Asphodel

[blackrayne]

The grey and ghostly flower that fills the fields of Hades.

In the vial: slightly sweet, light flowers. I know I have smelled this before, it is a very familiar scent, but I just can't place it right this second.

Wet: beautiful light flowers, with a hint of sweetness intermingled. I *know* this flower. I just wish I could remember it... it is so amazingly lovely.

[blood*rose*flowers]

In the bottle: Yup white flowers. I get the same thing as Blackrayne, I know this scent but it is alluding to something I can't place. Humm.. possible gardenia with maybe lily or something else

 

On wet: Slightly sweet floral again I don't know why I am thinking gardenia or something else.

 

Drydown: This is a strangely icy, clean, ever so slightly sweet floral. Almost to the point of the ice taking over the floral

 

Overall: I see the idea of walking in the underworld to stand before Hel in her Kingdom. This scent is an unexpected find. I really like the clean scent and I think this will help cool me off in the heat.

 

Side note: With trying all sorts of scents I noticed by accident that this also smells incredible layered with Al-Shairan.

[yellowrose]

So I guess Hell is filled with wisteria and violets. Who knew?! I still don’t since Beth’s Lab notes do not mention specific notes at all. For all I know my sniffer could be off.

 

In the bottle: The first scent I associate with this scent is plumaria. Then I smell other flowers. Odd. Wisteria *and* violet? But, yes! Applied very lightly to one elbow crook.

 

Wet: More wisteria with a touch of violet and something else in the grey family. Lilac?

 

Drying: Powdery floral and a very old-fashioned scent. Strangely refreshing.

 

This has been wafting up from the crook of my elbow all day. It’s an unusual scent that sometimes smells like soap, other times like fresh flowers. I like the way it morphs and lasts. What I associate with this is a boudoir. Dunno why, but that’s Asphodel … at least for me. Feminine and old-fashioned and very lovely.

 

It does remind me of a snippet of the English lyrics for “La Violetera” – a song popular for a couple of decades. “Love is like a little violet/with the fragrance of regret./It was born to last for but a hour/To be lost and then forgot.”

[Jessica]

In the bottle: this smells so familiar. It's gorgeous and light and ... beautiful

 

Skin: it's still really pretty and light and floral. Is this violets? Wisteria? I have no idea, but it lays on my skin very nicely, holding its scent rather strongly but not over powering or offensive.

 

Final thoughts: I'm so happy I got to try this! I need to order myself a bottle!

[oakmoss]

I had the same reaction others here have mentioned... I know this scent... Not any single flower, but the whole scent... Maybe we have all smelled it in our time in the Otherworld -- it rather feels that way to me. Something intimately familiar but not to be understood in the light of this reality. It's a very green sort of floral, almost aquatic, but more like heavy mist than actual water. Springlike, but not... fresh, but not.... sweet, but not....

 

How's that for THE most unhelpful review ever?

 

Just try it. See where it takes you.

[Little Bird]

Unlike everyone else, I do not know this scent, lol. Flowers tend to escape me in their appeal... most of them just smell like flowers to me. On my skin, most floral blends take on the same generic perfumey quality that makes me feel like my throat is swelling shut. This smells like my least favorite type of floral, a white floral.

 

In the drydown it seems to be trying to go powdery *and* soapy on me. Baby powder scented soap. This is what my personal hell would smell like, now that I think of it.

[~AmusedMuse~]

Omgosh this is so lovely and like previous reviewers I am unable to identify any specific notes. It does however remind me of gardenia. If this is what hell is made of....WOW On my scale of 1-5....5 This is great.

[Ina Garten Davita]

First Impression: Who knew that Hell smelled this good?

 

Second Impression: A gorgeous yellow floral. Asphodel reminds me of the dandelions and buttercups that grew in our yard when we where kids. My sister and I would spend hours picked every single one of them to make bouquets to give to Mummy. She'd put them in dixie cups all over the kitchen.

 

Final Analysis: Sweet, gentle and beautiful.

[vyvyan]

Florals generally don't like me all that much and I really don't like them, so this was an iffy proposition to start with. Then I put it on and - just, not so great with the skin thing. It actually *smelled* *grey*. I don't know how better to describe it.

 

I'm sure this is beautiful on someone else, so I've traded it off to someone who'll appreciate it more. Still, glad I got to try it!

[slave1]

In Bottle: Lily

 

On Skin: Very strong and sweet, almost like a Lily or Honeysuckle... very bright and white. It seems almost too feminine at first, but then the is a darker stronger note that surfaces that makes it a bit “tougher” and masculine, also kind of minty. Very interesting. Beautiful and distinct, but I am not a big fan of florals so I think I’ll be swapping this one.

Edited September 15, 2005 by slave1

[sarada]

I needed to round out an imp pack so I decided to try this since the description was ambiguous!

 

I don't like florals...but sometimes I do. So you never know.

 

The main note in this is something that is also in Darkness, I think. Darkness is one of the scents that I least get along with. There's something in it that smells like hairspray and bandaids and I just don't like it at all. The note that is in Asphodel is not that note, but it's one that I don't like very much on its own anyway. And there's something else, like jasmine, that doesn't agree with me. Overall it's a very chemical-smelling sort of cloying floral to me. I can see it being grey, but it's as if tiny little pale grey flowers are interspersed with little pale yellow flowers as well. They are fragrant and floral but on me it comes across as a rather depressing.

 

Since a lot of people like the notes that I think I detect in this I think that this must be a chemistry issue...these kinds of florals will never work for me, but fans of perfumey florals would definitely be wise to try it out!

[Lorencita]

This smelled like Paperwhites & Dogwood. Very perfumy... it seems a little mature for me. I like it, but not enough for a bottle

[darkwitch]

In the imp it smells like Spokane, WA in late May early June. Lilacs and honeysuckle, in early summer right after they've bloomed. On me, it starts out the same then morphs into something very green and airy, on drydown it's now grey misty florals. I can't place any of the notes while it's on my skin they just blend so well together. This will be a 10ml purcase very soon.

[gothiccastle]

A very light floral indeed. I am reminded of Honeysuckle and gardenias in the vial and wet.

 

Dry, more gardenia and maybe a hint of violet.

 

Not bad at all, but not one I need to own anytime soon.

[PurringPulsar]

Asphodel

 

In the imp: a fresh, dewy, white lily-like floral with a strong 'garden like' note. It smells moist and freshly cut. Like a rainy garden scent, with crushed leaves.

Wet on skin: a crisp, wet green scent and floral. It's like being in a florist shop.

Dry on skin: this is quite amazing. This smells like a fresh flower but also its leaves, it's that clear, sharp green scent of chlorophyll, cut stems, crushed plants. The flower here is like a lily, or lily of the valley, and it smells moist, like it's covered with dew or rain. There's a definite moist flower scent.

After a while: it still smells of strong green lilies of the valley and now also honeysuckle. It reminds me of spring, and rain or mist. Like raindrops on waxen blooms. Misty fields filled with ethereal, pure flowers. It reminds me of my holiday in Devon where the weather was pretty damp and dreary, but the rain really brought out the scent of countless honeysuckles blooming all around, it smelt so beautiful...

Verdict: this is a very interesting floral scent, because not only is it a floral, but it's a freshly picked floral scent. It's reminiscent of a bouquet brought in from the rain. You can smell the leaves, the moisture, the greenery as well as the flower. It's a fresh, dewy flower scent, I think it is a kind of lily, a I'm thinking lily of the valley, as well as honeysuckle-as it dries down, I get a 'honeysuckles in the rain' scent that I smelt when I was on holiday in Devon. It's a lovely, clean floral scent that I think will be even better during springtime. Gorgeous.

[Scylla]

Asphodel strikes me as a gentle, pale yellow, fresh, dewy floral. I'm not usually a floral scent kind of person, but I really like this! It's light, airy, green, dewy and clean. Not at all what one would expect the flowers of Hell to smell like! Smells like Heaven to me!

 

Florals usually go powdery and soapy on me, and Asphodel did not. Absolutely lovely!

[shelldoo]

in the vial: light very, airy barely there kind of scent

 

wet: well HELLO! honeysuckle, and it bitchslaps me silly. did i think it smelled light? there is nothing light as soon as it touches my skin. it is heady strong in your face summer florals

 

as it dries i am getting what i think is gardenia, a waxy lotion type scent, still some honeysuckle.

 

nice, summery, but way to florally for me

[clover]

Asphodel

 

Daffodils!!!!! Daffodils & dandelions, that's what Asphodel smells like to me.

 

To me, this is so close to the daffodil single note (which always reminded me of the dandelion single note as well).

 

So very pretty, I'm thrilled to have a bottle.

[Eros]

This one is herbal & spicy tea rose in the imp & on skin. A bit on the dry side, light and somewhat delicate w/a *very* subtle sweetness. Slightly powdery, as well.

Nice but not a big bottle candidate.

[darkling]

Asphodel is a gorgeously understated floral scent. It has grey and crystalline overtones and it is very light and gentle. Asphodel makes me think of buttercups that have had all the color leeched from them.

 

I tend to dislike floral scents but Asphodel is a winner.

[fallow deer]

Not much a review, because I didn't wear it for long, but I'm almost certain that this is mostly hyacinth.

 

Either that, or lily of the valley, but I think hyacinth.

 

It's a fresh, almost soapy greenish bulby floral.

[tempete]

My review of Asphodel is not going to be much longer than fallow deer's.

 

Initially, I get non-soapy lilies which morphs into something resembling jasmine. Maybe this is the honeysuckle that some reviewers mentioned? In the end, the florals turn soapy, so it's off to the swap pile.

 

The "grey and ghostly" description is quite apt. This is such a light, translucent floral that it's almost as if all the colour has been leeched out of the florals before they went into this scent.

[grrrlennyl]

at first: this smells like a rose that is so dark that it is almost black with fresh dirt on it.

on: this reminds me of carnation and rose...but only a little.

45 minutes later: a dusty, pale flower. i think i may be getting lilac.

1.5 hours later: lilac and...honeysuckle? very pretty.

overall: this is pretty, but not something i would wear.

[LyndaM]

Mmmm! Definite bottle! I love this, a ghostly soft floral perfect for spring and summer days. I was very happy not to find any jasmine here. I can't really identify the flowers, but I'm getting a sense of violets. And maybe lilac? Me likey.

[herongale]

preconceived notion: I have to admit, if my mind thought of death's flowers as being grey, I wouldn't have been as interested in this. But thanks to Minus Morgal (in the Lord of the Rings books), I tend to think of ghostly flowers as having a eeries and vaguely phosphorescent glow. Like little firefly flowers. THAT is what I wanted this to smell like, and why I was so keen to get a hold of an imp.

 

in the imp: surprisingly gorgeous, green and alive. It's a fine citrus, like the shavings of an orange peel attenuated by lots and lots of water. This is a messy floral, wildflowers trampled underfoot and surrounded by tall grasses. There is nothing hard or sharp in this fragrance at all.

 

wet: a burst of wonderful life and green, and then...

 

drydown: almost instantaneous conversion into a sweet scent that is naggingly familiar. I had to wear this a few times to figure out what it was, but when I had it I was stunned. This is almost exactly like an optomotrist's office I worked at after college. It was a somewhat unsavoury experience, because the drive to-and-from was over an hour and a half each way and because I only worked with a few people and I didn't really get on with any of them. I worked there only for two weeks before taking a much better job as a parks assistant at Camp Dearborn, but still the memory of that place is indelibly planted in my mind... the dark, unfriendly displays which held the frames, and this scent was whatever was used to clean the glasses.

 

verdict: an unfair, personal "ugh."

 

post-conceived notion: sometimes I find myself glad when a fragrance doesn't work, simply because that is one less thing that I might feel a tug towards purchasing more of. Asphodel going over to the swap pile becomes a very economical thing for me, so I'm relieved.