Ozymandias

[kakiphony]

Desolation. The remnants of an empire, shivering with forgotten glories, a monument to megalomania, sundered power, and colossal loss. Dry desert air, dry and hot, passing over crumbling stone megaliths and plundered golden monuments, bearing a hint of the incense of lost Gods on its winds.

In the imp:
Vaguely perfumey. This is faint and hard to smell in the imp. If I had to pick a fragrance category I'd say it was citrus, which does not seem right...but it's so faint that it's a guess in any case.

Wet:
This is still faint on application. In fact, it's so faint that I ended up slathering more on. I even tipped the imp directly against my skin which I never do. Once I could smell it, I detected something faintly citrus overlaying a sandalwood-eque dryness. The notes are too faint for me to be sure of them though.

Early Dry Down:
After about fifteen minutes, what I'm getting from this blend is a very dry wood -- but it's so faint that it has almost ceased to be wood and has become dust. There's a sweet, powdery note at the base that I'm betting is amber. I've read other people's reviews and they keep talking about Chanel No. 5. I wonder if I'm wearing the same oil? On me, this is NOTHING like a traditional perfume (at least at this stage). It's much fainter, doesn't have any floral notes, and seems more shifting-smoke like than anything else.

Late Dry Down:
All right, after an hour I finally understand the traditional perfume and Chanel No. 5 references. I still don't think it's exactly like Chanel, but it has certainly developed a much more traditionally perfumey note than it had at the beginning. However, it's not a straight-out floral note like many lady's perfumes. It reminds me more of the way certain spices (like saffron) sometimes develop on my skin. It's a golden scent laid over the dry wood and powder, and I'm also detecting a note that I've noticed in a lot of men's colognes, but that I can't identify. (It kind of reminds me of the winter white earl grey tea I drink in the morning. Maybe it's bergamot?) It's less faint than it was in the early stages, but the throw is minimal.

After about four hours, this scent is pleasantly part of the background of my skin. The golden perfumey note is still there, but it has become secondary to a dry, powdery amber.

Conclusion:
This is pleasant scent, and I might wear it now and again, but I don't see it becoming a staple. (I certainly don't need a bottle, thank goodness!) It's too traditionally perfumey in the dry-down, and doesn't make me feel powerful or sexy the way my favorite bpals do. It does evoke the description nicely. There's the richness of an empire, but muted, as it would be after a fall. However, I have to say that, to me, it seems more like wandering through a Queen's ruined chambers than it does like the scent of the "King of Kings."

[Sheila]

Warm, glowing sand....

Vintage, classic perfume...

A desert breeze, hot and fragrant....

 

I adore this scent, and ordered a big bottle about 2 minutes after trying the imp. It's a very evocative, hot scent--I can't pick out any notes, but it really does smell like desert breeze.

[GemmaCat]

This is a weird one. I expected something hot, maybe even a little dusty, with florals in the background. But what i actually get is pure, overpowering soap.

 

As it dries down it somehow manages to get even soapier.

 

One for the swap pile, I'm afraid.

[Dolly Dimple]

Swap from the lovely Bagfish

 

Imp: mmm, spicy! When I was little my mother rarely wore perfume, and when she did, it was usually the less expensives ones like Tweed or Yardley. But she kept a little box of perfume miniatures, like Chanel or Guerlain, in her top drawer, and she'd bring them out for special occasions. The rest of the time, I'd sneak into her room and have a sniff of the bottles to see what 'posh perfumes' smelled like. This reminds me of that box - it's definitely got that 'classic grown-up lady' smell.

 

Wet: oh no! Soap! Coal tar soap! But there's a hint of something spicy and warm underneath that gives me hope that this stage may pass...

 

Half an hour later: Oh. My. Word. This is gorgeous. It reminds me of the amberiness of The Lion, without the sweetness of the grasses in that blend - it's dry and deliciously warm and incensy. It's one of these scents that, rather than smelling like perfume, makes it seem like it's your skin's glowing and smelling good unaided. Love this.

 

Two hours later: disappeared! And believe me, I covered myself in that stuff. If I put my wrist right up to my nose and sniff hard, I can just about detect it, but otherwise it's completely vanished. 'Nothing beside remains', indeed.

 

Verdict: if it had lasted longer, this would be a big bottle straight away, because it's stunning on the drydown - but it vanished so quickly. Maybe I should get a huge bottle and slather once an hour? Hmmm...

[TrailerTrashPrincess]

there's no change from my imp to wet on my skin to the drydown phase...

 

i like this, and i will be buying a bottle...

but the only way i can describe this is that if Old Spice had ever made a woman's scent, this would be it.

now, let me add that i love men's fragrances, and that's generally what i wear when it isn't BPAL (either that or Yves Rocher's Comme une Evidence)... and Old Spice is one of my favourites. i know that lots of people hate it or think it smells like their grampa, but that's what i like about it. it smells like my PawPaw did -- and makes me feel 2 again.

 

anyway, this doesn't have much staying power -- but maybe mixed into a lotion and soap and then slathered on...

 

scents are so very often tied to emotions, and this makes me both sad and happy.

(y'know the line "tis better to have loved and lost..." ? well, this scent makes me sad, reminding me of things/times/people that're gone -- but happy, to be reminded that they WERE once, and that i was lucky enough, and loved enough, to know. and i am grateful that i can remember.)

 

now i need to go find a teddybear (or, rather, in my case: a stuffed vampire) and snuggle.

 

i've vaguely been wondering what scent i'll wear to our wedding (next year, sometime.) and i think this may be it. that way i'll be reminded that just because certain family is no longer *here*.... they'll still.... here

[grrrlennyl]

at first: sharp, but dry. there's a bit of incense in the background, too. this isn't a very comforting scent.

 

on: very dry with a hint of incense. an odd, desolate scent.

 

1.5 hours later: the incense is coming forward more, but there's another note (the dry one) that seems really familiar to me. i can't quite place it, though.

 

3 hours later: this is so interesting. dry, vaguely sweet, and mascuiline, with that background of light incense.

 

4.5 hours later: a dusty, dry, sweet flower. i can't quite place it, but i like it a lot.

 

6.5 hours later: gorgeous. sweet and powdery, and very, very dry.

 

overall: i love this. i don't know why, but i do. i'm not sure it's bottle-worthy, but i'll be keeping my imp around.

[hypatia]

I've never been to Egypt, but I went through a crazy wannabe-archaeologist Egyptophile phase when I was a kid, and I adore that Shelley sonnet, so of course I had to order an imp of this. I would have had no idea how to translate this poem into olfactory terms, but Ozymandias is really evocative. It's dry, for one thing: nothing aquatic about it, and nothing plant-like either: no florals or fruits or greenness. It's all amber and spices. I can see where all the "classic perfume" comparisons in other people's reviews are coming from; it makes me think of something a 1940s movie star would wear, but at the same time, it manages to suggest arid empty desert. I like!

[edenssixthday]

Ozymandias - I didn’t know what to expect from this one, and my first thought was that it was warm and golden like vanilla, yet it definitely isn’t vanilla. Next, I noticed a very “perfumey” quality about this oil that instantly reminded me of my mother’s classic perfumes. By that, I don’t in any way mean to imply “old lady” perfume, because it’s not. It’s simply very classic and gorgeous. It’s warm, golden, dry, and has a lovely level of throw when it’s wet. As the oil dries down, the throw decreases, but the perfuminess of this scent also dissipates, leaving it softer and rounder. It is very difficult to determine the notes in this, but if I had to hazard a guess, I would say amber, musk, and possibly even orange blossom (because it turns just the slightest touch powdery on me, the way orange blossom always does on my skin). It’s a gorgeous blend and I’m delighted to have discovered it. It’s definitely the kind of scent I will wear when I want to feel grown up, sophisticated, and elegant. I really like it. Sadly, it doesn’t last on my skin more than an hour, but I won’t mind reapplying when I wear it because it is so pretty.

[brownbear]

I can't help thinking of a sculpture that my great-grandmother made titled ozymandias when I think of this oil. And then, when I smell it, I can't help thinking that it might be a perfume that she might have worn. It smells so much like a perfume from years ago. (Though I don't know specifically which one.) Some very old, fancy, designer perfume.

[Miss Lynx]

This smells a lot more like a conventional perfume than most BPAL scents, but not necessariy in a bad way. It's reminiscent of a fairly nice, high-end, classy perfume, and is not overly sweet in the way that so many commercial perfumes are.

 

I can definitely get dry and golden from this, and there's an incensey touch, though not as strong as in the more heavily incensey scents that I tend to enjoy.

 

Overall, I'd say it's very well done -- classy and elegant, and the sort of scent you could see people paying $100 a bottle for in a department store -- but not really my kind of scent. I can definitely appreciate the artistry in it, though.

 

Grade: B-

[Rhowan]

Ozymandias goes on like a hot, dry desert air with perfume blowing with it. I smells a lot like a high end man's cologne. I think there is just a bare hint of vetiver in it - a very rich vetiver that is done right - not stinky. I detect a bit of a powdery note too.

 

I cannot name the notes or give this the proper review but Ozymandias is very dry, a bit powdery, and more that a bit of a man's cologne smell to me. It is masculine.

 

Great throw, long wear. This will be a bottle for my son! He loves it!

[Eunice]

Ozymandias smells just like an expensive and elegant perfume. It doesn't linger and become cloying. This just stays refreshing and rich and classic.

[fairy]

This one smelled like sea air to me. Could be gender neutral in my opinion although it might have a somewhat flowery smell in the background that some men might not like. Very clean and fresh.

 

Edited to add: LOL my nose must be way off tonight because I just read the description and it's supposed to be desert air...I smelled the sea And earlier I didn't smell the popcorn in Shill. I might need to give my nose a break

Edited August 12, 2006 by maddi

[QueenFae]

It sounds weird, but this is exactly what my Grandmother's bathroom used to smell like. (When clean and scrubbed of course ) She must have used a potpourri that smelled like this. It's a floral, perfumey scent, definitely not what I was expecting. There is certainly a "dry air" quality to it, but the floral notes are dominant. The florals are hard to identify; sort of a generic white flower scent, but not unpleasant. I like this because it reminds me of my grandparents, who are long passed, but it's not something I would wear.

[Aredhel]

Rating (on skin): 1/5

Summarised in a word or two: Interesting.

 

Pre-review thoughts: I'm really not sure what to expect from this. Incense tends to be very strong on me, though, so whatever else it is, it'll likely be dominated by incense.

 

In the imp: Oh, my. Very warm and perfumey, and heavy on the incense.

 

On skin, wet: This reminds me vaguely of the better male-oriented pefumes I've come across over the years, but dryer.

 

On skin, dry: Ozy is a strange one, indeed. Warm, regal and golden, and strangely, a sort of dusty I've not encountered before. Of course, it is thick on the incense, as expected, but there's also a floral element I can't place. Mostly, though, Ozy is... soapy. Woodsy, dry, perfumey and soapy. High-end soap, but soap all the same. It reminds me of a bit of astronger, incense-heavy Jacob's Ladder somehow.

 

Conclusion/Notes: Interesting, but not my thing.

[azhure]

In the imp: Very faint - I get a whiff of amber and that's about it.

 

On the skin: Again, it's faint at first. Once it warms up it turns into a quite beautiful scent. It is very warm, and very much like a traditional antiwue perfume.

 

Dry: The drydown is much the same - getting occasional whiffs of that antique perfume scent, with a bit of incense in there. Quite yummy

[buzz23666]

cleaning fluid. I really don't know what to say about this other than I cannot get past that thought while this one is wet. I cannot pick out anything here.

 

Dry - this one goes from cleaning fluid to "fresh" scented anti-perspirant.

 

Very strange.

[maribouquet]

Mmm, this is gorgeous. I agree with previous reviewers: this is strongly reminiscent of Chanel No. 5. It also reminds me of Jovan White Musk, although I feel ridiculous making that comparison, as Ozymandias is a thousand shades and a few dimensions better than either of those commercial brands.

 

I wish my nose were more developed so that I could pick out the notes that make up this lovely fragrance...

 

I will definitely be getting more.

[deleahrium]

Very hot, dry and dusty. This strikes me as a masculine scent, and possibly my favorite so far. It picks up a sweetness when it's on my skin, and if it did that on a man? *swoon* yeah there is something really sexy about this. It's clean without being citrusy or aquatic, which is how most clean smells are to me. So nice!

[Phaedra777]

I'm happy to report that megalomania and desolation smell...really pretty. This reminds me of Chanel No. 5, as others have said, without the sneeziness. It's more "perfumey" on my skin than it was in the vial, but in a very soft and non-headachey way.

[juniperus]

Bottle: light and perfume-y

Wet: even lighter, a whisper of a scent

Dry: dusty incense has crept up, no longer light nor a whisper. and an aquatic/ozone-y note that I recognize and fear.

Later: mmm...siiiinus. and an oddly sweet incense. this is really strange on me. and headache-inducing.

[fiddledragon]

On me this smells, appropriately enough, almost undetectable. There's the barest whiff of cologne and incense, that disappears quickly once dry. Maybe it gets stronger as it ages? Normally incense-y blends are fairly strong on me.

[sofiaviolet]

This smells pretty good. I have no idea what's in it, but it's almost foody without being disgusting. I smell something that I usually smell in aquatics, which is terribly out of place here, but it makes me like Ozymandias more. And after a few minutes on my skin, this is pure soap. Gah, what a morpher!

[steffanina]

Ozymandias-

 

In Bottle: Floral and with a hint of amber.

 

Wet: Very strong and eye-watering; it smells like someone's mixed the alcohol with the perfume oil already.

 

Dry: I'm glad I waited for the dry-down on this one! This has a lovely amber dry-down, not as delicious as The Lion's amber, but still nice. The wet stage was off-putting, but the dry-down's what's key, after all. It does not last as long as I'd like, but it was pretty for that time.

 

Overall: Very nice dry-down.

[columbus]

In the bottle, I’m getting a very strong incense from this blend, but it’s a very dry, hot incense. It makes my nose itch just to sniff at it.

 

Once it’s on the skin, this is a very “perfumey” blend to me, mostly because it smells just like the perfume my grandmother used to wear, which I can make no real account for as I do not remember what her perfume was called, nor what was in it.

 

After it’s dry, though, I can see where the ideas of desolation and destruction come in. Beth is so good at her atmospheric blends. There’s a definite dryness to this, that gets stronger as time passes, until you’ve got the dry atmospheric note as the strongest scent and the incense/perfume way in the back, until eventually you can only catch the occasional whiff of it in the wind.

 

I really like this one, and am glad to have gotten an imp! Maybe when the imp has run out I’ll get a bigger bottle.