Oberon

[Delirium1009]

Orchid, white musk, and bergamot wafting over juniper berries, with a gentle touch of soft, earthy patchouli.

In bottle/imp: A mixture of bergamot and white musk with the orchid adding a nice depth.

Immediately on skin: As soon as I put this on, the bergamot and white musk come out strongly. It’s slightly cologne-y and musky, but the orchid blends in and adds a nice floral sweetness to this. There’s a hint of the juniper berries under the other notes, but no patchouli.

After a little while: This almost smells like a cooler version of Dark Delicacies on me, though it isn’t as complex. The main notes in this are still the mixture of orchid, white musk and bergamot, which smells like cool, musky, and has the nice sweet floral tones of the orchid. The juniper berries and patchouli don’t really come through much, though I can sense them. They add a nice background depth to this.

Overall Impressions: This scent surprised me. I love the combo of orchid, bergamot, and white musk… it smells cool but sweet, and deep and musky. The patchouli and juniper berry aren’t very evident though I can feel them in this blend. I would say this could be unisex on the right guy, but I had my husband try it and he amped the orchid quite a bit. But this is a nice warmer weather scent and bottle worthy for me.

[Kabooki]

It smells like flowers and perfume. Maybe a little green as well, but for the most part it reminds me of my husbands generic bath stuff. I kinda liked it at first, but as it has worn down on me its becoming more and more...not me.

 

Though I will give it this, it has amazing throw and lasting power! I can see this being a good scent on someone that this agrees with

[Lunaheretic]

I received this in as a generous frimp from a recent bottle swap. It was on my list of scents to try, as I've just seen a lovely outdoor production of Midsummer Night's Dream here in Toronto. The musk and patchouli notes were what made me want to try it, and I've always loved the beauty of orchids, but my untrained nose has trouble picking out various floral scents from each other, but perhaps that is because I generally don't like florals. This definitely feels like a feminine scent to me, the floral hits me first but it doesn't give me an instant *hate* reaction because it is tempered by the musk. I'm not sure how much I like white musk but I think I prefer the darker or more rich musks, but this definitely saves the scent for me, and makes it wearable. It's a nice summer scent, but I find that even in the summer I don't wear light scents much. My man isn't much of a sniffer but he says he only smells pine disinfectant, I think he's sick of me putting my wrist under his nose. It's okay for me, I'll use up the imp, but won't likely order a bottle.

[GeorgeJr]

This was a frimp from the lab . Over all , I'm kind of disappointed by this . It's much " lighter " then I had hoped it would be . I expected it to be floral , green & with a base of patchouli to keep it toned down a bit . However I get no patchouli at all from this . Not in the imp , not on skin . It's a lightly green floral , not herb-y at all . And I'm afraid it makes me think of soap . While I don't mind the smell of this , I don't see myself going out of my way to get more .

[plunderparlour]

on wet this is screaming orchid and white musk.

dry - orchid and musk calm down and the bergamot peeks out. I get no patchouli from this. this is a very light scent to me.

[rayvn1]

The word "earthy" used to describe the patchouli in the notes is a good word for this. Not dirt, but not quite herbs either. Something green here, though - might be the pennyroyal! It's ambiguous about deciding whether it's masculine or feminine (a lot like Oberon in our Midsummer Night's Dream opera we just did in fact). It's very... present, though! Not sweet, not sour, a little harsh but not in a bad way. Makes me think of open meadows. Kind of a wild scent. I like it!

[Iceblink]

Lighter than I thought it would be--I get white musk and bergamot with juniper, layered over an earthier patchouli. I like this but the juniper is a little too green. It's not particularly masculine. Very clean, very fresh.

[Suu4LC]

Hm. This is very perfumey/cologney in the imp. A bit more like generic perfume than most bpal-not in a bad way though. On the skin, it definitely becomes much more complex. Orchid and juniper berries (oh so good!) with just a hint of soft patchouli. I'm not a patchouli fan but it is really nice here, grounds the blend and keeps it from being blah. Still a bit generic, but I think that might make it a good blend to try to lure someone into bpal-dom with.

 

Unfortunately as this dries, my skin is just devouring all the berry and orchid. DAMN, yeah, within like ten minutes everything is gone except for the white musk O_o Harumph, that happens with my skin once in a while. I imagine this could be a great blend on some people, very unisex, but it definitely doesn't work for me!

[cymbeline]

Swap test!

 

Smell alike: Patchouli is too strong in the imp and on my skin to decide

 

Color impression: Damp purple

 

On me: First I got a nice orchid and bergamot blend. And then, Doom happened and the patchouli exploded ^^;

 

Wearing: If you like patchouli, just go! This scent is sweet and discreet enough for office wear. But, if patchouli hates you as much as it hates me… run, quick!

Edited November 24, 2008 by Cymbeline

[femmefatale]

At first it's all sweet orchids, white musk, and just the barest hint of juniper berries. Mostly orchid though. As it dried down it goes through a slightly soapy phase and then the patchouli comes out and the earthiness helps to balance it out.

I'm not sure about this one, but I'll try it a couple more times before making up my mind.

 

ETA: Dh sniffed me and said "old lady-ish". Swap pile

Edited November 26, 2008 by Femme_Fatale

[thelaurenator]

This was a frimp from the lab. It surprised me, because I absolutely love it. It's VERY strong on me, amps very well, which I am crazy about! It's a beautiful orchid/white musk blend, kind of similar to Queen Mab only much better, more masterfully blended. The freshness of the herbal, green-smelling juniper and bergamot with the tiniest hint of sweet patchouli underneath really make this scent unique and beautiful. I think that the right kind of guy would be great wearing this, but I think it tends to skew more towards feminine. My friends absolutely love this scent on me and urged me to buy a bottle!

Edited December 21, 2008 by thelaurenator

[themerrybaker]

I received Oberon as well aged imp as part of a swap; I usually try to guess what is in a mystery imp before I review it. In this case I was off: way, way off.

I would have guessed subtle rose, wood and musk but this is orchid, musk, and other things. I did not pick up the bergamot or juniper, and would say that this is a dark floral. Nice, but not spectacular. Some of the lab's orchid numbers get "stuffy" on me and unfortunately, Oberon is a culprit.

[ouch!]

This smells like a fancy Orchid, It's very floral..and clean smelling. And I can detect a freshness that I think is the bergamot.

I would say it smells a little like air freshener, but a posh air freshener. The orchid pretty much dominates the blend most of the time. There is no earthyness at all...

 

There's not much else I can say about this blend really...it's nothing too special but it's pretty nonetheless! Not really for me though.

[diamondstars]

This smells very..perfumey to me - not a very helpful review I know, sorry!

Luckily I detect no patchouli either, or it wouldn't work for me.

Bottle please!

[Bluestocking]

In the imp: Right off the bat, I get this amazing orchid note, with some soft musk and a fresh, damp quality. No juniper berries or patchouli yet, but wow, I'm looking forward to this one. Like Titania, it has a fey, irresistible and enchanting quality.

On, wet: Oh, this is the same sweet, pure orchid note that makes me swoon in Ile de la Tortue! Here, though, that amazing, ethereal orchid-and-white-musk combo is spiked with the tang of the juniper berries and just a tiny hint of the citrusy bergamot. It's a very fresh, clean aroma, like I'm outside and it's just rained. It's otherworldly and beautiful.

On, dry: This is amazingly blended, because it's really quite difficult to pull out individual notes. The heart of the scent is that sweet, mellow orchid—softened by the musk, freshened by the bergamot and juniper berry, grounded by the subtle patchouli. It makes me think of twilight and a mist-filled glen in the middle of a forest, even though it isn't a usual "forest" scent. This seems to be less masculine on me than on some others, because I actually can't imagine just any man wearing this scent—it's a bit too lush and flowery—but the King of the Faeries would do brilliantly with this.

Later: A little bit fresher and greener, some more juniper and bergamot, but basically unchanged… which is quite all right with me, because this is gorgeous. It does smell more gender-neutral now.

Overall: Orchid is a can't-miss note for me, so there was little chance that I would dislike this one, but even so, I was surprised by how much I enjoyed it. This is every bit as beautiful and well-blended and fey as Titania, albeit in a different way; Titania is golden and glowing and feminine, whereas Oberon is still luminous, but darker and closer to gender-neutral. They're a perfect pair, totally worthy of one another, and I think I must have a big bottle of both of them

 

 

[pinkstardust420]

Bright!! Wow!! Fresh, clean, bright. A touch sweet. I'm getting orchid and perfumey musk..and lots of musk! I got this as an imp, and I am very glad I did because I hate patchouli and anything with patchouli in the description gets no love from me. But here's the exception! This is very lovely!

Edited February 7, 2009 by pinkstardust420

[Seismogenic]

A Midsummer Night's Dream is one of the first Shakespeare plays I heard of/saw, and it remains a favorite. That was reason enough to be curious about Oberon, and the notes also struck me as an interesting and unusual combination that was worth trying. Thank you so much to my winter Switch Witch, Voodoocatwoman, for sending this imp my way!

 

In the imp: I mostly get the bergamot, juniper berries, and orchid right now. It's a pretty delicate scent.

 

Wet on skin: Light and clean, but not soapy. The bergamot has already subsided quite a bit, but the juniper is still supporting the orchid nicely. Not getting musk or patchouli just yet.

 

Drydown: Freshly dry, the patchouli has showed up, though as a gentle earthy aspect, not something that weighs the scent down. It's still light and fresh, though the juniper keeps it from turning into something too tame or overly floral. At one hour in, this is a very interesting blend of patchouli, white musk, a bit of juniper, and orchid. The notes are distinct and the blend is not homogeneous, but they all fit together in a way that's simultaneously unusual and totally makes sense.

 

Five hours later: Oberon has simplified into orchid and white musk, with a little hint of patchouli if I sniff hard enough. This orchid may be the most persistent flower scent I've encountered in a BPAL oil.

 

End of the day: A little bit of orchid and a little bit of white musk.

 

Overall: This is another one of those scents that I think absolutely nails the concept. It's delicate but masculine, clean and fresh while also being a bit wild, and definitely quite unusual. It definitely suits the King of the Fairies in my mind. I'm not so sure that I'm a King of the Fairies type myself, though. I like the scent, but it seems too magical and aloof for me, based on a single test. I think I'm going to have to give it another test run or two.

[reina]

Strangely enough, I'm getting from this a scent of good old-fashioned laundry shampoo - the kind that's used for delicates washed by hand.

A man wearing this would smell like clean laundry. It's not masculine at all, nor is it particularly feminine. it starts off pretty strong - almost aquatic which I guess is the juniper - but eventually dies down into that clean laundry scent, doesn't morph much.

 

It's lovely, but not really "me". I'd love to smell it on a man because a man smelling clean is really sexy.

Edited March 31, 2009 by reina

[angelicruin]

Sniffing the imp, I'm getting orchid and musk.

 

Wet on the skin, bergamot and orchid and musk. Very clean & refreshing.

 

Stays fairly true even dry. No patchouli note found on my skin.

[tinyvulture]

Oberon has reminded me to give the GC’s some love! I was in no particular hurry to try this scent, thinking, as I do with most GC’s, “oh, it will always be there to try…some day.” I sometimes forget how pretty and lovely they are! This is my new favorite orchid scent. The orchids are in full bloom, gorgeous, and they’re livened up by a squirt of citrusy bergamot and a sprinkling of juniper berries which, for some reason, always reminds me of a party. It’s the gin and tonic association I guess! So, to me, this is a festive, fun, flirtatious scent. Reminds me of the holidays, New Year’s Eve, that kind of thing.

[crebbsgirl]

This is quite light. The orchid is definitely predominant, and stays in the foreground for me throughout all of the stages. The juniper is most prominent when in the wet stages, adding a bit of sharpness. As it dries, the white musk comes out to smooth things, but the patchouli never makes an appearance for me. Overall this is light and beautiful, but quite clean - I tend to like my scents a little dirtier.

[TrailerTrashPrincess]

i've always loved the way this smells on me, i just never reach for it... for some reason.

 

gentle orchid, white musk and a drop of patchouli. like TP'd Trees but with a little less of that Charmin-y powder.

[phantomphoenix3]

Oberon is a surprise hit with me. The orchid and white musk come out most prominently, but the patchouli is there grounding it underneath, making it more unisex and quite sexy. I can picture Oberon wearing this. This is actually what I wanted Fae to smell like, and is now my preferred faery scent. It's lovely.

[veronicafranco]

thanks, lab, for a frimp i'd always wanted to try! a midsummer night's dream is one of my all-time favorite works of literature on the planet.

 

i agree with those who say this is a sweet sort of masculine, and those who get a crabtree and evelyn vibe. it's nice at first, but on my skin, something turns kind of heavy and sour and not to my taste. i may try to sneak it onto the prince. although he's slightly bpal-resistant, things tend to smell extremely great on him that don't work on me...

Edited August 28, 2009 by veronicafranco

[batsy]

In the vial: Musky, clean, with a whiff of sweetness. Promising!

 

On the skin: My skin amps patchouli. Actually, it's kind of playing the patchouli against the orchid and musk. It's very soft, yet I could smell this on a guy. That might be because of the juniper berries.