Viridis Arcanum

Extraordinarily sexy rockstar bait. Sexy on a man, seductive on a woman. Eaglespirit has it right- sophisticated, aloof, but also tough and sexy. Throw on a leather jacket, mess up your hair, done.

I really wish I would wear this because I really do love this scent... but I think it would just be better for a significant other to wear instead, it's too masculine for me I think

Probably my favorite “green” scent from Alkemia to date, obtained as part of the Gentleman’s Club sample set. I keep flip flopping between a very strong “like” and a semi-weak “love” on this one. I must say that with Alkemia, it is always safer to sample first--no matter how tempting the artwork and listed notes may be. I was drawn to both Gaea and Moss Maiden, since I love MMM’s Soul of the Forest so much, but I made a mistake in blind buying 5 mL of each of them, when I should have ordered them as part of a Build your Own Sample Set. I don’t think it’s so much *them* as it is *me*--turns out I am a green weenie that was not at all ready for just how damn realistic both of them would be. If they don’t become more palatable to my weenie nose in the coming weeks, then I might repurpose them into oil diffusing, or mixing with other scents (another member mentioned that “Mists Becoming Rain” is beautiful with Gaea, but I digress). Virdis Arcanum is much more my speed, and I strongly suspect it is because of the incense and leather, with the pine playing a supporting role. I really enjoy all of Alkemia’s scents (so far) that have incense listed as a note (HEXENNACHT 5ever <3 <3 <3), but not so much those that have “smoke”. I learn new things about myself every day. Will I order a 5 mL rollerball? I don’t know yet. I don’t love it nearly as much as I love Hexennacht or Book of Shadows (both of which are going on my buy list), but it is a damn good scent.

I'm galbanum lover but not a pine lover so I was probably never going to like this very much. It turns out I do like the scent itself, but I wouldn't wear it as a perfume. I could see myself using it to scent a room however. It smells not exactly like a pure forest, but more like the air from a cool winter forest sneaking inside your house and combining with the air from inside to create something fresh yet cozy. The "incense" here is galbanum resin so it's not smoky or headshoppy, it just smells like galbanum. If you like green chypres and you like pine you will probably like this.

A grown persons scent. Woody, mossy and leathery in a somehow dark forest. Not really something you would wear to an office, unless your office features a lot of wood and heavy furniture - or you want to give out mysterious and sophisticated, yet somehow aloof, feeling. A scent giving one a bit of an outsider vibe. Great for outdoors, physical activities, meetings in dark, smoky rooms, and evenings with close company.

another one that’s outside my comfort zone for perfumes, but i want to try new things! very woody scent but in a way thats different from arabesque, it’s woody in a dark forest kind of way rather than a hardwood floor warmed by sunlight way. it kinda reminds me of my grandpa’s house it’s like incense-y and resinous and it smells like smoke almost? its.. its like a dirty scent if that makes any sense. its a little too heavy and masculine for me to wear on any occasion outside.

Oh yeah that's green. I tried this on paper, "A dark green mystery of Turkish galbanum incense resin, Russian leather, and the fresh tips of coniferous Siberian forest greens." I don't really get the incense, this comes across more as a foresty earthy vibe than a leathery resinous one. It's fine but I don't think it does what it wants to do and I probably will forget trying it. 5/10

Wet leather in a moldy, stale forest. My first introduction to Alkemia—courtesy of the traveling indie Fragrantica box!— feels natural but also extremely odd. The air around me feels heavy; and there’s no other way I can say it, off-putting. I’m instinctually recoiling from myself. Intriguing but also not something I want to wear as a scent.

This smells like the mosquito repellent I had to use every summer as a child. It made me feel nostalgic but I really don’t want to smell like that on daily basis.

This perfume smells both classic and innovative, with its leather richness underlying the dry, green galbanum that it has in its core. This partners well with the coniferous notes, which blend in and don't stand out to me strongly, but seem strongest when I first spray this on. This scent transfers well to perfume spray form, and lasts for a number of hours on me, with the drydown at the end emphasizing the leather and a slightly powdery and almost orris-like or musky finish. The juice is even a bit yellow green in color, due to the resins used. It is not exactly a chypre by classic perfumery definition, but some similar scents from vintage years that come to mind are Bandit, and Cabochard. This was first tried by me in sample extrait form, which I liked very well and for some months debated getting a bottle of. I decided that it would do well as a spray, and in comparing the two, they are very similar. The extrait form is a bit more mellow and a bit warmer initially, perhaps slightly less sharply green; much of it is a slight difference in timing of the development of the notes, which is common between oils versus alcohol-based perfumes.