Yerevan

[shriekingviolet]

Site Description:

Brimming with native fruits and flowers, but also imbued with the power of native earth magicks: apricot and pomegranate with deep plum, wild roses, two Middle Eastern pale musks, white orchid, iris and sweet roots.

 

Initial Impression:

Smells like an orchard on a hot, humid day. You can almost taste the juicy fruits on the air.

 

After Wearing It:

Wet on my wrist, the fruit notes in this smell so bright and ripe, almost to the point where they smell syrupy. It was all I could smell for a while, and it was almost dizzying. After it dried though, the earthier notes started to poke holes in Old Yerevan's fruity haze. With that musky base underneath, the fragrance made me think of what an abandoned, but fruitful, orchard would smell like. Ripe fruits being dropped beds of decaying leaves and older, decaying fruits. It's a fertile, and oddly pleasing combination, though it can be a little much. It reminds me of the back part of our backyard before we cut down the apple trees. During the summers we'd have gather up the fruit that was in various states of decay so that part wouldn't turn into a breeding ground for mosquitoes. The smell back there was so strong and sweet that it was dizzying, sickly but beautiful.

 

As time wore on though, the fruits faded a bit and the scent was just palely spicy-earth. Nice and subtle. Unfortunately the oil didn't last much longer on me. After about 4 hours, I could only smell bits of it if I really inhaled deeply with my nose pressed to my wrists. Not really surprising though, as fruity scents don't always have much staying power on me.

 

Final Thoughts:

Nice scent, really rich while it lasts, but I'm not sure it's really me. I tend to gravitate toward spicier/more resinous blends. I'll give it a few more goes though, as I really do think it's worth having.

[Ina Garten Davita]

First Impression: Creamy, sweet and creamy, luscious apricots.

 

Second Impression: The fruits in the this are just so syrupy, thick and sticky-sweet. The plum and pom do peek out from behind the apricot, just enough. After the drydown begins, the sticky sweetness is tempered very nicely by the musks and the touch of earthiness from the roots. A delicate hint of floral makes this a bit more sophisticated then I thought at first smell.

 

Final Analysis: I love the peach and apricot scents and Yerevan can really hold it's own against the likes of Imp, March Hare and Depraved.

[Lucretia]

on first impression this is very similar to march hare. Only somewhat less evil with the florals instead of the clove. I must say I prefer this one to march hare as apricot goes. It's a very bright scent although muted a bit by the florals. Very nice!

[darkling]

I am somewhat disappointed in Yerevan because so many wonderful ingrediants are listed as being part of this scent and all I can smell is apricot.

 

In the bottle and on my skin, I can only pick up the apricot note. It is pleasant since it is strong and sweet and I love apricots. However, it lacks depth as I could imagine this scent as the apricot single note. On the positive side, this fruit smells very natural and ripe.

 

Unfortunately, it seems to fade very quickly on me. In a couple of hours it is already lost.

[hypothermya]

Yerevan

 

Initial Impression

 

Smells delicious! I'm so glad I ordered an imp of this, even if I won't be able to wear it. Dumb skin chemistry. It's got the same apricot note as Katharina, only instead of being so bright and clear, this has color and texture. It's apricots and roses and pomegranate. Sweet fruits and flowers, all the way.

 

Wearing It

 

I haven't even tried this on my skin, as my skin would turn the scent into pure rose. However, I did make my sister try it -- although not much convincing was needed, since she smelled it and was suddenly gushing over how good it smelled. On her skin it started out as apricots very heavily, but after a few minutes the rose and pomeganate and orchid came out more strongly. All of the notes had an even hand (although rose and apricot were dominant, they never over crowded the other notes) and created this very juicy, warm, and vibrant mix of florals and fruits.

 

This smells so good that I'm probably going to try it out on my skin anyhow, just so I can mourn the effect of my skin chemistry... This reminds me of all of the good qualities of Swank, Katharina, and Bella Donna Della Dia Mente together... It smells just divine.

[LiberAmoris]

Yerevan is truly juicy, like eating an apricot so ripe that the juice runs down your wrist. Apricot was the predominant note, with a hazy (and to my nose) almost indecipherable supporting blend of lush flowers and fruits. They hover at the edges and very subtly color the apricot, tempering the sweetness slightly.

 

This makes me think of late summer, when things are at their ripest. It’s a very cheerful blend. I like this one and will keep the imp for the instant mood boost it offers.

Edited November 13, 2004 by LiberAmoris

[VelvetSky]

As everyone else has already noted, Yerevan is very, very apricot....sweet, fresh, sticky apricot juice. That is really all I get on first applying, but as with all of Beth's oils, I had to be patient for this one to unfold a bit to really appreciate it as more than a single note.

 

Mid-way thru the dry down, the pomegranate and iris briefly come out on my skin. And when I say briefly, I mean minutes...just that whiff of something sharp and then woody. If you're not constantly smelling your skin when testing Yerevan, you will miss it.

 

The bottom of this fragrance is softly floral, a teeny bit of Chinese musk, and of course apricot.

 

I think this would be a wonderful mid-summer fragrance.

[any_old_actress]

FIRST SNIFF: fruit punch

 

WEARING IT: very fruity, apricots and plums with a hint of musk and sweet flowers underneath it all. it's a very light scent, not in the least overpowering. all of the elements mingle so well together, as it dries it becomes a little less fruity, and very pretty.

 

VERDICT: another keeper!

[Scylla]

In the vial: Apricots and plums

 

Wet, on my skin: Apricots and plums are definitely the predominant note, but I can smell the orchid and musk. They blend wonderfully with the fruitiness of the apricots and plums. This is a juicy, exotic scent!

 

I am so glad I am not getting the roses! Roses smell awful on me.

 

On drydown: The fruitiness has faded into the background and the soft florals have taken over. I DO detect the roses now, but they are not the overpowering variety--I don't mind them in this at all.

 

I think this will become a very popular blend! To me, it's the perfect blend of fruity and floral. I'm pretty sure I'll be buying a bottle in the spring.

[AnnetteL]

On first application this is the same overwhelmingly strong and sweet apricot note as found in some other blends, like March Hare, but on my skin that disappears within five minutes and the scent becomes very lightly fruity, but predominantly a sweet earthiness - I'm guessing this is the musk and "sweet roots", but it really smells quite similar to sandalwood on me.

 

95% of me likes it, but occasionally the earthy smell just catches my nose the wrong way and it's not quite so pleasant. I'll keep my imp, but probably won't invest in a bottle.

[Miggins]

I got Yerevan for the plum note which I adore in Bordello. Sadly, it only lasted a few minutes but whilst it did, it was heavely. Vaguely sweet, slightly juicy, and almost salty. Sadly, my skin latched onto the apricot and rode it roughshod over everything else so it was the only thing I could smell. Very bright and fruity, but on me skin, just a little bit *too* fruity.

[pekeana]

I love this -- in the vial, Yerevan is all fruity and musky.

 

On me, the apricot and plum beat each other over the head, trying to claim dominance, then they both fade almost into obscurity as the musk and light florals come up. Around the edges of the floral is a hint of sweet, luscious fruit, and just a touch of musky, murky spice.

 

However, my skin eats this, so I'm going to have to reapply constantly. Gargh!

[diabolique]

oh, delicious fruity hell in a bottle, how i love thee.

 

this has been on my wishlist since it came out, and i LOVE it. absolutely lovelovelovelove it. it was a freebie in my last order, and i'm totally dumbfounded.

 

i'm honestly horrible at picking out various notes in this, but it's just a wonderful blend of fruity goodness. like SV said, the fruit smells almost as though it's too ripe. this is fae, but 20x better. sometimes it smells a bit artificial, but i've realized that a lot of the fruit scents do that every once in a while.

 

i don't know if i'll ever buy this again, but i certainly love it.

[Nepthys]

This was a lab freebie, and I'm glad they threw it in, for I never would have ordered this on my own. I tend to shy away from fruit scents, yet I'm realizing the lab makes them palatable for me. This went on wet as a spicy golden fruitiness, like a sweet tropical orchard topped by a trace of something mysterious and exotic. As it dried down, the fruit scents seemed to evaporate with only a spicy warmth remaining; after about two hours, it had faded almost completely, leaving just a warm clean skin smell. It's quite nice but I'll need to wear it a few times before deciidng on a big bottle.

[tempete]

Wet, Yerevan is pretty much all apricot, all the time on me. As it dries, I can detect a woody note valiantly trying to break free - perhaps the sweet roots? In the final drydown, the apricot note finally recedes and the woody note completely dominates. I'm not fond of woody scents, so this one is headed for the swap pile.

[orangepoppy]

I just *knew* I'd love this! And I did on first sniff and wet on wrists, but then as it dried, something sort of fizzy/burny came out and just zapped my eyes to watering. This is extremely strange as I'm not really scent-sensitive and rarely have physical reactions. I think it must be either the orchid, iris or "sweet roots" (though I doubt it's the latter) because I've tried the others with much good luck. It's a delightful fragrance, though, just doesn't work with my skin in the end.

[Ishtar]

I have been looking forward to Yerevan since it came out. For sentimental reasons I have somewhat of a love affair with Armenia and I was extremely excited to see how the Lab would have captured the essence of such an old, complex country in a scent.

 

Let's just say that I am not disappointed (understatement)

 

Armenia is famous throughout Eastern Europe for its apricots, so it made me smile to get a big burst of ripe apricot as soon as I opened the bottle. Definitely appropriate. As everyone said, apricot is the most prominent note in this very fruity blend, but I never found it overpowering or cloying.

Every now and then I got a hint of plum, pomegranate or musk that were the olfactory translation of the crossroads between Europe, Asia and Middle East that is Armenia.

 

I assume that Nella will have tried Yerevan and I hope she loves it as much as I do, for it is a wonderful homage to her home country. Now if you will excuse me, I am going to go bask in my memories and shed a tear or two...

[Shollin]

First sniff: Fruity! Bright yellow-gold fruit hanging heavy in a sunlit grove.

 

Wearing: Yerevan smells like summer, like juicy honeyed sunlight filtering through the trees. It’s raining cats and dogs here at the moment and this is a great comfort scent.

[Donnababe]

Yerevan

 

Sticky, thick apricot jam with a touch of pomegranate dribbling through. On me the apricot is far too cloying, heavy and sadly, nausea inducing (I had similar reactions to Jack and March Hare and blamed the clove - looks like I blamed the wrong thing.)

 

I held off scrubbing my wrists in a hope that I would get some salvation from the florals but alas it was not to be.

 

Note to self: Avoid apricots.

[antimony]

To me, Yerevan smelled like faint apricots.

 

Faint everything, really. It was sweet in the bottle, but it just sucked into my skin like nothing else. I had a sweet memory of spice on my wrists all day if I sniffed, but nothing more.

[Falathwen]

This was a generous freebie from the lab. It is a strong, wonderfully summery scent. When first applied, the fruit notes came out almost exactly in the order listed - very juicy and sweet . The rose came out softly in the background with the iris, to my relief, since those notes can sometimes be overpowering on my skin. This dried down and faded slowly but without changing much, except that the light musk lingered longest. This scent was a lot like Persephone on me, for obvious reasons, but is more complex and sweet. It made me feel like one of the figures in a painting of the seasons - this scent is the ample figure of summer, with flowers in her hair and fruits of all kind in her arms.

[Northernminx]

Plum plum plum! Fruity and bright and lush. This reminded me of a more eastern Tzadikim Nastarum. I love the musks grounding this one a bit, soft and exotic and positively ripe. Very nice!

[FireInCairo]

This fragrance is very yummy indeed. It smells of fruit and cream. Think fruits smothered in Cool Whip- that is what this fragrance is like. It's very foody. Yum!

[Caitfish]

In the Bottle:

Dominant notes: I think that I can detect all three fruits, woven into a strange, lush and squishy blend. Something smells a bit acrid in the bottle... I can detect some florals but no musk, though I'm certain that it will appear with the coaxing of my skin.

Impressions: A very intense and fruity blend in the vail, as is to be expected, but it smells like a bit of a mishmash as well. I hope that the notes diversify a bit on my skin.

 

Initial On:

Dominant notes: I would say that the apricot is the real winner here initially. I can smell a bit of pomegranite and the plum has a bit more of an "effect" (think juicy) than a definate plummy scent.

Impressions: Very lovely, very me. Fruity, soft, a bit floral.

 

After a While:

Persistent notes: As predicted, the musk came out quite strongly after a while. That's alright though, as all of the fruits created a rather tart, acrid affair that wasn't entirely nice. The musk really softened it nicely. I also detect some very delicate florals here, but mostly it's fruity.

Staying power: Decent for a fruity blend. Can't compete with the patchouliambe on my left wrist in this department... probably a good six hours.

 

Overall Impressions:

This is kind of an overbearing blend in the bottle, but once applied it mellows quite a bit and the notes come to a beautiful accord. I really love this blend.

[ChupaChup]

Yerevan was a surprise gift from diabolique, thanks dollface ! It smelled quite fruity in the vial, but as soon as it hit my skin, a creaminess appeared, reminding me a lot of Tzadikim Nistarim, it was very pretty. Eventually, it became more and more purple, florals joining the fruits, and became a lighter version of Venice. I'd say it's a little more fruity and less floral, however the orchid is quite apparent. Orchid is one of my favorite florals, so this blend is a real winner.

Edited December 29, 2004 by ChupaChup