Persephone

[renfair]

Beautiful, radiant daughter of Demeter... her loveliness was so exquisite that even Hell itself could not resist her. Pomegranate and rose.

This scent came as a frimp for me.

First Sniff Impression: Is there rose in this? Cause it smells like rose.

Wet in Vial: Ok, there is rose in this. And I'm glad I knew there was pomegranate or else the sourness would have really turned me off. I don't want to be gross, but it was almost a vomit-acid sourness. But I assume that's just the high concentration of pomegranate in the vial.

 

Drying Down on Skin: The sourness fades almost instantly, thank goodness, leaving a fruity rose behind. I actually wasn't expecting this to be so heavy on the rose, for some reason. So far this is a very classy, heavy, almost Victorian rose smell, and I kind of like it, but it's a lot. Wondering if the pomegranate will come out more and lighten the rose up a bit. Right now I feel like this is a better scent for Persephone's grandmother or something (and I feel like I should know who that would be, from mythology?)

Dry on Skin: I was really expecting this to be pomegranate-heavy because of the myth and all but it's just all POW ROSES TO TEH FACE on me. I imagine this has a crazy throw, and probably not in a good way. I'll have to see how it is in a few hours, but I don't think this is one I'd be keen on keeping.

 

Conclusion: This scent felt very unbalanced to me. I imagine Persephone as being a youthful young woman, associated with Spring and pomegranates, and this scent was so overpoweringly rose that it steamrolled over anything else that might've been there. It felt like a better scent for a courtesan than Persephone. I wonder if it might just be me. It seems so far like BPAL rose just amps up to a crazy level on my skin, which sucks! I love rose! But I didn't love this one, unfortunately.

[Nikki Scarlet]

A frimp from the lab, and one of my favourite Greek goddesses.

In the imp:
Not sure how I feel about this. It's very fresh and juicy, but there's something sharp about it to my nose.

On me, wet:
The tartness is amplified a bit, but at the same time it's not as much of a shock to the nose as in the imp (granted, it may just be that I'm acclimating to it). As it starts to dry the pomegranate's sweeter side comes forward and the scent gets warmer and juicier.

On me, dry:
Rose and pomegranate balance each other nicely in this scent. The pomegranate is a little heavier and juicier on my skin, while the rose brings a lightness and freshness to it to keep it pretty without being cloying. This is a rare scent for me where the rose doesn't dominate: the two notes are well blended and cooperate fantastically, so I don't get "grandma's perfume" from it. It's girlish for me.

Verdict:
I like it! I don't feel the immediate need to jump on a bottle, but I'll keep the imp around for days when I want a "juicy" scent that doesn't have the darker notes of Bewitched.

[roseus]

In the imp: super sweet pomegranate syrup.

 

Wet: Less sweet pomegranate and a tiny bit of red rose.

 

Dry: The rose and pomegranate combination is gorgeous. I get red rose, but it is softened by the fruity sweetness of the pomegranate. Youthful and playful but not girlish to me.

[achildoftime]

It's very simple. Pomegranate and rose is exactly what you get. It's like cutting open a pom and setting a rose next to it. There's a bit of bitterness from the rind that mingles with the sweeter juice and rose petals. It is very evenly balanced the whole time. The bitterness does tone down even further with wear, but it never really goes away completely. I really want to like it, because it is quite lovely, but I think there's a better pomegranate scent for me out there. Even though I think the rose compliments it well, I know that it isn't really for me.

[whisperstilled]

Yep, liking this scent definitely depends on how you feel about pomegranate and rose, and especially pomegranate - it's sharp and intense. Wonderful conceptually!

[Joyleaf_]

This smells like a drink I would indulge in in college. Very much a fruity floral with a saccharine sweetness like too thick simple syrup oozing along the bottom of a glass. Not for me, but glad I got to try it.

[garbagewitch]

In my early perfume days, just the idea of florals made me wrinkle my nose, and rose seemed the most flowery of them all. Then I got into BPAL and Persephone just sounded too good to pass up; I loved the goddess, I loved pomegranate, and maybe the rose wouldn’t be too strong? That first order arrived and I realized I actually really like rose, when it’s done by someone who knows how to treat a rose right. That was years ago, though, so when my friend snagged an imp in her first order, I wasn’t expecting it to live up to the memory I have of it. Spoiler alert: it absolutely does.

Persephone starts off with an intense sweetness, that’s only kept from being candied by how juicy it is. The rosiness comes forward almost immediately after the initial explosion of sweetness, and it’s one hell of a rose, full and blooming with perfectly pink, ruffled petals. The sweetness and juiciness of pomegranate blends seamlessly with the rose; this smells like what I imagine a rose would taste like if it was a fruit. There’s also a slight green, leafy edge that makes me think this rose is still on the bush. As it dries down, the green edge eventually disappears and juiciness calms down a little, but it stays sweet and pink and lush all the way through.

 

It isn’t at all a sexual scent, but the juiciness of the pomegranate makes it almost unbearably sensual to me. If I smelled this on someone else, I’d want to bite them. It wouldn’t be an aggressive or sexual impulse, it would just be automatic, the way I would want to sink my teeth into a ripe strawberry.

 

If Lucy's Kiss is the scent of a demure young woman half-dressed and fresh from bathing in rosewater, then Persephone is the scent that trails off that same young woman as she leads you on a playful chase through the garden on a rainy night, bare feet dancing across the damp grass and laughter sparkling alongside the patter of rain. Not at all wild, but playful and carefree in a way that's only possible when propriety has been thrown decisively out the window. Fresher, cooler, and not quite as clean as Lucy’s Kiss, with a crisp, ripe sweetness that makes you want to nuzzle in closer, to lick and bite once you've caught her.

Along with Dorian, this is one of those scents I’m so crazy about, I can’t help but recommend it indiscriminately. Try it if you like rose, try it if you think you don't like rose, try it if you like sweet scents or fruity scents, try it if you haven't already tried it, just try it.

Edited August 11, 2018 by conflagrantThief

[Mister Azure]

The gift from Hades to his bride is as accurate as to be expected. 

 

Wet: Immediately I am hit with ripe bursting pomegranate seeds on a lavish platter. I cannot say I expected such a fast showing of those fruit from the start. As quickly as the pomegranate came, a full bouquet of roses accompanied them. Mingled in front of me in an attempt to sway me its way.

 

Dry: The serving of pomegranates has been removed and I am left with roses in full bloom. Potent and filling the air. Only the remnants of juices from the pomegranate remain now. Tempted to indulge in more of these gifts but knowing I should refrain from such actions. 

 

Final thoughts: It was surprising to smell the pomegranate as vividly as I did once the oil touched my skin. I did not get to enjoy that as much as I may have thought I would have given how quickly the scent of roses came as things dried down. 

 

The roses took the foreground on me after things dried with only a touch of pomegranate to be had. There was a powdering effect with the roses that occurred; not unsavory but not quite the quality I would have wanted for myself. After a bit longer the pomegranate made something of a comeback but not a full showing as initially. It did help removed some of powdering from the roses oddly enough. Not all but some of it.  

 

It is a lovely and simple scent to indulge in. A soft and impactful scent that holds the full weight of the mythos of its namesake at hand. 

 

I am glad I got to try this imp bottle, even though it is not a scent for me. I did have my spouse try it and it took on a soft rosey fragrance with a nice pomegranate chaser that didn’t go powdery on their skin. I encouraged they to wear it more often.

[puellacaerulea]

In the imp: Yup, that's pomegranate and rose. Simple, fresh-smelling rose along with juicy pomegranate. The notes are balanced well, and this doesn't morph significantly, apart from rose's tendency to go a little powdery on me. The pomegranate note isn't overly sweet, and if anything it kind of tempers the rose note and gives it an almost solemn aspect, which seems apropos for the inspiration for this scent. (My imp is a few years old, so that might be why I'm finding this less intensely sweet than others did.) I could see this being a good rose scent for autumn. 

[Laughing Seagull]

I purchased this as a fresh lab imp.

 

In the vial, I primarily get rose with a very, very deep red fruit, the way a pomegranate should smell.  Beautiful. 

 

Immediately after applying it to my skin, it smells EXACTLY like burnt hair.  It's absolutely incredible, in a bad way.  How did this happen?

 

Fortunately after drying down, she goes right back to being lovely, tart pomegranate and rose.  Outside of the burnt hair phase (must be the trip through the underworld), this is a beautiful scent.  Hopefully the burnt hair thing will go away with age or something.  This scent doesn't last very long (like, an hour and a half).

Edited October 17, 2020 by Laughing Seagull

[silverbottle]

Got this as a free imp. I am not a fan of fruity scents in general, so even though I've never smelled a pomegranate, I was wary. The rose (which I usually like) softens it well, though. A nice surprise.
 

When I opened the bottle and dabbed this on, it initially smell very strongly like some kind of fruity lip balm for children, and I thought I would have to wash it off right away. I'm glad I didn't, though, because the rose welled up within a couple of minutes. It actually took over and buried the pomegranate for a bit. It is a very pleasant rose, and surprisingly strong.

By the time I'd worn it for a couple of hours, the two notes had blended well, and without me noticing right away. The pomegranate then smelled more naturally fruity rather than fake-fruit-scent (though I have no idea if it is accurate to pomegranate specifically), and was couched in lots of lovely rose. I was surprised by how well they fit together.

Four hours in, it had faded a lot, but was still noticeable on my wrist. The pomegranate had moved to the foreground, but it was still couched in rose, so that was okay.

While there is a softness to it, it does smell wet to me, not powdery.

It is nice. Not my thing, but wearable for me even with my dislike of fruity scents. I would definitely recommend it to someone who likes both fruit and rose.

[starfish327]

(Unsure if this is a repeat review for me, my imp is new as of 2021)
 

In the imp- Pom with something keeping it from being a single note. I don’t think I would call it a rose but the pom isn’t alone in there

 

wet- yup that’s a pomegranate. It’s actually a gorgeous almost winey pomegranate 

 

dry-pom, pom, pom, HI I AM THE ROSE YOU ORDERED. it’s one of the better roses I’ve tried wearing but it is absolutely dominating this blend, it might as well be a spicy rose single note. 
 

I rarely if ever want to smell this plainly of rose but I have a friend who wants to test this so it already has a new home.

[RoseThornAndOak]

This reminds me of Blood Rose a little bit, juicy and sweet but maybe a bit softer. The pom is also slightly reminiscent of the cherry in Phantom Calliope, kind of that spooky red fruit vibe, but much less dark of course with no patch to ground it. It sours slightly on my skin as most fruit blends do, but not nearly as much as anticipated, and it doesn't go cat pee like red currant, so that's a plus. The rose isn't powdery. I don't find the pom to be too lifelike, nor is it like the Softsoap Juicy Pomegranate and Mango body wash (loved that shit in college). It's actually quite subdued, and this does read a bit more rose than pom, yet both are present. If someone asked me what fruit is in it, I wouldn't have guessed pom at all, maybe cranberry. Yes, yes! This kinda has a Christmas cranberry scented soap or candle vibe (not waxy or soapy, just the scent in general). I do agree there is a slight bitterness, but I get a bit more of a tartness from it.

 

I think on the right skin this could be a badass scent but it's kinda just dudding out on me. I was so glad to try this just to get a feel for pom as a note, and it's not nearly as bad as I thought it would be, so I'm not completely ruling it out as a note in the future ( Madame Moriarty worked great for years until the cat pee note killed it). 

 

Possibly for fans of Blood Rose, Madame Moriarty, and wine notes. 

Edited September 8, 2021 by RoseThornAndOak

[findingrory]

In the imp: ROSE! With a little bit of a fruity tang. Very, very strong, almost sickly strong but not a bad scent. 

 

Wet: Still super duper rose but the juicy fresh pomegranate scent comes through a bit more. I’m usually not a fan of florals but the pomegranate makes it more interesting. Rose isn’t powdery which I appreciate, more young and fresh. I don’t get any spice, just sweet and green. It is a simple and straightforward scent.

 

Dry: For some reason it smells like wet dog?? Sort of sour and bitter and not pleasant at all, also more powdery now. The rose and pomegranate are there but it’s like they are far, far away underneath the dirty wet dog smell. I guess my skin does not play well with this one which is unfortunate, I really wanted to smell like Queen of the Underworld.

[a_bear]

One of the big surprises since trying a mildly embarrassing number of scents in the last year+ was finding a) I like rose and b) I love a fruity rose. This is no exception.

 

I get a bit more rose than pom, but the fruit helps amp the fresh, juicyness of the rose. Prime example of a simple scent done really well.

[ittybitty]

In the bottle, it smells like pomegranate juice! So yummy! Once I put it on, though, it smelled more like rose with a hint of fruitiness. After it dried down, all I got was a non-powdery, realistic rose. I don't really care for rose, but I liked this more than I expected. The rose isn't powdery and it doesn't have that old lady smell that lots of rose scents tend to have. All in all, it's pretty nice, but just not for me.

[skyturtles]

Fresh from the lab frimp! I'm not sure if it matters but I gave everything a few days to "settle."

Persephone screams ROSE. That's all I'm getting, and it's a bitter crisp rose, rather than a dusty powder rose.

On the dry down, I get a hint of the juiciness that others rave about. I can only smell it when I'm not trying to, if that makes sense. I wish there was more of it, though, because the rose is beginning to nauseate me. If I sniff my wrist directly, all I get is that rose punch in the nose.

I'll be passing this along!

[MolyH]

I love pomegranates. My grandaunt used to have a pomegranate tree in her yard (maybe she still does, I don't know), and when I was little, I used to go by when it bore fruit and steal them. I'm sure she would've given them to me if I'd asked, but there was something about the adventure of sneaking up, snatching one, and hiding it away to enjoy that made them that much more delicious. This perfume smells like my fingers did afterwards, stained with purple-pink juices, with a dash of rose, my favourite floral. This lived up to everything the name and the description suggested.

[Poenari]

I know I've had frimps of Persephone before, but apparently never reviewed it. So I received another imp in a recent Lab order and in the spirit of the holidays decided that now is the perfect time to try her and review her! 

 

One thing that makes me very happy is that I have finally learned after many years of struggling, that there are more BPAL rose scents that I can wear then I used to believe. Clearly I've trained my nose, and now I rarely encounter a rose that goes to soap on me! Pomegranate is usually a fruit that I like to wear in the right mixture. Well Persephone is clearly the right mixture!

 

Initially I definitely get rose-  a sweet lovely rose. There is barely a hint of pomegranate here. Upon dry down, however, the pomegranate shows her darkness and blends perfectly with the rose, deepening it and keeping it from going cloyingly sweet. 

 

After 45 minutes, the blend remains true to the dry down stage on me. A lovely rose blend. I'm going to pass on my sample to my hair stylist, who also loves roses and pomegranates, and I have a feeling I will be buying her a bottle for next year's Yule gift! (I already have this year's gift, plus no time left to receive a bottle before I see her tomorrow!)

[asoursweetsixteen]

I just ADORE this scent! adore it!

 

as with all other floral bpals (on me) it smells awful the first few minutes. I really gotta give it a minute to let it calm down,

 

and wow, after that cooldown... persephone is just amazing. so simple but lovely. it smells of beautiful roses with a fruity backdrop. it's just gorgeous, and I like it more as it fades a bit so it's not too potent. overall, it's floraly and fruity and sweet. what's not to love?

[Cali]

Oh so nice! Now, i am super stuffy and earlier i said another scent also reminded me of raspberry - i'm getting raspberry again amongst a strong pomegranate (and as it is drying up, the rose it blossoming and coming in strong) but that may just be the cold picking up anything slightly red-leaning as that. That said, the rose in this is SO strong it's starting to give me a bit of a headache, but this is different from anything i've smelled before. Super sensual and sweet, nice for christmas!

[Tungerine]

Both the rose and pomegranate notes are well balanced for me. There's a fruity tartness, tempered by the rose, so it's neither too sweet nor too sour. On my skin it sweetens gradually, but doesn't last very long. I like it but it's not something I'd wear, I'd rather smell it on someone else.