Calliope

[girl_android]

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 imp: eeeep ! I smell lavender! I'm not the biggest fan of lavender, but my DH is very anti-lavender. Ahh well, at least he's got a blocked nose from the cold that seems to be going around this house ... I seem to have recovered enough in any case (: I also smell something herby. Like sage, or rosemary, or something herby-woody smelling, or something. There's also something that smells like ... lemon zest! Here goes nothing ...

Wet on skin: Lavender's still there, the lemon zest thing pops out a lot more when it's on skin. It does strangely remind me of a kitchen pantry's herb ... stash. Ok maybe stash isn't the right word. It's more a kitchen kind of lavender scent rather than a garden flowery kind of lavender. I don't know if that makes sense to anyone.

Dry: Something like freshly bashed lemongrass, which I guess is actually the lemon verbena. Nothing minty at all though, the lemon zest part I guess is what the bergamot is making me think of, nothing almondy. I do feel like I'm in a kitchen prepping herbs for a chicken!

This is nice, but can't stay in our house, because lavender is the anti-DH note (;

[PilotKitten]

Very warm almond blend. There's something slightly sour citrus about it though... perhaps the bergamot. Or the thyme making the citrus sour instead. After the initial drydown more of the lovely verbena comes wafting out with a single slice of a fresh orange. Nice blend but entirely my style.

[Alchemy21599]

I received this scent as a frimp from the Lab

 

In the vial: a lovely citrus blend.

 

Wet: verbena!

 

Dry: after about 2 hours the thyme came out to play. The presence of the thyme is not a bad thing to me since it is one of my favorite herbs. I will enjoy my imp and I may need to order a big bottle. This blend will be my scent of choice while I am working on my NaNoWriMo project

[supremegoddessofall]

All lemon with a touch of thyme. Not getting lavender or mint at all. Smells like dishwashing detergent, and definitely not for me.

[prettypinkkitty]

In bottle - it smells like lavender, sweetened with fruit.

 

Wet - it's more lavender+verbena.

 

Dry - now it's mostly verbena and orange. Not for me.

[The_Merf]

In the imp: I get orange and lavender

 

Wet: This is a strong orange on me (it's not a note I particularly like, though my skin likes to amp it up), and I think I detect a bit of marzipan/almond.

 

Drydown and wear: This is a very interesting and fractured scent...there are three competing "strands" on my skin as this dries down. There's the orange, the almond, and a very sharp and herbal combination of the lavender and the thyme. They never really work in harmony on my skin, but the orange is the strongest.

[phedre]

Wet: Lavender overpowers just about everything, which is ok because I love lavender.

 

On skin: Bergamot and lavender. A bit of cool mint.

 

Dry: A bit herbal from lavender and thyme, a bit of orange and wood from the orange and bergamot. I don't get foody from this at all.

 

Overall, I like this. I don't think I'll buy a bottle, but I might use the imp.

[sookster]

straight sniff from imp is a very complex lavender....

 

once applied...mint and bergamot take over....i get a touch of almond and perhaps the thyme...so interesting...

[filigree_shadow]

In the imp: Citrus and herbs.

 

Wet: Lemon and lavender. The lavender eases the lemon's tartness a bit at first, but as it's drying pretty much the only thing I can smell at all is lemon.

 

Dry: Ends up as a herbal citrus scent. The lemon fades out and orange seems to take its place. A pretty, light scent. Something in it seems to be going slightly powdery on my skin, making the whole thing smell kind of fleeting and ethereal. Very interesting.

 

Although neither lemon nor lavender are notes I wear, I find this combination to be less objectionable than I thought it would be. It's a little too strong when it's wet, but when it's dry it smells light and pretty. Not a glue-nose-to-wrist scent for me, but I think it's certainly a must-try for people who like citrus.

[dronzeka]

In the imp, I just LOVE this - lavender, citrus, bergamot - mmmmm! When I put it on, initially it's a beautiful lavender-y citrus melange, bright and crisp and clean and sunny. How lovely, think I, I will need a big bottle of this! Then, after about half an hour, it suddenly gets much warmer and fainter and - play doh. Just over the edge from perfume to playdoh, but still play doh. It's actually kind of nice, but not really what I need in a perfume. Such a shame, because it had such a lovely beginning! I think it may be the thyme going strange on me, because I have no problem with the bergamot in Alice (and adore it).

[glass_cat]

Calliope is the first of the muses I've yet tried. Seems odd since I'm into so many of the arts, but there it is all the same. Her scent is a beautiful collection of citrus and herbal notes... an invigorating blend that wakes me up and gets my mind going the way that a scent inspired by a muse absolutely should.

 

I'm actually surprised that something with such strong green and citrus tones is so pleasant on me. Usually those are the very things I avoid, but this blend seems to be one of the ones that works, and beautifully so. As someone else before me said, this is rather kitchen-y, but not at all in a bad or unpleasant way. It's a wonderfully clean kitchen first thing in the morning with the sun coming through the windowsill and warming the fresh herbs that are lovingly grown there. I will definitely be pulling this imp out the next time I want to get some writing done. It's a perfect scent for such an activity.

 

Would I "big bottle" this? Probably not, but only because it reminds me strongly of Envy, which I have a big bottle of and already use often for waking myself up enough to get some writing done and such things. Also, this one doesn't have quite the staying power on me that some of my other similar scents do. Otherwise, this is a beautiful blend. I'll certainly be finishing and savouring the rest of my imp.

Edited January 17, 2007 by glass_cat

[dorothy humbird]

In the imp, Calliope smells almost like cleaner to me. Perhaps a natural cleaner infused with herbs, but still a cleaning product.

 

Once on my skin that association goes away except for the very prominent citrus notes. It smells very lemony to me (bergamot) but I can also detect more notes fleshing it out -- thyme and lavendar giving a more solid base.

 

I appreciate that Calliope is well-blended, but it's not a smell I want to experience throughout the day, so into the swap pile it goes.

[stellans]

 

All lemon with a touch of thyme. Not getting lavender or mint at all. Smells like dishwashing detergent, and definitely not for me.

quote fix --Shollin

 

I recently received this in a multi-imp buy off eBay, and was sad to discover the same thing you did. I tend to buy things with a lavender note, and shy away from anything mint, but smell neither in this blend. I'm going to keep the imp for a while longer and try again to see if time changes my mind.

 

Edited later to add: It must have been my hormones or something, but now I love this scent! The lavender does come through, and thankfully, the mint does not. I've scrounged up a couple more imps and made a roll-on with some body oil to stretch the scent until I can buy a large bottle.

Edited May 1, 2008 by stellans

[AmyAngel]

Calliope: Smells strong and kind of pollen-like in the imp. On, it starts out with the pollen smell but quickly becomes herbal with an almost citrus smell on top. Smells kitchen-y. There's a freshness that might be the mint. I'm getting a bit of powdery scent, but citrusy, not the immediate strong baby powder that Faustus turned into. It smells very clean. It's pretty faint after about 10 minutes. What's left is a soft herbal powder smell. Completely gone in 2 hours or so.

[euterpe414]

This is quite comforting and herbal. I really enjoy the citrus + mint + thyme that I am getting when I sniff my skin. I don't know where the rest of the notes are...perhaps my nose is not working as well as it should today.

 

I really like this one, it is great for when i want to relax at home or want to feel clean and refreshed. However I must add that at first I, too, did get a dish detergent smell. It probably lasted for about 5-10 minutes and then went away. Surprisingly enough, this one lasts longer than other mint blends that I have tried. Weird.

 

Anyhow, I may get a bottle of this, but I need to perhaps test it a few more times to make sure that it won't go awry on me for longer than it did.

[Lyzz13]

I love the smell of this in the imp; it's a bright citrus/mint, with a touch of dreamy lavender. However, This is how I figured out that verbena is my nemesis... It amps until it screams "LEMON PLEDGE!!!!!"

 

It's a scent I'd love to wear while working or writing. Maybe in a scent locket, or in my burner?

[Extispex]

This was a frimp with my last order.

 

In the bottle, very BRIGHT. Fresh, herby, zesty - almost yummy.

 

Wet on the skin its all lemon verbena, but seeing as I like verbena, I find it very pleasant. A refreshing kind of wake-up scent. Not physical pep, but a mental stimulation. And its cool on my skin - is that the mint maybe? I like it.

 

On dry down, verbena still predominates, but herby notes begin to assert themselves, and something a little softer, maybe the lavender. There's a lot of clarity to Calliope, and I'm very happy to have received it. I feel like I want to wear it while writing or working - because of the clear fresh beauty of the aroma. I think I might need more of this one.

[neuilly]

Lavendar straight off the bat but it fades fairly quickly. It ends up being virtually all single note verbena with hints of herbs in the background every now and then. Not terribly big on verbena so I'm going to have to pass. It's nice soft scent on me though.

[modernsaints]

I really wanted to enjoy this, as I'm big into the poetry (especially epic! I like epic!) but unfortunately it quickly devolved into herbs. Lots and lots of herbs. I LIKE herbs, but I don't feel like I should smell like them, so unfortunately this one is making its way on to a new owner.

[Mimicake]

I am so glad this one works for me. All the notes are amongst my favorite herbs, and I love the fresh-cut green of this fragrance. It has that fresh out of the shower and into the garden scent. I love this one!

[dirtytrip]

Yeah, this would be super pleasant as a dish detergent or a laundry additive. But as a fragrance, not so much. The bergamot and the lemon just don't like each other on my skin, they're sniping at each other. The mint's just standing there, trying to calm things down, which helps to a point. Meanwhile, verbena, thyme and lavender got in the car and took off for the beach. So much for me and Miss Calliope.

[Brianne]

In the vial:

Warm, sweet almond

 

On me:

Right away I get almond and orange - it's sweet, but mellow and color wise I would call this a golden orange. Then the verbena and lavender kick it - the verbena adds a lemony zest to this, and brightens it even more. The lavender adds an herbal note but it doesn't get TOO herbal, it seems grounded by the sweet notes.

 

The end result is something that smells very clean and generally pleasant. As the above comment states, it would make an excellent laundry soap or the like. It's the kind of clean scent that I think most people would enjoy in that context. I don't see myself wearing this much as a personal scent though, but it IS nice!

 

 

 

Final note:

I don't dislike this at all - on the contrary, I think it's really very lovely. It's just that it makes me think more of something I'd use as a soap rather than a personal scent. Very nice though!

[labeth]

Calliope was the muse I thought I would most like, because I'm a fan of citrus, mint, and bergamot, and out of the three I've tried, she is.

 

There was a bit of buying-for-the-name here, since I was a literature major in college with a big emphasis on epic poetry.

 

Calliope is a bit floral in the imp, so I was unsure about trying it. I'm not a florals fan in general. Wet, it starts out strong on lemon and lavender. Later on, the lavender backs off some, but the lemon stays strong-- it reminds me in the dryer stage of Yuki-Onna. I don't think I would get a bottle of this, because I have a bottle of Yuki-Onna and I like that better, but it might be an acceptable subsitute for when I one day run out.

 

Overall, I'm pretty pleased, but I'm going to hold off on a bottle until there is no chance of getting any Yuki-Onna.

Edited June 16, 2007 by labeth

[Bagfish]

Ohh, pretty! Calliope was a frimp and I'm so pleased I was gifted with it. It starts of very lemon-lavender but has morphed into a beautiful smooth warm herbal scent, I can almost smell the Mediterranean Maquis with the warm sun beating down on it. I think the almond provides the smoothness, its like a moist Spanish almond dessert with an orange-herbal syrup, like a pithiver, although it really isn't all that foody/gourmand.

 

This is so much more than just a bunch of herbs, it is an absolutely beautiful, unusual scent.

[mystery213]

Whew... in the vial this has a delightful, playfully herbal lavender smell with an orange undertone.

But wet, this goes on and the verbena takes over completely, reminding me of Lemonhead candy, or possibly lemon Pledge... It smells good, but nothing I would wear as a scent.

Dry, the pledge smell dissapates and I am let with a very pungent thyme, thyme, thyme smell. I really can't pick up much of anything else except the slightest hint of the verbena in the far, far background. My skin just amps the thyme completely, and leaves me smelling very herbal but medicinal.

Nope, this one just isn't happening for me...