Psyche

[storme]

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.

In the imp: lavender and rose, very sweet light floral.

On me, wet: sharp and slightly soapy rose-and-lavender. Very dark and menacing, somehow, and quite different from in the imp.

On me, dry: ugh, frankincense has started to swamp everything else, and this has become really fusty and dry. What floral there is left is soapy and cloying beaneath that now.

Verdict: Smelled nice in the imp, but just not one that works at all on my skin. Alas.

[sofiaviolet]

I get pure lavender. No rose, no frankincense, no orchid. Maybe some musk. Maybe. I remember having another imp of this before, and it must have smelled different or I'd still have it. I shall keep this imp. Oh, there's the rose, as powdery and sneeze-inducing as 2, 5, & 7. So, no, not keeping this. It aggravates my allergies.

[supremegoddessofall]

Light rose and lavender in musk. Very soft and delicate.

[myoubi]

In the imp: mmph, rose, lavender. meh. soft floral.

 

On skin: ooh! frankincense! lovely. florals in the background, the musk is developing..

 

Dry, on skin: It's quite delicate and femenine; really, very lovely. sweet and floral but not cloying. The frankincense 'grounds' it and prevents the rose from soaring over the top (yecch). I'll keep the imp since I can't bear to part with something so lovely and well-blended; unfortunately, I'm not a florals girl, so I won't end up wearing it often :/

[fiddledragon]

In the imp: total lavender!

 

On me: Lavender with a slight spiciness under it. None of the other notes are really showing their faces. Dry I get a little bit of frankincense sweetness and a touch of floral, but it's mostly wonderfully heady lavender.

[outofrhyme]

In the bottle:

Sweet and spicy - but in a more wistful way than Snake Oil. It's more of a descriptive scent than a seductive scent. I can definitely pick out the florals, and what I presume is the musk/frankincense. Something in there is almost citrusy.

 

Wet:

Pretty similar as in the bottle. The rose is a little bitter.

 

Dry down:

It's feminine and soft, but not as sweet as the perfumes that I like to wear to feel feminine and soft. It definitely feels a little bit wistful to me, but not in a desolate/lonely way.

Final Thoughts:

I'll hang on to the imp, but it's not really something that I would wear every day.

[jasmine]

Immediate reaction: that’s odd. It’s definitely a floral, but I can’t place it at all when it’s wet -- and the recognizable floral component sinks almost instantly out of awareness. I can’t pick the rose up at all; I have traces of orchid, lavender, and frankincense, but only traces. This goes beyond ethereal into intangible. I am very puzzled.

 

With the thought that perhaps I had under-applied it, I reapplied. There’s basically nothing there -- a ghostliness, neither warm nor cold, with a hint of subliminal floral. Perhaps it will blossom out later? I’ll give it some time.

 

Slowly, something materializes, but it is exquisitely subtle. I can barely find the scent when I deliberately concentrate, so I doubt anyone else would notice it at all, no matter how close they might be. This may say something about the nature of true love, but I’ll leave the allegory where it lies.

 

After a time, Psyche does indeed flower into a delicate floral blend. I can catch a hint of rose curling through the lavender and orchid. Still, this remains one of the most subtle Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab scents. I would certainly recommend it as a lovely option for those who prefer subtlety, but I prefer a bit more presence.

[slave1]

PSYCHE

 

In Bottle: Sour rose

 

On Skin: This scent is almost violently sour on me. The rose is severely sharp, especially combined with the lavender which always turns super sharp and sour on me. The white musk provides a pretty soapy and clean background note. The orchid is very soft, just a nice floral compliment. The franincense saves the scent, it gives a great sweet and smoky depth that helps cut through the other sharp notes. Still, this scent is heavily rose and lavender on me, two notes I really dislike so I think it’s off to the swaps. To me this scent isn’t true love, it actually reminds me of old women and super strong perfume that makes your eyes water… sorry it just isn’t working on me. Very strong throw but it fades although it does have quite a long wearlength.

[oh_the_horror]

In bottle: Lavender, pretty flowers, sweet, complex and interesting.

 

Wet and drying down: Sweet mellow lavender. It's nice but I don't recognize a lot of what I'm smelling. Clean beautiful flowers. It's light and beautiful but there's depth too. Very feminine and pure. I'm not getting a lot of rose and I wish I was.

 

Dry: Ehh, something doesn't seem to be working on me. It's gone a little sour, sharp and powdery. I'm going to age this one a bit though. It seems like it might improve. It's lovely when wet.

 

ETA: I've since found out that orchid disagrees with me. I'm trying this again before I swap it. It's just so gorgeous when I first put it on. But after about a minute it turns into a bad floral.

Edited January 26, 2007 by oh_the_horror

[steffanina]

Psyche-

 

In Bottle: Lightly floral, a little eye-opening.

 

Wet: Sharp and bright and eye-opening.

 

Dry: This fades quickly but it wasn't really doing a lot for me, being this pungent floral.

 

Overall: Not interesting to me.

[theseagrows]

at first all i get from this is lavender, then the rose, orchid and white musk peek out. thankfully, i cant smell the frankincense, so i like this one quite a bit. the only thing is, my skin seems to eat most of it up and it becomes very faint 

Edited July 30, 2020 by theseagrows

[puck_nc]

Origin: Frimp from the Lab

 

Initial Thoughts: When I first combed through the general catalog as a newbie, I paused at the mention of rose but moved on at the mention of musk and frankincense. But since then I have learned that some musks work on me...the frankincense will be the culprit if it doesn't work.

 

In the Bottle: The lavender and orchid leap out at me.

 

Wet: A blast of lavender and then frankincense.

 

Drydown: The lavender remains a sharp note, with the musk and frankincense fighting below. I can't detect any rose at all.

 

Verdict: My instincts were right. This one isn't for me.

[mspixieears]

As crazy as it sounds I get something very similar to orange blossom or neroli in this! It's not listed in the scent notes but I swear that is what I smell in this! It's very floral and smells very gender-neutral, and whenever I wear this I get totally knocked out - put to sleep because it's so relaxing. I do detect the musk and lavender in this and it works wonderfully with my body chemistry, especially in the hotter weather.

[bulletslc]

Recieved as frimp from lab.

 

In bottle--lavender and not much else.

 

Wet--lavender and rose....titch of light musk in the background

 

Dry down--Musk comes out more and the frankincense is lightly present.

 

Throw--I definitly could smell this wafting about in the first couple of hours. Later in the dry down it hugs closer.

 

Doesn't last as long as the darker scents I have. I applied before bed and the lavender was WONDERFUL for inducing sleep. I noted the transitions of the scent everytime I woke up a bit. Upon waking this morning all I was left with was a hint of floral musk.

 

I'll definitly keep this if for nothing else but helping me sleep. I also think I'll ambush a friend with it. She loves lavender and frankincense!

[Peaches 2]

In the vial, I smelled roses and lavender, but when I put it on, it disappeared very quickly, gone after an hour at most. While it was there, I got a bit of lavender, evergreen, and the merest hint of the musk prior to the vanishing. It was extremely masculine on me, like an old-fashioned aftershave that tweaks at the far past of my scent associations. Overall, not a keeper.

[Nia]

I got this one from a massive collection Moonarcana has sent me (thanks dear!) and I didn't even remember the description, so I sniffed without any particular expectations on how it was supposed to smell.

 

On the imp, it smelled very gentle and sort of aquatic, like flowers would if they were drenched in dew or rain. My friend said that it smelled sweet, which surprised me.

 

On my skin, I could detect flowers and a fruity, sweetish note. The disappointment is that it lasted very little, for about an hour or so, and that Icouldn't really detect individual notes.

[Carmencita]

in the vial: clean aquatic, linen-esque scent

 

on me: flowery perfume, but cool and gentle, with gentle rain in the background

 

later: like nature's baby oil, very lovely and pleasant although not my personal style.

[Keslynn]

In the imp and initially on my skin, Psyche is all sharp lavender.

 

As she dries, the lavender disappears and something goes weirdly soapy. Frankincense can sometimes smell dirty on me, but this time, it's playing nice. Too bad the soap is there. Then, poof! She's gone. My skin ate it.

 

Verdict: A nice blast of lavender, then soapy. I'll be swapping this one.

[minasena]

In the imp: Strong, overpowering spicy smell – I think I get the frankincense above anything else. Not sure if I like it, though. It’s a little too strong.

 

Wet: Still strong and spicy, but it’s beginning to soften and I can smell the musk and lavender.

 

Dry down: Much softer, I can smell the lavender most of all with a bit of musk. Very dreamy, almost. A little while later, I finally get the rose but it’s very, very faint. I almost get the image of a woman wearing it on her body and having a lover get very close to be able to smell the scent. As others have said, very romantic.

 

Conclusion: Very nice, but I don’t think it’s me. The muskiness is still a little too strong for me, and then when it fades the scent is still too incense-y for my liking. I like floral scents but I think I prefer lighter ones. I’m also not sure about the staying power. It faded quickly on me and I can barely smell anything even when I have my wrist up to my nose. Still, I think Psyche is lovely and am glad I ordered an imp to try.

[fiddlefox]

Very pretty,reminds me of a cross between Sweet Honesty by Avon and the tinkerbell perfume i used to wear when i was little. Wet,it's very floral and lavendery yes. Innocent smelling.Not sure I'll be getting bottle but maybe. I'll be swapping my imp.

[Alseides]

Oh my goodness, this is great! I used to have a cheap "rose" perfume when I was younger, and I adored the smell of it. When I first found BPAL, I tried all the rose scents I could, and I just was starting to think I would NEVER find a good rose - they were all so different from my memory - until now.

 

I'm not a fan of any rose but the one from when I was younger, and by god, this is it. I bought it only because I love the Psyche myth, ignoring the rose note, and I'm so happy I did. It's a very light scent on me, creamy, delicate rose. I don't get any lavender, which makes me very, very happy.

 

This is gorgeous. I might actually venture out and pick up a bottle.

[QueenFae]

This is mainly a rose blend on me, with undertones of frankincense and orchid. I'm not big on this rose note; it just doesn't agree with me the way the rose notes in Rose Red and Peacock Queen do. The rose in Psyche actually smells a bit "old lady" to me. I think I would like this more if the lavender was more prominant; I actually can't smell it at all.

 

This is very light on me, with almost no throw. Not quite my type of scent.

[labeth]

I got this as a Frimp from the lab, and tried it on without knowing what was in it. My immediate reaction was "it smells like white... but purple. So light purple." So apparently I'm pretty much exclusively picking up on the lavender and white musk-- which is actually pretty nice! It's very feminine without being childish. I'm not a fan of floral in general, but I'll probably keep this.

[GoldenRubee]

I really want to like Psyche, when I first put it on, it was heaven! It's the drydown that hates me! I want to find a lavender that doesn't turn into one of my Grandmother's scent on me. I think it is my body chemistry, spicy scent are great-some florals just don't work.

[JenM]

In the imp: hard to smell the imp, as I was peeling garlic earlier. I definitely get rose and orchid, and something warm and fuzzy in the background.

 

On the wrist: Quite musky. Fuzzy-musky. And a bit of orchid. On drydown, this is very faint. If it lasts an hour, I’ll be surprised. I do get a hint of frankincense now, but it’s distinct and not blending. Overall, it’s pleasant, but not anything to write home about.