Sophia

[copagirl]

The Gnostic goddess of Wisdom. A solemn, deeply profound draught of lavender, soft musks, star jasmine, black rose, delphinium, and gentle spice.

This is super sweet. In the imp it's very candy hearts, bubblegum, lavender, jasmine. After I put it on, it smells very tangy, still sweet, but I'm smelling bandaids(?), root beer, it's spicey sweet and sharp. However I do like it, despite the bandaid smell. Later on it's much softer, doesn't last too long but it's nice. Edited April 15, 2009 by Shollin

[TheOneTheyCallLuna]

In the imp and on the skin: Sasparilla? Is that you? Yup. Still getting sasparilla, plus lemons and florals. What is going on here? I like it...a lot actually, but I was not expecting sasparilla with powdery florals and something tangy, too. I kind of think this is weird and wonderful and I might hang onto it for a bit and see if it grows on me some more. It has potential, definitely...

[ouch!]

This perfume is a perfect example of why me, personally, should NEVER look at a list of notes and think..Nah...I'll never like that.

 

Wow! It was a frimp from the lab so I thank you lab for letting me try this, I NEVER would have ordered in amillion years.

 

So.. the wet stage of this is my favourite, it's gorgeous and lovely and odd all at the same time. If anyone has ever smelled a perfume from Lush's sister company "B Never Too Busy To Be Beautiful" then..I hope you would agree in saying that the wet stage of this has that kind of feel to it. Alot of B's perfumes have that slightly elegant unusal twang to them. Namely.."Love" "2 Hearts" "Cocktail" This is it!!! It's mainly the herby/lavender that is strong with the Star Jasmine. There is also a strange sort of...wet petals smell going on which is the only thing that's putting me off ever so slightly but it's stilll yum on the whole.

 

The rose comes out a bit as it starts to dry....and I can smell a citrus edge too. The throw of this perfume is perfect for me. Someone at work has already mentioned that I smell nice today. And said..I keep getting nice little wafts everytime you walk near..YAY!

 

The dry stage is alot different to the wet stage. The herbal lavender edge has gone and it's more floral. But..daintily floral if that makes sense. It's not a bundle of flowers dropped on your head, it's lighter. Still with a good amount of throw. This is where the musk comes out and it's a now a beautifully soft musky floral that has a slight spice to it. YUM!! The rose is much more predominant and the Jasmine and Lavender have gone completley.

 

Both stages of this perfume are lovely. I'm definately considering a bottle! I just love the wet stage so much more than the dry.

 

[anna1850]

Oh dear. I hate to be negative but when I put Spohia on I have to admit it smelt like mouthwash and manure. Got slightly less bad after a while and the gentle spice came out but still pretty ghastly.

 

1/5 Yuck!

[asciident]

Wet: Sour odor, can't really bring myself to put it on.

[awesomeoverlord]

I never realized this, but apparently jasmine doesn't agree with me -- this is much to heady, and unfortunately the lavender disappears within the first 5 minutes.

[catattack]

Imp: Tart, medicinal flowers

Wet: Tart florals with a hint of spice. This is starting to mellow out really fast. I smell lavender and jasmine with a slight green herbal from maybe the delphinium?

Drydown: The spice has disappeared. The lavender has mellowed. This is becoming a sweet fruity floral. I smell mostly jasmine. There is something bitter an medicinal that is amping and ruining this blend.

Overall: I would be a nice scent if it didn't get bitter. It also went waxy on the further drydown.

[puck_nc]

Origin: Frimp from the Lab

 

Initial Thoughts: Not sure why I haven't tried this one before, since I love delphinium and star jasmine. Perhaps I feared that the soft musks wouldn't be soft enough not to amp.

 

In the Vial: Nothing but spices, sharply sweet ones. I feel like sneezing from a noseful of nutmeg.

 

Wet: Musk and spice. At the moment I can't find any of the floral notes.

 

Drydown: The flowers are trying, but it's an uphill battle given how my skin loves to amp musk.

 

Verdict: Definitely doesn't play well with me.

[redward]

Sophia

 

Ah, lavender, how do I love you? I am currently counting the ways by how many BPAL blends I have with you in it.

 

In the imp: Lavender, a very little bit of musk, and something that is slightly bubblegum to my nose. I think it is the jasmine, based on other jasmine blends I have. I'm not able to pick out the rose or delphinium at this point. The lavender isn't as sharp as in Somnus, but is is definitely there. I had a citrus moment, which may be the lavender.

 

Wet: Pretty much the same as in the imp, but I may be imagining some of the spice.

 

Dry down: As usual, musks warm up on my skin and I am still getting the bubblegum sweetness. I really need to compare my jasmine blends and see if that is what it is. I get the same thing from TKO and Oneiroi. The spice reminds me of the way carnation is spicy.

 

Dry: The very faint citrus impression I had is back, but it is very faint. It has dried down so that the lavender and jasmine are well balanced, the musk is really only apparent in the warmth I get from it. The spice is very nice, not too much. I'm not really detecting the rose or delphinium, but I am sure they are in the mix.

 

A lovely, not too sweet, slightly spicy floral.

 

Oh, after wearing it for a while, the rose starts to come out. Now I like this even better!

 

If you are afraid of the lavender, wait until it dries. The other things in the blend temper it very nicely. Also, if you fear jasmine, it is very well behaved (at least on my skin).

[topazphoenix]

I was really looking forward to trying this scent. I love lavender. That being said, this is exactly what pepto bismo smells like to me. Pass.

[Lamia]

There's a queer "plastic-y"ness to this - not the BandAids of The Organ Grinder, but more like the plastic edging of some sort of nitrous facemask you get at the dentist, without the nitrous.

 

It's that dratted jasmine that takes over afterwards. Pity - everything else in this smells pleasant. Trade bag.

 

ETA - FYI, it smells REALLY GOOD when layered with Badger

Edited August 15, 2009 by Lamia

[angelicruin]

Inside the imp, sharp lavender.

 

On my skin, lavender and something resembling spicy bubble gum?

 

I get a little rose on the drydown and this scent goes a bit soapy once completely dry.

[cinnamonster]

Oh my goodness...it took me three sniffs of the imp going "oof what IS that??" each time to think...GERMOLENE!! It smells just like Germolene.

 

On skin it is still Germolene with slightly amped jasmine of the follow me boy persuasion. I keep sniffing it because of it's strangeness but I don't think I could wear it lest people think I have some kind of first aid fetish.

 

Very interesting but not one to wear outside for me.

 

ETA: I was clearly way too quick off the bat with this one...it's morphed into...Phantasm. Crazy, and a shame as that is my wake me up scent, and it's bedtime.

 

 

30 minutes later than Phantasm, we have rose, slightly talc-y rose. It's morphtastic - too many personalities for me. I think this is the end of the changing though, very faint now, this has the smell of the end.

Edited September 2, 2009 by cinnamonmel

[NoinHime]

BEAUTIFUL!

 

On me I get a very balanced blend of all the florals with a musk undertone and a hint of spice.

 

I will be ordering a bottle of this!

[Ishtar]

You know that thread in BPAL chatter about blends that broke your heart? Sophia would be my pick.

 

Going by notes alone, this should have been the perfect blend for me.

Alas, it was not meant to be.

 

In the imp, Sophia smelled a bit sharp, but this happens often with lavender so I did not let that worry me.

For a few seconds after I applied, it seemed like it was going to be nice enough, but then things took a turn for the worse, alternating between sour and cloying as it dried.

 

One of the very few BPALs I've had to wash off. I wanted to love it so much that I ended up using it as a bath oil rather than swapping it away, and at least that allowed me to enjoy some of the soft, fresh floral scent with a hint of spice that I was expecting from the description.

[fairestrocza]

Sophia was one of the initial imps I tried in my ongoing Quest for the Perfect Lavender...

When I was young, I lived in a town called Sophia Antipolis. The front yard of our house was a dense mass of lavender with a single cork tree. The smell of lavender greeted us every time we left or returned to the house, and left a lasting impression in my scent memory - I *had* to try Sophia to see if it would capture Sophia Antipolis.

 

In the Imp: Perfume-y, slightly bitter... lemony?

 

Wet on Skin: Perfume-y lavender

 

While Drying: Smokey/soapy lavender *sigh*

 

After a Little While: Soapy

 

Final Thoughts: Ironically, my lavender soap smells less soapy than Sophia. Florals, especially florals that include jasmine, often go soapy on me. Sophia earns a 2/5, and the Quest continues...

[cfrancesca]

Sophia reminds me of a perfume from bnevertoobusy called Love. I'm getting a jasmine/lavender/rose scent but I also get some citrus or lemon and that's what ruins it for me. It's a lovely perfume, but just not for me.

Edited December 4, 2009 by cfrancesca

[Invidiana]

My skin doesn't agree with this at all, unfortunately On me it comes out like very strong lemon verbena with something menthol and a slight cat pee undertone. The cat pee fades and the rose comes out more on the drydown, but it still hits me as very lemon verbena for some reason. I

Edited December 7, 2009 by Invidiana

[CitizenBree]

This scent is pretty complex. At first, I just got a lot of warm spices, like clove, something sweet but incense-y. Now, after drydown, I get more rose. It's a little like a fading Zombi on me. The rose is faint and the spices give it that mossy balance. But there's also something fruity/sweet.

 

What I don't get is lavender or jasmine. Not even a hint so maybe I amp roses.

 

This scent is very delicate. I think I'll keep it around to give it a full test but I'm thinking it's one that might fade pretty fast since it's so light.

 

 

[Lysi]

Sophia is lovely but...strange. When I first applied it, I swear it smelled exactly like sugared lemons. I have *no* idea how that happened, even with the list of notes right in front of me, but there it was. About 10 minutes later, that was completely gone and all I'm getting now is rose rose rose. I like rose, and it loves me, but I already have Whip and Persephone for my rosy needs...maybe I'll keep waiting and see if it changes again. It went from sugary lemons to straight-up roses, so who knows?

[milo]

Wet, this is all jasmine, of the powdery variety. Not too sharp, which is a good thing. It fades to a rather non-descript floral. Maaaybe a touch of lavender, but I wouldn't have known it was there if I didn't take a peek. What I do smell is the faintest whiff of jasmine. Fast fader for sure, and not even worth a second test.

[hersphinxness]

Medical plastic. You know the smell. You walk into an empty hospital room and that grosser smell underneath the gross smell of the cleaning products? Yep, that. I can't pick out any notes in this, in the imp, wet, or dry, just this overwhelming gross medical plastic smell.

[voodoobaby]

Judging by the notes, I wasn't entirely convinced that I would like this. However, Sophia is my beloved patroness, and I was excited to see that Beth had made a scent dedicated to this underrated goddess. I had to try it.

 

Wet, the scent reminded me of cola with lemon. I think it's the musk. Not unpleasant, but a little odd. Once that phase ended, I got a lot of, well, sort of generic florals. At that point I started to get a bit disappointed and was ready to put it in my swap pile.

 

However, just a little later I sniffed my wrist again, and...wow, so beautiful! The spice came out and the florals became much gentler, and...yes, yes, yes. This is Sophia -- feminine, comforting, queenly, and endlessly deep and wise, accompanied by a white-winged embrace. It's a sweet second skin scent, soft and gentle and glowing.

 

While without the sentimentality I wouldn't consider this a "me" scent, I will definitely keep this. It's too pretty to let go.

[SophieCedar]

Wet: the 1st note that rushes towards my nostrils is star jasmine. This has me hopeful and excited.. then I descend to the wrist.. cheap soap. Uh oh.. the jumble of notes are all screaming at each other producing a 10 cent bar of yuck. Well atleast it's not band-aids!

Drydown: a little more spicy and the soap feeling isn't as strong. I think the lavender isn't getting along with the rest of it, in combination with my skin chemistry.

 

It's really funny that everyone has such different impressions of this one!

On me, I guess this makes me wonder what combination of scents were in soap a long time ago, before companies started just adding artificial chemical scents that simulate that combination. I guess this was it!

Edited October 14, 2010 by SophieCedar

[Vega]

Sniffed: A nose-tingling herbal-floral!

 

On skin: Sophia begins with a blast of herbal lavender notes, but quickly settles as the jasmine, musks and spices emerge and blend together. This is a full-bodied herbal-floral blend, sweet, soft without any edges, but with a herbal clarity. Feminine, yet elegant and a bit distant, definitely reminiscent of a thinking woman. Over time it softens into a jasmine-dominated generic floral perfume.

 

Verdict: A lovely, elegant feminine blend, but leaves me rather indifferent.