Tears

[k00kaburra]

The distillate of grief and loss. A clean, cathartic fragrance.

In bottle: Light with that air of familiarity. I've smelled this before, surely. It is the hints of a forgotten memory, and to my surprise my eyes do tear up a bit. Why?

On me: This is very clean, clear, and aquatic. There's hints of a saltiness and I am tempted to lick it, just to see if it tastes the way tears do. It makes me feel a bit sad, but not in a bad way. It's like it opens the doors to sad memories, but somehow pads the way so that it is less painful to revisit them. I like it. I'm sorry it's discontinued; I think it would be quite useful in meditation and stress relief.

[Sistinas]

a review of Tears

 

Vial ~ salty, somewhat reminds of what humid air smells like, and since

I live in the desert, this is not something I get to smell that often

 

Wet ~ Still more of the same, wet air, I can't decide if it reminds me

or just humid air or the smell of the air on the coast. It is a very

clean scent, with just a touch of salt in it.

 

Drying ~ As it is drying on my wrist it brings out an urge to want lick

my skin as if I have been swimming in the ocean. To me this is the epitome

of this scent family represents.

 

Drydown ~ I keep smelling my wrist, wanting so much to move back to

California and live near the ocean again. Although this is cleaner and

doesn't have the scent of fish to intrude upon it.

 

Dry ~ Oh this is Ozone to the hilt, not much morphing with this scent, it

pretty much stays true the vial scent, except it seems to have lost it's

salty smell.

 

Fade ~ This one faded goodbye within an hour, barely detectable

 

Final thoughts ~ A nice enough scent, very true to it's scent family

but on a scale of 1 to 5, I give it a 3. I have hope that there will

be a scent not too far from this that will have more staying power.

[byrdie]

Vial ~ Saline, with an old, sturdy grapefruit backing it. My dad used to suggest gargling with "salt water" (salt added to water that had been boiled hot enough to dissolve it a bit) for a sore throat -- this reminds me of that taste.

 

Wet ~ The musty citrus is there, but the musk took over quickly. No, wait; the musk and the grapefruit are battling it out.

 

Drying ~ Citrus seems to be a common ingredient in aquatics, and the musk -- I think -- is standing in for skin. Add in the saline and this is where the scent of freshly tear-stained cheeks comes in. It's still morphing on me, though, so sometimes one note rises above the others. I can tell which wrist I swiped first because that one is morphing less, now.

 

Drydown ~ Mmm, the freshness is coming through. I think the salt and the citrus are really settling down into each other. it's quite refreshing, through in a different way than a truly cathartic cry.

 

Dry ~ The separate notes are starting to stand out again, but each has an obviously unique job. It's like looking at one the sort of picture that's simultaneously a while candle-stick holder and two black faces. The grapefruit is the dampness. The musk is the skin. The salt is the proof of sorrow or pain. This simply works.

 

Fade ~ I can almost taste tears on my tongue. This oil is beautiful.

 

Final thoughts ~ If I'd have discovered Tears earlier, it would have been my first 10ml purchase. If I could effectively lobby for the return of one scent, it'd be this one. It just works.

[wickedgoddess]

Origin - part of an imp lot bought on eBay

 

Wet - This does seem to be the "tears" from Dragon's Tears. Aquatic, slightly salty, but not as salty as the oceanic note of Jolly Roger, with light florals. As it dries, the light florals come on a bit stronger, and I fear that this is going to be a blend I am allergic to.

 

Dry - The floral is getting greener; a bit herbal. I can't even smell the aquatic note anymore. This truly is a cleansing, cathartic fragrance, but it's just not for me. This will be going on the swap pile, so that someone else can experience it.

 

On the wickedgoddess scale of 1 to 5, with 5 being best, this rates a 1.

[Muppetk]

Odd...

 

In the imp: very plain cookie dough

 

Wet on me: plain cookie dough with a sharp green herb.

 

Drying: Sharpness is morphing into something lemon-y & perfume-y & slightly green.

 

Dry: Sharp green perfuminess. Not sure how I feel about this one.

 

Dry later: There's something very clean about this. Sort of like a mild and unobnoxious dryer sheet.

 

On a random note: I have this on one wrist and Noir on the other, & sniffing them together is decidedly odd. Not bad at all. But very odd. They're pretty polar opposite scents

[OriginalWacky]

Bottle (Imp): Watery smooth with a hint of sweet.

 

Just On: Oh sweet watery beauty.

 

An hour or two later: Just tears, like the name. Another magic blend that captures it's name fully.

 

Around 6 hours: Tears.

 

12 hours: Salt. How cool.

 

Overall: This is a beautiful scent, and I'm quite surprised I like it so well.

 

After reading other reviews: Cathartic is a good word for this. It certainly made me think of tears when I smelled it. Another amazing scent I'm so thrilled just to have been able to try. I'm hanging onto this imp for a while, I think it will be perfect for the day I schedule my meltdown.

[pekeana]

Tears is aquatic, slightly floral, salty, and has a slight undertone of wood. It's nice, even if the wood gets more prominent the longer I have it on. It's very gentle and caring, but ultimately, the woody undertone is just a bit too much for me.

[anmorata]

Tears:

Wet: aquatic.. moderately salty, but not quite an ocean smell.

Drydown: .. soapy. yech.

Longterm wear: Tears turns decidedly chemical and very soapy on me. Not for me.

[Aredhel]

Rating (on skin): 3/5

Summarised in one word: Tears!

 

In the imp: Strikes me as Dragon's Tears, sans dragon's blood. Clean, but a tad soapy.

 

On skin, wet: A salty green herbal. If I didn't know the name, I'd think of this as a clean herbal scent; knowing its name as I do, it does remind me of Tears, but, again, wouldn't if I didn't know it was supposed to... if that makes any sense.

 

On skin, dry: A salty green floral. It's not soapy, as it seemed to be in the imp. Strikes me as tears on lightly-perfumed skin (a soft green/floral perfume, specifically).

 

Conclusion: Surprisingly, I like this. If it were still a catalogue scent -- or if it were brought back, either like Antique Lace or Three Witches -- I'd seriously consider a 5ml. As it is, however, I wouldn't spend the exorbitant amount I've seen 5mls of this go for on Ebay.

[Little Bird]

Tears actually makes me think of the wonderful time I spent in Key West a few years ago. I woke up one morning and the weather was perfect. There was a sort of warm mist hanging in the air as I stood on one of the ship docks. The salty water splashed up around my feet and everything was oddly quiet and still in the early morning. And that's what Tears smells like to me... warm mist, salty walter, and calm. After about 15 minutes on my skin it does get a bit soapier than I would have liked, but the fragrance is pretty light on me so it's not that bad.

 

This is more of a calming blend to me than a grieving one. Though it does sort of depress me to think about Key West and know that I'm stuck in Illinois for a crappy winter...

[Voleuse]

On first application, this is sharp aquatic scent, just barely astringent to my nose. It's clean, but it's also a greenish-blue cloudy smell. It reminds me of ocean rain, but it's sweet. And there's the faintest hint of soap.

 

This is fascinating. Every time I sniff it, it smells like something else. Beautiful. (And discontinued. Aw.)

[grrrlennyl]

at first: definitely clean. a bit salty, too. definitely watery.

on: gorgeous. mostly clean, but with a salty, watery feel. there's something almost sweet to this, too.

1.5 hours later: still clean, watery, and a bit salty. this smells like tears. it's amazing.

2.5 hours later: cleand pure.

overall: this is gorgeous stuff. i'm glad i nabbed an imp of it for myself.

[PurringPulsar]

Tears

 

In the imp: sweet-salty aquatic. Very pretty! It reminds me of Sea of Glass but less ozone-y and less marine, this one is more salt water with florals.

Wet on skin: ooh, I get the salt water note and something softer underneath-maybe a musk note?

Dry: not bad! Now I get something crisp, tangy, almost fruity to this-I’m thinking grapefruit? It’s a bittersweet fruit note. There’s that saltiness, but there’s also something sweet underneath it all, almost powdery. I think there’s white musk in here as well-or a light musk of some kind. And I think there’s a floral note in here too…whatever this scent is, it’s a unique scent, fresh and salty yet sweet and powdery at the same time. This isn’t a marine scent at all, to me-it’s beyond that.

After a while: is there sweet pea in here? Or lily? I now get a waxy white petal scent…which is almost greenish at times. It reminds me of The Ghost and Chiroptera. It’s like soft white flower petals with drops of salty water scattered on them. It’s ok, but the scent is going a bit chalky on me, and it has a scent reminiscent of wet plaster.

After an hour or two? Dang it. The salty freshness is completely gone now…it’s all waxy petals and wet plaster now, which I’m not keen on.

Verdict: this smelt so nice when wet-a unique mix of sweet and salty, with fresh salted aquatic notes, gentle floral notes and a hint of musk (I think). This started out by being the first salt-water scent that doesn’t remind me of the sea! This salty water is different…unfortunately, this changes, and not for the better. My skin turns this into a scent of bland waxy petals and wet plaster and chalk…similar to what happened with Chiroptera. What a shame, as I really wanted to love this scent. At least it will be easy to find this scent a new home…

[slave1]

In Bottle: Salty ozone.

 

On Skin: This is a very fresh ozoney scent. I don’t think it smells like real tears at all, unless you cry ocean water. It also has a slight soapy detergent note, like most aquatic/ozone scents seem to go on me. It is very light blue feeling… almost an ice blue. Very salty and crisp. This scent is so clean!! It stirs me, so refreshing but also comforting and relaxing at the same time. Not really a scent I’d wear but I’d use it for aromatherapy or as a room scent. Medium throw and average staying length.

[GemmaCat]

I find it interesting that so many people found this to be a comforting scent because on me it was a harsh, briney aquatic with a very strong cat pee scent.

 

Not pleasant at all, I'm afraid. ^^;

[edenssixthday]

Tears is ridiculously overpriced since it's been discontinued and is in high demand. I went ahead and bought an imp (for $10!!!) so I could see what all the fuss is about. I was very disappointed with my first sniff of the oil in the bottle. It's kind of chemical and pungent. However, I decided to see how it reacts with my skin chemistry, so I put it on and it's definitely not as pungent. On me, it's not reminiscent of tears or being near the ocean or memories, etc., as many of the reviewers on the BPAL forums have noted. It's crisp and clean and fresh, very marine/aquatic. And while it's certainly not soapy on me, it has an odd underlying scent that I've smelled before and I can't quite place it, but the things that keep coming to mind are dry-cleaning and dryer-sheets. The scent is different from any other BPAL scent, but had I known what it smelled like initially, I wouldn't have paid so much for a mere imp of it. I do have to say that unlike many BPALs which disappear on me within a few minutes, this one lasts hours upon hours upon hours. Unfortunately, after about 3-4 hours on, it turns into hairspray. ALL I smell is sticky, icky hairspray. Definitely won't be repurchasing and I plan to pass along the imp I've got.

[supremegoddessofall]

Salty aquatics. Go figure from something called tears. It reminds me of a soft floral bath salt. Pretty, but since I just have a tester imp I'll probably pass it on to someone else.

[filigree_shadow]

A very salty and clean scent. Soapy-smelling. I don't think I've ever smelled anything so salty before. I think there's some mint in it as well, it's kind of sinus-clearing.

[aine]

Perfectly translucent, this really is tears collected in a bottle. It is incredibly light on me, the gentlest salt water, maybe the tiniest droplet of ozoney-citrus and the faintest memory of the florals in Water of Notre Dame. This scent reminds me that there is beauty in sadness.

 

These don't seem to be melancholy tears, I think they are the cathartic, cleansing, renewing kind.

Edited March 17, 2007 by aine

[little_galaxie]

Wow...really, they smell like tears. If you don't like aquatics, you won't like this. "Haunting" is the best word I can use to describe it.

[wikkidraven]

very salty, almost like a spray of sea air. there's a definite herbal undernote...i don't know that this reminds me of human tears. it's very much like the heaviness of air before a cathartic rain.

[voodoocatwoman]

Light, clean and slightly salty- Tears reminds me of being on a pier in the morning. Fresh and dewy, not melancholic at all.

[zankoku_zen]

Okay so this morphed from a salty ozone floral to something that old ladies wear. Something sweet and powdery and lilac... and something that smells like old ladies.

 

...

 

Yeah...

 

...

 

No.

[stellans]

I'm glad I swapped for this rather than paying an exhorbitant amount for it out of pocket; it always seems less painful that way when it doesn't work out quite right. This blend has a sourness at the back edge of the aquatic note that speaks to me of jasmine. Mean, evil, straight-razor-toting jasmine. And it doesn't like me. At. All.

 

*sob*

Edited June 17, 2011 by stellans

[syrenemyst]

I just received this in a swap and based on all the past reviews, I thought I would love it.

 

 

OMG, no!

 

 

It reminds me of something my grandmother once wore, which isn't bad, but once I put it on my skin, it smelled like old moth balls and cat pee. I am so sad because I really wanted to love it. I expected to love it. But, alas, it is not to be.