Thaleia

[RaeiNarcissus]

... A vivacious, dazzling, merry scent: honey, ylang ylang, apricot, ciste, blood orange and gardenia with earthy, warm tonka.

In the bottle, very nice flowery smell with a hint of fruit.

On me, it will not settle down. It remained in this complex twisty bubble an inch above my skin as the ingredients fought to determine which one would take it's proper place as the dominant note. Sadly, no one won.

[supremegoddessofall]

This is a really bizarre combination. I get a floral apricot, which is an odd and not necessarily pleasing combination. It's also got a bit of whatever it is that goes "tampon" on me. There's something metallic in the undertones, too.

[steffanina]

Thaleia-

 

In Bottle: Mmm, honey and orange blossom. This is lovely!

 

Wet: It almost smells like bubblegum! In a very good way.

 

Dry: This is a soft honey-orange blossom scent and it's lovely but it fades rather quickly, too bad.

 

Overall: Very pretty but a fast fader.

[sookster]

straight sniff from imp is fruity vanilla and tonka

i was fearful this would be overpoweringly floral for me!

this is just so very pretty...hand blended to perfection the

apricot, honey and ylang ylang work amazingly well

together...this one puts a big smile on my face and i

will cherish this imp

[lanablade]

In the imp: fruit. Either the apricot, the orange, or both really pops out at me. There's some flowers, but they're in the background.

 

Wet: Interesting. Really beautifully blended. The fruit is there, but it's so perfectly intertwined with the florals that nothing really jumps out. Maybe the apricot. And underneath it all is a really wonderful powdery creamy somethingorother.

 

Dry: Mostly floral and that powdery creamy bit, with the occasional whiff of fruit. I wore this to a movie, and with standard application, it's already mostly gone by the end of the show.

 

Light and beautiful, but definately one to slather or reapply frequently. I like.

[jiggahava]

Right away I get apricot and honey, with a hint of ylang lang. Mmmmm! This smells like a bright spring day. It is a warm and golden scent and it's quite complex, which I like. I get a lovely batch of fruit and florals swirled together. After an hour it's a little faint, but that's what slathering is for!

[zankoku_zen]

I was hoping for honey, blood orange and tonka to win out on this one.

 

Undisputed winner: gardenia.

 

I get this warm, floral fruity smell with GARDENIA, which smells a bit like wet wool on me. Not enough to be throughly off-putting... but enough for me to sniff and think 'there's something not quite right'.

 

GYAH!

 

Verdict: This is a lovely scent... if gardenia plays well on your skin. On me it doesn't... and this blend is almost, so close, to being a wearable-gardenia that it's almost heart breaking.

[filigree_shadow]

This smells mostly like gardenia on me, but I like it in this blend a lot more than I usually do. The apricot smells good with gardenia. Keeps it fruity and sweet and not as cloyingly floral as usual. I like the tonka with it as well. I think this might be my favorite gardenia BPAL blend. Pretty, sweet, and soft.

 

Yep, I like this one.

[Meg]

In the bottle: Honey, apricot and orange, very pleasant and warm.

 

Wet: Honey, apricot and orange, still, close to the skin.

 

Drydown: Something shifts as it dries and I get a sharpness. The orange starts drying down to a powder, but it becomes more obviously blood orange. There's something herby about it, possibly the ciste and gardenia and certainly hints of smooth tonka. The honey is still very strong and pleasant, mixing with the tonka and herbs.

 

Overall: A very nice blend, possibly my favourite of the muses for now. It's sweet and warm, sensuous and a bit sexy, with a definite sense of something bucolic going on - like being in an orchard, eating apricot and honey, with butterflies flitting around you. Warm, summerlike and a bit lazy. It's the first blend I ever find where I actually enjoy the tonka, too.

[otterstamp]

In the bottle: Orange, right off the bat. Perhaps slightly floral, like an orange blossom, tempered with ylang ylang and apricot. Very sweet, light, and just a touch floral, which must be the gardenia. A sparkling spring scent that is clean and a bit citrus-tangy.

Wet: Honey deepens and blends the fruity floral. Smells like a fruity Yankee Candle… not sure which one. Still orangey, but the gardenia comes through strongly, tempered with a slightly sticky sweet apricot.

Dry: Strong gardenia scent now, underlined with apricot and orange. Very sweet.

Later: Gardenia still going strong, other tones have mixed with it.

Impression: Very light, ephemeral, breezy, but not an air or earthy smell: firmly floral. Fitting for a muse. Feminine and springy. Makes me want to wear a white flowing dress and dance about in the woods with nymphs.

Buy: Yes. Feminine and appropriate for spring.

[evilbee]

I was absolutely looking forward to this with all the positive reviews, but I'm starting to wonder if honey hates me.

 

This goes on smelling of fake honey and chemical bananas and it doesn't change much. The banana is stronger the lighter I apply it, and the honey is stronger the heavier I apply it. I get no other kinds of fruit. Maybe I'll try this again in a month.

[Victoria]

on me: Bubblicious - this brought back some of the few good memories i have of my childhood and even made me giggle a little inside. but Thaleia smells like something i'd rather have in my mouth, not on my wrist.

[mspixieears]

What a delicious nectar-like scent! I instantly pick up the honey, apricot and tonka and it makes me want to sniff my wrists uncontrollably! As it starts to dry down I can get some of the blood orange and gardenia. This is one of those gourmand-floral amalgams that I so adore! Based on a quick sampling I would buy a 5mL of this immediately if I had the money. As it begins to fade I can smell the ylang ylang which delightfully sings with the apricot. Blissful!

[lapillus]

In bottle: overripe apples

Wet: honeysuckle with apples in back

Dry: goes through a slight, but not actually unpleasant, sour phase before back to a very pleasant and lasting (14+ hours) sweetness.

Summary: Definite keeper, not sure it’s distinct enough for a whole bottle but would be content if another imp wanders my way once this one is done.

[ariansdreams]

I was surprised to see this frimp in my latest lab order, as I write modern pastoral poetry. How appropriate!

 

First sniff: Fruit, honey, and something almost yogurt-like.

 

Wet on Skin: Again, fruit and honey. I'm definitely getting a citrus top note.

 

Dry on Skin: This really disappears on my skin. Which is saying a lot, since I tend to amp scents. I do smell the apricot, as well as a bit of gardenia. This is definitely a skin scent, and could easily be mistaken for a good-smelling soap.

 

I remember a peach oil from The Body Shop (I don't even know if they do those anymore, my allergies are too bad at this point to step inside those stores). This is very similar to that, but more refined.

 

I like this, but it isn't a "wow" scent for me. I might keep it and try it again at a later date, to see how it ages.

[Miladygrey]

Hmmmm. Frimp. No idea what to expect, but I am cautious, since my other experiences with Excolo blends have not been the best.

 

Wet: Um, bubblegum. However, not evil pink bubblegum of doom and destruction. It's fruity (apricot! That explains it!) and sweet without being too sugary. There's a hint of ylang-ylang and gardenia, but mostly apricot bubblegum. It's the most unapologetically happy scent I've ever tried.

 

Dry: The flowers have taken over, though kindly. Almost all gardenia now, with the apricot down to an under-note and the honey adding depth. I was afraid it was going to go plastic on me (see Euphrosyne), but it stays lovely and floral. Reminds me of Peitho.

 

This might be worth a 5mL bottle. Will wear again and consider it. A nice treat from the Lab.

[grifyn_whiffs]

First, let me say that Thaleia is VERY pretty, very feminine. I could sense in the imp though, that this was going to be a "pale" scent on me, and proceeded to merrily slather.

 

I really love the honey note in this. I was worried about the ylang ylang, since I amp that note to a sickening degree, but it's behaving and working with the other notes.

 

The floral and fruity notes were very strong in the beginning, but faded away within the first few minutes, leaving the honey and the tonka bean. Those two, while still around, are subtle though. I think my skin mostly ate this one... very pretty, perhaps a little too girly for me.

 

This isn't a big bottle buy for me, but it might be interesting to layer the rest of the imp with some heavier, more resiny blends that haven't worked for me to see what happens. I'm only an amateur alchemist though, so it could just as easily go hilariously wrong.

[MurderOfCrows]

In the vial: Honey, honey, ylang-ylang's sweetness, and more honey with a sprinkle of vanilla and tonka. Only a vague hint of fruit in some sweetness, nothing identifiable.

 

On Wet: ...Ditto. Stays pretty constant for me. I don't get a single bit of fruit! Not all. It stays very warm and sweet, mostly honey and vanilla for me.

 

Drydown: The gardenia makes an appearance, a hint of floral among these heady scents. I never get any fruit at all. It stays slightly earthy, warm and sweet on me all the way through.

[PeskyPixie]

Just got my order and with it a frimp of Thaleia, love it, smells very feminine, smells great on my skin.

Edited August 20, 2007 by PeskyPixie

[aquazoo]

Very heavy on the fruitiness. And fruit. Did I mention fruit? It’s drying down into pleasant, but there are things I would much prefer to smell like rather than fruit.

[kwsix]

This is surprising lovely on me! Before BPAL, I thought I hated florals. Then I learned that I like some florals, but was still scared of things I perceived as "uber-florals", like jasmine, gardenia, and rose. But, I've found that gardenia really seems to work on my skin, especially when combined with other notes that my skin likes. On my skin, Thaleia is a wonderful blend of soft fruits and gardenia with a touch of ylang ylang. It's creamy, delicate, and softly feminine. The tonka really smooths the blend out and keeps it from going too sharp. The combination of creamy smooth and gardenia that almost smells like sweet tropical fruits reminds me of Euphrosyne, which I love dearly. Thaleia is a little brighter than Euphrosyne, and has a bit of a younger, more playful feel. Thaleia is another surprise hit!

[Severuslovesme]

I love Thaleia!

 

In the bottle I smell the gardenia primarily, but wet on my skin the scent is primarily honey. As it dries the blood orange emerges. This is a scent that never stops evolving on me, but I love all of its incarnations!

[storme]

In the imp: fruity sweet honeyed apricot and orange.

 

On me, wet: oh, yuck, this went foul as it hit my skin - the honey went powdery, and the fruit went rotten

 

On me, dry: mrgh, no, the notes in this combine into a nasty rotten fruit smell and even the frantic hints of gardenia attempting to break free don't lighten it enough.

 

Verdict: pass - it hates my skin chemistry.

[Lunaratu]

This is refreshing and sweet at the same time when this first goes on—you can smell both the citrus notes and the honey coming through. The apricot starts to come through as it’s drying which makes it even more golden and fresh. When dry there is a definite sweetness from the apricot and the honey but the citrus in this lightens the sweetness to make this a refreshing. It’s really very pretty and light enough for the summer like some kind of refreshing apricot cold drink.

Rating: 3.5/5

[Gwydion]

Smells like fruit flavoured bubblegum with a few warmer richer notes underneath. no. I am not an eleven year old girl. No. So much for the muse of comedy and pastoral poetry.