still blues and greens and wet flowers. This is good

 

Dry down: What smells like antifreeze?? The wafting of this oil smells like maple syrup to me. I don't know what's doing it. I just walked past someone in the hall and they asked if I was eating pancakes. It's like... maplely flowers.

 

When I stick my wrist to my nose, I can smell the florals and myrrh. When I get my friend to sniff my neck (as I have not progressed to the yoga pose that allows one to do that yet), she says it smells like flowers you'd leave at a cemetary.

 

Entirely possible I brushed against something else today that's got a maplely smell, but I'll be damned if I can figure out what it was. I'll have to try this again to see if I smell like cemetary flowers or IHOP.

[Alice Aforethought]

I love this, before it dries. There is an intense yet still sense, with a perfect balance between the myrrh and violet, and the lily of the valley rich and complex and very elegant.

 

However, on drydown, there's a smell like curry on my skin! As much as I like curry, I'd rather not wear it. A beautiful and haunting scent, but my skin doesn't like it. Maybe one for a locket!

[Lux667]

In The Bottle: Very green smelling in the bottle with the undernotes of myrrh.

 

Wet: Still very green on me but all the myrrh disappears.

 

Dry Down: Yeck. Smells like dishsoap on me but luckily perhaps it only lasted a few hours before it was gone.

 

I was interested to try this one but alas it doesn't go with my chemistry well.

[ChupaChup]

I was so sure I was going to love Wings of Azrael, just from the description, I love all the notes in it. And it smelled so gorgeous in the vial. I put it on and I was in heaven...for about 30 seconds. This was before I knew what violets did on me. They go so sharp and sour, they absolutely ruined the other notes in Wings and I had to wash it off after half an hour. I love the smell of violets, on other people or in those little pastilles, but not on me

[Ishtar]

As much as I love violets, Wings of Azrael did not work on me, sadly. I should have read the description more carefully. Cypress hates me and juniper, unless it is present in homeopathic doses, makes everything go sour on my skin.

Sure enough, the combination of both resulted in a sharp, piercing, almost chilling scent that turned quite dark and sinister after a while.

 

Oh well, off to the Swap thread with this one...

[Northernminx]

Herbal but a dry one with a touch of floral, like sweet dry straw in the bottle. On me the myrrh is most prominent but the flowers and cypress add some sweetness under an otherwise very mellow blend. This is a very gentle, soothing scent, soft and comforting if a bit incensy. Oddly it does remind me of the cool cleanness of a funeral home, last tired moments of grief and peace.

[tempete]

I swapped for this scent because I love myrrh. However, I only smell myrrh if I inhale deeply. There is a very strong herbal green note that dominates on me and is not at all what I expected given the presence of other notes, floral and otherwise. This one will be swapped out.

[fairywingmaker]

Wings of Azrael is a very lovely scent if you like a soft floral. I can faintly catch the scent of Violet, and Lily, and the something that smells a little green...cypress? I'm not getting the myrrh at all, which usually jumps to the top for me.

[starrykitten]

Wings of Azrael is my favorite violet scent. It seems to stay on my skin the longest. I think the myrrh and the juniper help it to last.

 

 

When I apply a lot of it, the herbier smells come through at first and it takes them a while to settle in. By the time the violet comes in, though, it's there to stay. It's a more grounded violet smell than some like Veil which are more ethereal smelling.

[Penance]

I have to confess I got this for the name without having even read the ingredients.

 

Preconceived notions:

 

I would expect something with a name like Wings of Azrael to be dark and brooding smelling, maybe with a whiff of incense smoke.

 

First sniff:

 

Floral, very floral with a hint of something resiny which must be the myrrh. I'm not good at picking out floral notes other than lilac and rose, so all I can say about tem is that I smell flowers.

 

Wet on skin:

 

Mmm, myrrh and a hint of floral notes. I would have expected a scent named after the angel of death to be darker and more somber but this is light and quite beautiful, even if it's not what I would have expected.

 

Dry down:

 

Myrrh with a floral background. I was worried about the floral notes in this, but this is absolutely gorgeous. It's rich and resiny and light and floral at the same time. This is what I imagined All Saints would have smelled like.

 

The bottom line:

 

I really like this one. It's a complex scent that manages to be both a resin scent and a floral scent at the same time without being heavy on either one. Definitely a keeper.

[TheDarkMother]

In the Bottle: Wings of Azrael is cedar and violets! I'm in love!!!

 

On Me: The violets and myrrh are very dominant in this one with the cedar in the background. All of a sudden, here comes the lilies taking the forefront. Its a very herbalistic scent, which reminds me of funeral arrangements that I would make when I worked at the florists. Such beautiful arrangements all for someone who will never see them or never smell them, all for the hope of pulling the family out of their grief and depression.

 

This is gorgeous, really. And one day I just might get a bigger bottle of this, just for the beauty of the scent. But right now, its not something that I will wear a lot of. Its just too painful right now.

[Fyre_in_Winter]

Wings of Azrael was a freebie wih my last order. The name and description (I'd have had to have read it at some point?)hadn't sunk in my memory, so I didn't have any clue what was in.

 

A just briefly sniffed the imp and got a soapy sweetish green smell, but figured hey, why not?

 

I dabbed the tiniest bit from a mostly dry tester on the back of my hand. Well hmm, seems that Wings of Azrael turns to green dishwashing soap, with something pungent and sharp hanging over it's head on me. Had to go wash it off. Definitely not for me, but, someone has already offered for it, so it will find a good, loving home.

[Macha]

My bf picked out Wings of Azrael. I suspect that it was one of those fragrances (like me with Baobhan Sith) that he would have been crestfallen to find out he didn't like. Fortunately, there's a happy ending to this tale for both of us.

 

In the bottle smells of myrrh and greenery, likely the juniper and cypress, with violet in the background and almost sickeningly sweet smell just as I pull away (the lily-of-the-valley?)

Wet, on skin: Pure violets and myrrh, very herbal.

1.5 hours on skin: On me this goes very strongly to the resiny myrrh scent (which fortunately I love) with a lot of green and violet understones and a faint bit of sweetness at the edges. On my boyfriend, this is...less funerary, and the violets and myrrh have more of an equal footing. I think I like this rather a lot more on him than on me.

drydown Decently long lasting. Never turned into something obnoxious on either of us, so that's good.

Conclusion Call a bit of self-hypnosis, but I found this scent...morbid. Although the lily-of-the-valley stayed in the background for me, it hovered at the edge of my awareness for most of the day, and kept calling up the sweetness of decay, while the myrrh created a faint mustiness that kept me thinking of crypts and cemetaries. I found myself very depressed the day I wore this scent. I will of course have to try again to make sure it's not just a case of self-hypnosis at work. That being said, I adore this scent on my bf and on him it conjures up none of those associations.

[inkstone]

This was a freebie from the Lab.

 

In the vial: Florals with something else that's bothering my nose.

 

Wet: The same oiled note that I got from Blood Lotus. Must be myrrh. Ugh.

 

Drydown: Myrrh and lily of the valley, with the other florals hovering in the background. Of all the notes that have to predominate on my skin, it has to be the two I dislike.

 

Final thoughts: Not for me. Off to the swap pile.

[Idlewild]

Oddly, this one came out smelling like curry powder on me. Turmeric-ish. I have no idea where that came from, but it wasn't really to my taste. May well be a skin chemistry thing. It was so overpoweringly savoury-foodish that I had to wash it off. I will probably try it again another day just to see what it does and whether it was a hormonal freakout.