Versailles

[someteacup]

Grand, courtly and robust: a glittering, golden scent that would do Louis XIV proud. Gilded red and gold citrus with amber, ruby roses, jasmine and orris.

This is an incredibly sophisticated and complex scent! I can see fine aristocratic ladies from 16th century France putting this one right after a discussion in the salon to a dance in the evening.

In bottle: Smelled very dark and rich, a vague citrus but mostly amber.
Wet: Very strong amber, some jasmine
Dry: Very slight sweetness, a smallest touch of honey, tamed by amber and refined with jasmine, some powder thrown in the middle. It has this full decadence and "royal"ness to it. It makes me think of all the work and steps that go into women's beauty rituals at the time to create an image of beauty.
1 hour later: Still very much like the way it is dry, perhaps a bit more of the honey but still a very layered scent.

[voodoocatwoman]

In the imp: So beautiful! Citrus with jasmine. The sweet and tart alternate prominence and tickle my nose.

 

Wet: The citrus backs down a little and the jasmine and my beloved amber take over.

 

Dry: Sweet warm amber and bright jasmine. How I love this scent...

[Bluestocking]

In the imp: Bright lemon and orange, with a breath of sweet jasmine and maybe a hint of the orris. It's a fruity, red-gold floral, very luxurious and refined.

On, wet: The roses bloom as soon as this touches my skin, full and red, and then there's the jasmine/orris/citrus combo, a nice combination of freshness and sweetness. There's just enough amber beneath to give this nice warmth and sensuality—not as sweet or heavy as Jezebel, but there's something here that reminds me of it. Beautiful citrus notes, which remind me of the Orangerie that's on the grounds of Versaille.

On, dry: Beautifully blended, very smooth and creamy. The sweet, rich amber is the golden heart of this perfume now, followed closely by the roses. The citrus is lighter but still present, brightening up everything and keeping it fresh, while the jasmine is sweet but surprisingly light—a supporting player, not the star. The orris is even more subtle, but in the background, I get a bit of its powdery, purple presence.

Later: Essentially unchanged: amber and roses with citrus, subtle jasmine and orris.

Overall: Versailles is an opulent, larger-than-life place that demands a similarly opulent, larger-than-life perfume, and I think this scent delivers. It's aristocratic, decadent and a bit debauched—the perfume of a grand duchess in an exquisite ball gown, maybe plotting some intrigue or meeting her secret lover.

 

Honestly? I can't say enough good things about this one. It's total love!

 

ETA: I only just realized why this scent reminds me so much of Jezebel: it's because during the dry down, the citrus transforms into something that smells almost exactly like orange blossoms. Aha!

Edited February 6, 2009 by Bluestocking

[savage_rose]

Glancing at the other reviews, I expected this to be so wonderful on me! Sigh...sadly, it's just okay. At first imp sniff it just smells like a powdery Alice. And on...it smells like vague citrus, a faint rose, a faint amber, a faint powder...if I hold my nose just right above my arm it's a lovely, balanced scent, just the right combination of tart citrus and creamy florals. But that's the only way I smell anything beyond lemon powder. A nice scent for someone else, and it would be even nicer if it had more of a throw.

[cinderfallen]

...how does something turn powdery and sharp all at once? =/ Rose and amber strike again.

Edited March 10, 2009 by cinderfallen

[milo]

Ha, I'm gettting better at identifying notes! Wet, this is a very fresh, light floral. It dries to a citrussy rose to me, very much like Lush's Amandopondo, and quite similar to Hope from CD. This is a good thing, because Hope one of the few roses that works for me, and I love Amanopondo. I'm very excited , this is a great GC, and I know where to go when my beloved Hope runs out!

[anna1850]

Not unpleasant but smells a bit like toilet cleaner.

 

2/5 I don't think I'm into amber.

[Dark Alice]

This smells like a very clean rose. The amber in this...is tame. However, the jasmine plus the red roses makes it smell like toilet cleaner. Not a fan...but I am glad I got to try it.

[catattack]

Imp: Heady florals

Wet: Citrus and jasmine.

Drydown: Florals! Too much of it. It's smothering.

Overall: Another strike out for me with the lab's jasmine. I'm trying...

[Gin]

Versailles

 

Roses? Yup. Orris? Yup. I wouldn't have guessed amber, but it makes sense. Versailles is all floral-powdery on me. It's not really my style, but I like how well it seems to capture my idea of Versailles.

[donnatron]

Imp: Amber and pink grapefruit.

 

Wet: Still amber and pink grapefruit. Sort ofg floral. Very thick and heavy. Smells like heavy and heady blooms. Getting a jasmine/orris combo but it's still overpowered by the grapefruit. Not a fan of the grapefruit.

 

Dry: Eh. Strong amber with jasmine and orris. Touch of rose? The grapefruit scent has mercifully faded but I still get a hint of it. This is very pretty and classic and dense and very lustrous but I already have scents that answer to that longwinded description and I think they do it better on my chemistry. This is very sweet. Very... floral. The sort of thing where I try to describe what it very is but mostly can't think of anything beyond very... very. A little too affected for me? Too mature for me? It's on the edge of being something I'd love but there's something too... too for me.

 

Throw: Moderate.

 

Overall: It's okay. I think it's a beautiful scent and had we sat down and had a serious meeting earlier in my BPAL evolution it would probably be a different story. As it is I think that Versailles is kind of a niche scent (dense, heady oriental florals) that I really have filled and have no need to expand on. The jasmine in this is particularly nice, however.

[empi girl]

By rights, I shouldn't like this scent, since it has not only jasmine in it, but orris too. But I was going to France, to Versailles, and just had to get an imp to take along! And surprisingly, it has become a favorite, and a bottle purchase when I make my next order.

 

It smells rich, soft, smooth and sensual. The amber and the orris meld together to create a warm, almost powdery base, with a hint of citrus underlying it. The rose might be contributing a little richness, but I don't get jasmine at all. This is one of those perfumes where all the notes combine in such a way that it's hard to describe for me. I think it's beautiful-a total win!

[inertia]

On me it starts out a citrusy golden sweetness underlaid with powder. It was quite nice.

 

After about 45 minutes, the citrus was mostly gone and the sweet powder took over. It's intensely sweet, heavy and cloying. The powder keeps getting stronger and stronger as time passes. My body chemistry is cruel. I might use up the imp in layering but won't be springing for a bottle.

[Spork]

Hello rose.....aah, and a powdery rose at that! It even covers up the jasmine, which I had hoped would tame it a bit. Oh well, didn't have too much hope for it since it had rose but doesn't hurt to try!

[Seismogenic]

Normally, citrusy things disappear on me really quickly. After a surprisingly long-lived citrus experience at Will Call, however, I'm feeling lucky, and think I'll give some other citrus scents a go. This one has been sitting in the pile of untested imps for a while, and it seems like a good scent for a fairly hot (but not omg doom hot) day.

 

In the imp: Citrus and rose. Not so much on the amber yet.

 

Wet on skin: The rose is not so crazy rosy on me now, but the citrus has, alas, become more subdued. It's all melding into amber now, which is definitely giving it the golden description.

 

Drydown: Freshly dry, this is now largely an amber scent, infused with little hints of citrus and rose. Not picking up on anything like jasmine, and I'm still not sure whether or not I'd recognize orris. So, pretty much, sweet and tart amber. Still absolutely golden. At one hour in, everything has melded together even more, resulting in a sweet amber with a subtly tart edge. It is not, however, distinctly citrus anymore.

 

Five hours later: Not much has changed in terms of balance since the one hour mark, though the overall scent is fainter.

 

End of the day: Very faint amber.

 

Overall: While this did not remain citrusy on me as I'd hoped, I still ended up liking this better than I thought I would. It's a bright and slightly tart version of amber, completely fitting with the images of gold and glitter that come to mind when one thinks of Versailles. Even though there's rose, I also think that a guy could get away with this, though admittedly in a frilly and flashy Louis XIV kind of way. I think I'll hold onto the imp.

[rayvn1]

Sweet and clean floral. Very pretty! Low level throw and later the orris turns things dusty. Glad I finally tried it!

[Venneh]

In the imp, I'm getting a combination of the rose and the jasmine and the citruses. A very interesting scent. On my skin, it's mostly citrus and roses, and interesting combination, but not anything spectacular. Nice scent, but this'll be just an imp.

Edited October 16, 2009 by Venneh

[cinderfallen]

Bluestocking, thank you so much for identifying that citrus as orange blossom! No wonder Versailles turns to powder on me--just like Jezabel.

 

 

Citrus tang, a little jasmine, strong, middling scent. And then the slow slide into powder while the jasmine struggles to keep afloat.

And...then the powder fades away? WHAT. An aged imp, this smells like weak tangerines with the richer sweetness of jasmines. However, overall kind of weak. Wouldn't mind trying a fresher imp.

 

I wonder if this means I can try revisiting Jezebel? I loved that scent to pieces until the powdery turn so early into the initial application.... Or did the powder note just get overshadowed by the other elements? Hopefully not....

[HamletsKeeper]

Grand and courtly this is not. It smells like orange juice on me drowning a heap of pungent petals. OJ is not exactly a scent that makes me feel regal. As it dries it smells more and more like vitamin C tablets. I guess I just missed the whole gilded, red and whatevers that were in this imp. Vaguely kitty-litter like florals swimming in fruit punch, sweet and not really special. Miss for me.

[fiddledragon]

On me, this is mostly rose and amber with a touch of jasmine. A very crisp, "dry" rose, not sweet at all. I normally don't go in for the more traditional perfumy florals, but this is actually really working. It's not as sharp as some similar scents; I think the citrus and amber round the scent out (though I'm not getting citrus individually at all, which is weird for me). I will keep this imp for when I feel like being a high court lady ;-)

[moosue]

I don't normally have an issue with rose, but this one really didn't agree with me.

Headache-inducingly strong floral. This would be lovely on some ladies, but not on this one. Now that I see the notes, I notice there is jasmine. That would be the culprit; jasmine is a note of doom for me.

 

Okay:

Frimp: Strong floral, mostly rose, but heavier and more cloying (I'll blame jasmine).

On: Strooooong floral. Eye watering, nose burning strong (probably that blasted jasmine again).

We'll never know how it wears on me, because I had to wash this one off.

 

Make sure you like florals if you're going to give this one a go.

 

Edit: I never got any citrus from this, although I wish I had.

Edited February 11, 2010 by moosue

[girasol]

I was expecting not to like this as the description sounded like it would be headier than normally appeals to me. Initially I was surprised though - it is quite a rich scent, but very warm and appealing. I liked it!

 

And theeen... powder-a-rama. Is that you doing that, amber? Cheeky little so-and-so. I'm beginning to think you are a note of fail for me.

[Miyabi]

It...was a little strange. At first it was way too heavy, and then it had a somewhat pleasant skin smell that was twisted. I'm pretty sure if it wasn't as heavy on the florals I'd probably like it.

[Banyangirl]

Wet, this was about to be my Holy Grail scent, the scent about which I said, "Okay, BPAL, you and I have had fun but it's really Versailles all the time for me now, sorry." It was shimmering grapefruit and clean, fresh rose and it was INCREDIBLE. Except now, twenty minutes later, it's turned into Pez and powdery rose and dusty orris and... this just isn't working for me. If it's anything like Jezebel, the powder will age off, so I'll be keeping my imp to age it. Hopefully it'll become Jezebel's spunkier sister-scent (and I do love me some well aged Jezebel).

[jizatt]

wet - this crossed between 'too strong' and 'I think I like this.' very citrussy top, and well behaved rose and jasmine under.

 

dry is where this one shines. I get a citrussy jasmine still, over a slightly powdery amber/orris base. I dont specifically smell rose now, but I think thats whats giving this the round rich quality.

 

I havent decided if I like this or not yet. Ill keep sniffing as it dries. Its evocative, but not really something I think Ill wear.