Probably the hoariest pick-up line of all time is “What’s your sign?” It truly takes someone of phenomenal talent to rehabilitate that corny come-on. Alexandra Balahoutis of Strange Invisible Perfumes has that level of talent. Ms. Balahoutis is easily one of the top botanical perfumers working and all of her compositions are examples of the complexity that natural perfume can reach. Back in August the first two of the signs were released Virgo and Pisces. Later in 2011 came Libra. When I arrived at the Strange Invisible Perfumes booth at the recent Elements Showcase I found there were two new signs added, Aries and Taurus. After trying all of my best perfume pick-up lines on the staff working the booth I think they gave me a sample set just so they wouldn’t have to put up with me anymore.

Here is the rundown in order of release:

Virgo is the brightest of these five which perhaps is befitting the most innocent sign of the Zodiac. It begins with an almost unnaturally bright halo consisting of neroli and mandarin. The sunshine feels like it radiates in warm waves off my skin. This is a soft sweet beginning which segues into rose through the middle. The soft innocence continues with a very ethereal mix of sandalwood and guaiac in the base. Virgo is the most easygoing of this group which is not the way I would describe most of the Virgos in my life.

Pisces is the most imaginative of these five and is also the most interesting as I got something different each time I wore it. The first time the tart lime seemed to dominate the opening. The next time it was the intensely floral kewda. Jasmine was there all the time but as contrast to the lime and complement to the kewda. The lime really is necessary to keep this sign from spiraling into flights of floral fancy. Ms, Balahoutis really puts a spike in the floralcy with a pungent spicy duo of bay leaf and black pepper. Pisces ends with an extremely dry frankincense and cedar combo.

I have to mention another discovery from Elements Showcase; Strange Invisible Perfumes has a bath and body line. I wore Pisces on a day where I used the Frankincense & Coriander body wash and it was the ideal choice. Lemon & Neroli would probably be awesome with Virgo, although I didn’t try it. There are also Bergamot, Sage & Rose, and Lavender & Vetiver. Ms. Balahoutis wants these Zodiac scents to be layered and it seems like the foundation of any layering should begin with the body wash and body lotion. This auxiliary line to the fragrances is a great addition to the Strange Invisible Perfumes line.

Libra, no surprise, is the most balanced of the bunch. Each note has its place and no one note dominates Libra develops in a straightforward way. Starting from an herbal citrus mix of basil and grapefruit through to lavender and iris in the heart ending with champa and rose in the base. Libra is steadfast and true and very good.

Taurus despite the sign does not charge onto the scene. It starts with a golden glowing honey and for those of you who enjoyed Tahitian Honey, Taurus is going to delight you. The honey with a wedge of citrus is the opening and a clean grassy intermezzo leads to a woody oak moss base. Taurus is not as strong as you might expect but it is steady as it goes from beginning to end. I also think this would be an ideal partner with its Zodiac compatible Virgo.

If Taurus didn’t act like a bull, Aries certainly does act like a frisky ram as it barrels off of my skin in a spicy blast before strutting around full of itself and not caring who knows it. A veritable fusillade of spicy notes arises before the same dry frankincense from Pisces swirls upward through the mélange. Patchouli adds its hefty weight to the end of Aries and it dares anyone else to come near. Aries is so forward and determined I have a hard time seeing this layered with any of the other four Zodiac scents. I’m not sure if that is why it is my favorite but it is the one that I am going to tease out every drop of my sample.

As with all of Ms. Balahoutis’ botanical fragrances these have above average longevity and modest sillage. Pisces is the most forward sillage wise and Taurus is the least prominent.

When the first two of this collection came out the press release made it sound like there would be a couple of new releases every couple of months. A lesser talent would have held to that schedule but Ms. Balahoutis releases her fragrances only when she is ready to. My sign of Scorpio was one of the early ones and I am hopeful it might be next. I can’t wait to see what she does with it.

Disclosure: This review was based on samples supplied by Strange Invisible Perfumes at the Elements Showcase.

For those who want to also take a scented trek through the Zodiac, Strange Invisible Perfumes has offered a sample set of all five fragrances to one lucky winner. To be eligible tell us what your sign is and which of the current five fragrances you think you’ll like best. We will draw one winner on February 15, 2012 via random.org.

We announce the winners only on site and on our Facebook page, so Like Cafleurebon and use our RSS option…or your dream prize will be just spilt perfume.

–Mark Behnke, Managing Editor