Ahathoor

[Ariella]

Hail unto Thee who art Ahathoor in Thy triumphing, even unto Thee who art Ahathoor in Thy beauty, who travellest over the heavens in thy bark at the Mid-course of the Sun.
Tahuti standeth in His splendour at the prow, and Ra-Hoor abideth at the helm.
Hail unto Thee from the Abodes of Morning!

Straight on, this is immediately dry and woody, with just a hint of smokey incense underneath. Soon, it morphs into something lighter, creamier and sweeter.

To me, the most remarkable thing about Ahathoor is the way in which it melts into my skin a couple minutes after I put it on. I can't think of any other way to describe it. It's not that the scent is disappearing -- far from it, in fact, I can still detect it hours later -- but it feels like it becomes part of the scent of my skin. Edited December 18, 2005 by Shollin

[sarada]

I tried the Stations of the Sun a year ago, before I had developed a good BPAL sense and now I'm out to try them again. I remembered them as being somewhat golden and resinous, but in a dark, medicinal way.

 

That is still my impression of Ahathoor though I can say a little bit more about it now that I'm more familiar with the lab's various notes.

 

Resins, a hint of pepper, and a hot herbal undercurrent -- something vaguely menthol lurks in the background. This reminds me of one of the other ritual-type blends, either a Sephiroth or...actually it reminds me of Sol. It's not spicy, per se, but it has the pulsating inner heat of Sol. I've seen other people mention carnation...that would make sense, since that has a sort of spicy/heat quality without smell like a traditional spice.

 

This definitely has the feel of a ritual blend. I'm almost certain there's frankincense in there. Maybe there's pepper or carnation. Some sort of menthol scent in the distance. But after wearing it for awhile, the frankincense dominates and it's an absolutely marvellous resiny incense on me.

 

Okay, so now I have to try the other Stations again and figure out what I need more of! I've been missing out on a great resiny scent!

[arabella]

First Impression: Very strong and dry - pepper, resin, pickles and tar.

 

Dries down to: A dusty, slightly sour, unpleasant tarry scent.

 

Additional Comments: This smell evokes memories of the street I lived on in London when I was very young. It was crushed gravel over tar and on the rare very hot day, we neighborhood kids used to sit on the curb with our sticks poking around in the soft tar. I remember hating the smell but enjoying the poking around in the gooey mess. I don't know what the components are but this just isn't working for me whatsoever.

 

Lasted: Just a couple of hours.

 

Rating: 1 out of 5

[Hawke]

In the vial: A dark note, vetiver or oakmoss maybe, with a cedar/minty note perhaos and maybe a fruit somewhere buried. I am skeptical about this one.

 

Wet: Bandaids. Augh. Bandaids and something medicinal with a lovely undernote of lemon. Fortunately the bandaid smell blends in with the rest but it's still not exactly my thing.

 

Dry: This has actually sweetened up somewhat with a faintly vanilla cedar note, maybe. The fruit disappears. Not awful, but still not me.

[AliBabble]

this is the second "stations of the sun" frimp i've received (the other was ra) and i have to say, i'm quite taken with them...at this rate, i might have to try the whole solar collection! anyway, like ra, ahathoor has this mighty, majestic, *golden* feeling to it, although the scent is completely different...out of the vial it has a slight hint of orange or lemon, but what i smell more is an almost turpentine smell - like sap on a tree. on my skin, the turpentine becomes more mentholated - it smells like wintergreen, or camphor, rubbed on birch tree bark. at this stage, it's all woodsiness, wintergeen/birch and lemon/orange - invigorating, warm and glowing. then, slowly, a resin-y smell emerges, and i am pretty sure this is frankincense? i like this a lot; it feels very ancient and magical. Nice!

[The Perfumed Ferret]

What an interesting blend!

 

 

First sniff is violet and cinnamon....on the skin the first two, plus amber, light woods, and something sharp and pungent on the finish, perhaps a resin?

 

I'm really in love with this scent. It reminds me of a cloudy day.

[xith]

This is woodsy and smokey on me. None of the creaminess or citrus that others have mentioned. It smells a bit like a lighter Brimstone.

[fiddledragon]

Even if that first Station of the Sun I swapped for hadn't been so glorious, how could I not give this one a try? It's "I'm a morning person; worship me!"

 

Scent in bottle: Mmmm...that same resin base that was in Tum and Ra, plus...cloves? Coriander? Something lovely and spiced.

 

Scent on me:

Wet -- Lots of lovely spices! They're so well-blended that I can't distinguish individual ones except for this haze of clove rising off my wrist.

Dry -- It dries to a very unusual almost sour spice-resin scent.

 

Conclusion: Yum! You will love and fear the dawn people! Bottle. Definitely bottle.

[LiberAmoris]

Ahathoor smells the way a hot stone massage feels. All warm and radiating, like being warmed from the outside in and the inside out. It smells like frankincense to me, along with other lovely resins.

 

This is the kind of BPAL blend that feels ancient and mysterious, like an Egyptian rite.

[juniperus]

Bottle: a spiciness and a hint of a floral..carnation I think.

Wet: more of the same, but brighter, somehow.

Dry: carnation, a woodiness, an incense-y/resiny spiciness, and another floral I can't quite put my finger on that really brightens and opens the scent up tremendously..not too sweet.

Later: the incense-y sandalwood and something-else has increased, it's dry and warm..like wood in the sun. very nice.

[PirateMaggie]

This is definitely solar.

 

Wet, it goes through an unfortunate and mercifully brief orange baby aspirin phase, but it soon dries down to bright golden sandalwood mixed with citrus and spice and something incensy and resiny (frankincense, perhaps, and or amber?). This is a very warm, dry scent, evoking the Sahara. It's uplifting and revitalizing and hopeful. Throw is soft--like many sandalwood blends, this hovers close as a second skin and isn't at all overpowering, and like most sandalwood blends, it agrees with my chemistry.

 

I can see wearing this on days I need to kick the blahs or when I need extra energy, drive, and courage. Very nicely done.

[kunoichi]

There's something floral-ish and somewhat spicy about this scent. It's a bright scent, and light, but penetrating ... and there's something hidden behind all of that, that I can smell right at the end of a sniff of this scent on my skin. It's more prevalent when it's first put on my skin, but fades back, but it's still there at the end. It's a dry scent, behind the floral/spice. It's very different from other scents I have, but I like it.

[Eunice]

Sweet and spicy but very light. I'd say the sweetness is almost orange but not a bitter orange. Maybe mandarin? This is blended so well that I can't pick out one single note. Overall this is very much like a bright, spicy incense. Very refreshing!

[eviltemptressdq]

very incense-y to me... nothing really stands out, note wise, but the scent isn't overall a bad one. Just not for me, I suppose!

[maewitch]

Interesting.

 

Something herbal and perhaps a teeny bit soapy going toe-to-toe with a mellow, spicy amber. Is there lemongrass in this? It seems like there's a touch of something citrus, but green-edged. The spicy note is really quite soft, rounded and almost powdery, which makes me think of carnation rather than an actual spice like clove or cinnamon.

 

Oh! Frankincense! That combination of citrus and spice makes me think of frankincense too.

 

As it dries, it becomes less discordant and even more rounded and mellow, a wonderful, glowy-yellow, somewhat piquant kind of smell.

 

I really quite like it.

[HennaFairy]

bottle:

root beer and green woods

 

wet:

a little sandalwoody (or cedar?), root beer is there but less strong

 

dry:

subtle spices and woods, very warm scent but mild. Not much throw, but really nice!

 

overall:

loving it!

 

rating: 9/10

[moonarcana]

reviewed courtesy of Quikslver's GC circle swap

 

 

Ahathoor

 

first sniff: citrus (lemon?) balanced with myrrh or frankincense - not exactly sure of the notes but that's what I'd guess.

 

tested wet: the resiny smell comes out more, nearly eclipsing the bright citrus note. A very pleasing scent.

 

tested dry: stays nice throughout - sometimes the lemon whiffs and sometimes the dry resin wafts.

 

conclusion: I might look up an imp of this sometime, but there's others I like better.

 

3/5

[filigree_shadow]

Kind of a weird woody/citrus scent. Maybe something like eucalyptus in there. It's kind of a cross between a medicinal scent and a cleaning products scent. From that description you'd probably guess that I don't like it very much, and you'd be right. I can't wear scents like this.

[indicolite]

Ahathoor I cannot quite put my finger on. One would expect the midday sun to be stronger than the rising sun, but Ra is actually much stronger on me, as I wear them both. Ahathoor has a scent that seems to be almost pepper, almost smoky incense without being unpleasant the way some incense is to me. She is quite an interesting blend, and would be useful for those "different" days, hopefully, when I do not feel like something else.

[karengypsy]

In the vial: Spicy, on top of something light.

 

On me: This is like straight cinnamon on me, but not quite as powerful as other scents, like Serpent's Kiss. I much prefer cinnamon when it's blended with other scents. It may be a "lighter" cinnamon scent, but it's too strong for me.

 

Verdict: Off to swaps/sales.

 

Rating: 2/5

[kakiphony]

This intimidated me as it's the first imp with no listed notes that I've tried, courtesy of the Entire GC Catalog sniffing circle.

 

In the imp: Woody and medicinal. Kind of like a cedar cabinet where someone has stored Vicks and that stingy red stuff you put on cuts.

 

Wet on skin: Very woody. I'd say cedar, but I always say cedar when it smells like wood. (It's the only wood I've ever noticed having a smell in my life, so I tend to always think of it when I smell wood.)

 

Early dry down: Still very woody, but there's something soicy poking up through it. I don't think it's black pepper exactly, but maybe an herb that has peppery overtones? Or maybe carnation? It is reacting in a way that's lighter and more floral on my skin than black pepper usually does. The overall effect is not golden so much as it is dry and hot. This reminds me of the sun in the desert and the way it makes rocks and metal seem to pulse and shift in my vision.

 

Late dry down: As this dried down that slightly Vicks Vapo-rub smell which was in the background in the imp developed further. It's not mint, but it has that same nasal clearing effect. Paired with the wood, it turns into a really invigorating, but grounded and dry scent. It's the olfactory equivalent of turning your face up to the sky, having the sun kiss your lashes and getting a boost of energy from it. It makes me want to climb trees or swim laps.

[miss apple]

Ahathoor - in the imp a bit woody. Once on I can smell something similar to amber and maybe a touch of sandalwood? Clove-like spices add a bit of sweetness. I really like this! It's warm and woodsy - very comforting. Definitely need a big bottle

[sofiaviolet]

It's really sharp. On me, the sharpness dies a sudden death, to be replaced by the same sort of scent as Black Phoenix and Elegba, with the addition of what I think is cinnamon. I feel kind of nauseated by whatever it is those three blends have in common.

[edenssixthday]

Ahathoor - When first applied, the strongest note is something medicinal and astringent, and I’m convinced that I’m going to have to wash it off; however, as the oil begins to dry, the astringent tone fades, leaving a warm, sweet amber note, whose scent seems to be boosted by frankincense and perhaps even a drop of dry sandalwood. After about 30 minutes on my skin, I notice something spicy, which seems to be the lovely, warm, spicy aroma of carnation. I can’t stop sniffing my skin! This is a fabulous scent. It’s got a trace of “hippie” feeling about it, and it’s got a sense of “brightness” to it that I can’t quite identify. It’s a fabulous scent that is very long-lasting and has a lovely level of throw – enough that I often catch a waft of it and find myself smiling at how good I smell, yet I’m not overwhelmed by the fragrance. I’m hanging on to this one!

[fairy]

This one didn't work for me. It had a sharp medicinal smell to it. If I sniff hard enough there is something really pleasant underneath but the sharpness needs to die down a little. Not terrible but not something I'd find myself wearing

 

I edited this to add: I just read the reviews above mine and I wound up saying pretty much what everyone else did, lol. I promise I didn't peak at their reviews before writing this!

Edited August 9, 2006 by maddi