Zebra Heliconian

[absinthetics]

Opium tar, frankincense, lemongrass, ambergris accord, Himalayan cedarwood, coffee absolute, coconut meat, clary sage, tobacco flower, vetiver, and white plum.

In the bottle, you can pick up the incense and the sharpness of the vetiver and lemongrass. The wood is there in the background, along with the sage. However straight from the lab, there is no hint of coffee nor coconut right now. Oddly enough, this smells like an incense I used as a teen and takes me right back there.

[Dark Alice]

This is just beautiful. It's cooling, fruity, and sweet and the notes blend so damn well together that it's hard to tell them apart. The sage is actually behaving and the vetiver is non-existent. I love this. I may need a bottle.

[Spork]

this is not good! i may have to change my opinion of vetiver! this is a really nice scent, soft but with a hint of vetiver making an appearance and actually not taking over! dries down soft and with a hint of something fuzzy or furry in the background, if that makes sense

[ModderRhu]

At first it's very bitter and almost poisonous smelling. After an hour of drying down its an outdoorsy planty citronella. No coconut. No ambergris. Disappointing

[strahlend]

First sniff – oh dear. I'm not getting any of the notes I was looking forward to - the opium tar, frankincense, cedarwood, coffee, coconut or vetiver. The notes I wasn't so excited about are the ones I can smell,lemongrass, tobacco flower and white plum. Upon further sniffing I the coconut, tobacco flower and white plum seem to be the main dominant notes.

 

Skin testing – at first there was a lemon blast (I amp lemon like crazy) but it quickly shifted into a pleasant airy coconut scent. It has a fruity twang to it from the plum and feels carefree, healthy, and tropical.

 

Although it's not at all what I was expecting, it is very pretty and seems like it would be lovely in warm weather.

[Caper]

I'm surprised that this is my favorite Meta blend since it was the decant I decided to tack on at the last minute.

 

I honestly can't pick out any of the notes. Dry I guess there might be a hint of coconut (which I usually dislike but not here) and frankincense (which I love) and maybe a hint of cedar.

 

It is warm and light at the same time and really just lovely. There will definitely be a bottle in my next order.

 

ETA- ZOMG! This has turned out amazing. It is warm and incense-y, but not bitter or dry. It is lush and full and I don't even know what but this is the first bottle that I am going to get two of these in my next order and skip some of the unsniffed salon blends. Top ten. Hell, top three.

Edited July 20, 2012 by Caper

[milo]

This is really odd from wet to dry. At first, I'm getting kind of a medicinal herbal vibe. It changes to a more fresh grassy herbal blend, kind of gingery/lemon. It's not bad, but not something I'd wear very often. For some reason, this kind of reminds me Something Wicked This Way Comes, a discontinued Lush bath melt, maybe it's the ginger vibe.

[angelamaria]

In decant: green floral: tobacco flower and sage, which is simply lovely, and I can sense the lemongrass and ambergris too. I can't get the vetiver, which is just peachy for me.

 

Wet on skin: light and green floral, but slightly powdery, which is making me nervous about this. The tobacco flower is lovely, front and center.

 

Dry: slightly soapy, and rather powdery...which breaks my heart. Otherwise it's a light floral headed by the tobacco flower, with a touch of green, hints of a citrus brightness, and grounding woods.

 

Verdict: I had high hopes for this one, but my skin chemistry just doesn't want to cooperate. Oh well.

[sunshinedaisybliss]

When I read the notes for this, I really wonder why I got a decant - lemongrass is never my friend, and white plum doesn't appeal at all.. and cedar often goes funky on my skin. Ah.. I know - it was the opium, ambergris, coffee and coconut meat that tempted me.

 

So of course - what happens? All I get here is lemon and cedar. There's a slight incensey-smokiness from the opium tar and vetiver, but no sign of the coffee or coconut or ambergris. Fully dry, this one ends up smelling like lemon with a hint of wood. That's not what I wanted

[zankoku_zen]

Zebra Heliconian is a sophisticated green floral. I don't really get coconut or coffee, but I get the opium tar, vetiver, ambergris, clary sage, and hint of lemon. It's sort of warm, but sort of cool, gender neutral, and with a clean musky vibe to it.

 

I'm actually enjoying this much more than I anticipated.

 

It might actually be bottle-worthy for me.

[Monday]

On my skin wet: Plum! Juicy plum, with a hint of tobacco, not ashtray tobacco but the kind that gives a bit of kick to a scent. Some greenness is showing up behind the plum I think it's the sage. The lemongrass is twining itself between the notes. This is way nicer than I had expected.

 

On my skin dry: Fragrant plum is still the foremost note. I'm not getting coconut, opium tar is present but not obnoxiously so. Vetiver...nope not getting any vetiver here, I guess my skin amps plum so that it just drowns out everything else. The notes in order of strength on my skin are: plum, tobacco, lemongrass, opium tar, sage. Either the rest of the notes just get drowned out or they are melding really well. Thank goodness that frankincense doesn't show up though.

 

Actually this is rather girly on me, like a plummy version of Ninon. I've been avoiding plum since Mme. Moriarty and Snake Charmer both gave me a headache, obviously I can do white plum. I'd love to see this note used in more scents.

[Invidiana]

I was really hoping the coffee, coconut, opium and tobacco flower would end up being the primary players here, but unfortunately the first thing I get is a blast of lemongrass and cedar. These do fade gradually on the drydown, and I can pick out the other notes here and there but my favorite ones don't end up coming out as strongly as I'd like and the lemongrass/cedar dominance that remains is just impossible to ignore. I really do want to give it one more shot though.

[voodoobaby]

Upon opening the bottle, I had an utter nosegasm.

 

It starts kind of herby (sage) and a little dark smelling, but the coconut and plum soon step up to the plate. After a while I just get a creamy, sweet, delicious scent that is still just a tad bit dark; half an hour later I can't identify any particular note over the others. It's feminine and pretty but firmly grounded. Perfectly balanced, perfectly blended and just beautiful. This is probably a new top 20 scent for me.

[Little Bird]

There are so many bold notes in this (and I would love a scent that really has noticeable notes of coconut, ambergris, incense and plum), but my bottle is nothing but sour lemongrass and soapy, sharp, white floral-y tobacco flower.

[ami226]

On the skin: An herbal scent. This one kinda hurts my nose. I think the lemongrass is the main offender. Really, all I can smell are the herbal notes and nothing more.

[zeldaZ4]

In the imp, this was sharp and sweet, almost like cough syrup. On my skin, it was lovely, floral and fruity, but faded fast. Familiar. Reminded me of a perfume from the 80's? Can't think what. Charlie, perhaps? Not offensive, but not special enough to warrant a whole bottle. This would be good for people who like dreamy, floaty, soft scents. It's not powdery, thank goodness, so I will enjoy my imp.

[thekittenkat]

In the decant: Nice combination of scents that smells somewhat herbal.

 

Wet: Cedar, frank, opium tar and coffee are the most obvious notes.

 

The dry-down: Now the dread lemongrass starts to rear its ugli head, alas. I like this better wet. I was afraid of the lemongrass and rightly so.

[whitsunweddings]

In the imp: Mint? Maybe some woods.

Wet: Kind of smells like flyspray :/ bu hao.

Dry: Why did I buy this? IT HAS AMBERGRIS. Accordingly, this is ambergirs, flowers and coconut on me. Groce.

[porcelina]

at first i thought zebra heliconian smelled a bit chocolatey but i think it's the way the coffee and coconut are playing against the cedarwood. i love the cedar and dark coffee note- it's dry and very yummy. the sage and resins give it an incense-like feel. yummy but not a must-have.

[mymymai]

ITI: It's sweet, astringently piney, but slightly soapy at the same time. My interest is piqued.

 

Wet: It's somewhat pine-like (cedar note), with musky animal scent (ambergris), opium tar, and tobacco with sage. It's an interesting combination and I wouldn't have normally associated it with a butterfly.

 

Dry: After 14 hours, it's sweetly lemongrass centered with hits of wild plum and ambergris accord.

[starbrow]

The notes look amazing! I think this is one of the blends where it truly is better to smell first and see how it goes, than to be swayed by what's listed. A sharp bite of herbal greenery (clary sage?) plays with a squeeze of astringency when it goes on wet, then as drydown plays out, the harder edge falls off and suddenly a white plum floral emerges. The perfumy, flowery haze has a softness and femininity that other white florals lack because they're so loud. This one is delicate and dreamy. I am reminded of white musk - it must be the tobacco flower + ambergris - but thankfully this has all the benefits of white musk without the dryer sheet quality.

 

This scent really hugs the skin after the first few minutes, kind of poofing away into nothing. The last stage, a ghostly vetiver, is my favorite, but I also can't smell it unless I put my wrist right up to my nose. This is the pretty, grassy vetiver that is so comforting, that I would just wrap myself in a blanket with if I could, so I definitely wish it would throw big!

 

There are a lot of notes missing in action. Like, most of them. If lemongrass or coconut are usually problems, don't be scared off; I didn't even know they were here. I would expect this perfume to be a lot more resinous from the opium tar, frankincense, and cedar, after aging 10 years, but no, this little butterfly is floral and airy. If you like that kind of scent, I absolutely think Zebra Heliconian is worth exploring past the fierce opening stage (which reminds me a bit of Insects, honestly, I might have to compare?) and seeing if drydown is your cup of tea. Ultimately, I'm thinking this bottle will find a new home because that's not the kind of scent I reach for, but it's very pretty.

 

I would wear this while: caring for my  butterfly garden in springtime.