Siren

[gangstaknitta]

Bewitching, tantalizing and dangerously seductive. A thrilling, exotic blend -- deceptively sweet, but spiked with malice. White ginger, jasmine, and a touch of vanilla and apricot.

In bottle: ginger is very sharp; combined w/jasmine--too sharp. Can't smell the vanilla

Wet: very ginger and jasmine, a little sharp, almost kind of like pine

Dry: faded very quickly; ginger and jasmine give it almost a woody feel--not really my thing. It would make a good shower gel scent--it's an energizing scent.

[theseagrows]

i should have learned to stay away from apricot scents. siren is no exception- i smell basically apricot and something else- i think it's the ginger. but the strongest smell is apricot. and while i think apricots are tasty, i dont like to smell like them.

 

not that this is a bad scent, just not me.

 

back the imp swap pile!

[WidgetAlley]

This was a frimp from a swap with from the fabulous BrittanyGrace. This has been on my wishlist for some time, as I simply adore every note in here.

 

First thoughts: Eep. I've been developing a trend with BPAL; the oils I really love-- the ones that hit me over the head and scream, "You need more of me!"-- tend to be shades of yellow or clear in colour. This is quite a dark orange, bordering on red. Oh well, we'll see.

 

In the vial: Oh. Um. Yikes. Something just leapt out of the bottle and punched me in the nose, and I don't like it. It's kind of a dry, woody, but unpleasantly sweet smell... lightly spicy, but twig-spicy, not cooking-spicy, and it just doesn't feel right. The ginger, maybe? But I love white ginger in Lady of Shallot. Ah well. Onward and upward.

 

Wet: I went light on this one, just a single wand swipe on my left wrist and rubbing my arms together. If I don't like it, I want to be able to get it off... but wait! It smells completely different on, like apricots and jasmine and just a hint of ginger. I'm not getting vanilla at all, though, which is a pity. I should love this, and I sort of do, but there's still something way down at the base of it that feels... wrong... to me. Almost kind of threatening, really. I suppose it's appropriate, considering the name.

 

Dry: I don't understand. This is a beautiful blend, spicy and a little foody and a little woodsy, my nose and I both know it, and I like it, I honestly do, but I can't shake the feeling something is seriously malicious about it. Every time I put my face near my wrist, it's... just... not... good. "Spiked with malice" indeed. Something about this combination of notes makes me think of wicked things grubbing for roots in the forest. It makes me uncomfortable and slightly creeped out in the same way certain Eastern myths bother me.

 

The bottom line: Gorgeous, but definitely not for me. I feel like I'm being watched, which is completely bizarre and untrue. Oh well. Back to Dorian, and Siren will go the way of the other blend that disturbed me (Zombi): swaps.

 

[edit] Now I'm halfway convinced that I had the prototype version-- my Imp was pretty OMG!GINGER!11 on me, with only the very faintest trace of apricot or jasmine, and no vanilla at all (and I usually amp that note, too.) I may try this again with a fresh Imp; I did want to love it.

Edited December 13, 2005 by WidgetAlley

[maewitch]

This is incredably unpleasant on me.

 

Just sniffing out of the bottle, I get this sharp, almost acrid note that raises all my hackles. I get no vanilla and no apricot.

 

Usually jasmine and ginger are great on me, but there is some combination in this that is just making it completely unwearable. It smells...almost rotten.

 

I have to wash this off immediately before I start feeling ill.

[Caltha]

Siren

I got the imp in a swap with Shollin.

 

When I put it on I was thrilled to actually pick up the ginger. I love ginger but I didn't get it in Kumiho, I read it as citrus. Siren is strangely spicy and almost buttery at the same time, as well as strangely familiar and completely original at the same time. I get a clear "vintage" feeling, but it doesn't smell like any old perfume I recognize, I just imagine old moviestars, femme fatales and divas to smell like this. I would describe it as "spicy and fruity" but it doesn't smell like any spicy or fruity perfume I have come across so far and after the ginger note has faded in the drydown I can't recognize any specific spice or fruit notes, the fruit is more like a sweet/creamy/round/buttery base for the general spiciness. I'm very intrigued by this scent. It doesn't smell simply "good" as in "eat me", it's more of a challenge and very evocative. I do think it's the ginger note that gives it the "vintage" atmosphere, the general spiciness of an old elegant lady's house, the cookies in the kitchen as well as her old perfumes on the dresser.

[donsixgun]

Vanilla, apricot, and a bit of Jasmine. I like this, but its too feminine on me.

[aessedai]

Something about this, possibly the way the ginger interacts with the other notes, reminds me of going to Pier 1 Imports as a child, when they sold all these funky soaps in different shapes.

[Pachelbel]

Wow, this stuff is strong on me. I've had to slather other things on, but Siren is almost overwhelming if I use more than two drops.

 

I love sweet smells, and I love all the notes in this scent, but the first two times I've tried it on I'm just...not sure. It smells so much like pomegranat oil, which is just reallly astringent to my nose. But every so often, there's a much softer smell that wafts up, like vanilla and apricot, and then suddenly it's gone and back to this vicious, astringent smell.

 

I really, really want to like it, so I'm going to give it a few more tries before I decide if I need to send it to someone it'll work better on.

 

EDIT: I've let it age, and now if I wear it for six hours, it smells good, like soft vanilla flowers growing in an orchard. But those first six...I think it's the jasmine, which I've never gotten along well with.

Edited November 9, 2006 by Pachelbel

[girlmadasbirds]

on me, this smells woodsy with a lemon pine-sol kind of scent. i smell a faint hint of the vanilla in the background, but overall this just isn't working on me.

[angharad]

Way too much ginger. For the longest time, that was all I could smell. Finally I got a hint of apricot, but it disappeared, and again all I could smell was ginger. I like ginger in my baking, but I don't really want to smell like it. It's odd -- I'd ordered Siren for a friend's graduation present, and when it came in I remember sniffing and LOVING and wanting to keep this, so I was so excited to receive it as a frimp...but it just doesn't work on me.

[BlackDahlia]

In the Imp ~ Glorious, dark, dusky scent. Heady jasmine with a hint of pine. *chuckle* Yes. I smell pine. Hmmmm.... wonder where that comes from since pine isn't listed? *laughs* Must be my nose... though some people said that the first Siren smelled like Pine Sol... maybe I have a first-versioned Imp?

 

Wet on Skin: Mmmmmmm. Jasmine. But wait... that pine scent sure intensified. Not sure that I quite liked that.

 

On the dry down: The pine spike scent drifted away. (Thankfully...) The scent mellows to Jasmine and vanilla with a very talc-y aroma to it. It smells very soft and very seductive.

 

In closing: This is a KEEPER. I received this in a trade. (I traded my Hellcat Imp for it...)I adore this fragrance. It is very sexy and feminine. I am thrilled. Siren shampoo might be something I have to craft... it is a marvelous, gorgeous, deep, dusky and SEXY (did I mention sexy?) fragrance! This is one for my big bottle list that is now forming.

[shayelea]

In the bottle: At first I smell spices and chocolate, but that's just a gut reaction. When I analyze it I recognize the tart fruity topnote of the apricot, the sweetness of the vanilla, and the zing of ginger. No jasmine just yet.

 

Wet: The ginger really comes out on my skin, and that plus the jasmine make it go a little soapy. But it's tempered by the bakery-scent of the vanilla, so we'll see where this goes. Not so much with the apricot when wet.

 

Drydown: The soapy smell hangs around, but underneath it is something...well, something really sort of rotten-smelling. It finally got so bad that I tried to wash it off, only it didn't work...except that about a half-hour later all I can smell is a kind of spicy sweetness. So I don't know if that was the result of trying to wash it off or what. Sigh.

[Cesare]

Wet: Fruity and flowery sweetness.

 

Drydown: This smells like a perfume I used to have called tropical hibiscus: fruit-flowery, bright, kind of perky-sweet. Very nice.

 

Dry: Within an hour it was just vague tropical sweetness. In two hours it had faded to a faint tropical and powdery trace.

 

I liked it, but it didn't wear all that well on me.

[LiberAmoris]

Wow, in recent memory there is not a blend that smelled less promising in the imp than Siren. It smelled like sugars breaking down on someone's breath, or overripe fruit. But I've learned that the ones that smell best in the vial often smell vile on me, while the ones that seem less of an instant love affair often change so much on my skin that I am wooed and won by them.

 

I applied from the imp sparingly, given the exhortations to do so in this thread (thank you). Wet, it was not good on me. It smelled the same as in the imp. But I decided to persist and wait for the drydown, or to quote Monty Python: "Wait for it!"

 

Dry, Siren smells like the love child of March Hare, Black Phoenix, and Pele. It's a mix of apricot and cola spices with a slight incensey vibe and a tropical flair. I also detect a slight chocolate note that comes and goes. I am surprised by how much I enjoy the drydown, it's very sexy. It definitely has a decadent, vintagey kind of glamour to it---and I think it would be an absolute magnet in public, as it emanates a kind of raw sexuality and brazen confidence.

 

I'm definitely keeping the imp, to do some controlled tests of its range and power.

[jewelbug]

Wet: Spicy citrus, dark mushy vanilla.

 

Dry: Dark and sweet. This has the same feel to me as a non-minty undertow. Which is weird, cuz there isn't lotus, to my knowledge. It's quite nice, and surprised me for a jasmine blend (which usually smell like cat spray on me). It also reminds me a little of succubus, I think.

 

Overall: This is a very nice dark dusky heady scent, and I'd consider trying it again, but for now, it's not what I'm looking for. Great throw and staying power.

[Wench457]

I gave this one two full wearings before I reviewed it. I so, so wanted it to work on me. I adore all of the notes, but alas, the combination on me is decidedly off.

 

I get a strong herbal scent when first applied - like sage. It's startling, but pleasant. The second time I wore it, I could smell the apricot in the initial drydown - quite lovely and luciously juicy. Then it got all strange. Both times I wore this, it ended up smelling exactly like patchouli.

 

And I hate patchouli.

 

[silver_springs]

On wet it's very sweet and innocent, with a slight musk. Then whoa! Pizza sauce! Um yeah yuck. I don't know what note it is that morphs into pizza sauce on me but it would not go away. I waited a while too and nope the pizza smell stuck. If it had only stayed the way it smelled when wet, I think it would be quite nice. Too bad.

 

Off to the swap pile it goes.

[PrettyPenny]

Wow, this is strong! I put just a dab on the back of my hand, and I can smell it like it's right under my nose. I love all the notes, but this oil smells exactly like my grandmother's perfume only stronger. I love my grandmother dearly, but Siren is just a little too reminiscent of an older woman for me.

[Musamea]

In the bottle: sharp, mostly ginger with a hint of sweet vanilla in the background

Wet: whoa, all ginger, cleaning-solution sharp

Dry: Still getting mostly a ginger topnote with this, though the sweet warmth of the vanilla-apricot combination peeks through every now and again; no jasmine

Overall: the disparate combination of warm vanilla and sharp ginger that this scent eventually turns into just doesn't work for me; back into the swap pile it goes

[evilbee]

In the bottle:

A nice soft ginger, a bit of floral.

 

Wet:

Again, ginger with a touch of some pale flowers. Here comes the apricot though!

 

Drydown:

The apricot is so round and sparkling and shiny. This is heavenly! The jasmine is dancing with the apricot on a dance floor waxed with vanilla.

 

Darn, hubby says it smells too typical, like a normal perfume. But I’ll still wear it a bunch, heh.

[olympia301]

 

I smell the jasmine and the ginger, too, but here comes a civety component and I guess I am the only person who smells it because it doesn't look like anyone else mentions that. It is very animalic and appears and disappears in the sweetness of apricots and jasmine. It is tres sexy and does actually go away within the first couple of minutes.

 

Siren is an interesting blend, I think it is one of the original blends, and looking at the first post in the reviews, January 2004 does qualify. It is pretty but Beth has come so much further than Siren, I feel it is necessary to point out that siren was one of the first in the collection.

 

Siren, for all its sexiness is kind of an innocent blend, and though likable lacks the sophistication that some of Beth's first scents had (like Snake Oil).

Edited December 13, 2005 by olympia301

[populuxa]

In the bottle - smells woodsy and fresh. On me- very powerfully of jasmine with ginger and vanilla undertone. As it dries, the sweetness really comes out. The apricot is really buried under there. Very sweet and fresh. This would be a great everyday scent if you are a fan of jasmine.

[AngellicMystique]

The apricot and vanilla are so thick and sweet on me, they feel curdled, but the ginger adds a decisive bite to the scent. You want to go closer, knowing there are rocks underneath the waves.

[Rhowan]

**SIREN**

 

In the bottle: My first sniff ever and I am smelling the very tail end of spring/beginning of summer! Maybe it's the combination of the jasmine and apricot that bring out that association for me.

 

Wet: Hint of ginger, sweet jasmine and apricots. The vanilla is in the background supporting the whole mixture and adding to the sweetness.

 

Dry Down: If I close my eyes and concentrate as I take a deep smell, I get spicy sweet jasmine and apricots. All of the notes blend so well together it is really hard to pick out a single note unless you do concentrate. It's dry down is lovely!

 

Conclusion: Siren is yet another BPAL to be added to my fav's! It has great staying power and a perfect throw. Siren is a seductive scent in an innocent way. Innocent in that the jasmine, apricot, and vanilla make this feel naive and sweet but then the spicy ginger revs it up to make you think that underneath all that innocence is a very naughty, playful girl waiting to come out!

[Anbreen]

Can't wear it. My skin MAJORLY amps the ginger. EEEEWWWWW!