Cordelia

[enui]

The essence of faith, love and devotion: lilac, lemon, green tea, wisteria, osmanthus, white cedar, and Chinese musk.

Starts as delicate white floral but then something else emerges that makes me think of lemon verbena, even if it's not listed as a note (probably the combination of lemon and something else).
During the drydown it's interesting, because the throw is sort of layered: I applied it to my wrists, and I could sniff a delicate floral/herbal, but if I sniffed my wrists closely the lemon verbena impersonator note was there.
Once dry it becomes a very dry powdery smell, with something harsh that makes me sneeze

It's an interesting scent, but does not work for me

[Neely]

In the bottle: toast with perfume counter perfume on it? My nose must be off...

 

Wet: a bitter floral with soapy undertones. Toast got eaten by man eating flowers. Feed me Seymour!

 

Dry down: fresh floral with a hint of lemon, this is much nicer than toast and perfume.

 

30 minutes: floral with a hint of lemon, the lemon is threatening as it always does to turn into Pledge. *sigh*

 

Conclusion: nope not for me. It is very lovely, much better than I thought it would be given the bottle sniff. Maybe mum or Mandragora would like it, and it would suit them better. I am a leather, smoke, spices, woods girl.

 

Rating 1-5: 3

[aquazoo]

Sour cat pee. (Not that there are a lot of subtle notes in cat pee...) Lemony gone wrong. Trade.

[maribouquet]

In the imp I can smell the green tea, a whiff of chinese white musk () and of course, cedar. But once it's on, the cedar overwhelms all else. More evidence that cedar is not a good note for me.

[Trish]

I got this as a frimp from the Lab, and it's not something I would have bought myself because of all the florals. However lemon, tea, musk and cedar are all winners on me so you never know!

 

In the imp: Strong floral with the sharpness of lemon and a touch of spice.

 

Wet: Sweet florals and lemon.

 

Drydown: The tea is starting to emerge so that it's lemon tea and florals. In fact the lemon is dominating everything else on me - luckily I like lemon and this is not cleaning fluid lemon in the slightest. Now there's a hint of green, like freshly snapped flower stems. Not sure I like that.

 

Dry: The florals are a lot stronger now, but I'm not sure if it's wisteria or osmanthus that is dominant. It's definitely not lilac though, it's underneath the other one/s. The lemon is still very much present, along with a little cedar in the background. Unforunately I'm not getting any musk at all and the tea is fading.

 

For a floral this is rather nice, mainly due to the lemon, tea and the little bit of cedar. I wish I got the musk and cinnamon/spice others have mentioned, along with more cedar.

 

Although soft it has a strength behind it - as befits Shakepeare's Cordelia - and is very pretty indeed. It's definitely one of the better florals on me, but it's not a keeper.

[Pottersville]

Another frimp I received from the Lab, so I went ahead and tried it even though most of the floral notes scared me. I was hoping to get some of the lemon or musk or tea. Nope. All I got was a white floral scent. Very sweet and overwhelming on me.

[MaidenGenevive]

Cordelia

 

In vial, dirty musk. Wet on skin, green tea and lemon, with traces of earth which becomes tree-like. A floral musk arises. This has an astringent quality to it. Dry, it feels dirty and astringent with faint whiffs of the other notes that all seem to be mingling together.

 

[2 - Dislike] Not at all what I was expecting, to the detriment of it.

[Ravenclaw79]

Imp: Lemon Pledge

 

Wet: Ooh, lilacs! Lilacs!!! I LOVE lilacs!!!

 

Drying: Lilacs and lemons ... sometimes a lemony lilac, and sometimes taking turns dominating. Lovely. This one has inspired a lilac quest, now -- are there other wonderful, lilac-y scents out there?

[theseagrows]

this is a light and pretty scent. i definitely get green tea, lemon and possibly wisteria? i get a slightly sweet floral that i know isn't lilac and just a hint of the cedar. luckily the lilac is subtle in this, as lilac doesn't work with my skin chemistry sometimes. this is very pretty and feminine, perfect for spring.

[CrazyPretzel]

At first this is a party of lilac, wisteria, and osmanthus on my skin: all dewy-sweet nectar-y blossoms so intense that I can almost feel the smell in the back of my throat. As it dries the cedar comes out, and imparts a rather damp feeling to the blend. I imagine I'm in a garden filled with purple and white flowering vines under a grey sky - rain drizzles onto a cedarwood fire nearby, which smokes heavily.

[voodoocatwoman]

FINALLY

 

After a day of 'ew, get it off,' I tried Cordelia.

 

In the Imp: Lilac, strong and clear

 

Wet: Lemon... furniture polish. Please change into something else. Please.

 

Dry: Wow. I pick up peppery lemon now. And Cedar. And lilac still in lurking. I would have thought that I wouldn't care for anything with cedar in it but this fragrance is so complex. I like it.

 

ETA: 14 hours later, Cordelia is soft and incense-ish.

Edited January 29, 2008 by voodoocatwoman

[steelxrose]

In the imp, Cordelia is quite pleasant. Light, airy.

 

On my skin, it changes to old B.O.

 

Pass.

[DifferentDances]

Imp: Green tea, lilac, and a sharpness that I guess is the Chinese musk. Very pretty.

Wet: Lemon lilac.

Drydown: Lemon, dry musk like old wooden shelves.

Dry: Lemon with an underlying musky-book odor.

 

My rating: 2/5. I love the initial scent in the imp, it's a 4/5. But once it hits my skin the lemon gets amped to kingdom come. Bah.

[4492]

In the imp: Cedar! and a slight tinge of lemon.

 

Wet: The cedar slopes of quite quickly and gets replaced with the Chinese musk (yum!) and something that I hopefully identified as wisteria (my knowledge of flowers is pitiful!) Very spring/summery and light.

 

Drydown: The musk seems to have gone off to visit the cedar and the green tea has poped up a little bit. Now there's a lot of light florals. Barely any lemon, which is fine by me (it turns into cleaning agents a lot on me).

 

A nice, light, fresh, spring like scent. Kind of refreshing. The kind of scent you'd wear to some kind of garden lunch wearing a summery dress. I can see my mum trying to nick the from me as well!

[windbourne]

Interesting scent, this one.

 

In the imp, it's a rather light floral, but as soon as I get it onto my skin it turns vibrantly woody with a touch of licorice. That lasts a short while, then the lemon runs in, beats everything with a baseball bat -- but not for long, because the soap and lilies are right behind with a bigger bat. (I'm really just amusing myself here. My apologies.) After the soapy scent fades, I still have lilies, and then the lilacs slowly bloom and stick.

 

It's quite light and doesn't last more than three hours, by the end of which all I have is the lightest touch of musk and wood. Definitely a work-safe scent, as the throw is about an inch on me and it's light enough to ignore.

 

Overall, this gives the impression of a very womanly woman blessed with strength and gentility. Sounds about accurate. Nicely done, though it's not one I'm likely to purchase as, barring the lilacs, it's not really my type of scent. I'm happy to have an imp to use up, though. I think it'll be lovely to wear in spring.

[CordeliaSeduced]

How utterly ironic. This wasn't even my first order (though my name is based off the Kirkegaard heroine, not the Shakespearean namesake of the scent). Anyway, first review:

 

In the bottle, I couldn't smell much past the musk. Perhaps a little of the cedar, and something sharp and sterile (probably the tea--I have a tendency to connect green teas with my days as an esthetician). In fact, it made me completely forget this contained any florals.

 

Wet on my skin, it began to unfold into a warm combination of florals. The lilac seemed to overpower everything else, but every now and again I'd get a whiff of jasmine.

 

As it dried, more of the tea and cedar seemed to be present, but the lilac still sits on top for me. Completely dry (as it is right now) I get a very powdery lemon. It took maybe three hours to reach this state, but it was a fun ride while it lasted...I'd be curious to try this in my scent locket to see if it lasts any longer and ends in something other than powder.

 

All in all, this scent surprised me: the longer I wore it, the more I liked it. The lilac made it a perfect spring/summer scent that I can definitely see myself wearing throughout the season. This is probably go on my list for larger bottles.

[hkhm]

imp: musk and cedar.

 

wet: lilac, lime, cedar... ooh! there's the musk. this is really unusually pretty, very light and springy.

 

dry: dries to a very soft scent, but there is the light aura or something pretty hovering all around. very nice.

[ImperatrixMundi]

Cordelia goes morphing all over the place.

 

The imp smells of floral lemon.

 

Wet on skin it is lemon tea over lilac. When it dries down the lemon tea fades and for some time it smells mostly of lilac and wisteria and then turns into something floral in a very classic way for some time. Osmanthus likes me. A lot. I clearly get a lot of that apricot-like fruity smell it has over musk and cedar. The cedar gets even stronger with time, sometimes sending out a whiff of spicy pencil shavings

Chinese musk is very nicy and on the whole I would have liked it to come out a bit more.

 

It starts out as a great springtime scent but the drydown is that of a very classical floral perfume, the kind my mom wears. Which brings me to the conclusion that it is nice but not me. Maybe I will test it again in my hair though, it might go less floral.

[martiangurll]

In the bottle: I smell florals soft, wistful florals with woods beneath and herbal/green smell.

 

Wet/on the wrist Soft, white florals, not too overpowering, wood supporting, and green, fresh herbal scent well blended. I thought this was sandalwood initially but on consulting the notes, discovered it was cedar, and I just love the wooded base !

 

Drydown: This one morphs only a little, . It did go thru a "lemon power" phase, that someone else mentioned, which had me worried, as I really liked it initially. Fortunately this did not last long and the light, sweet florals returned with the base wood an astringent green herbal note, I am wondering if its the tea note that makes it somewhat astringent, but this green note really make this blend a standout for me. I guess I need to add "tea" to my list of favorite notes, as many of my faves have tea in the blend .

 

Throw : Mild. Scent does not last nearly as long as I would like. Next time I will try it in my hair as this seems to help extend the length of sniffability.

 

Overall Impression: Very feminine without being too girley and very natural smelling with the cedar wood base. I don't think this would work for a male. Thus far, this is my favorite Illyria scent, although I must say they are all working pretty well for me, with few exceptions. I am enjoying the masculine scents as well as the feme ones. Chic and sexy without brazeness. (I think understated sexy is the word I am looking for) Will be hoarded!

[Iceblink]

I will give Cordelia credit for containing lilac AND wisteria, yet not going powdery or soapy on me. Nice work babe! The lilac is prominent when it's wet, but on the drydown I'm getting more cedar and green tea. It's so faint though that it's hard to tell; there's no throw here. Really interesting combination of notes, though!

[fairnymph]

In the bottle: I can smell each note except the musk. The cedar is very light, and the lemon smells like verbena to me. The lilac first, then the green tea, are strongest.

 

Wet: Virtually identical. I adore the unique pairing of the smooth, fresh green tea and heady, cool lilac, lightly spiked with the tart lemon. Sweet, golden osmanthus and light woody cedar provide a grounding but delicate backdrop. Wisteria is very light, thankfully.

 

Dry: More lemony, bizarrely. The lilac is still very strong, but it's sort of blending with the heady-powder of the wisteria. Green tea also still potent, and its green smoothness meshes well with the slightly dry but still delicate cedar.

 

Later: Sweeter; the musk has finally emerged. While I can still smell a bit of green tea and lilac, they're faint. Otherwise this is cedar and wisteria, especially the former which has become very hot and dry and woody and STRONG.

 

Summary: Extremely dry, heat-emanating cedar with much lighter lilac, smooth green tea, and powdery wisteria, and extremely faint osmanthus and sweet musk. The cedar overwhelms, sadly. Decent throw. Off to sink now.

 

I SO wish the lab would stop pairing lilac with notes that hate my skin. Especially wisteria.

Edited May 15, 2008 by fairnymph

[kittycatpurr]

In the imp: Cedar, cedar, cedar, cedar and tea.

Wet: O-kay! I kind of like it, and then there is something powdery sweet. A very traditional floral. I guess that's the lilac! The cedar warms it, and makes this a welcoming scent. It's still quite old-fashioned.

Drydown: Disappearing.

Dry: Well, I like the lemon and lilac, but that's a leetle too sweet. The cedar is quite moderate on me, once dried. And I guess musk is what makes everything stronger. It's very pretty and well-structured. It makes me think of a Gibson Girl. But it's not really me.

[SarahScent44]

In the imp, this is lemon, tea, and lilac - delicious!

 

On my skin, there's more lemon - it really envelops everything (which I love!).

 

When it dries, the cedar and the musk come up - just a little tea in the background. This is nice, but not for me.

[suki]

in the imp: a very sweet floral with a slight hint of wood.

 

wet on skin: the wood has faded, but there is a trace of something smoky here, under the cloying flowers.

 

dry down: a smoky, floral blend.

 

in all: not my cup of tea, but interesting all the same.

[Rouge]

Here's a freebie from the Lab!

 

In the vial - Strongly floral. There's something sharp, and something else almost dusty.

 

Wet on the skin - The green tea and lilac in this blend is delicate and soft, but the white cedar gives this blend a strong backbone - not unlike Cordelia herself.

 

Next stages - Going from the ingredients list I was expecting a cool and somewhat airy scent, but instead it's rapidly developing into something woody and slightly warm. As time goes on, however, the lemon and lilac come back and it morphs into a faintly astringent but still feminine summer scent.