Absinthe

[angelicruin]

Fall under the spell of our Green Fairy! An intoxicating blend containing wormwood essence, light mints, cardamom, anise, hyssop, and the barest hint of lemon.

Imp: minty lemon

Wet: Predominantly lemon

Dry: Still lemon, a bit more floral with mint undertones

Very refreshing scent. Makes me think of summer.

[Methos]

The only thing I smelled was green alcohol... and sugar, if I tried hard enough. Not a scent for me.

[cemeterypolka]

I must preface my review by stating that the imp I have is 2 or 3 years old, so this will be a review of Aged Absinthe:

 

in the imp: It smells like the real thing, only not nearly as boozy. Mostly minty anise, but smelling ever so slightly like NyQuil (much like real absinthe).

 

on my skin: Oh, this is delightful. It smells very French and springy. It's very subtle, yet it has a distinct mood about it; quietly and elegantly dangerous. It reminds me of something Anais Nin would have worn.

 

drydown: It gets more lemony, but the anise is still holding its own, so it's not Pledge-like. I quite like this.

 

I have a 5ml of this somewhere, about the same age, and I'm gonna go dig it out and start wearing this more often.

 

rating: 4/5

[kjirstiben]

I am thrilled by Absinthe... a completely new scent experience and, I think, probably an addition to my list...

 

Initially on, it's a hit of alcohol-y anise... or maybe anise-y alcohol... I've never had absinthe the drink, but I have had ouzo, and this was ouzo--for the first minute or so after I put it on I smelled rather as though I were doused in ouzo. Thankfully, this quickly passed and as the oil dried down it turned to a citrussy anise scent, a little strong, but nice. And after a half hour or so, Absinthe is a sparkly green scent, all mint and anise. Over the course of the day it fades out--I put more on at lunchtime but by dinner it's almost gone, so this isn't a super-long-lasting scent!

 

I can see, though, that this is probably a love it or hate it scent--it all depends on how you feel about black licorice. If, like me, you picked the black jellybeans out of the bag to eat first (and gave the rest to your little brother), you'll probably like this scent.

[Coldfire]

Imp: mint, lemon and the wormwood for me

Wet on Me: mint, wormwood and the anise now with whispers of lemon

Drying Down: less mint, more anise and the woody scent

Dry: hmmmm this is interesting. I’m glad I have an imp, but probably won’t get a bottle.

[MeiLin]

In the imp: Mint. Oh, this smells like something I know, not absinthe because I don't know what absinthe smells like! Smiling It's a candy or something, dang, wish I could remember what this is.

 

Wet: Lemon! happy Mei! Really full, sweet but not too sweet lemon! Barest hint my Aunt Fanny!

 

Dry: Anise, hyssop, mint, and lemon at the back. Lovely, sporty, cheerful daytime scent that could be unisex on the right guy. I'll probably collect imps rather than buy a bottle.

[galahad]

In The Bottle

Citrussy herbal

On Application

Sweet, dusty lemon peel. Bitter/sweet

Dry Down

If the lemon stayed bright this would have had a chance of working for me but I think the anise and cardamom muddied the scent for me. Just when I had given up this has really caught my attention again. It has become a bitter (bitter!) lemon sherbert. Now deserves a full wear test.

 

Rating (0-5)

3

[Aldercy]

Absinthe is... well, so far it's a lemon orgy. Brutal lemon. With a razor-sharp bit of sterile mint. When I sniff my wrist, I get this prickly cold sensation in the back of my throat a second later-- the sort of feeling that numbing cough drops produce. I'm sensing a tiny bit of anise after awhile, particularly if I just catch a whiff of Absinthe from afar, but not enough to make any significant impact of the citrus. Sadly, this is like medicine or cleaning fluid on me. Too concentrated.

[kbrighton]

Initial impression wet. Ick, lemon cleanser.

 

Dries down to a nice herbal smell. I like it a lot. It stick close to the skin though and i can only appreciate it with my nose to my wrist.

 

Don't know if it's worth putting up with the lemon cleanser to get to the good stuff.

[KassiK]

When I first put this on, I got Minty lemon, then pinesol (for about 10 seconds) and now that it's dry, it smells exactly like licorice on me. If I breathe deeply, I can detect some of the notes, but for some reason they all blend together to make nothing but licorice.

 

I happen to not like licorice, so this will be going to a better home.

 

 

Husband's Note: At first you smelled like limes. Now you smell like rotten limes.

[rayvn1]

Same reacton as Columbine - lemon, more lemon, and even more with a dash of lemon pledge Now that it's sat for a few hours I get some of the herbs and can see a vague resemblance to the Carnaval's L'heure Verte. I gotta say I prefer L'heure, though, overall.

[aviva]

a dark green, murky scent. it's not spot on for actual absinthe, but i love it anyway. my 5ml smelled differently than my friend's imp, but i rather like mine better, it's less minty.

 

a keeper, for sure.

[Indigo78]

Sweet, airy, and bright. It's got that brat note, anise, teasing with the sweetness it offers like a promise of sugar that never pans out. The cardamom hangs out clear in the back. Rather than licorice, my overall impression of this is spiced black gumdrops - the kind with the crunchy sugar crust. Since I loathe licorice but love gumdrops, this works out well.

 

Short-average wearlength, and strong sillage while it lasts.

Edited February 9, 2009 by Indig0

[Spork]

First on - LEMONLEMONLEMON yikes

 

After drying down - mmm, anise with a hint of lemon and mint, nice! Just have to get past the first minute or two and it's gooood! Lasts a nice long while, though after about 5 hours I have to put my nose really close to smell it. Definitely a keeper .

[catatonic1242]

In the bottle: Alcohol/boozy with just a hint of anise.

 

On, wet: Lemon and anise without the boozy smell.

 

On, dry: Airy and sweet, with just a hint of mint underneath a cover of lemon. I like it, but I'm worried that with a few hours wear, it will fade into cleaning solution -- the lemon is very strong.

 

A few hours later: It faded, but not into anything. It's just gone. I liked it while it was around, though.

Edited February 15, 2009 by catatonic1242

[Ajila]

In the bottle – Fresh and bright, definitely the liquorice/anise/fennel scent of the wormwood and a light coolness from the mints

 

Wet on me – The lemon comes through; it’s like freshly cut lemon grass

 

Dry on me – Fresh, bright green with a sparkle and depth that keep making me want to sniff

 

Overall – The only negative to this was that it didn’t last as well as I wanted to

 

[savage_rose]

I remember trying this years ago and not liking it. So, trying it again:

 

It was definitely the fennel I didn't like before...it smelled too strong and bitter. But on, I'm liking this a lot! It balances nicely with the lemon, and the sweet effervescence. It's definitely a mood-lifting scent without being silly or giddy. Mmmm, I'm really digging this!

[Yukaeshi]

I got an imp of this, and was one of the many BPAL perfume oils I'd like to try (Along with Embalming Fluid). As much as I wanted to like it, I was quite disappointed by it.

 

Initial Impression: I don't smell any lemon here, but I would describe it overall as being minty and spicy.

Wet: Still very minty. Hints of spice... anise?

Dry: I smell of anise and fennel... mainly spice. My friend who noticed the smell (As well as knowing about BPAL) tells me it reminds her of gingerbread.

 

I guess I'm just not that big a fan of spices/spicy perfume, and not being able to detect the lemon was a con for me

 

[zomathesadist]

I loooooove anise and mint, so I had hopes for this one.

 

wet in imp: hello lemon.

 

wet on skin: I got smacked in the face with a ton of lemon. Definitely not getting any mint, and there's the barest hint of something sharp in the background which may be the anise. Not really digging it so far.

 

drydown: i hate to say it...lemon Pledge.

 

verdict: the imp was given away already. If I got more of the herbal sweetness, it'd be a different story, but it's way too sharp and sour on me.

[copagirl]

I had such high hopes for this, I love Absinthe and the smell of anise. In the imp I got a little boozy smell, a little anise and some sweet lemon. Once I put it on though, all I could smell was a sweet lemon lime smell, like 7-up. Real sweet concentrated 7-up. Kinda nice for a summer day but not what I hoped for!

[magikalbrownies]

oh man--- i love this, it smells so lemony and minty... like a mint mojito but i smell wormwood...OH YES...

 

this one is a winner. its just sweet and lovely.

 

 

[CynicalPink]

Imp: Candy and mint, but not mint candy

 

Wet: Mint and licorice with a bit of lemon after a few second

 

Drydown: Mint and anise cookies with some lemon zest.

 

Overall: I'm totally on board the Mojito description, and I'm guessing it's the wormwood that's giving it such a unique edge. It's a really neat scent, I just know I'd never wear it.

[Mishinka]

I don't know what wormwood smells like. I'm guessing probably woody and bitter. In the imp I definitely smell the anise straight away. Wet, I don't know what this "barest hint of lemon" is about, because phew, lemon liek whoa. Lemon and anise. There's a bit of herbiness behind it at first, but it goes straight to Lemon Pledge as it dries. Though now I can smell some kind of floral in the room, though I'm not sure if that's the Absinthe or the Hello, I'm A Great Whopping Pile of Imps on the Shelf Over Here next to me.

 

It's really stubborn lemon and anise, too, because washing my hands a moment ago didn't have much of an impact on the scent.

[sadtomato]

this smells a lot like absinthe! the minty, anise kind of smell.

wow.

pretty impressive.

that said...i don't think it's something i really want to walk around smelling like.

but it's a nice trip down memory lane!

[Delirium1009]

In bottle/imp: Herbal, minty, and citrus-y all at the same time.

 

Immediately on skin: This smells minty with a touch of citrus and some very smooth herbs and spices. The mint hits me first, but it’s so smooth and not astringent at all. After just a moment of sniffing, the lemon comes out a bit more.

 

After a little while: The anise comes forward, and the mint, lemon, and spices fall into the background. This is sort of a fresh but potent anise scent now, with the other notes just adding a little extra body.

 

Overall Impressions: I was intrigued by the scent at first, but the amount of anise that came out ruined it for me. It was nice to try however, and has an interesting unisex feel to it.