Fortuna Dubia

[Casablanca]

Perilous Fortune

A hymn to avert misfortune and danger: honey infused with protective herbs and hope preserved in pale amber.

Fortuna Dubia immediately reminds me of having a cold.

It reminds me so, so strongly of an herbal tea I might make and then gooey up with honey for comfort when I'm feeling germy. As long as I can still sort of smell anything, I think I would reach for this, and also for Audumla (herbal milks), to help me feel better. And a hot toddy.

Herbal honey, smoothed with amber.

[lady_pandora]

There's an herb in this, which I can't identify, which just doesn't get along with my nose, and wafts up to me periodically while wearing the scent. It's a shame, because I feel like the honey-amber core of this is really pretty, and I think on someone else it could be a soothing scent like the review above me describes. I could potentially see using this in a TAL sort of way though, on candles or the like.

 

ETA: I think LizziesLuck is right--the off note is kind of metallic! I wonder what we're picking up on? It's so weird!

Edited February 8, 2018 by lady_pandora

[Pyewacket]

In the bottle: honey and amber.

 

On me: Honey and herbs with a backdrop of amber. I love the smell of honey but most of the honey scents I've tried have been a tad too sharp. Here, the amber is probably helping to make Dubia softer and more rounded. The only other honey/amber scent I've tried is O, which I found too sweet and cloying to wear. Here though, there are herbs instead of vanilla so it's not as sweet. It reminds me of something elusive, it might be the honey tea association mentioned above. If I had to guess I would also say there might be some chamomile here.

 

It might be just the honey, herbal tea scent association but the feeling I get is of safety and calm protection. Like a gentle aged goddess handing you a cup of tea while she stands between you and the bad guys.

[LizziesLuck]

Wet: Not at all what I expected. This smells like some sort of fruity, herby cologne...WTF? OMG no, it smells like METAL. WHY???

 

 

 

Dry: This makes me so sad. Something in it is reacting horribly with my chemistry, and it ends up smelling like the Lab's metal note, which I really dislike. I don't smell any honey or amber, it's all metal on me. Makes no sense. I will pass this on to someone who can appreciate it.

[archaesophilia]

I had a tin of tea a few years ago from the republic of tea, I think it was called Desert Sage? Or something. This dries down to smell exactly what that tea tasted like with honey. There is a quite sharp note at the beginning, but after an hour or so it settles down. Very little throw on this one, and I thought it faded quickly. This is a comforting, hopeful scent.

[Teaotter]

This one started out beautifully, all honey and herb-garden --

 

and then it turned. Sweaty, metallic gym socks. Honeyed gym socks, but still, no. I'm sad, this one should've worked on me!

[Lucchesa]

Fortuna Dubia is not morphing much on me at all besides the initial herby sharpness mellowing down and blending, so thank you, skin chemistry! This is a sunlit springtime meadow, and I love the idea of hope preserved at the heart of this scent. So while it would be perfectly appropriate to wear to all your May garden parties (and anywhere, really, since I don't get any throw but then again that's usual for me), it would also be a lovely fragrance to pull out in the dead of winter or frosty heart of spring if you live somewhere like the Pacific NW and want to remind yourself that spring is, indeed, on its way and will be beautiful.

[Miyabi]

Maybe it's just my nose, but I don't get honey--I'm getting herb touched melon. Which is not what I was hoping for this to smell like.

[zankoku_zen]

Herby honey with a touch of amber. This reminds me a lot to the American Gods' "The Drink of Heroes, the Drink of Gods". It's a honey blend, but it's like a magical honey blend. Honey with purpose. Good throw and wear length.

[AraliaShine]

My bottles arrived today.Yes, two of them. This one was an instant love for me from the moment I opened my

decant to sniff it. It only got better on my skin. My first thought each time I smell it is :

"Mmmm, Blue Honey!"

although it is challenging to say which herbs/notes make it smell that way to me.

 

Early guesses are hyssop (which always smells blue to me) and possibly a teensy bit of chamomile because

later in the drydown I get a hint of fruitiness that is reminiscent of the feathery pineapple-scented foliage of

chamomile. It gets greener and more of the pale amber comes out as it wears on my skin too.

So for now, Blue/Green Honey and lotsa .

I'll be wearing this often, so I'll add more notes and comparisons as I discover them. I didn't get any unpleasant

metallic feeling from it, but so far, I like all of the metal notes that I've smelled from the lab. If I sniff hard and

think about metal, maybe I get a verdigris-tinged copper, but in no way unpleasant (to my nose)-- more along

the lines of the ancient rich patina of an oft used and well loved vessel. No doubt about it, this Fortuna is simply

amazing on my skin!