Bearded Lady

[Xiabelle]

A seductive and flowing exaltation of femininity: Turkish rose, stargazer lily, violet, honeysuckle, amber, star jasmine and vanilla.

I was lucky enough to get an imp of this in a trade, and now I definitely know I must order a bottle of this. Mmm.

In the bottle, it's a soft soft vanilla floral. I get the impression of flower petals in vanilla cream. It's just lovely.

Fresh on: where'd it go? It totally vanished on my arm, where I'd applied it at the crook of my elbow. So I went and scrubbed my arms to get the other stuff off, and slathered myself in lotion. Tried again. NOW I can smell it.

It's a bit elusive at first, and the vanilla and flowers are playing hide and seek with me. But eventually, I start getting honeysuckle and roses in vanilla milk. So lovely. This is just gorgeous.

Once it settles down, it remains a vanilla scented floral. This is very innocent and light and feminine. Usually, I really like heavier, stronger scents, but this is just so amazing. I could see myself wearing this a lot. And besides, it has my beloved vanilla in it, and is actually a floral I can use. White florals in the past haven't worked, but this is all pastels: pinks and yellows and purples.

This is the first bottle I've tried where I absolutely do NOT want to run out and you're going to have to pry it away from me. Definitely ordering a bottle of this one. Or two.

[gdogs]

well. i only got an imp of this because the floral notes aren't my favorite. when i put this on, i was blown away. wet, it was some indescribable, beautiful mixture of fresh flowers, with something grounding it. if it had stayed in the wet phase, i mighta picked up a bottle.

 

as it dried, however, it became a "tickle-my-nose" floral. my skin turns it into department store floral. not bad, just not what i like.

[Lilithlefay]

I don't know what it is with my skin and vioet, if it is in the blend my chemistry amps it way up and turns it slightly powdery. That is what happened here, to the point that I could barely smell anything but violet. It takes about 10 minutes for the violets to finally simma down and let some of the other notes through. I start to get a little rose and honeysuckle and a tad of the vanilla and amber.

The longer this wears on my skin the lighter the violets get and the more I can smell the vanilla and amber, it still does have a powdery tone to it though.

[gingersnapp]

I've been anti-floral for a while, but this one is different than any floral I've worn before. It must be the combination.

 

Jasmine usually overpowers every other note in a blend, but the rose is heavy in this one, as is the lily, so it's tamed quite well. I can smell it a little in the background, but for the most part this blend is so well done that no one particular note stands out above the others. It's just a really pretty floral. Not a rose, or a lily, or a violet, or a jasmine. Just flowers.

 

It stays very close to the skin, which is unlike most floral blends on me that have serious throw. I can smell a little bit here and there, but for the most part this is really unobtrusive and if I want some more of it I just lift my wrist to my nose and there she is.

 

Very nice.

[evil_laugher]

This is a very warm, soft vanilla, very sweet, with a little bit of floral, and a little bit of spice as it goes along. It feels very "maternal" and gentle, something I would wear when dealing with children.

 

I always get my mom to sniff my new scents, and she thought it smelled "a little old-fashioned". It certainly isn't very teen-y or trendy. It doesn't match my young age, but it's very pleasing.

[tesao]

when i first sniffed this, it was all good! light florals, skillfully blended. faintly sweet, mostly honeysuckle and star jasmine.

 

ahhhhhh.

 

then i dabbed a bit on my wrist. ohhhhhhhhh noooooooooo!! violet soap. bah. how my skin can find that hint of violet that was virtually undetectable in the bottle i will never understand and always rue. no rose, no amber, no vanilla.

 

i will say that of all of the scent blends that i have tried that contain violet, this was the LEAST noticeably violet, had little throw and stayed close to the skin. but it was still unmistakably violet.

[Malista]

I thought Bearded Lady might be too floral on me. I don’t mind florals, but they aren’t terribly “me” most of the time, which means I don’t need more than one or two in my arsenal, and Ace of Hearts is my current floral blend of choice for days when I think I can carry it off.

 

On my skin the vanilla carries this blend. Whatever else comes out, the vanilla is a constant, rich presence. It’s my opinion that one can never have too many vanilla-based scents, which makes this one an automatic keeper unless something goes horribly wrong.

 

A few minutes after applying, I’m getting a soft, beautifully blended floral bouquet lightly dusted all over with powdery, not-too-sweet violet. Someone has tucked well-aged vanilla pods in among the flowers. Mmmmm! This phase lasts for a very long time. At some point the amber appears and, together with the vanilla, warms up the cool floral notes without distorting them at all.

 

A few hours later I have a soft vanilla and amber skin scent with a faint powdery violet finish. Very beautiful, very refined, but not at all stuffy or humorless. One would probably find oneself consciously trying to walk and gesture with more grace than usual, wearing this, but not necessarily minding ones manners more than that. A good scent to wear when Euterpe drops by with two lines of a sonnet and I need to find the rest of it, but great for the office or a nice evening out, as well (I never wear purely floral scents out to dinner – they clash with the food smells – but the vanilla in Bearded Lady makes it “dineable,” for me, without being foody in itself).

 

This is a two-bottle scent for me. I need to make linen spray (which I often use on my clothes and hair) and put some in solid perfume form in a nice silver locket. I’m so glad I got this in time to order another bottle!

[emzebel]

This is very pretty, to the point where I was actually sad when I had to wash it off because the jasmine had become too much for me. Before that moment, though, I almost thought that the honeysuckle and vanilla would save this blend for me, as I've been able to sneak a couple of jasmine oils into my collection, but alas, the Bearded Lady had other ideas.

[Belldandy]

I love you Bearded Lady. So femine and elegant very sweet with the undertones of florals. And almost a hint of baby powder you may have splashed on this morning. Need more of Bearded Lady. Blend perfectly with me.

[sophia_helix]

My review for this isn't as detailed as I'd like, since I didn't have access to the description while trying it, but:

 

I was very hopeful about this one at first. Wet, it was a lovely combination of florals, some sweeter (esp. the jasmine and honeysuckle) than others. It was a very pretty scent that made me think of soft pinks and whites.

 

It got more "perfumey" as it wore on, and I'm having to learn to like that in BPAL occasionally, because even though I WANT to smell like storms and dry grasses and exotic spices all the time, sometimes a girl just needs to have a nice, mature perfume, I guess.

 

As far as the "perfumey" BPALs I've tried, this was a winner, and if it had only stayed like that I would have kept it...

 

...except then rose showed up and, sigh, I think rose is going to be one of my no-nos. Just like in Alice, it turned sickeningly old-lady on me. That too-sweet powder scent just ruins oils for me, so...alas! Swapped away.

[requieminblack]

First sniff from the bottle- Woh! A floral explosion.

 

After 20 minutes- At first this smelled like a department store floral perfume on me. It was a mish mash of strong flowers and smelled similar to Mata Hari to me. Then the vanilla started to come through and turned it all into baby powder.

 

Summery- I had hoped I would get the 'Antique Lace' effect from this that other people said they got from it but alas...florals do not agree with my chemistry. This was all department store floral that faded to baby powder on me.

[bellis]

This is a beautiful floral. I get mainly honeysuckle and jasmine out of this, with a bit of rose in the background. It's sweet and spring-timey and creamy. The vanilla is absolutely lovely in this, softening and enhancing the florals. And yet, I just don't think I'm going to wear it. I love the way it smells, it's just not a me fragrance. Off to the swaps, or better yet, I'll give it to someone I know I'm going to spend a lot of time hugging.

[spanishviolet]

Soft violets with a bit of honeysuckle & amber, eventually drying down to a light vanilla. I never smell any of the rose. It starts out slightly powdery, but only in a lusciously femme way, not an icky baby-powder way on me. The scent does fade fairly quickly, but I like to keep my bottle at work & sneakily reapply anyway, so I don't mind that too much.

 

This is it - at last I have found the perfect violet! I usually prefer foody scents, but have a weakness for violets & honeysuckle, with the occasional rose, so I ordered this despite my fear of jasmine. I'm so glad I did! I almost wish I'd ordered an unprecedented third bottle, it make me so happy.

[paperdoll]

Initial Sniff: Yummy flowers and honey(?) in the bottle.

 

Wearing: This is predominently rose and lily on my skin.

 

Final Impressions: Rose continues to be the bane of my existance, and lily and violet aren't any help.

[quimerula]

I can smell rose, violet and vanilla.

It has the perfect vanilla bottom line of Zephyr and Antique Lace, really!

A soft and pretty floral, very light and smooth on my skin.

[QueenFae]

This one is so lovely! A beautiful mix of florals with a creamy, vanilla base. The jasmine and the honeysuckle are the top floral notes on me, and the vanilla base is potent, commanding and extravagent. It's more like the smell of vanilla that you cook with, strong but compelling. In my opinion, another masterpiece by Beth. I love it, I am so glad I got a bottle of this gorgeous elixir.

[k00kaburra]

In bottle: Classic floral soap. Roses and jasmine, lily and amber. Together these notes and others make me think of a white bar of Dove soap - clean, but still definitively floral.

 

On me: Oooo, I like this. It is delicate and clean for those days when you want the world to know you're wearing perfume, but you don't want to overwhelm them with it. Growing from an amber base is a rich bouquet of rose and honeysuckle and violets, sprinkled with vanilla.

[oatmealneko]

Let's see if I can remember here...

 

I loved Bearded Lady. Surprise here, because this one contains two notes that work to ruinous end for me. Rose + jasmine....

 

I get some rose, but more jasmine. It wasn't overpoweringly floral. It was floral, & more of a white floral at that. Light & lovely, not clingy, a bit of vanilla. Beautifully crafted oil, though.

 

Most definitely a keeper.

[cranberry]

I was apprehensive about Bearded Lady - florals tend to scare me (now I’m thinking that it’s white florals and jasmine). I was pleasantly surprised by this oil. It reminds me of the sharp, sweet incense in Al Azif – rather piercing and quite strong. On, the sharp piercing floral incense remains. It’s extremely sweet and definitely floral yet none of the notes really stand out to me – it’s very well blended. I think that the vanilla and amber must ground the florals and are helping to create that incense vibe I get from this. Overall, it's quite beautiful and I’ll enjoy my bottle.

[tempete]

I wasn't expecting to love Bearded Lady... Star jasmine didn't work for me in Salome, and all kinds of lilies soap out on me. But I adore rose, violet, amber and vanilla, so I took a chance and swapped for a bottle.

 

There's an initial hit of soapiness when I first apply Bearded Lady that disappears quickly as the rose and violet notes gain strength. As the scent dries down, the vanilla and amber become more prominent and meld beautifully with the floral notes. The end effect is a floral O minus the honey. I only wish that the violet note was stronger (since I already have lots of rose scents that I adore), but I'm happy to get as much violet as I do.

 

A surprise hit for me!

[Imbrium]

Wet: This smells like flowers. In the bottle, on my skin, it starts out as powdery flowers. I cannot distinguish any flowers out of the bunch, it's just a sneezy floral mixture.

 

However, Bearded Lady doesn't stay that way. After a long but indeterminate amount of time (I'm talking at least one hour, and easily even two or more) the powdery floral finally dries down, and I'm left with a beautiful creamy vanilla. At this stage, I really can see the comparisons to Antique Lace - creamy, sweet vanilla with a faint floral background. It's yummy!

[Scarlettfish]

Bearded Lady perplexes me. It has all of my favourite notes - rose, jasmine, stargazer lily, orchid, amber - but it doesn't work on me at all. Instead, it is just single note vanilla on me with no florals discernable at all. Would have liiked more florals, less vanilla as vanilla always goes sickly sweet on my skin. A disappointment.

[diabolique]

In the bottle, I couldn't smell anything except a slight perfumey smell. On my skin, it's honeysuckle, jasmine, and something creamy darkens up the florals, which my nose interprets as vanilla.

 

I think I might get a little bit of violet, but amber, lily, and rose have disappeared.

 

I think this is a blend that would be sexy if.. it actually smelled much like anyhing.

[silver_springs]

This is a very pretty scent. It is very feminine and all woman. Probably one of the more "frilly" scents I've tried.

 

It's a spicy and sweet floral. Sophisticated yet it could still just be worn for a day to lounge around the house. When it dries, the scent reminds me a bit of the smell of Snake Oil hours after you first applied. It gets sweeter.

 

Overall I've liked it. Nothing about it stands out too much but it's still a nice scent. If I had tried an imp of it then I probably wouldn't have bought the bottle but have just used up the imp. It was a neutral purchase. I like it but I could of done without buying it.

 

3 out of 5 stars.

Edited October 7, 2005 by silver_springs

[Sheila]

At first: strong, powdery, sweet violets. Yum--I love violets!

After an hour or so: oh dear, there's the jasmine. It's still a bit powdery and very faint.

After several hours: sweet vanilla. Unfortunately I have to really stick my nose on my skin and inhale strongly to smell anything. This is very pretty, sophisticated, and feminine, but not quite "me." I think I'll swap it to someone who loves it.

Edited October 6, 2005 by Sheila