The Curator

[ami226]

THE CURATOR
Mysterious herbs and ancient resins. Dust settled on ancient relics, both holy and malevolent.

I actually quite like this one. Mostly incensey resins with a hint of sweet herbs. It is quite a mysterious scent. I think this one would be a winner on the SO! This one can be a bit strong.

[angelicruin]

Sweet & resinous, dust. Another one I was tempted to buy a bottle of.

[fairnymph]

Surprisingly light, soft and yet fresh and bright from the slightly grass herbs which jump out most strongly to me (also, something a little minty - hyssop or basil?) - but that's quickly followed by a tremendous amount of heavy, dark, smoky, woody and slightly sweet resins and incense - myrrh, frankincense, and black patchouli. Plenty of dust, and loads of spice, too; definitely some black pepper (probably one of the main contributors to the dustiness), and I think some clove, the dark sharp kind that I amp, and something more unusual like nutmeg and/or cumin. Definitely dark and 'malevolent' in feel!

 

Sweeter, spicier with more bitterness from the myrrh and also some herbal bitterness. Much more powdery and dusty - definite black pepper but I think some orris, too, the very rooty sort - it adds a bit of sweetness, as does the cinnamon note that has appeared. I am more sure about the cumin now, which adds an odd savoury tone to the blend, and I'm pretty sure there is some bay here as one of the herbs, contributing to the sharpness, it's slightly sharp. I get some mentholic-medicinal red musk, and the frankincense has become sweeter. The myrrh really gives this a musty feel, appropriate for an ancient feel. The clove is amping on me as I predicted and adding an almost plastic or chemical sort of unpleasant sharpness.

 

Sweeter and spicier! This one really amps in my skin and has a lot of throw and a feel of intense power. I'm sure about the basil and bay, and the cumin especially as it has amped. Something in this has also turned a bit sour-sharp, like certain black currants do - but I think it's the cumin here, bc this blend so far most reminds me of Mr. Hyde (or Dr. Jekyll? whichever is the one with the loads of cumin). Except that this is sweeter and red-muskier and far, far sweeter. The cinnamon and clove have amped further, and the resins remain strong but can't quite stand up to the spices (other than the frankincense which is potent presence here). The black pepper, oh yeah, that has amped too. This is in every way not my type of scent and filled with dealbreaker notes. Worst of all - there's a strange soapy edge whose source I can't identify. Eek!

 

This becomes dustier, drier, spicier and woodier - with loads of accompany woods to provide much of the dryness and loads of warmth in addition to that from the spices. It reminds me of churches - wooden pews and incense hanging in the air and swirling dust. The cinnamon may be cassia, considering its warmth and the fact that it DOESN'T turn into Red Hots and amp crazily as cinnamon nearly always does - or if it is cinnamon it's sparingly used here. The cinnamon/cassia, black pepper (THAT just amps and amps and really is VERY dusty), myrrh, frankincense (sweeter and woodier over time) and a late emergence of strong rosewood with maybe a dab of cedar dominate in final drydown. The clove has faded and softened into a sweeter note without much medicinal sharpness, the cumin has nearly all faded away. The patchouli remains a light earthy grounding note, and I can still pick out the slightly bitter, drily herbal bay leaf but it's faded substantially. The orris - powdery white and sweet with an almost creamy aspect, as well as the glowing-golden (as in L'Estate) but also faintly sour amber and the other notes that have also amped in terms of sweetness makes this a very unisex. Good throw and FANTASTIC longevity.

 

This is never a scent I would wear given it's not my style at all - in fact is is the antithesis of my tastes! - but I'm impressed by how it morphs over time into something not that bad when earlier I thought I'd have to wash it off. It's complex and evocative and I found it very fascinating to test.

Edited April 22, 2010 by fairnymph

[Lethran]

In bottle: Surprisingly wet. I love the spiciness of this blend. The resins are rich and complex, the herbs, smooth and well chosen to compliment the resins. It smells expensive, if that makes sense. Wet: Omnomnom. Add my naturally musky skin and this goes overtly sexy, transforming from the more rarefied affect in the bottle. This is a strange mix of sensuality and aestheticism, scholarship and desire. I’m loving it. The resins are so full bodied they are practically fruit. It morphs in fascinating ways, different aspects coming to the fore, one sniff and it’s sweet and dry, the next a wicked dark, the next the fruity spicy mix. I think I’m in love. Dry: It get’s even spicier as the more delicate elements burn off. It’s a touch more woody, but retains the complex spicy resin feel I’m really enjoying.

[Ryvre]

In the imp: Sharp and herbal, with incense in the background.

 

Wet: Honeyed herbs? It's really odd, and not good.

 

Dry: After about half an hour, it calms into a gorgeous honeyed woodsy blend. (I'm not sure where those notes are coming from, but they're really nice.) I hate the first half hour of this scent, though, and this isn't quite good enough to make up for it.

[Saya]

Resins, almost completely resins. It's got a spicy note to it, makes it more complex and totally sexy. I thought I'd hate this one because anything with 'dust' in it tends to turn on me, but this is really nice. I don't think I'll get a bottle but I'll definitely keep the imp.

[Siberia]

I was surprised to find that this is much prettier and gentler than one might expect from the label art and note description. It is a masculine-ish spicy melange on a creamy base. It's definitely not overly masculine, though - anyone who likes it could pull it off. It reminds me much of Mr. Jacquel. I did not find that it had much throw and it faded fairly quickly.

[Blood onmy hands]

The Curator seemed kind of masculine to me, so I slathered it on my husband when it first arrived. I was surprised at how much it reminded me of Priala on him. It smelled like spicy cinnamon and bright resins. It's spicier on him than it is on me. On me, this scent smells warmer and much sweeter (to the point that I find it rather cloying and sickening). I get light spices, myrrh-like resins, and a hint of something cool and herbal that doesn't last into the drydown. It's just way too sweet for me, like resins drenched in syrup and spices mixed with sugar. Too much.

[devilot]

The Curator

In the vial: Herbalicious! Dusty!

 

Wet: A "yellow" feeling herbal. Usually herbal blends smell "green" to me, but this one comes across as "yellow." Sweet, actually.

 

Drydown: Still sweet, but now it's getting, hmm, almost spicy. But not from cloves or anything like that-- the spice from resins. Very warm feeling.

 

Verdict: A really really interesting blend. Not one I'd choose to wear as perfume out, but one that I really enjoyed smelling and testing. BIG THANK YOU to the C2E2 sniff circle started by GypsyRoseRed!

[edenssixthday]

The Curator - This is light myrrh and lots and lots of herbs. The herbs reminds me of the "funereal" herbs used in blends like Eshe a Vision of Life-in-Death and the dust note is light and almost pretty, blending really well with the other notes. It's a sophisticated scent and very gender-neutral. I wish it had stronger throw and staying power.

[Coldfire]

 

 

Decant: I opened the vial and this came slithering and wafting out. More herbs than resin for the moment:

Wet on Me: still a bit more herbal, faint traces of spice/resin and becoming hypnotic

Drying Down: More spicy now than herbal. A good resinous spicy. Tempered a little by the vibe of age.

Dry: nice. Everything it is described.

[milo]

Wow, this one is perfumey to the extreme! Wet, it is musky generic perfume. STRONG! As it fades, a citrus and a note I can only describe as 'funk'. Maybe it's the herbs. So it ends up to be perfumey, citrus funk on on me. I would have loved the honeyed woods. Ah well.

 

Oops, I spoke too soon. The malevolent herb has disappeared, thankfully. Now, it's a citrussy, sweet resin. I like it, but the beginning phase is a bit much. This one is a morpher, to be sure!

Edited June 27, 2010 by milo

[ralenth]

At first, the Curator was sharp and medicinally herbal. After a few minutes, it settled into a spicy resiny yumminess. It isn't particularly dusty on my skin, but smells like a spicier version of Ü.The throw is decent. I may need a bottle of this.

[bluerose]

In the bottle: Very herbal with a bit of resins.

 

On the skin: The first image that pops into my mind is an ancient and dusky alchemy room - long unused and abandoned. Dusky green resins.

[hereunto]

In the imp, this is totally reminding me of another BPAL scent. Dang it. Swiss cheese never fails me. Anyway, it's definitely smells more resinous than herb-y.

 

On my skin, it does a total 180. The resins fade to barely a whisper and the herbs come barging out of the barn, all flailing arms and legs, screaming at the top of their lungs to love it except I don't. I was hoping it would become more complex and deeper as the it dried but alas, twas not to be. My husband would love this one for himself though. It's right up his alley.

[aquazoo]

Starts bright, lemon cleaning product. It does fade into resins. Not too dusty. Oh, no, the cleaning product is back. It goes back again. Might be ok, but I don't know if I can stand it through the cleaning stage.

 

[jencallisto]

In the decant: Spicy resin.

Fresh on the skin: Spicy and clean. Very... yellow-brown and bright.

5 minutes in: The center of the scent has gone a dark shadowy brown, but there's wisps of golden light above it. Still spicy and clean. Sadly I think it might be giving me a headache.

20 minutes in: This is kind of strong. And has medium-to-long throw. And I'm still not sure how I feel about it.

30 minutes in: Spicy-sweet, clean, dry resins. Nice enough, just a bit strong and not really my style. It's a scent I might like on someone else, though. I also suspect it might work in my hair.

40 minutes: The powdery aspect is increasing, unfortunately. I'd prefer if it stayed mostly spice. But it's becoming almost entirely powder.

1 hour in: There's still a little spice holding on, but mostly, this has become funky baby powder.

1.5 hours in: The spice has reasserted itself a bit, but there's still a lot of powder going on. It's all a bit faded now, which is probably for the best.

2 hours in: It's pretty stable now, soft, spicy, powdery resins.

3 hours in: Faded down to light, sweet powder.

4 hours in: Almost completely gone, just faint, sweet, resiny powder left.

5 hours in: Just about gone.

 

Verdict: Meh.

 

One phrase: Spicy resiny powder.

[zankoku_zen]

Sweet, spicy resin that dries to sweet, spicy resin powder. On wet, there is a tiny bit of citrus but overall it s a sweet, resinous blend that is way less ominous that the description.

[whisperstilled]

When I read the notes for this and saw 'mysterious herbs' my mind went 'and spices!' and then it ran away with me, envisioning The Curator as The Curator of the secret to KFC's chicken empire.

 

Anyway.

 

In Imp: Resinous oriental blend. Smells...yellow? I couldn't tell you why, but it does.

 

Wet: Dust for sure, I'd recognize BPAL's dust note anyway, along with something faintly herbal without being green. Heavy on the incense, but pleasant.

 

Dry: Sharp, resinous, incensey oriental blend. Nothing super special, but nice enough. If the drydown was a little less powdery, I think I'd dig it more. 3/5

[Teaotter]

Wet: herbal cough syrup? medicinal herbs, at any rate. Hmm. I'm not sure I like this.

 

Drydown: The cough syrup note moves into the background and the myrrh comes out. This is a fairly sweet myrrh, sweeter than I would've expected with this blend. There's also a warm, almost metallic smell -- maybe this is the dust note? I've never smelled it before. I can definitely catch a hint of something like nutmeg far in the distance. The green herbs are still there, along with a hint of something that might be oakmoss but I'm not amping it, so I'm not sure. It's either that or the herbs that are lending a hint of Irish Spring to this.

 

Dry: It smells like incense and dust and freshly cleaned skin to me, and I love it! Moderate throw and decent longevity.

[filigree_shadow]

This smells good. I can’t quite put my finger on what I like about it, but I’ve tried it twice now and I’ve liked it both times. It doesn’t really smell like one singular thing, just kind of a soft resin scent. Not herby at all, really. A little sweet. Wears like a skin scent. I’m sure that I’ll continue to like this every time I wear it, but I’m also sure that it’s never going to be a stand-out favorite. But super nice for those days when I don’t really feel like smelling like PERFUME -- I feel like maybe someone might assume that I just naturally smell like this, like some sort of awesome human.