The Hesperides

[urraca]

The Hesperides are the Nymphs of the Evening who dwell in a verdant garden located in the Arcadian Mountains, guarded by the terrible three-headed dragon, Ladon. Within their garden lives the tree that bears Hera’s sacred Golden Apples. Their perfume is that of sturdy oak bark, dew-kissed leaves, twilight mist and crisp apple.

This is an imp with an identity crisis because its label says "Hamadryad." I got it in a swap from Brianne and she said she was sure it was Hesperides, and I agree.

This is a pure apple experience on me. In the vial it smells like cheap apple juice but once on it turns into pure essence of crisp juicy apple and stays that way. In the first hour of so I get occasional wafts of powdery spice which some will like but I don't, but fortunately they don't last long, leaving a lovely aquatic apple scent. I don't get the bark or the leaves, alas.

I'm not sure how much I want to smell like an apple though, so I will probably just stick to this imp.

[~AmusedMuse~]

My Impression: The description is DEAD ON.. I have never smelled such an accurate representation of a golden delicious apple...I applaud you lab as it is perfection of apples in a bottle.

[rellyjean]

Out of all the scents on the BPAL page, this was the one I was most hoping to get an imp of and try. I nabbed one through the LJ community and fairly bounced with excitement.

 

In the bottle: tart green apples. A little lighter and clearer than I had been expecting, which I like a lot - might be the tinge of ozone? This is heavenly - delicate and enticing. Hubby can pick out a darker undertone, but I'm just getting apples.

 

Wet: Still the light ting of green apple, but the warm undertones come out to play.

 

Drydown: Crisp apple with a bit of a spicy tone to it. Like warm fresh apple pie.

 

Half-hour in: The spices and warmth have fully kicked in, and I smell like one of my mom's apple pies. My mom makes these unbelievably awesome apple pies. To die for. But - I don't know if I want to smell like an apple pie.

 

Before BPAL, all of my scents were either citrus or green apple. I don't mind smelling like granny smith apples on the vine - and if this stayed on the way it smelled in the imp, I might have had to bathe in it and order vats of it. But I feel weird smelling like an apple pie.

 

Hour in: Reminder to self: GIVE SCENTS TIME TO MORPH.

 

As if it sensed me typing in the above, the scent has somehow migrated back to that exquisite, delicious, granny-smith-with-tinge-of-ozone crisp and heavenly scent. I cannot stop sniffing my wrists. Please, please let this be the final stage.

 

Verdict: I - honestly don't know. I ADORE the drydown stage, but the first hour of smelling like apple pie is not as much fun.

 

I'm going to have to give this one a few more tries before I decide for good whether it's a keeper or a swapper. Maybe see if either stage has a tendency to stretch out or shrink.

[olympia301]

 

This is a rare scent, and one to be taken quite seriously. My first impression is one of wood and apples when it's wet. There is a sort of a nut-like "ghost" flitting around in the background (makes sense, trees --> nuts). When it is wet, you can smell the water in the background. It does not smell like a forest, it smells like where a woodsman felled a tree with an ax, then sat down for a snack of apples and nuts (and perhaps honey) before going back to work.

 

This is a very attractive scent, and it's not floral, not minty, not musky, not rosy, not anything common at all. It is a real piece of imagination and inspiration which goes to places that most stuffy or overly commercial perfumers don't even know exist.

 

I don't smell cinnamon in this (thank God for that, what a tired beat cliche: apples and cinnamon!), but I do smell wood. There isn't any floral but I detect a perfume-like backlash in the background of it, especially when I breathe in near where I put it and then continue to inhale as I take my hand away from my face. It darts by my nose and vanishes. Could that be pipe smoke?

 

Eventually the wood smell fades and I am left with a slightly volatile apple-like scent. Very refined, outdoorsy but in a mild way (not the Big name Designer "Sporty-Clenched Teeth--Let's Cover Up Some Sweat" way).

 

It reminds me of Aglaea. When some fragrance relies on anything but the usual suspects or the "commercial Big Time IFF smell", and it does rely on such an exotic scent notion as "wood", that is piercing your heart. This is a great and special scent. I am definately getting 5ml.

 

December 2005:

I loved this stuff and decided to buy a 10ml bottle to last me through the winter and beyond. Alas, things were different. I got a big blast of birch (which is a dead ringer for wintergreen) and it overwhelmed the apples. That is a real pity. So, I hope I find someone who likes the fresh minty tang of birch because I don't. I am really sad about the change in The Hesperides and I don't forsee it going back to the way it was. I compared the new bottle to the old one, and yep...it's not the same.

 

Someone held out the hope that the birch will fade over time. Maybe it will. I suspect I will be able to find out. Maybe just time and aging will bring The Hesperides back to it's former beauty. I hope so, because it was a real pip.*

 

*That's a good thing, being a pip.

Edited March 26, 2006 by olympia301

[Caltha]

The Hesperides

 

This is definitely not a tree filled with crisp, dewy apples on me. It's a very sweet and warm fruit smell, like peach or baked apple. Almost sweet and spicy like apple pie, and I think I would have liked it if it smelled clearly of apple pie/candy apple instead of fresh, crisp apple, but unfortionately it doesn't clearly smell of apple at all. It has the "anti-freshness" of peach perfume, melon, pumpkin and some tropical fruits which I dislike.

Edited September 6, 2005 by Caltha

[zankoku_zen]

In the Bottle: Warm cinnamony apples

 

On Skin: I get more of the tree bark smell, with pungent ripe apples. I want to say this is sweet... but its more juicy than anything.

 

On Drydown: Still juicy. I smell like an apple. But not just ANY apple.

Verdict: A very fragrant apple. I don't know how Beth does it. This is such a lovely scent. Apple goodness!

[tinyvulture]

I just said, “I hope the lab comes out with an autumn scent reminiscent of a cider mill” because, growing up in Michigan, visiting the cider mill was a fall tradition. Then I received this imp, and found out such a scent already exists. Crisp, juicy green apples, and oak wood. Makes me think of the wood presses that the apples go in to make the cider. As it dries, it becomes sweeter -- kind of like a caramel apple. So beautiful, I must have a bottle of this. It’s precisely the autumn-but-not-Halloween scent I’ve been looking for. I don’t know what else to say but thank you.

[cupide430]

The Hesperides

 

Fresh, crisp apple. Like biting into a tart, ripe apple. It is delicious at first and then this warm, almost buttery sweetness joins the apple and it turns into spiced apple potpourri. There's a glimmer of a fall leaves scent. This would make a wonderful room scent, especially in autumn, but as a perfume it is too foody for me. The crisp apple is fighting the spiced foody scent but it isn't winning. The crisp apple is completely gone and this is fading quite quickly.

[Wrenlet]

Wet: Fresh-cut apple, just after the knife cleaves through it... in fact, I think I can smell the tang of metal. This does not last long.

 

Dry: Metal all gone, it is apple, apple, apple... and then oak! The apple is never cloying on me, it stays light and lovely, unadulterated. The juice that drips down your chin as you're eating.

 

Hour later: The morning after? The misty notes sneak forward, like dew... still lightly apple. Lovely.

 

Love this one!

[donsixgun]

Carmel coated granny smith apple. Nice, but not for me.

[divergenow]

Scents often change on my skin. Luckily, this one changed for the better. In the bottle I can definitely smell the caramel apples, with a hint of something else. Leaves, maybe?

 

On me, at first there's a little bit of sharpness behind the sweet apple smell.

 

After a while, I feel as if I'm walking through an orchard full of caramel apples. I smell not just the apples dripping with caramel, but also the leaves, the bark, the air. I can't stop sniffing my arm.

 

I've worn this a few times now, and a bottle is on the way. I should have ordered a 10ml!

 

This will definitely be my everyday fall scent.

[LadyWilde]

This is nice. Not for me, but nice. In the imp, I smell fresh, tart apples. Wet on my skin, the same. For a brief period after that, I get whispers of spice with the apple and I smell like dessert. . .yum. Too soon, though, the spices are replaced by a perfumey, almost air-freshener-y note that's not offensive, per se, but isn't what I want to smell like. Also, unlike every other BPAL I've tried, this is virtually gone after only a couple hours. Eh, oh well. I bet it'd make a beautiful room scent, as others have mentioned.

 

On my friend, this smells like warm apple pie. Lucky.

[empi girl]

In the vial, I can smell freshly cut granny smith apples, and caramel.

 

On, it is a juicy caramel apple, yummy and sweet, and reminds me that I love them, and that it is almost time for them to appear!

 

It softens quickly on me and loses it's crispness, and within an hour fades to a faint sweet scent on the wrist that, if one were thinking of apples, one might be able to discern them.

 

For that reason, I am sure I won't get a big bottle, but I may keep the imp.

[rainyseason]

My first reaction to opening the imp was, "Is this one of the imps I just ordered?" it was only about half full - well below the lable. I don't know if it leaked or what, but that alone was disappointing.

 

First sniff - sour, almost like apples that have started to ferment. But I thought I'd try it on my skin.

 

Wet, still sour with a little more cinammon/caramel in the background.

 

Dry - bam there is the apple. But it's not the apple I was hoping for. It reminds me of apple potporri.

 

Half hour in - I want to wash it off. I don't even want to wait too see what happens with a little more time, it's giving me a stomach ache.

 

I'll probably end up swapping this one, or seeing if it works for my mom.

[Monster]

In the bottle, this one smells soapy to me..but in a pleasant way. On my skin, wet I can immediatly smell the apples.

On the dry down it fades to an almost craft store scent (in the fall).

Overall I really like this scent, but it's just not for me. I would recommend this to someone who likes a little more femenine scents.

Very pretty though.

[Nox Eterna]

In the vial: Green apples and a bit of caramel

 

Wet on: Like being in an apple orchard the scent of apples but also the bark of the trees.

 

Dry on: Like a bunch of just picked pippins set in an oak bushel.

 

Overall: A Very Autumnal scent, I think it would be good on a candle or in an oil burner. A little too foody on me as a perfume,but lovely.

Edited September 4, 2005 by Nox Eterna

[Little Bird]

I've been wanting to try The Hesperides for months now, I *love* the scent of caramel apples. So much thanks to rellyjean for swapping me an imp .

 

Unfortunately, The Hesperides isn't so good on me in reality. I'm not sure what aspects of this turn so awful on my skin, perhaps some of the woods notes (though I usually like woods). This smells just like sharp, high pitched apple cider (spice and fakey apple) and potpourri... with a strong background note of something that smells like a used ash tray.

 

Dirty ash tray and potpourri blech.

Edited March 29, 2007 by Blood onmy hands

[valentina]

I love this scent in the imp -- it is gorgeous. I picked up lots of apple plus oak and herbal smells. On my body, it starts to morph into the sweet smell that previous reviewers mentioned and I lose the wood and the herbs. Wah! This is not anything that I'll put on my body, but I love the scent so much that I'll use it in a scent locket or as a home fragrance. It truly is beautiful, an indian summer kind of fragrance.

 

valentina

[blueoceanflower]

Ohh, this is glorious!

Tart, green apples!!! Fresh and warm, all at the same time

And just in time for Autumn

I see a 5ml in my future!

Edited September 13, 2005 by blueoceanflower

[niter]

Bottle

Smells like very tart apple juice.

 

Wet

The scent is exactly the same as when you visit an orchard and enter that cool room where they have the crates of picked apples glistening with tiny water droplets. It is fresh and makes me think of fall harvest just because that is when I get apples from orchard. Very quickly it mellowed into a hardy pure apple cider, cool, with the tiniest breath of spice.

 

Dry

The cider apple scent remains the base of the scent with a creamy overnote. It smells as if I went walking outside in the fall with the scent of apple trees breezing over me. It is a very lovely autumnal scent and probably the best apple scent I have experienced to date. None of that overly fruity apple nor that overly spiced department store fake apple candle scent.

[turbojenn]

AH, this one makes me so sad, as it just does not work on me, but the artwork of the blend is so divine! Out of the imp, I get BIG earthiness, with that sharp apple finish. I love the smell of this one, and maybe I'll use it for home fragrance.

 

On me....oh, it all went so wrong. Both oak and apple really amp on me, and the two were really tussling, and it was giving me a bit of a headache. After an hour, it took on a sour note, like the subway on sunday morning, and at that point....I had to scrub it off. *sigh*

 

I so love the fragrance of this one, but alas, it does not work on my skin.

[Thorne]

Apple. Apple apple apple apple apple. Then there was some apple. The drydown? Apple.

 

If apple is your thing, you so need this.

[Lori]

Sniffing the imp: Eww...I don't like it! It smells really nutty, but like nuts gone bad or something. There is also a cocoa smell, like in 13, which I didn't like and swapped away. I can faintly smell the apple, too, but the choco nuttiness is much more prominent.

 

Wet on wrist: Well, to be honest, I wasn't even going to put it on my wrist because the smell was sort of making me gag, but you know, this is for science and all. *cough*

 

And low and behold....APPLES!!!!! Zing!

 

Yes, yes, wet on wrist the apples came out just like a big, fresh bag of MacIntosh's!

 

Drier: Oh, cool...there is pefume in this!! Yes! Underneath the apples, there is something perfumey and sweet and the two sweetnesses together make this delicious! I want to bury my nose in my wrist for the night.

 

Dry: WOW...all I can say is...if you don't like the initial scent in the imp, try these things on!! I can't believe how much I love this, and at first I thought it was blah at first sniff.

 

This smells like a bowl of apples, surrounded with sweet apple blossoms!!

[lohengrin]

Try #1:

In the bottle: Oak bark. *sneeze*

 

On, wet: Oak bark. If there's apple in here, I do not smell it, what with all the sneezing.

 

5 minutes: Smells like a stick of apple incense. Fortunately, it's only giving me a mild headache, because I don't really have time to scrub it off right now. Will update with how it smells a few hours down the line when I get home from class. ^^; *wanders off, sneezing*

 

~5 hours: It's mellowed considerably, quite a nice, woodsy/apple scent now. Except that I need to practically have my nose touching my wrist to smell it. Oh well, I shall keep the imp, but I don't see myself getting a bigger bottle of this.

 

Try #2:

Bizzarely, The Hesperides is all appley goodness this time. Apple, with some faint green notes. Very nice, this one is a keeper after all!

 

However, I definitely will let oils sit for a couple days after they arrive from BPAL, in the future. The Hesperides is clearly the better for it. Mmyummy.

[AngelFireHeart]

OK I got this as a 5ml without imp testing it as from the description I was sure I'd like it.

 

This is quite a fruity experiance, very wet & juicy on first application,

but as it starts to dry the apples go 'yeasty' on me & start to smell more like cider, & this scent then fades very quickly after that until I can barely smell it at all & what I'm left with is a sweet indescribable residue that vaguely reminds me of candyfloss, I guess Apples don't like me very much. I'll give it one last go in a few days & if not, I may put it up for swaps as I don't like the scent in the bottle as it would stay in my scent locket.

 

Oh well C'est la vie.