The Magician’s Wand

[Dark Alice]

Energy, will, and the manifested Word of the Magus. It is the generative process, the act of creation: ash, rowan, oak, and elder wood, polished with sweet resins but handworn, glowing with inner fire.

From wet to dry, this a lighter version of Antkythera Mechanism, with a lighter wood. I imagine the mop with Mickey smells like this!

[Balame]

This smells surprisingly juicy. I wish I could tell what the "sweet resins" were because there's something extremely familiar in here but I'm not certain what it is.

 

I was prepared for a woodsy blend and instead got hit with a lush grape-like note at the start. Not in a candied way, but a fresh juice backed by a soft, amber-like powder. It also makes me think of Two Old Men, which was specifically teakwood dominant. It has that same fizzy, sweet and lightly astringent edge.

 

Perhaps there's a fruity oudh? That actually seems accurate the more I smell this, but this lessens as it wears.

 

Replacing it is a fantastic, creamy vanilla that wafts out over time. I couldn't say what all of the trees smell like individually, but again, it seems the resins are the real stars here. This blend is maddeningly familiar, delicious and magical. It feels oddly "sparkly" to me, which I must say I like. Wish I could place the notes better!

 

Will sum it up as a vaguely fruity vanilla amid powdery but natural resins. Very unique; I want more!

 

*edit* HALOES. My mind finally made the connection; this reminds me of Haloes. I happen to still have a bottle so I compared them. Haloes is lighter, less powdery and has a green edge to it, but I'd hazard to say they probably both share tonka, amber, sandalwood and some sort of fruit or fruity resin. (Oak is common between them.) Glad I figured out why this smelled so nostalgic.

Edited May 24, 2018 by Balame

[Casablanca]

This is gorgeous, sweeter and with more resinous vanilla than I had imagined from its description.

 

I think Magician's Wand reminds me most of Harper, and a little of Antikythera Mechanism. As from Harper, I get a woody, resinous vanilla musk, but with an additional warm sweetness that brings to mind a bit of toasted marshmallow. I think of wooden sticks still sticky with a little sweet goo after you've removed most of the toasted treat. I don't smell any campfire per se (that's all in the Storyteller!): just this sweet toasted quality alongside woods and vanilla musk.

 

I can sense a lovely oak in the blend, but no other specific woods.

 

The Wand's balance is consistent on my skin through most of its life.

 

Delighted with this.

[zankoku_zen]

Sweet polished wood. Yup, you got it. It's woodsy, resinous vanilla musk over more woods. Yup.

 

I may have to get more of this one.

[Lucchesa]

The Magician's Wand is not what I expected, but it's terrific. It's warm, sweet, vanillic woods. I definitely get the comparisons to Antikythera Mechanism, without the tobacco; it also is in a similar vein to last Yule's Hailstorm of Knitting Needles. I wouldn't have connected it to Harper, which I think of as more of a sweet creamy floral, but I see exactly where Casablanca is coming from; there's an almost pillowy quality to Wand. Thanks to the more experienced BPALers as identifying that as vanilla musk -- that's an ingredient I need more of in my life. No throw (which is standard for me) but good wear length. Love!

[annemathematics]

remember the bpal and haute macabre collaboration ARADIA? soft, lovely, dang near impossible to find. the magician's wand magically resurrects that scent BUT AMPED UP TO ELEVEN AND LASTING FOR DAYYYYZ. my impression of aradia was that it was the lovechild of antikythera mechanism and banshee beat. this is as lovely but heaps stronger and huzzah!: easy for everyone to acquire and enjoy.

[LizziesLuck]

Wet: SWOON. Imagine Haloes with the addition of sweet skin musk. AMAZING. I also gets whiffs that reminds me of Aradia, others that remind me of Haloes - it's that oak and vanilla combo that is TO DIE FOR. I swear the "inner fire" is skin musk. It's so lovely and pretty. If you though this might be masculine with all the woods (like in the way that Antikythera is sort of masculine) that is not the case. This is sweet and feminine on me. As it dries it's more like Haloes than Aradia, in that it is softer and more innocent (Aradia is sexy as hell on me).

 

Dry: This is so light on me and it fades so quickly!! So sad. It was utterly stunning while it lasted, musky vanilla woods. Just beautiful. I'll be getting a bottle to age, hoping it lasts longer and is stronger as it ages.

[lady_pandora]

Yes, this is amazing--sweet, vanilla-y, resin-y wood, definitely a smooth, polished, deep wood note, gives me the impression of "glowing." It's the olfactory equivalent of a low soothing humming sound in the background. This Wand is well-worn by loving hands and has seen a lot of rituals. You need to try it if you like Mini Magdalene or Petite Planchette.

[mymymai]

ITI: Round, golden resins and woods delight my nose.

Wet: Delightful reins surge forth, followed by a sweet polished gold tone that wraps itself around the regal wood tones, specifically elder and rowan. It reminds me Ellie's Song, but sweeter and slightly more resinous.

Dry: Musky myrrh and frankincense bedeck polished woods that glow under the evening lights. There's almost a vanilla'd tone to scent as well, but my gosh, this is a gorgeous scent if you are a fan of woods and resins.

Edited June 6, 2018 by mymymai

[dementia_divine]

This scent wasn’t originally on my radar, but after seeing the glowing reviews, I just had to buy a leftover decant!

 

In the decant: Sweet vanilla musk intertwined with sweet resins. This also makes me think of a lighter Antikythera Mechanism, without any of the sharpness that that scent has on me, mixed with Banshee Beat.

 

Wet: Sweet resins and vanilla musk. Something in this reminds me of Banshee Beat. Oak can be sharp and cologne-y on me, but that’s not the case here. It’s also not a heavy scent. As the scent sits on my skin, it becomes brighter. There’s an effervescent quality to this, like the wand is surrounded by its own magical aura.

 

Dry: The sparkling, glowing quality still remains. It’s vanilla musk and sweet, light resins, but it’s more than that. It’s a wand that leaves a trail of magic in its wake.

 

Verdict: I am so thankful for all of the wonderful reviews of this scent that led me to track down a decant before this collection goes down. I need more of this in my life!

[milo]

Very much like So Below, from what I remember. I thought SB was too similar to Haloes to warrant keeping, so I sold it. This is kind of like a meshing of SB and Haloes, it's glowing amber with more than a little touch of woods. I like it, but not as much as Haloes. I will see what aging does to it before I let it go.

[torikitty]

I wish I liked this, especially with such positive reviews. It ends up smelling masculine/sweet on me. I guess these particular woods don't really work on me.

[Ghost of a Rose]

I wanted this partly for the concept, but mostly for the rowan note. Rowan is my totem (yes, a tree not an animal) and I have never seen this note in anything before. I am so excited about this one! Floral perfumes are really more my thing, but I can enjoy wood ones too. I won't be able to differentiate between the different kinds of wood, but that doesn't matter. I'll know the Rowan is there!

 

In the bottle: Ooh, I'm already loving this! It isn't all wood as I had expected. It's half wood and half vanilla with some golden amber, which I love almost as much as flowers. The vanilla and amber makes this sweeter, gentler, and more feminine than wood fragrances normally are.

 

On me, wet: Just like in the bottle, absolutely gorgeous!

 

At 5 minutes: There's definitely some vanilla, stronger than the wood, and an animalistic undertone that is the tiniest bit unpleasant to me - the musk that others have mentioned?

 

At 10 minutes: The wood is coming on more strongly, and I really like that. It balances the sweetness of the amber and vanilla, and warms up the scent.

 

At 15 minutes: The animalistic undertone has gone. The Wand started out beautiful, and just keeps getting better!

 

At 30 minutes: Pretty much the same. A little woodier, a little lighter.

 

At 45 minutes: Mostly vanilla, with some powdery amber and a little wood. Amber always goes powdery on my skin, in the nicest possible way.

 

At 1 hour: Same as above.

 

At 3 hours: Some vanilla, mostly plastic.

 

After 5 hours: The plastic and vanilla are gone. All that remains is the soft, pretty powder of amber's final drydown.

 

Verdict: A very lovely, consistent and fairly feminine vanilla perfume with light touch of wood. The Lab has surprised me again! I hate vanilla perfumes. But this is the second one that has made it onto my "Favorites" list. The secret to that is that they are not at all foody.

 

5 out of 6 stars. If there was a little less vanilla and more amber, it might have been a 6. Especially if there was a lot of rowan.

Edited September 15, 2018 by Ghost of a Rose