Yemaya

[thedragoncharmer]

YEMAYA
Lady of the Ocean, Queen of Mothers, Mother of the Children of the Fishes. She is the River of Life, the ocean is her womb, and she is the mother of many of the Orishas. Yemaya shares the oceans with her lover / brother / son / brother-self, Olokun, and She governs the uppermost part of the waters where the sun’s rays mingle with Her waters to promote life and growth. Yemaya is everlasting, She is motherhood, the universal drive for the survival of a species, the procreative urge, the instinct of a mother protecting her young, and She is the governess of all life on Earth. She is the Most Fruitful of Women, and both She and Olokun are the protectors and benefactors of those who wish to conceive. Yemoya, being the mother of Shango, also has jurisdiction over rain and snow. She has seven roads and seven manifestations, all corresponding to the Seven Seas. She is the blood that pumps through our veins, and the sound of our blood rushing through our bodies is Her lullaby. She is in constant motion, never resting, ever vigilant and though she may seem calm on the surface, there is always activity within Her waters. The Great Mother possesses breathtaking beauty, patience and a gentle hand, yet She is also fearsome, temperamental, moody and stern. She nurtures her children, but She is also a disciplinarian. She is symbolized by the fish, mermaid, seagull, wharf rat, ibis, vulture and duck, and She shares the beauty of the peacock feather with Oshun. Her ofrenda is a bounty of melons and grapes, strewn with the petals of the flowers of motherhood, draped with sea mosses.

In the bottle: Pure sparkling honeydew!!! Gorgeous!
Wet: Smells like I just rubbed a freshly cut melon all over my wrist!
Drydown: Mostly fresh sweet honeydew.

Definitely need a 5ml of this one!

NOTE: This review topic is for the Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab version of the scent dedicated to Yemaya. If you're looking for the Twilight Alchemy Lab's Orisha oil of the same name, that topic is here.

[harmonyfb]

In the imp, this smelled like honeydew, sweet and juicy. However, on my skin, this smells like...bubblegum. A cross between cherry and watermelon bubblegum. Ew.

 

Good throw, fairly good hang time, but just...ew. Not for me.

[Lycanthrope]

Yemaya brings to me memories of waking up in the wee hours at Duke to take advantage of the all you can eat breakfast, wandering into the Great Hall or East Campus Union... grabbing a plate of fresh cut cantaloupe and honeydews and chowing down while bleary eyed students get over their hangovers with a bowl of cereal and some rubbery eggs.

 

HONEYDEW!!!

 

On my skin, it smells like super sweet candy. Too much for me, I don't do fruits...

[abitcoconuts]

The description of this one seemed like pure loveliness to me so I decided to go with a 5ml...SOO glad I did.

 

This is all Cantaloupe and honeydew-goodness on my skin and in the bottle. This is a very summertime scent...bright, happy, and cooling.

 

Seriously, I smell like I have cantaloupe smeared all over...could be fun huh?

 

Must give mad thanks to the labbies for this divine blend!

[sarada]

Oh WOW.

 

I really love honeydew -- I love that IC Honeydew drink they have at Panera, I love honeydew ice cream, and well of course the melon itself is one of my very favorite summer treats.

 

And this is the scent of honeydew, alright! That's really all I smell and that is quite enough to make me happy.

 

Actually at first I do get a very slight whiff of what I can only describe as "nail polish" which I think might be the grape. When I sniffed the lab's Grape single note it smelled just like nail polish to me, so there you go. I also smell this in Shango.

 

This is a strong, thick honeydew scent and I guess there could be cantaloupe in there as well but this is mostly a pale green, stick-sweet but utterly refreshing scent. Oh, and it's strong, it lasts, and it has decent throw for a fruit scent. It fades slowly to a light green honeyed fruity scent. So good.

 

I put this on when I was picking up a friend in the car, and he got in and said "What's that?? That's my absolute favorite!!" (after a year and a half of having me wave smelly wrists at him every week). So I should probably get him a bottle, since he is a big fruit scent fan. I think we will both need bottles, actually.

 

I don't wear a whole lot of fruit scents, except for plum/pomegranate, but this is definitely going to enter my summer scent rotation. BOTTLE ME NOW!!

[shelldoo]

yup honeydew, could almost be a single note.

 

wet: see above.

 

as it dries a note that is more canteloupe, blends w/ the honeydew, this is fresh, summery, and reminds me of sunshine in a bottle

 

 

pss very similar in scent to the tal version.

[kiio]

Honeydew Jolly Ranger. It smells great, but the candy cravings it caused were to much!

[filigree_shadow]

I very nearly bought a 5mL of this at the update instead of an imp, and I'm glad I didn't. Not that this is a bad scent or anything -- I do like it, it's just that I like Ogun better.

 

Yemaya and Ogun both have that melon that reminds me of Fee, but Yemaya is that same very bright melon and candyish melon that Fee has. Ogun is darker and more my style.

 

Anyway, Yemaya is quite pretty and sweet. It's absolutely melon.

[Brianne]

In the vial:

Mmm honeydew! Fresh, sweet n' juicy!

 

On me:

This goes on like fresh honeydew melon and it smells delicious. After just a short moment the grape starts to creep in and add a purple, juicey and slight wine-like note to the melon. They really compliment each other nicely and rather than coming off like "FRUITY!!!", they instead play off one another to make a scent that is complex and unusual. At some point some soft floral is creeping in, but it's very faint and I cannot identify what kind of floral it is, I just smell it behind the melon and grapes.

 

And that is pretty much Yemaya - it's fruity and light and summery with a definite feminine edge to it.

 

Final note:

Beautiful blend, melon lovers will rejoice, I'm so happy to finally have a honeydew scent from BPAL!

[mandragora]

"MELONS!" It screams, when I sniffed Yemaya from the bottle. It seriously smells like the cantaloupe-flavored candy I liked back in grade school. Cloyingly sweet cantaloupe, had to resist from licking my wrists. Dry, it drastically mellows, bringing down the sweetness to a tolerable level. Still mostly cantaloupe, with very faint traces of light, pale florals and a bit of a green note (sea mosses?).

 

Verdict: Lovely melon-y scent. On a scale of 1-5, this is a 4.

[SeaMonkey]

I get the same melon note as fee, but as it dries, its a lot sweeter than Fee, I guess more candy-ish. It had a good bit of throw for about 2 hours, then it faded and went away. Stupid body chemistry

[GypsyRoseRed]

What I get from this is honeydew melon and a hint of ... rosewater? It's very natural, fresh and pretty. This is going to be heavenly in the heat of summer.

[LittleGreyKitten]

Yemaya is remarkably lovely. Fee won me over to melon scents, and this is definitely a sister scent to Fee. I happen to like Fee a bit more but Yemaya is lovely too. She is more candied smelling, a bit more cantaloupe-y as opposed to straight honeydew, though there's a bit of that too. Don't get grapes. Or moss. But yum! I'm now officially converted to fruit scents. I'm going to get a bottle of Yemaya for sure. I think Beth outdid herself with this series of the GC ones. 5 out of 5.

Edited April 14, 2006 by LittleGreyKitten

[blueroses]

Melon melon melon!

 

Yemaya is overwhelmingly melon, in the bottle and on my skin. It's a bright, fresh honeydew on me - no candy or artificial smell. As it dries down, there's a strange salty kind of smell, the sea mosses and grape, which sometimes reacts funny on me. This one fades very quickly on me.

 

It is indeed very similar to Fee, but Fee is more of a honeydew-and-cream scent, whereas Yemaya is very fresh and natural. I do like it very much despite the brief weirdness at the end.

[Voleuse]

Wow, honeydew! Sparkling and sweet and dripping with juice. After a minute, I get a hint of sharp grape beneath it, but it's mostly (almost) overpowering melon. My mouth is watering.

 

This blend has excellent throw, and actually lasts quite a bit of time, which is remarkable for my chemistry.

[emzebel]

Very very melony with an herbal, almost musky backdrop. As others have noted, this is somewhat similar to Fee, and just as beautiful to my reckoning, but in a different way. There is something almost aking to Fruit Moon in this to my nose, but with a little more depth and interest from the non-fruity notes. And like many of the Orishas, there is something about Yemaya that I find very comforting, deep to my bones.

[HennaFairy]

in the bottle:

sweet fruity floral - cantelope or honeydew melon hits me

 

first impressions on:

melon melon melon. As it dries some flowers join in, sweet but not sickening to me (yet anyway)

 

wearing it:

stays the same - borderline too sweet, but I still like it!

 

overall:

I have to be in the right mood for this. I'll definitely use the imp, we'll see about more….

 

rating: 7/10

Edited May 8, 2006 by HennaFairy

[yeahbutnobut]

Yemaya

 

In the imp: melon! Sweet, moist, summery melon. It smells similar to the TAL oil, but I think that was more watermelon, and this is more honeydew/cantaloupe.

Wet on skin: the melon's still there, but something else is surfacing…

Dry on skin: mmm, this is gorgeous! Such a fresh, juicy scent, but not as sweet as I was expecting. Yup, it does remind me of my beloved Fee, but without all the extra vanilla and tea etc notes. This is mainly melon, but I am getting other notes underneath it, including something almost oceanic/aquatic, a bit of moss, and a smooth, slightly waxy white floral which I cannot identify (though lily or sweet pea are guesses). I don't get the grape but I do get a discreet hint of something almost like white wine. This is quite different to the TAL, it has a similar feel but this has a different melon, it's not as sea-salty, and doesn't have that sharp, greenish floral scent I got when wet (which, I now realise, was gardenia). This is such a beautiful scent…not only does it scream 'summer on the beach!' when I smell it, it's also subtle, refreshing, and very comforting to sniff.

After a while: yup, this is very much like Fee, without the vanilla tea. It's stil fresh melon…not sugary melon, but gentle, juicy, watery melon, with a hint of soft white flowers, and an oceanic touch. It smells like perfect summer holiday on the perfect beach, eating the perfect melon…but also has a delightfully comforting, reassuring feeling to it. Maybe because of the fact that this scent is dedicated to a compassionate mother goddess, or because it smells like a relaxing beach holiday, or both?

The scent gets a bit drier over time but never loses its freshness. The melon is still going strong, resting on that gentle floral base with the sea moss surrounding it. There's a hint of a slightly white, almost chalky background to this that makes me think of rocks on the beach, or those little white bits of coral washed up on the shore.

Verdict: this is a gorgeous, gorgeous scent. It's a cantaloupe or honeydew melon, glistening in the sun resting on a bed of fragrant white flowers on a tropical beach. And this is an altar to Yemaya, an offering to her. It's strong on the melon-but not as sweet as I expected. This is a fresh melon, juicy, watery, and incredibly cool and refreshing, with a kiss of the ocean. And I also love it because it resembles one of my favourite scents, Fee, but without the vanilla and tea and carnation. This scent is very summery, it instantly transports my mind to my favourite beaches and my favourite summer holidays. But it's more than that, there's a little something about this scent that makes it feel special-a comforting and gentle scent, compassionate and nurturing, yet also full of life. This is one to get a bottle of for the summer-and I think I could concoct a close approximation to Fee by layering this with Dorian-but it's a truly wonderful scent on it's own.

To sum it up in a smiley:

Edited April 19, 2006 by yeahbutnobut

[magpiedee]

Yemaya... is like a glittery blue dragonfly caught in a puddle of melon juice and buzzing a bit with drunkenness.

 

I haven't decided yet whether my 5mL is a keeper. I love the idea of Yemaya, especially as a mother, but I think the Yemaya that struck me and inspired my big bottle purchase was the TAL blend. Yemaya is very strong, sweet and fruity for me, and although the drydown is lovely, it just doesn't last. Within an hour, I couldn't smell a single hint of the sweet, melony goodness. But lovely.

[Medici]

In the bottle: HONEYDEW MELON!

 

Note: Get a napkin. It's super juicy.

 

Drydown: HONEYDEW MELON! It's ripe and fresh and sweet and delicious. After two minutes I get this insane, jibbering, bubblegum rush of sweetness, then it calms down a little allowing for the florals to settle in.

 

After five minutes there is a hint of green - just a wee iddy bitty bit - like melon rind or like... cantaloupe.

 

After ten minute I swear I get watermelon, but that's just my chemistry doing funny things.

 

Verdict: I NEED A 10ML.

 

5/5 on Medici's Scale o' Love

 

If you like Fruit Moon or Fee - bypass the imp and go straight to a bottle. You will not regret it.

[Meg]

In the bottle: Melon! Lovely sweet honeydew melon!

 

Wet: The greenness of the melon really comes out, but also something a bit heavy, probably the grape.

 

Drydown: Ooh, this is interesting. The first time I put it on, it turned to slightly bitter melon. This time, it became grape juice, which smells delicious. It's a pretty green scent, thick with juice and warm, full of sweet aquatics. Hmmm, delicious! Very fruity, refreshing and summery. Yum!

 

Overall: The description is perfect, I get both grapes and honeydew, which is a good thing. Except for my capricious skin (or nose) that likes this scent on an off depending on its mood, I really love it. It reminds me slightly of a much warmer Titania. It'll make a stunning room scent, when my skin decides it doesn't like it.

[slave1]

In Bottle: Super melon!

 

On Skin: I am comparing this to the TAL bottle of Yemaya I have… They both are super sweet honeydew melon, but the Excolo version seems to morph into a less sweet melon with a cucumbery note… sort of herbal. Might that be the mosses? The grapes make it a little more tart, they’re still sweet but have that bite that grapes sometimes do right before they’re perfectly ripe. Also a bit winey… from the grapes of course. I love this scent, so sweet and fruity… it’s making me crave honeydew bigtime! I would love to drink this… Average throw and staying power.

[Blood onmy hands]

At first, Yemaya smells of sweet melon and grape flavored bubblegum on me. It's not an overwhelming artificial grape smell, but it is there in the background.

 

15 minutes later, this smells like wonderfully sticky, juicy cantaloupe. It's a great summery scent. The strange grape note has vanished.

 

Half hour later, Yemaya stays smelling like nothing but ripe cantaloupe on me. I love melon scents, and this one is wonderful. Very sweet and juicy.

 

I'll need a 10 ml for myself, and will probably have to buy a 5 ml for my sister-in-law, who is already trying to steal my imp.

[malanna]

Ah, it smells like Fée, but better, because it's not so strongly cantaloupe nor is it so sickly sweet. In fact, it smells like honeydew and watermelons. After it's dried, it smells like syrupy something with herbs, and looking at the reviews, I would say it's grapes! Grape syrup with a hint of herbs. It's kind of yummy....

 

ETA: It doesn't last that long--it reaches the faint grape syrup stage about three hours after I applied it.

Edited April 20, 2006 by malanna

[Scarlettfish]

Fresh honeydew! Going on, it smells exactly like I've been rubbing myself over with honeydew. Which means it is entirely perfect for a warm day. As it dries down, the tartness of grape comes out more and more, but this stays a really wonderful sweet melon scent...exactly what I wanted.