Hetairae

[zankoku_zen]

The sublimely beautiful, fiercely independent, impeccably cultured, fascinatingly worldly and witty courtesans of ancient Greece. A seductive and dazzling blend of golden honey, fiery patchouli, sweet fig and clove, and a blushing touch of ylang ylang.

In the imp: Honey, fig and clove.

On Skin: Honey and fig and something warm.

Ten minutes later: The patchouli comes out... uh oh...

Drydown: Patchouli overload. I get whiffs of the clove, but that's about it.

Verdict: It started so pretty but my skin has a tendency to amp up patchouli. Unfortunately there is nothing in this blend that makes it behave itself. Sad... it started out so pretty...

[chrisann]

LOVE. So in love with this imp I just got! Sigh. I love O. I was told to try a few other bpal scents. Sudha Segra and Hetairae being a few. Hetairae is by far the stand out perfume on me. It's sexy honey, all grown up with a deeper edge to it. All the notes play together really nice on my skin. Smelling wonderful on all levels of application. I MUST get a big bottle of this.

[Iceblink]

The patchouli is attacking! Run! I try so hard with patchouli but it's just not me. The honey note is beautiful in this but the patchouli kicks in after about 5 minutes and then whoa Jack, look out.

I will stick with O and Jezebel for my honey fix.

[supremegoddessofall]

This has a lot of my favorite notes, so I have high hopes for it. Ooh! Yummy! It's such an interesting combination of notes, and my nose doesn't know where to start first. Honey is amping on me as always, and the ylang ylang and patchouli make an interesting combination of smoky floral. The fig is subtle but present and is spiced up considerably by the clove. Definitely GC love!

[BrightRedScream]

A new day..

A new day of reviews and hoping that I have better luck with the imps that I have here.

*fingers crossed*

 

So in the imp I get a very sweet smell, with a liiiiiitle bit of spice and that touch of ylang ylang that they mention..it's QUITE pretty and I'm trying not to get high hopes - but I want this to work SO badly on my skin...

 

Mmmmm...on this is honey...and fig..and clove and...oh my..

The ylang ylang is under there just a little making this a tiny bit heady, but it gives it a great depth to make this sexy and bold.

 

As it dries the patchouli comes out a bit more, making it very sensual..and it, at least on my skin makes the ylang ylang and clove amp up a tiny bit more...

What an incredible scent....

 

[klavierbarrette]

imp: ylang ylang

 

skin: ylang ylang for a few seconds, then clove/patchouli make their appearance. i get a HINT of fig. the clove and patchouli stay in the background. it's a nice scent. would have never ordered it. yay for frimps!

[almeda]

First Sniff: Warm and slightly acrid.

On: Gets a bit more incensey, but also gets a sort of alcohol edge to it. The throw is all warm buttery incense, though. I like it. It's not quite what I'm used to thinking of as patchouli, but that's probably part of it.

Dry: It's now got an odd little baby powder feel to it, though not an unpleasant one. Sort of inoffensive incense and baby powder. No more acrid (thank goodness). My husband says, "It's like standing next to an incense display rack."

Long-Term: It turned totally into baby powder on me, but that may be my time of month. Plus, I like baby powder, so that's nice. Also, my husband and mother-in-law smelled all kinds of non-baby-powder things in it even after that was all I could smell, so maybe it's my nose. :->

[buzz23666]

I hate to say it but this makes me think of the first time I walked into a Lush store in Sydney over 6 years ago.

 

My nose and brain won't let me go any further than that.

 

It is not a bad thing - I just can give this one the attention it wants because the brain is overriding everything else.

[madeleine]

I really liked the way this smelled in the imp - just like honey, but with a strong, spicy edge to it. And then I put it on and I was stil okay, mostly. There was a green hint that came out and I liked it too. But after it had really dried and adjustesd it smelled like baklava with the same soapy/green tone. Or pineapple upsidedown cake. I think it's the fig, clove and honey combo? Anyway. Both those things smell wonderful but I don't particularly want them in my perfume if you know what I mean.

 

When I've tried some of the others I may come back to this one, but I'm not sure.

[wikkidraven]

i clung to my imp of hetairae for weeks before finally trying it...i had a lot of high hopes for this one but i'm sort of bothered by the soapy, powdery morph it goes through. it's pleasant enough, spicy and sweet, but on me it faded fast and just isn't really what i'm looking for in clovey, honey scents.

 

next!

[nancybridget]

To me this is a milky, sugared ginger. There's a drop of sandalwood. It's got a spicy kick with something resinous lying underneath.

[Electra]

Since I just recommended this in another thread, I figured I should probably review it .

 

Hetairae, on me, is floral-infused honey. The honey note is not as sticky-sweet and potentially cloying as it is in O; instead, it melds very nicely with the other notes.

 

I don't smell any patchouli (which I'd be fine with, as I like it) or clove (ditto). I probably do smell some fig, though I'm not familiar with what fig smells like so I can't swear to that. I definitely smell honey and ylang. It's really a lovely scent, and very unique. It may actually be a contender for my big bottle list -- will have to play with my imp a bit more to see if I think I'd actually wear it enough to justify a 5 mL. Will certainly be hanging onto the imp, though!

[Dandelion]

Spicy, full, fruity honey. I really can't pick out the notes other than honey (my skin AMPS THAT SHIT), but they're definitely there and add life to the scent. I like it. It's grown up, not sticky or girlish like some other honey scents. I'll be keeping the imp around, although I don't think it's going on my bottle list.

[filigree_shadow]

A lovely honey fig scent -- the patchouli makes it a little bit dark, the ylang ylang makes it a little sweet, and the clove makes it kinda spicy. I've tried this one quite a few times, and today for some reason my skin is really amping the fig. The last time it was spicier. I like the figgy version better. It's reminding me a lot of Freak Show -- if I didn't already have a bottle of that one I'd want a bottle of this one.

[theseagrows]

this smells exactly like some kind of incense i've used before, sort of like nag champa but sweeter.. it smell the honey at first, but it fades into the background when dry. something about this is similar to desire, but less...sexy and musky. i get a warm slightly wood and clove incense from this. maybe not a usual kind of scent i would like, but i am digging it right now.

[ariosa]

Hetairae. I wasn't sure how this one was going to work with me, but I'm in love. It's a lovely, soft scent, that turns a little incensey/powdery on me, but I'm totally okay with that. I have an imp of O ordered, after reading someone's review that it reminded them of the Kama Sutra honey dust powder... this also reminds me of that powder, but much, much more sultry

 

Very nice!

 

ETA: Y'know, I'm now trying this for the second time after doing a bit of slathering post-bath... it BURNED my skin (maybe didn't wait long enough after the bath!), and all I'm smelling this time is a combination of awesome, then dill pickle, and then LUSH. Lather, rinse, and then repeat. I love the way Lush smells when I walk in, but I don't know if I wanna smell like it all the time. I might try burning this in my diffuser for a room scent. We'll see. I like it, but I'm now not sure if it's for me. It's in the 'we'll see' pile, now.

Edited February 24, 2007 by ariosa

[stellans]

Again, a honey blend by Beth which is wonderful! I take back everything I ever said about honey, I swear I do. In the right hands (Beth's) it is glorious.

 

In the imp: Honey uppermost, but I can smell other good things as well. Not patchouli, to my sorrow though.

 

Wet on skin: True to how it smelled in the imp, though even now I still don't get any patchouli, nor any clove for that matter.

 

Dry: OK, this is such a great scent blend! I get only the vaguest sense of patchouli and clove, yet I do know they are there because the honey and ylang-ylang have a spicy smell they don't normall have. The formula for this blend is really stunning. I love it!

 

Verdict: I can imagine the glamorous hetairae wearing such a scent as this. My first experience with the world of the hetairae was in a novel called Glory and the Lightning, by Taylor Caldwell. This was about Pericles and his hetaira, Aspasia. It is a great book, which is still available in used book form for not much money.

Edited May 2, 2008 by stellans

[dorothy humbird]

I tested this out briefly the other day and was pleased by the honey-ylangylang I got initially, reminding me pretty strongly of La Petite Mort. However, Hetairae is most definitely its own intriguing blend, and on giving it the full day test today I'm coming to find that I really like its nuances.

 

As I said, it starts out very sweet honey with a bit of the fig's juiciness, and the floral component of the ylang ylang. It doesn't take long for the patchouli base to show itself on my skin, though. The components all seem to blend nicely for me, and I keep thinking that somehow it smells rather expensive. -- very evocative of the "worldy" courtesans the blend is intended to emulate.

 

Clove in this blend is a background element for me; I don't detect a whole lot of it, but I'm sure it's adding its magic all the same. Overall: just my type of blend -- a little sweet, a little resin, a little fruit or floral (or both!), a little spice. Balanced perfectly and blended by a genius. Thanks, Beth... this is beautiful.

[steffanina]

Hetairae-

 

In Bottle: Floral and incense and sweet.

 

Wet: Ooh, that dry pale acetone scent is here, but instead of smelling like Juicy Fruit, it smells like sunscreen. It's interesting.

 

Dry: I kind of like the light sunscreen scent; the bit of clove that's advertised does underlie this. It's sweet, honey-like, spicy, a tiny bit incense-y. Not bad at all! It doesn't last long but it's light and nice.

 

Overall: I like.

[Nia]

Wet, this smells only of candy, and a bit like a synthetic-flavour strawberry candy. Fig can do that to me.

 

Dry, the candy is controlled by the spicy notes. I smell like a expensive dessert, like some berry concoction with clove. As time passes, the spice takes over the candy. A very sophisticated scent.

[grifyn_whiffs]

I'm on a serious honey kick lately, but the fiery patchouli really gives me pause.

 

To start: Earthy honey. Not bad actually -- smells very warm and sweet.

 

As it dries, it's getting quite a bit sweeter, the one-two punch of the sweet fig and clove, I'm guessing. They work nicely here.

 

Drying more, it's sweet, but without the patchouli there, it would be intolerably sweet. The patchouli grounds it well. This is actually appealing very much to my current autumn mood, which started at midnight on August 1, by the way.

 

This finishes very dry, slightly powdery. Damn -- I liked it until then! It's not worth a 5ml for me, but a nice lesson in how patchouli can "work" in a blend for a person who usually goes out of their way to avoid it.

[Rouge]

I love honey and fig, so I've been looking forwards to trying this blend for a long time.

 

In the vial - Honey and fierce, thick patchouli. It certainly brings to mind a strong, independent woman adept in using her wiles to seduce and ensnare her clients!

 

Wet on the skin - For some reason, I'm getting a very elemental vibe to this oil; there's an overwhelming feeling of earth and fire. Again, patchouli is the strongest note but the honey and the warm fig note lend a certain softness that keeps it from being overpowering. Some people may find this blend a little harsh when fresh from the lab, but I have no doubt that the oil will mature and mellow as it ages.

 

Dry down - Ahhh. That's better. After the passionate heat of the first few minutes in the hetairae's chamber, she stretches out almost languidly and becomes slow and sensual. This blend develops over time into a rich thick scent dripping with honey, spices, and a slow curl of incense smoke.

 

To sum up; fierce, passionate and extremely sexy.

[hkhm]

imp: clovey patchouli with fig. this is quite strong and slluring.

 

wet: urg. here comes the ylang ylang which always smells so awful to me. if only this did not have ylang ylang it would smell perfect. my skin seems to amplify this scent and i just loathe the scent of it.

 

dry: i still can't get past the ylang ylang. i just do not like the scent of it. too bad. i would have loved to have told someone that my perfume was 'hetairae'. oh well. other than that: the honeyed, clovey patchouli is gorgeous.

[Brianne]

This was one of those blends that I had always wanted to try but just... never did. Lucky me, I got it in a swap today! (Thanks Sistinas!). It is VERY patchouli at first - patchouli and honey, but mostly the patchouli lol. I don't get fig or clove in this, but I does become somewhat powdery in the drydown. I suspect that's probably the honey - the end result is pleasant. I don't think I'll keep this because I have a lot of patchouli blends I really love, but this is nice!

[mspixieears]

First things to hit me are the honey and ylang ylang, maybe even the fig. This is a sweet floral fragrance, though as it begins to dry I get the patchouli. It’s all very seductively blended. Sadly, the sweetness doesn’t stay around as long as I’d like. I think my body chemistry eats this up far too quickly and I want it to stay honeyed and sweeter for longer. I like it enough to keep, however.