Sophia

[AlaskaSnows]

The Gnostic goddess of Wisdom. A solemn, deeply profound draught of lavender, soft musks, star jasmine, black rose, delphinium, and gentle spice.

Lavender, florals... soft and nuanced and complex. Lovely. A tad herbal because of the lavender. Has a real depth. A keeper!

[lookingglass]

Initially this is super lavender...very herbal and fresh. Whoa.

On the drydown, a hint of dark rose emerges with a little citrus...hmmm, and a tiny bit of spicy. I am thinking Harlot, but not as strong with the rose. The jasmine is sweet, a little sharp, but beautiful with the spice and musk...very unique. Dried out it is a fresh, floral powdery musk, but there is something slighty vinegary..is that the jasmine? DH hates florals, but notices that the musk is holding all of it down. It is like Gauko and Phantom Queen's baby. If Chimera is my end of the winter scent, than Sophia follows close behind. I don't know if I'll keep her yet, though: The musk is not as forward as I'd like. Phantom Queen's apple note is what I love the best about that floral/herbal blend. We'll have to wait and see.

[WidgetAlley]

Frimp from HoneyHoneyNY. So much .

 

In the Imp: Bracing, floral-herbal lavender, sharp and heady, but a little tamed by other underlying flowers (particularly that distinct duo, jasmine and rose), and a sense of velvety musk. The same sort of spice I picked out in Queen is also present.... this sounds harmonious, but it's actually striking me as a little odd. It's not that it's a bad smell, it's just not quite as coherent as it sounds.... I'm not at all sure I like it. The Queen-spice is turning my stomach a bit (maybe there's geranium? Or lemongrass? They both nauseate me.) Still, I'll give it a go. *brave*

 

Wet: Oh, that's not too bad. It's mostly lavender at first, before the rose makes a graceful, if powdery, appearance, supported by warm jasmine (jasmine is always a very thick, tactile smell to my nose, almost as though you could cut it with a knife.) The delphinium is, I'm sure, in there somewhere, but I'm not able to detect it specifically, and the spice has died down to a managable level. Musk is very obviously the base note, and really sort of a top and middle note too; it's very present, swirling and blending with the others quite nicely. And hoo boy, does this puppy have some musky-floral throw! I have to say, I certainly don't get impressions of soft or delicate from this: this is pretty, but sturdy.

 

Dry: Clean but not too soapy rose, femme jasmine and other florals, and musk, accented with just a bare hint of lavender and spice. Hrrrm. Well. I wanted to love this, and, while I can definitely see a woman buried in books wearing this, she's not really my type of woman-buried-in-books. She's curvy, and wears delicate, embroidered slippers while she shelves in the light of a few torches.... this blend would be perfect if that idea appealed to me, but my image of a book-shelvin' girl is a little different, and Sophia and I... we're just not hip to each other's jives. Swaps.

[tinyvulture]

at first, the gentle lavender is dominated by the heady jasmine. the musks add sweetness and warmth, and the rose adds a fresh tartness. after awhile it’s mostly rose and spicy musk. the lavender seems to have faded completely. it never really made its presence felt, but this is still a good, complex floral scent. i've never been a big fan of florals, but this scent makes me think i really like musky florals.

[fiddledragon]

Scent in bottle: Mainly lavender and some jasmine. Quite nice.

 

Scent on me:

Wet -- Lavender, jasmine, and a very soft musk.

Dry -- Jasmine is dominant now, with lavender at the back, and the musk adding a little bit of depth.

 

Conclusion: This is more floral than I usually like, but it's a very nice floral with character. Especially given the goddess it's named after, I'll keep Sophia around.

[rosesinmotion]

This scent received the highest possible compliment my mom can confer upon a scent:

 

"This doesn't smell flowery at all."

 

I disagree with her a bit, but I think I see what she was getting at: Sophia does not smell like the typical flowery blend. It isn't fru-fru, ultra-feminine, grandma-in-a-bottle stuff; it has a bit more body to it.

 

This started out extremely bitter and spicy. I opened the imp, only to look around bewildered. My nose not being well attuned to different notes yet, I assumed I'd spilled a heap of pepper. >.< This strenghtened a bit upon application, but soon after it started to mellow. (I was quite thankful for that, too, because I thought I was going to sneeze!) Once some of that bitterness subsided, Sophia turned quite lovely. I can't pin down the feeling exactly, but it almost seemed like a cubist's red rose. (I know--that's horribly helpful for the people thinking about ordering some of this!) To me, it really did seem floral, but based on something a little more solid.

 

My final judgement though, lovely as this is, is that I prefer something with a little more of that body. I loved that Sophia wasn't all airily flowery, but I wish that some of those less-flowery smells had shone through a bit more. It might just be that lavender and I don't always get along, but...

 

Anyway, I think I'll give an imp of this to my mom and hope that her skin chemistry achieves something of the same effect that she loved.

[olympia301]

 

One of the originals from BPAL, it's a beautiful blend and I am sorry I waited as long as I did to try it. Lavender immediately makes it's impression, followed soon by just enough jasmine to give this a feminine edge to go along with cerebral nature of Sophia. I can get a floral melange in the background which really adds a wall of sweetness behind solemn lavenderness. This blend works perfectly as a portrait of Wisdom as a Woman. It's overall effect is subtle and deep. It's something of the womanly response to Antony. Try them both together. You might have a clever love affair going.

 

The icon is the interior of the beautiful Hagia Sophia in Turkey, it's now known as The Blue Mosque, but it has been the church of St. Sophia.

[tidesong]

In Bottle: Jasmine hits my nose first, but it's quite a more delicate jasmine than I'm used to. I smell the musk, which actually is balancing out the brightness of the jasmine. When those scents fade, I can *taste* the lavender, which is an odd sensation indeed. On it goes.

 

On Application: Whoa, there's the rose. Immediately, the rose comes out. It blends very nicely with the jasmine, again, very delicate. I don't pick up any lavender, and only the faintest scent of spice is coming out right now. After a couple minutes, jasmine is the dominant scent again, along with a sweet musk. Wait, there's the rose again.

 

On Drydown: The florals are very, very delicate on drydown. Rose is what I smell the most, with the slightest touch of jasmine. The sweetness is balanced out by the darker scents of the musk and spices. On my skin, I don't smell much lavender at all. Maybe the faintest touch, but hardly any at all.

 

Comments: This is really a beautiful scent. As I said, the florals are very delicate, and the blending with musk makes it a floral I could actually see myself wearing. I like it a lot. I could see wearing this; it works well on me.

 

Final Verdict: Keep, and ponder a 5ml.

[Meg]

In the bottle: Lavender and something herby and green, perhaps the delphinium.

 

Wet: Cologney lavender and greenery, with spice emerging.

 

Drydown: Definitely cool, aquatic and green delphinium over the lavender, and a hint of spices I can't quite name, possibly cinnamon or clove. I end up getting mostly delphinium and spice, I think. Later on, the jasmine comes out, it's of the slightly powdery kind but goes well with the delphinium.

 

Overall: It smells a bit like a very nice floral soap. It's lavender/delphinium/jasmine, and it's both fresh and spicy, which is unsual but pleasant. It dries down into a very smooth and soft scent, finally letting a bit of rose out. It's a calm, soothing blend, very representative of a goddess of Wisdom.

[juniperus]

Bottle: lavender, lavender, lavender

Wet: the rose and jasmine are stepping forward for a more multi-layered floral than I got at first sniff.

Dry: the musks and spices are gently coming in at the rear. this is very soft, almost fleeing. amazingly enough the jasmine is not amping.

Later: no - there we are - the last bits are, indeed, soft and gentle...and all sweet-sour jasmine. crap - I had so liked this til this point, too.

[ladymissspyder]

In imp: Soft lavender

 

Wet: Ooh, I don't know what that is. I get this soft, gently floral scent with a bloom of incense underneath.

 

Drydown: Lavender with some dry spices.

 

Top notes: A sweet "rosey" note along with some lavender. I say "rosey" since rose generally doesn't smell this good on me.

 

Middle notes: The lavender returns, softened by florals and an elusive hint of incense.

 

Base notes: Spices and that rosey note.

 

Throw: Medium-light

 

Rating: 4 out of 5

[karengypsy]

In the vial: Lavender, jasmine, spice

 

On me: This is an interesting scent - It's a really spicy lavender scent - something in it made me sneeze, though, probably the delphinium, since the rose note never makes me sneeze.

 

The dark/sneezy something seems to have calmed down a bit. This has lightened to an enjoyable scent, though a bit peppery.

 

Verdict: I'm going to keep this one. It does make me a bit sneezy, so no need for a big bottle. The scent is nice, though.

 

Rating: 3/5

[edenssixthday]

Sophia - Fresh out of the vial, the jasmine was so strong that my nose instantly screwed itself up in a big twist of disgust, and I thought I was going to have to wash the oil off my skin. Fortunately, it instantly started to mellow out, and at the point of dry-down, while the jasmine was still the strongest note, it wasn't nearly as overpowering, and the other florals were discernible, as well as something a tad bit spicy. Although it becomes a scent that floral-lovers might generally appreciate, the jasmine is just too much for me. It stays fairly close to the skin, but lasts a good long while.

[sofiaviolet]

The lavender blends very well, so that this blends seems to be just a gentle, sweet herbal fragrance. On my skin, it's quite true to the bottle. This is very pretty and it loves me! Moderate throw and pretty good staying power.

[vacpl]

I got lavender in the forefront for this, but my skin won't behave with a floral (fairly usual). After about 30 min. this just became a gigantic bouquet of flowers. Kinda of floral mush - nothing distinctive at all on me.

 

So to the swap pile this goes.

[oregonmom]

I received this as a frimp from the lovely Lab and tested it without reading the description or reviews, then reapplied while reading this thread.

 

This immediately smelled very familiarly medicinal, like something I remember in an old first aid kit when I was a child - antiseptic? Then it was a very sharp and stinky, which is jasmine on me unfortunately, but it softened quickly. I detected some fruit in the drydown, as well as the musk and spices listed. No detectable lavendar or rose on me.

 

It ended up being rather nice but faded very fast. I'll pass this one on.

[supremegoddessofall]

Almost pure jasmine. I get bits of lavender and rose, and the musk is in the middle. Not getting much spice at all. It's okay but not great.

[forspecial_plate]

This is a pretty scent, softly floral and sweet at first, very subtle, with a light throw. No one note stands out a lot for me.....it seems like a quiet scent, but kind of bright and sweet. If I sniff up close, I can smell the lavender. After an hour or so, the musks come forward (or maybe the other notes back off). This will go in a special pile of imps I'm saving for my mom and sisters. I like the way it smells but it's a bit soft and pretty for my tastes.

[Ahania]

When I first put this on, I thought it smelled like a little girl's scent, very young and pure. As I wore it, it got a bit more depth and maturity, but still had that purity to it. What is holy wisdom if not the ability to look at the world and learn from it without being tainted by it? I'm no good at picking out notes, but I can tell that this scent fits its namesake perfectly.

[Alchemy21599]

In the vial: soft florals with a hint of musk and an underpinning of spice.

 

Wet: Soft floral blend. I am not getting any musk or spice.

 

Dry: After about thirty minutes the musk and spices come out to play. This scent is much lighter than I expected and has no throw. Pretty, but it doesn't rock my world.

[sookster]

straight sniff from bottle sophia is very lavendery with a touch of jasmine...

once applied this gets very spicy...with much more lavender than jasmine

which is a wonderful thing...a sophisticated and womanly scent; this is very

beautiful and i am very happy i took a chance on this lovely perfume; i can

see myself wearing this for some fancy, schmancy tea and crumpet soiree

[monsteralice]

Wet: Lavender and rose. Evcelt comments that it is not a young woman's perfume (not a problem for me )

 

Dry: The lavender fades back and jasmine comes out, along with musk.

 

Finish: Soft jasmine and musk.

 

Duration/throw: For the first hour everything was peachy, with nice wafting. However, it had faded back to the wrist by 3 hours.

 

Nice, but not my thing. Off to the swap pile.

[Tess]

I live in fear of jasmine, I really do, but this was a frimp from the Lab, so how can I say no? Spices and musk, be my heroes!

 

In the vial - !!! This is much darker than I thought it would be! I'm getting surprisingly few florals other than a lavender note and lots of dark musks and spice.

 

Wet - Dark, dark, dark almost civet musks.

 

Drying - This is so very unusual! I am getting some of that rose and lavender, but the musks are so dark. And then you add in the spice and... I'm just not sure what to think. I did NOT expect something this dark for such a light and flowing concept.

 

Dry (45 minutes) - I smell like poo. Something about the florals and the dark musks combined and now I smell like poo....

 

Overall - ...no.

[jasmine]

Sophia smells like ground cover, although I couldn’t tell you what kind. It just smells like low leaves rambling across the ground in the woods. There’s an earthiness to the smell that I hadn’t anticipated. I would blame it upon patchouli, except that the lab description swears there isn’t any. Perhaps it’s the musk instead? I’m not sure.

 

The musk is getting aggressive. I expected the white musk that I’ve enjoyed in other scents, but this is black or red -- not the same as Czernobog’s nostril-slayer, but certainly not white. I still can detect something flowery over it, but the musk is quite powerful. The flowers are jasmine and lavender, but they’re darkened so much by the musk that they smell grey instead of white. The ground-cover greenness is gone into shadowy flowers and musk. Frankly, the whole effect is rather weird.

 

I feel like I should dislike this smell, but I don’t quite. Somehow, the flowers make the muskiness tolerable. I don’t outright like it, but I do think the whole affair is rather intriguing, and I find myself sniffing at my elbow repeatedly to try to figure out what Sophia has done now or what it’s doing next.

 

Although I’m glad to have tried it, I don’t see myself wearing this again. While the flowers are making the musk tolerable and interesting, I don’t trust them always to do so, and if the musk in this scent comes out on a full rage, I’ll be miserable for having put it on.

[theseagrows]

i get mostly lavender, musk and spice from this. not much jasmine, thankfully. still something about this smells stuffy or uptight to me. it's not really wowing me so i think i'll swap it.