Himerus

[zankoku_zen]

Himerus: The God of Sexual Desire, Longing and Yearning; an attendant of Eros and Aphrodite. A passion-rousing blend of juniper, sandalwood, rosewood, red musk, orchid, bergamot and lilac.

Again, I got this for the husband to try out... I just happened to do so as well...

In the imp: Incensey (must be the sandalwood) and a bit floral (lilac perhaps?)

On Skin: For him, it was a generic headshop sort of smell which he didn't enjoy at all. So he nixed it upon contact with skin. On me, it was incensey and floral.

On Drydown: Still incensey and floral. After a few hours, I get more of a rosewoody base and it just turns more sweet and floral.

Verdict: Interesting, but really not for me. I can't deal with the incensey smell for over two hours. It's pretty... just not my style.

Edited to add the description. Edited September 18, 2007 by zankoku_zen

[forspecial_plate]

Himerus is most interesting because of what I can't smell in it. I think I mostly get lilac, sandalwood, and maybe a little orchid, but nothing else! No juniper whatsoever, and no red musk, at least not the red musk that I know from other scents in the catalogue. It smells softly sweet with just a little wood. I thought rosewood turned to strong powder on me but it's not doing that here, so maybe I was wrong. It's more fruity than spicy, and it's really strange that I can't smell the juniper, unless that's the fruitiness. I do like this, although it doesn't wow me, it's more of a curiosity. Might be a little too sweet and soft for me. It reminds me a lot of a couple of the Salon blends (Penitent Magdalen and Carceri D'Invenzione), so honestly I don't have much reason to wear this when I like those a little better.

[brownbear]

Dry wood and dusty musk. It is warm. I don't get much floral from this. It's a little masculine.

[The_Merf]

In the imp: Very quick whiff of juniper followed by woods and resins.

 

Wet: Orchid and bergamot.

 

Drydown and wear: Orchid and bergamot that fades very quickly. After less than 30 minutes, I can barely smell it on my wrist. It is mostly orchid on the drydown, and that's a favorite note of mine. I do wish this was stronger, as it is a pretty, non soapy floral.

[cranberry]

When first applied, this smells of juniper and sandalwood. After its been on the skin for a minute or so, the juniper is gone and what's left is a woody-musky-flowery scent - sultry and quite sexy. It reminds me of Dark Delicacies - the orchid I think. It's well blended and hard to pick the notes apart. The juniper and woods combine to remind me of the patchouli accord in Mme. Moiarty and in Dark Delicacies. It's not quite as sultry as either blend but reminds me of both quite a bit. Same family if you will.

 

What a lovely surprise - thanks GC swap for inspiring me to try my imp! It's a sultry, sexy floral and I like this quite a bit! I'm tempted to get a bottle.

[Bain]

I was hesitant to try this because I don't generally get along with juniper - but Himerus keeps coming back to me lol - and juniper is exactly what I get at first sniff. Which is ok.. it's not SO bad.. There is a bit of something else, the bergamot maybe, that tones it down.

 

Wet. Ew. Yuck. Even more Juniper with.. a slight floral, but not enough to help.

 

Verdict - it's tolerable after a few minutes, but I'm not sure that warrants forcing my nose to deal with the first few moments. Too bad.

[LadyCrow]

In the imp: Juniper!

 

Wet: Juniper! Oh, this is not good.

 

Drydown: Fortunately, the juniper blast recedes quickly, leaving a soft sandalwood-musk close to my skin with a slightly strange floral remaining from a bit more distance -- is that the orchid-bergamot combo?

 

Verdict: Interesting, but I like my sandalwoods and musks a bit more vivid -- and without quite so much juniper.

[WidgetAlley]

Lagniappe from the Lab.

 

In the Imp: BWAGH JUNIPER TO THE FACE. With the faintest trace of rosewood and orchid. I like juniper, though, so it's welcome.

 

Wet: Oh where has all my juniper gone? It disappeared the second it touched my skin, and now all I can smell is red musk and a twist of floral. If I get up against my arm, I can barely smell it, but several inches back there's a nice orchid-tinged throw. Odd.

 

Dry: Well, would you look at that. Himerus has settled and blended into a musky, sultry floral, with beautiful hints of lilac, sweet orchid and sandalwood. I might actually wear this! That's crazy! Also, I have the feeling this would be even better on my boy.

 

Verdict: It's a shock to me as much as it is to any of you.... I think this might be a keeper. If it's not great on the boy I might swap it for something I really really want to try, but I'll definitely wear it first.

[ClareN]

You know what this smells like to me? Jalapeno jelly! At my grandmother's house in Texas, I've had sweet, spicy jalapeno jelly on biscuits. In the imp and the initial stage on my skin, this reminds me so much of that strange experience. I'm not sure whether I liked it as food, but I do like it as a scent and I wish it stayed like that for longer on my skin.

 

After the jalapeno impression fades, Himerus remains an interesting sweet, spicy-hot, peppery scent, sharp and perfumey. I like the juniper note, but I don't pick up the red musk. There's a tartness to it that must be from the bergamot. Later in the drydown, though, the notes meld together on my skin and become something less interesting: a sweet, powdery fruity-floral incense. It's a shame it veers off in this direction (on me), because I would love more of the initial stage.

[Neely]

In the bottle: sweet and sultry, lilac and juniper really jump out.

 

Wet: lilac and juniperberry continue to stand out, the rosewood, orchid and bergamot are lending a sweetness to this but are so well blended I cannot pick them out seperately. Musk and sandalwood are making a smooth base to this, again, not so I can tell them distincly from the rest.

 

Dry down: juniperberry and lilac still are the top notes like the two stars in an opera singing their duet. The floodlights are on them, you see them, and if you look you see the supporting cast in the shadows lending their voices.

 

30 minutes: juniperberry and lilac are blending into the whole crowd as the whole cast has come out to sing the last piece in the opera. The whole stage is lit and everyone gets to blend together. Lovely.

 

Conclusion: I actually had to try this twice. The first time I hated it, it was jarring and the juniperberry registered as an awful sour wine note like Athens did to me. But, I had just pulled it from a hot mailbox. I figured it was in shock. A few weeks later and it smells like a dream on me.

 

Rating 1-5: 4.5

[porcelina]

yeah so turns out, i don't like juniper. this is all juniper and annoyingly cloying flowers. really sour. as it dries i get a little rosewood and sandalwood and i wish those would come out more. actually the drydown is considerably more pleasant but those flowers keep creeping back up- ick.

[hkhm]

bottle: strong, sweet lilac and orchid. i think it's the rosewood giving it that nice woodsy back.

 

wet: oh goodness... that juniper is mixing with the sweet florals and making me feel tipsy! i cannot stop sniffing myself!

 

dry: well, well, well... the bergamot has arrived at last. the lilac has stayed all the way through and i still get the faintest whiff of juniper.

 

i'm almost through testing all of my husband's scents. he's commenting about me 'stealing' them while i maintain that if it hadn't been for me, he never would have sniffed them in the first place.

[ravenfeathers]

in the bottle this is dark, bracing, and almost stutters between the various notes.

wet on skin sweet and heavy. floral, yes. not sure.

dry on skin okay, this i like. the lilac is the most prominant note, but it's sugary and heavy and very fine. it smells like dark, dark pink.

[Kimiko]

imp: no wood at all. I smell orchid and something fuity.

 

on my: it doesn't get much better sadly. I like the scent, just not on me. It smells like a cherry/lilac to me.

 

I want to keep this, but I really just can't.

[Honeygirl]

Bottle: Juniper and sandalwood

 

Wet: This is different for me, but I really like it. Juniper and sandalwood with musk and florals makes it really interesting. It's just a tiny bit strong for me though and I only put on a tiny amount.

 

Drydown: Okay the extreme level of strongness has worn away. The yumminess of the scent has not. This will eventually be on my big bottle list.

3.5 outta 5

[SarahScent44]

In the imp, I smell juniper with just a breath of orchid and lilac.

 

Once I put it on, the juniper is still in the forefront - but barely - the woods and the flowers are all nicely blended in the background.

 

Dry, it warmed up considerably - the musks come way out. Nice!

[grashopper8]

Wet, I could smell some sweetness at the beginning - perhaps from the florals? As it dries down, it becomes more herbal (juniper) and woodsy (sandalwood).

 

After a few minutes, the wood smells drier and dustier, and then it starts to smell a little like body odor.

 

Not a winner with my chemistry, methinks.

[filigree_shadow]

Whenever I wear the oil from this imp I wonder why I don't wear it more often. It's really sexy and pretty on me, and I like it a lot. The juniper is not even noticeable to me (which is good because it's the only note in there that I don't usually like).

 

The red musk is not as musky as it usually is, and the sweet floral notes are perfect with it.

 

Also, I highly recommend letting this one age for a little while because it gets sweeter and more pretty as it ages.

 

It's really lovely. I'm not sure why it's not more popular because to me it seems like it's the type of scent lots of people would like.

Edited January 22, 2008 by filigree_shadow

[coldandsleepy]

In the imp: pretty flowers and a little bit of juniper. So far, so good.

 

On me, wet: wow, I'm surprised by how sweet this is. The only floral I can smell now is the lilac, but it's moved into the background and the juniper and sandalwood are really stepping up.

 

On me, dry: about the same as wet.

 

Throw and duration: about average on both counts. I got at least 6 hours out of this.

 

Overall: This is a really pretty little scent. It's sweeter than I expected, but not at all cloying on me. It's nice to find juniper with some softer scents and not surrounded by ferocious resins or anything. I'm keeping my imp of this for the time being.

 

As a frivolous side note, I really like the color of this oil.

[CreamyJade]

In the imp: Sandalwood and rosewood, plus a fresh undertone.

Wet on skin: Sweet, but the bergamot is disturbing.

Dry on skin: It gets better with time, as the musk comes out.

Final thoughts: I really dig bergamot usually, but it adds a strange dimension to this scent. Fortunately, it doesn't last long and the scent that lingers is really pretty!

[galahad]

In The Bottle

Orchid, rosewood and a hint of juniper

 

On Application

Ugh! Juniper and sandalwood with the strong orchid.

 

Dry Down

In the initial stages this tones down and blends nicely to give a spicey scent which is really quite nice. I can still pick the juniper through it all and an after-image of lilac. Becomes really smooth and the musk sweetens up the blend to take the astringency away. This goes through quite a strong rose stage which I find disturbing but it doesn't last long. Lovely and worth retrying. Has made me want to try some lilac blends.

 

Rating (0-5)

3.5

[alicia_stardust]

This is almost incense-like, yet it's also smooth and fresh in a way. I get mostly rosewood and a smooth, gentle sandalwood, but there's a touch of cool juniper in there that's very breathy and light. I do get a touch of dusky orchid and sweet lilac after a while, but they don't take center stage at any point, for me at least. Lovely floral-wood blend and not like any others I can think of.

[Argentwolf]

This is lovely.

 

The juniper adds a very nice, grounding effect for the other woods, because for some reason sandalwood seems to do odd things on me that are not always pleasant. Together, the woods form a nice base, and there is a bit of spiciness from the juniper, I think, that creeps up every now and then, as well as bergamot. The florals lurk in the background; I can detect just a hint of lilac, just enough to make it especially sweet and pretty.

 

A very pleasant, romantic scent, in my opinion.

[AthenaRose]

This was a frimp that left me pleasantly surprised. Not something i ever would have chosen, but i'm glad i got to try it.

 

It smells a little bitter in the IMP, but on my skin it quickly changes into a warm sweet floral. Like sweet flowers on a sunny day. The orchid and lilac are a nice mix.

 

4/5

[gchris]

In Vial: Smells like sassafrass root and men's cologne

 

Wet: This has turneed into a fruity blend with perfume in the background