Hamadryad

[paperdoll]

Nature spirits and protectors of the world's groves and forests that appear as breathtakingly beautiful women. Hamadryads are born into a tree that serves as both a home and an anchor for the creature's soul. They are sometimes tricksters, sometimes seducers, sometimes helpful and benign, but they are always fierce and furious protectors of the natural world. Seven dry woods with mossy lichen and a gentle breeze of forest flowers.

Initial Sniff: Cypress, woods, green, flowers... gorgeous!
Wearing: This develops an almost fruity tang as it dries. This is a smoky woody floral that lasts all day long. The drydown is sweet forest woods.
Final Impressions: Oh, and

[shelldoo]

since 3 witches was dc'd i have been hording it like some crazy cinnamon lunatic, today i find hamadryad its very very similar in feel (which i wasn't expecting the site description made me think floral, not spice,) and while i detect a hint of floral that was not in 3 witches, the cinnamon, and clove are so gorgeous, it will be a great sub for my witches.

[surf-tormented]

Sweet oakmoss, not too sweet with a bit of apple thrown in, like The Hesperides after they have left and the forest is still. The apples are left, cooked and spiced as the animals come out to eat them.

Edited April 5, 2005 by Madame Nyx

[lavinia_short]

oh, this was on my wishlist for such a very long time, and i finally swapped for it, and it's perfectly awful on me! it's hardly woodsy at all - i smell straight powdery florals... it reminds me a little of the white musk scent from the body shop, which also smelled funny on me... i will probably trade this away....

[empi girl]

This is such a varied scent on people!

 

I can smell the cinnamon in the bottle, along with a touch of something green.

 

But on my skin, it becomes sweet cinnamon red-hots, with no woods or florals at all. It stays this way when it dries down, and eventually (hours later) a hint of moss comes out faintly.

 

I do get a slight initial itchiness on my wrists when I apply, which does go away. I have learned not to put lotion on top of this though! It burned like the dickens!

[DiamondHeart]

In the bottle: Cinnamon.

 

Wet: Cinnamon.

 

Dry: CINNAMON.

 

It definitely has cinnamon in it. Darnit!

 

~Diamond~

[Kate]

Hamadryad

 

At first very strong and spicy. I smelled the various woods and mosses very clearly. This scent lasted a long time on me, and the florals came out much later on. It was a very comforting scent for me, very "naturey" and woodsy, which for me is a place I feel very at home in.

 

I am not sure I would wear it out on the town much, but it would be good for a day spent outdoors, or curled up reading. Also anytime I need a comforting scent which isn't sexy.

 

A definite keeper and worthy of a larger bottle in my opinion.

[theshapeshifter]

Hamadryad was dry, sunny deciduous forest and cinnamon sticks, from the moment I applied right through the drydown. It's one of the first BPAL's that earned me a random compliment from my husband, who usually doesn't notice that sort of thing.

 

My only regret is that it doesn't seem to be that long-lasting on me... I put it on around 9 am, and by 1 or 2 pm it was fading away.

[cormeretrix]

well, this is my first review of a bpal scent. in the bottle, it smelled kind of green and mossy; on me, well... it's a good thing i had no expectations. it's very dry and powdery on me, and made my dog sneeze. went into the swap pile, i'm afraid.

[Janie]

In the bottle, a woody, soft scent with minimal spice.

 

On the skin, a light scent, again quite woody and with the barest tinge of floral hints.

 

As it dries, it becomes a green, almost chypre-like scent. I get the moss and more wood, but it's a green scent - very clear and fresh, almost perfume-like.

 

On me, this is the most perfume-y BPAL I have tried (perhaps because I am such a green-chypre slut and this pushes my buttons, in a good way)

 

Lovely scent, will consider big bottle purchase.

[slave1]

In Bottle: Very green and floral

 

On Skin: Very floral and pretty. The woods give a nice base and the lichen gives it a very green note. I also smell something minty/spicy... interesting... The flowers are soft and seductive. A nice light spring smell. Very striking, this one will get you attention. Not a scent for me though... Strong throw and long wearlength.

Edited August 18, 2006 by slave1

[sarahj]

Hamadryad

 

in vial: woodsy, soapy

 

wet: cinnamon + soap

 

dry: soapy and floral

 

verdict: too soapy for me...will most likely swap this one

[mandalyn]

A fabulous, light, cinammony potpourri, apple cidery, happy woodsy smell.

 

I loved, loved, loved it....unfortunately, it was gone in a few hours. I put it on at 8, had to reapply it at 12...and it was gone again within a few hours. (First BPAL to fade so quickly on me.)

 

If it weren't for that, I would have made this my first 10ml!

[silverleap]

I ordered a set of imps a few weeks ago but couldn't possibly wait for them to arrive, so I ran over to the Black Broom and started sniffing indiscriminately... and ending up buying a 5ml of Hamadryad. I don't know if this is from the perfume or from the nose-orgy that I just had, but I am lightheaded and giddy. This scent is delicious! Perfect for my first taste of BPAL!

 

 

In the bottle: It bit me, like a little nip on my nose. Cinnamon, but not sweet; this has teeth. As I like cinnamon but this isn't too foody, on it goes.

 

Wet: I'm getting the woods now. I do a lot of hiking, and this smells like the forest in the middle of the fall. Dried leaves underfoot and that spicy, mossy scent.

 

Drydown: And here come the florals. I'm not much for flowery scents but these aren't cloying or springy; more like remnants of blossoms as fall ends. It's well tempered by the remaining cinnamon and the lingering forest. The sharp bite is still there, and I love it. I'd also tested a dab of Snake Oil before I slathered this on, and the two have a nice mix. I'm so glad I bought a bottle!

[aritei]

Oh, I smell the cinnamon in the imp, but this one smells like lipstick and nutmeg on my skin. Interesting combo, but not really for me. I really wish I could smell the woody notes.

[helarctos]

Hamadryad wears like a delicate spicy herbal tea. There's definitely cinnamon in there, but not the loud red cinnamon that's in, say, All Night Long. (And Hamadryad doesn't turn my skin red, either.)

[RainyDayGrey]

Hamadryad sounded lovely in the description. I'm down with the woody earthy florals, and reading that there was cinnamon in the reviews I had to try it.

 

In the bottle: super sweet cotton candy, huh? Just to make sure I wasn't imagining things I made my husband sniff it too. Nope definatly cotton candy.

 

Wet: Cotton candy with something faintly earthy in the background. And intresting affect, but not really me.

 

Drydown: Whatever the earthy was goes away pretty fast and it remains all pink sugary cotton candy untill it goes away.

 

Overall: Well shoot, I really thought I would love this one, but I wasn't expecting it to be so super sweet. Despite my raging sweet tooth, I do not like to smell like candy. I'll probably give it one more shot, but I think this one is going to be headed for the swap box.

[Gin]

This is an oddly sweet, sort of woody-herbal scent. It’s a little spicy, and warm, like spiced tea. As it dries, it develops a cinnamonny scent, which is warm and lovely.

[vyvyan]

Ooooh, Hamadryad. I thought I'd like it, but I *really* like it! Yay!

 

On me, it never has a floral phase. It's a woody, slightly spicy scent that stays pretty stable. I'm crap at picking out individual notes, but now that everybody's been talking about the cinnamon, I can guess that that's probably the spicy bits; the wood is harder to pin down, but I think I get a whiff of cedar in there - not too strong, but lovely and dry and clean.

 

This feels like being in a room full of unfinished wood furniture, with maybe something baking in the back, and all the doors open to a forest outside.

 

It's been growing on me throughout the day. When I put it on, I thought "oh, that's nice, but not very special." My nose keeps getting pressed to my wrist, though! I think I may like this more than I thought.

[olympia301]

 

There is a similarity between Hamadryad and The Hesperides, they are both feminine sylvan-type scents, an exceptionally rare genre. But Hamadryad is much more floral, less woody.less apple-like, more leafy, and more cinnamony as many others have noted. If Hesperides is Autumn in the forest, Hamadryad is Summer in the forest. It is a very attractive scent and I highly recommend it for its beauty as well as inventiveness.

 

An Aside:

I had an insurmountable problem with Hamadryad, I received an imp of it in a swap, and like a few others, it was mislabeled. The imp I received and fell in love with was really The Hesperides, not Hamadryad. I swapped for a 5ml because I loved the harmonious complexity of all the components--autumnal and comforting. Alas, when I got my 5ml of Hamadryad it was lacking the apples and nuts of my imp, very summery. No matter how good Hamadryad was it would never live up to the impression I got of it, which was actually The Hesperides! So, I ended up swapping the 5ml away. Very much like ordering coffee and getting tea instead, it doesn't matter how good it is, it isn't the same and I could not talk my irrational nature out of being disappointed. Such is the nature of scent.

Edited July 17, 2005 by olympia301

[Phaedra]

Wet in the imp this smells like cinnamon. It goes on like a very dry cinnamon stick or cinnamon bark even. This is a faint blend. After a few minutes a very soft floral note begins to develop. It also smells a bit like apple at this stage. This ends up very dry, soft, and delicately sweet. It's not quite as woodsy in a forest way that I was looking for but is still nice. I'll have to try it again in cooler weather.

[sitanpu]

Oh wow, I just got an imp of this today and in the bottle it has a very odd scent. I agree with whoever said it was nutty.

 

I've applied this twice now, and all I know is that it's fairly faint, and it smells precisely like my teacher's house.

 

The second time, I got the cinnamon. This is a lovely scent, and seems perfect as a room scent.

[Blood onmy hands]

Hmm... yup, this is odd. It reminds me of the smell of the inside of a craft store. Cinnamon potpourri, dried flowers, glazed wood... in the drydown I get something that smells sort of like an apple cinnamon potpourri.

 

This might work as a decent room scent, but I'm definitely not crazy about it... This isn't the natural forest scent that I was expecting, more like a handmade forest... a nicely scented craft project. Oh well. Up for swaps it goes.

[Brianne]

In the bottle:

Kind of perfumey smelling and different at the same time. I can smell that cinnamon but it's not overpowering

 

On me:

I didn't know what was going to come of this one because there is no hint of cinnamon in the description but everyone saying there was cinnamon was what made me purchase this (I do love my cinnamon). This goes on really nice, I can smell the cinnamon but it's very natural smelling, and earthy. There's a mossy smell in there too, and normally I wouldn't like it but paired with the cinnamon, it really works. I do smell a tiny little hint of nutmeg which makes this earthier but I don't smell any clove like other people picked up. After a while those florals start to creep in, but for once it's not something I mind. It's very light and compliments the woody smell well.

 

Final note:

This is just woodsy enough to keep me from hating the floral part, and I love how natural this smells. This also has a lot of throw, I had worn this for a couple hours and was still smelling it, and that usually doesn't happen for me. I think I will probably get a bottle of this at some point.

[modesty_blaise]

From the imp, and when I applied it, it was veeery woodsy, I could see the dark soil and brown bark and thick leaves, and it made me a little weary...

But when it dried down, it was all cinnamon on my skin. Not the sweet cinnamon I´m used to, more like some cinnamon tea or something, it has a watery feel to it.

Overall a very nice and quite uncommon scent for a perfume, I like it!