Somnus

[amaltheagray]

Named after the Roman God of Sleep. This blend helps bring on deep, restful, natural sleep.

i have trouble falling asleep so i've been looking forward to receiving this one. it's much sharper than i expected. the only note my unskilled nose can detect is lavender. i'm pretty sure it's lavender, and that would make sense. there are other herbs involved, and it's almost soapy but in a very good way. it smells clean and unfettered. the scent warms up and spreads on drydown. i want to breath deeply of it. i'll try wearing it in bed tonight, and maybe i'll do a follow up if it actually helps me sleep. i'd love to have my sheets smell like this. it's lovely.

[Penance]

Okay, this is one of those love/hate scents for me. I love it because it works wonders and I hate it because I really don't care for the smell.

 

First sniff:

 

Lavender, I think. It's more herbal than floral and it reminds me of the last time I smelled fresh lavender flowers. It's not a bad smell, but not one I would have picked. But then, I didn't buy this for the scent, I bought it to help me sleep.

 

Wet on skin:

 

Almost unpleasantly herbal smelling. It's got a strange soapy herbal smell to it that's not agreeing with me at all, but at the same time I already feel more relaxed. I can only compare the effect this has on me to the effect that strong painkillers do. When I put it on, all the tension drains out of my muscles and I feel almost like I'm floating. Needless to say, it's a wonderful sensation.

 

Dry down:

 

Honestly, I have no idea what it smells like once it's dry...I fell asleep before it finished drying and it was gone when I woke up in the morning.

 

The bottom line:

 

I don't care for the scent, but, my God, does it work! This stuff is fantastic.

[Theravada]

I'd been wanting to order an imp of this as soon as I could afford it, but I was lucky enough to snag one in a swap with one of our lovely forumites! I just love this place

 

Ok, on to the review:

 

I agree that lavander is the most prominent note here. I also detect some other florals blended in there, but I'm not going to be good at picking them out since I usually tend to avoid florals at all costs. I'm not very familiar with individual floral notes. But, I have to say that this is a really lovely blend and the fact that it is floral actually doesn't disagree with me for once. So even if you fear florals like me, give this a try.

 

This is not at all like what I expected. Somnus is very bright, fresh, and somewhat sharp. I had imagined something thicker. Something that would remind me of dense, warm blankets. I was really surprised when I sniffed this in the bottle and detected such a sharpness. But it is not at all unpleasant.

 

I've been using this the past several nights and I do think it works well. I decided the best way to use it is to dab a little bit on the center of my eye mask so that the scent stays true and doesn't do any wierd body chemistry morphing. I also get the benefit of the blend all night long this way. The lavander is very soothing and the sharpness of whatever else is in here really helps open up the chest so that you breathe deeply and evenly. It really does help make for a restful sleep.

 

I wish I could be more specific about the notes, but I can tell you that this is a lovely blend and I plan on buying a 5ml as soon as I can!

[quinkel]

Hmmmm nice, the scent of sleep itself! A very hazy blue scent, relaxing and comforting.

It's a bit strong on application but it mellows soon on the skin. I think I noticed jasmin under the lavender but to be honest.....I fell asleep before it could develope completely.

 

It works perfectly but i need to wear it again to be able to review on the scent

 

So weird, all other BPAL scents last till the following morning... this one left no trace, not even on my pyjamas...

Edited November 24, 2004 by quinkel

[supasonicsage]

This scent is very bright, and it is easy to overdo, so start slow.

 

I am so bad at notes, but I know there is lavender in there and, on my skin anyway, I get a lot of rose too. There seems to be some sort of herbal base to it all.

 

The scent is nice, not too strong (if you keep in mind that you don't need a whole lot) and not medicinal at all. I think it does have that one note that does terrible things on my skin in it that is in some of the voodoo blends, but it fades out after about ten mintues.

 

For two nights I put a little on each wrist while I brushed my teeth and all... that gave it a little bit to mellow out before I went to bed. It helps with the brightness factor too as it softens up a little bit on wearing.

 

And it works.. almost to well =). I felt like I was waking up from a coma the next morning. This one has be very excited to try the other dream blends.

 

Trouble sleeping? You will buy Somnus now!

[bigeyedgirl]

I recieved this last night. Oh and am I glad I did.

 

I tore open the box and grabbed at it and went to put a little on my wrist and well..it just poured out of the reducer. So it was an accidental slathering.

 

Well, I can smell the lavender...most definately and lillies, jasmine?

 

 

it's lovely and it really does relax you like a pain killer does. Michael and I immediately started to doze...but sadly we had to go out, I will be putting dabs of this on my pillow cases tonight.

[xoe]

Somnus is fantastic. It works, but not in the way that I expected. I expected it to make me sleepy right away. It didn't really do that. But, once I was asleep I slept much more soundly than usual. Works unbelievably well.

 

As to the actual scent, it's definitely herbal. Somewhat comforting. And strangely enough, it brings to mind a bright turquoise. I've never had a scent make me think turquoise before, they are usually orange, red, yellow, brown, purple, etc. but never turquoise. Unique in all aspects.

 

This one's going on my big bottle list.

[Nepthys]

My reaction to this was similar to others posted - the scent was much sharper than I expected and not one I much cared for, but wowsa, did it work. This is an insomiac's magic potion. The scent is nothing I'd wear as perfume but it isn't awful - on me it's sort of a lavender apothecary smell, pleasant but medicinal.

[LiberAmoris]

Wet, Somnus was lavender and something kind of acrid, almost urine-like. BUT, that acrid note only lasted about four minutes on me before it melted away and then all it was all gorgeous lavender and soft roses. Totally relaxing and soporific.

 

I don't normally have trouble falling asleep, but I am a restless sleeper and sometimes struggle to stay asleep when I get uncomfortable in the middle of the night. No such problem last night. I slept like the proverbial baby. I will use Somnus again---it's quite nice.

[ivyandpeony]

I tried Somnus for the first time last night and I am so in love. It is such a beautiful scent to me - I was surprised that so many reviewers have picked up unpleasant notes, but then again, I should never be surprised at the differences that we all perceive from different BPAL blends.

 

I had not read any reviews prior to trying Somnus and was dreading a strong lavender smell - ah, how could I have so little faith in Beth or expect her to be so predictable? Yes, there's lavender, but it's blended with gorgeous soft, soothing florals. At first the scent is indeed bright and I don't know that it necessarily made me fall asleep any faster than normal, but I did wake feeling refreshed and restored today. Since staying asleep and getting quality, deep sleep have been problems for me over the last 6 -8 months, I do believe I should order a 5 ml and/or snatch up as many imps of Somnus as I can in swaps. Then perhaps I can move along to some of the other dream formulas after my sleep quality is restored.

 

Thank you, Beth, for making this blend beautiful as well as effective. It's so much easier to take your medicine when it smells good!

[allidavie]

I don't think it smells that great (very sharp green and lavender) but MAN does this work. And that's coming from a total insomniac. I use this every night and am hoping that after a while when I smell it I'll just fall asleep as sort of a pavlovian response.

 

I'm buying a 10ml during the next lunacy and will be making this into a linen spray as well.

[asa805]

I will have to agree with most of the reviewers that stuff REALLY WORKS! It does just what it says. And unlike most of the posters, i actually really love the smell. It is soooo soothing and relaxing and soft and powdery on me. And strong. I woke up and could still smell it faintly on my wrists. I usualy dont have a problem falling asleep (except on sundays) and granted yesterday i was tired, but i really felt so relaxed after i put this on. It wasnt that i couldnt keep my eyes open, it was more like i was sooo mellow that i just wanted to snuggle in my bed and i felt so cleansed and comfy. I ended up passing out cold and had such a restful dream fulled sleep. REally really great dreams and then i didnt want to get out of bed this morning but once i did i felt so refreshed.

 

I AM IN LOVE WITH THIS! I told myself i woudlnt buy any more perfume (or makeup or candles) until the end of January, but i really really need this! Definate TOP TEN! NEED BIG BOTTLE NOW

[Nadirah]

I put some Somnus on My SO, my son and I . My son was out at 8pm just after I applied this oil. My SO who has really weird sleep patterns slept like a baby, which is amazing because of all the stress hes been going through this week. As for me It had its job cut out for it. I am a mess, I can't say I slept well but I did smell really good. Its a lavender floral, its a rose that I get along with (is this a white rose?)which makes me wonder if its rose at all. Theres a touch of jasmine as well, its close to the way Oneiroi smells, but has less jasmine in it. Really a beautiful scent, which would've worked for me I'm sure if I havent been so sick these past few days. I'll try it again tonight and see how It works for me! (Ken was over the moon about it)

Edited December 29, 2004 by Nadirah

[darkitysnark]

Somnus

 

In the bottle:

Sharp, green lavender and jasmine. As noted by others, this scent was brighter and more assertive than I was expecting.

 

Wet:

The lavender retreats behind a soft, yet also oddly insistent jasmine. As per my Nyx review, I've got issues with jasmine. For the sake of my and my Mr.'s intermittent insomnia, I kept the oil on. (Incidentally, I swiped on both wrists, over the collar bone, and on pulse points on my neck.)

 

Dry down:

Jasmine, jasmine, jasmine. As I settled down to sleep, suddenly I was OK with the jasmine. The Mr.'s opinion: "It's OK, but not as good as some of the other ones."

 

Later:

Wish I could say something here. Immediately after my head hit the pillow I felt extremely relaxed and sleep-heavy. I didn't fall asleep right away, but it felt so good to just not move and sort of drift off to sleep. The Mr. was snoring about five minutes after I turned out the light, and it didn't even bother me. I woke up several times in the night (which I normally do) and was in such a rush this morning, I didn't ask the Mr. how he slept (I'll edit to add his experience later) but I think I slept well. Too well, maybe. My schedule was different this morning and I set the alarm for half an hour later than my usual time. I just could not get up. I fell asleep solid for another half hour (thus the rushing around like mad this morning). I will try this one again to see if I get the same results... but maybe not until the weekend. Just in case.

 

This morning, about 8 hours later, I could not detect even a hint of jasmine.

 

Somnus and French Creole are the only blends of the ones that I have tried that are intended to effect the wearer in some way. And both have. I'm not much of a believer in very much at all, but these two really seem to do the job.

[darkling]

In the bottle: Somnus smells sharp and green.

 

On my wrist: The scent remains sharp and takes on an added bitterness. It has a watery quality to it although that does not disrupt the harsh feeling of the perfume. There is an undertone of soemthing that I can't identify that "bothers" me. I also sensed this note in India Bouquet and it disturbed me. I wish I knew what it was because it gives me a troubled state of mind when I smell it.

 

Bedtime: I wore this to sleep twice and had trouble falling asleep both times as is usual lately. I did not have any nightmares but I did not wake feeling rested either.

 

There was no hint of the scent remaining when I awoke.

[shadow]

I got the lavender right away, mingled with that unpleasant, sharp cat pee odor that I think I've narrowed down to jasmine. Generally if I put a "jasmine" blend on, it takes 2-3 hours for that particular note to die down enough to make the scent tolerable. This took 4 minutes. I was ecstatic. Even though I was stressed and strung out on caffeine, the scent got softer and warmer and eventually put me to sleep. Dead sleep. It was wonderful. I'm trying it again tonight to see if it was some weird fluke. We'll see how it stands up to more work stress and a venti pumpkin spice latte + 1 large cup of coffee after 4 pm.

 

(If I wasn't afraid of drowsing off at work, I'd probably wear this as a scent, once the inital application dries, it really is a pleasant smell. Oh well, Saint Germain will have to satisfy my new lavender appreciation.)

[Lucretia]

obviously this reminds me of oneroi, except this one is a bit more tart and herby. I don't really get any jasmine, but lots of lavander and crisp. A little bit acrid maybe... Does it work? I put this on and at first whiff of it started feeling really relaxed and sleepy. I put on some more before I went to bed and I was out pretty quickly and slept deeply. I did have sort of crazy dreams though, same thing seems to happen with oneroi. Maybe I need to try the one that counters bad dreams...hmm..

[harlequin]

I was laying in bed for the past 45 minutes or so trying to relax but with no luck. I have the worst trouble falling asleep and envy my boy's ability to be totally out in less than five minutes whenever he likes. I just received Somnus from Shollin over the weekend, so I'm giving it a try. I put a tiny drop just under my nose (the air is cold, i'm cold.. there ain't gunna be no wafting tonight!) about 5 minutes ago. my eyes are feeling a bit more 'heavy' than they were, but it is 1:30 in the morning, so it's hard to say whether that's from the oil or not.

 

I'll have to decide how I think it worked when I wake up.

 

 

Scent: I would call this one crisp instead of sharp, though I can't quite pinpoint why I make that distinction. Perhaps because I would also say it's a somewhat clean scent as well. Definitely lavender, as everyone else has said, but I can't distinguish anything other than. Crisp Clean Herbal-Green Lavender. Yup. that's how I'd describe it.

 

Oh yeah. I do get a hint of the sort of soapy thing that some others mentioned.. I think it kind of reminds me of Dove soap.. a softer sort of scent. I'd say that probably is the reason I wouldn't describe it as sharp.

[antimony]

To me this was crisp-lavender-jasmine.

 

On me, it totally didn't make me fall asleep faster, but maybe I slept deeper. I don't know. It's hard to judge how refreshing my sleep was since I'm just coming off a week's vacation. It did seem to make me feel kinda slow and syrupy when I was going to bed. I'm not sure if I like that.

 

I feel like I'm kind-of spoiled, the first sleeping blend I tried was Baku, and I still think it's the best of the 5 for me.

[Shollin]

First sniff: Just lovely. Herbal, green, flowing, with the slightest hint of soft lemon, and I’m pretty sure there’s lavender in here. It’s a calming scent – almost forcefully so, as if it’s deliberately slowing my breathing and releasing the tension in my body.

 

Wearing: Somnus has quite an aura when it’s wet – the same flowing herbal as in the vial, with just a touch of silky powder. It reminds me of the smooth moonlit purple of Unseelie, though not quite as dark. And I slept like a rock. Definitely using this one again.

 

ETA: I wore this one again Monday night (April 18) after a rather crappy day, worried that I wouldn't be able to sleep because my brain was racing and wouldn't shut up... and it knocked my hiney out. I Somnus!

Edited April 21, 2005 by Shollin

[sarada]

All of the Dream Formula blends I have tried come across mainly as lavender in the bottle, but when you apply them, the other notes begin to emerge very strongly. This is no exception! This time, jasmine seems to be coming through loud and clear. I applied this before going to bed, on my forehead and behind my ears, and just enjoyed inhaling it as the lavender burned off and the jasmine came on and lingered and blossomed in the night.

 

Unfortunately, my insomnia is so severe that I wouldn't expect anything to help it -- nothing natural or chemical seems to help me get over it when it decides to come upon me, and the night I wore Somnus I didn't sleep at all -- finally at around 9 a.m. I managed to get an hour or two, but please don't attribute that to this lovely oil. It was an unfortunate coincidence, and I completely enjoyed inhaling this fragrance throughout the night as I tossed and turned.

 

As a fragrance, I think I would wear this at any time of day, especially in the spring because I seem to like jasmine smells a lot around then. And as an insomniac, if I'm going to be up all night I might as well be smelling something lovely like this!

[sihaya09]

I got lavender and sweet tea rose, with a little bit of greenness, too, like the stem of the rose. I can't really say any more than that, because about five minutes later, I was out like a light! This stuff is absolutely amazing, and it's going on my bottle list.

[isyche]

Somnus starts out smelling like strong lavender and then a light sweet floral comes out, but I'm not sure what it is. I've been wearing this to sleep for the past several nights, and it really is wonderfully relaxing - I've slept deeply and had long interesting dreams every time I've used it. I may have to get more of this because it works so well.

[sarahmarie]

This oil smelled different on me than it seems to have smelled on everyone else. I could only smell the lavender for a minute - after that, florals came out and went strong. These florals, however, seemed to work for me! They did go a bit sharp, as they tend to do on my skin, but they were still very sweet and restful. This blend reminded me quite a bit of Rapture on my skin - I think it must be a set of the same florals. In the imp, there's a grapey quality to the oil - perhaps iris? At any rate, I really liked Somnus and I think I would like a bigger bottle. My next order is going to be big, I think...

[Dolly Dimple]

Wet, this is all lavender and lemon to me - but a lovely fresh, juicy lemon, not 'bathroom product' lemon. It's very sharp at first, and when that sharpness initially fades on the drydown, it's rather an icky soapy smell. Fortunately it turns into what I can only describe as a 'pink' scent - the same soft, slightly floral smell I got from Morella. Very lovely, and a definite keeper.

 

As for its knockout powers - I tried it last night after being in bed with a stinking cold and aching bones all day. I did doze off for about an hour, but alas, woke up again and only Night Nurse got me back to sleep! I don't think it's fair to judge its properties in those circumstances, though, so I'll be giving it another try when I'm not running a temperature...

Edited December 30, 2004 by Dolly Dimple