Penthus

[girlmadasbirds]

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 smell great wet..a salty and somewhat floral smell..
but on drydown, it became very soapy.

[magikfanfic]

In the bottle: This looks like it should be interesting. I always worry about incense, and I have no clue what calamus even is. Salt water and funereal smoke. It has a very salty twang and feel to it, but the incense isn't as overwhelming as I was afraid it might be.

 

Wet: Salt and...what is that? Some kind of floral reek on my skin. It's...um...this is totally not a scent for me. I think it hates my skin. A lot of incenses do. It smells kinda...not rotting but sickly. Sickly and salt-ridden and just...not pleasant really.

 

Dry down: Salt and that sickly note that makes my stomach kinda churn. I'm not sure I can keep this on long enough in order to properly review it because I'm pretty sure something in it hates my skin chemistry like nobody's business. Now the roses are coming out a little, but they still don't make the scent any better on me. I have to wash this off now. It hates my skin and my stomach isn't fairing so well.

[k00kaburra]

In bottle: Salty rose. There's a definite rose scent; the white roses that are in bridal bouquets and funeral arrangements, but completely dusted over by a layer of salty water. Tears. Tears and a feeling of never-ending melancholy.

On me: Hints of green grass, which makes me think of walking past a headstone. That same sad salty-rose; unfortunately these white roses are not particularly nice on me. After ten minutes or so the scent goes rather blah on me as the rose turns rotten.

[Celogrl]

To me, this is a small, lonely rosebush by the saltwater marshes. The rose is very faint and the smell of salt comes to the foreground. I feel like I'm standing at the edge of a tidal pool when it's cool and gray with a stiff wind blowing. This is a very cool, fresh scent and thankfully, although it has that funereal feel to it, it does not evoke sadness to me. This is beautiful and crystalline and I enjoy it very much.

[HoneyHoneyNY]

This was on my wishlist so I swapped for it.

 

In the imp. At first sniff, it smells like tears taste. I don't know what combination of oils makes this happen, but it's wet, salty, and faintly bitter. On the second sniff, I can smell a faint hint of rose.

 

I put a dab on my skin, and the rose rises up to greet me, a crisp rose, still intermingled with the salt water smell of tears. It's not an invigorating scent, but cool, fresh and calming.

 

It reminds me of riding bikes on Block Island. Roses grow on the dunes there, and you can smell them on the salty breeze. That's what Penthus reminds me of.

So for me, it's not a sad smell, but it reminds me of easy paced weekends spent walking the beach, riding bikes, and having wine on a porch overlooking the water.

 

I was prepared to be dissapointed by this, since I've tried a couple of water scents and they turned kind of fabric softener on me, but this sits on my skin as if it was made for me. Hours later, the salt water scent kind of blends into my skin, and I can't pick out the rose distinctly, it's more a tiny kiss of sweet smell, and still very fresh scented.

 

I picked this by description, and I love love love it! I must have a 10ml bottle! This is a very light scent and I want to dab it everywhere. I'd like to make it into a lotion and layer it on. I want to sprinkle it on my sheets. I also have a friend who I think would be enabled by this scent. I'm can't wait to share!

Edited July 28, 2005 by HoneyHoneyNY

[QueenFae]

A really nice, light, perfumey blend. The rose is the top note, with a barely there creeping shadow of incense as an undertone. It's very subtle and doesn't have a lot of throw on me, but a beautiful perfume just the same. Very sexy and feminine. Makes me think of the inside of a classic British perfumery. I will enjoy using my imp.

[olympia301]

Roses and saltwater. It's a very beautiful scent, somewhat fleeting and bears a little bit of incense along with it. I would say this is a simple scent, as simple as sadness, and would not be out of place at a funeral or a Sunday picnic with the family. There is a dignity with it, but at the same time it's very lively as well.

 

The icon is a detail from the incomperable Kathe Kollwitz who is one of the finest artists who ever drew grief.

[wolfie13]

This blend makes me want to cry. And not because of it's associations (though it does have a lovely wistful quality)

 

No - it's because it's fantastic on me for 10 minutes, and then - pffft.

 

Sniffing and wearing for 10 minutes: Mostly a very true saltwater scent (my first!!), with a lemony touch and light wispy trail of incense.

Not normally something I would go for, but I love it! (Reminds me of walking on empty beaches on a cloudy day in the fall)

 

After that: It becomes nearly all white rose on me. (Bad.)

Which after an hour, turns to soapy rose. (Worse.)

 

(I'm starting to have a bad feeling that Tears may be the scent I'm looking for in this genre - and it's of course, gone.)

Edited August 17, 2005 by wolfie13

[Blood onmy hands]

First on this is perfumey white rose with a salty twang. When I was little, I salted my mother's white roses because I liked the way the sun made them look like they were sparkling. This reminds me of that moment. The smell, however, is not good to me. It's a headache inducing sort of perfuminess that is drowning out the salty smell (I love the smell of salt).

 

In the drydown this is salt water and soapy roses. Like washing your hands in the ocean with a bar of rose scented soap.

 

It keeps making me think of all of these broken, slightly absurd images. I don't really like the smell, and overall the blend is very distracting to me. It was still going strong after two hours before I scrubbed it off of my wrist to concentrate on my homework.

[Colère]

Bottle: A biting, astringent 'green' smell. There's a touch of sweetness that's downplayed by organic bitterness (not too dissimilar to old lettuce).

 

Skin: Sour, but not. A Ukrainian word that's hard to translate immediately comes to mind. The best I can do is 'sour, but lacking the intensity that makes it unpleasant'. Water (rain?) lurks in the background, but gets momentarily displaced when a fierce stab of rubbing alcohol takes center stage. Cold urine, and flowers - but only vaguely sweet.

 

Skin, Later: Something smells artificial, but it's a welcoming scent that reminds me of Rose Petal figures (or any doll that was supposed to smell like flowers). A gentle waft of perfumed smoke covers the childhood memory and leaves a taste of stale incense. Flowers finally bloom, but they lack freshness. They're past their prime, wilted and dying, but not rotting. The sweetness emerging is soft and gentle, just a fleeting breath.

 

Verdict: 'Cold urine' was a knee-jerk reaction to the scent of salt, but the kind excreted from the body. Once the scent of SALT and WATER combined I interpreted the blend as TEARS, which added an emotional depth. The mournful scent of faded, salty roses in a funeral parlor blossomed and lingered on my skin. Penthus is both comforting and appropriate (I've recently lost my mother), and strikes an emotional chord that's hard to ignore. A beautiful, haunting fragrance.

[Vampire Sass]

In The Bottle: Sweet and floral.

 

Wet: Very light and sweet.

 

Dry: Salt and roses. There's just a hint of the incense. I've never smelled calamus before, but I am assuming it's the other floral note I get. It's very clean and light smelling. White and light blue/green colors come to mind when I smell it. It lasted half a day easily.

 

I love this scent. It's very me. I love aquatic notes and this is so fresh and white and clean smelling. I will certainly wear this on a regular basis.

[herongale]

pre-conceived notion: None. This was a free imp from the lab. I am, however, quite hip to grief and loss, and am ready to give this a whirl.

 

in the bottle: Possibly the first manly rose scent I have ever encountered. I'm going to guess that it's something to do with the calamus, because incense alone is not enough to explain it, and I have deep suspicions that the salt note will be pretty much undetected by me. Salt smells like granite to me, which is another way of saying that I doubt I will be able to pick it up over top of the rose. Some people have a talent for smelling rocks, I guess... for me, I have to lick a stone before I get any serious sense of what it might smell like. And the last time I was going around blithely licking stones for the experience of it all was probably around the age of, I dunno, five.

 

wet: incense and rose. I can't get over how masculine this smells. The kind of boy this would best suit is the scholar-jock who ends up playing football for a prestigious school like Harvard. He might be there on a scholarship, and he very likely has a lot of amateur talent for the sport, but he has no illusions of "going pro," except for in the sense that "going pro" means becoming a lawyer. This is the frat boy who is also his class president in college, and who is well-liked by literally everyone. His look is meltingly young American, tall and with burnished-brown close cropped hair and a killer smile. He's got a muscular, dancer's body... probably has a great singing voice too... has likely starred in a school play or two in his lifetime. The stereotypical heterosexual metrosexual.

 

drydown: a very true scent, sticking close to the roses and giving off an understated sexy quality. This is the scent of a gregarious ethical young gentleman who is both serious and carefree.

 

verdict: so very delicious, and it comes off well on my skin. I am torn about this. I don't think I need any more, but it's a supremely wearable scent. Good for the days when I'm feeling more fluid about my sexuality.

 

post-conceived notion: ... or for the days I want to pretend I'm a young JFK.

[TroubleDoll]

It reminds me of riding bikes on Block Island. Roses grow on the dunes there, and you can smell them on the salty breeze. That's what Penthus reminds me of.

So for me, it's not a sad smell, but it reminds me of easy paced weekends spent walking the beach, riding bikes, and having wine on a porch overlooking the water.

 

This is what made me order Penthus, and this is exactly what I think of when i wear it. It reminds me a bit of Lightning, but while Lightning is a damp open field with a big sky, Penthus is a damp garden after a brisk rain. It actually doesn't make me sad at all, I find it very soothing.

[wingedcorset]

Once again, my skin pulls rose to the forefront of everything! Roses with a faint aquatic note. Funny, because in the vial I couldn't smell the roses at all. I don't like roses and this gives me the urge to chew on my arm. Weirdness. Not something I think I'd ever wear, so Swaps it is.

[yeahbutnobut]

Penthus

 

In the imp: rosy incense. No salt yet, but I just get this gorgeous resinous rose!

Wet on skin: ah yes, now I do get a hint of salt here…something briny like the sea. Still I get lovely rose with incense.

Dry on skin: oh wow, this is interesting…I'm now getting a greenness, slightly watery, deep-green and fresh, I think that may be calamus though I'm not familiar with this scent-if that's what it is, then it's lovely! The scent makes me think of a saltwater marsh…reeds growing in brackish water, with a rose garden nearby, and an ancient temple burning incense. There's a definite saltwater smell here, like the sea. But then there's that rose, gorgeous rich rose with incense surrounding it-slightly smoky and slightly resinous. This is a really unusual but fascinating scent. The strange thing is that I think this, despite the strong rose, would be nice on guys as well as girls, thanks to that salty-fresh green smoky vibe it has. (hopefully this doesn't give the impression that I have a thing for effeminate guys!)

After a while: I think the calamus (I think) is getting stronger, I now get a soft, dusty reedy scent, green and almost woody but not quite. Rose still hangs in there, as does the salt note, and I get a nice veil of smoke over the overall fragrance.

Verdict: this is such a unique and wonderful scent. I don't know how Beth captures salt in perfume but by Jove, she's done it well here! It smells like the sea, really briny, and with the calamus's reedy green scent, it brings to mind a saltwater marsh. There's also a delightful rose scent, strong and full, and an incense note that is half-resinous, half-smoky. One of those different scents from the norm that Beth does so well, and I think this would also be good on men as well as women. I'm unsure if I'll get a bottle, but I definitely might consider it, this scent is growing on me.

[WidgetAlley]

A frimp in my latest order.

 

In the Imp: Salt and.... dill? WTF? Where's the rose? Is this supposed to smell like pickles and potato chips? (Mmmmm, potato chips.) This is going to be pickles and rose soap on me, isn't it? The throw on this one is very, very strong, (I've got the Imp wand resting gently in the vial, but not snapped down, and I can still smell it from three feet away) and is a weak watery rose.

 

Wet: Pickles! Soap! More soap than pickles, I have to admit, for which I'm very grateful. It's definitely a white rose, very soft and aquatic and... soapy. We'll see if anything changes.

 

Dry: Hey, the pickle's back! I think I liked the soap better. Smells like rubbing Irish spring all over your salt-and-vinegar chips.

 

Swaps. Jesu Cristos, swaps! This one and my chemistry.... we don't do well together. I had to wash it off; it started giving me a screaming headache.

 

Man, why are roses going wonky on me lately? Wanda doesn't do the soap thing, and neither does Dublin, nor Mata Hari, nor Dove's Heart, and The Haunted Palace only a teensy bit. Is my chemistry the same, and I'm only now starting to register rose as a soapy smell? Can I not wear roses if they're the dominant note in a blend? Woe. Rose Red had better not be like this on me!

Edited December 22, 2005 by WidgetAlley

[grrrlennyl]

at first: salty, wet roses.

on: a slightly sweet rose.

1 hour later: salty roses. very interesting and pretty.

2 hours later: very faint. still salty roses.

3 hours later: vaguely rosy.

overall: i'm a sucker for rose, so i'll be keeping this one. i like the saltiness of it. it makes it different.

 

ADDED June 9:

 

at first: very salty wet roses.

on: i think i'm mostly smell the calamus. the roses are a bit soapy in this.

1 hour later: i'm just smelling woods.

3 hours later: a slightly soapy, woody rose.

overall: i loved the description of this oil, but it didn't really work on me.

[slave1]

The rose is by far the dominant note. It is super tart and strong. I don’t smell any incense or darker notes. This scent is bure brightness and floral. A slight ozone note which adds a clean element, but the rose drowns it out so that it’s just a faint afterthought. I am not a rose fan so this isn’t a scent for me at all. It has massive throw and is a strong scent… a little goes a long way.

[Alchemy21599]

I received this as a frimp from the Lab

 

In the vial: a delicate white floral blend.

 

Wet: Roses! Eeep!

 

Dry: This has dried down very nicely. The rose was very strong at first, but now the other components are coming out. The rose scent was very strong for the first half-hour, but then it mellowed out. This is a very long lasting and pleasant scent. I don't know if I will buy a big bottle, but I will enjoy this imp.

[Laurel the Woodfairy]

Hmmm, I feel happy today, so I hope this doesn't bring me down. Gotta review every blend with Beth's roses, though!

 

Now this is one interesting blend right here. Citrus and salt in the topnote...ok, this is whack, but it reminds me of Big shampoo from LUSH, which has lime juice and salt. I can *taste* the salt, smelling this. There is a whiff of rose, but it blends in with the rest. So...basically this smells like my shower when I'm using Big along with a rose bodywash. Not exactly grief-inducing. It fades very quickly in a dusting of powder, and is gone...

[tinyvulture]

roses and holy water. a somber, spare yet beautiful scent. incense smoke lingers, and if i close my eyes, i’m in a cathedral. calamus seems to have a cool, clean scent. i must try this as a room scent; it’s calming in spite of its sadness.

[MistressTera]

Fresh From The Imp: Sharp & poignant.

 

Wet On My Flesh: It's a flower I recognize but can't name, and a hint of musk.

 

Drying Down: Slightly powder in fragrance, with a hint of... Dill?

 

Hour To Integrate: I'm very much reminded of a good strong rye bread, so I'm definitely going to lean towards the dill/carraway description.

 

End Of Day/Final Report: Not for me.

[damuddymeg]

Imp: Salt and a bare hint of rose. The other floral I'm detecting must be the calamus.

 

Wet: Floral, with the barest hint of incense. I'm not getting the salt note as distinctly, and the rose isn't in the foreground.

 

Dry: As this dries, it changes dramatically on me. It becomes the perfume worn by a beloved, and sadly, deceased, relative of mine. I believe she wore White Shoulders, though I'm waiting on word from my grandmother to see if I'm right in my recollection. I've checked, and the two scents do not share any notes. But it smells so much like her, it brought tears to my eyes this morning. I ultimately had to wash it off, as the scent ultimately had a seriously melancholy effect on me. I will be keeping my imp when I need to feel close to my relative, but I don't think I'm going to wear it much. It was honestly spooky, like summoning her.

[Nekomata]

Very light, floral and slightly warm in the bottle. Very clean and straightforward.

On my skin it morphs into an airy, almost soapy scent. I detect the salty tone, but it's very light. This scent reminds me of fresh rain more than anything.

[em_h]

Right out of the vial it's quite strong and acrid, but quickly settles down into a soft, rounded, kind of juicy-smelling rose. Very nice -- I don't get salt or tears particularly, but I like the rose a lot. It could easily become one of my top three rose scents, except that it fades very quickly.