Clio

[gingersnapp]

... Her scent is the warm, dry parchment of scrolls, lavender for critical thought and analysis, the solidity of heavy woods, ornery patchouli and glib benzoin, and superstar-splashed orange and amber.

This is a creamy citrus blend. I can't quite put my finger on what this smells like exactly, but I feel like I've smelled it before.

Like I said, it's citrus, first and foremost. But I'm not really sure what the creamy is. The amber? The lavender? There's a hint of spiciness, so maybe the amber? I don't really think any of the lavender is coming through. As for the parchment smell, I definitely got that in Calliope for some reason, but not in Clio. I'm not picking up the woods or the patchouli or benzoin.

This is nice, though. And fairly calming. I guess that must be the lavender. Edited February 3, 2006 by Shollin

[lookingglass]

A bright, thin spark of the orange and lavender are the first to hit: a really colorful acord. On the drydown, the woods and amber combine beautifully. I usually turn woods to sawdust, but here, with the amber, the parchment comes alive, like the Marauder's Map. It is clean, sweet, and earthy all at the same time. DH says it smells like a pirate's wench...that is a good thing around here! I'll be keeping this little deary.

[bodegaselkie]

Something about Clio didn't work for me -- one of the woods, perhaps, but it came off way too cologney for me, and the amber/orange didn't really come through at all. The parchment didn't smell like parchment, though it did impart a dryness to the back of my throat when I sniffed it.

 

ETA: Some months later, I'm growing rather fond of Clio, which is good because I am prone to bouts of epic and heroic writing. It's still quite woodsy, and much less cologney than at first try. It sweetens as it fades. I like it as a private scent, but it has almost NO throw and it fades quickly, so it's not something I'd wear hoping other people would notice!

Edited April 23, 2006 by bodegaselkie

[nancybridget]

This smells like a warm spring thunderstorm with a hint of mandarin oranges. Very wet smelling and a bit woody. Makes me want to take a stroll in a dewey grove and pick some fruit for a picnic.

[jewelbug]

Imp: Woodsy orange. And underneath--don't laugh. It's got a squash/tomato vine on the ground during the summer kinda smell. It smells like the gardening I did in my childhood. I have no idea which notes smell like that to me, but it does!

 

Wet: Orange is predominant, supported by lavender with woods. What is surprising is that it's spicy smelling. Like pepper. This orange smells just a tad bit….overripe on me.

 

Drying: Ooh, parchments! That's neat! Parchment and orange and lavender.

 

Dry: This settles into woods, patchouli, and floral. The orange has left the building. Its going just a tiny bit baby powder on me, I think because I'm getting a LOT of patchouli out of this, too. This dries down (about 1.5 hrs later) into a very incensy blend, dominated by patchouli, with a hint of woods. The more delicate notes can't break through.

 

Overall: Very cool, and I loved the orange and parchment bits. But my skin amped the patchouli above all else. It's not at all what I expected, but I'm glad I tried it. This was mostly faded by 4 hrs.

[darkitysnark]

Clio

 

A marvelous gimp from the gifted SevenSins!

 

Wow. I'm not getting any citrus out of this. Interesting.

 

In fact, I've pretty much amped the patchouli with a small showing of woods and parchment in the background. And the surprising thing is... I like it. Me? The anti-patchouli girl? Liking patchouli?! Zounds!

 

Wet and during drydown I got a more herbal quality, probably from the lavender, even though it didn't come off as straight lavender (it was less floral, more green and astringent). Sort of a cologney herbalist sort of a smell.

 

But since then? This lovely soft patchouli touched with deeper, rounder things.

 

I have been very calm, alert, and present today, which is completely the opposite of what I was yesterday. Can this be attributed to Clio?

[Aredhel]

Rating (on skin): 1/5

Summarised in a word or two: Agent Orange and dirty hippies.

 

In the imp: Patchouli, orange, amber and woods. Really liking this.

 

On skin, wet: Dirty patchouli and orange. The orange is already kind of clearner-ish, and while I love earthy/dark/warm patchouli, I don't love dirty-hippy patchouli. Not liking this anymore.

 

On skin, dry: Lavender, patchouli and orange. I don't like lavender, this is the kind of patchouli I dislike, and the orange reminds me of Agent Orange (the cleverly-named industrial hand clearner, not the "weed killer") which reeks of chemicals and icky oranges.

 

Conclusion: Really not my thing. I didn't really have much hope for Clio, so it doesn't really bother me that it doesn't work on me.

[poppycocteau]

The description of Clio sounded just perfect to me! Unfortunately, all I smell for the first hour or two is JUNIPER. It fades to a very nice but faint smell of lavender, so faint I have to jam my wrist up my nose to detect it. The juniper part is strong but pleasant enough, so overall I do like it, but I really wish I could smell more of the woods, amber and orange that other people are getting.

[tamburlaine]

In the bottle I could tell that lavender would be a key player. Not powdery lavender, medicinal lavender. The Muse of History is a good inspiration here; the scent tries to appeal to the image of a musty library, or a woman of learning and cerebral sophistication.

 

On my skin, Clio turned immediately woody, which is okay, but after a while it became a rather non-descript blend of wood and patchouli and lavender/slightly rosemary herbal scents. There was also the tingly sharpness of orange leaves, but not orange fruit.

 

Overall, not a very remarkable scent, but useful to have around and fall back on. It's a sophisticated blend, just not as weird or distinct as I usually like them.

[harmonyfb]

Patchoulipatchoulipatchouliyuck.

[slave1]

In Bottle: Dirty plants

 

On Skin: At first I smelled a greenhouse. Moist dirt and plants. I get a slight orange citrus note that brightens and sweetens the scent up nicely. The woods and patchouli are giving the dominant earthy, woody, dirt note. At first I thought it was moist scent, but now the scent turns quite dry and powdery. I think that has to do with the parchment, but also the lavender which always turns powdery on me. Hmmm… the dirt and powder combined just don’t work with my skin. Most patchouli blends just go ick on me, this one included. It’s off to the swaps.

[Eunice]

Citrus and peppery. Like the smell when you start cutting into a hot pepper. It gets more woody the longer it is on my skin but that citrus and pepper still hang around. I don't think I enjoyed this when I first tested it but this time I am really liking it. This is a total summer scent to me. That pepper is amazing!!!

[Shollin]

First sniff: Bittersweet orange,sharply fruity.

 

Wearing: Oranges, book leather and dark wood. A bowl of fruit in an old library.

[hypatia]

In the imp: Orange. I could swear there's orange blossom in there somewhere.

 

Just applied: The orange note is still there, but the woods are coming out. Rosewood, I think. And there's a bit of patchouli earthing it up.

 

On drydown: The lavender comes out, and it ends lavender-herbal. I don't get the parchment note at all, but maybe I'll try again on a day when my allergies aren't acting up and see if I can detect it.

 

Overall: This is a nice "thinky" sort of scent. I don't think I'll get a big bottle, but it'll be good to wear to work.

[sookster]

straight sniff from the imp is a lovely and tangy orange/patchouli...

applied this is a heavily wooded and benzoin laced aroma making

this just incredibly complex...i think i get a touch lavendar and this softens

up to be one of my favorites...so glad i scored a bottle of this from a lovely

forumite for sure

[Babylon]

What the heck? My nose must be acting up. I get pure vetiver from this, and nothing else. Vetiver always amps up on my skin and smells like a burning tire. And unfortunately beautiful Clio smells like said burning tire on my wrist.

[TrailerTrashPrincess]

Cleo was my beautiful kittybaby =^..^= ... so i've held off on trying this one.... i lost her last December (she was 17) and i haven't even yet begun to recover.

 

i digress. the name makes me sad, so i haven't tried it until tonight. still makes me sad, but at least there's no catnip in this blend or i might've lost my mind. what's left of it.

 

sniffed from the imp, i didn't get much of a scent at all...

 

but as soon as it hit my skin it turned into orange creamsicle on the lumber aisle at Home Despot. or lowes. or your local lumberyard.

 

odd, but it works. thankfully i only get some of the impressions of lavender, not the actual scent.

 

very faint and no throw at all... dry like white wine.

 

the top of my hand itches a little where i put the oil, that's probaby just my gut-reaction to any lavender that there may be. my skin knows it makes me queasy.

[kunoichi]

In the vial, I can smell the orange and patchouli mix that is reminiscent of Ravenous, but as soon as it hits my skin, there is a greenish hay-like smell that pierces through the orange. This is a truly odd scent on my skin – as time goes on, it changes to remind me of the smell of dry straw or hay (which would be the dry parchment scent), but after a few hours this sweetens up somewhat and becomes softer, like sweet green things amongst the hay, though the only sweet thing on the list would be benzoin and orange! It’s a scent that would do well on a man. I do have a cold, so I might be only picking up on certain scents, but that’s all I can smell right now.

[edenssixthday]

Clio - As with all but one of the Muses I dislike Clio. When I first apply it, it's bitter and acrid, and smells like wet grass and weeds that have just been pulled out of the earth. I don't detect any of the lovely notes in this blend that I usually like such as orange or amber. The scent fades and softens as it dries down, but it still retains that fresh-pulled weed scent that doesn't appeal to me in the least. The scent lasts about 2 hours on my skin, but thankfully sticks very close to my skin. I'll pass this one to someone who has better luck with the Muse blends.

[Ciircee]

This wears *very* herbal on me. For the first minute or so it's very oranges and amber and then the lavender comes up and overthrows it all. It goes to herbal soap after about half an hour and two hours later, she is gone.

[fairy]

I wish I smelled the orange because all this one did was get very bitter and sharp on me.

[twelfthofnever]

I wore this for the first time, and what better place than the book store? However, all I smelled like was a big pile of baby powder. >.<

[dierne]

In the imp - Mossy green, almost earthy with something sharp and possibly incensey.

 

Wet on skin - The green and the wood are coming through more strongly.

 

Dry on skin - Not fading as much as some. The parchment is there now and the orange is also coming through making it a little sweeter but not so much as to put me off. I'm not fond of sweet.

 

Later - Now the lavender is becoming dominant with a warm citrus kick. This one's a keeper.

[hologhost]

In the bottle this had a strong dirt note. On me, the dirt note is joined by orange and something sweet. This was not what i expected. It's kind of interesting, though.

[mountainwitch]

Is it possible to have a skin chemistry that amps up parchment? Of all the notes to overwork . . . I mean, jasmine or lemon is one thing, but paper?

 

I noticed a similar effect in Dee, but the parchment note was more balanced by the very strong woods scent. Clio, however, has no such luck: even the usually-crisp lavender and orange is drowned out by the mixture of parchment and patchouli, which proves to be very "ornery" indeed. This could be very lovely on someone else, but I end up smelling like a musty stack of books . . . And while that's not necessarily a bad thing, there should at least be actual books involved!