Hades

[Imptress]

... A dark, palpably sacred chthonic blend: black narcissus and cypress, stephanotis, opoponax, labdanum, onycha and ambergris.

A very nice balance of floral, woody, herbal and incense. I really like the "greeness" of the florals in this-- like flowers in a nursery or greenhouse, not cut in a vase. I've picked that up in other scents where narcissus is listed as a note. It also has the "warm fuzzy" vibe I associate with carnation, but that's not listed as a note. I get a similar vibe from Oberon... warm, fuzzy and comforting. I really like this one but since to my nose it's similar to Oberon (and I already have a big bottle of that!) I'll stick to the imp for now.

[rinoastar]

In the bottle: Is that...carrots?

Wet: Carrotty. This is odd. It's masculine-sweet, metallic, and not unlike the smell of bloody carrots, or the knife that's just been used to cut carrots. It's got very herby undertones.

Dry: Curiouser and curioser! No more carrots, but I couldn't begin to tell you what I'm smelling now. It's manly, and herby (in fact, quite like I'd imagined the Apothecary would smell like by name alone), sharp but not sharp, and not at all evil-smelling. It reminds me strongly of the doctor's office, or the dentist--clean and semi-sterile smelling.

 

Er, I looked at the notes listing and this is supposed to have florals? I'm not getting flowers at all. Just a strange, manly, metallic, herby smell. My nose is odd.

[Naamah_Darling]

In the bottle, this is a lovely not-too-sweet mix of dark and light florals, gently supported by a whiff of incense and the very faintest brush of greenery. There is a hint of sweetness the way cracked black pepper smells sweet. A lower-case floral, a scent that could easily have been overwhelming, but was not allowed to get out of control. Traditionally perfumey to me, but not old-ladyish. This is elegant and serene, and, yes, I can see sacred – there's a purity to it. These florals smell whole to me, it's as though I can smell the cut ends of the stems.

 

On the skin, it has one smooth smell, a spicy floral that is not at all fruity, and not overly sweet. I'm still getting pepper, and something way down deep that's thick and almost tarry. It's enchanting, a little hair-raising, and very difficult to separate into distinct notes, since I'm not at all familiar with many of the listed ingredients. It sweetens a bit after a few minutes to the smell of funeral flowers. Soft and light but not powdery. Silken.

 

As it dries, a slightly smoky/resinous scent comes out to tone down the floral wet phase, the dark promise of the opoponax and onycha, I think. Less sweet and more mysterious, but still very floral. The smoky/resinous scent I had hoped for never showed up, nor did the earthy undertone others have spoken of.

 

Overall, an inviting pale scent veiling a hollow black core. I was expecting something earthier on me, but it's actually a soft, high scent; very cerebral.

[PirateMaggie]

I've been putting off reviewing this one because words just don't do it justice.

 

On first sniff, I recognize the black narcissus. My skin loves it in Hunger and loves it just as much in Hades. Like Hunger, this blend is drop-dead sexy, but not in the lush, sultry, slinky way that Hunger is. The black narcissus is backed by a lot of notes that my fairly uneducated nose can't really differentiate, but work to make this appealing in the "one you can't have" sense. This blend really doesn't morph much when it dries, though the narcissus and other notes meld more and it warms a bit and develops a slightly more woodsy hint which is the cypress making its appearance. It smells a little harsh, very chill, beautiful but aloof, slightly yearning, and extremely fierce. You do not want to piss off this Lord of the Dead, though you'll certainly want to make sure you're wearing nice underwear when you meet him. Though it has noticeable floral tones, there is something distinctly masculine about this blend. It would work well on either sex.

 

This blend is nothing if not intimidation in a bottle. Not thuggish, uncouth intimidation, by any means. This is silky-smooth, leather-clad (which is an odd association since there is no leather smell in the blend), devastatingly well put together and proper, and Very Far Above You intimidation, made all the scarier because it heavily implies that it will certainly back these impressions, and is achingly beautiful besides.

 

I'm eagerly awaiting a big bottle of this. My imp is going fast.

[AlaskaSnows]

Very green and herbal. I do smell the florals, and they are lovely, but they are overlaid by some very potent aromatic and sharp herbs. I would wear this gardening, to me this says "herb garden" and green growing things.... hmmm not very Hades-like, but I didn't want the imp because of the name.

[batsy]

Smokey, spicy. Almost a "hot" scent. Could be very male at times. Literally kept me warm all day. I love black narcissus, so I instantly noted that. Would be a very good scent for the boyfriend/husband to wear!

[sthenno]

I don't get any florals from this at all. It's rather herbal and ...murky. It kind of reminds me of Feu Follet in feel. I agree with the poster who said it was a strange, herby, metallic smell. I'm underwhelmed by this.

 

ETA: This turns totally powdery on me.

Edited February 25, 2006 by sthenno

[themerrybaker]

Another frimp from the Lab. On first applying this, it smelled warm, with no particular note predominant. I had to look this one up: no rose, tea, jasmine, honey, or amber or anything else I might be able to guess. (Narcissus? They are blooming right now – better go check). When dry, the Cyprus was detectable.

 

 

 

I like it more than most of the frimps: a dry, slightly toasty scent that blends into my skin.

[TheStormCellar]

I kind of like it, but only enough to keep an imp around. It smells like church barely an hour after a Mass that was laiden with incense. It reminds me of old mysterious churches and sacred sanctuaries. This is kind of what St Patrick's cathedral in NYC smells like.

[PixieSkull]

Imp: There's a dirty resinous scent here that I'm not positive about. There's also a fruity floral scent there.

Wet: Oh wow, this is a damp, sweet floral! I'm assuming this is the stephanotis. The cypress I know already and can smell that. This is quite the bright floral!

Dry: This is a sweet and dark floral. The mixture of the different scents is nice. I can't pick them all out seperately but I didn't do a horrible job at enjoying the different scents.

 

Category: Floral

Rating: 3.5/5; Nice floral

Overall: This is a damp floral to wear in the deep summer months. I may keep this around to simulate the houthouse blooms I don't have growing in a garden I don't have. Didn't expect Hades to be so... damp and pretty... I guess. There is a bit of decay in water and darkness, but I guess I was expecting something darker.

[juniperus]

Bottle: Dark, green, and oddly floral.

Wet: The floral, almost jasmine-y, sweet of the stephanotis and the resins are foremost. The green of the cypress is present without standing out on its own.

Dry: A definitely darker floral, but as a result of the resins plus the floral not a dark floral itself. Interesting and complex.

Later: Fresh and dark and fascinating, but not quite me. Not disagreeable, odd, and complex, and masculine without being stereotypically so.

[bookishgrrl]

Oh, my.

Hades makes me feel like an obscenely wealthy older woman, the kind who is dressed impeccably, speaks her mind with brevity and exquisite ruthlessness, and plays patron to a passionate bohemian artist who gladly comes running to be 'at her service' *wink wink* at merest arch of her flawless eyebrow.

 

When I first applied Hades, I was enveloped in a cloud of flowers. There was something rich about it that felt very much like an expensive perfume from a snooty boutique... but about a million times better than anything one could find in a traditional store.

 

As it wears it settles into a forceful, spicy floral. I don't find it to be masculine on me at all. Rather, it's a very mature woman's floral... to be worn by someone who knows the score, not little girly or sweet or innocent in the slightest. It's sexy in a 'well, are you sure you can handle me?' sort of way. It's a bit wicked. The throw is quite good, and stays around for a while.

 

I'm not the sort of woman that Hades advertises, but I can dream, can't I? This is for special occasions, when I want to feel powerful and in control. I swear, my spine straightens and I start throwing 'the look' when I apply it. Maybe I need to put some more on right now. Or, better yet... You there! Boy! Be a dear and rub this BPAL on my pulse points... yes, just like that... *arches eyebrow*

[gingersnapp]

Soap. An industrial one like Lava or that ubiquitous milky pink goo that is in the dispensers in public restrooms.

Edited May 10, 2006 by gingersnapp

[Meg]

In the bottle: It smells very much like Medea, probably the cypress/opoponax/labdanum combo, herby, resinous and dark, and I can smell flowers in here, too.

 

Wet: Resins, lots of different types, with some greenery too, and flowers coming out. I also get some warm ambergris.

 

Drydown: It still stays quite green and fresh, herby and resinous, sort of hot and cold at the same time. Then it becomes more and more spicy, a bit like myrrh. I don't get any narcissus, there are quite heady flowers but nothing that I could really pinpoint.

 

Overall: It's a heady, elegant and very feminine blend to me. It's extremely regal and pretty invasive. It's mostly resinous and incensy, but the narcissus is pretty powerful too, too overpowering for me really. It's a very perfumy scent, not at all masculine on me, but a bit too womanly.

[gwyllgi]

This is certainly a unique scent, and, while I'm not quite certain I like it, I certainly don't dislike it, either.

 

On my skin, it becomes a very smoky floral, but it's a dark floral. It's the big brother of Asphodel; where Asphodel is the flowers' ashes, Hades is the full blooms. It's somehow a tragic scent, but also strong - it's the scent of someone who has suffered much hardship, yet who is not weakened by it. Made distant, yes; made cold, yes; made weak, no. It's a scent of transition.

 

The longer I leave it on, the more I like it. It keeps a strong throw but loses its overwhelming strength after a few minutes. The only real change I pick up on my skin is that the cypress recedes as it dries, leaving behind florals and ambergris.

 

It's certainly not a scent for every day, but it's a wonderful scent for days when you need strength to see you through changes.

[Ajila]

In the bottle - Mens aftershave with something green in the background.

Wet on me - Surprisingly soft any warm, and a little oily.

Dry on me - Dark and spicy, I would have said patchouli, but it's not listed as a note. It's a manly scent, not really for me.

[brownbear]

I feel bad saying this, but Hades smells like generic perfume to me. Sort of old, stale, generic perfume. I don't know what else to say about this.

[septima_pica]

Hades is *sweet*. Like sweet floral soap. The cypress is there to begin with, but vanishes fast, leaving behind something that smells a lot like a high-class soap and makes me sneeze. Whoops. Oh well, I'm glad to have tried it, but the cypress is too evanescent and the narcissus too insistent for me to really love this blend.

[indicolite]

All I smell is the narcissus for the last ten minutes. Now I rather like narcissus, but I do not want to smell like it ALL the time. It is a clean fresh scent, good for a mood-clearer. However, I do not know if it would be one of my favourites. I had high hopes for Hades. I will give him a few more chances.

[strawberry_star]

When I looked at it, I was scared to try it because it looks like a dark scent or seems that it would be a dark scent. (I got it and didn't look at the description first hah)

 

Opening it up and it smells strong, very musky. I put it on and it maintains the muskiness probably from the narcissus. It's also quite smokey. Then all of a sudden it morphs into a floral! What a wuss! The floral smells oddly like jasmine and I hate jasmine, but florals tend to love me so I was stuck smelling like a flower. Bleh. Off to someone who will love his dark exterior and oh so sensitive interior.

[nerdcraft]

in the imp:

It doesn't make a big impression on me. Some spiciness and maybe some pine, which I'm sure is the cypress.

wet:

This reminds me of...something. Some kind of household product, like a bathroom cleaner.

 

dry:

Okay, cleanser smell is gone. Now it's a murky, slightly spicy floral. It smells really wet, like a dark, damp wet.

 

season: winter; nighttime

office-friendly? I personally wouldn't because it's a little dark

 

overall:

This is interesting, but is way too dark for me. I like my florals to be fresher and sparklier.

[The_Merf]

In the bottle: Cypress and florals--though this is a bright cypress, so I get a touch of green, not black, from this oil.

 

Wet: This is cypress and the black narcissus note from Languor (I'd almost ask if there was any poppy in here, because the two scents actually smell similar at this point). The overall result is floral.

 

Drydown and wear: This remains rather floral--I smell something akin to jasmine, which I imagine is the stephanotis, and that mingles with the narcissus note and the cypress. This really does remind me of Languor, except that the cypress gives this more definition.

[forspecial_plate]

I don't know my florals much at all, but to me this smells golden. I'd be interested in tracking down some single notes that are in this to pinpoint the one that stays with me. Then I would most likely avoid it in the future.

 

It doesn't smell bad. It's just a very strong association from childhood. In a review for Et Lux Fuit, somebody mentioned the little Avon solid perfumes in novelty pins. They said daisies, the ones I remember were ducks and frogs. I remember wanting one, but I knew that they were for girls and I couldn't have one. I took every chance I got to open my mom's and smell hers though. That's what this smells like to me. Dead-on. And it doesn't change much from initial application to drying and fading.

 

Like I said it's not a bad smell, just kind of sweet and impossible for me to escape that memory. I wouldn't choose to wear this, so, another for the growing swap box!

[sofiaviolet]

In the imp: It smells like something died in here. I'm not optimistic.

 

On me, wet: Hades seems to like my skin chemistry well enough. It's becoming less and less unpleasant.

 

On me, dry: The scent of fallen leaves, slightly damp and just beginning to decay.

 

Verdict: It might be better on someone with different skin chemistry and it would probably make a good autumn scent, but it's not for me.

[edenssixthday]

Hades is aptly named: It’s dark, morbid, bitter, and macabre. The scent is – at least to me – thoroughly unappealing and mostly unpleasant. The combination of dark and pungent scents does not work at all on my skin, despite the fact that I like several of the notes on their own. Once the scent dries, it’s much more palatable, and the bitterness completely fades leaving behind a dry, woody scent that is still very dark but much more subtle. While it’s still not something that fits into my general taste in perfume, I could easily see this being really gorgeous on a man after the point of dry-down. On my skin, the staying power is very poor, as I can barely smell it an hour after I first apply it.