Medea

[Celune]

Granddaughter of Helios, Hecate's chosen: Medea was one of the greatest sorceresses of the ancient world. She is the embodiment of ruthless power, indomitable will and furious vengeance. Night-blooming cereus, black orchid, black currant and myrtle leaf enshrouded in the incense of Hecate's cypress and myrrh, and the dark rage of magickal labdanum and intoxicating poppy.

In Imp: strong floral, dark fruit, woods
On Wet: same with some sweetness, slightly soapy
On Dry: Florals, a slight sweetness, and musk

Again not really a scent for me. Though I think my nose is playing some tricks with me, it's just a bit too flowery and soft/soapy for me. Will try again laters...

[Vega]

A floral-incense blend, very dark, thick, almost syrupy. Perhaps there's a hint of spectral brightness in the florals? if so, it's very fleeting. Medea is in the same family as Hades and On Darkness, and is just too dark and thick for my liking.

[Kayah]

imp: sweet this is NOT. I can pick out some incense resins and some sort of woodsy stuff with a hint of a dark floral

 

wet:

Myrrrrrh.. with stuff. okay shoot this I'm looking at the notes..

yes.. black orchid I can smell you in there. poppy? maybe. not sure. I have no clue what cereus is so couldn't even begin to pick it out, but I can get the myrrh.

I am sad that the black currant doesn't pop up more strongly - maybe it will come out on drydown... Cypress isn't noticeable at first but as it dries I can smell it coming out more.. myrtle leaf? I think is there, supporting the cypress and labdanum is right there beside it

 

as it dries it goes a combo of myrtle leaf, cypress, labdanum and myrrh.. no fruitiness anywhere.

 

It's pretty in a dark brooding way - certainly fits in with a scent for a powerful sorceress.

[Lady Midnight]

Medea is my favorite of the admittedly few BPAL scents I've tried. It's the only scent I ordered a 5ml bottle of, and if it was available in a larger size, I'd buy that. Usually marketing copy is hyperbole at best, but in this case intoxicating is indeed the best word to describe Medea. It smells dark in the best way. Wearing it brings out a feeling of sensuous power. I can't praise it enough.

[whitsunweddings]

In the imp: Mostly cyprus. Quite a dark smell.

Wet: Cypress, poppy, possibly orchid.

Dry: A pleasant orchid blend, with hints of incense and cypress. Lasted a good while too.

[BoneBone24]

Wet: Sweet orchid

 

Drydown: Primarily orchid at first. It reminds me violet but it's not quite as sharp or powdery. Velvety myrrh and incense deepens the blend. Smooth, sweet, and purple. I briefly catch the slightest hint of currant which highlights the orchid nicely. This smells like a darker version of Wings of Azrael.

 

Dy: Calming myrrh and incense flavored with smooth florals and cool breezes of cypress and myrtle. A drop of of sweetness from the currant can be detected every now and then. Deep purple and enchanting. A velvety and romantic nighttime scent.

 

 

 

 

6.5 out of 10 bones

Edited June 21, 2013 by BoneBone24

[brilliantcat]

Imp: Murky florals and herbs swathed in incense. If it smells half as good on me as it does in the imp, I will swoon.

 

Wet: The floral has resolved into identifiable orchid (one of the florals I like!) and the herbal notes I was getting disappear into the background. The incense smoke is still very present and gives this a complex, mysterious feel. It is melancholy in scent form. Beautiful.

 

Dry: Incense, slightly soapy incense. Aww, what happened?!

 

ETA: Twitchy fingers! Hit post before I meant to

Edited December 30, 2012 by brilliantcat

[mistri]

This started off as a pleasant incense tinged with berries, but somehow turned to soap on drydown. Not too disappointed as it was a frimp but it's not for me.

[Jangzonrice]

Got this as a frimp. Wet:dark floral with incense...like it so far. Dry: still a dark floral with more incense amping...love it! The staying power seems to be good, had it on for 7 hours and could still slightly smell it. I will probably get more imps of this.

[Magycmyste]

In the imp: Sharp, dry, and herbal, with a touch of incense.

 

Wet on skin: Very dry and green. I can't quite place what this makes me think of. Oh, wait. Ant poison. But green.

 

Dried down: A little softer and less ant poison-ish on me, but still very green and herbal.

 

Throw: Almost none on me.

 

Verdict: ** I don't feel the need to scrub it off, but yeah, this isn't for me.

[Deliciousness]

In the imp: Deep and dark, with a touch of spiciness.

 

Wet on skin: Sweet resins with a hint of floral in the background. The throw is very light at this stage - I don't know if this is going to last.

 

Dry down: And the scent is blooming and becoming bolder and more complex. Incense starts to come to the forefront, backed by a spicy, almost honey like note; it reminds me of honey mead. The sticky floral is sill present, lending a bit of greenery and freshness to an otherwise hefty scent.

 

This is an interesting scent. I'm having a difficult time describing it as it reminds me of honey mead mixed with some Eastern Spices and a sweet, heady floral - like magnolia. This is still a darker scent, almost reminding me of Hellcat - it's sweet, resinous with a bit of spice and a touch of floral.

[lucycat]

This was a frimp from the Lab.

 

In the imp: It’s definitely floral, but it’s hard to pinpoint which. Orchid, I think, and poppy. I’ve never smelled night-blooming cereus, so I can’t say if that’s what I smell here.

 

Wet: All I can really say is “dark aquatic floral.” It’s very complex. I can’t pick out some of the notes, such as blackcurrant or incense, at all.

 

Dry: After about an hour, this starts to settle down on my skin, and an hour after that, the incense is beginning to appear.

 

Medea has good throw and lasting power. After many hours, I smell the blackcurrant.

 

I like this more than I expected to. It’s very dark and befitting its namesake.

[DiesMali]

In the imp: Floral, that's about all I'm getting.

 

Wet on my skin: This is a faint but dark scent on me even wet. Deep flowers and dark fruits.

 

Dry: This doesn't change a whole lot as it dries. It's not a strong scent, but it is dark and mysterious. I get clear notes of orchid and blackcurrant, and a touch of the myrrh. The rest is all swirled together and difficult to discern, but the overall effect is sort of a hazy, lightly incensed floral perfume. I think I'd like to age this a little, just to see if it'll strengthen a bit.

[Veronica]

A deep, dark green floral garden in the midst of the night. Almost aquatic. Sweet florals mixed with herbal greens and something musky lurking beneath. Pretty, but not quite for me. Very much in the same vein as Dark Rosaleen, which I love.

Edited May 29, 2015 by delighted

[Shahmeran]

In the Imp: Floral. Even reading the description I can't pick out individual notes, but maybe I'm just bad at that. Smells a lot more like commercial perfume than any other BPAL scent I've tried.

 

On Me: Same as in the imp, but a little softer. I can see how other people would like it, but I don't. It just smells too much like commercial perfume for me. It's classy as hell, like something worn by a powerful, sexy business woman who carries a $500 handbag. Which is totally not me. Also, like many florals, it's making me sneezy

 

Later: Gone a little soapy, It's still expensive fancy soap though.

[Malaena]

This is the third blend this week that has turned into rotting flowers. I'm starting to think they just don't like me!!!!

[freyasfae]

I really like the florals and cypress in this, but unfortunately my skin amps the myrrh and overwhelms the florals and cypress. Otherwise, it is blended beautifully (if my skin didn't hate myrrh).

[whisperstilled]

This has so many notes I adore I don't know how I haven't tried it before! I'm testing a ten-year aged imp, which I'm lucky enough to have found in a pile of untested GCs.

 

In imp: Poppy and something dark and sweet. The orchid, I think, and the currant.

 

Wet: That wonderful opium quality of dark poppy up close, and orchid wafting from my arm as I type. Delectable.

 

Drying: Getting very little currant or fruit from this as it dries. This is an intense, dark floral, and I love it.

 

Dry: The throw isn't great, and the labdanum comes in to dry things up a bit, but this is still spectacularly on point for me - a dark, sexy opium floral. It lacks the lightness of my personal favorite BPAL scent, John Seward, but has that same intense, syrupy poppy quality. Awesome. I absolutely need a bottle of this.

[achildoftime]

It's sweet and herbal in the imp, but I don't get anything on my skin. For a brief second I get it, but then it disappears for me.

[cassiejaynebunk]

it's strong in the imp but on my skin it's just flowery soap. i was expecting something with more force, but it's very light on the skin.

[Lucchesa]

Medea was a frimp albeit one I might well have chosen. I was hoping the incense and cypress would temper the florals more. Wet there is some sharpness from cypress and myrtle, I think, but as it melds with my skin it becomes a complex, heavy floral dominated by opium poppy. Coloristically, it's a very dark reddish purple, almost black. The evergreen and myrrh have receded entirely as identifiable notes and are just contributing to the feeling of complexity. It suits the character of Medea beautifully, but as I'm not planning to murder my offspring, I'm not sure where I would wear this one.

[roseus]

In the imp: a thin-smokiness cut by a syrupy sweet medicinal scent.

 

Wet: The thin sweetness of the poppy blooms and takes over.

 

Dry: Juicy blackcurrant with green herbal edges.

[VetchVesper]

Something about this one seems Christmassy to me, but Christmassy in a witchy, pagan way. There's a swirl of incense among dark fur trees, and a deep fruitiness from the orchid and currant that makes me think of dark, blood red berries. To me, this evokes druid circles on starry, Solstice nights. It doesn't seem menacing, just dark, mature, and kind of sacred?

 

I'd group this one with Morgause and Nemisis.