Leanan Sidhe

[funkmoppet]

Leanan Sidhe-

... Her perfume is a crush of Irish herbs and flowers, Gaelic mists, and nighttime dew.

 

I'm a sucker for oil concepts. I admit it. There was no way I wasn't going to try Leanan Sidhe, and really hoped that, despite the floral, It might morph into something magical and evocative.

 

 

I really really have to learn to say no to floral. She's not mythical, she's not misty, the glamour isn't on, and I'm not transported to times of Irish myth.

 

Instead, Leanan Sidhe has just had a good wash with Palmolive soap, bunged in a bit of hairspray, and she's off to do a spot of shopping.

 

Woe.

 

Edit: added lab description.

Edited September 29, 2007 by Shollin

[n3m3sis42]

In the imp:

I would describe this as a "bright" floral.

 

Wet:

Still very bright and floral. It reminds me of a commercial perfume I once tried when I was young, but I have no idea which one. It becomes a lighter floral as it dries down a bit, and it's now sort of reminding me of the smell of the Pert Plus shampoo I used to looooove when I was a kid. I'm sure that's not what it *really* smells like, so let's just remember that I am a perfume ignoramus, okay? Anyway, if it keeps smelling like this, at least I know I will love the smell of it in my hair.

 

Dry:

On me, this dries down very similar to Alice and Pink Moon (which smelled almost the same on me). It's not same smell, but I'm guessing it has some of the same notes--rose or carnation or honeysuckle--but without the sugar and cream. I've really only tested the 3 of these blends, so I'm sure that when I actually wear them all over instead of just dabbed on my arm, I will see a bigger difference. Anyway, it's a very pretty, light floral that I'm sure I will wear again and love.

[JenM]

In the imp: A middling to dark floral, with a tang of something like heather.

 

On the wrist: No one note leaps out. It’s still floral rather than “green”, and has a disappointing waft of department-store perfume.

 

Drydown: a sweet, still slightly perfume-y floral with dark notes. I can so very nearly smell the individual notes in this, but I can’t identify them. Very faint, though. I think I like this, but I may be trying too hard based on the fact that I love the name and concept.

 

Half an hour: fading to white roses.

 

Am going to save this and try it again when my body hasn’t been thrown out of whack by flying.

[euterpe414]

At first this one starts off as gorgeous light herbs with a bit of 'mist' and some white florals in the very far background. However once it dries on my skin, the soap invasion begins. It turns quite sharp and the gorgeous herbals seem to fade into the background. This is really sad, because this blend smells so gorgeous and ephemeral in the imp. I think as a compromise I'm going to use the rest of this in my locket or in the oil burner, because the beginning stage of this was truly gorgeous.

[lilirose]

I approached this one with a bit of trepidation, because it's "Irish", and (before BPAL) my experience was that my impression of what is "Irish" is very different to the impression of someone who doesn't live here.

 

I was pleasantly surprised. The Lab's description is perfect. In fact, Leanan Sidhe smells very much like whAt i smell when I stand in the centre of the stone circle that I got married in, shortly after it's been mowed. Very green and soft, damp herbal. It even has a "dewy" smell, to me.

 

I like it. 4/5. Might even buy a big bottle.

Edited August 19, 2007 by lilirose

[CrazyPretzel]

In the imp: shampoo!

 

Wet on me: Still smells soapy and fresh to my nose, but it's warming up now into a pretty, very delicate floral. I hadn't expected this to be such a *warm* scent. Not really misty or dewy.

 

After 5 minutes: OK, I'm sorry, but this is really, really soapy. No Gaelic mists, no nighttime dew, and the Irish herbs and flowers are still making me think Herbal Essences. Not exactly offensive, but WTF?

 

Drydown: Arrrggghhhh. The soap just gets sharper. If I get my head round the soapiness I can smell a light, pretty, warm floral that will probably be brilliant on some people's chemistry -- just clearly not mine.

 

Scrolling back through the earlier reviews, I see that there is a large minority of us who do get soap or dryer sheets or whathaveyou from this. It's nice to see that I'm not going crazy, but I'm still disappointed! I really wanted to like this one. I may try it again before deciding to keep it or swap it.

 

ETA: After a long wait -- like an hour -- this finally mellows out into some tiny, honey-sweet meadow flowers. Very warm, very light. Quite pretty, but I'm still not sure it's worth waiting through that drydown -- my sinuses are shot!

Edited August 23, 2007 by Baitu

[forspecial_plate]

This smelled like aquatic, white floral, and white musk to me. A little powdery, and the familiar 'mist' note that I remember from other bpal scents......it became more powdery as it dried/faded on my skin. It reminds me very much of some perfume that my stepmom wears, but I don't know which one that is. It also reminded me of Empyreal Mist, a little bit, if I remember correctly. This is another scent that I could use for enabling, I think my stepmom might like it. I personally won't get much wear out of it, though.

[storme]

In the imp: fresh misty greenery and herbal notes.

 

On me, wet: soapy wet greenery and shampoo-ish florals. Dammit.

 

On me, dry: yup, all soap and shampoo - florals and herbs and aquatics, I guess, but my nose just reads it as soap.

 

Verdict: I think I'll pass, probably unsurprisingly.

[daiconharuko]

Too floral and soapy. First wiff reminded me of some kind of medicine. O.o

[radishbaby]

In the Imp : Soap.

 

Wet : Soap

 

Dry : My Grandmother says this is one of the nicer perfumes I've tried.

 

I say soap.

 

There is something sweet beginning to peek through the Irish Spring smell now and if I try hard enough I can pick out a few of the herbs. For awhile it seemed that there was something a bit salty and earthy peeking through but its gone now.

 

Over All : Intriguing concept and I think I'll be keeping the imp for the heck of it.

 

Big Bottle Worthy : Real soap is only a dollar.

[FallDaze]

In the imp it is a scent that I really can't quite place. The mists and nigghtime dew is what I'm going to call it

 

On it's a pretty and milky, misty scent. A little reminiscent of Alice.

 

After a while it's a tingly dewy mist that's a smidge milky. Also gives me a bit of a headache, but that could just be stress too. Oh! Chapstick! Plain chapstick! That's the underlying scent that it reminds me of!

[starwild]

Frimp from the lab!

 

Whew, how did I not try this before? It's a beautiful, herbal, fresh floral. I can definitely smell the wet dew! I do get the shampoo comparison, but man, would I love to have a shampoo smell this good. Not a bottle, but definitely will use the imp.

[Czarina]

In the imp: Sweet Tarts, or perhaps Smarties.

Wet: Yeah, Smarties.

Drydown: aldehydes, oh the horror that is Chanel No. 5. Very artificial.

Morphing into: orris root.

 

All in all, not bad, but not something I'd buy a second imp of.

 

Throw is average or better.

[SarahScent44]

In the imp, this is floral and herbal - light, and very ethereal.

 

On the skin, it's very, very light - more of the mist and dew than the flowers and herbs.

 

Once it dries, it's extremely light, subtle and clean - in the "traditional" ball park, but still fresh and not stuffy or overdone. It would make a very good "every day" scent.

[bryghtrose]

In the bottle, it's green, herbal, almost, ever-so-slightly antiseptic.

On my skin, it's a beautiful heathered, herbal, rain-soaked mossy, ever-so-slight floral.

 

[MaeKitty]

Bottle: Very faint florals, very misty

On Me: Bleh! Turns in to household cleaner! Slowly, it turns into scented dryer sheets. A pass for me.

[ImperatrixMundi]

Pass. Anything that has words like herbs, mist and dew listed tends to go wrong. Nondescript department store scent somehow. Not that bad but BPAL definitely has better things to offer.

[waternight]

In the imp: Um, ow. Sharp soap and... sweat? Very bizarre.

Wet: Cologne. Generic department store cologne. It's "perfumey" and bitter all at once. After a while, the bitter note goes away and the scent calms down. It's still perfumey, but I get the "misty" influence.

Dry: Much softer and gentler, and prettier, but still too cologney for me.

[gchris]

In Vial: Sweet, smells like a blend of citrus and flowers

 

On Skin: Pretty. Smells very floral. A bit perfumey. Smells a lot like hairspray.

 

Later: A strong floral, still with a bit of the hairspray smell. This smells just like my Beautiful perfume that I have had for so long that it changed color. This is not bad but still I'm unsure about this one.

[fairnymph]

In the bottle: Soap, flowers, and herbs with a hint of sweetness.

 

Wet: Similar, but less sweet and more floral. It has a classic 'perfumey' feminine smell. Very clean, soapy.

 

Dry: Strong flowers (wildflowers and heady white classic) and soap.

 

Summary: Floral soap. The florals are lovely, but rather generic, and I can't deal with soap.

[Lyrical]

In vial: just what the description says - Irish herbs and flowers, Gaelic mists, and nighttime dew.

 

Wet on skin: so soft and light and sweet, yet with a chilly element underneath. Very fresh and delicate.

 

Dry on skin: it's almost lemony. Still soft and light and pale and chilly. Pleasant! ... wait a minute - is that the dreaded soap? Well, I have to admit it's nice soap, but very definitely soap nonetheless. *sigh*

[goth_huntress]

For some reason this ended up smelling kind of foodie on me. Weird no?

[terrenity]

Leanan Sidhe - partial imp of unknown age

 

In the imp: Sweet and dewy smelling. Maybe some light florals? Very soft. There's a note in here that hits my throat in a weird way, though.

 

On: A soft, light green floral. My novice nose can't discern flowers from herbs, but I'm guessing the herbs are what is giving this a 'green' vibe. Very fresh and clean, and not at all cloying. It reminds me of something from when I was a kid, but I don't know what. I can see the shampoo/soap references.. this does have a bit of a 'cleanser' sort of quality to it, but it's like a NICE shampoo. One that I would wear my hair down after using just to catch whiffs of it all day.

 

Overall: This is a beautiful scent for spring! It really reminds me of sunshine and dew-wet grass, with little white flowers just starting to bloom. It's the sort of scent I would wear to an interview, or somewhere else where I wanted to smell nice, but in a light, unoffensive way. I'll use my imp, but don't foresee a bottle purchase in my near future.

 

ETA: There's rose in this, isn't there? -looks suspicious- After half an hour or so, Leanan Sidhe does what all scents with rose do on me: BAM! SN rose. It's very pretty, but unfortunately I have at least three other BPAL scents that do the same. Gah! I guess this is another one to try when I get a scent locket...

 

Color Association: Grass green

Edited April 14, 2008 by terrenity

[savage_rose]

This scent is gorgeous...very wistful, and sweet in a completely non-cloying way. A lovely floral, very clean smelling. I'm totally getting a bottle when I recover from the upcoming update!

[lainevierge]

This smells very much like commercial perfume on me. It reminds me of L'air du temps, which is one my mother used to wear. It's a perfectly nice smell, floral and aquatic, but I'm not into BPAL for commercial type perfumes, so this one will probably be swapped away.