Hetairae

[Balame]

The sublimely beautiful, fiercely independent, impeccably cultured, fascinatingly worldly and witty courtesans of ancient Greece. A seductive and dazzling blend of golden honey, fiery patchouli, sweet fig and clove, and a blushing touch of ylang ylang.

In the Imp: Very light, perhaps a vague sense of the patchouli and some sweet fig.

Wet: Haha, patchouli...I used to think it was just a natural thing for patchouli to read off as strong on everyone but I think my chemistry amps it up to ridiculous proportions. Since it's not one of my favorite notes, this is kind of "eh" so far. It's spicy, and I can smell a bit of the softer ylang ylang hidden in there somewhere, but I get no honey at all. Which is quite a shame really, since I enjoy it.

Dry: A bit more of a fresh green scent? The clove is showing itself now as well, giving off that warm, nearly bitter smell. In fact, this has become a veritable clove party. Hm. It's not overwhelming, but it's as if my skin just erased all the other notes. I will say that this is lighter than it was before, which is a bit of relief since the earlier woodsy smell was such a knockout (not so much in a good way). Gah, I detect a bit of baby powder sweetness too, and I am in no way aligned with those sort of scents. Even if they try to mask it with freaking patchouli and clove!

Verdict: Not my thing at all, I guess I'd consider this too "messy" somehow in that I feel it doesn't come across as focused enough in portraying the attitude I might have hoped for. Stronger and less cloyingly sweet, please. I admit though that I don't really blame the scent, as it's obvious this has worked for a number of others and I like a portion of the notes listed. But alas, my skin does not agree.

Rating: 1/5

[laslibres]

Very earthy and sweet…reminds me of some Lush scent or another, maybe Karma? On me, whoa, emphasis on the EARTHy. It really does smell like rich, fertile soil somehow. It’s sweet and spicy, as well…I can smell the clove for sure, and the honey a wee bit. And a little bit of fruitiness, probably the fig. It’s like baking spices, and gingerbread, and then DIRT. It’s very interesting, and it defies classification. It's a beautiful scent, and it's sexy in an offbeat way...this is the scent that a really _fascinating_ as well as beautiful woman would wear.

[splendidissima]

This was lovely in the imp and on me for about 30 seconds, sweet and spicy, and then...baby powder. Pleasant, sweet baby powder, but still. Not for me.

[SophieCedar]

This is my new favorite and it works wonderfully on my skin!

 

in imp: honey sweet with fig and spice. Strange the patchouli doesn't jump out at me. (Yes I have a finely tuned sniffer)

 

Wet: the patchouli develops but doesn't run rampant. This is possibly not the one for patchouli haters, who may feel it does bolt. I empathize: sometimes, at the first detection of my dreaded stinks, I'll scream it out and accuse it of overrunning me. (ex: green or white tea, melon, or tea rose I tend to tar & feather, put to trial, and then burn it at the stake!) Digression can be ugly. Sorry! Back to the review...

 

Drydown:

I don't get any of the powder issues that other members have experienced. I was relieved! This is spicy, sweet, lovely mix. I pulled a few wafts of a heady floral, gardenia-ish here and there.

 

I slathered this on in the morning, wrapped up in my scarf and headed out the door for work. Not only did this scent last all day, but when I put my scarf on to leave work, it smelled wonderful. So great that I was grinning like a fool and sunk into my scarf eyeball deep saying "mmmm".

Edited January 30, 2010 by SophieCedar

[DeltaCat]

Honey and patchouli. Mainly honey though. A warm comforting scent.

[ami226]

This one is all honey on my skin. At first it was quite plasticky, but now it has really smoothed out well. After a bit, I smell what can only be patchouli in addition to the honey. It is interesting, but I am not sure if it is really something I would wear. On me this scent has little throw.

 

I think I might have to keep this imp around and try it again sometime.

[pandorasmuse]

In the imp: Figs drizzled with honey, with patchouli to ground the scent.

 

Wet: SuperFig! Fig everywhere. I don’t smell anything else.

 

Drydown: Nice. Fig and honey and a bit of flowers.

 

Later: Ehhh. The honey is turning a little sickly.

[CitizenBree]

In the imp, it smells very much just honey alone. Maybe a little more of the sweetness of fig in it.

 

On the skin, more patchouli comes out but just a bit to add in some spicy herbals.

 

This wasn't love at first smell for me. I liked it enough but that was it. Going to give it 3/5 stars. But after wearing it all day, I'm liking it more and more. It's sweet, it's sexy, it's light and feminine.

 

I think it's a good everyday scent, but also could be dressed up for a romantic date.

 

Throw and lasting-power are both pretty medium. Decent, but I'd like a bit more from both.

 

In the end, this might end up being a bottle purchase for me. Bumping it up to 4/5.

[moon_lemming]

Hmmph, clove oil. This blend would be killer, notes-wise, if it weren't for that jerk. I smell an sweet earthy blend in the imp with a fruit cutting through it, maybe. It's really well blended and it's hard for me to pick out the notes.

 

On my skin, it's honey-woody scent with a CLOVE ARMY marching all over it. I know there are no woods in the description, but that's what I'm getting, maybe cedar? I see in other reviews that this cedar scent is probably the patchouli; this is not my normal experience with BPAL patch (usually it's more earthy than woody) but maybe it's a different sort of patchouli or maybe it's a cedar/patchouli blend. I am not a patchouli expert by any means, lol.

 

The cloves aren't completely overpowering everything as they normally do, but they're still strong enough that Hetairae smells almost medicinal on me. No thanks.

Edited March 19, 2010 by karen

[raisin]

It's difficult for me to separate the notes with this one (but then there's nothing I'd especially recognize, anyway) which is a surprise. I don't usually go for the sweet scents, but here they just seem to serve to make this one very feminine, while the patchouli (another scent I don't usually go for) and clove give it a warmth and spice that make it seem very natural and less perfume-y, which is excellent.

I think this is one of the first I've tried that I can absolutely connect to the inspiration. It's very apt!

[voorishsign]

Was frimped this. As of late I've been trying to get more honey scents so that's fitting I like patchouli and fig too, but I'm not sure about the clove, which my skin tends to amp.

 

In the imp - beautiful honey with a touch of patchouli and fig.

 

On wet - Clove is behaving. Still that wonderful honey / patchouli / fig combo, but deeper. Nice.

 

Drydown - Wow! This has an outstanding drydown. Patchouli, fig and clove make for a deep, spicy scent, and the honey sweetens and deepens it - this is gorgeous!

[impolight]

:::HETAIRAE:::

 

Hetairae is lovely!

This one smells like a classic perfume favored by a cultured seductress.

As described, all of the notes included in the Lab's listing are readily defineable here, with the Patchouli taking an uncharacteristically understated role in the background.

The honey is a glittering, golden, sugary bounty; replete with the dustiness of pollen.

The Fig enhances this sweetness and adds a ripened brown to the mixture.

The Clove adds a spark of spice to the brown.

The Ylang-ylang rebrightens the formula as a whole with a springy and glistening boquet.

On the skin, Hetairae morphs, putting particular emphasis on the blossoms and the spice.

This is exotically sweet... So much so, you can practically taste it.

Hetairae is phenomenal.

This formula is spectacularly effeminate.

Hetairae is white of smile and doe-eyed, fearlessly conveying what's on her mind with a glance as she towels dry the small of her belly. Grrrrreat!

5 out of 5!

[shalottian]

The inspiration sounds like Emma Peel thrown back in time to Ancient Greece (don't ask me why my brain goes right to that--I have no idea), and that alone makes it a must try. And the notes sound lovely. *excitement*

 

imp- honey with a hint of something earthy (clearly patchouli) and a hint of something floral.

 

wet- I'm getting a kind of spiciness with an undercurrent of sweet (Is that the fig? My nose is still learning...) all wrapped up in honey. I like it. It's oddly seductive. The patchouli gives it a kind of smokiness

 

dry- A little sweet, a little spicy, a little earthy. I get a whiff of a very faint floral in the background every once in awhile. As it dries, the honey comes out more strongly, and the whole thing is just gorgeous. I have a feeling I can rock this one.

[lahdeedah]

Wow, I can't believe I haven't reviewed Hetairae yet. It's one of my first serious BPAL loves-- right behind Snake Oil and Spellbound. It's the first honey blend that I've really fallen for. I feel the honey is lush and sweet, but so sexily tempered by the dryness of the fig and the (on my skin) subtle patchouli. I can sense the ylang ylang wet, but not so much once dry, and I get no clove at all, which is unusual since I kind of amp clove. This blend is warm, comforting and sensual without being in your face vampy. It's perfect for me on low key days when I don't feel like turning it up to 11. A lovely, lovely blend.

[Venneh]

I'm getting honey, clove, and I think a bit of patchouli, similar to Sed non Satiata for me. On my skin, it's honey, really raw honey, and patchouli. Hrm. We'll see what this does.

[Edeniade]

I got this as an imp as I was inspired by the description, but I learned a hard lesson with this one.

 

In the bottle: Ooh, smell the sweet honey and fig, maybe a whiff of the patchouli but it's faint. Sweet but a little smoky.

 

First swipe: It smells lightly floral, not too much for me to get a headache or find it icky. Now a bit like smoked honey?

 

Drydown: Smelling like a hippie. My skin likes patchouli too much and within 5 minutes it's all I can smell. My head can't take the strong scent of patchouli and it's like I've bathed myself in it. Sadly, this one has to go.

[FathomBelow]

As this dries, Hetairae smells like some deliciously tart fruit - pomegranate? - possibly from the ylang ylang. After a while, the honey and clove come out, adding depth and interest to the original scent and making it slightly sweeter. After that, the spices and the fruit war continually for dominance.

 

Hetairae is beautiful and reminds me strongly of Persephone with spices instead of rose. Try it!

[Gwydion]

In bottle: Very strong honey with ylang ylang as the second strongest element. The other elements are present, with the fig blending particularly well with the honey, patchouli, and floral elements. It does indeed smell expensive and worldly. Wet: The ylang ylang strengthens on the skin, becoming dominant with the honey and fig making a lovely backdrop. The patchouli softens, but the clove maintains its edge. It’s rather like a well crafted setting designed specifically to show off the ylang ylang. If ylang ylang is your thing, this would be an excellent scent for that. Dry: it goes a little chenmical and shrill, but odds are good that this is my skin protesting the ylang ylang. The patchouli is proportionally stronger as the other elements weaken, with the fig holding about even.

[butterbeer]

In the bottle: This smells like vinegar. I'm alarmed. If I didn't know which of my (very first set of 6!) imp's ears to try first, this is a good reason to check it out.

 

On my skin: It smells a bit like old wood and patchoulli. After a while, it has this really warm and cozy-but-seductive scent, at the same time sexy and intelligent. A bit like reading and having an intelligent discussion by a fireplace. I can't decide if that's just me, so I keep sniffing my wrist and hope my temporary roommate won't think I'm insane.

 

On the drydown: I can't smell it much from afar, and when I smell my wrist it just has a very faint powdery scent but quite warm.

 

Overrall, this was very good! I liked it and I think I'll wear it when I want to impress smart people.

Edited October 8, 2010 by butterbeer

[Ashenrook]

[short review since this was ultimately a failure]

 

Alas, this one actually played nice for a moment... As mentioned in several reviews before, honey generally turns on me (with a rare exception), so I was in high hopes that this might be another blend with honey that would work on me.

 

At first, the good points. For the first minute, it was gorgeous. Decadent, yet light, honey accented by clove and patchouli (BOTH being well behaved, too). I love the sweet fig note... Like, I really love it. And the ylang ylang is very gentle.

 

Thennnn it goes all upside-down on me. My skin is actually neutralizing the scent to the point where I can't smell anything, barely, but if I sniff around on my wrist REALLY hard then I notice the honey...and it's turning sour on me.

 

While it didn't go noxious stench like Jezebel did for me, I preemptively washed it off.

 

Rats. I had high hopes for it.

[melrose]

After applying liberally from the imp several times, only to have it quickly fade to nothing, I slathered with 1/3 of the imp. Same deal - after 30 minutes I had to huff my skin to get even the faintest whiff. It seems like I would love it from those huffs, but I practically have to hyperventilate to smell it.

[DamnSatyr]

This one was quite nice at first, but then went to a very powdery and soapy floral on me.

[SageDarkwoods]

I'm still searching for a signature scent, though Hetairae might just be it.

 

In bottle: really sickeningly sweet. Does not bode well.

 

Wet: Actually much better. Deep incense, honey, high floral notes, and a touch of spice.

 

Dry-down: It smells like I'm digging through an antiques shop and come up with some perfume from a faraway land, in an exquisitely cut glass vessel. It's old in the way that it hearkens back to a time past, and yet the honey notes keep it playful and not stuffy.

 

1 hour later: I still love it. I think this goes in my Top 5.

[gchris]

First sniff, Sweet and dirty. On skin, Honey is the very strongest and patchouli is wafting in the background. Not getting much else yet.

 

Now I'm getting a little more of what I think is probably the fig and maybe a little ylang but not strong.

 

Later on, the fig is yet stronger and so is the patchouli, the honey has remained strong. If the other notes are there, I don't really smell them now. Probably a good blend for honey lovers.

[calivianya]

Wet on my skin: This is a definitely a honey blend. I smell honey, honey, honey and a touch of ylang ylang.

 

Drydown: The clove and patchouli come out to play, making this a more well-rounded blend. It is very sexy to my nose, but I'm not sure if it's sexy in a way that I like smelling. I don't know if that makes sense or not. I will retest later when I'm not testing so many scents at once, as I can't seem to make up my mind about it right now.

 

Further drydown: Okay, I changed my mind. Hetairae lost the florals that made me hesitant. I am now agreeing with the reviewer that called this a sweet skin scent. I love it and I'm definitely keeping the imp, and maybe investing in a bottle.

Edited February 17, 2011 by calivianya