Nero

[supremegoddessofall]

The pinnacle of power, poisoned by sin and indulgence - this is our homage to Classical Roman debauch. Rosemary, bay, pine and a touch of lemon.

Lemon dishwashing detergent in an herb garden. It's actually not bad, but it's not me at all. Edited July 1, 2008 by Shollin

[tempestteapot]

Wow this one was so strong in the bottle I couldn't manage to even put it on. Like a previous reviewer said "get it away from me"

 

I'm not even sure what it was that caused the reaction as I usually love forest/pine scents. Just opening the bottle made me react.

[PilotKitten]

Gah! ROSEMARY!! Ohhh wow, is that ever strong! I *am* Rosemary's Baby while wearing this puppy! Ouch! After the initial drydown this morphs even more into a rosemary herb with a strong bitter/sour note. And whoa does this puppy ever have the throw! Ick... I have to wash this off... I'm not even trying to sniff it and I can still smell it wafting about me in a heady cloud. O_o

[Meg]

In the bottle: Herbs, very strong, with something acidic, probably the lemon.

 

Wet: Herbs, specially bay.

 

Drydown: The bay becomes stronger and stronger, completely dominating the blend, it smells herby and a bit salty. Then I get the lemon and a bit of pine, and somehow they smell clean, a bit like soap. I think there might be some rosmary hovering in the background, too. At some point it smells a bit sweeter and softer on me, which is an improvement.

 

Overall: A very aromatic blend, sort of salty and clearly masculine. It's not at all something that I can appreciate, too herbal for me, a bit spicy from a note that reminds me of cloves. It doesn't evoke much else than cookery with herbs, either.

[strangefrontier]

It's an intriguing sharp herbal scent in the bottle, and when first applied there's a biiiiiiiiig wet slap of bay. A little rosemary peeking out subtly, but no pine or lemon. I was really looking forward to trying out Nero because I love woodsy, herby masculine scents, but on drydown it blends into a scent like a single note of clove. Clove is lovely mixed with other scents, but by itself it's just not for me.

[tinyvulture]

i like the soothing, astringent rosemary in this. together with the bay, it’s a medicinal, herbal scent. there’s just a little touch of lemon – it’s not a citrusy blend. the pine is noticeable, too. the pine and rosemary aren’t a good combination with my chemistry. thatt’s weird, because i love them individually. they’re just not mixing well, on my skin.

 

i left it on for awhile to see if it morphed any. 10 minutes later, it does smell a little more “combined,” but something is still off. oh well, it’s a pretty masculine scent anyway, so i bet it will smell better on my husband.

[this machine]

Like many people, I find the bay is a little weird here. It's definitely true to description - pine is pretty strong, a bit of lemon, rosemary for sure. After it wears down the bay blends a lot more and it becomes a pretty decent, balanced scent, though i don't think i could get through the earlier phases myself.

[cranberry]

Initially this a spicy scent – herbal. Lots of bay rum, touch of rosemary. This is spicy and rich smelling, yet smooth. As it’s mainly a bay rum scent, this would smell amazing on a man. It reminds me of when I was a teenager – there’s something here that’s prompting that association but I can’t for the life of me figure out where it’s coming from. As it wears, the bay remains strong and true, as does the spice. The spice smells like clove. It’s wearing well and seems to have good lasting power. Very nice!

[zankoku_zen]

I haven't tried this one out because I swapped it for the boy. So this is basically on the boy, since he'd be the one to wear it anyway.

 

In the vial: I can smell the bay and a touch of pine

 

On HIS skin: Vick's Vapo Rub.

 

On Drydown: Smells like cloves.

 

Verdict: While he likes the smells of Vick's Vapo Rub and cloves, he has no actual desire to smell like them. He's very very picky when it comes to finding a scent he likes, but he's open to trying whatever I think might work on him. Unfortunately, the wet stage is simply not something I enjoy even when I enjoy the drydown.

[eternalargus]

I only was able to sniff the bottle, since it was on it's way to my Dad for Christmas...and I smelled the heady rosemary scent tempered by pine boughs and the teeniest bit of lemon. Not my style, but very nice.

[brownbear]

Sharp and masculine. It's herbal and pointy. As it dries it calms down a bit. It goes a bit like clove on me as well. Overall it stays pretty sharp and herbal.

[crimescenecleanup]

My first impression straight out of the bottle was of pine, then bay leaf. Very strong out of the bottle.

 

Dried, on my skin, the pine became softer and almost faded away, and the bay leaf became stronger and other notes dominated. No lemon on me, but it ended up being a spicy, sweet scent when it dried probably due to the rosemary and bay.

 

I would swear this had clove or allspice in it, but there's none in the description.

 

Reminds me of the spice drawer in my grandmother's kitchen, combined with the scent from juniper wood when it's put on the fire. A very masculine scent, but the spice is gentle, not biting and strong.

 

It's very mellow on my skin, with hardly any throw. It faded after a few hours. I was pleasantly surprised. It was nothing like I expected, but still lovely and complex on the drydown.

 

Not something I would wear on my person, because it doesn't really reflect my personality, but something I might put in a diffuser for a relaxing room scent to read or play music by.

[porcelina]

my first reaction upon sniffing this was, "it smells like pasta..." i ate something recently at a restaurant that smelled kinda like this. i think it's the rosemary and lemon. it's too herbal and savory and it kind of makes me feel queasy if i sniff it too much.

 

after it dries for a while there is a very pleasant scent of burning wood underneath all the herbal crap. appropriate, given the name. nonetheless, even that isn't enough to redeem this and make me keep nero around.

Edited June 5, 2007 by porcelina

[ceiswyn]

In the bottle: Mmm. I can smell the rosemary strongly, with a little lemon; it's rather like lemon thyme, actually. They mostly overwhelm any other scents, though there's a gentle pine aftersmell.

 

On the wrist: Mmmm, rosemary. Have I mentioned that I like rosemary? The pine comes through a little more strongly, now, and the lemon subsides to a slight citrus sharpness. This smells like the sun on a pot of herbs, beneath a spreading pine tree. There's something else slightly 'herbal', and less sharp, that I can't place; that must be the bay. The pine comes through more strongly as it dries, and I worry that I may turn into pine-fresh and very little else!

 

One hour later: Sometimes I adore it. Sometimes it turns my stomach (I think just because the pine/rosemary astringency is so overpowering close to). I think I'm very much going to have to be in the mood for this perfume! I'm not sure where the lemon went, but the rest is just one fusion of rosemary/pine/bay. It has the slight 'meatiness' of the bay, mixed with the fresh/menthol/astringent fragrance of pine and rosemary to make something that is still very piney, but with much more body than I was expecting. This is very definitely the hot mediterranean sun beating down on dry scrubland by the sea, dotted by rosemary and stunted pines.

 

Addendum: it fades surprisingly quickly, after only a few hours.

 

Colour: The dark green of pine needles, or rosemary leaves.

[prettybird]

Another freebie from the lab.

 

In the bottle, I just can't stand it. I think it may be the pine when it's wet, because I have the same problem with Thanatopsis (which I adore). It's just repellent to me.

 

Thankfully, that dies out quickly on my skin. Unfortunately, it dries down into cloved oranges. It's very evocative of Christmas to me, which isn't a good thing. The clove is very, very strong, which is odd, considering there's no clove in it. It has crazy throw, and when it's on my arm I can smell it as strong as if I had my nose right in it.

 

This stuff is SO STRONG. Even a tiny dab is too much. Nice for a candle or potpourri oil, but just not for me.

[aquazoo]

Big on the pine. Smells like a cleaning product. It must be for mopping up after the orgy. It mellows a bit, but the best it can be in men's cologne.

[fireflower]

In the Imp: Holy pinetrees, Batman. I feel like I'm out in a huge field, looking to buy a Christmas tree.

 

Applied: At work, when we get stuff made out of wood (I work at a gift store) they coat it in this chemical that I cannot name that makes me and another girl that works there not want to touch the stuff. She actually can't go near it without cringing. That stuff is what Nero smells like. It's like the smell of the Christmas gifts you buy at a store that when you bring them home, they still smell like the store. =\

 

Drydown: Still smells like pine. But for those who really love the smell of pine trees and Christmas stores, they might like this. It's not for me.

 

Verdict: 3/10. Might burn this for a few minutes around Christmas to get in the spirit, but wouldn't use it on me.

[Czarina]

Got this as a lab frimp.

 

In the imp: sharp and astringent.

 

Wet: my DH calls from across the room, "Do I smell...sage?"

 

I can smell pine and rosemary. Sage, not so much.

 

Drydown: sweet green bay, rosemary, pine, cloves (huh?), and church incense. Amazingly OMG heavenly scent. I can live with someone else thinking it's "masculine," I just think it's heaven. I may have to get a bottle of this.

[Honeygirl]

Bottle: Pine

 

Wet: A masculine older brother type to pine-sol cleaner! There's not as much lemon as I'd anticipated, which is disappointing!

 

Drydown: Very herbally and masculine. It's just not me!

2.5 outta 5

[suki]

in the imp: all rosemary, all the time.

 

wet on skin: more rosemary. honestly, it's making me a bit head-achy.

 

dry down: rosemary with a bay edge.

 

in all: it's nice, and i would possibly use it as a room scent, but certainly not as a body perfume.

[YoakeNoKami]

Imp: Heavy, acidic herbs.

 

On: Wet, green, crushed herbs, like the what it must smell like to be in the middle of one of those herb paste rubs. Very rosemary, though--almost overpowergly so, with a medicinal edge.'

 

Drydown: Musty sharp herbs and withered lemon. There's a heavy sage note too--very strong on me after it's dried, and the smell lingered for so long I finally had to wash it off.

[CrazyPretzel]

Wow, I *really* like Nero. At first the rosemary and lemon are sharp and kind of astringent-smelling, but when it dries the pine and bay are just wonderful, a green and spicy, almost Christmassy scent. The rosemary adds just a touch of bitterness to keep it stern and cruel, not exactly a comfort scent. I like it a lot and will probably be getting a large bottle.

[bryghtrose]

It doesn't smell so much Roman as Italian. And Italian as in Italian food. The bay and rosemary really dominate and it smells like my pantry. All I need now is a touch of oregano and I'm all set to cook dinner

[sadtomato]

A masculine scent which smells vaguely woodsy, fresh, herblike and clean in the imp.

After drying on my skin, it turns to pure pine.

Damn skin!

[JennyGardener]

Me - Piney, but mixed with lemon

 

Faerygirl - Very strong and earthy, yet still that lemony freshness