Pomona

[hkhm]

I am the ancient apple-queen.
As once I was so am I now --
For evermore a hope unseen
Betwixt the blossom and the bough.

Ah, where's the river's hidden gold!
And where's the windy grave of Troy?
Yet come I as I came of old,
From out the heart of summer's joy.

The Roman festival for Pomona, Goddess of fruit, orchards, and gardens, was celebrated on November 1. On this day, the stores amassed during summer were opened for winter.

Azaroles, nuts, and apple blossoms with red apple pulp, mulberry, blackberry, and pomegranate juice.

bottle: very warm and lightly fruity. apple with a nice whiff of berries and nuts.

wet: this has a very slight boozy feel when applied but it's mostly a fresh apple and warm, roasted nut scent. the berries are indistinct but i can smell them.

dry: this dries to wonderful rich red apples and very faint nuts and berries.

[topazphoenix]

Wet, this is a buoyant hazelnut, and as it dries, a clear, fresh apple emerges. The berries add a slightly juicy, rich feel and the nuts stay in the background, tempering the apple. It's a very delicious without being overly food apple scent, and I'm glad I have a bottle.

[angelicruin]

Sniffing the bottle, this has a hint of chocolate and apples.

 

Wet on the skin, apples and blackberries.

 

As it begins to dry, the scent becomes slightly nutty with apples and blackberries still dominant.

 

This is a lovely fruit scent that could be worn all year long.

[Heavenlyrabbit]

This opens with such a richness. At first I thought Chocolate but then realized it's Nuts!

 

This is Nuts with lots of deep Fruit giving it a bit of sweet by just enough acidity to keep things interesting.

 

Trail Mix comes to mind.

 

 

[ltrittipoe]

In the bottle: Fruity but sharp. Almost a bitterness behind the fruit

 

Wet on skin: Bitter apples and - dirt? Lots and lots of dirt. Mud.

 

As this dries, the dirt goes away and I get gorgeous, amazing fruitiness. Red fruit, definitely. Red, juicy apples and pomegranates.

 

Dry, the nuttiness comes out. It gives the fruit a richness and depth. Beautiful.

Edited August 22, 2009 by ltrittipoe

[Ravenclaw79]

In the bottle: Something nutty, almost like acorns, with apple and a strong berry note.

 

Wet: Nail polish remover? Uh-oh. Or shampoo? There is a nice, fruity something going on here, too, and I can't totally place it. It's sort of like a fruit-scented shampoo.

 

... and holy crap, the THROW! I have four things on right now, testing them, and this one's threatening to overpower them all at a distance.

 

Drying: Apple-berry shampoo. Odd. I may give this another try in a week or two, see if hormone levels make a difference. I WANT to love it, but I just don't know if I can.

[emilynicole]

One whiff of this in the bottle made me grimace. I get booze and nuts and nail polish remover.

 

Wet on my skin Pomona is powerfully boozy. I still get nail polish remover and perhaps some nuts while wet on my skin. I dabbed only a bit on the crook of one arm, yet as it dries on my skin the scent whacks me every time I move that arm near my face. The alcoholic nature of the scent is really stomach-turning. There is no sense of fruit here at all: no apple, no berries...unless of course they are rotten and fermented into an alcohol.

 

As I was contemplating a shower to wash Pomona off me, it began mellowing a bit on my skin and I noticed a berry-like feeling mixed with nuts. The scent still hinted at nail polish remove though. The fully dried scent is much more mellow than when wet. Apple pulp finally appears paired with nuts and the other fruits, which to my nose are not particularly distinguishable from one another). I still get the boozy sense when I sniff my arm. This is not a bright, sweet, fruity scent, but is instead is a scent the truly hints at the darkness that autumn brings.

 

I really wanted to love Pomona, but it is certainly not a winner for me.

 

 

 

[FallDaze]

In the imp it is surprisingly unapplearing. Sharp, and with a bite of cleaning supplies. Slightly apple scented cleaning supplies, tart and harsh.

 

Wet it's more like apple shampoo. Not unpleasant anymore, but not something great either.

 

Sadly the shampoo scent sticks with me throughout the day. I had really high hopes for this one, and I'm not gonna lie, I'm disappointed

[scarletgenesis]

At first sniff, this is straight apple pulp and lots of it, but it becomes quickly apparent that there is something more complex at work here.

 

On my skin the apple pulp is very juicy and fresh, like apples picked on a crisp fall day.

 

I think I'm getting some of the other notes here too, albeit subtley. One thing I am pretty sure of is that I smell the same blackberry note that is in Blackberry Jam & Scones. As this dries down more I also get some of the tartness found in pomegranate.

 

All in all a scent that is more complex than initially thought, with the glorious red apple notes shining through as the stars of this beautiful blend.

 

Sigh. I love BPAL's apple blends and they love me back!

[wldhrsjen3]

Heh. I tried this last night before bed and all I smelled was apple shampoo, which disappointed me greatly. But I so wanted to love this - and it sounded like the perfect scent for me - so I tried it again this afternoon.

 

And let me just say, what a difference a day makes! I don't know if it's because my chemistry is slightly different or if it's because the scent has had a chance to settle after arriving in the mail, but either way, this is like an entirely new fragrance.

 

Wet: hazelnuts and ripe apples, with a hint of something floral in the background.

On my skin: initially, it's a warm, nutty apple - like apple crisp. For a few seconds, a slightly soapy floral note emerges but it fades quickly, leaving the scent of berries behind. As this dries, it blends into a truly lovely fruit fragrance: the sweet crispness of apples mixed with the rich ripeness of berries, with just a hint of tart pomegranate to offer clarity and definition. The smell of nuts remains in the background, giving the fruit a wonderful earthy tone.

 

I love this, and may seriously consider buying another bottle as a backup.

[Leopard403]

Not sure about this one, as both wet and dry on my skin it goes from bright crisp apples to cleaning fluid and back again.

[edenssixthday]

Pomona - This one made me a little nervous because apple blossom goes soapy on me and I don't usually like the smell of apple-fruit scents, and pomegranate can be "iffy". But there is mulberry in it and I've been DYING for a mulberry scent, and also, I just adore blackberry, so I had to try it. I'm so glad I did and that I got a bottle of it. It's really lovely and absolutely perfect for this time of year! The scent opens up with what almost smells like a mixed-fruit juice -- so many flavors all swirled together to create a really lovely, dark juice. There's something very green weaving itself around the juice, and my guess is that's the azarole. I don't smell the nuts at all. I really love how green and darkly fruity this scent is. I think I'm going to be using it in my oil burner a lot this fall to make my whole home smell like an Autumn orchard.

[gingiemay]

In the bottle this has a fruity/apple smell with a hint of sweet nuts. It has a sharp tinge similar to starfruit that disappears once applied to skin. There is a faintly alcoholic tinge to the scent in the bottle as well. On my skin it calms and bends much smoother to a pleasant apple tinged warm nutty smell. It's sweet and feminine but uniquely foody as well. Unfortunately, it is very faint and disappears quickly, after about 60 minutes or so.

[sihaya09]

Started out with a very punchy sweetened nuts note, like hazelnut. Of which I'm not so much of a fan. Luckily, that died off really quickly and gave way to a warm, delicious scent of apples and pomegranate with some spicy mulberry in the background. Delicious. Moderate throw. However, it only lasted about 2 hrs.

[patina]

I didn't think I'd like this one. Having smelled it, I can see the point of people who say this is a generic apple/fall scent. I did have a shampoo that smelled like it too.

 

But- I love this anyway. It's so juicy, rich, and complicated. Like sitting alone on a cool fall evening with candles burning and a glass of really great cider. The only problem is that it tends to get faint. It seems to come and go.

 

Yes. I bought a bottle.

 

It's also excellent layered with The Hellgate of Ireland. I think I need to try Lamb's Wool now, so I can compare it.

 

EDIT: Many people have complained about this fading quickly. I did notice that the smell came and went, but after slathering I still smelled this eight hours later.

Edited September 24, 2009 by patina

[Athenae]

Bottle: Apple! Wet: Apple! Dry: Apple, then nuts, then red fruit in general and now it's all apple again. It's less sharp than Snow, Glass, Apples and it doesn't go floral on me the way most apple scents do. Love.

 

A.

[Dark Alice]

Why does apple do this to me? I love to eat them, I love to cook them, and yet..my skin can't stand to make them smell the way they do when I eat/cook them!

 

Wet: Fake creamy perfumey apple. must be the apple blossom.

 

Drydown: Light ashy smelling apple. Hints of poppy and some type of fruit juice. Not a fan.

[Brianne]

This scent progresses exactly like this on me:

 

Nuttiness

Bitter apple

Dirt

Subtle nuttiness and vague fruitiness, light throw

 

The dirt was very distinct when it emerged, I was kind of surprised by it, it was an unusual turn for this scent. In the long run though, I'm left with a very "quiet" scent which is mostly nutty with a sort of warm fruitiness underneath.

[steffanina]

Pomona:

 

In Bottle: Whoa, serious acetone nail polish smell. HUGE.

 

Wet: Apple blooms a little on my skin. The nail polish smell is less. This is vicious apple, stinging and going alcoholic. Florals start to come out behind it, and I feel like I'm wearing a slightly acetoney version of Herbal Essence.

 

Dry: Floral berry apple, a little alcoholic. It's a pleasant dry-down, though a little too floral for me to want to wear it.

 

Overall: Hard to get past the scent in the bottle; a bit too floral for me.

[Monster]

In the imp: Fruit and nuts!

 

Wet: Apples, apple blossom (similar to Agape) with a background or earthy nuttiness

 

Dry: As this dries my skin amps the berry notes...and I looovvveee the berries! As it dries even more the berries are stepping back a bit to allow the apple notes to come forward. The nuttiness I initially smelled in the vial is faint now, it's just sort of grounding the scent adding a nice earthy quality to it.

 

Overall: This is apple/berry deliciousness! I love Pomona! I knew it was going to be one of my favorite scents this year and I was right This is something I would probably wear all year 'round. I wonder how it would smell layered with Lambs-Wool...hmmm....it might make Lambs-Wool a bit more wearable.

Edited September 22, 2009 by Monster

[Blood onmy hands]

Pomona and I aren't getting along well. Apple blossom, I've realized, smells like clean, fruity shampoo on me. So Pomona starts off smelling like crisp, fakey fruit and fruity shampoo. It's not very sweet; it's more on the crisp and clean side of things. In the drydown, though, something in this starts to remind me of children's medicine. I think it's the nuttiness mixed with the bitter pomegranate that smells medicinal to me. The other fruit notes are sharp, dry, and strange smelling in the background (I get a hint of burnt rubber) :/

 

I've been having better luck with fruit notes lately, but this blend reminds me of why I was wary of fruit blends in the first place. This is so strange and artificial in all of its stages on my skin. Not good.

[stardreamer]

This is fruity (as expected), but subtle and delicate; the berries and pomegranate are more subdued than I thought they would be, and the throw is restrained. The apple blossom starts out a bit on the obtrusive side but fades back quickly; beyond that, there's not much change on drydown. It's not going to be a top favorite, but will be nice for transitional weather, especially on days when I don't want to risk being Stinky Perfume Woman.

[Avery]

I got my decants from a ´Weenie circle yesterday (oh that sounds like something else doesn´t it ) and was very excited to try them all. I´d have to say that of the 6 decants I got... Pomona is definitely the most disappointing for me.

 

Fresh on the skin... acetone. Maybe a fruity acetone, but this stuff is definitely taking my nail polish off.

 

After it dries down... a very light apple shampoo. I don´t get any nuts or berries, and I´m finding that (like some other reviewers) that apple on my skin smells more than a little soapy. It´s fresh and clean smelling, but it´s not even a YUMMM shampoo, more like one that you don´t really register.

 

Oh well! At least now I know.

[Andrea912]

Wet: whoa. Very strong and boozey apple...kind of sour and rotten. I normally love apple and booze; what's going on here? A slight nutty tone, but again, like a sour nut, a nut gone bad.

 

Drydown: ah, much nicer; has developed a creamy base with yummy mulberry and pomegranate tones...lovely.

Edited September 24, 2009 by Andrea912

[samarablackcat]

Where is the fruit? Oh you have forsaken me, and this lovely tribute to Pomona sadly is all acetone, all the time. So sad. I had such high hopes for this one. Alas, we were not meant to be together, you and I.