Cerberus

[ifinena]

... A deep, rumbling scent, warm, soft and as cozy as a dog by a hearthfire, but with a fierce and feral soul: deep chocolate, deeper musks, with a dash of fig, bittersweet walnut, and the wild essences of juniper berry, cubeb and rum.

I am so happy to have gotten a bit of this blend.

In the imp and first few minutes wet on the skin it gives off an intense lemon-y sort of smell. Not unpleasant.
Drying down I think it's the fig that takes over. I don't know what juniper berry smells like but I suspect it may be what gives it a bit of added sweetnes in this stage. I can't get any chocolate unless it's the dark bitter type that keeps the fig and the berry from being too sweet?
Dry stage: It gets sweeter and more grounded.

Cerberus is a very unique blend. It didn't make me swoon, but I've tested it again and again and I've come to like it a lot. I will be reaching for it more and I need to try to get some more.


ETA: Maybe I should have my S.O. try it, too. It may be even better on him Edited March 20, 2008 by Shollin

[martiangurll]

Preconceived Ideas: I love dogs and wolves, so I have to try this. Juniper is usually a winner for me, not sure about the other notes, but sounds like it will be a resin scent, which I will probably dig.

 

In the Imp: Is that chocolate? I don't see chocolate listed in the notes...

 

Wet on Skin: Juniper note predominates but I get a hint of chocolate, almost a bitter note. Definitely foody and masculine in a way, but that suits me just fine.

 

Drydown: Becomes gorgeous and yummy, the wanting to eat my wrist, or at least lick it repeatedly hits. There are hints of chocolate and rum balanced by the juniper, fig and the walnuts. Of all the foody scents I have had the pleasure to sniff, this is the one I most wanted to eat. The musk is present more as a scent impression, I don't smell it as much as feel the warmth of it blanketing the foody notes. It was really more of a gormand than a bakery scent or chocolate. Extemely well blended.

 

 

Overall Impressions: I will have to track down a bottle of this like a bloodhound. It is simply the most delicious gormand scent I have experienced and is very wearable. Not to femme at all, could easily be worn by either gender. I don't want to smell like a bakery, but this achieves the yum factor without being too girly or sweet. I am not sure why this works, but it is heavenly. Curious, as Cerberus is supposed to be the watchdog of Hades...

Edited May 8, 2008 by martiangurll

[moukin]

Cough syrup....nothing but cough syrup on me.

[Eros]

For quite a while I'd been eyeing this, going back and forth, yesnoyesno. In the end I caved and snatched up a bottle and I'm SO glad I did =)

 

In the bottle it's tart red berries with a hint of musk. Once it hits the skin it becomes slightly more musky, with a soft, earthy background. Chocolate notes tend to become a gorgeous, subtle woodsy incense on me, and fig, always a favorite, becomes round, smoky, voluptuous...with those beautiful tart berries hovering in the distance to add the perfect touch of sweetness.

Not at all foody to me(a good thing). This is rather like an Autumn walk through a deep forest and stumbling upon a field of not quite ripe berries as the breeze tickles the nose with the smoke of incense being burned in the distance. At the same time, it becomes part of the skin - musks, fig...which reach out to embrace the other scents swirling about, bringing them closer.

Dark, feral...and comforting, all at the same time.

 

Beautiful!

[themerrybaker]

I was surprised to find chocolate listed as a note in Cerberus. It reminds me more of fierce black licorice whips and feral lemon with some wild walnut still around. It smells good, and I like wearing it, but wonder if the aged version isn't substantially different from the new version.

[LunaDragonGirl]

For some reason, I realized today that I never properly reviewed Cerberus...one of very first bottles of the Preciousss I ordered. So..this is a retroactive review I guess...from June 05's testing:

 

I was SO hopeful that Cerberus would love me...cuddle up to me protectively like a giant irish wolfhound...I took that first unforgettable sniff...and the juniper jumped right up my nose and started slicing at my sinuses and eyeballs. I took a much gentler sniff...still quite sharp...with a hint of cherry cough syrup.

 

Gave my nose a few minutes to calm down, then tried a tiny bit on my wrist from the cap...I couldn't even take this scent for twenty minutes. I tried...oh I tried...hoping it would mellow out into something comforting, as it did on many others. It continued to become even sharper pointy doggy teeth ripping at my head. Instant headache.

 

I'm so sad! I guess I should just stick to cats.

[sunshinedaisybliss]

 

Gosh.. I just got an imp of this via a sale, I had no idea it dated back as far as it did.. I've never really heard it mentioned amongst all the LE swooning around here!

 

What a crazy blend this is.. on me, it started out quite bitter with an almost lemon tang with a very strong fig top - so that must be the "fierce and feral" stage. But as it dries down, the chocolate comes out and that 'bitter' feel goes away.. it goes very dry and musky but in a warm and slightly sweet way - so that must be the "warm, soft and cozy" bit.

 

It keeps changing! That lemon comes back, then goes away. What is THAT about? Lemon's not even mentioned as a note - could it be the juniper berry giving it that 'lemon' flavor? I actually prefer the chocolate-y/musk stage, but that also comes and goes.

 

Anyway - this is fabulous.. very unique, and definitely worth a try if you can find some!

 

[Lamia]

I was so fortunate to have been frimped some by Ondine, much love!!

 

This smells very lemony on me. It took some effort to puzzle it out while wet, and that itself is unusual - who can't recognize lemons?? It became lemon and a red musk. I get no chocolate. May get some rum.

 

[Wwindy]

Wow, that cubeb comes off really citrus-y!

 

This seems like it's all lemony pink pepper on me. I wonder if maybe some of the notes didn't hold up well over time, or if this decant didn't get an even distribution of notes...

[crebbsgirl]

Ok, I put this on without reading the reviews and I thought I was going a little nutty for a minute. There was chocolate, yes, and musks, yes, but also something distinctly candy like. WTH? And then I read the reviews. What I must be smelling is the cubeb. There is a definite candy edge to this, which threw me right for a loop. I like it, but it's a little sweet for me.

[DifferentDances]

Bottle: Chocolate liqueur, musk, juniper berry (I love this note in the Yule blends...)

Wet: Rum, cherry cough syrup, tint of juniper.

Drydown: Some sort of alcoholic juniper.

Dry: Slightly sugary, slightly boozy juniper.

 

My rating: 2/5

Edited August 2, 2010 by DifferentDances

[bicyclette]

I've had this 5ml kicking around forever- how have I never reviewed it?

 

In the bottle: definitely getting the root beer vibe some other posters have mentioned.

 

Wet: More root beer, but now there's a fruity note and something faintly herbal- the juniper?

 

Dry: Sweet, spicy, and yummy. Almost reminiscent of spiced baked goods, but not overly foody.

[LizziesLuck]

I have had this on my list of things I needed to hunt down for a while. I realize this has potential to be amazing on me, or terrible. All the notes are great for me, except juniper and cubeb, which can both be disastrous. So this is a gamble, but I wanted to take it.

 

Wet: Spicy, fiery cubeb (though I am enjoying it here), musk, some chocolate. The cubeb is going lemony, as it often does. I know from experience though that if I leave it on my skin for 45 mins or so, it sort of "burns off". I think this will need to settle a while on my skin before I decide about it, but so far it's mostly cubeb, hints of juniper berry, and musk. Not what I had hoped. Pretty much the opposite of what I hoped, actually. But it's not at all terrible.

 

 

Dry: Once the cubeb finally dies down (which was more like 2 hours, with this) it's a pleasant berry and musk scent. I can see where others have gotten root beer, but that's not what's strongest on me. It's not knocking my socks off though, and that makes me really sad. And while it's quite pleasant now, it took FOREVER to get here. I may have to swap it.