The Zoom

[stellamaris]

 

THE ZOOM

Lime juice, bergamot, Himalayan cedarwood, helichrysum, and dragon’s blood resin.

 

This one goes to eleven.

Lime, and Dragon's Blood? Delicious. Fresh. Salty. Really good. Very bright and round, great for daytime. This is a nice DBR, it gives me the scent without being too New Age Bookstore. Not that I am opposed to the New Age Bookstore, it's just that I like to pretend to be sophisticated every once in a while.

This one will get some back ups.

 

 

Oh and I don't get the wood very strong, which is good, as I don't really love smelling like furniture.

[AmyO'Shields]

Like Stellamaris said, this has a salty quality to it. The Lime and Dragons Blood combo is a winning one...this isn't like any other blend I own, and it's quite good. I love the label too!

[Helas]

The Zoom seems to be a playful and quirky little fellow, and his scent does him justice. There is a grassy, bitter note - the helichrysum? - that makes me think of dry grass and wildflowers. The cedar is noticeable and smells very green to me, not like dry wood or furniture. I don't get any lime or dragon's blood, but I could swear there is some white sandalwood, even though it's not listed in the ingredients. There is not much sweetness in this scent, but somehow it does not come across as harsh. It smells like nature often does, a little alien but not hostile.

 

My overall impression is of a meadow in late summer. Parched yellow grass, a hot, dry wind, scattered wildflowers growing around the stumps of trees. Little wild creatures scurrying in their holes.

[coldandsleepy]

Like others have said, this is a gentler dragon's blood than usual. It's still not mild enough for me to wear to work without smelling like an incense-hippy, but that's okay with me. I'll just roll around in it at home instead!

 

I'm surprised by how pronounced the cedar is in this, and even MORE surprised by how much I like the cedar. Cedar often = hamster cage to me, but the cedar in this is really soft and lovely.

 

Mostly, I smell dragon's blood, cedar, lime juice in that order. I wanted to smell more bergamot, but I'm really happy with this as is.

[angelicruin]

I get lots of cedar in this one. I tend to amp that note, so not really a surprise for me. Underneath all the cedar, the lime and dragon's blood does have a salty vibe to it. Unfortunately, just too bitter on my skin for it to work on me.

[thezander]

(Disclaimer: this is my first actual review. Bear with me.)

 

In the imp: Lime but not sweet lime. More like vodka with lime?

 

On wet: Is that patchouli? Something is giving me a mildew note that competes with the lime =( And it's making my nose tickle.

 

On dry: Omg. Cleaning solution? Something that reminds me of a hospital or vet's office. The lime is there but feels like an old, dried-out sort of a lime. All well and good for preventing scurvy but not the fresh juicy lime I was looking forward to. My allergies don't like it either.

 

Powdery-lime-scented disinfectant on me. I really thought I would love this one. I'll have to find something to do with it - guess it's going into a swap pile for now.

Edited October 28, 2011 by StinkyPinky

[Lethran]

In bottle: Fascinating. I can think of no scent in the catalog even vaguely like this one. Google tells me helichrysum is a kind of sunflower, which makes sense, given the scent of the oil. The helichrysum and lime are strong and go together beautifully. I’d put bergamot second and a strong support for the dominant notes. The cedar does not smell like the standard note, though it’s interesting and woody. The dragon’s blood is soft and acting as a sort of glue to tie the notes together. This is very weird, but in an utterly fascinating way. Wet: It’s a touch ashy on my skin. It is also sweeter and higher pitched. I’m clearly not the ideal host. The bergamot has clearly made it’s move here and is forming a team with the sunflower and dragon’s blood. There is nothing wrong with that, but the tartness of the lime was much of what made this so compelling in the bottle and it’s softness on my skin really changes the balance. As it warms, the cedarwood strengthens and ends up the strongest note about ten minutes in. The cedarwood is beautiful, by the way. I’m terribly sad about how this one wears as ultimately, it’s just not quite right on my skin. I blame my peculiar skin chemistry and not the scent design. Dry: in order from strongest to softest: cedarwood, sunflower, bergamot, with the others just barely present.

[Blood onmy hands]

I had hoped that a mix of lime, cedar, and dragon's blood might be like an exotic, spicy, tropical drink, but this is more of a warm, powdery floral and citrus cleanser type of smell on my skin. It winds up smelling very dry on me, and fades quickly.

[ami226]

On the skin: Hmmmmm, green dragon's blood? With lime? A green almost woodsy scent.

 

Definitely not for me, but it is very pleasant.

[Ghost of a Rose]

My imp is a decant from schackjj, The Goddess of Decanters (to borrow a quote from another participant in our decant circle.)

 

In the imp: Oil is clear and a beautiful peach color. Even in the imp, this is a well-balanced scent. I notice cedarwood, florals, and dragon's blood especially, but can also detect the bergamot and lime. From the description, I had expected a rather masculine scent, but it isn't, due to the prominent florals.

 

On me, wet: It's wood and florals at first, but after a few seconds, the lime suddenly pops out and really makes the scent zing (or should I say "zoom"?)

 

On me, just dried: The lime is now strongest. It's the rind of key limes. The bergamot is running a close second and is really an intriguing and unusual pairing with the lime. Interesting how the notes that were the most subdued in the imp are dominating the scent on my skin. It's also less floral on my skin, at least at this point - a unisex fragrance.

 

After 10 minutes: The scent has changed quite a bit. Now it's mostly wood up close, with a touch of lime to sweeten it a little. And sniffed from a few inches away, I get the florals again. But this time they're not dominant enough to change my "unisex" label. The bergamot is still hanging in there, too. And there's just an occasional faint whiff of mint which must be from the helichrysum (I've seen it described as floral-mint, among other things.)

 

After 20 minutes: I'm surprised yet again at how much this has morphed. It's now a warm, somewhat sweet, scent of wood and florals, very lovely.

 

After 30 minutes: The florals have continued to strengthen and have overtaken the wood note. They have an appealing undertone of honey (another thing I've seen in descriptions of helichrysum.) It's now a more feminine scent. The wood is still around, now as an undertone.

 

After 45 minutes: Now mostly wood, with a hint of spicy incense - not sure where that comes from, maybe the resin?

 

After 1 hour: All wood and incense, with barely a trace of the florals.

 

After 2 hours: All incense, still going fairly strong.

 

After 3 hours: Same as above.

 

After 6 hours: Only a whisper of incense remains.

 

Verdict: An unusual and appealing fragrance in all its stages. A real morpher: in 30 minutes going from a slightly masculine lime-and-wood scent to a rather feminine florals-and-honey one, and then in the next 15 minutes returning to a unisex wood scent. More discreet and dignified than either the usual astringent men's cologne or the usual floral (or vanilla) women's perfume, this would be a good choice for both men and women to wear to work.

This was an alternate/backup choice for me, and I am glad I got the chance to try it. I liked it much more than I had expected to.

 

My rating: 4 stars

[stellans]

Right away upon opening the decant, the lime note jumps out at me; that's just fine because I like lime best of all the citrus notes available, especially when it's a nice, well-behaved lime note. There's no harshness to this lime, and almost not enough acidity to keep it from artificial candy flavoring smell, but it makes the grade. There isn't but a touch of dragon's blood, which is regrettable because that's another favorite note.

 

HOWEVER... as this oil dries, the cedarwood comes roaring to the fore, in all its lead shavings glory and drowns out every vestige of anything else. Sadly, this is what happens practically every time I wear a blend with more than just a vestige of cedar. Pencil shavings. Ugh.

Edited November 8, 2011 by stellans

[ljaylh]

I had a similar experience to Ms stellans...

 

At first, this was all lovely lime, with the bergamot adding an extra layer of juicy citrus and just a slight peppery touch. The dragon's blood was there, but quite subtle - just kinda wafting around in between the lovely citrus vibe. I wouldn't have picked there being any floral element here, but since I know helichrysum is present then I can sense a sort of sunny gold-ness about it.. but it's not a strong feature of the fragrance.

 

But then.. BAM! In strolls cedarwood, and that's when the trouble starts. This is how it goes:

 

Lime - weeeeee! I'm heeeeeeeeere! Smell me! I'm fresh and lovelyyyyyyyyyy!

Cedarwood - Lime? Pffft.. get outta my way! There's no room here for lime, and you can take that stupid girly bergamot with you too. Don't let the door hit yer ass on the way out.

Lime - *leaves quietly, holding bergamot's hand*

Cedarwood - OK, and now - that dragon's blood resin.. let's just push that aside, shall we? *shove*

DBR - But.. I wasn't causing trouble, I was nice and subtle, why don't you like me?

Cedarwood - Because I am CEDAR, and I will not stand for any other notes to be present in my company! Now LEAVE!

DBR - *puts tail between legs and skulks away*

Cedarwood - MWWWWWWWWAAAAAHAHAHA! I win! I'm the only one left!

 

So yeah, it's all over for The Zoom - cedar wins the day. The cedar itself is quite pleasant, it's not totally pencil-shavings or mouse cage, but it's.. cedar. And after all that fuss, the whole fragrance (including the cedar) only lasts for about half an hour on my skin before it fades almost completely away. So unfortunately, this one is not a winner for me If the cedar hadn't bullied everything else away, then I would have really liked this because that early stage with the citrus + DBR was gorgeous.

[astarinel]

I'm sort of hoping that I got a poorly-mixed decant somehow, because the reason I got this was the lime note, and I'm smelling absolutely zero lime.

 

I love lime and dragon's blood, and was hoping they would overpower the sort of questionable other notes.

 

Unfortunately, it worked out the opposite way and I get a noseful of heavy floral and a ton of cedar. A ton. Absolutely not my thing, blah.

[V294]

mmmm, lime and dragons blood, with a hint of cedar. Very nice! So far the cedar isn't going crazy for me like others seem to get. I hope it stays that way!

[Dark Alice]

I had a similar experience to Ms stellans...

 

At first, this was all lovely lime, with the bergamot adding an extra layer of juicy citrus and just a slight peppery touch. The dragon's blood was there, but quite subtle - just kinda wafting around in between the lovely citrus vibe. I wouldn't have picked there being any floral element here, but since I know helichrysum is present then I can sense a sort of sunny gold-ness about it.. but it's not a strong feature of the fragrance.

 

But then.. BAM! In strolls cedarwood, and that's when the trouble starts. This is how it goes:

 

Lime - weeeeee! I'm heeeeeeeeere! Smell me! I'm fresh and lovelyyyyyyyyyy!

Cedarwood - Lime? Pffft.. get outta my way! There's no room here for lime, and you can take that stupid girly bergamot with you too. Don't let the door hit yer ass on the way out.

Lime - *leaves quietly, holding bergamot's hand*

Cedarwood - OK, and now - that dragon's blood resin.. let's just push that aside, shall we? *shove*

DBR - But.. I wasn't causing trouble, I was nice and subtle, why don't you like me?

Cedarwood - Because I am CEDAR, and I will not stand for any other notes to be present in my company! Now LEAVE!

DBR - *puts tail between legs and skulks away*

Cedarwood - MWWWWWWWWAAAAAHAHAHA! I win! I'm the only one left!

 

So yeah, it's all over for The Zoom - cedar wins the day. The cedar itself is quite pleasant, it's not totally pencil-shavings or mouse cage, but it's.. cedar. And after all that fuss, the whole fragrance (including the cedar) only lasts for about half an hour on my skin before it fades almost completely away. So unfortunately, this one is not a winner for me If the cedar hadn't bullied everything else away, then I would have really liked this because that early stage with the citrus + DBR was gorgeous.

 

 

This...is the same conversation that my skin has had with this scent. My skin eats citrus scents so I should not be surprised at all by this. But still...I had to try it as I do enjoy the lime but the cedarwood....yeah....it's dominating and turning everything else into cedarwood with a fresh coat of furniture polish. This is nauseating. It must. come. off!

[edenssixthday]

The Zoom - I wasn't sure how this would work, not being a fan of bergamot or cedarwood, being iffy with helichrysum, and loving lime and dragon's blood. In the bottle, it smells entirely of lime and dragon's blood and even though it's kind of odd, I like it. However, as soon as it touches my skin, the cedarwood becomes evident and starts to amp, and it's heavy dryness really takes over the scent. The dragon's blood is still the strongest note, but the cedarwood has overpowered everything else and I really don't like the way it's blending with the dragon's blood. It's too much like a dragon's blood-and-pencil-shavings scent, sadly.

[orata]

A beautiful fresh lime juice scent (love!) mixed with a generous heap of dragon's blood (hate!) I liked the lime note but couldn't deal with the dragon's blood, especially as the lime started to fade as this dried down, so I didn't keep it on long enough to see if the other notes like cedar developed. This was the only one of the Seekim that didn't work for me at all.

[zankoku_zen]

Lime, LOADS of cedarwood and a hint of dragon's blood resin.

 

Warm, rich, smoky.

[fiddlehead]

After the burst of lime and bergamont dissipates I'm left with the distinctive scent of New Age bookstore. Incense, wooden boxes with Celtic designs on them, and crystals galore It's a nice scent memory for me but I do wish the other notes had stuck around. Still, I will probably wear it occasionally.

[milo]

I was looking forward to this, as I love lime. Sadly, I get no lime, not even in the wet stages. What I do get is strong wood at first, which dries to a powdery, soft cedarwood. No real appearance of other notes, though it does smell like a certain freshness to the wood, which may be the lime. Not for me, but nice to try!

[mistressfizz]

Sniff: BAM, CEDAR! Like sticking my nose into a box of fresh cedar chips

 

Wet: Cedar still dominates, with a whiff of citrus that borders on chemical. Overall it smells like sharp cedar sawdust, green and raw from the tree

 

Dry: Now it gets interesting – this really warms up when dry. It becomes almost like amber and has a glow, like someone glazed a pile of cedar wood chips with a thin coat of liquid gold. I think that’s the dragon’s blood resin. It’s intriguing at this stage, but not something I would want to wear frequently.

[hlinspjalda]

I bought this partial bottle (decant circle leftover) unsniffed. Every listed note is usually good on me, so I am looking forward to it.

 

In the bottle: More helichrysum than anything else. That's a note I adore from Aquae. This time it is light rather than earthy, but the overall scent is rich and fruity with some resinous pungency. No trace of the lilac-ish floral note I associate with dragon's blood.

 

Wet: The first impression is woody, but then it goes over to earthy. I get the cedar and helichrysum about equally, and the dragon's blood as an afterthought. The citrus notes are not particularly identifiable, which is odd because both of them are usually good on me.

 

One hour: The resin note has matured a bit, making everything a bit flatter and smoother. Although the helichrysum is still light, overall the scent is woodier now too, moving a bit toward Voodoo territory. Part of the reason I bought this scent is because of how much I love Voodoo. This one is very light by comparison, but there are some similar vibes involved.

 

Two hours: Now I'm getting more citrus than before. It seems slightly sweet, more lime than bergamot. Overall it's warm and spicy-ish, smells a little like sticks (for some reason, that's the image it's giving me), and even though it's not as drop-dead gorgeous as some scents I keep sniffing it and smiling. I expect I'll wear this from time to time, probably when I want something whimsical.

[ObliqueRed]

This is very strange on me... kind of like wood chips and bubble gum!

[Missy_killer]

To my nose: Like I suspected. Dragon's blood really kills all the other notes for me. It smells like heavy floral/cheap lipsticks to me.

 

On: Mhm.. Lime, cedar and dragon's blood all mixed together in a blur. All three of these are fighting over who's gonna be on top - who's gonna be the star of the show. It actually seems that the lime is the strongest one so far, but I don't dare to believe that the dragon's blood has given up.

 

Oooh, this is the same type of lime that's in Voodoo!

 

After a few minutes though, the DB has returned *dramatic music*. And fueled with new powers it decides to kick the lime to the curb and take the throne.

 

As usual, Dragon's blood and I are not friends, and can't cooperate. End of story

[Spork]

cedar cedar cedar cedar cedar...oops, is that some dragon's blood? just a hint? no! ahahaha! cedar! more cedar! no lime, no sunflower, barely a hint of dragon's blood...this is all cedar all the time.