Epistrophia

[Tramp]

She who turns to love.
Florentine iris, frankincense, violet, ylang ylang, amber, and orchid.

Dry ethreal flowers. Definatly get the ylang ylang and a clear orchid note that reminds me of Black Orchid. A very elegant and sophisicated blend with just a hint of lemon in the background

[Bluestocking]

Where's the love for Epistrophia? She's beautiful!

 

In the bottle: Mmm, a resiny floral, soft and very purple. I get mostly iris and orchid, with a touch of violet and some nice warmth from the frankincense and amber. It's very feminine and Springy.

On, wet: Ylang-ylang and iris, with the sweet, pure orchid right behind. (Just like always, I'm in love with the orchid.) The frankincense is down below, adding a touch of spice and depth to all the floral notes. It's very ladylike and somehow airy, even with the resins.

On, dry: Orchid and violet, with a trace of iris. It's almost like the florals here are taking turns in the spotlight, as they're given depth and sweetness by the amber and frankincense. It's a pure-hearted perfume, softly sweet and virtuous, and this particular combination of incense-y resin and florals seems quite Victorian to me.

Later: All the flowers together now (except for ylang-ylang, which is MIA)—a nosegay of purple blooms enriched by the glowing, golden amber. Surprisingly, it doesn't get very powdery–these are sweet, fresh flowers, not crumbly relics, and there's something almost fruity here, even though there's no fruit listed.

Much later: The amber and frankincense have come forward more, and that sweetness combined with the very purple flowers actually makes this smell almost-but-not-quite like poppies to me—reminiscent of Dragon's Reverie, but not so heavy, more ethereal. (Scratch that. Not Dragon's Reverie--now I realize that this is a lighter-weight Purple Phoenix in its later stages, which is just fine by me!)

Overall: On the label, Epistrophia is pretty, feminine and modest, covering her naked breast from view. The perfume delivers on the promise—it's a demure and delicate floral, a maidenly sort of scent. It has a soft and dreamy quality about it, and (like every other Ode to Aphrodite scent) it's very well blended. No one flower dominates, not even the orchid or the violet, and the resins are restrained, just burnishing the flowers and adding richness. All in all, it's a lovely, subtle scent and it feels perfect for the Spring.

Edited February 19, 2009 by Bluestocking

[eanewsom]

This is a soft, warm floral scent- definitely purple! The amber grounds it and adds complexity. Unfortunately, something (iris?) is making the perfume go soapy and my nose go itchy.

[greenranger]

Sweet, and very expensive smelling...like the bouquet of flowers in a shop that you don't even ask the price of because you KNOW it is over what you can spend. I like this better than I have other blends with orchid and iris. Much better.

 

This is not one that I would have thought that I would like. It's still way floral considering what I usually wear, but, maybe?

 

Wow this smells expensive. If my husband bought me fowers that smelled like this we'd have to have a talk about the money spent...sometime the next morning, maybe.

 

*edit* About an hour later, it has gotten much fainter. I can still smell the flowers, but only close to my skin.

Edited February 8, 2009 by Aerinha

[FallDaze]

In the imp-> First sniff is violet. A very purple scent. The orchid quickly shoves violet out of the way to make itself known. This reminds me a little of faintly scented baby wipes.

 

Wet-> A slightly chemical purple and fizzy smelling scent. Like a baby wipe that was used to wipe grape soda off of a sticky child.

 

After a while-> A grapey medicinal scent. Reminds me of the medicine Dimatap I think is what it was called? Grape and purple and sweet but not thick or syrupy.

[zankoku_zen]

This one is a clear white kind of floral, slightly juicy, slightly fruity. The violet is just a tiny bit powdery. Just teensy.

 

Pretty.

[milo]

Quite a perfumey scent, strong, I only have a sniffie bottle, and it is overwhelmingly floral. I could have sworn there was rose in here, but there isn't any listed. I like this after the initial perfumeyness wears off, and I enjoy the "ethereal" feel to this blend, but there are other ethereal blends to me that are better, (a couple of graveyard blends I really love). I'll pass on a bottle.

[savage_rose]

In the imp this smells like a gorgeous, expensive perfume. And on...okay, I don't know what floral that is, but my skin is amping something, and that particular note is insanely loud. Like a self-conscious party-goer that's too loud and laughing too long, it's kind of obnoxious. It's taking over the blend and just overwhelming my nose. I can catch a hint of the usually offending violet, but that's about all else I can smell beyond whatever note this is. Gah, this is so frustrating! Beautiful in the bottle, but not on my skin.

[Blood onmy hands]

Epistrophia really isn't as bad on me as I thought that it would be, and I tried it on fully expecting to hate it. The lab's iris note almost always kills blends for me by morphing them into a sharp mess, and I don't tend like ylang ylang or the lab's amber notes.

 

But this is really pretty on me . It's like a soft, purple floral smell. Florals often smell dry or musky-sharp to me, but orchid tends to smell juicy and alive to me, if that makes any sense. The combination of the orchid & violet conjures up an image of fresh purple lilies with smooth, waxy petals. It's a soft, delicate scent on me (which is probably why it makes me think of lily). The frankincense & amber add a nice, resinous sweetness that isn't going powdery.

 

This feels like a gorgeous night time floral. It just has a dark feel for me. My favorite floral for night is Evening Star, but Epistrophia is going to be a close second. I'm glad to have a bottle of this one.

[grashopper8]

Epistrophia starts out as a lovely floral blend, with the crisp scent of orchid complemented by the heady sweetness of ylang ylang and the soft, fresh violet. Unfortunately for me, my skin burns off the ylang ylang within minutes and the complexity of the scent disappears. It becomes a rather ordinary orchid scent.

 

Lovers of orchid perfume will love this, but it's a little too orchid for me. My experience mirrors savage_rose.

[Schmoozy]

Again another pretty floral. Iris and orchid dominate this one, and while I can detect violet and a touch of ylang ylang, I was hoping

for more of an amber/frankincense blends with hints of florals.

I do prefer this one much more than Psithyristes, but at the same token, it is too floral for me.

[angelicruin]

This is a lovely amber & orchid blend on my skin. I love orchid so this works for me.

[marared]

Ech, no - something with this REALLY doesn't agree with my chemistry. This was almost ammoniatic upon first application, and it's calmed down a bit to sweetly rotten flowers. It's not as bad in the imp, but it's pretty vile on my skin. :/

[hepkitten]

Very soft and pretty without being twee. If this scent were a color, it would be a pale lavender. I get a lot of the iris and the violet here.

[nekogrrl]

This is not a scent which loves me.

 

Wet on skin: heavy florals. Maybe a hint of the frankincense and ylang ylang.

 

Dry on skin: still heavy florals. I think that instead of toning down the florals, the headiness of the frankincense and ylang ylang are adding to it and amping it up.

 

Verdict: not for me.

[Dark Alice]

violet frankincense. Floral frankincense. Very very, floral frankincense. Not a fan. Off to the swaps

[Coldfire]

 

 

 

 

 

Decant: Violet! And Orchid!

Wet on me: Still violet and Orchid, but also the iris is wanting to say Oh Hai!

Drying Down: this thing throws HARD from the get go. If I move my arm it wafts EVERYWHERE!

Dry: Mostly Violet and Orchid with some of the Iris and YlangYlang all doing a dosey-do hoedown on my arm…to the strains of a faint amber baby powder fiddle in the background. I guess Frankincense never got the invite to this party. I am glad I got to try it but I might re-home it. Serious heavy purple floral

 

[aquazoo]

Ooooh, that starts nicely! Pretty flowers with the incense.

 

 

[TheOneTheyCallLuna]

A gorgeous, bright and joyful floral. Very refined, elegant, and classy....so in other words totally not my style at all. Just kidding...kind of. I do tend to like my 'fumes a bit more down and dirty than this, but it's quite pretty and would be stunning on the right lady. Towards the end I get the slightest wisp of incense. Delightful!

[msbcozad]

Epistrophia

 

This one reads as dry white flowers to me. It's very pungent when wet and makes the back of my throat tickle. As it dries, it lightens a little but the tickle is still present. Reminds me a lot of White Moon.

[hlinspjalda]

In the vial: Mostly violet and orchid.

 

Wet: Violet and orchid over resin. I am not panicking yet, because I recall this turned very nice on me at the meet ‘n sniff.

 

Half an hour: The resins are developing. I still get lots of orchid, but the violet has yielded place. I should not like this blend at all. Really. Violets and orchids Do Not Work Well with me. But I like it. Why is this happening again?!?

 

One hour: Still more orchid than anything else, although I think I'm getting some iris too. The resin-ylang ylang axis I noticed last time still hasn't developed. I'll be patient and not panic, though.

 

Three hours; The strength of the orchid has diminished, and it's becoming a warmer resiny scent.

 

I acquired a partial bottle of this; it will be enough.

 

[catattack]

Imp: Florals

Wet: Sweet floral. I can smell the orchid and the violet. I don't smell the ylang-ylang.

Drydown: I think the frankincense is tempering the florals.

Overall: This is pretty, but ultimately it's a floral blend. Because I don't reach for floral blends often, I think my imp will be plenty.

[naeelah]

Iris blends are often a little bit to flat and slick on me, but this is rich and lovely.

 

First off, I smell a lot of orchid and ylang ylang. Rich flowers with a hint of sweetness. As the oil dries, the aroma becomes a little drier as the other notes emerge. I can definitely smell the violet, which for once is not going soapy on me, along with frankincense and iris.

 

As I said, the lab's iris tends to feel very sleek to me, but this iris note smell much truer to the irises in my garden, which are have a round, sweet, almost grape-like aroma. The frankincense is dry and smoky and it does not overpower the florals. This doesn't feel like an incense blend, the frankincense simply acts a bit like a glue, or a glaze over the hue.

 

Once dry it doesn't shift a whole lot, on my skin. It's smooth, slightly sweet flowers laid over dry, cool flowers, with a puff of cool frankincense smoke blending it all together. Sophisticated but very wearable and lovely. My favorite of all the iris blends I've tried so far, because it's much truer to life, for me.

 

Try it if you like: Florence, Vasakasajja (something is linking them in my mind), Eros, Nocturne, Veil, I Died for Beauty, Lucretia

Edited June 18, 2009 by naeelah

[rayvn1]

Not bad at all! Warm and dark scent. Feminine with a slight floral hint of violet. Comforting and pretty with low-level throw. Not my usual, but I'm glad I tried it.

[edenssixthday]

Epistrophia - What's not to love about this one? It's full of lovely notes! It's definitely a purple floral, but the frankincense gives it a bit of dryness that keeps it from being too sweetly or sharply floral. The violet is just the tiniest bit powdery, but mostly sweet and lovely. Overall, it's predominantly a violet/iris/frankincense fragrance on me, with the other notes pretty far in the background. I'm glad I finally got around to trying this one!