Clio

[sofiaviolet]

... Her scent is the warm, dry parchment of scrolls, lavender for critical thought and analysis, the solidity of heavy woods, ornery patchouli and glib benzoin, and superstar-splashed orange and amber.

I don't smell any of the notes in the description! No lavender, no woods, no orange. And it doesn't fade the way every other scent with amber has. It's kind of sharp and floral. Very bizarre.

[steffanina]

Clio-

 

In Bottle: Orangey, with spicy undertones.

 

Wet: I see why this is touted as being associated with old parchment. I'm reminded of used bookstores. Still spicy, too.

 

Dry: As this dries and fades, maybe an hour later, I'm left with the overwhelming comparison to Opium perfume. This smells just like Opium does and that leaves me powerless to come up with any other descriptors. Fortunately I like Opium perfume a lot! But since I don't know how to break down that scent in words I'm stuck for describing it.

 

Overall: I like!

[Dymphna]

I've had this imp for at least a month, possibly two, and only now have I had the nerve to try it. Every time I opened the imp, I'd get so disappointed by the smell that I'd cap it again and put it back in my box. My orange blossom phobia just wouldn't let me try it. I'm so glad that I finally did!

 

In the imp: Sharp, not very sweet orange. Makes me suspicious that maybe the "orange" in the description is really orange blossom.

 

Wet: Oh, that's orange blossom, all right. Why, why, why?

 

Dry: Drying, the dry scents of parchment and wood come out, but the orange blossom is still right there. After a couple of minutes, it starts to smell sweeter and more like actual orange. I also start to smell the amber, somewhat powdery. Or maybe it's the patchouli going powdery, as it often does on me. It's not very strong, though, whatever it is, so it stays in the background. The orange seems to be almost gone after another couple of minutes, and I'm left with a dry, powdery scent with barely a hint of orange, with a sweetness that I think is helped along by the tonka (which is otherwise undetectable). It's not offensive now that the sharp orange blossom scent is gone. In fact, the drier notes are taking over, with just a slight hint of bright orange sweetness and powder softness. I'll have to try this again to be sure, but I think I could really love this scent. Fully dry, it reminds me a lot of old books. Oh, happy day! Anyone who haunted libraries and bookstores growing up, as I did, can only find such a scent comforting...and a little exciting in an "oooh, look at all these books!" kind of way.

 

This isn't something I say often...well, make that ever, but the scent of Clio once it dries down is actually worth the first five or ten minutes of orange blossom hell. If only it had more throw. I have to go nose-to-wrist to smell it at all. If things work out, Clio and I may need to discuss taking the next step: buying a bottle.

[indicolite]

I had very high hopes for Clio. Of all the muses, she was the one that haunted me the most.

 

Did my fabled intuition fail me?

 

All I am getting is musty parchment at first. Beth has captured perfectly the scent of musty parchment...

 

No wait, there's some orange.

 

Clio may actually be nice. I'll let her grow on me.

 

But it is not an instant love.

[The_Merf]

In the imp: All I can really pick up on are the patchouli and parchment notes. If I sniff hard, I can find the lavender. I'm surprised by this, as there are some "loud" notes in here.

 

Wet: Parchment and patchouli, all the way. Now I cannot even pick up the lavender.

 

Drydown and wear: When I smell this spot later, all I can smell is old, dry patchouli. It's now merged with the parchment notes. I cannot detect anything else. This surprises me, as my skin often amps orange (to my disdain). However, this blend could use a splash of that.

[Meg]

In the bottle: Orange and patchouli, as far as I can tell.

 

Wet: Orange, patchouli, and the dryness of paper, as well as something spicy.

 

Drydown: It's mostly parchment now, with the spice of patchouli and softness of wood, and hints of orange. Actually, it makes me think of orange-juice-soaked paper. After a while the orange lifts to leave me mostly with paper notes, patchouli and wood.

 

Overall: While I wouldn't wear it often, there's a certain appeal to this. The papers gives a special intellectual feel to the blend, it really makes you think of writing essays, and the orange acts like a booster for the mind, while the woods ground it. I'm very disappointed that lavender never makes an appearance, because I love lavender.

[strangemusic]

In the imp: An apple-juice hued oil, bright, harsh, acrid. I can, very faintly, smell a bit of pinpoint citrus... but what I mostly get is day-glo (optic) yellow industrial compound, with a fresh wrap-around of translucent lavender (color, as opposed to the note.)

 

Wet: Oh. Industrial cleaning fluid with "lavender" and splinters.

 

Dry: INDUSTRIAL CLEANSER OMG. I stuck it out for the day, but oh, I wanted to wash this one off. Oh, wait-- I did try to wash Clio off, and she wouldn't go. I gave Clio away to my historian friend post-haste.

 

CP from my LJ, dated 17 July 2006 and slightly edited

[Jerre]

Clio:

 

A medium strong green/floral scent - but intense! I “get” youth, vigor and an intense will here-someone who would never back down. It has a more feminine vibe than masculine...

 

Summary: This one grows on you! “Youth” is all over this scent; maybe it’s the fresh green. A kick-in-the-pants kind of scent!

[LiberAmoris]

Another BPAL that smells like books and paper! Clio has an ultra-sharp wet phase that smells like orange blossom to me (which always has a pungent green side to it that eventually burns away). Once that dries, it's ambery, woodsy, papery---with subtle orange and patchouli. It becomes a very light scent, like the weight of a piece of paper.

 

I'll have to try this again to see if I can handle that sharpness at the beginning. I want to love all of the muses!

[supremegoddessofall]

Amber and orange in a base of patchouli. I'm really not into citrus, and the orange isn't overwhelming, but it's enough that it heads to the swap pile. My girlfriend says it smells like mold.

[impadua@aol.com]

CLIO;

 

In the bottle: Wood, maybe cedar, sharp orange, lavender, and....a warm smell, reminiscent of the corner where the best old tomes are kept in an older tiled library (no carpet or plastic smells here!).

 

Wet on skin; Umm, nice clean citrus smell, there's that woody smell....now kind of richer, deeper, must be the patchouli and amber......and a slightly dry smell, like the lavendar in my yard when I dry the stems... I likeee

 

Dry and an hour later; YUM! Warm, still smell the woody-ness, the lavendar has gotten a little stronger, the citrus seems to have blended with the amber, and the patchouli seems to sweeten the wood.

 

Very nice, a skin scent, lasts well on me. Kind of a comfortable scent, warm, not overbearing at all, I keep getting little sniffs as I move around (I put some behind the ears, natch!), and it is a very pleasant surprise. I like this a lot, wish there were 10 ml bottles of it, because I see using this as an "aways good" scent.

 

What a great Muse!

[tempestteapot]

I wanted this one to work for me so much, but I'm getting the feeling that she's too much for me.

 

At first I get a heavy dose of 'dirty' lavender. Almost a medicinal bitter smell.

 

It does die down and I smell the orange and the amber. But it's not enough to cover the medicial smell.

[aestien]

Bottle: earthy patchouli

Wet: patchouli, but it's mild, blending well with the woods and lavender, just a hint of orange

Dry: slightly sweet, earthy patchouli and woods

 

I like this blend more than I thought I would, so far, I've really liked Beth's patchouli blends, which is surprising to me. This is a good grounding blend, earthy, woodsy, and dry.

[valentina]

In the imp, Clio smells like an antique store with some freshly-oiled old wood. It's rich and deep. On my skin and in the initial stages of drydown, the "dusty" note, that I can amp like nobody's business, came to the forefront along with lavendar and orange. It's sharp and intense. Now I'm in a dusty antique shop with lavendar and orange sachets nearby. But Clio is an unusual one! It morphs into a richer, darker patchouli-orange smell that on my body, is very much like Ravenous, except the orange smell has the upper hand. And then a spicy green element blooms after a bit more. To me, this is a scent that would be good on a snowy day; I see Clio as having a certain sharpness and angularity to it, versus a lot of the rounder, more voluptous scents that I typically wear. I am really pleasantly surprised at how much I enjoy Clio!

[evilbee]

This was a frimp! Thank you, lab!

 

In the bottle: Orange and something I recognize but can’t name…

 

Wet: Dirt!!! Wet, musty dirt filled with mouldering leaves. This is interesting. Maybe a bit of coal ashes too.

 

Dry: Mossy dirt – this is very outdoorsy, untouched wilderness. A fuzzy brown green. It’s actually rather enjoyable.

[storme]

In the imp: orange blossom! over dirty woods.

 

On me, wet: lots and lots of dirt, a hint of various woods, and a trace of the orange-blossom tang from before.

 

On me, dry: the orange now smells like orange rather than neroli, and there's a lot of patchouli and dirt and wood here still.

 

Verdict: Feh. This is too dirt and patchouli-ish for me, and not enough parchment. Alas.

[batsy]

In the vial: Oh patchouli, why must you hate me?

 

On the skin: well, lavender... very woodsy, somber. The orange pops hard, but the dang patchouli! Oh well.

[Mountaingrrl00]

This makes me want to go antiquing! I don't usually like orange blossom, which is definitely here, but something about the way it's blended here makes it appealing. Love the parchment smell, the patchouli-wood of old furniture, the lavender that reminds me of some lavender furniture polish I have, and the benzoin, which is a favorite note of mine anyway. It's funny - I usually associate lavender and orange blossom with sleep, but this scent wakes me up. I like it!

[filigree_shadow]

For some reason this smells mostly like cleaning products and a pencil box on me, and I don't know why. Usually those notes work just fine on me. But I think the woodiness and orange combination isn't working on me. It smells kind of... dusty. Like something that needs to be cleaned. I don't think I'd be able to wear this as perfume.

[Jilara]

Wet, this makes me think of grapefruit peel, with a papery backnote. I wouldn't have thought it was orange. There is something warm in the background, which is probably the amber.

 

As it dries down, the lavender comes out, and also a soft resin note. The sourness lent by the orange is still there, but now it's got a lovely herbal/floral backing from the lavender. Patchouli, which usually hates me, is nowhere evident in this, on me. This is a Good Thing. This is very well balanced, and I like it a lot.

[bryghtrose]

In the bottle: Musty, sharp, spicy. Overpowering like cheap cologne

 

Wet on skin: Mellowed, richer. Musky with a sharp after-note

 

Dry: Rich, resinous amber with a hint of orange. Still musty.

 

I love this scent. It will most likely be my "professional" scent, because I'm a librarian, and, well, I like the smell of rare books. This was a frimp with my first order, and I'm so glad I got to try it.

 

I'm relieved that the orange note is very subtle, because I can't stand the smell of oranges or orange juice. I think that my skin amps amber and other resins, so they always become the dominant scent.

 

I am very happy with this scent. I can see myself getting a bottle.

Edited April 6, 2007 by bryghtrose

[Peaches 2]

I received this as a very generous gimp in my first forum exchange. In the vial, it was all gorgeous orange and resins, but it was a different story on my skin. Initially, it was very warm and woody, with the merest hint of orange and a wee breath of lavender. The orange and lavender were very fleeting, sucked up and out by the drydown, and I was left with dry, musty dust and paper. Not necessarily bad, but not my choice for a personal scent. This one is not for me, I'm afraid.

Edited April 6, 2007 by Peaches

[zankoku_zen]

In the imp: orangey citrus and woody patchouli

 

On Skin: The lavender tickles my nose a bit and there is a citrusy herby smell to it. I get whiffs of patchouli as well.

 

On Drydown: I get smells of musty parchment and woody patchouli. There is a faint lavender herbal scent as the top note, but that changes to parchment/patchouli toward the end as I inhale.

 

Verdict: I'm not a fan of the patchouli and it's a good base in this scent. It definitely evokes books, parchment and critical thought. As an embodiment of the Muse Clio, it's a great perfume. As something I would wear, I'm not completely sold on it. It's a pretty scent, if you like patchouli.

[bunnymcfoo]

in the bottle: like a few others, I find Clio's sharp, almost bitter, initial impression to be slightly off-putting. I'm not sure I even want to try this one. *gulp*

 

wet: You know, my skin likes patchouli a whole lot more than I do. Most of what I'm getting to start with is an overwhelming wave of that, with a sharp edge to it. I'm not really liking this very much.

 

dry: Okay, this mellows, but sadly, it's mellowed into something that smells like a wood-polish, a household cleaner, or maybe a really nasty shampoo. Oddly enough, it kind of reminds me a little bit of my mom's old witch hazel skintoner: bitter, astringent, and not something that my skin likes. Ornery indeed!

Edited April 30, 2007 by bunnymcfoo

[kenjari]

I'm rather impressed with Clio. It is the exact smell that I associate with lovingly preserved medieval manuscripts and artifacts housed in museums and libraries: dry and dusty yet mysterious and alluring. I am amazed that anyone could capture this scent so perfectly. Unfortunately, while it is a thoroughlky fascinating scent and appealing in many ways, it's not something I personally want to wear. I like the smell, but not on me.