The Head of Holofernes

[angelicruin]

And when it was grown late, his servants made haste to their lodgings, and Vagao shut the chamber doors, and went his way.

And they were all overcharged with wine.

And Judith was alone in the chamber.

But Holofernes lay on his bed, fast asleep, being exceedingly drunk.

And Judith spoke to her maid to stand without before the chamber, and to watch:

And Judith stood before the bed praying with tears, and the motion of her lips in silence,

Saying: Strengthen me, O Lord God of Israel, and in this hour look on the works of my hands, that as thou hast promised, thou mayst raise up Jerusalem thy city: and that I may bring to pass that which I have purposed, having a belief that it might be done by thee.

And when she had said this, she went to the pillar that was at his bed's head, and loosed his sword that hung tied upon it.

And when she had drawn it out, she took him by the hair of his head, and said: Strengthen me, O Lord God, at this hour.

And she struck twice upon his neck, and out off his head, and took off his canopy from the pillars, and rolled away his headless body.

And after a while she went out, and delivered the head of Holofernes to her maid, and bade her put it into her wallet.

And they two went out according to their custom, as it were to prayer, and they passed the camp, and having compassed the valley, they came to the gate of the city.

And Judith from afar off cried to the watchmen upon the walls: Open the gates for God is with us, who hath shewn his power in Israel.

And it came to pass, when the men had heard her voice, that they called the ancients of the city.

And all ran to meet her from the least to the greatest: for they now had no hopes that she would come.

And lighting up lights they all gathered round about her: and she went up to a higher place, and commanded silence to be made. And when all had held their peace,

Judith said: Praise ye the Lord our God, who hath not forsaken them that hope in him.

And by me his handmaid he hath fulfilled his mercy, which he promised to the house of Israel: and he hath killed the enemy of his people by my hand this night.

Then she brought forth the head of Holofernes out of the wallet, and shewed it them, saying:

Behold the head of Holofernes the general of the army of the Assyrians, and behold his canopy, wherein he lay in his drunkenness, where the Lord our God slew him by the hand of a woman.

Dried blood, boiled wine, leather, galbanum, onycha, tonka bean, and pomegranate.

Oh gee, my first time starting a topic ANYWHERE on BPAL...hope I am doing this correctly!

In the bottle, I smell wine and pomegranate.

Wet on the skin, the wine and pomegranate are still dominant, but I can detect the leather and blood notes as well now.

As it dries on the skin, I smell the wine, pomegranate, and blood. Not bitter, but not super sweet either.

This is going to age very well, I think. And I will definitely be keeping my bottle and considering a back-up before Yules comes down.

[dawndie]

In bottle: fruity red wine

 

On skin: wine with strong sweet pomegranate

 

Half-hour later: musty-dusty wine with that "blood" note, like something catching in the back of my throat.

 

In conclusion: pomegranate and dark wine are favorite notes of mine, and I'm hoping the dusky leather and tonka will appear upon aging. Another luscious dark winey blend like Blood Garden and Wanda, very nice!

[strangemodegirl]

When I first put this on it was all grapey cheap wine, kinda like Mad Dog 20/20!

 

But, have no fear, once it dried down it morphed into something GORGEOUS! It's all pomegranate, blood and wine. I was actually nervous about this one because as much as I love the smell of leather, it doesn't do well with my skin. As of right now (have had it on for about an hour), I am not getting any leather.

Pomegranate and blood are two notes that seem to adore my skin, this is no exception.

I think this is going to age very well.

[jehrichardson]

Wet: Winey pomegranate. Strong!

 

As it dries the overt fruitiness fades a touch and the leather notes start to come in a bit with a rich swirl of woody vanilla notes. The pomegranate is a bit much for me, but I like it much better as it dries - less Hello Kitty and more sophisticated.

[Delirium1009]

In bottle/imp: Grape and a bit of candied pomegranate.

 

Immediately on skin: Powdery grape and more powder, with a touch of leather. This has a very soft note to it too, but it’s not really creamy… just soft and lightly sweet.

 

After a little while: This gets more and more grape-dominated as I wear it. It’s grape, plus a touch of pomegranate (both really sweet) and a bit of powder poured over the top.

 

Overall Impressions: I don’t like overwhelmingly grape scents, and this is just that. I had high hopes for the leather and tonka bean, but they’re not really evident here, especially once this dries down.

[galahad]

In The Bottle

Fruity wine

 

On Application

Dirty socks and wine with sweet fruit

 

Dry Down

Doesn't take long for the sweaty smell to fade and leave a beautiful spiced red wine and pomegranate. This doesn't morph much from the spicey, fruity wine with a touch of leather. I love this and I'm so glad a snapped up a bottle. Can I just say, the yule labels are beautifully minimalistic.

Rating (0-5)

4.5

[myth]

This one starts out very fruity-winey on my skin, and I don't really smell the leather, which for me is good. Unfortunately something soon turns sour, and it becomes cheap-wine-gone-bad. This was a long shot blend for me to begin with, and it most definitely doesn't agree with me.

[Brianne]

This goes on very grape-y (am I the only one who thinks grape scents and wine scents are distinctly different? The two things smell very different from me, though wine involves grapes, it smells different than just grapes). This scent is a real head scratcher for me... the notes in this are ones that I wear in scents frequently and know how they behave. But nothing in this "works" on me the way it normally would. The leather is almost non-existant, which just never happens for me. The tonka never shows up and the grapes are very grapey (and not wine-y) and dominate this scent like woah.

 

It's not a bad scent at all, just totally not what I was expecting! I was hoping for more leather, so I think this is probably not a keeper for me.

[sookster]

straight sniff from imp is super fresh grapes!!

 

once applied this stays very fruity...after awhile the slightest hint of leather and other

notes make this fabulously interesting...give this one a try for sure

[weds]

Holofernes wants to be occupying a strange middle ground between Blood Moon ‘08, Hunter Moon ‘07, and...anise?! (Tonka, is that you?) No pomegranate to be found. None real, anyhow.

 

In the vial, it was all strange and inexpensive wine. No, not that. Cheap wine. Sparkling carmenere: one of the finest reds of Idaho.

 

I loved the grapey drydown (compare Purple Phoenix, Penumbra, Dionysia), but feared for overfamiliarity (compare Purple Phoenix, Penumbra, Dionysia...). My comfort zone spectrum resembles my bad habits. Fortunately, the blood and leather came and tamed the grape. This surprises me not a little bit, since leather is akin to woe and the need to bathe, but I suppose blood and the skin of dead creatures have a precedent on me.

 

I can't decide whether I've solved the No More Hunter Moon problem or contributed to the All Purple Everything, All The TIme one. Luckily, I have six weeks.

Edited February 28, 2009 by wednesday white

[Blood onmy hands]

In the bottle: cherry cough syrup, the extra bitter adult kind

 

On my skin, it's even worse. It morphs into cough syrup and the sharp, chemical jab of cheap hairspray. It also smells strangely dry. And it's strong and headache inducing. I had to wash this off after about 15 minutes because it was making me and my fiance ill. It reminds me a bit of the Stardust blend, if Stardust were high on cough syrup and cheap wine.

 

I'm definitely not keeping my decant of The Head of Holofernes, though I'd probably recommend it to people who love Stardust and wine blends. This blend is just very not-for-me.

[stefrand]

ITI: Definitely grapey!

 

Wet: Sexy grapes wearing leather! This is an unusual scent but I rather like it! It's very complex. I can smell the sweetness of the tonka coming out. I'm picking up some incense as well, but it's not too overwhelming. Medium-low throw.

 

Dry: This has the potential to get too sweet and girly on me, but every time it starts to do that the leather reins in the pomegranate. Smoky, spicy, and pleasant, with a slight saltiness underneath...I'm guessing that's the blood, but it smells more like sexy skin saltiness.

 

Drydown: I really like this. The leather is a little strong, but not in a bad way. It's a sweet leather note, not a sour one. The pomegranate works well with the wine, making it smell fresh and grapey instead of sour (like wine usually does on me). The galbanum & onycha anchor everything in spicy incense, and the tonka wafts around sweetly. Lovely. Unusual, but I think I might actually wear this sometimes. It would be a great fall perfume. It's a little too outdoorsy for an evening scent, but a great smell for a festival or a walk in the park. I bet this will age beautifully.

 

Final thoughts: I was not expecting to like this! So, apparently with the Yules this year I hate the things I was expecting to love, and the last minute wild-cards are going really well on me. Weird. Keeping the imp for sure. Maybe even getting a bottle! I ordered this for Daniel, but it is mine! Mwahaha.

[femmefatale]

I don't know why I got this one. It has 3 notes I don't like: wine, blood, and pomgranate and 1 that I do but doesnt usually work for me: leather. So 4 out seven should be scent of doom.

 

Somehow though, it isn't. I get more grape, than wine, the leather is there just enough to keep everything from being too sweet, the pomegrante is almost unrecognizable but just lends a slight different fruity feel, and I think the blood is what's giving this a faint spice.

As it dries further it takes on a more sophisticated feel, perhaps just a bit powdery. I would love too see a bit more tonka and I wish it was stronger, but surprisingly, I really like this. I'll try my decant a couple more times before deciding on a bottle, but it's taught me that maybe I shouldn't completely rule out these notes.

[kjirstiben]

This goes on smelling of wine... rather grapey wine, but wine nonetheless. It continues to be so, but the grape note intensifies and I'm getting a touch of extra fruitiness that must be the pomegranate.

 

As it dries down, there's a definite pomegranate underlayer, and some leather emerges with the wine (grape) scent that takes center stage.

 

However, this all but disappears on me after a few hours... there's a subtle leather and wine scent lingering right on top of my skin but that's about all.

 

Very nice, but I think my skin eats it!

[kakiphony]

In the imp: This is very fruity, and the pomegranate is the dominant note. It's not at all what I was expecting.

 

Wet on skin: This smells very much like Swank upon first application to my skin. The fruit is very dominant. On second and third sniffs I can just abrely begin to smell the tonka as a deep, yet sweet base note.

 

Early dry down (15 minutes): This isn't so much a morpher as it is a scent that blossoms with time. The fruit is mellowing and kind of melting into the base notes of tonka and leather to create a scent that is both very feminine and fruity, yet grounded. It reminds me of Nanny Ashtoreth at this stage, and is quite lovely.

 

Late dry down (1 hour): This has remained quite light and fruity on me. IT is, however, not overly sweet. It's kind a combination of Kosher concord grape wine, pomegranate seeds and just the faintest hint of leather at the base.

 

Verdict: Surprisingly feminine and quite fruity. I expected something darker in tone, but kind of like it. I think I prefer the naughty Nanny for my fruit, wood and leather though.

[Lionesse]

Grape Bubble Yum. *sigh* No leather, no pomegrante, just grape bubble gum. Which is an awesome childhood memory scent, just not something I want to wear

[iiinterstate]

I'm reading over the notes now and not entirely sure why I wanted to order this decant. Something must have jumped out at me but I can't remember what it was.

 

In the imp it's grape bubble gum. On my skin it reminds me a bit of fresh Blood Garden, must be the wine.

Very very wine. I think I was probably hoping for more leather and pomegranate, but the wine is overpowering.

[Hayet]

This is a very grape-y scent. That's all it was on my skin- hours of grapes. Not bad, but not really a standout scent either.

I certainly didn't think of a severed head when I kept getting whiffs of this lovely scent!

[Coldfire]

Decant: Sweet but not sugar sweet

Wet on Me: Ooooo the wine! And the pomegranate. So far sooo lovely!

Drying Down: Less wine now, more of the tonka bean and a powdery trace.

Dry: ooooo the wine is back! No leather tho…and I like leather scents.

But this is awesome and made of win! Might needs the bottle of this!

[theseagrows]

yep, i knew the pomegranate would be the deal-breaker here, but i was hoping it wouldn't be. red fruits often turn to scented-doll scent on me, like a fruity plastic scent, and this one does too. it's like scented doll with a hint of leather. scented dominatrix doll??? i dunno!

[fairnymph]

In the bottle: Goldenrod coloured oil. Sweet and fruity from the grape and pomegranate. Hint of leather and green-fresh galbanum.

 

Wet: Similar, though a bit less grapey, and more of the tartness from the pomegranate is showing through. I think tonka is making this as sweet as it is, but it's barely distinct as a note.

 

Dry: Slow to dry. The metallic-tanged blood - which isn't overly dried-smelling - has emerged. Wine is still grape. It's become a bit incensey now, though, and resiny from the onycha (benzoin).

 

Summary: The odd incense note and leather amp over time, creating a smoky, rustic haze over the sweet, resiny base. Only hints of the fruits remain. The emergence of the leather makes this quite unisex. Decent throw.

 

Not my thing, but definitely an interesting morpher!

[Tal Shachar]

First impression: Dammit, Welch's grape juice. I knew it, I knew it, but severed-head/blood/leather/galbanum overcame my good judgement. It was supposed to be musky and resiny, a thing of beauty, not this foul abomination!

 

It does improve on the skin. The purple-Jell-o quality calms way down and it opens up in a pretty awesome way. Galbanum, yay! The monolithic juicy purple scent opens out, the leather note popping and the dried blood accord coming out. The dried blood is essentially metal but...well, it does smell like blood, although I'm not sure I'd make that association without the description. Onycha appears later, which I recognise from Hades.

 

Overall, this is much more interesting than I would initially have given it credit for, but I could still live without the fruitiness. The leather-metal-wine-incense combo means it's quite a bit like The Black Tower, and I like the latter better because the wine there just passes in and out on my skin instead of sitting right out in front.

[greenranger]

On me, this started off very very grape. This is odd, because usually wine notes work well on me.

 

It settled down to a slightly fruity, quite unobtrusive, very slightly spicy, leather scent.

[gnl]

Bottle: Wine and pomegranate, but a candy sort of wine and pomegranate.

 

Wet: Grape cough syrup. Er. Not exactly what I was going for here...

 

Dry: Okay, it's a little bit more wine than cough syrup once it's dry. Still very grape, though.

 

Verdict: Meh. I was hoping more for pomegranate and blood, not grape wine. This is doing nothing for me.

 

2/5

[Lirion]

In the bottle I smell wine and pomegrante - both scents that work very well on me.

 

First on - sweet grape juice. Hmmm. Then something, I can't identify the ntoe comes up and dispels the sweetness. In fact... it mutes the entire fragrance until there is almsot nothing left, within 5 minutes.

 

10 minutes later though, this delightful rich smell of pomegranate wine with undertones of leather and blood waft across my rose. It's amazing, it went from sweet syrup to being eaten by my skin chemistry to this delicious rich sexy scent..

 

It lasts really well too.

 

Mmm, gorgeous. I am lucky that the wine note really suits my skin chemistry so I did have hopes for this one :-)