Helpful Crone

[ladymeag]

Enhance your Wise Woman cred with this combination of sage, shrewd oils. Herbs of wisdom, flowers of wit, and the comforting scent of the hearth: hyssop, oak leaf, acorn hull, elder blossom, three sages, and tobacco absolute, with kitchen herbs and raw honey.

First things first, my bottle came labeled "Helpful Crone" not "Sympathetic Crone." So, it looks like a name change happened before labels were made.

In the bottle: honey, which usually overpowers everything and ... vanilla, is that you?

On my skin: Sweet, warm, a little deep. I'm not picking up any of the sage, kitchen herbs, or elder flower at all - which is fine by me, honestly. The honey combines with some of the other things and kind of makes for a patchouli-less Feed Me and Fill Me With Pleasure. It has a bit of the cologne-y bite of tobacco/vanilla blends, which should mellow a little bit with age. The honey isn't the variety that goes powdery but it is a bit syrupy on me, again like FMaFMWP. There seems to be a faint woods behind it all, which I think is the acorn and oak leaf coming through.

I'm conflicted - if it were less sweet, it might be just right. If you like honey, this is the thing for you.

If you like this try: Feed Me and Fill Me With Pleasure, Araña, O.

[Gwydion]

In bottle: This is fascinating and surprisingly sexy. The sages are dominant with herbal support. The tobacco is second strongest with oak and accorn support, and is bringing and unexpected sexiness to it. The hyssop ties the sage and herbs to the tobacco in a graceful fashion. The honey is soft and smoothes the edges. The flowers are gentle and enhance the hyssop. There is a wildness and kitchen garden feel that combined suit the concept well. Wet: Very herbal on the skin. The herbs and tobacco are strongest with sage in support of the herbs, and the oak/acorn in support of tobacco. The unusual and delicate flower blend is stronger here, dancing wonderfully with the herbs, with the understated honey tying the whole blend together. This blends beautifully together and is evocative while being hard to pin down. I really like this. Dry: Really lovely. The herbal mix and the flowers twine gently around the hyssop, oak, and tobacco as it fades slowly down.

[patina]

I get a light honey and also musk (the tobacco, sage, and hyssop). Also there's something that my brain insists is hazelnut. There's some oak underneath, I do get a tannic/ vanilla-woody smell.

 

This is kind of like getting a big hug in perfume form from an idealized herbalist grandmother. It's a seriously comforting foody scent. (Though it's not all that foody because of the tobacco and acorns.)

[zankoku_zen]

Tobacco, honey, hazelnuts and herbs. This smells like a witchy kitchen. Slightly foody, smoky, and herby.

 

Not my kind of blend, but those that are fond of Floating Market, Fairy Market, the Exotic Bazaar and other blends that TAKE YOU PLACES, I'd give this a whirl.

[ReallyZeb]

This is my surprise winner of all the Yules. It doesn't morph much on me - I get sage honey, foodiness without it being sweet, a wild green edge and what I think is the oak, the acorns and the tobacco giving woody resins to round it all out. Lovely.

[Astarial]

On first sniff, this is grassy and herbal, and based on the listed notes I was expecting a sweet herbal scent once on my skin.

 

...Nope. Like some of the previous reviewers, this went very nutty - I wonder if that might be the oak and/or acorn? All the grass and herb notes went away, leaving this as a pure nut-honey scent all day long. And it's strong, too - I've never found a honey scent too sweet for me before, but this one was just... incredibly rich. It eased up after several hours into something I could stomach sniffing more than once, but even then was still quite powerful.

 

Crone is quite unique. I don't think I have anything similar to it, and while the scent is strong, it's not unpleasant. But the sheer richness of that nut-honey makes it something I have a hard time thinking I'd wear frequently, or ever make it through a bottle of.

[Atrous]

Like ReallyZeb, this is a surprise winner for me as well.

An unusual scent that it nutty, herbal, smokey, and slightly sweet.

I'm going to be wearing this one alot.

[Balame]

This is more floral/herbal than foody/tobacco, which is not what I was hoping for. It's a warm yet bright scent.

 

The hyssop provides a sweet white floral note, which is primarily backed by the sage and slightly medicinal smelling herbs. The honey further sweetens things up, but sadly this combination is making me think of sugary cough syrup instead of a welcoming witch in the forest. Not getting any of the acorn either.

[MCS4096]

Ah, oak leaf, hello! To my nose this is heavy on the oak note that I get from Haloes and Haute Macabre. Acorn's presence is making it a nutty oak. After that is a strong, clear sweetness, then a breath of flowers, herbs (I feel it's "herbal" rather than distinguishing that it's sage) and tobacco (just a tad smoky).

 

This reminds me a lot of Haloes, but I like that blend better. Although I wouldnt necessarily classify this blend as "foody", the sweet roasted nuttiness makes me feel a little sick after awhile like many high-throw foody blends do. And this is high throw.

 

Quite lovely though, and interesting!

[Magycmyste]

In the imp: sharp, herbal and very sour.

 

Wet on skin: Still pretty sharp

 

Dried down: ok, there's a bit of sweetness now, probably the honey coming out from behind the herbs

 

Throw: there's a bit from the honey - it's soft and a little powdery.

 

Verdict: *** 1/* ok! the honey pulled this from a two and a half to a three and a half. It's definitely interesting, but, I don't think this scent's for me.

[aquazoo]

Some good floral, then it gets spicy. That must be the herbal note. It’s got a magical tone to it.

[Ajila]

In the bottle - I can't quite pick it out, but it's really like a perfume my mum wore when I was little

 

Wet on me - It's quite faint, but mostly what I get is what I think must be the tobacco, but it is very round and berryish

 

Dry on me - It disappears completely

 

Overall - It's a pity this didn't last on my skin because I think that it would have been quite pretty

[Eemia]

Nooooooooooooo! I think I need more O's in there. Sigh. Everything in here should work beautifully on me but that damn honey is gumming up the works. Once in awhile I can do honey but usually it's a strangely sour musk fest on my skin, the exception being a few fragrances where the other notes effectively drown it out. I'm learning to resist anything with honey listed in the description but this was too hard for me to pass up. Unfortunately it's a mildly nutty, honey dominant scent with a little bit of a sweaty sensation. Not a pleasant sweaty either. More of an oily, body odor type of sweat. I think the herbal quality mixing with the other notes is just turning on me. No hint of tobacco or earthiness. There's a general, pervasive sweetness as well.

 

I left this on for about an hour then had to scrub.

[milo]

Something about this blend reminds me of Bat of Longevity, it's got that same tobacco thing going that is amping up on me. After awhile, it becomes more herbal, and less tobacco-y. I quite like this, it more smells like a sexy dude to me though. Sooo, Helpful Dude?? on me anyways:)

[porcelina]

helpful crone smells dark, nutty and sweet. it's woodsy and not very herbaceous. i very much like the tobacco/honey combination but i am not sure that i care for the nuttiness i get at first.

as it dries, some of the acorn fades away and i am left with a woodsy tobacco honey scent- but this is darker and more primal than other sweet tobacco scents (like my beloved antikythera mechanism). it is not polished; it's dark and a bit wild. i like it and will wear it again for sure.

[Lucchesa]

I was frimped an imp of Sympathetic Crone (as my decant is labelled) by a super generous forumite -- it had been on my wishlist for ages.  It is a honey-dominant scent on me.  Thick honey and something else that seemed foodie on my skin -- the acorn?  It was almost yeasty, like there was bread baking with all the herbs hanging in the crone's kitchen.  A little woods, some sage, a nutty quality -- these are all compliments in my book, and I loved this, but it lasted less than 2 hours on my skin, which obviously isn't due to lack of aging.  I love this and am thrilled I got to try it, but my skin eats it up (very unusual for a honey blend), so I will swap it away because I'm sure others are eager to try it as well.