Love in the Asylum

[bristlecone]

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

I thought I reviewed this one already, but maybe not. Better late than never.

This was one that I ordered on a whim last summer, despite a nagging suspicion that I might not like it. I should have listened to that nagging suspicion. Many people have commented that this was straight rose on them... I only wish I had that problem, because I like rose. I did get quite a bit of that note at first, but then something akin to rotting wood came out. I've assumed that it was the ambergris, since I got something similar (but nowhere near as bad) out of Cathode, but after reading these reviews, I suspect the tobacco leaf had something to do with it as well.

I ended up selling my bottle to someone who hopefully enjoyed it more than I did.

[supremegoddessofall]

In bottle: This smells like a bad thing I did when I was a child, which is a good thing (Don't ask, just go with me on this). The labdanum is the heaviest, with an undernote of florals.

 

On me: This is weird. It's subtle, and it still smells like that thing I cannot mention. The tobacco note is...icky....The only florals I'm getting are the roses. Not getting balsam, vanilla, or ambergris at all. I'm trying to like this, but it's just not happening. I've got some time to kill, so I'm going to resniff in about 15 minutes. (Later) No change. Love doesn't love me. Boo.

[nancybridget]

Violets and roses - a very classy scent, but a bit too grandma on me.

[zankoku_zen]

In the imp: Roses and olives?!?!?

 

On Skin: Roses, florals... and that weird olive smell. You know, like green olives and pimento that come in a jar? Yeah... that olive like smell.

 

On Drydown: Thankfully, the olive smell goes away after a while. I was left with basically a rosey-floral smell. After like about three hours, I get more of a whiff of the carnation but not much.

 

Verdict: This is a soft, rosey floral smell. The beginning is really horrid on my skin but it settles down quite nicely. It's pretty much gone after like four hours though. I was interested in trying this one because of the poem and I'm glad I did. I think I would keep it... if it weren't for the slightly off-putting olive smell for the first twenty-five minutes or so.

[steffanina]

Love in the Asylum-

 

In Bottle: Rose jumps out at me, but a very pleasant, rainy-day rose.

 

Wet: Roses.

 

Dry: Rose, which doesn't quite send me, but it never goes sour on me, at least. I don't think I'll be keeping this one but it is a nice scent in its own right!

 

Overall: Nice.

[azhure]

In the vial: I actually don't smell much of anything. Weird.

 

Wet: Again, a whole lot of nothing. I get very sad, because I wanted to love this. If I stick my nose right next to my skin I can get a whiff of *something*, but it's too faint to identify. After about 30 minutes I start getting whiffs of the florals - mainly the roses. Something else is interacting with them to give them an interesting dusty antique scent.

 

Drydown: Aha! Finally I have scent. This is a gorgeous, very soft scent - primarily rose, but twined with the balsam and carnation. There's something almost incense-like about the scent, giving it and almost reverential feel.

[wikkidraven]

i seem to smell the same rose as in 2 5 7 (which had every rose imaginable), but this is far less sweet. powdery...pleasant but not something i'll reach for often, if i keep this bottle.

[The_Merf]

In the bottle: Rose, rose, rose. However, this is a very full and elegant rose.

 

Wet: More roses!

 

Drydown and wear: The basalm starts to come out, and unfortunately there's a bit of the stale edge that can come with honeys and basalms. It's not overpowering, but there are other rose blends I wear better. I'm afraid I'm going to have to swap this.

[vegasblueblood]

I bought a 5mL bottle of this on Ebay a couple of weeks ago and it's lovely. In the bottle, it's all rose with a very faint medicinal smell. As I said to my friend furygrrl, it smells like an asylum!

 

As I wore it, it became very complex. It's very rose-y with a hint of something sharp--probably the balsam. It's also sweet which I'm thinking is the tonka. I don't get any tobacco but there is definitely something very fainly medicinal in there. This is mostly roses and this does not turn powdery on me at all.

[juniperus]

Bottle: I can't pick out a note - madness is right. I'm not sure what to make of it.

Wet: ok..rose, vanilla, evergreen, a hint of the carnation

Dry: a little sweet, very rosey, no tobacco yet (a relief), the labdanum is very grounding

Later: complex rose, grounded without darkness...mayhaps not my favorite rose, but very, very interesting nonetheless.

[Naamah_Darling]

This is rose and heavy incense notes with a splash of carnation's fizzy dazzle.

 

This is most certainly one of the most interesting rose blends I've smelled from the lab. It has not only depth, but a kind of manic quality – the rose is smooth and lovely, but the incense is sharply crystalline. The rest is slightly spicy, the tobacco leaf shows its influence more than directly asserting itself. It stays down there with the balsam and the tonka, making this scent warm and slightly woody.

 

I like this. It's definitely a rose scent, but not overwhelmingly so. Very agreeable!

 

This finishes off to a resinous rose finish. For those who might be searching for a similar scent, Pulcinella & Teresina from Carnaval Diabolique: Act II is a possibility. P & T, however, is also a limited edition, so. . . .

[porcelina]

i have a lot of trouble picking out individual notes here. i get the rose, a little vanilla and what i figure is tonka. this is somehow more traditionally perfumey than the types of blends i typically wear, but that's not a bad thing. i actually really, really like this. the rose dominates, but the vanilla is sweet and it is overall a very clean, elegant perfume.

[modillian]

I can't believe I didn't review this yet! I have a full bottle on the way, so I'll finally say why I adore this so.

 

At first, it came off all smokey flowers. Then the fresh carnations and dusky tonka swerved in and made me fall in love. After a couple hours the ambergris/balsam swings in to deepen everything, with prominent woody roses, smoke, and murky ambergris to the end.

 

The mutability is a treat and a nod to the element of the crazy. Not sensual or seductive. It could be romantic, but in a not-quite-right way. An uneasy (insane?) kind of amorous pursuit, like the person may love you but also would love to eat your brains. Zombie love. Dr. Hannibal Lector's brand of love in pursuit of Clarice.

 

It's totally my kind of perfume.

Edited December 8, 2007 by modillian

[alicia_stardust]

I got a decant of this and by now enough time has passed that it has aged considerably. Some of the notes listed are not entirely distinguishable but they haven't disappeared entirely. What I do smell is a mish-mash of lovely roses, a touch of carnation, and resins. It's really quite lovely and it fits into a category with Parlement of Foules in terms of rose + resin.

[LadyLuckDoubt]

In the Bottle

Rose with tonka and vanilla, with the roses dominating heavily.

 

On Me

Again, the rosiness is prominent, though it's a metallic, cold rose. I can't really make out the other notes on me, but this isn't your classic rose at ALL. There is something toning down the sweetness and the prettiness... but dammit, it's utterly beautiful. Like others have said, there's a... distance to it. It's not sweetly feminine and innocent, and it's not entirely a haunted attic rose, either. It's not srong, but it's there.

 

In short: I'm seriously glad I took a gamble on this and hoped it would work. It's stunning.

[heathercaley]

Another rose review! I loves me some rose lemme tell you!

 

Oh yeah this is nice. Spicy roses!! I was sniffin and at first I could feel soft floral vanilla, but that has faded somewhat to just spicy carnarose. That's interesting! As it dries down, it gets sharper!! But I still love it.. It's got great throw! I put it on about 25 minutes ago and it's sharp as a tack!! Another rose winner! (I think I have too many rose blends at this time )

[Tess]

In the bottle - Rose, rose, rose, but with the hint of something smoke related in the back. It's a RED rose, I should say, much more full bodied than the white roses in Ace of Hearts.

 

Wet - Roses get zapped away and the scent fades back by a whole heck of a lot.

 

Drying - This is an interesting beast. The rose is forefront, that powdery version of itself that I normally get with red rose scents. But there is a darkness lurking that I can't smell so much as feel. A twinge of tobbacco I think. Ah, coming out a bit is the tonka and vanilla, mixing with the rose in front.

 

Dry (1 hour) - The rose is seriously floating around me and it's surprisingly lovely. Rose just about never works on me, but this really does. It is, however, quite powdery now. The tonka and vanilla are just gone, too.

 

Overall - It just wasn't as complexe as I had hoped, but it's still pretty. I'm sure someone else's skin would bring out the other notes quite more than mine does.

[asciident]

Wet: Soap. Bah!

 

First on: Floral soap.

 

Dry: Powdery, but otherwise unchanged floral soap.

[rayvn1]

Roses and vanilla Beautiful! I debated over and over whether I really needed this one and I just don't think I'll wear it as often as it should be for how lovely it is. I amp rose and it got to be a little much for me after awhile. Beautiful oil though!

[hmelt004]

I bought a partial cobalt bottle of this from a forumer, hoping for a sweet, complex rose. But on my skin this turns into a strange watery, sour rose. I like watery rose, but for that I have Moon Rose. Off to the PIF pile with this one!

[ami226]

Hmmmm, for this one I think I am mostly getting tobacco leaf, roses, and a bit of something else. Kinda faintly pretty. Soapish?

 

*sigh* I was hoping for a bit more vanilla in this one. It is very pretty, but not my type of scent. It just would not be used here, so off to swaps.

[Ghost of a Rose]

In the vial; I can smell the rose, and just a touch of vanilla, and maybe some tobacco, but this is so well balanced that all of the other scents blend seamlessly together and I can't differentiate the individual notes. It is a lovely and unique scent.

 

On me, wet: On my skin, the rose comes out more strongly, making this even more beautiful. But this is still a very balanced blend - the rose does not overwhelm the other notes. I'm now picking up just a hint of spiciness from the carnation as well. And a bit of muskiness which is probably the labdanum.

 

On me, just dried: It's already lightened up quite a bit. Noooo! Don't go away!

 

After 10 minutes: It hasn't all gone away - just everything except the rose. I adore rose scents, so I still love it. But I also miss the additional nuances of the other notes. Maybe others will come out as drydown progresses. This is a particularly beautiful rose note. There's something a little different, gentler, about it that would tell me there's other things in it (if I didn't already know), even though I can't identify anything except rose anymore.

 

After 30 minutes: All rose, and gorgeous.

 

After 1 hour: Still mostly rose and fading, but a deeper undertone is developing. It must be the tolu balsam, ambergris, labdanum, or tonka; or a mixture of two or more of those. I'm not familiar enough with those scents to know.

 

After 4 hours: It's pretty mild now, but still there. And still beautiful, now rose and carnation.

 

My rating: 5+ stars

 

A big thank-you to the generous forumite who sent this to me!