Hetairae

[Smokeybromage]

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.

This is gorgeous! I need a bottle of this one. In the imp,it smells a lot sharper and the clove is really evident, but once on me its a lovely warm, spicy honey ad fig smell cut through by patchouli.

[sassenacch]

love at first sniff?

 

 

wet & in the bottle, this seems very sharp & almost astringent - i can see where some are getting a craft store sense from it. on me, however, this has morphed into a very smooth honey with a afterscent of...fig , i think it is. I'm not getting any patchouli (*sniffle*) unless that may turn up later...i hope it does! i'm not getting any clove either, but something is very faintly spicy in there!

 

all in all, a very sweetly light-bodied scent on me. i do like it, although i don't know if it will turn out to be my fave or not. = )

 

 

ETA: a few hours later: BABY POWDER!!

 

oh man, i was bummed. but it's not bad baby powder, it's powder with a nice, hidden figgy scent...just barely there, but there!

 

ETA: no wait, it's honey, not fig. honeyed baby powder. which, really isn't bad, when you think about it?

Edited February 26, 2009 by sassenacch

[kjirstiben]

First applied, this scent is floral and honey, with a slightly herbal tinge. It's got an earthy character to it--I can't tell if it's the patchouli or the fig (or both!) giving it that character. A low-key scent.

 

After an hour or so, the honey starts to amp on me (typical--probably skin chemistry), and I'm getting a slightly spiced honey scent. Now this I quite like!

 

Over time, it becomes an earthy, figgy honey (with some patchouli grounding it). Nice--a less in-your-face-sexy version of a honey scent. (I love O, but it can be a little too much for some occasions.)

 

Recaplet: Earthy, figgy honey, a casual interpretation of honey.

My rating: 4 of 5 (I really like this!)

Color impression: The deep gold of a dark honey.

[LizzyLies]

Alright, first impression is it's rather earthy with a touch of honey tossed in. I think I've learned now that I radiate honey when I wear scents with honey in them which, I totally don't mind because I am a honey fiend. I know I'm getting clove and I'm pretty sure I'm getting ylang ylang too. The patchouli and fig are very well blended to my nose and from a distance (ie. when my nose isn't glued to my arm) I get fig, patchouli, clove, and honey; meaning, it definitely does make me think of Ancient Greece. This normally isn't my sort of thing since I'm usually a very floral, clean smelling chick. However, this is quite intriguing, but it'll take a lot of contemplation to see if I need more than this imp or not.

[aquazoo]

Bleah, I don't know what it is, but something is turning sour. All the elements should be nice, and I usually really like scents with honey. This has some sour milk in it. No, it doesn't improve. :-(

 

 

[ephemera]

In the bottle this smells very strongly of honey and patchouli.

 

On my skin this Honey Like Whoa! The patchouli and clove hover below the honey note and warm it up and add dimnsion. Afte a while the patchouli fades and the honey is dancing the night away with the clove and ylang-ylang.

 

This is a warm, homey yet sexy scent. Like the perfect 50's housewife you expect to find making a pot roast when you get home and instead she's wearing a merrywidow and making a tequila sunrise. Keeper!

[copagirl]

It's funny how these oils can start off as one thing, turn into another then end up completely different!! I got this as a frimp from the lab and it sounds right up my alley. (Do they check wishlists?) Very honey to start, whcih I love, on it then has some ylang ylang, fig, and some clove. Yum so far. Later I can smell patchouli, very faint, along with clove and fig. Yes! Love it. Oh wait, an hour later, it smells like roses on me! What, roses?? Ugh, my skin hates roses...Boo...

[voodoocatwoman]

A very dear Lycanthrope was responsible for my imp of Hetairae. He said it was a honey scent and he was not kidding. I smell like spiced honey. My nose is stuck to my arm. This could become a problem.

[caitilarkin]

In the imp: Rich honey and high, light florals (hello, ylang ylang!)

 

Wet on skin: The honey holds its own, the fig comes out to play, and the clove, patchouli and ylang ylang are present just enough to tantalize.

 

Dry on skin: The combination of honey, ylang ylang and fig would be enough to make a very sensual blend, but the subtle earthiness of the patchouli and the teasing bite of the clove put Hetairae squarely into WILD MONKEY SEX territory on my skin.

 

I wore this to a party recently and my date, um, commented favorably on it and visibly reacted to it. Too bad we were in a public place...with his parents.

 

I love this one for obvious reasons, but hereafter it will be worn only in certain situations to elicit a specific reaction.

[crebbsgirl]

GAH, why does ylang ylang hate me so? I really wanted to like this in all of its figgy patchouli goodness. And clove! How can I forget you old friend? Unfortunately, that spiteful $#@% ylang ylang has to drive her flowery amping wedge between us. Fine ylang ylang. You win. I just don't want to fight anymore.

[angelicruin]

Sniffing the imp, it's honey and fig.

 

Wet on my skin, this becomes a really bad patchouli blend. As it dries, the patchouli softens and the clove comes out. Better dry, but still not me.

[tragedy]

this reminds me of la petite mort.. though while the ylang ylang in LPM stayed in the background and screams in your face.

This is like a stronger bolder sister of la petite mort... though upon drydown the clove spices it up a bit and changes it into a stronger bolder spicy sister of la petite mort.

I like this quite a bit.

[Banyangirl]

This is sweet, earthy, spicy honey and fig on me. Quickly becoming one of my favorites!

[donnatron]

Imp: Sour honey and patchouli. It's like Sed Non Satiata gone horribly wrong.

 

Wet: Ugh. This is not working on my skin. It smells like rotten honey and BO. It's the dread pirate clove is what it is.

 

Dry: Thick, viscous honey and fig with a little patchouli. Very pretty and lovely... until I sniff fully. Then the clove comes through and this is... not good. Clove smells very... visceral on me. So it's like a gorgeous perfume over congealed blood. And while I do love blood accord this is just too freakin' weird for me.

 

Throw: Strong.

 

Overall: Dangit, clove.

[wldhrsjen3]

Hm. I can't remember if I got this imp in an order or if it was one that a friend sent me, so I'm not certain how old it is. My impressions may be related to the fact that it might be a year old already.

 

Anyway. In the bottle: spicy golden honey, with a touch of ripe fig to round it out and ylang ylang to add a floral sweetness. But on my skin, the patchouli takes over and all I smell is dark spice. It fades quickly, leaving warm spice behind. But... I'm not sure this is my style.

 

Still, it's a lovely, complex scent in the bottle and with the right skin chemistry I think this would be amazing.

[stardreamer]

In the imp and fresh on, this is sweet and spicy with a touch of floral. Sadly, after about half an hour the ylang ylang has completely overpowered everything else, and it's entirely floral from there on. And it sounded so promising! I might give it one more try, but I think this one's headed for the swap pile.

[caffinatedangel]

This is a lot like Bengal, from the wanderlust line.

 

It just glows that sexy honey, for me. With a sort of spicey vibe. It's different from bengal in that Hetairae has more herbal elements to it. I was afraid that this "blushing touch of ylang ylang" would turn into floral babypowder on me, but it never did! It just added this slight lighter feel at the beginning than is in bengal. The patchouli also dirties it up in the perfect pleasing way. Of course, I adore patchouli, so search it out and roll in it.

 

Overall this is an incredible blend. So very very much like bengal on my skin, but just a touch earthier so makes it that much better. Going on my bottle wishlist, for sure.

 

Has a strong throw (as in I smell it everywhere I go all day, and even get a few head-turns and compliments. But not so strong as to make people suffocate when I stand near them. ) and has amazing endurance. I've realized that honey is beautiful on me, and it lingers until morning.

 

The boytoy also had very, very good things to say about it.

[veronicafranco]

yay! i finally got an imp of this from the lab to try. i have a long-term interest in hetairae and related figures in other cultures (see forum name!), and clove and honey are two of my favorite scents of all time, so had to try this one.

 

so i don't tend to like fig scents when they're still wet, and this one is not an exception. they smell kind of gritty at first. i put a drop on the outside of my wrist, went "ylang ylang that doesn't make me hurl? huh, and wet fig, oh well," and started going about my usual busy morning.

 

and 15 or 20 minutes later, started catching wafts of this warm spicy honey almost-incense fragrance that is totally working for me.

 

see, in point of fact, i have all these unfinished and possibly never-to-be-published stories in my head, and one of my favorite characters in them is basically the same kind of girl as these here hetairae. (not by birth/class/job, but by how she acts.) and when i first started sampling bpal, it was with the goal of finding something that would smell like her very distinctive honey-incense perfume. well, this is as close as i've ever come!

[opticnerd]

This was a (big) surprise hit for me. I object to most of the notes in it as I am decidedly NOT a fan of golden honey, ylang ylang or patchouli and clove tends to overpower most blends on my skin. This though, is nothing I expected. It smells like warm sweet figs in a Lush shop. Lots of nommy scents of every category wafting in the background giving it a soft sweet incense vibe and just adding dimension to that great figgy note. The patchouli was a shock to me as it smells nothing like dirty earthy hippy stink to me. It smells like that lovely warm sensual patchouli tucked away in the Snake Oil blends. There are rare moments where I think with a dash of vanilla this could be part of the Snake Pit.

 

Anyway try it out if you like warm fig blends and lush sensual fragrances that aren't overly floral or spicy.

[Spork]

When I first put it on it was hellooooo cocoa! But just a quick whiff of it, very weird, since it's definitely not one of the mentioned ingredients. Goes away almost instantly and is replaced by a lovely honeyed fig, so yummy! After drying down for a while the patchouli comes out to say hi and grounds the scent a bit, making it not quite as sweet but still really yummy. Think this is going to get some serious use this fall

[devilot]

Hetairae

In the Vial: Golden fruit. Patchouli. Lots o' patchouli.

 

Wet: I'm pretty sensitive to patchouli so I'm definitely noticing it. Lots. The honey must be what's adding that sweet golden feel. Spicy. Must be the cloves, so it's spicy from cloves with a slight bite from patchouli.

 

Drydown: Definitely getting what another reviewer referred to as, "craft store smell." Like cheap potpourri.

 

Verdict: It has promise in that the patchouli is relatively well-blended, and I like the golden feel, but I guess it's something about my skin chemistry and/or nose, that means Hetairae just ain't working for me. Hm, actually, it might be honey. I know that honey really does NOT work for me in some blends (Hony Mone retch) but it doesn't seem to effect me negatively in others (Lady Una). *ponders*

[Usagi]

Imp: sweet, resinous, honey spice

Wet: HONEY, and something deliciously herbal-- I want to say laurel, with a hint of mead or wine.

Dry:spiced honey; not sweet--more herbal

 

This is sexy and sophisticated. It's lightly foody without being overly sweet. I find this slightly similar to Honey Moon.

[Aldercy]

I chose Hetairae for my grand "Let's See If I Really Do Hate Patchouli Or Just Need To Suck It Up And Try More Blends" experiment. The other notes sounded good to me and I was drawn to the adjective "fiery."

 

Answer: No, I don't hate patchouli, at least in Hetairae. It's not explosively strong in this scent, which gives me great hope that I can learn to enjoy moderate amounts of the stuff.

 

Anyway, this is a nice spicy honey scent-- not really clove spicy though, more red pepper spicy-- with a warm pulse of fig and just some supporting earthiness from the patchouli. It could be aggressive, but it's not; it's a very comfortable scent. Reminds me a little of Bengal.

[strahlend]

First sniff of the imp: Honey. Pure honey. I'm curious to see where this goes on my skin.

On the skin: I'm getting something tangy, no, wait, I think that's going, it just lasted for a second while it was wet. Now it's sweet and warm but not sugary... I'm not getting patchouli or fig or clove though... it's hard to describe...I guess it's still the honey I smelled in the bottle but a little deeper. I'm getting a honey-amber type combination. I like it but I'm not sure if I'm in love with it. I'm more than willing to give it another try though.

 

 

I was just frimped Hetairae and came to read the reviews. I didn't realize I had already written one. Basically my feelings are the same. I've smelled more blends with honey in them now and I recognize the warm sweetness is pure honey goodness. In this imp I smell a bit of the fig, but no patchouli or clove. On my skin it really does go to honey and stay there. My feelings are about the same, it's a nice scent and I like it, but it doesn't make me feel like I need to track down a bottle.

Edited January 6, 2010 by strahlend

[obsidienne]

Okay, I have two imps of this: one quite aged about a year, and one about six months. In both, I could almost swear that there is skin musk in this blend, with some honey and a touch of spice... but really, all I get is sweet honeyed skin musk with barely-there hints of patchouli and clove. Fig is MIA.

 

The older imp smells far muskier than the newer, which may have a hint of ylang ylang. I expected a lot more spice out of this.