Dionysia

[Victory]

Wild plum, pomegranate, raspberry, Siamese benzoin, plum blossom, patchouli, frankincense, and mahogany.

Thanks to the Chicago BPALers, I got to test this. I love, love, love the Lab's plum note, I was excited for the pomegranate, plum blossom, benzoin, and raspberry. On my skin, the fruit is very, very muted from the wet stage to the late drydown. I'm not sure what it is I'm smelling- maybe benzoin and mohogany with a faint kiss of raspberry? It's very subtle. I'm disappointed- I wanted to love this! Edited August 11, 2008 by Victory

[milo]

In the bottle, and the wet stage on, this is juicy, lush plums, I love it! After it dries it gets even plummier and sweeter, too much so. I wish it just stayed like it was wet, Oh well, off to swaps.

[Lyrical]

In the vial: rich, brown, fruity, slightly smoky, with lots of plum.

 

Wet on skin: sweet and warm, with plum taking the lead, but the other notes close behind.

 

Dry on skin: there's something a little sour here. I can smell mostly plum and patchouli, with a little frankincense. It's smooth, earthy, and slightly creamy, but still fruity. This really doesn't do much for me, but I'm sure it would be great on someone else!

[Nimthiriel]

Initial impression:

Oh. My. Gods. Plum-pomegranate-patchouli-frankincense orgasm.

 

First on:

Immediately on, the patchouli and (primarily) frankincense grab hold of me, with a fruity myriad of notes just underneath.

 

Dry:

After about 10 mins, it's a smoky resin scent with lighter touches of florals and fruit. It's very feminine, very lush, and very... warm.

 

An hour and a half later, it's still a rich, fruity resinous scent that's just... wonderful.

 

Finally:

I will have to re-try this, but this might be a - *gasp* - bottle purchase for me. Lovely scent!

[MeiLin]

In the imp: A fruit merchant chased by a hippie.

 

Wet: Really awful patchouli.

 

Dry: Ah, more like it. The fruits come out and the patchouli lies down and makes a nice bed for the resins and woods. The raspberry is definitely the top note.

 

This is all right, but it goes in the "keep" box, not the "buy" box.

[Wwindy]

Earthy, slightly woody raspberries!

 

In the vial I can smell other notes -- particularly the frankincense, and the almost hairspray-like (to my nose) overtones of the benzoin, but on my skin this is raspberry with a grounding of faint wood and even fainter patchouli.

 

Overall this is very light, and very short-lived. I like it, but I wish more of the notes showed up and stuck around.

[Gwydion]

In bottle: Exotic and sexy, the fruits add an overripe sexuality to the heady incense blend. Wet” More fruit than incense, though the frankincense is still present. The plum blossom is surprisingly prominent, lightening the effect, compared to in the bottle. On my skin, it goes a little chalky. Slowly it returns to the original concept, a rich fruity, sexy incense blend. On my it never quite captures that heady effect it had in the bottle, but this is no surprise given my skin chemistry. Dry: Mostly Patchouli.

[zankoku_zen]

Plum plum plum all the way. This started out as a plummy kinda fruity floral. And now it's definitely in YOUR face plum. Very very sweet on me.

 

Too sweet.

[Miss Lynx]

This was one of the Ladies of the Grindhouse that I was most looking forward to -- plum and pomegranate are generally very good on me, and when you add in benzoin, frankincense and patchouli, it just sounded like a recipe for greatness. Not entirely certain about the plum blossom or mahogany, as my skin amps florals, and woods are kind of hit and miss, but on the whole it sounded very promising.

 

First impression: this scent epitomizes everything I love about what BPAL can do with fruit notes - which I never thought I could ever like before discovering BPAL. It's got an almost syrupy sweetness, but it's tempered by a dark incensey depth, and the contrast between the two sets off some kind of mind-altering harmonics that make it smell absolutely intoxicating. Very appropriate to the name -- it's not a boozy scent as such, but I feel like I could get drunk just from inhaling it.

 

Unfortunately, as it settles in, there's a bit of an off-note, which I expect is the mahogany. Wood notes are sometimes OK on me, and other times add a a certain unpleasant funkiness to a scent that smells a bit like mildew or rot. This one isn't too bad, but it does mar the scent a little. Also, the raspberry is a little bit cloying...

 

On the whole, I think this is a case of like but not love. It's great in the early stages, then goes through a phase I don't like so much, then eventually settles into a final phase where it's nice, but very similar to the way a lot of BPAL's fruit + incense scents end up (Urd, Purple Phoenix, etc.). And while I do very much like that fruit + incense combo, I have so many other scents of that sort that this one really doesn't stand out that much.

 

Grade: B/B+

[Kabooki]

Wow just Wow. the only way to describe it is Red Fruits with a touch of herbs and incense. It has wonderful staying power and one that I feel very sexy wearing. So going to big bottle of this! (and its not even aged yet! )

[Phaedra]

Wet this is dark berries and incense. When first on there's a brief hint of a peanutty note and then a sharp fruit note. There's also an earthy undertone too which is probably the patchouli. After about an hour, this softens and becomes more floral. It reminds me a bit of Zombi and Queen of Clubs at this stage with the mix of fruit, florals and incense. This doesn't change much more. It's a nice earthy incense blend. Very nice!

[AEris]

This reminds me of Midnight Kiss and Mme. Moriarty. A red fruit/patchouli party.

 

It's nice, but I am trying not to buy scents that are too similar to eachother (to my nose, anyhow).

 

I'll stick with my Madame for my juicy patch fix!

 

3.5 out of 5

[hlinspjalda]

In the vial: Delicious! It smells like fruit with some very fragrant flower that I've smelled growing on a tree, maybe the plum blossom.

 

Wet: The resin comes up first, but the floral is still there. Not nearly as sweet as I'd expected from all that fruit, but it smells good, like a restaurant I once went to in the Smokies that specialized in wild plum recipes.

 

Half an hour: Pleasant, still smells like a restaurant. Raspberry dominates, but gently. I can make out the patchouli now, too.

 

One hour: Still fruity, but dryer now. It's a nice blend but I think the raspberry has beaten out the pomegranate, which will make it a fail on me.

 

Two hours: Now the raspberry has fallen off some, I can smell the pomegranate. There's patchouli, that floral I think is the plum blossom, and something else. Faint frankincense base smells almost herbal, maybe that's the wood?

 

Three hours: Still fruity on a frankincense base, with a patchouli overtone.

 

Five hours: Patchouli and a little fruit.

 

The imp will suffice.

[PurringPulsar]

Dionysia

 

In the imp: plum, berries and something almost green. This actually smells like Queen of Spades!

Wet on skin: red and black fruits with patchouli and a hint of resins.

Dry on skin: mmm, I love it! If the plum blossom behaves and the fruits don’t go over-sweet, this looks like it will be a success. For now I smell juicy plum and raspberry with a bite of pomegranate, sweetened by benzoin, with a hint of frankincense. It does remind me of Crypt Queen but it’s not as dark, this is much sweeter. It also reminds me of Blood Phoenix.

After a while: noooooo! It can’t be! Surely, there were enough heavy notes in here to stop it coming to this…what could have been a wonderful mix of plum fruit, raspberries, poms, patch and resins has turned to cloying and evil banana on me! Doom blossom, I mean plum blossom, almost always does this and I was hoping the other notes would prevent that from happening, but no! PB has totally pwned this scent and I can’t smell anything else. Plum fruit, maybe, and a bit of raspberry, but where’s the pomegranate and where are those lovely resins? Now this just smells like overripe fruit on me.

The scent does sometimes go into a nicer floral plum scent, like Midwinter’s Eve, but I don’t get that pom-raspberry scent any more. The scent fluctuates between sickly plum blossom to a nicer plum and mahogany scent, but can’t decide what it wants to smell like.

Verdict: oh plum blossom, why do you hate my skin so much? This would have been so wonderful if it wasn’t for that pesky floral note. Everything else in here was made of win, but plum blossom makes this fail on my skin. The first stage was really nice-when plum fruit was dominant, as well as the other fruits, and the resins, making for a decadent and deep, almost boozy, rich fruit scent. But then Doom Blossom comes over and stomps all over the other notes, completely dominating with that cloying overripe floral scent. The drydown is a bit nicer, when the floral note tones down a touch, but I don’t think I can keep this scent. it’s not my thing, I’m afraid…and I was hoping to love it because there are so few raspberry scents out there. Luckily my decant found a new home.

Emoticon rating: :

Is it a keeper? Nope.

If you like this, try: Horreur Sympathique, Blood Phoenix, Bathsheba, Frumious Bandersnatch, Midwinter’s Eve

[taramarie]

In the bottle and wet on my skin, Dionysia is raspberry, pomegranate, and plum. Dry, the frankincense and mahogany push the fruits to the background. This is gorgeous, I only wish the fruits were stronger.

[jewelbug]

Wet: This is very strong on the red fruits--kinda verging on winey?

 

Dry: Much more wood notes now--a woody mahogany/patchouli combo sweeteend by red fruits. DH says he smells the raspberries a lot, but I can't pick them out.

 

Overall: When wet, this didn't really do it for me, but dry it was very nice. Still, I think this isn't one that I need to hunt down now that I've tried it.

[dansemacabre]

Intially this was very nutty on me. I wasn't sure if I was going to like it. As it dried down, the plum really showed it's face and I still wasn't sure whether or not I like this. This was fruity, but dark at the same time. I am really very girly girl and I love gourmand and musky scents. It almost smells like a fruity lotion you might find at Bath & Body Works, but the final dry down is just gorgeous. I cannot stop smelling my wrists. Something about this really works with my chemistry. I want, no scratch that, I NEED a full bottle!

[jade_starlight]

This one is really nice. It starts out mostly dark berries and plum, but as it dries the woody notes start coming out and it gets a lot less foody. I really like it.

[Electric Maenad]

Mmm... this is lovely. It starts off like the Platonic ideal of wine gums - boozy and fruity. After a few hours, the frankincense, benzoin (I think) and what I'm assuming is the mahogany are more noticeable and make this a beautifully rich and decadent scent.

 

ETA: It's got great staying power too - I just had a whiff of my arm and I'm still getting the faint hint of wine gums and polished wood ten hours later, which is really good for my skin.

Edited October 18, 2008 by Electric Maenad

[Emma2403]

Very fruity, with a little bit of wood.

Lots of plum, it's really extremely exquisite, and I'd recommend to anyone who looks for the perfect plum scent.

[auburnette]

Dionysia

 

In imp, wet: This reminds me a touch of Aeronwen in the imp.

 

On skin, wet: I get a biscuity note for a while, a little like I did with Inez. Then it becomes fruity, with a touch of spiciness/pepperiness.

 

On skin, dry: I am not a big fan of wood notes (exception being Miskatonic U - dusty wood is ok), and I was afraid that the mahogany might ruin this for me, but it doesn't seem to emerge.

 

There's a long drydown for this one - I can tell, sniffing my arm, that the final fragrance is not there yet (and indeed my arm is still shiny with oil).

 

As it dries down, the fruits are beautifully paired with a deep purple incense. No mahogany, hurray!

 

The one downside to this is that I could definitely imagine it being compared to a scented candle - which is not what BPAL is about (for me, anyway!).

 

I plan to keep half my imp - seems like it would be perfect to wear to concerts, visiting museums etc - and decant the other half for a friend. It did also remind me of Christmas, as another reviewer noted.

[papermaker]

In the bottle I smell patchouli.

Wet on Skin: Hello Raspberry.

On Drydown: Raspberry and Pomegranate(yay) w/ a hint of woodiness.

6 hours later: a slightly fruity incensey smell.

My stream of consciousness on this scent went Oh No.... MMM yummy... ok I like it.... hmmmm really?

 

So in short I will have to test again.

[Schmoozy]

Hello red fruit explosion. A juicy burst of red fruits, mohagony, benzoin and frankincense.

However, once it hits my skin the patchouli note pulls through and it's fierce. Slightly overpowering, I am ready to wash this off, but decide to wait for the drydown, and give it a chance.

The juicy fruits start to lose some of their sweetness, and is replaced with resins, and woods. Instead of juicy, it becomes dry and whiffs of incense mingle with the fruits giving them a wine feel. Patchouli settles down a bit, but it is still very present, and unfortunately it just isn't meshing with me the way I want it to.

[voodoocatwoman]

When I first put this on, I detected wine grapes and plums. After it dried, the fruits move to the background and the wood, patchouli and frankincense took over. The end result was a deep sultry fragrance.

[hkhm]

bottle: patchouli, frankincense and pomegranate.

 

wet: there's the raspberry, plum and pomegranate turned all dark by the patchouli.

 

dry: this dries to a mash of fruits with a nice woody/patchouli background.