Osun

[Rouge]

... Her ofrenda is thick with honey and herbs of love, passion and desire.

Ahh, Osun, Orisha of love and beauty. I've been dying to try this one for a long time. I'm a fervent devotee of BPAL's honey blends, and I've been meaning to make service for Osun for quite a while. I'm hoping for something languorous, flirtatatious and rich.

In the bottle - The scent is thick and sweet, but surprisingly the honey note isn't the most dominant first impression. There's a clean fresh herbal note and something almost fruity as well. I think I smell a hint of ylang ylang. Since that's reputed to be an aphrodisiac it wouldn't surprise me.

Wet on the skin - Fresh and clean, this is a very green scent with a naggingly familiar herbal/floral note that I just can't put my finger on...

Dry down - This isn't an edible honey, it's more like fresh cut herbs and flowers mixed into a love potion mixed by the lovely Osun herself! Half an hour in, Lemongrass or Lemon verbena - I'm not sure which - has given the scent a slight sharpness, but the notes are beautifully rounded and it doesn't upset the delicate balance of herbs and sweetness.

Osun isn't as rich and heavy as I'd hoped for, but it does however capture the youthful, bright aspect of the Orisha's personality. It's far more innocent virgin than practised seductress. I will definitely be keeping this one, but whether I use it purely for ritual work or wear it on a cosmetic basis I'm yet to decide. It's certainly not a winter scent - I'll try it again when the weather warms up. Edited February 17, 2007 by Shollin

[monsteralice]

When Osun walks down the path dipping honey out of her honey pot and licking it off her fingers, all the little animals go, "Ahhhh," and swoon as she passes by. That's this scent.

 

Wet: Honey and something reminiscent of Coca-Cola.

 

Dry: A heavy honey humid day scent.

 

Duration: Still noticeable at the wrist after 10 hours.

 

This one's a keeper!

[Eemia]

This is a very heavy fragrance, too overwhelming for my skin. Lots of honey, thick fruits, and pungent herbs. Everything was a blur of overripe notes that were just too cloying. Honey does have a tendency to act up on me, and it does with this one---times ten. There was a bitterness underneath everything that didn't go away as it dried down. I can see that this would be pretty on the right person (especially in summer) but it's not for me.

[GoldenRubee]

I love honey scents and had high hopes for Osun. In the imp the honey smells delicious but once I applied it, it morphs into an herbal, baby powder smell and the honey disappears altogether. Unfortunately, this just does not work for me.

[Browneyes]

My first thought when I sniffed the imp was "Brazil" - as if this reminded me of something I had smelled in Brazil - I used to visit Brazil alot as a child.

I have no idea what it could be that smells familiar, but seeing as this is an Orisha/Candomblé related blend, it's not an unlikely association.

 

It smells fruity and herbal but in a bitter sort of way, and honey is very hit/miss with me - usually miss, so this is for swaps sadly. It's not terrible on my skin, but I just don't think I will wear this.

 

I do like how these Orisha blends actually smell like potions or something though

ETA: I've tried two of them now - Orisha and Oya, and they seem to have a common herbal base note. Cool!

Edited March 3, 2007 by Browneyes

[Trish]

In the imp this is strong sweet herbs and something quite fruity as well. On my skin it softens immediately before the herbs really emerge as it dries. And when dry, ah what a thing of beauty Osun turns out to be!

 

These aren't green herbs to me (except briefly during very early drydown) thankfully as I generally hate green notes. These however are dried herbs on me, soaked in honey. The honey is not your normal honey though, it's not nearly as "sticky" and far more subtle, and it's a fairly dry scent. It's a pale golden sundrenched scent to me, and really makes me picture a field of wheat waving gently in the breeze under a cloudless blue sky. It has good throw and has extremely good staying power. It's only the second non-dragon's blood blend that I can still clearly detect on my wrists after working for 9 hours! In fact it's 11 hours since I put it on and it's still definitely there.

 

I really like this a lot and it's a very possible bottle. The lab knew what they were doing when they sent me a frimp of this in both of my two recent orders!

[pixsy_stix]

In the imp: very herb-y and lightly astringent, with a slight sweetness. I'm not so sure about this, but I'm still game. Lets try it on the skin.

 

Wet: Honey and nothing else. It's almost overwhelming sweet now. It's completely different from my first impression.

 

Dry: The mad honey has calmed a bit and decided to mingle with the herbs. They're playing nice together, and I have to say the scent is alluring. Still sweet but with a kick.

 

Osun is heady,rich,and appeals to my love of decadence. I'll use the imp and go from there.

[Extispex]

In the imp all I could smell was honey. So strong and sweet it was almost sickening. It took several days before I was brave enough to try this on my skin. Today, I finally did.

 

Whew! So much better than my first impressions. It has a very rich herbal quality. It reminds me of a home-made herbal cough syrup I used to get fresh-brewed from my local hippie store. It might have been cough syrup, but it smelled magnificent - thick and green and treacly (didn't taste too bad either).

 

Other people have complained that Osun was too heavy, but it lightened up on me very quickly, leaving an herby sweetness wafting around me.

 

I do love it when the scents surprise me, and this one did, very pleasantly.

[tinyvulture]

as i open the imp, honey practically drifts out of it towards my nose. it’s such a strong honey scent, i love it! there’s also something that kinda smells like root beer, and a powdery, spicy floral. i think it’s ylang-ylang, because Osun reminds me of La Petit Mort and i know that has ylang-ylang in it. but Osun is lacking the skin musk that makes La Petit Mort so sexy. so i think of this as LPM’s flirty, playful little sister. it’s really gorgeous and has great throw.

[Dinerdulcinea]

imp: fruit

wet: fruit

dry: the fruit has a sort of "grapefruit" or "pomegranate" smell to it. There is a little honey after a long wait. It's OK. Maybe it will grow on me.

later: NAH.

[alliekat13]

I love honey scents so much, I ordered a bottle of this with no sniffie. In the bottle: thick, rich, sweet sweet honey goodness. It's definetely got a bit of a cough syrupy edge at first, but when that fades away it becomes a dripping golden honeycomb. I can't distinguish the notes of the herbs in it for the life of me, but after a few hours I definetely do get that makeup drawer vibe that people were talking about, kind of a dusty, sweet powdery kind of scent...it reminds me of how when I was a kid I used to play with my grandma's old makeup...strange. I can't imagine what could be making that association in this scent, but I like it, and I'm looking forward to see how this ages.

[sookster]

staight sniff from imp is baby powder...

 

once applied super sweet wildflower honey...this

packs quite a punch! after a few minutes the baby powder

scent comes thru again but with a twist of something like

sage or thyme...this is a true morpher on me and very

pretty

[LadyCrow]

In imp: Astringent herbals -- is there rose here?

 

Wet: Slightly sour rose and herbs. Green coconut, maybe?

 

Drydown: Oh, this is better. Powdery wildflowers over a very light honey base. I can see wearing this around the office without bothering a soul; it's not too overwhelming for summer, either.

 

Overall, I do have to agree with everyone who said that this is closer, both in scent and feel, to the Voodoo Blends than to a standard-issue perfume. Obatala is more like something I'd put on when I wanted to smell delicious; I would put on this blend when I wanted to evoke (or invoke?) the specific qualities of Osun. A keeper, but one to be stored with my Voodoos and TALs.

[forspecial_plate]

Very unusual scent. When I tried this I didn't have the description handy so I had absolutely no idea what I was smelling. All I knew was that it was sweet and slightly foody, almost a marshmallow fluff smell at first. Then as it warmed up, I finally decided it smelled like sweet wine and maybe some herbs. Honey? I had not a clue. It sure wasn't the honey note that I was used to smelling. I decided it was reminiscent of some Possets scents, so I gave the imp to Olympia301. She seemed to like it.

 

Osun actually smelled good to me, and I kept sniffing my wrist trying to decide what it smelled like.....just not my thing, really, and not something I would wear.

[kwsix]

In the imp: Honey and herbs

 

Wet on my skin: More of the same, with ylang ylang coming into play

 

As it dries, the honey becomes less prominent and a dusty dried-flower scent comes into play. It's a very pleasant scent that reminds me a little of old-fashioned perfume. It's something that wouldn't be out of place on my grandmother. I do like it quite a bit, but I don't know how often I would wear it. For honeyed florals, I prefer Hetairae.

[Nia]

I tried Osun without remembering the lab's description.

 

Wet, it smells of candy. Not just foody: synthetic candy. It's a good thing I didn0t wash away, because it turned to spicy candy and later to fruity candy. I applied it more than an hour ago and that's what I feel now: something like extremely sweet fruits. Like cherries, or melons. Honey tends to eat up all the other notes on my skin, but this is not the case here.

 

Besides, I agree with Ladycrow. Even thougfh I know next to nothing about the orishas, I think this is a good scent-for-a-purpose, because it has made me feel instantly happy. That's so odd.

[willowtreeling]

I smell honey, marshmallow candies, jasmine or lilies, and ylang ylang (usually I don't like ylang ylang, but this smells nice). Actually, I have Pink Sugar on my arm from Sephora earlier today and they smell somewhat similar--if there were a citrus/ tart edge to osun, they would be very similar, indeed, at least on me...for some reason, it reminds me of muse, too. I am not sure I would go out of my way to buy Osun, but if it came to me via swap or something, I would be pleased to own it....I know it is supposed to be about passion, but it smells snuggly to me--a nice bed time scent.

[Ishtar]

Wow, my skin must really be amplifying honey, as unlike most other reviewers, I do not get any herbal or floral notes.

On me, Osun may as well be SN Honey.

 

In the imp, it smells very sweet with a slight sourness in the background. Once applied, Osun is pure honey, with the characteristic sour / almost sweaty note that honey blends sometimes display when still wet.

 

After drydown, it mellows into a gentle honey scent rather reminiscent of O, but without the same sultriness and presence. Osun as a scent is nice enough and comforting, but it lacks the complexity to compete for space in my BPAL box with other honey blends such as O.

[Nimthiriel]

Initial impression:

At first sniff, it smells a little of honey and fruity wine.

 

First on:

Sweetened flowers – no green, yay! I'm picking up what might even be vetiver.

 

Dry:

After about 10 mins, it pretty much smells like clove. 90% clove, and the tiniest hint of... spice.

 

20-30 mins after application, it's something like clove, vetiver and spice, with a slight floral background.

 

Finally:

A pleasant scent, but not for me. Swapping.

[voodoobaby]

In the bottle: Sweet, yet sharp. Hmm. This is kind of intimidating.

 

Wearing: Immediately I get a giant whiff of pomegranate candy (the latter part is probably the honey), mixed with a hint something that smells kind of like BPAL's opium note. It smells lovely. Then I sniff it again and I get sunscreen. WTF? Well, it's not unpleasant at all. It reminds me of summer a lot. I think maybe I'm getting a hint of cinnamon, too, but I can't be sure. This is a lovely blend despite the weird sunscreen smell. I like it a lot.

[Styx]

Osun (pale yellow oil)

 

Imp: attack your nostrils sweet.

 

Skin: Sweeeeeet!! Same honey note as "O", with a big chunk of herbs. For some reason it was overwhelmingly sweet compared to O, despite O having vanilla to add to the sweetness. Smells thick and heavy too. O stayed close to my skin, and was subtle - but Osun... it'll give the guy standing on the other side of the room a toothache. Also, the sweetness isn't a young sweetness; I need to put on a few decades to pull this one off. Occasionally I get a whiff of something milky too.

As it dries, I catch a very slight whiff of spice in the back....cloves?

 

A syrup perfume too sweet for my tastes. It may work wonders on somebody elses chemistry tho; I find my skin tends to amp honey.

[AmyAngel]

In the imp, it smells a bit like cough syrup, though I can pick out the honey also. On my skin, I can smell the honey, but it's not as sweet as honey often is. There's also something there that is reading as “powder-scent deodorant” to my nose. There's some nice herbalness above the honey, but the deodorant scent really is strongly there with every sniff. Unless this changes dramatically, it's going for swaps because I think it is just reacting badly with my chemistry.

[AEris]

I understand where the 'cough syrup' comparison comes from, when Osun is wet.

Strangely, I also seem to be picking up rose potpourri.

 

As it dries, I get hints of herbs and powder. But I still smell some sort of rose essence.

 

This would complement Lush's "Honey I Washed The Kids" nicely, in my opinion.

 

There's something about it that's a little like wine, too.

 

Erm....I don't know. I can't say Osun is a winner on me, I like the softer honey BPALs and Osun is a bit brash and intense.

[Victory]

I got an imp of Osun as soon as the oil became avaailable because-- HONEY! I LOVE honey! Back then, the herbs were really powerful and astringent, but they've mellowed out a lot and made the oil wearable for me. In the imp, I can smell delicious honey and to my nose, honey is the main note when the oil is on my skin. There are herbs there as well (I'm not going to even TRY to pinpoint what they are) but they really seem to be backing the honey up. The honey seems to performing a sinuous dance on my skin- here and gone, here and gone, here and gone, like it's beckoning somebody closer. I'm really glad I kept and aged the imp- the honey is really beautiful.

[Gwydion]

In bottle: weird. It's definitely honey and herbs, with maybe a touch of fruit, but I'm having no luck with individual notes. Wet: almost sickeningly sweet. Instantly burns the skin. Complex and green with a honey floral thing going on. Smells a little like sweet cake too. If it weren't for the skin burning, this wouldn't be bad. Unfortunately even a mild rash is a deal breaker. Dry: honey sweet floral.