The Ides of March 2009

[twilighteyes]

The Ides marked an auspicious time in the Roman calendar. Depending on the month in question, the Ides fell on the thirteenth or fifteenth, and usually marked the Full Moon. As we all know, it was not an auspicious day for Julius Caesar, nor was it fortuitous for H.P. Lovecraft, who also met his maker on this infamous day. Tu quoque, Brute, fili mi! A mixture of Italian greenery, gleaming metal, and classical Roman cologne: rosemary, bergamot, lemon rind and vervain with costus, balsam, benzoin, gray amber, dittany, white narcissus and iris.

The Ides of March 2009

In bottle: Bergamot and lemon.

On skin: Helllo lemon!

Oddly I am getting none of the greenery, metal, or cologne. Perhaps my nose is broke.

Must refresh nose with time and coffee, then come back to this.

Edit: Ok, the lemon has gone into hiding and the greenery is coming out to play. I don't smell any rosemary, which can be somewhat overwhelming on me, but the description of metal and cologne is happening. Edited May 16, 2009 by Shollin
The description changed for the 2009 release, so this is a new review topic. --Shollin

[angelicruin]

2009 Version

 

 

Sniffing the bottle, it is very much a citrus blend. On my skin this is mostly lemons and green herbs cologne. The more it dries on my skin though, there's sharp metal note that emerges.

 

As with the Bards of Ireland scents, this blends makes me feel clean and refreshed especially when applied right after my morning shower.

[fairnymph]

09 Version

 

In the bottle: Rotting greenery and flowers, with a bit of soap.

 

Wet: Extremely mild. I'm getting a bit of metal, but it's very light. A bit of lemon rind, but otherwise, this is not very citrusy. I think maybe the floral is rotten, the narcissus and iris?

 

Dry: Most of the listed notes I don't pick up at all. It's very light in throw and overall potency. If I try to block out that powdery floral rot, I get a clean green base.

 

Summary: It goes sort of powdery/plastic and never loses that awful rotting odour. Gray amber goes powdery-soapy, and benzoin adds some sweetness, very mildly. More lemony. Low throw.

[hkhm]

bottle: rosemary and bergamot, very light though.

 

wet: the bergamot is a bit stronger than the rosemary but they are both light. this scent sticks close to my skin.

 

dry: this has faded to a green herbal scent. i can't pick out either the rosemary or the bergamot anymore.

[Seismogenic]

2009 Version

 

I'm a bit of a history geek inside, and I've written a graphic novel involving personified days of the year. I therefore was immediately intrigued by a scent based on this particular notorious day. The prospect of herbs and resins also helped, even considering the flowers. This will also be my first experience with BPAL's metal note that I can think of, so I'm intrigued for that as well.

 

In the imp: Lots of lemon with an herbal undertone and a vaguely metallic bite.

 

Wet on skin: Still plenty of lemon, but it has been smoothed out by the other notes, which are still mostly homogeneous to my nose. The metal twang is still there, and I think I can ID the benzoin and the iris, but I'm really not sure. Either way, I know lemon won't last long on me.

 

Drydown: Freshly dry, the lemon has indeed retreated, and I'm sure the bergamot has as well. What's predominant now is a floral smell reminiscent of early spring, which I assume is a combination of the crocus, iris, and narcissus. I do still get some of the benzoin, but I don't really pick up on the metal anymore. At one hour in, I wouldn't personally believe that this is the same scent I put on earlier, if I didn't know better. It's all about the herbs and resins now, particularly the benzoin and the rosemary, though there's other stuff in there that I can't pinpoint (is that what costus and dittany are?).

 

Five hours later: Much the same herby-resiny combination as at the one hour mark, though fainter. Sweetish, dryish, and sharpish at the same time.

 

End of the day: Still getting quite a bit of herby benzoin.

 

Overall: What a morpher! The way this smelled in the imp and wet led me to expect something entirely different from the way this ended up smelling. That said, I think I liked the actual end result quite a bit better than I would have expected from the wet stage. I was dreading the prevalence of flowers, really, but they fortunately weren't the main thing. I did hope the metallic note would have lasted longer, though, since the thing it represents is what gives the Ides in particular its infamy, rather than Caesar's general infamy. But overall, despite the lack of knives and the fact that citrus disappears on me, I still really like this one. Probably not enough to upgrade to a bottle, but I definitely plan on holding onto the decant.

 

 

[msbcozad]

The Ides of March (2009)

 

Wow, this one goes through a lot of changes! The first blast upon application is standard men's cologne and lemon. After a couple of minutes, those notes fall back and the lab's metal note rises to the top. Another few minutes and it's just GREEN. And then it's bergamot. I think I smell the iris and rosemary as the bergamot fades. Now it's "green" again, but different from before. It turned to standard male cologne for a moment and then it's a light floral. Not STOMPY FLOWERS FLORAL, just... floral.

 

And all that is within twenty minutes!

 

What an interesting ride. Do I need a bottle of this? I don't know... But this is fun!

[sookster]

straight sniff from bottle is lightly scented lemon...

 

once applied i immediately get a burst of something that seems smoky...and green...

dryly sharp...dandylion-ish....

and I love it!!

 

perfumey yet subdued...this is quite the morpher and i will cherish my bottle....

[GalaxyLei]

2009

 

When first applied, this is very lemon-y...not lemon soap, but actual lemon peels. As it dries, the lemon fades back and I get a sharp, green scent, but it is very light...after a few minutes I can barely smell it, and can't pick up any individual notes, just a leftover fresh scent. It's quite pretty overall, but the throw is so light on the skin that I'm not sure about a bottle...one to try for a scent locket to see if it sticks around more.

[marared]

09: Ooh, lemony, and not Pledge lemony either! Fresh lemon and greenery.

[stellans]

yay! This blend's lemon is refreshing, not overwhelming -- by no means is this the lemon which doesn't work on me, the lemon that seems more Pledge than Sunkist. Also, I love the greens, the rosemary and the other herbs in this blend, which are very subtle and temper the lemon very well. This makes me think of that old cologne, 4711, but in a good way: this is just as bracing and refreshing as I remember 4711 smelling in my grandparents’ house, only this is a scent I wear. That sounds a little weird, I know. It's not that this smells like that older cologne, but the effect (on me) is the same, and I love it.

ETA: I also have the 2005 and 2007 bottles; I've linked the year to the review, and will review the 2005 eventually. Edited April 15, 2009 by stellans

[Dracoo9]

To me this becomes an herby soap I waited for a while for this to change but it still stays the same. I guess sence it smelt that way in the imp I should have been a little more prepared. Actually funny thing is that it actually smells like the soap I use in my house.

[zankoku_zen]

2009 version.

 

This one reminds me more to the 2005 version - definitely lighter, springier. I get the lemon and the rosemary, and something sweet (perhaps a touch of honey?). As it dries, it becomes this nice lemony floral potpourri.

 

I have to say that out of 2005, 2007 and 2009, 2009 has to be my favorite.

[tartchef]

2009:

 

Ah, such a shame... the amber/costus/benzoin combination is nudging this into the no-go territory for me. Just a hair too masculine... Sad, too, because the opening volleys of lemon, bergamot, verbena & rosemary are lovely - juicy & sharp & glittering green/gold...

[Hestia]

Aw. Shucks. I wanted to love this. So far I am not a huge fan of any of this collection. Very clean, which I normally love but it just doesn't do it for me, ON me.

 

This is all floral soap on me. which isn't bad, but I am underwhelmed. DD wants the imp, but I may use it as a home scent after we clean house. mmm.

[Blood onmy hands]

Ides of March '09 starts off smelling like citrussy-clean men's cologne on me. It's a bit soapy. As it dries down, the iris comes screeching in and smells sharp and a bit like cheap hairspray on me. Sharp, perfumey floral, lemon, and soap... these are a few of my least favorite things. My skin amps lemon and iris, and I had to scrub this scent off as it started to give me a headache.

[Coldfire]

 

 

 

 

Decant: GREEN! Deeper huff of this brings green citrus rain. So clean, so spring-y

Wet on Me: definitely green citrus.

Drying Down: green citrus with a touch of the softness of amber, but I get the cologne vibe. Very refined, airy but not faint.

Dry: the green and citrus they temper each other, the amber and flowers provide a soft and gentle base for the green and citrus to play over. Really, a terrific blend that reminds of me something from days past, as well as today.

 

[starfish327]

2009 version

 

all the descriptions are saying lemon...this may not be a good thing.

 

in the imp and wet, yes- lots of fake lemon. lots and lots of fake lemon.

 

on dry down though i'm starting to get the amber and rosemary. it's kind of soapy on me though. i'm amping the spice like normal.

 

it's not bad on me, but i'm not seeing this one getting a lot of rotation.

[London]

The imp smelled lemony fresh, as it did on me while wet.

 

As it dried, and the amber came out it got warmer smelling and became a golden sweet lemon with a sprig of rosemary. I like it, it's greenish but playing nice with my skin!

[edenssixthday]

The Ides of March 2009 - I used to hate iris until I discovered BPAL's iris note, which I love. However, the first thing I smell in this is the gross, bitter iris that I am used to smelling in commercial perfumes. Right behind that is the bergamot, which is another note that tends to not play nicely on my skin, and it's also smelling bitter. There's a the faintest hint of rosemary, but I don't smell any of the other notes I would have expected such as the lemon rind, balsam, benzoin, or amber. It's pretty much a bitter iris-bergamot mix backed up with a hint of rosemary. Definitely not for me.