Psyche

[melrose]

The tale of Cupid and Psyche is both a perfect love story and an allegory for the soul's search to reunite with Deity. This is the scent of true love, your heart's deepest, purest desires. Bulgar rose, Chinese white musk, lavender, orchid and frankincense.

Wow, this is surprisingly beautiful - the overwhelming note is frankincense. I figured one or more of the florals would scream FLOWERS, but they're a beautiful undercurrent.

Later, there's a bit of a powder smell, but it still smells lovely.

If only it lasted.

[impolight]

This is definitely the fragrance that She should wear should She desire to become a permanent fixture in His head, keep Him awake nights... Become an intractable part of His... Psyche.
The Lavender in Psyche is unique... Or seems to be.
The Musk and Frankincense give it fuzzy perameters as well as eyes that seem to glow in the dark.
The Rose and the Orchid come together in this and add an extra dimension of witchery to Psyche; the ghost of Her face would shimer against the ceiling in the blackest hour and the rest of the world would disapparate.
On the skin, all of the notes in Psyche unify and pulse with a fluorescent-magenta mist... Psyche could also be pictured as a skeltal, black tree with luminous fruits set against a glittering grey sky...
This is a heart-rendingly beautiful fragrance for her; sweet, svelt and effervescent.
Candied bliss.
4/5!

[puellacaerulea]

I'm really disappointed Psyche is discontinued -- I've had an imp for quite some time, but never got around to buying a 5ml (time to stalk the swaps). It's a light, slightly spicy floral -- I get mostly lavender with a vaguely spicy undertone (the frankincense?) upon first applying, but the rose and musk amp up a bit as it dries down. I'm generally don't do florals, but the frankincense and musk give Psyche just enough depth to be wearable. It does go a little powdery on me after a few hours, but by then the scent has mostly faded anyway. Overall, one of my preferred BPAL florals, and I'll be on the lookout for any imps/5mls looking for a new home.

[blu°]

My LOVE, my most-me-scent, my sadly-discontinued Psyche...

 

So weird I never reviewed her...

 

To make it short, this is my favouritest scent ever!!! I love how the white musk, frankincense and lavender and the juicy Bulgarian rose combine in here. The lavender is airy and smooth, the musk slightly chalky but in a nice way, the rose sweet and juicy. It is a bit similar to Yvaine, also discontinued, but the separate notes are a bit more defined, maybe a bit louder in Psyche, so that the whole scent is a bit less soft and wispy. Especially the Bulgarian rose, which is my favourite rose variant anyway, gives Psyche a lot of heart. I don't get much of the orchid, but I suppose it's adding to the sweetness of the floral component of this scent. The other notes all make for a dreamy, hazy quality. I think the scent perfectly embodies the concept.

 

Edited January 18, 2011 by blu°

[angelamaria]

In imp: oh, I'm loving this scent. It's bright, slightly tangy, and the rose is topmost with its sweetness. It's an innocent, bright-eyed scent, not exactly light, but quite uplifting.

 

Wet on skin: this is sharply sweet on my skin, a strong scent. Rose is still topmost, but I can detect a little lavender, I think. The musk and the frankincense is nice, grounding out the sweetness. It's a very, very nice rose scent! I love florals, although not necessarily rose--I usually think it's too "womanly" for me--but I can see myself wearing this.

 

Dry: the rose has faded a little, letting the other flower scents shine. In tandem, it's a very nice, sweet floral, not overpowering or overbearing, with a bright, pleasing note. It's a little generic, but intriguing enough, with the rose edging out slightly at the front always. There is a bit of powderiness, but it's such a beautiful, light floral. I hope this stays well on me...but alas, an hour later, it's gone all powder. I am sad panda.

 

Verdict: sadly, no. I really wanted this to work, it's such a delicate, bright floral. It's perfect...if only it didn't get powdery. Maybe frankincense doesn't like me? Or is it really the rose?

[Vega]

Lavender smacks me in the face when I first slather on the oil, but the other notes emerge as the scent dries. Psyche is a womanly blend of herbaceous lavender, gentle rose and heady jasmine, upon a backdrop of fuzzy white musk and a breath of deep incense. The scent flattens out over time, and ends up a generic light floral. Pretty, but I find pure florals rather boring, and Psyche is no different.

[Withjoy]

I was gifted an imp of Psyche recently, and I had such high hopes. (Not the least of which is because I love her story.) Unfortunately, while the scent was pretty, it faded almost immediately. Like in about 20 minutes! I can smell that I even have anything on. Bummer.

[boomtownrat]

Recently I got a frimp of Psyche in an eBay auction. With some trepidation, I tested it on one wrist last night. Bulgar rose is far too heady for me in a couple of scents that I've tried, most notably Baghdad, and it was no different with Psyche. Florals can trigger migraines or nausea in me, so the notes did give me pause, but lavender and most kinds of musk are good, so I thought just a small dab would be enough to tell me if I could wear it.

 

Lavender is a note I like, so I was happy when it came out singing after I applied Psyche. Then came a chord composed of a few vaguely resinous and floral notes in a different key. Bulgar rose showed up like a diva and hogged the stage, belting louder than the other notes could sing and making me just want to silence the discord. I could tell that some of the individual notes would be pleasing, but not all of them together, at least for me.

 

Based on past experience, I feel it's the rose and frankincense that didn't work for me. I still haven't tried much Chinese musk but I think it might be the one musk I don't get on with very well.

 

I washed this off when I realized it was just pitched too high and in the wrong key for my body chemistry.

[xeia]

Psyche is a favorite of mine (after I swore I wouldn't fall for something hard to find... ) It's a very well-balanced but quick-fading blend, with the lavender initially in the forefront, and later a rose-tinged frankincense. If you get a chance to try it, especially if you are a rose and/or lavender lover, you're lucky!

[Coldfire]

Imp: powdery musky rose
Wet on Me: ugh. man rose does not even wait 30 seconds before starting the full blown hate on my skin
Drying Down: yup. rose
Dry: still rose. still rose that hates me. I'll keep trying.