Osun

[Menum]

… Her ofrenda is thick with honey and herbs of love, passion and desire.

In bottle: Super sweet, in an almost sick way. Makes me nauseous.

On skin (wet): There's a little rosemary..and..lemon-something..thyme..It's not completely unpleasant, but quite strong.

10 min: Very flowery and dusty/herby. Nothing really stands out individually. It's adopting a bit of a perfume/alcohol scent.

20 min: Went all sugary and touched with a vinegar smell. Not my kind of combo. Cheap balsamic vinegar or bad wine.

60 min: So sweet it's coming back around and going sour. I keep getting enough of an herb-smell to wish this was working on me, but it just isn't to my liking.

[kikithepirate]

I amp rose in a major way, so in case anyone was still wondering whether or not this has rose in it, let me tell you: yes, it does. On me, this is all rose and honey, nothing else. It's very, very similar to Katrina van Tassel, just a little bit stronger. On me, this has a pretty strong throw.

[Lysi]

Yep, that's exactly what I get. Roses and honey.

 

I LOVE it! I smell both at the same time, so it's like honey-covered roses. I can't stop sniffing myself when I wear this! I even went back and put more on just so I could get a whiff every time I moved. Mmmm. This was a frimp, and I will soon have to get a bottle!

[Helas]

I normally dislike honey, but Osun is gorgeous.

 

The honey here is sweet, but not cloying. The green herbal notes keep it from becoming foody and give it a perfect tropical island atmosphere. I can also smell the faintest aquatic note in the background, although that may just be my imagination. The final result is light, cool, and refreshing: a summer breeze in perfume form.

 

Now that it is winter, I like to smell it to remember that summer is just around the corner. When summer comes, I can see myself slathering it on before heading to the beach.

 

Four out of five stars.

[saralaughs]

This is really similiar to Katrina van Tassel, except without the cream that ruined that blend for me. This is the beautiful honey that is in O v5 and Half Elf v5 as well. A light, sweet clover honey that isn't think and cloying but fresh and beautiful. I get green herbs and a bit of rose but it's a rose that is mellow and in the background instead of front and center. Beautiful!

[holborne]

I love honey, so I was looking forward to this one. However, I didn't smell any honey note at all. Oddly, I got orange instead of honey, and to me it smelled sickly sweet. To be honest about it, the smell I got was orange marijuana -- it had that same sick sweet smell that pot has. Not a good scent, to me. Off to swaps.

[Balame]

In the Imp: Oh wow, this kind of reminds me of Fairy Wine. I don't know if dandelion is in this, but it's the same summery, sweet, and fresh green smell.

 

Wet: Whatever herbs are in this are definitely shared with Fairy Wine to some extent. Soft lemon and rosemary, I think, and something in this is a bit creamy. Like an orange creampop, amusingly enough, but not artificial. There's something just barely sharp and sweet in here, sort of like baby wipes, but thankfully it doesn't quite get to that level. It's light and pleasantly "cute", if you believe a scent can smell that way. Sort of "little girl" to me.

 

Dry: Ha, I was waiting for this to dry and had my hand supporting my head, and I kept thinking, "What IS that smell, do I have remnants of Fairy Wine on from last night?" But no, it's the Osun! Pretty crazy. That slightly off-putting baby wipe scent is completely gone and it's no longer childish at all, but a creamy, fresh, and honey-based wonder.

 

Overall: Awesome analog to Fairy Wine, but since I have the real deal I might move this along. Don't know though, the warm honey combined in the herbs with this is pretty amazing.

Edited July 5, 2011 by Balame

[angelamaria]

In imp: heady, almost boozy sweetness. Honey and herbs, definitely. Am I getting lavender? It's slightly minty, slightly fruity.

 

Wet on skin: sweet, slightly powdery, faint spices and herbs. Also bright, minty, but not too astringent--just enough to give it a coolness. Clean, feminine, and fruity in an almost citrusy way. My skin seems to warm it up somewhat, I'm liking this better than in the imp.

 

Dry: very gentle, elegant, and pretty. Sweet, and newly dry, it's not overwhelming, and not foody: mostly herbs and a touch of rich fruits. It was quite promising, but over time the sweetness develops more, making this a bit too sweet for my tastes, along with that powderiness that I was getting from the wet stage.

 

Verdict: not for me--far too sweet and my skin seems to disagree with an herb or such.

[fashionfaerie]

When I was brand new to BPAL, Osun made my first shortlist of likely winners to sniff, though in the bottle, it smelled so tart to me that I ventured no further with it. Then last night I smelled the new Venus bath oil from the Trading Post, which is insanely beautiful! It wasn't available for purchase yet, so I asked which GC scent might be similar. The answer was Osun (apparently, rose and honey are two notes they share in common). This time I tried it on, and still just got a very tart rose and lemon verbena. But will call was packing up, so I took a chance and bought it, anyway. Two hours later, it hadn't evolved, and I was wondering if I'd made a mistake. But when I woke up this morning, the most gorgeous honey/rose/lemon verbena scent! For whatever reason, the honey takes a LONG time to emerge on me in cooler weather. In the heat it's a quicker evolution, though much less quick than with other BPALs I own. It sure has some staying power, too. So I guess the wisdom of not writing any scent off too quickly definitely held true for Osun. It's a new favorite!

[Ghost of a Rose]

In the imp: A golden-yellow, honey-colored oil. Honey with herbs and florals. And butterscotch hard candies!

 

On me, wet: Yep, butterscotch and honey, with the herbs and flowers in the background.

On me, just dried: The butterscotch has lightened up and is creamier as well - now more like butterscotch baking chips. Some of the sweetness has also lightened. But it's still plenty sweet. Chamomile and rose are catching up. It's like a light, classic floral perfume with honey added.

 

After 10 minutes: The herbs are gaining some strength, and now I'm getting a hint of the astringency that others have mentioned. But it's very subtle, as are the changes. Honey is still the first impression.

 

After 30 minutes: Now mostly honey with the lightest of rose notes. A little more powdery, a little less herbal.

 

6 hours later, a beautiful scent that is 90% honey and 10% roses still lingers on my skin and clothes.

 

Light and beautiful; yummy without actually being foody. Sunny and youthful but not childish or teenybopper. It would be great for casual activities and work. It seems like it would be universally appealing to almost anyone. Which is not the same as unisex - a man probably wouldn't want to wear this, but he would love smelling it on a woman. So pleasing and pretty.

 

My rating: 5 stars

 

ETA: Thank you for the frimp, labbies! This one was a big hit, and I want to order a bottle!

Edited September 20, 2011 by Ghost of a Rose

[reconditarmonia]

A slightly fruity honey rose scent. Not unpleasant, but I've got better honey-rose scents, so I'll probably be passing this on.

[becca_s]

This is all honey and roses - and maybe something fruity. As it dries down it reminds me alot of Persephone. I really like this when it is first applied and I can smell the honey, it becomes a bit too sweet and powdery for me as it dries though. Overall, its nice just especially at first it just becomes quite sweet over time.

Edited May 17, 2012 by becca_s

[whitsunweddings]

In the imp: Sour bubblegum?

Wet: Yup.

Dry: A weird honey and rose thing (those are two of my favourite notes, so you'd think I'd love this). Quite sour, and yet soapy. I didn't get any herbs.

[BoneBone24]

Wet: Honeyed and fresh.

 

Drydown: Glowing nectar and flowering herbs. Tarragon I think, and maybe rosemary, citronella, and hyssop? There’s a tiny hint of soapiness which makes me think that a root of some sort might be in here too. I’m not sure why, but something about this seems very French to me. Like a bouquet of delicate french wildflowers and herbs.

 

Dry: Sweet, fancy herbs and waxy wildflowers. Sort of clean and sort of floral. Color-associations are pale blue, faded green, and off-white. Ladylike in a grown-up Anne of Green Gables sort of way. Every so often I catch a whiff of play-doh when my wrists are away from my nose.

 

 

 

 

Osun was a really interesting one for me. Firstly, because it gave me my first Play-doh moment of the over 100 imps I’ve tried so far. Secondly, the mix of honey and herbs really created the impression of a light floral, without the soapy/headache-y side effects that I usually get from light floral notes, which is a pretty cool alchemy trick. An thirdly, this is so totally not my type of scent at all, yet I was utterly fascinated with it the entire time I wore it. Ignoring the play-doh phenomenon, I kinda like it!

 

4 out of 10 bones

Edited June 21, 2013 by BoneBone24

[yewberry]

Honey rose anise. Freaking YUMMY. I should try a honey rose glaze on my Pan de Muertos...

[milo]

Honey and something fruity at first, like dates or figs. Dries to a mild herbal honey. I like honey, so this is a good thing, though I do have quite a few honey blends and probably don't need anymore.

[Soupy Twist]

Honey with dried herbs in the bottle. Goes on as lavender and roses, which is briefly bearable, but then gack it becomes a truly obnoxious baby powder.

[freyasfae]

Herbs do well to balance the sweetness of the honey, but it is almost too sweet when wet, but once it dries down it becomes more herbal with a touch of honey. Really nice summer scent.

[t_for_tau]

All rose, all the time. Sigh. Wish it was listed in the notes - I'd've avoided this one.

[joopjoop]

Oh MY! (fans self)

 

Simply stated: for me Osun is sex in a bottle! (or imp, as it were in this case). So sooo good. I find that honey is often iffy and overly sweet on me, but here it combines with the rose and some herby goodness and it is just...well... Hot. As. Hell. This is not a subtle scent, or an office scent, but rather something to wear when you are pulling out the good lingerie to wear under your date clothes because you have certain hopes, shall we say, about how things might go.

 

On the dry-down the honey goes a bit powdery on me, but it is a very pleasing (and sexy - did I mention sexy?!) powdery-rose smell - as weird as that may sound. Rose is definitely the main attraction here along with the honey, so those who don't like rose may want to give this a pass.

Edited May 6, 2016 by joopjoop

[Casablanca]

Wand: Woody sweetness and some flowers. A little rosemary? The honey in this doesn't really smell like honey to me. It smells closer to added sweetener.

Wet: This is like a sweetener that's meant to have some honey qualities, but is still a sweetener. I also get roses, rosemary, lemon verbena, and something like grasses or hay.

Dry: This turns into a rose-heavy chalky soap on me as it dries.

Perhaps not.

[CitrusFiend]

Lab fresh imp. The oil is a dark reddish-pink. As for the smell?... ROSE! On my skin it's a powdery single note rose. Rose rose rose. Rose is my skin's favorite note but it's definitely not mine. I wish rose was listed in the notes too because I would have avoided this if I'd known.

[LizziesLuck]

I love honey! Not sure why I waited so long to try this!

 

Hmm, this is a really fruity, sort of floral honey. Not as thick or sticky as I had imagined, or hoped for. As it dries, it gets more and more floral. Pink roses? With just a hint of honey? I dunno, this was not what I was expecting. It's ok, but not wowing me.

[roseus]

Sweet and syrupy, with roses and some herbs I can't identify. Not my jam!

[Teamama]

I didn't think Osun was going to be my kind of blend, but it has grown on me over time. I am a rose fiend, but this isn't the kind of honied rose that I usually get excited about. The herbs take it in a different direction. The sweetness & floral factor is made stronger & more serious.

 

After slowly using up a frimp, I found I am craving Osun, so I have a bottle coming.

 

Edited to add: I bought a bottle of aged Osun from a lovely forumite, & have now confirmed that it ages beautifully. I'm distressed that it's been discontinued.

Edited August 18, 2017 by Teamama