Eustephanos

[binkin]

Richly crowned.

Antiqued amber, frankincense, pomegranate, myrrh, rose absolute, and bois de rose.

Wet, this makes me go "whoa, cologne!" As it dries I can smell the rose, then the lavender. And then our friends the resins come out to play, and they're not kidding around. I put maybe a drop of this on my wrist and I could smell it all day. Pleasant at first, but as the day wore on my skin amped the frankincense and myrrh more and more and more and MORE, to the point where 12 hours after application they were conspiring to give me a terrible headache. Alas. This scent seemed really capricious, changing every hour or two. It's got considerable throw, and it's interesting. I'll be keeping my decant to see what happens as it ages; perhaps it will mellow out more. It may also be that spring is springing, and this seems more like a heavy, cold-weather scent.

[kikithepirate]

 

This is a mature version of Katrina van Tassel. The rose here is much less in-your-face, and its sweetness comes from the pomegranate, which means that it's much more of a tart juiciness than the full-on honey sugar rush that Katrina had. The amber and frankincense add a bit of a powdery touch... I think that it will round out and become even better with age. The only thing I worry about is that it might be a tad bit too old lady-ish on me.

Edited April 10, 2009 by kikithepirate

[catattack]

Wet: Sharp floral perfume

Drydown: The sharpness mellows, but there's an herbal soapiness that I'm not sure of.

Overall: This is a strong floral perfume that I just don't care for.

[hlinspjalda]

In the vial: Rose, pomegranate, and resin.

 

Wet: Rose and pomegranate, definitely; I get the tart bite of pomegranate more strongly in this one than in any of the scents I've tried. The rose is second, quite powerful, but there's a lot of resin in it too.

 

Twenty minutes: The rose has surpassed the pomegranate now. This is how I wanted "Persephone" to smell on me, and it's wonderful. I expect it will develop more depth as the resins warm up. But I suspect there's a bottle of this in my future.

 

One hour: Yep, I need a bottle of this. The rose and pomegranate have balanced out beautifully. I can't make out individual notes in the base, but it warms and enriches the tendency toward tartness that both rose and pomegranate have.

 

Two hours: Better and better! The resin has developed, and this is now well into the fabulous zone. Fruit-florals are always good on me, but this has now become exceptional.

 

Three hours: It is now officially a resin scent, with strong and well-balanced rose/pomegranate overtones. I still love this.

 

Six hours: And still great. The rose and fruit have long since lost their intensity, but the blend of resins is still very nice with its gentle rose-fruit tartness.

 

This scent is the Inanna to "Crypt Queen"'s Ereshkigal: sister queens of complementary realms. I love it and have given up "Crypt Queen" for it. Top ten!

 

[milo]

This is a strong, sour rose wet. As it dries, it becomes a bit less sour, but no other notes show up. My skin amps rose, so this is a no go. Off to swaps.

[heathercaley]

Mmmm this is lovely!

 

It's super red rose sweetened with juicy pomegranate and surrounded by a haze of smokey incense. It's very powerful, and the rose is very bright. As it dries down, I'm getting more amber. I can tell by the vague dash of baby powder trying to make it's way to the top. Almost dry the rose is trying just calm down a little bit, and the amber is trying to break through.

 

Towards the end, the rose wins. It's nice, but I have so many rose scents already. I'll be passing this one along.

[edenssixthday]

Eustephanos - Blah. Once again, pomegranate (which I really do love in theory) has ruined an otherwise perfectly good scent. The rosewood is very faint, but the resins are definitely what ground this blend, and I can smell the faintest hint of rose over them. But then there's that blasted pomegranate swirling through the resins and messing everything up. Pomegranate is one of those notes that so close to smelling good on me, but some tiny aspect of it is just all wrong on me, and so it's a huge bummer when a scent smells like it would be really amazing if it either had no pom or if my skin chemistry was altered just the tiniest bit. Overall, it's a fairly dark and heavy resinous fruity-floral and I want to love it...but sadly, I just can't.

[Ishtar]

This is simply stunning! I see how it could be a complete turnoff for those who don't like rose, but I for one happen to love it and... wow, just wow!

 

Fruity florals like Eustephanos usually work very well on my skin, particularly when they contain amber and rosewood, and this is no exception. On me, this is more akin to a slightly less spicy Harlot than to Persephone - it's sweet, deep, rich and truly intoxicating. Sophisticated enough to be worn for an evening out at the opera, and at the same time so deeply satisfying that I would wear it anytime, just to be surrounded by this beautiful womanly scent.

[griffonner]

In the imp- Rosewood and rose, just the barest hint of the resins.

Wet- Rose and Myrrh.

Dry- Rose, amber, frankincense, and myrrh all playing together nicely. I just want to sit here smelling my wrist.

[filigree_shadow]

Wet, this smells gross. Sorry, but it does. It smells like someone has dragged in sticky wet rose petals on the bottom of their shoes into a gas station bathroom. (For some reason pomegranate has been showing up in damn near everything in the past couple of years, and it smells like cheap disgusting bathroom air freshener on me. It is really not pleasant.)

 

However... when this is dry, it is a lot better. The resins combine with the rose to give it kind of a sticky rosewood scent, which is not half bad in my book. I'm quite fond of rosewood. However, that dastardly pom is still lurking. Bleah. I like rosewood enough that I don't want it to smell distorted -- I like it just as it is. Don't want that gross pomegranate with it.

[cosmoblue]

In bottle, rich, warm, rose. Smells like perfume.

 

Wet, L-EB, Resinous Rose that is lush and velvety and a little fruity. A little soapy but not in a bad way.

 

Dry, Definitely an expensive fancy soap smell. It is all soft petals and resin. I like it but don't know if I would actually wear it. I'll probably hang on to this one though.

[tinyvulture]

A rich, heady rose blend. A red rose at the height of its bloom...you just want to bury your nose in it, revel in it, never come up for air. The supporting notes are ruby pomegranate and warm, sweet amber (and to a lesser extent, sweet frankincense), so overall it's very warm and sweet and inviting, without being cloying. I received an empty sniffie bottle and I'll be on the lookout for decants to store in it (and slather on myself).

[torischroeder9]

In the decant: I get a lot of amber, frankincense, and myrrh. Since I'm rose-hesitant, the resin-forwardness of the initial sniff bothers me not one bit. 

 

On my skin:

 

Wet, the rose does start to come out, but at this stage, it's far from dominant. Rather, I think this is what "rose-infused" amber, frankincense, and myrrh should smell like. Like, the rose is in them and is part of them, rather than being  separate note, but they are still very much themselves. As it dries, the rose does become a bit stronger, but it remains really softened and grounded by all the good, resiny action going on. The layered quality of the resins is also great since it's richer and deeper than having a single resinous note. Sadly, it starts to fade rather quickly after that. Which is too bad as it's a lovely scent.