Melpomene

[ipb]

But oh Melpomene! thy lyre of wo --
To what a mournful pitch its keys were strung,
And when thou badest its tones of sorrow flow,
Each weeping Muse, enamoured, o'er thee hung:
How sweet--how heavenly sweet, when faintly rose
The song of grief, and at its dying close
The soul seemed melting in the trembling breast;
The eye in dews of pity flowed away,
And every heart, by sorrow's load opprest,
To infant softness sunk, as breathed thy mournful lay.

Melpomene is Tragedy, and the sound of Her voice is filled with beauty, power and strength. She is crowned in cypress branches, holds the mask of tragedy, wears the cothurnus and wields a knife or club. Her scent is rife with pathos, and inspires us with the ability to express our grief, loss, and the pain in our souls in a cathartic, creative fashion: dark cypress with mint, geranium, Bulgar lavender, orange blossom and passion flower.

wet, this is sharp, cutting but not the clean cut that shattered have; this is a nasty gouge.. the mint and geranium are screaming at me, and i want to run away before i get hurt.. something in this is just NOT liking my skin, and i'm going to guess it's either the cypress or the passion flower...

[pekeana]

In the vial: Cypress, mint, and lavender. Very bright, cutting, and soapy all at once.

 

On me: The cypress takes over, making the scent rather masculine. After a while, the lavender and the mint come back to play, and some of the florals decide to come for the ride. It's very pleasant, but on me, it vanishes within fifteen minutes, aside from the vaguest hint of mint and cypress on my skin.

 

It's quite nice, but the Songstress will have to go to someone that can fully appreciate her charms.

[k00kaburra]

In bottle: I haven't even opened the imp yet and I can smell the sharpness of this fragrance. Open now...oh, this is biting. Very powerful, it cuts like a knife with strong mint and cypress. The geranium is kicking in, too. Wow.

 

On me: The mint weakens on my skin, but the crypress and geranium are as strong as ever. I am getting hints of lavender but for the life of me I can't locate the orange blossom anywhere. I might like this on a man, but it's too powerful and sharp for girly li'l me.)

[heartbeast]

This is mostly cypress on me, but this is another one that blends into a cohesive whole rather than allowing me to pick out individual notes. The overall impression is sweet, flowing water with a bitter note that I hoped would ease out with the drydown, but it never did. I don't think I want to smell like this for general purposes, but it certainly would be useful for magical work when I've gone through some devastating sorrow and want to channel my pain into creativity. This scent is astonishingly evocative of exactly the feeling it's intended to capture.

[TygherRayn]

In the bottle: On first impression, this is minty, but there’s something else. Something sweeter … the orange blossom maybe. It kinda smells like a bag of those orange slices mixed with a bag of the mint ones. A very herbal smell, but not in the astringent way, but more a good herbal tea, chilled, with a hint of honey and lemon.

 

Wet: Mint remains rather strongly at first, and then I get a stronger sense of the lavender in this, the orangey-citrus smell seeming to die down after a short while. Still a very light herbal scent, darkening slightly as it is absorbed into my skin.

 

Wearing: This scent remains very herbal and very somber on my skin. There’s a glow to it though, despite the somberness that I love. It almost smells like grapefruit juice .. The ruby red stuff that I can almost stomach .. But it’s not quite that. All I know is it smells like something familiar .. Something I like the smell of. Definitely a keeper here.

[xoe]

First Impression: It is the rare BPAL that does not agree with me. And this is that rare one. There is some background base note that disagrees with me. Maybe it's the cypress, I don't know. I'll try it again and give it a full testing. But so far not so good for me.

[Northernminx]

Sharp and bitingly herbal in the vial, on my skin the dry down in this went through some impressive differences.

 

Starting off it remained very herbal and bitter, fading finally into something a little softer. I can get a hint of some floral blossom, probably the orange blossom. That bitter note never quite fades away, however and I'm not certain I like the subtlety of this scent enough to wear it regularly. Pretty but it goes to someone else to sample. Apparantly the muses like beating my brain too much for me to wear their inspired scents.

[isyche]

First impression: Cutting, salty, cold cypress.

Then: Fades to faintly minty, green geranium, a bit warmer and more floral, but with the cold gray cypress remaining as an undertone. Cool and sad.

 

I was expecting Melpomene to be too harsh to wear, and it's not, which I like. I also love how the scent echoes the process of creative response to a tragedy (at least on my skin): the initial scent is like the shock of a sharply tragic event, and the softer drydown is like the cathartic channeling of it through art.

 

I want to collect all the Muse scents for inspiration when I'm doing my own creative work, so I'm glad I like this one.

Edited September 18, 2004 by isyche

[Astarte]

This is an incredibly evocative scent, the mint, geranium and lavender are all fighting for first notes position.

 

As it settles it becomes softer and a more herbal scent can be smelt. There are still the traces of the mint and geranium at the edges of the core which provides a distinct edge, quite apt for the Muse of Tradegy.

[SilverGarland]

It smells like those citrusy Flinstones vitamin pills, or those citrusy vitamin pills for kids. That's it. I like sniffing it, though I'm not sure if I'd ever buy the full size (I probably won't).

Edited September 25, 2004 by SilverGarland

[JazzieCazzie]

Very, very soapy on me ... almost like pure Dial soap. I'm not sure which note in it makes it react like that ... it's not unpleasant, because it's very clean, but it is also VERY strong on me, too much so to wear as a scent. However, rather than being a swapper, I think this will make a really nice addition to a bubble bath on an evening where I want a refreshing rev-me-up bath rather than a relaxing pre-sleep one ...

[Sara]

In the imp: Woah...harsh. Like a cutting...cutting...well honestly, I can't describe it beyond sharp.

 

Wet on skin: Hmm...you know, I could like this. the sharpness is stronger, but now something is peeking that I can't quite put my finger on. It's driving me crazy, what is that smell??

 

Dry on skin: The sharpness has subdued to that scent I still can't identify..but now it's bordering on "soapy". Like guest soap (Neo-Tokyo smells like guest soap on me too, I wonder if they share a common note).

 

Over all: I still can't identify exact notes, but it's not an altogether unpleasant perfume. At first I thought it would be to biting and cold to really suit me, but even though it's settled into something soapy I think I like it. Besides, I have to keep it at least long enough to find out what that damned note is!! Something outside. Some kind of outside nature smell that eludes me. Like a forest or meadow or something.

[Nadirah]

This is very pretty on me. I'm a big fan of Lavender so I think I could really love this. It is sharp when first applied and I really like that. After about an hour or so it calms into geranium lavender with a squeeze of fruit. I usually don't care for overly orange scents but this one seems to balance pretty nicely. I'll keep the imp but I don't think I'll order a bigger bottle.

[Faerykin]

Melpomene

 

Swiped across wrists and along collarbone.

 

Initial Wet (8-8:30am): This goes on very woodsy. I can detect a bit of mint beneath the woods – but that is about it. This is a very rich scent.

 

Initial Dry (8:30-10am): This tones down a bit. It is still a deep, woodsy scent, but I can now detect more than just the mint beneath the woods. I cannot distinguish individual notes – but I know they are there. Very well-blended.

 

Throughout the Day (10am-3pm): This continues to fade quite a bit. A slight sweetness begins to come forth, but overall, the deep, woodsy, earthy, a-little-too-masculine-for-me scent reminds me of Eidolon. Off to the hubby’s pile – I’ll let him decide if we should find This Muse a better home.

[esgaroth]

I hate to give a negative review on a BPAL scent, especially when I have been falling in love with so many, but Melpomene does not suit me.

 

This one went VERY sharp and soapy on me, like a very strong body cleanser. I guess its the cypress that I smell the most, but I think this would work best as a masculine scent. I did not like the way it turned to something almost antiseptic on me, like something one would smell in hospitals.

 

As someone who enjoys florals and ambers, this one was caustic to the nose and very disagreeable. I wore it for a couple of hours before washing it off. In reading other reviews I am thinking this is not a good fragrance for a body...perhaps more as a way to give the household a fresher smell.

 

I am so sorry for the negative review!

[Ina Garten Davita]

Melpomene was another generous extra today.

 

First Impression: Geranium, lavender, mint...in that order.

 

Second Impression: This is lovely, if a bit sharp. I'm finding it nicer than I thought I would given my history with lavender and mint.

 

Final Analysis: I would never had tried this, the lab did a good thing in adding her to my package. A very nice "aromatherapy" scent. Would make a lovely liquid hand soap. Far nicer than anything Bath and Bodyworks has. This also would be a relaxing sleep scent once the initial sharpness dries down.

[hadaverde]

This scent is truly gender-neutral when wet. It is a soothing herbal with a nearly medicinal bottom note, rather like an herbal soap. The lavender is the most easily identifiable component at the outset.

 

As time passes, it becomes rather powdery, still soapy (though not unpleasantly so), and more floral than before. After an hour or so, Melpomene mellows to a pleasantly clean, vaguely-powdery, light floral, but is not overly feminine. In combination with my body chemistry, it settles down to little more than clean skin freshly washed with an herbal soap.

 

This isn't something I would wear as a signature scent or special occasion perfume, but it strikes me as perfect for hot humid weather -- it would be a cool and refreshing counterpoint against a sweltering, muggy climate.

[eadavenp]

i have to agree with the bulk of the above reviews. its is a clean, fresh herbal smell on my skin. its pleasant, but i would prefer something a bit stronger. i think im going to try making my imp into a lotion bar, and that would make for a lovely massage scent as its not overpowering.

[Laurel the Woodfairy]

Ah, Melpomene...I believe she was the one Milton addressed as "thou goddess, sage and holy...divinest Melancholy". Or if not, she was surely the Muse who inspired these lines from Shakespeare's Twelth Night: "Come away, come away death. And in sad cypress let me be laid." She wraps the wearer in her sad cypress base note, with just a breath of geranium and herbal mint to offer hope. I'm actually astounded at how much I like this; I know a thing or two about depression and how it translates into art (as I know many of you on here do), and this is an empathetic scent from a Muse who understands.

[evil_laugher]

This was clean in a way that reminded me of Lightning, but much sharper and with an edge. It's almost lemony, but I guess that must be the mint. Not bad, just interesting.

[hypothermya]

First Impression

 

Mint and orange and herbs. Smells agressive, almost masculine. There's a bit of sweetness in there, but not much.

 

Wearing It

 

This calms down quite a bit when it's applied, and begins to smell mostly dark with a bit of menthol and a lot of lavender. It reminds me of my lavender/tea tree oil dishsoap, but with a sweet, sweet orange/floral touch. Must be orange blossom instead of real orange...I recognize this smell from Katharina and Lolita. But unfortunately, this still is a bit too minty for my taste. The combo of the mint and lavender keep giving me flash backs to mouth washes and dish soap...

 

Well, I got this as a freebie in an order of mine, and I was honestly intrigued. But when I gave this a good whiff, I remembered why it wasn't on my wishlist. First of all, I can't stand minty scents. Secondly, I'm not a fan of lavender. I suspect that for anyone who is a fan of lavender, though, that this would be a good scent.

[grrrlennyl]

melpomene

 

at first: the lab generiously included this as an extra. um...i don't know what to say about this. it's very interesting, but i'm not sure if i like it. i think i smell citrus, flowers, and mint, which is kind of odd.

on: at first, i didn't like this. there was just something...off about it. now, it's a really pretty floral. i can't really place any of the notes, though.

1 hour later: more watery. there may be lotus or heliotrope in this. very lovely.

4.5 hours later: much lighter and more sweet. i probably should have slathered this one on.

6 hours later: it's gone.

overall: yup, this definitely needs to be slathered on. it's nice, and i'll enjoy using up my imp, but i'm not planning on getting it again.

[Shollin]

First sniff: Very green herbal, no notes I can pick out. There’s something very dark and very weird underneath, almost salty, and knowing Melpomene is the Muse of Tragedy makes me think tears.

 

Wearing: It’s still such an amalgamation I can’t get a clear picture of what might be in here. Herbal, very slightly minty and green green green.

[sarahj]

Melpomene

 

this was included as an extra with my first order, and I am just now getting around to try it (why did I wait so long?)

 

in vial: I can smell mint, lavender, and orange blossom

 

wet: the geranium starts to make an appearance...this a a lovely, minty floral...usually minty scents are too minty on me, but this blend tempers the mint just enough

 

drying: on the drive to work, this went through a funny soapy phase...it was good smelling soap, but I was ready to write it off, until...

 

dry: the soapy smell went away and the lovely floral mint blend came back

 

verdict: Good lasting power (about 5 hours). I would put this on my big bottle list, but I don't know if I'll get a chance to order it before its discontinued

[surf-tormented]

I wonder why this was discontinued because I really like it. It is a strong floral and I usually hate florals, but the scent is backed all by cypress and a few non-floral smells.

 

Seems to be lasting on me longer than average. Sigh. Well, i guess it is back to the drawing board. I'd buy a bottle of this if it was still available.