A Thought from Propertius

[Alethia]

Sweet honey, white apricot, and a touch of cayenne pepper.

Thoughts before testing: This was an instant unsniffed bottle purchase. I absolutely adore each of the three notes listed, but I am slightly concerned that the "touch" of cayenne won't be enough to cut the super sweetness of honey and apricot.

Wet: Oh my god. This is fabulous. It's very much like March Hare, minus the sweet clove and plus the spiciness of cayenne. March Hare is one of my all-time top 10 blends, but at first sniff, I like this better. The cayenne pepper is more interesting than the sweet clove, and I think the addition of the honey is making this more unique. The honey and apricot aren't cloyingly sweet, and they're balanced nicely by the spice of the pepper.

Dry down: The sweetness has backed off considerably and now it's a nice spicy/sweet scent. It's harder to pick out each individual note, but this is really beautiful.

Dry: The beautiful spicy and sweet melding has stayed consistent from the dry down to several hours into the wear time.

Final thoughts: So. Much. LOVE. Seriously. This wore for about 5 hours before I needed to really try and smell it. The throw is decent, but definitely not overpowering. I just don't even have enough words for how much I love this blend. I love that it's not a typical "fruity" perfume; it smells much more sophisticated and interesting to my nose, and I can't recommend it highly enough!

Verdict: Hoarding

[stellamaris]

Well, impatient as usual, this is about 12 hours out of the mailbox, and when I first opened it I was like, bleech, why did I buy this? Oh yeah right, apricot, honey, yeah. But wet, aggressive, but it may grow on me, I certainly think it will as the dry down is spicy apricot very delicious and a little nose tickling...

[Balame]

This is going to sound really weird, but this is what I wanted Beaver Moon '11 to smell like. For some reason this combination of notes is reading as indulgent honey cheesecake to me! I almost smell lavender at times too.

 

Maybe I'm losing it, who knows. But this is a foody scent to me, and it's good. I can sniff out the apricot, which gives it a nice fruity twist. But light fruity cheesecake. Hm.

[Gwydion]

In bottle: Apricot dominant, softened by a strong honey second. The touch of pepper gives it an interesting sharpness. Wet: The pepper is stronger on the skin and is fascinating with the dominant apricot note, adding a strong counter current to the flow of the sweeter elements. It’s almost floral, in an apricot flowers sort of way. It is nothing like my lost beloved, the March hare, being creamy and sharp rather than bright and spicy. I don’t mind as this has a unique sublime beauty of it’s own. Dry: Sweetly pretty honey kissed by pepper and a touch of apricot.

[SadariEvenstar]

Cinnamon. My skin must be reading the cayenne as cinnamon because that is mostly what I smell. Straight up craft store cinnamon with some honeyed fruit underneath.

 

I am disappoint.

 

eta further dry down: The cinnamon scent does settle down and it ends up smelling kind of like The Vine with cinnamon. 3 or so hours after application it mostly smells like pure honey.

Edited February 17, 2013 by SadariEvenstar

[Gateau]

Wet, this is a beautiful blend of pure, sweet honey, not a heavy or powdery honey, with delicate apricot (I can smell that it's white apricot, not a juicier nectar) and a dusting of cayenne that tickles the nose.

 

As it dries down, I get a stronger sweet apricot, but it stays delicate, and the cayenne becomes more prominent. It's wonderful -- the cayenne keeps this from becoming entirely sweet, fruity, and springlike.

 

After it's been on a while, the honey gets stronger and more dominant. It never get powdery or musky, but it smells more like honey, and the apricot and cayenne fade.

 

It's a very pretty scent, and lasts a lot longer than I'd thought it might. I think it will be good when I want something that celebrates spring, but with that touch of pepper it keeps it from being too pristine.

[GoldenRubee]

Wet on the skin: lush, sweet, apricots.

 

Dry: still sweet but a little apricot and cayenne are starting to come through.

 

I was excited to try this and purchased this unsniffed. All three ingredients are favorites for me and if apricot is in one of Beth' s creations, I will buy it. This really a very light, soft, blend and can be worn anytime or place. The longer I wore it, the more defined the different scents became but at the same time blending together beautifully. Personally, I would have liked it to be a touch more spicy, but that's just me. Lasts hours!

[miss_rynn]

I'm not a huge fan of fruity scents, but this is lovely! The honey note - particularly while it's wet - is very similar to the herbal-sharp honeys of Rappaccini’s Apiary. On the dry down the apricot blooms, but it's not a thick, gooey, over-ripe apricot scent; it's more a lush, fresh apricot. It is really true to being a white apricot rather than a yellow apricot - white apricots are fresher, more delicate and less cloying. Pairing it with a lighter, brighter honey than the thick, rich honey notes in scents like 'O' makes this an utterly brilliant pairing of notes. The barest hint of cayenne grounds it, and stops it from being overly sweet.

[ND¢]

I hope my high expectations of this one don't let me down.

 

Wet: This is the Ronin-style honey, thick and strong. The apricot smells not like apricot, quite, but I can't pick out what it DOES smell like, and I don't get cayenne pepper at ALL. More of a nondescript potpourri smell, inoffensive and pleasant, but BPAL shouldn't remind me of 'inoffensive potpourri.'

 

I think I can almost see the 'cheesecake' comparison Balame made. The apricot note's got a tang to it, an almost dairy tang. The generic potpourriness recedes as it dries... pretty, simple. I'll keep this one for aging purposes. I often have a kitchen-sink effect with so many notes in one perfume, so this nice, simple apricot honey scent (as it is in the drydown) is refreshing.

[ajansuz]

This is so pretty. It exceeded all expectations which were already high since I've loved The Vine so much.

 

Wet in the bottle, it's herbal honey, crisp, clean fruit, and a hint of spiciness I wouldn't call peppery as much as just spicy. It doesn't burn the nose at all, but it leaves a pleasant little tingle at the back of it.

 

When I first put it on my skin, I got that same hint of cinnamon another reviewer mentioned, the pepper blending with the other notes to give that impression. There was also some creaminess under the fruit and honey, much like with The Vine.

 

Dry down and beyond is where this really shines. The cayenne holds its own and develops more of its true identity. It's a spiciness that prevents the other notes from running away into cloying territory. It's fresh and summery, much more of a floral than a foody fruit. The honey stays sweet without becoming heavy or sexual like the honey in O. Throw is moderate, and it morphs very little during the several hours I could smell it on me without having to search for it. Unlike The Vine which fades very fast on my skin, this hangs around. It never loses the soft, creamy quality and yet somehow manages never to tread into the baked goods or waxy territory so many fruit notes tend to do on my skin.

 

I'm so very glad I bought this bottle unsniffed. I can only imagine what age is going to do for it and that it will be divine.

[Katlyntje]

I think this is the decant I have been most excited to try, the apricot with the other notes sounds quite intriguing. In the imp this is sweet honey with a touch of fruit and spice. Wet, the cayenne jumps to the fore with the honey sweetness in support. Actually, it rather reminds me of a honey menthol cough drop, though rather more pleasant. Drying down this turns into cinnamon, cream, and honey. I'm not getting any apricot or fruit of any sort . . . unless I concentrate really hard.

 

About fifteen minutes later and the spiciness has retreated a bit allowing the apricot to peek out a bit more. Still not as much as I was hoping however. I think I am glad that I ordered a decant. It's possible the apricot could become more prominent with aging but I think I shall content myself with the contents of my little imp.

[crebbsgirl]

This was predominantly sweet honey with a little kick from the cayenne. The apricot is very subtle on my skin, which seems to be a marked difference from other reviewers above. It almost reminds me a little of Bengal on my skin.

[surlygurl]

So..... I love love love apricots, and am becoming ok with honey. But I guess apricots should remain a food item, not a perfume item.

 

This is nice. Sweet apricot honey, a gritty touch from the pepper. Aaannnddd..... that's it. It's 2 dimensional on me, kinda pretty. It'll be saved for summer.

[skyelyric]

In the imp this did remind me a bit of March Hare, but sweeter and with a cinnamony-peppery spiciness from the cayenne. The honey is light and herbal rather than being thick and syrupy, and the apricot has a juicy, candy-like vibe on my skin (most fruits get candied when I wear them). This would be a really pretty summer scent, just offbeat enough to be interesting...right up until the skin reaction. Damn, the bright pink patch in the crook of my elbow suggests off to the swaps with this one.

[Laurel the Woodfairy]

I love all the notes, but one caveat: Propertius doesn't "blend" on me. I don't mean there is anything wrong with my oil; I just mean that I smell the lovely honey from "O" and I smell apricot and I smell hot spice, but they are separate scents to my nose. Odd. Anyway, this is a STRONG scent; my husband loves O but was rolling down the car windows to get away from Propertius because the small dab I was wearing was too much for him. I like it as a sexy summery scent; the apricot makes it seem more warm-weather than other honey blends I have. I just have to use it sparingly.

[zankoku_zen]

Sweet, thick honey, sweet sticky apricots, and just a teeny hint of spice.

 

This really is apricot honey. Very sweet and heady.

[sunshinedaisybliss]

I wouldn't have bothered trying this one, because honey is not my friend and that applies doubly to the "sweet" variety of it.. and although I do like apricot as a note, the "white" bit scared me.. and really, cayenne pepper doesn't excite me much.. so yeah, it would have been a big pass. But my lovely decanter sent me a tester, so... test it I do!

 

Surprise surprise - this is actually quite nice. Like, it really is nice. In the same way that fluffy kittens are nice - it's soft and pretty and cute and snuggly. The apricot is very clean - not overly foody, nor too sweet - it's just a nice true apricot fruit smell. And yes, the honey is sweet but not in that horrible cloying strangle-your-nostrils-with-powdery-honeyness way that it can sometimes be. Turns out honey + apricot work really nicely together for me. And the pepper? Hmm.. ok, so there's a hint of a soft spice at the very bottom of everything but it's hardly noticeable - just a nice balance against the sweetness of the honey.

 

Overall, I'd say this has a nice creamy soft feel - it's warm and comforting - everything is beautifully blended and clean and despite what sounds like a very basic blend of three notes it's actually fairly multi-layered due to the tactile vibe it has, but still pretty simple on the skin. Nice, but not a knock-yer-socks-off thing for me.

[tziporra]

On my skin this is WHOA HONEY!

 

The apricot blends really nicely into the WHOA HONEY and rounds it out, so that it is a very fruity aromatic honey. The cayenne doesn't exactly marry well, but sits on the bottom as another reviewer stated. I'm hoping that age will help.

 

I do _like_ honey scents, so the WHOA factor on this one is not throwing me. Probably will keep because it is so distinctive and yummy.

 

Tzi

[becca_s]

When I first put this on for the first 10 or 15 mintutes the apricot and cayenne pepper merge together to create a really strange, spicy/medicinal smell. After it settles into my skin though, this one is really pretty. After its first initial burst the cayenne actaully fades away and I can barely detect it anymore. I am left with a honeyed apricot scent, its fresh and very summery. There are times when this reminds me a little bit of Josie.

[hlinspjalda]

I was really looking forward to testing this one on account of the pepper note.

 

In the vial: Fruity honey, but I definitely also get the pepper note.

 

Wet: Less fruity and a bit more spicy now, with the honey the foremost note. It's not thick or heavy on me, though.

 

One hour: A beautiful tangy fruit-honey scent, almost floral. Sometimes the red pepper note reads as floral to me; I wonder if that's what's happened here.

 

Two hours: Sharper than before, but not spicy; it's more like a wood has joined the scent. Right now, I could easily imagine cedar or some other wood that works well on me being in this scent. Fortunately, for me all that does is break the sweetness down into something more sustainable.

 

Three hours: This scent developed into something warm, tangy, and woody with just a touch of floralish fruit. It's piquant and intriguing, and happy-making.

[Little Bird]

I usually love the lab's apricot scents, but honey is iffy and the cayenne pepper didn't sound great to me. Still, this scent was surprisingly disappointing for me. It smells sort of fruity, but I don't think I'd pick out apricot, and the spice and honey is really strange on my skin. The honey smells sort of herbal and the cayenne pepper is sharp and somehow dusty smelling, though it sweetens up in the drydown to kinda remind me of cinnamon and pink pepper. It reminds me of craft store potpourri more than anything, which doesn't work for me as a personal scent.

[alyelle]

Mine's a decant and in its imp, I get a delightful blend of honey and apricot, sort of what I imagine fairy wine would smell like. On my skin, however, I get an instant red rash which had me scrubbing it off inside of five minutes. I'm super sad, because the fragrance I get from the bottle is just glorious. Normally this is something that only happens with cinnamon blends (the review above that mentions cinnamon makes me wonder if perhaps there isn't a hint of that in here too) so I thought I'd be safe with this. I'm willing to believe pepper would do the same thing though, so I'm going to have to check through my current imp stash and see whether there's anything else that incorporates pepper and if I have the same reaction.

 

Needless to say, this little one's being re-homed.

[ReallyZeb]

Mine's a decant and in its imp, I get a delightful blend of honey and apricot, sort of what I imagine fairy wine would smell like. On my skin, however, I get an instant red rash which had me scrubbing it off inside of five minutes. I'm super sad, because the fragrance I get from the bottle is just glorious. Normally this is something that only happens with cinnamon blends (the review above that mentions cinnamon makes me wonder if perhaps there isn't a hint of that in here too) so I thought I'd be safe with this. I'm willing to believe pepper would do the same thing though, so I'm going to have to check through my current imp stash and see whether there's anything else that incorporates pepper and if I have the same reaction.

 

Needless to say, this little one's being re-homed.

I normally get the cinnamon rash, but I don't get it with this one so I'd guess maybe it's the pepper does it to you. However I will retest at home tonight, using the crook of my elbow, just to be sure before I spring for a whole bottle. *crosses fingers*

 

In the bottle it's all apricot and only a little honey, but once dry I get a beautiful honey, with a warm dusty spice kick in the background and a fruity roundness to it from the apricot.

 

ETA: this didn't give me cinnamon burn, just a tiny bit of heat on the inner elbow

Edited April 14, 2013 by ReallyZeb

[lohengrin]

In the decant: Bubblegum and cayenne. I have no idea why, but it's exactly like bubblegum that was chewed after someone ate a spicy meal.

 

On skin, wet: Same as in the decant. SO WEIRD.

 

On skin, dry: And now it just smells like cinnamon. This scent is really baffling for me.

 

After an hour: Red hots. Just red hots, like every cinnamon BPAL ever on me, except this isn't supposed to have cinnamon in it. WHY, whyyy?! I was so looking forward to this scent and it's not only not worked on me, but not worked in really, really weird ways.

[brilliantcat]

Imp: I love "odd" combinations and the kick of cayenne is immediately apparent along with the honey and apricot. Simple, different, and lovely.

 

Wet: Juicy apricot backed by syrupy honey. I don't get much of the cayenne but I believe it's cutting what could be overwhelming sweetness. I am lucky enough to own a bottle of March Hare and I actually prefer this so far. It smells very fresh.

 

Dry: This just gets better and better. The cayenne gives it a surprising depth. Bottle for sure!