Ozymandias

[mansku11]

Resin of Royal Sweet Frankincense, Languid Amber filtered through Royal Amber Resin and harsh-
less white pepper essential oil.

I was SOOO excited to get a skarab of this with my order! But I would probably have bought a bottle unsniffed anyway.

Perfect, perfect, sweet amber beneath regal, golden frankincense. From the description, you'd think this would be a relatively simple blend. Think again. It's another mysterious NA morpher. Sometimes it smells to me like those "lone and level sands" from Shelley's poem being whipped around ruined stone that is heated by the sun; at other times, it is a very true woodsy resin scent and much less mineral. It has moderate throw and really good staying power. Bottom line: I've had two compliments on it since I got it yesterday!

So, yay! Ozymandias is love. Also, I'm being a big Watchmen nerd right now, but it's only because I want my own genetically engineered Bubastis!

[agameofthree]

Bottle: Pretty, sweet amber and frankincense.
Me: This is very sweet and very sticky. I get both the frankincense and the amber, but I think the amber is the more dominant note here, at least one me. The pepper adds a slight note of spice, but isn't easily picked out. This is warm and lovely, and (as I mentioned) very, very sweet.I really like it, though, and see a bottle buy in my future.

[SaphyRyan]

Like mansku11 and agameofthree said this is some royal amber so beautifully blended with the frankincense. I am so glad this is a general scent. Because it is I will wear my big bottle frequently because this scent seems to feel like egypt and spring at the same time. I am completely taken there. The writings in the description give me isolation and longing and still I feel like my chin is up high and the world is before me. Beautiful scent NA. Thankyou for creating something as unique as this and achieving the description, its title and this scent because all of these could not exist without the other and, of course, with the art of the NAlchemists.

[tobytipper]

I was lucky to get a skarab of this with my order because I would not have thought to pick this on my own. The description made me think it might not be layered and complex in the way I like my oils, but I was wrong! It is just gorgeous. It is beautiful , somewhat sweet amber, frankincense that is soft and gentle and the lightest pepper. Sand, warmed by the sun and a gentle breeze stirs up a touch of the frankincense, so gently. On me, it has a moderate amount of throw and at the same time it is just so soft. I get thrown off when I see descriptions that say pretty but it is, just not in a perfumey way. This would be incredible on a man - oh, that would be heaven. But it isn't masculine in any way either.
I stopped in at the drugstore and the woman checking me out said 'Wow- what is that- its wonderful'- I agree. It will be in my next order.
This has got to stop- I am so hooked.

[hayet]

Sniffing without looking at notes: frankincense and amber-vanilla. I'm not quite sure what pepper is like, but there's nothing harsh about this blend. Rather, it's regal and a little melancholy. I am a huge frankincense fan, and if you happened to miss the frankincense Nokturne (carnelian, I believe) then this is the one to stock up on! My only complaint is that my skin eats it very quickly (same with N: Carnelian), but the faint slightly lemony amber-vanilla drydown is still very lovely. Low throw, definitely a skin scent. Very, very pretty!

[AEris]

G-O-R-G-E-O-U-S!!!

This is a fantastic Frankincense and Amber scent! I think there's some musk and vanilla to sweeten and soften the notes and cream them together into something INCREDIBLY attractive. It's sweet (not cloying), resinous brain-candy. I mean, WOW. Love.

It's understated and absolutely addictive. I'm all over me!

Now I see what all the raves are about! Everyone should try this!!

[Hazel-rah]

Another shout out to mansku11 for turning me on to NA's frankincense - I am in !

Ozymandias is more and more of an already great thing - that delectable Carnelian Frankincense made even sweeter and swoon-ier by creamy golden Amber. Surely there is some vanilla in here? And since the Frankincense has a lemony quality, that mixed with the vanilla and Amber and Resin is just Heaven! This seems to call up some scent memory in me, and though I have no pictures in my mind to accompany the memory, I feel happy, overjoyed, ecstatic even! This will be a therapeutic scent for me.

If I never get my hands on a bottle of N: Carnelian *sniff* I'll be satisfied, more than, with Ozymandias.

This also makes me want to sing "Just Like Heaven" . . .

[tativa]

Beautiful spicy frankincense, that fades into a warm glow. The amber and the pepper just seem to add to the frankincense's richness, rather than being distinct notes. I think aging is going to turn this into a whole new realm of amazing, so I am going to require my own bottle to squirrel away. I can't stop sniffing myself when ever I wear this, its just so opulent and happy smelling!

Mmm... I have some blood orange EO that I think layered with this... might induce scent orgasms.

Edit: okay.. now I am in love. Wasn't lasting long on my skin... but in my hair it keeps that almost citrus freshness of the frankincense

[Buxomm]

This was a skarabite and the first scent I've smelled from NA. It's not something I would've chosen based on the description, but I'm glad it was included with my order. It's a slightly sweet light scent. The frankincense and amber work well together and aren't so strong they give me a headache like amber normally does. The more I smell it the more I like it. I'm looking at amber in a whole new light.

[catseyes]

I don't think I ever really knew what frankincense smelled like.... I believe that it has always been a note of doom for me back on BPAL. I got Ozymandias as a freebie with my last order and Wow! It must be the amber adding a nice sweet edge to this scent. It is definitely lovely amber with another smell that is very hard to explain. Must be the frankincense. Either way, this is definitely a new favorite. Swoon worthy!!

[BabyEleanor]

In the vial this smells like dry, rock-like amber.

Immediately on my skin this smells dry and almost stone-like. It’s very smooth and has a nice bit of amber, but it’s not a powdery scent at all. It’s a very light scent on me with very little throw.

After a while, this blend doesn’t seem to change much; it stays a very smooth, dry, stone-like amber scent. It does seem to have a little bit of a throw now, however. This isn’t a sweet scent, but it’s warm and slightly dusty smelling.

[downrightspooky]

This one has lots of amber going on, which is one of my favorite notes, however after dry-down, this is very soft and difficult to smell – even with my nose pressed against my wrist. It seems to have turned into just the smell of my skin, or maybe I have gotten just used to it very quickly, or… maybe my nose is taking a vacation?

[Rosebud]

I got a scarab of this one as a freebie in a trade and it's not a scent I would have picked for myself. I tend to go for sweet, vanilla-heavy scents, more often than not foody ones.

Initially it was very "perfumey" if that makes sense. The perfumey note mellowed a bit on dry down leaving a vague floral scent. I can't put my finger on what kind of floral it is though. My skin seems to eat this one, it's pretty much gone after just 20-30 minutes.

Not for me but for those who like soft florals I can see this on being a big hit

[bribee]

I got this one as a freebie scarab from the NA. It was on my list to try, based on reccomendations from other fourmites...but I don't think it's for me.
Wet: This smelled like soap, really strong, herbal soap
Dry: still herbally, but it has sweetened some
I put it on about 5 hours ago and I can just barely smell it when I sniff right next to my wrist. It seemed like more of a masculine scent to me. I would defeinitely enjoy smelling it on a man, but just not for me to wear personally. Glad to have gotten to try it though!

[Kauket]

This is a golden scent in every way. The sweet frankincense is just so rich and delicious you could almost swear that there's a drop of honey in there, and the two ambers just keep making it richer and warmer as it dries down. It has the perfect amount of spice from the white pepper; very subtle, yet still noticeable not from "spinciness" per se but from the warmth it brings. It really seems to transcend time, bringing me to a gilded temple filled with wonders we can only imagine today, and is actually a great meditative scent. It is also highly evocative the vast desert sands without being harshly dry in the least, just golden. I love Ozymandias as much as I love Shelley and his poem--beautifully done.

[happylovejoy]

This smells like Beautiful Sexy Man! It's sweet in a resinous way and I can wear it though I'm a woman. The combination of frankicense and amber make this sort of incensy but it is incense of sheer white smoke that curls like wispy tendrils in the air. I don't get pepper in a traditional way but maybe pepper is what's giving me the impression of light sweet wood. I agree with Kauket that this is a golden scent. An exotic man like this should smell of Ozymandias, hubba-hubba:
http://im.rediff.com/movies/2008/feb/12sd1.jpg

[findaghost]

Wet: Cola-like resin! You know how sometimes resin in perfume oil is so thick and intense it smells almost fizzy and dark brown and sweet, like a glass of cold coca-cola? Or is that just me? I usually associate that quality with opoponax, but I guess maybe the frankincense is responsible this time?

Dry: The soda-like aspect dies down, but this scent stays very sweet on me. A rich, somber, thick frankincense melded with sweet, lit-from-within golden amber. This isn't powdery at all, as poorly behaved resins are wont to go. It's really smooth, almost creamy instead. I didn't know there was white pepper here until I read the description. It's so subtle that its barely detectable on me, and frankincense is often a tiny bit "peppery" on me so it's hard for me to figure out where that ends and white pepper begins.

Overall: One of the absolute best frankincense or amber scents I've ever worn! It's so comforting. It's a short and simple combination of notes, but they're of such quality and depth that I keep coming back to sniff more. I'm not sure how long the skarab will last me. Theoretically, a good candidate for layering, though it's well rounded and delightful on its own. It smells almost exactly the same on my boyfriend as it does on me, interestingly, as most scents are quite different with out chemistries! It smells nice enough on a guy, but it is a bit sweet on its own.

[Nephthys]

On my skin wet it reminds me of a heavier boozy desert sand scent, like Eternal Alexandria's sand note got amped up with the cola note from Osiris and got a blast of pepper. It's pretty intense to the nose at first and very dark...I love both those things!

I could imagine the darkness of this blend as a metaphor of the Shelley poem, the parts of the statue, crumbling under the sand, sinking into obscurity of time.

It's sweet, but not in a foody way and the spice and resin balance any sweetness out. It has a superior throw and wearing length. At it dries it goes through a powdery amber phase that comes up strangely like lemon chemical wipes I use in the kitchen. I think it is the sweetness kicking back up again.

Overall, I like this and feel it has the same vibe as Orisis, but I like Orisis more. It's a great blend though, sweet but not too much so, great pepper note and interesting morphing throughout its run.

[renadams]

I got a bottle of this as a free scarab and it blew me away. I was already a huge fan of amber / frankincense and I eagerly tried this one.

In the Vial: Sweet (but not candy/edible) amber incense breath, with a rich middle note of frankincense and a kick of pepper. Like a golden combination of amber ritual incense and hot desert sand. Truly, completely unique.

Wet on the Skin: The cola-like bubbling sweetness described by findaghost above rings out, followed by rich amber incense and frankincense simmering over hot coals. The pepper is not black pepper or cayenne pepper--but true white pepper; satiny, spicy.

Dry on Skin: Simply fabulous, ritual unisex scent. Blowing desert sand. The kick of pepper. Awesome in every way. It ages well on the skin, throwing nicely and maintaining its body.

This is my FAVORITE scent right now. Truly perfect to my senses.

[Ajila]

In the bottle - Sweet resins

Wet on me - A very sweet, clean, chewable resin, I can't believe there isn't vanilla in here. I think I got just a touch of the pepper hiding in the background

Dry on me - A warm, dry clean resin with dribbles of sweetness

Overall - A winning combination of comforting ans sexy