Hades

[Trish]

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

I'm completely unfamiliar with all the notes in this, so this will make reviewing this interesting.

In the Imp: Strong, floral, slightly astringent, a bit of green (uh oh) and woods.

Wet: Astringent for about 5 seconds, then that disappears to leave sweet florals, but ones that I actually like. Something reminds me of jasmine here, and I get the brief stabbing headache that I get from it too. On further research I think that's the stephanotis. Whatever it is within about 5 minutes it seems to rise and float above my skin. Underneath that theres a slightly incensy/spicy note coming out. And earth.

Dry: The floating somewhat sharp floral has disappeared, leaving a dark soft floral with definite earthiness underneath it along with a hint of incense. I think the black narcissus might be the floral I can pick up now, whatever it is I like it a lot! I only put a drop on each wrist but it's got quite a lot of throw and lasts a fair while.

This is freaking gorgeous, and I need to further experiment with the notes in it (especially the black narcissus). I'm not a floral person, but this is definitely my kind of floral.

Verdict: I don't know that I'll get a bottle as it's definitely not an everyday scent, but I'll be keeping the imp that's for certain!

[TrailerTrashPrincess]

impsniff: why does this smell like implements fresh out of an autoclave?

 

swiped on skin: my skin tingles and itches where i put the oil, the way my lips do when i use duWop's lip venom.

 

skinsniff, wet: i get the narcissus

 

skinsniff, dry: if there is such a thing as a florist who doesn't sell roses, mums or carnations, i imagine this is how their shop would smell.

lovely, fresh, green, and alive. i love this!

[yellowrose]

This imp is circulating as part of the General Catalogue Swap.

 

Because of time constraints (and being inundated with imps... impundated, I suppose), sniffing in the bottle is a must before applying.

 

In the bottle: Red Hots. Cinnamon Red Hots. Cinnamon does NOT make my skin happy. It causes red, angry welts, therefore I'm passing on this. A dribble got on my finger and even 15 minutes later, it still smells like a box of fresh Red Hots, but it's dissipating.

 

Safe travels wandering imp!

[Myaru]

First whiff is like a masculine cologne. (Though to contradict that, there was something so floral about it that it made me gag.) That calms down as it dries down to allow a warmer, resiny goodness to come out, although it's a little shy about shoving past the narcissus. It disappears after a few minutes, though.

 

This used to be the one blend with a floral component that didn't go to hell on me, no pun intended - now, it seems to be doing what every other floral does: going slightly soapy. Sigh.

 

Maybe a newer imp of Hades would work out for me - letting it age only intensified my least-favorite note.

[mirutai]

On me, this starts off as damp, wet earth, but eventually dries down to a combination of dry earth, hot spices, and a bare hint of floral. I think it fits the name _very_ well, but it's too masculine for me personally. Would love to smell this on a guy, though!

[QueenFae]

Dark, masculine, and amazingly hard to describe! I'm not familiar with a lot of these ingredients. It's an earthy, foreboding scent; there is a sharpness to it that doesn't agree with me. It kind of reminds me of autumn, or being outside at Halloween. Definitely not my kind of smelly. The boy likes it though, so I'm sure he'll hijack this imp.

[Miseraya]

In the imp: Fresh. Herbal? Slightly floral, woodsy. This is a nice natural fresh scent. Not exactly what I expected from Hades. Cernunnos (sic?) maybe.

 

On the wrist, wet: Astringent clean and sharp. Fresh and masculine. Bold but not heavy. Definitely herbal to me, with a hint of floral notes at this point.

 

On the wrist, dry: This is going soapy in the exact same way that Ouija and Omen do on me, I wonder if they have a common component?

 

Final Analysis: My chemistry tortured this. Alas. Off to the swaps.

[provocateur]

In bottle: Fiery! Very warm, more than likely the labdanum, perhaps the ambergis.

 

On skin, wet: Ambergis. Very ambergis.

 

On skin, dry: Very faint, somewhat medicinal smelling. I'd assume the narcissus.

 

Conclusion: Very interesting to say the least. I'm not sure how the medicinal/astringent smell came around, but it could be a variety of things

 

Rating: 2/5

[Celogrl]

I'm not familiar enough with the individual notes to pick them all out in Hades. Shame, because this is a very interesting mix. It's very DRY and almost acrid and burnt to my nose. It's a perfume you'd wear to be noticed and to kick a little rear in. There is nothing dainty about it! I am still trying to decide if I like it, but I think it will have it's uses!

[ayelienne]

I found Hades to be very warm and spicy with a strong blast of white floral in the middle of the spice - unfortunately the floral reminds me of soap. If the floral didn't smell soapy to me, I'd keep it. I'm going to try it on the husband in the hope that he doesn't amp the floral.

 

This is one that I'm sure is perfect for someone, but it's not me.

[steffanina]

Hades-

 

In Bottle: Very spicy, almost yummy without being foody. I'm hit with the memory of Opium perfume.

 

Wet: This makes my nose wrinkle once it's on. An underlying something-I-don't-like noxiousness underneath.

 

Dry: I'm afraid I can't wait for this to dry down. It's just not very pleasant on me; kind of sour/off. Off I go to wash it off.

 

Overall: Not good for me.

[Teggy]

Hades was surprisingly fresh in the bottle and wet on my skin. The best way I could describe it is as a "cold fresh carrot with the skin still on." Then shortly after application, it turned to plastic on me so I can't really share anything more.

[supremegoddessofall]

A dark floral. The darkness is pulling it into something I don't like, and I'm not sure which component is doing that. Maybe the opoponax?

[PilotKitten]

Hrm... at first whiff, this almost smells like it's a wholly masculine blend. It's dark and musky but with a small hint of floral. After the drydown this fades into a powdery resinous blend.

[Brianne]

In the vial:

ACRID

 

On me:

I cannot describe this really - it's dark and stinks. That's honestly all I can say for it.

 

Final note:

I have no idea what is making this smell so bad on me, because none of the notes listed normally go "wrong" on my skin. But in this blend, things are just not smelling right.

[Voleuse]

This is all dark resin on first sniff, warm and sweet and polished. After a while, I get the smallest hint of floral incense behind this, but for the most part it's pungent, earthy resins. Nice, but not for me.

[Seelix]

While I was testing Hades my sister came into my room. She asked what I was doing and I told her that I was trying to figure out whether I like this scent or not. She smelled it and immediately said "It smells like hippy."

 

Now I can't get that image out of my mind. It's very much a lived in hippy smell. It's an incredibly masculine scent, and it would probably smell nice on the kind of environmental educator guys that I tend to be attracted to. Unfortunately, it's a little too masculine for me.

[nikkoblue]

so bizarre how a scent could be so different on anyone.

 

This is my first BPAL 'Love'.

 

This scent to me is natural, dark colors: amber, green, dark gray......it's not floral on me, it's slightly masculine but a bit too sweet to really say that on me (I'm a woman). A little astringency at first quickly faded, and now it's warm, clean, incensey and smells almost like it's melted with my skin....opopponax (sp?) always works with me so this is definitely a winner.

 

beautiful!

[storme]

In the imp: sharp, almost herbal florals.

 

On me, wet: lots of narcissus and various light crisp florals - with a nice warmth from the ambergris. This is less male than I expected from other reviews, not as dark.

 

On me, dry: it smells like a commercial perfume, but not quite in the way that something like Nihil does - the florals here feel quite false. I also get a hint of something a bit urine-ish in the background.

 

Verdict: Started off promising, but I think that urine tinge would kill this for me if nothing else did. Swap pile.

[Extispex]

Pure cthonic splendour.

 

In the bottle, it smells very 'perfumy', like the cologne counter at Macy's or something equally horrible. But the moment it hits my skin it mutates into a monster, burrowing up from the depths of the earth, churning the fresh dirt and tearing at the delicate flowers that grow in the soil. Incense burned for nether gods in some deep cavern, creeping plants and hungry mosses that thrive in dark places.

 

I must must must have a big bottle of this one.

[DifferentDances]

I ordered this as an imp in conjunction with Persephone, because I've always loved the myth of Persephone.

 

Contrary to most of my experiences, this was one oil that smelled awful in the bottle but blossomed on my skin. I have no idea what notes I'm amping up and playing down, all I know is it's a warm, sultry scent on me that is pleasantly masculine without being exclusively male.

 

Layering a bit of Persephone over Hades softens the mix ever so slightly to create a heavenly scent for me, but that could just be me and my obsession for the myth.

[crain]

This is a deep, dark floral with some woodsy undertones, and a note that definitely reminds me of jasmine. It reminds me of flower blooming in a southern swamp or another damp, murky place. While not a scent for me, it is well-balanced and has a moderate throw and a lot of lasting power.

[Tal Shachar]

In the imp, this was floral with a very medicinal note, and I had a sinking feeling because I'd been hoping to love it. But on my skin it was a wonderful slinky blend of dark florals. The resinous woodiness didn't come out until the drydown, when the florals retreated into the background.

 

Until the drydown, I thought it was a nice blend but didn't see the connection with Hades, but the way that the flowers fade and leave only smoke and dry wood is perfect. The slinky turns melancholy.

 

Now I'm waiting patiently for my bottle...

[tinyvulture]

a syrupy, dark resinous blend. i see that opoponax, onycha and labdanum are all resins, although i’m not familiar enough with them to say definitively that they’re what i smell. i can’t make out any florals, but the ambergris is apparent. i’m drawing comparisons between this scent and The Black Tower – another heavy ambergris/resin blend. a sweet, sinful scent.

[Laughing-magpie]

Fascinating! So many wildly differing views on not just whether Hades works for one, but even what it basically smells like.

 

For the record, this is one of my very favorite blends from the 16 or so I've tried from BPAL so far.

 

On me, it starts off with a nip of gunpowder or brimstone. It's hot and exciting; edgy. There's an undercurrent of smooth warmth that I honestly cannot identify, like whisky or cloves, and something a lot like leather. There's some floral too - reminds me of calla lillies, maybe a wee bit of violets and pepper.

 

I amp florals and sweetness, so overall Hades never becomes too masculine for me to wear, but it maintains a masculine presence - like I've rubbed up against a man and his scent still lingers. And the fact that the sort of man this reminds me of is James Cagney in a 1930's gangster role is my definition of Heaven. Rock on, Hades!