L'Agonie

[VioletChaos]

Apricot and blood orange with dragon's blood absolute, golden vanilla, chamomile, white honey, and oudh.

Full disclosure- I adored the apricot-orange mix in 4 Seasons: Winter so much that I blind-bought TWO bottles of this just based on that other scent. Now I get to see if this was a genius move or a terrible idea!

In The Bottle: Sweet apricot and tart blood orange, right off the bat.

Wet On Skin: The orange starts to mellow as it warms on my skin, bringing the apricot right to the front of the line. The dragon's blood cuts through in the background with a slight edge of acridity, an unusual but perfect touch, considering the sweetness of the two dominant fruit notes. The white honey might be back there, too, but only by a hair.

Dry Down: All of the above, but more finely tuned, less as separate entities, more an integrated phenomena. I get no vanilla or oudh, but they're not missed- this sweet, soft fruit scent is lovely as is, and I suspect that as we move further into spring, it will definitely become more and more of a go-to scent for me.

In All: Low throw and just lovely, glad I got my bottles all lined up! Edited March 1, 2017 by VioletChaos

[Foodie]

Haha VioletChaos, I did THE EXACT SAME THING! I absolutely fell in love with Four Seasons Winter and when I saw this had apricot/orange too I blind bought two bottles.

L'Agonie has that same happy apricot that I loved so much in Four Seasons Winter. But the blood orange is the dominant note in this one. When wet, it actually smelled a lot like smarties. Then came the strong and tangy blood orange.

As it dried, the vanilla let itself be known. Someone near me actually said "what smells like vanilla" lol.

When huffing my wrist I could smell the honey and oud, which I have become somewhat familiar with from Entertaining the Heian Court Maiden. The honey/oud combo is like crack to me, there's something about it that I can't get enough of. Dragon's blood is also a note that I'm very fond of and it's there too, adding a little mystery.

After about two hours the blood orange has faded and I'm left with a joyous, soft, alluring honey oud with a touch of apricot.

I might love this even more than Four Seasons Winter, I'm patting my own back for ordering two bottles.

[LizziesLuck]

I almost didn't grab a decant of this one, because orange so rarely works on me, but blood orange occasionally does, and I love these other notes, so here goes!

 

 

Wet: OMG the apricot is so good!! Lovers of Aristocratic Couple, take note. The orange is beautiful with it so far, but I am still guarded about it. This is so sunny and fruity and tangy!! Yum. I want to put some rum in it and drink it.

 

 

Dry: I love this, so glad I took a chance on it. I adore apricot scents, and this does not disappoint. The orange just adds even more brightness and tang to the apricot. It's sweet and tangy at the same time. I can't detect Dragon's Blood, vanilla, or any of the other notes, but the scent is grounded and really lasts, so I am guessing those all contribute to that. Apricot is the star of this though, on me at least, and I will likely end up with a bottle.

[Jenjin]

I hesitated on grabbing a bottle of this since I'm still loving a couple of the phoenix with similar notes, but had to try a decant for the apricot since it's seriously lacking in my collection. I've tried several apricot scents and still haven't found the right one.

Tart, tangy apricot upfront, it's blended very well with the blood orange which is soft and creamy. It's very pretty and girly overall, fresh and i'm loving the golden chamomile and yummy vanilla. The tiny bit of citrus adds a beautiful PUNCH and delicately sweet. Bottle upgrade for this sweetie.

Edited March 21, 2017 by Jenjin

[Miss Landau]

I'm a big fan of Grand Guignol so I suspected I'd like this and I do. While Grand Guignol smells to me like dried apricots (plus booze) these are fresh, plus the zing of fresh cut oranges. It's seriously bright and bracing at first, then a more rounded sweetness starts coming out. Love it.

[RiverPoet]

In the bottle: orange juice!

 

On, wet: heavily apricot, with the tang of orange behind it.

 

Drydown: well hello, dragon's blood. Knew you'd be here shortly.

 

Dry: this blends into a nice combination of apricot, spice from the DB, and sweet powder from the oudh. The DB keeps it from being too soft. Moderate throw initially, then fades away over two hours.

 

On the plus side, the honey is nowhere to be found - so often honey can go totally cat-pee on me.

[tziporra]

I bought this one because apricot and Aristocratic couple but this is all about the orange on me. It's potpourri orange on my skin too, which is making me sad. I get some honey and a little apricot when wet, but then it's orange orange orange. Im going to try it again but despite my absolute love of the artwork I think it might be a pass for me.

 

Tzi

[Casablanca]

In the bottle, I get apricot-blood orange mingled on a subtle resinous base of dragon’s blood.

 

On my skin, same thing. The fruit is pretty and on the tart and tangy side. Oh, there’s some creamy vanilla wafting in, but not turning creamsicle with the blood orange. Thank you! It does seem golden — lovely. There’s just a bit of honey sweetness but nothing strong. I was a fan of Four Seasons: Winter, and this is good, too.

 

After this dries, I get a hint of the chamomile, which adds interest, but it stays subtle. And the dragon’s blood comes out. This DB is closer to the real thing than I think I’ve smelled in a perfume before, which is to say, it reminds me a little of a red brick. A resinous, red brick. The DB was the only reason I hesitated on this blend, but if you like DB, this is a great note for it. I don’t pick out oudh here.

 

Solid blend and different enough from Four Seasons: Winter to not be redundant with it for me.

[renfair]

I got this as a decant from a Luper circle.

First Sniff Impression: A somehow spiced, rich honey orange and apricot. Like a cordial or candy almost.

Wet in Vial: In the vial it's heavily orange lollipop, like the cheap ones you'd get at the doctor's office.

Drying Down on Skin: Applied the notes besides the fruits come out, balancing everything out so it's less candy-like. What I think is the dragon's blood gives is a rich spiciness for support.

 

Dry on Skin: This has a nice spiciness to it that really helps to balance out what would probably be a heavy, syrupy orange without it. I don't get as much apricot as orange, but maybe that's what's adding to the heaviness of the fruit, along with the honey. But the oudh and dragon's blood are nice and subtle in the background. However, I feel like this would make a better candle scent than perfume for me.

Conclusion: This oil wasn't bad at all, but it wasn't quite right for me. However, the balance of fruit to incense was really well done. If I was more into candied orange and muskier scents, I think I would have loved this.

[zankoku_zen]

Luscious apricot/orange with touches of vanilla, honey, and oudh. This one was a prettier and more delicious blend than I anticipated. For those of you that sort of want a Jingo-Kogo style dupe, I'd give this a whirl. It's missing the sandalwood, of course. But you get some of that lovely fruit on, and then with the vanilla and honey making an appearance. Medium throw and wear length.

[gloame]

Such a tart burst of citrus on first sniff! Always on the hunt for a good apricot, but I knew it was a risk with blood orange, which often overwhelms on my skin. In this, the ough almost saves the day for me. Very similar to Winter: 4 Seasons, which also went too orange on me. It's lovely, but I'm not sure about it. May let it sit for a little longer to see if I change my mind on it - on the fence right now.

 

Where I'd wear this: To watch the sunrise at Midsummer.

[Lucchesa]

L'Agonie is sweet! Blood orange, apricot and honey, all of them ripe and dripping. I am unable to perceive any oudh here, which is fine with me. I love dragon's blood though which adds a spicy depth, and the vanilla is there anchoring everything and lasting and lasting. Perfectly lovely!

[Wench457]

I put it on this morning, and immediately thought: "Lemon meringue pie!" So I added some Pickle HG and thought no more about it.

 

Now, a couple hours later, I CANNOT stop sniffing myself. The citrus has faded into the background and this is now a glorious swirl of sweet vanilla and oudh and apricot. I adore a good oudh, and this is one of the best, imo. Musky and rich, without overpowering the other notes. I'm not getting a lot of DBR, except just a hint of spiciness to add zest. This has aged incredibly well.

[torischroeder9]

In the decant: Blood orange and accompanying sweetness (maybe fruity, maybe honey). 

 

On my skin:

 

Apricot springs up first wet. As it dries, also blood orange, dragon's blood, and vanilla. 

 

A few minutes after it's dry, the dragon's blood and vanilla both fade from detection. The blood orange is still present but cedes dominance to the apricot. The blood orange note is sweeter than I expect, but I can't tell if that's due to the sweetness of the apricot or to one of the other sweet notes, such as the honey. 

 

As it settles and warms on me (about 15 minutes after the previous paragraph), it's apricot being amped but sweetened blood orange closer (but not only super close) to my skin. I can't pinpoint a single origin to the sweet note. It could be just the apricot. Could also be dragon's blood and/or honey. Could also even be a bit of the vanilla acting to round out the orange. The result is both fruity and grounded.