Jupiterian Phoenix

[Lethran]

JUPITERIAN PHOENIX
O Jove much-honor'd, Jove supremely great,
To thee our holy rites we consecrate,
Our pray'rs and expiations, king divine,
For all things round thy head exalted shine.
The earth is thine, and mountains swelling high,
The sea profound, and all within the sky.
Saturnian king, descending from above,
Magnanimous, commanding, sceptred Jove;
All-parent, principle and end of all,
Whose pow'r almighty, shakes this earthly ball;
Ev'n Nature trembles at thy mighty nod,
Loud-sounding, arm'd with light'ning, thund'ring God.
Source of abundance, purifying king,
O various-form'd from whom all natures spring;
Propitious hear my pray'r, give blameless health,
With peace divine, and necessary wealth.

A blessing of optimism, prosperity, and sound judgment: sarsaparilla, juniper berries, Himalayan cedar, Terebinth pine, sweet clove, green tea, nutmeg, and hyssop.

In bottle: Strongly woody with the pine and cedars doing lovely things together. Hyssop, juniper, and sarsaparilla form a second tier of support. I am not fond of juniper, and it's definitely noticeable here, but it blends well. Green tea is acting as a sort of glue, tying thing together. The spice is soft, but lovely with the other notes, particularly the woods and the tea. It makes me think of the unlaquered interior of a wooden box used to store pungent seasoning and tea. It's lovely in a 19th century sort of way. Wet: even better on the skin as the warmth brings out the individual qualities of the components. Pine is now dominant over the cedar with the hyssop moving into second. Cedar is third, juniper, clove, tea, and sarsaparilla are forth. I'm loving this. Dry: Woody goodness with hyssop support, and a hint here and there of the rest. Lovely.

[SadariEvenstar]

I'm really enjoying this one. Wet, it goes on as a sweet pine scent, kind of like Black Forest. As it dries on the skin it blooms and become infinitely more complex. This is very well blended with the green tea tying all the other notes together. Woody, spicy, a little bit sweet. The image it bring to mind is of sitting by the window in a cottage in the woods, a cup of steaming tea, a drizzle of rain through the branches. Quiet, peaceful, contentment.

[BoneBone24]

Wet: Very fresh and woodsy. Reminds me of an arboretum or winter garden.

 

Drydown: Cool, snow-dusted pine with a deeper wood note just behind it. Juniper berries and a hint of spice add a sweet softness to the pine. The hyssop adds a clean & crisp coolness like snowflakes in the air. A perfect impression of a winter walk in the woods.

 

Dry: The same as the drydown, but deepened a touch by a slightly more noticeable trace of spice. A wonderfully complex wintery woodsy scent.

 

 

 

 

8 out of 10 bones

Edited July 2, 2013 by BoneBone24

[stellamaris]

This is so great! And so Christmas tree! It's so fresh and outdoorsy, it's what those little pine tree air fresheners would be if they weren't gross.

[hlinspjalda]

I bought this bottle unsniffed and have high hopes for it based on the notes.

 

In the bottle: Warm, woody, spicy but also bright and slightly foody.

 

Wet: Terebinth pine, or at least some evergreen that's light and sweet rather than dark and resinous. It's almost herbal in its light woodiness, but with a hint of sweetness I think must be the sarsaparilla. It reminds me of the best kind of Christmas greenery.

 

One hour: The overtones of spice are starting to make this essentially evergreen scent into something more exotic. I don't get the brightness of tea that I was hoping for, but this is by no means a dark scent. It is strong, supple, and slightly rough evergreen wood.

 

Three and a half hours: More savory than before, maybe a stronger proportion of spice. It is still woody, very pleasant. It's gone very warm and cuddly, too, like someone I want to snuggle up to and share the warmth.

 

This is one I will enjoy wearing in cooler months or when I need a hug.

[Lycanthrope]

I ordered a bottle.

 

Starts off very pine-y, but then the other woods plus the nutmeg swing this towards a well-balanced, complex sandalwood like scent. But, it's sandalwood without being sandalwood, if that makes sense - like the woods are nuanced with powdery, spicy richness from the nutmeg and bay. I'm not getting too much sarsparilla directly but I'm sure it's adding to the general sparklitude of the blend. It's bright, optimistic, yet grounded.

 

I will probably continue to test this until near the cutoff day, perhaps may snag an extra bottle as other updates pop up.

[fairestrocza]

Fresh and outdoorsy. I get mostly evergreen, with just a bare hint of the other notes. I'll use my imp, but probably don't need a bottle.

[surlygurl]

In the decant, it is Christmassy and outdoorsey.

 

On my skin? "Jesus Balls! That's Marvelous!" Really - that was my reaction. It's less woodsy, more resiny, and there's something warm and shining - possibly sweet clove? Or hyssop? At this stage, it is brilliant. Like a warm hug from someone you trust completely.

 

As it dries, something a little tart shows up around the edges. I don't get individual notes, but the overall effect is a green, damp woods being warmed by sunlight. I will keep retesting this... again and again.

[Blood onmy hands]

Jupiterian Phoenix smells just like a freshly cut Christmas tree, in the bottle and on my skin. It's all pine, and I can't smell any of the other listed notes. This smells a lot like Golden Priapus, actually, if you took the vanilla & amber out of GP. It's nice, but I do prefer GP for a slightly more complex, sweeter pine scent. This one is also very light on me, only lasting about an hour and not giving off much throw.

[esmetutu]

Tried this on my husband... Had all his preferred notes: sasparilla, cedar, pine... It smelled amazing wet; a sweet, yet dry forest. We could detect all the notes except for the clove.

 

But dry it turned into Listerine and cologne. Reminded me very much of the Mad Hatter, in fact. Which I don't care for except it smells exactly like my father getting ready for work and he recently died so it's a freakishly bittersweet smell.

 

I'm sorry this one didnt work out. I'm assuming it was the hyssop.

 

ETA: the scent faded into something barely sweet after just 15 min. Not very lasting.

Edited January 5, 2013 by esmetutu

[LizMarivi]

Wet, it was kind of an astringent pine to me with some woody/cedar notes. Now that it's drying down, I can smell more of the cedar.

 

Not unpleasant, but not for me.

[mymymai]

ITI: The first note is rather sweet and floral, the clove and hyssop I'm assuming, but the juniper berries and pine quickly follow. I can't smell much else aside from those.

 

Wet: Clove, nutmeg, hyssop, pine, juniper, and a touch of sarsaparilla and the warmth of green tea. It's invigorating, really.

 

Dry: After 14 hours, I only get faint clove. After reapplication, the pine, juniper, clove, green tea, and sarsaparilla blend nicely together.

[Cactus]

This smells like a coniferous forest - wood and bark and resin (and a hint of needle). Not just pine trees either, a mix of evergreens - it smells like the forests you get high on the tops of mountains with huge spruce and cedar trees. The sarsparilla is there but barely detectable. Winding it's way through the forest is a waft of spices - the clove and nutmeg are clear and recognizable. The green tea is underneath grounding them a little and providing some sweetness. But overall this is a very dry blend.

[TrailerTrashPrincess]

sniffed from the bottle: smells kinda like a christmas tree. on skin it settles down a bit and becomes just "tree" without the holiday-ishness. bitter to me, though. Does remind me a bit of one of the Dawn scents (Cernunnos).

[milo]

Quite herbal and astringent at first. Dries to a spicy, hot herbal blend, not unlike Sunbird, but a bit more herbal.

[brilliantcat]

Imp: Woodsy pine and juniper with a hint of something sweet around the edges.

 

Wet: Astringent pine kept from veering into Pine-Sol territory by the cedar, which gives it a deeply woodsy, warm feel. The tiniest hint of spices.

 

Dry: Woodsy pine with a bit of sweet and spicy. Fades quickly on me though

[zankoku_zen]

Spruce, cedar, nutmeg and clove. This is a very masculine, woodsy blend on me.

 

Pine, forest, spices.

[hexnut]

JUPITERIAN PHOENIX

 

 

Long story short - just sweet evergreen in the bottle, on my skin, and on cloth. I keep referring to it as "Juniper Phoenix".

 

It works nicely as a room spray but I expected more given the list of notes. There's at least half the bottle remaining so I'll screw the cap down tight and hope the scent ages to something more complex, or that my nose gets better. I must say, the label art is wonderful.

 

 

65

[Zaani]

(Disclaimer: Still new at this sniffing business!)

 

I love this one. It's exactly what I was hoping it would be - a nice calming, wood-ish blend. Once it dries down, it kind of "flattens out" from the initial pine spike into a well-blended medium green scent that's more complex than just evergreens, though there's plenty of evergreen too It lasts a decent amount of time on me. (At least most of the day - I usually end up putting it on in the afternoons.)

[fufu_berry]

On wet: Green and pine-y the whole way through on me, which is great. Unfortunately, there is one note in here that is very sharp and "perfume" smelling to my nose, which is throwing the whole scent off.

 

Drydown: The sharp note is mercifully wearing off; nutmeg is coming through.

 

Dry: Pine and nutmeg - I think I'm also recognizing the hyssop from Tenochtitlan which is giving a "warm" feeling.

 

Later: Hmm, it's getting really sweet; kind of like a more high-pitched version of Gacela with a lot of the clove coming through. Something is also starting to make kind of a weird grape smell.

 

It's not really calling out to me. Will probably be trading this.

[midnight_aeval]

Reminds me of holidays spent in a cabin. It's fresh, piney, and comforting. I'm getting that pencil-shavings note that means cedar is present, but I kind of like it. Not sure if I will need a full bottle, but I do think this blend is really pleasant. [as I can't stop sniffing my arm LOL]

[mistressfizz]

This smells like the BPTP bath oil "Silent Forest" to me. Winter berries, lots of pine and chilly wood notes, an overall astringent feel, slightly boozy. Reminds me of mountains covered in snow, tall imposing pine trees and a whisper of smoke from a cabin.

[Floria]

On the whole, interesting, but I'm glad I managed to snag a decant off the forums rather than springing for a bottle.

This is very dry on me - perhaps not surprising, considering all the woods and such, but sometimes my skin amps sweetness. I'd been anticipating something like a spicier Tombstone, but without the strong vanilla element and with the rootbeer taken down a notch. I got dry, spicy, evergreen woods (but drier than your typical Christmas-tree smell), without much sweetness until the sarsaparilla kicks in on the drydown. Maybe because of the dry spiciness, it smells kind of old-fashioned to me. It's interesting and not unpleasant, but I like a bit more sweetness. I am considering layering it with Tombstone.

[JazzieCazzie]

Received a half-bottle in a swap from my lengthy wishlist of scents to try (I will NEVER finish filling out this list but it's fun to have new-to-me scents to review again). Was a little hesitant because of the tea note, which is just shy of being a "note of doom" for me and which usually amps.

 

IN THE BOTTLE: Lovely. Absolutely lovely. Woody AND woodsy (there is slight difference to me). Not getting cedar on the initial bottle sniff. Probably juniper I'm smelling which I'm unable to narrow down to a single note (not a refined enough nose palate). I get sweetness and resin and, happily, no tea.

 

Since there was only a little bit in the bottle (I'd decanted into three full imps and saved the little bit left for testing), and first sniff was promising, I lavished ... dabbed on both wrists, in crooks of both arms, behind ears and in cleavage.

 

WET: Upon application the cedar amps (I happen to love cedar so that's fine with me) and it gets very slightly soapy but not in a bad (lily-like) way, just in an invigoratingly clean way. The wrists tend to highlight the sweet cleanness of the cedar and, I think, nutmeg while the crooks of my arm are a little more sarsaparilla-ly kicky. Overall, just a great complex blend and, yay, still no tea!

 

DRYDOWN: Pretty true to the wet notes. The cedar is predominant on drydown and I'm just fine with that. There is underlying wood and pine and greenness as well but it's all really subtle. For me, the true test is cleavage scent which, when applied, amps stuff like crazy. And that is very sweet and cool and woody with a touch of soda from the sarsaparilla. Really excellent. And best of all? NO TEA!!!

 

OVERALL: I like-love this a lot. I'm not freaking out about not being able to load up on bottles of it because I think I have a lot of blends that are very cedar-y and green so that's good. But I'd give this about a 4.5.

[Zii]

This scent takes me straight to the Maine woods. Very much like the scent of pine needles crunched underfoot. There's something a bit salty in this for me, which is odd given the notes, but I utterly love it.

 

I find this is pretty much the same wet and dry, though the ceder does mellow as it dries, leaving more room for the other notes. I never smelled anything resembling tea.