Hygeia

[Schmoozy]

Red musk and red amber, sweet incense, Mysore sandalwood, tobacco absolute, golden musk, orris root, frankincense, and helichrysum.

Hygeia is such a perfect scent this time of the year. Warm and comforting yet utterly sexy. This is a red musk scent I can get behind as the amber, sandalwood, incense and musk all combine together to this scent absolutely glow. I can't wait to slather this on and have it linger on my sweaters throughout fall.

[a_llb]

In vial: Musky! Very sensual and red.

Wet: I wonder if helichrysum is related to heliotrope, because I am getting something similar to Chaotic from the RPG line. A very smooth, herby, almost floral type thing. Sweet musky incense abounds, with just a brush of sandalwood.

Dry: I can really smell the orris now, not nearly as dry as it usually seems to me. Very plush, with the tobacco lending a bit of depth. It gets warmer as the amber shows up, then there's a hot wave as the frankincense emerges. I have shivers down my back it's so good. Ultimately it melts into my skin just so, leaving a smoldering, sultry musk.

 

Verdict: Intensely wonderful. If I wasn't already spectacularly head over heels for Pallas Athene, I think I would be way crazy about Hygeia. Having said that, I don't see myself turning down a bottle if one comes my way!

[boxinghelena]

Good Goddess, this smells freaking fantastic!!!! It's a beautiful red musk on me. I can't stop smelling my wrist. I want to bathe in it. Love it so much.

[princessbeena]

I am a big red musk fan but sometimes I'm afraid to wear it because I fear it's a little too sharp (like in MME Moriarty...which I do like) Hygeia....is fricken gorgeous red musk!!!! Not sharp at all but rather a very sweet smelling red musk...I also smell the sweet incense and golden musk but the sweetened red musk is the star....this is so well blended and beautiful....now I'm kicking myself for only buying 1 bottle before it was taken down....I must have a backup bottle of this (which is something I rarely do) a very sophisticated red musk....love love love!!!!!

[calivianya]

Red musk can be hit or miss on my skin, and I'm hoping Hygeia is the type that's a hit!

 

Wet on my skin, Hygeia is red musk! I don't get much of the other notes at this point. As it dries, Hygeia somehow seems to hit a blind spot in my nose, if there is such a thing... I put a lot of this on, now where is it? I'm a little bewildered. None of these notes are tame, but they're being awfully shy on my skin right now. Once Hygeia dries, it still is somewhat in that blind spot. It also just doesn't impress me too much. It's sort of generic red musk with some other unsmellable components. I think I may be able to pick out the frankincense, but everything is hiding so well behind the red musk that it's really hard to tell. I was really looking for more of a blend, and less of a red musk single note, so my decant will likely be rehomed.

[Deidre]

To me, this is mostly red musk and incense, and sometimes a very faint wisp of tobacco. Nice but kind of generic - I'll keep my decant and wear it, but nothing I would need to hunt down actively.

[crebbsgirl]

Red musk and incense on my skin. I love it!

[Belladonnastrap]

Let it be known that I loathe, despise and abominate red musk.

 

Hygeia? Beautiful. It starts off a bit smelling like Smut actually but then it morphs into a bit like Midnight Kiss with more sweetness. The incense comes out to play a bit later with an earthy undertone, maybe that's the tobacco? Either way it's a very red, very warm scent, perfectly evocative of the picture. I love it.

[grrrlennyl]

On: Red candy at first, if that makes sense. However, I can pick out the red musk (which usually goes bad on me) and some sweet, candy-like notes coupled with incense. It's pretty now, but I'm wary as to how it will develop on me.
5 hours in: Musky and sweet. There's also a bit of incense. Nothing in particular is standing out.
Overall: This isn't really "me".

[Vega]

Sniffed: A complex floral-resinous blend: I smell sandalwood, amber, incense, tobacco and red musk.

 

On skin: Hygeia is the embodiment of red, golden and dry. Radiant, dry amber undergirds all the other notes, and I can make out the red sandalwood, frankincense, tobacco and discreet musks. I can simultaneously smell the distinctive characteristic of most notes, and also how they blend so well to create this evocative scent. Something warmer morphs in occasionally -- maybe musk or tobacco -- but Hygeia is primarily resinous. It's a womanly scent but cool and dry, almost herbal in feel; this is not warm molten gold, but coldly glinting gold.

 

I continue to be impressed by how the Salon blends embody the art so well, and Hygeia is no different: it smells red and gold, and does evoke the lofty, regal, somewhat aloof femininity of a priestess or goddess. (Hygeia is the Greek goddess of health and cleanliness.) The very embodiment of feminine empowerment. Colour impression is scarlet, surrounded by a glittering golden aura.

 

Verdict: Another gorgeous, evocative Salon blend! I'm so glad I got a tester to try, because this is quite beautiful, even though I don't see myself wearing this much.

[brilliantcat]

Sweet, sweet red musk that hardly morphs at all on me. I literally said "YUM!" I need at least a bottle of this and possibly more.

[Rho]

Hygeia is so beautiful. I've had a tiny amount of this for awhile, and have been slowly rationing it out. At this point, I may be able to get one more use out of decant, but that'll be it. It's going to be GONE.

 

And what a shame, because this is gorgeous! The red musk is the scent-equivalent of a steady hum. It's not scratchy or pitchy; it's even-keeled and full of vibration. On me, that red musk is the main player, start to finish. Utterly captivating and womanly.

 

The amber adds to a feeling of glowing. A red, gently pulsing glow.

 

Something in Hygeia goes a little powdery on me. That's okay. It's only a minor element. Everything else still feels "right" to me.

 

Easily one of my favorite red musk blends that I've had the pleasure to smell.

[Ajila]

In the bottle - A light floral scent I can't place a resinous undertone

 

Wet on me - Red musk and again that slightly powdery floral

 

Dry on me - A soft powdery sweetness touched with the gentlest of musks

 

Overall - It's almost like a softer version of Joop! Pour Homme, which is one of the few commercial perfumes I still wear, so I like it a lot, but I do have other similar feeling scents

[JazzieCazzie]

This was high on my wish list and I lucked into not one but TWO bottles, via swap and eBay. So yay!

 

IN THE BOTTLE: Elegant, fresh and gender neutral. Definitely what I'd call a resiny incense scent but an outdoorsy one.

 

Dabbed on wrist and in crook of arm.

 

WET: Wow. I get many more images and words from the scent of this than I do actual descriptive notes, so I apologize in advance. I find it, oddly, slightly fruity. Also very clean, sort of Dial soap-scented (which I really like the smell of). Also, somehow, a slightly sweet cocoa scent though I don't see that anywhere in the blend. Overall I'd call it a very clean resiny-incense.

 

DRYDOWN: Fruity, but not in a bad way (and for me, most fruity is bad). More like a deep dark fruit, the kinds I like. Also soapy but, again, not in a bad way. It's really pleasant and lovely.

 

OVERALL: Not enough incense/amber in the drydown for me to keep both 5 MLs but definitely enough to keep one.

 

On a scale of 1-5, about a 4.

[LiberAmoris]

Hygeia is such a great red musk-centric perfume. The red amber and sweet incense are also central players on my skin, with the other notes much less prominent—although I do catch the Mysore sandalwood from time to time. The orris makes it a touch powdery on me, and it draws sweetness from the incense and helichrysum, but although it teeters on the edge of being a bit too sweet and powdery on me, it stays on the right side of that fence. I don't wear this too often, but when I do it always smells absolutely classic on me, like I've dipped into a perfume from the dressing table of some 1940s starlet.

[LizziesLuck]

This scent should be perfect for me, but the orris could ruin it all in one fell swoop!

 

Wet: Wow, the red musk and red amber in this are to die for. That's glorious.

 

 

Dry: This is a beautiful and understated red musk perfume. It's red musk, but not in your face. The amber sweetens and softens it beautifully. The other notes give it depth. I really love it, and think I need to find more.