Megaera

[Finny]

Orris, black amber, bergamot, plum and grapefruit.

Mmmm, fruity and sweet from the imp.

I like this one, it is sweet, but the grapefruit keeps it from going to fruit punch on me. Amber goes powdery and nice on me, so as this dries down, it leaves a powdery, sweet, and fruity odor behind.

Nice, makes me think of summertime.

[shelldoo]

this is a huge juicy sweet plum, when the juice starts running down yur arm cause it is so soft and ripe, but the grapefruit keeps it from going grape bubblegum on me very very pretty

[matilda]

I ordered this awhile back and was so put off by it that I just haven't been able to bring myself to wear it. Wet, it is this ferocious biting fruit that seems a bit like shoving pieces of potpourri up my nose. I even tried it on once but promptly washed it off. I decided tonight to give it one last go and to really stick it out this time. Much to my surprise, a few hours into it, the biting sweetness went away and left behind a spicey fragrance that I'm actually kind of digging. I doubt I'll ever spring for a bottle because the wait is so long, but I'll hang on to my imp.

Edited April 24, 2005 by matilda

[oatmealneko]

Vial: Lightly plum.

Wet: Plum & grapefruit. Very fruity!

Dry: Grapefruit sure doesn't last long. Gone by the time Megaera's dry. Plum is still there, but it's a subtle plum. Muted, like most plum scents that lack wine become on me. I could smell like a floral throughout, but that's gone now. Black amber begins to peek through. I had to wash it off because black amber makes my head hurt. We don't get along.

[Eros]

Upon opening imp, strong smell of roses(??) and instant headache. But I pressed on, lol.

The rose(again ??) disappeared almost immediately, no surprise, heh...taken over by sweetness & a *slight* hint of grapefruit. Drying it turned powdery sweet...in fact *very* powdery & somewhat soapy, then, *poof*, gone. I'm thinking of other forumites' reviews and the mention of "old lady perfume".

Nice, but not for me.

[ashtonrose]

The first thing that I sniffed was the orris. It was almost overpowering to me, but as soon as I put it on the bergamot and grapfruit were in the mix. The orris died down and I could smell the plum. After it was dry, I could really smell the bergamot, plum and grapefruit. The orris was still there, but not as strong. I never picked out the black amber, but it could have been there just hiding a bit.

 

This is a nice herbal scent after an hour or so.

[VelvetSky]

I find myself strangely drawn to Megaera, and I can't really put my finger on why. It's bringing up some childhood memories, I think...but I don't know what they are.

 

It's rare that I can easily detect every listed note in one of Beth's blends but in this case, I definitely can. When freshly applied, this is all about the orris, which scares me a bit, as orris tends to go musty on me. But as others have said, it dries down to a strong plum/grapefruit/bergamot combination.

 

I think I'm loving this, but I haven't worn it enough yet to really decide. The plum note in Megaera is exquisite. To me, it's not a fruity/jammy plum, but a dusty perfumey plum. I think that's what's stealing my heart.

 

This was a gift from the Lab, and I love them for giving me the chance to try it.

[slave1]

In Bottle: Hello grapefruit!!!

 

On Skin: Hmmm… spicy and citrus. The grapefruit is obviously the strongest note. The orris and black amber give a dark spicy background. The bergamot and plum compliment the grapefruit nicely, an amazing fruit scent. Light, fresh and juicy. Yes, I feel like I could drink this.

[Blood onmy hands]

Fruity scents usually smell very youthful to me, reminding me of something that a young energetic girl would wear (especially if they have grapefruit). So I expected this to have that young/juvenile feel to it.

 

But this is fruity all grown up. It is so well balanced. Like a sophisticated older lady's perfume, but with energizing grapefruit and plum slathered over it. The result is rather elegant and sexy, and I can pick out all of the notes as they swirl around each other.

 

It's not one of my all time favorites (I have trouble loving fruity blends so it seems)... but I like it. A lot.

[joseybird]

Grapefruit, plum, and something dark and powdery. It's an...odd, slightly disjointed scent, and puts me in mind of some sort of formless, sinister presence.

[emz83]

Very juicy but not overwhelmingly sweet. Light, but very *there*, and on me it was fruit all the way. (I'm not sure which formulation it was though.)

[OriginalWacky]

Bottle (Imp): Mmmm, sweet citrusness.

 

Just On: Oooh, sweet and tart citrus.

 

An hour or two later: Oh, beautiful sweet scent, you have stolen my heart.

 

Around 6 hours: Ohmy, a soap scent?

 

12 hours: It's all gone now.

 

Overall: It was great, until it hit the soap thing. Stupid skin. I wanna cry, because I was LOVING this.

 

After reading other reviews: I see where the sweet and tart came from, and this could be come a favored room scent.

[violetblue]

This was a frimp, not one I would have picked out due to the citrus. It's pretty, but just too Pledge smelling for my taste, and the florals gave me a headache, which is very rare for me.

[Dark Seraphim]

Bottle: Smelt very lovely here. At first, it reminded me of an orange fruit punch, but when I smelt orange peels, I realized that it was more like a sangriea scent. Very nice.

 

Worn: Still smelt the same, but only for a short while. It quickly became a cleaning scent and weakened very quickly.

 

 

Burnt: Completely failed here. It just smelt like orange ink and nothing more.

 

 

It worked fine in the bottle, but didn't seem to do too well anywhere else. It's a great blend, but doesn't work for me. 6/10

[tinyvulture]

i thought this would be really citrus-y, but it’s not. the grapefruit is there, but its tartness is nicely balanced with the sweetness of plum and the floral scent of orris. the amber gives it a nice warmth. it didn’t make me sit up and go, “wow!” but it’s pleasant enough, a nice, girly summer scent.

[silver_springs]

I agree with whoever said fruit punch. That could be part of the reason why I'm so drawn to it, I loved fruit punch as a kid.

 

The lab threw this imp in free with my first order. They guessed good because out of the 9 imps I got, this one turned out to be my second favorite.

 

I can't stop smelling my wrists when it's on. I love the fruityness. The entire scent reminds me of the color red. It's a great flirty scent. All of the other imps that I've tried that were strongly fruity all seemed to go powdery on me but this one didn't.

 

I plan on ordering a big bottle soon.

Edited August 14, 2005 by silver_springs

[Aredhel]

Rating (on skin): 2/5

Summarised in a word or two: Amber powder.

 

In the imp/bottle: Plum, sharp grapfruit, and a thick, sweet amber.

 

On skin, wet: A sweet, floral, almost spicy amber. Quite pretty, but faint. Faint as in "have to press my nose to my wrist to smell anything."

 

On skin, dry: Powdery, sweet, floral amber. Still very, very faint.

 

Conclusion: This reminds me of Blood Amber, but not as spicy, and a tad more floral. Nice, but not for me.

Edited December 17, 2005 by Aredhel

[jewelbug]

Bottle: What I smell first is a powdery flower, and then WHOA! Very grapefruity!

 

Me:

Wet: Juicy tart grapefruit, combined with amber (which is powdery on me). This is actually a really nice balance--sweet but not syrupy, with that amber edge.

Drying: Smells of candy as it dries, sort of like lemon starbursts. I also smells a hint of a sweeter fruit--reminds me of berry, but it's probably the plum. During the drydown, its has a tart plum balanced with flower/powder/amber.

Dry: THrough the next 3 hours, the scent bounces around from too plummy, perfect plum:amber balance, and too powdery amber/floral. This scent is toying with me. At the last, it settled on a nice floral with a tart berry--very balanced (at last). Took a long time for it to make up its mind…

 

Him:

On skin, wet: Flowery (rose, I think?) with only a hint of citrus. There is something biting in the background, but I don't know what.

Drying: There is more citrus than before, but it's still quite floral and has almost musky powder notes. Very nice so far, but a touch feminine.

Later: dry amber/powdery scent, slight bitter edge of grapefruit. Its girly. Goes powdery--is that the amber? Anyway, I like it, just not on a man.

 

Overall: On me, it wouldn't make up its mind: plum-amber-plum-amber. Anyway, I really do like the last stage, but I can't handle the schizophrenia. And the floral/amber notes are a bit "old" feeling for me. Don't know how else to describe that. On him, it smelled like I'd want it to smell on me, but it was too girly for him. This is a swap--for someone else to love.

[elphaba]

There was something about Megaera that immediately reminded me of the scents I've smelled in the Funereal Oils line. After looking up the ingredients, I suspect this was the orris, which also shows up in Dance of Death.

 

Just on, Megaera smelled like a fruity floral on me. After a bit of wearing, the amber came out and mingled with the orris in a way that was surprisingly dark. It really did feel glowering and jealous, in a quietly seething sort of way. Megaera seems so sweet when she introduces herself, but I swear, she'll be talking about you behind your back at the first opportunity.

 

I found the scent quite evocative, but it was too dark for my tastes in the final drydown.

[Lilithlefay]

This is amazingly good!!!!! Very rich, plumy. Very citrusy at first but that faded very quickly on me leaving this beautifully complex scent. The bergamot is faint and the grapefruit adds a wonderful crisp juicyness to this, but the plums, orris, and amber really round this out and make it seethe. A bottle of this is most surely being ordered very very soon.

[Ajila]

Wet on me this was very light orris (at least this is the second blend with orris in I've gotten parma violets from so I presume that it's the orris that does it), with a little of the bergamot and grapefuit in the background. Dry on me it's still predominantly orris, but now the plum is there too. I like this, but it really doesn't last very long on me.

[Sheila]

This was a giftimp from the lab. Thanks, lab!

 

On wet: hello grapefruit! It fades very quickly, never to appear again.

 

After it dries: I'm suprised how sweet this is. It's like a candied plum. I don't know what orris is, so I'm guessing that's what's making this so sweet--the bergamot and black amber are definitely in the background. A very pretty scent.

[madelf]

This smells great in the imp - a little sweet, with a tiny bit of grapefruit and a dash of amber. It is quite nice.

 

However, on me it becomes a slightly sweet incense. None of the notes really pop out at me, and everything feels muted. Like some other scents with amber that I've tried, this was nice but just not very distinctive on me.

[dreadeddragon]

In the bottle: Grapefruit! And plum and orris

 

First on: Orris & plum, and something else a bit candy like. I smell like Strawberry Pez! That's rad! Seriously though, it really does smell exactly like Pez tastes. Not sure if that's a good or bad thing yet.

 

Drydown: I still smell just like Pez. I think I'll keep this one and see if I wear it ever. It kind of makes me happy.

[Chantarelle]

Mmm, I love this. Fresh out of the bottle there's a fabulous sharp grapefruit, which actually sticks around a bit, unlike most grapefruit scents. Top that with the fruity plum and something musky and it makes a wonderful oil that lasts well.