Paris

[viciousviolet]

Sensual, decadent, and enigmatic. Lavender, softly underscored by lotus and spice.

Normally, lavender isn't my thing, but somehow Old Paris really worked with my body chemistry. It is a very elegant, light scent. This is a brilliant scent for wearing on a romantic evening.

[Gothabillywench]

MMM, yummy.

 

This smell is actually pretty strong on me & I also am not a lavender person at all, in fact it usually gives me a headche. But Old Paris is a big lavender hit with enough spice to give it a bit more body. This smell is the epitome of a sophisticated, immaculately groomed pouty Parisan women- dressed in a tailored skirt of respectable length & a silk shirt, but underneath she's wearing a really racy black leather & lace get up. Feminine & sophisticated but with a definite sultriness that inspires one to give everyone come hither looks.

[Polexia]

This scent is amazing....Started out sort of sweet and then warmed into a soft spicy...I'm not sure I can smell the lavender anymore but that might be because I am smelling my wrist every 5 minutes. This seems to have faded a bit too quickly...perhaps I didnt put enough on!

[Tesseljoan]

First impression: very lavender. I was almost a bit dissapointed with its straightforwardness.. until I put it on. It's a very juicy lavender, without the fresh tang straightforward lavender has. And after a while the cinnamon comes out, but very gently. Fades incredibly fast though.

[jj_j]

I love lavender, and this starts out as a straightforward, if slightly astringent lavender. Yes, I know most lavender oil is fairly bitter, but it comes in varying degrees; this one is in the less tangy category.

 

Nice. Lotus softens and sweetens the lavender just enough, and the spice comes out after a few minutes to ground this ethereal, cleansing, and bordering on piercing scent.

 

I haven't decided if I like this one, as it's close enough to straight lavender to be pleasing, but different enough to confuse my nose, which wonders what I was thinking to mix something in with the wonderful, perfect lavender it knows and adores.

 

I'll update if this scent moves me a little more next time I wear it. For now, I'm pretty ambivalent.

[Fulltiltredhead]

I like to put the scents on before I've read the descriptions and see how many right guesses I can make - trying to train my nose. I would've sworn I could spot lavender any where any time, any day, but this one completely fooled me. I sniffed for about five minutes on my wrist and couldn't identify anything. HA. It's because I've never smelled Lotus. The lavender blasts your nose open and while you're not looking, Lotus moves in to stay, and putters around putting her things away and lines her dresser drawers with cinnamon scented paper.

 

This scent ebbs and breathes and dances.

 

This relaxes me and makes me feel poised and confident. It's an effect more cerebral than carnal, but relaxed and confident are keys to sexy. I get crisp white shirt, unbuttoned one more button than proper, smiling into your eyes.

 

Yes, enigmatic -- This one is a shapeshifter, moves around a lot, is different an inch from your nose than five inches from your nose, and from moment to moment. It's like an unresolved seventh if it were music.

 

Fascinating. I'm really glad to have a whole bottle.

 

P.S. It's burning my wrist and I don't even care. I'll find a way to wear it. And it does fade incredibly fast, and I don't care about that either. I'll put it on every five minutes if I have to. This one's mine for me! My Preeecioussss....

Edited April 7, 2004 by Fulltiltredhead

[friendthegirl]

Right now, this is sickly sweet on me! It smells like a fruity candy. Time will tell if it changes.

[Ura]

Initially a strong sharp floral (lotus?) but almost immediately changed to the white floral combined with spicy lavender. Afterwards becomes powdery spiced white floral with a hidden sharpness although I am unable to detect lavender any longer.

[upsidedown]

I'm a complete lavendar freak, but I'm also very picky about the tone of my lavendar - as soon as it takes on even a hint of astringent bitterness or a falsely sweet twinge of powder, forget it, it's coming off. Wet, Old Paris was extremely strong, bitter, and basically everything else I dislike about some lavendar scents, but that was brief enough and more than worth the wait for the drydown, when the lotus smoothed out the whole scent beautifully. I kept thinking I also smelt something just a little sweet, just a little spicy in the background, but it dodged all attempts to be identified and made me wonder if it was even there at all. This melts right into my skin and makes me feel mysterious in that sort of cool, icy way. I think it's my favorite that I've tried from BPAL so far - this is near perfection in a little vial. (sigh, if only it lasted longer! )

[ipb]

hopefully the lotus will go away, but it's as strongly pink bubblegum as black lotus was for me...

 

...yeah, it didn't go away and it's more bubble-gummy on my mom. le sigh.

[amberbella]

Bubblegum...well bubblegum with lavendar and cinnamon. I am actually quite fascinated with it. It's a complex little bugger. It's got me going....I smell sweet, NO spicy, NO bitter, NO....

 

Wet it was pure bubblegum....which was actually very fun.

 

First on- What the heck happened to the bubble gum...it's got lavendar in it.

 

Drying- Somebody put big red in my double bubble. Hmmmm.

 

Dry- The spice is most prominant now. I think it could be a rather lovely room scent as I know the boy won't like it on me. He doesn't like me smelling edible. (what a weirdo)

 

Edited to add: OUCH! Burning....not only my arm where I put it, but also my nose where I sniffed it. I'm red and puffy. Definately not a scent for me to wear. Will try for room scent though.

Edited June 2, 2004 by amberbella

[Ina Garten Davita]

This was another throw in. I'm still speechless about the lab's generosity.

 

First Impression: Ugh, lavender. I have grown to dislike it.

 

Second Impression: More lavender but it's starting to fade. A light spice remains.

 

Final Analysis: The lightly floral spice of Old Paris is quite inviting. I don't know if it's entirely "me", but it has it's merits.

[Ishtar]

Dear Old Paris,

 

I wanted to love you. I really did. You sounded so attractive... your name, the lavender, the spice... how could I resist?

 

At first sniff, you were a spicy yet very soft lavender scent, much more subdued than the bold Provence lavender note I am used to, but I was more than ready to fall for your Parisian sophistication.

 

Alas! Why did you have to turn into cinnamon bubblegum on me? Should I take it personally? What have I done to deserve this?

 

I will love your concept forever, but I am afraid I will have to swap you.

 

Your heartbroken Ishtar

[any_old_actress]

FIRST SNIFF: lavender & spice

 

WEARING IT: i'm not a big fan of lavender and this is REALLY lavender - i do like that it ends with the yummy spice but it's not overly enthralling on me. it smells a lot like lush's angels on bare skin

 

VERDICT: not for me

Edited July 13, 2004 by any_old_actress

[fairywingmaker]

In the bottle the lavender wants to take over. I put this on my skin, and the lavender quiets way down. Something else flowery comes to the surface...the lotus (having never smelled lotus I'm not sure) but its sophisticated and beautiful. There is a lovely spicieness that comes up under the lotus. This to me is the perfect scent. The balance of spicey and floral. I think I'm in love....again!!!

[Effluvia]

My mom ordered a 5ml of this unsniffed because she adores lavender. Unfortunately, she really hated this and gave it to me. She was expecting something more "generic lavender", I think. (shrug)

 

anyway, here's my review:

 

in the bottle: Lavender, but with creamy lotus behind it. This smells like lavender cake frosting. Very, very sweet.

 

on my skin: There is a bitter, astringent quality to it (which is the thing my mom didn't like about it) that all of Beth's lavender blends have. This is mysterious, elegant and enigmatic, but I'm not really diggin' this one's vibe. I've never really been a fan of lavender, BPAL or not, so I'm not too hot on this, either. I adore lotus, but I'm just not a pale, pastel purple lavender person. The scent just doesn't go with my personality. :/

 

I'll be swapping this, I think.

Edited August 12, 2004 by Effluvia

[Scylla]

In the vial, it smelled like a sharp, sweet floral.

 

Wet, it smelled like a floral with some spice in the background. I'm not getting the lavender at all, which is a good thing.

 

On drydown--I kinda like it, but it reminds me of the way Estee Lauder lipstick smells!

[omly]

I loved lavender so I was really looking forward to this one. In the bottle it was everything I could ask for, lavender with just a touch of something tantalizing underneath. During dry down it sweetened and then then the cinnamen which seemed a little confusing to my nose. From that point on it was all bubble gum, the pink kind. Looking now it is so interesting that someone else experienced the bubble gum body chemistry thing too. And here I thought my body chemistry was just completely wacky

[Miggins]

I normally do a straightforward "in the bottle, wet, dry-down and beyond" type of review. But not this time.

 

If you have frustrating body chemistry (as I do), try this.

 

As I poured a drop onto my skin, the lavender hit me. Just lavender. But on my skin it evolved beautifully. A lovely warm yet cool spicy but green smell, full of contradictions. The lavender and lotus and spice seem to be jostling for attention and the resulting combination is wonderful - every time I smell my wrist I get something different. I literally jumped for joy I loved this one so much. I bought 10mls of this unsniffed from the lovely Mandarin and I am so glad that I did.

 

And it lasts. And apparently, (as I posted elswhere), the entire floor of my office smells of Old Paris, which has got to be a good thing!

[malanna]

This smelled like Oneiroi, with the mugginess that lavender brings. Unlike Oneiroi, the warm heat of lavender doesn't calm down quite enough for the other notes to really come through. For this scent, that was a good thing, because I'm not so big on lotus, which didn't really come out, but it may have been what was mellowing out the lavender. I hadn't encountered lavender in any other scents, but now I know that I'm not so fond of lavender.

[miss apple]

Old Paris

 

First sniff, something very sweet and purple. I don't get any lavendar, just a candy-like purpleness. Once on, it becomes even sweeter. It reminds me of flowery bubblegum. After an hour or so it becomes a bit powdery but the sweetness hasn't calmed down at all. Alas, this wasn't quite what I expected so I will pass it along.

[feline.by.design]

Old Paris was the first imp I tried from my order I received this past Friday. It was very strong (!) on me, so I filled Brent's truck with the scent of Old Paris (believe me, it was a vast improvement).

 

Old Paris, wet, I could really tell that there was lavender in the fragrance. I'm actually a geek for lavender, possessing a lavender bed linen spray I spritz liberally on the bed before I roll around like a kitten in cat nip. In Old Paris, though, the lavender seemed to be reined in by the aqua note of lotus. I didn't get any sort of spice from this fragrance at all, but rather I picked up on the image of a refined lady strolling along the Champs-Elysee.

 

The fragrance was nice for at least an hour, but an odd smell started to develop which wasn't a necessarily "bad" smell, but one I wouldn't really want to smell like. In the crook of my right elbow, hours after I first applied, I developed this odd smeared-lipstick scent I'm attributing to Old Paris. Looks like our refined lady got a little trampy when I wasn't paying attention!

 

I think I will try and give the imp another go before I make the final verdict, but as of now, I'll definitely keep the imp, because even if it doesn't smell absolutely stunning on me, I think it would be nice as a bedtime sniff.

 

-doreen

[summer]

Old Paris has made me see lavender in a new light. Normally, lavender scents are clean and herbal, but this one is warm and spicy while still managing to be distinctly lavender. The lavender keeps it demure, but the spiciness makes it feel alive and sexy. It's so interesting and . . . compelling. I keep wanting to sniff it to figure it out. It's definitely sophisticated, but not snooty at all -- just an understated class with passion raging underneath. Just like Paris!

 

LOVE this one, Beth.

[vitawash24]

I wasn't sure about a perfume with lavender, but I'm totally a Paris addict, so I had to try this out.

 

The lotus really comes out on me...it's a sweet scent, but not overwhelmingly so. It's different enough to make you go "hey what is that?" and doesn't smell childish. It makes me think of visiting a little boutique on a tiny back street, a place that you feel like only you know about.

 

I really, really adore this scent.

[TheDarkMother]

In the Bottle: Lavender, lotus, and allspice I think. I wonder what it is about lotus that makes me so hot?

 

On Me: Le purrr....now I know why. Sensual is right. This is dead sexy on me, DEAD sexy. With a name like Paris I shuddered to think what it would smell like. Trust me, this smells nothing like Paris. A real Paris scent would be Ode de Doggie Doo or something. This is gorgeous, and captures the romantic thought of a Paris long gone.

 

And I'm dead sexy in lotus.