Caliban

[Voleuse]

Be not afeard; the isle is full of noises,
Sounds and sweet airs, that give delight and hurt not.
Sometimes a thousand twangling instruments
Will hum about mine ears, and sometime voices
That, if I then had waked after long sleep,
Will make me sleep again: and then, in dreaming,
The clouds methought would open and show riches
Ready to drop upon me that, when I waked,
I cried to dream again.

The scent of the salty seas, bittersweet wine, palm and tropical ferns.

This is very aquatic on first application, fresh and salty and teensiest bit sweet. As it dries, the scent becomes more ozone-y on me, like something akin to dryer sheets. Very nice-smelling dryer sheets, but nonetheless...

As it fades, this becomes a sweet ozone scent again, subtle, with the faintest hint of florals. Alas, I don't smell the wine at all, though the palm and ferns I suppose contribute to the floral note.

[tindome]

I don't think I have enough to go on for notes so this will be an overall impression.

 

When I first smelled this in the imp it was very fresh and sharp, almost pungent. The moment it touched my skin it faded in on itself. There was a faint grassy smell that I would guess to be the ferns. I can see myself lying in a bed of ferns somewhere near the ocean but the wind is blowing away from me so I'm only catching a faint sniff of it.

This stayed pretty much the same on me to the end. Not me sadly.

[forspecial_plate]

I really like Caliban. I put on just a little bit before work (then I remembered it has a wine note....oops!!), thankfully it didn't really make me smell like wine. I like Beth's ocean blends, and this one is really nice, fresh and green. Right away, wet on my skin, it has that 'crushed green stems' smell that I've read about. As it dries and warms up there's sort of a humid jungle smell coming through. The green-ness is sort of reminiscent of Sea of Glass. I did sense just a little bit of fruitiness which may be the wine peeking through. Overall I would say this is less 'salty' than other ocean blends I've tried (Jolly Roger and Kingsport). I would call it 'breezy' too.

 

It's a fresh, light scent, and I'm going to try applying a little heavier to see if I can get it to last longer. That's my only problem with aquatic/ocean scents, they fade a little too quickly. This has faded a lot in just a couple hours, but again, I put on just a teeny bit. Good stuff! : D

 

edited: Even with a heavier application this vanishes after about 2 hours. I might just have really dry skin but Jolly Roger does the same thing. I like this enough to keep it and try some tricks to make it last longer....but if I can't get it to last, I may not keep it. : (

Edited September 2, 2006 by Forspecial Plate

[Alchemy21599]

In the vial: green, aquatic and gardenia

 

Wet: Wow, I wasn't expecting this to have a floral note. This scent reminds me of flower scented breezes on a Carribean island.

 

Dry: This is a beautiful, fresh scent. I will enjoy the imp and I may order a 5 ml.

[AliBabble]

ooh, there's that fern again...a cool, pale green, very plant-like scent. it's not super-ozone-y on me, thankfully, but has the feeling of salty sea air - a sort of robinson crusoe, deserted island feeling (my fantasy). i have to say i really hardly smell the wine, maybe veerry faintly at first, then it comes out more later. it is mainly the cool green of the ferns and palm - an almost cucumber-like scent. this is a very calm, relaxing, breezy one. i love the ocean and islands, so it would make sense that i like caliban too - a mini-vacation in a bottle! (or imp, in my case.)

[LiberAmoris]

Caliban, I've waited such a long time to smell you! This has been a pending blend for a long time, and I've really looked forward to it.

 

On, it's a crush of green. The palm and ferns are so green, it's like the smell of plants after a tempest has come through and bent them all, releasing that strong smell from the inside of leaves and branches. There is a salty aquatic note much like the one (most appropriately!) from Tempest, but it is subdued compared to that blend. Here, it's in the background. The island is the focus here.

 

I really don't get much bittersweet wine out of Caliban. I feel like I can smell a little something around the edges---it smells like rice wine.

 

Aquatics almost never work on me, so I was unsure as to how this would play out on my skin. But this is really more about lush greens than water. The tempest has already come through, the people have all left, Ariel has been freed, and Caliban is left alone on the island, surrounded by the aftereffects of the turmoil. I'm not sure I'll need a bottle of this, but I will keep and enjoy my imp.

[Reedsong]

What a surprise this one has turned out to be! I expected to like it pretty well, but it's so unique and interesting that my little imp will be getting more use than I thought. All of the notes mentioned in the description - I can smell them distinctly, and then they all blend together to create an aura of something magical and remote. This is definitely the most evocative yet of the Shakespearean scents.

Edited September 5, 2006 by Reedsong

[filigree_shadow]

This smells like flowers. I don't really smell much of a salty sea in there. Or wine. Why am I getting flowers out of this? It smells like a very round, bright green scent. And it's bolder than most of the Illyria scents have been. This is much more green than I was expecting.

[hangingfire]

In the imp: cool and green, with an aquatic undertone.

 

On, wet: Smells like bracken in a forest after a heavy rain -- earthy, wet, green, with a bit of crushed grass. Lovely.

 

Drydown: A little less earthy and more aquatic; also a slighty winy note makes itself known. Not much throw at this stage, unfortunately, but it's really nice.

 

Thumbs up. I may try layering it with Death Cap for a full-on forest-after-the-rain effect.

[slave1]

In Bottle: Plants and dirt.

 

On Skin: I get a very earthy feel from this scent right away. It smells like being outside digging in the garden, but in an exotic location. This is another island jungle scent… I think it’s the third of it’s kind that I’ve reviewed from the latest update. But this one is very aquatic and very planty as compared to the other two which were more floral. The palm and tropical ferns are dominant and green with the salty sea splashing them with it’s blue/white aquatic note. The bittersweet wine is much more hidden and only shows itself about 20 minutes into drydown and is very faint. A floral note does start to come out, but it’s crisp and white, not sweet or sticky at all. This becomes a very clean and pretty scent, despite it starting so earthy and dirt like. It’s refreshing and feels like a vacation. Light to medium throw and short to average wearlength.

[edenssixthday]

Caliban - This is a very bitter and green scent. Before reading the description, I thought perhaps I was smelling dandelion in this blend, but apparently that bitter, green scent is either palm and/or tropical ferns. It's got a touch of salty tang, but at no point in the life of this blend do I smell the "bittersweet wine." After about 30 minutes, I notice a very strong dirt/soil scent underneath the bitter green notes. This scent is too dirty, too green and too pungent for my personal taste.

[Little Bird]

I'm really loving Caliban. I was afraid that the "salty seas" would smell like dryer sheets on me, or that the "bittersweet wine" would smell like rotten fruit on me... but this is just lovely. This is the wonderful rainforest smell that I was hoping to get from some of the new Wanderlust blends.

 

The wine adds a sort of sweet, exotic fruitiness to the blend. The palm and ferns are very apparent and lend a dark greenery to the fragrance. And I smell hints of soil and a slight salty aquatic note, like the ocean is crashing about behind the thick foliage. It's definitely a very green blend, filled with plantlife and a few surprises lingering in the background.

 

Wearing Caliban is like being transported to an exotic tropical island. I'm sorry that I didn't get a 10 ml of this one when I had a chance, but there's a definite 5 ml bottle in my future

[Aredhel]

Rating (on skin): 1/5

Summarised in a word or two: Salty earth.

 

Pre-review thoughts: It doesn't sound like something that'd work well for me, but I'm curious nonetheless!

 

In the imp: Green, aquatic... dirt?

 

On skin, wet: This is very, very salty and watery. Beneath that, I can smell something wonderful — something green, fresh, slightly sweet.

 

On skin, dry: There's still something beautiful beneath a blanket of salty seas and watery dirt. It's just not strong enough to weather said dominant notes. After about half an hour, this is a salty green dirt. I'm not at all an earth/dirt fan, so this isn't working out for me.

 

Conclusion/Notes: Alas, it isn't to be. I wish I could figure out exactly what is so nice beneath the salt and earth. Palm? Ferns?

[sookster]

straight sniff from imp this is quite green and aquatic...just like the depths of the ocean...once applied some floral gets amped up...smells just like a gardenia

i never do get any wine from this...it generally stays the same...a gardenia with a bit of greenery...such a shame it wouldn't be the same scent as i smelled from the imp so i do believe i will have to take a chance on this one in my scent locket before i come to a final conclusion.

[minilux]

Aquatics are generally my least favorite type of scent, because they virtually guarantee a headache and/or allergy attack. I had to try Caliban, though, because hell, it's Caliban. So, I could not have been more surprised to discover what a lovely clean scent this is. I wish I had gotten some fern, because I can't say I detect any, but overall I am happy that Caliban has broken my 0 for 10 billion record with aquatics.

[maijasu]

Caliban is a great mix of green and aquatic. I love scents with fern in them, and this is no exception. I can't smell the wine, but that's not a big deal. I love how fresh this blend is, but unfortunately, it's very light and has limited lasting power. And I'd want to wear it in the summer, when all scents seem to disappear more quickly on me. So, I'll have to think a bit on this one.

[Kimocean]

I like Caliban quite a lot. I get a strong rush of salty ocean air when I first apply it and then that settles down to blend beautifully with the greenery. It has a little something soft and sweet in the very back of the scent...maybe the wine??? It's definitely not boozey though. Overall it's a pretty, clean smelling scent that I will definitely be wearing from time to time and I think I'll even make a spray of it because it would be a great linen scent.

[PilotKitten]

Definite wood overtones to this. And I'm just not lovin' woods. There is a faint hint of tropical blooms and a faintly sweet wine, but it's not enough to save this scent from the "begone" pile.

[euterpe414]

I don't like a lot of aquatic blends, but I must make an exception for this! This is incredibly unique, a great mix of berry (not overly sweet berry), green and aquatic. I do not get any soap smell from this; I think that is because of the wine note. This blend also has great throw, of all the scents I am testing right now this one wafts up to my nose the most. This does invoke the feeling of being on an island, right at the point where the greenery and the shore meet. There is a hint of salty air in this as well, which is quite nice. As I said, this is unique, and the only scent I can really compare it to would be Orpheus, but it is quite distantly related to it.

 

Sooo, I am glad to be an owner of a bottle of this, and highly recommend people who don't think they like aquatics to give this a try.

[grrrlennyl]

at first: watery and bitter. very green.

on: sweeter, but still green and very watery.

1 hour later: salty and water, but in a murky way.

2.5 hours later: still salty and a bit green, but in a decaying sort of way. i don't like this on me.

6 hours later: powdery and vaguely soapy.

overall: this one just didn't work on me.

[Laurel the Woodfairy]

Oh brave new world, that has such imps in it!

 

If Caliban's "salty seas" are Jolly Roger-esque, then my husband will like this. Maybe bring out his inner wild man-beast? On me, it's all ferns with a touch of sweet palm, which I really like! So clean, fresh, green-smelling. I don't really get aquatic or wine, which is fine. This is the scent of Caliban after Miranda has civilized him a bit--still outdoorsy, but not at all feral or earthy. That's fine by me.

[supremegoddessofall]

Interesting. Aquatic, but with something dark and healthy underneath. It's pretty salty. Not sure on this one.

[Brianne]

In the vial:

Pungent and not very appealing

 

On me:

This went on pretty bad on me. It was just an overwhelming strong smell that I cannot describe. I think it must be the "ferns" because I seem to have this problem with any scent that has "ferns" in it's description. Thankfully, it doesn't stay quite so pungent and immediately turns into a softer, wetter scent. Salt water - much like what I smell in Jolly Roger. It's softer here though, not quite as in your face but definitely salt water. Behind it is a floral/green smell - I don't really get the wine unless the wine is what makes the greens smell so floral.

 

Final note:

Not a lot to say on this one. Not really for me, and yet it's not a bad scent either. Hard to describe. If you like Jolly Rogers, this might be one to try.

[PurringPulsar]

Caliban

 

In the imp: salty sea air with dry palm, a tropical scent. This smells like one of the marine-themed Lush products, maybe Sea Vegetable.

Wet on skin: wet jungle greenery sprayed with seawater.

Dry on skin: I like this. This smells really like a tropical island-lush, thick greenery, dry palm leaves and bark, and sea air. There's a hint of dryness to it, like a mat made of dry palm leaves lying on the beach, like sun bleached driftwood, it also reminds me of sand. I don't smell wine here. It's not as wet smelling as I expected-it's not the sea itself, more like the air coming off the sea. Warm and salty and with the scent of beaches and jungles to it. A mysterious desert island. I think this could be considered a 'Lost' scent.

After a while: now I smell the wine. It reminds me of the wine in Nosferatu, a soft wine note with a greenish scent at the front, this time provided by the fern note. The sea air and the palm (which smells very much like the palm in Manila) are still there. The sea air note is very good here-smells genuine and doesn't turn to washing powder on the skin.

Eventually this dries down to a scent I can only describe as smelling like skin, sand and salt, with a hint of something almost moss like, like a sea moss note. It's very pretty, and evocative. Eventually it becomes pure salty sea moss, like the moss note in Yemaya and Lyonesse.

Verdict: at a time when most marine aquatic scents turn to salty washing powder or soap on my skin, this is such a pleasant surprise. It really does smell like a beach on a tropical, unspoilt island paradise. I can smell it all here-sea air, sand, palm mats and traditional island huts made of palm fibres, and a hint of thick green jungles at the back. The sea air note is wonderfully genuine, like a salty breeze on a hot day, and it smells more airy than aquatic, and dry, like the sand of the beach rather than the waves lapping up on it. A hint of wine passes through momentarily, like watching a sunset on the beach whilst enjoying a glass of sweet red wine, and the drydown is a soft, slightly mossy/lightly musky scent of salt and sand sticking to warm skin. Whilst I prefer Yemaya and Lyonesse as my beach scents, this is incredibly evocative, and just perfect for summer, or any dreary winter day when I want to transport my nose to an exotic desert island and lose myself…

Emoticon rating:

Is it a keeper? yes, the imp. This makes me think of summer holidays!

If you like this, try: Sea of Glass, Manila, City in the Sea, Olokun, Jolly Roger

[ilona]

Wow, doesn't get much greener than this. This is so green it's almost yellow, like new grass. Not sweet, but I don't get any saltiness either. More aquatic than ozone, which is good since ozone ends up pretty soapy on me.

 

I love smelling this in January, it reminds me of summer.

Edited January 4, 2007 by ilona