Theodosius, The Legerdemain

[Emma2403]

Earl Grey tea leaves, a white fougere, jasmine leaf, pearlescent white musk, and vanilla bean.

 

In the bottle

Tea and vanilla. Maybe some Cologne too.

 

On my skin

Very masculine and still full of vanilla. Yeah I know it sounds weird. It makes me think of an old man's perfume, but it's not pejorative, it brings back good memories of ex teachers and all. It really smells like some ancient Colognes.

 

After a couple of hours

Lovely vanilla haze… it's much prettier on me when it's dry.

 

Verdict

Far too masculine for me, but I guess it could be great on a man (not a boy, a man).

Edited September 30, 2006 by Emma2403

[juniperus]

Bottle: translucent. musk and vanilla and...the fougere, maybe?

Wet: much the same. masculine but not hard-edged, not dark

Dry: it's grown faint, subtle..but there is a...something bitter.

Later: going, going, gone. I think I need to try this one on Bri. It doesn't seem to work well on me.

[anomie]

In the bottle: Tea with vanilla and smoke. Mmmm.

 

On, wet: Mmm, vanilla. And still a hint of herbal goodness from the tea, and something darker too.

 

Quick drydown: Ugh. It's gone all antiseptic - like somebody sprayed air freshener to cover up the scent of smoke. The sweetness of the vanilla is still there in the background, but it's being drowned out.

 

I can appreciate that this is a really beautiful scent. It just isn't clicking for me.

[Meg]

In the bottle: The fougère and white musk, with hints of tea. It smells very cologney.

 

Wet: Sweet vanilla pops up immediately in the fougère. It's very afershavey, with slightly citrusy white musk.

 

Drydown: Very fresh and masculine, still the fougère dominating with greenness from the tea and jasmine leaves seeping through. The vanilla has gone a little lighter, which is good because it was nearly cloying when wet. As it dries down, the tea starts developing - brewing, nearly - over the fougère, fighting for dominance.

 

Overall: It's bright and fresh, a typical fougère, and therefore to me extremely masculine. It has throw and staying power on me like very few other blends. The vanilla and tea come to a good balance, but I keep on finding it weird to have the freshness of fougère associated with something as sweet and warm as vanilla - it's not a combination that I enjoy. It reminds me more of Hungry Ghost Moon than anything else, though I find it more pleasant because of the bitter edge provided by the tea, it's not something that I would wear.

[aimeceleste]

It's pleasant, I like the warmth given through the musk and vanilla bean, but it's not my cup of tea.

 

Too much jasmine - my skin almost always over-amps jasmine!

[empi girl]

This is wonderful! It is just a little teeny bit cologny at the beginning, more because the citrus starts out strong, but this fades very quickly. It settles into a vanilla base (more the essence than the scent of vanilla, it is far more subtle than "smells like vanilla") with tea, hints of citrus and a something soft and indistinct, which I think is the fougere.

 

It lasts a long time (still caught whiffs 8 hours later), and is lovely. I get no mint, no hint of evil jasmine, no soap, not antiseptic or bitter. It is soft, sweet, with a hint of vanilla and tea. It is definitly different than Dorian for me; it seems more related to HGM with the softly citrus quality that one also has. I know a lot of people consider this one masculine, but I have to say it doesn't wear that way at all on me, and I'm glad for it!

[Celenth]

In the imp: Musk and tea.

Wet: Citrus and tea! Lots of citrus. Reading these reviews made me expect something like Dorian (which I love) but on me this bears absolutely no resemblence. It's very light, powerful, and smooth. It's absolutely gorgeous, though it's certainly very 'cologne'.

Drydown: Good throw, but it's vanishing pretty fast. The citrus is still the dominant note on me with the musk really making it a bit sexier and smoother and hints of tea in the background. No vanilla on me. It's really beautiful, but it's also very masculine. I think this is probably the most interesting and gorgeous of the CDs I've tried so far. It's light and sophisticated, very much a 'gentleman' kind of scent.

 

Alas, it IS very manly... I love a lot of masculine and unisex scents but I think this one is just too much man for me to handle. I'll give it another try tomorrow because I would looove for this to fit me.

 

However, I think I may just have to find myself a man and slather him in this. I would definitely pounce my guy if he had this on. Oh, the sacrifices that must be made for BPAL!

[sookster]

straight sniff from bottle is sweet tea and some floral...

 

once applied this remains sweet earl grey tea with fantastic musk and creamy vanilla

 

i was very leery (no, make that terrified!) of this blend cuz of the jasmine leaf but this only enhances it making it beautiful ...even for a chick!!!

to me, this is a perfect womanly fragrance...i guess i'll try it on the boy to see how

different it is with his chemistry

 

this is strong and lasts forever....i doused myself at 4 a.m. and the scent itself just melds with my chemistry...this is a "classic" bpal perfume ...positively gorgeous and i will be buying a few more bottles before they go away most certainly

[valentina]

In the bottle, Theodosius is very strong, masculine and not at all sweet. The initial application on my skin, before drydown, is where the resemblance to Dorian most strikes me -- the fougere, musk and vanilla really bloom and I get a shot of that tart-but-sweet Dorian essence. Then Theo dries down and it becomes something altogether different, because the bergamot essence of the Earl Grey tea leaps out, but most pleasantly so. It's crisp and clean. After an hour or so, I detect the undertone of the jasmine leaf, which seems like a greener and less heavily floral jasmine. I am so lucky, this is a scent where the balance of the components holds on my skin, so I can't say that any one element is dominant. Theo also has a nice amount of holding power -- I put some on about 4 hours ago and I can still pick up its crisp, clean scent.

 

Theodosius is my idea of a "clean" scent -- it's not too sweet or too citrusy or too musky or too vanilla-y or too floral; I do sound like Goldilocks, but this one is just right.

[forspecial_plate]

Definitely smelling the musk in Theodosius, and the earl grey tea brings a citrus twang to the mixture. Also I think I can smell the vanilla bean, adding to the already sweet musk. As it dries, the musk warms up and becomes stronger. Sophisticated is the word I'm thinking of here, and also strikes me as a good gender neutral perfume. I like it.....however, I feel that it's similar enough to F5 that I don't need whole bottles of both (I have a decanted imp of Theo). Seems to be in the same scent 'family' as F5, but I like F5 just a little better.

 

Edit, May 2020: this isn't like F5, I don't know what I was thinking

Edited May 18, 2020 by forspecial_plate

[mornatasare]

Wet: There’s a hint of citrus or an equally clean scent, shot through with just a smidge of spicy warmth.

 

Dry: The throw is staying close to the skin. I can just smell it with 2 inches of my wrists. The smell has warmed up to a gentle vanilla & musk leather, but it still holds onto that clean feeling. Not much tea, but it may be hiding in that clean smell--my nose is not too particular. Very much the gentleman’s scent. I get the feeling that if I wore this often enough, it would get to be quite second-skin-esque.

 

Definitely buying a bottle!

[nightbird]

when I put this on I thought it smelled like Dorian - and then I read the description again and realized why.

 

Dorian and I don't get along, unfortunately. this smells very much like tea, and while I like tea, the note smells bad on my skin. I think I'm smelling some jasmine as well, and jasmine is another note that doesn't play nicely - it either amps or turns soapy. poor Theo and I are not meant to be.

[argylexsoul]

Theodosius to me is a manlier version of Dorian, because it's lighter on the vanilla and has more fougere and spice. Unfortunately, I don't like the smell of fougere. Also, I smell less tea in this than I had hoped for.

 

Overall though, this is a Dorian that a guy could wear without the fear of any girlyness. I already wear Dorian though, so I think this is good but I won't be buying more when my bottle runs out.

 

I don't get much of the jasmine, and none of the lemon that people say they smell. The musk and vanilla bean make this nice and sexy, but strong and dark.

Edited March 4, 2007 by argylexsoul

[Caltha]

Theodosius

Theodosius does remind me quite a bit of Dorian, but more plasticky and less masculine. I actually don't get the men's cologne association at all, it's far too sweet for that. It reminds me more of the coconutty/minty sweetness of Spooky or perhaps The Star. Also, I get the white, shiny, slippery, semi-see-through plastic visual association I get from Alice among others. It has quite a lot of throw even though I only put a little on my wrist to try. Unfortionately I like the skin scent better, it's a little less plasticky, with a hint of green tea or fougere. It's also a powdery scent. Staying power is good, but that doesn't help much since I don't care for the scent. This is a little girl, not a gentleman.

[slave1]

In Bottle: Tea and citrus

 

On Skin: The tea screams out of this and I do get lemon even though it’s not mentioned. The vanilla helps sweeten it and also gives it a nice subtle softness. This is beyond masculine, I can not in any way picture this on a woman. I know many women have reported loving it, so I guess I’d need to smell it on them, because to me it really seems manly. The musk and tea combine and just spell out man for some reason. I get a bit of an overwhelming feel from this, it is very strong. But I still love it and am going to demand my husband try this scent on himself so I can sniff away at him in pure lust. Strong throw and great wearlength.

[sh1mm3r]

Wet, it is pretty musky, and then it goes through a nice stage of citrusy muskyness, which has scent memory for me (I'll let you know when I figure out WHAT the memory is, lol).

 

An hour or so later, it has dried to a sweet-tea scent - not quite vanilla, but maybe even sweeter than that. Maybe I've lived in the south too long, or maybe it really is sweet tea.

[Lady Ravenglass]

Coconut-vanilla-tea I do like this. It's manly without being perfume-countery, and very nice indeed, even on me. J thought it too sweet, but he's an incense man. The tea is light and delicious without going Apothecary/Dormouse and the vanilla is pale and faintly sweet, like a very, very light Tombstone.

 

It's a wearable Dorian (D turning to Impulse Vanilla Body Spray on my funny skin) and I'll be keeping the imp. Yum!

[tempestteapot]

Wet: I smell smoke and lemon though there's something that hints around the edges that I just don't like

 

Dry: I believe it's the musk that's the culpret. The lemon has died back but the tea/musk has jumped up. Blech.

 

I had to wash it off.

[PilotKitten]

Mmm.. this is such a lovely scent. I totally get what Macha was saying when she mentioned wanting to drink the bottle. <3 I can't wait till my husband gets home so I can try this out on him. < drools >

[supremegoddessofall]

Has a masculine feel to it. I'm getting predominantly a vanilla tea, brewed strong. The musk is underneath. No jasmine at all, and I have no idea what white fougere is.

[myoubi]

I need a boy so I can make him wear this!

 

She of the Busted Sniffer detects... mm, tea mostly, but not sweet at all. Vanilla underneath, but it's not femenine, just sexy. A touch of jasmine underneath. There's something anchoring all that, it's not at all girly. As it dries, the vanilla becomes more apparent and the musk comes out to play a bit.

 

Sadly, it's far too masculine for me; but I like it so much I think I'll keep it until I ensnare my next boy, and then make him wear it

[harmonyfb]

Wet, this smelled heavily aquatic, with a hint of tea. It dried to become a very sophisticated men's cologne. Too darn masculine for me, but I have high hopes for trying it on my hubby tonight.

 

ETA: On my husband, it was a dark, smoky scent that screamed 'Sex me up, baby!' Absolutely divine. Unfortunately, his skin also amped it up to the point of ridiculousness - I could smell it sitting across the room. A little dab'll do ya, indeed. The musk was predominate, with an underlying sweetness that must be the vanilla, and a little smokiness from the tea. He says, "Weirdly enough, this makes me think of bay rum." (Note: I don't smell any bay rum.)

Edited October 27, 2006 by harmonyfb

[sofiaviolet]

Ooh, yes. This is Dorian, but better. Stronger, with more throw and more attitude. I so need a bottle. I smell tea and vanilla, but not sickly sweet vanilla. No jasmine, though. I wish that was more prominent.

[moon_lemming]

Mmm, Dorian Plus! I hate to only review a blend by comparing it to another blend, but it's just so obvious that I can't help it.

 

At first, Theodosius is a creamy vanilla tea blend with a cologne-y tinge to it, but as it dries on me the cologne effect wears off and it becomes a lot muskier, I guess because of the white musk.

 

The jasmine leaf apparently isn't the same thing as jasmine (duh, but I wasn't 100% sure), because my skin amps jasmine like a crazy thing, and I can't find it in here.

 

It has good throw, lasts quite a while, and it smells so good. If I hadn't just stocked up on Dorian, I'd be getting at least one bottle of this one.

[euterpe414]

On my skin this is exactly like a nice cup of Earl Grey with some cream and touch of sweet. I really love this scent, it is very comforting. I don't find this to be very masculine on me, I see this scent as more of a unisex tea blend. Although I will admit if I met a guy who wore this I (or my nose) would be inclined to just follow him around!

 

I am very very glad that jasmine leaf is not the same as the flower. Initally, when the carnaval came out, I did not jump on this one because I saw the word 'jasmine', but now I am the wiser, and know that jasmine leaf is A-OK.

 

This is a lovely blend, and I will definitely snag more than one bottle before the Carnaval leaves town.