Hetairae

[tziporra]

The sublimely beautiful, fiercely independent, impeccably cultured, fascinatingly worldly and witty courtesans of ancient Greece. A seductive and dazzling blend of golden honey, fiery patchouli, sweet fig and clove, and a blushing touch of ylang ylang.

Hetairae leaps out of the bottle at me with spicy honeyed figgy goodness. "Try me!" She begs.

So I oblige.

I'm looking for a spicy fig rather than a sweet fig, so I have high hopes for this blend, but it's not to be. Immediately the cloves and patchouli leap to the front and run off with the scent.

I'm transported to a very pleasant scent memory, actually -- when I was 4 or 5 my mother used to shop at a store called (as far as I can remember) The Import Market, which later became Pier One Imports. But it was more hippie oriented and much cheaper when we'd shop there. My mother would buy loads of wicker baskets and spices there, and the whole store smelled exactly like Hetairae does on my skin. Like very foody incense.

But the incensey blends are really not me, no matter how fond my memories are. It's funny how many get pulled up working one's way through imps, though. And how fragrant my life actually turns out to have been!

Best,

Tzi Edited January 17, 2008 by tziporra

[djsiberia]

i really wanted to like this one, however, it went on and smelled great then it got a super generic perfume smell that gave me a headache. it could be the patchouli/ylang ylang mix. it seems that i have lots of troubles with ylang ylang mixed with any thing earthy or incensey

[bryghtrose]

This turned out to be so musky on me! It's smoky, dark and very sexy, but mainly musky, which is a little odd, since there's no musk note listed.

[lainevierge]

in the imp : Lysol

 

on my skin : something that reminds me of the vomit inducing smell in Pruno

 

verdict : already been swapped away!

[DarkClarissa]

In imp: Incense. Really, really strong overpowering incense.

 

Wet: I hardly put any on at all and its enveloping me in an intense clovey patchouli smell.

 

Dry: This is getting stronger, hotter, muskier and I've got a bad headache.

 

Verdict: This has induced in me the mother of all headaches. I've had to have a bath and scrub myself to try and get rid of the smell. But its STILL there!!! Harsh smell. Really didn't suit me at all.

 

Marks out of 10: 0 - this one shall be given away pronto

[enderfem]

Imp: Patchouli. Just patchouli.

 

Wet: Patchouli with something else over it that smells sweet and almost like commercial perfume. I'm not sure what it is. It smells a little like Obsession.

 

Drydown: Nice, still smelled like a mixture of Obsession and patchouli. Probably one for the swap pile.

[SarahScent44]

In the imp, I get patchouli, honey, and clove.

 

On my skin, it's very warm - the patchouli's there but not overpowering (patchouli is one of my scent foes, so this is good). The honey sweetens it up, and the sharpness of the clove plays off of it.

 

When it dries, the patchouli is gone, and the way that the honey plays off the clove is great!

[marared]

I am normally not a huge fan of patchouli, and I can still smell it in this, but it's very nicely moderated by the honey, I think, and the ylang ylang just makes me want to sashay up to someone and waggle my eyebrows.

 

But man, this is STRONG on me, and it lasts forever. I think I did two or three swipes of the imp wand on my wrist, and it was still very noticeable six or eight hours later, and the next morning, it's still faintly detectable on my wrist. The imp itself is a keeper for the occasional swab, I think, but too strong for a full bottle. I can't imagine how powerful it must be after a year or two of sitting around!

[savage_rose]

In the imp, this is gorgeous spiced honey. But on...some kind of detergent powder floral has taken over, and I smell like an old lady's handkerchief. Not what I'm looking for .

[Lamia]

Smells like armpits in the bottle. On skin it's very light. Ylang ylang and fig? I think the patchouli smells like leather. Ends up light and snappy.

[dluszcz]

In the bottle and wet on my skin: promising, strong sweet honey and spicey florals.

 

Dries down quickly to an icky old lady floral before finally lingering to an edge of sweet waxiness.

 

For some reason, the "sexy" ones seem to go ugly on me

Edited July 3, 2008 by kittysdesire

[isisonearth]

I'm always a sucker for the ancient world scents. Beth makes them so rich and evocative and this is no exception.

 

Rich clove and figs are drenched in honey sweetness. The ylang-ylang gives it a womanly vibe and the patchouli , which often misbehaves on me, adds just the right amount of sexy.

 

I see a bottle in my future...rare for a patchouli scent.

[Suu4LC]

Hmm...this smells kind of weird in the imp...the patchouli with all those sweet notes kind of gives it a body odor quality. Not terrible, but...not good. Patchouli is a hit or miss note with me, and 9 times out of 10 it's a miss...

 

Ehh, yeah, on my skin, this is a little too sweet and a little too dirty. Thankfully, that dirtiness seems to fade once this has settled for a moment. Now I get the fig and the clove-very nice! Ehh, but then, I think the ylang ylang is making this a little too powdery...then it starts to get sickly sweet again as it dries down more. Lots of morphing with this blend.

 

This is definitely far better on my skin that it was in the imp, but I enjoy other lab honey blends more, so this would not be a bottle purchase for me.

[vegasblueblood]

Very, very spicy blend. The honey really sweetens this up and on me, it's all cloves and honey. I don't get too much patchouli in this one. The clove is quite strong and I think I can detect the fig starting to emerge. I love all of BPALs honey blends because they are so warm. The honey in this seems very rich and thick. The ylang ylang keeps it from becoming foody and gives it a touch of femininity. It starts off really strong and is now softening itself up and starting to show more of the notes.

[OhioSky]

I'm wearing this one today and I love it!

 

It's a bit overpowering at first, but it dries down very nicely and I can still find it on my wrist... about 8 hours now after applying.

 

I love honey scents, and BPAL does them so well. It's a very sweet but deep scent because the other notes in it contrast so well but blend perfectly. I can pick out the incense, and the fig, and some spicy something.

 

I may just have to buy a bottle of this.

[hlinspjalda]

In the vial: Sweet, heady, with a top note of floral and a bite of spice at the bottom. It should only smell this good on me!

 

Wet: The sweet is overwhelmed by something warm and spicy, the floral has lost that top note. Clove is very prominent. I still like it, but it's more like food now than it was.

 

20 minutes: I can feel the application points as warm patches on my skin, especially at the throat; I guess that's the clove, which always reacts that way with my skin. This one is very potent, and there's a sort of aura of it all around me. But yep, this is exactly the scent I thought it was when I looked through my notes after that first meet 'n sniff. It smells like musky, spicy honey to me. I would want to devour someone who was wearing this scent.

 

One hour: Sweeter now, and not so musky, but still strong and wonderful. There's a tiny hint of tartness about it that I think comes from the ylang- ylang; I've noticed "Skuld" has the same tartness, and that has ylang ylang in it too. I love this one; it's as strong on me as "Imp" but more beguiling, less in-your-face.

 

Five and a half hours: It's still strong, although dryer than before. Still smells so good I could eat it. And I've figured out what the floral reminds me of. It's clover! It smells like a big patch of white clover under an Alabama sun in July. I suppose honey and clover kind of smell a lot alike, at least in this country where clover honey is the norm,

 

I need a bottle of this.

[taramarie]

On me, Hetairae is honey and clove over patchouli. It's nice but not me, so I'll pass it on.

[Electric Maenad]

Phwoaaaar. This is super heavy when I first put it on, all sticky fruity honey and OMGPATCHOULI. After a few minutes the patchouli takes a walk and the clove and floral bits start to come up.

 

Still a bit too heavy/sticky for my tastes, but I'll keep the imp and maybe mix it with some lotion to tone it down a bit. It's pretty sexy, but just not my kind of sexy. All the same, it's nice to know that my dread of patchouli (acquired while living with a houseful of goths) appears to be unfounded for BPAL blends.

[Sapphiremo0n]

Very honey and fig on me. I can smell the patchouli in the vial, but thankfully not on me. It starts out as a very perfume-y scent. I'm expecting it to come from an atmonizer not a dip-stick, like a very old and expensive perfume. There's a bit of an edge on this one that might be from the patchouli, might not.

 

20minutes on and I'm getting a headache... grr.

 

For me, it's ok as a frimp, but not one I'd scramble to buy bigger.

[odalisque]

I was dubious of this when I sniffed it in the vial and when it was wet on my skin, because the clove was pretty strong. A while later, though, I sniffed it and it had dried down to exactly, completely, the smell of white clover blossom in the sun on a warm day!

 

I think this must be the blend of the honey and ylang-ylang. It's sweet wildflowers and honey, sweeter and lighter than the scent of honey alone (which to me is a very warm rich scent). Oddly enough, it's extremely reminiscent of Les Bijoux without the peach. Sniffed side by side, LB is a slightly more complex and warmer blend than Hetairae, but the sweet honey note is similar -- Hetairae dries down to that sweetness while on me, LB passes through it on its way to a peachy-musky-frankincense dry stage.

 

Where Les Bijoux has a blush of peachy-orange color to my synaesthesia, Hetairae is layers of golden and spicy brown. (Yup, spicy brown. Told you it was synaesthesia.)

 

So if you like Les Bijoux and want to try something similar, or if you don't like Les Bijoux because of the peach and apple, this is one to try.

 

I think it would make a very good layering oil, in something like daily lotion, because at least in the form it dries down to on me, it' would harmonize well with a lot of other warm/woody/resiny floral blends. It would tend to sweeten then up -- I wonder what it would be like layered with something super dry and warm, like Sri Lanka or Cathedral?

Edited November 29, 2008 by odalisque

[lookingglass]

I love Hetairae: green yet creamy, sweet honey enhanced so delicately with infused ylang-ylang (I have so come to appreciate her) and spicy patchouli. She is Skuld's dark haired older sister. So many honey blends are "blond" or "naked" to me. The richness of the fruit, spices, and patchouli darken Hetairae up so that it "fits" me better. Another super-sexy-chic patchouli. Mmmmm-wwwwa-gawd.....

Edited March 4, 2017 by lookingglass

[Nimthiriel]

Initial impression:

I'm getting clove and ylang ylang, with a drop of honey.

 

First on:

Mm, honey – and fig! Yay!

 

Dry:

After about 10 mins, I'm certainly getting clove and fig, and something that might be very faint patchouli.

 

40 mins later, it's a very dry and dusty scent – the fig, honey and ylang ylang are gone.

 

Finally:

I really liked the first stage of the drydown, but the niceness faded and the throw wasn't too good. Swapping!

[inurbanus]

This is a "second skin" type of scent on me - it's light and clings to my wrist effortlessly. Because of this, though, it's hard to smell Hetairae's individual components. I can catch whiffs of honey (a little waxy, but not overwhelmingly so), fig (which lends a certain girlishness), and ylang ylang. The patchouli's also in there, somewhere, providing depth and earthiness. Hetairae is not something I would reach for often, but when I compare it to the other Greek-themed BPAL scents I've smelled, I think it fits in very well with these. It's definitely a nice portal to the past.

 

3/5

[rayvn1]

I'm amazed the clove didn't overwhelm everything since that's it's usual MO with me - yay! Sweet, golden and fresh. This had decent throw and lasted a good long while. I liked it, but probably not enough to keep. This was a surprise since honey and clove usually kill a blend for me.

[WidgetAlley]

Imp: Thin honey, cloying ylang-ylang, a little bit of very strong patchouli, dry clove, and a little green fig. It's nice but something in it is a little bit off. I think it might be the honey, it kind of seems... rotting? It might be the patchouli, it's very dark and deep.

 

Wet: Whoa! Clove! Then a little honey, then dry patchouli, then deep fig. It's sort of... dusty now, but the rotting overtones are gone. Spicy, sweet, yet somehow dry. The ylang-ylang comes up last, sweet and sensual. This turns warm and round and spicy and a little sexy. There's a faint salt note in here, which is weird, because I usually only get that from myrrh.\

 

Dry: Sweet and spicy and still a little salty. This is very pretty but that dust note is kinda ruining it for me. We'll try again and see how she fares, but I'm certainly not thinking bottle.