Anubis

[Freya]

He Who Counts the Hearts, Jackal Ruler of the Bows, He Who Is In the Place of Embalming. Jackal-headed guardian, protector and psychopomp of Egypt’s dead, he guides souls to the underworld and holds steady the scales upon which the deceased’s heart is weighed against Ma’at’s Feather of Truth. He is the creator and master of funereal rites, He Who Opens the Mouth of the Dead, and is the sentinel that watches over the sanctity of tombs and the virtue and privacy of his charges. His scent is a blend of holy myrrh, storax, balsam, and embalming herbs.

Before I stumbled into a BPAL addiction, I used Nag Champa all the time. I burned the incense, wore the oil, used the soap. I couldn't get enough of it. Since my first BPAL imp, I haven't put a drop of it on my skin. I've tried to go back to it, but the blend I have smells bland and maybe a little sour. I don't know why I ever wore it. BPAL matured me and pushed Nag Champa to the back of the cabinet.

I tried Anubis today. I had my nose to my wrist trying to place the familiar scent. Then, after a trip to the bathroom cabinet, glancing at my lonely Nag Champa bottle, it dawned on me ... Anubis smells like well rounded, fresh Nag Champa.

I was hoping to find a BPAL Nag Champa scent, and I've found it. I'm going to have to order a big bottle of this one!

[Sheila]

This scent is very disconcerting to me, because it blends so well with my own skin, yet it seems slightly sinister to me. Hmm.

 

At first, sweet honey and something golden.

Then, the herbs/myrrh come out--this is very sophisticated.

At drydown, it's very hard for me to distinguish the scent from my own skin. It smells like me. And, like I said, I'm not sure I want this to be my scent. (Anubis, the god, scares me a bit. Although my spirit animal is coyote, so maybe I need to explore this more.)

 

Not very helpful, huh?

[Shollin]

First sniff: It’s hard to pin Anubis down. There’s a hint of resin, bright rather than dark.

 

Wearing: Oh, wow. This is warm and resinous and gorgeous. I sniffed Anubis long ago at the Atlanta meet, and based on that first sniff I ordered an imp of my own, but I didn’t try it on my skin there. If I had, I might have gotten a bottle.

[carolinachiquita]

This was a frimp from the lab (thanks!). I hadn't read any of the descriptions before I tried it but I was dying to try it from the first sniff as it smelled yum. Anubis on me is a sweet and golden scent, it is slightly musky but there is this (smoky?) sweetness that radiates from where I have applied it. I think that this might be another 5ml I need. Buy it its gorgeous!

 

...I almost want the lab to stop sending me frimps (not really) as all the ones they send are the ones I end up buying bottles of and I have too many bottles to get through and this never ending pile of imps!!

[pekeana]

Mmmm, I smell similarities between Sol and Anubis -- some of the embalming herbs must be in both, because I get "la slight pickling spice" as an undertone. Also, Anubis is very sweet on me -- like a dip of honey with the herbs and resins. I dunna think it's s'posed to be this sweet. My skin is playing stupid today.

[Blood onmy hands]

I was expecting this blend to be darker for some reason. First on, I am actually getting a honey BBQ chicken association . It's a sweet, toasted honey and spices. In the drydown it begins to get a bit perfumey and smells sort of floral on me..

 

Smoky resinous honey with a touch of perfumey florals. Anubis is not a good blend for me, though it is making hungry.

[sookster]

floral and myrrh and a touch fruity smokiness....mmmMMMmmm....

this is such a magical blend and stunningly gorgeous with

my chemistry......i applied it this morning and while

the scent has faded, it is still just as beautiful.....

 

[herdivineshadow]

At first this is a very sweet, golden, honey scent whilst wet. After drying a bit it turns into a more dry, incense scent with a slightly clinical touch - it reminds me a bit of the hosptial my mum used to work at, which is kind of strange I guess. Ultimately, it's a bit too incensey for me.

[RainyDayGrey]

Anubis smelled like lemons and urine to me on first sniff. Luckily it was just my sinuses playing tricks on me, thanks to the nasty cold I had at the time.

 

Once I was feeling well again I tried it out properly. It does not smell like either lemons or urine, thank goodness. I'm not sure yet if I like it enough to keep it. It's very resiny and sweet. It actually reminds me of Nag Champa, alot. I'll have to give it a few more tries before I decide how much I like it.

[Celogrl]

From the lab description, I expected something dark and gloomy- maybe a bit sinister. Surprise! This is pretty bright and dare I say? Cheery? It is an uplifting scent, light and bright. It's sweet, with touches of resiny balsam. It's really lovely.

[niter]

Imp

The sweet, thick myrrh note is the first scent I can pick out. The undernote has a feral, woodsy touch.

 

Wet

MMMM....spicy myrrh! As the oil spreads on my wrist, the myrrh settles and a balsam note emerges. This is very woodsy on me.

 

Dry

As this dries, the myrrh returns and the blend ends up a soft, creamy, woodsy scent. It reminds me of Athens except without the sweetness and is almost a manly version of it. I must try it on my husband.

[perclexed]

Definitely can smell the myrhh, though as it dries the balsam emerges. I'm thinking the embalming herbs and the storax are providing this 'cloying' sense that's filling my head on the drydown. Once it was on for a while they melded and merged and provided a unique scent. It makes me feel peaceful, reverant, and still. I like it!

 

ETA: While I agree with a previous poster that it does smell quite a bit like Nag Champa, I think the storax and the herbs are just too sickly sweet for me. Had to wash it off at 45 min as it was giving me a headache. :/

Edited January 8, 2006 by perclexed

[Ajila]

In the bottle - Sweet, spicy, some of the over ripeness that I associate with the honey in blends like O.

Wet on me - Somehow spicier, but also cleaner, quite sharp.

Dry on me - It becomes drier, hotter and, to me at least sweeter. I really like it, but a colleague complained of it smelling like BO, which has worried me somewhat.

Edited January 9, 2006 by Ajila

[LiberAmoris]

Anubis is all honey and myrrh on me, just a beautiful mellow incensey blend with the barest shadow of florals like a memory. It's probably my favorite of the Egyptian-themed oils so far. It's like honeycomb with bedroom eyes.

 

Although Anubis is very sexy, it's also very relaxing. It's sort of like the remnants of incense on a pillow. I'm definitely keeping my imp and thinking about a bottle. This strikes me as a good contender for the 'underrated/best kept secret' BPAL blend.

[lady_pandora]

Honey and...rose?

 

Seriously, this starts out honey and rose, then turns into a sort of light musky rose a la Psyche, but without the baby-powder stuffiness I got from Psyche. It gets a little incensier as the day wears on; I think it's the myrrh coming out, and is quite nice.

[Bagfish]

In the vial: It smells quite sweet and fruity which is a bit scary as I'm not good with either

 

Wet: definitely honey and fruit, I can't put my finger on what, though as it dries down a bit a spicy resinous woody sort of smell comes through. It also reminds me a *little* bit of Yggdrasil

 

Drydown: definitely a benzoin sort of smell, with sweet spices (cumin or coriander?) as well. It reminds me a little bit of the end of the drydown of Serge Luten's Ambre Sultan, although the fragrances come from completely different directions to get to it.

 

Overall: this was a swap from Blu (thanks Blu) and I am really pleased that I took a chance on it. This sort of discovery makes the boards worth while!

 

On a scale of 1 to 5 I think this gets 4.5 It is very nearly the best, and at the moment is in my top five oils (along with Snake Charmer and Sri Lanka).

[voodoobaby]

In the bottle, Anubis smelled wonderfully unusual to me. The myrrh is very light, yet clearly detectable. It smells herbal and incensey and kind of fizzy. Wearing it--and this is odd--I smell something fruity. It smells like wine, really. Wine and incense and herbs and YUM. For a death scent, I find this strangely uplifting, in the same way as, say, Bon Vivant, only much more earthy. I love it. A new favorite.

[Silverstrike]

Interesting. This is kind of sweet! I think I can smell the embalming herbs (some similarity to Embalming Fluid--ther herbs?)--something that seems floral. But it's not a runaway white floral (as most BPAL florals end up on my skin); there's something sweet and warm (is that they myrrh, storax or balsam?), something very relaxing about this scent. For what it's worth, I don't get anything feral from this, although it dries down to something not as sweet, well shucks. I liked the sweetness. This was great right when it was just applied; after awhile, not as great, but still nice.

[jessiesquash]

First impressions: I opened this and immediately knew that I would love it. In the bottle I smelled a sharp floral, like fresh incense freshly opened. It instantly reminded me of something I couldn't place.

 

On: The balsam and herbs start to emerge. The more it dries, the sharper the balsam gets but the sweetness of the myrrh keeps it from being too acidic. Gorgeous scent and not what I expected. I don't sense any sort of funereal aspect but rather it smells like a lazy afternoon lost in a small book store. I haven't tried a lot of scents yet but this is by far, my favorite. I can't stop smelling my arm! Definitely a keeper.

[Pachelbel]

I really like this. It really does remind me of funerals--I'm going to sound so morbid, but it reminds me of peering into my friend's coffin at his viewing. You wouldn't think this would be grounds for liking a scent, but...I do. It reminds me of him and it makes me happy

 

Ok! More detailed response.

 

BOTTLE: *sniffsniff* Whoa, almost astringent...kind of...sinus clearing. Nwah?

 

WET: Sweet, very faintly fruity, or maybe they're just very sweet herbs. A little touch of myrrh.

 

DRY: Here's where it wavers between smelling like the embalmed scent when you're leaning close to someone at their viewing, and a sweet, myrrh-touched fruity scent. Very, very nice--I close my eyes and it is a scent that evokes exactly what they intended it to. Way to go, Labrats!

 

My rating: 4

[tinyvulture]

first impression – herbal+incense. interesting contrast – the clean, green herbs play off the dark, sweet, mysterious myrrh and deep, woodsy balsam to create an exotic, otherwordly scent. truly makes me think of ancient rituals and Egyptian funeral chambers. unique and fantastic.

[Nekomata]

Wet and dry this is very herbal, can't quite ID any of the scents. Very sweet and wet full scent.

[LittleGreyKitten]

The description of Anubis never grabbed me; either I didn't know what the notes would smell like (balsam, storax, embalming herbs) or I was very hit or miss with the note (myrrh). So I really hadn't given Anubis much thought one way or the other. However, if there is anything that's true about BPAL, it's that one will definitely find notes that are new and intriguing, or you'll change your mind about things you never thought would work on you.

 

So, I got frimped with Anubis. In the bottle I was taken aback a bit- spicy, sharp, with a golden tone to it that promised to be intriguing or terrible on skin.

 

On skin, it blooms. Wet it's nice, a bit sharp still, but then dry the beautiful golden sweet scent takes over and pushes the sharper bits (herbs?) back some. I don't know what that sweet note is- it's sort of honey, kind of like when ylang ylang goes very right on me, a little like the sweet note in Haunted Palace, but not exactly like any of those. It's just bright, sweet, clear and golden.

 

I will try it a few more times before I declare my need for a bottle, but I'm thinking it's likely. I just want to make sure it doesn't become cloying; I feel like it does have that possibility. 4 out of 5.

[juniperus]

Bottle: myrrh and balsam

Wet: greenness, esp balsam..and something oddly sweet..storax?

Dry: myrrh and storax, mainly, some green coming up at the rear

Later: same, only faded...very short-lived on me.

[Medici]

In the imp: Myyrh and an overwhelming sweet slap to the sinus.

 

Wet: Hey! There is something green in there. Must be the balsam, funny I never noticed that before.

 

Drydown: I'm getting something smokey and almost resiny coming up - like a thick, carmelized syrup. It's warm and dark and resonant on whole, and I quite like it. Very comforting - I almost want to dim the lights and set up a few pillar candles to work by. It reminds me of black ink and parchment and brass braziers with curling incense smoke. Very visual, and very somber too.

 

Verdict: A fast favourite: 4/5 on Medici's Scale o' Lurrrve