Angeronalia

[alicia_stardust]

Angeronalia, also called Divalia, is a Roman festival that takes place at the Winter Solstice. This celebration honors the Goddess Angerona. The Lady of Silence and Secrets is also She Who Stands As the Protector of Rome, and she is represented with her mouth bound, or with her index finger held over her mouth, commanding silence. On this day, the Goddess was implored to grant her children strength and protection. And, as it was believed that Angerona and Voluptia, the Goddess of Joy and Pleasure, were one and the same, sacrifices were made at the temple to Voluptia in order to drive sorrow, regret, and pain from the hearts of the people. Strength, passion, and the cleansing fire of joy: olive blossom, white nectarine, vibrant blood orange, honey absolute, lemongrass, elemi, sensual patchouli, and the quiet purity of gardenia.

WET: I can smell olive blossom, light nectarine, and a touch of gardenia.

DRY: This is a morpher. As soon as it hits my skin I get a shot of nectarine and honey absolute. Within 30 seconds the nectarine peaks and then suddenly, the patchouli and blood orange are there for a few minutes before returning to the background. From there I spend a few minutes smelling something slightly swarthy and fennel-like alongside the honey absolute; I believe it must be the elemi which is the only thing I am unfamiliar with here. After that point this scent sort of settles down and for the remaining wear-length becomes a beautiful medley of scent. The olive blossom lends an exotic feel while the gardenia is soft and gentle. Those two florals sort of envelop the rest of the notes as they mingle and fade in and out.

Angeronalia has a festive, bright, sensual, joyous, and very warm feeling to it.

[TrailerTrashPrincess]

sniffed from the bottle: honey and...menthol? no, that's not right. woods. maybe lemongrass or citrus peel? (the zest)...

on skin: it doesn't change much, but it does develop more...more scents and notes blend in.

i get the overwhelming feeling that this is too masculine for me (not that it is a masculine blend, just that it is too much so for me)

30 mins later: i don't know what olive blossom smells like, but that may be when the dominant note is now... an unusual almost-floral, with hints of gardenia (the good one, not the B.O. one)

i still get wafts of dark honey and lemongrass...

but no patchouli.

 

end verdict: i like this a whole lot more than i thought i would. complex and interesting but supremely wearable.

[sookster]

straight sniff from the bottle is bright citrus and the most incredible note

of gardenia the lab has to date

 

once applied the patchouli along with the honey amp up and make this

a truly unique combination...after 10-15 minutes, lots of gardenia with

hints of the blood orange and patchouli...this is a mellow patchouli and

is too gorgeous....heaven in a bottle

[lady_pandora]

When I realized my order would come right smack in the middle of my PMS week, during which patchouli notes usually turn to pure stank on me, I decided that if Angeronalia smelled good on me I'd review it right away, but if the patch went sour I'd wait and try it after shark week and then review it.

 

I find myself in a predicament I hadn't considered: Angeronalia isn't working on me, and it has nothing to do with the patchouli. And everything to do with the lemongrass, aided and abetted by an unholy alliance between, I think, elemi and olive blossom.

 

In the bottle, and wet on my wrist, blood orange and tangerine are the most prominent notes, and I was hoping they would stick around and team up with honey and patchouli to make an earthy, sensual blend. Unfortunately, I never get honey or patchouli, and the Lemon of Doom arrives all too soon and clobbers the other fruits into submission. Lemon seldom plays nicely with me. Voila, cleaning fluid smell. I had hoped lemongrass would behave better on me than actual lemon. (Well, at least it's a learning experience, right?)

 

Underneath this astringent lemon scent, the elemi (which I looked up, and which apparently has a fennel-like scent) and the olive blossom seem to be combining to convince me that I'm smelling, not olive blossom, but actual olives. It smells like someone spilled olives on the floor and is mopping them up with lemon-scented floor cleaner. And, of course, it LOVES my skin and amps like CRAZY.

 

Disappointed, I washed it off. And oddly, though it didn't all come off, the washing improved the scent. I seem to have washed off all the lemon but not the elemi, which is much more tolerable when it's not paired with the lemongrass. I think I might try to age this and see if the lemongrass dissipates at all over time. I'm intrigued by the stuff going on in the background of this scent and I think it could be a nice earthy blend if the lemon would calm down.

Edited November 11, 2007 by lady_pandora

[n3m3sis42]

In the bottle:

Something strong and somehow syrupy.

 

Wet:

Florals (I believe it's the gardenia), with hints of patchouli underneath. After a few minutes, I begin to smell the citrus note(s). This blends really nicely as it dries down.

 

Dry:

I like this a lot better than I thought I would. It's soft florals, lemongrass, and a little bit of patchouli.

 

Edited to add:

Apparently, my husband is quite a fan of this blend. Perhaps I'll buy a second bottle before the Yules go away.

Edited November 17, 2007 by n3m3sis42

[Silverstrike]

At first I liked this a lot but as it dried down it made me wonder whether it would smell better on a guy (even though it has flowers in it). I think I still like this, but imp-like, not full-bottle-like.

[savage_rose]

In the imp: Resiny floral

 

Wet: It smells like fresh flowers, but somehow warmed, as though they are simmering on the stove, wet and steamy. Petal soft, and not too sweet.

 

Dry: The flowers are still there, as is the earthy resin smell. But there's something just a touch sour about it. At first I was turned off by it, but it seems to have blended with the other scents in a lovely way. This is really beautiful.

[SurrealReality]

In the bottle/imp: sharp, sour citrus and....PATCHOULI

 

Wet on skin: strong patchouli, sharp citrus, and a wee bit of lemongrass in the background

 

Dry: Thankfully, it's softening up a bit now. The patchouli is lessening some, the citrus isn't as sour, I'm getting more lemongrass and a little (very little) gardenia. The olive blossom does come out to play, but not until MUCH later on

 

This fades very quickly on me. It disappeared in only 3 hours, but it had nice throw while it lasted

 

My rating in the bottle/imp: 2 out of 5

My rating on my skin: 3 out of 5

 

I don't like patchouli unless it's waaay in the background, but If I liked patchouli, I'm sure I would ADORE this blend. I also think this would be fabulous on a man

Edited June 24, 2008 by SurrealReality

[steffanina]

Angeronalia-

 

In Bottle: Citrus and something lightly resinous.

 

Wet: Light lemon-orange, sweetness.

 

Dry: This is very pretty once it dries! It is not a scent I will want frequently--probably not getting a big bottle--but it dries down to something yummily sweet, not quite floral but like the lightest of resins. There's that roasted potato smell I associate with a few of Beth's blends, too.

 

Overall: A nice scent, though not one I will crave.

[taramarie]

On me, Angeronalia is olive blossom, orange, maybe a little honey, and a little gardenia. It's neutral, gorgeous, and a new favorite.

[aleciarivas]

Hm, this is very, very faint. I have had to try it three times to really get a good idea from this scent. Between the patchouli and the gardenia, I thought for sure this would be really strong, but for some reason I haven't gotten that result!

 

Nice, though. Subtle, which again I wouldn't have expected. I can smell a slight sweet-citrus. Slight woody-floraly-type scent. But very nice!!! Elegant is the word that comes to mind with this scent.

[axiom]

I struggled with this, because my response to the perfume was an immediate vision/story. Those are always a little personal, and I've been resisting posting them until now. This is my best attempt at describing the vision that hit me like a brick wall when I first smelled Angeronalia.

 

In The Bottle

midnight, perhaps, two friends, acquaintances, interested, mellow, a car, a parking lot, no lights, city lights on every side, just talking, nothing special, thinking, sharing, expressing fears, dreams, funny stories, embarrassing moments, getting late, should be going, should have left an hour ago, he might try and call, she's probably asleep already, they won't mind, just friends, talking, silence, can't think of anything to say, don't want to start the car, don't want to leave, a perfect feeling, just stay here, talking, silence, seats back, can't see the city from here, it's the right kind of cold, just enough, warm shiver inside, can't hold still, turning inside out, maybe we should go, yeah, neither moves, a light touch on a cheek, a glance held, silence, movement, time, perspective, darkness, it's cold, too cold, the shivers are cold, his eyes long since burned into her memory, the curve of her hips will haunt him, memories, aching, innocence shared, faintly, separation.

 

After smelling the perfume a few times and sitting down to write the review that had immediately formed in my head, I Googled around for a few minutes and found this on the Goddess Angerona:

 

Also called: Diva Angerona. Angeronia, the Goddess of the Will and Lucky Moments[...]

 

Interesting.

 

Dry

Role Play In a Bottle.

 

Edited November 20, 2007 by Axiom

[delicate_fangs]

Alas, Angeronalia and my skin chemistry are not playing nicely with each other at all.

 

Put it on, and it instantly became cleaning products. As in "Cleaning Products! Now with fresh lemongrass!" Eek.

 

A few minutes later, it became "Cleaning Products! Now, with added Poo!" YIKES!

 

My skin chemistry is cruel sometimes. Wah. I think it's something about the olive blossom, the lemongrass, and the gardenia. Whatever it is, this scent is not for me. Oh, well.

 

later: Gave it to Jenett. Enabling is fun, and it's handy to have a scent opposite. Well, not exactly opposite, but enough of the time so that it's pretty useful.

Edited November 26, 2007 by delicate_fangs

[Alchemy21599]

In the vial: citrus with a hint of gardenia and spiciness

 

Wet: gardenia

 

Dry: I am amping the gardenia like crazy.

[alhbooks]

I thought I was going to love this as it has so many favorite notes, but on my skin it starts faintly medicinal and then disappears...sigh. No citrus, no gardenia, and I can't even put my finger on the medicine.

[Medici]

In the bottle: Wow, orange rind? Is that you? It’s very cirus-peely at first sniff. Light and crisp.

 

Wet: Lemongrass, blood orange, nectarine peel and a touch of white floral are all I can pick off immediately. My skin is just soaking this poor dear right up. (It’s a dry skin day. I wore Angeronalia yesterday, at it was all crazy citrus and gardenia all over the place. I blame the weather.)

 

Drydown: Overall, it’s predominantly a fresh, clear, cool citrus blend – the sort o thing I wouldn’t object to having on my person in the spring or during hot summer weather. It’s definitely a waker-upper, but not aggressively so. For citrus fruit fans, I think it’d probably be a hit. As it warms, the gardenia comes out – and I remember why I bought this blend in a bottle to begin with. (I’m not a huge citrus fan, myself. I like citrus blends, sure, but I don’t usually fling myself at them.) The gardenia here is what makes the entire blend a success for me – it’s a little dusty, a little dry, and it tempers out the initial tart, lip-puckering rind scent, turning Angeronalia light, feminine and ephemeral. Kudos to the lab.

[ariosa]

This is all citrus and gardenia on me, but light. So very light, and this disappoints me, because what I smell is heavenly. I suffer from SAD, and this, I think, is the perfect light and happy winter scent. Maybe I'll get what I want from it if I slather! It's lovely.

[Keslynn]

In the bottle, Angeronalia is creamy and slightly spicy with just a butterfly kiss of citrus at the top.

 

On my skin, WOW floral! It's a gorgeous high floral (to my mind, "high floral" consists of flowers like orchid and gardenia, not lighter spring-type flowers). I think I'm mostly getting gardenia, but I don't know enough about olive blossom to rule it out. It's perfumey with a creamy edge to it. There's also a slightly musky undertone. I keep sniffing my wrists. This puts me in mind of a high society girl with long white gloves. She's somewhat unapproachable, but then, ah, the citrus notes. The society girl only seems haughty. She's really quite friendly and lots of fun once you get to know her.

 

Verdict: Lots of floral with a fun citrus burst. A scent that manages to be sophisticated and warm at the same time. I like it!

[tinyvulture]

this citrus-floral blend is not very strong. but it’s lovely in its own delicate, subtle way – quietly joyful. i can pick out the nectarine and orange notes, and a slight bitterness that must be the olive blossom. honey and gardenia float in the background. i don’t smell the patchouli at all.

[Catmint]

This is a strange one! I tried it this morning on the inside of my arm, and it was in-your-face patchouli so after about 10 minutes I had to wash it off. Trying it again this afternoon on my wrist, it goes through about 2 minutes of medicinal cleaning product before morphing into a resinous floral. I love citrusy/fruity scents, which is why I ordered this, but sadly I don't get any fruit at all! There are notes in here that give it a slight "men's cologne" feel, although I think it would be too floral for most men.

 

A paradoxical blend -- the gardenia/patchouli combination is quite heady and intense, but the throw is surprisingly light and close, like a scent that was applied yesterday and is now mostly faded. This would be the perfect scent for someone who loves gardenia and patchouli but doesn't want to knock people over in the elevator!

 

Definitely not a bottle for me, but I will probably try it once or twice more before I decide to swap the imp.

[fairnymph]

In the bottle:Slightly sweet, tart-citrus-fruit and white floral, with something sort of spicy-woodsy underneath. Really complex and delightful.

 

Wet: Wayyyyyyy more floral, gardenia like WHOA (I am known to amp this one). The lemongrass is distinct now. There's another, sweeter, warmer floral scent too - maybe the olive blossom? There is also a pleasant, green, mildly medicinal resiny note - probably the elemi. The honey is present, but I can't smell the other fruits at all any more - bizarre (and terribly sad - I love these particular fruits)! The patchouli is light and grounding.

 

Dry: Warm, creamy gardenia with a nice patchouli base. All citrus, fruit and resin long, long gone.

 

Summary and final drydown: Light gardenia, patchouli, and musk that last and last - forever. Crazy wearlength on me.

 

I'm iffy on whether I like Gardenia though. I feel like it's a very classy, upscale floral note, but it's a little too strong for me at times, so I'm not sure about whether I'll keep my bottle.

Edited November 25, 2007 by fairnymph

[303marlena]

When I realized my order would come right smack in the middle of my PMS week, during which patchouli notes usually turn to pure stank on me, I decided that if Angeronalia smelled good on me I'd review it right away, but if the patch went sour I'd wait and try it after shark week and then review it.

 

I find myself in a predicament I hadn't considered: Angeronalia isn't working on me, and it has nothing to do with the patchouli. And everything to do with the lemongrass, aided and abetted by an unholy alliance between, I think, elemi and olive blossom.

 

In the bottle, and wet on my wrist, blood orange and tangerine are the most prominent notes, and I was hoping they would stick around and team up with honey and patchouli to make an earthy, sensual blend. Unfortunately, I never get honey or patchouli, and the Lemon of Doom arrives all too soon and clobbers the other fruits into submission. Lemon seldom plays nicely with me. Voila, cleaning fluid smell. I had hoped lemongrass would behave better on me than actual lemon. (Well, at least it's a learning experience, right?)

 

Underneath this astringent lemon scent, the elemi (which I looked up, and which apparently has a fennel-like scent) and the olive blossom seem to be combining to convince me that I'm smelling, not olive blossom, but actual olives. It smells like someone spilled olives on the floor and is mopping them up with lemon-scented floor cleaner. And, of course, it LOVES my skin and amps like CRAZY.

 

Disappointed, I washed it off. And oddly, though it didn't all come off, the washing improved the scent. I seem to have washed off all the lemon but not the elemi, which is much more tolerable when it's not paired with the lemongrass. I think I might try to age this and see if the lemongrass dissipates at all over time. I'm intrigued by the stuff going on in the background of this scent and I think it could be a nice earthy blend if the lemon would calm down.

 

I don't think I could have said this any better. I DID NOT order a bottle of this because I assumed the lemongrass would be the NOTE OF DOOM for me. Any other blends with lemon variants, especially lemon balm and lemon verbana, have been too pungent for my tastes. When I got an imp of Angernalia in my collection of decants--thanks Dpoulsen!--I gave it a whirl anyway, and was instantly in love with the wet phase--the lemongrass being a lovely citrus note, mellowed some by what I am assuming is the blood orange and tangerine. It had a tantalizing quality that I associate with Bakeneko which I think may be the tangerine which makes me want to sniff compulsively--and seems to make me feel slightly euphoric as well as, well--excited . ALAS, it was PURE DISASTER on my skin--and I am SO GLAD I tested before buying a big bottle. Normally I like patchouli--when it behaves and plays nice with other notes--not overpowering and insisting on being the sole center of attention. And as I like LUSH's Karma powder, I figured the lemongrass plus patchouli would be a nice, earthy citrus blend. WRONG. This blend becomes excessively "perfumey" and just wonky with my skin chemistry. I did briefly catch the elemi note, which smells almost like anise. Disappointingly, I never smelled the lovely olive blossom and the honey which I normally love, as they are overpowered by misbehaving patchouli, gardenia, and (perhaps the elemi and) the lemongrass. This evil trinity (patchouli, lemongrass, gardenia) seems to amp, leaving the lovely notes I adore behind, namely the honey, tangerine, blood orange, and olive blossom. For me, however, I think the "unholy alliance" is between the patchouli and the gardenia. These two strong floral notes just vie for attention and become stankalicious for lack of a bad enough descriptor of olfactory repugnance. On top of that, you add lemongrass with its tang and elemi with its licoriceness, and you have an olfactory cacophany of notes. For my nose at least, they did not mesh. Or perhaps they meshed, but they just stank! I smelled like a Pine-sol weilding hoochie hippie lady with cheap perfume soaked in.

 

Maybe I just got a bad batch. Maybe the patchouli fairies dumped extra oil in this imp and yours won't be so bad. But I am not willling to take that chance on a 5 ml bottle when there are other Yule scents to tempt me. My attention will be focused on Archangel Winter, Chanikkah, Diwali, Noche Buena, Christmas Rose and, of course, Snow White+Rose Red!

[phantasmmysteria]

Oh my goodness, this was a suprise hit for me.

 

When I dabbed a bit of my decant on yesterday, the first thing that popped into my mind was that this was what Coco Mademoiselle would smell like if it weren't so full of chemicals! When I tried it again today, the association wasn't quite as strong, but it definitely reminds me of Mademoiselle's best qualities.

 

It starts off beautifully fruity, all blood orange and nectarine. But that quickly to a lovely floral with a bit of woods. There's something bright and effervescent to this blend. I think it might be the olive blossom, but I'm not certain.

 

Also, wonder of wonders: The honey behaves itself in this blend (i'm not sure if I should thank the florals or the patchouli)! It gives the blend just enough of a powdery sort of sweetness that makes Angeronalia just beautiful. On my skin, this has slightly above average throw and above average wearlength.

 

I'm not sure how often I will wear this scent, but it sings so prettily on my skin I think it requires a bottle.

[pinkpepper]

I smelled this at a Will Call and I remembered thinking it was a strong, cool, blue floral. But now I've got a decant (from the awesome evilmistressoftoast!) and it's not at all how I remembered it! Except for the strong part. It's very strong. I don't mean in terms of throw (though it's pretty strong in that way too), but in terms of . . . toughness. Like a warrior. "Strength, passion, and the cleansing fire of joy" is right. It's warm but still bright; rich but clear. It smelled like My Little Ponies dipped in olive oil when it was wet. Now that it's dry it smells like those ponies drowned in a bowl of olive oil. Which is a lot prettier smelling than it sounds. This probably got the strongest reaction my mom has ever given to any of my perfumes: "Wow! That's nice!" (She usually grunts or says "They all smell the same!" or "Stop putting your wrist in my face!").

[Blood onmy hands]

First sniff in the vial, I could definitely smell a zesty orange citrus bite from the nectarine, a sweet touch of honey, a quick flash of something that reminded me of vetiver, and then a finish of perfumey floral.

 

On my skin, there's an earthiness to this that I don't like. It doesn't strike me as smelling like any of the patchouli notes I've tried from BPAL before though. It smells dark and a bit ashy. As the earthiness quickly fades, I'm left with a citrus zest and perfumey floral note. The gardenia goes eye stinging sharp on my skin.

 

Angeronalia's sharp floral note dominates on me (smells rather musky too), but I can see how this could be a pretty blend on someone else. The hints of citrus and sweetness are rather nice. Overall, though, this is too musky-sharp-floral for me.