Absinthe

[Bluestocking]

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.

In the imp: Airy and green, light and refreshing. Wonderful, dead-on smell of pastis/absinthe, with the anise and mint out in front, followed by the cardamom and a nice, bright squirt of lemon. I'm not getting the wormwood bitterness or hyssop per se, but this is really well blended, so I'm sure they're in here, in a subtle way. It really does remind me of a chilled, licoricey glass of pastis.
On, wet: More lemon, bright and tart, paired with the sweeter anise and mint, although the more herbal wormwood and hyssop are beginning to show up. It's a nice, light lemon, enough to be refreshing, but not enough to take over or bring to mind any cleaning products.
On, dry: So nice! The anise, mint and cardamom are at the center of this now (as it should be), sweet and green and slightly spicy, while the lemon is still hanging around in the background, a little bit tart, and the hyssop and wormwood are herbal and slightly bitter beneath, holding the sweetness in check. Really cool and surprisingly complex (but light). Throw is light, but I'm getting nice whiffs of it.
Later: The same, but very faint. Stays in balance, though.
Overall: Fizzy, light, green and refreshing as a cold glass of pastis (or absinthe!) on a hot, humid day. I wasn't sure I'd like this one, but it brings back a lot of good memories of sipping pastis during a really hot summer, and it really nails the concept. It's very smooth and well balanced, with no one component taking over… although if you can't stand/can't wear licorice-type scents, then this is one to skip. But it's fresh and light enough to wear in hot weather, and between the citrus, mint and anise, I'm thinking I just found a great new scent for the summer. Thanks for the frimp, labbies! Edited May 29, 2009 by Bluestocking

[sweetpessimism]

In bottle: Oh - it's sharp. Almost citrusy for a second.. What is that? I know that smell, I know it, but I can't... Licorice! That's it! Black licorice! I really, really don't like eating black licorice, but this smell.. I quite like this smell. Almost a Root Beer-ish smell.

 

Wet on skin: Oh, definitely licorice. Licorice, licorice, licorice.

 

On the drydown: Leaning slightly more towards Root Beer now.. In a pleasant way. Like the way the fizz of the Root Beer smells, freshly opened. It's rather nice. Definitely a.. Decisive scent, if that makes sense. It's very sure of itself. A confident scent. Not in a sexy way, but in a gonna-kick-some-ass way. Very cool. For some reason, I expected Absinthe to smell green.. Because of the whole Green Fairy thing, and Absinthe being green.. But I didn't know what Absinthe was supposed to smell like.

 

Coming back to note: Smells exactly like absinthe. Now that I've actually tried the drink, I can say this for sure!

[pseedie]

~~~absinthe~~~

 

i gotta preface this post with the fact that i don't drink. ("oh, she must have had a problem with it before") never have. ("what? no way.") never even been drunk before. ("you gotta be kidding. she must be really religious then or have some strange allergy to flammable materials or something") Nope. Just thought it was cooler to rebel against the "cool" (aka jocks, cheerleaders, etc.) kids in school than my parent. Plus I have enough trouble with reality as it is, without messing it up in unknown ways....so i don't imbibe nor take drugs (don't need to do that...already have that reality problem as it is!) Certainly don't look down on those that DO imbibe, as a matter of fact, some of my greatest friends are heavy imbibers (Uber-imbibers?) that HATE the fact I don't drink when they first meet me (cuz i ent drunk and they are and i remember things) until they realize i'm a built in designated driver. Popularity and comfort level obviously has a direct relationship with utilitarianism in this case....

 

Anyhoo, i do try alcohol....any drink that sounds like it has nice ingredients I will sample. So I have sampled Absinthe (with wormwood) on one occasion and really enjoyed the experience.....flaming sugarcube and all.... I love anise, mint, cardamom (which i didn't even know was in there til i read the description!) so I thought I'd be headed in the right direction with this imp. But I was also hesitant, cuz heck, who wants to go around smelling like an alcoholic drink! It's a very Demeter thing to do, and they usually don't smell all that nice....

 

....but this smells niiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiice. Really niiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiice. Nice like niiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiice. When I tasted absinthe (the drink, not the imp.) there was a definite bitter taste...what's lovely about the fragrance is that there's very little bitterness. just niiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiice. The anise, wormwood and lemon were easily discernable in the imp, but when i put the fragrance on, it went all lemon pledge on wood....but the drydown brought the anise back to the surface. My skin amps lemon something fierce, so it took a good hour before the prevailing notes were wormwood and anise again, and it was worth the wait. True to the drink....actually BETTER than the drink due to the lack of bitterness. I doubt I'll have a need for a full bottle, but I will certainly keep an imp or two around for those times when i feel a bit green..... or when i want to confuse my drunken friends...

[tartchef]

Good heavens. This is delicious! How has this flown under my radar for so long?! Lamia, you goddess, thank you for whipping this out at the M&S yesterday!

 

I've had a bit of a thing for the pale green scents lately, and Absinthe fits the bill perfectly. Fresh & herby & anise-y, all juicy wet stems dipped in sugar & swirled in a glass of ice. The lemon is indeed just a hint, but it really snaps. This is my grandad's glass of Pernod, sweating on the cafe table in the summer's heat, and I am sneaking sugar cubes & dipping them in the milky drink when no one's looking. It lasts longer on my skin than I'd expected, but stays nice & clean & bittersweet - yes, I need an imp of this for summer

[Eucatastrophe]

Unfortunately, from wet to dry this just smells like black licorice to me and I am not a fan of black licorice at all. Very decent throw so far though, if anyone's interested.

 

ETA: It's settled down now into something spicy. Not really getting anything green or bright smelling.

Edited July 14, 2009 by Eucatastrophe

[crebbsgirl]

This is one of the most intriguing scents ever. It smells almost exactly like it's namesake on me. During the wet stages, the mint and anise are VERY prominent. As it dries, they calm down a bit and the blend takes on a soft herbal quality. The cardamom is quite nice here, and the lemon is very faint on me. I love this, but I have no idea where or how often I would actually wear it!

[earlgreyellie]

i'm a huge fan of absinthe (the drink), so i HAD to try the bpal scent. it pretty much smells exactly like absinthe verte and it's wonderful. the anise is very strong at first, but eases up after a few minutes of wearing it. the only problem with this scent is that it doesn't last very long. i definitely need to re-apply throughout the day. overall, i would definitely recommend this for anyone who loves absinthe or licorice.

[claudia6913]

All I can smell in this blend is lemon it seems, to the point it smells like pledge on me. I kind of knew the lemon and mint would be killer (as some people with the same tastes/skin chemistry have shown), but I had to give it a try because of the name. The anise is also a killer as I absolutely loathe black licorice.

 

[RachelElizabeth]

I have a bottle of actual absinthe and I swear, if you waved that and the BPAL bottle under my nose when I was blindfolded, I wouldn't be able to tell the difference .

 

This is the truest scent I've ever come across. Not only is it incredibly true to its inspiration, it stays remarkably true on my skin - it smells the same 4 hours after application as it does wet.

 

This is very herbal - I definitely get the mint, anise, and cardamom, and just a teensy hint of lemon. There's a slight booziness to it on me that keeps it true to life.

 

It has good throw and about 4-6 hours staying power on me. Definitely a keeper.

[topazphoenix]

Mints and anise and lemons. Mmm. There's the barest hint of something that smells like those licorice candies, must be the anise.

[BuxomM]

It smells like lemon and some licorise (anise). The lemon is strong and tarta and at the front. As it dries the anise gets a bit stronger.

Edited March 16, 2010 by BuxomM

[devilot]

Absinthe

 

Mainly getting anise and lemon. Not "good" lemon on me, either. Pass, pass, pass. Ugh.

[voorishsign]

"After the first glass, you see things as you wish they were. After the second, you see things as they are not. Finally, you see things as they really are, and that is the most horrible thing in the world."

- Oscar Wilde

 

I ordered this mostly because I like absinthe the drink, and this scent definitely doesn't disappoint. Strong but not too-strong anise and mint, with a hint of lemon and something deeper. The only thing I didn't really take into consideration that wearing absinthe as a perfume would basically make you smell of nothing but licorice all day, which in retrospect I really don't need - I'm not one for foody scents. I'll try to swap it, but even if I find no takers, I still like it enough to keep it around.

Edited September 27, 2009 by voorishsign

[mazaru]

oh my god. Oh my god. It smells of licorice and lemon and wormwood and being 17.

[animalcule]

I looooove it. My favorite so far.

 

In the imp, smells exactly like absinthe, even with a bit of alcoholic tang.

 

On, it is lemon and anise. I adore anise. It lasts a good long while, for me (my dry skin sucks up BPAL and nothing I have tried has much throw or longevity, so I am happy to still be able to smell it a couple hours later).

 

It is phenomenal in my hair, as well, more lemony than on the skin.

[ouch!]

This blend opens with a burst of sugary mint with the lemon and cardamom. It's quite refreshing, almost like drinking a cocktail.

Then the anise creeps in and the sugar amps up to an almost burnt brown sugar smell. (Which is really appropriate as you are supposed to burn sugar into absinthe when you drink it in order to take off the edge) Genius!!!

 

Then the mint backs off and it's going more like brown thick liquorice with a citrussy element (Cardamom). The whole time this blend has an underlying sweetness behind all of the notes that are sparkling on the top i'e the citrus, the mints etc.

 

Dryer still, the mints have almost vanished and it's really sugary, the cardamom, anise and a slight citrus are all that's left and it's very faint.

This blend eventually dies down to a faded sugary smell.

 

All this happens VERY quickly. Literally 5 minutes. This blend doesn't work for me.

Edited October 16, 2009 by ouch!

[Diva Urd]

Vial: Slightly lemony, VERY licorice-y, with a dark undertone and slight booziness. Reminds me a lot of Ouzo, or black licorice Jelly Bellies

 

On: Beautiful citrussy licorice. I always heard absinthe was very bitter, but the scent does not convey bitterness at all. This is fresh, clean and herby, very much yellowish-green. Too bad the husband isn't fond of it, since he doesn't like licorice... but I quite like this so far.

 

Later: After an hour, it gets very faint. Maybe it'll work better when worn on my clothes. I do like it, but since I'd have to constantly re-apply and the husband isn't enamored with it, I think I'll stick to the imp.

[loubric]

This is a lovely and refreshing scent.

Smelling the IMP it has a very alcohol smell to it.

On me it’s very strong! In a good way. It first had hints of cherry licorice liquor but now about an hour later it’s died down to a lovely minty fresh smell. It’s a very cool wintery slightly floral smell and reminds me of winter’s in England when I lived in a tiny fishing village by the sea. WONDERFUL!!

[litaphoenix]

Oh, yes! This is the Green Fairy.

 

Nummy anise, a bite of lemon, and an underlying bitterness under a bit of flamed sugar. I slathered, and was rewarded with a lovely, balanced anise-y cloud. :-D This imp is going in my purse with my Pain imp for anytime I need a olfactory pick-me-up! I will need a bottle, asap.

 

The throw seemed pretty good, and lasted a while on me... definitely for a few hours. Scents (that aren't resins) don't usually cling to me, so I was very pleased.

[tajana]

Starts off with a squirt of lemon, turns into a minty anise, dries down into an anisey, vaguely spicy-herbal scent close to the skin. The throw is subtle and all anise. Smells green and absinthe-y. Not much else to say about this. Meh. It's light and refreshing in its own way, only slightly boozy, but I rarely appreciate anise, so I don't care for this blend either.

[donnatron]

Imp: Wow, this totally does smell like absinthe! Maybe a little less punchy than the real stuff (lacks the alcohol zing) but really true to scent.

 

Wet: Lemonland. With a bit of dusty wormwood. No sight of my beloved anise and cardamom.

 

Dry: This backs off and morphs enough that I don't smell like the local drunk at a tavern adjacent to the Moulin Rouge. The primary note is lemon with the other notes making the scent deeper and more complex. I'm not sure if I like this. It's interesting, definitely, but a little too... absinthe-y. Dry and herbal--seems almost like a medicinal aromatherapy blend.

 

Throw: Mild.

 

Overall: I dunno. It's interesting and works well on my skin, it just kind of perplexes me.

[Amaroq]

The first whiff of it I got reminded me exactly of an extract that we had when I was very young, but I couldn't remember what it was... I read the first few posts in this thread, and I figure it must have been licorice extract. I can say that on first smell, it did come off as being very boozy.

 

All I get in the imp and wet on the skin is a swift kick to the face of black licorice and the slightest hint of mint that goes right to my sinuses. Dry, I still get the mint chill, with slightly less licorice (which I assume is the anise) and slightly more wood, if I take a deep breath.

 

Edit: Just read a few more posts... THAT is what this smells like. ROOT BEER. And I hate root beer. Too bad... but I will definitely recommend this to the fans of black licorice and root beer whom I know.

 

The edit strikes back: This smells lovely on my mum. The imp belongs to her now.

Edited December 14, 2009 by Amaroq

[sirensea]

Mint, mint, mint. Pure mint with a hint of licorice. Very nice! It's almost a little TOO sweet when it dries, but that's not necessarily a bad thing, because for me, it means the scent stays on for a longer amount of time.

 

Not a bottle purchase, but definitely something I'll consider wearing again in the future.

[atyourcervix]

bottle: mint and lilacs, and a teeny bit of lemon I think. pretty.

 

wet: lilac.

 

dry: lilacs! am I crazy??

[starfish327]

this may be the imp that brings my boy over to the dark side. he says that it smells exactly like absinthe- eerily so. i'll take his word for it.