Hymn

[alston78]

A paean to true holiness, spiritual purity, and sacred enlightenment. Based on an incense blend sacred to the Virgin Mary: perfect rose absolute and Palestinian Lily of the Valley with olibanum, labdanum, frankincense and myrrh.

In the bottle: Hymn was a light, pure, pretty floral scent with the resin notes underneath. Very appealing, though I was reminded strongly of Easter Sunday with the church decked out in lilies.

On my skin: Oh, that myrrh! Once again, as soon as I applied the oil, the myrrh (with frankincense in tow) leapt out and overwhelmed everything else. I smell like someone's been swinging a thurible at me for two hours straight, and it's sharp, with no soft floral notes apparent. Sigh.

Final verdict: I'll be swapping this! I like the "in the bottle" phase, but I"m not a person to scent my whole home, and I've already got a nice collection of imps intended for soaps, etc.

[tinyvulture]

my first impression is that of dried rose petals scattered in a church. it’s a somber floral scent, clean and pure, not at all resinous like i expected from the frankincense and myrrh.

[Julilla Regina]

Wow, uber lily! I wish more of the incense notes had come out on me. I think my skin really amplified the lily though. It's strongly floral, so floral haters beware. I do usually like the florals, and I think my skin chemistry really freaked out with this. I only got lilylilynothingbutlily. Beautiful in the imp, though and not quite so lily-ish.

[surf-tormented]

It comes out majorly rosey on my skin, almost like rose water. It is really clean smelling, but isn't for me.

[Brianne]

In the bottle:

Hymn is really interesting, it smells exactly what I thought it was going to smell like. Floral and incensey, it's such a unique combonation.

 

On me:

Yup, pretty much what I knew was going to happen. The Lily kicked everything else to the curb and now I just smell like soapy lily unfortunately. I'm coming to learn that lily doesn't work on me personally, so I know that for other people this will probably smell really nice. But on me, it's just lily and nothing but.

 

Final note:

Clearly a really interesting scent from what I smelled in the vial, sadly though, my chemistry amps up lily and now I smell like soap.

[Sara]

Hmm... a soft, powdery and slightly incensey-ness is my initial sniff. After swiping it I'm attacked by florals! Ahh!

 

When my arm is away from my face I just smell flowers (god I hate florals, not just any florals, but these kind - whatever the hell they are! ). But when my arm is next to my nose it isn't so bad...although it does smell just like flower soap. I mean, it's not a bad soap smell, but I think it's a little odd to smell like flower soap.

 

Overall this is sooo not me. On name alone I thought this would be a soft incense similar to Tushnamatay, in reality it couldn't be farther. I get no incense on my skin, strictly flower soap.

[lady_pandora]

The heck with spiritual purity! This one is very sexy on me.

 

I can't really pick out which notes I'm smelling; it's more of an overall effect, warm and incensey with a bit of floral. It's very "second skin" on me and had me sniffing my wrist all night. My friend said I smelled "like angels". LOL.

[magikfanfic]

In the bottle: I did have an imp of this that I wanted to try, but it got beheaded and I couldn't open it anymore so I just threw it away. Yay for second tries. Smells like a holy rose scent. I usually can't do frankincense or myrrh but the inclusion of the rose makes me thing it might work. It has a very well-blended smell to it in that only the rose really seems to make itself known while the other notes blend in for the background.

 

Wet: Rose. Rose and...something slightly...well spicy is the only word that really comes to mind. It's a very incense kind of smell. Fairly strong, almost soapy incense kind of smell actually, which isn't actually that good on me.

 

Dry down: Ummm...incense soap. No roses. No lilies, which is something of a good thing as they do not work on me in the slightest but neither does this incense soap smell that I'm getting. Well, there's a peek of the rose. So now it's a floral/incense soap. I had high hopes for this one. It smelled so good on the boy when he tried it. The problem was that it was just a little too floral on him, which is why we thought it would be lovely on me but no dice.

 

Dry: Incense soap with a little bit of floral in the background. I had hoped for a lovely sacred rose scent. Oh well. Maybe I'll try Rose Cross.

[cupide430]

Hymn

Starts out with a hard edged sharp floral that reminds me a touch of Belle Epoque. The harder edge is slowly fading off into a powdery floral. It's not really for me. Another one for the swap pile.

[urraca]

This starts out as rose and lily, equally mixed, for me. The lily prevents the rose from being too cloying and the rose softens the lily. Slowly as it dries down a soft incense scent starts to rise as the florals back off. This doesn't last very well on me but it is lovely and I keep reapplying it.

[Angela]

In the bottle: A very light, striking floral with a little green and something else I can't describe...

 

On me: It started out as a warmer, more heady version of the bottle smell. I thought I'd like it. But then this sharp soapy smell started to appear almost instantly, and it just got stronger and stronger until I got a headache.

 

Like someone else said, it smells like soap...and that's about it. Very NICE soap, but soap all the same. Darn. I wanted to like it.

[TroubleDoll]

I love BPAL's church inspired scents, and this is no exception.

 

it is a light resiny floral that is warm and blends well with my skin.

 

Might be needing a big bottle....

[magdalene]

in the bottle: I can really smell the rose note when sniffing from the bottle, mixed in with an incense.

 

wet on skin: wow, this is like the inside of a Catholic church, during High Mass. Roses at the foot of the Virgin Mary, candles burning in droves. Frankincense and myrrh.

 

dry: the rose has faded a bit, to give way to a pure incense type of scent. Wonderful.

[sookster]

Gorgeous floral blend...roses and lily of the valley are predominant on me

Has subtle touches of incense notes as well...very beautiful, clean smell.

 

Another award winning combo that I may have put on my list of

"big bottles" from the lab

[arabella]

First impression: Soapy roses.

 

Dries down to: This never changed from beginning to end.

 

Additional comments: Unfortunately, this is another one where the rose devoured every other note. I never got anything but soapy roses. Very disappointing - I love LotV and frankincense and had hoped for so much more from this one.

 

Lasted: Thankfully, less than an hour.

 

Rating: 1 out of 5

[k00kaburra]

I've tried this one before, but I didn't write a review, only made a note that I didn't care for it.

In bottle: Very strong rose and lily. In the bottle it is slightly herbal, slightly astrigent.

On me: No incense at all; this is nearly pure florals. It definitely makes me think of a church; ours had a rose garden in front of it, and the scent of the rose would waft up during the sermon through the windows and mingle with the lilies decorating the sanctuary. Very pretty, but the florals are a bit strong and blatent for daily use.

[olympia301]

Very pretty floral, it is indeed what you would want to wear if you are singing in the church choir. Heavenly flowers which are very soft, one of Beth's legendary white flower blends. This one is nummy if you are the White Flower loving person. There is an undertone of myrrh and I smell a green grassy note, too.

[Phaedra]

This is a light floral which is also very faint on me. It reminds me of spring and daffodils, also lily of the valley maybe. It's a bit similar to Fae but not as sweet. This has a wispy and watery quality to it. This dries down to a soft rose and at that stage it reminds me of Moon Rose. This is very feminine and pretty but not one I have to have more of.

[girlmadasbirds]

i typically don't care for floral scents, but this one is rather beautiful. somber rose and frankincense with a subtle incense note and white florals. very feminine and pretty

[Savannah]

So it's official. Rose on me = nasty, soapy death. There will be no more experimentation with anything with rose in it, no matter HOW nice the other ingredients are. This is depressing.

 

I can smell that it's a beautiful blend-- the frankincense, one of my favorite scents in the world, smells just a little brighter than usual, and I'm wondering if that's the olibanum, since I'm not too clear on the distinction. I love the hint of fresh, honey-sweet lily of the valley, and the myrrh grounds the scent wonderfully. But guh, rose! Cannot deal!!

 

I'll be passing this along to someone less rose-opposed.

[sun_set_bravely]

Hymn

 

This one was a lab bonus. Thanks y'all!

 

In Bottle: Sweet, light, and slightly bitter. The lily scent is strong, but lovely.

 

Wet, On Skin: Almost smells like sunscreen, but it stays on the perfume side of the line. Dusty rose mixed firmly with lily. Smells like an old jewelry box with a fragrance that lived inside for years.

 

1.5 Hours on Skin: Gentle lily now. The scent wafts up into my upper nose.

 

Drydown: Very faint scent -- I like this part of the scent the best.

 

Conclusion: Okay, but I wouldn't buy the bottle. Note to self - if wearing out for an occasion, apply it several hours before leaving, as the scent reaches its best point on me then.

Edited September 6, 2005 by sun_set_bravely

[vesper]

Hymn, from "Sin and Salvation"

 

In the Imp: resinous floral

 

Wet on skin: resinous floral

 

Dry on skin: resinous floral

 

I don't know if I would use this as a personal scent; this one actually does smell a lot like the inside of my parish church, which I love but maybe not to wear. I'd love a room to smell like this, though.

[Blood onmy hands]

I would really love to find a great rose and incense scent. A scent where the rose doesn't smell bitter or soapy. Dark, sexy, and resinous. Hymn, unfortunately, is nothing but soapy floral on me.

 

The rose starts out strong here, sharp and bitter. Then after a few minutes it's taken over by lily. And lily always goes soapy on me.

 

Hymn just smells like sharp rose soap on me. It'll be one for my swap pile.

[Firewaver]

Hymn is really a vibrant and clean scent.

 

I smell the rose in the bottle and right out of the gate when applied to my skin. It's a slightly astringent rose, accompanied by lily (which is usually also astringent on me). Soapy and freshly plucked. The rose in this scent doesn't smell like a fully bloomed rose; more like one that is newly budding.

 

If I were to suggest a color for this scent, it would be a light greenish-yellow.

 

Drying down, it's becoming a bit more sharp and serious. This really makes me think of sitting in a church and trying to sing along with the hymns, though I don't know the words. It's the combined smell of the perfumes worn by the faithful ladies in the choir, singing their hearts out. Very floral and innocent, though perhaps overwhelmingly so.

 

A nice and evocative scent, though it definitely isn't a "me" scent.

[herongale]

Hymn (Sin and Salvation line)

 

preconceived notion (a new feature of my reviews): Rose, myrrh, and frankincense? Sounded like a perfect mix for me. It has been my growing sense that scents that have to do with goodness and purity do better on me than those which are more evil/naughty/overtly sexual.

 

in the bottle: A clear light golden color. My first whiff gives me the impression of a spicy rose; this is a very strong yet pure scent, very floral. However, I don't get the sense of a natural floral (nor even a natural rose... one of the best roses I've come across is the recently released Stella McCartney scent, Stella). Although there is something about this that reminds me of Seraphim, for some reason this comes off as darker and more perfumey.

 

wet: Scrumptuous. Very pretty. The rose becomes more realistic. This is what I imagine the roses of Revolutionary Girl Utena smell like... kind of portentious, ya know?

 

drydown: my first babypowder conversion. However, and this is noteworthy, my mom told me that I smelled like 'incense' at the same time I was smelling Johnson and Johnsons. So apparently what I smell on my skin is different from what other people smell, at least for this fragrance.

 

verdict: nice. But not quite right for me. I think I'll use the rest (unless I find someone else who I think this will suit better), but I won't buy any more.

 

post-conceived notion: my idea that I am suited for the angelic scents and that they are suited for me seems to still hold, but it requires some tweaking. Clearly, not ALL of the goldie scents are Herongale-appropriate. However, I do feel that this scent confirms my idea that rose notes like me.