Forgive Us Our Virtues, Forgive Us

[stellamaris]

FORGIVE US OUR VIRTUES, FORGIVE US
Who has known all the evil before us,
Or the tyrannous secrets of time?
Though we match not the dead men that bore us
At a song, at a kiss, at a crime--
Though the heathen outface and outlive us,
And our lives and our longings are twain--
Ah, forgive us our virtues, forgive us,
Our Lady of Pain.

Pale frankincense, styrax, East African black patchouli, cinnamon leaf, rosewood, and palisander.

This is the same frankincense from Midnight Mass, I am actually able, thanks to BPAL, to distinguish between the different ones. This is not the heavy handed frankincense of Penitence, or the rich one in All Souls, but an elegant Midnight Mass one.
This is heaven.
Frankincense lovers, buy this right now, it's beautiful.

[JazzieCazzie]

Acquired my imp through a decant circle -- only chose four from this series but this, for me, was a no-brainer -- even though I had/have no idea what styrax or palisander are supposed to smell like!!!

 

IN THE IMP: Just sheer beautiful frankincense with that light spicy note provided by its little friend cinnamon.

 

Dabbed pretty generously on wrist and in crook of arm based on that first sniff.

 

WET: Upon application, the rosewood amps pretty quickly to round out the scent and make it a bit bigger and more complex. So many notes comingle and play together that it's harder to single one out, but they all play so NICELY that it doesn't matter. I can just sit and sniff and smile.

 

DRYDOWN: As the original poster noted, this is just absolute bliss for frankincense fans (of which I am one). Once dry, that reigns supreme again but NOT, to me, a a single note pony. It's like it's sitting on its throne but its acolytes -- cinnamon, patchouli, rose (which, I guess because it's rosewood rather than rose, is kinda perfect and non-wonky on me) and the others -- are gathered close at its ankles and offering their best to join it. The result it just divine. A light and golden and spicy frankincense.

 

OVERALL: This is absolutely one of my favorite recent BPAL scents yet. It's complex yet calming. Unique and notable yet not "in your face." There is nothing perfumey about it. It is TOTALLY going on my "must have big bottle list" right away.

 

On a scale of 1-5, a definite 5.

[thekittenkat]

In the decant: Mildly sweet and mildly resin-scented woods.

 

Wet: Much the same as when sniffed.

 

The dry-down: Not a morpher. The frank is indeed pale, the cinnamon was a leaf and hence did not burn, and the patch did not overwhelm the other notes as suspected it would. Nice, but I prefer my woods and resin scents to have a stronger presence.

[elka_knits]

In the bottle slightly powdery smelling and wet/during dry down this is enhanced. Distressingly so. However it slowly morphs into a lovely spicy rose scent on me and reminds me strongly of Mrs Grose with greater lasting power. Which is awesome because Mrs Grose gets lost on me fairly quickly.

 

mind you I have no idea why the two scents are identical to my scent memory. I obviously should do a smack down before reviewing but once it dried that is all I could think of

[mymymai]

ITI: Oh, that's nice and soothing (of course, woods are soothing to me). I get wander rosewood, palisander, cinnamon leaf, and light frankincense.

 

Wet: Oh, well that changes on my skin. It's smokier, I think from the black patchouli, and there's a musky scent that's on the good side of being chemically (styrax), all of which is framed by the rosewood, frankincense, and light cinnamon leaf.

 

Dry: The cinnamon leaf becomes slightly powdery, but that seems to be filled in with patchouli that has faded, very light frankincense, and just a hint of styrax. I miss the rosewood notes.

[mermaidsdream]

Imp: woodsy with a bit of spice.

 

Wet, applied: Oh, hi there, Rosewood. How are you? Amped to high heaven, drowning out everything else.

 

Drydown: the rosewood turns powdery. No cinnamon, no patchouli, no frankincense. Just baby powder. Not my thing, and will be added to my trade pile.

[Blood onmy hands]

I expected this to be darker and heavier than it is. I don't really get any patchouli or cinnamon, and the woods are light and paired with a soft, powdery incense smell. Light, powdery incense and light, dry wood. Fades quickly on my skin.

[zankoku_zen]

Frankincense, patchouli and a touch of cinnamon.

 

Spicy, resinous, woody.

[kaberett]

In the imp: astringent green herbs, woods, and incense.

 

Wet: it immediately turns into something spicy, smokey, and still astringent. The rosewood starts making itself felt pretty much straight off, shoving some floral into the scent.

 

Drydown: this goes through a REALLY DISTRESSING phase of smelling pretty much entirely like patchouli and pine on me. BUT THEN:

 

Dry: ... it rounds into sweetness and regret and a little soap, before turning into a delicately spiced woody rose, with just a lingering hint of smoke. Absolutely lovely.

[milo]

Resinous, slightly spicy, yes I get the Midnight Mass comparison. This is kind of masculine, no sweetness here! Not much in this tester, but I'm basically getting a cinnamon, frank, and a touch of patchouli blend. Not really me, but nice to try.

[OctoberGwen]

Gods, this is so lovely. Gentle, pale, spicy woods and the distinctive, delicate golden quality of frankincense.

 

Another instant classic from Our Lady of Pain.

 

 

[monocainsheresy]

GOD I love this - a balm for my resin loving soul

Dark, woody, rosy, sacred - and I do mean sacred; this smells downright HOLY. So superbly blended that I can't pick out individual notes, just a beautiful, harmonious whole.