Urania

[Scarlettfish]

Urania, o'er her star-bespangled lyre,
With touch of majesty diffused her soul;
A thousand tones, that in the breast inspire,
Exalted feelings, o er the wires 'gan roll --
She sang of night that clothed the infant world,
In strains as solemn as its dark profound --
How at the call of Jove the mist unfurled,
And o'er the swelling vault -- the glowing sky,
The new-born stars hung out their lamps on high,
And rolled their mighty orbs to music's sweetest sound.

The Heavenly One is the Muse of Astrology and Astronomy, and guides all those who look to the stars for knowledge. She wears a flowing cloak embroidered with her beloved stars, holds a staff and a globe, and her eyes are skyward. Her scent is that of endless, star-clad space: glittering, cool, vast. Moonflower, Moroccan jasmine, benzoin, white musk, iris, moss and a flash of ozone.

Oooh, I'm so glad to be the one that gets to review this first. I absolutely adore Urania. It bears a certain scent similarity to Nuit, but whilst Nuit was the smell of night on earth, Urania is the night sky. It smells like the night air, far above the earth, if that makes sense.

No one floral stands out on me - rather, all the elements combine to give a feel of space and the heavens, which I imagine is the ozone note. However, the ozone note is not overly strong...it is balanced nicely with the white musk and the florals, and the hint of moss is a nice touch. It has very good throw and seems to last quite a while, too, and doesn't morph much...it smells almost exactly the same on the skin as it does in the bottle (which is a good thing!)

Very evocative of the Muse this represents, and a gorgeous night-time perfume for star-gazing.

[Little Bird]

I have not been having the greatest of luck with the muses. Urania starts out a very perfumey ozone on me (the sort of perfumey that gives me great migraines), and I was tempted to run and wash it off immediately. Happily, this gets much better after only a few minutes on my skin.

 

Urania really is a scent that makes me think of a dark night, a sky full of stars and a slight chill in the air. It is mostly ozone, with a swirl of pretty florals in the background. I usually hate anything with jasmine in it, but I cannot pick out any one floral exactly.

 

I'll probably end up swapping my imp, because ozone and florals aren't really my favorites, but I do like this one, and was surprised that it didn't give me a headache.

[QueenFae]

This one smells like a very heady, elegant ladies perfume. It's very strong on the floral end, the jasmine, moonflower and white musk are definitely on top. It's a regal yet mysterious smell, and I can definitely see why this reminds people of night time. It's something you'd wear for a romantic date or secret midnight trist. I can't really smell much of the ozone or moss at all, which is fine by me, since I'm not really a fan of either. This is a really nice one for those of you looking for a classy floral/white musk with a lot of throw. A little definitely goes a long way

[undergroundwoman]

In terms of representing the muse, this perfume does a splendid job of it. My research interests are pretty darn terrestrial; I don't look to the sky for knowledge, but since we are all made of stardust, who's keeping track?

 

The scent is a light airy floral--more like a typical perfume. Something I would have picked up and enjoyed before BPAL broadened my scent tastes. And back when I thought I still liked florals... so I am delighted to have a BPAL floral that works on me! The ozone and musk I think are what push it into perfumey--good perfumey though; and the ozone is not too much.

 

I'm not familiar enough with the florals to pick up on what I'm smelling, but what I am smelling is good. I feel as if I should lurk about in the moonlight in a long flowing gown while wearing this. This might be a bottle someday.

[wickedgoddess]

Wet - Moonflower and benzoin, perhaps a bit of white musk. Even though the notes are quite different, this is a white scent in the same way that the Moon is a white scent. Although I don't know if that makes sense to anyone but me.

 

Dry - it softens and a tiny bit of jasmine comes out. This is a touch too floral for my tastes but it is very pretty, and I will definitely hang on to the imp.

 

On the wickedgoddess scale of 1 to 5, with 5 being best, this rates a 3.

[Voleuse]

Moonflower always, always creates night blends on me, pale and cool and gleaming. That's exactly what I get on first application, though soon the blend becomes a fine balance between ozone and jasmine.

 

After a while, however, the scale tips to ozone quite strongly, with a sweet background of floral notes. This is really pretty, but the strong ozone makes me want to sneeze.

[aidenraine]

I wasn't sure what to expect, but I am afraid of ozone, so definitely nothing I'd love. The other ingredients seemed ok by me so I pried open the imp (durn new caps).

 

Just sniffing the wand I feel like I'm in a Victoria's Secret. There's something almost cucumbery-floral about this, and it seems a lot like a traditional perfume.

 

On my wrist it is very floral. I don't smell the jasmine at all, and white musk is what makes things feel "generic" for me. Moonflower is really dominant. I think those who like pale florals willl really enjoy this, but jasmine fans like myself might pout, unless this changes.

 

This strikes me genuinely as a "real woman's perfume." You know, full makeup, pearls, a beautiful dress. I am tempted to send it to my mother, who smelled like this when she'd lean in and kiss me goodnight before going out.

 

Yes, I will send this to my mother. Maybe it will make her smile.

[PurringPulsar]

Urania

 

In the imp: bright, fresh ozone, slightly floral. Now, I'm hoping this isn't the kind of ozone that goes soapy on me…

Wet on skin: oooh, not bad. The ozone in here is of the slightly salty, almost marine kind. The florals are just underneath it.

Dry on skin: this is gorgeous! This is an ozone scent I can wear…it's clean and breezy, slightly like clean laundry, but not too soapy. It's almost like a sea breeze-it's like the salty ozone in Sea of Glass. It's sparkling and fresh. Underneath that, I can make out the florals (moonflower! Iris! And jasmine too-but it's not too strong). I can also make out the white musk and moss which bonds nicely with the ozone to create an iridescent, shimmering scent-it brings to mind images of the Milky Way. It's a beautiful scent, it makes me think of stargazing on the beach…it's similar to Nuit, but lighter, I think.

After a while: after an hour, I think I'm getting more of the jasmine and iris at this point. The jasmine in here is a tad stronger/headier than Nuit's night blooming variety, but it doesn't overwhelm. The floral notes add more of a light, glowing floral aspect to the scent now, which still has that fresh ozone-musk-moss aspect. It's slightly powdery or dusty but in a good way-it's like stardust (not the BPAL scent though!). There's a deeper sweetness underneath it, which could be benzoin-I like the way it grounds the scent.

Verdict: as an astronomy student, I was very excited about this scent-and it hasn't let me down. Urania is another beautiful and evocative astronomically themed scent from the Lab. It sparkles and gently glitters like the twinkling of the stars above, and has an ethereal cool freshness to it. It's like watching the stars on the beach with a gentle breeze caressing you, it's like silver moonlight on the water, it's like the iridescent glow of the Milky Way seen in the clearest night skies. It has an ozone note that is very wearable on me, clean and fresh, which bonds nicely with musk and moss to create a scent of shimmering whiteness. Underneath that, the floral notes are soft and dewy, enhancing the ozone-musk's white starry scent, and I can just detect a hint of deep, sweet benzoin. This is Nuit's lighter, younger sister, and probably my favourite muse of all, it's one of those wonderful scent to stargaze by.

[desu]

In the bottle: Floral ozone.

 

On my skin: Continues to be very sweet and ozoney. Not really detecting any other notes yet.

 

Later on: The musk and moss come out now. The florals lurk in the background even though the ozone is mostly gone now.

[grrrlennyl]

at first: i can barely smell anything in the imp. i think i get a tinge of ozone.

on: all ozone.

half an hour later: super ozoney and soapy.

1 hour later: lots of ozone. i can't really pick out anything else.

1.5 hours later: just generally soapy.

overall: this just doesn't smell good on me.

[Celogrl]

Urania- I wanted to LOVE you- I do like you, though! Urania is just a little too faint for my tastes, but it is an inspired mix of ozone and florals. All credit to Beth- I don't know how the heck she makes these scents, but Urania does evoke images of standing under a vast starlit night sky. I just wish Urania had a bit more presence.

[bellis]

This is a lovely, crystaline floral on me. The moonflower, iris, and jasmine blend beautifully in this, making me think of wandering around a garden in the middle of a cold spring night. I only got a touch of ozone. I like this a lot, but it's just not something I'd wear.

[Aredhel]

Rating (on skin): 2/5

Summarised in a word or two: Pretty!

 

In the imp: Lovely, cool jasmine, ozone and white musk. Lovely so far.

 

On skin, wet: Eeep. Very high-end department store perfume on me. Jasmine, white musk and ozone, with a bit of moonflower and iris. This actually reminds me of something a perfume-counter woman once sprayed at me, but I don't know the name.

 

On skin, dry: A light and musky hotchpotch of ozone and floral notes, the latter of which have blended together enough that if I didn't know already what they were, I wouldn't be able to pick them out. Honestly lovely, and definitely "pretty," but not my thing.

 

Conclusion: A very classy, very feminine floral perfume. That said, it's not my kind of scent. I was hoping for a musky jasmine with a bit of earthy moss, but it was not to be.

[mandragora]

In the imp: Fresh ozone-y floral.

Wet on me: Very pale and light smelling evening flower.

Drydown: Beautifully blended floral with ozone green feel to it. Like standing in a moonlit garden after a light evening rain. Very romantic and elegant.

Verdict: While very pleasant, Urania turned to soap later on. Moderate throw. Interesting but not me.

Edited April 7, 2006 by mandragora

[malanna]

Urania has a bit of a sharp tang to it at first. It made me go, "Oh, hello, white floral soap--wait, no, high end detergent?" Soap isn't quite so astringent, I think. However, after three hours, it's lost that astringent bit and smells very soft and lovely, sort of a watery floral, which I'm thinking is due to the ozone. There's definitely white musk and Moonflower, but I'm not sure what else is in this scent.

[angharad]

Florals and ozone. The ozone adds a sharpness to the florals that I like, but unfortunately it doesn't last very long. I can't specifically identify any of the florals, so they are well-blended. It's not bad, but florals just aren't my preference. Urania doesn't last long on me and was gone within 2 hours.

[juniperus]

Bottle: iris, musk, and ozone all hit the nose immediately

Wet: moonflower and jasmine opening up behind - I get an image of night-blooming under the stars.

Dry: the iris is fading, and, interesting enough, so is the jasmine (perhaps that's the key - Moroccan jasmine doesn't amp on me? how odd!) Ozone is picking up steam, but it's not taking on that sharp edge as it oft does on me, so I'm holding out hope for this one.

Later: I'm still under those stars (slowing winking out), the night-blooming flowers closing as the dawn approaches, and the ozone-y scent in the air of an approaching storm fills my head. This isn't anything like what I'm usually drawn to or able to wear well, but it seems to work. The ozone has taken on an almost-otherworldly quality, and the notes that usuall amp and turn ugly on me have not, this time, to both my amazement and my delight.

(I was a more than a little concerned because this does contain notes (jasmine, moss, ozone) that aren't known to be particularly friendly to my skin..but I have this terribly silly reason for ordering it - besides Urania and Clio being my very favorite of the muses, I have a WoW character named Urania and my curiosity just got the better of me.)

Very interesting combination of notes, evocative and imagery-laden.

[Ajila]

In the bottle - Slightly masculine soap and jasmine.

Wet on me - Soapy, but bright and green. Pleasingly delicate with just a hint of cut grass.

Dry on me - The florals soften and fade to a dort of citrusy ozone, which lingers on my skin for ages (ie 16 hours after application)

[EauQue]

My most favorite room scent oil. Ever. Period. It smells clean, sophisticated, like *I* must smell that way for my apartment to smell THAT GOOD.

 

This WILL be a bottle, so I can use it liberally in lamp rings. Right now, I'm just brushing a bit with a Qtip along the screens of the windows and in the grates of my fan.

 

I would never want to wear this - I want to LIVE in this smell.

[Ryvre]

In the imp: Light and floral, with a touch of ozone.

 

Wet: Kind of a salty ozone scent. There's a bit of floral, way in the background.

 

Dry: More of the same. It's nice, but not outstanding.

[Shollin]

First sniff: Powdery floral. Drat.

 

Wearing: O Iris, why do you taunt me so? I love to look at you, but you turn everything you touch to powder. And yet… the powder seems to be only in the wet stage (wet powder? hrm)… when it dries, it’s awfully pretty, a jasminey sweetness that isn’t screamingly headachey. Verdict: It’s earned another testing, at very least.

[Diana]

Wet: sharp, bright floral note

 

Drydown: There is a touch of ozone and there is also a hint of cool flowers. I stayed away from this because I thought with the flower combination + ozone, it would be too cloying and really not my style. But I'm learning that anytime the description says "crystalline" or "glittering" it is worth a shot; these almost always work for me. And this time, I'm really loving it. It is cool, soft & amazingly beautiful. I think this might be my favorite of all the muses.

[Elrianra]

Something lightly soapy but crisp, the moonflower is very prominent in the bottle with the musk and benzoin. Ozone as well, burning my noise in a soapy manner. I have a body wash that smells a lot like this... interesting. On? Wet this is all moonflower with a spicy musk and iris mix, the ozone is sharp and tangy while the moss and jasmine are nowhere to be found... the benzoin hovers somewhere in the background of this one. This one was soapy in the imp, and it stays soapy on my skin. Not exactly unpleasant and this would be good to make a glycerin soap with but it's not a PERFUME or SCENT type of blend. It's too... sterile. Cold and crisp and really unchanging. I like change in my blends. This doesn't have the nice tang of jasmine and the dusty flare of moss that I was hoping for.. the ozone drowns everything but the moonflower out and I'm not a huge fan of moonflower as it stands. As it dries and warms, it finally gains a touch of the musty moss and musk that I was hoping would be the predominant portion of this scent. The musk is light and clever in this one, but the soapy overnotes ruin the intricate melding of musk and florals in this. What a pity...

[Nekomata]

Wow, somehthing with a Jasmine that doesn't hate me! Powdery floral that is indeed glittering. Not something I'd ever buy a bottle of, but the occassional imp will be nice!

[edenssixthday]

Urania doesn't work on me. Perhaps it's the jasmine or iris, both of which are usually no-nos on my skin. There is something in it that I do find appealing, and I believe it's the mixture of moonflower, white musk, and ozone. But it has a slightly bitter scent (what iris tends to do to my skin) and it stays very, very close to my skin and has virtually no throw. I like wearing fragrances that don't knock other people out, but that softly and subtly let them know I'm around. This one definitely has no presence. It also doesn't last very long at all. Into the swap pile it goes.