Artemis

Not getting the citrus aspect on my skin. Mostly cypress for me, and therefore I associate it as a masculine scent. I'll wear the sample until gone, but I expect I may not warm to this one. UPDATE - 2 days later. I very nearly deleted my comments above, but I leave them as a reminder to never review first impressions. I still feel this is a mostly masculine scent, but in the same way that Tweed (the vintage formulation) is a mannish scent for women. An outdoors vibe, and probably more suited to Autumn. Cypress remains dominant and strong, but the supporting notes, particularly the olibanum, make the blend smoother and mellow.

This conjures for me the intoxicating smell of old books. If you're a bibliophile (like me) and frequently find yourself cracking open the stiff bindings of obscure folios to breathe in the scent of pages yellow with age, then you owe it to yourself to sniff this. If you're a pale-skinned habitué of ancient libraries and find yourself wandering among oak-panelled shelves just to breathe in the atmosphere of age and wisdom, Artemis may be up your alley. Note: nerdy librarian glasses and leather Chesterfields required for best effect.

Having read up on the mythology of Artemis - Greek goddess of the hunt, (wildernesses, wild animals, fertility, and twin of Apollo the sun god) - and with bow and arrows at the ready, I was girded for a kick-ass encounter with a fierce fragrance. What enveloped me was much more beguiling. I closed my eyes and drifted into the gentle citrus warmth of a Mediterranean morning, meandering on a shaded path into the cool earthiness of a sweet cyprus grove, and up to a rocky mountain field shaded by ancient twists of olive trees, their leaves silvering the breeze with a faint whiff of smoke from Etna. All I could do was lie back upon that wild ground and let the sensual calm sweep over me. The ground is Cypriol (Nagarmotha) and Vetiver – Cypriol is believed to attract love. Vetiver is said to be an aphrodisiac. The combination is calmly captivating and warmly sensual, with hints of cinnamon, fleeting florals, lingering woods, the slight pungency of love-sweat, earth and moss. Woven through this the airy hint of bergamot and mints. In lesser hands the mix of ingredients could jar and overload one’s senses, like so many men’s fragrances can (as though being a man denies any possibility of sensitivity), and so man woman’s fragrances suggest air fresheners; but there is no overload here and nothing pops rudely to interrupt ones reverie amidst the exquisite alchemy created by Teone Reinthal. I wasn’t expecting this! No call to arms, no boot-camp, no shrapnel of citrus or needles of too-obvious mint. No need to shield myself from this divine embrace. The ingredients are so well balanced, emotionally grounded, clear and cleansed, in a word – equanimity! Artemis. Virgin guardian of the wild places in our hearts. Refreshes and balances. Invites us to imagine, to dream, but also to breathe - and dare to begin something new.

I don't smell the bergamot, and take the perfumer's word for it that there is ANY citrus in this. My nose takes me directly to a forest of cypress pines. Woody,and smoky. I'm trying the sample, and wearing it to my work...a physically demanding job I suspect it will be on my skin well into the night.