Hermia

[phantomphoenix3]

Pink pepper, golden amber, honeysuckle, and passion flower.

This scent just says GIRL to me. A girly-girl, yes, but very lovely. The amber, honeysuckle and pink pepper work together very nicely, with the passion flower fading into the background and the pink pepper adding a nice bite to the sweetness. Time for a bottle! How I love thee, Hermia!

[crebbsgirl]

This was pink pepper on the outset. Pepper goes a little funky on my skin, so I was happy when the honeysuckle came out. Still, this retained a hint of funk that just didn't smooth out.

[CynicalPink]

Imp: Sugary cereal?

 

Wet: Amber (I think that's the cereal) and honeysuckle

 

Drydown: Wow. This is actually pretty complex and nice. Pepper is only there to provide bite to a smooth sweet scent

 

Overall: This definitely isn't an ultra girly scent. I'm having a hard time coming to a conclusion on it. I probably won't get a bottle, but it's up in the air right now if the imp is sticking around

[kohimame]

Well, this is going to be a short review, since I'm fairly new at trying to pick out notes from a scent. Out of all the imps I've tried, this is the first scent where I really couldn't pick out any particular note, besides pink pepper.

 

Overall, it just seems very juicy and sweet, with a hint of spiciness. Juicy Fruit gum? Nah.. (sniffs bottle again) well heck, in the imp it smells exactly like Juicy Fruit! Luckily it doesn't drydown quite so sweet.

 

I like it very much. It's very well blended, and I plan on getting a bottle of it post-haste. And now I have the Juicy Fruit jingle stuck in my head ..

[Aldercy]

Pink pepper, you are the light of my small, perfume-centric life.

 

This is like Pothon Meter with honeysuckle instead of rose, and amber instead of balsam. A little airier and more innocent, but the two are definitely sisters. I just love the pepper/flower/resin combination. Hermia is sweet and cheerful with this playful bite of fury from the spicy pink pepper. You can just picture the character this scent belongs to. Delightful.

[revinn]

The pink pepper in this blend is DIVINE. A little high-pitched, but also sweet and spicy. Yum. However, something (honeysuckle?) goes a little too sweet on me and this becomes rather cloying. After a few hours, it smells much nicer, but who wants to wait that long?

 

I'm definitely going to give this to a friend who I know will appreciate; hopefully her skin chem is less finicky then mine!

 

Out of 10: 6 (Definitely give it a try, it's a beautiful scent in the imp).

[LaurenO]

I've been meaning to review this for ages. I really like it. I tend to like lighter, sweeter scents generally, although I do own a few darker blends. I think that this is a good inbetweener. It's got amber, but it isn't too dark or resinous. It has florals and pink pepper, but it isn't overpoweringly 'girly'. It's spicy, sweet and pretty sophisticated.

[TrailerTrashPrincess]

how does this turn into bubblegum on me?

[lunaticana]

ohw wow favorite notes included:

pink pepper, golden amber, honeysuckle, and passion flower!

on my skin it is SO MUCH pink pepper

and the honeysuckle comes out to play in less then 2 minutes..

passionflower gives it a tropical twist in to me a base of a Alice in Wonderland kind of scent

it is loveley and I might want to get my own bottle

[papermaker]

Amber, honeysuckle and pink pepper. On my skin this is just an odd combination. Where is the passion flower? Oh about 15 minutes later it comes sauntering in behaving like a diva. It adds just enough tartness to balance the sweetness of the amber and honeysuckle.

[MamaMoth]

This is my first exposure to pink pepper, and it is delightful. My first impression was of something kind of sweet and gingery, but it's much more than that. It really is peppery and zingy, but in a sweet, gentle way. The amber gives it a dry, resinous kind of smell underneath that pepper. I guess it is the florals underneath that giving it a sweet, slightly sticky base, but I think it's held in check by the amber and pepper. Based on my usual reaction to florals, I never would have guessed Hermia contained any prominent ones. (I'm very nose-sensitive to florals, and I usually amp them to high heaven.)

 

As it dries and settles in, it gives off a waft of what I'd almost characterize as mildly orange-gingery, with an almost holiday feel to it. In fact, I'm tentatively slating Hermia to be my Christmas party scent.

 

The throw is kind of minimal on me, it stays close. But what she lacks in presence, Hermia makes up for with personality. She's sweet and unique, and a bit girly (but not annoyingly so.)

 

Also of note is the consistency of the oil: it's thick and orangey-golden, but it's not very oily at all! It's actually kind of soapy. It hardly clings to the imp-wand, and it soaks into the skin almost immediately.

[ianastar]

Wow, totally not what I thought once I read the fragrance notes.

 

At first this was very spicy, so I was thinking cinnamon, but cinnamon usually makes me nauseous and this did not.

 

Drying it was more of a spicy floral, but not I can really smell the amber.

 

Its more of a spicy amber now. Quite enjoyable.

[ami226]

Okay, I have two different imps of Hermia and both are extremely different in color. I don't think it is because of aging, since I received both imps around the same time..... Anyways, on to the reviews.

 

Bright Orange imp: On my skin this smells very..... cakey? A spicy yet slightly floral and sweet cake. Very tasty. Sooooooo good! Doesn't seem to morph much. I am seriously liking this one.

 

Light yellow, almost clear imp: Whoa! Honeysuckle and bubblegum? Completely different than the one above.

 

I have a feeling that the second imp is the actual Hermia. I wish I knew what the other one was though because it is seriously amazing.

[Blithgunde]

Hermia starts out with a nutty yummy toasty smell that I loved right from my first sniff at the frimp. Once on my skin the amber slips in some soft gold, and the honeysuckle some sweetness. I figured that the nutty smell had to be the pink pepper. I got my black pepper out of the kitchen and sniffed at it to see if I could catch that yummy note. Maybe a little, buried in the sharp pepperiness!

 

After about an hour Hermia mellowed into spicy sweetness with a bit of fruit peeking out now and then.

 

The women in my family (self included) believe in the right jacket. If you're wearing the right jacket you are appropriately dressed and ready for anything, no matter what else you may have on. Of course the jacket varies. For Mom it tends to be a navy blazer, for my sister something retro from the thrift store, and for me, something tweedy from LL Bean. This year my perfect jacket is red orange tweed, fitted under the breasts so it has an empire effect, one button and short, to my waist. Very feminine and vibrant!

 

Hermia gives me the same feeling of self-confidence, good cheer, and comfort that my jacket does. I have already ordered a bottle and I hope it arrives soon because I used the last of the imp yesterday.

Edited February 10, 2010 by Blithgunde

[surf-tormented]

I love this scent and I normally don't like florals at all!

 

In the bottle: It smells like one of the best BPAL oils ever. I am just taken back every time I smell it.

 

On skin: Pepper floral with a nice resin base. The amber isn't too strong, the pepper is just right (I need to check out other pink pepper blends, I love this note) and the floral is loud without being overwhelming.

 

And it lasts! I mean, it is strong for hours and I took a shower and it's still sort of around and I used soap to scrub it away so I could use another scent.

 

This has passed Lear as my favorite Illyria scent. I got this for cheap via a member of the LJ sinandsalvation group, mainly because Hermia is inspired by Hemes and I liked the concept. Plus, a lot of people have this as one of their favorite Illyria scents. Now I know why!

 

I am so glad I have a bottle of this. I got it cheap and it will last a long time. It's a lovely scent. I am so impressed by it. It makes me feel very upbeat and golden when I wear it.

[aquazoo]

Oooh, that's pretty! A bit floral with a lot of sweet behind it. It gets a little herbal as it settles in. Cloves.

 

[girasol]

This is almost foody to me - like a spicy cake. It's pretty, but I have to be careful how much I put on or it can be too strong.

[raisin]

I worried this would be too sweet and floral, but I think spicy florals may be the way to go for me. I'm not sure I can pick out the amber specifically, but there's a warmth to it that I associate with amber scents. I can't pick out any particular florals, but I get more spice than sweetness (thank you, pink pepper!) which I love.

 

I got this with my actual order, and actually like it much better than the two florals I ordered. I think I may get a bottle of this when my imp runs out!

[impolight]

:::HERMIA:::

 

The first impression of this fragrance was much drier and much more blonde than what was suggested by the notes in the Lab's description.

It was almost as though there were Straw and Autumnal Leaves included in the blend.

A second attempt revealed (on the second sniff) a hint of the pink peppercorns and a very subtle sweetness which was guessed to be the Passiflora, as Honeysuckle is usually much more of a pronounced, glistening-white sort of sweetness.

The Amber is here too, but again, the Pink Peppercorn's astringent properties efficiently dry out the sweetness's initial impact.

Weird... After applying it, everything BUT the Honeysuckle in Hermia was turbo-slurped by the skin...

Well, maybe a teensy-weensy spot of amber too...

Crazy!

That being said, perhaps Hermia would go best as a fragrance for Her.

Honeysuckle isn't one of the easier floral notes to pass for a man to wear.

Still, an intriguing scent...

Good job by the Lab!

A 4/5 for this tribute to The Bard...

[angelicruin]

Pink Pepper is definitely the strong note in this blend. I smell the amber in the background, but can't really pick up the floral notes. On dry down, this is still all about the pink pepper.

[FathomBelow]

In the imp and wet on skin: an odd, nutty-sweet scent. Definitely has more character than, say, Bathsheba, but I'm not sure how I feel about the nuttiness...

When dry: Happily, the nuttiness goes away. This is a wonderful scent and I am loving it more and more. It's sweet, creamy, and warm, not sharp from the pepper like I was a bit afraid it would be. For those looking for a more specific description, this smells smells like the best girlie shampoo in the world, combined with a teeny bit of banana. But that doesn't do it justice. If this were a color, it would be a slightly dusty but still vibrant coral pink.

I've been writing this review so far with my nose pressed right up to my wrist, but Hermia smells even better wafting around. It has an unusually strong throw, quite rare for me with BPAL scents. Wafting around, a delicious floral comes to the front, which I can only assume is honeysuckle.

 

All in all, I cannot praise Hermia enough!! Out of the thirty-something GC BPAL scents I've tried so far, Hermia is one of the two scents that made it to my bottle list.

 

[voodoocatwoman]

Oh, Gods, no.

 

Hermia starts off wet smelling like someone dumped a carafe of butter on me. Just about the time I stop reeling from that, the pepper jumps in and goes straight for my sinuses.

 

Several minutes and multiple sneezes later, it turns to bug spray. It is harsh and sharp and I gotta wash this off NOW.

 

And the sad thing is that every so often, a mild whiff of something fruity and light comes to the surface... only to be batted back to the depths by the BUG SPRAY.

 

OFF OFF OFF!!! NOW!!!

[MissVulpecula]

In the imp: Amber, honey, some deep unusual flower, sweet pepper

 

Drying on my skin: On my skin its sweet and sparkling! Lovely sweet amber, honeyed flowers and lots of tingling sexy pink pepper.

 

Throw and staying power: Medium throw, about 6 hours

 

Colour impression: a glowing golden deep fuchsia-pink

 

Verdict: Georgeous!

Sexy, peppery, warm and sweet! This is the perfect flirty party-scent! So lovely, deep and glowing!

Love it so much!

 

[FelicityTwitchell]

In the bottle: sweet, floral, very tropical - lovely, yummy

 

wet on skin: floral a little citrus

 

dry: I smell floral soap, not in a totally bad way, but not the lovely tropical vacation sniffing the imp offers

 

After a while the soap part dissipates

 

much later: flowers dipped in sugar (too bad it is such a long wait)

 

However my BF said it is very floral, sweet, but with no soapiness detected by his nose. He didn't like it very much because it was too "musky."

 

I wanted to use this in an oil warmer for when I want to feel transported to a tropical paradise full of flowers and wonderful fruits. That didn't go very well, it was like I'd bathed the whole apartment with floral soap, emphasis on the soap. After I opened the windows I decided that for me Hermia is destined to remain in the imp from whence it came. At least I can still be transported when I put the vial under my nose.

 

 

[mari4212]

In the imp and on wet: Umm. Sweet and rich, with a hit of unfamiliar spice that must be the pink pepper.

 

Drydown: more of the same. This is pretty and feminine, but with a definite kick to it. It's flirty and cheerful, but with a bit of spunk to it as well. Definitely one to wear on my "I'm having fun" days.