Le Serpent Qui Danse

[Ghost of a Rose]

A sinister, darkly seductive scent inspired by poetry of Charles Baudelaire. Violet entwined with vanilla and gardenia.

I love the concept of this blend! Thank you to the lab for the free imp.

In the imp: Oil is a slightly cloudy pale yellow. Very sweet. Vanilla is strongest, then gardenia. It's hard to differentiate the violet.

On me, wet: Pretty much the same, although now I can detect the violet. I really like this. I don't usually like vanilla perfumes, but here the vanilla softens the florals, with the florals retaining a strong enough presence to keep me from smelling like cake.

On me, drydown: Still pretty much the same, but now the vanilla outweighs the flowers. Yet it still isn't foody. Oddly enough, I'm also getting a faint whiff of fruitiness. Maybe it's just my imagination. Or my skin doing something weird. Or have I been trying too many different scents recently, so that my nose has become confused? In any case, it's subtle enough not to bother me.

I like this a lot, which is unusual for me with vanilla-based blends.
My rating: 4 stars

[becca_s]

This is all Violet and Gardenia on my skin. I was really hoping for the Vanilla to make an appearance but it I can't smell it all. The Gardenia is the main player here and turns a bit powdery on my skin. I would have loved this if there was more Vanilla but I find that my skin eats it.

[mymymai]

In the Imp (ITI): I smell just violet when I inhale, which is certainly something that I would not complain about since I like that note n my perfumes and essential oils. I don't smell any of the brusquely pungent aspects that gardenia can take on in an oil. It reminds me of the Lotte violet candy.

 

Wet: Oh wow, violet and vanilla. It's sweet, feminine, cold and floral. I like it!

 

Dry: Oddly enough, the vanilla is amping with the faintest hint of violet. It's still lovely and the perfect scent for the first inklings of spring.

 

Other Impressions:Husband says it's nice, but isn't really super into it. Once dry, however, he says it smells like good powder and flower. He's much more positive about it.

[holborne]

I was a little apprehensive about trying this one, because while I love violet, I really, really, really do not care for gardenia. Unfortunately, my apprehension proved to be well-founded: I do get some of the violet, but on my skin, this is mostly just a heavy gardenia smell. If me, you don't care for those heavy white floral scents, you might want to give this one a miss. Into the swaps pile.

[hexnut]

A frimp from the Lab, tested blind. The oil is yellow in the imp.

In Vitro Sweet resin.

Wet Undistinguished, resin-ish. Some throw at application. After two minutes a heavy floral emerged. A few minutes later I guessed at rose.

Drying While drying down this went through a less floral, more perfumey stage. Then floral re-emerged and the fadeout was rosy resin. I dabbed on a bit more that night, before seeing the label, and guessed at jasmine or rose. After looking up the description I could identify violet.

There's a gardenia bush that I pass on my walk home from the bus stop, and each time I stop to stick my nose in a blossom and inhale the strong, uplifting scent. This blend doesn't evoke any of that for me, and I already have Ultraviolet for violet and Tombstone for vanilla, so although Le Serpent Qui Danse is pretty I won't be getting a bottle.

[Saffrin]

Imp: Nothing stands out at all. It just smells warm.

 

Wet: Still mostly just warmth. I guess it's mainly gardenia, because it doesn't smell like vanilla or violet.

 

Dry: Powder (dammit, violet) tempered by sweet, nice vanilla.

Changes again later on to mostly vanilla, with a very sweet, heated floral on the very edge of it.

 

 

Wasn't a fan of this until the proper dry down. Now it's quite pretty, though not exactly "me:". Will keep my imp.

[Quillifer]

In the imp this smells amazing - creamy violets. But on me, I suddenly remember that while I like florals, and I like vanilla, I don't like them together I should have remembered this from Mouse's Long Sad Tale. I really really *want* to like this - I can feel myself drawn to the notes, but they just feel like out-of-tune notes to me, the way they arch up and down against each rather than with each other. I could try to make myself like it more but there are so many oils that I love, it's not worth it. My favourite violet is Brusque Violet.

[KissleMeNow]

This smells... like some kind of strange baked good, with a whiff of violet.

[EricthoDesalamander]

As far as perfumes go, I usually gravitate towards something sweet or resinous (or both), but I can appreciate a good floral. I tend to be a bit more daring in the floral department as I tend to like florals that are heady and sweet - because clean and soapy tends to be a bit of a turn off.

 

Granted, violet is a soapy note, but the addition of gardenia and vanilla add a depth and sweetness and headiness that I find appealing. As a matter of fact, its the gardenia that seems to take center stage on my skin, with the violet and vanilla taking strong supporting roles.

 

After the scent has dried has dried down, the violet takes more of a back seat, with the vanilla taking a bit more of the spotlight - with the gardenia in a strong supporting role.

 

This a very sexy and incredibly feminine scent; very grown up with a hint of girly.

[Acayde]

Bottle: Sweet gardenia and vanilla.

 

Wet: Gardenia is still the predominant note and the vanilla warms it up. The gardenia is so strong that I can't even get any violet.

 

Dry: If you like gardenia, this may be the scent for you. It is a strong single-note gardenia musk on me...pure, but too much.

Edited August 19, 2013 by Acayde

[Mechanical Death]

This smells nearly identical to Paris.

The gardenia and violet make a dusty bubblegum combo. So sweet! Not for me.

[aphrodite]

I didn't join the forum for about two years after getting into BPAL, so I'm realizing I never reviewed any of the classic scents that first made me an addict. Le Serpent Qui Danse was my first BPAL love, and while I neglect it sometimes during mega update seasons, I'm always so happy to rediscover it.

 

I get soft vanilla and soft violet from this; they're equally present and take turns standing on their tip toes, while the gardenia makes it more complex than straight vanilla-violet but never asserts itself as dominant. It remains fairly close to the skin, but I get wafts of it for hours -- I'm not walking around in a yummy cloud the way I am with some scents, but I also don't have to keep my nose to my wrist to know it's there.

 

I like lots of throw, but I also like my boyfriend to think I smell nice, and he doesn't like anything he perceives as strong. We both also love vanilla. This is one of his favorites on me, which is great because it's a simple blend of three notes I adore. Also, while gardenia is one of my favorite natural scents and one of the few notes I still enjoy in commercial perfumes, I haven't had much luck with BPAL gardenia blends. I don't think the note itself goes bad on me so much as I strike out with things it gets frequently blended with. I never notice the gardenia on its own in this scent, but it tempers the violet into a sort of mist-shrouded violet in the morning sun, the purple sweetness hidden behind something soft and white.

 

I've never bought a 5 ml of this because I rarely do with GCs and I've been lucky enough to receive a few frimps over the years so I've never run out. But when I eventually start to build my GC 5 mL collection, this will be one of the very first I go for.

 

I recommend if you love Time Does Not Bring Relief, The Governess, Bruised Violet Compound, or soft vanillas.

[Magycmyste]

In the imp: Sweetly floral. I don't know if I could pick out individual notes, though.

 

Wet on skin: Mostly gardenia, I think.

 

Dried down: Still mostly gardenia, but with the vanilla mixed in. I think the closest hint I got of the violets was in the imp.

 

Throw: Mild but definitely present, and it's a sublime vanilla.

 

Verdict: **** I think a bottle of this may be in my future.

[GoddesShel]

Even with my recent obsession with red musk, I *still* love my florals.

 

Wet, I'm getting a divine combination of violet and gardenia. I'd forgotten how much I really do like gardenia....no vanilla, but I'm expecting it any time now...

This is a very ladylike scent. It reminds me of something I'd wear to tea with the Queen. (that's a good thing, by the way).

 

As it dries, the vanilla comes out and sweetens the florals a bit, but it's still a very classic scent. Dry - sweet violet and gardenia with just a whiff of vanilla. Yep, glad I got it!

[AgriaTheWild]

This was a frimp from the lab and I'm REALLY glad I got it! At first I just liked it, now I love it.

 

wet: mostly just violet, honestly.

drying down: a bit of the vanilla is coming through.

dry: violet with vanilla twists and possibly gardenia. Very light.

[marilyn eyre]

My first review, so please be nice!

 

I took a whiff out of the vial, and I was instantly in love.

 

Lots of spicy gardenia, with just enough vanilla to keep it from literally burning my nostrils. Stayed the same wet on my wrists, no problem there whatsoever. Drying, violets start to creep out and cover the gardenina scent some. The vanilla stays creamy the entire time, never fading.

 

One of my first BPALS, and I need a 5ml right now. This is GORGEOUS.

[anaengel]

Wait. Stop the presses! This has violets!?! Where? This is the first time I've worn something with violet listed as a note and I don't have violet doing it's two year old temper tantrum throwing fits on me. Seriously, I am in complete shock over this. It was a frimp from the lab and is pretty fresh.

When it first goes on, it's a bright white floral. Yeah, the gardenia shows up first and wants to sing. It's a little annoying, but otherwise tolerable. As it dries, I get some spice from it, nothing fancy, but quiet spices. Then, we get the vanilla. This is a open the bottle of vanilla beans before making sugar with them scent. It stays there for the rest of the day.

It has a long throw, but the biggest hit for me is that I finally found a violet that doesn't want to be a brat! I'm worried about aging it just in case the violet decides to show up later on. I like it fresh like this. More for the spice.

[andabri]

Very powdery violet that mingles with a tiny hint of creamy white floral. I wouldn't say it's gardenia (but to be fair I am really, really picky with gardenia since it's one of my all time favorite flowers). Overall it smells like expensive floral dressing powder.

[DiesMali]

In the imp: Purple bubble bath.

 

Wet on my skin: Almost sickeningly-sweet little girls' bubble bath.

 

Dry: This is too sweetly floral for me, unfortunately. It remains very sweet and almost soapy, strongly violet with some gardenia, and the only thing my brain can smell here is bright purple bubble bath. It is one of very few BPAL scents that has given me a headache, and thus I'll probably have to gift it to someone who likes very sweet florals like this one.

[Lunasariel]

In the imp: Objectively speaking, it's primarily floral-sweet, but the inclusion of the vanilla plus my association of the scent of violets with violet pastilles equals a more foody-sweet impression. It's pleasant, sweet, creamy, and VERY feminine, but not in the least "sinister" or "darkly seductive."

 

Wet: Oh my. Could this be the violet scent I've been looking for for so long? It's fresh and green, but also creamy and sweet, while remaining distinctly floral overall. Still not the faintest hint of "a sinister, darkly seductive scent" (srsly, most of the time I love the stories BPAL tells with each perfume, but I've never smelled a scent more unlike its copy), but a wonderful spring floral.

 

Dry: Yup, still getting lovely soft violet pastilles. It's ever so slightly drier and more herbal, but still very recognizably a violet-and-vanilla scent.

 

Coming in, I didn't expect anything at all slinky, dark, or even that sexy from violet, vanilla, and gardenia, so I'm not disappointed on that end. Quite the contrary, in fact - I think this will become my go-to springy violet scent. It's light, sweet, and princess-y, and as such, couldn't be lovelier!

[Aviatrix]

This is pretty much straight up violet vanilla on me! Which is good, mind you, as I love both those notes

It has a warmth underneath that makes the whole blend rather snuggly.

 

I would be all in for a bottle if it weren't for the fact that this is quite similar to several other perfumes I have…!

[SimplySyra]

Frimp: Sweet florals.

 

Wet: Very sweet gardenia at the forefront. Unfortunately I'm one of the people that finds violet smells a bit like a green banana on me and the violet and vanilla are doing this now.

 

Dry: The sweetness has died down a bit to make way for a slightly powdery vanilla with hints of floral.

 

Verdict: This is a very pretty scent and I'll definitely use up my frimp but it's too sweet to really be up my alley, I'm afraid. The violet banana thing isn't really my cup of tea either.

[Veronica]

At last, a BPAL violet that I can tolerate! This is faintly violet over a sweet, vanilla background. Very pretty floral.

[dementia_divine]

In the imp: Lots of violet, followed by the gardenia note. I'm not getting any vanilla from the imp.

 

Wet: Same. A sweet violet note, with a gardenia note that is stronger on my skin than it was in the imp. Violet is not a floral note that I'm fond of, so if the gardenia ends up overtaking the violet note, I will be happy about it. There is only a hint of the vanilla in the background.

 

Dry: The violet is still the main player here, but it has calmed down a little bit. The gardenia is still second in prominence, and the vanilla note, while stronger during this stage, continues to linger in the background.

 

Verdict: This one is just too much violet for me.

[Kmye Chan]

In the imp: this smells exactly like violet syrup, the kind you can order mixed with white wine in Paris. It's one of my favourite drinks, so no complaints here. If I look for it I can smell the gardenia behind the sweet violet. (PS: it seems my olfactive receptors for violet saturate quickly, because I resniffed after applying and couldn't get any violet out of the vial, while the scent was strong and crystal clear earlier. Strange!)

 

Wet: The violet retracts behind the gardenia, and there is something a bit sour coming out, which I suspect is the vanilla playing tricks on my skin. Not sure I am going to like this.

 

Dry: The violets are back. Candied violets and gardenia, with vanilla underneath rounding off the scent.

 

Throw: low.

 

I quite like this, but as far as violets go I much prefer the colder, non-apologetic Queen Gertrude. This is a bit too candy-like for me. I'll probably keep my imp though.

Edited October 31, 2015 by Kmye