Lamia v3

[halcyon_flight]

I've got some guesses about the notes, so here it goes. Cassia, clove, cinnamon, sandalwood, honey (not much, though, it isn't particularly sweet or foody, the honey in scents like O is horrible on me, possibly white honey, like in Oblation?), I recognize a floral from Flowering Chrysanthemums but I don't know if it is the 'mums or the marigolds, pine sap (like in Inez) or maybe even pine wood (not like the evergreen scent of the needles, like a 2 by 4), and tonka.

 

This is definitely a warm and spicy scent, kind of what I hoped for from Morocco, which I felt ended up being more powder and vanilla than spice.

 

It is very similar to Hod, but with sandalwood replacing carnation as the central note. It also shares commonalities with Inez and Flowering Chrysanthemums. For a child devouring monster, Lamia is very pretty! I don't find it particularly foody or powdery, unlike a lot of scents with these kinds of notes. Just warm, woody, spicy yum. I've already used half a decant, oops!

[angelicruin]

I didn't think I'd have an opportunity to test this one out, but thanks to the always generous edenssixthday, I was gifted a testable amount of this prototype.

 

On my skin, it begins as a woodsy cinnamon and clove scent. About a minute after application it becomes nearly all cloves on my skin. Very warm, very pleasant. If this were ever to be released, I'd definitely be buying a bottle of it.

 

 

[sammy]

Oh my. I was given a partial imp of this to try..and WOW. Spicey,sweet,warm and very exotic are all things that come to mind about it. I am terrible at picking out notes,but I definitely detect cinnamon and cloves,maybe some honey too.. This is sheer heaven and I must find some more.

 

 

ETA- As it dried down,it reminded me alot of Obsession for Men,which I have always loved..and even worn myself...yummmm!!!!!!! After about 2 hours of wear it is almost gone,but thats a decent amount of wear time for me as things tend to get eaten by my skin...

Edited August 17, 2009 by Sammy

[totheo]

Cloves.

 

Cloves with perhaps a few other spices mixed in. It's like you've opened the cupboard and picked up a jar of whole cloves and opened them to smell (because they're gorgeous, obviously) before you've closed the door again. Cloves mixed with the ambient scent of kitchen spices.

 

A witchy scent, without being ridiculous (wool of bat and tongue of dog...) Not a bad thing to smell like, but not ZOMG WOW.

 

Wait..... what? Spearmint? Where the hell did THAT come from? Morph to the shiznit - cloves to spearmint! And now it's cooling down on my skin. Wow. Now it's almost exclusively spearmint. Yum! Peppermint or spearmint? One of the two.

 

How insane! Doesn't seem like anyone else is getting this... perhaps it's just the witch reacting to the witch?

[hlinspjalda]

In the vial: An animalic impression, like some crittery musk, suddenly pierced by cloves.

 

Wet: Continued impression of that animalic musk. It reminds me of the impression I got off Whitechapel, a very feral small creature's musk. Also the clove impression is sustained; it reminds me of clove cigarettes or clove chewing gum.

 

Half an hour: Nope, this is definitely the musk note that makes me uneasy. The clove note is great, still gum- or cigarette-like, but it can't hide the musk.

 

Hour and a half: This scent has a lot of staying power and very little morph. It's got fair throw, too. Unfortunately that particular musk note is really hitting me in an uncomfortable spot, the same way Whitechapel did, even with that lovely clove note to compensate. I will be re-homing this one.

 

Two and a half hours: Not much change.

 

Four hours: Not much change. Wow, this is lasting very well on me.

 

[cranberry]

Oh – simply gorgeous. This smells just like Tam Dao by Diptyque – a glorious dry sandalwood. Smelling this further, it’s beyond just sandalwood, but I can’t place it exactly. It has a bite that could be a combination of sandalwood, cedar and a touch of spice. That could be nutmeg and cinnamon in minute amounts. Oude is here too I believe – it has that bite that’s present in 10 Corso Como, Bulgari Black or some of the other great Oude scents.

 

I love this scent. Luckily I have both Tam Dao and 10 Corso Como so I’m set and don’t have to go in search of this elusive scent. It sure is gorgeous though. and if it was released I'd snap it up in a split second.

 

(many thanks to TwilightEyes for the chance to try this!)

[saralaughs]

Sweet clove. I get no cardamom or cinnamon but definitely CLOVE. It's like my nemisis. Anyway, clove and coconut but a dry and unsweetened coconut. Add in some dry sandalwood and you get DRYNESS that is sharp. There is a floral element that lifts this a bit; a bit of orchid gives it a lighter and almost creamy feel. I can see why some love it (clove lovers, I'm looking at you) but it's not for me.

[Gold Dust Kitten]

I don't do so well with spicy notes in BPAL. Sometimes they can be amazing, like in Hod or the Blue Pumpkin Floss prototype, but mostly they turn into a sickening holiday candle/potpourri mess on my skin. Lamia v3 is one of the exceptions. It's like straight cardamom in the decant, but on my skin it's sugary spiced gumdrops, the clove ones. Oh so edible! As it dries it turns into this amazing spicy, dry woods and musk cologne.

 

WANT.

[Alethia]

Thoughts before testing: I read the reviews, and clove is one of my all time favorite notes so when I had the chance to try this I jumped!

 

Wet: Very warm and spicy. I'm definitely picking up sandalwood and a little cinnamon, but mostly clove

 

Dry down: This morphed into a clove single note on my skin. It's a drier clove (not sweet like in March Hare).

 

Dry: Still SN clove for me. This is pure love.

 

Verdict: Hoarding.

[Poenari]

I was gifted with an imp of this from sunshinedaisybliss in the Sweet Barking Cheese Giveaway Prize Packalooza ^TM and it is just beautiful! This smells of vanilla, musk, maybe some amber, and I can also detect carnation (thanks to my Spanish Red Carnation single note.) This is a gorgeous warm, spicy scent. I looked up the notes in the released version of Lamia and don't find any comparisons made to this, but this one is . Thanks again to Miss Daisybliss for introducing me to this scent!

[JazzieCazzie]

Tested from a partial imp received in a swap. But let me give a little preface here. During a period of inactivity awhile back, I went through the anal-retentive project of not only completely updating my collection to prepare a complete swap list (which is now being updated once again this weekend) but also going through EVERY review on this site to create a comprehensive "wish list" of blends, many or most of which, I had missed during a less obsessive gap between about mid-2005 and early 2013.

 

Since I had been periodically perusing the site, and making occasional purchases, I was pretty familiar with most of the GCs and lunacies, etc., but I had a lot of homework to do with the LEs and, especially, with the "event exclusives" so a lot of my wishlist is of blends like this that just sound interesting based on reviews.

 

And, like IvyAndPeony said in her review back in 2009, while there are no specific notes listed in the description, virtually every note listed or projected or offered by reviewers are notes I love, individually and collectively. So when I was able to nab a partial imp of this in a swap, I was half hoping it was a holy grail and half hoping it WASN'T because I know it's really hard to find.

 

That said ...

 

IN THE IMP: Cloves and carnations, yes. But there is an odd scent that makes me think of the the ladies' suit department in stores that I associate as being for women "of a certain age" (Lord & Taylor's, etc.).

 

Dabbed on wrist and in crook of arm.

 

WET: I am getting that image of old ladies and old ladies' perfume and I don't know why. Linen? Clothing storage? I can identify the cloves, the carnation, the spices, etc. but instead of them smelling exotic and exciting they smell musty and cloying and old.

 

DRYDOWN: Same thing but stronger and longer. This is not working for me AT ALL despite my liking every note "listed" ... it's sharp, acrid, cloying, strong and old ladyish.

 

OVERALL: My efforts to wash this off were not completely successful and the clothes I was wearing when I tested it have all gone into the laundry bin. But honestly, I'm relieved by how much I disliked it because now I don't have to try to track anymore down.

 

On a scale of 1-5, a 1.

[LizziesLuck]

Wet: This is so gorgeous. I got to try it at a friend's, and fell in love, and set out to look for some, and would you believe I actually found it?? So now that I have my very own bottle, I figured I had better review it. So I get gorgeous amber, and glowing sandalwood, like in L'Estate, but all of that is overlaid with the most beautiful warm spicy clove. And for once, the clove doesn't stomp all over everything, it melds beautifully with the other notes. I adore this. It smells absolutely nothing like the released version, to my nose.

 

 

 

Dry: I adore this, and am so happy to have it finally! The clove is gorgeous and warm and soft, not overpowering, and that amber, musk and sandalwood combo - to die for! <3