Spikenard Magdalena

This is my most favorite perfume in the world! I've had this a few years now and would definitely buy again before I run out. I got it from Israel and I wear it often especially to bed. I adore this perfume! It is a mature perfume but is also a VERY comforting perfume! Believe it or not, even both my little grandsons ask me to spray a bit on their forearms and pillows at night to comfort them and help them to fall asleep. It is just that lovely! Spikenard Magdalena is powdery, spicy and very vintage smelling. I just can't describe this other than a comforting smell of the past. A peaceful place we've been before. I will describe it like my 9 year old grandson describes it. He says when I put it on him he feels like he's in a big old two story house with creaky floors. There's a little old woman with beautiful perfume on that fills a fuzzy, cozy, warm living room. She is rocking by a fireplace with a little dog curled on a rug by the fire and there's a thunderstorm outside. It smells like that...a fuzzy, warm feeling. Yes, I agreed with him wholeheartedly! It is just that lovely and just as he describes it!

This is not really about the iris or cinnamon. It is not even that cola myrrh. I would describe this as a deep, rich, full musk that has a resinous and sweet note. The notes combine to be round and rich. This wears more like a fragrance oil. It is lovely and unlike anything I own in my 600-bottle collection. I would classify this as a musk though. If you are looking for prominent iris, this is not an iris fragrance. That note lends a roundness to the scent that softens and blends it.

Hard to find but worth the effort and money.

This is a very intriguing Perfume-with-a-capital-P which is also a great bang for the buck. I don’t get cinnamon, myrrh, or iris per se, and definitely no nard like I’ve ever smelled. A dark and mysterious retro floral-resin oriental blend which smells familiar yet unique. Smells like it came straight out of the 1970s or 1980s in its complexity and construction but appears to be manufactured new! I acquired this only recently when on a cinnamon kick. Astonishingly, this is my MOST COMPLIMENTED fragrance. Multiple guys (mostly 50, 60 year olds) ask what it is and where to buy it for their wives/girlfriends. As mentioned below, you buy this from Three Arches directly via their website. Very reasonably priced and comes in multiple formats. A treasure!

This is very interesting. The historical significance alone makes this a must have as a lover of fragrance and a Christian. Having said that, I’m not sure how I feel about this yet. Reading the notes I should love this but this doesn’t smell like a perfume, more like a unrefined perfume oil inside perfumers’ alcohol. Don’t buy this if you’re looking for a resinous amber fragrance. This is a musk bomb! There is a note in this that makes this smell very stinky. Extremely animalic and indolic! I did some research and it’s probably coming from the sumbul oil which has a “musky and animalic” like odor and spikenard (nard) is also musky. After the very pungent opening, I smelled an indolic Jasmine which is strange because this has Iris- this is not the waxy, lipstick Iris. It’s floral and indolic and musky. In the mids this starts to become more “wearable” the myrrh is the backbone but again it smells unrefined or crude. I dunno, there is no elegance or finesse that one would smell in modern perfumery. That doesn’t make this bad, just different. It dries down powdery and musty like an old, beloved book with years fragrancing the pages. No “cola like” resinous myrrh. No waxy lipstick iris, no sweet amber to be found here. More like an ancient wooden house, full of stale incens and animalic fecal funk.

According to Three Arches website which sells this fragrance, this is the - "Perfume of the 1st Century B.C. In the year of 1994, during the Holy Week while attending a service in the Church of the Nativity and while reading the story of Maria Magdalena when she broke the Alabaster box and poured the perfume on the head of Jesus, The Lord spoke to the heart of my Father Nicola Canawati and inspired him to produce this fine perfume. The Spikenard perfume was produced according to the exact ingredients that were used in the 1st Century B.C. You can find these ingredients listed in prayer books. The formula consists of: Myrrh, Nard, Cinnamon, Iris, Sunbul oil, Perfume Oil. The name Spikenard is mentioned in the book of: Matthew 26:7 Mark 14:3-6 Luke 7:36-37. This perfume was given out in the United States by several Ministries in large quantities as a Love gift. For many Christians, this Perfume has a great spiritual meaning as the use of this perfume is a blessing. You can judge this Perfume only when you wear it for the first time." In addition, there is also this description - "A perfume of great value used in Biblical times. Spikenard is best known for being the perfume that Mary Magdalene used to anoint Jesus. Ingredients include myrrh, cinnamon, and iris." The perfume sounds very interesting to me if for no other reason than for its historical value. If it was the perfume of the day, I'm sure other historical figures used it too, like from ancient Rome and Egypt. Maybe this was a favorite with Cleo. Who knows? I would like to try it one day.

Today I'm wearing this for the first time in cold weather (it's too much in the heat, which turns it a bit sour, IMO), and I'm picking up on a juicy citrus note. Underneath that citrus is a cozy, resinous near-cola smell. It smells like a Christmas punch that has a base of orange juice with a teensy-tiny bit of booze, but mostly honey and spices stirred into it, all simmering together gently on the stove. The iris (and maybe some unlisted amber?) provides the snuggly powdery vibe, but it is by no means a "powder bomb" fragrance; this is resin in all of its glory. It has a vintage vibe, to be sure, but any woman could rock this...and many men, too. Stellar, and worth the time to procure a sample. Or you can buy a bottle for about USD40 in pretty much any souvenir shop in Israel, which is where I found mine.

I googled this and just ordered a sample from Amazon for $8.00 it is a little expansive for a sample considering the full bottle is less than $80.00. Due to the glowing reviews I feel like I had to try this.

The notes have me hooked! But I'm sure it will fall into the "never sniffed but would love to someday " category. Makes me sad.

Stronger than death !!!! 💪 Definitely a Musk have.😂