Bat-Woman

[sylvanusurban]

Bat-Woman, Albert Penot.
Ratkirani, calla lily, moonflower, honeysuckle, night-blooming jasmine, French lavender, verbena, grey amber and nighttime air.

In bottle: Perfumey floral.

On me, wet: Oh, it gets nice quickly! A green, cool, lightly exotic floral. Not too sweet. I’m smelling the lavender and I’m liking it. The jasmine isn’t overpowering or headache-making.

Also, the Bat-Woman in that Penot painting is hot.

On me, drying: Beautiful, unobtrusive, intriguing scent. It really does smell like night air perfumed with blossoms. I could see myself wearing this.

Verdict: This is beautiful. It’s a shame it’s a limited edition. Is a bottle in my future? Only time will tell.

[Invidiana]

This really is an accurate reflection of the painting--a very hazy, smoky dark floral, not overpowering or too perfumey at all. The "night air" note is what I think is adding that hazy quality, and is beauitfully sinister. I don't do your typical "uber-feminine" florals, so this definitely falls in line with the type of floral fragrances I will wear.

Edited December 28, 2009 by Invidiana

[SophieCedar]

Curious why this was discontinued? Anyone know?

 

Anyways. When I got my first ever BPAL shipment I was so excited that i accidentally dropped this vial and poured it all over my sweetheart's laptop (contained and no damage but a very pretty smelling computer for a bit! hahha)

 

In imp: Intrigued and thrown down memory lane.. floral soap. Very victorian perfumy classic smell minus overt rose. Reminds me of staying overnight at the oldest inn in Salem MA, the Stephen Daniel's house. Not because of the actual inn, but because of the romantic french-euro gaudy renaissance boutique down the street. I always bought soap there because I forgot it the first time, then it became tradition!

 

Wet: about the same with a slight frangipani smell?

 

Drydown: a white, clean floral with a slightly sweet back. Lilies for sure, slight spice, and slight sweetness.

 

 

[lensflaaare]

Wet: The most understated, muted flowers ever. It's beautiful.

 

Dry-down: Turns into pee on my wrist, but there's a cloud of amazing around me. It's the same with Reaper and the Flowers, except this one is more "now you smell it, now you don't". Mysterious and very night-like. I just wish it wasn't pee on my wrist, darn it. I think this happens with everything that has calla lily in it. Hm...

 

Dry: Yay! The pee is gone! The cloud around me smells like the night and sophisticated lady. It's beautiful.

[cfrancesca]

Initially all I got was watery, slightly plastic flowers. After a few minutes, I start amping the verbena and honeysuckle, ah, now I get the lavender. This is very well-blended but the notes start amping in stages, very interesting. After 10min it's reminding me a lot of those old-fashioned floral colognes, I've smelt many times.

 

Fresh, citrusy, watery florals, it's pretty, but not for me.

[thebirdofhermes]

So, how is it that I just got a back-up bottle and still have not reviewed this?

 

Okay, so. I first wanted this one because I thought the painting was gorgeous, and also because I loves me some white florals. So, when I found a bottle a bit ago, I snapped it up unsniffed. Good thing, too. It's not easy to find.

 

In Bottle: Almost generically shampoo like. Slightly soapy floral, somewhat sweet.

 

Wet: Sweet herbal scent. Likely the lavender talking, so far as that goes, but thankfully it's not strongly lavender, since lavender tends to make me want to vomit. Actually, it's distinctly lily-like, with an herbal grounding. I can also pick out an ozone note, which I presume to be the nighttime air... even if I really think it's ozone at this point. Hrm... Not much else I'm getting here, but the wet is not where the magic is anyhow.

 

Dry: Soft, almost leathery amber. I'm vaguely put to mind of the resinous tone I found in The Traveller. Overlaid with a delicate powdery scent; I am put to mind of what one would think a fine lady's skin must smell like. Soft and feminine. I can easily pick out the honeysuckle in this blend. It's a sweetness that sits right on top of everything. Although I will say I could not name the sweetness at first; that didn't come until after I got my Honeysuckle SN... and discovered that I amp honeysuckle. So I don't know if anyone else would get that innocent, pretty honeysuckle overlay that I'm getting. Oh, and the ozone sharpness has faded to a fuzzy airy feel. So, there's that.

 

Oddly, I keep finding myself reminded of wholly unrelated scents. How odd. I think it's the feel. It feels like a comfortable second skin. I don't know why I don't wear this more often.

 

I do think it's a mostly accurate scent for the painting. Something strikes me as not quite it... but I can't place my finger on it. Ah well, not too important. It's still strikingly beautiful and haunting regardless. (I think it may just be the honeysuckle innocence talking.)

 

Oh, this is one of the scents that I do not just dab on and let dry naturally. Most scents, I do. This one, I really don't enjoy the prior stages much, so I rub my wrists together like I'm trying to start a fire when I wear this. Gets it to that gorgeous drydown much faster. Even though the wet-stage lavender is subtle, smelling it for too long still makes me nauseous, so best to get that out of the way.

[sweetpessimism]

I was a bit suspicious of Bat-Woman at first, as I normally shy away from florals pretty quickly, and when I opened up the decant and sniffed, my suspicion grew. But I loved the painting, and thought "What the hell, may as well," so I skin-tested it.. And I'm glad I did!

 

My impression was "purple night-blooming flowers", and looking back at the description, I can see I was right on the nose with that! I'm SO not into florals, but THIS floral I like. It reminds me so much of the deep mystery of the night.. So if ever I get the urge for a floral, Bat-Woman is what I shall be reaching for!

[Diva Urd]

In the vial: Wow, it smells like a humid summer night. There's a bit of ozone, I believe, some lavender and some amber.

 

On: This doesn't have a lot of throw, but it stays virtually the same on my skin - primarily that "night" accord, with hints of amber and lavender. Soothing and unusual.

 

Later: Humid night, a bit rosy. Okay, but I probably don't need to hunt for more of it.

[SoundlessEchoes]

I popped this one on last night - imp was from an Etsy lot of discontinued several years ago, so who knows how much it's aged! When I first tried it, I dotted it on. Last night, thinking it might be good for sleep, I swiped the wand along the length of each arm.

 

Imp notes: A VERY soft, almost soapy floral. Faint notes of honeysuckle.

 

Initial: I first thought of this as just blended breeze of soft florals. With more application and way more nose experience, the jasmine and lavender definitely start to stand out first on applying this. Not too shocking, since I find Jasmine is a bit strong on me.

 

Dry down: This is probably better applied with a light hand. Done so, it was a delicate, ethereal floral, absent of any soapy or powdery notes. I specifically noted it wasn't at all an 'old lady' floral. With a heavier hand, I got /strong/ rise of the soft, more soapy/floral lavender off the skin, as well as the calla lily. Jasmine and moonflower seem to blend into a white haze with the amber behind it. The honeysuckle seems to fade, and I still don't know ratkirani well enough to pick it out specifically! With this application, it was /strong/ for two or three hours, and every time the fan blew past my bed I got a facefull of FLORAL! FLORAL! FLORAL!

 

Overall, it's a dreamy, light nighttime floral, to my impression. It's pretty, but I don't think I'm likely to wear it again, it's not really my style. Into the swap box it goes!