Aglaea

[Lilithlefay]

Three golden ambers, bright musk, peach wine and myrtle.

Peachy wine with amber and musk. A bottle of this is definately going into my next order because it is so beautiful. Fruity, golden, yet sexy. I am a sucker for anything that has musk in it, plus if you add amber yum!!! Not to mention the peachy wine smell. This lasted for hours too!! Dying!!

[coulrophobe]

At first this one is all boozy peach on me (which isn't a bad thing at all), then very slowly, the amber starts to make itself known. Amber is like soft, golden powder on my skin, and it blends in quite well as the peach scent starts to fade. The white musk is very faint, unfortunately, but as the other notes dissipate, it becomes more noticeable.

 

All in all, this is a very lovely blend, but it's not particularly long lasting on my skin, and I'm not sure how I feel about the notes showing up in stages, as they do with my chemistry; I think I would have liked it even more if the notes had been present all at once on my skin.

[LiberAmoris]

Every time I wear Aglaea, I wish there was more amber. I love amber and Aglaea's peach just drowns out every other note on my skin.

 

I've been steadily working on my imp in the hopes that maybe I'll hit on a day where the ambers gloriously assert themselves, but so far it's all peach.

[leahcat]

Aglaea

 

In the bottle: bright! Sweet! Fruit?

Wet: a soft fruit, not sweet though. A plum sort to my nose, oddly enough. Perhaps that’s the myrtle or wine? The bright tone is definitely gone now.

Drying/3 mins: barely spiced fruit with that overtone I tentatively ID as the wine. Amber is very much a back seat in this, but I like amber a lot so it doesn’t stand out as strong to my nose I admit. (she who bathes in Bastet....)

Dry/15 mins: almost overly sweet now! Oh no! overripe PEACH over the head. Ouch. Must test again later to see if this keeps happening.

[Undine]

On first application, I never would have said peach wine--I would have guessed apple. This reminds me of apple cider, the sparkling kind. As it dries down a little, the amber comes out more while the peach note develops (the increasing "depth" makes it smell more like peaches than like apples). The musk provides some of the "wine" note, I would guess, and on further drydown it makes more of an appearance, giving the scent added warmth.

 

I love amber, but find it very light and hard to detect here.

 

This scent smells like sparkling cider not only in its first application but after drydown in a synaesthetic way. If it were a color, it would be the color of that flute of cider--complete with bubbles rising up from the bottom.

 

I have no idea what myrtle smells like, though I've read that wax myrtle, anyway, smells like bay leaves. There's also a common aromatic herb, lemon myrtle (Backhousia citriodoria), that smells like--well, I think you can guess. Or another that smells like anise or licorice. Others are minty. Regardless, I think arabella is right and it's what provides the "sparkle" in this scent.

 

I've always hated peach scents, but this is really very very nice. I'm not sure if I'll wear it, just because it is not quite me. Brisingamen might be the scent for those who find this not amber-y enough or a little too sweet. (It even has myrtle.) And when testing this out I also found that Aglaea might layer very nicely with Brisingamen or with another more amber-y scent. But I have to say, I really treasure Aglaea on its own for the vivid mental sensation of sparkling cider that evokes, and I wouldn't be entirely surprised if I find myself wearing more than I planned to. On my scale, 4 out of 5.

[Blood onmy hands]

Aglaea is another scent that is very happy and pretty and entirely 'not me'. First on, it smells like sweet spiced peaches. Like peaches that belong in a pie. It's all very country-kitchen on me. After a few minutes, the peach begins to smell a bit more fizzy and sparkling. Watered down peach rather than thick spicy peach.

 

In the drydown the amber comes out more and the musk comes out a bit. It's a very golden and sunny scent. It's staying nice and light, not an overpowering fragrance. Fizzy peach and powdery amber. It's nice. I just never feel like myself when I smell like fruit. Yes, I'm odd.

[tsarina]

Hello Peaches! Sweet, jammy peaches. Summertime peaches, thick and sticky in the late afternoon. The peaches are complimented by the musky undertone and a dry green note that I'm guessing is the myrtle. I'm not sure I can pick out the amber, unless it is making the peaches smell so warm and flush.

 

Peaches aren't my thing, but it is a lovely blend. Splendid!

[maewitch]

A fabulous summer fragrance, on the heavier side for sultry evenings out.

 

The peach is perfectly luscious and sweet, and stays fairly distinct throughout most of the dry down, carried by a damn near perfect combination of musk and amber. Amber is hit and miss with me, but the ones in this blend don't overwhelm me or have that powdery-yet-oversexed touch. The final drydown is a slightly sweet musk. It's all good.

[AlaskaSnows]

In the Bottle: MMMmmmmm fresh peach bellinis!!!

 

Dry: Powder, dried peach, the merest hint of alcohol. Wow, what had started as a lush wet fragrance full of life has become a very dry understated fragrance. it's basically the same, but it's like someone shut the door on it, shut it up in a drawer or something. It was close, now it's far away. It's still nice, but after the juicy life of the wet stage, this struggle to smell it is a big disappointment.

[QueenFae]

OOooh! Delicious! A bright, sweet, innocent peach scent. The peach is definitely on top, followed closely by the amber, which is a beautiful combination. The peach is ripe and pure, it's that same lovely peach note I can smell in Titania. This one is almost a shimmering, crystalline peach; very pink, juicy and fun. This one is lovely, I think I need a 5 ml!

[stardreamer]

In the imp, this is very fruity. Once on, it darkens a bit, but it's still very light and sweet for an amber scent. There's a hint of floral which is probably the myrtle, but mostly what I get from this is peach with a little amber underpinning. Staying power appears to be moderate to good, but that can be affected by the weather being hotter or colder -- everything disappears faster when it's hot out!

 

I like it enough to keep, but I'll probably wear it more during the summer months -- it's a bit out of tune with the current weather.

[Kaerusatori]

I can smell the fruit and booze right off the bat. Aglaea is similar to Tamora, definitely (if you like one you’ll probably like the other), but it’s lighter and sweeter, playful as opposed to sultry. The amber doesn’t come out until the drydown, but when it does, it’s really beautiful.

 

I really like Aglaea, but I already have a bottle of Tamora, so… I'll be good and content myself with an imp.

[Voleuse]

On first application, this is golden and so very peachy. Gorgeous. After a bit, the peach ripens and blends with the musk and amber, so it's warmer, more sensual. Definitely a summer scent.

 

This fades quickly on me, so I'd have to slather it to make it last. I do want a bottle, though. I really like this.

[urraca]

This was a frimp from the psychic lab --- it's an instant big bottle purchase for me in my next order. Although I love amber I never would have tried it on my own. Peach wine? Sounds like a candle scent. Bright musk? Sounds like the dreaded white musk. But it's none of that. I don't find this scent too sweet. The peach scent is tempered by the wine note and also by the herbal scent of the myrtle. When wine and myrtle fade, then it is the turn of the amber and musk. The drydown reminds me of a peach scented Gypsy Queen, and I'd swear they share the same musk (and that it isn't white musk).

[malanna]

Sparkling sweet peach and musk! Yum! This smells like this Canadian shop called Fruits ____ or something with Fruit(s) in it. For those who don't know what I'm talking about, Aglaea also smells like a fruity bubble bath (well, whatever you call it when you buy the bottle) you'd get from The Body Shop. On the drydown, Aglaea is mostly clingy musk and myrtle, with a hint of amber. I like the beginning part, but the second part is just okay. If it stayed so bright the whole way through, this would be a great "happy" scent.

[Miss Lynx]

I was unsure about this one to start with, because while amber, musk and fruit are usually good bets for me, florals aren't, and I'm not familiar enough with myrtle to know if it's one of the really bad ones or the not so bad ones. The only scent I've had it in before was Brisingamen, and that turned into an overpoweringly sweet floral on me, but it had two other floral notes as well, so it wasn't just the myrtle.

 

Anyway, on first contact it was indeed pretty sweet and girly, although not as headache-inducingly sweet as Brisingamen. So my first thought was not bad, but not really me -- the peach was nice, and the amber and musks counterbalanced the sweetness of the flowers and fruit a bit, but overall the floral component was still a bit much for me. It was a bit reminiscent of Yerevan at this stage, but Yerevan gets less floral as it dries down... and so, it turned out, does this.

 

And I have to say now, that on drydown Aglaea is absolutely gorgeous. The myrtle doesn't vanish, but settles down into the mix nicely, and doesn't take all day doing it -- it faded down to a pleasant level inside of about ten minutes. And the overall scent balance now is warm, softly musky (very definitely a light, feminine musk, though), sensual without being overly sexual, and with just enough sweetness from the peach and myrtle to give it a nice multilayered depth with a bit of brightness. Really, really nice.

 

There are elements of it that remind me a bit of Bastet and to a lesser extent Morocco, but more than anything I think this is Imp's elegant older sister. Unfortunately, its staying power isn't great -- it seems to be fading out already - but it's lovely enough to be worth reapplying.

 

Grade: A

 

ETA: After a few more wearings, I've bumped this up to an A on my list, because it just gets better each time. The amber(s) in this are just lovely -- warm and radiant, everything that I wanted Brisingamen to be that it wasn't. The musk adds sensuousness, and the peach wine note is just right -- not too fruity, not too boozy, just a gentle touch of each. There's also an almost luminous, golden quality to it, like concentrated sunlight. The overall feeling is like drinking an exotic liqueur while bathing in liquid amber, in the glow of sunlight filtering through golden stained-glass windows. It's one of the best mood-lifters in my collection. Definitely time for a big bottle.

Edited February 6, 2006 by Miss Lynx

[aedes]

Very, very peach. I smell other things in there, but they all work to enhance the peachiness, I think. In fact, I think they really captured the soul of peaches in this blend. It's actually quite warm and snuggly, while being juicy, sweet, and refreshing. But I just can't bring myself to do fruity scents. This would be perfect for someone, though, I just know it.

[voodoobaby]

The most I can say about this? Good lord, it's SWEET! I mean, sweet. So much so that it gives me a headache. I definitely get a tart, almost artificial peach smell, and that's all I can pick out. Definitely not my cup of tea. Off to the swaps.

[magdalene]

in the bottle: wine.

 

wet on skin: A handful years ago, I made friends with a married couple who were heavily into wine. Over time, they have introduced me to the sheer decandance of opening an extremely expensive bottle and getting absolutely soused on it. Good times. heh. This is the exact scent of a peach wine we tried from a local New Jersey winery. Soft and gorgeous.

 

dry: amber warms this up a touch, but not overly so. This is probably the truest wine scent I've ever smelled.

[Fleurdelys]

Hee hee...I put this on..and the first thing that popped into my head was..I smell like a Fuzzy Navel! Heh. I do like this scent, because it's SO everything. So peachy, So boozy. It's not quite as much a "me" scent as Fae, but it's still fun to wear when I want to step outside the box a bit. I'll keep the imp and use it, happily - but for a big bottle of peach joy, it's Fae all the way!

[sophia_helix]

I thought I'd love this, but it's like Imp -- far too sweet, musky, and cloying. Yick.

[Katinka]

A glowing, shining, elegant peach, with nary a bit of fizz in sight. This is a peach dressed up in her finest gold jewelry -- I swear, I can almost hear the swanky party music playing in the background. At first I thought this was too similar to a Body Shop peach oil that I already have, but in a side-by-side comparison, the other oil definitely came out the worse. After a few hours, most of the peach is gone, but a lovely amber is left behind. Mmmmm!

[tinyvulture]

at first it’s very clean-smelling, like a fresh green shampoo scent. as it dries, the bright, cheery peach comes out. the amber softens it so it’s not all in-your-face over-the-top fruity. pretty, reminds me of springtime.

[GemmaCat]

I have a cold, so I'm probably not picking up all the complexities of scents today. That said. . .

 

In the bottle this is ALL peach wine; ripest peach with that underlying sparkle.

 

On the skin, this is a delicate scent. The peaches have lost some of that ripeness whilst the amber and musk give it a white, pretty scent. There's still the bubbliness of the wine underneath, but the main notes are those beautiful ambers and fruitiness.

 

I LOVE this one. So feminine and fresh.

[valentina]

In the imp, Aglaea is very peachy, but also effervescent -- it's sweet, but fizzy-sweet. The initial application is likewise peachy, but also boozy-fizzy. It really loses a lot of the intense sweetness on initial drydown and gets much more of a boozy edge. What the hell does myrtle smell like? I don't know, but I get a little floral undertone from this. After five minutes or so, this scent also turns buttery on me. I smell like a butter-booze-peach melange. I would guess it's the amber that somehow became a buttery scent on me. Aglaea isn't that bad, it's just not normally my thing, as I'm more into the dark and moody scent mystique. But I think Aglaea might be wonderful in a bath salt or a brown sugar scrub (my new "let's whip something up that's not fattening" obsessions), so I'm keeping my imp for that sort of fun.

 

valentina