The Hesperides

[jizatt]

The Hesperides are the Nymphs of the Evening who dwell in a verdant garden located in the Arcadian Mountains, guarded by the terrible three-headed dragon, Ladon. Within their garden lives the tree that bears Hera’s sacred Golden Apples. Their perfume is that of sturdy oak bark, dew-kissed leaves, twilight mist and crisp apple.

wet this is all Wintergreen on me. Immediate swap/sale, but the drydown is gorgeous. Its very light, but a leafy, earthy, golden apple scent. Why cant it just be that and leave the wintergreen out for that first 40 minutes??

[calivianya]

This smells of very deep oak and apple to me. It smells fresh and clean, in a way. However, this does not work for me because most apples make me sick to my stomach after eating them, so I can't really wear apple scents.

[Medievalmaniac]

wet this is all Wintergreen on me. Immediate swap/sale, but the drydown is gorgeous. Its very light, but a leafy, earthy, golden apple scent. Why cant it just be that and leave the wintergreen out for that first 40 minutes??

 

I am SO GLAD to read your review, because all I am getting is mint, mint, mint, and I thought I might actually have lost my sense of smell since there's not supposed to be any mint! It smells like toothpaste in the imp and continued to smell so on my skin.

 

I had to wash it off. But since the drydown eventually gave "gorgeous" to someone else who initially got mint too, I might put it on before bed and just see. I don't mind mint at night.

 

TOOTHPASTE?!

 

The dry down smells like autumn apples, but it takes too long and it's too light. Does anyone else get this? I'm hoping aging will help beccause I want golden apples, darnit.

 

Again, thanks for this. I am so comforted to know I'm not the only one getting toothpaste from it!!!

[Aleah]

The first thing I also smell out of the imp is Wintergreen. I thought I had gotten a bad batch or something. But the wintergreen is fading, and I'm not sure what I smell to be truthful. But first smell from the imp, I thought it was toothpaste too.

[imaginepageant]

Review from 2005.

 

In the Vial: Verdandi's fraternal twin. Seriously, this smells exactly like Verdandi, although with a more prominent apple note. It's cold green apples, both tart and sweet, with a strong backing of herbs and woods.

 

Wet: My skin warms and deepens this scent significantly. The herbs and woods take the backseat as the apples step into the spotlight; and a bit of spice, either clove or nutmeg or perhaps both, start fighting for recognition.

 

Dry: The only change I notice is that it's grown sweeter.

 

An Hour Later: Warm, sweet apples. A much lighter and more summery version of Verdandi. That's all there is to say!

 

Overall: I like it enough to keep it. It has all the greatness of Verdandi, but in a more light and bubbly package. This scent would be great either for spring of the very end of summer when the leaves are just starting to wilt.

[milo]

Urgh, this smells like rotting fruit and coconut on me. After a bit it is more muted, less coconut, but still rotting fruit. Something has gone terribly wrong with my skin chemistry. Not for me.

[OctoberGwen]

(I am reviewing an aged imp of this - 2007 or earlier.)

 

When this is wet I get crisp apples, and then it dries into a misty, complex scent. The apple is still there but blends nicely with the other notes - not too sweet, not too sharp overall. It really does smell exactly like the description of it: sitting in the back corner of a magical garden at twilight, next to the apple tree. Beautiful.

[invisible iris]

A complimentary imp from the ever-generous Lab.

 

In the imp, I get apple with a blast of opaque oak, and something that smells strangely like spearmint toothpaste?

 

Freshly applied, I get apple and mint. The phantom mint burns off after ten minutes and is replaced by a hint of oak. I love oak. And then slowly, oak begins to take control from the apple...

 

For a short time, this is apple-y oak, and I really think it’s going to work on me. But then the apple note goes the tiniest bit plasticky. It reminds me of the smell of a My Little Pony from the old days (Applejack pony, ha!). The overall scent is quite light, and the oak keeps it from being too fruity or sweet. But this apple note seems to go fakey on my skin.

 

Verdict: Even without the plastic, this wouldn’t be a scent I’d go to often, not being a huge fan of apple-smell (other than the real thing). But the plastic is a deal-breaker.

[Invidiana]

This is a very true fresh apple scent that reminds me of SGA without the snow/ice note. Fresh apple and a some misty greens in the background. On me at least it turns out to be a red apple rather than the tangy green apple I was hoping for. Not my thing, but if you love SGA you definitely need to snap this one up before it's gone.

Edited July 16, 2011 by Invidiana

[EmmiKristiina]

A nice, crisp, juicy, green apple. On my skin the apple takes the back seat but is still clearly there, oak and something green takes the front seat. I really like it. Makes me hungry for a fresh apple

[Gateau]

In the imp -- a hint of dried leaves and apple with a dominant cough medicine note. I suspect this is the toothpaste/wintergreen note that others noticed.

 

Wet -- oaky, with that medicine, slightly menthol, scent layered over apple.

 

Drydown -- menthol/medicine still dominating, with a hint of the smoky autumn scents. The apple smells sweet and sort of artificial. The throw gives me a very pleasant sense of woodsmoke, which is attractive, but then up close it's medicinal.

 

Dry -- The smoke/oak and medicine starts to dissipate, making it more strongly sweet apple, but though more pleasant, it loses its complexity. Not for me.

[sajiaidoki]

Okay, when I look at the list of notes in this: apple, oak, smoke... I can pick them out fairly distinctly. Especially the (green?) apple.

 

However, on its own and without looking at the notes, all I get is... baby wipes?! Ack. Or maybe that toothpaste thing that a few other people have mentioned.

 

And unfortunately, it's the "wearing on its own" that counts. Strange, these are notes that I wouldn't have expected any strange reactions to. Bleh.

[Gwydion]

In bottle: The apple is indeed crisp and it spars for dominance with the oak. The leaves add a green shade to the blend, and the mists lend a softness. Wet: The apple wins, though the oak stays strong. This has a shady, late August, early September feel. The elements balance well on the skin, and it is different enough from my collection of Halloweenie apples to be worthwhile as a separate entity. Dry: sweet crisp apples with a hint of oak and mist.

[sabrebabe]

in the bottle: late fall apples, very ripe. Some sweet caramel candies off to the side. Not quite cider-ish, more like a rich mulled apple cider, in big oak casks.

On the skin: an herbal autumn apple cider. And apples rotting on the ground, too. Slight sticky sweetness of apples rotting. Apple cider in oak casks, sitting outdoors, slowly going bad.

Dry: ah, there is the twilight mist, if it’s supposed to smell like evening flowers.

Much later: Smells like the Halloween department at the store. Okay for decorations, but not so much on me. In fact, if I could take this scent off of me and put it into a room spray, I would! Not so good as a perfume on me though. And I do love me some Halloween goodness!

Imp goes into the Trade pile.

[theseagrows]

this was a frimp from the lab. i tend to steer clear of fruity scents (for the most part), but i am glad i got to try this. in the imp it smells like apples with a burnt-sweet note? weird. on my skin there is no evidence of the burntness, but there is definitely a foody-ish cake scent combined with apples. my skin is eating this up and it's very faint. basically a cakey-apple scent on me.

[Incendiare]

Not a trace of apple for me in the imp. Instead, it's very wintergreen-like mixed in with some juicy leaves. On me, the apple is starting to come out a bit more, but it still has that strong wintergreen vibe. The wintergreen goes with the crisp apple in its own way, but on me, dominates the blend throughout all of its stages. No oak at all, which I was expecting. This is interesting but not sure if it is something I'd like to wear as a perfume.

[somethingducky]

Alright I have two imps of this stuff somehow and I every time I open the bottle all I get is the scent of the ear cleaner we use for infected dog ears at work (vet tech). The cleaner is supposed to have an "apple blossom" scent and I swear up and down that this smells exactly the same! As much as I might like the fresh clean apple-ness, I can't help but be reminded of infected dog ears every time! So my association only I just cannot enjoy this scent at all...

[tallan]

Wet: Sharp and sour and really unpleasant. And that blue minty bubblegum smell again! The one from Yggdrasil! It has to be the oak, then. Good to know. A faint hint of crisp apples.

 

Drying: Huh, imagine that. It really DOES go caramelly after a while, after the oak of DOOM has quieted down. It's warm and brown and... pleasant. I didn't expect that! Let's see what happens next.

 

Dry: The pretense of this being an apple scent drops and this is nothing but caramel and honey, is what happens next. It's so sweet and rich it makes me queasy. No apples for me, it seems.

[Suu4LC]

Hmm...this could be lovely appley goodness on me, or I could just amp the wood to death

 

Hmm...I can see how others get minty from this...sniffing it in the imp, I got it too..very odd. It's sort of a minty, appley, leafy blend.

 

LOL, yes on my skin it's totally wintergreen-y bubblegum. No wood at all. Maybe a touch of apple. How bizarre...pleasant, but not what I was expecting at all.

 

This fades pretty fast, and has a weird minty lipstick-y smell as it dries. Just, totally odd. Not what I was expecting at all and not something I need to hold onto.

[morganlise]

Wow, sounds like I'm in the minority, because this was a strange hit on me! Based upon the smell wet, which is ALL wintergreen, I wasn't expecting it.

 

In the imp, it smells like a complex, woody scent. When first applied, however, it turns into Total Wintergreen Oblivion. This is not my favorite stage of all perfumes of all time, but I guess I am fortunate that I like wintergreen and don't necessarily associate it solely with toothpaste. I'm okay with that part, which lasts about ten minutes on me, (my skin eats perfumes, so it goes fast,) but I'm in lurrrrrrrrrrrrrve with what follows. The wintergreen calms down, finally, and lets the woods shine through, I think it's oak. Wintergreen is still there, but it's more subdued. The whole perfume takes on a sweetness. And at THIS point, and the drydown thereafter where the mint fades even more and it sweetens further, it reminds me vividly of something from childhood that I can't quite put a finger on. This won't be helpful, I know, but this is a scent memory for me. It's very strange, and I can see why so many people don't like it, but for me, it awakens something sentimental.

 

I'm so glad I tried it on my skin! I nearly put this imp up for sale without giving it a fair shake!

[nome]

I'm not sure if it's my nose or my chemistry, but in the bottle this smells medicinal, and on my skin it smells just as much so. Like someone was trying to make apple-flavored cough syrup. After two hours, it faded almost completely away, leaving a tiny caramel-oak scent. It might be a hormonal thing, but I'm on the pill and shouldn't get too much interference. I'll go try it on a friend and see what happens.

[jkfagtongpun]

Freebie! Wahoo!

 

In the imp it was plastic apples... which could be good for some but I was a bit worried.

 

On it was plastic apples. It reminded me of the Glad Plug-ins my mom used to buy.

 

I think the apple note just smells of air fresheners to me. Boo.

[Renna]

I think it's so strange that people are getting mint. O_O I haven't found that at all!

 

In the Imp: Woodsmoke, maybe a little sour like they're burning trash.

 

10 Minutes: Woodsmoke is still pretty prominent, but it's fading.

 

20 Minutes: There are the apples, and now it's apple fragrance with a swirl of (normal) woodsmoke. I like it. Don't love it, so I'm not heartbroken that it was discontinued, but I think it's a cool concept and very evocative of the myth (have to have a smoke note if you're trying to represent a dragon). It's just not entirely me; I think it's more of a special occasion sort of perfume than an everyday one.

[Cattastroficka]

To me this smelled like candy cigarettes from the 70's. Or Pepto Bismol. I liked it when I thought it smelled like candy cigarettes, but once hubby said Pepto, I have to bow out. He's right.

One Thanksgiving as a child I was sick and my mother fed me three teaspoons of Pepto Bismol every half hour. I was just about retching after the first two hours. To this day I can't eat those round pink soft candies that are wintermint flavored.

 

ACK! ACK! <<they look like this!!

[elinox]

First Sniff: Tartness, which starts to give way to apples.

Wet: Cinnamon bubblegum. What?!? The cinnamon is nice, light and not too sharp, but there’s an undercurrent of something sugary sweet which is not pleasant.

Dry: As it dries it becomes saw-dusty and powdery light. There’s a faint whiff of fresh tart apples, but not much and I’m guessing it’s going to fade away into nothingness soon. Once it dried completely I was left with saw dust similar to my reaction to Miskatonic University (although that one was much stronger). Fresh apples slowly peak through the longer I have it on, however there’s still that underlying saw dust smell.

My Reaction: I had hoped this would be a good autumn scent, with fresh apples, but it was very light and I did not enjoy the saw dust/powder it turned into. Upon re-reading the description I guess it’s the ‘sturdy oak’ which I’m not liking. I will of course re-test this, but it's not looking like a keeper.

Rating 1-5: 1.5