Somnus

[lyricalwaters]

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

Bottle: Lavender! It's so strong that that's pretty much all I get.

Wet: Still mostly lavender, but with something herby in there too... maybe rosemary or thyme? The whole thing kind of amps on my skin, getting really strong. It's strange because that sort of scent is usually really gentle, and instead of lulling me to sleep it's screaming, "GO TO SLEEP! NOW!"

Dry: Okay, that's better. Once it starts to fade it's a very nice lavender/chamomile/rosemary type scent. Very relaxing.

I don't usually have any trouble sleeping so I can't vouch for that , but it is a really relaxing scent and I can see how it would help.

[AliBabble]

i like this. this was a freebie frimp from the lab, and the second i've received from the somnus category. i'm always so grateful when i get a sleep blend, cause i can always use help sleeping, and i love pretty much all the lab's lavender blends. somnus seems to have something quite sweet and floral, mixed with the lavender. i wanna say it's rose. rose is not always my favorite note, but here, if that's what it is, it's tempered by the lavender and it rather comforting. if a bit grandmotherly. the lab's sleep blends are perhaps my favorite blends - sleepy moon and tko being tops, on my list. i'm not sure i like this one quite as much, because of the rose, or whatever it is, but i will definitely use this, and from the brief time i've been wearing it, i sense that it will work well.

[taramarie]

I cannot figure out what Somnus smells like. I just know that on my skin, it smells sweet. I mean really sweet -- so much that I've stopped wearing it and just scent my sheets with it. That seems to work pretty well at alleviating my insomnia.

[GoldenRubee]

I received Somnus from a forumite (thanks Ah-Xia). I had really wanted to try it before purchasing it. I wanted it not only for sleeping, but for the calming effects that it has. The smells is not that great-on my hand it is kind of sour, not a good sign. I read the other reviews where it is suppose to smell like lavendar, violets. etc. I think what I am smelling is the chamomile. I started getting a headache this afternoon and rubbed some on my temples and this actually helped my headache. It is worth it's weight in gold if it helps with those! At lesat I can't smell it if I limit it to the temple area. I don't think I would ever wear it as a perfume scent. I am going to try this tonight at bedtime and see if I get as positive a reaction then as I did for my headache.

[RemAkimichi]

In the bottle: Lavander. Lavander, lavander, lavander.

 

On me (wet): More lavender! But oh, oh, there's this beautiful hint of rose, a warm rose that's not cold and floral and headacy. No, this is warm rose and a hint of something sweet like nightblooming jasmine. Oh how I love rose and jasmine together. I keep getting wiffs of something less floral and more foodsy, but it might just be coming from the open box of imps (is that you, Shub?).

 

On me (dry): Lavander and roses. I can only barely sniff out that sweet flower, but it's there like a light touch of a hand.

 

Overall: For sleeping, I don't know if it will do much. I'm a notorious insomniac. I'm on my way to bed now, and while I doubt it will help me get to sleep any faster, at least I'll enjopy it while I'm awake. I certainly like this one better than Baku.

[n1k1ta]

Only Beth knows what's in this, I guess. I smell gardenia and lavender. Maybe a little jasmine in there? It's a little grandma in the beginning, honestly, but very relaxing. The grandma vibe disappeared after thirty minutes, so I'm pleased. I had to do stressful stuff today, but I didn't feel stress at all. Actually, I'm feeling a little sleepy as I type this!

[LadyCrow]

In imp: Bright, sharp, green.

 

Wet: Lavender and something lemony.

 

Dry: Lavender, lavender, lavender. Is that jasmine?

 

I cannot tell you what happened with the notes on the drydown, or how long this lasted on my skin, because I fell sound asleep. However, since that's exactly what the oil is supposed to do, that's great. I remember only one dream: walking through the grass, trying not to step on or injure these tiny, happy, pretty little green snakes. Perhaps Somnus is telling me to buy a bunch of the snake LEs?

[Extispex]

I love this, despite the fact that it goes through a stinky stage on me (thankfully not for long). I have terrible insomnia (especially when I'm waiting for a CnS ) and I wanted to try one of the Sleep blends.

 

In the imp, mostly lavender with a sweetish edge. On my skin, JASMINE! I mean jasmine with capital letters and lots of exclamation marks. A sharp, sweet relentless jasmine thats so cloying it borders on stinko. When I first put it on my first impulse was to wash it off, but I let it settle, and the lavender returns very quickly, and this dries down to a nice, balanced, calming blend of lavender and jasmine, with maybe the ghost of some sweet herbs dancing in the background. Its very pretty, and has good throw so it kind of embraces you in a halo of fragrance. And best of all, it works. I slept an entire seven hours (a miracle for me) last night, and never ONCE woke up. I had nice dreams, and actually woke up this morning feeling reasonably lively, for me.

 

Its not something I'd wear as a perfume, but it could be bottle material for the effects. I want to test some of the other sleep blends first, to see how they work, before deciding which will be my bottle. In the meantime, this imp is going to get plenty of love.

[jmchau]

I like this, not as a night scent but as a day scent. Going on I did smell the lavendar but after that it was bright and clear floral. To me it smelled more like gardenia than the jasmine that others have talked of. Especially since there is a jasmine vine in full bloom right outside the window so I smell that whenever the breeze blows in. Either way, I like it.

[eloiseattheplaza]

I bought 5mL unsniffed in my first order. Somnus was as I was led to expect: a slightly acrid lavendar, pleasant, but not for daytime wear. I inverted the bottle quickly on a cotton-wool pad and put it in my pyjama pocket. It was a faint scent to begin with--I was tempted to keep inhaling deeply to find it, but in no time at all I found I couldn't be bothered. I slept like a log, and on waking to my alarm, the scent was much stronger and still very pleasant and very soporific! Getting to work by 6am was nearly impossible, and I'm sorry to say that if I'd been feeling at all indulgent, those early clients would have been on their own while I snuggled in for another few hours.

 

I think the chief beauty of Somnus will be in creating a scented link to bedtime, though even on its own merits it is a deliciously slumbery blend.

[rainbow]

This is not something I'd wear as a perfume, just for scent, but it's definitely something I like to have around to use as a sleep oil. The scent is heavy thick, thick, thick lavender- think lavender thickened by other herbals. Whenever I use this all I can think is herbal thick lavender. The scent isn't unpleasant, but it's not what I'd choose for daily wear. I really enjoy using it as a sleep oil.

[hannahl1982]

Initially: very strong lavender.

 

Wet On: lavender, something slightly citrus, and maybe something else floral?

 

Dry Down: not much has changed, it just fades into almost nothing by morning

 

As a sleep inducing oil I did not have much success, I did find it very pleasant and relaxing but it did not make me sleepy, I'll have to try it again and report back.

 

Overall 3.5/5

[naiade]

Mrf. Lavender! I couldn't possibly name any of the other notes.

 

It smells more herbal than floral to me, but it's not too bitter. Certainly not a scent I'd care to wear in the daytime, but it is quite comforting when trying to slip off to sleep! I rub a little bit on my palms and curl up in bed, sniffing them :]

 

It works (and works well), but I'm kinda addicted now. I can't go to sleep unless I'm smelling something now, hehe.

[n3m3sis42]

In the imp:

I must be insane, because while everyone else is getting lavender, I swear I am getting honeysuckle.

 

Wet:

Honeysuckle.

 

Dry:

This dries down to a sweet, clean smell sort of reminiscent of Come To Me (on me). And then it seems to fade almost entirely, but I put on way less than I normally would, since I was wearing it to bed and I wasn't sure my husband would appreciate my normal level of slathering when he was trying to go to sleep.

 

I have tried this blend twice: once when I was not ready to sleep but was in bed relaxing, and once when I was trying to go to sleep. It didn't forcibly knock me out, but it did seem to help me become sleepy once I was ready to try to sleep. I have a lot of trouble getting to sleep at times, so that's good enough for me.

[erina74]

Wet- This smells like pure lavender essential oil.

 

Dry- OMG this is gorgeous, and really relaxing. This smells almost aquatic to me. I put this on to go to sleep last night and the lavender was still there and there was some green scent. But laying down I got the sense I was sinking into deep blue green gorgeous smelling water. And then I was asleep. I really liked this. I think I felt a little more well rested then I usually do on my current 5-6 hours of sleep I'm getting lately( I have to be at the hospital for work at 5:30 am now ). As usual I still wasn't very happy when my alarm went off though.

 

I REALLY liked this. I use lavender sometimes and it works quasi well for me too, but this is just so much more pleasant. I've been having more a lot more trouble falling asleep lately then usual too so this could be a way to avoid needing to get sleeping medication. I'm probably going to go through the imp of this to make sure I don't get "immune" to its affects after a week or two, but if it keeps working for me I'll have to get a big bottle.

Edited August 17, 2007 by erabella

[Elilara]

This really does work almost freakishly well on me- I didn't so much take a nap earlier as lapse into an hour long coma! That was just what I needed, since right now I'm trying my hardest to get more sleep.

 

I love the smell too- very gentle and comforting. Not quite like an herbal tea, but perhaps how a sleeping potion might smell...

[stormcloude]

This smells very very floral to me-- all roses and jasmine. I wish it smelled more of lavender because I like lavender. But it does help when I can't sleep so I may have to buy a bottle. I get insomnia when I get stressed, so anything that will help with that is appreciated.

[kuanyin]

I am on my second bottle of Somnus. This is the first bpal bottle that I have actually emptied! I got it from the Lab and was disappointed that it was barely above the label from the get go. But it smelled so heavenly, with lavender being the prominent note, and such beautiful lavender, smooth and soft. OK, I love lavender anyway.... I put it on my pillow case and would drop off to sleep like a log and be in a coma until the alarm went off. This was the big gun against not getting to sleep.

 

I got another bottle in a swap. This one is not the same. Sometimes I get the gorgeous first bottle scent and effect and other times I get JASMINE. I swear that the first time I used it IT KEPT ME AWAKE. I do not consider straight jasmine scent to be sleep inducing....but, if I shake it good, I might get close to the good Somnus scent.

 

Right now, The Sandman Snoozeth by Mara Fox is my big gun. I wouldn't put it on me, no way, but on my pillowcase it really works. Not as well as the first bottle of Somnus though....

[pzb]

In the vial - Lavender and Sandalwood

 

Wet - Heavy on the lavender and sandalwood - thankfully, the lavender stayed the top note

 

Dry - Still lavender mostly. My husband commented it smelled like soap. When I said Lavender and Sandalwood, he said, Ahh. So at least it wasn't like his last comments where he asked what stunk.

 

Later - Certainly nice and relaxing. Doesn't last terribly long (as I was up late reading because of a raging party behind us) so I reapplied, but it was fine.

[Moryssa]

I've had this imp for ages, and haven't ever tried it... in the imp, I thought it smelled NASTY. No, I don't know what it smells like, just that it was vile.

 

I've had enough experience lately with the oils changing once I put them on my skin, though, that I decided to test Somnus to see how it changed. To my surprise, I actually *liked* the scent as it was drying. I don't have avery finely-tuned nose, but I'm fairly certain that what I was smelling was lavender, and not much of anything else. I fell asleep fairly quickly last night, but I did wake up about 4:30 AM with a headache... I'm not sure if that was due to the scent or due to the fact that I had a 1-on-1 review with my boss scheduled for today and I knew I was going to get reprimanded for something. :/ (Review's over now... I was right-- I was reprimanded. It's all good, though, and we can move on.) So now I can test it again and see if the headache goes away.

 

--M

[Iceblink]

I tested this last night, putting just a dab on one arm when I got out of the shower, and nearly dozed off while I was watching TV. Then when I did go to bed I slept quite well. Yay Somnus!

It smells strongly of lavender, much like Oneiroi and Temple of Dreams (aside: there's something about all of these that smells sort of like the smell when you're getting your hair permed! What IS that?). The actual scent of Somnus faded away faster than Oneiroi does, but the effects were fabulous!

[hkhm]

imp: lavender and something. lillies or jasmine or lilac? something.

 

wet: lavener and i'll make a guess at jasmine. this is very strong even when i just put a little on my arm. whatever the other floral note (or notes) is, it smells nicely sweet against the normally sharp lavender.

 

dry: the lavender fades after a while and (wonder of wonders) a sweet, soft rose scent emerges that does not go soapy on me. i can also catch hints of other soft florals: jasmine and... well, something else... i think i'll leave this imp out for when i'm having trouble dozing off.

[Honeygirl]

Bottle: Lavender

 

Wet: Very herbally lavender, almost overwhelmingly so.

 

Drydown: It's still very herbally but it's a bit softer. I tested this twice, on the first night I slept like a baby and on the second night I didn't sleep at all! I'm so obstinate!

It did help me be relaxed even when I couldn't fall asleep so I wholeheartedly recommend this blend!

3.5 outta 5

[TrailerTrashPrincess]

sniffed from the imp: lavender and sugar

on skin: this becomes a very "real" sort of lavender fragrance, not as minty as some, but still headache-inducing for me.

[strangemodegirl]

This works. In fact, this works better for me than any of the prescription sleep meds that I have been given over the years. I also tried TKO and TALs Nocturne, and this blew them both out of the water.

I've been using it at bedtime every night for about a month now and I am sleeping better than I have in ages.

Very strong and wonderful lavender. I don't get anything else from it.

Sadly, I knocked my bottle over so I am down to a little under half a bottle, but I will remedy that. This might be one that I will start adding a bottle of to every order.