Le Serpent Qui Danse

[grrrlennyl]

When, as by glaciers ground, the spate
Swells hissing from beneath,
The water of your mouth, elate,
Rises between your teeth --

It seems some old Bohemian vintage
Triumphant, fierce, and tart,
A liquid heaven that showers a mintage
Of stars across my heart.

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

at first: violet, but with something else. i can't quite pick it out yet...

on: wow. i thought this would be really sweet (violet and vanilla), but it isn't. i can really smell the gardenia. the other two scents are in the background. it's different from anything i've ever smelled, but i like it.

1/2 hour later: i can smell the sweetness of the vanilla and the violet coming through. very nice. actually, more than very nice: lovely.

an hour and a half later: this is balanced so beautifully. none of the scents overpower the other two, but they are all distinct. it smells very feminine, in a floral with a bit of sweetness sort of a way.

7 hours later: it lightened up quite a bit, but i can still pick out the violet, the vanilla, and the gardenia. wonderful.

overall: while i probably won't buy this again, i also won't be getting rid of the sample i have, since i'll be finishing it up.

[janelle_hell]

i just got my sample of Le Serpent Qui Danse a few days ago,and i'm already addicted. Gardenia/vanilla yumminess that lasts all day long but isn't overpowering,as i have found every other gardenia perfume to be.

[shriekingviolet]

Initial Impression:

Cleaner scent than I usually wear but I still like it. Floral but still vaguely sweet.

 

After Wearing It:

Doesn't smell as "clean" on as I first thought in the tube. Goes on very floral at first, the gardenia and violet notes all but drown out the vanilla, though you can still detect a vague sweetness in the background. As I wear it, I notice the vanilla a lot more, though the floral notes remain the most apparent if smelled up close. Like the vanilla notes waft upwards, but the gardenia and violet cling close to my neck and wrists. I definitely don't feel anything dark or sinister about this fragrance, but find it rather sophisticated. Not something I'd normally wear, but something close enough to my style that I could wear to a family function or if I were being introduced to someone whom I wanted to leave a polite & poised impression with (like at a job interview or meeting your boyfriend's parents!). The dry down is very vanilla-y, though it's tempered enough with lingering bits of violet and gardenia to keep it from smelling too foody. My favorite stage for this fragrance.

 

Final Thoughts:

I'm not sure I'd buy a whole bottle of this since I'm more into smokier spicy scents, but I'm sure I'll use the sample up to the last drop. It's very pretty and sweet!

[Gothabillywench]

Very pretty. Smelt very violetish at first with a feint touch of the gardenia but after a few hours went very sweet & vanilla-ish. I like it, but probably not enough to buy a bottle.

[nic]

In the bottle I almost thought I smelled patchouli but obviously it was just my odd nose. That went away as soon as I put it on my wrist and it was very much all about the violet. Very pretty but not prissy at all. Two hours later, it's a lovely blend of gardenia and violet. I like gardenia but it usually doesn't work on me, violet does though and that's making the gardenia wearable. I'm wary about florals but Bathos from Lush made me love violet and I've always liked the way gardenia smells on others. I don't smell much vanilla yet, however, I'm hoping it will come out more in a few hours. I have a feeling that will be my favorite stage.

 

One caveat, it may just be my chemistry but this is very strong on me. It's lovely but I will need to be careful not to overapply since I'm used to scents that fade more quickly.

[xoVictoryxo]

My perspective of Le Serpent Qui Danse

I walk admist gardens of colorful flowers

pluck one out of admiration

and set it in a porcelain vase that sits atop my vanity table

powder my nose and bobby pin my hair into a bun

meet with friends for brunch

take a long stroll in the community park

glance in my pocket mirror and apply more lipstick

Douse self with Le Serpent Qui Danse

and visualize that morning in the beautiful garden

Right after the morning mist had settled

& the sun shined through the clouds

long flowing dress with grass stained at the bottom

my wild long hair was blowing in the wind.........

 

Real review: a powdered violetty flower bliss- brings you to oblivion

[blackrayne]

Soft, light floral with a hint of vanilla. This on me is very sweet and innocent and feminine and ever so slightly powdery. I don't know if I will wear it often, as I am far from sweet, innocent or feminine, but it is definitely a lovely scent.

[ViolentKitten]

Le Serpent Qui Danse is a lovely, elegant scent, and although I definitely like it, it hasn’t captured me as much as I’d hoped. I adore both gardenia and violet, but they don’t merge together as well on me as I thought they would. It’s all a bit too much at first, strong and very sweet, but it does soften to slightly powdery and dusty – in a good way - with all the notes playing an equal part. This is when I like it the most, but not quite enough to have more.

[andie]

I don't think gardenia agrees with my body chemistry, or else it agrees all too well, because that's all I can smell once this even begins to dry on me. I thought the vanilla would take the edge off the gardenia, but I can't even smell it on me. This does eventually (like five hours later) settle into a sophisticated floral blend, but for most of the duration, I smell like a big gardenia. This one's also very strong, so a little dab will do ya.

[aileen]

At first: So beautiful! Fresh and sweet and lovely.

 

Within a couple minutes: starts turning into baby powder and old lady powder. Stays there for a couple hours.

 

Couple hours later: nice, slightly floral vanilla, but took too long to get there.

 

So: not for me. Poop.

[abbacat]

Unfortunately my take on this scent is like the others above -

 

The violet and gardenia just didn't wear well with me. I really like the Marc Jacobs perfume that has gardenia mixed with water tones, but here the intense floral just didn't suit my temperament, I felt like I was digging around in my grandmother's makeup box again.

 

In the vial, it is intensely floral, but with a whiff of vanilla.

 

Wet, the floral swelled and swelled (I actually had a bit of a burning sensation on the skin after the first half hour). I could pick out the vanilla if I snuffed the wrist, but only just.

 

The dry down brought out the gardenia even more, unfortunately the vanilla scent entirely went away.

 

It's a very lush scent, evoking 1920's flappers, I think. Might be nice as a bath scent, but just not for me on the skin.

[TygherRayn]

This one I really got as a way to addict .. erm .. I mean to introduce an LJ friend of mine, though I was intrigued by it as well.

 

In the bottle: This is a sweet, yummy floral. I rather love when the gardenia are blooming at my mother-in-law's house, and this smells sort of like that .. but sweetened a touch. That must be the vanilla .. though it doesn't smell like vanilla.

 

Wet: Still that sweet, crisp and almost cloying floral. I really don't get a lot of vanilla in this one .. though vanilla sometimes needs to warm up on my skin to pop.

 

Wearing: Its stays very sweet on me, but I rather like it .. perhaps in spite of that sweetness. I'm not sure this is one I'd wear often though. It never really warms enough to bring out the vanilla much on me .. which I think I wish it would, as that would temper the gardenia floral note, which tends to be very powerful.

[jj_j]

The peppery-sweet tones of violet are really smoothed and rounded out with the gardenia in Le Serpent Qui Danse. While the vanilla was a definite latecomer to the mix when I wore this, it's there, and it's smoky and rich when it does arrive.

 

I'd swapped away my bottle of Veil the other day, as it just seemed sharper and sharper, ultra-peppery violet each time I wore it lately. Le Serpent Qui Danse, though, has the soft, velvety tone Veil had when I went through my first 5 ml. bottle, and I love the sexy edge the vanilla's smokiness adds here.

 

I'm really considering a 5 ml. of this.

[Eris]

Never underestimate the power of hormones and changes in body chemistry. When I first applied this, it defied description and was definitely bad. I tried it again a few days later, and this time I could definitely pick out the smell of thickened, rich violet. Wild violets to me have always had a light, thin smell, so I assume I was smelling the influence of the gardenia and vanilla for this blend. All in all, it was a little too strong and floral for my preferences, but at least in a bearable way the second time around.

[Isis]

Another great violet blend. Really sweet with the vanilla and the gardenia brings out a mechanized zing to the blend which I find helps considerably in lasting performance as it lingers for ages.

 

It’s such a unique smell and unlike Nocturne that is supposed to be dreamy, this is more like the opposite. It’s daring and attention seeking bursting with ‘hey look at me! Sniff me I smell terrific’.

 

I found it charming, very pretty and slightly innocent hiding away from the brash boldness. Definitely something which I will enjoy wearing.

[miss apple]

This was one of the first imps that I purchased but it took me a long time to want to give it a try. When I first sniffed it I was suprised at how sweet it was, way sweeter than I had expected based on the description. Every once and a while, I would take it out and sniff it again but was never quite in the mood until today. When I first put it on, the sweetness was still there but a little more mellow than when in the vial. Upon drying, the vanilla starts to blend with the violets and develops into a nice soft floral, very girly, very feminine. The scent is almost as strong as it was when I applied it this morning so it has good staying power. I will defeintely make a note to buy a bottle of this in the future.

[Ina Garten Davita]

First Impression: Violets and lots of them. Not sure I want to put it on. Veil is the only violet blend that I can wear.

 

Second Impression: YAY! Another violet blend that works for me. This is Veil's younger, sweeter sister. The violet isn't cloying at all and the drydown and lovely and sweet. The vanilla and gardenia work wonders in this blend.

 

Final Analysis: Not sure if I like this better than Veil, but just as much anyway. I want a 5ml bottle of one of them and not sure which to pick. Thanks Beth for making terrible violets gorgeous on me!

[quinkel]

I am a real violet fan so no wonder I love this scent.

 

On my skin it developed a little strange. On the wrist after 30 min. it started to smell worn (like perfume on onwashed clothes smells after a couple of days. There is some kind of base note that stays on the wrist, not very plesant.

 

But on other body parts it developed nice violet with some sweet tone underneath. And as i never wear perfume on my wrist exept for testing, this is a keeper and perhaps a bottle in the future....

[TheDarkMother]

Violets and Vanilla. Yum! Who can go wrong with that? Let's see...

 

In The Bottle: The Violets and Gardenia really blend together nicely. I can't smell the vanilla yet, but man doesn't the gardenia blend nicely with the violets? So far, I'm a happy camper.

 

On Me: Hmmm...its not as strong as it most people said. I could still wear three swipes and not be gagging. This is good. Although, the violet/gardenia blend isn't as good as I had thought in the bottle. Its kinda sickeningly sweet. Actually I think the gardenias are being a little overpowering so far. I can really smell thier fragrance more. Could be because I'm allergic to the pollen.

 

The violets are starting to make a come-back now, and there is that nice blend that I smelled in the bottle. Mmmm...entranced, seduced. This is extremely feminine and a floral that I am VERY happy with. As a violet smell, I still prefer Ultraviolet, but this is beautiful. Especially now that the vanilla is glowing through a bit.

 

Bigger bottle for me in the future, slathering now!

[omly]

In the bottle I wasn't crazy about this one. Both in the bottle and on my skin during drydown it reminded me very much of Queen Gertrude although I didn't know why. Looking at the notes now I see that this was because of the violet, which I don't think is a note I like. There was also some sweet gardenia that managed to struggle throught the violet. After about an hour I begin to get a little bit of the vanilla too, but not nearly as much as I had hoped for. This is a definitie must-try for violet lovers.

 

edited for spelling

Edited September 28, 2004 by omly

[lushie_noobie]

i dunno what's going on with my skin...

it just smells like incense...

feels like im in a temple... even my bf commented on it...

can't smell any vanilla or violet

[serafina pekkala]

In the vial it smells nice and green. This is a strong gardenia that dries up *very* nice, then the violet becomes more apparent. The scents have been blended very well, it's as if the flowers grew intwined and I can't smell where the one begins and the other ends.

 

There is something spicy in Le Serpent Qui Danse that made my nose twitch at first, perhaps I am a tiny bit allergic to gardenia. Nevertheless I loved it. This is a warm scent, perfect for autumn and winter, and a blue scent, dark blue. It reminds me of the hipswaying that probably inspired the poem. It would also suit Aromecreme deodorant from Lush very well.

[Lucretia]

this one is definitly sinster. Beautiful, but sinister. When I first put it on I get violets like crazy! It smells like the little violet candies I would eat as a kid. An hour or so later it starts smelling musty and aquatic on me. The vanilla and gardenia both come out and make it a very warm smell, although I can't really distinguish any individual notes anymore.

 

to me it smells like a combination between the pirates of the caribbean ride and an old musty book that has pressed violets in it. Odd descriptions I know, but I like it a lot. A bit too much violet at first, but I really like the musty dry down.

 

ooh i forgot to add, everytime I wear this, I keep thinking in my head

"You're turning Violet, Violet!!"

Edited September 22, 2004 by Lucretia

[Larila]

Le Serpent Qui Danse from the Love potions, the notes are violet,vanilla,gardenia. Going on wet the note first smelling was of violet next was the vanilla and gardenia was in the background. I must say this scent rocks. It has all my favorite notes and they are blended beautifully.

 

 

 

Drying down it get better, can't get any better than that, the violet wasn't that sweet at all nor were the gardenia overly loud. This is a yummy scent, love it, getting 10ml bottle for sure.

[sarahj]

Le Serpent qui Danse

 

in vial: sweet, sweet violet and gardenia

 

wet: I distinctly smell overripe bananas (yuck!) mixed with violet. I am very tempted to wash this off right away, but decide to let it dry.

 

dry: after about 20 minutes the banana smell goes away and I am left with the lovely combination of violet and vanilla.

 

verdict: I'm not sure I can handle smelling like bananas for 20 minutes. I am going to give this another try before I make my final decision.

 

ETA: The result was the same on the second try, so I swapped this one away.

Edited October 26, 2004 by sarahj