Ashenrook

Oh jeez... Troll did not play nice with me at ALL and while I would write up a nice segmented review for it, every phase of this scent can be summed up in three words: DO. NOT. WANT. While the smell of it in the bottle did seem slightly pleasant, if not rather overwhelming, it was anything but pleasant on my skin. The blurb I used to describe this to a friend is "It smells like I just bathed in Polo cologne and Pine Sol". I did not pick out any of the lovely spices like the cumin, basil, or clove. It was just nothing but pine, pine, pine, more pine, a whole lotta musk, and a spear of vetiver lodged firmly in my cranium. The latter of that ramble saddens me because I normally LIKE vetiver – but in moderation. This was the only scent, currently, that I have ever tried to remove before it naturally wore off. But it wouldn't come off and it only became WORSE as time went on. The longer it sat, the more acrid and fake it became. No sir, I didn't like it.

First review! WOO! Anyhoo, gettin' down to brass tacks... In the Bottle It's very sweet, but it's not punching my face in like Persephone did. The notes of white tea and gardenia are at the forefront. On Skin: Wet It has a very delicate start with the white tea, gardenia, and gladiola – where eventually the rose is starting to peek through. Oddly, I do not smell ANY patchouli, which is very odd since it's one of the few notes that's generally right there out of the gate. On Skin: Dry Still no patchouli... Odd. The amber is starting to manifest more, wrapping me up in a big warm blanket. The white tea is starting to fade to the background and leave gardenia and rose in its wake. But... there is something that's showing up that's turning faintly 'plastic-y' on me... I want to say it's the gladiola, since this is the first time I've ever worn a scent with that note, but I could be wrong. Afternotes Ahhhh... THERE'S the patchouli – But even then, it is extremely faint in comparison to the lingering scent of gardenia. Something about this scent makes me picture going out to afternoon tea in spring. Iambe has that refined, gentile, nature to it with its soft florals and firm, yet non-obtrusive, earthy backing with the amber and patchouli. It could make a lovely afternoon bath scent, though, since I don't see it very much being a 'bedtime' sort. Iambe is a soothing, yet reassuring, smell that is much like the being this is named after – It is of comfort, of love, gentility, and support. This is, definitely, a tea and sympathy perfume. Verdict On an American scholastic grading scale of A to F, A being best, I would give Iambe a solid B. While I would have entertained giving it a B+ or an A, the plastic-y note that showed up during drydown knocked it down a peg. However, this is something I could likely see in my slowly growing 5ML collection.