The Rose in the Deeps of his Heart

[Imbrium]

All things uncomely and broken,
all things worn-out and old,
The cry of a child by the roadway,
the creak of a lumbering cart,

The heavy steps of the ploughman,
splashing the wintry mould,
Are wronging your image that blossoms
a rose in the deeps of my heart.

The wrong of unshapely things
is a wrong too great to be told;
I hunger to build them anew
and sit on a green knoll apart,
With the earth and the sky and the water,
remade, like a casket of gold
For my dreams of your image that blossoms
a rose in the deeps of my heart.

- William Butler Yeats

Golden amber, red rose, frankincense, Egyptian musk, galbanum, and immortelle.

The Rose in the Deeps of his Heart is the clear winner among the bottles I ordered unsniffed from the Lupers.

In the bottle, it's rose, and ... planty--the sort of sharp, dark and vegetal scent that I tend to associate with vetiver, and which almost always turns very unpleasant on me. It must, I think, be the galbanum, green, and bitter.

But, oh! In the dry down, the rose comes out. For a bit, it smells predominately rose, a bit like the rose in Rose Red, but lighter. More than anything, it reminds me of rosewater: it's somehow quieter, more unassuming. It settles, eventually, to a a lovely balance of the rose and warm, clean skin--amber, I think, and perhaps the musk. There's something a bit creamy and a touch sweet about it. I've often found that I amp musk, but in this case, it stays a background player, and I have to put my nose to my wrist to really pick up much of it.

[Lycanthrope]

This smells kind of like Aveda Sap Moss.

 

Drydown is softly rose, but not overwhelmingly so.

 

Must give this a bit more time.

 

ETA:

 

Tried it again last night before bed. This is a very odd, different type of scent, the initial galbanum blast and Sap Mossitude (a snappy, sharp greenish resin tone) doesn't ever really fade, but there's hints of the dry tickle of amber and a bit of powder. I can't honestly say this is a very strong rose scent, which is what intrigues me that this hasn't amped to high heaven on me. Which is why... I'll probably need to get a bottle, just to play with it.

Edited February 10, 2012 by Lycanthrope

[symphonyinsilence]

Dude, what is this?

 

Old cupboard in a dilapidated house with withered flowers, talcum powder and sawdust? To be fair, I'm not a rose lover, but I did want to try this for Yeats alone. There's some amber (which I love, but not in here) and frankincense. Smells a little bitter, if you know what I mean.

 

Would be a nice scent in an antique gift, but on my skin, no.

Edited February 22, 2012 by symphonyinsilence

[OctoberGwen]

Old fashioned; a secret smell, something precious hidden in a treasure box in a drawer. There's an almost bitter note on top with warm amber and musk underneath and in the middle, the rose. Rather unique among rose blends, I think.

 

I like it, and it suits the poem. I won't be keeping my imp, though, because it fades fairly quickly on me.

Edited February 25, 2012 by OctoberGwen

[Incendiare]

I don't really know what to make of this. It smells slightly dry and woodsy yet medicinal too. Besides the galbanum, I can't pick out any of the other notes, which usually are detectable to my nose. Wet, the rose automatically pops up, as usual, gets right down to business, and heads in the soapy direction. Maybe a bit of amber but it's barely noticeable. This still stays very balsamy and woodsy. Dry and slightly bitter, with a soapy background. Not a fan.

[Dark Alice]

Wet: Amber mixed with a woodsy and medicinal scent to it.

 

Dry: POOF! Everything but a little trace of galbanum left. Up Close I can smell some roses and no Egyptian musk. I am a sad panda as I was hoping this would work on me but alas it doesn't.

[theseagrows]

i love rose and amber, so if there is a scent with both, i am likely to try it. i get mostly amber, rose and something resiny. maybe the frankincense or galbanum? but i am not sure which. BPAL's frankincense sometimes turns bad on me, but it behaves here, so i have trouble telling what it is when it's behaving, or when it is less prominent.. after awhile this turns to a deep wooden scent and the egyptian musk comes out more. combined with the amber it is slightly powdery. i like this, but i feel like i've smelled a lot of other scents like this. i will have to try it again later to see how i feel for sure.

[thekittenkat]

In the decant: Some amber, some frank, some rose.

 

Wet: More amber than anything else, but a hint of green sharpness from the galbanum.

 

The dry-down: Sadly, the galbanum and immortelle are trying to take over in the drying process. There's still a hint of the rose and the frank, but not much. I was hoping that this would be a spicy version of Rose Red, or a different version of Red Rose (with the musk and amber ringing the changes). Still interesting, but more lovely in the decant.

[stellamaris]

Um, ok, here's those Pencil Shavings I have heard so much about here on the forum, but really did not think existed until now. WTF? Maybe this one will age to something other than pencil shavings, hopefully.

I realized today that I have so many rose BPALs it's almost silly, and this is my first disaster.

I can't smell rose in this to save my miserable life.

No. Just no.

Edited April 12, 2012 by stellamaris

[milo]

Starts off as a sour rose with something strong and aggressive, like patch or vetiver. Maybe the musk or frank? This gradually fades and we're left with a soft, amber rose with a touch of musk, though I can barely smell it. Nice to try, but not me.

[ami226]

On the skin: Wow, this scent is very ethereal. It is slightly musky with a sharp green/herbal note and a hint of rose, but the entire scent is really hard for me to smell up close. I really have to let it waft in order to smell anything. Interesting, but not for me.

[zankoku_zen]

Red rose and clear amber. It's a very close skin scent.

 

If you love roses, this is a very skin, sensual blend.

[Blood onmy hands]

I was expecting the rose in this to amp up on me (as it always seems to in bpal blends) and that it'd be rose with a background of powdery resins. But this starts off with a musky, perfumey rose and then dries down to something strange, like bitter herbs and pencil shavings. I get the amber after an hour, leaving me with its baby powdery scent and not much else. So, this quickly morphs from perfumey rose to bitter herbs and dry, splintery wood to baby powder on my skin. Not a winner for me.

[Ghost of a Rose]

My imp is a decant from the lovely and generous spiresinthesnow.

 

In the imp: Oil is clear and the color is a gorgeous, glowing, pink-amber. The scent is strongly incense and musk, with just a hint of non-specific florals.

 

On me, wet: On my skin the fragrance is the same, but clearer and brighter.

 

After 15 minutes: Same as above. I'm not really getting much, if any, of the rose; but it is a lovely incense blend. With a somewhat sharp, bitter green overtone - probably the galbanum.

 

After 30 minutes: There is a decidedly smoky aspect to this - it is lit incense, not an unlit incense stick. i can pick up a bit of rose if I try really hard, but I'd never notice it if I didn't already know it was there. I don't know what immortelle smells like, but this is emphatically an incense fragrance, not a floral one.

 

After 40 minutes: The smokiness has developed a slightly skanky undertone - could that be from the musk? It is rather animalistic and feral, but not super strong.

 

After 50 minutes: The skankiness has died down now, and the smokiness has also toned down considerably. This allows the rose to peek out just a little, along with a powdery amber.

 

At 1 hour: Wow, this has changed completely, and very suddenly, within the last 15 minutes. Now there's almost no incense left at all, just a trace of smokiness. It has turned into an amber, musk, and slightly rose powder that verges on the scent of baby powder. But there's still enough of the skankiness left to keep it from edging over. Although in all honesty, I might prefer the baby powder. It is also delicate and close-to-the-skin now.

 

At 1 hour 15 minutes: The scent continues to morph, although less dramatically now. It has veered away from baby powder and is now powdery amber and musk with a hint of the spiciness and smokiness of incense. A wisp of the animalistic note lingers as well.

 

At 2 hours: Mostly gone.

 

 

Verdict: A nice unisex incense fragrance, but I already have plenty of those. i was hoping for more rose.

 

My rating: 4 stars

Edited August 15, 2012 by Ghost of a Rose

[KakashiMorph]

In the bottle: Bitter green (galbanum?) and something sweeter which I think is the warm musk.

On my skin: It rises with a sharp, bitter note that is kept at bay by the musk. I can't make out the rose at all at this stage and I can very faintly smell the frankincense. It takes a couple of minutes, but finally the rose makes it's presence known. I am surrounded by sweet rose and comforting musk, although the bitter note still remains in my wrists, if I smell too closely, although that too will fade away in another few minutes.

Drydown: Rosy musk, although eventually the rose dies out and the musk remains.

Edited August 24, 2012 by Kashi

[filigree_shadow]

Oh, no. No, this isn't working at all. I smell no rose or flower or amber. I smell something horrid and green and weedy and awful. Whatever it is, it is very very similar to spikenard, which is my Worst Note of All Time and an absolute killer in every instance.

 

If you like that green weedy vegetal scent (some people seem to enjoy tomato leaf, for example), give it a whirl. For me, a definite no.