[quantum spice]

But when Erato brushed her flowery lute,
What strains of sweetness whispered in the wind!
Soft as at evening when the shepherd's flute
To tones of melting love alone resigned,
Breathes through the windings of the silent vale;
Complaining accents tremble on the gale,
Or notes of ecstasy serenely roll.
So when the smiling muse of Cupid sung,
Her melody sighed out the sorrowing soul,
Or o'er her silken chords sweet notes of gladness rung.

She is the Muse of mimicry, and inspires both erotic and romantic poetry. She is crowned in roses, holding a lyre. Her scent inspires creative expressions of love and lust: a crush of roses with sweet pea, myrrh, ylang ylang, orris and stephanotis.

soft and lovely, very romantic. reminds me of juliet, only not as young and innocent.

[t3andcrumpets]

In the vial: so very, very floral. Definitely rose.

On me: it goes very sweet and rosey, and then, boom. Here go my sinuses. Instant headache.

To the swap pile it goes...

[TrayLynn]

In the bottle: sharp floral

Wearing: It was very rosy on me but I could smell the sweet pea peaking through. It's a very commanding floral scent but with a sharp edge to it.

I don't think I need a big bottle but I will definitely use the imp.

[asa805]

I rally like this alot. Its very very feminine and sweet. At first the ylang ylang packs a very strong bite but that fades quickly to leave a lovely rose, ylang ylang blend with something else peaking through, might be either the orris or the stephanotis. Very nice. I also get the faintest bit of dark myrr peaking through which makes this scent not too overly high pitched floral. I guess the myrr grounds this scent out.

Im very happy with this and will use and keep my imp. I probably wont get a big bottle because i just like juliet better for a sweet day floral.

Nice :P

[Northernminx]

Possibly the light sweet floral I was looking for. A definite soft rose scent, but there's a sweetness. The ylang ylang is ther at the beginning but fades quickly and leaves something soft and dusky, like soft petals on your skin. This is reminiscent of Juliet but with far more backbone and experiance which I really really adore.

Another test will prove whether or not I'm getting a big one of this

[TygherRayn]

In the bottle: I imagined a very rosey, floral scent for Erato, and while at first sniff I did get something that could almost have been roses .. It wasn’t quite. There’s another floral over the rose, one that seems, in the bottle at least, to be overpowering it. I have a slight hope that despite the rose, this might actually be okay for me.

Wet: As I rather expected, my skin just draws out any hint of rose in any scent. And this is no exception to that rule. But there’s another floral hanging in there, making this something at once sweeter and darker than just rose. It smells like a perfume a courtesan might have worn, alluring and lovely.

Wearing: While this might be a little too rosey for me to wear often, I imagine it might be fabulous to wear in a locket, and definitely is a luscious scent for an oil burner. It also might be a nice lotion scent too .. I’m going to have to experiment a little with this one, because while I love rose, rose loves me more, and unfortunately, that can get irritating.

[VorpalBunny]

This is another lovely scent. On me, it is light and feminine, with a hint of something stronger in the background. I don’t smell any of the individual notes, it just comes across as a sweet blend. The more I smell it, the more I am reminded of powder that my grandmother used to have when I was little. It smells like an old classic scent. It would be a good scent to wear out to dinner or to work. I think it's made it into my current top ten list.

[Andra]

First Impression: Oh, strong, sharp and soapy. Not at all what I expected from the lovely notes listed.

Second Impression: Withing 30 minutes this gave me a blinding headache. Must. Wash. Off.

Final Analysis: I'm sorry this didn't agree with me. The scent that remained after I washed it off was just lovely.

[Miggins]

I had my doubts about Erato and I was right. Although my skin tolerates myrrh in some blends, it really didn’t in Erato. On first applying, my skin took every shred of myrrh and pushed it to the forefront. Myrrh does *not* smell that great on me. It dried down to let the rose come through, but it was still too overpowering myrrh-ey (if that’s a word :P ).

[Laurel the Woodfairy]

Whoa! So this is what it's like to be visited by a Muse? Erato must have been mid-poem and did not wish to be interrupted, because she came on so strong she just about knocked me out --bawling "TEA ROSE!" at the top of her lovely voice. This is the first time a BPAL oil has made my eyes water from sheer strength.

:wipes eyes:

This has a spiciness very reminiscent of Alice, but with that strong grown-up rose at the forefront. (But then, Alice is also incredibly strong on me, not a nice little girl like she is for some.) This is what Alice may grow up to be, if she's inspired.

This tones down nicely. I will wear it when I write love poetry. :P

[xoe]

On me, this is at first soapy. Then rosey. Then rose and sweetpea. It's nice, but not me. Oh well.

[Larila]

Going on wet it was a overwhelmingly strong scent of just roses and myrrh with a sweetness.


drydown I got that rose scent and I thought I smelt violet and sweet pea also ylang ylang behind that was the myrrh, It was something else I'm not sure what, I don't know anything at all about stephanotis, overall after getting much lighter it was nice and lovely. I'm thiking about a bigger bottle. :P

[hadaverde]

This blend starts off as a clean, yellow-green herbal concoction, so clean it verges on soapy, but in a pleasant way. After ten minutes or so, a deeper backdrop appears, a little thicker than the initial herbal overtone -- I believe this would be the myrrh putting in an appearance.

On me, the myrrh remains the focal point of this oil, with a hint of a rose creeping forth, though it is not so floral as to make it overly feminine.

[VelvetSky]

On first applying, Erato is all sweet myrrh on my skin. Surprisingly, I don't even smell the flowers in this for several minutes....it's all about the myrrh. I'm not getting anything even remotely soapy from this.

After a while, I start to pick out the various flowers. First the ylang ylang, then the rose. The stephanotis and sweet pea are last.....I really love the stephanotis here, very rich and true.

Myrrh is the predominant note throughout Erato, and it blends with these very sweet flowers very well. This is a very sweet perfume.

[Reinaluna]

Erato is sweet and powdery. I can detect the ylang ylang and rose. A good blend, No bottle of this one for me but I will use up the imp. :P

[omly]

Wet this smelled like those little rose shaped soaps you find in guest rooms and hotels. The rose is not overwhelming and is indeed part of a more diverse bouquet. Sweet flowers are tempered by an inherent soapyness on my skin. This isn't unpleasent (at least it smells clean), but not really what I am looking for. Then the myrrh comes out. At first when it is very subtle it is actually a somewhat nice darker note. Unfortunately it doesn't stay that way very long. The clean sopy floral now has a definate body odor quality. This note is just how myrrh smells on me from what I can tell (I have had similar experience with other fragrances with myrrh). This will be up for swaps to someone who can wear myrrh.

[k00kaburra]

In bottle: Definitely generic floral. Reminds me of hotel soap, but this may be the sweet pea, which is a very popular fragrance at my work and I'm definitely overexposed to it.
On me: Even with the myrrh to temper it the rose is just exploding out of my skin. It's just too much, too powerful. But if your skin doesn't amplify rose like crazy, this could be a very lovely bouquet.

[Ishtar]

Erato smelled very, very nice in the vial. A feminine, light, almost crystalline floral blend.

Wet, the rose and ylang-ylang were the most prominent notes, with a hint of something powdery.

After a few minutes though, Erato turned into a sharp soapy scent that has me wondering if there is a common note in the Muses that doesn't agree with my body chemistry. Melpomene reacted the same way on my skin.
The florals then gradually reappeared, but the strong soap note was still there, to the point that I eventually gave up and layered another oil on top of this one.

I will probably try wearing Erato on my clothes, or I will use it to scent soap and bath bombs. It is such a pretty scent in the vial that I have to give it another chance :P

[phoefromelsewhere]

Another one I just can't do. :P

In the bottle: Rose. Maybe lilac or jasmine?

Wet: Soft rose and lilac…no, orris. Can also smell the something sweet. There is a slightly darker note, which has to be the myrrh.

Drydown: Uh oh. A very sickly sweet note is coming up. I smell like soap. No, wait…I think my nose is confused again.

Later: Nope, not me. I have a feeling that all these softer rose scents are just not going to work on me (Venus didn’t work either). All I can smell is powdery rose and something headache inducingly sweet. Must wash it off. :D Just not me at all.

[grrrlennyl]

erato

at first: the lab included this as an extra. sweet and floral, but almost a bit smoky, too. odd, but in a good way.
on: i can smell the sweet pea mostly, with a bunch of other things swirling around it.
1 hour later: i don't like this. it's too biting on me.
2 hours later: soft and pretty. powdery. the sweet pea is the only note i can still pick out, but it's more in the background.
3 hours later: this has the powdery-ness of sweet pea that i sometimes get, but with tons of other notes surrounding it.
overall: aside from the short amount of time this was biting on me, i really like this. i'll be keeping my imp, and i'm really glad i got to try it.

[NoirRosaleen]

Meh. Erato was a very generic floral on me, almost indistinguishable from Desi, Juli, and her sister nymph Mel. A lot of the florals I*ve tried just all smell the same on my skin..grr. Actually, I think I like Melpomene best so far...which is a pity b/c I traded it right beore I found out it was discontinued :P Oh well, Erato*s in the mailbox now, and hopefully I can get an imp of Mel back...in the meantime Bayou can comfort me
:D

[alston78]

In the bottle: A rather strong floral. I can't pick out any distinct notes- not that I'm very good at it...

On my wrist: Erato starts out very strong and fresh- floral notes in abundance! Although I can usually detect roses pretty quickly, I can't in this scent. It's a bit overwhelming at first, and slightly soapy.
After an hour or so, Erato calms down to a rich rosy floral. I would agree with others in saying that it smells like a richer, older version of Juliet. I like it, but it's much more womanly and richer than what I usually wear.
I washed off Erato after about 4 hours- not that it was bothering me, it was just shower time. Actually, I was enjoying the scent at that point. It faded nicely but not too quickly, and didn't lose the richness that I smelled after about an hour. I'm not sure I would wear this often, but I'll try it on several more times.

[TheDarkMother]

I love sweet pea. My parents got me a huge basket from BB&B with nothing but sweet pea products in it last Christmas. The only problem with single scents is that...well...its a single scent. No depth, no dimension, no complexety. No fun. Hopefully this will be what I am looking for in a complex sweet pea scent.

In the Bottle: A slightly soapy sweet pea, with a hint of something a bit musky behind it.

On Me: A sweet fragrance, even with the myrrh behind it, which usually makes things smell kinda nasty. The myrrh is coming through a lot more than the sweet pea all of a sudden, so the scent is rather bitter on the wrist, but in the air its still very sweet and innocent with the sweet pea floating in front of my nose.

I'm not sure what to make of this one. I really wanted more sweet pea, less myrrh, but instead I got a kind of split fragrance. I think I may have to wear it a little while longer to see if I want to keep it or not.

Myrrh smells so bitter on me, but hopefully it will calm down a little. I really want to love this oil, but alas, I think that the bitterness is totally turning me off. I'll swap this one to someone that really loves myrrh.

[sihaya09]

Roses. Lots of bright, pink, daytime roses with the sweetest breath of sweet pea. This is like sweet poetry that rhymes written in magenta ink and big, swooping letters. It's a bit too floral for me, but it is pretty in an innocent, girlie way.

[Madame Nyx]

This is nice. Can smell roses, ylang ylang and myrrh. More of an exotic bouquet than straight rose. It's interesting. I don't think I am going to keep the imp, but it is highly recommended.