Asphodel

[Babylon]

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

 

Asphodel smells like tiny little white flowers, vaguely Lily of the Valley, and very delicate. This is a beautiful whisper-soft floral scent, but not for me. Just too light. It does have a decent throw; I could smell it wafting around me, but didn't last more than an hour on my skin.

Edited February 18, 2006 by Babylon

[iriedanym]

Hmm. Very light and feminine, and if I had to hazard a guess I would think there is gardenia in this mix. In some ways it reminded me of the light, crispness found in Amsterdam, but Asphodel is more of a white/yellow color while Amsterdam is a yellow/green (if that makes any sense).

 

I definately like it. It lasts for quite some time and isn't so overpowering that you're going to stink up a room. For a scent that is supposed to be from Hell, I can't help but think of the harbinger of springtime.

[amrita]

When wet, I get the same beautiful sweet flower notes that I do from the Hermit, but this soon turns to very soapy flowers on me-- smells like perfume counter stuff. :/

[undream]

To my surprise, Asphodel is at first a beautiful Honeysuckle! Wearing, it turns slightly more musky on me, but refreshing & green green green!, i.e. musky but herbal. Like a cool spring rain. And, for a moment, am I getting something citrusy? Mmm.

 

This is just gorgeous, a beautiful floral. After a few hours' wear, it fades into a peculiar almost-hairspray after-scent that some of the BPAL florals are wont to do on me (&I am beginning to think I am alone in this!), but it is not nearly as strong with this one as it is with some of the others, so I am hoping with a few more tries I can get over it; I really like this oil.

 

Final verdict? !!

[arabella]

First Impression: Floral - can't identify it but there's something familiar about it.

 

Dries down to: Stays much the same.

 

Additional Comments: I figured out that this smells like bulb flowers to me - a mixture of tulips, crocuses and daffodils. I have no clue what asphodel is but I quite like it - it's hauntingly lovely.

 

Lasted: Several hours.

 

Rating: 4 out of 5

[Caltha]

Asphodel

A freebie I didn't expect to like and I was right. To me it's just a pale generic fresh floral: perfumey, with schampoo vibes. I might detect grass and lily of the valley.

[isyche]

Pretty! Asphodel smells like carrying an armful of fresh-cut spring flowers back from the garden. Tulips and daffodils, I think, and a bit of the green stem smell. It doesn't seem grey or ghostly to me, but colorful and sunny.

 

It faded lightning-fast on my skin, so maybe that's the ghostly part – now it's only a memory of the lovely spring flower scent.

[Meg]

In the bottle: A very subtle sweet wet flower scent, a bit like baby's breath covered in dew.

 

Wet: Sweet, wet greenery, you can nearly taste the bitterness of broken stems.

 

Drydown: The greenery has gone, it's been replaced by sweet aquatic flowers, which means sneezing for me. The flowers are very soft, possibly plumeria - white flowers, anyway. There's a nearly fruity tone to this. And as it dries, it sweetens even more, to the point of becoming sickly. Oops.

 

Overall: Definitely too sweet, and it's become soapy on me. I was hoping for a slightly colder, darker scent, and I really liked the green part when it's wet, but all I bring out is very sweet flowers. It reminds me a bit of Arachne and Leanan Sidhe, they probably share a white flower note. Too sweet, and the aquatic note tends to make me sneeze.

[bifemmefatale]

A wet green floral, with bits of lilac and violet peeking thru and maybe a lily or gardenia, but it all stays very green and has an herbal tinge. Also not me. Some people mention honeysuckle but I don't quite know if that's the note. Something slightly soapy and clean.

[ajcj213499]

I had put off trying this for a long time because the description of grey flowers sounded kind of blah...But:

 

Asphodel is wonderful! It is the perfect oil for spring- very fresh and "real" smelling with a hint of green. I think this is a new contender for my top ten.

[Isuke]

God, I wish I knew what was IN THIS. I know the prominent floral note, but the exact name of the flower elludes me. It's /so/ familiar, a sweet and clear sort of floral that I adore. And I KNOW it from somewhere, which drives me insane.

[Wyndi]

Jeez, what is it with me and florals? This is another one that's super light and calming. What’s alarming is that my body isn't distorting it, like it does most florals. I don't know precisely WHAT notes are in this but I'm reminded of wisteria, gardenia, and maybe even a trace of honeysuckle. If this is what Hell smells like, I can't say as I'd mind overmuch. It honestly smells like someone went out into a dewy garden, cut a selection of flowers, and brought them inside. But this isn't just any old 'inside.'

 

It's an elegant parlour furnished with antique cherrywood furniture. The heavy drapes are thrown wide to admit the morning sun and give the fluffy white housecat a place to bask and suncharge for a day’s work stalking birds and rodents. Several ladies are lounging on the overstuffed sofas in their day dresses discussing their respective gentleman callers, struggling all the while to mask their true desires behind the trappings of feminine propriety and decorum when all the while they're desperate to be kidnapped by a roving band of pirates, thrown aboardship, and ravaged mercilessly.

 

Damn. This review has devolved into a cheap bodice-ripper hasn't it? I'd best stop while I'm ahead.

[sophia_helix]

A frimp, because I usually avoid white florals. Like most of them on me, it goes somewhat soapy, but I just had on SN Gardenia yesterday and while I'm sure gardenia is in this, it's nowhere near the SOAP! of the pure scent.

 

I'm smiling at all the different types of flowers people are tossing around in this review thread, but yeah, I'm thinking that there's some wisteria or honeysuckle in this, and definitely lily of the valley/muguet (it smells like a Crabtree & Evelyn soap my mom used to have). It turns into a drier floral later, and has pretty good throw for such a wispy scent.

 

It also evokes its namesake well -- while it's quite sweet, there's also something kind of ghostly and deep about this, like you're miles underground in a quiet, dark cavern. Whoever said "Minas Morgul" was right.

 

I'm not quite sure on this, although any scent that actually has throw and staying power gets points with me, just because it's a little more bath-productish than I like my BPAL.

Edited May 6, 2006 by sophia_helix

[Eunice]

Amazing! This is all white flowers with just enough greenness to not be over the top. This smells like a spring rain, all clean and crisp and refreshing. Asphodel is such a beautiful scent.

[gwyllgi]

My first scent of this isn't floral at all - it's ash. Light, pale ash, the kind that was burned so cleanly that it still retains the shape of its original form, but that crumbles away to nothing if you touch it.

 

The florals come out gradually for me: thin and white, no flower I can place (especially not as it still retains that ashy undertone). It makes me feel as though I'm standing in an endless field of soft, grey flowers, flowers that crumble to nothing as I move through them but which are replaced instantly as I pass.

 

I didn't expect to like this at all; I was expecting something more like Djinn or Brimstone. Even initially, I thought this would be more of a curiosity than anything, but I find myself going back to it over and over again. I suspect there's a large bottle of this in my future.

[juniperus]

Bottle: high, not-quite-sweet, subtle, and pale...reminds me of that moment when moonflowers open on a clear, almost damp, night and the scent just moves through me.

Wet: the almost-sweet edge has passed, and now it's just a lovely, and yes ghostly, nectar. delicate and subtle.

Dry: same - not a lot of shifting with this one, and its simplicity is lovely..like one true and clear soprano-range note, the voice of a choir-boy, that seems to shine of its own light.

Later: ethereal, it faded into nothingness. to continue with the sound imagery I'm getting from this - it's later stages are like a cathedral bell after the pull - that ghost of a tone that hangs in the air for what seems like forever, before dissipating. not a lot of stay, but fascinating.

[maewitch]

I wish I was more familiar with florals, but since they so rarely work on me I don't usually give them much attention.

 

This is the rare floral that is just sweet, light and lovely on me. It's something pale purple, like lilac or hyacinth, mixed with something a little sweeter and white, like jasmine. Really very pretty and soft, perfect for spring.

[themerrybaker]

I get um, Dragon's Blood?

 

 

 

This is much more "floral" than Arachne, and less tart than Unicorn (which I always think of as white). Asphodel seems to be along the lines of Danube, and Endymion and many others.

 

 

 

This is a nice scent, but does not really stand out in the BPAL crowd.

[cranberry]

This is an elusive scent, it doesn’t have the big name florals that are easy to recognize. There’s something smooth and slightly creamy about this scent. It says subdued floral to me but at the same time it’s rather fresh.

 

After its been on for a couple hrs, I’m getting carnation - I didn’t expect that! Slightly spicy and sweet. This is really pretty, I love carnations. In this phase, it reminds me a bit of Morocco (carnation). I really like this phase of the scent.

[silver_dollar]

In the imp: It's a little fruity and a little sweet, and I think there might be green tea in it.

 

On my skin: It becomes somewhat floral. It's very light so I'm slathering it on.

 

Later: I've been sniffing myself a lot, wondering what it is this reminds me of. I just realized this smells exactly like The Healing Gardens Honey after a while. It isn't really floral as much as it is very honey and amber on me, which could be why this is fading fast - I think amber has a tendecy to do that on my skin.

 

I really like it, and I think it's what's responsible for that green-tea-and-honey smell I got when I opened my BPAL package. I might have to invest in this one again. Lab, you must be psychic.

[TrailerTrashPrincess]

this is a very familiar sort of comfort scent.

 

like maybe Glade usedta make an air freshener that smelled like this, or some Yardley soap an aunt used when you were little...maybe even one of the strawberry shortcake village kids was scented like this.

 

but to me, yes, definitely floral -- and with much much much more throw than i'm used to from BPAL. the teensiest dribblet from the tip of the imp-wand on the top of my wrist, two hours ago, and i keep catching whiffs of it as i type.

creamy white or pale purple flowers. i don't know the name-scent matches for too many flowers, but this is a creamy pale purple scent -- and whatever the Asphodel blossom looks like, it is on a very sturdy, thick green stalk with lots of big shiny green leaves, because there's definitely something lurking behind these blossoms that give it some height.

 

actually, i think i have a can of Glade spray air freshener in this scent: they call it Lilac Spring.... (IMesHO, of course)

[karengypsy]

In the vial: Something light. Almost sweet, but not, in a way.

 

On me: It actually smells rather pretty - a white or grey floral - maybe wisteria, gardenia, or violet. I can't tell! It smells freshly picked... with dew on the leaves. Whatever the flower is, it's very pretty.

 

Verdict: Not something I'll wear often, but I'll keep the imp.

 

Rating: 3/5

[Nekomata]

Light, lovely honeysuckle. Asphodel is fresh, moist and sweet. If only the throw were a bit stronger I'd be in love.

[jenleigh]

This came as a frimp in my 4/26 order.

 

I'm getting a lot of green from it - the "spring rain" description is very apt. I'm not sure what I smell in here - wisteria, definitely, and a bit of hyacinth, but something a bit herbally as well.

 

My skin's just drinking this in, though, so I'm not getting the throw and staying power others in the thread have mentioned. That's really the only thing I wish there was about this one, as otherwise, it's really clean and fresh and lovely.

[maijasu]

This is a gorgeous white floral, sweet but not cloying. I don't usually even wear florals, but a kind forumite sent me a sniffie of this to test, and I really like it! It is a bit faint, but I'd rather have a floral be faint than overpowering. This is really lovely. I don't know if I'd buy a big bottle, as it's not my usual fare, but if I am suddenly overcome with the urge to smell girly and flowery, I know this will fit the bill.