Hymn

[Indigo78]

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.

This is pretty...erm.."televangelist" in the imp, at least for me. I didn't believe a word Hymn said when I caught an epic smack of smell, right in the nose. Argh. Much too much, and I will not put my "hands on the screen"!

On the skin the incenses lead the way, crowding out Rose & Lily almost entirely. After twenty minutes I *think* I catch a whiff, but no. I would have loved to get more. I'm reminded strongly of a 60's/70's fragrance that my mother wore called Heaven Scent.

This one is better after thirty minutes or so, but not quite bottle worthy. Maybe I'll enable Mom with the imp (?)

[steffanina]

Hymn-

 

In Bottle: Very "perfumey," a strong floral.

 

Wet: Sweet strong floral perfume.

 

Dry: Strong, strong, strong. Not quite eye-watering, but, wow, does this have lasting power. Bitter florals that nearly cut your eyeballs, they're so sharp. It's not for me but I don't dislike it. It's just that it's cruel and perfumey.

 

Overall: Not for me but I kind of like how vicious it is.

[greenranger]

On me, wet, roses and resins. *crosses her fingers* There might be enough resin to keep the roses in line on my skin...

 

Roses, but, not screaming roses. I have hope.

 

I can tell the resins are there, but, it is still mostly a rose scent. For a rose scent on my skin(where roses usually scream and overpower everything for a while and then burn out and vanish), this is staying fairly nice.

 

I think I have three scents now where the resins are keeping the roses under control. I won't need more than the imps I have. Probably ever.

[caffinatedangel]

I've an uneducated nose with this scent. I don't know any of the notes, but rose. And rose is being drowned out.

 

It smells like my grandmother though. For me, that's bad. For the scent, that just means it smells very clean, wise, sophisticated, and very very resin-y floral.

 

I only received a dab of it in an imp through a frimp from a fellow member. Which I am slightly thankful for. It's not something I'd ever put on willingly aside to test. Nor is it something I want stinking up my BPAL box. (I'm so cruel)

 

It has a place, and a kind of person. I'm neither. If I was to smell this on my friend Diana (a very kind christian, which I feel is true to her word and respectable, etc. As well as a very clean and pure girl.) it would fit quite well. Which means the scent nails the description, and definitely reminds me of Church. Creepy.

[hlinspjalda]

In the vial: Strong rose water, but not sweet, and with a resinous pungency.

 

Wet: Immediate spike of some floral not rose, and a different resinous pungency. There is something extremely sweet and almost citrusy under there struggling to come out, but the resins have it overpowered.

 

20 minutes: Much calmer now. The florals blend beautifully, neither one predominating. The resins give it a nice complex base without a dominant note. This is subtle enough to wear everyday, but I think I'd be inclined to choose it for specific purposes, not wear it as an everyday.

 

Two hours: This is very understated When I sniff myself, it's very pleasant, but faint.

 

Four hours: Interesting. I went out for a walk and the minute I hit the open air suddenly I smelled it very strongly, particularly the rose element.

[skepticism]

I tried to love Rose Cross, but it ended up being too sweet for me. Been trying to find a good rose/incense churchy blend, and Hymn really hit it on the nail. The lily adds a subtle sour note to the blend, which balances out the rose note's sweetness. Hurray! It's a very clean, holy smell. Imagine myself sitting on the pew during mass (bored as usual) and gazing out of the church side door. The smell of the freshly cut garden rose garden mixes with the old, sanctified wood of the pew. I'm definitely buying a bottle of this.

[ladyver]

this is a very delicate light pink and white scent

 

rose in the beginning (like a rose otto or old fashioned variety) with just a touch of resins to gently round out the scent. later the lily of the valley appears to add another dimension.

[tacey]

Hymn is just perfectly named -- truly evocative of the best moments in worshipful singing. Beautiful rose, clear un-smokey incense, and soft woods. Just a bit of lily, and a beautiful throw. I'm now on a mission to try all the rose/incense blends, but Hymn will certainly always have a place.

[melrose]

Nope, huh-uh. By turns, plastic, aquatic, and sweet ozone. My skin does horrible things to something that smelled great in the imp.

[Seadreamer]

As the other reviewers have said already, this is a lovely golden floral. I adore it, and am at that "want to gnaw off my arm because it smells so good" stage. Maybe I'm a more traditional girl than I thought, because this is just awesome. Not a very original review, but an honest one.

 

ETA at 11:45ish: OK, so I applied Hymn at about 8:30 am, and posted just at 10:30. I thought it had done what it was going to do. But in the hour and a quarter since then, ROSES have exploded from my wrists and the bends of my arms. Not roses, but ROSES. Or ROSES!!! even. Good GRIEF. I don't like it nearly as much now as I did an hour ago. I'll have to see what happens next, I guess. I need it to become that complex golden floral again, not just Death By Roses.

Edited November 10, 2008 by Seadreamer

[acedehorner]

Straight up rose at first, but I get a strong kind of powdery lily note after a minute, as well, and just the tiniest hint of frankincense and more and more of what I read as salt on the drydown. Definitely a woman's scent, and beautiful, but just too floral for me.

 

5/10

[AlarmAgent]

In Bottle - Very rosy, with just a little myrhh or something similar kicking around in the back.

 

Wet on Skin, First Applied - Pure rose, with a touch of powder.

 

Dry, on Skin - Dead-on plain, white Dove body soap. Roses, powder, and that is about it. Not entirely unpleasant, just soft and clean. Not really my kind of scent, but not at all offensive. Seems to linger well, and wafts about gently. If it was my kind of fragrance, I'd really dig the staying power and throw.

[zankoku_zen]

Mmm... Rose soap. This one is fresh, clean.... and yes, it does smell like the original Dove soap. If you dig that, this is the blend for you!

[isisonearth]

Imp: A bit jarring in the imp. The lily and rose seem to rest uneasily with the incense.

 

Wet: Mostly frankincense on me with a whiff of rose. Like old ladies at church. Not a good thing.

 

Dry: It doesn't really get any better. Very cloying on me.

[liquidtrance]

ROSE & LILY. So far, just like every other rose and lily blend. None of the other notes effect those two notes. The lily wins out. Bleh. No thank you.

[rayvn1]

Phew! This is strong A very pretty combination of rose and incense scents, but a little too forwardly obnoxious on my skin right now. Lasts forever with incredible throw.

[revinn]

In the Imp: Rose, alcohol, something SUPER bitter and burnt smelling.

 

Wet: The same. Gross. It reminds me of my nanny's living room. She's a heavy smoker and my grandfather fixes trucks all day.

 

Dry: No, that's horrible. I'm sorry. It's a bad acrid rose, and I need to wash it off.

 

Out of 10: 0

[bajohnson8205]

In the imp - roses and church incense. I like it already.

 

Wet on skin - I can smell roses and lily of the valley with a background note of incense. The incense notes are well blended, and I have to concentrate to pick out any one of the resins.

 

Dry - roses with just a hint of lily, and a strong incense. This, I think, would be a good oil to wear to church, especially for the important holidays. Of course, I'll just wear it when ever I want, as well.

[mgrazulis]

Pristine white lillies, reverant dry rose spiced with delicate sweet myrrh. In the later drydown, the frankincense adds another gentle layer of depth. The crystalline stillness of this one quiets me and stirs memories of Easter Mass. Beautiful, benevolent and uplifting. The rose and lily are soothing and meditative in the final drydown. The throw is very long so just anoint with a touch of it to enjoy.

[topazphoenix]

This is quite pretty. Rose with a hint of lily and warm incense. Uplifting but not overpowering.

[ami226]

On the skin: oooh! Nice Rose! I like this one even though I have grown to dislike many florals.

 

It doesn't really change much from application to drydown. Nice, but I don't think I would wear something like this very often.

[tajana]

Wet: Clean, bright lily of the valley and a smack of strong rose... the sort of rose that instantly turns acrid and sharp and wrong on me. There's also a hint of depth from the incensey notes that's just starting to express itself.

 

Dry: Rose and churchy incense. The rose smells pretty unpleasant, but not totally awful this time, perhaps because it's dried out a little by the ecclesiastical smelling incense. The frankincense is the strongest note, but overall, this turns into a dusty churchy rose powder.

 

Overall: Not a match for my skin chemistry or personal preferences, but I think it hit the concept spot on. It really brings back childhood memories of going to church.

[Venneh]

In the imp, this is sharp floral incense. Hrm. On my skin, it's a mix of the incense and the sharper florals. Not really sure if I like this. Turns into a generic floral. Passing on this.

Edited December 29, 2009 by Venneh

[grnwoodtree]

Oh Rose...oh Florals

 

They scare me!

 

I still must try every scent I can...to my detriment!

 

This is HEAVY Rose...with other incensey notes that kind of hang back, quite scared of that Mother of All Roses. Its awful.

[Jenn2D2]

In the vial: incense and some indeterminate floral

 

Wet: ROSES... and some incense

 

Dry-down: thick rose scent, with some incense in the background and a brief whiff of "soapy" floral from time to time, but in a good "clean" rather than "old lady" sort of way

 

I tend to amp rose, but I love the smell, so it tends to work out for me. This reminds me very strongly of a rose incense I used to have in college, but without the resiny-smoke after smell. Nice.