Urania

[mountainwitch]

The Heavenly One is the Muse of Astrology and Astronomy, and guides all those who look to the stars for knowledge. She wears a flowing cloak embroidered with her beloved stars, holds a staff and a globe, and her eyes are skyward. Her scent is that of endless, star-clad space: glittering, cool, vast. Moonflower, Moroccan jasmine, benzoin, white musk, iris, moss and a flash of ozone.

Gorgeous. Drop-dead wonderful, rich florals, featuring my good friends moss and white musk. For once the jasmine is part of the blend, but not the drama queen who steals the show; having finally decided to play nice with the other kids, she lends a little sweetness to this seductive "starry night" perfume. This reminds me more than a little of Night's Pavilion, which is also a favorite; if I ever manage to empty that bottle, I'll be getting a whole bottle of Urania.

 

I think I've found my muse!

[sofiaviolet]

I can't pick out anything but the jasmine. It remains strong on my skin. Urania is pretty darn soapy, but I find that I don't really mind that.

[indicolite]

White musk.

 

Plenty of white musk.

 

I will give Urania a chance to grow, but she is very very much white musk.

 

She is a little too...settled to be a refreshing scent. Beth knew what she was doing when she made the muses.

 

I kinda wanna go stargaze... even though it is a quiet midafternoon.

[dierne]

In the imp - Made me sneeze ) Warm fruity smells with a hint of something incensey.

 

Wet on skin - Gentled down and acquired a floral note. Still warm though.

 

Dry on skin - Gone a little bit soapy - not offensively so right now but ...

 

Later - Hmmm ... that's better. A warm, fruity floral. Reminiscent of Peony Moon. Not entirely sure I'd want a bottle but I do like it.

[MidgetCoconut]

Urania sadly doesn't work on me. Instead of a lovely floral scent it's a very sharp ozone and soap scent.

[bodegaselkie]

On me, Urania is a very pretty, and very potent, well-blended floral. It stays true on my skin without morphing into anything yucky, which a major feat since several of the florals go to nailpolish or baby powder on me. That said, the scent of it is giving me an immediate and intense headache, so I'm going to go wash it off now.

[PilotKitten]

Mmm.... very nice white scent. It smells like a shimmery silver... if that makes any sense... lol. I'm not sure how a perfume can smell like a color though, it just does. It smells like a distant cousin to Black Moon in some respects. A very clean scent with a faint floral background that doesn't overwhelm at all.

[supremegoddessofall]

A crisp white floral with a "cold" feel to it. Jasmine is fairly predominant, but not overwhelming, and I get quite a bit of moonflower and iris, too. Lightly musky.

[Alchemy21599]

In the vial: floral with ozone. Very interesting.

 

Wet: jasmine, musk, and ozone.

 

Dry: alas the jasmine won. Off to swaps.

[blackfelicula]

In the bottle: This reminds me of Nuit and Muse. Nuit is more overwhelmingly perfume-y. Muse has the lime that kicks up its energy level and makes it more wearable.

 

Wet: This is definitely softer than Muse and less perfume-y than Nuit. It has a powdery undertone to it. I think the benzoin might be performing in Urania the function that the lime lent to Muse.

 

Drying down: Urania smells like she has a note in common with Zorya. This has Zorya's quiet beauty.

 

Dry: This is a clean scent, though not soapy enough to be off-putting.

 

Later: To my nose, Urania is more classically perfume-like than Muse, and less distinctive than Zorya. Since I have bottles of each of those, I do not think I will be needing one of Urania.

[zankoku_zen]

This is a very silvery white floral. I mostly smell whiffs of the moonflower and the jasmine.

 

And then it disappears.

 

*POOF*

 

Like after five minutes.

 

There is a slight floral smell, quite pleasant, attached to the skin but I have to inhale deeply... like I'm running out of oxygen.

 

Nuts. This had started out so promising...

[cameroncrazed]

In the imp: ozone and jasmine.

 

Wet on skin: Slightly sharp floral. I'm assuming the sharpness is from the ozone.

 

Dry on skin: Strongest note is the jasmine, followed by the ozone, and then soft florals. I occasionally get a slight hint of the musk, but it's rare.

 

Overall: 9/10 for capturing the cold star-iness. However, for my use, 5/10. Very "traditional" flowery perfume to my nose. Reminds me a lot of a perfume my mother used to wear. It's a bit out of my comfort range of scents, but I can see how someone who loves florals would adore this one. I definitely get the "cold" feeling from it. It's been on for more than two hours and is just as strong as it was when I put it on.

[Roses Ablaze]

So, like, I'm the only one who got a strong aftershave scent on this one? I mean, I like the scent of aftershave but it's not really something I'd want to wear.

[Meg]

In the bottle: This smells dark blue with stars! Ozone, moss and white musk. Very much like a man's aftershave.

 

Wet: Ozone and white musk. Something a bit salty emerges, maybe part of the ozone, and then it sweetens.

 

Drydown: It's a very light, airy, nearly salty scent, like some kind of warm sea breeze. I think that I'm getting a lot of benzoin, a very sweet resinous note, out of this. Jasmine is present but extremely discreet, like a backdrop rather than a main player. After a while the white musk becomes intensely soapy, which is a speciality of white musk on me.

 

Overall: There's something very light yet deep about this scent, and I can't refrain from seeing it as very dark blue with white flecks. It's all resin and ozone with hints of other things clinging on to it, and I think that it works very well for the muse of astronomy. I wouldn't wear it myself, but the blend really represents Urania very well. It would work well on a man, I think.

[theseagrows]

i definitely smell the moonflower and ozone in this, and perhaps the iris. something in this sours a bit on my skin, which ozone and iris are wont to do. it's very light and ethereal, and the ozone has a slight salty quality to it that i got from pool of tears. nice but doesnt really work on me, unfortunately

Edited March 6, 2007 by theseagrows

[filigree_shadow]

At first I thought it smelled perfumey; now I think it smells cologney. Ozone and white musk mostly, very little floral, and some moss. Hmmm. It's too bad my husband wears so many ozone scents because now whenever I smell something with ozone it smells masculine to me.

 

This is a lovely scent, and I do like it... not sure if I'll be able to convince the hubby to wear something called Urania, though.

[forspecial_plate]

For me this is sharp soap with some ozone. I did a search for benzoin and that's how this ended up on my wish list...otherwise it may not have been on my radar at all. I do like moss, but can't smell it here. Just soap, soap, soap with little or no morphing. : (

 

edit: I forgot I reviewed this already, and actually forgot I had already tried it. So I tried it again! : ) This time, it's a much lighter and softer scent than the above review would suggest. I have since sniffed white musk SN and I can really pick that out in Urania. It's actually not a bad scent at all, just too feminine for me to wear (and I had the same thought about White Musk SN). So I wanted to revise my negative review a bit. It's not as sharp a scent as I first thought, actually it's shimmery and pretty.

Edited July 16, 2007 by Forspecial Plate

[Gemini noir]

Urania seems glittery and effervescent.. I visualize night sky and champagne bubbles. It's a fun, lighthearted scent

 

blackfelicula thinks of it as a less-perfume-y Nuit, and I think she's hit the nail pretty well with that description. They both include jasmine and white musk, but Nuit (which I also really like) is a weightier scent and Urania is lighter. Nuit is more grown-up. Urania is younger and sparklier.

[alliekat13]

This is very soapy and fresh smelling, almost dryer sheet like. I'm pretty sure it's the ozone note in this because thats mostly what I smell. It does go from stages to smelling cologney to soapy, and I don't really get any jasmine. This is good to add to a lotion if you want a nonobtrusive scent, but it smells kind of generic to my nose and I wont invest in a bottle.

[500ml]

Urania works on me, but it's not really to my taste. This is my first try with an ozone blend and I'm afraid it hasn't been completely positive. I don't mind the scent, but it's too generic for me, very perfumy. I'm kind of sad as I love moonflower, white musk and jasmine, but this doesn't work for me, I almost feel like I'm wearing toilet cleaner. This was really strong on my skin though, good throw.

Edited June 17, 2007 by porcelain

[CrazyPretzel]

In the imp: musky, a little cologne-y.

 

On skin: stays musky and a little cologne-y for the first few minutes.

 

Once this scent starts to bloom, the first half hour is really....*glittering*. I don't know how else to describe it. It's spicy and musky and with just a tiny touch of warmth -- it really does make me think of a night sky just after sunset when the first stars are visible. Or maybe a much darker sky with the Milky Way sparkling across it.

 

After that, suddenly there's this golden presence that emerges -- maybe ozone + jasmine? The ozone gives it this soaring, expansive quality, and the goldenness makes me think that suddenly an enormous shining moon has risen in the starry sky.

 

10/10 for capturing the concept. This is very evocative.

[jarvenpa]

Someone (and forgive me, I don't know if it was the dear lab or a dear forumite) at some time in the past months sent on an imp of Urania, which I found I loved so much I ordered (and rec'd, yay) a 5 ml bottle of (and the label is beautiful, wow).

 

Had I checked the fragrance notes I would never have thought to order this (though Urania is a dear personal guide).

 

The scent is swirling, silver and deep blue. A floral, definitely, but a floral that has a crisp edge. I'm so bad at figuring out individual notes, and this is such a well blended perfume I am not aware of "oh, gee, here is this flower and here is that flower and whoopee, musky goodness" It is simply genius.With starry, starry nights.

[waternight]

In the imp: I’m not that familiar with moonflower, but I smell a note that I also smell in Moon Rose, so I’m guessing that’s it. I also get the white musk, and maybe a hint of benzoin.

Wet/Drydown: The moonflower blossoms on my skin, gently supported by the lusciously dusty jasmine. The jasmine becomes stronger, and the white musk blends seamlessly with the florals. I get the barest hint of ozone, but it doesn’t really stand out. This is quite airy and cool, definitely has an intellectual feel to it. The moonflower is really succeeding at being the dominant note in this blend, but it blends so well with the other notes that it’s not overwhelmingly moonflower.

Dry: Gentle and fleeting. The scent has faded – I might have to slather this one. But it’d be worth it, because Urania is gorgeous! Light and lovely, predominantly moonflower with whiffs of jasmine and white musk underneath. So elegant.

 

Unfortunately, Urania was pretty much gone after half an hour. The same happened with Moon Rose, but slathering that one gets it to stick around, so I'll try the same technique with Urania, because she's just so frickin' gorgeous that she deserves it.

[willowtreeling]

wet on the skin it smelled promising...sort of secret and whispery and almost violet-y...

but totally dry, it smells soapy and doesn't do anything for me...

 

But the description is really pretty!

[Alseides]

I wasn't expecting to like this so much, but immediately it evoked images of starry nights, and I couldn't put it down.

 

I'm going to try to make a solid out of this, since it doesn't stick around long on me. I was afraid of the jasmine, but really, it's very nice here.