Oleander Honey

[whitsunweddings]

Oleander Honey.

In the imp: Smells like feijoa.
Wet: It's doing that weird optical illusion-like (olfactory illusion?) thing that Black Hellebore Honey did. I can tell that it's white florals and honey, but at the same time it smells just like feijoa.
Dry: The feijoa buggers off and it becomes a really nice sweet white floral. Probably my second favourite (after my beloved Daphne Honey) that I've tried thus far of the Rappaccini's Apiary blends.

[Ghost of a Rose]

In the imp: Oil is clear and a pale straw yellow in color. Both honey and oleander blossoms are very distinct and realistic in this. Absolutely gorgeous!

 

On me, wet: The floral dominates, but the honey is still a strong presence.

 

After 10 minutes: Same as above. Ummmm, I'm loving this.

 

After 20 minutes: The floral has overtaken the honey. That's my favorite note in this, though (I've always adored the fragrance of oleander flowers) so I still love it just as much!

 

After 30 minutes: Same as above.

 

After 1 hour: The notes have switched roles, with the honey now taking the lead. But the honey is lovely too, and the oleander is still there, so I'm still loving this.

 

After 2 hours: Mostly honey.

 

After 3 hours: Softer and all honey.

 

After several hours: A gentle and very pretty whisper of honey lingers.

 

 

Verdict: I totally love this during all of its stages. A full bottle is definitely going on my wish list! This lab frimp was a real winner - thank you, lab pixies!

 

My rating: 5 stars

[JazzieCazzie]

The last of my RG Apiary imps, several of which I acquired in hopes that I'd find another one on the level of my newly-beloved Hemlock Honey.

 

IN THE IMP: Verrrrrry interesting. The honey is a secondary note to oleander's floral, yet both are surprisingly subtle in the imp.

 

Applied to wrist and crook of arm.

 

WET: Wet, it's great. If you're down for a super-sexy heady sweet scent, this seems as good as any. Neither the honey nor the oleander takes precedence but rather the two seem to mingle together, dare I say it, sensuously to create a whole new category.

 

DRYDOWN: Sadly, for me, here is where the break-up occurs. As it dries down more and more, the headache-inducing sweetness that I'd feared from the combination of two such potent notes, and which to this point had not happened, slowly but steadily creeps in. At first, it's more like being in an outdoor field of flowers but within an hour, while still very very strong, it's more like being trapped in a small room with them.

 

OVERALL: I am sure there will be others who this works for more beautifully and it is a scent that has SUCH promise for someone bigger and bolder than I am. And of course I will now spend the rest of the night singing Steely Dan's "My Old School." Not that there's anything wrong with that!

 

On a scale of 1-5, 3.

[tinyvulture]

The oleander is actually the dominant note. I've not smelled oleander before, but I'd describe it as floral/herbal. It's definitely a floral, but it has soapy and medicinal qualities. It isn't my favorite, and I'd prefer it if the honey note was stronger.

[wisdomeagle]

Frimp from the lab.

 

In the bottle I got a sharp green that I'm assuming is oleander. Drying it was sweet honey with just a hint of bitter wafting through. It makes me think and feel "honey" all evening, but comparing it to the bottled honey in my kitchen, it's actually much sharper and less sweet than pure clover honey -- I'll definitely buy perverted bees making evil honey.

 

I don't think I entirely know how to identify oleander yet, but this did answer for me the question of whether I wish to smell like honey -- yes. This is probably not the honey blend of my heart, but I'll keep the imp while I search for that other honey.

[lucycat]

This was a frimp from the Lab.

 

In the imp: this is a light, sweet, almost candylike honey, rather than a heavy, thick one.

 

I applied this and then went about getting dressed. After a few minutes I sniffed my arm. The honey had subsided almost entirely, replaced by a sweet, powdery floral with a green undertone. I don’t think I’ve ever smelled oleander in the wild (I live too far north,) but it’s a bit like gardenia, though softer.

 

After several hours of wear (in very hot, humid weather; I don’t know if that had anything to do with it) this morphed back to a honey scent.

 

Womb Furie remains my favorite BPAL honey blend, but I’m glad to have had the chance to try this.

[Cavalier]

I received this as a freebie.

 

Imp: Oleander Boom! You can almost see the Oleander twirling out of the bottle in thick swirls of oily scent.

Wet: The Oleander has wrapped itself around my wrist with a vengeance. I'm not certain I'll ever get it off.

Dry: The honey is starting to make an appearance. It rounds out the Oleander a bit. Softens it. Makes me want to consider eating it.

 

Am I the only one getting something sinister out of this? It is Rappaccini's Garden after all. Oleander has traditionally been a sticky scent for me. It seems to love me much more than I love it. This little imp is full of the stuff. I wonder if I should sequester it away from the other imps. It might try to infect them...

[Veronica]

This is way too sweet on me. In the bottle, it's all sticky sweet from the honey and the wine-like oleander, with the honey turning slightly powdery. Smells like cough syrup and powder.

[theseagrows]

i don't think i've ever smelled bpal's oleander note. it's a white floral but it's bordering on aaaalmost fruity to me, unless that is the honey sweetening it up more than usual. this kind of reminds me of something else, but i can't quite place it. i think maybe it's the magnolia note, but i am not sure. someone up above mentioned magnolia (which i haven't smelled that often) but seems to be the closest possibility. this is a really nice scent. i think it'd be a nice heady floral to wear on a warm (but not hot) day.

[JuliskaMarie]

In the imp: Beeswax & something herbal or plantlike... I'm guessing that must be the oleander as I have no idea what oleander smells like.

Wet on skin: Honey covered in oleander. The honey amped a LOT when I first applied it, but within a few seconds, it faded & the oleander took over.

 

Dry on skin: Exactly the same as wet. Not sure how I feel about this. It's blended well & the honey part is working for me, but I'm not sure how much I like oleander.

After a few hours: Pretty much the same as dry, only a little more faded. The honey is a little stronger than the oleander now & it's smelling a little bit more like beeswax. This one doesn't change much once it's on!

 

Verdict: This is a really nice, consistent perfume & it's quite pretty, but I'm not sure I'd wear it much. I love the idea of the Rappaccini's Apiary scents, I just don't think this one is quite to my taste.

[LizziesLuck]

Wow, this is not what I expected! It's primarily a gorgeous floral. Apparently Oleander smells like what I had previously thought was honeysuckle? Or maybe they smell similar. Either way, super pretty. It's sweetened by the honey, but not overpoweringly sweet. This actually reminds me a lot of the Chaos Theory III blend which I adore.

 

Dry, it's the same as wet. Beautiful, and may be one of my favourite florals thus far. Love it!

[roseus]

I was wary because I tried Skuld and the honey turned on me. And apparently my suspicions were correct and honey and I are not friends.

 

In the imp: sharp and herby, with light honey sweetness underneath

 

On wet: GOOD LORD THAT'S SOME HONEY

 

Dry: a horrid cloud of cloying honey that turned my stomach and made me nauseous.

 

However I made my roommate try it on and it was fantastic. A lightly sweet, sharp floral.

[TarynPage]

I’m never quite sure how to rate the scents which smell great, but just aren’t for me. I’m a woodsy type: I like dark, musky scents with deep, earthy undertones. I’m sure from the description and the title, it is easy to guess that this scent is the opposite of those qualifiers. I received this scent for free after ordering other scents (damn, I love this website), and I ended up giving this imp to my mother who thought it was the best thing she’s ever smelled.

Jar: Very sweet, with the natural funky smell honey has. Bitterness of crushed flower buds. Moderately strong.

On *my* skin: Ditto.

[PersimmonSeeds]

I recently received this as a frimp from someone on the forums, I cant remember who but I really appreciate them.

Something about this (I suspect the oleander) immediately made me start to cry...

This smells exactly like my late grandmother's house.

It's perfumey, sweet, and warm.

Oleander reminds me of older perfumes and for some reason that's what I remember her house smelling like.

The honey is sticky sweet and gives a really pleasant warmth to this blend, but isn't foody at all here.

 

This is cloyingly sweet to me. To tolerate it I just put a little bit on my wrists and spread/dab elsewhere on my body so that it calms down.

This is my grandmother and her home. This is how she smelled before the hospitals and the Alzheimer's and dementia.

I missed this smell and I will always miss her.

Thank you BPAL and whoever frimped this to me for bringing this memory into my hands. I will cherish it.

[Cali]

In the imp: eating honey-candies in a forest in spring.

On my skin it goes a bit bitter and herby, and loses the hyper-sweetness.
It's as if it turned from day to night on drydown. Dark, green, a bit bitter (is there milk in this?). Very interesting!

[freyasfae]

Like most of the other honeys in Rappacini's Apiary, this one goes funky on me - like dried out playdoh.

[Casablanca]

Wand: A pleasant floral honey. I don't know the smell of oleander, but for me, the floral part is kind of like a fruity honeysuckle.

Wet: Sweet, slightly fruit-toned, honeysuckle-ish flowers, and a little honey. Spring-like. The honey note is kind of thin.

Dry: Pretty, and evocative of spring. Not powdery so far.

[lizabelle]

This one is fascinating. Most of the Apiary blends I've tried so far have been heavy on honey, but in this the oleander is more prominent. I wasn't sure what oleander smelled like beforehand, but it's floral and sharp, as well as slightly watery--somehow this reminds me of the kind of zing I associate with radishes. Just before it settles it seems to want to go to soap, but it never quite gets there on me, which is a relief. The honey is the same as in the other Apiary blends, light and beautifully floral, and once the oleander calms down a bit it has that same earthy, almost chocolatey quality of Deadly Nightshade Honey. Not bad at all.

[murflegirl]

In Bottle: Syrupy, heady honey. I also am getting the big pink oleander bloom that gives this a bit of powderiness.

Wet on Skin: On me, this is a very floral honey when it's wet. Really heady and almost intoxicating.

Dry on Skin: Honey honey honey honey rocking everywhere. The powdery/herbally/oleander-y scent definitely falls away pretty quickly for me.

Hours Later/Final Impressions: The warmest, thickest honey on my skin. Even hours later I catch whiffs of this vaguely floral honeyed goodness. I started with an imp of this, and then my generous friend gave me a bottle because she can't do the fragrance. Her loss is my gain!

[Lucchesa]

Oleander Honey is making me sad that the apiary has been discontinued. It's really lovely on me. It's a very pale oil, and not nearly as heady on me as some of the other apiary blends, and not perishingly sweet, I think because the slight sharpness of oleander keeps the dulcet qualities of the honey in check. It is perfectly balanced between floral and honey, and on me has no throw but good staying power, making it a perfect blend for work. This strikes me as a spring/summer daytime blend, but I loved it on this bright winter day, too.

[cassiejaynebunk]

Judging from the comments, i must have an aged imp, as this is mostly a creamy honey in the imp, reminding me very strongly of O. On my skin, the floral comes out, and it is a lovely counterpoint to the honey. Very, very pretty. Like a lighter, more innocent version of O.