Morella

[glampyre]

Sage with orris, Florentine iris and a drop of civet.

I agree with foolssilver on Morella. I, too, am a resiny smell addict, and am very happy to have found a floral that isn't supersweet. Morella is light and fresh, not heavy.

[chin]

Morella was not as sagey as I expected, it's very pretty and soft. I can't pick up the civet, and the orris (I think!) is rounding this out. This oil was a mystery to me in terms of knowing the components and smelling the actual oil blend ... I was expecting something different. It's a pretty, soft, herbal floral - which sounds like damning with faint praise but it's NOT meant to be, it's beautiful. I don't know if I will use a 5mL but I will order an imp or two before it's discontinued.

[lixolux]

oh no, its discontinued!!!!!!

 

morella starts very mysteriously, i smell the greenery but upon wearing it goes straight to the only non soapy violet that I have ever smelled - soft and smells exactly like those hard sugar square violet candies!

[magikfanfic]

Gifted with a decanted imp by Eldritch.

 

In the bottle: The light herbal that I detect at first reminds me of Dormouse for some reason. It's the same light green kind of scent but where Dormouse is backed by tea, this is backed by a very subtle floral.

 

Wet: When it hits my skin its turns into lemon. So what does civet smell like? Is it like lemon? This is definitely a citrus blend. It actually reminds me of Calliope without that troubling pepper scent that distressed me so much.

 

Dry down: Still lemon. There's a faint hint of something nice and green in the background, but my skin wants to be lemon pledge with this scent. I'm not opposed as lemon pledge and I have a long history, but I was so hoping for something green and light and pretty. There's a little more flora, but it's like a lemon floral. Like lemons and flowers had babies on my wrist. Wait, there. Floral. A sweet, light floral. Very nice kinda white with green around the edges in my mind. I don't know if it's the iris or the orris or the sage but something in this is very pretty once we get past the lemon flower babies stage.

 

Dry: A nice floral scent that has something of a powdery background. In fact, I imagine this as a type of scented powder. It even has that kind of feel to it. The floral isn't strong and heady the way that they get in some blends but is simply soft and understated with a hint of green behind it. This is a spring day in a bottle. This is sunshine and the first sign of flowers breaking through the ground. This is light rain and picking herbs under a rainbow. This is what I wanted Calliope to be. I don't think I'd need a big bottle and seeing as how I can't get one this is a good thing. But I love having it around. I'll probably wear it occasionally, but I'm sure it would make a perfectly wonderful room scent.

 

ETA: There's the sage. Nice.

[FireInCairo]

I have an imp of this blend and I find it to be too sweet and floral for my taste. The blend just did not suit my body chemistry for some reason.

[jessamynit]

this was one of the first scents I tried which I liked and wanted to get a bottle of (but didn't act fast enough before it was discontinued ). now I've ended up with two new imps of it and am kicking myself again that I don't have a 5ml - it seems kind of junipery and flowery on me but not too much of either. just nice and mellow and ... good smelling. nothing that will jump out and attack your nose, but a clean, gentle, everyday kind of smell.

beth, can you bring this one back? pretty please?

[sun_set_bravely]

Morella

In the bottle: First, I smell a bathroom cleaner. Then when I move the Imp away from my nose, I smell the sage from my Yankee Candle sage and citrus. Cool fragrance, strong.

 

Wet, on skin: Clean smell, but it smells like a hand soap now. Green scent. Powdery underneath the green.

 

1.5 Hours on skin: Almost gone! It's a nice, soft scent, still a warm green, but I can hardly smell it now.

 

Drydown: Gone completely at 4 hours.

[Tesseljoan]

A lovely swapper gifted me with this one.

 

This is floral and green at the same time. Floral is always a bit scary, as they generally turn shapr, but these don't. Flowers are balanced pretty well with the green.

 

after about an hour it turns really soapy, unfortunately.

[k00kaburra]

In bottle: Iris and civet. It's amazing how one drop of civet can take over a whole bottle. That stuff is something powerful, I tell ya.

 

On me: It smells green and herby. The civet is still pretty strong, but the other notes are tempering it and blending with it.

Later: ...blending with it to a powdery scent. It's very light - this fades quickly - but it's quite soapy now.

[OriginalWacky]

Bottle (Imp): Perfume-y.

 

Just On: Some spice, maybe something airy.

 

An hour or two later: Spicy perfume.

 

Around 6 hours: A little soapy.

 

12 hours: Bits of spicy soap.

 

Overall: I know I was really brief on this one, but I just couldn't think of anything more to say. It's okay, but my skin kinda makes it icky.

 

After reading other reviews: I didn't get a lot of sage. The iris must be what turned to soap with my skin.

[wickedgoddess]

Wet - The sage, orris and iris all blend together in a way that it is hard to distinguish any single note. This is very pretty.

 

Dry - I can distinguish the individal notes a bit better now. I definitely smell sage and orris, but the orris is overwhelming the sage which is a pity, as I love sage. I am not sure what iris smells like, but obviously it's the floral note. I really don't notice any civet. I wish the sage was a bit stronger, but this is pleasant enough. I will certainly hang on to the imp.

 

On the wickedgoddess scale of 1 to 5, with 5 being best, this rates a 3.

[Blood onmy hands]

First on this is a green herbal scent with a very powdery floral in the background. Within five minutes this has morphed into pure soap with a dusting of baby powder . And it has completely disappeared before I hit a half hour mark. So I slathered some more on... and got the same exact result.

 

Morella just doesn't work at all with my skin chemistry.

[coulrophobe]

A few weeks ago, if you would have told me that I'd actually really like a blend containing civet, I would have laughed at you (or maybe thrown up in my mouth a little).

 

But that was before the wonderful GothicMissManners gifted me with an imp of Morella on Thanksgiving.

 

I can't smell the civet at all, though there is a bit more warmth than with most herbal/floral blends. What I mainly get is FLORENTINE IRIS, my second favorite note of all time! The sage adds a bit of an edge and keeps it from getting too sweet, and the orris adds a bit of earthy roundness...

 

All in all, an amazing purple-smelling blend.

 

With civet... who knew? There's a reason I never give up on a note... in some blend, it's bound to work.

 

[parrot_suspect]

Now that this blend has been re-introduced as part of the Maelstrom series, I've noticed many people saying, "It sounds nice, but I hate civet." I want to encourage everyone to give this blend a try, because the civet most definitely does not overwhelm this blend -- you can barely detect it at all.

 

On me, Morella is a gorgeous, soft, sweet, baby-clean type of scent. Have you ever tried Philosophy's Baby Grace? Morella is a lot like that, but it has more depth and character. It's innocent, yet sexy; and has a clean, fresh, just-showered sort of feel. I only have an imp of this (I've ordered a bottle), but whenever I dab it on, I can't stop sniffing my wrist. It has great lasting power and is a delight. I'm so glad this has been brought back.

[sookster]

straight sniff from bottle is an herby floral blend.....

 

yessss! i have finally found a scent with civet that agrees with

my chemistry!!

 

this is just beautiful....i get the notes of sage and iris perfectly...

 

this is an extremely well balanced scent and i will cherish my bottle...

[Nox Eterna]

I bought Morella based on andrabell's review so here goes......

 

In the bottle: Very green and herbal

Wet on: citronella candles? Oh no....

Dry on: OK... HERE'S what she was talking about...soft and fresh very clean smelling, what I hoped it would smell like. Don't let the civet freak you out, this is lovely!

[mandragora]

In the imp: Pungent herbal scent. I smell sage.

Wet on me: Softens to green smelling florals.

Drydown: Smells very clean in an herb-y sort of way. Very well-blended.

Verdict: Pretty and light. A fresh, green scent. This would be perfect for spring. I may be getting a bottle of this

Edited March 12, 2006 by mandragora

[Meg]

In the bottle: Weedy plastic. Not really a good start.

 

Wet: Herbs, I think it's a very subdued, plasticky sage, and hints of iris.

 

Drydown: The iris seems to come out slowly and stronger as it dries, and the plastic fortunately goes to the back.

 

Overall: I really don't think much of it. It's not unpleasant, but it's very monotonous, quiet and subtle, and has random surges of plastic scent coming up between the iris. Not me at all. Besides, it has no staying power.

[zenvodunista]

i'm lucky in that i am one of those who can actually wear civet. that said, there really is only a "drop" of civet in this blend. i can't smell it at all, either in the bottle, or on my skin.

 

this starts out as a clean green scent with a masculine edge to it -- somewhat commandings, and very firm. it softens as time goes by into a powdery and gentle floral. the sage and civet serve to anchor the iris to my skin. this one really is all about the iris.

 

a teeny weeny dab'l do ya, i think.

 

if you like iris, you really ought to get this blend. there's nothing to be scared of!

 

n.

[abberlaine]

Ladies and gentlemen, this blend is perfect for combing through your hair. Child angels don't have it this good.

 

In the bottle, it smells of light herbs and lots of sudsy soap. On the skin, however, it smells very, very faintly of baby's skin, of creamy herbs and of having washed with orris and iris soap (the florals are there, but they're in a supporting role -- they're not there to stand up and look pretty -- and they blend in well).

 

As the oil dries, there comes out a hint of something else that makes the scent: I can't quite put my finger on it, but it reminds me of of tea, of hair that's been heated by the sun, and of the color brown -- it's hot, but it's not smoking or scorched. It's comforting and completely wearable.

 

What's there to say? Morella is completely unobtrusive, non-offensive and a total skin scent: again, she's very, very faint. She's is a natural beauty, no question about it.

 

Come back to GC, Morella! I want to make body products out of you!

Edited March 28, 2006 by Abberlaine Arrol

[maewitch]

No civet.

 

That was going to be the deal-breaker for me, and I am happy to report that the civet note is undetectable.

 

The blend itself is a very clean and almost powdery sort of scent - the first few minutes actually made me think of Numb, though not as sweet. It softens and becomes more 'neutral' as it dries, losing the floral edge (which actually makes it more enjoyable for me).

 

In some ways it reminds me of Dirty, in that it smells like clean skin wrapped in fresh, laundry-scented sheets. It's more wearble for me, however, since it doesn't have that ozone note that tends to render those clean scents too masculine on me. It's developping a lovely and subtle second-skin musky quality.

 

This is really growing on me.

[jewelbug]

Imp: Mostly sage.

 

Wet: The sage from the imp is much more understated, and this goes a bit powdery as soon as it hits my skin. In the imp, this was sharp, but on, that's not the case at all. Actually, I rather agree with those that say it smells like babies--to me, this is baby shampoo. Very clean and cozy, like a soft warm baby.

 

Drying: The orris comes out much more, sharp and a bit powdery/earthy. The sage is a soft fuzzy note in the background. Incidentally, this is less like baby shampoo now. It's got a bit of earthy spice to it. I dunno what that is, but it adds intrigue. I'm contradicting myself, because this doesn't smell like shampoo anymore, but all combined, it still smells of warm fuzzy baby head.

 

Dry: ORRIS. Lots of lovely orris. Now this is far less like baby shampoo, and actually closer to LUSH's Big shampoo (minus the citrus). Its got a very similar strong orris note. Mmmmmm. Sadly, this lasts only about 2 hrs on me.

 

Overall: I like the scent, but I don't usually try to smell like shampoo---baby or otherwise. It’s a nice cozy clean scent, but not one I'll really wear. Count me among those that are pleased the civet is barely there. I think I'll hold onto my imp, but won't need a bottle.

[slave1]

In Bottle: Dry powdery floral

 

On Skin: Super potent floral. I get green and white from it, quite pungent and it makes my eyes water a bit. I smell sage, but it seems to be loghter than the floral iris note. The civet is very subtle which is nice. Civet is one of those notes that can go terribly wrong on me. It starts fading into a gentle feminine scent, clean and a bit soapy. It is also quite powdery. I said it was feminine, but as it continues to develop it becomes more unisex. Interesting, but not quite me.

[arabella]

First Impression: This is very different - I detect herbs at first.

 

Dries down to: There's a hint of flowers coming through and something else I don't recognize.

 

Additional Comments: Aaaah, the elusive civet - that's what I didn't recognize and, interestingly, don't hate either; at least, not in this blend, which is really intriguing. Iris has always a favorite note and the sage and orris ground the blend nicely. I don't know about getting a bottle but I do like it and will use up the imp.

 

Lasted: A few hours.

 

Rating: 3.5 out of 5

[yeahbutnobut]

Morella

 

In the imp: gorgeous powdery yet richly purple iris with a hint of sage.

Wet on skin: creamy and slightly fruity iris with a green, herbal sage note.

Dry on skin: this is lovely! The iris in here is the same one that was in Florence-a wonderfully purple scent (it's different to other iris scents like Black Pearl etc), almost fruity and heady, yet with creaminess to it, in here this pale, creamy, violet like powdery aspect is enhanced by orris. Sage adds a delightful herbal, warmly green edge to the scent, and I get a slightly herbal-lemony tinge to the scent, but I have no idea where that is from. I don't get any civet in here so far. It's a scent which is both traditional yet youthful in feel.

After a while: like in Florence, the iris in here is deep and rich, and has an almost berry like feel to it, it reminds me of a fruit, but I can't remember which. The orris adds it's soft powder and the sage seems to have merged nicely with the purple iris. Still no civet-which is a good thing. I think in here, the civet is in such a small amount so that it enhances the scent rather than adding a feral tone to it.

Over time, I still can't pick out the civet. Which goes to show how wonderfully well blended this is.

Verdict: this is the sort of civet scent I like! When this note is well concealed and instead of adding an animalistic feel to a scent, it enhances the other notes without showing itself. The main star of this scent is iris-a rich, deep, purple iris scent with a hint of fruitiness to it, backed by powdery orris and herbal, warm sage. The scent is very well crafted-it's a scent which is comforting, almost nostalgic but not an old fashioned scent-it's fresh, light and innovative as well. I think I will try my decant again because I think this is may be have to be bought in bottle form.