Love in the Asylum

[Blood onmy hands]

A song of love and madness: two roses, tolu balsam and ambergris with vanilla, labdanum, tobacco leaf, carnation and tonka.

I didn't buy this on the site when it first came out, figuring that a rose and carnation scent just wouldn't be 'me'. Then I recently bought a bottle off of ebay just because I liked the label art. It was a pleasant surprise to find out that I actually like the way this smells too, lol.

It is mostly rose. Very perfumey and strong at first, but sweet and soft in the drydown. It's gorgeous after settling on my skin for a few minutes. The vanilla really comes in around the rose and the fragrance is so sweet and creamy. After about an hour, the vanilla and rose start to smell a bit spicier, so perhaps that is the carnation making its presence known. Spicy vanilla rose

Very nice. I'll probably decant away half of the bottle and keep the other half for my own use. I don't wear florals a lot, but I can see myself reaching for this one when I'm in that floral mood .

[Northernminx]

Lots of carnation in this, a warm red, spicey floral with a touch of rose at the end. This was almost overwhelmingly floral for me, no tonka or any of the other notes and the carnation really dominated. As much as I love carnation, my chemistry just didn't jive with this so off it goes.

[sookster]

A beautiful blend!!

Very rosey and sweet with my chemistry....I get a hint of the carnation which adds a dash of a lovely spice aroma....Lovely and extremely long lasting. Another gorgeous bpal fragrance for me

[UltraViolet]

In the bottle

Foody floral

 

On

I mostly smell the rose, wioth the vanilla and tolu balsams acidic but sweet scent.

This is really a different kind of rose blend. I'm picky about my rose blends only because my skin hates rose.

 

Dry

I think people will think this is a lovely rose blend. Not too shy and not too bold. It has a lovely vanilla note that is very inviting but it's too strong and acidic to my nose.

 

scent category

Floral/foody

 

Throw

more than average

 

Summary

It's a foody rose with a bit of pickle juice (my skin hates me).

 

Purchase again?

No

 

Rating 1-5 stars (5 being best)

3.5 it get's an extra half point for the addition of vanilla.

Edited September 9, 2005 by UltraViolet

[k00kaburra]

In bottle: Roses with faint carnation and vanilla. Fresh and girly, and just a bit giggling.

 

On me: Just a beautiful bouquet of expertly selected notes. Beautiful roses, carnations, tonka and vanilla bean, hints of tobacco leaf...to me this is what young love smells of, when you're simply mad about the person you're with.

[Janie]

Simply lovely. I'm not a rose-lover, but this is a superb spicy rose with a smooth vanilla undertone. Very unusual and interesting.

 

If I could wish for anything it would be that it lasted longer. I have only applied lightly, so will be interested to see if applying more oil changes the amount of throw and lasting power.

[Reinaluna]

Love in the Asylum: Well, I can tell you right now that I am most likey to go to the swap mines with this one. I just get streight rose, no tonka, no carnation, no vanilla, no ambergris Just rose and that is about all I can say.

[Emu Nymph]

I bought this in the hope it would'nt be uber rose on me like a lot of the rose scents are. When I opened the bottle I could smell the rose and prayed that's not what it would be on me.

 

On: a mix of scents that can't make up their mind what they want to be

 

15-45 minutes: Rose, fake rose old lady rose scent

 

After 45: Dark, kinky, mysterious. I think it's the vanilla and ambergris and maybe the tonka. I honestly LOVE this one. A lot. It is not a scent I can wear when I am cold but i is a scent that makes me feel sexy after I get past the rose. I might even want more of it!

[e_miche]

I get pure rose, carnation, whiffs of vanilla and puffs of smoke here and there...

 

I grinned when I opened the bottle- it was like sticking my head into the cooler at a florists' shop (I have a tendency to do that ). This is one of the few rose scents that doesn't turn into 'dead flowers" on me.

 

Honestly- I love it- my immediate reaction was to twitch toward my computer to find another bottle (I haven't yet). I really do like this- it's certainly not overpowering- not even in the oppressive heat and the stuffy classrooms. I actually get to slather this on b/c it fades after about 3 hours on me. ::shrug::

[Brianne]

In the bottle:

Green, tangy roses

 

On me:

This is a perfume that contains roses that just go totally wierd on me. It's not unusual in the least, it's actually pretty normal for that to happen. But I was really hoping that those roses were going to be severely counterbalanced by all the other ingredients, which all sounded great (especially the vanilla and tonka!). Those ingredients never make much of an appearance, and this scent comes off as heavily "perfumey" and heady, with a green tang to it. I wonder if that might be the balsam, since I am not familiar with that note, and this sort of greeness is not really familiar to me either. The roses are slightly powdery here but not so much so on me. It's not really a "true" rose scent on my skin either. It's not a very good analogy, but it is honestly what it makes me think of - but this smells like someone took a rose, and dipped the whole thing in a vat of very strong perfume. That rose is in there somewhere, and so is the green, but then there is that perfumey and tangy smell of too much commercial perfume. I hope that makes sense!

 

Final note:

I have a feeling that this is another case of rose gone bad on me, and that for other people this will likely work much better.

[arabella]

First Impression: Strongly green and resin-y.

 

Dries down to: The rose amps up, as it usually does on my skin, and overpowers everything else.

 

Additional Comments: I wish I got more of the vanilla, carnation or tobacco. I like rose but I now have so many scents where the rose is the only note that is easily discernible. It's a slightly spicy rose this time, but still predominantly rose. Nonetheless, it is lovely.

 

Lasted: A couple of hours.

 

Rating: 3 out of 5

[Ajila]

In the bottle - pure roses

Wet on me - soapy roses and dirt

3 hours later - soft rose, slightly sweetened

5 hours later - sweet, creamy, but musty tonka, with rose in the background. Definitely my favourite rose blend.

[Firewaver]

This is a beautiful, spicy rose in the bottle.. not too strong, but with that nice mellow tone that rose has when it's wet...the drydown is quite pretty.. the carnation adds a nice bit of spice, and the rose stays nice and even, it doesn't bloom into SUPER OMEGA ROSE, thank goodess.

 

Erk.. this is great after one application. Every thing is fine until I decide to reapply. The fresh scent on top of the scent that's been on all day results in a kind of bitter sweaty rose that doesn't appeal to my senses.

 

I think it's my chemistry, or I applied too much. I will keep this for a bit and see how it goes. It is a very lovely oil as far as rose blends. I wonder if Beatrice will be at all similar. This is how I pictured Beatrice smelling.

[teaketcha]

Received decanted imp from swaps.

 

The first time I tried this my boyfriend sniffed it and immediately said "no, no. that reminds me of something, i dont know what, but its not good." So I washed it off.

 

I tried it again today, just a dot from the imp wand on my hand. Its lovely, its truly lovely. Its the smell of ... picture yourself walking thru an old old musty shut-up Victorian house. Upstairs are bedrooms whose canopied beds have matresses which would heave dust into the air if you were to pat the edge. Light barely streams thru the old lace curtains. The decor is stopped in time from a hundred years ago and the mirrors are even faded. The tops of the dresser in this room has an old hand mirror, brush and atomizer covered in soot. What could be in the drawers? Open the top dresser up, it is full of old, dusky lace and rose sachets.

 

This is Love in the Asylum.

I bet this one will age well.

[grrrlennyl]

at first: pretty. definitely floral.

on: a watery floral. fresh and damp. i think i'm getting some rose, but i can't pick anything else out.

1 hour later: i'm smelling jasmine, but that isn't listed as one of the notes. odd.

2 hours later: very sharp and soapy. poor me.

overall: this just turned out bad on me.

[paradoxicaljlb]

This scent is the perfume the crazy lady in the asylum uses to fragrance love letters she writes to the man that drove her mad.

 

In bottle: Fresh-cut-florist-rose meets bathroom cleaner. Mediciny, a bit sour, but this just goes to show that you should never judge a bpal scent before putting it on your skin.

 

Wet on skin: No more icky sour bathroom cleaner smell, just fresh cut rose meeting a sexy, spicy rose for the first time. They get along.

 

Dry on skin: 30-45 minutes after applying the tobacco and vanilla notes start to bloom as the roses fade into the background, but the roses never completely disappear.

 

After 7 or 8 hours I can still smell this one; it's ambery and powdery on its last legs.

 

I got a bottle from the swap mines and if I see any more pop up, it's going to be hard to resist hoarding LITA. The coolness of the roses and the warmth of the other notes blend together to make a manic, warm, foody floral that I LOVE.

[sophia_helix]

In the bottle:

 

Lots of fresh-plant smell, mostly rose.

 

Wet:

 

Almost all rose, with just some sweet vanilla/tonka behind, and a touch of spice.

 

Drydown:

 

The rose really does have a strange, very fresh smell -- it's almost overripe in its planty-ness.

 

After a while the balsam starts coming up, that tobacco-sassafras-type smell. It's interesting, combined with the sweetness of the rose.

 

I'm not sure how well the two balance, and it does dry into something a little too powdery and soft, but I'm definitely going to give it another few wearings to decide.

 

Edited to add: Yikes. The second wearing was straight-up balsam from five seconds in. It smells very medicinal to me (and actually reminds me of Medicine Show, which I disliked), so I think it's off to swaps with this one. Damn!

Edited October 11, 2005 by sophia_helix

[Nox Eterna]

I put this on and instantly thought WOW this is fabulous on me, then came the true test I said nothing but walked past my Mother (who suffers from horrible migraines and is set off by certain scents) "What are you wearing?" she says. In a panic I think oh great,something else I can't wear around her. So I ask "why?" and she says "Because it smells nice"... I can't believe it! So now when we go off on shopping trips she says " Ah Love in the asylum, that's a good one"

Woo Hoo!

[merveilleuse]

ah, at first, sweet sweet roses and flowers, tangy, but after awhile, this smells WONDERFUL on me, smoky, spicy yet creamy, tobacco-y, warm, autumnal and christmas-y, just delicious. it's comforting yet makes me want to get close to people so they can smell me.

 

I am so lucky to have been able to try this!!!!!

[em_h]

Wet: Very rosey in the vial, then kind of sharp and biting on my sking, as rose scents always start. I'm already getting a bit of tobacco, which is not much to my taste, but perhap it won't last.

 

Dry: Luckily, the tobacco does not persist. For a while, it's all rose, similar to several other roses; but then quite suddenly I start getting wafts of vanilla. In fact, in the later stages the waft seems to be entirely vanilla, while up close it's all roses, the two scents remaining almost independent of each other.

 

Interesting, not bad at all. I'm kind of sorry I didn't try this one till after it was discontinued, though probably not sorry enough to seek out a bottle of it.

[RainyDayGrey]

I was so sad when this was released, because I read the description and fell in love with it. It has so many of my favorite notes, and I wanted a bottle badly, but I was dead broke and wouldn't be able to afford it until after it was supposed to have gone away. Luckily for me, when I had the money to make an order it was still there! So of course I ordered it, and of course I love it.

 

In the bottle this was mostly rose and carnation. On my skin it's pretty much rose and carnation, lol. Carnation loves my skin and amps up big time. Maiden, pretty much carnation single note on me. It pretty much overpowers everything but the rose in this blend, but I can smell something, erm, interesting in the background. I couldn't tell you what, though. I guess it's just a damn good thing I love carnations as much as they love me. The rose in this is very nice, not a sharp perfumy rose at all. This rose is like smelling a fresh red rose on the bush, just gorgeous.

[Donnababe]

Sweet, slightly smoky rose. Strangely, I don't get any carnation and that normally screams on me.

 

Gorgeous. Should have bought more than one bottle.

[SeaMonkey]

Smokey rose and moss in the vial. I was hoping the tobacco leaf would be stronger, but the roses are dominant. When it starts out, its definately smoke and rose. The smoke goes away and just leaves the roses after a while. My body has a supper power of amping up anything rose.

 

The roses are a pretty note in this, but I can't wear rose unfortunately

[Fefferbella]

I'm so glad I got a bottle of this.

Warm tobacco leaf, smokey vanilla and roses.

Normally rose goes all wonky on my skin, but Love In the Asylum's rose is lovely.

It's a similar sweet rose like in Seraglio, combined with one of my favorite notes, tobacco.

[LyndaM]

An awesome, corrupted rose blend. Shadowy, slightly spicy rose in the imp, darkening on my skin with the tobacco, sweetened and thickened by the vanilla. This blend loves me, and I love it right back.

 

I managed to obtain two bottles after it was gone, and will continue to buy more if it is available on the sale threads. I agree with a previous poster, who mentioned that it will probably age well. LitA is my perfect special occasion perfume. Unique and beautiful.