Dorian

[Celenth]

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.

In the imp: Musk and tea and a touch of vanilla.

Wet: MUSK! The second I put it on, it's a very strong wave of musk and vanilla.

Drydown: the hardcore musk tones down after 2-3 minutes and the tea becomes apparent. I don't get any of the lemon that others get. It's a perfect balance between a sensual and strong musk, sugary vanilla, and very delicate black tea. It feels very gender-neutral to me, I can't even describe how gorgeous it is. I love it on me, it makes me feel very womanly, yet I also feel like I should be sneaking around and slathering it on unsuspecting men.

The throw on this is crazy, it's VERY strong for two hours on me. After that, it tones down and turns into primarily the tea, sweetened with sugar and vanilla. Five hours after application, I still get occasional, delicate whiffs of it.

I've gotten plenty of compliments with this, it's fabulous and sophisticated, with a touch of sensuality and something just plain dirty. Definitely the sort of 'librarian with a secret wild-side' kind of thing.

[nightbird]

I was absolutely sure I'd love this scent - tea and vanilla? perfect!

 

and while I do like it, it's almost too sweet for me. that's very strange since I generally like sweet scents. I got this imp in a swap and have another on the way from the lab (forgot about that...) so I'll hang on to one of them and swap the other.

[Medox]

Oh Dorian! Your musk-tinged vanilla is sweet and sharp -- you are a naughty boy to inspire such a decadent, delectable scent.

[jesvet]

This is what is so fun about BPAL- the ones you think you'll love and the ones you end up loving are two such different beasts.

 

I ordered an imp just for fun, since I'm always looking for the perfect lemon/sugar scent and there is always something wrong with it- too sharp, too perfumey, not authentic. My expectations for this were not high. I got this in an imp pack and after a succession of disappointments from the "sure thing" scents, I got to Dorian- and I'm in love.

 

In the imp, sweet lemony sugar with an undercurrent of proper tea balancing the cloying sweetness. On, the lemon and sugar are bright and happy, and utterly delectable. The tea is a subtle swirl underneath.

 

When it dries, the lemon recedes to the background, the sweetness dies down- and here comes the musk! Oh, you naughty, naughty Dorian. It is sexy and delectable and yummy all rolled into one cup of tarty tea. This scent is just perfect and I MUST have a bottle, asap.

[kunoichi]

In the vial, this smells of bright tea scent with a darker sweetness underneath it. I’m not sure what the fougere cologne is meant to smell like, but on my skin it becomes a very rounded, dark vanilla as the bright tea scent disappears almost immediately – it is dark and sweet and seductive. After a number of hours on my skin, this is a soft and sweet, yet has a darkness underneath it probably from the tea. It is delightfully delicious!

[Elemcee]

This perfume is lemon, tea and musk.

 

Dorian is beautiful. He's so pretty, many people who see him wonder if he is a boyish woman. There's even a delicacy, there.

However, there's also masculinity there, too, lurking underneath.

 

I agree with the people who say this is the perfume that Gaiman's Desire would wear. It's definitely androgynous.

 

I have a velvet jacket that really 'goes' with this, if that makes sense.

[puredeadthingy]

Oh, Dorian...I see what all the fuss was about now...*is in love*

 

In the imp: vanilla tea

 

Wet: lemons and vanilla and sugar, oh my

 

Dry: Pure, pure sex. Mmm. A bit more masculine than what I normally wear, but it's deceptively innocent; oh, my God, I now know what my fantasies will smell of.

[akw]

I never ordered this one because the description didn't appeal to me. I didn't think the notes would work on my skin.

 

Then . . . I received a frimp in a recent order. What a wonderful surprise!!!

 

I got the lemon very briefly, and at first thought it might be a nice, light, sweet scent for some nice, light, sweet occasion, but it settles into something very different. Definitely an undertone of something darker (and wonderful) under the sweetness.

 

I think there will be a bottle at some point.

[raspberry*tart]

Dorian: it reminds me of Antique Lace.. I smell vanilla and honey.. it's very sweet .. not getting the guy in the parlour but i also have 3 other imps on me right now.. I will need to test this one again tomorrow on fresh skin.. But so far I love it

[jiggahava]

It may be a little too early to call, since I've only sampled 7 scents...but based on the fact that I was sniffing my wrist every five seconds, I would say that Dorian is my favorite BPAL scent so far. I was afraid to try it because "Gender neutral" translated to "Too masculine" in my mind. It smelled just as lovely on my wrists and neck as it did in the bottle. The light vanilla tea was BEAUTIFUL, and the musks smelled so lovely and light that it felt like it was a part of my skin. I think I like light musks so much because they are so close to the way my own skin smells. This lasted me over 12 hours, and yet it wasn't ovewhelming at all. Just perfect. This will be the first big bottle I will buy. A+

[PilotKitten]

This is a very dark tea scent. I can definitely get the sugared part but the tea is definitely no wimpy Lipton. It's a very dark tea blend. On wet, I'm not sure I liked it much, but after the initial drydown, it does smell pretty good. I wonder what it'd smell like on the husband.....

[Aevalin]

I'm so glad I realized I loved the "tea" note. Dorian is simply to die for. I know what's in it - but everything blends together so well on me I'm not able to pick out notes. It's just a slightly sweet scent that doesn't go to baby powder on me. It's not too strong, it's just warm and delicious without being too foody.

 

::adds Dorian to the must try and obtain bottle list::

[Chrysantza]

I got a frimp of this from the Lab. Since it's so popular, I was dying to try it even though I'm more of a floral girl, just to see what all the fuss is about.

 

Wet: Sugary sweet vanilla tea - very nice.

 

Drydown: Oh oh, deodorant! Something has come up and smells like a generic "fresh" scent, deodorant or dryer sheets.

 

Verdict: If only it stayed vanilla tea, I might be able to wear this. As it is, it's nice but not really "me."

[Dinerdulcinea]

imp: tea

 

wet: tea with a hint of odd vanilla...the tea part is refreshing though

 

dry: very pleasant for a while, but eventually babypowder.

 

POOPY! I really wanted this one to work on me.

[Iceblink]

Lemony, sugary tea. I'm not a tea drinker (more of a tea loather) but I didn't mind the tea note in this--but tea doesn't like me and it gave me a headache after a couple of hours even though the smell was pleasant.

[jasmine]

Definitely something foody about this. I pick up sugar immediately. The food smell is accompanied by something floral -- lavender, I think, though it may not be.

 

As the smell settles, it relinquishes a bit of its foody power and gains a bit of warmth. I’m not complaining about the change. It has an elegance to it. It’s sexy -- a subtle sexiness that is neither distinctly masculine or feminine. This smells complex and confident without being obtrusive. It’s sophisticated, graceful... a truly elegant scent. I want to dance with people who move like Dorian smells.

 

As time passes, my impression of Dorian remains one of elegant warmth. All of the elements weave into a single tapestry of scent. Oddly, while I think the scent is sexy, I find that I don’t feel sexy while wearing it, because what I actually want is to smell it on someone else’s skin. That would be... nice. It's gradually becoming more masculine, a warmer, deeper smell, which reduces my desire to wear it further.

 

Consequently, I don’t see myself wearing Dorian often, but I’m very impressed by it, and I’ll keep it in mind for situations where I want to feel calm and sophisticated.

[miss_mimic]

In the bottle: A creamy sweetness with just a hint of the lavender and musk. Mmm, smells yummy!

 

On skin, wet: The musks are showing through a little on my skin. So far this smells delicious. Not too heavy, but then has enough substance to make me take notice.

 

On skin, dry: This is absolutely gorgeous. Creamy vanilla tea, with light lavender and musk highlights. It hasn’t changed a great deal from the original scent, which is fantastic as I love it.

 

Drydown: This is beautiful. It doesn’t last as long on my skin as some other scents, but that just means I get to spend more time playing with smellies as I re-apply! It’s a hard scent to capture in word pictures. All I know is that I love it.

 

Conclusion: Dorian has won another heart! Definitely on my bottle list.

[supremegoddessofall]

Predominantly tea, with a touch of vanilla. It's very soft, and I'm not getting much musk at all.

[tmcm]

Oh I so wanted to love you Dorian... but it was not to be. Vanilla hates me, I always end up smelling like pipe tobacco. The tea and musk were not enough to drown out the extreme sweet vanilla scent.

 

I'm still searching for that perfect musk...

[nannan45]

Dorian

 

This is REALLY good. On me I smell sweet lemon tea. It's very soft and pretty. After a while I start to get some creaminess, which later blooms into vanilla. Mmm! After that, the scents seem to rotate. I'll get a whiff of lemon, then vanilla, then sweet sugared tea. Beautiful! This will be on my next order for sure.

[aestien]

Bottle: sweet lemon tea

Wet: sweet lemon vanilla tea

Dry: soft sweet vanilla musk, hint of lavender

 

This starts out as a beautiful sweet lemon tea, as the lemon fades, the musks move forward, blending warmly with the vanilla, with just a hint of lavender. Very nice.

[lanablade]

In the imp: Sweet lemonade.

 

Wet: Lemon and tea and musk with a very sweet vanilla threading through all.

 

Dry: Soft and sweet. I can see where someone got the 'deoderant' note from, because it does remind me of dryer sheets if I think hard. That note/combination isn't overpowering, though, and the vanilla tea is more than pleasant enough to elevate it. That said, if dryer sheets smelled like this, I'd dry my clothes every day before wearing them. This would make a great fabric spray or room scent. It's very clean and fresh, but still deep and... magic. Like all BPAL.

[girl_android]

I picked this one out of my pile of imps to test on Monday night, before I headed out to play some tennis, and *had* to stop to post the swoon-worthiness somewhere.

 

In the imp it's sweet dark tea with vanilla and musk. How could I *not* love this?! No signs of lavender despite the fougere, nothing hinting at lemon. It's kind of like a wickedly evil version of fairy floss/cotton candy. I'll admit that it's one I picked because it seems so popular, but it's got to have a following for a reason, right?

 

Wet on skin, there is something in there that suggests lemon, but it's all sweet black vanilla tea with musk on me.

 

Once it was dry (on Monday night it was while I was hopping about between points, and then I wore it at work on Tuesday, hot weather be damned, and then I wore it on Wednesday night, for something to sniff at tennis), I got lovely wafts of what I'm calling evil fairy floss - it's sweet, but it's dark, and it's wickedly good. I loved that it didn't *need* to be slathered everywhere for me to be able to smell it, and I loved that it lasted through the whole day at work.

 

I don't need to think about whether this will be a bottle purchase, it *is* on my bottle list.

[joojifish]

This smelled like sweet gingersnaps on me. The lemon and tea were barely discernible, and only when I sniffed for them. Dorian wasn't bad, but it wasn't what I was looking for either.

[evilbee]

In the bottle: A sweet vanilla tea with a hint of lemon.

 

Wet: Holy hell and Hannah lemon creamy amazingness. Never could I have imagined such a glorious scent from my wrist. Like spreading mounds of vanilla-ed whipped cream over the softest lemon cake. It’s not natural in any way. This is like beating a lemon cake (from cake mix) with some added vanilla extract for fun, that soft, mousse-like texture.

 

Dry: The musk is finally vying for my attention, and what a sweet musk it is. It is less lemon now, but it’s still like vanilla cake batter from a box.

 

Hours later it’s all white musk, which is a little old lady-ish, but still yummy.