Pride

[euterpe414]

Vanity in extremis. The scent of rabid hauteur: Moroccan rose and narcissus.

Rose is very iffy on my skin, as those who have read my reviews before know. Narcissus, however, I really love. It is a heady floral, but has this certain rich quality to it that I love, and does not ever go sharp or wonky on me at all. So basically this blend had a 50% chance of working on me, lol. And guess what...it didn't. I can smell the narcissus that I love but the rose is going realllly sharp and acetone-like again. Funny because this is the kind of rose in Harlot (well, one of the kinds of roses) and Harlot does not go sharp on me. Anyway, it smells like Narcisses + acetone on me. Blech.

Despite the catastrophe, I will add that this does have the same feel in the imp to me as Black Dahlia, which I have heard others mention before. It's very fitting of the sin it represents and perfect for a proper, fancy woman (or a fancy date or what-have-you). So try this if you like sophisticated heavy florals, or if you simply like Moroccan rose (which I know now that I do not!)

[ariosa]

I received this as a frimp from the lovely eviltemptressdq in a recent decant circle shipment. I cheated and read the ingredients first before trying, and almost didn't try it, because the only BPAL rose I've ever liked was London (and that not even enough to really wear it lots, so I gave it to a rose-loving friend). But! My motto is try EVERYTHING BPAL because you just might be surprised in the end!

 

So, I placed a small amount of Pride on the inside of my arm... and it's not bad, really. The rose seems to be behaving itself, instead of amping to the nth degree. Perhaps the narcissus balances it out. The fact remains, though, that I'm just NOT a rose fan, and while this is a lovely blend, it's not for me. I'm really thankful I got to try it, though! Thanks Labbies and thanks ETDQ!

[tinyvulture]

i have a theory that there’s a theme with all the seven deadly sins blends -- “too much of a good thing.” they’re all so strong, right on the edge of overdoing it and being unbearable. lust is so heady and intense, and gluttony has every kind of sweet you can think of crammed into it. yet, they still work, and that is their genius.

 

this rose is bold and in-your-face. it makes me think of over-the-top vanity and obsession with beauty, to the point where something beautiful (like a rose, or a natural beauty) becomes overkill (like 1000 roses, or a heavily made-up, plastic surgerized kind of beauty). there’s nothing powdery or delicate about it. this blend is for when you want to stand out and be noticed.

 

p.s. i don’t know what narcissus smells like, so i can’t say how it plays into this scent. to my untrained nose, all i smell is rose, rose, rose.

[Mimicake]

This one smelled so lovely in the imp. My skin, as I have determined lately with much sadness, hates rose except in rare circumstances. This rose went from the beautiful, luxurious rose fragrance into something very cheap and tacky smelling on my skin. Why do you taunt me so, rose?

[LadyCrow]

In imp: Rose. Oh, please don't hate my skin!

 

Wet: Hey there, narcissus. Wow, you're pretty aggressively astringent, aren't you?

 

Drydown: After the initial blast of astringency, the rose comes back for battle. This is like watching a territory fight between Joan Crawford and Bette Davis, or something.

 

Verdict: Amusing, and definitely evokes the scent concept, but I think smelling like a diva catfight all day would give me a headache. I may swap this to a friend who gardens, however.

[zankoku_zen]

In the imp: Roses

 

On Skin: Rose soap

 

On Drydown: More rose soap.

 

Verdict: Alas, roses continue to love me. I, however, can't be in love with them. It is really a sad state of affairs when my skin seems so amenable to them. *Sigh* It is however, a very lovely rosey scent. Clean and pure. Pretty.

[hackess]

Imp: Rose! It feels like a dirty rose, though. Not naughty like in Whip, but corrupted and broken somehow. Tarnished.

 

Wet: Narcissus keeps trying to push the rose aside. It's very haughty, but it's undeserved.

 

Dry: Whoever compared it to a grill was right. It smells burned and heavy. It's a very strong scent that makes my eyes water.

[maribouquet]

in the imp: band-aids

wet: band-aid with rose emerging

dry: narcissus, I'm sorry you think you're a band-aid.

[Medici]

In the imp: Sharp, fresh floral, predominantly rose.

 

Wet: Lots of narcissus. I have decided, I quite like narcissus. It's white and fresh. (Now if only the rose will hang back.)

 

Drydown: Goodbye narcissus, hello roses. I knew this love affair wouldn't last. (Now, at least, I know of another floral I can look for happily.) If the rose didn't blot out everything in its path, Pride would have been a winner. (Acursed chemistry! Why, ye cruel spirits, why?!)

[Styx]

Pride

light yellow oil

 

Imp: Posh rose and narcissus

 

Skin: I knew I can't wear narcissus well. But I like the flower, and hoped that magically I may be able to pull it off.

Fat hope.

The oil rapidly turned into that sharp, choking powder I know. *Groan*

However after wearing it for half a day the narcissus dies down and the rose stays. Its a prudish rose, reminds me of those 2 feet tall aristocrat wigs.

 

Snobbish scent.

[JenM]

Pride

 

In the imp: I’m beginning to think that Dove soap was florally-fragranced, as it seems to be my default “I can’t identify this rather pleasant smell” floral description. I can smell the rose Maroc, but it smells more red rose than rose Maroc to me.

 

On the wrist: a heady floral. Still getting that soapy tang though.

 

Drydown: No, no good. It’s not unplesasant, but it makes me want to go rinse my hands. Layered with whatever soap my parents have, it’s dulled back to a lovely rose. How bizarre. Swaps.

[mimulus]

Yeah, I can understand why this is "Pride". In the imp, it reminds me of a cologne or perfume a CEO would wear. Real power stuff.

 

I am scared to try it on though. Me and Rose don't get along, it's a long story, it's me, not her....

 

On: Well, now I know what narcissus smells like. I like it. But once again, the rose takes over and stomps on everything. I'm really stinky now.

[usamimi]

In the Imp: Flower-power to the max! It made me think of some rich, expensive perfume you'd smell on some posh celeb.

 

Wet on skin: The roses smelled incredibly lush and beautiful, but I'm not a huge fan of narcissus.

 

Dry on skin: Rose soap. Darn it. :/ I have a hard time finding rose scents that don't go soapy on me, no matter how nice they smell wet...

[Severuslovesme]

Pride smells lovely in the bottle, but on my skin it quickly turned soapy.

[modernsaints]

Narcissus: Hi there Emily, I hear you have never gotten a chance to really smell me in a blend! Let me introduce myse-

 

Rose: *KAPOW BLAM*

 

Me: Oh

Edited September 4, 2007 by modernsaints

[waternight]

In the imp: Deep, rich, heady rose. The rose of a mature woman, not a girl. I really couldn’t tell you what narcissus smells like, but there is a slightly spicy something in here as well, so I’m guessing that’s it.

Wet/Drydown: Smells sweeter first on the skin than it was in the imp; a little less spicy and heady, but still primarily rose. Ah, but the spice and headiness returns! I do get a sort of haughty feel from this blend. Mmm, I’m loving the floral-spiciness! Ok, the spiciness is less prominent again, though it’s still there if I really huff at my arm.

Dry: It dries down to a very sweet rose scent. It’s pretty, but I have other rose blends that I like more. This one isn’t exciting enough for me to keep around.

[mspixieears]

Immediately I get the narcissus – my skin is most fond of amping up such florals. As it dries down the rose comes out – for once it is not the dominant note in the blend. It strengthens and up close becomes more dominant but from afar narcissus is the strongest. I don’t know what took me so long to try this – it’s wonderful.

[grashopper8]

All I get out of this is rose, with a bit of a soapy quality. I only picked out a poof of narcissus immediately upon application, and it disappeared quickly. When I sniff my wrist up close, there is a slight plastic tinge. This seems to go away as the scent dries down a bit, though.

 

Pride is okaaay, but I don't see myself wearing it again. I'm picky when it comes to rose, and I also wasn't it the right mood for it today....

 

If you're a rose conniseur, you MUST try this, because it's not completely unpleasant to me, and that's saying something.

[erraticprophet]

Initial Impression: strong floral, almost overwhelming. Can't distinguish notes.

 

On Wet: very strong rose

 

On Dry: still very strong rose

 

Final Impression: a nice, albeit, strong rose

 

Rating (on a scale of 1-5): 3

[Pyrebi]

Another imp from the lovely schackjj!

 

In the bottle: Rose, but a sharp rose. Like an alcohol-based perfume. Really very pretty!

 

Wet: Whoa, so sharp! I almost want to sneeze. And now it's like an antibacterial soap on me, ick.

 

Dry: Nothing but hand-soap, and not even the scented kind. Just the nasty yellow stuff found in public bathrooms everywhere. So sad, after it smelled so good in the bottle. I hate that my skin turns so many things sudsy on me.

[megank4]

Ergh. Upon first application, it smells like a nice room spray from Au Nom de la Rose. Later though, it just becomes too strong and, dare I say it? Old-ladyish. Sigh. Perhaps it can find another application, such as burner oil. I don’t think rose perfumes are for me. I finally went and washed it off. Not in my “hate” pile but definetely “don’t want to receive this as a frimp or swap-extra” category.

 

ADDED Jan. 23:

 

This doesn't smell very haughty to me. Perhaps because I am mostly just getting rose, not narcissus.

[SarahScent44]

In the imp, Pride is all rose, all the time for me.

 

When I get it onto my skin, the rose is softened the lightness of the narcissus, but just barely.

 

Once dry, this is a really nice rose scent, very basic, very beautiful - but as I'm not rose-crazy, and I already have a couple of rose blends I really like, I think I'll be passing this along.

[porcelina]

pride is a very sweet rose- but it's sharp, almost piercing in its sweetness at first. after a little while it softens and becomes something very nice. i'm not a floral girl, by any means, but if i was feeling exceptionally frilly and girly i might be able to wear this. it's very soapy, like i've just taken a warm bath in a tub filled to overflowing with frothy pink bubbles.

[suki]

i'm much more picky about my florals than i am about resins. they don't always agree with me or my body chemistry, but i'm always willing to try anything from BPAL so here we go...

 

in the imp: straight sharp-edged rose. this is not the sugary-creamy rose like Hope, this is stronger, more commanding.

 

wet on skin: the rose mellows a bit. no trace of anything else.

 

dry down: rose, rose and only rose.

 

final analysis: there are those people that love all things rose, and for them, i'd say this is an excellent addition. for me, it's not quite spectacular enough to keep. off to the swaps!

[othelloperrello]

Bottled: Fields of distilled narcissus, surrounded by rose. This may be too strong...

 

On & In: Maintaining the same strong, royal scents - red rose and narcissus well-matched.

After 5 minutes it's settled in like a velvet plush cushion, the rose aging and deep. Perhaps

a single ripe orange, deep in a bowl of rosebuds.

 

Could at any moment have fallen off into potpourri, but did not - this has a dignity that is based

in its indisputable fineness. This sin on my skin is one of my favorite roses.