Delphi

[laslibres]

The smoke of Sacred Incense of Apollo twined through laurel branches, bay, and honey wine.

This changes a lot from in the imp to on my skin...in the bottle it's a very grapey wine, with honey and maybe a tiny bit of herbal. But then on me, the herbal (and maybe a little bit of aquatic too?) comes to the forefront, and the wine takes a back seat.

It's very herbal, deep, and green, sort of masculine-cologney, and the wine grapes provide a bit of fruity backdrop. More masculine than I was expecting. A tiny bit of sour-powdery-weirdness too. Hrm. I'm still trying to figure out if I like it or not...it has an interesting combination of notes, but it turned a little funky on my skin.

[strahlend]

I love boozy scents. In the imp this smelled of glorious red wine and honey. I got really excited, I thought I was falling in love.

Then I put it on.

The first few seconds was the sharp antiseptic hit of bay, then a deeper earthy scent started to come out and for a few seconds the contrast made kind of a strange mix ... then a BLAST OF ROSE that took over and will not quit.

If I get my nose really close to my arm I get a hint of honey, but I'm sitting here in a cloud of rose feeling pretty confused. Where did the wine go? Rose, rose, rose, rose. I saw in the reviews that this happened for other people too, I wish I wasn't one of them. Rose and I don't get along, but once in a while I've appreciated certain kinds of rose in particular blends, but this rose is exactly the kind of rose I try to avoid the most. Lucky for me there are many other wine and honey blends to choose from.

[DeltaCat]

Very wine-y. A rich red wine. Maybe a touch of honey but I can't honestly tell. Not bad, but I don't know where I would wear it. Work may not like it if I reek of wine....

[angelicruin]

Oooh, rich sweet honeyed wine on my skin.

[heleng]

Wet- the smell of boiling blackberry jam, sweet but tart berries.

On my skin- slightly more acid smelling, much more wine or vinegar like.

Dry- are there roses here? Rose is a note of doom for me and I'm getting something like it here.

 

Beautiful wet, doesn't work on me dry, may keep the imp to smell from the vial.

[ami226]

Very very tart berries with a strange plant smell. This is one of the first scents that has really made me gag.... I have no idea why, but just the extreme tartness really makes me feel icky.

[grnwoodtree]

It's very herbal, deep, and green, sort of masculine-cologney, and the wine grapes provide a bit of fruity backdrop. More masculine than I was expecting. A tiny bit of sour-powdery-weirdness too.

 

I agree with this almost completely. I love the honey wine scent, but this has a sourness to it like mead that hasnt been fermented long enough. And a touch of acrid makeup powder in the background..

'Nuff said.

[ChloeKEvil]

I adore this.

 

I wouldn't wear it for just any day, and here is why: it smells ancient. Like something brought forward from the time when they were actively worshipping at Delphi. Sacred anointing oil and wine for libations, mingled with incense.

 

When I wear it, I feel like I'm making an offering to Apollo. I love it.

[obsidienne]

Starts off pungent and sharp in the nose. There's a herbal note in there, but I can't pinpoint which note it really is. As it dries down, this luscious honey wine note begins to develop and the sharpness tames itself, but something ain't quite right... there's a sourness. This ends with a slightly sweet, golden fermented honey scent with that strange tang.

 

I'm interested to see how this imp ages, but I am not compelled to gather more of this ATM.

[dluszcz]

It would have been lovely if this one were nice for me. But, Uggggghhhhhhhh! Chrysanthemum leaves and cat piss. Thank goodness it eventually lost the kitty pee on dry down!

[Celune]

In Imp: Sweet and minty/herbal

On Wet: slightly sweet, honey, minty, incense, and something else I can't name (I want say it's some type of resin/gummy smell)

On Dry: the same but minty-ness disappears

 

 

The scent I can't point out is probably bay or laurel, since I ever had the actually plant/herb, I don't really know what it smells like. This is not for me, though it is not a bad smell. The dry down is similar to autumn scents where there is a lot of fragrant fallen leaves and spice; but it's very strong and makes me a little nauseous and sad.

[hkhm]

imp: sweet wine. this is not the straight-up grape that wine scents usually smell like though.

 

wet: honeyed wine with fruit juice added. this doesn't smell smoky at all. it's a gorgeous, playful fruity wine without being boozy at all.

 

dry: this fades fairly quickly, but even as a faint fruity-honeyed-wine scent, it's gorgeous.

[Helas]

I have a degree in philosophy, and was really looking forward to try all the Greece-themed scents since ancient Greece was the birthplace of Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle.

 

Unfortunately, upon trying Delphi, I am forced to conclude that the ancient Greeks may have been the fathers of Western civilisation, but they sure smelled terrible.

 

Delphi smells like rotten tomatoes. Correction - Delphi smells like rotten tomatoes after they have been allowed to macerate at the back of the vegetable drawer, in the company of a string of moldy garlic and a decomposing onion. Not only is this perfume nauseatingly bad, but it CLINGS. I had to wash it off with rubbing alcohol, and the living room stank for the next twelve hours.

 

I think the bay and the laurel are what gives me the "tomato" impression, since I associate them with Italian cooking and pasta sauce in particular. The honeyed wine is strong and sickly sweet and probably giving me the impression of rot. If you think the idea of a savoury perfume is genius, you might like this one, but keep in mind that your coworkers will probably hate you.

 

If I wanted to smell this, I would open my fridge. One out of five stars.

[lahdeedah]

I got this as a frimp in a recent package, and I think I dropped it. It broke and is now EVERYWHERE. Fortunately it's a nice scent, otherwise I'd be in a world of hurt right now.

 

I don't do all that well with a lot of booze, but interestingly this smells exactly the same whether on my skin, or in the imp. A lot of bay, which isn't my favorite, and a wine that seems very golden, and really sweet. I've never tried mead, but perhaps that, or an ice wine. There is something else in here that's giving it a powdery, soapy smell up close. Blargh.

 

All in all: not really my cup of tea.

[jmscripsi]

This is scent that I received from Rhetoricians.

 

In the bottle: Whoa! Talk about honey. I love honey notes, normally, but this was super sweet honey, and rich wine. I was a little hesitant, but I gave it a shot.

 

On me: This has improved a whole heck of a lot. The honey has mellowed out. It's still there, and it's still sweet, but it's not nearly as overwhelming as when I first took a whiff. It kind of serves as a sweet backdrop for the delightful incense and bay. This is woodsy and pretty.

 

After more time: It's turned a little more powdery, but the base scent is still the same as when I'd applied it. It's also getting a bit of a soapy edge to it, but nothing that isn't working.

 

All in all: Not bad. It's not something I'll wear everyday. Maybe when I'm feeling pretty and golden and spoiled.

[saralaughs]

Definitely red wine. With strong tannins. On me, this is a barely sweet red wine with bay and some laurel.

[achromance]

Wet: Sweet spices at a busy, hot market place, distant incence smoke.

 

On my wrist: Honey wine and incence, and the laurel branches are really kicking through, opening up my sinuses. After a while the incence becomes most prominent, although all the other notes stick around as well.

 

After a few hours: The honey wine and incence are the only notes still lingering on. It's a sweet, slightly smoky scent.

[whataboutprom]

Wet: There are a lot of notes competing during the wet stage. I definitely smell smoke, green branches, strong and cheap honey wine and something fruity.

 

Dry down: The fruit smells somewhat rotten. I wonder if that's the fermented fruit of the wine.

 

After drying the notes blend together, but the one note that still stands out is the rotten fruit. I think this one is too sharp for me.

[Honey]

Oookay, unexpected!

 

Imp: Sweet, fruity and herbal. No idea what I am smelling but it reminds me of apple juice or sweet apple wine (cider).

 

Wet: Laurel and/or bay are dominant in this one.. the rest, apple juice or apple sauce. The lightest waft of honey.

 

Dry: This is fruity and rather dry. Incense and spices with a light sweetness. This is a scent unlike any other, weird but nice in a way. Reminds me of honeyed roses somehow.

[Floria]

I mostly got this for the mythic and historical associations.

 

The early stage of this is most interesting to me, when the bay and laurel are strongest and add an interesting aromatic herbiness to the melange. The dry-down is a lot like Athens - intensely sweet honey with a sort of fruity tartness. I never did get much incense. It's not a bad smell, but it's rather strong and clingy, and I'm not sure I want to smell like flavored honey and fruit hard candy. I think I'll avoid honey + wine combos in the future, since in both Athens and Delphi they've taken over, and I don't like mead that much.

[Alia Kaitan]

Got my imp fresh from the Lab, and though I wasn't entirely sure why I ordered this, I'm glad I did.

 

In the imp, its a burst of honey sweetness and dry herbs.

 

Going on, this is the same wet until several hours later: A tangy/sweet berry wine brushed with smokey herbs. The incense on me is not overwhelming, and is well balanced with the honey sweetness. I once got to taste a blackberry mead - that's what this reminds me of. Definitely a dark red or purple berry on a backdrop of sage green.

 

I like this because it's something different from my other scents, and has the dripping red mead quality without being foody at all. For me, truly invokes the image of standing at the base of a hill in ancient Greece, surrounded by merchants with baskets full of red and purple fruits, hanging herbs, and the priesthood wafting their way up the path.

 

Wearing this today, I did get two compliments on it. It feels fairly gender neutral to me, and suits me either day or night. I don't think I will need a bottle, but will replace my imp once it's used up.

[TheHuman]

Very sweet opium. If you aren't familiar with the scent of opium I'd describe it as herby rose. So that plus SWEET. So much sweet. Too much sweet.

[OctoberGwen]

This is the first scent I've tried that is absolute funk on me - no "it almost works" or "it's interesting, but not me" at all. Just sour, rancid YUK. It has to be the "honey wine", since wine almost never works for me and honey rarely does.

 

Whew. *must scrub*

 

[whitsunweddings]

In the imp: Like a berrier (yes, that's a word) version of my beloved Athens.

Wet: Super grapey wine with a hint of incense.

Dry: I had high hopes for this, as this the description is very similar to Athens, but with my bff Bay. Alas, this ended up just being berries on me. Bum

[BoneBone24]

Wet: Sticky-sweet honey wine. There’s sort of a tangy purple vibe going on.

 

Drydown: Honey wine and mead with something cool and fresh. For a moment I swear I smell blueberries. It becomes tangier as it dries.

 

Dry: Tart honeyed berries over a cool and fresh mist and gentle wafts of purple incense. If this were a color, it’d be teal with swirls of gold-flecked fuchsia.

 

 

 

 

4 out of 10 bones

Edited July 11, 2013 by BoneBone24