Baneberry

[jejunery]

A poisonous fruit-bearing member of the buttercup family. The scent, like the plant, is dark green, herbal, and plump with bulging black fruit.

This is indeed a green berry scent, but the greenery provides a fairly soft, mellow backdrop for the predominating berry note. I can see why others have described it as "clean" -- this changes even further into an almost floral, soapy scent with a tinge of berry to it.

The Lab included this as a freebie in a recent order. It's not the kind of thing that I'd normally select for myself, but I'm glad that I was able to try it anyway. Two hours after application, I'm left with quiet, refined, herby soapy berries, but I'll give it another shot later. Edited January 4, 2006 by Shollin

[sophia_helix]

I haven't actually tried this on, because I let my mom test my imp, and it smelled so good I gave her the imp AND bought her a bottle for Christmas.

 

On her, at least, it was delicious blackberry, with a wee bit of greenery, not too sweet or fake. I tend to make sweet scents sweeter, so I'm a little leery about trying it, but it really was delicious on her.

[jemz]

Ahh...the first catalog scent I tried. I recieved this as a frimp when I was purchasing a lunacy blend.

 

In the bottle, it smells intensely berry and a slight hint of green foilage.

 

Wet, it's bursting dark, red berries on my skin! yummm!

 

Drying down, the intensity of the berries calm slightly when I start smelling some greenery coming out. While wearing this, I had this vision of dark, ripened berries nestled against dark green leaves that was waiting to be plucked.

 

Hours later, I still get whiffs of the sweetness of berries. It's still dark and intense but I love it.

 

Definately a bottle of this for me.

[Kittyflop]

First on: Something in this reminds me of Nosferatu. Like Nosferatu made with a bright, fruity wine instead of it’s dry, sanguineous wine. Maybe the herbal notes are doing this.

 

As it dries, the fruit becomes more prominent. Grape perhaps, or cranberry. It’s still not too sweet though, which is nice. No sugar added! Throw is light to medium, and staying power about 3-4 hours.

 

This is a very light, clear, dry berry scent. If berries normally go sugary on you, this is worth a try

[blackheartedangel]

I had my hopes up for baneberry, the description sounded like something I'd really like. Unfortunatly, it reminded me of some soap or shampoo (can't place which one ... ) and although it smelled good -- sweet berries w/an herbal undertone -- it just reminded me too much of some synthetic smell that I couldn't imagine wearing it as a perfume.

[nekhbet]

Berry shampoo... yes!

 

That's exactly what this smells like at first. Not a bad kind of soapy scent... rather a very clean and sweet scent of berries.

 

As it dries, the berries take on a sweeter note on me... still smells very clean. That freshness must be the greenery in the background, although it never comes out strong enough for me to pick it out as an individual note.

 

I like this scent... but I'm not sure it's me.

[Fefferbella]

Berries!

 

This reminds me of a berry airfreshner. Sweet, synthetic berries.

 

It's pretty, but I'd use it as a room scent, not a perfume...

[desu]

In the bottle: Sweet berries shot with green.

 

On my skin: Fades almost instantly to nothing, leaving a faint trace of sweetness behind.

[Aredhel]

Rating (on skin): 3/5

Summarised in a word or two: Berry/herbal soap.

 

In the imp: A very fresh, green berry. Very nice!

 

On skin, wet: Very green and herbal, with a bit of berry beneath it. Lovely, but it smells kind of... soapy.

 

On skin, dry: After a while, the berry -- a tart, underipe berry, which I like! -- becomes much stronger, and while it's absolutely lovely, it still has that soapy quality on me skin.

 

Conclusion: A high-end berry-scented soap. I'm really not surprised: berry-heavy scents and herbal scents tend to turn to soap on me, so why wouldn't a berry/herbal scent? I'll probably keep the imp around for a while, in the hopes that maybe after a bit of ageing, the soapy quality'll go away.

[provocateur]

I got a lot of "purple" from this one. Not a lot of the herbal-ness that I thought would be in there.

 

It started off as a happy kind of spring berry that you'd smell in the forest as they're just beginning to develop (tart and a little bitter). It then went to the purple scent and powdery-ness. By about 20 minutes later it had just gone to something akin to berry scented powder.

[jazlyn]

Mmm, Baneberry. To me this is a lovely dark green and dark purple scent, it reminds me of Bewitched, but it doesn't have that sharp medicinal smell. Instead, this reminds me of those plug-in room fragrances, of body wash... This really is very pretty, but I wouldn't wear this as a perfume.

[mandragora]

Got this as a frimp from the lab

 

In the vial, Baneberry smells very dark green with a cloying sweet note clamoring for attention. I'm guessing it's that plump black fruit. Applied on the skin, the berryish sweetness bursts as it tries to overpower the green note but fails. As it dries down, they both blend together beautifully to an almost refreshingly clean scent. Wow! Talk about morphing! A very unique and complex blend.

[grrrlennyl]

at first: sweet, fruity, and green. amazing.

on: a gorgeous, sweet berry scent.

half an hour later: fresh, light, and a bit tart. lovely.

1 hour later: still tart berries. lovely.

2 hours later: soft berries.

overall: i really like the simplicity of this. i like that it isn't a very sweet berry scent.

[AlaskaSnows]

A very subtle berry scent. Has some sweet, some tang, but not too much of either. A lot more like smelling a whole berry on a bush than an open, juice dripping one. This IMO, isn't a juicy, bursting berry as described, but a drier, hardy forest berry, with a hard waxy coating. It is keeping its bounty a secret. Little throw to this, but it would be a nice summer scent if poured on, IMO.

[Wench457]

Baneberry ITB: initially sweet berries, then a pungently green scent.

 

On: slightly soapy, but crisp and green. Like pruning in the garden.

 

Dry: Sweet berries with an edge. It's an interesting scent, but I can't decide if I like it or not.

[undream]

Ohmygod, I love this one.

 

Sweet fruit, clean, &I swear I detect faint citrus in there somewhere? There is a playful, elusive creamy note as well, & something tart. A very juicy YUM.

 

About 30 mins in, a brief cinnamon/spice note pleasantly surprises me, but it is there & gone in just a scant few breaths.

 

This oil is COMPLICATED to my little nose. Once it calms down, however, it reminds me almost exactly of Blood Countess! All plum. And I. Am IN LOVE.

[Shollin]

First sniff: A gorgeous dark winey berry. Almost boozey but not quite.

 

Wearing: It’s a little more tart on my skin, less blatantly fruity, and richly dark. I like this one a lot.

[fiddledragon]

Scent in bottle: This smells almost exactly like that foaming soap they have in the women's room in Sharples. [the dining hall at Swarthmore College]

 

Scent on me:

Wet -- This is whatever Sharples soap is trying to smell like. Unfortunately, it still reminds me of soap.

Dry -- Yep. Sharples soap.

 

Conclusion: Into the swaps pile you go! I might give it another try when my chemistry shifts, but given how it smells in the bottle, I think it's doomed to be Sharples soap. The Sharples women's room is the only place I've smelled that particular kind of institutional soap, so it's a sort of nostalgic scent. If I want something to remind me of Swarthmore, though, I'll get something with roses in it!

[Nekomata]

The description through and through. Nice biting and green.

[karmageddon]

Too much berry, and not enough bane! Smells sort of candle-like on my skin: a weird, waxy berry scent with barely a hint at greenery. Somehow Christmassy and summery at the same time: I can't make up my mind!

 

It's far too sweet and innocent to seem deadly. I was hoping for a slightly darker undertone, and this is too cheerful.

[joiedecombat]

As advertised, Baneberry smells of ripe black berries all but bursting with juice, with the added suggestion of the dusty/woody prickle of stems and leaves.

 

And almost immediately after application, it vanishes on my skin. I can catch a whiff of berry sweetness, but that's it. Ah, well.

[ladymissspyder]

Funny, I could have sworn I had already reviewed this one.

 

Huh.

 

Anyway, Baneberry is a juicy-fresh blend of blackcurrant, raspberry and... oakmoss(?) on me. The green note of the oakmoss keeps it from being too sweet (something I normally like except in berry scents). It has a good throw and decent staying power.

Edited May 12, 2006 by ladymissspyder

[kunoichi]

This smells like gorgeous, sweet, ripe, yumminess. It's delicious with a sweet berry scent. It smells greener in the vial than it does on my skin. The greenery disappears, and all that's left is an amazingly lovely sweet sugared berry! Mmmm...

[juniperus]

Bottle: fresh and green

Wet: a sweeter fresh green, almost soapy

Dry: astringent and soapy all at once. definitely a green soap - maybe irish spring.

Later: somewhat less soapy as time passed, but clearly something here dislikes me. If it's bottle-true on someone else it'd be a knock-out, tho.

[Eunice]

The berry is barely there for me. I notice a more astringent herbal green scent with a berry ending. This gets a little soapy after a while but not in an unpleasant way.