Harlequin

[Imbrium]

HARLEQUIN
A futuristic, gothic harlequin, addicted to a heinous hallucinogen with the street name "Grendel", who leads chaotic attacks against the corrupt Catholic Church.

Psychotomimetic: pink grapefruit, white honey, orange blossom, saffron, champagne grape, elemi, guaiac, blonde tobacco, and olibanum.

I had the chance to try two of the Grendel scents, and went for Harlequin and Avenger. Of the two, Harlequin was closer to a success.

In the bottle, it smelled "clean" more than anything, and well-blended, with a prominent citrusy bite, which I like--I am a great lover of grapefruit. Unfortunately, once on my skin, this one turned soapy quite quickly, and stayed resolutely that way as it dried. It's a pleasant sort of soap, to be sure, but I was hoping for more of the blonde tobacco, resins, woods, and spice, and my body chemistry (which does have a tendency to amp clean/ozone-y sorts of scents, so perhaps this outcome was to be expected?) is just not cooperating.

[angelicruin]

Oooh, this one is quite a citrus blast when initially applied on my skin. Grapefruit and Orange Blossom are strongest notes for me. Does soften as it dries.

[Rho]

Definitely sharp and citrusy. I've been waiting a few hours for the scent to calm down and round itself out, but none of the mellow notes are coming out to play. I'm just getting this citrus-peel surge, and maybe a touch of orange blossom.

 

I can't say I'm a big fan of Harlequin. It's too bad, because the notes looked promising.

[countessmouse]

I hate to say this, but it was redolent of dirty hair for the longest time after application. Enough to irritate me and tempt me to wash it off. While the dirty hair scent has faded and the citrus seems to be popping up, I am still not a fan of this one. Off to the swap pile it goes.

[midnight_aeval]

Like Mastermind, I smell tortilla chips, but this one is the kind sprinkled with lime salt Orange blossom is not my friend, sorry Harlequin

[toku]

I have been trying to wrap my head around this one over the past few days. Initially, the first blast is very 'citrus hard candy' to me, somewhat similar to Spinning Multicolored Metallic Pinwheel. But Harlequin is not as sharp (or 'hard') and starts changing quickly, softening and mellowing, and maybe getting a tad sweeter? Orange blossom has always been an iffy note for me but it seems to be a nonentity so far. It seems to fade relatively quickly. Yesterday I was able to detect it a few hours after application, but very very faintly. It was quite sweet and soft near the end, and I don't recall any citrus at that point.

 

To me, this was a great blend to try for a very summery weekend in early fall. The decant is definitely a keeper, and I'm considering a bottle depending on how it wears in slightly cooler weather.

Edited September 12, 2011 by toku

[milo]

This ends up being a sparkly pink grapefruit soap on me, very much like something The Body Shop would make. Suffice to say, I do like it, it's very refreshing and I'm sure I'll use up the imp. The grapefruit is true and sticks around.

[surlygurl]

I also got the sparkling teenage girl pink grapefruit note, but the other notes kept if from going perky-sweet. All the Grendel scents have split personalities on me, and this is no different. The grapefruit, orange blossom, and champagne grape give the teen sparkle, while the tobacco, woods & resins bring it down and give it a calming, almost scholarly vibe.

 

When the scent hits that perfect balance, it's my favorite of the bunch. Unfortunately, it usually see-saws between the two.. That's ok. It's great for warm weather.

[Lorna Brigid]

I was looking so forawrd to this scent.

Sadly, it has wound up turning to a cheap bathroom soap or cleaner for public restrooms on me.

It's the strong citrus/floral blast doing it.

[Little Bird]

In the bottle, this smells like fizzy toilet cleanser :/

The mix of fizzy champagne and sharp, chemical-y citrus just smells awful to me.

On my skin, it's much the same, but with honey that smells really off in this blend. It adds a sickly sweetness underneath the cleanser smell that makes me think of, well, pee...

 

The Grendel blends all smell off to me

[ami226]

On the skin: Hello, grapefruit! I get loads of grapefruit with some sweetness that I think is the orange blossom and grape. Very grapefruity and effervescent! Reminds me of a grapefruit fizzy drink!

 

After a bit this becomes less effervescent and turns quite soapy. *sigh* Not for me!

[astarinel]

I normally hate orange blossom. There's only one blend with a strong orange blossom note that I like (Katharina, which I actually like quite a lot and wear regularly), and every other perfume that I've tried with an orange blossom note has gone sharp metallic antiseptic soap.

 

This blend has in it the orange blossom that I like, a soft orange floral. It's definitely got this fizziness going on, and the grapefruit is quite tart -- even with the honey, this is not really a sweet scent to me. It's sparkly and bright though, and gets a little softer as it dries.

 

This is definitely my favorite of the Grendel scents.

[DeCuvieri]

Sniffing it out of the imp, BAM! Grapefruit. I hope this could be an alternative to the fast-fading Cheshire Cat for me.

 

...Alas, no. Almost immediately upon application we get a super strong, pink bathroom soap smell. Cheap, perfumed soap that lasts all day and does not morph in the least bit. This decant is going off to swaps.

[Gateau]

Decant--strong citrus with soapy orange blossom note

 

Wet--citrus-scented industrial soap

 

Dry--it mellows some, but the overall impression is of citrus cleanser

[Schmoozy]

Woah. This is definitely fizzy grapefruit and orange blossom. It also smells really, really soapy. For some reason, it's oddly appealing. In a citrus cleanser sort of way. Hmm, can't decide if I like or loathe this.

[Lyanna]

Ooooh, I love this scent! Wet on it's a huge whammie of grapefruit and orangeblossom in tha face! Wakes you up instantly. Upon drydown, some warmer scents creep up and ground the scent firmly. I love how it's zingy and bright and pinky orange, and warm and golden and fuzzy at the same time.

 

I don't think it has a huge amount of staying power but eh, slathering it is then.

 

For me this is definately a keeper. Yes, it turns a little bit soapy, but I'm weird and I actually kind of like that. So yup, I'm on the lookout for a bottle

[zankoku_zen]

Fizzy champagne, grapefruit, and hints of tobacco and orange blossom. This one is fun, energetic, and I'm surprised at how much the citrus lasts on my skin.

 

It's a very clean, zippy scent.

[Coldfire]

This has been aging since 2011 before I got to try it. the full decant has thickened and shrunk from full.
Decant: orange blossom
Wet on me: heady orange blossom
Drying Down: soap-y effervescent orange blossom now that effervescent is probably the champagne grape
Dry: Champagne Soap. Interesting. Will probably re-home

[Cali]

Finally got my claws on a decant! Been so intrigued by these notes; I wish I could pinpoint exactly what this smells like when wet, but I can't remember what it is. However, this is sharp and very soapy from the start. Citrus-y sharp for sure, which is that hyper pink grapefruit and that saffron. The tobacco makes this almost cologne-y (actually it's very comparable to 4711) but the other sweeter notes keep it from going in the too-much-sharpness or yellow direction, and give it even more hyperness but also a buttery softness.

The saffron is very very faint in this but it's still making me feel unwell unfortunately, so if you're sensitive to that you might wanna watch out for this... unless ya just gots to try like me.