Parlement of Foules

[Chrysantza]

Medieval romance and courtly love. White rose and soft resins.

In the bottle this was a beautiful soft, sweet rose layered over resins.

Alas, it appears that one of those resins is myrrh. And on me the myrrh is doing what it tends to do when in contact with my skin - turn to VoldeMyrrh. It's gotten medieval on the other ingredients' asses. About all I can smell is myrrh. Darnit.

I think I'll put this away for a week or two to see if it smells less VoldeMyrrh when it's had a chance to blend.

[Stumbeline]

This is the hit of the Lupercalia scents for me, unexpectedly. I never considered myself a rose person but this is truly lovely. It's definitely a soft, understated, and feminine scent. Sweet rose and woods, and resins. It seems breathy and ethereal. It's a classically romantic scent. I adore it, I picture it to be the BPAL to wear at a wedding.

[FireInCairo]

I am totally in love with this fragrance. It is a smokey rose that lasts and lasts on my skin. I am transported to a Victorian tea house when I wear this. It is quickly becoming a BPAL standard of mine.... too bad it was limited edition. That alone makes me want to cry. GOREGOUS blend.........

[shelldoo]

in the bottle; fresh sweet roses.

 

wet: still mostly roses, but i get the slightest breath of something woody

 

as it dries it really softens. the rose is not as upfront as it was, it is a shy innocent rose. the resins are grounding it, and adding depth also keeping the white rose, which sometimes goes chemical, in check. it eventually turns more resin/incense then rose. but the rose remains there keeping this blend stately and beautiful

[grrrlennyl]

at first: all i'm getting is a gentle, white rose. lovely.

on: gorgeous white rose. lovely.

1 hour later: slightly sweet, with that lovely white rose. very soft.

2 hours later: very soft. vaguely sweet.

overall: it's so hard for me to part with bpal rose blends, and this is no exception. a truly romantic, though slightly cliche, blend.

[Astburygrrl]

In the Bottle: All i can detect is soft, whispery resins..

 

On the Skin: Wow..now THAT is white rose. Amazing! How do you do that, Beth?

I can even smell a bit of green-ness of the leaves/stem.

 

Afterhours: This settles down quite a bit to very soft, romantic blooming rose. I've been looking for a rose blend that works on me beside Spellbound and I think ladies & gents, it has been found!

[sophia_helix]

Whoo, the second rose scent I've liked! Nothing like Rose Red, which was all dirt and water, but a pretty rose scent kept grounded by the deeper resin. Thanks, Jemz!

[AlaskaSnows]

This smells a lot like the rose in Haunted Palace, to me. I don't get white rose from it, smells more pink to me. Juicy perfect pink roses, with a lovely hint of musky background. These are almost fruity. I love it!!

[slave1]

In Bottle: Rose

 

On Skin: The rose in this is quite sweet. It doesn’t have that sour twang that rose so often has on me… well it does, but not as heavy. The musk deepens it and darkens the brightness some. It really does feel like a “soft” scent. I get a little giddy and girly when smelling this. It’s very romantic and super feminine. It’s quite strong with heavy throw. For any fans of rose, I say try this since it’s a beautiful different take on a classic rose scent.

[rinoastar]

Odd. The first blast is red, red rose--and it is red; it smells so different than white, to me (I know the description says white, but...)--but it's immediately followed by a blast of booze. Not quite gin or rum, it's more a champagne crystalline smell. There's a woody undertone being hidden by the roses. I was expecting Rose Cross, really, but this honestly nothing like that for me. It's very lovely, but Rose Cross is much more a picture of divinity while Parlement of Foules is rather a picture of the stereotypical Valentine's Day celebration. All it's missing is the chocolates and it would be a perfect picture of what I think of when I think of Valentine's Day.

 

Very pretty, but I much prefer white(er?) roses. The booziness is a nice touch, though. I love boozy scents!

Edited February 14, 2006 by rinoastar

[alston78]

just rose - well, not just rose because it's an absolutely lovely rose - but it's not sharp to me, nor is it the wet rose smell from some of the other blends. On the skin, it reminds me of a rose-scented doll I had when I was young - her hair smelled like this, only more synthetic. To me the blend is soft, happy, gentle, romantic.

 

As it fades a sweeter note creeps in with the rose - I suppose those are the resins? This fades steadily and gently - I'm noticing a change several hours later, but I can't really say when it happened. It wafts around me lightly, which I like. Overall, a beautiful blend. I'll likely keep my bottle around.

[LittleGreyKitten]

This is 100% rose on me. I have had bad luck with BPAL rose scents- unexpectedly since I usually like them- but they often go sour. I am afraid this one is no different, though I'll give it a few more tries before giving up. It smell so incredibly good in the bottle, and wet on my skin, I am truly going to be bummed if my skin sours this. It is the best BPAL rose I've smelled wet. The resins make it just perfect.

 

EDIT: I get about 15 minutes of yummy smooth rosiness, followed by sour nastiness. BUMMER. This smelled so very good while wet! Wretched skin chemistry, ruining perfectly good rose blends.

Edited February 18, 2006 by LittleGreyKitten

[em_h]

I have more florals than I need already, but I do well with both roses and resins, and besides it's Chaucerian, so I couldn't resist. Also, turns out I like the label very much.

 

In the bottle: oddly like mandarin; bright and bit sharp

 

Wet: Wow, interesting. I'm getting a lot more resin than rose, at least at the moment, and it seems to be a fairly complex mix of resins.

 

Drying: The rose emerges very strongly, well-blended with the resins. It's a sharper rose than I'd anticipated (still with that odd hint of mandarin, not that I'm complaining about it).

 

Dry: Pretty consistent with the earlier phases: the rose is powerful and sort of high-pitched, if that makes sense, with a background of resin notes. It does seem that the rose is manifesting very differently on me than it does on most people, but that does happen. This also has a great deal of staying power and remains strong over a good long time; I can still smell it on my wrist a day later, after several washes.

 

I have to do something about my excess of florals, but this is one of the ones worth keeping. Not my favourite rose -- it's a little too sharp -- but a good one. I should probably trade away some of my other florals, though, because I only wear them now and then, and there's no way I'll use as many as I have around now.

[Laurel the Woodfairy]

Ah, courtly love... *swoon*

Ah, Beth's roses... *swoon*

 

I'll be astounded if I don't love this.

 

Parlement of Foules is a warm and golden color in the vial; it glows softly and sweetly.

 

OMFG! This is the rose from Havisham! AHHHHHH! *runs around screaming* I haven't found that white rose anywhere else but in my lovely signature scent. However, it behaves differently here. After the initial, "Hello, I am the rose from Havisham!" blast, a warm sweet note, almost honey and almost molasses, peeks out (myrrh? It's never been this sweet on me before. Must be the alchemy of rose). It's a pretty combination, but it's freaking me out a little because it both is and isn't similar to my darling. I'm glad I have it, but an imp is enough. I'll enjoy its warmth for the Valentine season, but nothing beats Miss Hav.

[Penance]

Origin:

 

Imp from my Imp Pimp, Diana.

 

Preconceived notions:

 

I have a feeling this one is going to be a failure on me. I love resin notes, but roses rarely if ever work on me.

 

First sniff:

 

Interesting. A strong rose note with a background of intense resins. This is a lot stronger than I'd thought it would be for some reason, and more forceful.

 

Wet on skin:

 

Not as intensely rosy on my skin and much more incensey. This is actually quite a bit nicer than I'd anticipated, honestly. The resins are a lot more intense than I'd expected and the rose is a lot softer. There's definitely frankincense in here, it reminds me quite a bit of the shampoo I use (Lush's Buddah Bar), but with rose added.

 

Dry down:

 

The rose is really taking a backseat to the resins in here and I like it! I wasn't anticipating liking this one at all, so that's a real shocker for me. I think I'm going to be keeping this one after all.

 

The bottom line:

 

Much more "me" than I'd anticipated, especially considering that there's rose in here.

Edited February 23, 2006 by Penance

[nowxisxforever]

Oh, I'm loving this one. I'm not experienced enough to note much of a difference between in-bottle and on-skin, but all of it is beautiful - lovely, romantic rose. This smells almost exactly like the Sarah Michaels rose silk lotion, so far as I can tell. I love this! An anti-perfumes girl couldn't stop sniffing my wrist after I made her smell it =)

[Lady_Ell]

Well. I'm glad there's so many fans of this, so I can swap mine away.

 

The ingredients sounded perfect for me, and I loooooove Seance. I was hoping it would be a more sultry Seance.

 

Well. While Seance is a soft, fresh, dewy, pink, sugar-coated rose, Parliament of Foules is a wet, rancid, rotting rose that wafts over salty, rotting wood that's been soaked in Bactine. There is some resin in here that does not work on me (the salty rotting wood Bactine smell). It's the same resin in Anne Bonny and Jolly Roger.

 

I will stick to Seance for my rose scent. You can't top perfection, I guess. And I'll swap this one away.

[yeahbutnobut]

Parlement of Foules

 

In the imp: rich, resinous rose. reminds me of All Saints, I think the primary resin is myrrh.

Wet on skin: myrrh and rose, a combination of notes that works fantastically.

Dry on skin: oh, this is lovely. A good strong myrrh note, smoky and resinous all at once, like church incense, with hints of frankincense, and other resins both sweet and smoky, and a delightful, full bodied yet gentle rose. This is now like Midnight Mass meets All Saints or Rose Cross. It seems very appropriate for a medieval scent.

After a while: still rose and myrrh, I think those two notes have become the main players in this lovely fragrance-those two notes make this scent slightly reminiscent of Thanatos but without the mossy, gloomy, deathly aspects of that scent. I love the white rose note (it's the same one as the rose in Penthus and Magdalene), it's such a rich, heady, full bodied rose note, and it goes very nicely with the background of deep myrrh and hints of other gently smouldering resins.

Verdict: rose and resins are a wonderful match. I adore scents like Rose Cross, All Saints, Magdalene and Thanatos, so it's no surprise that I love this too. A lovely dark smoky myrrh mingles with a fresh, rich, fully bloomed white rose note, with other resinous notes joining the party. It resembles the above rose-resin scents, but it's also quite different because to me, it's also like Midnight Mass with added rose-which is a fabulous combination. The roses and resins complement each other wonderfully, and the scent is romantic and serious, yet courtly and elegant, with a definite medieval vibe to it. I am very impressed with the Lupercalia scents, and this is another favourite from that collection.

[mandragora]

One more time, I had to try a rose scent, just because Beth created it and sounded so lovely from the reviews.

 

In the bottle: Smells sharp and strong boozy. :checks the label a second time to make sure that I have not mistakenly opened the Smut bottle:. Nope, it says Parlement of Foules, perservering on.

 

Wet on me: Booziness dissipates and turns softer, more incensey. Myrrh?

 

Drydown: A spicy, incense-y scent with faint rose traces and hints of booziness peeking through. Feels warm and heavy.

 

Verdict: A complex scent for sure, but I'm just not feeling it. Alas, I'm proven once again that me and roses can not get along. Now what am I gonna do with this bottle? Love the label, not so much the oil.

Edited February 19, 2006 by mandragora

[sookster]

straight sniff from bottle is lovely white roses and incense...

upon application this is a very soft and beautiful floral...absolutely

enchanting for a rendevous with a loved one.....

Edited February 19, 2006 by sookster

[Voleuse]

At first, this is all resin, with barely detectable rose. Eek! I was hoping for more rose in this, as resins tend to make me sneeze.

 

As it dries, the resin mellows to a strong, golden glow, and the freshness of the rose starts to appear. Over time, the balance becomes more even, but the resins are always predominant on me. Alas!

[Naamah_Darling]

This is a very soft rose scent, nothing else but roses in the bottle.

 

On, the blast of rose is immediately reined in by a cloud of crystalline resins – I think that's myrrh, but I can't be certain. Simply lovely. There's a sharp tang to this while it's wet that I rather like; it's almost briny. When it settles down, it's soft, romantic, and well-balanced between floral and incensey, with the roses pulling just slightly ahead. It's not an overpowering blend, and for a rose scent is fairly subtle. This rose is delicate, like a veil. It reminds me of curling up on embroidered cushions on the porch, watching the tree-shadows dance, and listening to the birds sing while my lover sits quietly nearby. Romantic, but not in a sexual way. Very fine and refined. I prefer my scents a bit dirtier, but this is beautiful.

[seamor]

I had great hopes for this, but...

 

Wet: Strawberry/cherry gumdrops

 

5 minutes: gumdrops with ozone

 

20 minutes: Oh! Suddenly it’s a soft, sweet rose scent – candied rosebuds. Rose gumdrops. Innocent enough for my five-year-old, golden-ringleted, big-blue-eyed granddaughter.

 

Sadly, not for me.

 

 

I'm just not doing at all well with these rose blends. It seems like they either make me sneeze, or they turn to sugar.

 

 

Edited February 22, 2006 by celtimor

[kythryne]

While I love rose as a note in complicated blends -- Wanda is my very favorite BPAL of all time -- the purer rose scents tend to go soapy on me, and I'd almost given up on them.

 

Then I got an imp of this.

 

To my nose, this has the same sort of sexy warmth that Wanda does, but without the booze and complexity. Which isn't tosay that this is a simple scent, because it's not. It's very rich and lush and warm, and the amber does fantastic things against the rose. It's a very romantic scent, I think.

 

Also, I got complemented the first time I wore it out of the house! Admittedly, by another BPAL fan who was trying to figure out what it was, but still.

[carolinachiquita]

 

I love this blend, I knew I'd like it but oh... my.... god...

 

It was a very tender and delicate rose on me this morning but it morphed into an incensy smokey rose blend which is even more divine than the tender delicate rose it was this morning. I never thought I liked rose smells before I met BPAL and this has to be my number 1 rose blend, its fabulous!