Athens

[quikslvr]

A reformulation and modernization of a true Classical Greek perfume, myrrhine: voluptuous myrrh, golden honey, red wine, and sweet flowers.

 

Honey! Its beginning pop reminds me of Bastet. The honey/red wine/myrrh combo is a bit weird at first--sweet, but with an undertone that's a little dark, a little disturbing. The honey eventually calms down and reveals the myrrh. Reedy, classical incense smoke, it emerges as a dry, spare note. I like that note, thus me nabbing single note light myrrh when I got a chance. Athens as a whole is very, very evocative--mystic, mythic and classic. I'm definitely going to hang onto it.

Edited November 30, 2005 by quikslvr

[niter]

Imp

Sweet and fragrant. This is very soft and breathy.

 

Wet

This goes on suprisingly sweet....like crushed berries in syrup. This is the best honey blend I have tried. The sweetness sleeps on a bed of brusied roses and soft myrrh. In wicked, the myrrh rose marriage was bullied by jasmine; here is it complimented.

 

Dry

The sweet wine scent has faded slightly but I can still smell it riding with the honey over top the rose/myrhh based. What a complex, layered blend. I love it!

[Musamea]

As a student of Attic Greek, I jumped at a chance to try this oil. Impressions:

 

In the imp: Heady mulled wine drizzled with golden honey.

 

Wet: Whoa, the reviewers who compared this scent to a head shop were right on. The incense and myrrh fairly jump out from the blend. A bit too strong for me.

 

Drydown: After a couple of hours, I start getting a beautiful spicy note in the drift of the scent, though up close the incense is still overpowering. In the end, even though I adore whatever my skin did with this oil to create that spicy scent, the sickly-sweet resiny note in this blend lasts too long for me to like it.

 

Athens--beautiful in concept and execution; very warm and mysterious, very ancient-world... and very not for me.

[Meg]

In the bottle: Honeycomb and wine

 

Wet: Thick honey and some wine, then the myrrh pops up and dashes to the front for a while, before mixing with loads of sweet white flowers, like clover flowers.

 

Drydown: It becomes much subtler when it's dry. There's a scent of honey and beeswax, mixed with the spicy myrrh and a slight bitterness that seems to be all that's left of the wine. I think the flowers are still around, but they smell like dried flowers, now.

 

Overall: It brings me back to eating honey cake at the Heraklion Museum in Crete, in the scorching heat, with trees all around... there's a slightly dark edge given by the myrrh and wine, that makes the scent thick and heady and stops it from going too sweet. Very nice. It starts out really quite bold and syrupy, and ends up rather subtle, sweet and mysterious. Not a huge favourite, but I like.

Edited January 1, 2006 by Meg

[Blueelm]

Is there something wrong with me? Do I just not review something if I love it too much!?

 

Athens and Medea are my BPAL holy grails of scent.

 

Honey, raisins, bay, wine, and many spices. I will say that this is a very chemistry dependent blend. My mom loved this on me and tried some while I was visiting and it smelled sickly-sweet on her. She does great with classic powdery orientals and florals.

 

On me this is a wonderful complex spice blend with a deep raisin/wine undercurrent. It stays fairly consistant through to the drydown which is a vague fruity-spice. I get more compliments while wearing this one than most anything I try BPAL or not.

 

Well I see why I don't review my favorites enough. Appearantly I get incoherent when I'm in love. Well....

[couscous]

Wow. This one does NOT screw around. I usually notice that a scent is "strong" when i dislike it, and discount it as such. This is the first time I've really enjoyed a bpal but wished it were a bit lighter. No slathering on this one!

 

Wet, I get mostly honey. This is not a floral honey, and it's not sheer or plasticky. This is langorus, sticky-thick honey- very sweet, very dense. I've only smelled Bpal's red wine in Centzon, Nosferatu, and Madrid, and all three of those had a slightly sour quality. Athens does not, so, while the honey smells murky and multi-layered, it is nearly impossible to identify the accompanying notes as red wine or anything else. Bluelm said raisins, and, while I don't think Athens ACTUALLY has a raisin note, she's right on with the feeling- concentrated, dark sweetness. Do you like figs? Very sweet figs? I do, and if you do too, you'll probably enjoy Athens.

 

As it dries, the myrrh comes out with what has to be a resin blend, because Athens becomes very church-like. Very cathedral. The honey is still overwhelming, though, and it's making me feel a bit perverse. There's a battle going on between the revelry of fruit, wine, and honey and the sanctity of myrrh.

 

I laughed a bit while I was wearing this one- it's so fitting. I do wish that it turned a bit more toward the sanctified side of itself rather than the debauched on me, but my skin's alternative is certainly one I can live with.

 

Fans of O, try an imp of this for branching-out purposes!

[angharad]

WOW, the wine is strong in this. I get an overly sweet wine with a bitter edge to it both from the imp and at application. After drydown, the bitterness comes out more in the wine. This stage is exceedingly strong and lasts for several hours. When it finally starts to fade, so does the bitterness, and I can finally smell the sweet flowers -- not well enough to identify any, but enough to soften the bittersweet wine and make this stage the best yet. Unfortunately, this stage also has the least amount of throw, and it doesn't last very long. After about half an hour, the scent is completely gone.

[harmonyfb]

In the imp, this was super-sweet.

 

Wet, it smells...well, kind of musty. I can smell the myrrh very strongly, but it's got a sharp, kind of sour undertone that I think is the red wine note. Over it all is the sickly-sweet honeyed smell. Ew.

 

Dry is more of the same, except now it's giving me a headache. Obviously not for me.

[LiberAmoris]

Athens really is sweet. On me it's overwhelming honey, with that slightly sour berried wine note. I get just a bit of myrrh. It does seem ancient somehow, straightforward and decadent. It's a golden blend, and strikes me as mead at a bacchanal. There's no blush on the cheek of this honey.

 

I like the idea of Athens, but I don't think I could ever wear this as perfume, as the honey's just too strong for my taste.

[jazlyn]

Wow Athens is pretty strong and heady... and spicy! On me the myrrh is strongest, followed by the honey. I don't really get the wine, oddly, nor is there much of a floral side to this. Is there dragon's blood resin in here? This reminds me of other scents like that (a bit like Blood for example). Later on there's a slightly plasticky feel to this and it's faded a lot actually. I don't think I'll be wearing this.

[loves_requiem]

gah. sweet flowers....and wine....

 

i wish i coulda waited to see if it morphed, but my dauhter started sneezing

[locuraelegantia]

I'm not sure that I've ever smelled myrrh by itself, so that may be what I'm getting out of this blend. People have described myrrh as being 'sticky' and I can see how this scent could take on that adjective.

 

What I can pick out is a strong amount of wine and something sour underneath it. I can't smell any honey or flowers.

[Neely]

In the bottle: appley sweetness?

 

Wet: TWIZZLERS! Ok, I love most of BPAL's wine notes, not getting that, getting Twizzlers. Umm no, this is not good. I was hoping to love Athens.

 

Dry down: appley sweetness, with a rose scent? Whah? Roses aren't listed. Maybe I got an old imp? Or maybe it is because of Aunt Flow? Somethng bitter has popped up too.

 

30 minutes: smells dark rich, and yummy. Almost like tobacco with a floral on top. Ok, I am really having trouble with my nose.

 

Conclusion: Became bubblegum sweet on me. Smelled like bubble gum and Twizzlers. I am so disappointed. Maybe I need to try it again after my hormones settle down again. I will edit if the scent changes.

 

Rating on my skin, for now this is a 2.

[fiddledragon]

Scent in bottle: Wine, honey, and a touch of myrrh. Mmmmmmmm...this is almost like Delphi, except it's an upscale Greek tavern instead of a seedy one. I'm not sure if it's too sweet, though.

 

Scent on me:

Wet -- Mmm...it's still slightly too sweet-alcoholic, but the myrrh has come out to play.

Dry -- It stays myrrh and sweet alcohol, and is lovely, but still a bit on the cheap-mead side.

 

Conclusion: This borders on the too-sweet, but isn't sickening like Delphi was. I'll keep it and try again in a week or so.

[bifemmefatale]

The lab's honey note hates me. Combined with the red wine and florals, this is some noxious cough syrup mixed with an old lady's sickroom. A shame because I know a lot of people rave about their honey scents, but not a single one has worked on me yet save Dana O'Shee, and there the honey is quite faint. It mellows after a while, but winey honey is just not what I want to smell like. It seems to have drowned out my beloved myrrh too.

[brownbear]

OMG! At first sniff I am in love. It is heavy sticky fresh honey. mmmm I love myrrh. and yeah, alcohol. There's a hint of dark spice as well.

There is another note that I can't place, but it is a bit weedy, like dandelions or something.

 

ETA: This really has staying power. Now it smells like I've been rolling around in a field of alyssum.

ETA: I can still smell this! It's been over twelve hours. Usually I have the problem of scents fading on me.

ETA: It's been more than 24 hours and I can still faintly smell it if I sniff my arm up close. I've never had one last this long.

Edited April 11, 2006 by brownbear

[trins-ravengirl]

In the bottle I smell mostly red wine.

 

On my skin...well let's just say this is one that didn't work out so well.

 

It ended up smelling like i'd bought a box of wine, drank it, then promptly threw up on my arm. No offense meant, just something in there didn't agree with my skin chemistry.

 

Good idea, bad on me.

[septima_pica]

Oh, man. This is astonishing.

 

All the alcoholic scents I've tried (except Madrid, for some reason) have been absolutely awesome, and this one's no exception. The wine is rich, fruity, pungent, a little sour...just perfect. It reminds me of Delphi, except it replaces the strange dusty green herbs with deep spices and florals...and the honey is so sticky-sweet and perfect to cover the sourness of the wine. Also, I think myrrh loves me. Athens is kinda how I wished O would have been, except for the part where vanilla and amber turned into ick -- apparently what I needed was honey-myrrh, not honey-amber.

 

This scent is STRONG, too, with a lot of throw. At least three people have commented on it from a distance of probably 30 feet, although thankfully they all liked it. It lasts amazingly long too -- after six hours the wine/spices/flowers are gone, but the deep sweet smell of beeswax and myrrh remains as strong as some blends have been immediately upon application.

 

I wore this to a class today where we ended up discussing the pre-Socratic philosophers and the roots of Aristotelian logic...it was awesome. This really does have an ancient feel to it, classic and evocative and unembarrassedly sensual. It jumps right into my top ten list. I may like Hetairae better when I get a chance to try it, but if not I'm definitely jumping for a bottle of this -- though with its strength, I'll probably take a loooong time to run through it.

Edited May 11, 2006 by septima_pica

[Miss Surreal]

My second bpal I tried out of my first order...

In the vial: Wine...wine...wine. Pretty much all Im getting, but im not really familar with the smell of myrrh so If i was smelling it I couldnt tell you.

 

Wet on wrists: Wine has pretty much owned this oil, not getting any honey at all. Still smells nice though.

 

Dry on wrists: And finally the honey has arrived. Honey and something floral drenched in wine. Wine is still the strongest note here.

 

30 mins later: Wine has died down and honey is now the strongest scent here and something almost bitter...myrrh? Whatever it is it mellowed the wine for which im grateful.

 

Hour later: This thing has strength and throw. The bitter smell is gone and the wine is back, but the wine and the honey have blended into something very nice.

 

Closing thoughts: When I first put it on, I expected it to be something I liked but would wear rarely. Its now 2 hours later and its still as strong as my first application, although the smell has morphed into something beautiful. I think the wine and honey were battling it out for a while, but when they settle down the mixture is wonderful. I also get what has to be the myrrh, because it's in no way floral. Bitter yet spicey? Ill have to look up what a single note of myrrh smells like. I could totally see myself wearing Athens this summer.

[redlisse]

Honey! YOU are the culprit! YOU ruined O for me!

 

Athens is, I'm sure, beautiful. Lovely even - on someone whose skin does not turn honey into overpowering drippy oozy cloying YELLOW STICKY SWEET. And mine does. So...not so much a match made in heaven, yes?

 

On me, this was honey, sitting on my wrist in a heavy cloud, screaming 'hey! look! I'm honey! seriously, dude - check it out! honey! the stuff bees make! don't you like honey? huh? doncha?' Ad nauseam. Sometimes, if I sniffed very carefully, I could detect other things attempting to beat honey into some semblance of good behavior, but their attempts were less than successful. The myrrh, which is generally golden and gorgeous, made an especially valiant attempt, and even succeeded (after four or five hours) in morphing the attention-whoring honey into a cross between Florence and O. However, since I hated O (somehow the smell of vanilla-flavored creamer powder mixed with honey just ain't my thing), and Florence, to me, is like Bastet's prudish younger sister...thanks, myrrh hon, I appreciate the effort, but I don't think this is working out.

[slave1]

In Bottle: Spicy honey

 

On Skin: In my quest to smell all honey blends, I have come to Athens finally. I do smell the honey right away… and the myrrh. The myrrh really darkens and spices the scent up. This is not the syrupy sweetness of O or Al-Araaf… this is a more soft honey covered in a velvet blanket of myrrh. The red wine also gives it a slight tart note… making it actually quite elegant. The florals are very subtle, so much so that I can’t pick out specific notes. To me this is like a mulled honey wine… not anything I’m too crazy about. I prefer the sweeter more obviously honey, honey blends. I do like it, and will keep my imp, but don’t think I’ll order a bottle.

[neuilly]

I was lucky enough to receive this as a frimp from one of the users on here Not a scent I would have picked out on my own because I'm not a huge fan of myrrh in perfume but...always happy to give each scent a try!

 

In the bottle: The myrrh is REALLY strong, but there's a hint of honey in the background. Not getting much else out of it though.

 

Wet: Much of the same, although there's a more smoky hint to it. Actually, the honey is growing a little stronger as well.

 

Dry: The honey and myrrh were battling it out for a while but now the myrrh is completely dominant. There's only a hint of honey. I still get no florals or wine...but I am a little clogged up so I suppose there could be vague hints of it that I can't pick up.

 

Overall: I feel like an occult shop. That sort of incense smell that takes over everything. I'm sure it's the myrrh. I personally don't like smelling like incense. I can see this working for some people but it's definitely not for me. Another one for the swap pile. Although I oddly did like the bits of honey. I thought I wouldn't, but it's won me over. I may have to look for a honey scent. Also, the scents never seemed to blend for me. Two clashing scents, and finally one lost.

Edited April 27, 2006 by neuilly

[klio]

In the imp: Wine and honey.

 

Wet, and Drying: There's something syrupy in it that's a bit cloying--perhaps the red wine--but I like it anyway. It's heavy and incense-y and musty. Are there flowers? I don't notice them.

 

Dry: I am in LOVE with Athens. My body chemistry adores it. It is the most complex and the most living scent I've tried from bpal--or from anywhere. It doesn't simply change in a straight line from one note to another then stop. Honey, wine, myrrh, interlaced, alternately rising to the surface, mingling and separating. One moment the honey is strong and vibrant, the next moment it is all myrrh, the next it is a krater deep with garnet wine. It evokes Agora and Parthenon and midnight symposia presided over by illustrious hetairai.

 

I'm wearing Athens as I rewrite this review from elsewhere and as I try to describe what it evokes more fully. Not a riot of notes, but overlays and blends, truly the entire atmosphere of the symposium: As you lift your winecup, is it the honey mixed sweetly in the dark wine that you smell, or the honey poured over the platters and bowls on the table? Turn your head to smile at the poet on the couch beside yours, and is it the myrrh from incense pot that drifts to you, or the myrrh annointing your own fingers? Athens is commingled but never chaotic; philosophical but sensual; intelligent and sexual.

 

It is a strong presence, so not for days when you want to fade into the background. Perfect for the night your warrior returns from battles in Persia.

 

Later: Oh joy! Must have a big bottle of this.

 

Later still: Joy!

 

And, yes, it lasts forever.

Edited April 29, 2006 by klio

[Mary Mayhem]

I believe this must have been a frimp. Myrrh and I do not get along.

 

I'm opening the imp....

 

Smells a bit like medicine. A sweet, but tart medicine.

 

This is such a weird scent! I can't even describe what this smells like.. root? Medicine? (olord, my husband is laughing at me everytime I pull my arm up to my nose and then type this stuff up..) It's almost got a dirty smell to it.

 

It reminds me of a licorish/medicine jar of honey. Very odd.

Edited April 30, 2006 by Mary Mayhem

[kunoichi]

Sadly, myrrh is a scent that I can't stand. All I smell in Athens was myrrh, turning me off this scent. I tried to wear it, but again all that came through was myrrh. It did die down after a while, and became sweeter, but sadly I can't wait that long and so I gave the imp away to my friend who introduced me to BPAL.

 

I can't stand Lilith, either, because of the myrrh. Sad, really. But luckily Bastet's myrrh isn't that strong and I couldn't smell it.

 

Myrrh and I just don't mix.