Psyche

[shriekingviolet]

Category: Love Potions

 

Site Description:

The tale of Cupid and Psyche is both a perfect love story and an allegory for the soul's search to reunite with Deity. This is the scent of true love, your heart's deepest, purest desires. Bulgar rose, Chinese white musk, lavender, orchid and frankincense.

 

Initial Impression:

A definite rose scent, but so complex. I can smell the frankincense for sure.

 

After Wearing It:

*keeps sniffing wrists* Huh, I think I really like this one. I think I've killed about a hundred brain cells today sniffing my wrist to make sure that, yes, I do indeed like this rose fragrance. I'm just baffled. When first wet, Psyche smells strongly of roses, almost like the dusty tea variety. Which wasn't so favorable for me, but I believe in giving each oil a fair opportunity to make its case so I stuck with it. After half an hour or so the rose mellows out. I doesn't hide or fade, it just gives the other notes room to be seen. The end result is a slightly powdery, slightly sweet, wistful rose scent that's absolutely lovely in its dreamlike, romatic quality. A complex and beautiful rose perfume.

 

Final Thoughts:

A fabulous oil, very fitting to the myth that inspired it. This should be a must try for any fan of rose oils, and should definitely be considered even by those who aren't.

[Belladonnastrap]

If you love Rose scents you must try Psyche.

 

If you hate Rose scents you must try Psyche.

 

 

 

This stuff smells SO good...like a true rose but nothing overpowering at all. I kept catching wiffs of it as I moved about during the day and everytime I would catch something new. Very complex and very simple at the same time. As it fades even more scents seem to come out so by hour 6 I was all "I should reapply because I don't want the scent to fade completely but I want to know if anything else pops up!" but in the end reapplication won. I can definitely imagine the namesake wearing this...innocent yet not. Lovely lovely stuff. Might have to get a big bottle of it.

[Koumori]

This isn't my favorite rose scent, but it's very nice. The rose backed off a little as the scent mellowed, and I could definitely catch a bit of the frankincense "moderating" the florals. I could have sworn I was smelling lily of the valley as well, but perhaps that's the orchid - I think I need to train my nose up better so I can write more useful reviews!

[jj_j]

What started out as rose and lavender is now an almost fruity-bitter rose. I'm always amazed at how Beth gets scents to combine with each other as they come off my skin, not just in the bottle, and the frankincense and orchid really melted into the rose and lavender, which I loved from the beginning. I think the chinese musk is what makes it a second skin sort of scent.

 

Feminine, but in a dreamy, "I'm-wearing-it-because-he-likes-it-and-I'm-so-completely-infatuated-with-him" sort of way. I mean that in the best sense of that picture, too - a point in the relationship so good it's okay to want whatever your partner does, and to be happy about being that way for a while.

[lorajc]

I liked Psyche. It took me a while to get used to it, as it is different than anyting I've ever smelled. I did not detect the rose in it, just the lavender, orchid and frankincense, as well as the musk. This had decent staying power and was a beautiful grounded floral (grounded by the frankincense). I couild swear I smelled lemon in this one, but I don't see it listed in the ingredients.

[Shollin]

First sniff: Psyche is cool purple, floral but not soft. Like the slight sharpness of real lavender buds rather than the fakey lavender stuff that everything smells like these days. A bit of greenery too. Delicious. This actually smells quite a bit like lavender tastes if you cook with it – almost like rosemary, but softer.

 

Wearing: I like this one a lot. Very cool floral, somewhere between the chilliness of Wicked and the gentle warmth of Twilight. There’s a hint of nose-twitching spice under the flowers, I’m guessing that’s frankincense. The rose is completely hidden – maybe she’ll show up later, but at the moment it’s all that slightly sharp, cool lavender with warm spice underneath. The sharpness fades quickly and it goes pillowy-soft and the slightest bit sweet, a bit powdery but not annoyingly so.

 

I suspect this is one I’ll have to slather on if I want it to last – it’s already (within a couple of hours) faded to the point that I can’t smell it unless I stick my wrist right up against my nose.

[Fulltiltredhead]

This is another fall down on the floor have an orgasm freakin' gorgeous perfume. Another one that brought tears to my eyes, it's so beautiful. Skip the sample, get the big bottle. I've never smelled anything like it in my life.

 

ARG, so disappointing when this happens, but ok, I've tried and tried and I can't wear frankincense, so there's an end to it.

 

On me it takes a while for that to develop out of Psyche, but once it does, I'm through.

 

If you can wear Frankinscense, tho, do try this, it's gorgeous.

Edited April 13, 2004 by Fulltiltredhead

[RogueFeenix]

Out of the bottle it smelled strongly of roses, which worried me (rose scents don't smell right on me) but this seems like a sweet rose not a green one.

 

On the skin it was almost bitter smelling, still a strong rose scent but it took on a darker quality.

 

After dry down it took on a sweet bitterness. Sniffing my wrists it is almost like sweet and sour candies, with a head of roses. Very nice and the air around me is a bit powdery, but soft rose and lavender mixed in. I love how complex it all is, all the notes mixing and floating off me in a nearly ethereal, iridescent wave of scent. I think I'm truly falling for this scent.

 

30 mins: The rose is totally hidden at the moment frankincense is a bit too strong but the lavender is right there help balance it out. I love the lavender in this, it smells of real lavender like I'm standing by some freshly cut.

 

After an hour it as almost disappeared on me, I don't know if I'll be buying more but I will use up my imp.

[darklorelei]

Straight out of the bottle, I smell a really, really nice green smell, like celery or something. (good thing, I promise)

 

The celery fades quickly and the scent develops into something very similar in some ways to Eve. I wouldn't really describe it as rose, but I'm not familiar with rose as perfume. It's a very warm honey scent, like fresh, hot honey-wheat bread.

 

Anyways, while I don't really like it as a perfume per se, I really like this scent. It's very comforting, in some ways. I find that I like it even better than Eve, though it fades rather quickly on me (but that's because I have skin that does not absorb things at all)

[isyche]

At first, all I got from this was very bitter lavender/incense. It eventually faded to a softer, more interesting scent, but I couldn't really tell what that was - and then it was gone. I'm still not sure what I think of that phase, but the initial bitterness is too much for me.

[hadaverde]

Psyche was one of the complimentary vials included with my first order of Imp's Ears.

 

In the vial: Despite having pretty much no similarity in components, Psyche strikes me as very similar to Tabu by Dana (which is described as containing notes of rose, orange blossom, jasmine, vetiver, oakmoss, amber and musk) -- not identical, but close. Psyche has a slightly more incense-y undertone, resulting, I would imagine, from the frankincense.

 

On the skin: I was a bit worried about how this one would wear on me, and whether I would be able to stomach it after the first 30 minutes or so. The main reason I don't wear most retail scents is because within the first half-hour after applying them, they start to smell to me like a mixture of unpleasant chemicals, and make me queasy -- I've found that I rarely have that problem with oils. The fact that my initial impression of this scent was its similarity to Tabu, which always caused me bouts of the aforementioned queasiness, concerned me.

 

My concern was baseless, I am happy to say. On my skin, the floral notes became a little more prominent, which mellowed out the Chinese white musk/frankincense combination nicely. My main complaint with this scent was that it seemed to fade very quickly -- within the first two hours, all that was left was a faint pleasant musk/frankincense scent, which I was only able to detect when I actually put my wrist to my nose.

 

Final decision: I'd be a little more impressed if it had a little more staying power -- but that could just be my body chemistry. This isn't a scent I would have chosen of my own accord (I generally like spicy, fruity, or woody scents over florals or musks), but it's not bad. I don't see myself buying a 5ml of this one, but I will have no problem finishing off the sample vial.

[Ina Garten Davita]

First Impression: God, my nose is so sensitive to lavender it's really giving me the red ass.

 

Second Impression: The lavender lasts but a moment and is replaced by roses and white musk. Another addictive can't stop smelling myself blend.

 

Final Analysis: Complex, well blended and beautiful. It is the smell of pure, true love.

[Astra]

I'm still trying to figure out if I like Psyche.

 

Immediately the musk, lavendar and frankincense summon the image of gray, craggy cliffs above a churning sea. Fortunately, for to me this is harsh and overpowering, a dry dusty rose quickly emerges.

 

I like how the scent turns out (dead, dry roses buffeted by a cold wind). It creates a very solemn, wistful mood. I just don't know if I'd be able to get used to the initial effect. I'll keep trying it--you really can end up liking scents you never thought you'd wear. It wears off really fast, though; the roses don't linger long.

[Donnababe]

First Sniff

 

Sharp greens and a touch of lavender. Not as expected.

 

Drydown

 

This is much greener than I expected. It smells 'dry' and cold. No sign of rose or musk. Lots of frankincense.

 

After a While

 

Frankincense and at last, rose. It's warmed up a lot and feels so much more sensual now.

 

Final Verdict

 

I was ready to throw this into the swap pile until the rose made it's beautiful appearance. It's so soft and gorgeous. I really like this but will need to go through my new rosy faves before I make a decision about big bottles. (I so want one though....)

[Tesseljoan]

I don't like this. Mea Culpa. Bad chemistry. It just turns sharp and perfumey on me, leaving me in a cloud of non-descript perfume scent.

[allamanda]

Psyche

 

Lavender and incense, soft, comforting and peaceful.

 

This didn’t change from start to finish and no matter how hard I tried I couldn’t detect rose or musk.

 

Another larger bottle on the way.

Edited September 13, 2004 by allamanda

[eleventhousand]

Sharp and dark and feminine. Balanced. None of the notes come roaring to the forefront. It starts almost chilly, but warms to the skin.

 

A lovely going out sort of scent...I wore it last night and the muskiness of it still clings to me.

[quinkel]

in the bottle: Lavender

 

on the skin wet: strong lavender is all i get ( no problem, I like lavender)

 

Dry: It's gone!! the lavender is gone and so is the rest of the notes, and I didn't even had the change to smell them!

This has never happened before, will give it another try on another day otherwise will use the imp to sprinkle my sheets and pillow, will be a great sleep inducer with the lavender.

[Ancientgirl]

In the bottle: heavily floral. I think it's the rose that assaults me more so than the lavender.

When first applied, this is still too heavily floral for me. After 20 minutes or so, it mellows out and turns gorgeous. I think it's the white musk coming through and blending with my skin. The rose bows out and lets somebody else share the spotlight. This seems like a good scent to wear to tea, with a long floaty bias-cut dress. Something innocent that starts prim, and melts into something sweet but sexy.

I'll want to put this on right as I get out of the shower. While I'm doing my hair and makeup, it can mellow out into the scent that I enjoy.

Ancientgirl

[Larila]

When i applied this scent i didn't like at all, i thought i was in for it with getting a bigger bottle unsniffed, wet it was a lingering loud scent that was blended, i could not make a single note.

 

after about 30 minutes or so it mellowed and i could smell orchid first and the frankincense and the musk with the lavender way in the back, didn't smell the rose,i like this one and it lasted about between 5and 8hours, i'm happy with my bigger bottle purchase.

[AnnetteL]

Wet, Psyche gives me a big blast of rose, but as soon as it dries the other notes (frankincense and lavendar) make their prescence felt and it becomes quite spicy and peppery. There is then a slow drift down into a more traditional perfumey-rose scent as the lavendar fades and the musk comes through.

 

Nice, but a little too traditional for me. I wouldn't say I'm against rose, but it has to be used in an interesting way for me to enjoy it.

[dreamwalkblue]

I'm starting to think that maybe orchid doesn't get along wtih me....because Oberon wasn't too successful on my skin, either. This starts of heavy and sharp rose/lavender, before the frankincense comes into play. While I like rose and I like lavender, this particular blend seemed too "cold" to suit me. It feels very much like a wintery rose blend...very crisp and chilly.

[Ishtar]

I love Psyche!

 

It is a rather complex rose blend on me, there are not many individual notes I can recognize apart from the white musk that always works well on my skin. Another very well-balanced scent, successfully walking the fine line between old-ladyish powdery rose and dark sinister rose.

 

It is very elegant and layered, a definite keeper!

[Azrhiaz]

oh, I am so glad I bought a big bottle of this. Good guess this time. This is soooo beautiful.

 

I'm a big rose fan, and this one is just fabulous. I love lavender, too, and I get them both when wet. The rose seems to me to be rather sweet, not dusty to my nose. On the drydown the musk comes through, but it's very delicate and very well balanced overall. I can't pick out the frankincense on me.

 

And I'm totally thrilled that, so far, this is the most evocative of Silentium Amoris for me from among the other oils. Yes, it's different, but it's got the same feel to it. Pure, true love, indeed, and I feel beautiful wearing it.

 

[inkstone]

Part of my ongoing saga to find a rose scent that actually smells like roses on me.

 

In the vial: Lavendar and frankincense. Er, okay.

 

Wet: Lavendar, orchid and musk, with just the faintest touch of frankincense. I've never tried Chinese white musk before, but white musk plays much better with my skin than its other counterparts. (Mostly because musk likes to come screaming out on my skin, so I need a lighter musk to avoid drowning out other notes.) I'm not disappointed.

 

Drydown: Roses & lavendar, with the faintest touches of musk and frankincense. I like it!

 

Final thoughts: This is a very dreamy, romantic-esque scent. The wet stage was a little too much like a cloud of commercial perfume, but the drydown is wonderful. I'm not sure I want a bottle, but I think I'll keep the imp. I think this traveling imp has found its home!