Melancholia

[sighanne]

Melancholia, Albrecht Dürer.
Blue lilac, white sandalwood, stargazer lily, paperwhite narcissus, ylang ylang, delphinium, and cypress.

 

This is very lilac-y, and when wet, it's a bit soapy, but on me that doesn't last. When dry, it's unbelievably delicious and almost glowing on my skin. It's amazing. I just had no idea when I sniffed it in the imp or even when I first slathered it on. Bottle for sure.

[JenM]

in the imp: a sharp lily, with a soft, nostalgic after-whiff.

on the wrist: Much greener, with an instant hit of sandalwood. I suspect this is going to amp, as sandalwood usually does. But at the moment it's tempered by green, and the hint of ylang ylang, lilac and lily.

After an hour, it's faded to a sharp floral, very much like the smell in the imp, but without the echo. The right wrist has faded completely. There's also a tang of something undefinable that I am going simply to describe as "skin chemistry."

Overall, a lovely scent that just isn't quite right for my skin, alas.

[Venneh]

In the imp, this is really green, with a sharp hint of something, not sure what. On my skin, this is a sharper floral, with the lily playing with the narcissus and the cypress, I think. Not quite sure what to think of this just yet. It softens out to a gentle lily/lilac scent, and is in generally just beautiful. Definitely going to get a 5mL of this.

Edited November 20, 2009 by Venneh

[Saya]

When first applied this is heavy on the lilac, but that's fine by me I love lilacs. It's a true, fresh lilac that is pretty nice. After an hour or so the lilac disappears and it becomes a generic floral blend with a touch of greenery. Pass.

[SophieCedar]

This scent makes me dreamy and wish I was aimlessly floating around an antiquated town.

 

Wet: lilac with blue musk, sandalwood and stargazer lily. I can barely smell lily at first, but it comes out rapidly.

Drydown: much more interesting. The lily takes over the lilac and more sandalwood is present. I can smell the narcissus and ylang ylang, giving it a nice top note. The ylang ylang is a great touch, with it's definitive wine/jasmine sexiness. I could smell mind clearing cypress for a second but it sunk back in. Delphinium, I can barely smell. I can conjure it, knowing it's in there from reading the description, but blindly smelling, not really. Lovely blue floral blend!

[Vega]

Sniffed: Light, pale watery florals with a salty tang.

 

On skin: Melancholia is a subdued, heavier pure floral. I can't identify any individual notes (but I have trouble distinguishing florals from each other), but as a whole these flowers are gentle, light and pale, "spectral" in quality, thankfully not screaming. (Similar to Grandmother of Ghosts and The Ghost.) This blend is distinctly salty, but this morphs in and out, and the scent is overall more sweet. It definitely evokes tears.

 

Verdict: Melancolia I is my favourite etching by Albrecht Dürer, but I'm just not a fan of pure florals. Even so, the blend does evoke the image, and I'm glad to have tried it.

 

 

 

Update on July 2011: I forgot I'd already reviewed this, and wrote another! Here it is.

 

Sniffed: Whoa, this is incredibly salty!

 

On skin: I never knew a perfume could be salty -- until I met Melancholia. Oh boy, this is an ocean of tears -type of melancholy, and the doing of a screaming white floral. I suspect that the culprit may be the lily or ylang ylang. I'm a little relieved that this obnoxious, pungent saltiness recedes somewhat as the scent dries down, revealing calmer pale floral notes (maybe narcissus and others) upon a light, barely detectable sandalwood-cypress base. Nevertheless, the saltiness remains and colours the entire blend, an utterly tearful melancholy.

 

Verdict: I love Albrecht Dürer's etching, but this blend is quite disappointing -- it's a one-note salty floral on my skin. As one quite predisposed to melancholy, I can tell you that this state of mind can't be reduced to merely tears... But it does pervade one's entire outlook on the world. In that manner, this blend is successful. But alas, I still don't like it.

Edited July 16, 2011 by Vega

[orata]

This is TONS of lilac and paperwhite narcissus on my skin. I actually thought it was orange blossom until I read the notes, but I think I was wrong and it's mainly lilac and narcissus. It is an incredibly powerful, huge floral. Slightly creamy-smelling, somewhat fresh and soapy. The ylang ylang and lily (smells like lily of the valley to me, actually; with sort of that light greenness) emerge a bit as the scent dries down; I don't smell the sandalwood or cypress. To me it smells like a creamy, pure classic floral. It kind of gives me a headache, but I think I'd like it with just a TEENY tiny dab instead of a swipe from the imp wand.

[puck_nc]

Origin: Straight from the Lab

 

Initial Thoughts: I either simply missed this one as a general glance at the Salons showed me a lot of my death notes, or I was put off by the cypress. Stargazer lily is one of my favorite florals, I like blue lilac and delphinium very much, so this should have been an earlier purchase instead of a last-minute desperate-to-get-it order.

 

In the Bottle: Green and herby. The cypress and ylang ylang are strong with the florals just peeking out.

 

Wet: Ah, good. The florals come rushing out to meet my nose. Something is keeping the entire scent just on the watery side, in keeping with the theme of melancholy.

 

Drydown: Excellent...the cypress and ylang ylang have faded into the background, leaving a lovely gentle floral in their wake. I can pick out my beloved stargazer lily and the lilac meshes nicely with it.

 

Verdict: I am so happy to have snagged a bottle of this before it was gone forever.

[Monday]

This has that classic feeling which is very fitting for it's name. I actually smell green lilac and orris. Since there isn't any orris listed it must be a combo of the notes making it smell like orris (possibly the paperwhite narcissus).

It's a bit too generic for me though.

[LiberAmoris]

Melancholia is a classic, lilac-central floral that smells like springtime to me. The blue lilac is lush and almost overwhelming when wet, but when dry, the mix and balance of lilac against the white sandalwood, lily, narcissus and delphinium makes this a nuanced bouquet. I'm only picking up a hint of ylang ylang and the cypress is also barely perceptible to me. The lilac really makes this work for me—it's one of my favorite notes and it's set off well here. Very pretty!