Aries

[Kate]

Aries: March 21 - April 19

black pepper / frankincense

ginger

 

From the Celestial Swap.

 

This one was a big intro with not much follow through. When it was drying on my wrist, I got a huge whiff of chocolate. Really powerful, pure chocolate. Then slowly as it dried, the chocolate faded into a more spicy scent, possibly ginger and something that smelled vaguely like roses. But it quickly faded to nearly nothing. Nice, but gone too quickly on me.

[Silvertree]

Courtesy of the Celestials circular swap!

 

This reminds me of a friend of mine, who happens to be an Aries. It's alluring, a bit difficult on occasion, but ultimately worth the trouble.

 

The frankincense, ginger, pepper, and cloves? sandalwood? cedar? squabble for a little while, all trying to assert their dominance, but eventually agree on a blend that suits all the parties. Especially me!

[quimerula]

Strong and energetic, vibrant.

It's a bit masculine, with a smokey tone. And the pepper gives it a bold touch.

[wickedgoddess]

Wet - I have a red ginger single note, and that's exactly what I smell here. Mmm…ginger!

 

Dry - as it dries it softens, and some frankincense comes out. Not much, just a touch. This is nice and I like it, but it's not something I would go crazy trying to get a bottle of.

 

On the wickedgoddess scale of 1 to 5, with 5 being best, this rates a 4.

[Fefferbella]

I've been dying to try this scent since I read about it. Aries is my zodiac and *damn*, this scent fits me perfectly!

 

Out of the vial it's rich, spicey and complex.

 

As it dries, the different notes become easier to pick out... spicey black pepper, thick frankincense and sweet ginger.

[Blood onmy hands]

First on my skin, this is frighteningly sharp. Sharp cedar and a blast of hot pepper that makes me want to sneeze. Thankfully, the sharpness calms down after a few minutes and this gets a lot sweeter on my skin.

 

After a half hour... Ginger tends to smell sweet and sort of vanilla-ish on my skin, and it has come out in full force now. There is also a softer, powdery woods note that is reminding me of sandalwood. The frankincense is smooth and also has a sweet twinge to it. I can pick out the individual scents, but they’re swirling together rather nicely. The pepper is nowhere to be seen.

 

Aries actually goes rather sweet on my skin with both the ginger and the frankincense. It is sharper on my boy and smells smokier in the drydown. It smells very masculine (and yummy) and him, but it’s something that I seem to be able to pull off as well. I’ll definitely be keeping my imp and will think about purchasing a bottle if it is ever available again

[edenssixthday]

Aries - This opens up on me as a peppery frankincense that is oddly faint (since frankincense is usually very loud on my skin), and it sticks very close to my skin with no wafting whatsoever. As it warms up on my skin, I begin to smell other notes in this blend -- possibly incense, sandalwood, and a gritty, earthy scent of fire and smoke. This blend is very interesting and so perfect for most Aries-born people that I know. I'm not an Aries, and this scent is definitely not for me!

[isabella]

wow this is ALL black pepper in the imp.....its so spicy i almost sneeze and my eyes water....

 

on, its very strong at first and i can now smell the ginger and something like incense.

 

eventually it calms down to a spicy incense but OH BOY was that a ride.

[sookster]

straight sniff from imp is hot and spicy pepper, ginger, incense

 

once applied a twinge of sweetness comes forefront...a magnolia floral...

this combined with the ginger is so different!

 

interesting and quite pretty in my humble opinion

[Miss Lynx]

Hmmm, pretty nice. Spicy dragon's blood. Not as much depth as I tend to like in scents, but certainly not without appeal. It's pleasantly fiery, and my initial thought was that it would probably make quite a nice summer scent.

 

But as it dried down, it just sort of... I don't know, fell a bit flat somehow. It never became bad, exactly, just not terribly interesting. It's still spicy dragon's blood, but it hasn't got a lot going for it but that, and I have so many other spicy resinous scents that it's hard to get too excited about this one. It doesn't come anywhere close to the greatness of, say, Chimera.

 

So... Not bad, but not really a standout. And no real reason to hang onto it when I have others that are similar but better.

 

Grade: B

 

ETA: Looking at the description again, apparently it's frankincense rather than dragon's blood. Not sure why I was so sure it was dragon's blood... Oh well. Most of my review still pretty much holds...

Edited May 7, 2007 by Miss Lynx

[tartchef]

Aries is my Holy Grail, that which I'd read about but never, ever in a million years thought I'd get to try... let alone own a bottle! Thanks to ifinena's spectacular sleuthing skills, though, here I am, Preciousssss in hand, and it is everything I'd hoped it would be...

 

In the bottle, it's hot & dry, with a trace of a beautiful, elusive floral - oh frankincense! Applied, that note comes to the fore, but it's in no way cloying - it reminds me of really good incense, all smoke & spice, but dipped in a heavenly attar of something... Sookster's right in that it is akin to magnolia, or gardenia, a lush white blossom... The ginger & pepper & smokiness keep it grounded, pushing Aries firmly away from "floral" territory. After an hour, the bloom fades, and I'm left with a deep, almost bitter waft of incense, austere & focused.

 

To be sure, this is not perfume, per se... it's more akin to the TAL Temple blends, in my mind, a scent for very private, solitary moments... This grounds my spirit, and helps me release the sluggish baggage of the past that I tend to carry in my chest... I breathe deeper, sit taller, stand firm. And I smell divine

[zankoku_zen]

Hmmm... this one is a warm, almost dusty blend. I'm not a huge fan of frankincense... and I am happy to report that the pepper behaves itself (might be the aging). The pepper and frankincense are really dominant on my skin.

 

It kinda smells like spicy dragon's blood.

 

Ah well.

[katrink]

The smell reminds me of a tattoo machine, disinfectant, and white blood cells.