The Hesperides

[lookingglass]

The Hesperides are the Nymphs of the Evening who dwell in a verdant garden located in the Arcadian Mountains, guarded by the terrible three-headed dragon, Ladon. Within their garden lives the tree that bears Hera’s sacred Golden Apples. Their perfume is that of sturdy oak bark, dew-kissed leaves, twilight mist and crisp apple.

Wet this is like a fresh apple turnover...tart, warm, sweet. Oooh, be like apple picking back home...please, please, please!!!

On the drydown it gets more woody, but the apple just stays...appley. Even a real apple wouldn't smell this appley.

My body is turning this sour apple sickly . Find me in swaps!

[Miyabi]

Wow. I really really wanted to like this one. But then I opened the imp and it gave off that smell like Verdandi--stale chocolate when I was expecting apples, and then well, it turned into apple, all right, but stale dried apple potpourri when I was hoping for fresh apples.

 

Off to swaps.

[wanderingredhead]

This is a buttery apple scent. The butter kind of confuses me, to be quite frank, and my skin tends to overamplify buttery scents. The light freshness of the apples is pleasant and special that I'm going to keep this around and sniff it some more. A lot more.

[stardreamer]

I generally like fruity scents, and I like this one as well. It's a light, crisp, summery apple, with just a hint of something green underneath. I would be absolutely delighted with it were it not for two things: (1) it doesn't have much staying power, and (2) I've already tried, and fallen hopelessly in love with, Verdandi. I find that I prefer the richer cider-apple scent and long-lasting quality of the latter, so this one will probably end up as a swap or a gift. I'd recommend it to someone who wants a non-intrusive apple scent for spring and summer wear.

[Scarlettfish]

This is very, very appley. Almost single note apple on me. However, it is less 'real' apple and more apple-flavoured candies, if that makes sense. It's very young and fresh, but it goes a bit sickly on my skin. I much prefer Eve for an apple note - this is a bit 'fake apple' for me. Still pleasant, though, and I will probably keep the imp.

Edited October 25, 2005 by Scarlettfish

[melange]

Preparing to write this review, I washed my wrists with anticipation. The Hesperides was purchased in my first order on little more than its name and a whim, and it turned out to be my favorite with its quiet notes and morphing qualities.

 

Bottle: a sort of woody, leafy apple, like playing in a pile of leaves where apples have fallen.

 

Drydown: even more of the leaves.

 

Worn: a rich scent emerges that must be the bark, because it has a strong/deep quality I finally tracked back to cinnamon sticks without, thank goodness, actually being cinnamony. Every now and again the more misty element drifts out and away and back again, while the apple adds a subtle freshness. I never do get any of the buttery caramel that others do, and like it just the way it is.

 

Conclusion: I love this and just can't help sniffing my wrists. It's a private, interconnected scent, good for quiet reading or gardening on an overcast afternoon; it welcomes the wearer rather than demanding or overpowering. If it lasted longer on my skin, I would like it even better, but I still want a bottle when the LE list isn't so crazy prolific. And after reading other TH reviews, it makes me want to try Verdandi, too. Very nice.

[yeahbutnobut]

The Hesperides

 

In the imp: crisp green apple cider and something barky, probably oak.

Wet on skin: a tart, green apple scent, green and tree-like (not woody) notes.

Dry on skin: oh, this gets better! The apple comes into it's own now, becoming a fresh, tangy scent, with a slightly dewy feel to it. This is a very refreshing, bright, green scent, like moist green leaves and juicy green granny smith apples, with the oak adding a nice dry base to the whole scent.

After a while: this is nice-the notes of oak and apple are more balanced now. It's got a bubbly, fizzy scent to it like a cross between cider and Appletise, I think, but with a nice bark scent adding another dimension and preventing it from being straight apple.

Verdict: this is a lovely fresh and effervescent apple scent with a dry, earthy oak background. the apple note is tangy and crisp, like green apples-or like cider or Appletise-but with that oaky scent in the background. It's a very pleasant scent, it makes me think of relaxing in the park with a glass of cider, leaning against the oak tree as the leaves fall. It's not a favourite, not spectacular-if there was something spicy or resinous it may be more my thing-but it's a nice scent and I'll probably keep the imp.

[OriginalWacky]

Bottle (Imp): Mmmm, I smell apples.

 

Just On: Oooo, there's some buttery richness underneath those apples.

 

An hour or two later: It's still apple-y, and kinda buttery.

 

Around 6 hours: Apple butter! Not really applesauce, but certainly like apple butter.

 

12 hours: It has faded away to nothing.

 

Overall: I'm loving this one. Not much more to say there.

 

After reading other reviews: This absolutely is appley goodness. I don't get so much of the caramel out of it, but the apple is so nice that I'd keep it around for that anyway. I really didn't get the bark and leaves.

[PilotKitten]

 

At first whiff, this smelled horrible to me. On me, it smelled like a used ashtray and reminded me of the tobacco scent in "Antihero" from Villianess. I wanted to wash it off immediately.

 

Sense prevailed and I gave it a chance.

 

When wet this smells horrible... like tobacco, rotting leaves and general wood decay. I don't smell any hint of apple whatsoever.

 

After drying the decaying wood stench was completely gone and all that was left was a warm spicy apple. It definitely reminds me of some spiced apples baking in the oven. I don't smell chocolate at all like other reviewers do.

 

4 1/2 hours later and it's almost completely gone. Deeply inhaling my wrist leaves me with a hint of something sweet but it's not easily distinguishable as apple anymore.

 

I'm not entirely sure if I like it overall. The first 5 minutes it's on leaves me wanting to put my hand into scalding water to get it off. So... yeah... that's a deterrant. But the warm spicy apple is a fall favorite of mine. Decisions... decisions. I'll probably hold on to this imp but I doubt it'll ever be on my list of must-haves.

[Leda]

I like this, but not for personal use. The Hesperides is a perfect Autumn room scent, a nice alternative for those who don't do cinnamon. From application to drydown, I smell fresh juicy golden apples and what I imagine is the oak bark. The oak bark and the juicyness is what keeps this from going potpourri. Very nice.

[oceangirl]

In the imp: Apples and . . . smoke? What the heck? Maybe it's the wood smell?

 

Wet: Apple potpourri in a candle shop. Like I'm rolling in it.

 

Dry: Woody apple. Still like the potpourri mentioned above.

 

My vote? This would make a killer room scent.

[terrierhead]

In the imp, this smelled like varnish with a hint of apples. The varnish smell continued when I put it on, for the first hour or so of wear. After that, the varnish dissipated, and the apples came out to play a little. I smelled like a nice wooden chair that's been polished with an apple-scented product, for instance, if there were an apple Pledge. Oops, it's not for me. Blame it on odd skin chemistry.

[angharad]

Very pretty! I can definitely smell the oak bark underneath the apple. The oak gives the apple a stronger foundation, which I like. The scent started out strong on my skin, but it faded pretty quickly. When I put my nose to my wrist several hours later, however, I can still catch a whiff of it.

[Miss Lynx]

Although this sounded good to me from the description, I was a little apprehensive when I smelled it in the imp. There was a woody note that there that smelled sort of dry and unpleasant to my nose, and reminded me of some of the woody BPAL scents I haven't liked (as opposed to those I have - woody notes are hit and miss on me).

 

But once on, the notes seemed to blend much more nicely, and it smelled very much like natural apples, tart and not too sweet, with soft undertones of trees and earth. Quite nice, and not at all like most apple scents that smell obviously fake. It's also different from Verdandi, the other apple scent I like, because that one contains a fairly strong presence of other notes, like amber, while this one is all about the apples.

 

However, no sooner had I decided I liked it then it started fading away. Yes, this is another now-you-smell-it-now-you-don't like Mantis and Silk Road and Thanatopsis. Inside of five minutes it was virtually gone. I reapplied it to my wrists, and this time added some to my neck and cleavage, where scent tends to last a little longer, and it still vanished from my wrists within minutes, though I can still slightly smell it by sniffing down the neck of my sweater.

 

*sigh* Damn you, Hesperides. If you'd only stuck around, we could have been great friends... Oh well, Kettu likes it too, and it lasts for hours on her. Hmmmph.

 

Grade: B-

[Meg]

In the bottle: Apple and tree bark, it smells green, biting and bitter.

 

Wet: Same as in the bottle, it smells of pretty bitter oak bark, lots of mouldy leaves, and a very faint scent of apple in the background. Right now it smells quite mouldy and rotten.

 

Drydown: Buttery apple? What, how, huh?! It went to smelling of rotting leaves to very foody. Now it's a subtle scent of buttery green apple, with a very faint background note of wet oak bark and a hint of woody spice. Wow, I'm absolutely amazed by the morph.

 

Overall: Unbelievable, and very pleasant once dry - but really rancid when drying. I'm not a huge fan of foody scents, but I like this one quite like. It's frightening at first - before you're allowed to pass the Hesperides' Dragon? - then grows very comfortable and pleasant. Ack, but there's an aquatic note that gives me a headache. Damn you, dew!

[moon_lemming]

The Hesperides reminds me of a sour green apple lollipop . . . that's what it smells like on my skin. There's nothing mellowing the sugary tartness. It's awesome, but not really something I'd wear. I might try it out again a little closer to fall and see if the scent mellows out any.

[QueenFae]

For those of you that are into Villainess soaps, Hesperides smells very much like Discord. Ripe, juicy, golden delicious apples! I don't detect any of the bark note, just a bit of the midnight mist and the sweetness of the forbidden fruit. It's wonderful! I love apple scents, and I can't believe it's taken me this long to try this one. I truly love it, and I'm definitely considering a 5 ml, because this is just too good to have one tiny imp of. Absolutely gorgeous!!

[mandragora]

It was an LJ entry gushing about how good The Hesperides smells that led me to the discovery of BPAL. Quite excited when I got my imp from the lab.

 

At first sniff in the vial, I literally recoiled . I'm sorry but it smells ghastly, like really overripe apples and rotting wood. Okay, where is the lovely crisp, apple-y orchard smell that everybody else seems to get?

 

Wet on me: There's still that rotten sweet smell of apples and bark, but it's more wood than apple. Reminiscent of stale tobacco.

 

Drydown: Does not change much from wet to dry.

 

Verdict: Goshalmighty, I need to wash this off. One more for the swap file. :bummed:

Edited January 25, 2006 by mandragora

[Ayln]

Yech. Apple notes and I do not mix. I got a synthetic apple scent reminiscent of scented candles, and after a while I think I became physically ill. I did not get any "mist" or "bark" from this at all, just a deluge of rotten apples.

[Thaleia]

I picked this one up because I love Robert Herrick's collection of Carpe Diem poems of the same name (which includes "To the Virgins, to Make Much of Time" and "Corinna's Going A-Maying"). Not to mention I love apple.

 

When I first opened the bottle, I had to stop and think for a second. It smelt like overripe apples, or something like Calvados or similar apple brandy/liqueur. It's apple with a bit of alcohol astringency to it, and a bit of wood underlying it all. I can smell it from where the bottle's lying open on my desk. It's pretty strong.

 

Green apples are the first thing I smell when it goes on initially. Green apples and autumn leaves that have been sitting there for a while, and something strangely boozy. I gave it a little bit to dry down and now it just smells like fake plastic apples. Sniff it several times in quick succession, and then you might get apple blossoms underneath it all, but right now it just smells weird to me. Plastic, pre-packaged, weird apples, like apple-scented lotion that's been sitting around.

 

I am trying really hard to like this, seeing as I bought myself a 5ml, but I don't know that I do right now. Maybe I should give this a few weeks and try it again before I write it off completely. I let Euphrosyne age for a month and now I like it, when I didn't initially. I only hope that I can say the same for The Hesperides.

 

For now, I'll give this a 2.25.

Edited January 27, 2006 by rabid hauteur

[smelly]

Smells like bug spray + green candy. I'll let it age and see if it then smells more like what is described in the earlier, positive reviews.

[seamor]

First out of the bottle: Euwww! Musty, moldy, rotting wood ... and, did somebody say bug spray? I want to wash it off RIGHT NOW! But I persevere.

 

About two minutes later: The initial stench has completely disappeared. I can't smell much of anything now... but ... faint scent of ... apples?

 

Really? Is it actually smelling the way it is described? With my skin, that's a bit unusual...

 

Over the next few minutes, the apples grow stronger, warmer, sweeter. Mmmmm... very nice. Very appley. Definitely not the sickly sweet green apple reek of so many commerical apple fragrances. The Hesperides smells like real apples, perfectly ripe and warm under a gentle summer sun. VERY impressive!

 

It doesn't last long on me, which is no great surprise - gentle fruit scents don't seem to want to stick with me very well. I am not sure I really want to go around smelling like apples, to tell the truth. But, as with so many of Beth's scents, it was a fascinating experience.

 

If you love the scent of a nice fresh apple (and you can make it through the first 60 seconds) this is definitely the one for you.

[gangstaknitta]

This one was very clean and green and herbal in the bottle.

On my skin, it became somewhat bitter, but then faded really quickly, leaving a faint woodsy smell behind.

It was like it ran away from me !

[gingersnapp]

This one is unique on me from all the other blends that I've tried in that I smell it more / better the further away from the point that I applied it. As in... the throw is strong and I can smell it with my arms to my sides, but if I bring my wrist to my nose, I can barely smell it. Bizarre.

 

At any rate, when I first applied this, it was a crisp spiced apple smell, almost like Apple Jacks cereal (which I love). As it dried, there's definitely more of the forest for the trees in here. I can smell the dryness of the wood and the greenness of the leaves. This is a really beautiful blend that makes me think of sunrise in an apple orchard. Calm and tranquil, with the promise of something delicious to come.

[GemmaCat]

This was a big disappointment for me, and I curse my skin chemistry! I bought it because of all the lovely "this smells like apples!" reviews, but it didn't work out. Bad skin!

 

In the imp: woah! something really sharp smelling is assaulting my nostrils.

 

On my skin, initial: A really strong soapy smell that is quite unpleasant. I have no idea what this is, but it's yucky.

 

Drydown: the same yucky note gets sweeter and warmer.

 

Not for me, alas, but at least other people have good luck with it.