Chimera

[CiaoBonefish]

The fiery, volatile scent of cinnamon, thickened by myrrh, honeysuckle, and copal.

When I first tried this, I had to was it off almost immediately. The cinnamon was SO strong it pretty much went up my nose. Very peppery almost. I put it in my swaps pile without thinking about it again... until today that is.

Today I decided to give it a try because I was craving cinnamon. (which I truly love, but I don't feel like smelling like straight up cinnamon really... it has to be blended!) I noticed that in the imp it was still pretty much pure cinnamon, but not the sweet candied cinnamon, but more like a stick of actual cinnamon. It had however, cooled off somewhat since my last encounter.

I put it on, and with bated breath waited. At first it was the same cinnamon, but something instantly changed. Something was different than before! It started getting creamy rather than more peppery! I started to smell the myrrh and copal (I love myrrh!) and it really rounded out the scent nicely. The honeysuckle is nowhere to be seen, but on closer inspection, if I put my wrists to my nose I smell the faintest hint of sweet honeysuckle keeping the cinnamon from being too, too peppery.

The overall effect is very much like hot creamy milk and actual cinnamon sticks, foody, but not too foody. Divine. I can't stop sniffing my wrists. Oh, Chimera. Why did you tease me so! I think I'm going to eat my arm! This smells AMAZING! If one month of aging made it go this lovely, I think we will have a very lovely relationship this imp and I.

I also need a bottle now... AND this has shot up to my top 10 in scents. Delicious!

[DeltaCat]

This is much sweeter then I anticipated. Very smooth. The cinnamon is light and creamy. Unfortunately when testing Chimera, I got some a little too close to my nose and burning followed! A good scent, but be careful of how you sniff!

[sweetpessimism]

Went on gorgeous, nice and cinnamony, as anticipated. Dried down to a nice sort of mixed-spice. Now an hour later, vague spice mixed with a bit of musk/woodiness, with a hint of playdoughy-ness in the background. Makes me feel a bit sneezy when sniffing, and hurts my nose a bit. Perhaps in my initial glee with the cinnamon, I slathered too much. Not as fabulous as hoped. Possibly for the swap pile, but may test it out again (with just a tiny dab) before deciding.

[skyelyric]

Wow. This is what cinnamon redhots would smell like if they didn't smell fake. I know that makes no sense at all, but it's got the wicked spicy vibe and sweetness of redhot candies, but a much more real cinnamon smell with it. I don't get any of the other notes to stand out on my skin, but it ends up being a really lovely, complex cinnamon.

[SophieCedar]

omg Where has this been my whole life? It smells like snake oil in the vial and first wet however opens up completely different and so complex.. yet there's only 4 ingredients..Drydown: Smells like a rich buttery spicy snake oil with a touch of honeysuckle on me!

 

Totally need a bottle.

[SueTigger]

Definitely cinnamon! I don't really get the myrrh or honeysuckle. No idea what copal is supposed to smell like either (a quick google search reveals that it's something between a resin and an amber... interesting). BUT... I do like it.

[mymymai]

 

ITB:I smell really heavy cinnamon with a little bit of honey underneath.

Wet: Cinnamon followed by honey and just a little bit of copal.

Dry: sweet cinnamon and myrrh with some honey softening it out. Very nice!

Edited May 27, 2010 by mymymai

[laslibres]

So good! I got a half-imp of this in a swap, and it seems like it was very aged, because the oil's very thick and slow-moving. And it's amazing...sticky vanilla, honey, and cinnamon, is what I get from this scent, even though only one of those is listed as a note. But it totally smells like Snake Oil, O, and Saw-Scaled Viper had a huge debauched orgy. And then videotaped it.

 

I also get a wee bit of myrrh and copal from this, which cut the sweetness a little, make it a bit darker and more complex than just pure cinnamon and honey. Very sexy scent, a head-turner for sure. Will be a bottle purchase as soon as I'm able to purchase one, and then will be tucked away to age until it achieves the sticky-sweet sexiness of this imp I have.

[animalcule]

imp: lots of cinnamon with a sweet floral

 

wet: I want to drink it (j/k)! Cinnamon syrup. Floral is gone which makes me sad as honeysuckle is one of my favorite smells, ever.

 

dry: sweet cinnamon incense. Nice, but not for me.

[Venneh]

In the imp, I'm getting cinnamon and myrrh, and the same on my skin. Hrm. We'll see how this goes.

[Teaotter]

In the bottle, cinnamon. Wet, cinnamon and honeysuckle. It changed a lot as it dried, though I love what it turned into -- burnt vanilla sugar, smoky and sweet.

[Argentwolf]

This is a case where myrrh plays nice on me, yay! There is a very sweet, almost candylike tone to it, brought on by the honeysuckle and sweet, beautiful copal; the cinnamon just kind of gives it a nice edge that is spirited without being overly spicy or fiery. I really like it. It doesn't throw a whole lot, but it's durable enough to be a treat that's indulged in via discreet whiffs throughout the day, which comes in pretty handy. Very nice.

[DifferentDances]

Imp: Cinnamon.

Wet: Faint cinnamon.

Drydown: Cinnamon-scented baked goods. My god, have I finally found a scent that smells foody on me while still smelling good??

Dry: Cinnamon with a bit of baked goods sweetness/warmth.

 

Would I ever pick this to wear? Maybe.

 

My rating: 3/5

[DraloreShimare]

In the vial – Cinnamon!

On the skin – A gorgeous creamy cinnamon.

Dry – This one sticks to me for a long time, and it’s the same creamy cinnamon, just lighter after a few hours. Yum!

[hersphinxness]

An undefinable, non-foody sweetness in the imp.

 

On, it's honeysuckle! Wonderful, luscious honeysuckle. There's a rich resin under the sweetness of the flower, and the warmth of the cinnamon. The cinnamon never gets distinctly spicy, but warms up the resins and flower. Now and then I can pick out some elusive hint of spice.

 

This is a strong scent with a lot of throw and a very long life. I didnt expect to like this as much as I do. This may very well require a bottle.

Edited August 20, 2010 by hersphinxness

[Vega]

Sniffed: Light cinnamon sweetened by honeysuckle. Promises to be a rich, heady scent.

 

On skin: Cinnamon flows out over a deep, creamy sweet base. The honeysuckle is doing its honeying work, perhaps in concert with copal (which I'm not familiar with), and while I can't smell any myrrh it must be grounding the scent. Over time, the cinnamon gradually blends more and more with the other notes, finally becoming spicy-honey-sweet. A smooth, full, honey/creamy blend with a playful, spicy cinnamon sting. Colour impression is golden yellow slashed with dark red.

 

Verdict: A cinnamon that I can actually wear and appreciate! I quite like this.

[prisca]

to me this is one of the most animalistic BPAL I've tried. In which way cinnamon drives into a deep and dusty animal scent I don't know, but this sense of feline hair intrigues so much.

Edited August 27, 2010 by prisca

[Truelove]

Started out nice, cinammon sugar cookies - amped to be sickening - kept getting sweeter and sweeter - had to wash it off. Yuck

[HerbGirl]

Chimera is a very special oil. I love how perfume oils smell different on everyone!

 

In the bottle I smell cinnamon and powder.

 

Wet on skin I smell cinnamon and powder...and more cinnamon. Is cinnamon related to Violet? J/K

 

15 minutes later - ooohhh cinnamon with honeysuckle on top and copal underneath...with a bit of powder. That MUST be the myrrh...

 

Staying power on me? Forever. If I want to wear Chimera on Tuesday, I need to make sure I wear something that smells good with it on Wednesday and Thursday as well...even through scrubbing in the shower she lingers. And that's fine with me.

Edited October 27, 2010 by Herb Girl

[ShadesOfFree]

I have to do a double review - I had an imp of fresh Chimera, and a partial bottle of aged. They are so completely different, but both so amazing.

 

Fresh - This is one of the first three I ever tried.

 

In the vial it's all cinnamon to me. I was excited about this, since I kind of really, really <3 cinnamon. Once I put it on, I was alarmed to notice my skin burning - practically blistering in some areas (Chimera + sensitive skin + cleavage = bad news). I ignored it, though, because I can deal with a little pain... and this eventually went from spicy to vaguely sweet-spicy, like someone had put honey on my skin under all the cinnamon. It pretty much stayed that way, until the very, very end, and then I got my first whiff of myrrh, and it was beautiful.

 

So I went off to buy a bottle of this via forums.

 

What I found was a bottle of it, Aged.

 

To me, aged Chimera is myrrh and smoke in the bottle. Not bad smoke (not the sharp stabby brain-hate kind I get from anything with vetiver in it, thank God), like... muted, soft incense smoke. It's much the same on my skin, just sweeter - like sugary myrrh-incense and a vague cinnamon bite. I've taken to wearing this in the longer part of my hair (towards the front where it falls over my face) so I can smell it better. It's amazing.

 

As it fades, it keeps getting sweeter, more honey-myrrh and less spice or incense-smoke.

 

Aged, it doesn't burn nearly as badly as it did fresh. Nothing but a vague redness/burning, no blisters (thankfully!) and no rashes or anything.

 

So, basically, this scent, in either form, gets about 46355735677 stars from me. <3

[elinox]

First Sniff: Vanilla, like the kind in most candles.

 

Wet: Cinnamon power, wow! I lost the vanilla completely and it’s now the burning cinnamon of Big Red gum.

 

Dry: Once it dried completely, the cinnamon calmed down to a mild burning scent and the vanilla came back to mix with the toned down cinnamon to make a nice, warm scent. Unfortunately, I’m not getting honeysuckle at all, probably because that’s a lighter note and the cinnamon is just too strong for me to catch it.

 

My Reaction: I’m not a fan of sharp cinnamon, but when this dried it was pleasant. It reminds me of Christmas and what it smells like and it made me want to curl up in front of the fire to read a favorite book in front of the Christmas tree. And since it’s very different than the other scents I own, I think I’ll be keeping this one to wear during the winter.

 

Rating 1-5: 3.5

[innocentlyscentwilled]

I adored this scent, when I first smelt it I had a feeling that we were going to get along.

 

Bottle:It's a slap of cinnamon right off the bat, in fact it almost smells like big red gum but a little more spicy.

 

Wet:I rather enjoy the smell of cinnamon so I was eager to try this frimp that Beth gave me, setting to the task I placed it on my skin. The smell that I got right off was cinnamon, and a lot of it. Nothing really came up with it so I was sure that the cinnamon was here to stay.

 

Dry down: The soft smell of smoothing sweet like vanilla and honey hits my nose, which was strange considering there was no vanilla in the notes. Hmmm... Anyhow to me it started to smell like a yankess candle, but I loved it.

 

Dry: To my delight the smell stayed on my skin with a warm mixture of cinnamon and honey, I'm going to say that the warm and sweet smell came from the myrrh, but I never got anything Copal though I don't know what that smells like

 

Overall I really liked this scent and was so glad that Beth gave it to me as a frimp. I will definitely buy this in a bottle without a second thought.

[Brighid]

In the imp: cinnamon toast

 

Wet: warm cinnamon toast

 

Dry: Oh, THERE'S the honeysuckle. This one is really nice and calming and comforting. Doesn't knock me out enough to get the big bottle, but I do like it.

[stellamaris]

Tried this today, it's now on The Big Bottle Wishlist.

Creamy sugary cinnamon heaven.

[zagadka]

This is so yummy...

 

Wet, it smells like the taste of those cinnamon gummi bears- sweet, sticky, warm and slightly cinnamon-y. The cinnamon is light and not overwhelming, it has a candylike quality to it without being fake or too sweet.

 

On, more cinnamon comes forward and mixes with the myrrh and honeysuckle, which give it a really smooth, almost buttery/ bourbony feel to it. There are definitely some honey notes (like O and Jezebel) that come through, though I don't think it will have the powdery feel that so many people get with O.

 

The drydown is the best part- its so gorgeous! Its all honey and soft resins from the myrrh, very soft, smooth, slightly sweet.

 

I get a lot of compliments when I wear this.

 

Has a decent throw and great staying power, too!!