Elf

[Invidiana]

ELF
Pale golden musk, honeycomb, amber, parma violet, hawthorne bark, aspen leaf, forest lily, life everlasting, white moss, and a hint of wild berry.

I think I'm going to die of happiness that I'm the first to review this. Elf was the first RPG bottle I *had* to get because I used to write LOTR/Silmarillion fanfics and my character was a Noldorin elf. Plus I have a peculiar fetish for pointy ears.
Wet this is woody and a bit piney with berries that remind me of Skadi/Talvikuu/The Snow Maiden and a certain dewiness to it, like walking into an enchanted forest at dusk after the rain. It' really on the drydown that the true character of the scent starts emerging and it hits me: this smells like Lothlorien. Not that I know what Tolkien imagined the foret of Lothlorien to smell like but it's at least dead close to what I always imagined it to smell like. Slowly the wood/green aspect drifts to the background and the lovely soft musk and honeycomb emerge on a bed of soft forest florals. I definitely get some gentle violet petals here, though by no means is the scent dominated by violet. I'm not really familiar with what life-everlasting smells like on its own but it' an appropriate floral to have in here because elves are traditionally percieved as immortal. Gradually the amber emerges and adds warmth and depth, and finally the moss which give it a hint of woodsy earthines. The woodsy and berry elements entwine with the honeycomb, musk and florals to create an enchanting ethereal scent highly evocative of the these elusive creatures and the mythical forests they call their home.

Final verdict?

[Samuraibrarian]

I was excited to get this one, because I tried it at a will-call last year and loved it, so I sprang for a 5ml.

 

I think some tinkering has happened with the blend between then and now. In the bottle, and when I put it on, the softwood and berry combined to make something that smelled like fancy hand-milled hotel soap, not the warm, gold, honey/musk/resin scent I remembered. Sad.

 

As the dry-down progresses, the violet, amber, and beeswax are emerging and it's getting more tolerable. I may have to try it under different conditions to see if I like it better. If not, this one's going to the swap pile.

Edited May 5, 2011 by Samuraibrarian

[meredevachon]

In the imp: Pine? No, not pine, but another evergreen.

 

Wet: *checks Lab description because trying to figure out what evergreen this is is driving me nuts* Ah, that would be the aspen.

 

Dry down: Sweet, but not too sweet. Golden and warm and round. The aspen is still at the fore, but this is a swirl of soft fragrance.

 

Dry: I can't pick out individual notes anymore, except the aspen occasionally, because it all melds together so well.

 

Overall: I think this works very well for Elf. While it appears somewhat ethereal, there's a depth to it. It's simple in its complexity. Centuries of life apart from the ages of Man, at one with themselves and nature while still sophisticated and graceful.

 

Between the berry and the florals in the description, I wasn't sure about this one. But it's brilliant on me, and not what I expected.

[skyelyric]

gorgeous, gorgeous, gorgeous...

 

I get something distinctly fresh evergreen scented out of this, blended really beautifully with a kind of herbalfloral-tinged sweetness. I really can't pick out individual notes, but it's amazingly beautiful.

 

Actually, what it is is Woods in Winter without the snow note! I think I might have to relabel that bottle Snow Elf now.

[countessmouse]

Absolutely wonderful, but I wish it had a better throw!

 

Strongly evergreen at first, it takes a bit for the musk, berry and florals to peek out. Once they appear, wow! what a wintery beauty! I agree with skyelyric - this should be named Snow Elf.

 

[miaa]

In imp:( This took my imp-buying virginity!)I had huge hopes after getting enough to skin test elfv4... So explosive! It is like sniffing on the body spray of your dreams... S fantastically bright floral with a creamy undertone.

 

On me: It starts out as it did in the imp, but evolves into a greener more natural scent. This is how I want to smell after a shower.

 

Throw: This lasts! Unlike the proto, it is pressent this morning before I do my morning routine.

 

Yum!

[absinthetics]

In the bottle: Wintery pine from Talvikku and Skadi.

 

Wet: Still piney with something sharp and almost citrisy. If you were looking for the honeycomb or amber it's overpowered by the rest.

 

 

This is your woodelf; Kagenesti, Lothlorien, etc. Definitely not your grey elf, Silvanesti, Rivendell. And most certainly not your drow or dark elf.

[ajansuz]

In the imp: Something kind of grapefruity and sweet with just a small trace of evergreen and floral.

 

Wet: Whatever it is that smells like grapefruit really amps at first, almost to the point I want to wash it off because grapefruit and I don't get on well scent wise.

 

Dry down: Very fruity and sweet berry, something in it a little waxy like the fig from Bordello. Just a trace of sugared violet under that.

 

After a few hours, it's all candy sweet berry, a great fragrance for a young teen but not something I really care to smell like as an adult.

[calivianya]

I'm half-wondering if my imp is full of the wrong scent, because something is going terribly wrong here. I was expecting a woodsy scent with beeswax and berries, and that is not what I'm getting. I am not sure what the culprit is as there are several notes in this that I haven't tried before, but I am getting total overpowering SOAP! with a hint of wood from this blend. I feel rather sad about this. I will age my imp just in case, but I think I may get rid of this one.

 

Edit: after 30 extra minutes past the initial drydown, the berries are finally starting to sweeten this up. However, I can still definitely smell the soap. It is better, but still not as good as I was expecting.

Edited May 27, 2011 by calivianya

[filigree_shadow]

This kinda smells like a dry leafy evergreen and soap. It smells like a nice-smelling clean man. Except also foresty.

 

I wanted to try this because I kept seeing so many ISOs for some Elf prototypes and I figured this one must be just totally amazing or something. Have to say this just really isn't my kind of scent, though.

[Little Bird]

I had huge hopes for this after trying (and loving) Elf v4, but this doesn't really smell anything like the prototype on me. I get the piney, herbal greenery that others have mentioned, slightly sharp and soapy, with a drydown that's green plus hints of something like citrus & berries + clean floral. Too soapy and a bit too sharp for my tastes. I was hoping for more of a honeyed fruity-floral, but this isn't very sweet on my skin. It's very strong and starts to give me a headache after a while.

[Monday]

Some kind of toilet cleaner ruined my scent association with pine and this is going the same way. It's basically a sharp pine scent with a bit of floral and hints of lemon. It stays that way on dry down.

Unfortunately it is nothing like the prototype and I can't get over the toilet cleaner smell of this.

[chimera87]

Ugh. This smelled gorgeous in the imp. I could smell almost all of the notes. Then I applied it to my skin. I now smell Pine Fresh. Not in a good way either. and it has amped to such epic proportions that it is now giving me a headache and I think it is too masculine for me. I'll try this on the hubby, but I don't think it's his thing. This sucks because this was the main imp I ordered for, aside from halfling. After a bit some berry comes out but that's it, and then the trees come back out and dominate. Reminds me of cleaner and air fresheners.

[Eemia]

In honor of my various Elf 'toons on Warcraft, I had to have this RPG scent first. Plus certain of my favorite Elder Scrolls characters resemble elves so I have an ingrained love. I think I was way too excited to wear this, so hopefully I'm not too biased. But really, this is so appealingly natural and misty. I love it.

 

I get green at first, some of it crisp and minty. Some of it sweet and vaguely resembling pine. Nothing too masculine or overpowering. It feels a little like the green in Crow Moon 07. There's some airy florals and the metallic tinge of violet. Violet usually smells either metallic or powdery to me and this is definitely more like silver metal. But it has a softness that's really beautiful. This becomes sweeter the longer I wear it and I find more of the berry notes appearing.

 

I like how light this seems even though the wear length and throw are actually pretty strong. I don't smell like I'm dousing the room in heavy, outdoorsy atmosphere. It's like a little cloud of serene woods just for me.

[a_llb]

In vial: Shimmering violet & sparkling musk with a tuft of light mossiness. These notes along with the greenery do give it a citrusy feeling, but not bitter- I like the comparison to an early evenings' mist, sweetened by sunset's rays.

Wet: Leafy, dreamily shifting aspens, with the occasional floral amber firefly winking through the boughs. 

Dry: Wild berries, maybe not quite ripe, among delicate, waxy honeycombs.

 

Verdict: This is actually a berry that works for me! It's foresty and not syrupy sweet, it's actually what I hoped Bewitched would be like on my skin. Very light, natural & lovely. I think I like the leafy wet stage best, I wish it would stick around longer- not to say that the end result of wildberry honeycombs isn't delicious! It lends a graceful, effortless aura of youth. I think I feel my ears getting a little pointy just wearing it.

 

Not sure it warrants a full bottle, but I will have to try layering it with the classes & alignments for kicks.

[Iceblink]

Oddly herbal--ITA with a lot of the reviews above; this is almost piney/cleaner-y. For something with all of those sweet notes listed it's not sweet at all, either. Too sharp for me.

[Aldercy]

Elf is a spring-like, refreshing scent-- kind of airy and ghostly but cheery at the same time. I get fuzzy green leaves, cool and dewy pink violet, and genteel musk. It's light, herbal and a little fruity. I also seem to get some notes that are not at all listed: hints of citrus (bergamot? or grapefruit? but not overly tart) and a touch of salty-sweet sea foam. Surprisingly, I don't really get any amber or honey. No pine or evergreen either.

 

I think this would layer really well with a lot of the Classes and Alignments. It's not overwhelming in any way.

[Diva Urd]

In the vial: I get no musk or honey. This is incredibly fresh, woody and screams "winter" to me, with the tiniest hint of berries.

 

On: Evergreen woods, a few red berries and something almost minty. I don't know, this doesn't really appeal to me as a scent, although one can definitely make a case for Elves smelling like this.

 

Later: Pine with a hint of berry. A bit cleanerish, or like generic Christmas oils for oil burners. Kind of ew on me.

[steelgossamer]

 

In the decant: Sweet, foodie, and a bit musky.

Wet: OMG NOM! Sweet berries, pine, and something a little warm and tart.

Drydown: Berries berries berries! Warm, slightly sweet, slightly tart berries with just a touch of pine.

Dry: The pine gets very subtle and this goes sweet fruity floral with a little warmth.

 

I look forward to testing this one with Rogue and Paladin . I also wish that I had gotten a half bottle since it works so nicely with my skin chemistry. It's the only really heavily berry scent that hasn't disappeared in a matter of seconds.

 

[Gin]

In the bottle, this smells divine. Green and lush, kind of like how I remember Gavarnie soap from Lush, if anyone else remembers that, or maybe Jungle.

On my skin, it goes horribly awry. It goes from green and leafy and woodsy to sour piney cedar--like animal cage bad. Mixing it with a class and alignment may improve it, though I think it would really be best for me to use it off-skin. This is a horrible, horrible shame, because it really is lovely in the bottle.

[Sultaana]

This is the only of the RPGs that I blindly bottled, because of my long love affair with elven characters in the RPG and fantasy settings. I was expecting a letdown somewhere, just because of how closely I hold elves to my heart. Seemed inevitable, right? WRONG! This was gorgeous! Not too much tree, not too much flower, soft honey sweetness, warm golden musk...it's haunting and captivating and EVERYTHING I wanted.

[sunshinedaisybliss]

Hmm.. what an interesting blend! When it first goes on, I pick up a definite citrus note - like pink grapefruit. Then the violet and green/forest elements come in.. this is when it all goes a bit bathroom-cleaner-ish on me for a little while, until the musk and amber come out. There's an undertone of something slightly unpleasant on my skin - it's not a specific smell, it's just a kind of.. off smell (I think it's probably the violet and lily, which are known fiends on my skin).

 

This is definitely not my kind of thing on its own - it's too smelly, in a bathroom cleaner smelly kind of way. But I'll experiment with layering other RPG oils and see what happens!

[patina]

Berries! It does smell a lot like Bewitched, except the honeycomb makes it an almost dead-ringer for wildberry lipgloss. But then the beeswax starts heating up on my skin and various woods come out to play. Not wood, really. I can't pick out any particular scent. Except maybe juniper? It's more like a sense of leafiness.

 

Childish, but pretty.

[astarinel]

This was my favorite of the race blends.

 

It goes on very soft and outdoorsy, and I have trouble pinpointing any specific notes. Some part of the floral, maybe the lily with the woods, reminds me of L'Inverno, which is one of my favorite wintery blends. This is very gentle and pretty, and as it dries it gets a little brighter and sweeter on my skin, with hints of the fruity berries. I am normally not a fan of blends with this many floral notes, but there's just something sweet and fresh about this one.

[zankoku_zen]

Sadly with Elf, I amp up the violet which sort of ruins everything for me. I get soft pine, lily, whiff of berries and a whole lot of powdery sharp parma violet underneath some woodsy/barkness. I swear I get whiffs of booze/wine and juniper. Is life everlasting suppose to remind me of booze, particularly gin? That sort of lends it a sort of "bubbly" quality to it.

 

Complex, ethereal, outdoorsy.