Lyonesse

[bubastis]

Golden vanilla and gilded musk, stargazer lily, white sandalwood, grey amber, elemi, orris root, ambergris and sea moss.

 

I love the vanilla in this one. It's a mature, sophisticated, somewhat understated kind of vanilla that gets perfectly balanced by the salty note.It's a blend I would wear to a job interview. I personally would not buy a bottle of this because I'm a sweet,over the top-foody vanilla kind of girl and my next order will already contain four of five vanilla blends, but I can imagine how someone who usually doesnt like the in your face type of vanilla would absolutely adore this.

[Floria]

Keeping in mind that my hormones are a bit out of whack at present and my skin's been very dry lately...

This perfume seems, to my nose, to be composed of two accords, which I'll call the Sweet and the Dry. The Sweet reads as a very nice floral vanilla. The Dry is a bit salty, a bit woody, and reminds me a little of Cathode - possibly because of the shared ambergris + moss. The white sandalwood may also be responsible for the dryness of Dry.

 

The Sweet and Dry fluctuate in relative strength during the drydown. When Sweet is ascendent, I rather like Lyonesse - I'm not crazy about the Dry accord, but as a secondary element it does make the perfume more distinctive and multidimensional. When Dry is ascendent, it's less wearable for me - just a touch too redolent of brine-encrusted dried wood.

[Mokiefraggle]

Lyonesse is interesting. I wanted to try it because I like vanilla and musk, and I get along decently with most floral scents, but the ambergris made me a little nervous. Never actually smelled it before, and I've heard some say that it's amazing, others say it's horrible, but never in-between. I was prepared to either love it or hate it, based on that one note.

 

Thankfully, ambergris and I appear to get along quite nicely.

 

Lyonesse in the imp is rather interesting. I get a woody, amber-y vanilla scent, with sweet floral notes mingling smoothly, but there's a final note that shouldn't--in my mind--mingle so nicely, and yet it does. The ambergris gives it a note of salty aquatic, which somehow goes brilliantly with the rest of the scent, even though my brain keeps saying ?

 

When it's on my skin, it becomes a sweeter scent, but also remains very woody and salty; it's still vanilla-amber-musk, the floral notes are still present as a light sweetness, though I can't really distinguish one from another, and I presume the moss and sandalwood are the source of the woodsy notes, but the ambergris is a note of salty ocean over it all, as if there were a strong sea breeze blowing over all the other notes. I rather like it. I still don't know how all of this works together; I can only presume it's like the principle that makes a sea-salt caramel work. Add salty to sweet, and it makes both better.

 

Don't know if I want a big bottle of this, but I'll keep the imp. Possibly going to add it to the collection of "try on fiance" imps, to see how he does with ambergris. If it plays nicely on him, this greatly influences many things I will be buying for him and for me.

[Deliciousness]

In the imp: Ambery Vanilla. I think this smells so promising as I slather myself with my little imp.

 

Wet on skin: Soft amber with vanilla undertones. Ahhh, very nice! After a few seconds, I sniff my arm ... "What the heck is that smell?!" Turns our the lily and ambergris came forward - and it's not pretty. The formally sweet scent smells more akin to morning breath or sweaty socks. For the sake of a review I'll let this sit for an hour or so to see what happens. Oh, what we do for love of perfume

 

Drydown: Thankfully the sweaty sock stage subsides after about a half-hour. What I'm left with is a light, salty floral, with a breath of warmth in the background - probably from the vanilla.

 

I'm not gonna lie, this isn't the best smelling on me. I think my skin hates the salty aquatic note (ambergris anyone?). That, and I find that I personally associate Lily with "old lady" perfume - but that's just a personal prejudice. I think that if you like light florals and or vanilla, and are okay with aquatics, give this blend a whirl.

[Aviatrix]

This starts off quite aquatic, but quickly mellows into a very nice vanilla with a touch of the ocean. I am getting little hints of orris root and sandalwood as well, wafting in and out of focus.

This was a surprise morpher for me, and I really like it! It's aquatic without actually being an aquatic scent overall, and it has just the right amount of soft florals to accompany the pretty vanilla, which remains on the central stage.

[hobbitballerina]

Oh, I love Lyonesse. I really do. In the bottle, it's sweet and golden, and on my skin for the first hour, it is absolute bliss. It smells like all my fond memories of Cape Cod in summertime feel, golden and sweet and heady, with a breath of the sea to them. It makes me feel like a queen. The amber and vanilla in this is really grown up, it's not foody at all. Sweet and sophisticated and utterly ladylike. I said it made me feel like Jackie Kennedy.

 

And then, after about an hour, it's utterly gone. I wrote a glowing review on my Tumblr about it, and then the next day, when I put it on to wear all day instead of just to test, it was gone by the time I had left the house and gotten to my destination an hour away. My fiancé smelled my neck and said something smelled nice, it was just faint.

 

Granted, my imp is very old, I think over five years old. (It ended up at the bottom of a box of imps and was forgotten.) Maybe it's lost potency. But I've noticed that my odd skin chemistry just gobbles up vanilla and leaves nothing else. I'm tempted to try another, newer imp of Lyonesse, that's how much I love that golden hour. I just need better staying power and a bit more throw than what I got out of that old imp.

[Heaven_Star]

In the bottle: Salty sea moss, golden vanilla, amber, sandalwood - pretty much exactly what's listed for the scent! It's a sweet, salty, golden vanilla!

 

Wet: The sandalwood starts big for me, because woods work strong for me. There's a lot of good vanilla there, too, but it's richer and deeper somehow than it was in the bottle - suspect the amber and musk rounding it out. There's still a good kick of salt, too.

 

Dry: beautiful, sweet, golden, salty, musky vanilla. This ends up really well balanced and blended, nothing dominates.

 

My mum used to wear this vanilla musk thing from The Body Shop, which was nice, but it always had this sharp, almost chemically feel to it that I sort of associate with vanilla now, but this blend changed my mind. Admittedly there's a lot of musk and sandalwood and amber in here, too, but ultimately I didn't know vanilla could be like this. It's comforting, warm and golden.

 

I love Lyonesse. It was the first frimp from the lab that I used until I ran out and had to buy a bottle. I wear this all the time. It's great for work and everyday wear because it's feminine without being a big floral or heavy on the musks or resins, and it doesn't have huge amounts of throw on me. Top 10 for sure.

 

It's also my man's favourite scent on me, without fail if I'm wearing it he'll stop and ask me what I'm wearing (heh) and I always tell him it's Lyonesse.

 

"Of course".

[batsy]

In the vial: cloying vanilla and lily. Neither are my favorites.

 

On the skin: Decidedly over-sweet lily. I think the sweetness comes from the vanilla. This turned very aquatic on me after dry down - I don't really do well with aquatics - and continued into a green aquatic. I wish it hadn't turned so simple on my skin; it's very feminine and would likely smell fantastic on someone else.

[littlesparrow]

Wet: That weird aquatic note that I really dislike

 

Drydown: Ok the yucky aquatic has calmed down and there's a nice sharp floral coming through, tempered with sweetness. The blend settles into a gorgeous creamy musk that could hardly be more different to what I smelled when I first opened the imp! Wow, it's really lovely!

[Lunasariel]

In the imp: A salty, aquatic, almost clean/soap smell. A hint of sweetishness (which I'm more inclined to attribute to the vanilla and "gilded musk" than the florals) keeps it wild and interesting, rather than clinical and soapy.

 

Wet: Oh, THERE'S the vanilla. After an initial burst of the ocean, I get an expansive, warm, elegant sweetness that I'm coming to associate with non-foody vanilla, albeit with that extra dimension my beloved amber provides. The sea notes are still hanging around, but as an interesting complication, like the salt in salted caramel. If there is sandalwood here, it's an unusually restrained - I'm getting golden vanilla beans by the sea, and that's about it.

 

Dry: The "sea" note becomes more and more definitively ambergris, giving me some wonderful memories of some hippie neighbors when I was growing up, who gave me my very first vial of (homemade) perfume oil, which contained a lot of ambergris. Thanks for starting me on the path that led to BPAL, Gordon and Mary! Other than that, the vanilla-amber blend is still going strong and lovely.

[Teaker]

A complex, sophisticated blend, elegant and lady-like. I can pick out a hint of the vanilla, but this is not a sweet blend. The grey musk has a bite to it that's dry and almost stings the nostrils. But the middle stage has a lovely wafting sweetness from the lily. At that stage I was reminded very slightly of The Raven, though I'm not sure why... they both have white sandalwood, dark musk, and a floral element, so perhaps that's what calls it up in my mind.

 

The drydown on Lyonesse is all oakmoss and that biting grey musk. It's also a bit "perfumey". I'm not wild about it. I like the middle stage, but not enough to reach for it often.

 

If you like The Raven, Lady Death: Savage, and Golden Priapus, you might want to give Lyonesse a try.

[Minh Scent]

This came in the vanilla imp pack. It us a heady, sophisticated blend of lily and vanilla, supported beautifully by the sandalwood.It is sexy, with the amber and orris delicately weaving themselves in the background. I do not know what ambergris or elmini smell like. Thank goodness thus is GC!

[sariasister]

I am not getting the vanilla note at all; on me the amber is the main note, especially when dry. It is similar on me to Autumn Overlooked My Knitting, but a bit warmer. I don't smell anything specific besides the amber and maybe musk, but I think the other things are what add the warmth and depth. I'm usually much more of a foodie lover, but this is quite pretty and I'll be keeping my imp.

[stellamaris]

Ooh why have I never tried this before!!! This is lovely, warm, vanilla, almost like a nice cologne. Love this.

[Kmye Chan]

I ordered this as part of my quest for the perfect vanilla/sandalwood scent. [spoiler: that was not it.]

 

In the imp: this smells very warm and biscuity. Like a vanilla cookie. I was not expecting something so foody based on previous reviews.

 

Wet: salty, ambery vanilla. Still very foody, a little bit play-doh-ish.

 

Dry: the wood/musk base starts peeking through a little bit, but still salty ambery vanilla. It does loose its foody edge though, but remains very warm and kind of play-doh-ish on me. After an hour or so, the vanilla goes away and I'm left with a soft, lightly powdery amber/sandalwood scent.

 

Throw: stronger than most, I can really smell it floating around me.

 

Lyonesse is too sweet and warm for my taste, although the scent lingering after the first 1-2 hours is quite pleasant. I haven't reviewed all the vanilla scents I've sampled and tested yet, but I'm beginning to think that the vanilla note used by the lab doesn't agree with me and turns everything too sweet and sticky on my skin.

Edited November 2, 2015 by Kmye

[daladoir]

Oooh, this scent makes me immediately feel fancy and put together, even when I'm lounging around the house in a onesie.

 

This is a scent journey. I'm a bit reluctant at the beginning (it smells like a cheap, greasy head shop in the imp and is oddly sharp and soapy when wet), but once it settles, it becomes this beautiful, powdery vanilla. It reminds me of vintage makeup, velvet and pearls. Very sophisticated. Will definitely be buying a full-sized bottle once I get through my imp.

[LizziesLuck]

I was worried about the sea moss in this, I don't care for aquatics, but all of the other notes of are so full of win, I couldn't pass up trying it!

 

 

Wet: Something I can't put my finger on that reads almost as a deep cocoa to my nose...intriguing! Hints of vanilla and musk combined, which I LOVE. But also something soapy. Boo. Yep, that's turning to soap right under my nose.

 

 

Dry: This dries down really nicely into a light vanilla musk and amber. It's quite faint on me, but I only tested a small amount. I don't like many of the phases it goes through, but the end result it quite pretty. I think this deserves a full day test.

[Teamama]

Testing a frimp without looking at the notes.

In the imp: pastry, floral soap and herbs.

Wet on me: Less pastry, and it's getting salty, like pretzels. I can't ID the flowers in the soap or the herbs.

Dry: I caved, and looked at the notes. I dunno how I get pastry out of this, but that's still an impression for me. The vanilla is finally showing itself, but it's dominated by the salty pastry and herbs. I don't get any lily at all. It's interesting, but not me.

[PrinceofcatS]

I heard Edith Cushing compared to this quite a lot after she came out, but Edith was the blend that broke the news to me that no matter what else is going on, i will always hate patchouli. A friend of mine loves Lyonesse, though, so I decided rather spontaneously to try an imp of it.

 

And... at first, wet on my skin, it gave me the same sickening feeling Edith gives me, this blend of a foody vanilla with a bunch of things that frankly smell atrocious. I love ambergris and sea moss and elemi are all grand ideas, but on my skin, with the foody vanilla, I seriously thought I might be ill. Thankfully I didn't try to wash this off, because while it took a while, it settled very quickly into a gorgeous, golden, otherworldly beauty.

 

Dry, it's a liquid blend of this golden vanilla-amber-sandalwood-musk, and the cooler, silvery feel brought on by the blend of notes that evoke the ocean. I can also definitely detect the pure stargazer lily note, which is one of my favorites, but overall the scent is incredibly well-mixed and evocative.

 

I can really see the comparison to Edith, but the patchouli really disrupts that one for me. At the same time, I think that one is way more buttery vanilla throughout, and doesn't have the crystalline feel of this.

 

This scent reminds me of a grey rainy day spent consuming your favorite piece of fantasy media - a LOTR marathon from the comfort of your couch wrapped in a blanket or rereading your favorite childhood books in bed - this perfect blend of translucent watery notes and the comforting blend of musk, sandalwood, amber and vanilla, but transcending the earthly comforting feeling and being all celestial and shit. So I really like it! And I wish Edith was more like this on my skin, but nevermind. This is probably a future bottle purchase. I could see myself reaching for this a lot in the cooler months, though it feels out of place now that I'm eager for spring.

[Casablanca]

I'm a lil confused about grey amber and ambergris being listed separately. Separate thought: If I can smell the orris, I will probably want to run away from this one.

Wand: Heavy golden vanilla, musk, and iris-scented talcum powder. Oh no. Powdery iris is a me-repellent.

Wet: A massive poof of iris powder to the face. Yeah, I was afraid of that. This stuff is the opposite of me. Now we are both in danger of being cancelled out. Almost no vanilla now.

Dry: It's been an hour and a half since I had time to sniff, and only a soapy, powdery residue remains. The vanilla musk that was so heavy on the wand skipped on my skin completely, or I missed it.

[Cali]

Mmmm.. Sweet, soft ambery and musky with just a bit of those florals and a good patch of moss.
Don't let that moss note scare you though, it's not very green if you're not into that sorta thing. (It is quite golden).

I don't even really know how to describe it otherwise but I'm impressed. It's like rays of sunshine through trees.

[Miss Landau]

Got this as a frimp. Warm and golden, but I'm not getting anything more distinct than that. Can't smell it on me after applying less than an hour ago.

[Kay Torres]

This is maybe the most "commercial" bpal I've smelled to date. Unfortunately, it smells exactly like some high end perfume whose name I can't bring to mind that I abhor...Tbh, I probably blocked it.

It's nauseating - sweet vanilla, something incredibly, indescribably freaking salty and the tragedy that is sandalwood on my skin. And Lord Jesus, it's strong!! Final verdict: This one is a frantic scrubber.

Edited August 26, 2016 by SunsetKay

[Coldfire]

Lab imp:

Imp: sweet and sandalwood.
Wet on Me: getting more of the lily note over the vanilla and sandalwood.
Drying Down: here comes the lily. I amp that bad too. It is commencing its run at causing me a migraine.
Dry: powdery musk and amber trying in vain to combat the evil migraine bringer...lily. To the trade pile!

[Bassmastadroog]

Vanilla type fragrances are usually my go-to's, but recently I've realized my collection of vanillas is thin! I tried a Lyonesse sample today, and mmmmm that golden, crunchy, floral vanilla! It's the biggerCritters vanilla, the Underpants vanilla...LOVE. Wet on skin is that vanilla with a sandalwood edge.

 

Wet, I can smell the soap of the lily, but the vanilla is so strong that it just becomes a clean vanilla. Only on the dry down can I sense an aquatic vibe, and even then it is paced by amber (grey amber, which seems to not be powdery at all, only golden and light).

 

My favorite stage is the beginning, with the cold but golden and crunchy vanilla, and luckily it stays around long enough to be the main scent for me. When my imp is through I might get a bottle, if I don't have enough vanillas coming in the mail to take its place first. My favorite GC vanilla besides Snake Oil at this point though.

 

Even with the amber, I'd consider this a 'cool' vanilla.