Hagiophobia

[bheansidhe]

The scent of mad piety, blood and martyrdom, soul-crushing guilt, and frenzied devotion: frankincense and myrrh disoriented by labdanum, unsteady yuzu, shredded ginger, black cypress, and Aleppo Pine wood thickened with dragon's blood resin.

Sniffed: wow, that's a brisk snap of the fingers under your nose. Peppery ginger, bright yuzu, and fiery red resins. This smells . . . martial and reverberant. I don't get any soul-crushing guilt, but there is indeed a frenzied energy to the blend.

Wet: I. Love. This. It's perfectly seasonal, too - the yuzu and pine with church incense notes make it smell like a room full of evergreen boughs and brightly burning red Christmas candles, turned up to 11. The dragon's blood is fruity and round; it's almost got a bayberry quality. How on earth does something smell like candle flame? I hope this dries down well, because it wasn't even on my list and now it's shot up to purchase status.

Worn: it gets drier and woodsier as it ages, fading to the ghost of burned incense. Really, really good incense.

I'm not normally into the incense-heavy blends, but this is a winner. Edited January 4, 2015 by bheansidhe

[LiberAmoris]

Hagiophobia might embody the fear of saints and holy things, but it smells like Christmas! The ginger and yuzu are effervescent and bright (I might even say jolly), and the cypress and pine smell like fresh boughs and holiday trees. The frankincense and myrrh...classic Christmas. Wet, this is HOLIDAY SPIRIT. Dry, this is the best Yule incense ever.

 

I used up my last drops of Skadi last week, but won't be sad, because Hagiophobia will fill that niche nicely. So glad I picked this up!

[Deliciousness]

In the imp: sweet, cool floral

 

Wet on skin: This is an interesting blend that I'm not too sure I can describe. It goes on sweeter, almost floral ... maybe it's the dragons blood. The down is more sharp ... reminding me of the "fresh linen" scent in The White Rabbit, or if you're unfamiliar with that, more along the lines of BBW's fresh cotton. It's a bit soapy too.

 

Drydown: Dryer sheets and linnen. It's sharp and a bit soapy to my nose. After another couple of hours, the scent becomes sweeter, reminiscent of crushed Smarties dust. I kind of like the candy, slightly fruity edge at the end of wear, but it's very faint ... I have to shove my nose into my wrist to get any scent.

[zankoku_zen]

Pine, cypress, resins and DBR. For me, this is a bit of a mess. I get piney woods, resins, and dragon's blood, with no elements to tame them successfully together. Slightly masculine. Low throw, average wear length.

 

Pine woods, resins, DBR.

[Haltija]

I get a ton of yuzu and ginger in the opening. It's really effervescent and bright. Doesn't make me think of Christmas at all actually.

 

When it dries though more of the pine and dragon's blood comes forth but the yuzu is still very much present. This does make me think of Christmas but more so on the lines of if Christmas was during the Summertime. Not bad but not really for me.

Edited January 22, 2015 by Haltija

[Mokiefraggle]

I really like this one. It's a little bit sharp in the bottle and at first on my skin, but it's a very bright, energetic scent overall.

 

Hagiophobia starts off as very much the scent of pine-wood. Like, this is freshly cut pine, still ragged and seeping bits of pitch, right in the front. It almost put me off for a moment, until I realized what I was smelling, and was able to focus on the rest of them. Then, the frankincense and myrrh start to come out, with the heat of the ginger and a little citrusy tang from the yuzu. Not sure I'm really getting the dragon's blood, though I admit that it usually just gives me another layer of "smoky incense" than the sometimes flowery scent others mention, so it might be getting lost in the shuffle. I don't get much that distinctly says "cypress," either; it might just get buried under the pine.

 

This is a fierce, energetic scent--I'd agree with bheansidhe that "martial" is a good description--with a lot of fire and wildness to it. Don't know if it quite depicts "soul-crushing guilt," but it's definitely the scent of frenzied devotion. It's a great pick-me-up scent, good for clearing the head and warming me up for things, be it for work or any time of stress. Like it, even if it's not an everyday scent by any means. It's amazing for its energy and its ability to perk me up, right when I want it.

[milo]

Bright, cologney and metallic. Resin's are poking through a bit, but it is being overpowered by the blood note. This is much too loud and aggressive for me, and I don't like the musky cologne.

Edited March 31, 2015 by milo

[annemathematics]

a beautiful incense blend. the citrus and ginger adds a brightness but don't make it foodie.

although i can hunt down and suss out many of the individual notes, nothing stands out above the others in the blend...well maybe the yuzu when first applied. it's such a nice balance for the cypress.

this is a bright, woody incense and it's just mmmmmmmmmmmm

one of my favorites from the 2014 yules.

[Blood onmy hands]

The sour pine, sharp citrus yuzu and soapy-floral dragon's blood make this smell very much like PineSol floor cleaner on me. I'm not getting an incense feel at all.

[achildoftime]

I mostly get frankincense when it's wet, but quickly as it dries I get much more yuzu and ginger. It doesn't take too long for the myrrh to come around and ruin everything, though. About 20 minutes in and it's gone to soap on me, as myrrh usually does. It's a real shame because it was real fresh and a little spicy before my chemistry took over.