Sapphics

[Lethran]

Algernon Charles Swinburne
All the night sleep came not upon my eyelids,
Shed not dew, nor shook nor unclosed a feather,
Yet with lips shut close and with eyes of iron
Stood and beheld me.

Then to me so lying awake a vision
Came without sleep over the seas and touched me,
Softly touched mine eyelids and lips; and I too,
Full of the vision,

Saw the white implacable Aphrodite,
Saw the hair unbound and the feet unsandalled
Shine as fire of sunset on western waters;
Saw the reluctant

Feet, the straining plumes of the doves that drew her,
Looking always, looking with necks reverted,
Back to Lesbos, back to the hills whereunder
Shone Mitylene;

Heard the flying feet of the Loves behind her
Make a sudden thunder upon the waters,
As the thunder flung from the strong unclosing
Wings of a great wind.

So the goddess fled from her place, with awful
Sound of feet and thunder of wings around her;
While behind a clamour of singing women
Severed the twilight.

Ah the singing, ah the delight, the passion!
All the Loves wept, listening; sick with anguish,
Stood the crowned nine Muses about Apollo;
Fear was upon them,

While the tenth sang wonderful things they knew not.
Ah the tenth, the Lesbian! the nine were silent,
None endured the sound of her song for weeping;
Laurel by laurel,

Faded all their crowns; but about her forehead,
Round her woven tresses and ashen temples
White as dead snow, paler than grass in summer,
Ravaged with kisses,

Shone a light of fire as a crown for ever.
Yea, almost the implacable Aphrodite
Paused, and almost wept; such a song was that song.
Yea, by her name too

Called her, saying, "Turn to me, O my Sappho;"
Yet she turned her face from the Loves, she saw not
Tears for laughter darken immortal eyelids,
Heard not about her

Fearful fitful wings of the doves departing,
Saw not how the bosom of Aphrodite
Shook with weeping, saw not her shaken raiment,
Saw not her hands wrung;

Saw the Lesbians kissing across their smitten
Lutes with lips more sweet than the sound of lute-strings,
Mouth to mouth and hand upon hand, her chosen,
Fairer than all men;

Only saw the beautiful lips and fingers,
Full of songs and kisses and little whispers,
Full of music; only beheld among them
Soar, as a bird soars

Newly fledged, her visible song, a marvel,
Made of perfect sound and exceeding passion,
Sweetly shapen, terrible, full of thunders,
Clothed with the wind's wings.

Then rejoiced she, laughing with love, and scattered
Roses, awful roses of holy blossom;
Then the Loves thronged sadly with hidden faces
Round Aphrodite,

Then the Muses, stricken at heart, were silent;
Yea, the gods waxed pale; such a song was that song.
All reluctant, all with a fresh repulsion,
Fled from before her.

All withdrew long since, and the land was barren,
Full of fruitless women and music only.
Now perchance, when winds are assuaged at sunset,
Lulled at the dewfall,

By the grey sea-side, unassuaged, unheard of,
Unbeloved, unseen in the ebb of twilight,
Ghosts of outcast women return lamenting,
Purged not in Lethe,

Clothed about with flame and with tears, and singing
Songs that move the heart of the shaken heaven,
Songs that break the heart of the earth with pity,
Hearing, to hear them.

Tonka, oakmoss, tolu balsam, grey amber, myrrh, and muguet.

In bottle: sweet and sensual. Amber, tanka, and myrrh on top. I looked up muguet, which seems to be French for lily of the valley, if so, I am guessing it’s responsible for the very faint floral tinge to this. I’d not encountered I am guessing that beautiful new resin overlay is the tolu balsam. In any case, in the bottle, I’m getting a gloriously unique resin blend. Wet: Heaven. If you like amber based resin scents, this may very well be the queen of them. Dry: Very gentle and somehow familiar, though I’m not able to put my finger on why. It is more feminine than anything I generally wear except Dia De Les Muertos, but I will likely where it anyway because it is that good.

[scarletgenesis]

When I first sniffed this in the bottle, and when I first applied it, my only thought was...huh? Hairspray?

 

It seriously smelled like flowery hairspray to me.

 

Then I went out and shoveled snow from my driveway for 45 minutes. And sweated my butt off.

 

I came back inside and sniffed again. It's still a bit flowery, but NOW, finally, I am getting amber and myrrh and some oakmoss. I think it just needed time to settle into my skin.

 

Sapphics is actually quite light for having amber and myrrh, notes I normally associate with heavier scents. And oh yes, there is some tonka peeking out now as well!

 

Quite nice. Amber tends to occasionally go powdery on me, which is a shame, because I love it so. So I hope the other yummy stuff in this blend temper that and let the amber come out in its natural state. Time will tell.

 

ETA: Mar 2nd - this is the 2nd time I've worn Sapphics. I wanted to wear something more floral than I normally wear and this won the lottery today. This isn't going powdery at all, and now smells like an absolutely GORGEOUS spicy floral.

Edited March 2, 2008 by scarletgenesis

[sarada]

I am very glad I ordered a bottle of this unsniffed, because in the bottle I concur that it does in fact smell like hairspray at first -- and I wouldn't have ordered a bottle if I just smelled that! But it dries down to something completely different. I attribute the brief hairspray phase to grey amber combining with the resiny scents -- I've noticed something similar in a couple of other blends.

 

As it dries, something amazing happens, and a deep, lusty, spiciness emerges. Sweet, earthy and spicy with a bit of sharp greenery spiking occasionally. Incredibly, the sweet spiciness reminds me of Bakeneko from time to time. Myrrh has this wonderful spicy quality, and tonka is a gorgeous sweet smooth note that just creates magic wherever it goes. What is left of that hairspray feeling is just a sparkling shininess at the edges. I think this scent will largely depend on individual skin chemistry to determine how it works on you, but mine happens to interact very favorably with myrrh, tonka, oakmoss and resins in general. The odd little spikes of something perfumey, I'd chalk up to muguet amplified by grey amber.

 

If you bring out the spice in myrrh and the sweetness in tonka, though, this is going to do amazing things.

[vividdreamer]

I ordered Sapphics on a whim, because something about it just called out to me. There were a few notes that I had no clue about, but I wanted it anyway.

 

And I am SO glad I did.

 

I still don't know what half the notes in this smell like, because they all blend together so well on my skin that all I can smell is something beautiful. It's perfumey, but not overly so, and it just smells so...perfect on my skin. A little sweet, a little floral, yet grounded and earthy at the same time. I'm almost positive I'll be seeking out another bottle of this one.

[alicia_stardust]

Sapphics is divine. It's not just one of those blends that I like; rather it's the kind that makes me stop dead in my tracks almost instantly.

 

In the bottle I smell warm, grey amber and a touch of something sharp. I didn't detect hairspray as other reviewers did but I can see how they got it from that sharpness. Just wait until you try this on your skin, though!

 

As the oil dries I detect a warm, tantalizingly rich tonka with a sweet and strong oakmoss. The moss in this reminds me of Roux-Ga-Roux even though the rest of the blend does not match Sapphics. The tonka goes well with the tolu balsam which is a sweet resin that's kinda vanilla-cinnamon. The myrrh gives this a dark resinous quality that is almost musky and really complements the oakmoss. Lastly there is a teeny, tiny bit of floral sweetness behind this.

 

Despite all the resins (tolu, amber, myrrh) this is not your typical resin blend, nor does it come across as incense. Instead it is a deeply sensual, inviting, and warm blend with just the right amount of light, dark, sweetness, richness, and moss to mingle with the resins. So far I think this is my favorite of the Love Poems.

[zenvodunista]

I just *knew* I would love this blend - and I do. I adore pretty much all these notes, and the only one I had worries about was my tendency to amp myrrh, but it seems to be behaving pretty well. This is a hard to describe scent - certainly it is resiny but it doesn't scream reisin. It's not churchy in the slightest. It's feminine, but it's not "girly" in the slightest. It's womanly, but just a bit butch too.

 

Good stuff! Lupercalia rules

[PersephonesChild]

I'm so happy with this! It's resiny, but not in an over-poweringly masculine, or churchy, or somber way. It's sweetish without being syrupy. I'm a fan of myrrh, and this may be the best myrrh blend I've sniffed.

[tazjia]

Oh, my.

 

Sapphics is one of the sexiest scents I've smelled.

 

The oakmoss is one of the stronger notes for me, and immediately reminded both me and my husband of Roux Ga Roux. (Must go check if that's the same listed note!) Next up seems to be the grey amber, and then the tonka.

 

Overall, this is something I would happily roll around in for days. I think it might smell better on him, but... well, I'm fine with that, too.

[Delirium1009]

In bottle/imp: Cold, powdery, sweet, and musky.

 

Immediately on skin: This is a cooler scent with a sweet but powdery feel, resins, and a thick slightly spiced undertone. The oakmoss and grey amber creates an interesting combination: powdery but lush and slightly aquatic. It’s very perfume-y and strong.

 

After a little while: This has gotten rather flat… it’s become a sweet grey musk scent with hints of myrhh. I was hoping for more complexity, but it has really gotten rather unimpressive.

 

Overall Impressions: I’m not a fan of grey amber since it’s such a sweet, powdery musk note on me. In this blend, it really seems to take center stage with the oakmoss lending a hand to make it a bit more green at first, but that faded away pretty quickly. This is a musky grey amber scent after that with a lot of myrrh and resin in the background. It’s quite unremarkable on me, but as I said, I don’t like grey amber that much anyway.

[sookster]

straight sniff from bottle is sweet, warm and sexual...my gawd... heavenly

 

once applied amber and myrrh are magick with my chemistry....the touch of

lily of the valley is stupendous...this is resinous, beautiful and i adore it to pieces....

excellent sillage as well....pure, L-O-V-E!!!

[tarotgirl99]

This is warm, sexy, glowing. It reminds me of a combination between old Red Moon and new Red Moon. I can only guess it's the amber? It has great throw and lasts a good long while.

 

I am hoping I don't need a bottle of it. But I know I need more of it.

 

It is drop dead sex in a bottle.

[akiko]

Bottle: Soft resiny and a hint of "perfumey smell"

 

Wet: Amber, myrrh? tolu balsam? softly resinous but sweet

 

Dry: I keep sniffing my arm to decide what it smells like. There's definitely some amber in there, and something sweeter, but I can't decide whether that's the tonka or the muguet. I'd been a bit afraid of the muguet, because florals do nasty things on my skin, but I think the resins are keeping it in line here.

[GreenSpine]

This scent's a lot brighter than I expected it to be.

 

In the bottle, it's a smooth, light resin - very pretty. Dry, it reminds me a little bit of classic Avon bubble bath (the one that comes in the tall pink plastic bottle).

 

This isn't what I expected, but it provokes very good scent memories for me. I will enjoy my bottle.

Edited February 24, 2008 by GreenSpine

[bulletslc]

This is warm, spicy, sweet and glowing! On my skin it smells like a close cousin of Snake Charmer.

 

And it lasts a good long time.

 

Another bottle or two for me most definitly! My favorite Lupercalia so far.

[pariahsdream]

Apparently I am in the minority. My skin EATS Sapphics and only leaves a hint of....something. It disppeared almost immediately on my skin. At first sniff I got something quite "soft" and light. Woody without being harsh of pine or my enemy cedar. Just...fresh I suppose. Although I could even tell you any more than that simply because it got sucked up into my skin so quickly.

[blu°]

I, too, see a close resemblance to Snake Charmer when Sapphics is on my skin.

 

I don't know how to account for it since I don't see any shared notes, except maybe if SC's vanilla actually is a tonka-vanilla mix.

 

Sapphics is a bit softer and a lot less musky than SC. It almost seems to vanish because the scent is so skin-like and soft, but when I get moving, turn around a corner or open a door, I get the loveliest warm and slightly sweet whiffs of it.

 

Mostly I get the tonka with a bit of brownish-green oakmoss and a dribble of myrrh. I'm happy that I cannot make out the grey amber and muguet, since one smells like men's cologne to me and the other one turns incredibly soapy on my skin.

 

If I sniff closely there's a very faint hint of soapiness but as I said: very faint, and way in the background.

 

Basically, it really comes down to a daytime version of Snake Charmer. Obviously, I never would have suspected that from reading the notes.

 

I'll definitely get a bottle. If I was rich, I'd probably get at least three.

[coldandsleepy]

In the imp: ... dirt? Wait, flowers. No, dirt. Definitely dirt.

 

On me, wet: oooooh. Hello there, amber. Delicious amber. And a good day to you, oakmoss. This smells sexy. Yet also sort of... cinder-y. It definitely smells grey to me.

 

On me, dry: much like wet, but richer. I finally get a little touch of the tonka, but it's just a hint really. The myrrh also makes an appearance, but it's a really gentle, subtle myrrh. Also, this has gotten even more cinder-y. I swear, i can almost taste ash in my mouth when i smell this. It's bizarre, and i'm not sure which note is doing it. Maybe the amber? Anyway, i like it.

 

Throw and duration: sadly, not a whole lot of throw for me. I'm still testing it, so i'm not sure on duration, but it's been about 3 hours so far and it's still going.

 

Overall: sheesh, i really like this a lot. Soft, but not necessarily delicate. Smells seductive, but quiet seductive. Sneaky seductive. Wonderful.

 

I'm definitely going to try to direct a bottle of this into my greedy little hands.

[inurbanus]

I feel like I've smelled this before. Maybe Prague? It's definitely something with lilies, because that's all I'm getting out of Sapphics: soft, sweet lilies with just a little bit of spice, probably from the myrrh. It's pretty and innocent, but I wish that there was something more going on.

 

3/5

[modillian]

Yes, I too wish there was little more going on. It's basically a less impressive Polyhymnia on me, and I too must blame the grey amber. I usually love amber, but this form pretty much let me down, since all I got was powder and astringent lily. Pity. I'll keep it to see if it ages better, but if not it's off to the swaps.

[impadua@aol.com]

This is a warm, kind of sultry, wrap-itself-around-you scent. Not too strong, lasts a good long time on skin, and I bet it is going to get even better with age.

Another Add to the top 10!

[slave1]

SAPPHICS

 

In Bottle: Musky resinous sweet yum

 

On Skin: This scent is drop dead gorgeous. Wow. I love the muskiness of it, like a soft grey skin musk. I feel like I’m swimming in the most delicate and soft bed sheets… The amber and myrrh are so resinous but not darkly so. This scent is very flowy, not heavy or overwhelming. The tonka is sweet, but not sticky or cloying. The balsam offers a clean vibrant note that also lightens the scent. The oakmoss isn’t very dominant, just a background note that brings a little earthiness to the scent. It does have a *slight* hairspray feel to it, but that’s only if you bury your nose into your wrist. If you just smell it as it naturally wafts around you, it’s very pleasant. I’ve seen people compare it to Snake Charmer, but it doesn’t smell like that scent to me in the slightest. SC is so much darker and sticky sweet with resins. This scent is much more airy and light, and grey in feel. I could see this scent on a woman or man, very unisex, but sexy either way. I want more… at least one bottle. It really is one of the sexiest blends I can remember… Low to moderate throw and average wearlength.

[Dymphna]

In the imp: Something dark green (the oakmoss) and some sort of powdery resin (could be the grey amber or the myrrh, or maybe both). I think I can smell the muguet waaaay in the background, but it's not at all prominent.

 

Wet: Very powdery for a couple of minutes, verging on old lady perfume. And then it turns to Chanel No. 5. I've had this happen before, with Kubla Khan, but this is even more of a match. It's almost exact, just a tiny, tiny hint spicy and without the alcohol scent, of course.

 

Dry: Ew, this develops a sort of vomit-y undertone as it dries. I don't know what that is. It still smells like Chanel No. 5, but it also has that vomit-y smell that I get from pina coladas. (Yeah, pineapple and coconut smell like vomit to me for some reason.) Um, so I feel bad saying this, but it's just my wacky skin chemistry so what can you do?

[LadyCrow]

In the decant: Amber, resin, muguet.

 

Wet: Floral -- I see where people are getting the "hairspray" feeling at first, and then the expensive-perfume vibe later.

 

Drydown: Luckily, the myrrh and oakmoss come in quickly to bolster the resin. And then it goes sweet, much more softly so than the crisp lily I got in the decant; I think this may be a sudden blast of tonka. Yet it stays very tartly mossy at the same time, almost foresty. The throw is a bit stronger than that of other blends in this group.

 

Verdict: Fascinating blend of notes, especially the dynamic between the muguet and the tonka, which sort of pull in opposite directions. I want to test it again before considering a bottle, but I can see it being a very nice wear-on-a-date scent.

[SeaLady]

Wowee, this is very green at first! Green things in green containers, thinking green thoughts.

Later, it's green with an underlying sweet muskiness. It smells slightly perfumey, and I like it. It doesn't have much throw on me, and I'm not sure how long it took to get to this different stage, as I've been all over wrangling dogs and cooking soup this afternoon. I think I rather like Sapphics.

[jade_starlight]

Hmm, I'm not sure what I think of this one. The oakmoss tries from the get-go to step up and be seen, but something (likely whatever it is that people are smelling as hairspray) overpowers it very quickly and turns it into some sort of powdery perfumy scent, which just doesn't work on me.