Saturnalia

[VioletChaos]

Unrestrained revelry, unchained licentiousness! Violet deepened with vetiver.

in the imp: vetiver, smelling surprisingly...poopy

wet on skin: uh...more of the same

dry down: the poopy aspect has become smoky, so that's a plus.

in all: a smoky vetiver, no violet.

[hellomoonglow]

Oh my. Let me see how I can describe this.....

 

Have you ever been to a Renaissance Faire where they sell smoked turkey legs? And they might also have a nice, open fire, and perhaps it's night and you may also smell citronella candles? On my skin, Saturnalia smells like a smoked turkey leg mixed with wood smoke and a healthy dallop of citronella candle. Ick. Oh mah gawd, I need to wash this off before I barf.

 

edited to note that it is SOOPER hard to get off of me. Sob! SOB SOB SOB!!!

Edited April 7, 2008 by Shollin

[whisperingmachines]

I got a mix of the above two reviews- turkey legs, citronella and poop. Really bizarre.

[savage_rose]

Violet and vetiver, ah how I loathe thee. In certain blends, where you are supporting characters and not the leading roles, you're fine. Some of my favorite blends contain you. But together, you are a disgusting, obnoxious, burning mess.

 

It smells like toxic chemicals and singed hair. This is truly nauseating.

 

Edited to make sense .

Edited April 17, 2008 by savage_rose

[ElinaMakropulos]

I had really high hopes for this but it smells like beef jerky and cheap booze. I can't be walking around smelling like I've been boozing it up and chowing down on Jack Links.

Edited May 6, 2008 by ElinaMakropulos

[LadyLuckDoubt]

In the Bottle

No idea what the heck is happening here-- I'm getting a dry, musty smelling scent which is almost fungal in nature. This reminds me of Destroying Angel. No loud proud strong vetiver, and no violets.

 

On Me

Okay, we have violets which have been growing in a dank, airless attic. This is making me sad-- the mustiness is really off-putting for me, and makes me sad for the violets, because I love violet and this and my skin chemistry is just not doing them justice. I'm totally not getting any vetiver, either, or anything else: just mustiness and violets, and the violets don't dominate, either. Looks like I've found a BPAL which doesn't like me.

 

This makes me sad: I love both vetiver and violets and assumed this would be a winner for me.

[Indigo78]

This was another frimp..one I never would have chosen as a bottle straight out of the gate, but one I have eyed as an imp possibility nonetheless. I know the Vetivert story when it comes to my skin, which is usually just Win or Lose.

 

In the imp this is wrong to me, simply put. I can't stand the heavy Vetivert note. It hurts my face. Everything is SO green and pungent, with hints of pickles. Same wet on the skin: the Violets don't even show up to wave hello. I am just getting a musty, cumbersome scent, and the drydown is better only because the notes fade. I never get the lush, heady Violets descibed by others.

 

The throw is above average, and I'm not sure of the wearlength. This one just isn't meant for my nose, nor my chemistry. No sir-ee.

[kawaiiferreto]

Wet: ...Pickles? Cucumbers? Wait, I know; Tzatziki! I think the vertiver is being naughty.

 

Dry: Still tzatziki. I can tell there's violet in there, just barely, but otherwise this is all not so pleasant tzatziki. I'm not overly fond of it on food, and I certainly don't want to smell like it.

 

Verdict: To swaps!

[Suu4LC]

*GAG*

 

This was hard for me to sniff, even just in the imp. I love violet, but this is raunchy vetiver DOOM. I'm a glutton for punishment (and can't NOT test a bpal!), but I am dreading actually letting this hit my skin.

 

Oh god, this is not any better on my skin. It kind of smells like burnt meat? Like, REALLY burnt blackened meat. :D Blackened meat that somebody stubbed out like, a whole pack of cigarette butts on topped with a healthy sprinkle of burnt rubber bits. This is probably in my top ten worst bpals on my skin. The poor violet is trying to peak out, but the vetiver keeps slapping her away.

 

Ok, this needs to be washed off. Twas tried in the name of science and bpal love, but this is NOT for me!!!

[Katherynne]

I'm getting this awful smell from this, and I'm blaming the violet. I was thinking maybe I liked violet? NO. I DO NOT.

I love vetiver so I can't blame the vetiver -- it's all the weird smell of violet which to my nose is just... offensive. I know so many reviews are saying they can't smell the violet but oh god, to me it's overpowering and it just gets worse on the drydown.

 

It smells OKAY on the boy, better than it does on me, but I'll be frimping this to someone else on my next swap.

[kcarmack]

Sharp, sharp green that dried down to a baby powder.

 

Which is fine....if you like that sort of thing.

[crebbsgirl]

Simply put, this did NOT agree with me. I normally like violet, and vetiver and I have had a tumultuous relationship but we get along more often than not. This blend, however, disagreed violently with me. This was possibly the sharpest scent I have ever tried, and I like my scents smoother, more languorous. This was decidedly in-your-face violet and vetiver.

[anguissette]

My boyfriend kicked me out of bed for this one.

To me it smelled like Malediction. All I got was vetiver, strong, earthy, vetiver. The violet got lost, maybe adding a bit of shading to distinguish it from Malediction but definitely not playing a leading role. My boyfriend could smell the violet. And he loves violet scents, I hunt them down just for him. But this one was too strong. I was banished to the other room.

So I'll be swapping it.

[Lamia]

Gah, this is awful! The vetiver is so strong, so bitterly masculine, that the poor violet doesn't have a chance. It peeps out here and there, but the vetiver drowns it and holds it under. Bitter bitter bitter.

 

Trade bag.

[quigza]

When I first tried this in am imp, it was strongly violet & the vetiver rounded it out. It was dark violets. I decided it's my fave BPAL.

 

But, in my 5ml, the vetiver takes the forefront. It is very deep & earthy from the vetiver with violet peeking out. Even after drydown, it's more like a swampy violet than dark violet.

 

During certain parts of my cycle, this fragrance develops into something incredibly sexy on me. Violet is almost always lovely on me & vetiver is good during certain times. I like the effect of layering this with a sugary or fruity fragrance as well.

 

But, I must caution folk, this is very earthy- swamp earthy. Unless vetiver develops well on you, you're not going to like it. In any case, do not slather.

 

Edit to add (Jan 06, 2009): After it aging a few months, the vetiver is a little less gritty. No less strong, but the "grit" to it is faded. I have a feeling it'll be the same smell as I had in the imp after a few more months of age

 

Edit (June 24, 2012): Wearing this layered over my usual tea tree oil for acne. It's so green and foresty all mixed together.

Edited June 25, 2012 by Lemonlife

[tacey]

Wow, violets and vetiver? I'll have to take Beth's word for it, since I've never smelled either. This started off really nice and intense -- unfamiliar, but attractive. Strongly wafting as I wore it, and lasted much better than anything else I've worn this week. However, the more I sniff this, the more disturbing it becomes. I can see why reviewers above me consider this a masculine scent. There a harshness to it, something...I want to say it's a "mean" scent. Not for me, but fascinating, nonetheless.

 

 

ETA 10/21/2009: I tried a frimp of this today, just to see if my perception had changed. While I've learned to recognize violets now , I still can't wear this one. It's intense, but it still suggests something unpleasant to me.

Edited October 22, 2009 by tacey

[aiko]

Violet, I recognise. Vetiver, I don't.

In the imp: it is an intense earthly smell(vetiver?) with little violet.

Wet: It is still strong with this earthly herbal scent overpowering everything else.

On drydown: The earthly scent has faded a little and I can smell the violet now.

 

Saturnalia is an intense and strong scent. The violet is there, but the vetiver is much more overpowering. I like the intensity of the scent, but it is too earthly for me. I would prefer having more violet. This scent reminds me of dark earthly green soil more than dark purple. The throw is strong and it has long lasting power. Those who like earthly smell should try this

[Hypnophilia]

Okay, after reading so many bad reviews for this I'm a little shocked and just have to throw in my 2 cents:

 

Saturnalia was instant fascination for me, and I'm really picky with scents. I love violets and luckily also seem to amp them, so on me this is a very balanced mixture of violets over a smoky, earthy-green, deep base - soft and pleasant, and no traces of the unspeakable things mentioned!

Edited November 19, 2008 by Hypnophilia

[Saya]

In the Imp

Smoky beef jerky. The forum member who compared it to Jack Links was dead on. Yuck.

On My Skin

Vetiver and smoked meat, I’m not even getting a hint of the violets.

 

After a Bit

Three hours later and this has finally morphed into something I like. This is spicy, earthy violets. I’m a bit disappointed that it took this long to get to this stage, but now that it’s here I really like it.

 

Rating 1-5 (5 being the best)

Scent - 2.5 Throw - 3 Longevity – 3.5

Overall (not an average) – 2.7

 

Final thoughts

I like what this blend eventually evolves into but at first it’s just a putrid smell. I don’t think that I’d ever wear this because it just takes to long to get to the good part. Oh well, off to swaps where someone can give it more love than I can.

[Electric Maenad]

Garg. I probably should have read the description for this before applying it with my usual heavy hand. Vetiver is a note of death on me, and it turned a scent that bore a certain resemblance to Faustus (which smells like White Light, which I lurve) into swampy, medicinal smelling violets.

[DigitalCoyote]

I just got my order a few days ago and this came with it.

 

I wasn't sure what to make of the smell in the imp, as I'd smelled about a dozen other things before getting to this, so I tried it out on my boyfriend.

 

It started out as something sort of nutty, like sesame seed and walnuts; it was definitely food-y.

 

After it dried, it became bacon and stayed that way until he showered 5 hours later.

 

I don't know if leaving this one to sit for a while will help it.

[starcr]

I don't think that my skin chemistry mixes well with this one. I found it very harsh even in the bottle, but it got worse when I put it on. It took me a while to identify what it reminded me of... And then I realized it: wet paint. Occasionally I got a sort of powdery floral, but mostly it was wet paint.

 

It sure did last a long time, though!

[Bluestocking]

In the imp: Gah! The vetiver monster from Highwayman is back, and he's stinking up Saturnalia! …Seriously, I've liked several scents that have included vetiver in the blend, but in this one, the vetiver is smothering everything else and it smells really, really rank. (I agree with Violet Chaos: it smells like poop.) It's dark, extremely earthy, smoky and green with a strong edge of decay. There's the faintest after-whiff of something purple, which I think is the violet, screaming for mercy. I wouldn't call this masculine or feminine—heck, I'm not sure I'd call it human. I'm scared to let this touch my skin.

On, wet: Putrid. A massive pile of rotting lawn clippings, old tires and fertilizer, dumped on top of a teeny-tiny little violet and then set on fire. I'm holding on to see if the dry down changes this, but as it stands, I'm very glad that I only put on a tiny amount. (Even so, this is wafting like nobody's business. Thank God I don't have to go anywhere today.) This is not even remotely purple or sweet; it's dark green and brown and yuck.

On, dry: …Wait. After an hour of olfactory misery, I think I can actually smell some violet breaking through, a faint tinge of purple sweetness in the gloom. The vetiver isn't so poopy anymore, but it does smell very strongly of wood smoke, like a campfire. This is actually tolerable, if not exactly my cup of tea. Still, this is 95% smoke and 5% violets, if that.

Later: Campfire weenie roast, with an occasional hint of violet starting to poke through at the three hour mark. I wish the violet was stronger, because what I can smell of it is lovely, but the vetiver is just too assertive to let much of it through.

Overall: I hate to knock down a BPAL blend, but Saturnalia is one of the most unpleasant blends I've tried, second only to Highwayman. They both share the same downfall, which is an unrestrained, overly aggressive vetiver that smells kind of nasty in its own right and smothers out the other elements. I'd love to say that this just doesn't work with my skin chemistry, but the truth is that this smelled just as poopy and vegetal in the imp as it did on my skin. I think the real problem is that my nose just doesn't like the smell of strong vetiver. If your nose isn't similarly impaired and you love all vetiver all the time, then Saturnalia will probably be a good fit for you.

 

EDIT: I woke up the morning after testing Saturnalia to find that my wrist smelled like purple, slightly dry and spicy violets, with not a trace of vetiver. Although faint, it was actually a nice smell, and now I can see how those who aren't put off by the vetiver can like this one. However, I think ten plus hours after application is a bit long to wait for the perfume to reach a smell that I like and can wear, so when I want a violet fix, I'll reach for Faith or Violet Ray.

Edited February 16, 2009 by Bluestocking

[awesomeoverlord]

My search for the perfect violet continues...I have to say, I was weary of this one from the start. Vetiver is possibly my most ardently despised note ever. I was really hoping the vetiver would behave and let the violets reign in this one, but no such luck. I get a teensy bit of sweet violet if I really concentrate, but it never really asserts itself -- not in the imp, not wet, and not on drydown. Icky vetiver all the way. Oh well.

[liquidtrance]

In the imp.. This smells just DIRTY. Apparently I had NO idea what vetiver really smells like, this seems RANK. Test later…

 

Resniff: No way am I skin testing that! BLECK. Could be rotting mushrooms for all I sniff. Gag worthy.

 

Sorry, bpal, but no way.