The High Priestess

[sarada]

The strong cherry smell in the bottle almost puts me off testing this, as I really can't stand that smell -- the cherry/almond scent is almost always stomach-turning for me unless it's the early stage of heliotrope before it fades to a golden glitter. Ah, but this fades almost immediately from that stage and goes to a sinus-clearing mint. Interesting! There's still something alcoholic or medicinal in it that I don't like ... but if I had more of this I might be willing to experiment with it a bit. The heady smell does make me feel a little "high" and gives me a bit of a boost...I actually feel like this would be a good one to wear to work on a stressful day when I need to be ordering people around while keeping ice-cool and calm.

 

It actually dries down quickly to a resinous incensy smell. Wow, that was unexpected. It darkens fast, and now it's like wood stained by smoke and melted resin. Definitely a "me" smell in this stage. It ends on a STRONG resiny dry wood incense on me.

 

This is so complex I might need a bottle just to wrap my head around it...and to get that incredible rush of power that I feel when I first put it on. It was worth enduring the cherry stage, as it only lasts a few seconds. I can see using this both for meditation/introspection or for putting on on a day where you need to do some ass-kicking and feel calm and centered through it.

 

I might have to get this some day.

Edited June 11, 2005 by sarada

[yeahbutnobut]

The High Priestess

 

This is my first tarot scent, so here goes…

In the imp: almond, but also mint-a very piercing, cold mint.

Wet on skin: bitter almonds and that minty scent…knowing me, the almonds will fade, but it's a very strange mix, almonds and cold, green mint.

Dry on skin: the almonds fade and a green mint note takes centre stage. It's a cool mint, but there's also a herbal note there, like thyme and sage, or maybe rosemary or lavender. It's a green, leafy scent, quite pleasant, but with a cool note that brings to mind growing herbs covered with raindrops.

After a while: after a while, a sweeter note starts to come through, I can also smell pine or fir or eucalyptus? It's a complex and intriguing scent. It's also dark and cool, like a mysterious winter forest filled with shadows, illuminated by shafts of moonlight, but with herbal and green notes reminiscent of ancient herbal remedies and magical brews. But I'm sure I can also smell something resinous-this could be pine, as it's not a dark or sweet resin note. But I'm sure there's a sweet, possibly floral note underneath it all-lotus perhaps? However, the mint note is still clear and cold-and it seems to have cleared that headache I had before…wow.

Verdict: I'm totally dumb when it comes to tarot, but I've heard that the High Priestess card is linked to Isis (well, her image in the tarot deck looks just like Isis with her horned crown) which is what got me interested in trying this oil. As I know nothing else on tarot symbolism I won't be able to tell whether or not this fragrance complements the card, so I'll simply describe the fragrance. It's a very interesting, mysterious scent. At first it's bitter almonds and a cool, bright mint. But the almond then fades and the blend becomes a wonderful mix of mint and various green notes, ranging from pine to crushed leaves to herbs, a scent which is green and intriguing and with a cool, fresh aspect, and make this scent more appealing than the wet stage. I think there's thyme here, or sage, but there's also a green minty note there which adds a nice cooling freshness. Brings to mind many interesting images-makes me think of the cold, clear light of the moon shining on plants, trees and herbs. It feels approachable and somehow familiar, and yet veiled in mystery and full of ancient wisdom. A strangely beautiful scent. And it has an amazing effect-it cleared my headache!!!

[wickedgoddess]

Origins - - imp fresh from the lab.

 

Wet - almonds followed by tobacco. There may have been a touch of anise too, but almost as soon as I noticed it, it was gone.

 

Dry - perhaps the tobacco is penny royal? It's lightly minty now, but quite faint. I can't imagine that it's going to last out the hour. Strangely, it does. You know what this smells like? It's the same tobacco/penny royal combination that I smell in Helping Hand. This is not at all what I expected from High Priestess, but I sort of understand it. It's nice, but since I already have a bottle of Helping Hand, I won't be needing this too.

 

On the wickedgoddess scale of 1 to 5, with 5 being best, this rates a 3.

Edited June 27, 2005 by wickedgoddess

[iliadawry]

Bottle: overpowering almond with a tiny, tiny bit of green herb.

 

Wet: Almond and mint.

 

Drying: The almond fades, but the mint stays strong, and pine and chocolate notes start to emerge. This is incredibly dynamic! There's some spice in the background, cinnamon and clove maybe.

 

This is incredible, and a wonderful representation of my favorite deck's High Priestess.

 

/ili

[joseybird]

The High Priestess starts out as very sharp marzipan with something herbal/medicinal behind it. It quickly becomes bitter, like a plant root.

 

Although the scent mellows a bit over time, it never looses the "bitter root" smell. A big dissapointment

[tempete]

The predominant notes that I get from The High Priestess are almond (which fades away almost immediately), florals and mint. I really like TheDarkMother's description of a flower frozen in ice, and find it really appropriate for this scent.

[starrykitten]

I get lots of mint, plus lime, heliotrope, and sandalwood from the High Priestess. It reminds me of Leo, but without the orange and with mint.

 

It's a really nice scent to put in the bath, I think. I haven't used it much for divination, but it was very soothing, and good for getting off the ookyness of the day.

[Nisaba]

In the bottle, this is sweet almod. Marzipan I guess. Almond unfortunately is one of those scents I just can't stand.

 

Wet, still almond but there's some mint coming through.

 

On drydown it got slightly aniseed-y - the other scent I really can't stand. The High Priestess and I were never destined to get along, I'm afraid.

[Lady Ravenglass]

Whoa! Almonds! And hacking through the clouds of marzipan around my head, I can spy something sharper, almost minty. The almonds are determined to sit on this scent though.

 

As it dries, the mintiness becomes greener, but it's still kind of menthol-y. My nose is feeling chilled and slightly stung from sniffing it (but I'm suffering badly from hayfever right now).

 

Very minty, but in a green, medicinal way, rather than toothpaste! After a while it gets greener, but it's still quite sharp, like freshly broken leaves or twigs. I'm afraid I don't get any of the sweeter notes that others have, after the almond faded. But what a change from then to now.

 

Oh dear...sneezing now.

[pensive]

Impression: Not bad. minty!

On me: Mint with a hint of something.

Drydown: Herbal. Bitter. Sour.

Verdict: Ewwww. Not good. Not keeping.

[allidavie]

Cherry and almond, somewhat reminiscent of aveda's old cherry almond conditioner, along with an astringent green - mint, and maybe pine.

 

Whatever's in this, there's something I'm WILDLY allergic to in here - the only oil that I know I'm allergic to is cinnamon, and I don't think this has any cinnamon in it, so I'm stumped as to what it was that set me off. Maybe pennyroyal, as a lot of people seem to detect that in here - I've got no clue what pennyroyal smells like. but I think it's some serious stuff.

 

All in all, not too upset that I'm allergic to this one, as it wasn't a good scent on me anyway.

[UltraViolet]

In the bottle

Ooh, magicky, he he. It's sort of licorice scent or something.

 

On

It smells a tad medicinal, sort of minty, anise-like.

It's turning cherry like with vanilla maybe?

 

30 minutes

It's sort of like licorice and cherry now. It has pretty good staying power.

 

Throw:

a bit more than average

 

Scent category:

herbal/foody/spicy

 

Summary

It really hasn't changed much, it's still sort of minty, it might be pennyroyal as stated above.

 

Purchase again?

Possibly. It's a good representation of the High Priestess.

 

1-5 rating (5 being best)

3.5

[Diana]

This is a crazy morphing, magical oil. I guess that's appropriate for the High Priestess card!

 

I may edit this later once I get my 10mL, so I can slather without restraint!

 

In the imp & wet on the skin it's very strongly of almonds. Spicy, sweet, quite similar to the inital rush of cinnamon from Black Phoenix or Chimera.

 

A few moments later, the spicy note disappates, and the sweet almond smell is left behind. This reminds me a lot of almond syrup that my mom makes italian soda type drinks with.

 

Again, after a few moments, this starts to change again, this time a bit unpleasantly. It starts to smell of burnt rubber. The almond notes are all but gone at this point. The rubbery smell has a familar base note to it, but I cannot quite place it.

 

After a bit more time passes, the rubber smell starts to reveal a cedar note. This reminds me of the cedar closet in my parents' house.

 

After a little more time passes, the cedar remains but with a very light and subtle and faint innuendo of cherry.

 

(This whole morphing process probably took place in less than 45 minutes for what it's worth!)

 

Quite an interesting blend, and I cannot wait to get my big bottle!

[grrrlennyl]

at first: almonds and cherries.

on: much sharper. pine, i think. there's still that sweetness, though. very interesting. i think i'm getting a tinge of peppermint, too.

1 hour later: there's an interesting incense that has appeared. nice. the sweetness is still in the background.

4 hours later: just the lightest hints of incense.

overall: this is quite a morpher. i like how it goes from being strong to gentle pulling me in. definitely a very nice one. the later phase would definitely be nice for meditation or yoga.

[quimerula]

Almonds. My Nemesis note.

Sorry but I can't review it.

[gingersnapp]

In the bottle, it's very cherry-almond with a medicinal tinge of eucalyptus or a mint. On, it's very similar, but the cherry-almond tones down and the eucalyptus deepens, letting out a woodsy note of some sort... perhaps cedar? A very interesting blend, and since it is my Tarot card, I was so upset when I spilled half the bottle out by knocking it over when I applied it.

[Penance]

Origin:

 

The Tarot Series Circle.

 

Impressions:

 

Uh-oh, I smell almonds. That effectively ends this experiment since I can't wear anything with almond in it. I'll give it a quick sniff, though, since a requirement of the Circle is reviewing the oils.

 

All I really smell here is almonds, but there may be something else I'm not picking up on. If there's almond in a blend, it generally overwhelms everything else to the point where it's all I can smell.

 

The bottom line:

 

Definitely not for me. Almonds are my worst enemy, unfortunately.

[couscous]

The high priestess is a weird one, because it IS medicinal, with a sharp woodiness, but it's still extremely pretty, and I keep sniffing my wrists.

 

If I had to guess at some of the notes, I'd say cherry, definitely, with the same spearmint-y note you can find in Tarot : the Fool, spiked with pepper and grounded in something twig-like and woody.

 

It's definitely pepper-y!

 

It's not really a "sex siren" smell or a "nondescript office scent" , nor does it seem appropriate for any of the traditional "perfume goals" women may or may not have. This is a scent to wear for you, and you alone, when you need it. In many ways it seems more appropriate as aromatherapy than perfume, and it would be amazing as a linen spray.

 

Complex, a bit harsh, but ultimately very easy on the nose and quite fascinating. It would be good for vetiver fans (though I don't smell any, High Priestess has an extreme earthiness to it), and those who enjoy bracing, almost clinically clean smells as opposed to warm, languid ambers and gourmands.

[Blood onmy hands]

The High Priestess is very much Pine Sol cleanser on me. Piney and astringent, slightly minty.

 

I'm actually not getting any almond, which surprised me because my skin usually amps up almond to disgusting intensity.

 

It's crazy. I feel like I have a decant full of Pine Sol. I smell like I just cleaned my house in it and my clothes are soaked in the cleanser.

 

Good thing that I like the smell of Pine Sol.

[Firewaver]

This is actually minty to me? It smells quite a bit like Envy to me.. I don't smell cherries or almonds in the least amount.

 

All I smell is a kind of an astringent minty woodiness. A little odd, since no one seems to have had that experience with this oil. Anyhow!

 

It's a very different smell to my vanilla-loving nose. Very earthy and herbal at the same time... makes me think of an herb garden in the springtime after a rainstorm. Refreshing and green.

[Wench457]

ITB: cherry and almond tarts - Yum!

 

On: uh oh, some sort of chemical cleaning product. Fortunately, this phase only lasts a minute, if that. As it starts to dry, I get a whiff of tobacco, but not burning tobacco, like high-quality pipe tobacco, or the way the inside of a tobacco drying barn smells.

 

Dry: A lovely floral, with a hint of rich tobacco. Later on, I start to get frankincense.

 

This is an amazing fragrance, and I am so glad that I have a 10ml. I think I'll need a few more wearings to really wrap my head around it. All I know is that I love it!

[k00kaburra]

In bottle: Cherries and pennyroyal mint? It reminds me of cherry-flavored Vicks medicine that you give to kids when they've got a cold.

 

On me: Pine and cherry. Really, it makes me think of cough syrup even more when it's had a chance to interact with my skin. I hope this bottle finds a good home, because it isn't staying with me!

[aidenraine]

Oh dear, my stomach is not liking this blend.

 

It's too medicinal in association. Something that smells like soap and pine is really bothering me. I find myself wanting to clean my room with this blend, not wear it.

 

Is there a hint of anise under the pine? Maybe so, and that would explain it. I hate anise.

 

As it dries I do get pine mixed with hmmm hay? Like a barn smell?

It's like wood chips.

 

I don't mind the drydown but I really dislike the wet stage so I don't think I can wear this.

[Fefferbella]

Cherries and cedar. Simple and clean.

 

Very outdoorsy scent. I honestly can't decide if I like it or not. Deffiantely not getting a big bottle...

[Meg]

In the bottle: strong slightly bitter almonds with a hint of herbs.

 

Wet: lemon with an almondy background and something else that smells rather rubbery, possibly some kind of pine.

 

Drydown: a very smooth scent that's difficult to describe. It's warm, creamy, and there are certainly almonds in there, as well as pine and some spices, most prominently clove and perhaps cinnamon. Yet they aren't all that sharp, they're strongly dampened down by the almond base, which smells slightly like vanilla.

 

Overall: a rather pleasant scent, that just hangs around softly at the edges of your nose without being invasive. Actually it quite reminds me of Chimera, on me, minus the huge cinammon flare-up. Lots of people describe this as green, but I just see it as white and creamy, quiet and grounded. It's not me, but it's a fine blend.