Virgo 2007

[ancilla_morte]

VIRGO 2007
Mutable earth: the essence of analysis.
Fennel, valerian, maidenhair fern, carrot seed, honeysuckle, and myrtle.

let's see if I can do a proper Virgoan analysis of this.

wet, on the skin, it is mildly sharp and herbal, with mossy-ness and a bit of earth. Smells a bit like sticking your head into a forest wildflower patch! Kind of comparable to Zombi, except with not much rose and more wildflowers/herbs. I'm not too keen on recognizing things like the valerian, maidenhair fern and carrotseed, but I can assume those are what is contributing to the herbalness, and the honeysuckle and myrtle is what sweetens it up!

dry on skin
retains its floral sweetness, not much sharp herbal anymore, still mildly earthy but fairly light. Throw is not overpowering at all!

Very pretty scent, I'm usually not a fan of florals that aren't mainly rose, but this one I might actually wear now and then! Edited September 13, 2007 by Shollin

[minasena]

I was excited to get this because I'm a Virgo - my birthday is at the end of the month.

 

In the bottle: Strong herbal, but it's not unpleasant to me.

 

Wet: Sweetly earthy. The herbs aren't quite as strong, though I can smell the valerian. Or at least what I think is the valerian - I'm unfamiliar with the notes except for honeysuckle.

 

Dry: It's softened down even further to where it's a sweet herbal. I can definitely smell the honeysuckle and Virgo has become a very light, pleasant scent.

 

Conclusion: I'm not sure about staying power because it's softening down so much. But to me it doesn't really matter because this is a scent that gets my attention without giving me a headache. So I am one happy Virgo with this blend. I guess that does describe a Virgo - strong and sharp outwardly, but if you're one of the few lucky that gets to know us well, you'll find that we're quite sweet and pleasant. Sometimes, anyway!

[Brianne]

In the vial:

Very ferny

 

On me:

I have a sort of curse with Virgo scents. They tend to not be my "thing", despite the fact that I'm as Virgo as any Virgo could be. Let's see if this is any different!

 

It goes on VERY green and earthy. Not in a piney/foresty way though - actually, it makes me think of tropical mosses and ferns. Green but in a humid/moist way. There is something sort of perfumey behind that that is hard to describe as well. I get the honeysuckle but it's fairly mellow in this, and adds just a touch of sweet floral behind those earthy greens. It does eventually become a more subtle, slightly spicey green scent with a hint of sweetness. Hard to describe, but a little incensey without merging outside of the earthy/green area. I like this phase of it a lot more than the beginning (though the wet stage DID have a kind of unusual carrot kind of sweetness that was nice).

 

I'm just not sure how I feel about this! I don't hate it, but I don't know if I love it. One moment I'll smell it and think, "Naw, that's not for me" and then another moment I'll think, "Wait, that's actually quite nice". So... very much a toss up for me. Guess I'll have to sit on this one for a while and try it again later!

[Heavenlyrabbit]

Amended-

 

Clean, fresh dirt.

 

Or rather the weeds being pulled out of my garden with a bit of mossy soil at the roots.

 

This smells like weeding the shady side of my (huge) veggie garden where I grow the peas and lettuce.

 

This comes across on and to me as a casual perfume but could easily imagine it being gorgeous sexy with the chemistry.

 

Oh yes, there is the herbal side of this.

 

There is a vrey light touch of background sweetness.

 

I'm glad I didn't review this yesterday as it's taking a bit of time for me to really "get" this perfume. It's different.

 

Initially, the comparison to Destroying Angel or maybe Death Cap seemed apt. Today, I'm not so sure. Lightly testing once again... maybe something more herbaceous or green rather than brown?

 

If you always wanted a wearable earth/dirt scent, but found them not quite making it for you, try Virgo.

Edited August 6, 2007 by Heavenlyrabbit

[sarada]

Vegetables! Seriously, Virgo smells like a crisper full of vegetables to me. Or perhaps a freshly-picked bundle, still dripping wet from a hot summer rain, cooling off in the shade with bits of soil still clinging to the ripe green cucumber and sweet rooty carrot. This smells like roots and leaves and wet succulence. I don't so much smell dirt, but I definitely think of a wet garden.

 

I remember from will call that this faded very quickly and I couldn't smell it after long. It might work well in a locket, but I'm digging it in small doses on my skin. I would love to wear this gardening, it is a very cooling blend quite like some of the cucumbery moons we've had recently.

 

It also smells distinctly like a type of clear, non-greasy sunblock my mom used to use. I wasn't very fond of the smell of that, so I don't like drawing that comparison in my mind (kind of a chemically, perfumey scent) but it is only present for a moment before it goes back to the pile of vegetables. Really unique, not what I expected, but I like it.

[Babylon]

Virgo definitely smells like a vegetable garden! There's no smell of dirt to me, and the valerian doesn't smell overpowering at all. It just adds an earthy quality that blends in so well with the other notes that it's difficult to distinguish. Think of a muggy summer day, working in your vegetable garden. You can smell your fresh veggies, stems and leaves and roots of weeds you've pulled, and the scent of sweet honeysuckle wafting over from your flower garden. Add to it a sort of greenhouse feel (humidity and heat without ozone or aquatic notes), and that is the essence of Virgo.

 

This is a fun and unique scent, and I will treasure it in the winter when everything is dead and I feel like spring will never come.

[Delirium1009]

Straight out of the bottle and wet on my skin, this smelled like fresh green vegetables. It was not specific to any one scent, but it was just fresh and green without being overly green, like bamboo or grass.

 

After about 5 minutes on my skin though, this scent turned to a very powdery, soft floral. I was pretty disappointed it didn't work on me I couldn't smell any of the fresh green scent any more, and I couldn't even pick out the honeysuckle.

[alicia_stardust]

Virgo is green and wet. It smells like crushed green stems and slightly bitter greens.

 

On my skin it has a strong herbal quality to it, as if I had spent an afternoon in the garden and my skin had rubbed against the leaves of many fragrant herb plants. There's a slight grassy quality to this. I have no idea what valerian smells like, but I do know that the fennel is the strongest part of the blend for me.

 

This fits the bill for anyone who loves earth scents without the patchouli, or who loves herbs and green scents.

[jenett]

Wet: As others have said, a lot of herby greenness.

 

Then, on me, it disappears for a bit as it dries (10 or 15 minutes, maybe?)

 

When it comes back, I get what might be best described as "a garden outside the library window" - it's soft, subtle, and with hints of the different plants. I get none of the fennel, and a lot more of the fern (lots of green), with the carrot seed (sweet slightly-carroty), and whiffs of the honeysuckle and myrtle. I don't smell the valerian note in an identifiable way, but I think it helps give the sense of earth.

 

This one also is very much about the 'mutable earth' part of Virgo: I find it changes (subtly and not so subtly) fairly frequently, and different notes come out and retreat. (I got it last night, and am wearing it again this morning: it seems like they come and retreat in no particular pattern, and that they come back again.)

 

It stays quite subtle: easy to overlook, but with unexpected depths, which fits Virgo rather nicely, really.

[ForeverSweet]

Another Virgo here to review Virgo '07!

 

In the bottle: It's earthy and green to me. Like lying in the grass and reading a book or like others have mentioned, being in the garden. It smells of earth on the hands and freshly pulled green plants. The sweetness is so very very very subtle in the bottle to me. I only catch even the slightest of honeysuckle and carrot seed. This seems so cool and yet deep and earthy all at once. Lots of herbal notes here.

 

Wet on the skin: This goes on so faint with my skin. It took quite a bit to smell it. It seems to be really soft and still predominantly earthy for me, which I love. It's still green but it feels like the fern has calmed down a lot here. The herbal attack is a little less and the flowery notes of the honeysuckle begin to come out - ever so slightly. Its becoming slightly powdery but luckily not too much, so that it really just smells like you are in passing of a lush green garden.

 

This softens and sweetens ever so slightly the longer it stays on. Its moist and the myrtle and carrot seed and honeysuckle come out. Its really quite delicious and oddly enough has a very green summery smell - where I was expecting something fitted to autumn but on the contrary this scent is alive!

 

Oh - sadly this died on me. After about 10 minutes it all dissapeared into a powdery scent with a hint of honeysuckle. =( Such a dissapointment as I quite enjoyed this scent. Either way I think its beautiful for anyones chemistry that works with it. Definitely very "Virgo"!

[bristlecone]

I'm also a Virgo, so of course I had to get this, despite not buying any of the other zodiac oils.

 

This reminds me of so many things. My first impression was that it was like Ides of March 2007, but much less green. That was what I thought when I sniffed it in the bottle. When I first dabbed it on, something in it reminded me of Ochosi, a bottle I sold off because it did not work for me at all. Thankfully the resemblance was weak. Then something made me think of Pontarlier- probably the fern. I thought I got hints of the late great Mantis as well. Now that I'm seeing people mention vegetables and fresh earth, I know what they're talking about.

 

It's a tad on the soapy side on me, but I can live with that. It smells like I've just washed my hands with some aromatic soap and dried them with a clean, fluffy towel. There are definitely worse things to smell like. I'm glad I bought it.

[QueenFae]

First impressions: Green, sharp, bright, herbal, masculine. This is a very uplifting, strongly green scent. There is a lovely, clean green herbal with a sweet, honeysuckle undertone. This is very pretty and unique, but on me it smells decidedly masculine. As it dries down a bit, it becomes much more honeysuckle and much less herbal, and it becomes a bit more feminine.

 

Pretty! My husband has already claimed this bottle.

[anomie]

In the bottle: Smells like a basket of vegetables - earthy, green, with the watery undertone released when you slice things.

 

Wet: All I'm getting is "green" and "herbal." No sweetness, no honeysuckle.

 

Dry: Ooh, I think the honeysuckle is coming out to play. Still quite herbal, but now with the sweet floral blending in.

 

Pleasantly surprised given the notes (fennel? carrot seed?), and this one's a keeper.

[DifferentDances]

Bottle: Smells like a slightly limp salad.

Wet: Oh, this is deliciously crisp and green. Bye bye limp greens, hello sharp and chilled slices of lettuce and god knows what else goes into salads! (I don't eat salads....)

Drydown: Warmer greens with a touch of...I don't think it's honeysuckle, since it reminds me more of lilac-scented soaps, but there's some gentle floral that reminds me of soap in with the warmed greens.

Dry: Whup, there's the honeysuckle molesting the greens.

 

My rating: 4/5. Not quite perfection, but pretty damned good.

[edenssixthday]

Virgo 2007 - Oh, I love this love this love this! It smells like Burt's Bees Carrotseed Oil Mist and Wild Lettuce Toner all in one. It's very herbal and earthy without smelling like dirt, soil, or roots. I had hoped to smell a bit of fennel, but I can't detect it in the least. The valerian, fern, and carrot are definitely the strongest notes, with the carrot taking primary position among them. This is such a perfect representation of most of the Virgos I know. I love this and am rueing the day I decided not to buy a full bottle! The throw is above-average, although it's not perfumey in the least. I have a feeling people around me wouldn't even recognize it as perfume as much as just a light, fresh, outdoorsy-garden type scent.

[Jilara]

Wet, this is very vegetal/wild herbs. There is some nagging hint of a flower in the Compositae that I should be remembering, that smells like this, something wild and rank, but not as strong as tarweed. Not the flower itself, but the plant. There is a bit of bitter sap, like lettuce that's run to seed. Something crisp, which could be the clean smell of carrotseed. There's something that softens it as it dries down, but I couldn't tell you what it is. The honeysuckle comes out, but lurks in the background, behind the wild greenery. I was hoping for fennel, since I used to play in fennel patches as a kid, but I don't really detect it here. Pretty and full of wild plants.

 

Don't smell valarian at all, and having taken enough of it medicinally, it's something you generally don't misidentify/forget/crave... So maybe that's good.

[for_the_nonce]

I love this- it's definitely my favorite of the astrological oils thus far. It's earthy without smelling dirty and herbal without smelling soapy like some herbal scents can be (I'm lookin' at you, Allison Gross!). It smells like... a wet herb garden at night. It's a night-time scent without being dark, if that makes any sense. I don't know how to describe it, but it's very low key- soft and comforting. Also, it's way longer lasting than I expected and has decent throw.

[euterpe414]

I'm going to echo the 'wet, crisp greenery' descriptions of this scent. I am not familiar with what all of the listed notes smell like on their own, but together I am getting the impression of a lightly misted herb garden. This scent stays very close to my skin. I bet it would perfect ina scent locket, since I tend to love the calming herbal blends in there for when I am studying. I only begin to smell the honeysuckle in the drydown, and it definitely doesn't overpower, but rather adds a sweet dimension to the blend. I really love how fresh and clean I feel when I wear this. In short, Virgo is a lovely blend and I'm definitely holding on to it!

[cranberry]

In this bottle this is very mild, herbal and slightly resinous. Once applied it becomes more herbal. It becomes lighter and fresher. There’s a slight bitterness too. Before I ordered, I was really afraid about the fennel – I must have been thinking of fennel seeds and how they smell/taste. Of course the plant would have a completely different smell.

 

This smells green, fresh, clean. This is gorgeous and completely unique in BPAL that I’ve tried thus far. This would make a fabulous room scent or perfume to wear in the middle of winter when snow is all around and you’re yearning for summer. This does smell like a garden and I really like it. I was thinking I could do with a shortie of this, but now that I’ve retested this, I’m going to hold onto my bottle.

Edited August 19, 2007 by cranberry

[savage_rose]

This just seems to embody "Virgosity" to me. It's earthly and lightly herbal, but sweet and efficient. It smells homey and crisp, like linen. Very light, very pretty.

[Little Bird]

Virgo is an interesting scent. It's herbal, slightly bitter but not unpleasant, green, vegetal, and somehow both clean and earthy smelling on my skin. I start to lean more towards not liking this scent in the drydown though, as a slightly soapy, sweet, warm floral note (guess it's the honeysuckle, though it doesn't smell like true honeysuckle to me at all) pops out. I like the opening stages of this, but it doesn't seem suitable to me as a personal scent. Perhaps I'll try the rest of my decant in the oil burner.

[LauraB]

Vegetables! This is mostly carrots with a hint of something peppery - the myrtle appears a bit later. I don't get honeysuckle at all or anything I'd describe as floral and the overall effect is quite masculine, which surprised me.

[Vampy]

Huh - this scent is interesting. To me it doesn't smell like earth; it smells like water. There's a touch of earthiness - as if I'm smelling the mossy rocks and trees at the edge of the stream, but it's still mainly the stream. I suppose that possibly in creating "mutable earth," a combination of aquatic and earthy scents were used, and to my nose the aquatics are just more prominent? I don't know, but it's definately a very flowing, watery scent to me. It actually makes me kind of thirsty, like Tarot: The Moon does.

 

It brings images of green leaves and flowing water and flowing golden hair to my mind. It's light and subtle and shifting, herbal notes and gentle florals with a touch of something woody. I can't really pick out any of the individual notes except for honeysuckle. There is a sort of mixed-fresh-vegetable air about it, though it doesn't actually smell like vegetables to me. It's very calm and solemn and lovely. It's not something that jumps out at me screaming "YOU LOVE THIS SCENT!", yet it's very... me, somehow, it's comfortable in some indescribable way. Huh.

 

To my nose it's unisex leaning to the feminine side, though occasionally that woody note wells up and makes it a little more masculine.

[shadow]

I was very excited about this blend, as it seemed different from your average Virgo blend (which always seems to prominently feature patchouli). I was a tad bit apprehensive, too. I didn't need to be. This is everything I never knew I wanted. It's strange, because I can identify the carrotseed and fennel and honeysuckle, but all together they combine into this wonderful sweet herbal smell. It's much sweeter than I expected, but not in a cloying sugary way. I just can't say enough how much I love it and have considered tracking down a second bottle. I really think this is much more representative of me than any other astrological blend I've ever smelled. Thanks, lab!

[crazyredhead17]

In the bottle: Very much like a vegetable garden, as people above have posted.

 

Wet, it was a very green vegetable garden, with what I originally interpreted as the smell of freshly turned dirt, but the more I sniffed the more it reminded me of the smell of the air after turning damp soil.

 

As it dried, the honeysuckle came out and tried to overtake things, but the earthy background notes managed to hold their ground, because now the honeysuckle is moving into the background and getting softer, leaving the whole blend as a soft, beautiful garden that I've never touched that's thriving and blooming and just gorgeous.

 

As Vampy posted, while this doesn't jump out as an OMG!Favorite! it is a very comforting blend. My only other comfort blend is Blood Kiss, but they're two very different comfort blends. I can see myself reaching for Virgo on those intangibly stressful days that I need something to ground and almost support me, if that makes any sense to anyone else.

 

So pretty, and so perfect.