Eisheth Zenunim

[angelfish323]

Honey, ambergris, neroli, white peach, patchouli, and cocoa absolute.

How . . . strange? But not in a bad way.

Immediately I get peach. But dark peach. Naughty peach? This really beautiful floral, honeyed peach grounded with . . . cocoa? Seems like such a bizarre combination, and yet . . . I'm really liking it. Blend is still wet, however.

Something slightly acquatic after a moment, but still gorgeous peach in the front.

Oh no. No, no, no. There's the patchouli. There, in the background. Hiding under the beautiful peaches, waiting until I fell in like, hard, to come out.

"A-ha! Thought you were going to love Eisheth, didn't you? Think again! Bwahahah."

Sad face. It's a sharp, unpleasant patchouli. The sweet peach is still there, but it's not enough to make up for it. *sigh*

[alicia_stardust]

I smell peach, neroli, and a hint of patchouli in the bottle.

 

As the oil dries, those three notes remain at the forefront, but then the cocoa absolute really starts to make itself known. This has a sort of gently earthy, sweet, sensual vibe to it. The amber warms it, the honey sweetens, and the peach and patchouli really take off the longer I wear this. I saw a lot of reviews saying that this was a really light blend on them, but on me it had a strong throw and a long wear-length. Especially that peach! I think I could smell that with a patchouli undertone about 6+ hours after application.

[ladyver]

in bottle: wow, this is really interesting, the notes combined seem to have a herbally note - sweet and forest

 

wet on skin: light floral honey - exactly like some native flowers i like, then the peach appears in the mix (and i have learned that peach likes my skin!).

 

later: cocoa, amber and patchouli provide the forest through bringing a beautiful earthiness and depth to the scent

 

Evokes being in a forest eating honey and peaches - yum!

 

Mmm, imagine this as a candle scent!

 

interestingly, when i first tried it the herbal note that i get from the bottle was definitely there on my skin in the wet and dry down phases and quite dominant, but now its not there at all - so, like all the ladies it has been interesting to see the blend evolve over a couple of weeks!!!!

 

on the throw and wear-length debate - the first test i did was with six of the ladies, and yes, it was going to struggle against the more dominant ladies like marianne - but honey and peach tend to have good wear length on me and this is no exception!

[NatCatz]

This reminds me of my childhood for some reason, its sweet and innocent smelling, but with an edge of sexiness that is wonderful. Its deep and honied and I really like it despite not usually being a fan of fruity BPAL

[MeiLin]

In the imp: Peach, honey and neroli. Sweet, very girlish.

 

On wet: The peach disappears. The honey dives down. Cocoa, ambergris, patchouli, and quite honestly, a little piss come to the fore.

 

Dry: Sir says it smells of apricots. Thankfully the piss is gone. (Whilst it may smell like Paris, it's not my thing.) Cocoa, peach, honey, patchouli and neroli, with a little ambergris, in that order. I like it, though I don't think I'll go for a bottle. I have another imp coming, so I'll dump them both in a roller bottle and top it off with jojoba oil. Save the vials as sniffies to give away.

[tarotgirl99]

In imp: Honey and a sharp, not so nice note...Patchouli?

 

On first application: Sweet, thick rich honey. I keep hearing about Mead Moon but since I'm still waiting for my bottles, all I can think of is, "This is honey love." I keep inhaling. And waiting for an unpleasant morph.

 

An hour later: No unpleasant morph. The honey sadly does lessen, but the peach comes out to play and I loves me some peach.

 

I need at least one bottle. Maybe more. This is love and the first of the Grindhouse gals to make me fall.

 

Sadly, she doesn't last very long. But what there is of her is cherce.

Edited July 7, 2008 by tarotgirl

[fairnymph]

In the bottle: Medium bright peach coloured oil. Sweet, fruity, slightly resiny and utterly feminine. White peach foremost, then rich golden honey and slightly sharp floral neroli - but a pleasant bite that cuts through the sweetness which would otherwise be cloying. Soap/clean note reminiscent of Ebisu - ambergris?

 

Wet: Sweeter, gah. For once I'm thrilled about neroli's presence, as it's the only thing making this bearable. The white peach is beyond syrupy, the honey is incredibly thick. Pleasant sparkling quality. The ambergris is clean but also sort of deep and heavy. This scent has tremendous heft. No patchouli or cocoa.

 

Dry: Ahhhh I know what this reminds me of - Les Bijoux, with the bitter neroli subbing for the myrrh and orange blossom. Yes, this is very much like Les Bijoux. I just don't think I can do white peach - it's too cloying. So far, no significant morphing.

 

Later: Still reminds me, rather unpleasantly, of Les Bijoux. The neroli has amped a bit, and is quite sharp, while the white peach remains sticky sweet. Any cleanness from the ambergris is gone. The honey is there, but it's overwhelmed by the cloying peach. I have abandoned hope for the patchouli and cocoa.

 

Summary: Cloying, incredibly sweet white peach and bitter neroli, with light honey and faint, heavily resiny ambergris. Very similar to Les Bijoux, and some similarities to Katharina. Strictly feminine. Very strong throw and lasting power.

 

Yeah, I was so sad not to get any of the darker notes. This smelled promising in the imp but my skin amped the sweet notes beyond sanity.

Edited July 8, 2008 by fairnymph

[tartchef]

I was a bit concerned that Eisheth would go super-fruity & sweet, but she's amazingly light on my skin... just a lovely trace of peachy nectar, grounded by the barest hints of cocoa & patchouli. The ambergris & neroli give things just a bit of sparkle. Wow, a total surprise win! I don't think I'll need a bottle, but this is the first in today's Grindhouse testing that I've wanted to keep, so that's saying something

[Eemia]

This turned out to be a surprise on my skin. All musky sweet peach with just the barest undertone of dark cocoa and patchouli. I expected those darker notes to amp like crazy and drown out the peach. But instead the peach stays the strongest the entire time. It's a beautiful version of peach too. It doesn't have a syrupy feeling, and it isn't overly sweet.

 

I was a little concerned that the cocoa would make this too foody for me to wear but it only seems to enhance the peach and turn it into something darker and more complex. It doesn't even smell like cocoa to me. The patchouli I can really identify---all earthy and musky. It's never becomes very forward, even when this dried. The peach just shines throughout the wear time. And it lasts for so damn long! I was still smelling this one several hours later. I only have an imp of this but I can't wait to get a bottle. It's too gorgeous!

[oakmoss]

I'm one of those people who can't read the notes before trying a new blend, because my mind's nose will be too influenced by what I'm SUPPOSED to be smelling. Going into this blend without checking the notes, I am intrigued to come upon a BPAL scent unlike any other. Macaroni. Yes, macaroni. Not pasta, not anything fancy, just plain old hot grainy moist vaguely sweet macaroni. This lasts for about ten minutes, long enough to think.... macaroni??? And then the macaroni comes off the stove and the morphing begins... and goes on and on and on.... peach, rose (I know, there isn't any, but still), spices... This is one of the prettiest and most interesting blends I've tried in a long time, and I'm looking forward to trying it again now that I know what the notes are.

[Loligo]

Oh, this came *so* close. For the first hour or two it was a beautiful, light, fresh, sweet scent -- so well-blended that I couldn't pick out the notes. It's very rare for a light scent not to go all harsh and fake on me, so I was so, SO happy to have finally found one... until later in drydown, when the peach went sour and rotten. So sad! Oddly, I never picked up more than a tiny wisp of either patchouli or cocoa.

[akiko]

Cocoa? Where are you? Patchouli?

 

Imp: Fruity sweet. I can't identify the fruit.

 

Wet: Same. Very fruity.

 

Dry: Reminiscent of Bordello or other plum blends, though I'm guessing it's peach and my nose is playing tricks on me.

 

Nice enough, but nothing special.

[Chapanis]

I was afraid the cocoa would be prominent, but it isn’t. It is very nice. Fresh cut peaches with a drop of honey. Not too sweet, just right. Unfortunately, I do not often want to smell like peaches. But if I did this would be total win. I will keep my decant for a nice hot summer day.

[gwynethr]

Ooooh wow. And also, oh crap. I have been able to avoid buying many bottles lately, and I didn't even get many decants for the Act IV, because so many things had notes that go crazy on me. But this and a few others of the Act IV scents are glorious, and now I have to buy bottles before it goes away.

 

I don't know if I can identify ambergris, but everything in this seems to settle in lovingly on my skin (what a nice change!). I love the soft peach, which is most prominent, and the honey, balanced with the spice of the patchouli and neroli bite. I don't smell the cocoa much, but that could just be that the peach is so prominent on me it doesn't come out. I'm definitely not complaining, foody scents generally overpower me.

 

I love, love, love this. Even more than the other peachy scents I adore in the Salon! Fabulous.

[kakiphony]

In the imp: A sweet floral mixed with a spicy (as opposed to deep and resiny) patchouli. If I didn't know better, I'd guess the sweet was from something like honeysuckle or a fruit blossom rather than peach. This is actually scaring me a little.

 

Wet on skin: This is still very floral as it hits my skin, with a very spicy patchouli in the background.

 

Early dry down (10 minutes): Huh. This is strange and I must be amping the ambergris and patchouli like crazy because I am getting no peach and no honey. This is not even a little bit sweet on me. It is all spicy patchouli mixed with something almost ammonia-like. It is kind of ick, honestly.

 

Late dry down: Wash. It. Off. This is like peach and urine on my left wrist and patchouli and ammonia on the right. It is just plain foul on me. Oy.

[tastycactuar]

Eisheth smells wonderful in the imp. I'm pretty sure it would smell wonderful on me too, but... well... it disappeared as soon as I put it on. If I put my nose real close to my arm and snort like crazy, I still get a whiff of deliciousness, but I have to literally place my nose on my arm.

[astarinel]

Someone recently was asking for recommendations of quirky, strange scents, and Eisheth Zenunim fits that bill for me. I spent the entire time I was wearing it waffling between liking it and hating it, and I'm still not entirely sure which side I come down on.

 

So, I'll call it "interesting" and let it go.

 

It starts off mostly peach on my skin, a similar peach to Imp and almost a similar feeling to Imp for me, then it starts to develop this sort of weird honeyed saltiness, which I think might be the ambergris and honey? I definitely did not get any cocoa, and as I wore it the patchouli got more prominent. When I got the peach and honey, I liked it, and I even appreciated the faint saltiness tempering the sweet peach. But combined with the patchouli, it ended up being sort of an odd version of Imp.

 

YMMV with this one.

[nekogrrl]

This is.. interesting. In a good way, mind you, but interesting.

 

Chocolate peach. There's a light floral in the background when it dries down, but.. this is good.

 

And now I'm wanting peaches dipped in chocolate.

[gchris]

In Vial: Sweet and mellow

 

Wet: Very mellow, I can smell a tiny bit of spice in the background. Not sure which note is providing that.

 

Dry: Fresh and fruity, very pleasant but I'm not in love.

[TPOD]

This scent took awhile for me to grasp. It comes across as a fruity, juicy floral. It has excellent duration and throw. I've been wearing it without knowing what's in it and I can't say that I can identify any one note. I think the ambergris really makes things blend together.

 

Right after application DH says "What is that smell????" and not in a good way. Then he says it smells like really strong soap.

 

Several hours later, a co-worker tells me I smell like "old-school patchouli". I'm not sure that's a compliment.

 

And yet, I really like it. It's summery and fresh and it makes me happy. I think it will only improve with age, so this is a keeper and I'm glad I bought it.

[Monster]

Out of the bottle: Chocolate-covered peaches! I've never had such a thing but this oil makes me think it would probably taste deeeeeelicious.

 

Wet on skin: A burst of peach and sweet neroli and then suddenly, cocoa. I'm not really getting much patchouli or ambergris at all. Right now this is super fruity, sweet and chocolaty.

 

Dry: As this dries I can smell the ambergris coming out (the patchouli is still absent). The peach, honey and neroli all blossom to the foreground while the chocolate takes backseat. It's a very pale fruity floral on me without being too flowery or too peachy (sometimes peach tends to smell like cat pee on me, this one doesn't).

 

Overall verdict...I LOVE this and am so happy I decided to buy a 5ml without trying to obtain a decant first. This is a grown-up fruity scent perfect for summer. I think I'll be wearing this for the remainder of the warm months...and to this years peach festival.

[veronicafranco]

i agree that the honey + white peach is very similar to what gives les bijoux that beautiful, bright sweetness. i hardly get any neroli, and not much patchouli either - just a hint. this is my first blend with ambergris (nice perfuminess here) or cocoa (which i'd thought might be offputting, but on me it's almost like a cocoa butter instead - not especially chocolatey, but rich and soft). overall, this smells a bit foody for me, especially in the beginning when the peach-honey is very strong. that said, foody lovers should be delighted with this one. it's really very pretty.

Edited July 22, 2008 by veronicafranco

[Little Bird]

Peach, patchouli, and cocoa are three of my most favorite scents, so I was super excited to try Eisheth. I wanted dark, foodie, earthy peach. Unfortunately, this is clean, musky, plasticy peach on me.

 

In the bottle, this smells peachy-fresh. Like a juicy, clean smelling peach.

 

On my skin, hello ambergris and peach. I've never had a problem with any of the lab's peach notes before, but this smells like plastic with a clean muskiness to it.

 

In the drydown, waxy plastic, a hint of sweet peach, and musky ambergris I catch hints of an earthy cocoa every once in a while, suffocating underneath the plasticy, musky tones. Over time, the musk sharpens & becomes very perfumey, and this starts to give me a headache.

[Bagfish]

When first applied, Eisheth is lovely, with amber, honey and cocoa being very obvious. However, the peach comes to the fore after about an hour and becomes stronger and stronger until it overwhelms everything else. Even after 13 hours, I can just smell really strong peach, and whilst not offensive, is actually just too sweet for my tastes.

 

So now I'm about to wander pretty much off topic here, I hope you don't mind!

 

The problem is, I'm absolutely gutted as I so wanted this one to work for me. Eisheth is a character in one of my favourite series of novels, Jacqueline Carey's Kushiel trilogy, she is one of the angelic companions of Elua a God-like figure, whose motto is Love as thou wilt, and who founded a country based on the tenets of love. I really, really wanted this one to work on me so that I could be wearing a bit of Eisheth as she is a patron of healing and music. Here's a description

Eisheth is noted for her gentleness. Her province is Eisande. Eisheth was noted for giving humanity the healing arts, which is why so many of the best healers come from her province, and for gifting mankind with music and story, which is why Eisande gave rise to the Mendacants, traveling bards. In order to conceive, a women of Terre D'ange must pray to Eisheth to open the gates of her womb. Once such a prayer is made, it can never be taken back.

 

So yes, I tried a couple of times, but in the end Eisheth is just too sweet and peachy for me. I'm very, very sad indeed.

[zankoku_zen]

In the vial, Eisheth smells like a lemon candy cough drop. On wet, the most dominant note was definitely the peach, with honeyed florals in the background. As it dried, the peach was less dominant and I can smell some of the cocoa powder.

 

It's pretty, but for me the ultimate peach scent is Ebisu. I'm glad that the honey isn't more aggressive.