Brand: Arcana
Scent Description: Creamy vanilla with Arcana’s Holy Terror (burning
frankincense, sandalwood, deep myrrh, and dusty beeswax candles).
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A collection of indie perfume reviews
This is a strong, bold scent. The vanilla tempers the Holy Terror aspect a bit, but make no mistake– this is clearly The Holy Terror Show with vanilla as the bumbling sidekick. I get more of an impression from VCT than a specific set of notes, and that impression is a fascinating combination of “sexy” and “cathedral.” It has great sillage and will last for hours.
This one is hard for me to explain, I find it to be a super comforting sexy dry vanilla, the wax probably attributes to that, I love frankincense especially paired with vanilla, it fades into a softly dusty scent to me, and reminds me of a library, definitely recommend! I just got holy terror and I prefer this one, though I like holy terror, I’m going to try layering a different vanilla scent with it to calm down the incense that’s quite forward in it.
This is one of the very few perfumes I actually hate. Properly hate. In the bottle, it’s… ok. It’s like you went to the church funeral of your great aunt (who was very fond of baby powder, face powder and powder-bomb perfumes) who died in a tragic pot pourri accident. It is the most powdery of powdery powders with some sweetness and some dusty churchiness and it’s not -bad-, it’s just… not wonderful. On the skin, sweet mother of all that is powdery and nose-burning and retro perfume powder-power-houses, this is a sneeze-inducing, nose-hurting, eye-stinging POWDER. Very sweet, synthetic, choking powder. With something powdery in the background. And maybe a hint of something slightly dark and non-powdery. Every time I’ve tried to wear this, it’s given me a killer headache and/or made my sinuses hurt – it’s my number one headache trigger perfume, I swear – and in the past I’ve actually had comments about powdery smells, strong smells and headaches. One particular friend was with me twice when I was naively trying to like this, and timidly told me that she thought my perfume set off her allergies. “I KNOW”, said I, “this bloody thing has given me the mother of all headaches too, at least you can get away from it”. Cos that’s the thing about this one, it’s just typical – I hate it, and it projects like a beast, and it lasts and lasts and lasts and lasts and clings to everything. Great if you like this kind of scent, trust me, this one has amazing staying power. Not great for me.
To be honest, living in the UK i don’t have the visible indie perfume swap network that seems to be going in the US, and the cost of international post is killer, so I tried to give this one away to friends, family, work people, anyone. No takers. A lot of winces, a few ‘it’s okay’, a few killer headaches. I’m not going to say what did end up happening to my bottle, but I’m not sad it’s gone. My scent memory of it is a headache so bad I can feel it in my teeth and ears and temples, and a waft of cloying powder which makes it hard to breathe. Sadly, a very hard pass from me indeed.
That said, YMMV, I’m jealous of the people who didn’t suffer the headache powder-beast that I did, and hope in general people have more their experience than mine.
This is my HG scent. The incense tempers the sweetness of the vanilla in such a perfect way, and there’s a smokiness that encompasses it all. It’s very cozy, and perfect for a cool day.
VCT is a warm, comforting blanket of frankincense, sandalwood, and rich vanilla. The vanilla is almost too foodie for the austere incense, but it works for me. The sillage is great and makes me feel like I’m wrapped in a cloud of church incense. Brings back scent memories of attending Christmas mass, with the swinging thurible exhaling frankincense, and hundreds of candles lit up in the pews.
The vanilla is almost too sweet for me, but the incenses temper it. This is a good witch scent, a not-so-basic vanilla. Good for days when I can’t decide what perfume to wear.