Pomona

[wl552]

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

I tested this last night before turning in. At first it was it was a lovely light fruit, but then like a Halloween nightmare, it changed into this rotten fruit, nut thing. This was a last minute decant tack on, as I can't remember ever trying a scent with a nut note, so I was happy to give it a go, but YIKES!!! Something somewhere went very wrong and overall it was just all kinds of ways OFF on me.

[Iceblink]

In the decant I get a lovely nutty/fruit thing from Pomona but once it hits my skin it's all apple blossom with just a light hint of the berries. I wish the nuts had stuck around!! Very light, little throw.

[MeiLin]

In the imp: Weird, sharp funk. o_O

 

Wet: Sharp--pomegranate, I think--and nuts, perilously close to the Death Note, but then resolving to hazelnut. The pomegranate smells like like the seed/juice and more like the astringent membrane/matrix they're enclosed in. If there's apple in here, it hasn't shown its head.

 

Dry: The apple finally shows up. No berries. That weird, sharp funk is still there, like the under-sink cabinet of your kitchen--cleaning supplies. Once in a while the hazelnut peeks out from the veils of sharp unpleasantness, and then disappears again.

 

Verdict: Extreme disappointment. I really was looking forward to this, and it's not so bad I'm going to wash it off, but into the swap case it goes. feh.

[sqwook]

Wet: Nuts and cough syrup. Totally chaotic and not good when wet.

As it dries, it becomes really wonderful - a soft blend of smooth nuts and berries. It reminds me a lot of Eden actually - which, interestingly, is also really not great when wet, though I love it when dry. With the apples and berries, Pomona is slightly brighter and fruitier than Eden.

 

 

[iamblackbird]

In imp: Nuts. Yum!

 

Wet: Astringent apple. A hint of spice.

 

As it dries, the astringency backs off, but for some reason, whatever nuts were in the imp decided to stay in there. This ends up a lighter, slightly harsher version of Fearful Pleasure on me, without the lasting power.

[Lyrical]

In imp: acetone! Followed by ground nuts and sharp fruits.

 

Wet on skin: nuts covered thickly in freshly applied nail polish! After the nail polish has dried (!) it's hazelnuts and apples. I can't detect blackberries, and unfortunately don't know what mulberries smell like and Google has failed to provide an adequate description of azaroles, but I'll assume that these are what I'm smelling behind the hazelnuts and apples. It reminds me a little of Harvest Moon 2006 without the dusty wheat.

 

Dry on skin: not nearly as bad as the wet smell might indicate. It's very hedgerow-y, which is nice, and the fruits are just a little sharp. The nail polish is almost gone. I rather enjoy this!

[sofaking6]

Oh.my.god this is naaaasty! After I've frantically washed it off and stopped coughing and reapplied my mascara, it has dried down to a bearable autumn candle smell, but in the imp and up front...eeeek. Like, yikes! It's like pure grain alcohol but not as fragrant.

[Jammies]

When am I going to learn that no matter how good the descriptions sound, I don't want to smell like apples? For someone who does want to smell like apples, this is a very evocative fall scent. On my skin, it smells like a broken-off branch from an apple tree--lots of wood, a leaf or two, and a ripe apple, bursting with juice.

[elenore]

This is a very pulpy apple. It's like walking through an orchard with overripe smushed apples fallen on the ground. Maybe there are some nuts around too. But mostly I get the fresh, strong apple scent. I like cider-y apple scents more than fresh ones, so I think I'll swap this one.

[obsidienne]

Berry-fest!!!

 

This is a mish-mash of sweet, tart and red berries. The nuts & apple blossoms burned off very quickly, and were hard pressed to be found after a few minutes, leaving just the berries. I think berry lovers will adore this, but I am so not into this.

 

Edit: It kept getting sharper and more tart on my skin as time wore on, and I actually had to wash it off.

Edited October 1, 2009 by obsidienne

[Schmoozy]

 

 

Nuts, apples & apple blossom. This is stunning. I love the way the nuts and apples combine together. It's not sweet, but rather tart and fresh and really crisp. The apple blossom does fade with time and somehow the blackberry, mulberry and apple just meld together with the nuts. Throw in some greenery and this is perfect for the fall. Not tooth achingly sweet, but a scent that will cling to a sweater and everytime you wear it, you get whiffs of this amazing fall scent.

[crimescenecleanup]

I was very surprised by Pomona. I was expecting all juicy dark fruits, maybe a bit of foody sweetness.

 

Instead I get a very dry, woodsy scent. This is the scent of an orchard after a long, hot summer drought suddenly hit by an autumn cold snap. The last green leaves clinging to life, tart withering, frostbitten fruits, and hulls of nuts lying crushed on the ground.

 

This is a very dry, earthy wood scent with just a hint of bitter, wine-like fruit. It fits the concept of an orchard Goddess very well - it's welcoming, gentle like a well-tended garden, but retains a hint of wildness from untamed woods.

 

It is unusual and incredibly lovely. A full bottle for sure.

Edited October 2, 2009 by crimescenecleanup

[Deek]

Pomona

 

In Bottle: Apple and pomegranate with a small hint of bitter nut.

Wet on Skin: The apple is really strong, and there's a lot more nut. Still get that bitterness... don't really like it.

Dry Down: Well the bitterness has mellowed out, which is leading it to be actually kind of nice. It's kind of an apple buttery smell.

Dry on Skin: I don't really get any of the fruit notes, but a smooth apple instead. Kind of a bummer.

Overall: 3.5/5 This is a pretty good scent, it's definitely very fall and goes well with Halloween. I wish I got more of the other scents besides the apple though.

[boxinghelena]

As soon as I tried on Pomona I immediately smelled pomegranate with apple in the way distance. It's been a few hours now & the apple took over although it's pretty faint. I like this one as light as it is.

 

Nice one.

 

[FandF]

first blast is a cold green apple jolly rancher? i say cold because there is a searing quality to the smell, in a refreshing way....like snorting jolly ranchers in a snowstorm.

 

lol!

 

this was more appley than nuts for me. it mellows to the pom scent that just doesn't marry well with my skin.

[rconklin]

Someone said this smells like a fruit and nut trail mix. I'll agree with that, but add that it's a boozy trail mix, like someone soaked the dried fruit in moonshine or something. It's not a bad scent, just not for me.

[ami226]

This scent was heavy on the nuts on my skin. A nutty fruit. I am afraid that I don't like nuts one bit, so this scent really didn't work for me...

[lacyjae]

I'm sooo disappointed with Pomona. I'm totally in love with the Lab's apple notes, and this sounded like it would be amazing! I'm not sure if it was the azaroles or the nuts, but there was something very off, for me, something I really didn't like. Terribly sad!

[astarinel]

I love apples and apple blossom, so I was really looking forward to this, but I unfortunately get very little of that in this scent.

 

In the vial, it's really sharp and almost unpleasant, but I can smell the fruits lurking under there somewhere, so I put it on.

 

Which was, in retrospect, a mistake.

 

It goes almost cleanerish on me, and I really wish I knew what was doing this. I'm going to have to guess something with the azaroles or nuts, because I can sort of smell the fruits, but on top of them, there's this tart sharp bitter scent that I really dislike. This is a combination of me not especially liking the scent and my skin chemistry torturing it even further. Either way, it's not for me.

[inkaddict]

In the Bottle: Oh boy, this is HARSH. But there's apple in there, so I'll give it a chance.

 

Wet: This is polish remover! Urgh!

I bet the apple blossom is the culprit. Soapy and sharp and Ew. After a cuple of minutes it backs down a bit, the apple and a faint berry sweetness come out. This is the only stage of Pomona that i don't mind, but all too soon the pomegranate and berries get amped. The nuts don't help much either.

 

Dry: This is strong, with a lot of throw. Unfortunately it's also a soapy, bitter apple battling with the sweet berries and pomegranate. Discordant and unpleasant.

 

Verdict: off to the swap pile.

Edited October 5, 2009 by inkaddict

[Xanon]

Overall when this dries down I get juice. Pom-blackberry juice. No apple, not nuts. Maybe there is some of the other berries present, but they are dominated by the first two. This is not bad, but not really my thing either. Happy with my imp.

[binkin]

In the bottle, this smells sharp and sweet and apple-y. On my skin, it goes through a boozy phase, and then it just starts to smell like Suave apple shampoo. I'm starting to think that apple just isn't something that works on me

[laslibres]

In the imp, it's apples, blackberries, and...booze? Weird, but the boozey smell burns off when it gets on my skin. The apple blossom comes out a lot more, much like in The Hesperides, except this one also has a lot of fruit to back it up, not just pure floral.

 

I smell just about every fruit mentioned in the description, and they all combine into a cacophony of juicy goodness that makes me want to drink it. This could be an all-year-round scent too - apples for fall/winter, blackberries for summer, blossoms for spring.

 

Also, have I mentioned lately that I looooove BPAL's apple and apple blossom notes? This bears repeating. Kthx.

[ellebelle]

In the bottle: Fruit with a nutty sort of background.

 

Wet: More fruit, but this has gone sharp and plasticy on me.

 

Drydown: The apple becomes more and more dominant, and the plastic smell remains. It's a little better than the wet stage, but still. Yuck!

 

Verdict: Swap pile.

Edited October 9, 2009 by Ellebelle

[ravenscanary]

In the Decant: Strongly alcoholic. Smells like hazelnut liqueur with an edge. No fruit.

 

Wet: Nuts, sharp and strong, with a faint undertone of berry. Luckily, this starts to mellow very quickly, and 15 minutes later I'm getting a nice blend of hazelnut and floral (apple blossom, I guess) with an undernote of fruits, though it's still fairly sharp.

 

Drydown: A few hours later, this is even nicer and more balanced, though it doesn't wow me. I was hoping for floral/fruity with an undertone of nuts, but it's more the other way 'round, and doesn't quite work for me. I also get a chocolate/coffee edge to this, making it almost like a very light 13 to my nose.