Megaleion

After purchasing the "Secrets of Egypt" discovery set, this was the one I decided to buy in full bottle. I couldn't resist this robust, smoky, dense, spicy incense that isn’t overwhelming, reminiscent of Sahara Noir. From the DSH website: "A universal balsamic scent with rich black agarwood, fossil amber and woody incense notes.” When this is sprayed on the cinnamon is considerably more intense than when I dabbed my sample. That and the dry sweet red wine is what separates this from Sahara Noir. I have one on each wrist right now and the Megaleoion is definitely warmer while SN has more of a dusty quality. Overall I prefer the DSH and added bonus of supporting a female independent perfumer. This is very long-lasting on my skin, making it 8 hours easy, though the sillage is light.

Three-and-a-half-years-ago me was more-or-less right -- but, having had all that time to sit with this and to get a little closer with it, I feel like I understand this better... Dry cinnamon, resins (frank and myrrh), and an amber-musk that makes this smell like a dry cookie, with slight herbal-green elements. My sample has unfortunately split -- 10 mls has evaporated into 6 or so, with about 1.5 mls of oil and the rest alcohol -- I had to shake the bottle to get it mixed, but other than that, there is NO sign of spoilage or anything like that. I might need to try this one out again, I feel, but the gourmand cookie element is quite prevalent, I feel. Might not reach for this one more than once every year or so. Still pleasant, but nothing I could wear frequently...

I'm in two minds with this scent. It's dry, it's resiney, it's spicy, but it's also quite boozy, too. I mean, I like it, but I don't know how much I'd wear it... In two minds, seriously... It reminds me of a few other DSH scents, and to tell you the truth, I do think I want it, but I'm not at all sure. It comes in smaller sizes, so I might go for one of those, but, I'm not sure what I think of it!

From start to finish, this features a huge quantity of dry spicy cinnamon/cassia. There is a lot of complexity underneath that, and it's difficult to pinpoint but I mostly notice myrrh, balsam, and castoreum. Around an hour, the undercurrent is more a dark musky herbal scent that I believe is the spikenard. Almost a bit sour. Very dry, and overwhelmed by cinnamon. A bit of ambery sweetness emerges over the next hour, but by 7 hours, all I get is dry, dusty, woody cinnamon. Sillage is terrible to start but it warms up to just fairly low sillage. Longevity is good at around 10 hours. I kind of like this, but by the end I felt like I was huffing a jar of ground cinnamon, and my sinuses were not happy.

It's a shame this has such poor performance for me, as the notes themselves are truly, very beautiful. The combination of lemony frankincense, smoky resins, sweet-dry red wine and warm-spicy cinnamon is truly a wonderful mix. The whole things vanishes into my skin at lightning speed however, leaving nothing more than a vague impression. It's kind of like someone said the word 'perfume' in another room. The resulting skin scent is still lovely though, I get quite a bit of rose, which when combined with the smoky incense and red wine becomes a fantastic dusty/smoky floral that I wish I could smell without shoving my whole wrist up my nose. It's also very well blended and balanced, with only a few of the many notes listed really standing out by themselves. Namely the resinous incense, smoky notes and that dry floral I mentioned. In a stronger concentration this would have been a love for me, as it is I can only recommend it for those who like their frags whisper-quiet. Longevity is poor. A skin scent within minutes and all but vanishes after an hour or two for me. Sillage is very, very soft.

This is quite sour medicinal somehow with that red wine, rosemary, lemongrass, & patchouli blend. I wasn't sure about patchouli at first but the more it sets on my skin the more i can sense it clearly. Unfortunately later the mint comes in and it become quite medicinal again with that red wine note. Later the blend goes minty, lemongrass, slightly balsamic, red wine, and slightly incense. The cinnamon is quite minimal with a tiny patchouli. It's mostly a meh to me, not quite strong as their other perfumes.

This is a perfect incense, woody spicy scent. Just beautiful. It's not overpowering but I do find longevity is good, on me it lasts all day. Sillage is decent as well. Gorgeous spicey cinnamon oakmossy incense fragrance. Love it!