Santa Eularia Des Riu

[tesao]

Piquant citrus tempered by jasmine, soft Mediterranean herbs, lavender and orange blossom.

in the imp: orange blossom and green herbs.

on my wrist, wet: no jasmine. but it says jasmine. and jasmine hates me. what i get are soft breeze borne flowers and herbs.

on my wrist, dry: it's gotten a little soapy. but there is still no noticeable WHAM of jasmine. it may be there in the background, but this is so well blended that really the only note that i could ever pick out was the orange blossom.

light and airy. summery. beachy.

it isn't really me. at all. i think i like it though.

[isyche]

This was a frimp from the lab that I hadn't thought of getting. In the imp, Santa Eularia is jasmine and lavender and lemon, kind of like one of the Somnium blends – maybe if Somnus and Nanshe mated. On me, it stays the same herbal, lemony jasmine. It is very breezy and Mediterranean, and the herbs help cut the jasmine down to size, but it's not really my kind of thing to wear, so it's off to swap.

[ashtonrose]

The orange blossom was what I smelled first and it made me very unsure of the scent. When I put it on, I was so relieved. The orange blossom quickly died down and the jasmine and lavendar became the dominating scents. The Mediterranean herbs had to be what was lingering in the back.

[jewelbug]

Got this brand new from the lab!!!

Bottle: Lemon and grapefruit with unidentifiable florals….and jasmine. Sigh. I try all the scents I get, but oh, how I dread jasmine…

 

Wet: Citrus melange--lemon, orange, grapefruit--with flowers in back (including the aforementioned jasmine) Notably, the jasmine hasn't gone catpee yet (like it normally does). This is sweet, musky pretty jasmine, like jasmine should be. Makes me wonder if Beth uses more than one type of jasmine, cuz this one really seems to be playing nicely?

 

Drying: Good thing this jasmine is playing nicely, cuz it's mostly jasmine now. There is but a slight hint of citrus. It's GOOD jasmine. I am so astounded by my first non-catpee jasmine. It's sweet and fresh and clean smelling. Hint of lemon, but mostly a fresh heady jasmine. Can't pick out any herbs really (unless that's the clean smelling part). This is a completely non-powdery floral on me. Impressive. This lasted 3-4 hrs before I went to bed, so I don't know its full duration.

 

Overall: Mostly pretty, clean jasmine. A bit soapy in its cleanness, actually. It's soft and feminine and pretty. As a typical jasmine hater, I'm proud to say that Santa Eularia worked for me. I am in a foody-perfume mode right now, but if I ever get into a floral phase, I think I may search for Santa Eularia again. Beth has surprised me once again!

[AlaskaSnows]

In the Bottle: Floral, herbal bite, citrus and lavender.

 

Dry: Citrus is at the forefront now, along with the lavender. The lavender in this is working alot like the lavender in Pain did on me - there's a whiff of armpit. The herbs and the citrus do help balance it... but all in all it's an, well, aggressive scent and kind of sharp. I'd be worried about wearing this in case others smelled the lavender as body odor like I do. I might try this mixed with another citrus to see if that helps.

 

This seems to be mellowing a lot, and the lavender becoming more of a floral and the citrus becoming a bottom note. Could work after all!

Edited September 24, 2005 by AlaskaSnows

[LyndaM]

At first sniff, i could smell the citrus, and a floral lurking underneath. On my skin? *Groan* The jasmine headache monster gets me again. This would be perfect for those who enjoy jasmine, my skin amps it crazily and it's the only note I detect once it's on. I'll try to find it a loving home...

[hangingfire]

Thanks to the lab for the frimp!

 

In the imp: Herbal jasmine. I'm beginning to wonder if my nose has a block on citrus when it's blended with jasmine, because I'm not getting any citrus at all.

 

On, wet: Stronger jasmine now, less herbal.

 

Drydown: Oh, there's the citrus! It's become the top note, a sharper layer over the jasmine.

 

Very pretty scent; REALLY different from my other jasmine faves (Salome and Nyx). I think I'll set it aside for the summer. ...Or not. Something sour has crept in -- I think it's the lavender, which I learned from Baku is something my skin does not like. *sigh* Yep, there's the "clean bathroom" smell I got from Baku. This may end up in the swap/sale pile.

Edited October 18, 2005 by hangingfire

[Fishwomon]

This might be the first of the Lab's jasmine scents that I've tried. It's good to know that jasmine does not hate me as it hates some others. I don't wear a lot of florals, but it's nice to know what works. "White" florals seem to work on me.

 

But enough about me. How do you like Santa Eularia on me?

 

I agree with the reviewer who compared this to something from L'Occitane. Wet, I smell very clean citrus, orange blossom, and herbs, probably lavender. Very clean. It smells like Zest soap, if Zest soap didn't smell all cheap and chemically. I wouldn't say that Santa Eularia is soapy, but it smells like soap. It's so clean! I think it would make a lovely spray for linens especially in summer (or in winter, when you long for summer).

 

The drydown brings the jasmine, I guess - a faint white floral - and perhaps a pale, white musk. I put this on before bed, and in the morning I woke to gently scented wrists, lovely.

 

It's not my style, being so pretty and clean, so I don't know if I'd get a big bottle. I'll enjoy the imp, though.

[melange]

Wet (as best I can tell*): orange blossom tinged by jasmine.

 

Drydown: I feel pressure at the front of my forehead, the lavender starts coming up, and the herbs begin to warm up as well.

 

Worn: while orange blossom starts out champing at the bit, the rest really does temper it, the notes close enough to each other that it feels like a fairly unified herby lavender + orange blossom scent with a barely-detectable sweetness in the background that I think is the jasmine. It lasts all day on me, at least when sniffing my wrists, since there isn't much throw.

 

Conclusion: this reminds me of my grandmother's apartment, not because it's particularly grandmotherly, but because she used a scent similar to this to keep a particular small, enclosed room fresh. Which it did. I don't really want to try and look at this scent on its own merits; instead, I want to keep the frimp as a tool for memory, so I can sniff it every now and again to remind me of our visits to her.

 

(* Caveat lector: the label was soaked in two other scents due to a mishap in the mail, so I can't get an accurate smell by sniffing the imp directly, and the scents rubbed off onto my fingertips just a little.)

[bristlecone]

I love orange blossom, so I had to try an imp of this.

 

Wet, I can smell the orange blossom, the lavender, and the herbs. I cannot detect the jasmine. The thing is, though, I'm apparently not one of the many people who find jasmine overwhelming in the first place. It usually behaves itself and supports the other notes in a given blend, instead of drowning them out. In fact, I'm sitting here typing this and I can't even "visualize" what jasmine smells like, so I guess it's one of those notes that flies under my radar most of the time. Either that, or I've been mistaking it for something else all along. Anyway... I digress.

 

After a few minutes, it turns very soapy... but it's a nice, expensive soap.

 

Later still, the soapiness subsides and I smell oranges. It's very faint at this point. Very, very faint.

 

Someone mentioned that this reminds them of something sold at L'Occitane. I agree- it's somewhat similar to L'Occitane's Orange Leaves cologne, which I used to own and which I loved enough to use up an entire bottle (the first and only fragrance for which I can make this claim). I kind of hate to say this, because in general I think BPAL's perfumes beat commercial perfumes hands down, but I think I like Orange Leaves better. Still, Santa Eularia is a fun scent to own. Anything that accurately bottles the smell of orange trees in bloom is okay in my book.

[Voleuse]

In the bottle and on first application, this is all herbs and lavender. Very much like a sunlit kitchen, the citrus making it warm and welcoming.

 

As it dries, the scent becomes more distinctly citrus, both orange and lemon. The lavender and herbs are steady notes in the background, but I don't detect any jasmine at all.

 

Overall, this is a fresh and sweet scent. I don't know if I like it enough for a bottle, but I'm definitely keeping the imp.

[slave1]

In Bottle: Minty orange.

 

On Skin: Wow, an eye opener for sure. Want something to wake you up in the morning? Take a quick whiff of this. Very energizing! The citrus is strong but dry, the herbs are minty and fragrant. The lavender and jasmine play second fiddle compared to the other notes. An interesting and complex scent even though there are just a few notes in it. It is very outdoorsy. I would love to be in a villa in the Mediterranean and wake up to this scent in the air.

[Katinka]

Ooooh...I rather like this! It's one of my enabler's favorites, and I can see why. Santa Eularia is herbal and woodsy without being, "Hello, I'm a pine tree." The herbs and lavender are strongest, but everytime they threatened to get out of line, the citrus tempers them. It has a good amount of throw, too -- yay!

[Honor]

Haha, just kidding, I thought it was unreleased, but I just couldn't find it.

 

In Bottle: Citrusy, woodsy and slightly "Green" with a hint of spice...not a heavy scent, but complex.

 

Wey: Although my sniffer isn't nearly as sophisticated as other BPAL-ers... I get lemon verbana and honeysuckle immediately on my skin. The woodsy scent has dissappeared, but the lemon and honeysuckle are apparent, although not sharp. There's something smoothing them out and I can't tell what it is.

 

Dry Down:

Completely turned around. The citrusy/honeysuckle I was smelling is still there, but in the background. The woodsy smell is back (cedar maybe? I can't tell), while at the same time reminding me faintly of dorian... in that there's a sugared, smooth musk smell at forefront. Very complex and hard to accurately describe.

 

Throw: Eh. Average. Many citrus smells don't last on me very long, so I'm really thinking there's got to be lemon verbana in this.

 

Overall: I liked this all the way through, from bottle to dry down....although it morphed considerably. In the long run, once it's dried I am reminded of a sprightlier, brighter dorian... citrus/honeysuckle behind warm, sugared musk... and a sprinkling of spices.

Of course, I could be completely wrong and find out none of those scents are in this blend, but that's what my sniffer made of it.

 

 

I see now I was completely and utterly incorrect on every assesment of the notes I thought were in it. Funny how blends of things can smell like something they aren't.

 

Score: (1-5, with 5 being best) I give this a 4, only because there just isnt' enough throw on me. If this could last 8 hours on me without reapplication I'd give it a 5.

 

 

An interesting side note: This is the only scent so far which has caused my boy to give an active reaction ("I *like* that)... as opposed to usual "eh" or "pretty good" that I usually get from him. He's not a scent man at all, and doesn't really care what I smell like as long it's not BO ... and when he does like a scent, all I can usually get is "pretty good". So for him to react the way he did is unusual.

 

 

 

 

EDIT: Merged into existing thread. --Shollin

 

ETA: Edited because I'm silly.

Edited December 31, 2005 by HonorAlexandria

[Orodemniades]

ohmahgah, soapy orange blossom...and now, a headache.

 

Drydown - jasmine!! And lemongrass? At least the soap is gone...

 

So, that would be a 'no', then.

 

Oro

[karikazo]

I get a sort of dark, juicy lavendar on this, which later becomes more sweet and floral. A very pretty, fresh scent, probably great for summer.

[perclexed]

In the imp: Definitely herby lavender, and the jasmine sorta floats on top of it.

 

Wet: Jasmine, lavender and a sweet orange.

 

Drying: Same.

 

Dry: The jasmine in this is very powerful, and it's edging out the other notes. I still get lavender, and a hint of herb like you'd get from an expensive, milled bar of French exfoliation soap. *shrugs* Best way I can describe it.

 

After 45 min: More like a soap, but a really good one that you'd use when you want to pamper yourself.

 

Final thoughts - I think this would be a great summertime fragrance. It brings to mind warmth, sunshine, and lazy days where you're sweating a bit just hanging out on the back porch in the late afternoon or early evening with a large glass of sangria. Anything else seems like too much of an effort, but it's so nice to just *be* that you can't bring yourself to care. I'm glad I have the imp, but wouldn't wear it often enough to justify purchasing a bottle.

[desu]

In the bottle: The lavender and citrus combine to form something that smells akin to lemon oil.

 

On my skin: The lavender and citrus components, once bright, begin to mellow out after application as the herbs begin to show up. The effect is clean, cheerful, and relaxing. This is one to wear on a summer's day at the beach, or a day where I need some perking up.

[blu°]

This to me starts with a strong jasmine-scented Chinese green tea-note. Slightly bitter and tangy. Must be the orange blossom/neroli.

There's lavender in the background and some prickliness that must be the citrus, but I can't really identify anything fruity. Just prickly, fizzy lemonade, but not lemony lemonade, if that makes sense. Or fizzy candy.

This is not very sweet, though.

 

Santa Eulària is a fresh, bubbling, clean, happy sort of fragrance to me. The jasmine is definitely more tea-like than in any other BPAL I've tried so far, but as I said, that might be the combination with Neroli in the end.

 

I've tested this first some days ago and worn it throughout the day today and I keep recognizing notes. The first time I didn't get no lavender at all, but today I can smell it strongly in the background.

 

The scent is really nice btw. It's considerably brighter and cleaner than my usual preferences, but I like it. It's interesting, too, as I think I might keep detecting more components on further occasions when I wear this.

 

A very summery, bright and light, natural fragrance IMO. Not cloying or heady at all.

 

It doesn't last especially long on my skin, but reapplying is fun with this as it gives new sparkly bursts of scent.

[moon_lemming]

This is a sharp sharp floral, both in the imp and on my skin. I want to say it's jasmine, but I haven't looked at the description yet . . .

 

Oof, yes, I thought I smelled your nastiness, jasmine OF DOOM. Eeeurgh. And I can smell a little of the lemon and sandalwood; if it weren't for the jasmine, I would probably love this scent. But no, off to the swaps with you.

[ABrokenAngel]

In the Bottle: Normally I dispise anything with alavendar in it but this? This is fantastic. This is stupendous. It’s crisp and clean and evokes thoughts of high mountain top citrus orchards in the Andes right before Dawn casts it’s golden light over the land.

 

Wet: Helllllooooo citrus! Wow this is deffinately just like the wet image. Only now I’m sitting on the peak enjoying a morning orange and a fantastic breakfast of mellow flavors. The jasmine is very very soft and is held at bay by the pungeant citrus. Deffinately not for the citrus hater.

 

Dry Down: Oh yum. Deffinately not a feminine scent on me but oh lord is this good. It tones down quite quickly into a luscious cirtusy herb mix. I can barely smell the blossom but I think that’s the point. It’s back in the scenery of this scent and just sort of hanging out enjoying the view.

[WidgetAlley]

A frimp from the ever-generous Lab. They seem keen on giving me florals lately, which I appreciate, since I'm starting to jones for spring something hardcore. Plus, I love the name of this one. It's so beautiful. I've never been there (isn't it somewhere on a Spanish island or something?), but if the place is half as gorgeous as the name, I'm going to have to investigate.

In the Imp: .... wait a minute. Holy $&!#. This Imp doesn't have the little tab thingee on the side! Whoa! Labbies! You can't just change it up like that, you're blowing my mind. Sniffing from the Imp wand, this reminds me of a voodoo blend: a smooth floral (the jasmine, I presume), bright citrusy orange blossom, and a blend of kitchen herbs... rosemary, and something else (maybe basil?), backed by the rich bite of lavender. I think there's a musk in there as well, as I'm catching whiffs the velvety undertone I associate with light skin or golden musk. It's complex and herbal, and smells a bit like a very, very good men's cologne, or the drydown of the rosemary-lavender lotion I keep in the kitchen for dry hands. "Mediterreanean" is a good description for this.

Wet: Orange blossom and a gentle musk with a clean, slightly soapy jasmine, rosemary, lavender and.... yes, I'm becoming more and more convinced there's basil in here, too. There's just a touch of something like ozone or salt, too, that gives the impression of flat lands, hot sun, wide-open sky and blue waves. This is very bright and soothing and quite unusual (in contrast to Asphodel, which I tested several hours ago, which was gorgeous but a riff on a classic.) So far, this isn't striking me as a particularly sophisticated blend, but it's absolutely beautiful in a homely way-- the herbs and lavender really help to ground this and keep it from becoming another floaty, generic floral. Think an intelligent, pretty, dark-haired woman tending her kitchen garden under the Spanish sun, or a brown-eyed beauty in a sarong strolling barefoot down a beach.

(Eeep. It's making my arm burn a little. Hope I'm not allergic.)

Dry: The same. This is quite unique, and I can see it working well on a man or a woman. I love this... it's soft but present, beautiful but not cloying, different but not offputting. We'll see what the staying power is like, but if it sticks around it might go on the big bottle list eventually-- I would love to scent my sheets, my room, my hair, my clothes, my moisturizers and my soaps with this. Sunny and refreshing, comfortable and pretty.

[grrrlennyl]

at first: lots of citrus, plus some herbs and jasmine.

on: lavender and herbs. however, there is an odd note (probably the orange blossom) that i don't like.

half an hour later: much nicer. a sweet, dusty jamine and herbs. pretty.

1.5 hours later: a lovely jasmine and a hint of herbs. the orange blossom is gone (hurrah!).

2.5 hours later: there's a lovely jasmine wafting up, but my wrist smells herby. interesting.

overall: i'm on the fence about this one. i'm not sure if i'm willing to deal with the orange blossom in order to get to that lovely jasmine.

[rhubarbbear]

my confessions:

1. i love lavender, but rarely wear it- the boy doesn't care for it.

2. i always think i'll love orange blossoms, but don't.

3. same with herbs.

 

but, as soon as i saw the description for this one, i got all excited, and ordered an imp.

 

oddly enough, i love it. it smells like lemons and sage and a touch of lavender...it smells like my home and makes me so happy! it's clean without being soapy, lemony without any furniature polish, and all chapparal and dust and sunshine feminine. did i mention that i love it?

 

this'll probably be a big bottle

[midnightmuse]

In the bottle: Astringent, slightly bitter, almost unpleasant. Citrus and sharp lavender are all I can smell.

 

Wet: Almost all citrus, with some hints of herbs. I can't smell the lavender or the jasmine. I got a flash of "Greece" from my memory banks, so something must indeed be Mediterranean about it. I have the sense of springtime, cool and sunny, a breezy tree full of moving leaves and bright yellow lemons...like the one outside the Loukoulos Tavern in Crete.

 

Dry: The lavender appears, and the orange blossom strengthens, and finally I get a very faint drift of warm jasmine. The herbal edge to this scent might be rosemary. This is smooth, bright, and calm, with a perfect balance between warm and cool... it makes me think, somehow, of the peace of being well-rested and not in pain. I had slight nausea when trying it on, and after application, it went away! How pleasant.

 

The drier it gets, the more the warm, herbal, slightly salty note comes out. It makes me *long* to travel to Greece again. If I ever had a Mediterranean villa, or a cottage on a beach anywhere for that matter, I'd want it to smell like this... gauzy white clean curtains in the sun, blowing in an open window, above an herb garden with little fruit trees.

Edited February 8, 2006 by midnightmuse