Oberon

[HamletsKeeper]

Orchid, white musk, and bergamot wafting over juniper berries, with a gentle touch of soft, earthy patchouli.

Bottle Sniff Something watery green and vaguely detergent-like. Just like a rain scented body wash.

Wet Juniper berries and a hint of musk. Nothing else really comes out at this stage.

Drydown More Juniper than floral, it has a cool crisp edge. If there is bergamot in here it must be very extremely restrained because I can't catch a whiff of it at all. No citrus whatsoever present. I can't really detect any individual notes with this one its just a clean scent. Average wear length and low throw, it would be a sports scent for a woman and an everyday scent for a man.

Edited to revise: Ok so I have since discovered that Patchouli is my bpal nemesis and yet I really like this blend. The patchouli doesn't make an appearance at all. This scent smells like a fragrant wood to me. Wood as in a lump of it, not a forrest. A bit like cedar, a bit like sandalwood, although it's definately got a conifer thing going on. Good scent if you want something alpine but don't want actual pine. The more I wear it, the more I like it. I wanted to get a woody scent and I think I've found it. Ironic considering it has no wood in it. I think it's the juniper berries, my skin loves fruits and this one is a woody fruit. Nice bottle of win. Edited December 8, 2009 by Shollin

[levelek]

I wanted the bergamot and the musk from this, above all, with some woodsy freshness.

 

In the vial: soapy aquatic with almost a peachy undertone.

 

Drydown: still a soapy aquatic, but with a definite floral character now: the orchid overtakes. It feels very salty! I can identify only hints of the juniper and the citrus. Really, really do not like this.

 

Dry: soapy orchid with a strong, masculine, aquatic character. The juniper asserts itself more strongly and that must be what is giving it the strength. Ooh - it's almost balancing out the orchid now! And it's giving out a 'don't mess with me' feel. ETA: reading the above reviews, I can definitely see the lump of wood analogy. With soap smeared all over it /ETA Very interesting. I don't hate it the way I did at first, but I still don't like it

Edited October 28, 2009 by levelek

[Venneh]

In the frimp, I'm getting what I think is the orchid, the white musk, and the bergamont; no patchouli or juniper. On my skin, the Faerie King seems to be made of a rapidly fading white musk and a vague orchid. Hmm. His Majesty is mostly white musk and bergamont. Nothing I'm too big of a fan of; swaps/sales.

Edited December 11, 2009 by Venneh

[reynardine]

In imp: A bit of orchid and musk

 

Wet: Very light musk, touch of orchid. Very, very light scent.

 

Drydown: Went to soap on me.

 

Sorry, this one wasn't meant to be. Off to swap pile.

[Ajila]

In the bottle - I don't really pick up on any of the specific notes, but it's a warm, clean musk with hints of something berryish

 

Wet on me - A soft, slightly heady floral

 

Dry on me - A light, powdery floral with a hint of musk

 

Overall - Suprisingly delicate and pretty, but not something that I would wear

[thebirdofhermes]

In bottle: Light yellow oil. Sharp, astringent. Mostly perfume-y.

 

On skin, wet: A whole lot of nothing, really. There's something that makes me go, "Eww, bug spray" but otherwise, it smells like I didn't even put much of anything on.

 

On skin, fifteen minutes later: DEET. It smells like DEET. UGH. Get it off me. There's a very nice floral hiding in here, trying to get out, but something is turning this to straight up insect repellent on me.

 

On skin, hours later: The DEET went away. Not much throw to it, I suppose, since no one commented on it and I'm picking up much more from the Aelopile I'm still wearing from twelve hours ago. It's now a really nice tartish floral, with something that reminds me of LUSH's The Olive Branch (the bergamot, I believe). I just can't handle the part where it smells like bug spray; I get a headache just from the mental assosciations of that scent. So, inasmuch as the tartish floral is really quite lovely (and eliminates one of the suspected bad notes), I will not be keeping this. I can't do the wait.

[Unicorncupcake]

I'm not too familiar with any of these notes, but my initial impression was of heady white flowers and nighttime. I would have never guessed that it had any of these notes in it! It is really beautiful in the imp and wet, but it seems I have awful skin chemistry because after a moment it turns into headachey green chemical smell.

[fairestrocza]

In the Imp: perfumey

 

Wet on Skin: the floral note is pretty aggressive at first

 

While Drying: very sweet, a similar sweetness to that which I get from fig/plum notes. Not liking this stage so far.

 

After a Little While: over-the-top floral with an almost-cloying sweetness

 

Later: a touch of musk starts to come through, and the floral dies back a tiny bit, but I don't think this is my kind of scent.

 

Final Thoughts: I may keep this around to see if age helps bring out the patchouli and tame the floral sweetness… or maybe not - I am developing a headache. I will need to test a few more orchid blends to see if it works for me somewhere else.

Oberon earns a 2/5 on my skin.

[Blithgunde]

Ahh, lovely sweet floweriness when I first put it on.

 

Settles into a cool musky floral scent with a touch of bergamot spiciness and a swish of something deeper. Civilized is the word I want to describe this. Civilized and restrained. Oberon could burst forth with waves of patchouli and musk but he doesn't; he lets the orchid lead the way while the other notes support and frame her delicacy.

 

Oberon would be devastating on a gentleman in evening dress. I wear him as a dress-up scent to complement business suits or a little black dress. He puts me in a formal mood and reminds me to use the lady-like manners I was brought up to.

[jizatt]

Oberon wet is to die for. I was swoony and tempted to edit my top 10, seriously. I think its the white musk/orchid/juniper berry that Im loving,

 

And then it dries. Something here does not love me, but I dont have bad notes in this one? Must be a combination of them on my skin. So sad =/

[impolight]

:::OBERON:::

 

The only suitable word to describe the first impression of Oberon is... Mystification.

Really?

There is NO Jonquil/Narcissus in here???

A wager would have been confidently placed on that notion and pockets would have certainly wept...

Oberon is clean and seems to emnate light. This is certainly appropriate as a Shakespearean fragrance.

Oberon encapsulates the stuff of legend.

There is chivalry here, there are fae-folk, there are royal gardens, there are strains of music plucked from a lute.

On the skin, Oberon amps, but doesn't really morph. Sadly, the nose must lack a degree of sophistication because the Patchouli and Juniper berries are all but detectable.

It must be the Orchid, either by itsself or combined with other notes, trying so hard to pass as Narcissus.

Surreal...

The musks in Oberon are quite nice; they offer a bit of cushion upon which to laze and contemplate good fortune.

Oberon is very good.

Unisex.

Fresh.

Inspirational.

5/5!

[girasol]

In the imp: soft soapiness, and gently floral

 

Wet: Soapy soapy soapy, sudsy fun

 

Dry: Yep, still soapy. In a nice way.

 

Verdict: I'm thinking it's the orchid and juniper that's giving Oberon this soapy freshness? This scent could be quite comforting I think. You know the feeling when you were a little kid and you'd get out of a bubble bath with suds still clinging to you, and your mum would dry you off and put you in a fresh pair of pajamas and tuck you into bed and read you a bedtime story, and you'd drop off to sleep with a smile on your face? This scent is that, bottled.

[SophieCedar]

This is way more refreshing than any body wash or soap I've ever used. Yes, it has an undeniable drug store body wash freshness to it. However this grows on me. Makes me miss a few drug store products' fragrances (that on the other hand, I don't miss for their weird chemicals and animal testing)

[Saya]

A very light, soapy, generic scent. Boring.

 

Off to swaps.

[FelicityTwitchell]

On my significant other:

 

When wet the Oberon has moldy, starch and a bit of a sharp cologne smell on him.

 

Once dry the smell calmed down but still isn't what I would call pleasant.

 

I can't imagine this one suiting me either, it goes in the reject pile.

Edited May 16, 2010 by FelicityTwitchell

[aquazoo]

Not just a floral, a romp through a field. The juniper gives a nice edge, and sits nicely with the blooms. Decent throw, too.

 

[tallan]

Wet: Ooooh I immediately like this. I think I can identify the orchid, bergamot, and (thankfully tame) juniper berries. Possibly the white musk as well, there's something soft in this that reminds me of Kitsune-Tsuki. This is very light and airy, almost ethereal. Not an impression I expected from a scent containing patchouli. Of course, I'm still waiting for that note to appear.

 

Dry: This is decidedly floral, but the bergamot makes it gender neutral to me. Still soft and light, it seems to disappear pretty fast. And I'm still missing the patchouli. But this is very, very good even without it. Fresh and fey. I can absolutely see Oberon smelling like this.

 

 

Many months later

Either my taste or smelling capacities have changed, or Oberon has, with aging - now all I get is soapy florals heading straight for fabric softener territory. Crud. I had hopes for this one.

Edited November 22, 2011 by tallan

[V294]

So this was one of the first bpals I'd ordered in imp form some years ago and it came broken. Now, many years later I have a bottle and I'm so happy I got it! I might amp the florals or something, but it smells too pretty to me to be masculine.

 

 

I definitely think it's the florals I smell, probably the orchid though it could be the bergamont actually as it's reminding me of Ananya by the body shop which I've had forever.

Edited August 5, 2011 by V294

[Ghost of a Rose]

This lab frimp turned out to be a spectacular winner! Thank you, thank you, labbies!

 

In the imp: A clear, light yellow oil. The orchid is all I can smell. And oh my goddess, is it beautiful! I can already tell that this will be a favorite.

 

On me, wet: Same as above. All orchid, and gorgeous. I can't wait to see if the other notes come out on drydown. But I'd love it even if it stays just the same as it is now. The white musk might smell similar enough to the orchid that my nose isn't sensitive enough to separate it out.

 

On me, just dried: Ah yes, there's the juniper berry to add a bit of sharp spicy nuance to the orchid. I'm surprised that I'm not getting any patchouli - it usually hogs the limelight!

 

After a few hours: I never did get much of a patchouli note. What I think is the white musk did become a little more apparent on drydown. Although the orchid remains the dominant player, the overall impression becomes more like a classic and very elegant perfume. In fact, at the end, the final note reminds me of the lingering scent of Chanel No. 5 after it has been on the skin for a while. (And yeah, I always did get a bit of a soap impression from Chanel #5 so I can kind of see where some of the other reviewers are coming from. But I love nice-smelling soaps, I love Chanel #5, and I love this!)

 

Verdict: A gorgeous and fabulously elegant blend suitable for the most formal occasions. To me this seems ultra feminine, in spite of the name and the other reviews. I can't really picture a guy wearing an orchid corsage, which is the image I get from this blend. (The corsage, I mean, not the guy.) It's interesting how different my take on this is from many other reviewers. This is one of my favorites and is immediately going on my shortlist for a bottle!

 

My rating: 5+

Edited September 6, 2011 by Ghost of a Rose

[Maleficium]

Imp: Wet soapy fresh bodywash smell. Meh. But I'll give it a try anyway

 

Wet: much better on my skin. I think...orchid? I don't smell any juniper or anything patchouli. It turns soft and light on my skin, reminds me of the month of may.

 

dry: still very soapy and floral.

 

Not for me.

[WidgetAlley]

Imp: Sweet moss! Citrus and orchid over a bit of fresh juniper and musk. Smells like idealized forest moss.

 

Wet: Orchid, mostly, along with a faint hint of bergamot and a hefty shot of white musk. I don't get a whole lot of either juniper or patchouli from this at the moment, so it's mostly a high-pitched very sweet floral. I get the bodywash comparison but on me it smells more like a commercial candle.

 

Dry: Screaming orchid, bergamot and overly sweet white musk. Lovely on the right person but on me it ends up heavily cloying and headachey. Guess I'm just not woman enough to handle a Faerie king!

[tdgnika]

In the imp, this is all orchid in the imp, and the first day I smelled the imp, I put it back in my box, not wanting to risk a heavy, floral scent.

 

On the day I braved it, the smell in the imp and smell of it wet on my skin are totally different. Wet on the skin, I get a light wood smell. Patchouli is usually all dorm-room hippy, and I don't like it, but this is a much lighter wood note, like a light sandalwood or balsa. Started throwing that wood smell after about an hour, which I'm not crazy about.

 

On dry down, the wood has faded back but isn't gone entirely, more floral has come forward.

 

It's a really nice, light smell balanced well between wood and floral. Not sure if I'll keep it or not - I don't wear light florals much and already have more than I'll probably ever wear. But, my late kitty was named Oberon, so there's a sentimental thing... Decisions, decisions.

[angelamaria]

In imp: clean, light, and gender neutral, although leaning towards the masculine side. Mostly well-balanced notes, but I think the bergamot edges out a little bit more than the rest (but not enough to be bergamot-heavy).

 

Wet on skin: bergamot, orchid, and white musk. This makes me think of clean skin, freshly out from the shower--definitely more on the masculine side. Very, very nice--would love to smell this on a guy. It's an understated sexy scent, like maybe something he might wear to work but you'd like to jump him anyway. As this dries, the juniper berries are coming out to sweeten this up a bit more--but it's very subtle, almost not there, and if I didn't have the components on hand I wouldn't be able to say it's berries.

 

Dry: all warmed up on my skin, this is fabulous. This doesn't change so much from the wet phase, aside from that slight sweetening thing from the berries, but it's still a masculine, bergamod/orchid/musk blend. I don't get the patchouli, but I think it's definitely present to give this a bit of an "edge", a sexy base for the other notes to build on.

 

Verdict: not for me, but it would be a definite yes from me for a guy

[heartbeast]

This is my second light masculine blend in two days that seems to have aged into a beautiful fresh unisex scent. (The first was Mr. Qubit.) When I first put it on, it reminded me of Benefit's discontinued "Bathina" body balm--a scent I like, but not what I was expecting from the King of the Fairies! They have the bergamot and the white musk in common, so I think that's what was going on. Anyhow, I found Oberon to be ideal for a cool fresh fall day with the threat of more rain hanging over the cleanliness from yesterday's storm. I'd say the juniper dominated a bit after the drydown, but all in all it was just a smooth, fresh and subtle blend.

[Monday]

Wow I actually find this extremely feminine! Orchid white musk and bergamot, I'm not getting any patchouli or juniper it reminds me a bit of The Olive Branch actually. Perfumey with tons of throw.