Lorelei

[Gothabillywench]

LORALEI

A tragic heroine from German lore. In despair over a faithless lover, she threw herself into the Rhine. In death, she has become a siren that haunts that river to this day, luring sailors to their doom. Neroli, sandalwood, ylang ylang.

 

 

Got a 5 ml of this after getting a sample in my 1st order ever. An utterly gorgeous light girlish summery perfume. The orange blossom is most noticeable at 1st but the drydown is even better- a soft powdery & slightly tart crisp smell.

 

The ylang ylang stops it getting too fruity & the sandalwood gives it grounding. A really lovely scent for pleasant spring days. Very alluring.

[Astarte]

Oh wow, I just received an imp of this in a swop. This is ... unbelievable. I didnt even know I liked the notes in this scent but they just float and nestle together to create this wonderful, sophisticated, airy scent.

 

Oh, a 5ml of this will definitely be in my next order.

[twistygirl]

Gorgeous, simply gorgeous. I love the smell of neroli, and the addition of sandalwood makes this so damn smooth and just yummy. I suspect that the amount of ylang-ylang is rather small, because I can just detect a trace of it. It's a very feminine scent, very sophisticated, and would be wonderful for spring and summer nights. One of the best non-rose florals in the BPAL catalogue, I'd say. I'll buy a large bottle of this, to be sure.

[alayni]

wasn't sure I liked the scent at first but as it settled, the sandalwood became prominent with a little touch of the neroli hovering about. I lke it-it's warm and dry-without being too cloying.

[evil_laugher]

I got this alongside Lolita. This has the same feminine, floral manner, but is a bit more womanly and mature. It also has a calmer, more relaxed feel, possibly due to the sandalwood.

Edit: I really love this. Though the ingredients don't list it, there's definitely a "wet" feel in the scent.

 

Edit Aug 2016: My bottle has aged 11 years. The scent is strong enough to always detect, but not too strong for my workplace. It takes only one dab or two. Perfect for summer without being cliche. I bought this when I was 18, and I've grown into it.

Edited August 5, 2016 by evil_laugher

[glampyre]

Oh Wow.

 

Loralei is dreamy.

 

Neroli always rocks, and with the sandalwood and ylang ylang, it's just completely gorgeous!

 

Beautifully light floral, with a sandalwoody backdrop.

 

yummy yummy yummy.

[Northernminx]

Soft light, breezy and almost aquatic at first. This is gentle, wistful, and sad. It's not the stormy seaside maiden wreaking havoc on Rhine ships, but the sadder and softer side of the legend. Very very pretty. Sadly the sandalwood in this became more prominant on me and sandalwood just tends to make me sneezy. Gorgeous but off to swaps anyway

[lixolux]

Loralei is such a melancholy scent - the neroli and ylang ylang almost sink with sadness but the sandlewood keeps it flat, afloat almost - upon wearing the sandlewood comes out stongly and its so soft and still sad - the dry down is my favorite though - so faintly i smell a very true scent of water - its so so so beautiful!

[Ishtar]

I was looking forward to trying Loralei because I love both the legend and sandalwod scents.

 

Out of the imp, this was indeed a wistful, melancholy scent as Northernminx and Lixolux said. I waited and waited for the sandalwood to come through, but that never really happened. The combination of neroli and ylang-ylang eventually resulted in a blend that was both too watery and too sweet for me to wear.

 

Quite pretty, but I had to swap this one.

[feline.by.design]

At first sniff, it smells just like Hurricane, a BPAL favourite of mine. Loralei is watery-juicy in the beginning. The neroli isn't sharp and biting as I've come to expect it to be, so it just adds to the juicy fragrance.

 

As Loralei starts to dry down, it begins to smell more like fresh, clean water. How interesting and unexpected. But now, it's become invisible unless I really, really press my nose up against the skin. Oh MAN! *snaps*

 

Loralei... a clean scent, absolutely lush and gorgeous. You could've been a contender if only you'd lasted for longer than five minutes. I think I'll continue to rock Hurricane for the time being.

 

-doreen

[phaedrine]

Loralei: Neroli, sandalwood, ylang ylang.

 

At first sniff, this smells floral, but not just the flower part, also the green sap as if you'd just plucked the flower.

 

On skin, it's a nice, light scent, with the sandalwood keeping it from getting too sweet or floraly.

 

Sadly, it falls into the catagory of florals that I actually like but last only a short time on my skin. Sigh!

[brownbat]

There are a few notes that turn soapy on my skin. Orange blossom is one of them, but I don't seem to have the same problem with Neroli (or possibly, the ylang ylang tones this effect down on my skin)

 

This scent is so freaking good! All the components blend together into a lovely, somewhat sharp, somewhat sweet, sophisticated smell. It is very heady, but the sandlewood definitely keeps it grounded.

 

Edited February 24, 2005 by brownbat

[Pixie-elf]

Loralei

In the Vial: Citrusy....

 

Wet: It's Citrusy at first with Ylang Ylang...

 

Dry: It's got a tiny bit of Citrus in the background with Ylang Ylang and Sandalwood in the front.

 

Conclusion: While it's nice, it's not me. It'll go up for swaps.

[Splendid Molerat]

This is one of the spookiest Love Potions I've sampled yet.

 

It has the aquatic sadness of Tears, and almost smoky florals.

 

Loralei is an overcast day with diffuse light, a mist on the river, and the scent of flowers growing more distant as you wade into the water. Your eyes sting more than your last breath ever could.

[VorpalBunny]

When I first put Loralei on, it was a bit too complex of a blend for me and I thought (sadly) that I wasn't going to like it. Then after a few minutes, it mellowed into a lovely feminine scent. I could smell the ylang-ylang and sandalwood (both favourite scents of mine) but neither was overpowering. The neroli just gave the scent a touch of roundness, without major oranginess or anything. (Note from other reviews, I don't get aquatics on this scent at all, which is good because aquatics don't seem to like me very well.)

Edited March 10, 2005 by VorpalBunny

[Guest ExquisiteSiren]

This is one of the most beautiful scents I've ever had the pleasure of smelling from bpal.

 

Sorrowful but tragically beautiful.

 

Warm like tears, with the slightly bittersweet orange in the background. Ethreal...with visions of the sun setting through trees...and mysty tears while you wade in the water...all anger gone, but sorrow and beauty remain.

 

*le sigh*.....

 

must get a 5ml of this at least

[shelldoo]

wet all i get is sandalwood

 

as it dries it becomes a blend of all the notes sandalwood being most prominent and supported by neroli and yalng yalng.

 

this is a light etheral scent, extremely light, like a breeze.

[northatlantic]

Was not expecting to love this, but it hit me like a ton of bricks. 5mL on the way.

 

In the vial: Very sharp, the neroli leads strong and the sandalwood behind it, an almost astringent smell. Something good for you, but not GOOD.

 

Wet: Softens immediately, still very citrus but the sandalwood becomes...warmer? and you start to get the sweetness of the ylang-ylang. Houston, we have wearability.

 

Drydown: My skin really amps the ylang-ylang; it becomes almost the same sweet-salt scent as Sea of Glass but just a little bit gentler and more floral, a tropical lagoon with blossoms dropping into it instead of the cool wide beach of Sea.

 

Love this. Love it love it love it.

[pekeana]

To me, Loralei is a very subtle floral with just a hint of sweet almost-aquatic notes. I don't smell the sandalwood, so I suspect it's just a small bit to anchor the scent, and the florals are very prominent on my skin. (Evil florals.) Surprisingly, I kind of like it, even though it's a little much at times.

[TroubleDoll]

I used to work in a boutique that sold gauzy cotton clothing, jewelry, and bath products from all over the world. When people came into the store, they would ask what the fragrance was that they were smelling. In reality, it was the scent of the wood floors and shelving mixed with the light scent in the air of perfumed bath products. This oil smells just like it, and takes me back to that lovely place.

[FireInCairo]

This is a very soft/subtle scent. The ylang ylang really comes out on my skin. It's a very dreamy fragrance. The sandalwood gives a woodsy soft tone to the scent as well. I know that ylang ylang is supposed to be a relaxing essential oil- and this scent does have relaxing properties.

[brownbear]

mmm Loralei is just gorgeous. In the vial it smelled almost like rubbing alcohol.

On my skin however it went lovely and floral. Such a nice blend.

I just wish it lasted longer.

[Shollin]

First sniff: Another one that’s somewhat hard to pin down. It’s an unusual citrus that smells almost medicinal, but somehow in a good way – I do like the way the Loralei smells, I just can’t tell you what that is. Legend has it that it’s the song, not the scent, of the Loralei that lures sailors to their doom… having smelled this, I know better.

 

Wearing: Wow. I really like this. Orange blossom seems to work really well on me – I guess neroli is the same way. It’s a warm, unusual scent, feminine without being super-girly.

[Thorne]

This is the only BPAL I have ever had to scrub off my arm. Ack. So so so strong and floral and heavy and overwhelming. After reading the other reviews, I have to wonder if my imp was mislabelded, because it was nothing like orange blossom, or neroli, or ylang ylang, all of which I know the scent of.

 

I only put on a tiny bit, but I couldn't even pick out individual notes, because my brain was screaming "Get it OFF! Get it OFF!" Even after scrubbing, I could smell it lingering, and had to use another scent to calm myself.

[slugbait]

I thought this one sounded so lovely. I really like neroli and ylang-ylang, so I thought I was going to like this.

 

But, alas. For some odd reason, Loralei didn’t smell like anything to me. I thought that maybe my nose was going into scent overload, so I tried the whole ‘sniff some coffee beans’ spiel. Still, nothing. Usually ylang-ylang seems so potent to me, but I couldn't even detect it.

 

I think it may be from the sandalwood, which I could never smell anything when trying the EO. I think my nose is a bit messed up… Since I like my scents to have more ‘Oomph’, I gave this one to my sister who liked it.