Calliope

[ipb]

But when, Calliope, thy loud harp rang --
In Epic grandeur rose the lofty strain;
The clash of arms, the trumpet's awful clang
Mixed with the roar of conflict on the plain;
The ardent warrior bade his coursers wheel,
Trampling in dust the feeble and the brave,
Destruction flashed upon his glittering steel,
While round his brow encrimsoned laurels waved,
And o'er him shrilly shrieked the demon of the grave.

The eldest of the Muses, she is Eloquence, and thus, governs heroic and epic poetry, and her eloquence has served to calm quarrels even amongst the surliest of Gods. She is crowned in gold, and holds a roll of parchment or stylus and tablet. Hers is the scent of creative inspiration, and it is a boon to writers, poets and arbitrators: lavender and bright mint with bergamot, verbena, thyme and a touch of sweet orange and warm almond.

with the lavender, mint, and thyme banging their heads together, this smells like my old kitchen herb garden - the orange and almond are definitely there, which just makes it more of a kitcheny scent. add it a little bubbling wine and some chicken, and you've got a fabulous coq au vin.. yum.

now i'm hungry.

[pekeana]

In the vial: *droool* Oh, goddess, this is good. I can't distinguish any individual notes but the lavender and mint, but it's so well blended that it just takes my breath away.

 

On me: The lavender kicks in immediately, chased by the orange and thyme. But then it all mellows out to thyme, verbena, and the barest hint of lavender. It's slightly masculine, but it's so delicious and pleasant that I just don't care.

 

Utterly delightful.

 

ETA: Urgh. This doesn't stay long on me at all. Maybe an hour, tops. But I love it so much I may have to get a big bottle with which to slather myself in the hopes that it might stay a wee bit longer.

Edited August 24, 2004 by pekeana

[TrayLynn]

In the bottle: warm herby scent

 

Wearing: to me this is a very herbal warm scent. It reminds me of drying fresh herbs in the attic. It's something I would wear to make me feel clean or get rid of the emotional fallout of a bad day. I'm also a sucker for anything with warm almond notes.

[TygherRayn]

In the bottle: Whoo! Sweet! A very, very sweet floral. For some reason I think of carousels when I hear calliope, and this scent makes me imagine a carousel filled with gilded horses and griffons and dragons and lions and tigers and .. Yeah, you get the idea. All whirling about in my head, while the air is filled with the scent of cotton candy and fried dough and caramel apples and all that good stuff. I don’t know what might be in this out of the bottle though .. Cherry candy maybe.

 

Wet: This is either almond or cherry .. I can never tell the difference. I’m wanting to say almond now though, because it warms tremendously on my skin, and the almond scents tend to warm, where the cherry stays crisp and fruity. Orange .. I get a whiff of orange now as well. Very bright, very sparkly. Rather delicious smelling, in fact. This in a tea would be delicious, definitely.

 

Wearing: Still a crisp, sweet scent. Very delightful. Very alive with possibilities. I still think I want to find this in a tea, or a cookie maybe. Or candy. Yum! But I can wear this one more. Yup yup, certainly can. The mint and bergamot come out more and more, and I realize that’s why I think this would be a fabulous tea: it has all my favorite tea elements. The bergamot from Earl Grey, the orange from the pekoe I drink at work, and mint from my beloved mint/blackberry combination. Yum!

[pkwench]

In the vial: Oh, holy peppermint! That give my sinuses a good clearing.

 

Wet: Oh, holy peppermint! I know, we've been here before.

 

As it starts to dry down, it goes through a strange medicinal phase that I wasn't sure that I cared for at all. But now that the mediciney feeling is fading, it's lavender and mint and reminds me very much of a migraine oil that I have and, thusly, is a very peaceful and calming scent for me. The verbena, btw, is just barely there adding a little zing to it all. Nummy. This would be a good scent for a day when I could use a hug.

[lorajc]

I really like this one, but there is an unfamiliar note to my nose. It must be the thyme, as I don't cook and I never know my herbs. Upon applying, the mint and lavender are most prominent. It is sweet but as it dries, the thyme comes through more. I guess that's what it is cuz it reminds me of sage. Also when I first put this on, I thought I smelled something spicy but that faded (almost would have guessed a touch of cinnamon - but maybe I just hope for every scent to have cinnamon in them cuz I love it so much). This initial spicy phase dried down into an herbal stage with the bergamot, lavender very much in the background. I can't pick out the almond note. I love almond........so I wish I could smell it more, but I think it more or less just wraps itself lightly around the lavender, thyme and bergamot. I cannot detect the mint on the drydown. I've only had this on for an hour and it is really starting to fade and I slathered it on. I think that makes this a very light herbal fragrance that will need serious reapplication. It is a very calming sort of blend though and I do agree with the idea of a hug.

 

ETA: I can see my 5 ml being gone in a flash with this, as I love, no LOVE the initial scent so much more than the dry down.

 

After I wore this for a few hours, I got used to the thyme and I could smell the orange and almond on the drydown. It was very soft, comforting and it is absolutely gorgeous at this stage. Sort of reminds me of orange Dana Oshee....just a bit reminiscent of it. I love this stuff and can't get enough of it!! Another fave! Good job Beth. This is another unique and beautiful fragrance.

Edited September 8, 2004 by lorajc

[JazzieCazzie]

*le sigh* ... much as I love the minty line when it comes to Lush (World Piece, Freeze, Washday Greens), sadly the minty BPAL scents just don't like me (luckily, many others of the PBAL scents LOVE me but that's another set of reviews).

 

Like PKWench, this became extremely medicinal on me, even though it was "fresh" medicinal ... kind of like the antiseptic you wipe on bug bites of cuts.

 

I guess I will just give up on mint and move on to my remaining page-long wish list of other scents

[Northernminx]

In the vial there's a blend of herbal scents, some mint and thyme and a little lavender.

On me?

 

Ah Verbana. All those other delicious scents go bye-bye in an overwhelming wave of lemon pledge. Such a sadness for me as I wanted very very much to adore this one and it never did anything than smell like furniture polish with my chemistry. I always hope one of the verbena blends will not do this but thus far no luck. Sad sad sad

[danuv]

I love the idea of the notes in this and in the vial it smells really grand but for some reason when it hits my skin it turns into Raid Ant Killer. *sigh* I am going to try it again in a week or so and see if that helps.

 

Edit: I think that what happens is that my skin grabs the thyme and only the thyme. I have a plant of it outside and it smells exactly like what Calliope does on me.

Edited October 2, 2004 by danuv

[Dianella]

I was really excited when I saw this scent on the update and when I received my order it was one of the first imps I tried

 

In the bottle: Smelled mostly lavender, with citrus and herbs in the background

 

Wet: Again lavender, and an orange note emerges to sweeten the scent. Alas, it is gone almost as quickly as it came.

 

Drydown: I'm getting mostly lavender, with some herbs in the background. It reminds me of a cleaner of some sort. I'm not sure I like it on me.

 

Dry: Still lavender. Not bad but not what I was looking for. I'll still use the imp, who knows, my opinion is subject to change!

[summer]

This is very nice, and maddeningly hard to describe. Warm, toasted almond, with a BRIGHT splash of citrus and lavender and herbs. It's invigorating and smooth at the same time. There's something almost slightly bitter about it, but a smooth sweetness rounds it out. It tends to fade fast on me, so I've been keeping the imp in my desk at work for touch-ups during the day. I must say, when I apply it fresh, I'm usually overwhelmed with how wonderful it smells for the first 5 minutes. This one has been growing on me, and I find myself wanting to wear it every day. It's a very "appropriate for work" scent, and, because I do a lot of writing at work, I love the idea of wearing the eldest of the muses on my wrist.

 

[DukTape]

I wanted to like this one, but I just don't. It reminded me of some candy that was too strong and kind of phony. That might be the almond that others like. I don't like marzipan, so that might well be it. It could be that this would mellow into something nice on my skin after awhile, but I'm not going to give it a chance. Darn.

[omly]

Wet this is incredibly mixed up and interesting. It has all of my favorite things though I wouldn't have necessarily thought to put them all together. I can pick out the lavender, mint, bergamot, and verbena right away. A few moments later ther is just a kint of orange. The the cherry-like almond rises to the surface. Somehow during all this time none of these completely overwhelms the others. I can't pick out the thyme, but there is a nice underlying herbalness which I am attributing to it.

 

In the end it mellows down to a confusing herbal note which I am not sure I entirely enjoy. This stage doesn't have much lasting power though and only lasts an hour or two at most.

[xoe]

Interesting the way this one changes.

 

Starts out as mint, then goes citrusy, then sort of vibrates between a few things, then mainly the thyme with some citrus coming through.

 

*edit - I tried this again, and it's different this time. This time it started out almond. Then went to lemon. And stayed as what I thought to be lemon and pepper. (must have been the thyme and the bergamot and verbena.

 

ADDED 3/17/07:

 

lavendar lemon and fairy dust. smells sweet, but disappears quickly.

Edited September 20, 2004 by xoe

[isyche]

first: Minty orange and almond extract. Oh, I like this.

then: Here comes lavender and lemon verbena, then bergamot, then thyme later on.

 

Calliope smells regal in a way, gold and purple, but also comforting, like an herbal tea, and mind-clearing. There are so many different notes in it that seem to take turns. It's really interesting, which is appropriate for the muse of inspiration and epic poetry.

[UltraViolet]

Calliope

 

Wet

At first when wet, it's absolutely delightful and alive with citrus. The orange and bergamot are primary.

 

Drydown

Boy does this fade fast. This is only 1 minute later folks. Now the Thyme is present and the almond.

 

Dry

I smell thyme with a tad of lemon verbena.

 

I don't know why this faded so fast, I was elated when I first put it on and wondered if this might be my new favorite. Perhaps my body chemistry is a little off. I'll try again to see if it stays longer.

[Larila]

Wet this was a little strong going on, the verbena,mint, lavender was very in your face, the other notes wasn't noticeable at this wet stage. While I'm not crazy about verbena, after drying down this became a lovely crisp scent, each and every note was in there at the party. It lasted a while, I like this one.

[allamanda]

Calliope

 

Mint, orange and almond when first applied rapidly joined by lavender and then the almond and orange disappear!! Talk about a fleeting whiff.

 

Once dry I can smell the thyme, gently blending with the mint and lavender (everything else is no longer detected by my nose).

 

Lovely.

 

A couple of hours later the thyme is still really strong, I’d need to be in the right mood to wear this one

[Lucretia]

this one changed alot on me. In the bottle and first on my skin it smelled like delicious almonds and mint, which quickly (very quickly) faded to a strong lemon verbena. Not in a bad way, but definitly strong.

About an hour later there is no trace of almonds and the verbena is pretty much gone, what I'm left with is a hint of mint and a pile of thyme. Wheew. I smell like I was cooking and spilled thyme everywhere. If this had stayed almond mint I'd have loved it, but thyme I just can't do. saddly, in the swap pile.

[LiberAmoris]

Calliope started off for me as a blast of mint with the astringent, herby scent of lavender. As it dried, the verbena and bergamot added a citrus note and I thought I could smell lotus (although in retrospect it was probably just the almond).

 

I think this would make a good clarifying/morning scent because it's very fresh and invigorating due to the citrus/mint combo. Like Nine Mysteries, I would use Calliope when I needed to clear my mind in order to look at something anew.

 

On a side note, the drydown reminded me of those special erasers I got when I was a kid---the kind that came in little shapes and colors with a print of an image on the top. They didn't erase very well, but they smelled so good!

[hadaverde]

This oil goes on all warm almond with a hint of spiciness and a bright splash of citrus. The lavender is also present, though the other notes outshine it. As it enters drydown, the thyme moves to the forefront, as does the lavender. I could swear I detect some rosemary in there, as well.

 

Thirty minutes in, this smells like a damn impressive approximation of fresh-baked rosemary scones with strawberry jam on.

 

Once an hour or so has passed, the sharper aspects of the thyme and lavender have subsided, and the whole thing seems to be blending well with my skin, though the thyme and rosemaryish aspects, and, to a lesser degree, the berryish note, are still lurking in there as well. Very nice, though I am a bit disappointed in the lack of staying power in the almond note -- but I think that has more to do with my skin than the oil itself, as most scents that are heavily almond in the bottle, lose their almond aspect when on.

[reina]

all I can say is that I guess that the mint sweetens up on me before it dissipates and the bergamot doesn't work with my chemistry at all, it's that same strong chewed chewing gum note that I get in Oneiroi, but in this it's just.... nah.

up for swaps.

[Shollin]

First sniff: Another flowing herbal – I think I smell orange, mint and something that’s either cherry or sweet almond. It’s an interesting mishmash – will be interesting to see what it does on my skin, because I have the feeling Calliope is another scent that will shift constantly on me, like Voodoo or the Ace of Swords.

 

Wearing: The scent on my wrists is definite citrus, but I can’t figure out what. It keeps shifting between orange and lime. Calliope has a chill minty edge that makes my nose cold, and a deeper greenness underneath.

[Nepthys]

I've been dying to try Calliope, so I was thrilled to find this in my last shipment as an extra from the Lab. In what is becoming a pattern, I ended up liking it more than what I did order (Mercury.) Calliope is pure lemon on me, graced faintly with thyme and bergamot; I get none of the lavender. Truth be told, it does smell a bit like Lemon Pledge furniture polish, but with the yucky chemical note extracted and a deep green mystery injected into it. No complaints on this end, I love it. I don't feel especially eloquent wearing it but I do feel very alert and quick-minded.

[k00kaburra]

In bottle: Wow. I've never smelled anything quite like this before. It's foody yet not really. The almond and orange and some sort of herb are making a lovely fragrance. It reminds me of buying fresh roasted almonds at the farmer's market, and smelling the other produce and goods available.

On me: Mmmm, almond-and-orange candy. The almond is really strong, which is unusual on me. The citruses might be amplifying it, since they're so powerful as well. I think the mint must be contributing to the candy feeling as well. I will enjoy using this imp, but it's not quite enough of a 'me' scent to justify purchasing a 5ml.