The Cup of Death

[filigree_shadow]

 

The Cup of Death, Elihu Vedder.

Peach blossom and peach tree leaf, Mysore sandalwood, French lavender, bois du rose, myrtle, and blue yarrow.

 

In the imp: A lush peachy floral.

 

Wet: A bit herby smelling. Rather strong.

 

Drying: Ooo. This is becoming quite nice. If I hadn't bought the entire set of Salon imps I wouldn't have been very interested in trying this one because I'm not usually a floral person. But this is really starting to interest me. The floral notes are kind of swirling around... I sniff once and I think I smell lavender; I sniff a few seconds later and it seems like peach blossom. (I'm not sure exactly what myrtle or blue yarrow smell like, so I'm no help to you there.)

 

Dry: The sandalwood is keeping the scent from going overly in-your-face-floral on me. When it's dry I can't quite pick out any one note, which surprises me because often anything that has lavender in it means I'll be walking around in a lavender cloud for the next few hours. It's not overwhelming the blend here at all. The floral part of this is a bit more of a sweet floral than I usually like; however, it's also more of that kind of humid-smelling floral rather than that dry soapy floral scent. Deep and lush. That's definitely a plus. It almost smells blue to me. Slightly melancholy. Definitely not green or red.

 

I'm really glad I gave this a try. This is the kind of floral I would wear. Very pretty.

 

Edited to add image - clover

[edenssixthday]

The Cup of Death - I love almost all of the notes in this blend, with the exception of bois du rose and lavender, which is hit or miss on me (miss, more often than not). It opens up with a strong, herbal blast of lavender, punctuated with the slightly sweet woodiness of peach tree leaf. Behind that is the similarly earthy scent of rosewood, which is one of the few scents that causes me to recoil. Fortunately, the rosewood is subtle, and just as I’m beginning to realize that I can actually handle the rosewood in this scent, I also notice the sharpness of the lavender beginning to calm down and likewise become less aromatic. It’s at this stage that the bright green scent of the myrtle begins to slither into the forefront of the blend, and I notice the scent has changed almost completely from how it smelled when I first applied it. The scent becomes more green, herbal, and slightly bitter the longer I wear it, and the less and less does it smell like sweet peach blossoms. I never do smell the sandalwood in this blend, although I’m sure it is helping to boost the earthy, and slightly woody notes that seem to be the only unchanging aspect of this blend. It morphs dramatically on me from beginning to end. It’s a truly fascinating scent, but quite astringent and herbal on me and while it’s a scent I could see myself using for aromatherapy purposes, I couldn’t quite pull this off as a personal perfume fragrance.

[Voleuse]

This is a punch of peach on first application, strong and sweet and fresh. It's a very green scent as well--the leaf aspect is definitely there. This is a lush orchard scent to my nose. As it dries, the sandalwood and the other florals start to peek through the peach. They ground the scent, broadening it into an entire garden, rather than just peach trees. It's darker with these notes, though, shadowed and a little solemn.

 

In the end, I get a more subtle blend of peach and wood and dirt. It's warm but dark, and only a little sweet.

[Little Bird]

First on, The Cup of Death is rather herbal and astringent on me. There’s strong, herbal lavender at the forefront, paired with an acrid floral note.

 

Thankfully this sweetens up after a few minutes on my skin (yay) as a fruity floral fragrance creeps in. The florals are a bit soapy on me, but not overwhelmingly so. The overall impression is a clean, sweet, juicy floral paired with some greener, earthy something. The grounding sandalwood lingers attractively in the background.

 

Overall, this is a decent floral blend. I would sum it up as juicy, clean florals with hints of herbal greenery and dry sandalwood. Probably not something that I would ever wear, but still pretty when I get past the sharp opening stage.

[supremegoddessofall]

On me: Peach in some weird florals. I normally love peach, but this is not playing particularly well with others, particularly the lavender. There's something in here that's just...strange.

[themerrybaker]

Ding Dong.

 

Excuse me, may I borrow a Cup of Death, please?

 

Sure thing, neighbor, and I have these great peaches here.....

 

Mmm, thanks. Those peaches were good, now I'm going to go dig up the garden...

 

I like Cup of Death, and it is interesting how it morphs between peach, wood, and dirt - a description of the lifecycle of a plant. I'm not sure a whole bottle is in the future, though.

[Emma2403]

In the bottle: ooh very fruity. I would have said ripe melon rather than peach if I didn’t know better. So far, so good.

 

On my skin: sweet fruit (I still think of melon and not peach) only. It’s very pretty, but I was expecting something far more complex.

 

After a couple of hours: it gets very green. The sweetness is fading away, and I smell leaves now… some moss, maybe too. I really like it. Then, even later I got sandalwood and I’m not really the president of sandalwood fan club.

 

Verdict: a bit OTT for me.

[PurringPulsar]

The Cup of Death

 

In the imp: melon? I’m getting herbs, lavender and for some bizarre reason, cantaloupes.

Wet on skin: whoa, this has gone dry and almost scrubby, gritty like dried grasses, and with that odd melon/cucumber note.

Dry: this is a very unusual scent. I think the herbal, ‘dried grass’ notes I’m getting here are the yarrow and myrtle? The woods are very strong and enhance the dryness of this scent. I don’t get much peach, but I get a little lavender. There is an odd watery-cucumber like note at the back. Overall, this is the scent of a wooden chest of rosewood and sandalwood filled with dry grasses and herbs. It’s intriguing.

After a while: the almost astringent herbal scent has calmed, and the woods are more prevalent now. I also smell the peach blossom, which is very similar to the fruit on me, with myrtle and lots of rosewood now. It’s not the ‘really rosy’ rosewood, maybe the sandalwood is stopping this wood from smelling like roses like it usually does, but the dry fragrant woods are very strong and warm at this point. Eventually this fades to pure rosewood and dried grasses…it now smells very similar to Libertine, a herbal rosewood scent with myrtle and peach taking the place of the camomile. Sometimes a greenish note peeks through the dry, dusty woodsy scent. But overall, this scent eventually dries down to soft muted herbs in a wooden box…or maybe a wooden coffin. It also reminds me of attics.

Verdict: this is a very unusual fragrance. After an odd burst of melon at the start and momentary flashes of peach, the scent is predominantly that of wood and herbs, and the scent is very dry and almost faded and dusty in feel. The woods are very rich and warm, and the myrtle and yarrow smell like dried bundles of grass or medicinal herbs. The scent often reminds me of wooden boxes, antique wooden chests, lying somewhere in an old attic. It’s very evocative and atmospheric as a scent, woods and herbs and forgotten memories. I like it, but out of Salon II’s two ‘peachy scents’, I much prefer Cupid Complaining to Venus-although this almost feels like an older version of Cupid Complaining. It’s very unique though.

Emoticon rating:

Is it a keeper? Not sure. It’s a little too herbally dry but it’s quite an interesting scent.

If you like this, try: Séance, Chesed, Magus, Libertine

[Ajila]

In the bottle - Peach and lavender followed by something green and bitter.

 

Wet on me - Soft and powdery green. There is a roundness of the peach blossom, but that's all I can identify.

 

Dry on me - Warm, waxy wood with a hint of spice.

 

Overall - A very unusual scent, and one that I think will grow on me.

[siddal]

Wow, this is an interesting scent. In the imp I smell the floral notes predominantly. I almost get a hint of something like a green melon, too! To me these all stay pretty strong when wet. It's during the dry down that I start smelling some dry woods and herbs. I suppose this is the blue yarrow and sandalwood peeking out. And finally I can smell the peach blossom and peach tree leaf. Very complex. Not for me as somehow the combo of all of this has an odd jasmine or gardenia-like essence to me. Which sounds, weird I know. Scent is a strange and fascinating thing :-)

[slave1]

THE CUP OF DEATH

 

In Bottle: Peach and lavender

 

On Skin: I love peach and happily it comes forward right away. I don’t like lavender and sadly it’s the second most dominant note. This scent reminds me of a peach tea. Sweet peach, but a minty herbal note as well. As the scent develops, it becomes quite earthy. Also the rose note comes out and adds a sour spike. This scent has a very golden and green tone to it. The fruit mixed with the earthiness makes it very natural. Some fruit scents can be overly sweet but this one is well balanced with the other notes. It mellows out quite fast and becomes a light scent, pretty but very faint. Not really a scent for me, I prefer pure sticky sweet peaches, but for someone who likes things lighter and more earthy, check this scent out. It has a light throw and low to average wearlength.

[grrrlennyl]

at first: dry woods, herbs, with a hint of peach.

on: very peachy.

1 hour later: peach and soft flowers.

3.5 hours later: a soft, floral, peach scent.

7 hours later: a sweet, powdery floral.

overall: this is just ok on me. i'm glad that the peach blossom didn't go funky on me, though.

[maijasu]

I'm so sad that no peach note appears on my skin. It's all herbal floral, with lavender standing out the most. Not sweet at all, and not for me.

[zankoku_zen]

In the imp: Peach and lavender

 

On Skin: Peach! Very soft and sweet peach. I get a tinge of rose, but overall it's a bright floral peach.

 

On Drydown: About an hour later the peach smell has faded and instead I get the sandalwood note most prominently. Again, I have a tinge of rose.

 

Verdict: Loved the peach, but I'm less crazy about the drydown. I love how it begins like a sweet scent and ends in an almost solemn spicy scent. This is how I imagine sipping on the Cup of Death would be.

[Em-]

Head on, Cup of Death is a very pretty sweet floral - very appealing, attractive, exactly what a cup of deadly poision should be.

 

Underneath, there is a definitely green note - which did not read as herbal to me, so much as grassy green.

 

All in all, an interesting blend.

[The_Merf]

In the imp: Wow, that is a strong, strong peach. I can't smell much over the peach, but I do pick up on a little bit of lavender.

 

Wet: This is a ripe peach at first, but it quickly becomes more complex. I think the leafy part of the peach leaf emerges, and other notes work to provide a soft edge to the scent.

 

Drydown and wear: This holds fairly steady from the wet stage, which surprises me a bit, as most of the Salon scents I have tried make at least one major morph. However, this one changes gradually, as a slght edge of greenery comes out. It's a very bright and pretty scent.

[euterpe414]

This is a light, flowy herbal peach scent to my nose. I detect the lavendar and myrtle (not sure what yarrow smells like but I am probably getting it, too) floating on top of a very ripe, creamy peach. The sandalwood provides a base for all of this lovely activity, but is not specifically present. This scent lasts a fairly long time and doesn't have a lot of throw. It's more of a scent for personal enjoyment.

 

I really enjoy herbal/fruity scents in the springtime and summertime and will most likely pick up a bottle of this one to wear. Lovely and very fitting of the artwork (as always! Beth is so great at this...)

[phedre]

In vial: Sweet peach blossom and lavendar, with a herbal note.

 

Wet: For a change, the lavender isn't overwhelming on me. There's definitely sandalwood here, and a touch of wood and herbs.

 

Drydown: Too sweet! Nice, but just overwhelming in its sweetness.

[solcita]

I AM PEACH, HEAR ME ROAR. No, really. Very strong fruity scent to it at first, with a woody undertone and some light florals. The lavender is non-existant (good, as I think it would be too harsh here) but it does have a sort of... pale hazy blue feeling. I really like this one, and have already obtained a bottle for my very own. (Some of my co-workers have been enabled by me, and some just like seeing what new scent I'm wearing -- I love the look on their faces when I tell them what this one is called)

[Aredhel]

Rating (on skin): 2/5

Summarised in a few words/smilie: Lavender and peach.

 

Pre-Review Thoughts: Sandalwood, lavender, and myrtle... I'm fairly sure my skin will disagree with this.

 

In the imp: Herbal (lavender) peach blossom; nothing more, nothing less.

 

On skin, wet: Green-tinged peach blossom and a strong lavender.

 

On skin, dry: I definitely agree with the comparisons to a very-slightly-minty peach tea. A very herbal, lavender-laced peach tea.

 

Conclusion: Nice, but too heavy on the lavender for my liking.

[Silverstrike]

Oh, bravo Beth. This was really cool--I tried it without reading the notes. In the imp, it smelled apple-y to me actually, rather than peach (I just read the notes now). That was what drew me--it seemed like a nice, sweet apple scent so I put it on. As it dried, it started to smell sinister--herbal I guess. It didn't smell like GC Hemlock to me, Hemlock actually smells a little sweet, but this dried to what I thought hemlock would have smelled like. For awhile I really did not like the scent on, but going back and reading the notes I understand it now, because lavender doesn't agree with me. When it finally softened and mellowed, it wasn't bad, but it had a long period of herbal death that made me reflect upon how the scent was so appropriate to its name, because of course it would smell nice and inviting at first, to get you to drink from the cup of death, and then, only after you've imbibed, would you find out that it wasn't that good for you. This was a really cool scent to experience, but definitely not something I'd wear on a regular basis (or probably ever again, because of the lavender). Trippy though.

[jiggahava]

Peachy keen! This is peach softened with the rose and lavender. It makes the peach very warm, almost fuzzy. This isn't really a fruity-floral, it's a little too dry for that. It's really pleasant though. The throw is moderate, then fades fast. I like this alot.

[Ahania]

This starts out mostly as a melon scent on me. As it dries, the melon fades down some and the lavender starts to come up and balance it out. There's also something making it smell darker as the melon fades (yarrow?). The lavender is definitely there, but it never overwhelms. I don't really get any woodiness in here. This is a complex, solemn scent, and one that is perfectly suited to the artwork. I'm very taken by it.

[storme]

In the imp: peaches and bitter green herbs.

 

On me, wet: peaches and that bitter green herbalness and a lot of sharp lavender.

 

On me, dry: dry, soft peaches and lavender and wood. Warm feeling to my nose, and slightly powdery.

 

Verdict: This is quite nice, but I think ultimately too dry-feeling a scent for me.

[alhbooks]

In the imp, a mildly pleasant floral/fruit blend. On the skin, the peach flavor comes out immediately, and starts getting stronger and more interesting. I'm not getting any of the lavender, which is fine, although it might be grounding the fruitiness a bit.

 

Peach brandy is the best description for me. I might actually need a bottle of this.