Sylph

[wickedgoddess]

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From Encyclopedia Mythica: A sylph is an immortal yet soulless (elemental) being that inhabits the air.

Wet - primarily lavendar.

Dry - I can tell there is something else lurking in here with the lavendar, is it bergamot? I think there are some herbs as well.

This is a very pretty, soothing blend, but it stays very close to the skin. It appears to disappear very quickly, but it does eventually come back as a powdery lavendar. It's still lasting after two hours, but it's just so faint that I really have to put my nose right down to my wrist to get a sniff. If this had any kind of throw at all, I would love it, but it's just too light on my skin.

On the wickedgoddess scale of 1 to 5, with 5 being best, this rates a 3.

[Lilithlefay]

In the bottle I smell lots of lavendar.

 

On the skin the lavendar is still there but there is something citrusy, I wonder if that is verbena? After wearing I smell some light floral as well. This just gets prettier as time goes by. The lavendar has all but faded and all I can smell is that pretty floral/citrus scent, and I am not usually a fan of citrus notes!!!

 

This scent absolutely captures the essence of sylphs to me...it is so pretty!!! I think I will be wearing this quite a bit.

[UltraViolet]

In the bottle

light, bight citrussy lavender

 

On

playful and bright lemon maybe some orange or grapefruity too Im' not sure.

It's more astringent smelling but not too much at all. Herby from the lavender. I do get the feeling of being lighter than air with this, that is amazing.

It's getting just a tad powdery which is nice because it did start out so acidic.

It's still fresh light lemony and wonderful

 

30 minutes

I do agree with the gender neutral aspect of this blend because while it's bright light and lovely, it's not really feminine but not masculine either. It's not sweet at all, in the least.

It's lasted longer than I thought it would.

 

Throw:

average

 

Scent category:

citrus/herbal

 

Summary

A lovely bright, airy, lemony clean scent.

 

Purchase again?

Yes. A 5ml

 

1-5 rating (5 being best)

4

Edited September 7, 2005 by UltraViolet

[aidenraine]

Sylph- Air....

 

Ok, I didn't expect "Air" to appeal to me as an elemental. I am a Water sign and I gravitate towards scents representing earth more than anything else.

 

This a delicious herby-lavender-citrus blend while on my wrist. It's incredibly calming and I am enjoying it. The citrus keeps it from being too sleepy of a scent.

 

After about fifteen minutes the lavender takes a back seat to the citrus (vageuly bergamot) and the herbs.

 

It dries eventually into something really herby.

[coulrophobe]

In the imp: Lavender... hmm, usually not a good note for me.

 

Wet: Lavender, yes - but also citrus. The lavender's almost overwhelmed by lemon - not pledgy lemon, but a clean, bright lemon. These aren't usually notes that work on me, but this is kind of a nice change - a bit sharp, but very airy.

 

Drydown: This goes extremely soapy on me (not necessarily a bad thing, I kind of like soap!). It's pleasant, but has lost some of the airy-ness I'd expect from this elemental. Still, very clean and fresh, a good spring and summer scent.

[Barb25]

In the bottle - citrus and lavender

 

On me - yup, I concur, citrus, lavender, and herbs. After a while, the citrus stands out the most, then the herbs, with the lavender moving to the background.

 

I wasn't expecting to like an Air scent either, but it is really nice. Not quite bottle-worthy, but very nice.

[sihaya09]

Elementals: Sylph [air]::

(Origin: TAL circular swap.) Citrus. Lemongrass and bergamot, with something herbal in the background, like basil and lavender. The scent reminded me quite a bit of Dream Formula: Nanshe. Of the elementals I've sampled, this is the best. It gently helped me to focus and calm, and for that, I would use this if ever I acquired more.

[grrrlennyl]

at first: light and fresh.

on: citrussy or...maybe it's ozone. interesting.

1 hour later: odd. salty.

2.5 hours later: salty and powdery. odd. very light.

overall: this just didn't do anything for me.

[sarada]

Woo, this is the first elemental I've been able to sample!

 

As others have said, lavender is definitely there. Lavender is something that I associate mainly with either bath products or aromatherapy, though it does work marvellously in many blends (like old Scratch!). In this blend it is striking me mainly as the kind of lavender that would be intended for aromatherapy or a similar purpose.

 

There's also a strong sense of...dust, actually. It makes me think of something musty and dusty...not quite moldy though. More like the scent of an old dusty bookshop, with motes of dust floating in the air on a sunbeam. Not an oppressive scent, just that musty old book smell. And there's a hint of a lemony fragrance as well.

 

I think of a dimly lit room with some dusty sprigs of lavender hanging to freshen the air, a mug of lemon tea and shelves and shelves of old books.

 

I'd enjoy this as a room scent in the morning (if I was ever awake in the morning) or as an after-bath scent.

[dreadeddragon]

In the bottle: Light citrus and lavender

 

First on: I have to search for it, it's a very light scent. Very airy and dreamlike. I can see where it might turn soapy (please no) later on.

 

Drydown: I even put more on after writing the above, and I still can't find it very easily. It's a clean scent, that's all I can tell. It does fit the description of a sylph, as it seems to be there, yet not. Much as a sylph exists, but has no soul.

[OriginalWacky]

Bottle (Imp): A hint of mint and *very* herby.

 

Just On: Very green and herby.

 

An hour or two later: Still herby, much less bite to it. Maybe lavender, but not the kind that jumps right up my nose and hurts my brain.

 

Around 6 hours: Hmmm, almost more of a citrus scent now, not so much lavender.

 

12 hours: It's pretty much gone now.

 

Overall: It's okay, but it isn't something I'm going to give up an arm or leg for.

 

After reading other reviews: It seems my nose was smelling the same things others were, which is good. ALl in all, a very nice scent, thought not really my style.

[PurringPulsar]

Sylph

 

In the imp: lavender lemon-smells like an aromatherapy blend!

Wet on skin: still a citrusy lavender.

Dry on skin: this is a lovely lavender scent with a tangy citrus twist to it. There may be lemon or lime here-but I think there's also orange blossom/neroli here. This is a bright and zingy, fresh and breezy scent, almost cologne like, with lavender toning it down.

After a while: my skin has a tendency to amp up orange blossom, which is no bad thing. Now I can't smell lavender, but I get lots of citrus and orange blossom in this.

The drydown after a few hours is a very faint and slightly soapy citrus scent. It does fade pretty fast.

Verdict: I'm unsure of the purpose of this scent apart from the fact that sylphs are the elementals of air. Scent-wise, this is a light, bright, tangy scent of citrus, orange blossom and lavender. This is a very pleasant and refreshing scent, the only downside is that it doesn't last on me. I do like it though and I will keep the decant of it.

[k00kaburra]

In bottle:Slightly spiced white floral blended with lavender.

 

On me: The floral note that no one else seems to detect fades away after a few minutes on the skin, so perhaps I only imagined it. The scent that remains is quite like a typical men's colonge. Brisk and slightly herbal, with heavy lavender, it reminds me strongly of one of BPAL's men's fragrances, but I can't figure out which specific one. Never mind. After a decent amount of time has passed (an hour, at least) it mellows pleasantly to a calm, slightly citrused blend.

[undergroundwoman]

I've been tossing this in and out of the cart all day, so I decided to go try my imp of it again. And it went right back in my cart. So I thought I'd try to add my thoughts here and help out any other people debating this one.

 

Lavender is pretty much the scent I have been raised on so I'm of course delighted with it. It's a very fresh, clean lavender, with some sort of citrus-herb vibe to it, which means it has my name all over it. It's almost "shower fresh." Shower gel-y. It's kind of biting at first, but calms down and I think is quite gorgeous. Probably one of my favorite BPAL lavenders--very different from the others I've tried. A lot of the other ones seem sort of earthier, and this is, go figure, airier.

 

As aidenraine said, I was surprised to have been drawn to this one since I'm a water sign person (and as a geoscience type I rather like the earth ones too), but the description of this one now that I see it blends beautifully with what I associate as key traits of my personality. I don't know if superconscious is the same as hyperconscious, but I'm going to pretend they are, considering Notes from Underground was a seminal text in my intellectual development (in that case one would think I'd go for Gnome, but that one was stinky on me). I'm not much of a magickal person per se, but I can see the cleanliness of this one helping clear my mind so I can just sit down and right my darn thesis up. Which explains why I am sitting here writing BPAL reviews of course.

 

edit, 1/11/06:

Now that I have my full bottle from the anniversary update (as opposed to my decanted imp from earlier this summer), I notice a definite change in the way this smells. It is a ton more herby/green, which I love, so I am definitely not complaining! It now has this chammomile or sage or sweetgrass edge to it. Like breaking off a piece of sagebrush and inhaling deeply from the broken stem. Gorgeous. I may be trying to find another bottle.

Edited January 11, 2006 by undergroundwoman

[cupide430]

A fairly strong lavender with a heavy citrussy edge. Very cool smelling with a cologney tone to it. It is fairly herbal though mostly citrussy cologne on me. A bit similar to the way Bed of Nails was citrussy.

[Little Bird]

Yup. This smells like lavender and citrus. Lavender just smells so boring on me, and I'm not fond of citrus... so this isn't working well with me. In the drydown a bit of a dryer sheet ozone smell comes into play.

 

This one disappears so quickly. It's gone within a half hour after application. It's a fresh/clean blend while it lasts though. My male friends are all very amused that I have a perfume called 'syph'... and I'm getting tired of correcting them.

[SeaMonkey]

Very airy, much like the Sylph's in Les Sylphides or the 1 Sylph in La Sylphide

 

As it was said in the other reviews, in the vial its primarily lavender and citrus. I think I'm detecting jasmine, but I could just be on crack.

 

Dry its almost all lavender with a little citrus. I was worried about the citrus as that doesn't play well on my skin

 

This is a very pretty, light scent that reminds me of something that could be in the Sominum.

 

It kind of reminds me of what the love child of Nanshe and Oneiroi would smell like

[wanderingredhead]

like everyone else, i'm getting lavender/citrus from Sylph, with various herbs emerging as it dries. Someone said Chamomile, and that sounds about right to me.

definitely a different lavender than the other BPAL lavenders I've tried, much lighter, not as smoky.

overall, a pleasant, fresh and light scent.

 

as for intention, I haven't really worked with it much at all, it didn't elicit an immediate reaction to it the way Salamander did.

I do like Sylph though, and I'm keeping the bottle.

[Thorne]

I absolutely love this scent. It's lavender, yes, and lemongrass citrus fresh. It's clean without being at all soapy, like a very clear blue summer sky with the brightest, greenest grass under your feet.

 

I will also add that I've used this scent three times now to head off migraines. I can feel the headaches coming on, and I've been able to banish them with just a couple sniffs of Sylph, which is nothing short of pure magic to me. I'm going to cherish my bottle.

Edited January 13, 2006 by Thorne

[Northernminx]

Lavender and lemongrass citrus. Very light and airy and clean - perfect for an air scent. I'm not a huge lavender or citrus fan so this one is going off to swaps but it really is just a nice, cleansing, flowing scent.

[kakiphony]

This is the second scent I've tried from my imp set of Elementals. I reviewed Salamander yesterday and will try Gnome and Undine next.

 

In the imp: Lavender, with a dry citrus tang. It's acidic citrus as opposed to syrupy citrus. This is a very fresh, clean scent and reminds me of hand soap.

 

Wet: Milder upon first application than I expected. The lavender is the dominant note, but the citrus is still sharp and dry and there's something else herbal and wild in there. Juniper? At first application, it still reminds me of a soap scent, but in a good way. To clarify a little, it smells like expensive glycerin soap that you would buy in France - not regular bath soap.

 

Early dry down: After fifteen minutes, the citrus has risen to the surface on this, although I'm still not sure whether it's a lemon or a lime citrus. It mingles very well with the lavender. There may also be lemongrass in this. It seems masculine and clean to me. I'm reminded just a bit of Guerlain's L'eau de Lavande Velours, but without the powdery note of that scent. It also smells a bit like my boy's Benetton Cold, which I think has lemongrass as a primary note.

 

Late dry down: An hour later, this has all but disappeared into my skin. What's left is a fresh, clean scent which reminds me a bit of how I used to smell after I'd shower with Dr. Bronner's lavender soap. It's kind of a nice change from the sweet and spicy scents I normally wear. It makes me feel like a scrubbed clean, country herbalist with flushed pink cheeks and a slow smile. It's a very English countryside scent.

 

Conclusion: I think I'm keeping Sylph. It's very different from most of the scents I wear, but I think I like its clean simplicity. It feels like a good summer scent to me. I'll try it out week after next when I'm in Florida and see how it does with heat and the accompanying sweat.

[Thaleia]

Very excited for this one, as I need something relaxing for my final semester of graduate school, and this might very well do the trick.

 

In the bottle, it's pretty much straight-up French lavender. I had a huge jar of French lavender buds in my room when I was very young, and I used to make sachets that I'd give to people out of it. I still have the jar. It still comforts me when I walk by it and decide to have a sniff whenever I'm at my parents' house. Ah, memories.

 

Oh, lavender, how do I love thee. It's soon joined with citrus and grassy notes, and they all blend together to create a very comforting fragrance that makes me kind of want to go to bed. I feel like I'm in an apothecary's shop. It's also fairly strong; I can smell it from where my arm's resting on the table by my keyboard.

 

Citrus retreats, leaving a grassy lavender ... and then we're back to my childhood jar of French lavender. I might try this tonight in lieu of Luna. Peaceful, comforting, elegant. Well worth what I paid for it. 4.5.

[alicia_stardust]

When I first sniffed Sylph, I was surprised because it was not what I expected. And yet! And yet it's perfect. It is very "air" to me. The lavender is a good base for it, and swirling around that I get citrus and grassy notes. Something about this is ozone-like without being the type that gives me a headache.

 

Makes me think of a warm, bright afternoon, hilltops and grasses blowing in the breeze. Beautiful.

 

4 out of 5 stars. I'll keep some on hand.

 

ADDED 3/4/08:

 

Sylph is my favorite of the Elementals. It is mostly a gentle lavender with something citrus, like bergamot. There is an almost herbal quality behind those two aspects. Overall this has a light, airy feeling and it brings to mind the wind that would whip across a sunlit meadow of grass and florals. Something about this smells inexplicably "yellow" and for that, it reminds me of a sunny summer day with bright fluffy clouds and a pale breeze.

[Penance]

Origin:

 

Imp from my Imp Pimp, Diana.

 

Preconceived notions:

 

I seem to remember people saying this had lavender in it, which is good because I'm starting to really love lavender in scents where before I was neutral about it.

 

First sniff:

 

There's definitely lavender in here, but there's something almost citrusy and something that smells a bit like sweetgrass. This is interesting, it's definitely not the pure herbal scent I was expecting. I'm not sure if I like this or not.

 

Wet on skin:

 

Ooh, I like this! On me, the lavender really ratchets up and outweighs the other notes in here. It's not a pure lavender scent, though. There's something sweetish here that reminds me of sweetgrass once again, but I don't think that's what it is. This reminds me of Lush's Waving Not Drowning ballistic!

 

Dry down:

 

Oh, this is good...really, really good! I didn't expect to love this, but it's so similar to the Lush WND ballistic, which I love, that it's impossible not to love it. It's lavender, but with some other mystery notes in the background that I can't identify. Beautiful!

 

The bottom line:

 

A surprise winner! I'm going to have to get a bottle of this somehow.

[aedes]

I've stocked up on it, so I really should review it, huh?

 

This scent has convinced me that I can like lavender. Normally it smells so sharp and... salty. But this is a nicely refined lavender, I think. The citrus compliments this beautifully, making a wonderfully light-hearted and snappy blend. I'm so glad I took a chance with her! It really makes me feel lovely.