Magdalene

[DifferentDances]

A stirring yet gentle perfume. The scent of love and devotion mingled with an undercurrent of heart-rending sorrow. A bouquet of white roses, labdanum, and wild orchid.

Imp: Not really smelling roses. Something almost cleanser-like.
Wet: Still a high-pitched cleanser, and no roses. I guess whatever I'm smelling is either the labdanum or the orchid.
Drydown: Still high pitched, thin cleanser.
Dry: And it's gone.

My rating: 1/5.

[KikuPeach]

Ick. Frimp with my Boomslang/Alice order, and it's so far the only scent that I can't find a redeeming feature in, not to mention the first I actually had to wash off of my skin. The roses are nowhere, and I can't tell whether I despise labdanum (what is labdanum, anyway?) or the wild orchid note. I like the smell of orchids, but that's AWOL as well, with only this harsh, icky smell.

 

A swapper. Most definately. Bummer.

Edited August 8, 2007 by KikuPeach

[JenM]

In the imp: Mostly orchid. Don’t get any roses at all.

 

On the wrist: almost a frangipani-like smell.

 

Drydown: This is all fuzzy orchid. The fuzziness is I think the labdanum, which I just looked up on wikipedia and discovered it’s a resin. Sometimes I get a hint of rose, but just a hint. I was hoping for rose with a hint of other things 

 

Okay, I wandered away from the computer for a few hours whilst it was morphing. The end of it is it lasted for HOURS—longest-lasting fragrance for me to date. And the labdanum faded, leaving only the rose and orchid. Very nice indeed. 7/10

[Delirium1009]

In bottle/imp: Roses with a very sharp biting note.

 

Immediately on skin: Sweet, powdery white roses with sharp note as well… the labdanum? The orchid adds another floral to the mix, but I don’t think it’s an obvious scent.

 

After a few minutes: I absolutely love what bpal’s orchid does on my skin… it’s a beautiful sweet but dark floral scent! In this blend, it really mixes nicely with the roses. The initial powdery AND sharp notes are gone and I’m left with a lovely subtly sweet and dark scent.

 

Later on: The scent has definitely faded a few hours later, but it’s still as beautiful as it was a few moments after I put it on. Slightly dusty, but sweet and deep. I need a big bottle of this one!

[ceiswyn]

In the imp: The first impression is of sweet flowers, though they seem more nerolish than roseish, and then there's a sudden hit of wood. That must be the labdanum; it smells a little like sandalwood and frankincense, but bitterer than either.

 

On the wrist: Woody. Definitely woody. The rose starts to come through now, and it is rose, though the orchid is a detectable (but not yet unpleasant) perfume-scent behind. This is a sad, bitter scent; or at least it is until it all sweetens and muddies and turns perfumey on my wrists, as I'm confident it will.

 

One hour later: It's all rose (slightly artificial, perhaps, but not much) and orchid. The labdanum seems to have vanished without trace. It's not unpleasant, but it's not for me.

[aquazoo]

Oooh, this is nice! The floral is soft, not at all overwhelming. It's got a nice fruitiness to it.

[MaidenGenevive]

Magdalene

 

Delicate and quiet. I feared the roses would amp and this would be a grandma perfume, but this isn't the case. The roses are subtle, more in the background than usual. This is gentle, but when you get in close to it, it has an air of confidence. As it wears, the rose amps, but remains delicate and has a fresh, clean feel. Later on, it warms.

 

[3 - Like] Another rose that works on me; these are infrequent, so this makes me happy.

[ariosa]

Holy, stop the presses! A rose blend that works on me, and that I LIKE! I think that's perhaps because it's not the foremost note on my skin -- if it were, I would surely hate it and wash it off my skin. Instead it's balanced most nicely by the orchid and the labdanum. I'm trying it on pre-bed, and it's actually a very soothing scent. I may have to get some of this just to prove I CAN wear some roses

[FallDaze]

In the imp the scent is sharp and icky *a very technical term, by the way* to my nose... Not at all what I was expecting. I think it's the labdanum, but it could be the orchid that is jumping out, and just really not agreeing with me..

 

On, whatever was jumping out on first sniff dies immediately on my skin, which is really good. It smells now kind of like a medicinal tonic... I can't get any roses which is sad...

 

Nope, still no roses. Almost like a faint tobacco shampoo. I know that's crazy, but like a faint whiff of cigarette smoke bottled into a shampoo. Gives me a little bit of a headache as well. Definitely off to the swaps

[Nightgaunt]

"The Secret Rose

My soul hath dreamt of a rose, whose marvellous and secret flower, fraught with unimaginable perfume, hath never grown in any garden. Only in valleys of the shifting cloud, only among the palms and fountains of a land of mirage, only in isles beyond the seas of sunset, it booms for a moment, and is gone. But ever the ghost of its fragrance haunts the halls of slumber, and the women whom I meet in dreams wear always its blossom for coronal."

-Clark Ashton Smith

 

To me, Magdalene smells like Smith's Secret Rose.

[alicia_stardust]

MAGDALENE

 

This is an intoxicating rose scent with a nice hit of resin and a dusky base of orchid. The rose is really quite different than most other rose blends. It has a femininity to it, it is softer and less "in your face", and it has a note of melancholia combined with sweetness and depth.

[YoakeNoKami]

Imp: *chokes* This one is--um, I'm not sure what's in it, but it makes it smell metallic, like drying blood. The first association that this brings to mind is a hospital... and I hate hospitals.

 

On: Really depressed, icky, seaside-horror-film-sanatorium. Metallic, dark, aquatic floral and blood or saltwater eroded iron.

 

Drydown: Not going to risk it with this one, despite my general willingness to slather things on my skin. It's already terribly horrific on me. Time to wash off!!

[amyw]

This will probably go in my swap pile, not because it's bad but because it ends up being a nice floral that doesn't really stand out one way or the other. Since finding BPAL I have found that I like things other than florals much better, and florals aren't outstanding on me most of the time anyway. Someone who appreciates them more and has skin chemistry that takes to them better will no doubt love this one.

[kirakira]

This review is for an older Lab imp of Magdalene.

 

Estimated age: 2 1/2 years old.

 

I mostly smell white roses after drydown. The Lab's white rose is one of my favorite notes, so I'm kind of biased toward fragrances that have a strong white rose note. I prefer Ace of Hearts to this, but Magdalene isn't a bad white rose scent.

[Iceblink]

Magdalene starts as a soft, quiet rose but quickly gets very soapy and sharp on me. I wonder if this is the same rose that's in Lucy's Kiss, because they smell quite similar (although Magdalene is not the headache-inducer that Lucy was!). I may try this out as a room scent or sachet; it's very pretty before it goes all soapy.

[MeiLin]

On me this is a melancholy rose, a rose that's been around, a rose thinking about the past. There's a spiciness to it, like amber or resin, along with the rose and orchid. I'm not entirely sure, to be honest, what labdanum smells like! I really, really like it, but then roses do very well on me. This will probably grow up to be a bottle.

Edited January 25, 2008 by MeiLin

[Juushika]

This was a frimp from the Lab. I wouldn't have ordered it for myself: I've had unanimously bad luck with roses in the past, and predominant florals aren't to my taste. However, I did the tiniest test on the back of my hand and the roses didn't amp horribly, so I'm willing to give it a fair try.

 

In vial: Mixed florals, slightly sweet and slightly bitter—I expect the latter is a rose. It's not that pleasant in the vial, but I'll try it on my skin anyhow.

 

On me: Although the oil goes on almost indistinct, it quickly warms up, first growing sweet with a warm resinous base. The sweetness soon becomes floral, and the scent finally develops into fullness. The floral is mixed, and almost hard for me to pick out. In part, I think this is because the rose is not the bitter, screaming pink and red rose that I'm used to—instead it is pale and sweet, absolutely lovely. But it's not just rose: the orchid, I assume, complicates the floral with a darker, duskier note that gives the white roses a bit more depth. The labdanum is the basenote, not too rich, not too sweet, but providing a solid, somewhat warm base for the florals. Over time, however, the florals fade and the labdanum becomes the heart of the perfume. It's more of a "me" scent this way, richer, warmer, almost a little dusty.

 

Verdict: I'm surprised to find that I rather like this. White roses are a huge departure from the red roses that I'm used to, and unlike red they don't go sharp and bitter with my skin chemistry: instead, they are gentle and a bit sweet, much like real rose blossoms. The orchid is duskier, but it doesn't turn this into a heady mixed floral, but rather shadows in the scent. The resin is a lovely grounding note, and even though the blend suits me better after the floral topnotes have died down, it's pleasant and wearable from start to finish. The scent is mature, a bit subdued, a bit darkened, but overall almost desaturated, ghostly. I don't feel tempted to bathe in it to make it stronger—it's just naturally gentle. This isn't as distinct or as unusual as some BPAL perfume, and doesn't stand out of the crowd for me, but it is a floral I like and can wear, and it's turned me towards white roses. I'll be keeping it around.

[donnatron]

Imp: A bright, clean scent. If I didn't know better I'd think there was ozone in this.

 

Wet: The most unusual rose scent I've ever smelled. I get the roses but they're thin and almost bitter. Strange.

 

Dry: The bitterness is gone but it's replaced by an overall sourness. It's not unpleasant, but when given other options to smell like, it's not my first choice.

 

Throw: I can't complain.

 

Overall: Between the white rose and the orchid my skin was just like "I don't care. May the more persistant win."

[savage_rose]

This might be because of the labdanum, but this smells like rose and...pepper? But then the orchid comes in, and it just smells like a muddy mix of spiciness and floral. Not me.

[Zeljana]

rosey but green, very feminine. a little bit heady, a little bit perfumey but if this was an edp or edt it would probably be terrible. oil form suits it nicely.

beautiful rose accord.

[kittycatpurr]

In the imp: Pretty, but I have my doubts about that orchid.

Wet: Extremely faint, I'm painting it on, but almost nothing there.

Drydown: This is beautifully put together.

Dry: It's very girly, and the orchid is too high floral for me, but it doesn't irritate me or hurt my face. Apparently I can handle other florals, when Rose holds their hand. This is a no, but I'll keep chasing the BPAL rose.

[sadtomato]

this is a very sweet floral.

it strikes me as very pink, innocence saddened.

there's a bit of a sharp note to it that keeps it from being too sweet and frou-frouish.

overall i think it's a lovely scent i was pleasantly surprised with.

good throw and lasts quite a while.

[voodoocatwoman]

Magdalene starts out on me very sharp and grassy. But that hint of sweet floral is right there too, almost like an aftertaste (aftersniff?). When it dries, the grass vanishes and I am left with soft floral. This scent will not be in my top ten, but it is comforting and pretty.

[LadyLuckDoubt]

In the Imp

Hmm, let's give this a go: it's light and fresh and I can detect lily in there and I'm about to head off to work. Somewhat fresh and floral, but not particularly green-- it's pretty and inoffensive and light.

 

On Me

FLORAL AMP! Awesome: it comes out of its shell on me-- even though I'm getting a cold again, I can smell glorious, beautiful flowers. It's like... don't laugh at me-- it makes me think of when I was a little kid and altar serving after we'd had flowers in the church: calla lilies and white roses and orchid. They're dignified church flowers, but they go loud and awesome on me, and... just... wow.

[Lethran]

In bottle: Considering how tired of roses I am generally and my lack of luck with labdanum, I was not expecting much. Indeed, there is no point in me putting this on my skin as I amp roses so much. I can honestly say, this is not bad for a rose blend. I’m still not liking the labdanum, but it is doing nice things with the orchid, which turns the whole thing vaguely feral. Not even vaguely my thing, but if you are looking for a white/green rose blend with a hint of something different, this might be for you.