All Saints'

[slave1]

ALL SAINTS 05

Based on a venerable French pontifical incense blend: monastic frankincense and myrrh, Damascus rose, Russian gardenia, cassia, and lily of the valley wafting on a chill Autumn wind. A celebration of the glory and suffering of the saints and matryrs of the Church.

 

In Bottle: Rose and incense.

 

On Skin: A beautiful dark rose blend. This is not old lady rose perfume, it is a bit more spooky and aged, not stuffy and elegant. This does remind me of church, and Fall nights. Pretty and with depth. If I had to wear a rose scent, I think this would be it since it is not pure floral.

Edited December 22, 2005 by Shollin

[misfitroxy]

It took me a long time to decide if I was going to add the 2005 version to my list or not. A bunch of the 2004 reviews extolled this blend's floral qualities. And while I adore rose, most other flowers tend to give me vicious headaches (or morph strangely on my skin). But I took the plunge in the end and am very pleased that I did.

 

All Saints' starts out as rose, rose, ROSE on me. It's a dry rose, very dusty (it's probably my brain imposing images on the blend, but it sort of smells like it's mixed with candle wax), though far from powdery or soap-y. While the oil is wet, it reminds me a bunch of one of my Top 5 faves BPAL creations - Rose Cross.

 

Eventually, the incense elements present themselves and the perfume begins to sweeten. The sweetness intensifies over time (though not in a food-y way. It's more of a sticky resin and wet petals kind of sweetness). The wax-like scent returns a tad stronger (I'm curious if maybe that's the "Autumn winds"), but it doesn't take away from the gorgeousness of the blend in the least.

 

I wouldn't wear this as often as Rose Cross (partially because I can't get my hands on more bottles quite as easily!), but it is a truly sacred rose for me and I'll keep the bottle near and dear.

[PixieSkull]

In the imp: First whiff is resin, dirty and dusty resin. Screams out FRANKINCENSE! The slight sweet note in the background is very subtle but sugar-sweet.

 

On me: Just like the imp, all resin and very little floral. Very cloying and not all that enjoyable.

 

Overall: Not me in any shape, way, or form. Smell like a crappy record store filled with incense.

[sarahj]

All Saints' 2005

 

in bottle: rose

 

wet: rose

 

dry: aaah....here we go...lovely, incensy, resiny rose

 

verdict:

[melange]

Wet: chocolate?! but dry and dark.

 

Drydown: the flowers seem to be confusing my poor nose, and the chocolate's gone away; I think of floral offerings laid at an altar, but I don't see any wood... wait, that must be the cassia with the resins.

 

Worn: now the incense is coming out further, or perhaps it's the wind, and the flowers are tamping down. I'm hoping that the cassia doesn't amp up much. I'm getting a cassia-resin-y scent next to my skin, with the flowers sweetening it in wafts as I wave my wrists. The cassia doesn't seem to be getting any stronger after all, which is good, and on my skin this is more of a blended floral than the rose that some others are mentioning. Funny; I smell what might be the wind more on my right wrist than my left, and now I'm thinking of walking through woods where the leaves have fallen, luminaria lighting the path. It feels solitary to me, more so than worshiping in a crowd, and more outward-focused than intimate. It likes to linger, and perhaps because it blends not only with itself but with the room, it feels as though I need someone else to tell me how much throw it has.

 

Conclusion: I'll certainly keep the bottle for particular occasions, at least if I can pry my wrist from my nose to put it away.

[sarahmarie]

I really only get rose and frankincense on my skin -most likely because those are two notes that like to amp on me, and the frankincense takes over on the drydown, like it normally does. I really love the rose in this, though - it's beautiful. For that alone, I will give it another try, but I'm really not sure about it yet.

[tsarina]

This blend baffles me.

 

I smell wood. There's a touch of rose to it. But the wood is predominant, like the pews and the railings and confessional boothes in older churches. Wood, and then the incense begins to come out. It's heavy on me, which I think is entirely a skin chemistry issue. All I can smell is the incense.

[Wench457]

All Saints'" In the bottle, quite a lovely incense, with a hint of the flowers arranged at the altar.

 

On me, alas, it was all soap.

[Thaleia]

In the bottle: Roses. I know there's so much more than that in this, but that's all I'm smelling. I opened up my bottle of Pride to do an in-the-bottle comparison sniff test. They smell very similar, and I know they shouldn't ...

 

Wet: Still rose, but there's depth to this one. It's a darker, shadowed rose; solemn and sharp, like it's reminding you of your sins. There's a hint of church incense lingering in the background, but it's mainly roses in a venerable stone cathedral, the smell of the High Mass before it starts, replete with flowers on the altar and everything.

 

Drydown: The scent becomes warmer as the frankincense shows itself a bit more. The myrrh deepens the rose and I smell something sharp - lily of the valley, or the cassia. I didn't get much gardenia this time, unlike Euphrosyne, where the gardenia overpowered pretty much everything else.

 

Dry: It's still very much a pure rose scent, which I love. Not an innocent rose, but still the solemn, church rose I smelled before. The sharpness from the lily of the valley and/or cassia is gone and it's become a warm, incensey rose. I like this a lot.

 

Rating: 4.25

Edited December 22, 2005 by Shollin

[SeaMonkey]

sweet, dusty resin and frankincense............I don't get any rose, and for that I'm happy

[Cedar]

I have to learn to not buy floral blends, because except for Alice and Seance, they all turn on me.

 

This scent was really lovely in the bottle, rose with an incense undertone and a little wood. Once I put it on, though, the rose and wood evaporate very quickly and it's all gardenia all the time, which would be great if I liked gardenia, but I don't. I think this would be a very relaxing room scent, but I can't wear it.

[Fefferbella]

Dark musky wild roses and Frankinsense.

This is the same "pretty" wild rose note I get in Seraglio. Not the stuffy English Rose or the chokingly sweet "fake" rose note found in some BPAL scents.

 

The spicey Frankinsense is slightly overpowering at first, but it quickly settles down to a mellow note that creates an overall rich blend.

 

I really like this scent, and personally I think it's beautiful. Having never been to a Catholic mass, I have no grounds for comparisson there.

[BlackDahlia]

Hmmmm...

I don't associate this scent with Fall, at all...

I associate it with Summer.

 

In the bottle, roses, roses and more roses. *inhale deeply*

I love roses.

 

Wet ~ roses and a slight wood-y fragrance.

 

On the drydown ~ lovely, aged roses. This is a sort of scent I would associate with churches. Old churches... this is a complex and dusky scent. I like this fragrance, quite well.

 

Just makes me think of summer in a rose garden.

I don't "smell" Fall, at all.

[Finny]

The 2005 is quite different to me from the 2004 blend. The 2004 blend is more smoky resins with a floral background.

 

2005 is more floral. A lot of rose, and until rose oil ages a bit it gets very sharp and acrid on my skin. But the resins are wonderful in the background, and the dry down of this blend is lovely.

 

I am holding on to this one, I want to see how the rose ages.

[blaqpearl]

I have been staying far away from rose blends because it turns to nail polish remover on my skin. But I wanted to try this one. The rose stayed true. I was quite shocked. I like it however, I dont know if it is me or not since I havent been able to wear rose. I do smell something in addition to the rose, but I cant place it. After about 7 hours I finally get the incense. I am going to try it one more time before I decide if this is a keeper.

[ABrokenAngel]

In the Bottle: Oh lord. This is so beautiful. The rose, gardenia and lily are just melded so perfectly with the rose being the topnote. It seems in regards to the florals Beth listed them in order as they hit the nose. Atleast to me. The spices I can’t smell at all.

 

Wet: If this smells like a French cathedral when I move to germany I plan on spending a lot of time in France. This is lovely. The spices and the florals mix perfectly. So far it’s not a scent I would wear all the time but we’ll see when it dries down.

 

Drydown: Le Sigh. All myrhh now.

[sofiaviolet]

This definitely smells like unburned incense. I love it. It works very well with my chemistry and lasts a long time. I'm hoping to get a bottle or at least a second imp.

[arabella]

2005 Version

 

First Impression: Incense and rose.

 

Dries down to: Soapy rose.

 

Additional Comments: Unfortunately, rose over-powered everything as she quite often does and wouldn't leave.

 

Lasted: Most of the day.

 

Rating: 2 out of 5

[concrescence]

it was stronger than the (admittedly few) other oils i've tried, so when i was riding the bus to school, i felt like everyone must have been able to smell me. i really liked this one, though. i've always been a fan of incense. to be honest, i didn't smell much of the flowers that were listed in its description, but the boyfriend did. perhaps he has more of a nose for flowers than i do. he REALLY liked this one. most people on the forums don't seem to think that the incensey-churchy smelling oils are good for feeling sexy, but my boyfriend said that he thought it worked really well with my natural scent. i guess it all depends on body chemistry and personal preference. i liked that different scents kept coming out as *all saint's* dried. nice and complicated. unfortunately, this was a limited edition and i only have a gift imp, but i'm sure i can find something else like it or maybe find someone to trade or buy it from.

[WidgetAlley]

Frimp in a swap with roxann_ireland. I have no idea which year this is...

 

In the Imp: Okay, what? Call me crazy, but this smells strikingly similar to Devil's Night. I don't think they have any notes in common.... maybe that's whatever Beth uses for "autumn winds"? But it really, really does. It smells sugary and musky and a little cinnamony (aha! I see there's cassia in All Saints'), with a breath of something churchy behind that. Not getting any florals yet. I can definitely pin down the frankincense and myrrh-- a sort of boozy incense note, the same as in Midnight Mass. We'll see how this one goes.

 

Wet: Sugary-- ohwait. No. Never mind. That immediately vanishes and is replaced by a strong, musky, soapy (#@$%!!) rose, with the almost alcoholic overtones of frankincense and myrrh above it (seriously, one of those-- I think frankincense-- smells almost like vodka on me for the first few minutes. And myrrh goes just a touch salty.) Nonetheless, this is surprisingly soft and yielding. I can smell the Lily of the Valley floating on top, a high, watery floral. There's something almost citrussy in here, too, perhaps the gardenia? The cassia combined with that mysterious sweet note adds an almost vaguely foody background which is very pleasant.

 

Dry: A much drier rose, combined with smoky incense and musk. Most of the sugar seems to have burned off, but the cassia is still lending it a bit of bite. Doesn't seem to have a lot of throw, per se, but it's very strong when I stick my nose in my wrist. It's also gentle, sophisticated and solemn, but in a quiet way, not a stern one. This is unexpectedly womanly, too, I can't really see a man wearing this.

 

Verdict: This one's gorgeous, and I'll probably test it once more to be sure, but I don't really think of it's my bag of bones. It's a bit floral for me, and I have Midnight Mass to cater for my Holy Church moods. I might send it home with the Boy, though, for his mother to try... she's Catholic and would, I think, appreciate both the thought and the reference.

[blu°]

This is the 2005 version which I bought off a lovely forumite after having realized that I love Midnight Mass and Rose Cross and that this might be a mixture of both. However, I don't like it that much as it's a bit heavy on the cassia, gardenia and myrrh.

 

In the bottle: Clearly roses, but a bit gloomy somehow.

Wet on skin: Gloomy roses. The gloominess seems to come from the gardenia. I don't like gardenia too much and had hoped it would be less perceptible.

This is very floral, I can hardly detect any resin.

Ok, there seems to be the frankincense, and myrrh, yes.

Something slightly alcoholy, like vodka, like someone said, as in Midnight Mass.

However, the resins are a bit weak. The rose is clear but a bit watery, soaked, sponge-d, it almost smells like narcissus. I'm strongly reminded of Darkness now, maybe because of the myrrh. It's just like Darkness with rose added. I think this might not be for me. Definitely not love at first sniff.

 

Now there's developing some fruity note. Berry fruity. That may be due to cassia mixing with roses.

 

After 10 minutes: I just had this nice whiff of it that I really enjoyed. Somehow fruity-red, berry-sweet, really nice. Oooohhh! It's just starting to bloom now. Cassia and roses and frankincense. A slightly burnt smell with that, but nice.

 

A bit later I do get a slightly dry-powdery-dusty effect à la Alone, that makes me a bit queasy. Will have to see how this develops within the next hour.

 

Somehow this is just not me, I'm afraid. It doesn't smell like old lady per se, but makes me think of one nevertheless. Don't know why. Maybe it's just not good on my skin, or I just don't like gardenia at all.

 

It's got quite some throw. Not entirely disagreeable. It does combine quite well with Lush's Gratuitious Violets soap, but it really is something I'd never wear, I even only have the soap for curiosity and don't really like violets neither.

 

To sum it up, I don't fancy this very much. It's a bit victorian, a bit old lady-ish, and the spice from cassia. I have the feeling I don't like cassia, neither. It feels weird on me. I seem to amp it up badly and it's apparently doing something to my sinuses, as they feel strange now.

 

I get quite a similar feel from it as from rosewood scents. Rosewood being one more component that I react badly, too. I don't like to smell it, not in vials, not on me, not sure about other people's skin, might be better.

 

This is going to be swapped.

[harmonyfb]

Let me quote 'Buffy the Vampire Slayer' here. "It smells like church. No, wait - evil church."

[nancybridget]

Incense and Rose. All Saint's a rich, velvety scent, which makes me want to snuggle close to someone near and dear telling ghost stories by a campfire before the first frost. It's was a dark and stormy night...

[ancilla_morte]

'05 version

 

on me it was a very powdery, old lady-ish rose mixed with some incense (myrhh or frankincense).

 

the rose was so bad it smelled like citronella. from reading all the reviews of the '04 version being buttery and like chocolate, i'm anxious to try that version. but this version is going to my swap pile.

[cranberry]

2005 Version

 

I've tried to love this blend; this is the 2nd bottle that has found it's way to me. On the skin, it stays very true to it's smell in the bottle, mainly roses.

 

As it wears, it becomes slightly powdery on me and I'm not getting any resins. Maybe they are there acting as a base but they are pretty much overwhelmed by the powdery rose.

 

I was hoping for more incense and resin with touches of rose or florals. Ah well, can't win them all and there's plenty more BPAL to love.