Oya

[cybra111]

... Oya’s ofrenda is a Nigerian potion of love and war, sweetened by darkest plum. Oya winiwini!

In the imp: Sweet, sharp cherry?

On me: Oh how I want that cherry/almond scent to emerge. Or even the dark and mysterious plums and smoke. On me plum is isopropyl alcohol-ish. Just not able to love it like I want to.

[Shollin]

First sniff: Soft fruit soaked in amaretto, heavy and dripping with the liqueur. Rich, heady and a little dangerous.

 

Wearing: Strongly almondy with deep rich fruit. It dried to an oddly herbal-wood scent, much darker than it started.

[miss_mimic]

In the bottle: I can smell almonds, and something else that catches at my nose, almost like a shadow moving in the corner of my eye. Something like currants… perhaps it is the plum that I’m smelling.

 

On skin, wet: More almonds, and something a little spicy underneath. There is a definite fruit note too. It must be the plum. Whatever it is, it smells really yummy.

 

On skin, dry: The almonds have almost completely disappeared, and now there is a sweet, plum-y, wine-y scent with a musky undertone. This is a gorgeous scent that just screams strength at me. The scent captures the goddess perfectly. I am in such awe. I think I might have found a favourite!

 

Drydown: This is beautiful. The throw is very good, and the scent seems to be hanging around well 3+ hours later. It is a very warm spicy smell, with fruity over tones, and something electric in it. I often find it hard to describe the scents that I love, as opposed to scents that I’m just so-so about. This is another case of loss for words.

 

Conclusion: Here is another perfume for my bottle list. I am so glad I took a chance and got an imp of this scent. It really is divine!

[jasmine]

Wet, this is a dark, unsweet smell with something chemical underneath. I expected something sweet, but there really isn’t anything sweet in this. It’s a dark, dry smell that reminds me more of prune than plum. While I’m still not a vetiver expert, I think I sense it here. There’s something resinous as well.

 

Time passes; Oya settles, but that doesn’t mean I like it any better. I’m starting to suspect that perhaps the plum in Morgause is what makes me think of toilet cleanser when I smell Morgause, because it certainly would qualify as “dark fruits” and it’s definitely present in both. Hrrrrm.

 

In fact... the longer I wear Oya, the more that chemical note seems to be coming forward. That’s scarcely encouraging.

 

Now it’s fading. Smart chemical note. I can’t detect it at a distance, but it’s unpleasant close up. At that distance, the throw isn’t overwhelming, yet it really fills the air around me. I can barely detect anything except Oya here.

 

More time passes. I really can’t pick up the chemical note now. Aside from the chemical waxing and waning, I’m struck by how little the main scent changes... it’s just a dark, dry, faintly spiced smell surrounding me. Interesting, but not my thing.

[QueenFae]

Light, sweet , and feminine. This is an innocent fruity scent, with a hint of something else underneath. There is a light plum note on top, and undertones of floating, non - descript florals. This is a bit reminescent of Corazon for me, although it also reminds me a bit of a very toned down Blood Countess. There may be a hint of almond in there as well. This is a gorgeous scent, but it is very light on the skin and it does not last on me. It's a scent for people who like "skin clinger" scents. (Scents you need to be X rated close to smell.) Lovely, but I like a lot of throw in my bpal.

[supremegoddessofall]

Definitely fruity. This feels more like cherry than plum. It fades into a rich generic fruit which fades pretty quickly on my skin. I wish it would last longer - before it disappears it actually reminds me a lot of Hellion.

[Laurel the Woodfairy]

I wanted to try Oya as I have had good luck with plum scents at least some of the time--most notably the divine Queen of Spades. Oya starts with sweet, strong notes of cherry-almond and plum. There's something sharp and chemical underneath, which is really a shame--the topnotes are nice. Alas, Oya is more about war with my skin than love!

[cinderfallen]

I get what I'm guessing is the "plum" but mostly, I get that jasmine-sweet scent underlying it. Smells like one of Lush's bathbombs....hm. I'll have to try and remember the name. But the jasmine-y one.

[fiddledragon]

Mostly plum, which goes kind of weird and musty smelling on me. I think I need to admit that more than a hint of plum in a blend is going to pretty much ruin it for me. This seems like it could be beautiful and sensual on someone who can wear plum.

[harmonyfb]

In the imp, this was a little sharpish-smelling. On my skin? Well, initially, it was OMFG!ALMONDS! Almonds, almonds, almonds, almonds. About fifteen minutes later, it was Yankee Candle fake-spice hell. I really disliked it. I griped about it the whole way to drop the kids off. But in the hour and a half that it took, something happened. Now, it's this dark, spicy plum scent, very subtle and feminine. Soooo not for me, but I'm not running to scrub it off the way I wanted to when I first put it on.

[euterpe414]

Oya has some major throw on my skin. Out of the four scents I am testing right now in various places on my arm, I disctinctly smell Oya wafting up to me, and I only put a tiny bit on! the waft smells mostly like almond with a hint of plum, and possbly some other fruit (cherry? but not a heavy cherry- maybe cherry blossom)

 

This blend also reminds me a bit of a turkish dried fruit desert that I made once. This is a good thing. sweet fruit with a hint of floral (rose water-ish). I am reminded in this scent way mopre of love than war- Oya is not in the least an agressive or domineering scent, despite its throw.

 

Oya is a nice plum scent, and I will keep my imp but I am unsure that it really needs bottle status.

[Meg]

In the bottle: A sort of bitter, almondy plum. A bit like plum liqueur and amaretto.

 

Wet: Same as in the bottle, mostly bitter almond, which slowly gives way to... clean sheets? Yep. The smell of clean sheets drying in the wind.

 

Drydown: It dries down to a very soft, discreet scent of clean sheets in the wind and hints of jasmine tea, strangely. I know plum often has a "clean" scent to it, but I don't quite recognise it anymore. There are some strong aquatics in there, the sweet kind that tend to make my sinuses ache - that's the plum for me. I get some spice, I think it's cinnamon or clove, it adds a bit of a bite to the blend.

 

Overall: It reminds me a little bit of Snake Charmer for the plum and spice quality, but it's also its opposite because it's clean and fresh, mostly. It's windy, definitely, but it's a tropical wind with fruits and jasmine. It certainly seems to fill Oya's description well, and it's a pretty blend. It's not "me", but it's very pleasant and interesting. Also, it makes me sneeze.

[hepkitten]

Stormy, dark plum. Not the light, sweet plum that I've experienced in other blends like Bathsheba, but a ripe, heady, almost bloody plum.

 

This one is a conceptual triumph, but the ozone and spice are combining in really bad ways on my skin. Bah.

[themerrybaker]

Oya starts out with a very fruity-sweet zephyr before clobbering you with a play-doh tornado. She eventually settles down to a fruity ozone hot desert sandstorm. The very sweet fruit, the heavy "play-doh", and the burnt ozone make for an odd combination on me.

[The_Merf]

In the imp: I'll be honest, I'm going off the note list here and assuming that what I smell is the plum, because I really can't discern anything.

 

Wet: This is fruits and florals...it's very light and I still can't pick out anything in particular.

 

Drydown and wear: This vanishes pretty quickly on my skin, and there's just the slightest mix of fruit and floral where I tested it on my skin.

[grifyn_whiffs]

Right out of the bottle: CHERRIES. Fresh, juicy ones. I suppose that's just the really LOUD plum?

 

It settles down -- NOW it's clearly plum, a note that typically loves me. But in combination with the spices here, plum has abandoned me.

 

On my skin, the plum doesn't survive drydown. Instead, the scent goes to very dry spices with the palest fruity background that I have to sniff really diligently to "get."

 

A resounding "meh" on this one. If it had remained as it was for the first 5 or 10 minutes, it had the potential to be a really happy, sexy summer scent.

[lapillus]

In bottle: pale brown medium, sweet and round

 

Wet: sweet (not what I think of as fruity, not foody, not even particularly floral) and round with something dry underneath a a few floralish top notes

 

Dry: Hmm, fruitier with a nicely tart edge.

 

 

Later: Stays about the same and hangs on well. 13 hours later I can still catch its ghost.

 

Summary: Not blown away by it but will definitely enjoy the imp.

[Trish]

In the imp: plum and florals

 

Wet: Nearly all floral, and quite "meh" ones at that (note - most florals are meh to me).

 

Drydown: Oh here comes the plum! But it's a less sweet and softer plum than other Bpal plum blends I've tried. Usually it's quite sweet and strong on me, and tends to dominate all other notes at least briefly. But this isn't, it's just swirling through the florals.

 

Dry: There's something around the edges that make me think of dried herbs. This is a soft, delicate plum and floral with a hint of dried herbs which give it a slight incense quality. This is very feminine, very soft, very pretty.

 

After about 40 minutes the plum starts to deepen and become more sweet, but the florals are still there.

 

 

This is lovely, but it's probably a bit too soft and light for me. I prefer something with a bit more oomph, throw and lasting capabilities - this was gone in 2 hours. Maybe if I hadn't fallen for Blood Countess so recently it would be different.

[Browneyes]

Frimp

 

The Lab is incredible. This smells like a real plum in the imp!

This is a really pretty blend. It wafts sweet herbs and a touch of plum. A bit "perfumey" but I like it. Will definately use my imp!

 

ETA for spelling

Edited March 3, 2007 by Browneyes

[Lit Chick]

This is a very classic, elegant perfume that does not work on me. Like most fruits, the plum gets tangy and a little bit overripe on me.

Not a winner, but glad to have tried it.

[theseagrows]

im the imp i get an almondy-plum, but on my skin i really can't smell the almond at all! it's more like a soft plum scent with something milky or soft. reminds me of a mango shake you get in indian restaurants, but with plum. i'll have to try this one again before i make my final decision. it's very interesting.

[lightgatherer]

This is a bit perfumey when I put it on, but it's not a terrible and overwhelming perfume. After a bit the perfume dies down a bit and becomes slightly spicy, and the plum peeks out a little. I love this spiced plum stage and wish it lasted a bit longer. Unfortunately, after a bit it turns into plum soap. Off to swaps.

[akw]

In bottle and wet, strong, sweet fruit. At first cherries with some almond in the background, then gradually less cherry and more generic sweet fruit.

 

At drydown, the fruit backs off and lovely, complex incense notes come out. This stage reminds me just a little of Urd. If this stage had hung around longer, I would be very tempted to buy a bottle (this was a frimp).

 

Then about 25 minutes later, the incense was gone, and there wasn't much left except candy-like fruit. It sure was nice for a little while though!!

[Brianne]

In the vial:

Plum!

 

On me:

Oh hey that plum is so nice, but there is som--

Oh.

Hi jasmine. Who invited you exactly? You ruin all the best parties.

 

The jasmine is only evident to me because I take a deep sniff and at first - it's lovely. Then... oh hey, what's that? Diaper? ><;

 

Otherwise, this is a perfectly lovely scent. It becomes more cherries and less plum right after it hits my skin. Sort of a playful fruit scent - not in a girlish way I think, more in a delicate/feminine way. But that underlying jasmine just ruins it for me. I think I might smell gardenia also? Not entirely sure - some white florals under there for certain though.

 

Final note:

I want to love this one, but that wierd jasmine note messes it all up!

[cvelis]

My first review so excuse me for the newbieness...

 

In the vial: spicy plummyness!

 

On me: At first, all I could smell was a poor alcohol based perfume! Yuck!! And then, well, it started to dry down. There's something else in here and I can't make it out. There's plums but they are deep and low beneath the surface. I smell musk more than anything.

 

Final verdict: It's a lovely smell but not for the long haul for me. Off to the swaps for now!

 

ADDED LATER: I tried this again...yes, this is very much like Blood Countess but the throw is not strong enough for me. Dang it!

Edited June 1, 2007 by Himsa