Joy and Fear

[suki]

A heart beating with anxiety and longing: rose musk, benzoin, and red sandalwood.

In The Bottle: The reaction I got just from sniffing the bottle is a visceral stab to the heart, a rose of holidays passed, worn by my grandmother and her sisters in a by-gone era. Not "old lady" perfume, but rather the stuff that women of a different era favored considerably.

Wet On Skin: It's weird, there's no myrrh listed in the notes, but the rose comes across as powdery, just as if myrrh were in the mix. Very perplexing!

Dry Down: The musk is mellowing upon dry down, and a sweet, creamy aspect has emerged, reminding me of cold cream from the 40's.

 

In All: a sweet and lovely rose scent. Not sure it's for me, but floral lovers will be very, very happy!

[LiberAmoris]

Joy and Fear is resiny rose musk and sandalwood on me with a tangy hit of benzoin, an 'enhanced' rose musk that does feel timeless. I love red sandalwood, and that note helps pin this down to something very grounded and gently woodsy. This smells classic in the best way.

[zankoku_zen]

Resiny rose and red sandalwood. This one smells like a resinous rose blend. It reminds me to Rose Red, minus the cool green snap and less voluptous. Good throw and wear length.

[theseagrows]

starts with a rosy musk, and a few seconds later the sandalwood starts to come through. after about 5 minutes i get hints of benzoin, and as others have said, this is primarily a resinous, musky rose.

[LizziesLuck]

I love all the notes in this, and I have high hopes!

 

Wet: Mmm, that's lovely. Smooth red sandalwood at the forefront. A hint of sweet benzoin. And just a touch of a very "classic" or maybe even "vintage" smelling rose musk. The rose musk is coming out more as it dries though. The whole feel of this is elegant and feminine. It's clean and classy. Very light though, I am wishing there was more throw.

 

Dry: I don't know if this needs some aging, or if it's just not great on my skin chem, but it's gone really soapy. Or maybe powdery would be a better word? The glorious red sandalwood that I love so much has disappeared, as has the benzoin, and there's just a faint powdery soapy rose. Smells like a cold cream. Not what I was hoping for, sadly. I will age it and try it again another time.

[VetchVesper]

I love Bath & BodyWorks Sandalwood Rose scent, so even though I'm not a huge rose fan, my interest always perks when I see that combo, but Joy & Fear is almost entirely sandalwood on me, and even that is very light. The rose comes through a tad, but it's almost like a sandalwood box full of old rose petals. It's dusty smelling and reminds me of something I'd smell in an Indian shop. It's pleasant, but I prefer Rakshasa for this kind of vibe. If you are a big fan of red sandalwood, this might be right up your ally, but for me, it's a swapper.

[Elspethdixon]

Usually I test rose + sandalwood scents by deathmatching them against Jezebel, but I don't have any Jezebel imps around at the moment so I'm going to have to do this blind.

In the imp/wet - perfume-y (must be the benzoin), light, dry, sweet. The rose isn't very strong.

Freshly applied - the rose pops out as soon as it hits my skin. Rose/sandalwood is a good combo on me in Jezebel, where it's lush and velvety. This is a lighter rose than that, with just a hint of sour/soap (the cold cream comparison upthread is sadly apt). I'm afraid it might be The Bad Rose. That, or the benzoin isn't sweet enough to make it good on me.

Fifteen minutes in - The benzoin and sandalwood are lovely, but the rose is just a little too sour. It's the flip side of The Best Lies, which was just too sweet; this one isn't quite sweet enough.

Three hours in - BPAL has three rose notes as far as my skin chemistry is concerned: The Good Rose, The Bad Rose, and Fancy Scented Soap. The rose in Joy and Fear can't decide which of them it wants to be. It starts out thin, sour, and slightly soapy, spends a long time pretending to be rose-scented cold cream, and then, several hours into the drydown, gradually morphs into a warm, soft rose-sandalwood skin scent that I actually really like. Too bad it takes half a workday to get there.

Not the worst rose skin chemistry fail I've experienced by far, but probably not for me.

[Teamama]

Rose & sandalwood & musk is 100% my jam. If you are a fan of sandalwood & musk, be sure to check this out. It does not disappoint.

 

The rose & benzoin are pretty reserved on my skin, not very forward. If you like The Little Wooden Doll, the amount of rose in the mix is similar.

 

Edited to add: not a lot of throw, but lasts a long time.

 

Very good, happy I got a decant, may need a full bottle.

Edited March 25, 2018 by Teamama