Penthus

[xochitl]

The Greek God of Tears, Patron of Mourners, who dictates and accepts honors paid to the dead. He is the personification of grief and the sorrow and emptiness that comes from loss. Weeping is his hymnal, and this is his perfume. Salt tears over white roses, the fumes of thin funereal incense and the hollowness of calamus.

This is a light, fragrant scent of water notes and florals. It is very similar to the discontinued scent Tears (as one might think), so if you are broken up about Tears going bye-bye, you might give this one a try. In fact, I am wearing both right now, to compare.

Wet, Tears is saltier smelling, and Penthus has a light floral floating over the water notes. Dry, however, I can barely tell the two apart!

[VelvetSky]

Penthus is an absolutely perfect example of Beth's genius with the salty note in several of her blends.

 

Freshly applied, this is sweet, white roses growing across a cottage fence by the sea. The lovely bloom of the rose mixes perfectly with the sharp tang of salt...these two notes balance each other so beautifully. The salt gives you that familiar feeling of sadness in the midst of beauty.

 

As it dries, the saltiness moves back and is replaced with a serene herbal coolness. The innocence and sadness of the rose slowly develops into a slightly more pungent incense-y sweetness.

 

Penthus is surprisingly long-lasting, and is a truly gorgeous and interesting rose scent.

[Damask Rose]

This one smells a lot lighter on than it does in the bottle. In the bottle it smelled quite masculine but on it dries to a soapy, light rose scent that I can really smell the salt over.

 

I think this is a really interesting scent but not sure if I like it enough to buy a 5ml. It might be better as a summer scent as it's so light and soapy (not meant as a bad thing).

[diabolique]

i was scared by this in the bottle, but it's much lighter on my skin. there isn't much i can say that hasn't already been said, but i felt bad because it doesn't have very many reviews. it immediately dries down to a rosey scent. it's extremely melancholy, and if it were to have a color, it would be muted blue with swirls of grey and white. this is somehow very evocative of water although it only contains salty notes.

 

kind of makes me want to go swimming, actually..

[tempete]

At first, the rose and salty aquatic notes of Penthus were the most prominent aspects, evoking images of someone weeping over a bouquet of flowers. However, the salty aquatic notes eventually beat the rose note down to a very faint waft (which is unusual because there's not much that can beat back rose on my skin) and selfishly decided to dominate the scent. I didn't even detect the other notes in the description.

 

This also happened to me with Dragon's Tears, so it looks like my screwy body chemistry won't let me wear any BPALs with salty aquatic notes.

[Nepthys]

I've often seen scents on here described as being evocative of funerals and I myself have felt that way about a few oils here. But for whatever reason, this really reminded me of funerals - it smells like tears, the perfume of mourners wafting through a crowded church, the floral arrangements around the coffin, the holy water in vestibule. It's rather disturbing. I read once that the Greeks believed Penthus "rewarded" the people who mourned the hardest by sending them more death to mourn, and so I was intrigued by this but a little wary too; and there is something that just hits a little too close to home with this one. While I admire this oil, I don't think I could wear it comfortably. Plus as others have said, it has incredible staying power, lasting long after I wish it would fade a bit.

[darkling]

In the bottle: It smells like sweet flowers with a vaguely salty or watery undertone.

 

On my skin: It briefly smells sharp and green. Then, Penthus becomes soapy.

 

I don't know what my body chemistry did to brutalize this perfume but after a minute it smelled exactly like Irish Spring soap.

 

Luckily, it faded quickly or I would have had to wash it off.

Edited November 30, 2004 by darkling

[isyche]

First sniff: chilly, salty rose, like a rosebush by the sea, as others have said. The drydown is pretty similar to the initial scent.

 

I like this a lot. I also liked Tears, but it doesn't remind me of Tears much – the rose makes a significant difference on me. I like rose, though, and I really like the melancholy saltwater overtones of this white rose. It's beautiful.

[Ishtar]

Penthus definitely belongs in the Funereal collection. Wearing it put me in a strange mood, not quite brooding, not quite melancholy... a little upsetting. This emotional reaction was so immediate that I almost forgot to pay any attention to the actual notes in this blend.

 

On my skin the salty notes are most prominent, leaving next to no space to the rose to express itself. I am not surprised; I usually can't do salty scents, Dragon's Tears being the only exception so far.

 

Upon drydown, Penthus suddenly changes personality and goes from sharp and salty to soapy without warning.

 

Hopefully this imp will find a home with someone who will wear it better than I do.

[tart]

VelvetSky already said it -- Penthus is like roses growing by the sea. Unfortunately, scents that are strong on rose tend to smell like soap on me. The description is amazing, but on my skin Penthus is just...soap.

 

I don't know how to describe it, but this smells...tall! It's not thick, it's not heavy, and not really deep, but tall! It reminds me of getting a package with soap in it, opening the package and getting a face full of soapy goodness.

Edited January 6, 2005 by tart

[TheDarkMother]

In the Bottle: Soft florals and aquatic notes.

 

On Me: A sharp note has been added to the aquatic florals, giving this oil an incense feel to it. I can see why this scent is named after the god of mourners. There is real sadness here, a melancholy scent that makes one think of black veils and tears, flowers thrown on a grave, and the sharp taste in your mouth from crying too long. Its very, very faint, but that adds to the charm.

 

A keeper, and maybe even a big bottle later.

[Shollin]

First sniff: Salt tears falling on dark wood. Penthus is a bit unsettling in the vial.

 

Wearing: It’s much lighter on my skin, a fresh burst of … citrus? Very pale citrus. I like this scent quite a bit more than I expected to… so far the rose is a no-show (which is good because rose isn’t my favourite and my skin always amplifies it) and the incense hasn’t gone funky.

[with coffee spoons]

At first this does smell like Tears, albeit much toned downed, touched with Eucalyptus, but not so loudly insistent. I've not had much success with white roses- Beth's other roses smell like they should on me, but my chemistry appears to turn white roses into soap. In some moments I too get the vaguely Irish Soap vibe from this, although it's paler, gentler and far more attractive. Nonetheless soap, but only when I really stick my nose in it. In passing it's more wearable, smelling more of the roses. But certainly a very serious scent, mournful. No question on that count.

[Shimmershadow]

In the bottle: Sneakily sweet, decaying rose and a saltiness that I can't place.

 

On me: More floral, the roses definitely start coming out on my skin. Less masculine than I'd expected it to be, but also more perfume-y. Has a bit of an outdoorsy smell to it, like being in a garden lined with cypress trees. Goes from being lighter and outdoorsy on my skin to being more close, evoking a darkened parlor-turned-viewing room. Starts smelling wridly citrusy after a while.

 

And so... I like it, it agrees with me, but it just doesn't send me. Not high on my priority list, but it's okay.

[Lit Chick]

This blend walks there very fine line between sharply clean and soapy.

 

Wet, it's a bracing ocean breeze that comes across a meadow. It's a very nice mix of sunny freshness and stinging bitterness.

Dry, well, I cannot tell. It fades quickly on my skin.

 

This was very masculine. So much so that even if it did not disappear, I would not wear it (I'm a girly girl, I guess). I am very eager to have my husdand give it a go, though.

[shelldoo]

ok so i am not an aquatics chick

 

 

but the rose saves this one, it is a beatiful scent very "white" to me the rose is the strongest note, the salty smell is barely there which perchance is why i am liking it nice, is more of a summery rose, i do not get teh negative funeral association but then i avoid funerals so that could be why.

[Splendid Molerat]

Penthus is a beautiful fragrance, with the rose held in check by the aquatic notes.

 

There is a sorrowful, hollow quality to this; the sort of chest-heavy feeling you get after hours of bearing your own grief and being strong for others. The scent anticipates the moment when you can finally weep and set free that part of the other person you were holding to earth.

 

It's interesting in comparison to Loralei, which feels like a more "embodied" sorrow, if that makes any sense.

[mmcfa2]

white rose, BRIGHT rose, like walking out into the sun on a COLD winter day bright. I would swear there is a tiny bit of citrus in this.

It melllows pretty quickly and becomes soft and very much like an expensive perfume on me.

 

It morphs into a dry thin scent pretty quickly, similar to the way sepulcher did, only no incense, so that must be the rose I'm smelling. If this were a white wine, I'd drink it, but as a perfume it's too refined for me. I like mine a little bit dirty, a lottle sexy, this one is all high class, don't touch.

 

2 hours and it's almost completely gone. I thought I'd love this scent, and now I'm wondering if the white rose is an ingredient for me to avoid as much as I love rose?

[helarctos]

I was hoping, from some reviews, that this would smell like Tears, with which I fell in love after it was discontinued. It didn't work out as I'd hoped.

 

The calla lily of Penthus is just too strong for it to substitute for Tears, though it is a beauty in its own right -- high and piercing as a mourning wail. Maybe too strong for me in the long run, though.

[Julilla Regina]

White, white, white. Yes, it's lillies and roses at a Church funeral. But to me, there's something a bit aerial about this. Not in an ozone way, but in the way the air smells on a cold day if these flowers were right outside your door and you walked out into it.

 

This is really an intense floral for me. It's strong at first, but then fades out to nothing after awhile. I feel like I say 'interesting' in every review. But that's what it is, it's really interesting and intense and cold white floral and crisp humid air.

Edited March 18, 2005 by Julilla Regina

[surf-tormented]

Salty rosewater dripping from a perfume bottle overturned by a black cat in your grandmother's house...as she commits evil deads in the attic with your dolls.

[Ariella]

Penthus is a nice, light rose on me. Definitely not perfumey or powdery. The really amazing thing about this scent, though, is its distinct air of salty tears, sorrow, peace and calm. I can't pick out any *notes* that smell this way - the main thing I get is rose - but there is some underlying depth to Penthus that gives it this feeling.

This is probably totally the lab description influencing me, but the vision I get from this one is an ancient chamber made of pristine white marble, with red rose petals strewn around. The site of intense grieving, where someone (probably young and unexpectadly) was recently lain to rest. All is quiet, except for the faint gurgling of fountains in the distance, and the soft echo of a procession of footsteps sadly walking away.

 

Penthus makes me feel reflective and a bit somber. Not my usual reaction to rose scents, but something I really like.

[paperdoll]

Initial Sniff: Salt water with florals behind it.

 

Wearing: ROSE!

 

Final Impressions: As my reviews for rose scents are all the same, perhaps I should just stop reviewing them. *sigh*

[emz83]

Penthus smells purple to me, but that's probably because it seems that I have a bad reaction to most rose scents. The initial wet rose scent quickly browned out, and the incense came to the fore.

[urraca]

Judgung by the relatively small number of reviews Penthus has had, it seems to be kind of underappreciated here and I think that is too bad because I found it simply gorgeous.

 

I smell a complicated cool (not sweet or cloying) rose, sharp out of the vial but softening quickly that stays true to this softened scent throughout. It lasts a long time and has a good throw. I've never tried a salty/aquatic blend so I'm not sure what I should be expecting from that. I have read though that calamus is an aphrodisiac so maybe that is one reason I like this so much --- I'm falling in love with myself!

 

This is a sophisticated, adult, summer scent. If you like rose at all, try it.