The Ides of March 2005

[bexone]

... A mixture of springtime greenery and classical Roman cologne: rosemary, bergamot, lemon rind and vervain with costus, benzoin, gray amber, cardamom, white narcissus and iris.

I've worn this twice now, so putting together both impressions:

In the bottle: this is very sharply green, and I can definitely smell the lemon. I love lemony perfumes, so this is fabulous for me.

Wet: I swear the oil changed as soon as it hit my skin, and most of the sharpness disappeared. It smells like standing in an overgrown herb garden with a heavily laden lemon tree in one corner on a sunny day -- the lemon drifts through the scent without overpowering it. This is green. Green green green. I believe I may have described it in my LJ as "insanely green."

Drying: Still green, with some chilly florals. It's making me think, of all things, of the Narnia books -- book 4, I think it was, The Silver Chair. The evil queen is described as wearing "poison green" and that's what this smells like -- gorgeous and slithering and heartless. It's also made me remember one of my costumes from the musical my junior year of HS, an empire waist confection made of acres and acres of green chiffon in the perfect shade of between-kelly-and-hunter green, with silver beading almost entirely covering the bodice and a little floating capelet/train hanging from the shoulders. I *loved* that dress. I miss that dress. *cries*

At some point as it dries ides goes damp. Wet, cool, green, swampy, dangerous. This is what I want Bayou to smell like, only without all the issues I seem to have with aquatic notes.

Much, much later: Weird -- not at all in a bad way -- because it doesn't actually smell like it at all, but the image I get when I sniff my wrist about 6 hours after I apply is of hiking through a redwood forest on a warm, even hot day -- I can only describe it as "baked forest" scent when the undergrowth and the trees warm up. Such a wonderful association for me.

All in all, I love this. I kind of wish I'd bought more than one bottle.

[Essay 28]

In the bottle: fresh, clean scents, like walking through a herb garden after a summer shower.

 

On skin initially: a citrus note dominates over a floral that I actually like. I wish I knew enough about the notes to know wich of the florals this is.

 

After an hour: it disappeared! Completely, utterly gone. I tried this scent a second day, determined to make it work, but the same thing happened. After about 30-40 minutes, it was completely and utterly gone. Ah well, I didn't need to fall in love with an LE anyway...

[vyvyan]

Put this on for the first time in the gym after my workout, and unexpectedly ran into my crush half an hour later! Stood there talking to him thinking "at least I smell good!"

 

And I did smell good. Ides of March goes on *very* sharp on me, but mellows out a little rather quickly, although never entirely becoming what I'd call "warm." I can't pick out any specific notes, but it's very herbal, a little spicy, and a little woody. There's nothing floral at all on me. The person who pegged it as an expensive men's shaving cream was right on - which is not to say that it's too masculine to wear, by a long shot (I like gender-neutral scents, but I'm not a fan of really masculine scents).

 

Once it dryed down, it stayed pretty true - a green, woody, herby scent that lasted for a few hours and then faded to just a shadow. Lovely while it stuck around, though, and continually surprising to my nose - somehow, I never quite expect this scent.

 

To me, it felt like those spring or early-autumn days where it's cool out and only slightly overcast, but the leaves are green and full and there's a breeze and you have to wear a jacket.

 

I'll definitely finish the imp!

[Penance]

Origin:

 

I got an imp of this from Diana.

 

Preconceived notions:

 

I highly doubt this will work for me. At all. I didn't order it for that very reason, but because I aim to try every BPAL LE there is, I'm giving Ides a go.

 

First sniff:

 

Confusing smelling. One sniff I get all fragrant herbs (a good thing), the next I get citrus and florals (a bad thing). This is definitely unusual and very complex smelling to my nose. I'm not familiar with a few notes in here, so I'm wondering if I'm smelling them, but I can't say because I don't know what to sniff for.

 

Wet on skin:

 

Rosemary really jumps out at me as soon as I put this on, which is a good thing, but all the notes I don't really care for are making themselves known, too. Almost immediately, the florals and lemon start overpowering the rosemary and taking over the scent, which is what I had a feeling might happen.

 

Dry down:

 

Not a bad scent, really. It's not aggressively floral or herbal now. It's more like expensive men's cologne, the type that makes me think of fireplaces and brandy snifters. I actually rather like this one once it has a chance to dry. I might try this on the boy next.

 

The bottom line:

 

A rather pleasant surprise, given time to dry. I doubt I'll need more than my imp, but not bad.

[Reinaluna]

The Ides of March: This is a blend I got from Ebay, It very green like everyone says. The drydown is very floral and outdoorsy. I will have to give this one a few more tries to see how it works out.

[tesao]

mourning veil gifted me with a decant of this. so sweet and lovely. and so was the ides of march!

 

it sounds redundant, but everyone who has described this scent as green was so right! not insanely green, not poisonous green. the green of spring. shoots popping out of the ground. leaves unfurling on trees. a soothing herbal tea....an herb garden in morning springtime sun.

 

in the imp: herbal, rosemary is predominant.

 

on my wrist, wet: the rosemary is still there, but it is definitely part of a well blended herb garden in flower.

 

on my wrist, dry: the bergamot and lemon notes are coming through now. the lemon isn't the POP of lemon that you get when you squeeze a lemon into your water, it is more of the scent that lemon verbena leaves in your hands when you have picked some leaves and crushed them slightly. there are some light florals, as well, but they are a pleasant part of the whole....no overwhelming perfume. this is a green floral scent for people who don't wear florals.

 

dry down: i can sense the amber now. but it truly is more of a sense -- a perception that it is there -- than a smell. it is a creamy, herbal, green smell, lightly overlaid with citrus. it is indeed the scent of spring. this is truly gender neutral and would smell wonderful on anyone.

 

i just wish that i had MORE, so that i could wear it all the time!

 

thank you SO much, mourning veil! this was so generous of you!!! and thank you, beth, for continuing to prove your genius.

[LunaSea]

I had hopes that the Ides of March would be that green, fresh, spring scent I was looking for. And in the bottle, it is! Very lovely fresh, herbal, green. Nice.

 

But this blend has that component that turns to powder on me within just a few minutes. (I really need to figure out what it is!) I hope I can find a good home for this bottle. I really wanted to love it!

[k00kaburra]

In bottle: Very masculine and herbal, this fragance clears my senses with one sniff. The rosemary is the strongest, then the citruses and the iris/narcissus, and the whole scent strikes me as very much a men's aftershave.

 

On me: Very clean and green, with a bit of zest. It warms up with the skin's heat, morphing slightly - the medicinal aspects fade and the simply green of it becomes much stronger and spicier. I need a man to slather this on! It does make me think of Julius Caesar - this is definitely a fragrance he would wear. A man in a position of power should always smell this good.

[wickedgoddess]

Origin - decanted imp bought off of eBay.

 

Preconceived notions - This sounded good to be because I love rosemary, but when I took a sniff at Black Broom it really didn't do anything for me. Still, I wanted to try it.

 

Wet - it's very sharp and astringent, not particularly pleasant.

 

Dry - lemony and herbal. I am definitely getting rosemary, bergamont and lemon. This smells fresh and clean, and although it's a tad masculine, it doesn't smell cologney like Wilde and Viacomte de Valmont. I like this, but it's another that I probably wouldn't wear.

 

On the wickedgoddess scale of 1 to 5, with 5 being best, this rates a 3.

[Shollin]

First sniff: Lemon and herbs… herbs of many colours, rather than the predominant green I’m used to from herbal scents. This is the first non-pine scent I’ve immediately thought would smell great on my guy.

 

Wearing: Rosemary, most definitely. Rosemary and lemon, and a jumble of other herbs.

[scourgeotheseas]

Ides of March

 

Wow! I love this one. Usually, green herbal scents aren't my cup of tea, but I was hoping the bergamot and cardamom would keep it fresh and spicy. It's is fantastic - a floral, w/a citrus tang. Citrus, w/fresh herbs.

 

I'd do a more complete description but I've just slathered 1/3 of the bottle on myself during and after a bath and I want to keep the relaxed, refreshed feeling it's given me.

 

Aaaahhhhhh!

[yeahbutnobut]

Ides of March

 

In the imp: an interesting mix of sweet, green, herbal, light floral, and citrus smells.

Wet on skin: it's unusual, quite herbal with a hint of green. There's a note there that I'm not very keen on though that for some reason makes me think of salad, I hope it clears…

Dry on skin: much better. It's still herbal and green, with citrus. This is very fresh and moist, perfect for spring, and is developing a clean sweetness and a hint of floral. I think I can smell the rosemary, bergamot and lemon, and it's possibly iris or narcissus causing the light clean floral on top. There's also a sweetness which could be from amber.

After a while: the lemony tartness is still there but now there's a soft floral on my skin. It reminds me of a perfume I've smelt elsewhere-it's quite nice. It does smell like men's cologne, but the floral notes soften this out a bit and stop it from smelling blatantly 'manly' and more unisex.

After a few hours it reminds me of my godmother's perfume. It's very floral, surprisingly, and has changed from masculine at the start, to unisex, and now to feminine.

Verdict: this is quite nice, a clean, fresh spring scent. There's a herbal scent to it, sharpened by citrus, but with a hint of delicate floral and a sweet undertone. It's complex, yet quite clean, not messy or complicated in it's scent. It's quite lovely, but not really me, I do like it though.

Edited June 4, 2005 by yeahbutnobut

[sarahjay]

I really like this! I was so unsure from the description - I thought it would be too 'cologne-y' but it's not at all, once it's dried down. there's something in it that reminds me of silk road - it's like silk road's greener, fresher cousin.

 

wish I'd bought more than one bottle...

[OriginalWacky]

Bottle (Imp): This smells fresh and breezy with some mintiness. Not really sweet, but almost a hint of sweetness.

 

Just On: No more sweetness, but definitely fresh, clean, and like a very early spring breeze. The minty thing I thought I smelled is gone.

 

An hour or two later: NO mint at all, I might have been imagining it. I get some breeziness, a bit like a dryer sheet.

 

Around 6 hours: Dryer sheet freshness. This is not a bad thing, I like a lot of dryer sheets.

 

12 hours: It's super faded, so the barest hint is there if I really try to find it.

 

Overall: I rather like it, but I'm not sure I'd wear it enough to justify keeping it.

 

After reading other reviews: I didn't really get any cologne-y-ness from it, and it was pretty nice. It had okay staying power, and I liked the minty part. However, I think this one will head to swaps, because there are so many I want more.

[grrrlennyl]

at first: i'm smelling some sort of alcohol. interesting.

 

on: so impossibly dark. i wasn't expecting that. very deep, too.

 

1 hour later: there's something almost snow white-like wafting around me, but the smell closer to my skin is a whole cacophony of notes. i can really only pick out a hint of cardamon.

 

4 hours later: this has faded quite a bit, but it's still very dark and lovely. i'm really surprised i like this one.

 

overall: quite wonderful and very unique. i'm glad i got to try this one.

[goddessrobyn]

mmmmmmmm... this is to the nose what massage is to the muscles...

 

it is very green... a bit on the masculine side... but still neutral enough that I love to wear it...

 

its really hard to type with nose glued to wrists... I can't pick out any notes in this - not that I'm particulary good at that to begin with - but this is a true blend... nothing sticks out they've all come together in harmony...

 

I will wear this frequently during the summer... and wish like hell I'd gotten more than one bottle...

 

oh well... that's what swaps are for

[LiberAmoris]

The Ides of March is yet another blend where in a million years I never could have anticipated that I would love this as much as I do.

 

For me the rosemary and bergamot are most apparent at first, with a rich undercurrent that I believe is the gray amber. The lemon note is there, but it's spiced by the cardamom enough so that it's submerged. There's just a touch of something eucalyptus-y that makes it very mind-clearing.

 

It's just so fresh and lovely without being in any way overpowering. I really feel like I breathe more deeply and am more relaxed when I wear it. It's like walking through a misty herb garden where everything is very still.

 

ETA: An hour later, it's like a handful of beautiful, green crushed herbs on a tea cake---creamy, herbal, with a little bit of sweetness, spice, and tang. If I had several bottles of this, it still wouldn't be enough.

Edited June 14, 2005 by LiberAmoris

[Aredhel]

Rating (on skin): 1/5

Summarised in a word or two: Flowery mint.

 

In the imp/bottle: This smells strangely minty. It smells almost like... astringent, actually.

 

On skin, wet: Mint, mint, mint. Beneath that, rosemary, lemon rind and iris.

 

On skin, dry: This seems to dry down into a sharp, strong mint-floral. It's got quite a throw, and lasts for hours.

 

Conclusion: This didn't win me over. I love mint, but this was a strange floral mint. Odd.

Edited December 18, 2005 by Aredhel

[Elemcee]

This certainly is very sharp, green and lemony. I love the androgyny of it.

It makes me think of rain, washing all the debris of Winter away to make way for the newness of Spring. After the rain, the air is very clean, full of the scents of the herbs, fruits and flowers growing in the garden.

[feline.by.design]

The Ides of March isn't as masculine as I thought it would be.

 

At first, the oil seemed to smell a bit plasticky. I had attributed this to the plastic pipette I was using, but no, it was the oil. I think it might have been the bergamot that contributed to that fragrance. The iris also adds a sort of soapy smell in the beginning of the wear as well. For a moment, I'm not sure if this will be something I'd like, despite the components.

 

After having it on for a while, the wet phase of the Ides turned to dry, and now it's gorgeous. A very herbal, fresh fragrance that isn't too green nor too herbal. A previous review likened it to medicinal, healing herbs, and that's what I would say as well. It could be worn as a unisex fragrance blend, and it's a wonderful choice for spring. I don't know if I'll wear it much during summer or the upcoming autumn or winter months, but this would be a prime choice for le sacre du pritemps.

 

I probably didn't spell that right, but ah well.

 

-doreen

[rrain]

The longer I have this scent, the more I love it. I was unsure at first, but now I attribute that to the fact that I received a few foody scents at the same time and the scent of it was a shock compared to what my nose had come to expect.

 

It really is a very fresh and complex herbal that stays true to its original scent as it dries down. Each time I sniff I pick out something slightly different but it isn't the scent that's changing, just my attention to the particular details of it. I can smell the lemon when I think about it -- and quite like it; it works well in this blend -- but it doesn't jump out at me or become sharp.

 

I'm very glad I chose to take a chance on this one, and particularly enjoy wearing it as hand cream. It's become very popular with the people I work with.

[wolfie13]

In the bottle: I get mostly the piney-herbalness of rosemary and the lemony-herbalness of bergamot. Not bad.

 

Upon application: It becomes much more of a blend, and is rather nice for a few moments when the amber really becomes noticeable and warms up and smoothes things out. Though it IS reading a bit "men's cologne" on me.

 

After 10-15 minutes: The iris and narcissus kick in and sends this too far into floral territory for me. It's saved somewhat by the fact that it still has the herbal/green quality going on in conjuction with the flowers, but it's still not for me.

 

This scent is like the male version of Beltane to me.

Edited July 5, 2005 by wolfie13

[chopchica]

I tend to adore herbal blends (the Apothecary is one of my favorites), and the Ides of March is no exception. The lovely Silvertree gifted me with a half-bottle, and I was in love from the very first sniff. I don't get any lemon notes (which is good, because lemon tends to smell very chemical on me), but I do get a beautiful bouquet of Rosemary and other fresh herbs. This is mostly set aside in my fall blends pile, but I take it out occasionally when I want to feel all fresh and herbal.

[AngelFireHeart]

I love this scent, it's fresh & exciting & is truely springtime in a bottle for me.

It's floral & 'green' at the same time & works really well on my skin as well as in my perfume pendant.

[pekeana]

I tried this on at pkwench's the other night, and I'm sad to say that I'm glad I went with my gut and didn't order it.

 

Ides of March starts off blindingly citrus and floral, and gets more and more screamingly, blindingly sharp as the minutes go by.

 

If I liked greenery, this would be a perfect scent. Alas, we just don't mesh, and it's no wonder the Ides of March is an inauspicious time.