Calliope

[fairnymph]

The eldest of the Muses, she is Eloquence, and thus, governs heroic and epic poetry, and her eloquence has served to calm quarrels even amongst the surliest of Gods. She is crowned in gold, and holds a roll of parchment or stylus and tablet. Hers is the scent of creative inspiration, and it is a boon to writers, poets and arbitrators: lavender and bright mint with bergamot, verbena, thyme and a touch of sweet orange and warm almond.

In the bottle: I can smell all the notes distinctly! But the astringent ones are definitely strongest. It's quite sharp and herbal.

Wet: Crazy strong lavender, bergamot, and mint. The other notes are still there but much fainter. I'd call this a pretty masculine blend.

Dry: Verbena is majorly in command.

Summary: Thyme and verbena with a hint of mint and almond. Really interesting evolution, but this one is not for me. Edited May 18, 2008 by Shollin

[Tilby]

Lovely lemons and thyme are the prominent features of this blend on my skin. It smells fresh and clean. It also is good to give you a little wake up boost during the day. I am so glad I got a bottle of this!

[SilverSerenity]

I tried this first a few days ago, and was immediately put off by it - I wanted to love it, but it was waaaay too sharp and overwhelming medicine-smelling and gave me a headache. I had to go wash it off.

 

I decided to try it again today and decided that I like it much better now. It's still a sharp scent, but is more a fresh and clean smell - I really smell the mint, with a touch of thyme and sweetness from the almond. A nice scent, but not one I can see myself wearing too often - I'm rather disappointed that I cannot detect any lavender at all - I love lavender and usually I can pick it out very well Though it'll be great on those days where I can barely drag myself out of bed.

[Lamia]

In the bottle, it smells of almond, and I think hmmm, another Queen of Sheba? Yay! I put it on my skin, and am overwhelmed with lemon. Yes, ladies and germs, I smell like a kitchen cleaned with Lemon Pledge wherein someone rolled out marzipan.

[Indigo78]

In the imp: Bright, tart - potently lemony. Geez... But I like Lemon, so we'll see..

On the skin this erupt into Pledge with undercurrents of other stuff: In order, this stuff would be Bergamot and Thyme

The drydown is quick and increasingly herbal. There's a fifteen minute phase where this is sooooo good...perfectly balanced and gorgeous. After that the fade is rapid.

 

Since this is DC I won't seek a bottle, but will hold onot the imp for when I want some sunshine~

Edited May 29, 2008 by Indig0

[Wwindy]

What a quirky, offbeat scent! Without the note list in front of me, I don't think I'd ever successfully identify the elements here. The herbs here seem very green on my skin -- the thyme and verbena smell like crushed leaves and stems rubbed between the fingers, rather than dried plants. The thyme is, as previously noted by many reviewers, crazy strong and extremely distinctive. You might not be able to pinpoint what it is, but it stands out! After drydown, I'm getting predominantly the thyme, followed by the green aspect of the verbena (rather than the lemon -- much to my relief, I get virtually no lemon). The lavender and almond are very subtle; my weirdo left side chemistry brings those notes out a touch more noticeably in the crook of my left elbow as compared to my right, but they're not particularly strong even on the left.

 

It's very difficult to describe this scent coherently. Am I getting occasional moments where it lurches precariously into bug-spray territory? Yep. Veering from there into kitchen prep time? Yep. And yet somehow it still works! Intriguing.

 

I got my decant from the inimitable tartchef, who's enabling my search for not-overly-citrusy "wake up" BPAL. This one definitely does the trick! I smell crisp and herbal and ... could that possibly be the scent of alertness? Woohoo!

[Argentwolf]

Initially, there was a very strong lemon smell. Then the thyme and verbena and lavender insinuated themselves into the yellow haze of scent, giving it a peppery kick now and then. Mint and bergamot were faint, but there; they sort of phased in and out throughout the day. Overall, though...it was just...too...lemony! I really wanted to like this, but it just didn't work out completely.

[quigza]

I'm so glad I bought a 5ml before it was discontinued. I really like this fragrance.

 

In the bottle: lemon, mint, lavender soap, almond.

 

Wet: lemon verbena (possibly lemongrass), lavender, "green" and mint... hardly any almond

 

Dry: mint is much stronger, the lavender is no longer soapy & is in the background. the lemongrass (it's lemongrass on me) is fading into the green. This is a beautiful fragrance, kind of like when you're drying herbs after harvesting them from the garden.

 

After a couple hours: Faded mint, lavender, a little almond again, & dried herbs.

[Greensleeves]

In the bottle: Pale yellow oil. Bright, fresh citrus with a hint of lavender and herbs.

 

Wet: Delicious lavender, herbs, and citrus, with a faint hint of marachino cherry (?) - must be the almond. Fresh and tingly on the skin.

After a few minutes on skin: A pleasant citrus medley underscored softly by peppery lavender and the faint tang of other herbs. I'm getting a hint of thyme, but no sign of the mint, though I know it is in there just because the oil seems cool on my skin.

 

After first hour: Lavender and citrus and mild almond, which has died down from maraschino cherries and lost its foody notes. Soft, sweet, but with enough tang that it isn't sickly. Very pleasant.

 

After two and a half hours: Citrus with a faint hint of soft floral and almond.

 

After 5 hours: Citrus faintly underlain by almond.

 

Final Verdict: Quite nice from start to finish. Not what I really want, but enjoyable enough to be worthy of an honourable mention.

[crebbsgirl]

Alright I have no idea what happened here. In the bottle, everything was wonderful. The lavender, orange and almond are all playing nice. You can smell the bergamot and mint sort of floating around there too. On my skin - something smells like play-doh. I'm not kidding.

[ljaylh]

 

I just got a frimp of this with a bottle purchase - I didn't realise it was discontinued in Jan '08, so I guess the oil I'm testing must be over 12 months old.

 

I can see how this blend could be invigorating - it's very bright and fresh, bordering on sharp but not quite going there. My skin is totally ignoring everything but the verbena.. I'm getting a really strong and slightly mint/herbal lemon and that's about all.

 

I wish there was more than just " a touch" of the sweet orange and warm almond.. that may have mellowed things out and softened that sharpness, but sadly this is all just lemon on me - my skin just amps it up over everything else. Happened the same way with Lolita

 

Since other people had much better reactions to this, I'll be adding it to my swaps pile because I don't think it's for me.

[pseedie]

In the Imp: strong citrus and sage

Wet: Lemon and chlorine?? Pool Water and lemonade?? wha???

Dry: Lemon playdough?? Nah, I must be having a bad nose day....but seriously, that's what I'm getting at first ...then sage comes forward a bit, then the verbena runs over the top of the sage (this is like a horse race, at this point) and finally, after about half hour, I begin to smell lavender.....

Time lapse 1 hour: This has become a quiet, powdery (thanks to the sage) floral with strong verbena notes. Nice for a summer floral, if you're that way inclined.

Time lapse 2 hours: Poof!

Verdict: In the summertime, pool water and lemonade are a beautiful thing....it's a very citrus-y fragrance with nice layers of notes that all play nicely together....

[sylvanusurban]

In bottle: Very green and herbaceous. Seems promising.

 

On me, wet: Mmm, herby green goodness. I can really smell the lavender and thyme, and the brightness of the verbena. It’s a calming and refreshing scent, and it’s even playing nice with my headache (unlike certain Raptures I could name).

 

On me, drying: Hmm, it’s becoming a “dryer” smell now – more like dried herbs than fresh crushed ones. It’s not quite as nice. I might also be smelling the bergamot more now, but I’m not sure. *Might* be getting just a whiff of the sweet orange, but if so, it’s very faint.

 

Later: You know how dried herbs can smell kind of like pencil shavings? …Yeah, that’s what I’m getting now. Sadly, this has gone from fresh glorious herbage to dry, slightly musty, been-stored-in-a-bottle herbage over the space of a few minutes. It’s still nice, but it was nicer before.

 

Verdict: I'll keep the imp, but I doubt any bottles are in my future. Wait, it's discontinued anyway. Well, I guess that settles that.

[sirensea]

Wet, it has a fizzy, minty scent. There's an element of sweetness, probably the almond and the orange.

 

Now that it's dry, it's so acrid and dusty that I can't stand to smell it. This one doesn't age very well, it seems. It smells like old, old herbs.

[aislingeach]

Wet: My nose isn't good enough to pick out all the notes in this. It's a pleasant, herby smell, and the mint isn't as present as I'd feared.

 

Dry: This smells like the lemon thyme we used to have in our garden, which is probably how my nose is reading the verbena and thyme together, and lavender. There's some sweetness -- almost as an `after-smell', if you will -- which might be the almond and orange, and the mint is just quiet enough to make it fresh without going all mouthwash. I think I like this one, but I'm going to have to give it another couple of tries to be sure.

Edited July 2, 2009 by aislingeach

[mgrazulis]

Light, green and full of fresh bright herbs. Lavender, chilly mint and verbena announce themselves in a quick burst of orange. The middle stanza is creamy savory thyme and bergamot, softening the herbal edges. The rhythm holding it all in perfect form is the gentle almond undertone, rounding out all the echoes of this beautiful summery wake-up blend.

[ami226]

Heeellloooo verbena and lavender. This is another scent that really reminds me of Fruit Loops... Funny enough.

[WidgetAlley]

Imp: Yum! A soft, edible lavender combined with a sweet herbal lemon, some mint, and gorgeous, almost bakery orange-almond. I would like to roll in it please!

 

Wet: Orange-almond liqueur, catmint, a glowing delicate lavender, and lemon verbena tea. Feminine, yielding, but also cheerful and sunny and wonderful. Oh, I really like this, it's like a slightly more edible Santa Eularia des Riu.

 

Dry: It smells exactly like catmint leaves, right down to the slightly dusty fuzz, with hints of lavender and lemon and baking. Oh, this is glorious! So sad it's discontinued, but Santa Eularia will have to do if I want more.

[Coldfire]

Imp: thyme, lavender and faintest orange
Wet on Me: Oh Hai thyme! You will be most present under my nose, the mint is trying to reign in the thyme
Drying Down: Thyme grabbed her stompy boots and is stompin all over all the other notes making them stay away
Dry: Thyme. making me hungry!

[Lucchesa]

Calliope is screechingly herbal on me. Verbena has a habit of taking over, and combined with the lavender, mint and really loud thyme, the herbs drown out the softer scents on my skin. I don't get any almond and very little bergamot. I'll pass this imp on.

[dementia_divine]

In the imp: The lavender and thyme notes jump out at me first, followed by the mint and bergamot.

 

Wet: The lavender and thyme are the strongest notes on my skin at first, with the thyme being even stronger than it was in the imp. Then, the mint emerges, and then the bergamot, making it a sharp, but cool herbal scent, with the lavender, thyme, and mint being the most prominent notes, and the thyme being the strongest of them all.

 

Dry: Thyme like whoa, with some verbena and maybe just a hint of orange.

 

Verdict: This ended up smelling like I took some thyme sprigs and rubbed them all over my arm. Not my jam, but I'm really glad I got a chance to try it!

Edited February 26, 2018 by dementia_divine