Pontia

[Coldfire]

Bergamot and French lavender.

Decant: Lavender love. I might swoon
Wet on Me: Still Lavender Love. I am swooning.
Drying Down: Still in a lavender swoon. Bare hints and suggestions of bergamot below in an undercurrent. Loving this!
Dry: Oh me Oh MY! I’ve gotten the vapors. The lovely lavender vapors of Pontia. THIS is serious lavender love and a bottle MUST be obtained!

[fairnymph]

In the bottle: Colourless oil. Whoa! - potent. Medicinal lavender, other mentholic things.

 

Wet: Same. Strong, sharp, almost harsh. Very GREEN. Sinus-clearing. Hint of bergamot.

 

Dry: A bit more bergamot emerges with time, but the lavender overpowers it greatly, 90:10 or so.

 

Summary: It does take on a very slight edge of sweetness, but in the end smells far too medicinal for my tastes. Virtually lavender SN.

[twilighteyes]

This smelled like straight up real lavender flowers to me. Never did get any of the bergamot.

[caitilarkin]

In the imp: Herbal lavender

 

Wet on skin: Oh dear, this is doing the same vaguely sweaty trick that Moon of the Terrible did on my skin...now I know it was definitely the lavender...

 

Dry on skin: Yup, it's all sweat on me. This will have to go to a new home.

[nekogrrl]

Bleh.

 

This was so quickly headache-inducing I washed it off after I got a good whiff of it on my skin. Which was sad, because I use bergamot and lavender in massage therapy sessions, but this was just way too strong.

[Dark Alice]

Lavendar is my friend but in this....bleah...off to the swaps/pif pile for you!

[Argentwolf]

Pretty much as advertised...very strong, dry lavender, with a faint bit of bergamot underneath. It reminds me lots of Baku, only without the sweet addition of anise. Fades away to nothing pretty rapidly. I thought I'd like this a lot more than I actually did.

[aquazoo]

Lavender-mania!!!! It's a very strong lavender and I can't even tell that the bergamot is there.

 

 

[rayvn1]

Very strong smell of lavendar and bergamot (of course) like an organic laundry detergent. Once it dries it's barely there with a clean sweetness that's very enjoyable. I think I'll scent my sheets with this one

[tartchef]

I have waited long & hard for my Pontia, and she does not disappoint... BIG lavender, straight out of the bottle, big lush purple buds & lots of silvery green stems & leaves... this is the hyper-realistic lavender of Safari, not the marshmallowy sweet TKO variety, and I LOVES it. Once the fanfare dies down, the bergamot comes into its own, golden & gorgeous, like lemon-infused honey smeared across my hands... the combination of the two is stunning, restorative & absolutely edible. Yes, it is fleeting, fading to a faint brush of herbal sweetness after barely two hours, but I can forgive that - Pontia is one I want to slather on again & again...

[pinkhare]

oh how i adore Pontia . I think I shall love her for a very long time. In the bottle and wet this is very much like everyone has said. Strong Lavender . As it dries on me it takes on a honeysuckle lavender bliss scent. I think this is because my strange body chemistry turns Bergamot into honeysuckle . I can esily see this becoming my spring smell.

[ephemera]

I so wanted to love this! I need a new sleepy-time scent and I thought this might be it as I love both lavendar and bergamot. Admittedly, lavendar on me isn't as impressive…

 

This just - poof. Faded. I applied it and it was gone moments later. Same thing happened again. I guess it's just not strong enough. Ah well.

[hypatia]

The very first scent I ever wore on a daily basis (when I was 19 or 20) was Crabtree & Evelyn's lavender water, a nice light single-note lavender. It was very pleasant and herbal and comforting. Pontia reminds me of that, in a good way, but it's deeper and more sophisticated and closer to a true lavender. The bergamot note is there throughout, but in the background -- like standing in a field of lavender while someone brews some Earl Grey tea a little way away. There's nothing harsh or medicinal about Pontia on me, which is good, because sometimes lavender goes sweaty-smelling on me. Not this one, though. I'm so glad I ordered a bottle. The only drawback is that it fades quickly. My skin eats most of it, and the drydown is pretty faint.

 

This could practically be an all-purpose scent: on the skin, in the bathtub, in an oil-warmer to scent a room, in linen water, etc. etc. etc. But mostly I'm going to be wearing it on me, because it's so lovely.

[drmomof2boys]

Lovely on sniff- fresh lavender and bergamot. Smells like France! Stays true on the skin, but the lavender fades after 10-15 minutes, and the bergamot follows shortly after. Too bad it doesn't have more lasting power.

[milo]

My mom grows lavender, and this is the true blue lavender that my mom hangs to dry in the summer from her herb garden. I love this, though for a blend that starts out sooo strong, it fades, "poof" gone, an hour later. I do love this, though for scent association as well.

[Lamia]

This is nothing BUT lavender, and such powerful lavender that it jumps right out of the bottle and punches you repeatedly in the face. It is so aggressive that I actually thought it was eucalyptus, and would be good as a replacement for Vick's.

 

Jeebus.

 

It is also a FAST fade, thank goodness. Trade bag, oh hells yes.

[yeahbutnobut]

Pontia

In the imp: a blue haze of lavender-halfway between Yvaine and the Somnium blends.

Wet on skin: lavender and bergamot, pure and simple.

Dry on skin: lavender and bergamot. I can smell both notes. Usually I don’t detect the bergamot in BPAL but I do here, a little hint of deep citrus underneath the lavender. Of course the lavender is the dominant note, and it’s reminiscent of the lavender in Yvaine, a scent that’s quite heavy, smoky and nocturnal in feel, yet also with a hint of starry white musk underneath.

After a while: the lavender here does last a bit longer, but as this scent is made of notes that don’t last very long (lavender and a citrus), this scent does fade considerably and becomes faint after a short time. That being said, I can smell a waft of something lavender-y and herbal lingering. There’s a clean powdery-white, sweetish background, almost like a hint of white musk, or maybe iris/orris, holding on to the remains of the lavender and bergamot.

Verdict: this is an uncomplicated blend of lavender and bergamot, with lavender being the strongest note. It’s a smoky and deep blue lavender scent. the good thing is I can also smell the bergamot, usually a quiet note on me, I smell its distinctive tea-ish tang under the lavender. There may be a hint of something else, maybe a white musk? But not surprisingly, lavender and bergamot do not last long on me so this blend fades very fast. But it was nice when it lasted…though to me this is more of an aromatherapy scent as opposed to a perfume-it would make a wonderful base for a bath product or a massage oil.

Emoticon rating:

Is it a keeper? not really.

If you like this, try: Yvaine, the Somnium blends, Psyche, Pain, Mad Hatter

[catattack]

Imp: Lavender!

Wet: Lavender!

Drydown: Lavender, but mellowed a bit. I smell only lavender. This is lavender through and through. Nothing else here on my skin.

Overall: This lasted a couple of hours on me. I don't generally wear lavender out of the house, so it doesn't matter that it doesn't last very long. Usually, I put on lavender scents when I'm getting ready for bed.

 

[LauraB]

Starts, dries and ends as herbal lavender! There is a slight touch of bergamot/citrus in there but you really have to sniff for it. It isn't as sweet as some lavenders, which suits me fine. As a lavender fan, I may well end up hunting out more of this...

[edenssixthday]

Pontia - I don't like BPAL's lavender note and I don't like their bergamot note, so I don't know why I tried this. It was about as good as I expected it to be...which is to say, not much. It was all lavender, lavender, lavender on me. Wearing it was a really unpleasant experience. Fortunately it fades quickly leaving behind a slightly herbal after-scent that is actually quite bearable. This one needs to go to a lavender lover...and quickly, too.

[Muppetk]

OHHAI THAR LAVENDAR! I SEE WHUT YOU DID THAR! YOU HAD A BERGAMOT BUT YOU EATED IT.

 

SRSLY.

[heathercaley]

This is a lovely lavender. It's not the medicinal kind really. It kind of reminds me of lavender and licorice. Don't ask me how because it doesn't make sense to me either

 

It's quite lovely and would work well scented in a sachet for my chonie drawer

[TheIceMaiden]

Just as the previous reviewers have said, this is lush, herbal lavender and bergamot. When I got this fresh from the Lab almost a year ago, the lavender was very fleeting before the bergamot kicked in and took over. Now its smoothed out and its equally lavender and bergamot. Sadly, it still doesn't last long, but Pontia is a gorgeous scent while its there.

[surf-tormented]

It is basically what it says it is: Lavender and Bergamot. Note, this oils is aged, so maybe the two have caught up with each other as opposed to the LAVENDER! others have gotten when it was new.

 

Since I live in a sunny place and I am pale as a ghost, bergamot can amp up how fast my skin burns. I have an oil with that takes out that element in bergamot oil.

 

So, if I wanted this scent, I could blend two of my essential oils together and then not have to worry if BPAL uses a bergamot oil that might make my skin burn more.

 

I can't drink Earl Grey tea for the same reason. Believe me, it blows!

 

The two notes smell great together, BTW, be I have no idea what it has to do with Aphrodite or the sea. Both bergamot and lavender are Mercurial herbs. Don't really get the concept.

Edited February 19, 2010 by Madame Nyx

[countessmouse]

Almost evergreen in the imp but the bergamot popped when it was wet on my skin. Lavender didn't appear until it was drying. Lovely scent, but it's already fading on me and I put it on less than an hour ago.

 

ETA: It was completely gone within 2 hours of application. Off to the swap pile it goes.

Edited April 26, 2010 by countessmouse