Dana O'Shee

[revinn]

... Offerings of milk, honey and sweet grains were made to placate these creatures, and it is that the basis of the scent created in their name.

I really thought I liked very sweet foody scents until I received my first order of imps from BPAL. For example, let's look at Dana O'Shee:

Initial Smell from Bottle: Ack, so THAT'S what almond smells like..all I can smell is sweet, cloying cherry almond.

Wet: I smell no milk or grains. Only almond.

Dry: The same. Sigh.

Out of 10: 3

[TheLetterL]

In the imp: Balance of almond, milk, and honey. Not getting any cherry.

 

Wet: Whoa. Hello, almond. My skin picks up on it like crazy.

 

Dry: The almond fades fairly quickly, and then it goes one of two ways. Sometimes, Dana mellows into a sweet creamy honey scent. Other times, it turns into oatmeal. No almond, no honey...just oatmeal. Food scents aren't my thing, but I can see how it would be very comforting.

 

Note: I was surprised to find so much staying power in this one. It's so light that I assumed you'd have to reapply a lot. Not so. One application, and hours later I was smelling honey: "What the...? Oh right. Dana O'Shee."

[RedRoseMaze]

In the bottle: At first, it’s mostly creamy honey, with a sweet cereal scent (oat?). I do smell a cherry or wild berry scent as well; but I wonder if I’m not hallucinating it, because it’s far behind.

Wet: Wow, this is sweet and delicious, with a touch of almond. It smells like it’s almost edible.

Dry: It’s still sweet, and it still smells like honey; but it’s much softer.

 

Verdict: I love it! I love foody scents, and Dana O’Shee seems perfect for all those occasions when a strong perfume might be overwhelming. I will probably buy a bottle of this one.

 

[tajana]

I didn't expect to like this scent quite this much! Wow! Not something I'd typically reach for, but for certain moods and times, this will be perfect. I want to slather myself in it every night right after I take a shower, and to wear this whenever I need to feel calm and composed. Lots of sweet, soft almond, bathed in cool, creamy milk sweetened with honey. I don't get much oatmeal but there's something extra in this scent that I can't place, so I'm guessing that's a trace of those "grains". I know that description sounds simplistic, but there's an ethereal quality to Dana O' Shee. The overall impression this scent gives is of the color white, pleasantly cool temperatures, the texture of silk and cream. It stays remarkably stable, and smells the same when it's wet on my skin and when it's been dry for a few hours. It's really beautiful and I'd love to have a full bottle!

[rymorg2]

**I dilute all my oils due to sensitivities**

 

I got this in a swap with a good friend. She was saying I needed to try it, she loves it, and I put it off, but WOW I'm glad I have it now!!!! It's LOVELY......I'm big on sweet foody scents anyway, but this is cherries, almonds, milk, oatmeal....all of the above and more. Big added bonus....the dh likes the way it smells on me too. It's going to be a regular I can already tell.

[jenen]

The description made me think this might be a simple scent that would layer well with others, but the skin test proved otherwise for me. First sniff was a nice light sweet almond, followed by a creamy note. On the skin it was soft and feminine for about 30 seconds, then turned into public bathroom air freshener with a mothball start. In another 30 seconds, I realized I was smelling Snow White plus plastic. I'm afraid this one did not work for me

[Lamia]

A queer scent - it smells like marzipan, but ... not.

 

It's a sweet chewy mildly nutty scent.

[vanillaskwirl]

I'm quite pleased with Dana O'Shee. What I seem to get out of this is sugared almonds drizzled in vanilla glaze. I've been looking for a great vanilla perfume to wear for special occasions for the boy since it's his favorite and I just may have found it. I can't wait to test it out on him and see what he says! All in all, very yummy and not too sweet or foody. This just may be added to the bottle list.

[ephemera]

In this imp this is a sweet, calm smell. It smells like sugared milk and honey.

 

I put this on and at once smell the honey. Unlike the honey in Hetairae, this is more like a sweet blossom honey - paler, sweeter, thinner. A good honey to dribble on something warm. The milk is right there, taking the sweetness of the honey and keeping it from getting sicky-sweet. I don't smell grains, really, but I know there's more to this blend than the milk and honey. I just can't quite pinpoint it. Oh... almond! (I had to read other reviews to have light dawn on marble head.) That's interesting, usually I don't like almond scents but this...

 

After the about a half hour this scent is strangely unchanged on me. This is a good thing, but unexpected considering how my skin usually eat up perfumes. Overall, I'm really liking this scent. I think it would be a good scent to wear when I need to be calm and relaxed.

[angelicruin]

Sniffing the imp, this is sweet honey.

 

On my skin, it's creamy honey. Very lovely.

[megank4]

It took me forever to figure out what this scent reminds me of, but I finally figured it out- a fabulous leave-in hair scent/conditioner from a store in North Carolina.

Smells very nice and comforting but maybe not perfumy.

[riflmom]

Yay frimps! -- I love the opportunity to try scents I wouldn't necessarily have ordered.

Wet it's quite sweet cherry/almond-y. Hope it mellows...

Warming on my skin, I'm getting the milk and honey over the top of the almond. There's a mild dry note that I'd attribute to the grains (when I open a pail of cut oats to make breakfast I get that same dry/sweet sense)

Quite lovely - this should appease the Dana O'Shee!

[Argentwolf]

This is a sweet, creamy scent that does smell a bit like almond -- I suspect that's the part that's inspired by 'sweet grains'. It's very nice, but doesn't last very long or throw very much on me.

[ouch!]

You know one of those scents that makes you think, if this had a stronger throw I'd be all over purchasing it in an instant? Dana O'Shee is a perfect example.

Such a pretty blend but gone before you can say MMMMMMM!

 

First of this has an almond/cherry feel to it, but within minutes that's gone and it turns into a beautiful vanillary musk with honey. Such a soft, close to the skin smell. And like I said..the throw on this is just..hardly there. Really wish it was stronger.

 

Such a shame. I might need to get a 5ml and just dump the whole lot over my head to get the right effect!

[lishal]

In Imp: Big whiff of almond backed with a creamy base. This has very little throw and it took me about five sniffs to get the scent to register in my brain, but boy, when it does it immediately tickles my temporal lobe.

 

On Skin: I have to slather this in order to actually smell anything, it's very light and hard to detect. I get almond upon application with a little hint of cream.

 

Dry: Creamy almond oatmeal with a teensy dash of vanilla. This is a very comforting scent. It's warm, just the right amount of sweet, and personal, not at all overbearing and I don't have to worry about suffocating anyone with this scent because I can barely smell it! I love this and wish it had better throw and lasting power since it fades within a couple of hours. But, I love how delicate and cozy this smells so I won't mind slathering and reapplying often.

Edited April 7, 2009 by Beevee

[AnArtfuldodger]

Marzipan (it's that sweet almondy smell, not nutty, just sweet), with maybe a bowl of oatmeal somewhere nearby?

 

It's sort of like the sweet little sister to the tomboy granola-eating horse-riding girl Gunpowder.

Edited April 24, 2009 by AnArtfuldodger

[caitilarkin]

I was nervous about this one after reading previous reviews because almond is an angry, bitter Note of Death on my skin.

 

In the imp: Cream and oatmeal with maybe a hint of almond (but maybe I'm just imagining the almond)

 

Wet on skin: I'm getting more almond to go with the oatmeal and cream, but it's staying sweet--YAY!

 

Dry on skin: This remained a lovely, comforting oatmeal with a touch of almond. It's pretty faint and doesn't last long (3-4 hours on me) but I love it while it's around. This will be one of my post-gym imps.

[chimera87]

On the fence with this one

 

Sometimes it smells delicious and other times it reminds me of that liquid almond soap that many hospitals and doctor's offices seem to use :/

 

When it's going good, it smells like a big bowl of dried oatmeal and crushed almonds. I don't detect honey but there is something giving it a bit of extra sweetness for me. I don't get milk either.

 

The thing is, I never know if it's going to go weird on me and it seems to change back and forth through different phases. If this would be more reliable on me I would love to slather it on me after a Lush bath with a pud or marzibain and some snowcake That would be yummy.

 

I suggest everyone at least give it a shot. In the imp/bottle it smells almost like straight almond extract but a bit sweeter and it almost put me off immediately. I was pleased how pleasant it was on my skin...at least when it's not doing the hospital soap thing. lol.

 

[Caerphilly]

I was so excited about this one, but alas, it didn't work for me.

 

In the imp: Yummy sweet. I can smell the milk and honey, but I get a bit of almond, probably the oatmeal. Smells like Queen of Sheba, but with a bit of green.

 

Wet: Yep, Queen of Sheba. Almost exactly the same scent. Except that faded almost right away on my skin while this is just morphing.

 

Dry: Play-doh. The only other scent I've tried that turned to play-doh on my skin was Snow White. I don't know what the note is, but I know it's not milk or honey, as I like them in any other scent and stay true on my skin.

 

Overall: I just ended up covering the scent up with White Rabbit almost immediately after the dry down. And the play-doh smell went away and White Rabbit didn't morph or smell strange at all. Dana O'Shee smells nice in the imp, but doesn't work with my skin chemistry. Dissappointment.

[crebbsgirl]

Oh Gods get it off!!! This went sour and just plain nasty. Like curdled sweet milk. Oh the horror! Cursed skin chemistry!!!!

[sylvanusurban]

In bottle: Syrupy-sweet maraschino cherries.

 

On me, wet: Still pretty maraschino cherryish. Cloying.

 

On me, drying: Same, but the scent softens and dwindles. There’s a faint milkiness.

 

On me, dry: Now it’s a pretty, soft milky honey scent, but it’s very faint – I have to press my nose up to my wrist to smell it.

Verdict: I like the smell on drydown very much, but it’s very very faint. Maybe I’ll experiment with dabbing on greater amounts.

 

 

[pseedie]

~~dana o'shee~~

 

In the Imp: After reading the descripton, I wasn't expecting such an almond smell to hit me in the schnoz, but it did! And I love almond so it was fiiiiiiine with me!

 

Wet: Almond. Yes, the marzipanny type, but I'm also getting milk and honey on my skin.

 

Dry: The same almond, honey and milk...

 

Timelapse 1 hour: I smell completely yummy while cleaning the garage. The spiders must be impressed.

 

Timelapse 2 hours: Poopie. It's all but left me....but at least the garage is clean!

 

Verdict: If this fragrance smells like the dana o'shee get to eat, I wanna come back as one!! [= (probably not really, but right now it's a happy thought!) I still get a light milky musk smell on my skin, so it's not a "stayer" by any means, but it's residue-due is even gorgeous.

[Bluestocking]

In the imp: Very faint, pale scent. Honeyed almonds and milk? Yup, almond extract, mixed with milk and a little drizzle of honey. It smells amazingly close to my milk-and-nut body butter, which is definitely not a bad thing. The honey is very light, not at all heavy or overly sweet, and the milk is adding a wonderful creaminess to the almond.

On, wet: Wow, unexpected! This is definitely stronger on the skin than in the imp, and it smells for all the world right now like a direct relation of Snow White, only without the flowers and snow. It has the same glowing, ethereal sweetness, the same almond note, the same light, creamy quality. Definitely a fae sort of perfume, and very, very pretty and delicate.

On, dry: This one doesn't morph for me, so it's still a sweet, light, milky almond scent. There's a touch of the sweet grains (not unlike the baked oatmeal I had for breakfast), but they generally just smell like delicious almonds to me. The honey is sweet, but very subdued—I like that, because heavy honey would wreck this one. It's soft and creamy, but in a light-as-air way, and although it smells less like Snow White as it dries down, it now has something in common with Obatala.

Later: Basically the same. Creamy honey, with a much less grain and almond than before, but enough to be noticeable. For such a light and soft scent, this one lasts and lasts.

Overall: I've really hit the frimp jackpot lately! Dana O'Shee was nothing like I'd imagined it would be, and I like it all the more for that. I was afraid that this would be really heavy, overly sweet and sticky, and it's really nothing like that at all. For me, it's a milky, pale, lustrous scent with distinct almond and oatmeal notes and a nicely restrained touch of honey. The early stages recall the almond note from Snow White, and the later stages had an almost shea butter-like quality that reminded me of Obatala's clean, creamy-sweet dry down. It's a light but very comforting, pretty scent, and one that would be good for daily wear. It's not nearly as foody as it sounds, and the lightness and long wear make me think that this will be a great warm weather perfume, especially when layered with that body butter.

 

 

[isisonearth]

I can see why this one is so popular. I was expecting it to smell like L'Occitan's Honey Harvest but it is much more delicate. Mostly amaretto on me actually...the milk and grain are very faint unlike the hearty oatmeal smell of Honey Harvest.

 

Once it dries it is so very faint. I like a stronger scent. I may keep the imp but I don't think I'll need a bottle.

[satinworship]

I agree that the honey in this scent is very light, and blossom scented.

At first this does smell of cherried almond cakes, and it goes through a phase where it's kind of too cherry scented for me (I really detest anything cherry). But after a while this mellows into a very simple, but yummy scent. On me this smells like oatmeal, and very creamy milk, with a hint of honey, kind of like the sweetened honey spread we put on biscuits in the South.

 

I got an imp of Dana O'Shee and Alice, not really expecting to like either one. The honey in Alice seems much more potent and sickly sweet than it does it Dana O'Shee. This is really a sleeper hit, it kind of quietly grows on you the more you wear it.

 

It invokes images of softness and sweetness. This seems like a great scent to wear when you want to smell nice, but don't want anything that will overpower, or stand out too much.