‘Tis said that when
The hands of men
Tamed this primeval wood,
And hoary trees with groans of woe,
Like warriors by an unknown foe,
Were in their strength subdued,
The virgin Earth Gave instant birth
To springs that ne’er did flow
That in the sun Did rivulets run,
And all around rare flowers did blow
The wild rose pale Perfumed the gale
And the queenly lily adown the dale
(Whom the sun and the dew
And the winds did woo),
With the gourd and the grape luxuriant grew.
So when in tears
The love of years
Is wasted like the snow,
And the fine fibrils of its life
By the rude wrong of instant strife
Are broken at a blow
Within the heart
Do springs upstart
Of which it doth now know,
And strange, sweet dreams,
Like silent streams
That from new fountains overflow,
With the earlier tide
Of rivers glide
Deep in the heart whose hope has died —
Quenching the fires its ashes hide, —
Its ashes, whence will spring and grow
Sweet flowers, ere long,
The rare and radiant flowers of song!
A sunlit ancient forest, dotted with wild roses, grape vine, and queenly lilies, clothed in swirls of opium smoke.
cmloos11 –
When I first received my full-sized bottle of Arcana in December of 2018, I was wracked with doubt. I could smell each note in the bottle, but when applied to my skin, all I could smell was the neroli and lavender. It smelled wonderful, but rosemary is one of my favorite scents and I was worried that maybe rosemary didn’t work with my skin chemistry. To make matters worse, it only lasted about thirty minutes.
These complaints don’t apply anymore. I can smell each note when I apply it to my skin now, and the rosemary is especially distinct much to my delight. To make matters even better, even in the midst of a hot, humid Houston day, the perfume lasts 24 hours on my skin. On my first day of college this year, I applied Arcana at 9 am and the next morning at the same time, I smelled the last faint remnants of the base notes on my wrists.
I don’t know if the weather or the time I allowed the perfume to settle (8 months or so) are responsible for this change, but I’m ecstatic. Nowadays, the perfume is herbal and medicinal on my skin with a hint of the neroli and verbena. Once I’m done with my full size bottle, I intend to order another.
Gloame –
The word ‘Arcana’ is so beautiful that I really NEEDED this to work for me. Unfortunately, it’s not making my heart sing. The verbena is the strongest note to my nose. I’m actually not smelling lavender at all, and the frankincense isn’t showing up much, either.
Angela –
I ordered this one as an imp, because I’m a sucker for all things frankincense, and I am NOT disappointed. The lavender and rosemary do win in the bottle, but on my skin immediately the frankincense and neroli take over. It’s like church on a spring day. I may have to get a whole bottle of this one in the future.
Min –
From the bottle Arcana smells quite sharp and medicinal; I think the rosemary and lavender really jump out. Applied on my skin it initially smells like a lemon lollipop, and the best way I can describe it is that you can almost feel it fizzing like sherbet, like the oil has an energy of its own. Once it settles down, it does gain a bit of depth (the frankincense kicking in possibly?) and the different layers of scent make for a very interesting and curiously dynamic scent.
I generally really dislike citrus-y fragrances but I have a real soft spot for this; it’s fun and light and a good daytime scent.