Lysander

[The_Merf]

Lilac musk, tonka, wood violet, and urbane lime rind, with a Venus-kissed tangle of myrtle, blackberry leaf, and benzoin.

In the imp: This smells spectacular--roasted vanilla tonka with a hint of floral. So help me lime, if you ruin this...

Wet: Still all good, with the tonka note dominant

Drydown and wear: Dadgum, I really like this one--the tonka is all smoky and vanilla, and the lilac is in the background. This is a great "cold day" scent and probably my favorite tonka blend after Sybaris. I would like the blackberry leaf and benzoin to be a bit more detectable, but I still really like the way this scent turns out.

[yeahbutnobut]

Lysander

 

In the imp: caramel? What the? This smells like those smoky caramel blends, with herbs added.

Wet on skin: lime, smoky pastry, blackberries (the non-catty variety) and herbal greenery.

Dry on skin: hmm, this is weird, because this reminds me of Mr Nancy. Not just because of the lime which is very strong now, but because there's a scent of buttery smoky baking going on, almost caramelised but not sweet…it's like the pastry note in Jolasveinar. I also smell the lilac, which is a nice variety, a lilac cologne like in His Station and Four Aces. I also smell blackberry leaf, which is a green blackberry note that smells like brambles, not cat pee, and reminds me of Queen of Spades or Bewitched. I also smell something very herbal, which I think, is the myrtle. I don't get much violet.

After a while: hmm, this tonka smells like champaca to me, which is odd. Normally I love tonka, when it gets all rich and sweet and gorgeously sexy like in Perversion, but this one is strange, and reminds me of overripe fruit. It reminds me slightly of Vaskakajja (sp?) now, creamy yet almost cloying, but it is surrounded by caramelised lime cologne, and something suspiciously like pipe tobacco. The myrtle may also be the note which smells almost fermented, it reminds me a little bit of Hemlock or the Hermit in here, a similar 'sweetly decaying herb' smell. I don't have problems with other blends with myrtle though. I don't know, but this blend isn't sitting right with my skin.

The odd fermented scent does seem to leave, and then I get a soft airy tonka (which still smells like champaca in here) and now I also get some violet. Now the scent has a slightly silvery-lilac scent to it. There's also some of the smokiness I got before, which could be benzoin incense, and a little lilac too, but it's now a very faint scent. Just a trace of sweet violet herbs and smoke. There's something oddly vetiver-ish to the lilac not, it smells a little like the drydown of Bad Luck Woman Blues now, vetiver and lilac cologne with a touch of caramel and greenery, though not as intense. But it is dark and smoky.

Verdict: this was totally different to what I expected. I was hoping for something almost like Sybaris, maybe a little more dapper and suave, but this just smelt a little jumbled up on me. First it smelt like smoky buttery pastry, borderline caramel, with lime. Think Mr Nancy but not as sweet, and with a green note of brambles overgrowing in a herb garden. it was interesting but not what I expected. Then it turned into an odd fruity-floral tonka, with violet and fermented herbs, before changing back to something caramelised and then eventually ending up smelling very much like Bad Luck Woman Blues, but less complex. Almost like there's vetiver or tobacco here. the tonka here is unusual in that it doesn't seem to work on me. This scent seems a little disjointed on my skin, the components don't mix well, they seem to combine in a slightly mismatched way, it's not certain or defined on me. It's not my thing, really. One to pass on.

Emoticon rating:

Is it a keeper? no.

If you like this, try: Mr Nancy, Sybaris, His Station and Four Aces, Bewitched, Bad Luck Woman Blues

[Ajila]

In the bottle – The sweet, dark resins coupled with a high sharpness from the lilac musk

 

Wet on me – The lilac musk remains the dominant note backed by the green of the myrtle and blackberry leaf and tempered by the sweetness of the tonka

 

Dry on me – Clean, green scent with what I would have said was leather in the back ground

 

Overall – This is a very masculine blend, but safe masculine, metrosexual rather that red blooded heterosexual if you see what I mean

[aestien]

Bottle: lime, something herbal almost licorice like

Wet: masculine, lime, but there’s something that reminds me of an herbal compress

Dry: old fashioned talc

 

Hmmmm. My chemistry morphed this into a blend of old dry herbs and talc. Off to the swaps pile.

[hepkitten]

Tonka, with an underlying fruitiness and a hint of floral. As it dries on me, though, the tonka drops into the background and what I think is the lilac musk is arguing with it.

 

Hmm...still undecided on this one. Also, I might have to try it on my bf and see what it does on him.

[lysithea]

When I first sniffed this, I wasn't sure that I was going to like it. So, I let it site for a couple of weeks. On a whim I broke out the imp earlier this week. I've worn the same scent 3 days in a row!!!

 

The lime is subdued, so it doesn't come off as a masculine scent. The tonka and the lilac musk are absolutely divine. The benzoin adds a nice lift to the overall. I love the sexy smokiness from the tonka.

 

I can't recommend this enough. If you are a fan of Lyonnese, Dorian, or Morocco, I think this would be a nice addition to your BPAL box.

[zankoku_zen]

In the imp: Slightly floral, whiff of vanilla and woods

 

On Skin: Much warmer, slightly muskier male cologne. The vanilla is not overpoweringly sweet.

 

On Drydown: Warm, musky male.

 

Verdict: I put this on the husband. He is actually intrigued by it and said that he'd test it again (usually, he goes 'interesting' and tells me to swap it because he wouldn't wear it). This one he seems to enjoy. I like the scent of it on him it's complex, at the beginning it smelled like cookies and a tree (which made him go Christmas!) but it dried to something slightly musky, slightly floral but very delicious. I'm glad he's willing to give it a shot. Perhaps Wilde has found competition for bottle love from him?

[theseagrows]

i dont even know how to describe this one. i definitely get tonka and lilac musk with a crisp hint of lime. this is a clean masculine scent with a hint of almost-foodiness. once it dries the blackberry leaf comes out more and sweetens it up a bit.

[minervaish]

Like other people in the thread, I mostly got a sweet dark foody feel at first from Lysander, which wasn't really good for me, since sweet and foody aren't favorites at all.

 

The middle period (about an hour in, for a couple of hours), the sweetness died down a bit and it wasn't too bad. The dark woods were vaguely pleasant, though I still was getting the sense that Lysander was a rather preppier boy than I'd really find interesting.

 

Eventually he faded to something a bit plastic-smelling. Sadly, the lime never showed itself to me. One the other hand, the Lilac musk didn't make me sneeze like Lilac general has, so that was a nice discovery!

[Miss Lynx]

There were a few notes listed in here that scared me, but others that sounded really nice, so I figured it was worth a try. And yes, I know it's supposed to be a men's scent, but that's never stopped me before.

 

It doesn't come across as overly masculine to me -- more gender-neutral. A guy could certainly wear it, but it's not a super-butch scent by any means. The dominant notes I get from it initially are tonka and a light musk, with maybe a bit of benzoin. Soft and a little incensey.

 

But as it settles in, the other notes come out a bit more, and I catch traces of citrus with floral and herbal notes. It sweetens up a bit at this point, becoming really distinctly un-butch on me at least. I suspect my skin's amping the violet and myrtle a little. It's still androgynous at this stage, but leaning a little more toward the feminine than otherwise.

 

It's got some fairly pleasant aspects to it, but overall it doesn't really come together for me. It might be nice on someone else, but it's not really me.

 

Grade: B-

[Lunaratu]

This is really a gender neutral scent with a trace of both floral and cologne aromas but it’s too bordering on masculine for me. However, I have a feeling that if I smelled this on a guy it would be one of those scents I’d want to curl up with.

Rating: 3/5

[forspecial_plate]

Lysander is fantastic. Basically I agree with the other reviews on this one. A little sweet, almost foody but not quite. Someone mentioned 'salty' and I get that too, just slightly. And someone else got leather.....me too...I kept thinking there was leather in this, and was surprised when I saw that there isn't. However, leather sometimes takes over a scent, but nothing in Lysander takes over....it's extremely well balanced and blended.

 

This smells fresh and clean to me at first, then it shifts slightly after a quick period of time (less than 10 minutes), and a woodier, more rugged side comes out. I really love that first burst of freshness, I think it's due to the lime partly. I would be afraid to get a bigger bottle of Lysander, because I think there may be some delicate components and I wouldn't use it up fast enough. And I found it hard to believe I was enjoying a scent with lilac and violet! Amazing! Usually I don't like either of those, Bluebeard being the exception for violet.

 

Also.....this kind of reminds me of a Possets scent......it seems to straddle the line between 'modern' and 'classic'. I can see what people mean when they say it's old-fashioned, but I also get a real modern vibe from it. Gender-neutral to my nose, and wonderfully so.

[slave1]

LYSANDER

 

In Bottle: Woody, sweet yet tart

 

On Skin: The wood violet is just that, sweet like a violet and earthy and woody as well. Very nice! The lime offers a dagger of tart that pierces through the peaceful sweet world of the violet. The benzoin and tonka are creamy and velvety… I want to snuggle under the covers they create. The myrtle and blackberry leaf are herbal but not medicinal, very tame. The lilac musk gives a nice background and adds to the warmth of the scent. Overall a soft and comforting scent with a sweet subtle floral edge. Medium throw and average wearlength.

[maribouquet]

Mmm, I like the tonka and lilac musk. However, something - maybe the lime? - smells kind of sour and off on me.

Edited November 5, 2007 by maribouquet

[valentina]

I received a frimp from a kind fellow forum member, and when I was opening the imp to sniff it, I got some on my hand, so my testing of Lysander commenced rather rapidly. My initial thought, when I sniffed it in the imp and on my skin, was that I rather fancied it, and I had so not expected to like it. Without knowing what was in it, I thought there was white musk, and something sweetly vanilla-caramel-spicy there. Reading what was in the blend came as a shock, for my nose went right to the warm, vaguely sweet tonka.

 

The second time I tested it, I was able to discern that yes, there is some lilac in the musk and wood violet in the blend, and they're most present from initial drydown through the first 15 minutes or so, although the tonka is dominant, along with some spice -- perhaps coming from the spicy resins of the benzoin. The lime then flares up and makes the scent much tarter and less foody. On my skin, the scent balances out and it's a clean, spicy-yet-citrusy masculine scent.

 

All I can keep thinking is that this is how Old Spice should have smelled, but if all the men in the 1950's and 1960's had smelled this good, the baby boom would have boomed a quite bit more.

Edited November 16, 2007 by valentina

[tinyvulture]

at first, something about this smells very masculine, like a floral men’s cologne. i can’t pick out the individual floral notes except for the violet. i also smell tart lime, sweet tonka, and…is there sandalwood in this? i smell something woodsy and slightly dusty. there’s also something green and herbal that comes out later – the blackberry leaf, maybe?

 

i wasn’t sure about keeping this one because my husband doesn’t like to wear floral blends. but actually, after it dries, the cologne aspect seems to fade and now i’m thinking i'll be the one who ends up wearing it, because i really like this sweet floral/woods combo.

[TrailerTrashPrincess]

i'd been wanting to try this for awhile but hadn't gotten frimped it from the lab... so a wonderful forumite sent me their imp to try...

impsniff: my first thought was "smells like Doc Constantine" but i haven't sniffed that in awhile so i'm not entirely sure where that scent-memory came from. i do get the *feel* of some of the more modern men's fragrances out of this.

on skin i get a burned-sugar/caramel sort of scent with some hella throw that quickly morphs into a sugary lime kool-aid surrounded by leafy-greens (blackberry leaf? myrtle?)

i'm not entirely sure how i feel about this scent. i don't hate it, but i don't love it. i don't see myself wearing it again, but it is so interesting i keep having to sniff my arm.

it reminds me a little bit of one of the Caswell Massey fragrances - one from the Presidential collection, but i can't remember if it is Kennedy or Washington.

 

all in all i'm utterly shocked that i'm enjoying a scent that has lilac (albeit a "lilac musk" and i'm not sure what that means), violets (are wood violets less like candy, then?), tonka and benzoin

[SarahScent44]

In the imp, this has a very candy-like smell - thick, rich, with a hint of lime.

 

Wet, this is a cloud-like scent - there's few individual notes, just a tangle of scent. The wood violet is distinguishable, so is the lilac - but little else.

 

Dry, this is a high-pitched, lime-y floral. I can see this working really well for someone else - but not for me.

[AliBabble]

this is a beautiful scent - round, and somewhat woodsy, with a subdued caramelized sweetness which i attribute to the tonka and benzoin.

the lilac musk gives a powdery, vintage duskiness, but is really not prominent. same with the lime - there is just a hint. i guess this could be called "masculine", but i would have no problem wearing this, and i hate "men's cologne"-type smells. the benzoin is reminiscent of the benzoin in arrival at the sabbath, but not nearly as syrupy or heavy as that scent. it smells very classic to me, what a nice surprise!

[TPOD]

The first time I tried a bit of this it was changing so quickly it was hard to keep up. At first sniff, I got an intensely foody smell, that i couldn't specifically pinpoint. My brain just knew it was food. On, it was a bit like cologne, a brief, weird chemical smell that makes my nose feel all prickly and funny. Finally, it settled down to a nice floral violets or lilac I presume with a bit of lime. Overall it was very intriguing.

 

The next day, I confidently dolloped on quite a bit and went out to do errands. Unfortunately the entire time, I was enveloped in a cloud of weird chemical tangy-ness that I just didn't care for. No floral, no lime, no food. I think it's the benzoin that is doing this to me. This is the first real encounter I've had with it and I don't think it works for me. I'm sad, because I love resins and the description of this sounded so perfect for me.

 

If you get along with benzoin, I think you should try this. I think it has the potential to be truly fabulous on either gender.

Edited December 4, 2007 by Hoyden

[alicia_stardust]

Lysander is so much different than I expected. I get an almost-foody, nutty quality to it. The strongest parts of it is the tonka, which to me is a comforting and more decadent version of vanilla, and the benzoin. I don't smell much of the other notes, but the violet adds a touch of softness and the musk adds a slight sharpness. I find this to be very calming and gentle.

[bryghtrose]

Wet: floral cologne

 

Dry: still floral cologne. All the notes blend together so well that I can't distinguish any of them. It's nice, but not for me.

[fountaingrl]

Oh dear. This smelled good in the imp, sort of man-fumey and bright. But the minute it hits my skin I get crazy sweet caramel-ish cookies with a chemical perfume note!

 

I waited for drydown and hoped it would get better. No luck. It gets almost unbearably, nauseatingly sweet, superfoody. Buttery in a bad way, a tiny bit of the "ick!" butter note from Milk Moon 2007, topped with what I can only characterize as "Angry Maple!" Stupid skin chemistry!

 

I don't know if I can stand it long enough to be able to say "after an hour...." but really, what is the point? If it is nauseating for an hour first, I don't care how good it smells on final drydown or whether it morphs.

 

ETA: I can't speak to wearlength. I had to wash this off.

Edited February 3, 2008 by fountaingrl

[gchris]

In Vial: butterscotch and flowers

 

Wet: Stronger butterscotch with a hint of musk and florals

 

Drydown:Doesn’t last long. Very light musk and florall

[fairnymph]

In the bottle: Buttery cake (tonka), lilac, violet, a hint of green resin.

 

Wet: Tonka still strong, but lilac is firmly next, quite heady. The violet is lighter, and I'm getting a faint whisp of lime and the resin is benzoin. This is a weirdly sweet, heady floral-green scent.

 

Dry: Lilac in the fore now, but the tonka is still quite foody-sweet. The lime has strengthened, and I think the violet is going a bit powdery.

 

Summary: Sweet, heady, cloying lilac over tonka. Must go to sink.