Sagittarius 2007

[JazzieCazzie]

Sage, clove, dandelion, balm of gilead, fig, and chamomile.

 

Not really sure why this was never on my radar. But during my intensive search of every scent pre-swap list/wishlist formation, I was very intrigued. Received an imp from a wonderful swapper/friend ...

Preface here. I knew this could go either way. On paper, technically, I like or love every note. But I also have discovered that while I ADORE the scent of dandelion, it has a tendency to amp SO much on me that it blocks out everything else and overwhelms me. And I love chamomile in soaps and body washes but it sometimes goes too "creamy" on me, to the point of cloying. So this was a gamble but one I wanted to take because clove and fig are two of my favorite notes and not as prevalent in the BPAL oeuvre as some others.

IN THE IMP: Green and figgy and spicy and very evocative of a scent from my teens that I can't put my finger on.

Dabbed on wrist and in crook of arm.

WET: I can't quite wrap my nose around what I'm smelling at the beginning, in terms of identifying notes. There is that tiny bit of creamy soap of the chamomile, the over-amping of the dandelion and the foody not-what-I-think-of-as-perfume of the sage. Yet none of them are dealbreakers in this case. The fig and clove are not predominant at first but they're there, lurking. ... While wet, I fear this will be a non-keeper. It's kind of "perfumey."

DRYDOWN: And my patience pays off. This dries down to sheer figgy clove loveliness. It is very complex and unusual but in the end all of the notes come together with that deep spicy "flove" the main note. It's sexy and sensuous and even kind of dark, despite the brightness associated with dandelions and chamomile. It's so beautifully balanced.

OVERALL: I really love this and am glad I waited out the drydown (not that the wet scent was bad at all). I am interested to check out how much this varied from the original (with no disrespect to the reboot of the zodiacs, I would say my two all-time favorite "series" were the 2004 celestials -- I lump the zodiacs and planets together -- and the Tarots, all of which are almost impossible to find anywhere so I always hold out hope that some day the Lab will release all of them and I can scoop up about 10 blends that are all huge favorites).

On a scale of 1-5, a 4.

[filigree_shadow]

Softly green, with a fairly bitter herbal overtone. Smells like a summertime scent to me. Quite fresh.

[Soupy Twist]

I will totally admit that I got this because it's my sign, and since it didn't have any of my no-no-notes, the best case scenario for me was that it didn't suck. I wasn't expecting that I might actually like it.

Dandelion and chamomile, I think, in the bottle. Goes on as a melange of chamomile, something planty which I guess is the balm of gilead, woods, and "green." A clove note comes in very briefly, and then changes to grass. It settles as a mature summer grass. Not a lot of throw.

This is quite nice — something I could see myself wearing over the summer. It is not, in any capacity, "Mutable Fire: the essence of striving," or anything even remotely related to Sagittarius. It's calm and settled. Sag is big and loud and moving and fiery and on the go. (mind you, I'm not complaining — at the Lab, "fire" means either smoke, ash, or dragon's blood, and I hate all three.)