Nemesis

[bellis]

The whip-wielding Goddess of Divine Retribution, Justice and Vengeance, and is the force that balances the scales of Tyche's fortune. She is also called Adrasteia, 'she whom none can escape', and Erinys, 'implacable'. Nemesis is the executrix of Olympian justice, and her primary duty is to punish hubris and mankind's offenses against the natural order with inflexible, remorseless and raging fury. Her symbols are a sword and scourge, a measuring rod and scales. Cypress, ginger, fig, dried rose, red patchouli, tonka bean and cyclamen.

Woah. This is really intense wet. Very sharp and CYPRESS.

Once it dries, however, the fig and the rose appear and make it much sweeter and just lovely. I don't get any ginger at all, but the tonka bean floats in the background, grounding the scent. The cypress is a bit strong, but I still love this scent. I only swiped a teeny bit on because I'm sampling other imps on other areas, but it seems like it will have pretty good staying power when I do my usual slathering.

ETA: After a few hours the cypress blends even more with the fig and rose. Gorgeous, now I just have to keep myself from ordering a big bottle of it until I've tried all the other imps in my last order...

[warmfuzzies]

why is it i bring out the flower in a blend, even if it's the most miniscule drop?? i was *panting* for this-- fig, candied fig, tonka, patchouli.....whatever. i am so utterly disappointed. to wait for 2 months & get yet another imp of flowers, *UGH* WHY CAN'T I FIND A NICE FIG?? CAN ANYONE TELL ME???

[anmorata]

Nemesis:

Wet: Some sort of weird fig/patchouli blend with overwhelming cypress.

Drydown: Stays overwhelmingly cypress on my skin. Can't really detect any of the other notes.

Longterm wear: Nemesis turns into some sort of evergreen-laced powdery floral. Into the swaps pile it goes!

[pekeana]

Nemesis reminds me of some other BPALs -- Wolf Moon, Yereven, and (somewhat) Urd. Actually, it smells like all of those thrown together and beaten with a stick. Badda-bing, badda-boom. It's deep and sticky sweet with an undercurrent of darkness and judicious malice. There is intent in this oil, perhaps the first BPAL oil in which I've sensed intent. It's strong and firm, not at all gentle. And, after a while, it starts to turn into sticky sweet pencil shavings. ALAS!

[Thorne]

This was my first favorite oil! It's so complex and twisty, but the combination of scents just works, magically. It's warm and sharp and sweet, all at once, in turns. I really get the fig, cypress, and ginger notes that come out on my skin, and I love it.

[cormeretrix]

i was quite impressed with nemesis; it's a strong perfume, but it's tempered by the flowers. very nice. it's a "i'm not taking anymore of your crap, and we're going to do this MY way" kind of scent.

[quimerula]

Wet it's ginger, fig and cyclamen in my skin.

 

It's quite complex, and has a lot of layers to be descovered.

 

Dry the tonka bean and the roses come out, ending with the cypress and patchouli bottom notes. Roses and ginger over all, a lovely scent worth to be discovered.

[wolfie13]

In the bottle: yum - I get mostly cypress, some ginger and patchouli.

 

Wearing: The fig and tonka show up and sweeten and mellow everything a bit.

I'm loving it!

But oh no.....after 30 - 60 minutes - attack of the flowers.

I get a lot of the rose, etc and it remains that way. Very sad.

[nineveh]

If this is the scent of vengeance, then it is very calm, passionless, cold vengeance that is pretending to be nice. I definitely do not get "raging fury" out of this blend. Nevertheless, it is great. the cypress, ginger, and fig (I guess, anyway; I'm bad at picking things out) blend together into a creamy, light scent with a bit of freshness and spice.

 

While it was drying, I got something that smelled just like crayons, but thankfully that vanished. This would be a great hot weather scent. It's not my usual fare, but I love it. Probably a big bottle of this.

[karlajean]

This is the second BPAL scent I've tried, and initially sniffed the imp yesterday while wearing Snake Oil. I'd fallen instantly in love with Snake Oil so much first instinct was to say "it's ok, but not sure if it's something I'm too interested in a bottle of".

 

I put it on this morning after my shower (ie. after getting the snake oil off of my skin) and now I love it! Initially, it smelled exotic, like I'd walked into a pagan shop full of herbs and incense. (I'm horrid at picking individual notes out of perfume).

 

Now that I've been wearing it about 4-5 hours, it's faded a fair amount, but now if I sniff my wrist it smells exactly like my grandmother wearing Oscar de la Renta (and to me, this is a good thing). I'll definitely be buying a bottle of this one.

[dreadeddragon]

In the bottle: Sweet yet almost arid. It looks & smells like dragon's blood, but it's not listed.

 

First on: This is like a lighter version of Wildfire, a bit more floral, but not a cloying one. When I run out of my 1.5 5mls of Wildfire, this will probably replace it.

 

Drydown: I can't really describe this one. Heh. It still has a hint of that Wildfire smell, but it's different. It's more like a spring garden with some dragon's blood incense burning out in the open so the scent dissapates. I really like it, it's perfect for warm spring days.

[sarada]

This is a very, very familiar scent, very warm and comforting to me. Whenever I go into a shop that sells high quality herbs and incense and oils there's a vague smell in the air that I like, and I go from object to object trying to find out if there's one fragrance in particular that is emitting this incredible fragrance and I wind up leaving with an armload of things, none of which capture that scent that I want.

 

Well this is that scent, for me, I think! Thanks to the forumite who gifted it my way! I recently tried the single note fig and sniffed some cypress at an aromatherapy oil display so both of those are fresh in my mind. This has that warm, inviting, familiar scent of fig just under the surface for me -- the one that makes me like Mata Hari despite the coffee bean (in fact, fig dominates in that blend for me), it is appetizing without being foody. The cypress prickles my nose, as if evergreen branches are brushing my cheek when I smell it. I wasn't sure about cypress, really, until I tried it on its own and recognized that incredible fairy tale woodland scent.

 

I'm a patchouli nut but it's not coming out for me in this blend -- that's OK though, I think it serves to "ground" the scent and make it stronger and more earthy.

 

I get no flowers whatsoever -- no rose, that's for sure. I didn't get any rose at all in Mata Hari either though, it was just figgyness. This does dry down to a cedary smell, that sort of cedar chip scent that I like in small doses, and when it fades it fades completely and fast.

 

So I'd better get a bottle. Because this is incredibly comforting and familiar to me. It makes me think of those days when I'd take off from work or school to go to the witchy shops in New Hope, Pa. and emerge smelling like every possibly type of tree and incense. It's definitely one of the scents that I am connecting with on a personal level.

[requieminblack]

First sniff from the bottle- Strong bitter cypress

 

After 20 minutes- This one is dominantly cypress and patchouli on me. As it dries the fig and rose comes out making it a bit sweeter. Like a fragrant rose bush amongst a cypress forest.

 

Summery- I liked the fig, rose and patchouli in this one but the cypress was just too bitter for my taste. This one would be better suited on a guy.

[Northernminx]

Nemesis and I didn't get along so well, ironically. Really she just has an overwhelming love of Patchouli for far too long for my poor nose and I spent the first fifteen minutes of our little conversation thinking she sort of ..well..stunk. I have to admit the fig and touch of rose were very welcome relief after that and I admire how she softens up a bit.

 

Of course then she kicked my butt with that whip and another reappearance of patchouli.

 

Fickle fickle lady.

 

Complex, interesting but this one is going off to someone who likes getting beat up more than I do

[Orodemniades]

Imp: it's lemon pithy - not the peel or the flesh, but the smell and taste of the white pith; lemon oil and bitter.

 

Wet: it's mellowing now, a lemon green, like some of the plants I used to pick growing up in Vermont, like crushed lady slipper stems or something.

 

Drydown: and now that's morphing too...okay, there's patchouli in this? I have no idea what it is I'm smelling, here, but patchouli isn't part of it. How odd.

 

Overall: This is a pleasant, slightly astringent oil that eventually morphs into woodiness, which I assume is the cypress. It's an alright perfume, nothing I can see myself choosing to wear while I have other woody perfumes that I like more.

 

Oro

[Racecar Gibson]

The patchouli comes across too strong on me. Esp. since (I'm guessing) it smells like black patchouli to my (newbie) nose and I've been spoiled by the blends that have that yummy red patchouli. However, this smells just WONDERFUL on the man of the house.

[voodoobaby]

In the vial: Cypress, and something herbal. And something a wee bit sweet.

 

Wearing: Bye bye, cypress! Now I'm smelling a nice patchouli note (which oddly smells more like wood right now) tempered by the rose and something fruity, which must be the fig. Yay, I can wear fig! I love the contrast between the patchouli and sweet notes. I'm also getting a faint whiff of something coconutty. Maybe it's my mind tricking me into thinking the tonka smells like coconut, as in Perversion?

 

Later: Well, it's taken on that air freshener/dryer sheet quality that some blends turn into after a few hours of wear, but I don't care. I love it for the first few hours.

 

Overall: Gorgeous! Kind of perfumey, but lovely. I think I'm actually starting to like rose scents. Woo!

[VelvetSky]

Nemesis: a gift from the lovely Labbies.

 

Loving this one straight from the imp, because I'm getting cypress and patchouli...two of my favorite notes.

 

The sweet fig comes through after the initial drydown, and pushes back the pungency of the cypress. And then the rose....wow, so nice.

 

This blend reminds me of Rome, because it starts out very dry, green, strong, and almost scary....and dries down soft, sweet, perfumey and tame.

 

I'm so glad I had the chance to try Nemesis. I may need a bottle of this.

[tinyvulture]

to me, this feels clean and somewhat masculine in a polo cologne kind of way. it is what i wanted scarecrow to be. very woody and grassy – i guess that’s the cypress. i don’t smell any patchouli at all. there’s a hint of sweet fig and the sharpness of ginger. after a long time, the rose appears, but it remains in the background, very faint. wearing this makes me feel slightly powerful.

[quikslvr]

A lot lighter than I expected at first go. I expect my nose is overloaded: will try again later.

 

2nd try: mostly cypress at first, with a sweet underscore. Kind of lemony. Once it settles down, though, it's beautiful, if dangerous-smelling. "Woman on the hunt" is what comes to mind. The patchouli resembles musk, and backed by the fig and tonka, it seems awfully dark and intoxicating.

[Ajila]

Wet on me this was purely cyclamen, which was quite sad, because I was hoping for the fig and ginger, it was still nice enough though. In the dry down the tonka bean took over and there was a slight edge of ginger, which again was nice, if not spectacular. It didn't hang around on me for very long.

[slave1]

In Bottle: Cypress, rose and patchouli.

 

On Skin: The cypress gives a very green planty scent as does the cyclamen. The rose is also strong and a bit powdery. The patchouli gives it grit and almost a dirt scent… I’m not smelling anything sweet… no neither the fig or tonka bean. This scent is very incensy, which is not me, but it is exotic and interesting.

[Dark Seraphim]

My first and favorite scent!

 

Bottle: Smelt like pine and lemon. Crisp and strong. Compelled me to try it almost immedietly.

 

Worn: Truly excellent! Smells like a combination of sweet musk, pine, lemon, forest, and a a garden filled with everything. So long lasting that when I put it on in the afternoon, it was still there the next morning.

 

Burnt: Doesn't seem to fare so well here. Works just fine, but there are better scents that could be burnt.

 

This one is clearly meant to be worn rather than thrown on a burner. I love this one to pieces and will be going after a 10ML one. 9/10

[aidenraine]

Holy yumminess batman!

 

I smell pine and musk- a peppery sort of tang. A bit of citrus. Somehow this avoids smelling like a cleaning product, as I'd expect of a pine-citrus scent. Ah, now the rose is emerging, and it's beginning to smell a bit like some of the Crabtree & Evelyn hand lotions. It's a clean smell on me somehow, not overly patchouli dominated.

 

The musk definitely dominates at first. Kind of musk-pine-citrus-rose in that order. I like this initially much more than I do as time passes.

 

Hm, I think I'd love this as a unique room oil in December. When it's wet it's like burning incense next to a Christmas tree.

 

After some time:

 

Musky pine, methinks. Sometimes soapy on me, sometimes dirty. An intriguingly shifty, inconsistent blend.

[slugbait]

Ivory soap when in the imp. While wet on my skin, still smells like soap. On the dry down, smells somewhat like soap with an incense undertone. Ugh! Maybe I have wonky chemistry going on. I was hoping for something a little more complex. Sigh. Nemesis isn’t working out for me. Into the swap pile.