5 Alkemia Reviews
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cathedralofroses🖋️ Writer's Blood (The primal angst of artistic passion - iron-tinged blood, a manuscript soaked in spilled black coffee, and an overturned tin of rolling tobacco), a bit of incense smoke)
Preliminary notes: That description is just.. fantastic. Very evocative. I love bookish scents, odd conceptual scents, and tobacco and coffee notes, so this sounds like a dream (or nightmare, perhaps).
In bottle: Oh, this is dark. The coffee and tobacco are seamlessly blended together, and there's something slightly camphorous in the background. It's very rich and has an almost cola-like tinge to it without actually smelling like cola, if that makes any sense. There's a touch of parchment in there as well. This is better than I was hoping for, so I'm looking forward to how it wears.
On skin: More or less the same as in the bottle. This stuff is potent. I'm starting to think the bit of camphor and cola might be part of the iron/blood accord. The parchment note in this is glorious as well. This is probably the darkest, broodiest book/writerly scent I've ever smelled, and I love it so much. It smells like the depths of unfathomable horror and anguish, and it's the picture of dark academia in scent form (with an eldritch edge).
Writer's Blood smells like exploring the minds of Crowley, Stephen King, H.P. Lovecraft, and Poe simultaneously, and being struck by fear and astonishment at all of the inconceivable terrors within. I. Fucking. Love. This.
Verdict: 5 deep, dark pits of despair out of 5.
💐 Apsara (Dark purple hyacinth flowers and Darjeeling tea)
Preliminary notes: I had Apsara yeeears ago, but my previous bottle's roller was a bit problematic, so she unfortunately got destashed. When I found out that Alkemia re-released this scent last year during their July workshop sale, I was *so* excited but couldn't place an order at the time. I'm so excited to have this again, and to see if it's changed at all from the original version. I can't directly compare them, but I remember the OG scent very well.
In bottle: Just as I remember, though the tea note might be slightly stronger in this version. The bottle I ordered is also incredibly full (almost right up to the rim), so this will last me a very long time.
On skin: The tea is definitely stronger in the re-release version than the OG version, which I'm totally okay with. It's a nice, spicy tea, and it compliments the hyacinth note really well. Love this, just as I loved the older version. This is also VERY potent compared to the OG scent. Way more throw and power.
Verdict: 5 spicy floral teas out of 5.
📚 Book of Shadows (Heavy parchment paper, ancient iron oak gall ink, crumbling leather bindings, wafts of rare incenses)
Preliminary notes: So this scent has a funny and sad story behind it. I had a bottle of this for years, but when I introduced it to DH for the first time, he said it smelled like urinals and burnt wires, so I was like, "Well damn, now I have to destash this," so I did. Instant regret. I kept meaning to repurchase it because I missed it, but I kept forgetting to do so until now. I very highly doubt anything about this scent has changed (my original bottle was from 2018), which is totally fine by me. I remember it being a really beautiful, realistic library scent with a heavy ink note.
In bottle: Ahh, yes. Just as I remember. Sweet incense, ink, a bit of worn leather, and parchment. Nothing's changed.
On skin: I'll start this off by saying that this was the first time I've spilled an oil. I guess I didn't have it close enough to my wrist and ended up spilling some on a blanket, but at least it wasn't much.
It smells warmer and a bit softer than I remember. The ink is almost vegetal, and the leather is worn and smooth. The parchment lingers in the background, with tendrils of incense smoke curling around it. I have always loved this scent, and I always will. It's a perfect old book scent with a bit of an edge.
Verdict: 5 ancient, eldritch tomes out of 5.
🍊 Arcanum Experiments 2023: 8 (Orange dreamsicles, banana taffy, pink lotus, white amber)
Preliminary notes: Alkemia's orange dreamsicle note is.. well, dreamy. I had two previous monthly alchemies that featured it, and as you can probably guess, I destashed them and regretted it later. This sounds a lot more up my alley though, as I also love banana notes.
In bottle: All of the notes are present and accounted for. It's a very pink, girly, summery scent. I really like this.
On skin: That orange dreamsicle note is the same one that's been in the aforementioned alchemies that I destashed, and I'm very glad to have a scent with that note at the forefront again. It's a pretty seamless blend of all of the notes, and it gets a lot creamier once it hits the skin. This is a fun, light summery scent.
Verdict: 5 of the tastiest dreamsicles you've ever had out of 5.
🔥 Arcanum Experiments 2023: 10 (Black musk, opium, galbanum, woodsmoke, vegan civet, black amber)
Preliminary notes: This sounds so delightfully dark that I couldn't resist. I don't know if I like civet notes or not, but everything else is something I know I like.
In bottle: Oh boy.. something fairly stanky with an undercurrent of baby wipes. I'm kind of scared to put this on my skin.
On skin: Lemon house cleaner? What on earth. I don't know about this one. Ultimately, it's too stanky and lemony for my tastes. Not a fan.
Verdict: 1 pool of stank covered up with lemon house cleaner out of 5.
Preliminary notes: That description is just.. fantastic. Very evocative. I love bookish scents, odd conceptual scents, and tobacco and coffee notes, so this sounds like a dream (or nightmare, perhaps).
In bottle: Oh, this is dark. The coffee and tobacco are seamlessly blended together, and there's something slightly camphorous in the background. It's very rich and has an almost cola-like tinge to it without actually smelling like cola, if that makes any sense. There's a touch of parchment in there as well. This is better than I was hoping for, so I'm looking forward to how it wears.
On skin: More or less the same as in the bottle. This stuff is potent. I'm starting to think the bit of camphor and cola might be part of the iron/blood accord. The parchment note in this is glorious as well. This is probably the darkest, broodiest book/writerly scent I've ever smelled, and I love it so much. It smells like the depths of unfathomable horror and anguish, and it's the picture of dark academia in scent form (with an eldritch edge).
Writer's Blood smells like exploring the minds of Crowley, Stephen King, H.P. Lovecraft, and Poe simultaneously, and being struck by fear and astonishment at all of the inconceivable terrors within. I. Fucking. Love. This.
Verdict: 5 deep, dark pits of despair out of 5.
💐 Apsara (Dark purple hyacinth flowers and Darjeeling tea)
Preliminary notes: I had Apsara yeeears ago, but my previous bottle's roller was a bit problematic, so she unfortunately got destashed. When I found out that Alkemia re-released this scent last year during their July workshop sale, I was *so* excited but couldn't place an order at the time. I'm so excited to have this again, and to see if it's changed at all from the original version. I can't directly compare them, but I remember the OG scent very well.
In bottle: Just as I remember, though the tea note might be slightly stronger in this version. The bottle I ordered is also incredibly full (almost right up to the rim), so this will last me a very long time.
On skin: The tea is definitely stronger in the re-release version than the OG version, which I'm totally okay with. It's a nice, spicy tea, and it compliments the hyacinth note really well. Love this, just as I loved the older version. This is also VERY potent compared to the OG scent. Way more throw and power.
Verdict: 5 spicy floral teas out of 5.
📚 Book of Shadows (Heavy parchment paper, ancient iron oak gall ink, crumbling leather bindings, wafts of rare incenses)
Preliminary notes: So this scent has a funny and sad story behind it. I had a bottle of this for years, but when I introduced it to DH for the first time, he said it smelled like urinals and burnt wires, so I was like, "Well damn, now I have to destash this," so I did. Instant regret. I kept meaning to repurchase it because I missed it, but I kept forgetting to do so until now. I very highly doubt anything about this scent has changed (my original bottle was from 2018), which is totally fine by me. I remember it being a really beautiful, realistic library scent with a heavy ink note.
In bottle: Ahh, yes. Just as I remember. Sweet incense, ink, a bit of worn leather, and parchment. Nothing's changed.
On skin: I'll start this off by saying that this was the first time I've spilled an oil. I guess I didn't have it close enough to my wrist and ended up spilling some on a blanket, but at least it wasn't much.
It smells warmer and a bit softer than I remember. The ink is almost vegetal, and the leather is worn and smooth. The parchment lingers in the background, with tendrils of incense smoke curling around it. I have always loved this scent, and I always will. It's a perfect old book scent with a bit of an edge.
Verdict: 5 ancient, eldritch tomes out of 5.
🍊 Arcanum Experiments 2023: 8 (Orange dreamsicles, banana taffy, pink lotus, white amber)
Preliminary notes: Alkemia's orange dreamsicle note is.. well, dreamy. I had two previous monthly alchemies that featured it, and as you can probably guess, I destashed them and regretted it later. This sounds a lot more up my alley though, as I also love banana notes.
In bottle: All of the notes are present and accounted for. It's a very pink, girly, summery scent. I really like this.
On skin: That orange dreamsicle note is the same one that's been in the aforementioned alchemies that I destashed, and I'm very glad to have a scent with that note at the forefront again. It's a pretty seamless blend of all of the notes, and it gets a lot creamier once it hits the skin. This is a fun, light summery scent.
Verdict: 5 of the tastiest dreamsicles you've ever had out of 5.
🔥 Arcanum Experiments 2023: 10 (Black musk, opium, galbanum, woodsmoke, vegan civet, black amber)
Preliminary notes: This sounds so delightfully dark that I couldn't resist. I don't know if I like civet notes or not, but everything else is something I know I like.
In bottle: Oh boy.. something fairly stanky with an undercurrent of baby wipes. I'm kind of scared to put this on my skin.
On skin: Lemon house cleaner? What on earth. I don't know about this one. Ultimately, it's too stanky and lemony for my tastes. Not a fan.
Verdict: 1 pool of stank covered up with lemon house cleaner out of 5.
Tags:
- amber: black,
- amber: white,
- banana,
- blood,
- civet,
- coffee,
- galbanum,
- house: alkemia,
- hyacinth,
- incense,
- ink,
- iron,
- leather,
- musk: black,
- opium,
- orange,
- paper,
- pink lotus,
- smoke,
- tea: darjeeling,
- tobacco,
- vanilla
no subject
Date: February 23rd, 2024 06:04 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: February 23rd, 2024 06:08 pm (UTC)