Over-Acuteness of the Senses

[stellamaris]

And have I not told you that what you mistake for madness is but over-acuteness of the sense? now, I say, there came to my ears a low, dull, quick sound, such as a watch makes when enveloped in cotton. I knew that sound well, too. It was the beating of the old mans heart. It increased my fury, as the beating of a drum stimulates the soldier into courage.



Hyper-aware, swirling with delusions: orange blossom, lemon balm, and clove.

I love this, its very pretty. The lemon balm is super lemony, a plus for me. Very fresh.

[Soupy Twist]

Opens as a good lemon cough drop, dries as hard lemon candy, gone in 30 minutes, leaving a not-particularly-pleasant orange/lemon/citrus floor cleaner note. erg.

[zankoku_zen]

Sugary lemon balm with a touch of orange. Medium throw and wear length.

[Beary Strange]

March 2022 Update: It needs to age!

 

I've come back to this a couple times since purchasing it in late 2017 but would never do more than sniff it, chicken out of trying it again, and continue to age it. I finally decided to give it another chance, and I have to say: aging has made all the difference.

 

The first thing I notice is the lack of the bitter smell that bothered me so much before. The second is an oddly minty quality I never picked up on before that cleared my sinuses instantly. As a chronic allergy sufferer, that's very interesting.

 

Wet, very in your face lemon and orange; dry, it's a surprisingly cold lemony mint (which I guess is the lemon balm) accompanied by an orange that in turns smells like orange juice and orange oil to me. If I concentrate, I can get that it's actually orange blossom I'm smelling, but it's not where my mind goes to first, but after a while it does smell more orange blossomy than orange juice/oil. And I still don't get any clove, which is a bummer, but honestly, now that it's aged and smells great, I don't even mind and I think the lack of it is going to make this a very good summer scent. I'd also classify this as medium throw and wear length, with the caveat that it is very intense when first applied and definitely benefits from the dry down.

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

2017 impression:

In the bottle and wet, I get a strong orange and lemon oil smell. Pleasant, but also sort of akin to furniture polish. There's also a light undercurrent of something bitter. Dry, the orange and lemon scent is still there but the bitter smell really overpowers it--it reminds me of when you accidentally bite a bit of orange peel and flowers that have wilted and are starting to smell bad. I'm not getting any clove whatsoever. Based on the description, I was really hoping for a pomander scent, but the bitter, rotting flower petal smell really amps on me instead.

Edited March 2, 2022 by Beary Strange

[LizziesLuck]

Wet: This is fresh and lemony (a sweet lemon, almost candied) and very clean smelling, with the bitterness of orange blossom (it is SUPER bitter on me) underneath. Not getting any clove that I can pick out. So far I am not a fan, it smells like a lemon hand wash I have in my kitchen - no a perfume I want to smell like.

 

 

Dry: This is all about the lemon. It has good strength and lasting power too, which I find rare for a citrus scent, so if you're looking for something that really packs a fresh, strong, lemon punch without too much tartness, give this a shot! It's quite nice, just not to my taste.

[trinitysite]

I got this because I had an imp of Succubus ages ago, loved it, decided to order a bottle, and saw it was discontinued (whomp-whomp) -- so, anything that's citrus + clove seems worth a shot in case it's similar.

 

Verdict: nope. This one goes on super lemony. I can't smell the clove at all (note: this is the second scent involving cloves where the clove is invisible to me). The lemon gets a little softer on drydown, and then the whole thing vanishes pretty quickly. The only redeeming quality is that I put on the shirt I was wearing yesterday when I tried Over-Acuteness out (don't judge me!) and I liked the way the blend had stuck to my shirt a little.

[Carolan Ivey]

Orange blossom is hands-down my favorite floral scent of all time, so I jumped on this as soon as I saw orange blossom listed first in its description.

 

Wet: On me it starts out eye-watering lemon pledge. I was hoping for the fresh lemon/herbal scent of the balm.

 

Dry: It softens quite a bit on dry-down but I'm not getting any orange blossom. It's a softer version of lemon pledge with a touch of clove.

 

After one hour: Nope. Going all chemical-y on my skin. Off to the swap/sell box.

[Little Bird]

A very sharp, tart, slightly sour lemon on my skin, with the hint of clove making it medicinal and strange. I don't get anything like orange or orange blossom. Only lasts about 20 minutes on me before it's just a barely there smudge of sour lemon.

[ramblingrambler]

I actually don't mind this in all stages. It's a bright, sharp lemon, somewhere between one of those lemon candies you find at Cracker Barrel coated in sugar to keep it from being too sour, and a lightly sweetened lemonade on a very hot day. I get almost no orange blossom from this, but that's okay—I'm Floridian . Dries the same way it opens: high, sharp, bright. Not a cleaner scent on me, thankfully!

[Lucchesa]

This was a gift from an incredibly generous forumite, and I wish it worked on me better. It struck me as a bright, summery scent and I tested it again yesterday. It goes on with a potent dose of lemon balm, reminiscent of a citronella candle; this phase might be good aromatherapy for concentration. After an hour or so, the lemon shifts into the background on me, and it morphs into an orange blossom-dominated scent, which goes somewhat soapy on me, as orange blossom sometimes does. This lasts a really long time. The faint bit of clove I'm getting is more like clove bud than the actual spice. Decent throw and good wear length, but an orange blossom that doesn't agree with my chemistry.