Osun

[Mary Mayhem]

Osun

 

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

 

First Impression:

This smelled *really* sweet to me, and fruity. I can place the honey, now that I see that's what it's supposed to be, but it's not something I would have guessed.

 

I can't figure it out. A green, wet, tart floral, I guess is how it smells to me with a sweet undertone.

 

I'm going to have to try other honey scents to see if I can pick it out of here. (:

Edited May 25, 2006 by Shollin

[abberlaine]

Wow. Osun is sticky-sweet honey -- more along the lines of O than of Tiger Lily and Al-Araaf. Wet, it flirts with cloying territory, but never quite crosses over. Instead, it dries down to very enjoyable, wet, shuddering drop of honey. The herbs come out as the oil dries and give it a drier, more perfumy feel. There's a faint citrus tang that surfaces every few minutes, too.

 

I really, really like this. It's sweet and delicious, and it blends with my skin beautifully. Two thumbs up and a big bottle!

[malanna]

Osun smells like the honey straws you can get at farmer's markets. It has more of an edible quality to it than other BPAL honey scents. It does have a floral and green edge to it, too. The scent remains the same for the many, many hours I had on and is mostly a skin scent. I'm not big on honey scents, so I won't be waxing poetic on this. Still, I can see this being the type of scent that makes a significant other nuzzle you, because you smell so sweet and natural.

[eleventhousand]

A sweeter, less musky Follow Me Boy.

Bubble gum and honeysuckle.

[Aredhel]

Rating (on skin): 2/5

Summarised in a word or two: Floral honey and sage.

 

In the imp: Honey! Very sweet honey, at that (a bit like the honey in O).

 

On skin, wet: Hoooney. Sweet, rich honey and a dusting of herbs. I'm not always a fan of honey, but O taught me not to rule honey-heavy scents out. Very rich, almost edible.

 

On skin, dry: There's definitely a "green" element to this. It's not particularly sweet any longer, though, which doesn't count in Osun's favour; nor does the floral edge. As for the herbs... sage? It seems similar to sage, and as sage turns rancid on me (I'm looking at you, Aeval!)...

 

Conclusion/Notes: Nice, but I'm not in love. Even while wet, I found myself comparing it against O, and thinking that, while nice enough, it paled in comparison to my beloved O. If I liked warm, straight-up honey mixed with something like sage and a floral touch, I'd probably scramble for a 10ml. As it is, I'll stick with O and continue on me "try all honey scents" journey.

[desu]

In the imp: Sweet honey, fresh wildflowers like those I buy at the farmers market. A very clean and cool scent despite the sweetness.

 

On my skin: Starts out with the delicious honey, then fades away to powder.

 

Later on: Still powder.

[ladytaga]

In the bottle foody floral..

On my wrist I can smell the honey...I smell a little floral coming through it is very light and girlie. I can see this in a defuser to make the house smell all fresh and like summer.

It is a keeper I give it a 3 1/2 out of 5.. I deducted 2 1/2 points because it does turns a little powdery on me.

 

*Now it has changed to a sunflower scent (sort of like a candle from yankee but better) so it say it is now a 4 out of 5...

Edited May 16, 2006 by ladytaga

[Rhowan]

In the vial and wet on my skin - OH! Fresh Pure Honey!!! with a small hint of herbs

 

Drying down - DAMN! the fresh honey just got sucked up by my skin. What is left is just a bare hint of something herbal....and then *POOF* it dissapears.

 

About a 1/2hr later, I sniff my wrist and there is just a very tiny, wee little scent of dried herbs.

 

conclusion? Not for me. I would give anything to have had that fresh, pure, honey note linger for a long time. It was the perfect honey.....

[puck_nc]

Origin: Imp purchased from the Lab

 

Initial Thoughts: The description was beautiful and I am curious enough about the honey love to try some of the belnds with that note.

 

In the Bottle: honey and very tart, sharp herbs. It's almost a fermented scent, like I'd imagine mead to smell like.

 

Wet: The herbs come out first, very strongly, before the honey shows up.

 

Drydown: It goes kind of airy on me, very herby, with the honey remaining in the background but never fully emerging.

 

Verdict: It's interesting, but I'm not in love with it. Off to the swaps. Perhaps I'll try it again sometime.

[bifemmefatale]

This is the mildest honey blend I've tried yet-I rather like it! Smells like there is a hint of rose in it, and the herbs are very subtle, in the background only. I was expecting

something that hit you over the head like O, but Osun is surprisingly soft. Not something I want a bottle of, but still very nice.

[themerrybaker]

Honey Rose drying to Honey Strawberry. Osun is happy and uncomplicated; love my imp but likely won't need a big bottle.

 

ADDED June 8:

 

Wore it for a second time and thought, "Dang that smells good". It turned out to be Osun.

[Meg]

In the bottle: Honey, herbs and... rose?

 

Wet: Honey and herbs, very sweet and lovely, with a spicy side.

 

Drydown: It dries down to powdery herbs, sweet grass probably, and it smells more and more like baby powder, the herbs completely taking over the honey. I can smell rose in the background, becoming stronger. It settles into a rosey, herby honey scent.

 

Overall: This reminds me of the voodoo blends, because of the herbs. It's soft and discreet, and very sensual too. The herbs sometimes go into powdery territory, but the rest of the time I get thick, rich honey. A very pleasant blend, comforting and soothing.

[lookingglass]

A rose note predominates when this is wet, and softly dries to a powdery honey rose. It reminds me of Indian rose incense or an edible rose body dusting powder. Soft and sexy but great throw and staying power. I will be holding onto my imp!

[grrrlennyl]

at first: sweet, but not heavy.

on: herbal and sweet. there is definitely honey in this, but it isn't cloying.

2 hours later: sweet and deep, but still not heavy. very nice.

3 hours later: sweet honey.

overall: this just doesn't develop on me the way i'd hoped it would. i wanted something a bit more complex to come out of it. stupid skin chemistry.

[Syzygy]

At first this is all honey, a bit powdery around the edges. Then an herbal note starts creeping in...and it turns into some cleaning product that I recognize but cannot place for the life of me. Oh, well. Next!

[white_jenna63]

This went to pure powder on me in the first five minutes. Had a lot of throw too (husband asked me to wash it off and I swear I can still smell it in the room).

[abejita]

I really wanted to like this one. I am a huge honey fan, and the description sounded right up my alley. At first, I get a burst of wet, sweet honey. However, it almost immediately dries down to something very unpleasantly powdery. It sort of burns the back of my throat. I tried it in a scent locket as well. Same thing. The only difference with the locket was that much, much later in the day a fruity tang (pomegranate?) started to present itself. It didn't save the blend for me, though.

[Spastik_Kitty]

In the bottle: Honey, with the faintest fruity floral backing.

 

First on: It's staying quite true to the "in the bottle" note, it reminds me a bit of Jezebel, the honey is very thick.

 

After a bit: The floral and herbal note is coming forward a little.

 

A bit more: Ya, this is reminding me of a note so heady Jezebel, I'm getting a bit of rose, loads of honey, and something lightly herbal, sage I think.

[Miss Lynx]

My first thought on sniffing this was: "perfect!" It is perfectly Oshun (that's the spelling I'm more familiar with for Her name). It's a mix of honey and herbal notes, sweet and heady but not sweet in a conventional girly-perfume way. There's serious power in this. It's sexual, but again, not conventionally sexy. This smells like a powerful, sexy woman who you don't want to piss off, and that's highly appropriate for the Orisha it's named for.

 

Interestingly, while the scent doesn't seem too strong when I sniff it up close, it has considerable throw and I keep catching whiffs of it while I'm working. It's vey distracting -- sweet and rich and almost intoxicating. Again, quite appropriate.

 

This oil is so evocative of Oshun to me that I can't really see wearing it as a perfume, even though I quite like it. I think this one is going to be reserved for ritual use, or at least for times when I want to feel Her presence.

 

Grade: as scent, B+; as deity link, A+

[sophia_helix]

Dammit, nope. No real honey, just super-sweet powder, maybe some rose, maybe some herbs. It's cloyingly, piercingly sweet for the first half hour, and then it calms down to something more bearable. It's still just sort of a generic, rich sweet scent, and not at all me.

[astridclaire]

Yep, definitely honey with herbs and something floral in the background when wet. But once it dries, it turns into an un-sticky sweetness with more floral and less herbs plus some green apple.

 

Nice, but not a big bottle purchase for me.

[Caltha]

Osun

Sweet honey, a quite BPAL-generic honey/candy sweetness. In the drydown it turns more fruity (plum maybe?) and powdery. Nothing wrong with it, it's just too sweet and generic for my taste.

[nsomniak6]

Out of the bottle: It smells like nail polish remover to me! Gives me an immediate headache.

 

On my fingers wet: stil nail polish remover or hairspray!

 

dry: herbal, sweet and astringent.

 

Man, my nose is too sensitive!

 

Not for me, I guess. I really want to love honey, but I never pick it out of all of the notes for some reason.

[edenssixthday]

Osun is a strange scent that I can’t quite figure it. It’s powdery, green, and herbal with a touch of honey and a touch of rose – but not red rose, it’s more a soft yellow or pale pink rose. The scent is also slightly sour, and I don’t know if it’s the herbs giving it the sour scent or if the honey note is conflicting with my skin chemistry. I would say that the touch of sourness actually works well with the overall blend, and gives it a bit of bittersweet appeal. This is another one that I can’t decide if I would wear it regularly or not – it’s sweet and clean and reminds me of summertime in the outdoors, yet I tend to not prefer honey notes, and I do love rose, so I’m a little conflicted. I’m going to have to try this one again before I make a decision. The level of throw is light and sticks very close to my skin, although the staying power is about average.

[Eros]

Couldn't wait to try this because I LOVE Beth's honey notes

 

When I started to open the imp, the first thing that hit my nose was a very light baby powder smell...ICK *worried*. As soon as I was able to get a good sniff, honey *whew*. It's a lighter honey on me with a touch of sweetness and something *almost* creamy, but not quite, and definitely not foody. Decent throw and lasting power. That baby powder thing, which is just foul to me, threatens to rise it's head now and again but never quite makes it. Lovely blend but I think I'll have to try it a couple of more times to be sure because, well, that baby powder thing *cringe*.