Exorcist

[cfrancesca]

EXORCIST
Christine's lover who, in the aftermath of her violent death, becomes haunted and possessed by what he sees as the "entity" of Grendel.

A refined lilac fougère with frankincense, labdanum, styrax, and dark musk.

This one starts off strong on the smokey, almost sweet resins on me. I'm really amping the frankincense, labdanum and styrax notes in here which create a strong, smokey resiny amber-type scent on my skin. In the background I get the sexy dark musk and little bit of the slightly brighter bright lilac fougere, but it's mostly gorgeous resins. If you like resin blends you should consider trying this one.

[angelicruin]

Have to echo the previous review. Lovely smoky sweet resins. Frankincense and dark musk are strongest notes on my skin. This decant is definitely a keeper.

[Aldercy]

Yep, smokey resins (and no lilac, really, except maybe a hint of sweetness on the edges). But it's not a gritty sort of smoke, it's very smooth, almost polished. Like soft waves of liquid resin rather than burning incense. It's mostly frankincense and styrax to me. Even the musk is pretty subdued. It's a little strong, but definitely pleasant.

[yakiguri]

There's something off-puttingly sweet about Exorcist, and coupled with a strong lemon floor cleaner note I'm getting from the lilac fougere I need to quickly exorcise this blend from my skin.

[stellamaris]

This is wonderful, there is a sharp lemony note at the start, and it ends up rich and resiny, love love love it.

[midnight_aeval]

Best of the 4 Grendel scents for me; this one is dark and smoky without being the cigarette smoke I get from Avenger and no orange blossom - whoot!

 

The dark musk lend that comforting, sorta lemon-y scent I recognize from Haunted (one of my very favorite GC scents). This one is a keeper, possible bottle purchase!

[countessmouse]

Out of the four in the series, I think I like this one the best. It's dark and resinous with just a hint of incense. Smoky often doesn't do well on my skin, but this is so light it works. Not sure if I need a bottle, but I'll definitely be picking up this decant from time to time.

[Dormouse]

This reminds me a lot of The Scales of Deprivation. It opens with a bright fougere, lilac here as opposed to lavender and then fades to rich, dark resins. Beautiful!

[ljaylh]

Damn you, lilac, why can't you behave on my skin? And frankincense.. why do you have to turn into lemon sometimes? You two have completely ruined Exorcist for me.. I can smell the lovely resins and the dark musk trying to come forward but nope - the lilac mixed in with the lemony-frankincense are not pleasant at all on my skin, the whole thing ends up smelling like a cheap Avon perfume.

 

Sadly, this is not a winner for me.

[Blood onmy hands]

First on, the mix of lilac and resins here makes for a syrupy-sweet, dark, resinous smell that reminds me of opoponax. The black musk is both slightly smoky and slightly powdery on me, and forms the background to the super-sweet floral and incense. As it dries down, something in this turns slightly sour on me, and it's just too much. Too much powder, too much sweetness, too much sour smokiness... it's a very cloying scent on me, and one that I scrubbed off after about a half hour.

[milo]

Wet, a dark lilac. Dry, less lilac, more resin's, and a lovely black musk, very masculine and 'rough' around the edges. Not my kind of blend at all, but still it's drawing me in, I keep sniffing my wrists, I thinks I'd like this on a guy.

[zankoku_zen]

Dry lilac and smoky resins. It's a very masculine, musky sort of blend. It has a very odd appeal.

 

Rough, dangerous, and kinda sexy.

[Circaea]

Exorcist reminded me of something woodsy, like Cathedral, layered over a dark, citrusy floral. Not so sure about this stage; it's like it has two clashing personalities. After about an hour, one of the personalities has been exorcised, and it has settled into a beautiful smoke, like a light clean-burning clove incense. I like it a lot.

[brilliantcat]

At first, it's a gorgeous earthy, musky, incensey lilac that unfortunately dries to powder. /sadface

[BoneBone24]

Wet: Floral, smoky, and sweet.

 

Drydown: Smoky resins mainly. It smells a lot like myrrh. A bit of sweet and soft lilac lightens the darker notes just a bit. There is a tartness coming from somewhere that makes it seem to glow.

 

Dry: A soft, almost-spicy incense blend kissed by a pale, almost-sour lilac fougere. Slightly powdery. It becomes more fougere-dominant throughout the day.

[mymymai]

ITB: Ooh, a very lovely and almost light lilac fougere with a touch of styrax.

 

Wet: It's very similar on my skin when compared to the oil in the bottle. The only different is that the frankincense is discernible.

 

Dry: The frankincense and musk are strong once it has dried, but the lilac and styrax soften it and lend a bit of powderiness to the scent. I enjoy this one!

[Lethran]

In bottle: I was not familiar with styrax, but the Internet tells me it’s also frankincense, which makes sense given how frankincensey this blend is. Add all that frankincense to labdanum and it this is a very resin sort of blend, which makes sense for the exorcist. The lilac fougere is marginally dominant with strong competition from incense. The musk is a close third, tying things together well. It’s not my cup of tea, but it’s really well designed.