Dorian

[Summerpixy]

Inspired by and created for my beloved Tedwin: my eternal, beautiful, wicked Dorian Gray. Refined, elegant, and lovely, with a noble bearing and seemingly gentle air. This blend is an artful deception: a sweet gilded blossom lying over a twisted and corrupted core. A Victorian fougere with three pale musks and dark, sugared vanilla tea.

I went to Black Broom recently and this was an instant bottle purchase.

It's so far the only overtly creamy scent that has worked for me. I think it's the strong vanilla and tea notes, they add this beautiful layer to the scent that I just adore. The sugar is not too strong in the least, I love it! Sweet but completely wearable. Yum, instant favorite.

[Muppetk]

Interesting...

 

Wet: nothing for a second then sweet, slightly green (tea?) lemon. Mmm.

 

A few minutes later: More sweet tea now with a touch of faint florals.

 

Later: light, interesting. The lemon actually seems to stay, though lightly.

 

Overall: nifty nifty scent. I don't think it's me though.

[synique]

Dorian. My first unsniffed bottle purchase, and it's been an excellent choice.

 

At first, it just seemed like sweet vanilla tea, and there's nothing at all wrong with that - other than it makes me want to nibble on my wrists, but as I've gotten more used to it, I can pick up the musks. They're lovely and light and work just gorgeously with the vanilla tea scent.

 

It doesn't hurt that it's also named after Dorian Grey and the lit geek in me revels in it.

 

And many thanks to the reviewer who posted the description about tea with a proper Victorian gentleman who takes advantage of the situation when the serving maid leaves the room.

 

I too give this one a definite must own.

 

-Jen

[Phaedra]

Ahh....what can I say about Dorian that hasn't been said already? Here's my take on it. Wet in the bottle this smells sweet, a bit citrusy and creamy. It has a "gentlemen's" aura about it. It goes on very light and fresh, milky and herbal all at the same time. It's a little hard for me to pick out individual notes as it is a very complex and unique blend. After a few minutes it starts to warm up and smells like- biscuits? It's also floral but not overtly feminine. I can also smell a hint of pepper that fades quickly and then the vanilla comes through and warms it up. This is very sexy but with a sophisticated facade. I can see why this is so popular among both men and women. Absolutely stunning!

[autumn24]

Cream tea with sugared vanilla that melts with the natural smell of warm, bare skin. Truly this is one of Beth's greatest accomplishments. This scent inspires gentle neck-nibbling, to be sure...

[Diviana]

Hmm, I don't really have anything more to add to the other reviews. Stayed pretty much the same for the 8+ hours (!!) it lasted on me: yummy vanilla tea. I wasn't even going to order this scent, but all of the rave reviews made me curious...and now I totally want a big bottle of it.

[nevermore]

Yum. Mostly vanilla/tea, but with a touch of something masculine (which I can only smell somtimes, and isn't that overpowering). Fairly light, but lasts well. Dorian is my "default" perfume - it's what I put on when I either can't decide what to wear, or don't have time to try and decide what to wear. I may need a bottle of this one.

[girlmadasbirds]

a men's cologne-ish scent with sweet vanilla and citron. it's *almost* too manly for me, but i like that sweet vanilla/citron smell so much, i'm keeping it. i bet this would be killer on a guy. but it's nice on me too

Edited June 24, 2005 by angel sixgun

[pkwench]

Dorian.

 

Oh, my sweet, sexy Dorian. I ordered this with my imp pack of love that I recieved with my last order. I now know what the fuss is about. Dorian is lovely. Truly, one of the lovliest things I've ever smelled. Then I think about the inspiration in connection to the glorious scent and I get a little weepy eyed.

 

Love is some seriously cool shit, y'all.

 

Anyway, dark sugared tea is the predominate scent on me, but it rides over something that I can, uselessly, only think of as posh and purple and ever so wicked.

 

This is the most comforting and beautiful scent without being too masculine, too feminine, or foody. It feels like the hug that you desperately need from the one you love at the end of a long day.

 

In short? Dorian = love.

[loveandprozak]

In the bottle: Sweet, sugary, and vanilla. There's the faintest scent of black tea under this, but I can barely detect it.

 

On my skin: Very lettle change at this point. It's a little generically sweet.

 

10 minutes: The black tea finally started surfacing. It's now more of a sweet tea. I don't get much honey out of this... really, just more of a sugar and tea scent.

 

30 minutes - drydown: The tea is once again overtaken, and the muddled sweetness dominates.

 

 

My thoughts on Dorian are that it isn't a BAD scent, but certainly nothing that I consider fantastic. It's pleasant and sugary with just a slight amoutn of depth thanks to the tea, and if that is what someone is looking for it may just do the trick perfectly.

[magdalene]

This was the first scent I bought a 5ml of without having already sniffed it first, solely because of the reviews here.

 

In the bottle, wet on skin, and dry hours later: it stays perfectly the same on me! Sugared, vanilla, black tea. Almost an Earl Grey. And so beautifully blended.

 

Absolute sex in a bottle!

 

It's also got great staying power, not to mention a little goes a long way. Something which I appreciate a lot, as some of my other favourites scents drift away in a handful of hours.

[Sara]

Gee, am I the last person to review this or what??

 

Ok, I bought this completely unsniffed and on the reviews of everyone else...... so here goes....

 

Sniff: Umm, well, this isn't really what I was expecting. It's perfume-y with a touch of something I don't really recognize. And I think I smell the sugar and lemon.

 

Swipe: Well gee, this doesn't smell like the black tea with cream and sugar that I make. Frankly, it smells like a girl. A girl who's been rolling around in heavily perfumed flowers and sugar.

 

Drydown: This goes a little wonky on the drydown, a little too soft, too powdery, and too "womanly."

 

Overall: Wow, this is sooooooooooo not expected. I also got a bottle of Bordello and the similarities between the two are amazing. I really don't need both, as they both smell rather girlie, sweet, and kinda powdery. Sadly, this was kind of a disappointment. I mean, it's lovely..it's just not what I had in my mind - stupid pre-imagined smelling.

 

Edit:

 

I gave this one another shot today...sadly it's still nothing like what I was expecting (sweet creamy vanillay sugary tea), but it's not bad. Preconceptions aside...it's a little sweet for a man, a little masculine for a woman, and kind of powdery and "dry" feeling in the back of my throat. There's also a touch of lemon, but it's just a touch. Unfortunately, after (*looks at clock) an hour it burns off into this rather disgusting powdery stinky woman-ish blob of scent that reminds me heavily of my grandfather's wife...............not exactly something I'd want to smell like. Maybe alcohol would help (as I have a feeling it's either the base/carrier oil (soo many problems with those on my skin), the musks, or both).

 

Grrrrrooowwwllll!! Why can nothing work on me that everyone else raves about? Snake Oil was just "eww gross" on my skin, now Dorian is following lead with a "kind of a'ight, gross after an hour", what the fuck is next??

 

Umm..yeah..sorry for the outburst. Currently experiencing major stomach ickiness (could be Chinese, could be pms, could be both), and I hate everything right now (definitely pms). The hate isn't clouding my sense of smell though, it's just affecting what words I'll use to describe it.

Edited July 16, 2005 by Sara

[quikslvr]

Too clean and sharp wet: too sweet-lemon-linen. Much more bearable when a few hours into it. The pale musk comes out pleasantly later, but by then no one else can smell it. Too bad.

[emz83]

On me this goes lemon, rounded by sugar and a bit of vanilla, and maaaybe a bit of pale pale tea. Then again my favorite teas are oolongs. It smells lovely in the bottle, creamier, but the lemon in this scent on my skin becomes overpowering. Blast my skin chemistry!

[nineveh]

This is similar to The Apothecary (citrus and herbal), but also creamy and with a slight vanilla scent that makes it better, in my opinion.

 

It's definitely an artful deception; if I met Dorian Gray, I wouldn't suspect his dark secret, based on this blend. It's too light and pretty for that, while still managing to feel gender neutral.

 

I may buy a big bottle of this sometime.

[Brianne]

In the bottle:

Wow, I can already tell I'm going to like this, it's musky and sweet

 

On me:

There is no doubt in my mind right now about why Dorian is such a popular scent. This is absolutely beautiful. This would work well on a man OR woman, it's just one of those scents that's so perfectly gender neutral in my opinion. The vanilla comes through perfectly but it's not so overwhelming that it makes this a sugary sweet scent. I don't get any lemon at all in this like other people do, but the musks are wonderful and deep and the tea smell is perfect. Either one of the musks or the tea is offering up a slightly biting, kind of minty smell. Maybe there IS mint in this, but I don't think so. If there is, it's very faint. It's just this crisp *kick* in the scent that makes me love this even more.

 

Final note:

Dorian is a massively popular scent for good reason. This is one of those scents that I think most people will love (not all!), and it's a great everyday, any occasion perfume. This is just gorgeous and I will definitely be getting a big bottle!

Edited June 17, 2005 by Brianne

[blaqpearl]

I was so excited to finally get an imp of this. I was amazed at how easy it was to smell each of the notes. My nose isnt the most experienced. Wet I really didnt like how it meshed with my skin. After about an hour was when I was able to detect the notes. Even with a beautiful drydown, I really couldnt get over how it smelled wet. I am glad I got to sniff this but I will be passing it on.

[Lit Chick]

I wanted to try this based on Andrabell's infamous review - but I saw "sweet" and decided to hold off. And hold off. But in a swap, a decant of this was available, so I figured why not....

 

Oh.

My.

God.

 

This is the most amazing thing! It's musky creamy sweet (but not too) perfection. It's sexy in alluring, seductive way. Very, very confident. I feel like looking sideways at every man and giving them a sly wink.

 

This is masculine - I think DH could wear this (but he'll never get it from me. NEVER!). But it's not manly-man. Which is why I can wear it without being bitchy. Most male blends make me...aggressive. But this - I'm far to invloved with sniffing myself and thinking how incredible I am to be mean.

 

GUYS - In a cologne rut? Want to get a little closer to the girl you've been flirting with? Wear this! It will make you stand out from all the Axe wearing boys. And she'll like it!

[Lady_Ell]

Well, call me mystified.

I just tried on some Dorian - I hadn't ordered it due to the "blend of three musks" or however it was described because I was afraid of getting what I can only describe as That Musk Smell (which on me ends up like cat butt and a loogey) but I don't! I get a gorgeous and slinky vanilla sugar tea thing going on, with the dusty essence of an elegant fur coat in the back of the closet and a hint of lemon zest.

[mistri]

I almost feel as everything I could say about this scent has already been said, but I guess that's not going to stop me.

 

This is a very sugary sweet smell, slightly citrus-y, with tea. Does what it says on the tin, in other words, but it is a lot sexier than you might think from the notes alone.

 

This isn't something I'd put on in the hot summer mornings, but instead it's something I turn to when I read in the evenings, or during the cooler months.

 

Dorian will always be (ok, I'm guessing, but I think so) a top three scent for me. It's the reason I'd never be able to walk away from my BPAL addiction, even if I wanted to

[starrykitten]

I held off on this because it just didn't sound all that interesting.

 

Big mistake!

 

My nose has been glued to my wrists all day. It has staying power and it's sweet and creamy and subtle while still being really complex and interesting. I bought a 5 mL of this unsniffed but I'm going to have to order a 10 mL next time because I think I'll be wearing it a lot.

[Eris]

I'm feel like I'm the last person to try this!

 

And boy, have I been missing out. I'm apparently a closet lemon fan, because I get the same soft sweet lemoniness in this that I do in Zephyr, and I love it! Only, in Dorian, it's backed by sugar and cream which I also love! The tea is there, but not too strong on me.

 

All in all, this is a smooth, rich, and sexy scent. It's a perfect summer fragrance. It does fade quickly on me, but I don't mind reapplying.

 

Yum.

[Seraph]

first waft - musky but light, hint of vanilla and... something.

 

first on - is that lavender and vanilla? Hints of citrus.

 

later - pure yum. Kind of citrusy, kind of vanillaish, kind of musky, yet none of those things really. It brings to mind that strange lavender tea I used to sweeten with vanilla sugar with the slightest spritz of lemon. Everything blends and meshes and swirls around, teasing and tempting. It's a prim scent that hints of sex to come -- but not in an animalistic rutting sort of way, more of a fine wine, candlelight, linens, roses and skillful tantric lover sort of way.

 

Verdict - I love it. The Little Miss loves it. The Mister likes it a lot (even if he does say it reminds him of those lemon cookies my grandfather gets from the cheapcheapcheap discount grocery store) and might be convinced to wear it willingly (he "accidentally" got swiped with it and it smells delish on him). Must buy more. Lots more.

Edited July 3, 2005 by Seraph

[Blood onmy hands]

Add me to the already long list of Dorian fans.

 

I was worried that this wouldn't work on me, since I usually get headaches from musk... but oooh this is so lovely.

 

I don't get any lemon or citrus from this.

 

Soft sugared tea and vanilla musk... very warm and sensual. I love this and the boy loves this on me. It feels like a very romantic fragrance to me.

[Ajila]

*Sigh*

 

I guess I'm just going to have to accept that blends involving a fougere just don't work on me, they all have a harshness I just can't deal with. Having said that when the fougere fades the remainder of the blend is gorgeous. Warm creamy vanilla with the lemon, tea and musk in the background, it's heavenly, why can't it all be like this.