reconditarmonia

:wub2: This is GORGEOUS. A fresh, clean rose scent complemented by lilac, and what I guess is the honey and rice flower keeping it from being too airy. It's very like Les Fleurs du Mal but more complex, and also reminds me a little of Dawn:Maiden so if you like that, you might like this and vice versa; on the other hand, they're not so similar that disliking one means you won't like the other. So glad I sprung for a bottle unsniffed! (So close to being first! Well, I'm the first positive review. )

In the Lupercalia update we've got "My Sweetest Lesbia," which is coincidental, but...

This is reeeeally similar to Needlework. I'm going to have to deathmatch them when I'm back from vacation and have all my stash with me. A lot of what I recognize as lilac, but it's not as realistic as the lilac in Cordelia, which may be the influence of the other components. Post-deathmatch comments: Misery is cooler in color (more bluey-purple and less pinky-purple, scent-association-wise) than Needlework and now that I'm sniffing them together there's something really strong that I'm picking up in Misery that I don't have the experience to identify - the violet or saffron, I guess. Needlework is better, but I'll be finishing my decant.

Yup, laundry. Floral but not particularly rosy, but I'm getting the watery-detergenty-fabric scent.

Argh, so much brown musk. I was hoping for everything but that to be primary - magnolia, honey, skin musk, beeswax and cinnamon are all lovely on me - but no, I smell like dirt.

Close to my skin, it's a little bitter, but the throw (and also the scent when I first apply it) is all scented Magic Marker. Which isn't a bad smell, but it's not something I want my body to smell like.

(double post...)

My results seem to be a bit at odds with others in this thread, but eh. I get a lot of lilac out of Cordelia, which is the best lilac scent I've tried (it's lovely in sweltering weather because I feel as though I am in a cloud of lilac!). A bit in Needlework and Pontarlier. Undetectable in Veil, Viola, and Spirit of the Komachi Cherry Tree.

Helas: good call! I consciously remembered that there wasn't one named for Carmilla in that series, but I kind of forgot that plot detail. And yes Anactoria and The Arbor! Should have thought to look for actual Sappho poems...

Without having tried either, I would suggest trying Tombstone...no leather, but vanilla and balsam with an Old West feel.

Of the ones you mention above, I would say Peacock Queen is the sharper, closest-to-pure deep full-bodied rose scent. The others (except for maybe London, which is a soft tea rose to my nose) all have soft ameliorating additional notes of cream, milk and/or honey, other florals etc. Of the GC blends, The Rose is the closest to pure rose for me but it is a soft pink rose rather than the red rose. My personal favorite BPAL rose blend is any year release of Rose-Red. To my nose, it is the best purest rose blend ever, where once I believed it was Patou's Joy. Rose-Red has nothing which gets in the way of that beautiful young red rose scent, and it not quite as sharp as Peacock Queen (which is my second favorite. Yeah...I was really wondering how this rose-milk-honey scent compares to the other ones. But I thought I would mention the other just-rose ones since some of the reviews compare it to Peacock Queen, etc.

How does Victorian Rose Milk compare to the other rose-and-milk blends - Katrina van Tassel, Dawn: Maiden, and Alice? (I don't mention Klara because I haven't tried it.) Or for that matter, to rose blends London, Peacock Queen, and The Rose? I ask because there's a bottle on eBay and I'm trying to decide whether or not to buy it, since I loooove Dawn: Maiden which is available from the Lab any time.

I tried Stinky recently, and ohhhh is it wonderful.

I've been liking Cordelia a lot in this very hot summer. The tea and lemon keep it cool, but the lilac stops it from smelling like I showered with dish soap.

'08 version. The rose is nice, but I just can't deal with the frankincense, it's too chemical.

Does smell quite like eggnog, though not exactly. I definitely get the brandy/rum! Alas, although it's not listed, the vanilla here does do the scent in, for me. Just a biiiit too foody.

The rich scent of wild blackberry breezing over gentle rosy heather. Hm. I get what people were talking about with the laundry thing, but to me it's more a feeling of "hot dryer sheet" than an actual scent. The scent itself is very nice - I don't get the rose, but there's a nice blend that my nose can't really separate into "blackberry" and "heather."

Smelling it in the imp it's incredibly lovely and herbal - not as in "This is a Herbal Perfume" but as if I actually went out to the garden and rubbed a sprig of lavender between my fingers. Unfortunately, on my skin it goes to a metallic pennyroyal and then fades within a few minutes.

Unsurprisingly this is somewhat similar to Dawn: Maiden and to Katrina van Tassel, but I like it less; it's more citrusy and, argh I can't describe it, feels "smaller" somehow.

Against Idleness and Mischief is a fantastic honey scent. It makes me think of happy bees.

I thought I'd love this one, but I don't, really. It just isn't all that pleasant. Could do with stronger cream/honey.

I wasn't sure I'd like this because vanilla has ruined some other scents for me, but it's actually quite nice. The lavender is truer than I expected, and it isn't overly foody.

The scent of sexual obsession, slavery to sensual pleasure, and the undercurrent of innocence defiled utterly. Amber and honey with a touch of vanilla. I was hoping this would be a perfect honey scent, and instead it's all vanilla and amber. Woe is me.

(2010) Oooooooh. I thought nothing could top London for rose scents (okay admittedly there are loads of plain rose scents I haven't tried but hush) but when I wear them at the same time for comparison, Peacock Queen just knocks it out of the water. It's more full, more sweet - ohgosh.

Important lavender question! Most of the blends that have lavender listed as an ingredient don't specify which kind of lavender. French lavender is herbal and more like a cooking seasoning, while English lavender is sweeter and more floral. So...if you can identify it, which blends have English lavender?