Entertaining the Heian Court Maiden

[suki]

Honey oudh and bourbon vanilla.

In The Bottle: Wow. It's the honey we all love from numerous Lab blends, but it's being tempered with something that's surprisingly green and fresh. I guess it's the oudh, but it's not like any oudh I've encountered before. Huh.

Wet On Skin: The "green" grows in intensity while the honey recedes. The vanilla is still nowhere to be seen.

Dry Down: This green, fresh oudh aspect is the dominant for sure. The honey has morphed into a lighter honey dust upon dry down and alas, the vanilla remains MIA.

In All: I'll keep this around for a bit to see how it ages. I'm not certain yet if this is a keeper for me, but I think it's a lovely scent for spring and anyone into leafy, greenie scents should absolutely get some ASAP.

[Jenjin]

Exotic, sweet twigs, forest, woods and herbal notes.
I'm still searching for the bourbon vanilla and hoping this peeks out a bit more after aging.
Earthy, yet fresh and classic, the oudh in this reminds me a bit of the sweet oudh in Spider Witch.
If you like wicked, sexy oudh you NEED to entertain this Maiden.

Edited March 31, 2017 by Jenjin

[Foodie]

Mmmmmmm, honey. Lovely honey. When first applied, Entertaining the Heian Court Maiden smells a lot like "O" honey mixed with some kind of old timey, classy, fancy perfume. I'm not getting any green, forest or herbs like other reviewers. At this stage I'm liking it but not loving it.

As it dries, about 15 minutes in, it really starts to morph into a different sort of scent. Still getting lots of "O" honey but the perfumey aspect has turned into more of a noticable deep earthy vanilla. Still a bit perfumey but I like that this scent isn't foodie in the slightest.

As the day wore on, I kept getting whiffs of the scent from my sweater and it was kind of amazing. Definitely a sexy vibe. Glad I got a bottle.

[megank4]

Really nice. Reminds me of something, can't think what, going to drive me crazy. WombFury? Anyway, starts as a dark smoky honey and dries down to something a bit more like honey powder.

Edited April 14, 2017 by Megank4

[SophieCedar]

The honey oudh is sweet and resinous. The bourbon vanilla is quite dry, so maybe that's what people are talking about when they say woodsy? Not getting much woodsiness as previously mentioned. Overall, syrupy oudh and dark alcohol vibe vanilla, like pure distilled beans. Color impression is gossamer golden brown. Its a deep, booming, rolling, trance-like scent on me and I love it.

[LizziesLuck]

I haven't entirely decided how I feel about oudh yet, but these other notes were too tempting to pass up - hoping the honey part of the honey oudh is more prominent.

 

 

Wet: Warm, honeyed, glowing wood. Like honeyed oudh single note (oudh/agarwood is a wood resin, and it always smells strongly of wood to me, more the polished variety than a growing tree, but I would guess that's why some get a forest feel out of this). This is so nice. I could happily sit for hours with my face buried in the crook of my elbow, breathing this in. I think I have decided I do like oudh, especially when it's drenched in rich honey.

 

 

Dry: They honey really shines in this, and oudh gives it so much warmth and depth. I really can't identify any vanilla, but it's still lovely, and the vanilla may come out more with age. I have also notices that bourbon vanilla never seems to show much on my skin (sadly). Anyway, I like this a lot and will be keeping my bottle.

[LiberAmoris]

Entertaining the Heian Court Maiden is woody honey vanilla. This oudh is relatively restrained on me, and lacks the earthy tang that it can have in other applications. As it dries down, it mellows beautifully and the woody note dissipates a bit to leave behind what smells like honey musk with a touch of dry vanilla wood. Love this!

[galahad]

In the Bottle:

Lovely honey and rich, dry oudh

On the Skin:

A little slow to warm up, as you would expect with a resin heavy scent. The oudh is so awesome. It is an element I love so I may be super aware of it. Smells like an old wooden box polished with sweet polish.

On the Drydown:

The vanilla emerges just a little to add some weight to the scent but overall it is a close to the skin sweet oudh. This is a golden, warm and comforting blend. Outrageously decadent in an understated fashion. Multiple bottles should be hoarded.

[Soupy Twist]

Well, now I know what oudh smells like on my skin: musty, rotted wood. Completely blots out the honey, and if there's any bourbon vanilla there I never got to it. Scrubber.

[roseus]

In the bottle: polished wood and honey

 

Wet: smooth wood, honey, and vanilla

 

Dry: Dry, almost spicy wood and dry vanilla. A little bit of honey floating around. This is beautiful, but it is so soft on me. If had more throw I'd be in love.

[Wench457]

I see where people are getting wood polish, or as my son said “a slight undertone of floor cleaner.” This is in-your-face oud, and is quite sharp and strong at first. The vanilla is barely there, although I expect it will bloom with aging. It becomes more creamy on the dry down, although still quite woodsy. I may need another bottle - I think this will be stunning with a bit of age to settle it down.

 

ETA: After a bit of settling, I'm getting a rich, primarily honey scent with just a hint of vanilla, but with an amazing smooth oud underneath, which gives it a wonderful complexity. Short throw, but that's fine with me. Adore it - definitely hoard worthy!

Edited March 29, 2017 by Wench457

[lizabelle]

This is a darker honey, which blends with the vanilla until they're almost one note. It's the kind of boozy vanilla I love, and it goes perfectly with the other notes. Underneath is a softly earthy but much smoother oudh than I expected. The overall effect is well-blended, perfumey, and beautiful. I have several scents that are similar in character to this, but I'm tempted to get a bottle. It's just so nice!

[Teaotter]

This really ought to work on me, but the vanilla immediately does the curdled-cream thing that usually only happens with foodie blends. The honey and oudh combo is delightful, but it can't drown out the curdled cream.

 

*sigh*

 

Skin chemistry, why must you do this?

[zankoku_zen]

Bourbon vanilla and oudh with a touch of honey. This one is like a vanilla + woody resin, with a swirl of honey. This is very much a skin scent. Low throw and average wear length.

[lizardskin]

This is my favorite type of oudh--similar to the one in Half-Elf, but the honey and vanilla give it a much deeper, richer feel without the sharper top notes. On me it takes a little while to warm up and build up more throw, but it lasts all day as a warm, resinous scent. Honey sometimes goes powdery on me, but in this one all of the notes meld together beautifully. It took me a while to make up my mind, but this is worth a full bottle.

[theseagrows]

as described, it's honey with oud, yum i am a lover of both notes, so this one is working great for me at the outset. the oud blooms beautifully after a few minutes, balancing more with the honey. i get a little vanilla later, but not a lot. overall, i like this, but it's not a love. it stays fairly linear and the sillage is very low.

Edited February 28, 2018 by theseagrows

[Anne Taylor]

When just sniffing the bottle, it's mostly oudh and honey. Almost a bit minty but I think that's just the herbalness in general. Once actually on my skin the burbon appears and adds a bit of 'spiciness' in a way to the oudh. Has a drier vanilla note that reminds me a bit of the one in Reapers Gonna Reap.

 

Not a ton of throw on me, but doesn't stay close to the skin either. Definitely bottle worthy!

[Haltija]

Warm and resinous for sure. It's all honey and oudh on me and I agree with a reviewer above saying it smells like Half-Elf, because on full dry down that's the association I get.

 

I will gladly keep my decant

[Lucide]

Hmm, Entertaining The Heian Court Maiden needed to settle down a bit, but it is lovely now!

 

In the bottle:

Woody and sharp, with a bit of a sweet undertone.

 

On my skin:

At first it is resinous and a bit herbal, later the sweetness of the vanilla and honey come out. When it is completely dry, it becomes a very soft skin scent on me. A bit 'my skin but better'. I think this one will get a lot of use, because sometimes I just need a subtle scent.

[archaesophilia]

This is probably going to age beautifully! An initial sniff right when I got it revealed-woody oud and not much else. After resting, the honey suddenly presented itself. On application, the oud comes out again and has the most throw, until it dries down to a honey vanilla booze/musk right next to the skin. It's already a wonderful, private, scent, but it's going to be amazing in a year.

[milo]

This is sweet honey oude, as described. The honey sweetens up the resins, of the oude, which I find hard to wear on me sometimes. That being said, I do find that it's not my style, and a bit too much leaning on the masculine side. I do think that this would smell amazing on a guy, though.

[Evilynn]

I've held off reviewing this until it had aged a few months, since it was a very green woods single note when I got the bottle.

 

However, it is still pretty much single note oudh on me, in the most screechingly perfumey, headachey way possible. I have never thought of oudh as a death note before, but I think I will, from now on.

 

Off to the swap pile it goes.

[dementia_divine]

A few weeks ago, I spilled half of my decant of this on my leg, hated how it smelled, and had to go shower to wash it off.

 

Yet, I still made myself do a proper test of this scent... which I immediately regretted soon after applying it.

 

In the decant, it's all honeyed, dark oudh, no vanilla to be found.

 

On my skin, I think I finally got the poo-dh experience that everyone talks about. I totally got the diaper thing. It was not only me that was repulsed by the scent: my boyfriend said I smelled like baby wipes.

 

I tried to scrub it off. It would not budge and ended up just smelling like a dark, dirty (that kind of oudh that gives me a dirty patchouli vibe like in Half-Elf), oudh.

 

This one is not for me.

[Teamama]

100% love. This is the BPAL oudh that works on my skin. St. Clare calls it "golden," so now I am on the prowl for "honey" & "golden" oudh.

 

On me, this is primarily woody, glowing oude, deliciously complicated by a background of honey & bourbon vanilla. Medium-low throw, great staying power.

Edited August 27, 2018 by Teamama