Nemesis

[Eros]

The whip-wielding Goddess of Divine Retribution, Justice and Vengeance, and is the force that balances the scales of Tyche's fortune. She is also called Adrasteia, 'she whom none can escape', and Erinys, 'implacable'. Nemesis is the executrix of Olympian justice, and her primary duty is to punish hubris and mankind's offenses against the natural order with inflexible, remorseless and raging fury. Her symbols are a sword and scourge, a measuring rod and scales. Cypress, ginger, fig, dried rose, red patchouli, tonka bean and cyclamen.

In the imp/first applied~I get a bright, citrus. After a few minutes, cypress and cedar with a hint of fresh pine needles. After 15-20 minutes the fig starts to shine through, then a touch of gorgeous, dry rose makes its appearance.
Lovely!!
Just might have to get a bottle of this one.

[joseybird]

This blend opens as an almost pure cypress, which actually smells like a green cedar It's almost immediately joined by the red patchouli and ginger (both of which are pretty sedate). Rose shows up as an undercurrent in this scent, floating above, below, around, like a billowing gauze...ahhh there's the fig! not too juicy...the cypress and patchouli have taken a back seat at this point, but they still exert their calming influence on the blend.

 

This is an incredible blend--beautifully complex, womanly, and strong. I need a bottle of this. Now.

[Laurel the Woodfairy]

I wanted Nemesis for two reasons--first, because of the Agatha Christie novel of the same name, in which Miss Marple appears (incongruous though it sounds!) as Nemesis. And then the notes--ginger, fig, and rose and some of my very favorites, and I like the others as well. I'm hoping for some fig to tide me over until my Eden arrives.

 

Looking over the thread, it looks like this one can vary wildly from person to person--er, perhaps meting out whatever justice needs to be dealt to you??

 

In the vial: attractive red/rose color, smells softly of light woods

 

On me, there's rose from the very beginning (my skin looooves rose), with a base note of patchouli that reminds me of Coiled Serpant and a touch of the cypress wood. Where are the ginger and figs? :taps foot impatiently: Oh wait, there's something peeking out at the back...the fig! Softer than I expected, but it's in there. This is not a "Fig!" scent though. The ginger is no more than a whisper of spice.

 

Overall: Nemesis is understated on me, like the ghost of a very strong scent; woodsy in a dry way, with a touch of dried flowers and fruits--like I would imagine the Secret Garden to smell before it was discovered and brought back to life. I wouldn't buy a bottle but I like it enough to keep the imp; it's a scent of quiet, earthy strength.

Edited July 28, 2005 by Shollin

[QueenFae]

It's a clean, sharp, almost soapy scent on me. The red patchouli and cypress are the most dominant notes. There's also a hint of the ginger and roses. A lovely room scent, but I'm not sure if I would wear it. It's definitely a pleasant, clean, fresh scent.

[magdalene]

in the bottle: this is an extremely sharp and astringent scent. Someone else mentioned a 'needles in the nostrils' kind of feeling and that's exactly what happened to me. I don't know if it's the cypress, which I'm unsure what that precisely smells like, or what, but I immediately had to cap the bottle. I can still taste it in the back of my throat. :/

[shayelea]

In the bottle, this smelled like a sort of undefined heavy-perfume scent (rose and patchouli?) with a bit of a bite, which I'm guessing was the ginger.

 

Wet, it stayed pretty true to that, except the bite wasn't really there.

 

On drydown, I'm getting that sour almost-dill-pickle scent like I got from Intrigue, which made me think without checking back that there was some kind of exotic wood in this one.

 

Yep. Cypress. For some reason, on me woods = dill pickle.

[Lycanthrope]

In the Bottle or Imp:

It's chaotic, boiling, unsure of what to be, green herbs, cypress, fruit, and sweetness all bursting out of the imp. It smells dry and somewhat... alcoholic, if that makes sense.

Wet, on Skin:

Pine, cypress, green resinous woods! That plus a similar cacophony of fruit and light floral notes. I think I smell a touch of leafy herbs, like basil or parsley, but not in a foody sense. A sharp kick.

Drying Down:

Ah, now I smell the fruit. It's definitely an earthy, juicy fruit, definitely some figs but also perhaps a hint of pumpkin or other fleshy, full-bodied fruit. This is all resting on a dry, herbal woodsy base. The cypress and pine, like usual on me, has lightened severely.

Over Time/Longterm:

Dries down like Hunter Moon on me, a very surprising unsweetened apple has joined the fig! This layered on the dry herbs brings much to mind that Lunacy blend. In the end, this is a slightly spicy, peppery and herbal fig and apple blend on me. Not what I was expecting at all!

Final Verdict?

Unique, and definitely a surprise at the end. This is more of an autumn scent for me, then, but not bad, and definitely wearable on me as it is not overtly floral or too sweet. Keeping the imp... don't know if this is a bottle for me.

[olympia301]

Something like an amped up Silk Road to me, this one contains resinous strands, almost like orange peel, like citron (very dry citron). It kind of reminds me of the smell of fruitcake and turpentine. This is the very essence of the furious goddess of retribution, whom you do not wish to get on her bad side. Not very pleasant to my nose, but a great interpretation of the concept. I think this should be popular among prosecuting attorneys.

[dcmo]

Intially from the imp the only scent I pick up is the cypress which is yuck for me, but on this is really really nice. It's blended so well that I can't really pick out any individual notes but luckily cypress has died down I can pick up some fig, rose and ginger. This is really pretty.

[Celogrl]

Cypress, ginger, fig, dried rose, red patchouli, tonka bean and cyclamen. (Gender neutral)

 

This was a frimp from the lab- thanks lab! Oh man, they're SO good to us...

 

I like Nemesis. I never would have picked it for myself, but I adore piney, cypress scents and tonka is a favorite. I pick up the cypress immediately, and the tonka peeks out upon the drydown. The fig sweetens things up a little bit and the red patchouli brings it back down to earth. This is a genius blending, very striking.

[Tesseljoan]

Initially, Nemesis went a bit chaotic on my skin, with the fruit, flowers and ppatchouli all wanting my attention, but now it has turned into fig. Unfortunately, fig turns into a artificial cheap potpourri scent on my skin.

[Court Analyst/Strategist]

Holy.....the drydown made me think, cinnamon candle(not the ones that actual smell like cinnamon) for some reason...unusual but not bad. Those spicy candles lining the table at thanksgiving time. Am I insane?

Oh, damn, and the rose got to me a bit. Yep...dried rose. I am borderline strange and about to begin a war with the note in general. That must be the..seal of the spice candle effect for me

Too bad, as the other notes seemed to hold promise... but dried rose petals have always created a stark 'typical' effect to my nose and on my skin...spiced potpourri candle by the heightened stage. The fig was drowning underneath, only available for a glimpse if I looked for it.

I had thought I could sneak past dried rose with this one, but she caught me. And where the hell did that cypress(or the red patchouli for that matter) go??

 

Like this: 5/10(dried rose damn you!)

Throw:7/10

 

Will likely sell or swap this imp.

 

Court

Edited August 18, 2005 by Court Analyst/Strategist

[kalliope]

Nemesis was one of the first BPAL scents I tried, and when I opened the imp, it just screamed "Grandma's nail polish remover!" at me. I wasn't even going to try it on, but since I had only four imps to play with (woe!), I gave it a chance, and I'm so glad I did!

 

Wet on skin:

 

GINGER CYPRESS GINGER CYPRESS rose. I nearly had a sneezing fit and was about to wash it off when I started to detect the fig coming out.

 

Drydown:

 

Happy fig! The ginger and cypress calmed down and played nice with the fig, tonka, and patchouli. Every time I sniffed my wrist it smelled different--alternating between sugary fig/tonka/ginger and spicy fig/cypress/patchouli. The rose went away, which is just fine with me.

 

I put a little more on and spent all day at work in a cloud of Nemesis--it lasted at least eight hours and went very subtle and spicy/tonka on me after a while. I never would have thought I'd want a big bottle of this one, but oh man, I need one!

[sophia_helix]

In the bottle:

 

The dried rose scent is amazing, and strong, bolstered by the dry, woodsy patchouli and cypress.

 

Wet:

 

The earthy scents are still what's strongest, especially the patchouli.

 

Drydown:

 

This had a very weird drydown on me. It dimmed very quickly, and the fig and rose notes came out, sweet and fruity, and maybe the tonka bean (except I STILL don't know what that smells like). Then the woodsy notes crept back in again, mingling the two groups of scents, but still rather faintly. I feel like I need to give this another try and really slather it everywhere, because when I sniffed hard, I liked the scent, but it was faint enough not to make much of an impression on me. I didn't at all get the concept of "Nemesis" from this, so I want to give it a better try.

[lookingglass]

I got this one in a swap, while Freakshow is on order, because they seem to have similar notes...

 

I want to give you a breakdown of this one, but I can't. I immediately think "My art school tackle box!)~For 4 years my "purse" was a tackle box with charcol, colored pencils, oil pastels, chalk, erasers, paints...plus trail mix (nuts and dried fruit, mostly), and what few costmetic items I wore (chap stick/lipgloss, maybe powder). I had my head in there all day every day for what seems like forever...selecting the tools to express my desires, fears, ideas with no words...trying to make sense of my life...knowing that the time out was time in, and that there had to be a balance.

 

 

"she whom none can escape'... and her primary duty is to punish hubris and mankind's offenses against the natural order with inflexible, remorseless and raging fury".~the Lab

 

Reading that, I am thinking that is what art should do...

 

It dosn't have much throw, though. I'll make a spray and that will cure that, I am sure. DH loves it on him, too. Glad I have a 5 ml!

[stiricide]

It smelled iffy in the bottle. And iffy when wet. The cypress, I'm guessing, I'm still not too hot at picking out individual notes. Then it started to dry, and it smelled lovely, sweet and a little spicy. Then it actually dried and smelled like the inside of my dryer's lint trap. Nemesis and I, we're no longer friends.

[Nachtwulf]

Bottle: Sharp, sharp, acrid. Talk about unforgiving. o.o It claims to have fruit notes, but I'm not seeing any; this is a dose of pungent herbals and cypress, with little to soften its scourging blow

 

Wet: Okay, my skin can kind of beat it into submission, it seems. It is, however, almost entirely a sharp, woodsy, cypressy note. No tonka, no fig, no patchouli even. It's a powerful and masculine thing, all rough and edgy.

 

Dry: Still a rather unforgiving kind of scent. The throw is pleasant enough, and is the only place I've gotten any fruit notes, but once you get up on it, it goes right back to being cedarwood and cypress and wood and resin. It does soften a touch over time, but a 'gentle' fragrance this ain't.

 

Final: It's better on than in the bottle, certainly, and I might have my days when I want this. But overall, I'm going to have to say 'way too manly for my druthers'. Nemesis is definitely, /DEFINITELY/ a no-nonsense lady.

[Miss Lynx]

Mmm, I really like this! I first sniffed it from a friend's bottle, and it smelled intriguing enough to me that I immediately moved its priority on my wishlist up to red (top priority). And now I have an imp.

 

On, it definitely does not disappoint -- it's just as lovely and fascinating as it was in the bottle. There's definitely a chaotic element to it, with a lot of notes drawing it in different directions, but I like that. Spicy and foresty is the strongest impression I'm getting (the ginger and cypress, I presume), but there's also a touch of rich fruitiness, and just enough floral to give it lift without being overpowering. I so like it when floral notes actually behave on my skin and don't amp up horribly. And there's something slightly watery in it that I can't place. In a way it's like a woodsier version of Lampades (another where florals behave themselves and work nicely), and there are also notes that remind me of Black Forest and Hunter Moon.

 

It's also the first scent that my partner and I have liked equally -- usually our tastes are pretty different. I like mostly spicy, incensey blends, and she likes mostly dark florals like Crossroads and the Raven, though she also loves Whippoorwill, which is more of a spicy herbal. Of course, this means it's definitely got to go on the big bottle list, because between the two of us, we are going to blow through this imp pretty quickly!

 

Grade: B+ at least, might be an A depending on my mood.

[niter]

Bottle

Conifer land.

 

Wet

Rolling around in conifer lab, I can practically feel the sap sticking to me. Then just as I am about to wash it off the fig and ginger taunt me to come play!

 

Dry

The interesting notes mellowed down and I cannot get past the coniferious scent. however, this smells very good on my husband (I will say it does have a touch more fig on me than him). Conifer smells are a bit too manly on me! What an interesting mix.

[Medici]

*pouts* I was so looking forward to the cypress in this ble - oooh.

 

Ok, let's back this up two steps. (I'm presently about ten minutes into drydown, and I was about to have a fit at the distinct cypress-absorbing quality of my flesh. Not so! Not so!)

 

In the bottle: Predominantly sandalwood, with a sharper bite to it (indistinct, can't sort it to save my life)

 

Wet: Red sandalwood... a bit of play dough which dissipates after a minute and a half.

 

Drydown: Sandalwood and cypress - though not the murky sort of Bayou, it's very dry in this blend. I'm detecting the barest sliver of tonka as it warms, but I think - at this point in my cycle - the tonka is what's going play dough. I do have to bring my nose right up to it to smell that particular aspect of this blend, though.

 

Not really my thing, while I love woodsy notes, it's not working with my chem this evening.

[Janie]

Had someone told me this had oudh (agar) wood in it I would have agreed. I guess the sharp resinous wood I smell is cypress.

 

This is a gorgeous astringent woody blend. Everything takes a back seat to the wood, but I like that. Good sillage, good lasting power. Nice, very nice.

[chapatti]

I adore the smell of figs and fig leaves, and I picked Nemesis based on the mention of "sweet figs" in the reviews. For some reason, I had totally overlooked the "cypress" part, silly me.

 

First whiff: a sharp cypress/pine. And I do mean sharp. This is Pine Attack, bite-sized.

 

Settling down, to an hour in: the pine is still kicking derriere and taking names. Slowly, the ginger comes up a to mix with the pine, along with some rosey soap. Now if the fig would be kind enough to make an appearance?

 

Two hours in: The cypress has mellowed, and is now well balanced with the ginger and rosey soap. Actually, it smells exactly like a soap my grandmother keeps to scent the bedsheets. It's piney, soapy, and utterly 1890. The fig is nowhere in sight.

 

Verdict: Pine o' d00m at first, and the fig has played invisible girl on me. The drydown is well balanced, and I can understand how others could like it, but it's just not me.

That's what you get for getting a cypress perfume and not expecting it to smell of cypress

 

4/10

[wickedgoddess]

Wet - primarily patchouli and cypress. It shows promise!

 

Dry - cypress, fig and eventually ginger! The patchouli faded fast, I didn't notice it at all once this dried. This has a nice ginger scent, and I like it, but don't love it.

 

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

[LyndaM]

I adore the cypress in this, it reminds me of a very strong sandalwood. Woods + me = awesome. But the patchouli shows up and causes it to go kind of dirty. I wish I could find a patchouli that worked on me, but unfortunately this one isn't it.

[metaldog32]

Nemesis.

 

This little baby...she packs a PUNCH.

 

Little bit of background...on how this came into my possession. Quite harmlessly..and very by the book. You see...this was either part of my first or second order of BPAL...so I have had it for months...MONTHS mind you...why the wait you ask???

 

 

(whispers)...I will tell you...

 

See..back in March, April whatever...I was perusing the BPAL website and Nemesis caught my eye...and of course my heart. The description was everything I had ever hoped to be in my best and worst moments..yes Nemesis spoke to me on levels I dare not delve in..plus of coure..the fig note..well..it just lured me in..that and the ginger. All I had to see was "fig" and "ginger" and..well..it was a no-brainer.

 

Impatiently waiting for my order to arrive...finally it shows..and I tear into it...cradling my very own bottle of the emobodiment of fear, awe, and dread...I unscrewed the cap, took a deep breath, and prepared myself for what I knew to be utter amazement...

 

It was amazing...just not in the way I was hoping...

 

What my nose was met with was NOT ginger, fig or anything I had ever been assaulted with. I...I was shocked, taken aback and instead of trying to figure out what happened..I immediately compartamentalized Nemeis as a fall/winter scent, put back in it's cold drawer and started kicking myself AGAIN for buying things on name only...

 

But you see...you gotta give Beth and the Lab credit...these oils..they are tricky, tricky, tricky...just when you THINK you know it's nature..it pulls the rug from beneath you. This is case in point with Nemesis. So...here it goes:

 

_____________________________________________________________________________

 

Initial sniff from bottle: Holy cow this is strong(eyes watering a bit). I had no idea then what was assaulting my nose then..but I now can identify this is big time cypress. Heck...even with the bottle uncapped at least a foot away...that cypress is LEAPING out of the bottle and basically clubbing me over the head. Talk about adversarial....this scent is NOT to be taken lightly...one of the reasons why I screwed it back on tightly the first time I smelled it..I couldn't even get enough nerve to try it on my skin. Anybody who loves this earthy/dirt-like astringent note...you are in for a treat with Nemesis.

 

Applied wet on skin: On me..wet..it's all about the cypress and nothing else. Unfortunately for me..this is one note I am not fond of...AT ALL. But...I gotta see this through..and so this wet phase of the most overwhelming cypress stays with me for a little while...I don't get patchouli, or ginger or my beloved fig..heck I don't even get the dry rose or tonka..it's all earthy CYPRESS...

 

Couple minutes on skin: Funny thing happens here...cypress is still roaring...but I start registering other notes...and it's pretty darned seamless here. I get the dry rose...with the cypress and I think maybe the patchouli sort of calming down a bit...

 

Now...I wore Nemesis this morning and it's truly amazing. First the frontal assault with the cypress...but as the day wore on..the cypress started to relax..and I started getting an amazing melange...first with the dry rose..then interspersed with the cypress/rose..some sort of sweetness..which I had to assume is the fig. Not a super juicy fig...but a touch of sweetness that was extremely appealing..and quite surprising..considering that all of this was jutxapositioned with that cyrpress/patchouli combo that although a bit less aggressive..was still in the mix...

 

Drydown:Amazing...softened cypress/patchouli..with the rose echoing..and the fig giving it a fruit sweetness..but it's the spicy touch of tonka which sort of reminds me of vanilla..just not as sweet..that's what is lingering close to my skin at this point. Perhaps there is/was ginger in all of this melange..but on me it's more of touch than anything else.

 

The way this oil transitioned...it truly is mind blowing. I...I am in love..and I never thought it could happen...with me.

 

Staying power is truly staggering...8+hours for me. THAT, my friends, is truly impressive.

 

I definitely find Nemesisto be a fall scent..maybe winter too..but definitely fall. I am in love with her...the strength, the bit of fear that she sent through me...to face her is to truly know her..and I am in awe and smitten...DAMN this is a kick a$$ fragrance!!!

 

WOW.