Ulalume

[LadyLuckDoubt]

Starry white lilies lend an eerie brightness to the deep black wooded scents of cypress and oak, layered with a touch of crushed dried leaves and the faintest aquatic note.

In the Bottle
A sharp, green, slightly bitter scent with an earthy "dirtiness" to it.

On Me
The greenness goes pretty quickly, and it turns to moist brown oak leaves, as though they've fallen from the trees in the middle of a Melbourne winter and been rained on. There's a tinge of something aquatic in the background, but overall, I just get this pretty, ethereal autumnal fragrance.

I wouldn't have picked it for me, and given that it's very subtle, I'm probably not going to rush out for a bottle (my wish list is huge enough!), but it really is quite strange and lovely. Edited May 4, 2008 by Shollin

[Galen]

To start with: Fresh and crisp with a slight undercurrent of a spring bouquet of herbal-smelling flowers. In fact, the smell association I get is juicy green apples

 

Continues to smell fresh, clean, and herbal - like the kind of scent that is put into shampoos to make you feel CLEAN! Although there's now a warmer darker scent underneath that I catch glimpses of if I smell my wrists closely.

 

A little later: Fresh herbal scent with woodiness underneath.

 

As it dries down, it becomes a soft, fresh yet powdery floral blend with a hint of woods.

[marared]

My experience has been pretty consistent with almost everyone else's thus far - it's a lot woodsier in the imp and wet on the skin, but it's all lilies on the water when it dries. Unfortunately, it's pretty unimpressive on me. It smells nice, just not a me-smell.

 

I keep buying variations on aquatic scents, and I've come to the conclusion that either they just don't really work on me, or I need to let them sit for a couple of years first, because the imps that I originally fell in love with were rather aged.

[carrickfergus]

This is the only really truly GIRLY smell that works on me -- rose-greanium but light, kind of an airy princess-maiden smell. Innocent, I suppose, is a nice word for how this is.

[fairnymph]

In the bottle: Very pale gold oil. Dark, dusty, smoky woody, like burnt sandalwood and oak over the sharp mentholic and rotten type of cypress . Definitely dried leaves, the rotting, damp sort. And other mentholic notes - eucaluptus and spearmint. Slightly sickly sweet. I get no lilies, or anything remotely aquatic beyond the general dank feel of this blend.

 

Wet: Dabbed on my skin, it's exactly the same, but made me feel so ill I ran to the sink. And egads, the stuff WON'T wash off! Extreme throw and lasting power.

[n1k1ta]

Ulalume is heavy green, almost grassy, and lily--just this side of funeral. I do get the aquatic during dry down, it's a sharp contrast to the lily. This perfume is heavy and dense, almost enough to taste.

 

After two hours, all I get is sweet lily. It has lost some of its throw, but it's very pleasant yet restrained.

 

By four hours, not much has changed. It's little more aquatic and woodsy. It's very natural and heady.

 

My final impression is that it's too funereal in the beginning for me. While I like these mourning kind of perfumes sometimes, I have things that are more lily and happier than this somber, graceful perfume.

[seamor]

The lab sent me this imp and several others!! Such largesse! Thank you so much!!!

 

I tried it without looking at the description ...

 

At first I get an intense spicy incense note that dries into something gorgeously resinous and sort of green - Cedar? Cypress? It is strongest close to the skin, but does have a moderate throw. In the throw I begin to smell something sweeter - flowers? I don't expect that will last long - my skin eats flowers.

 

Dry: It is a floral! Quite strong (even a little overpowering) at first (Lily? Tuberose? A heavy white scent.) but after about five minutes it backs off a bit and becomes softer. The resin comes in again, playing hide and seek among the flowers, and - Oh my goodness, this is just lovely!

 

2 hours later - A soft, graceful white floral with a gently resinous interplay. So lovely. And it's still with me - I am amazed!

 

4 hours later - It's softer and closer to the skin, but it's still there!

 

This lasted overnight! I could still smell it a bit the next morning.

 

Finally a floral that does not die on me. It's difficult to believe. And such a beautiful one, too!

 

Happy, happy, happy!

Edited August 30, 2008 by celtimor

[IronMollyBlack]

I grabbed this one from the imp box and put it on on my way out the door to work one morning. Had no idea what the heck I had done.

 

First I got hit with LILIES OMG LILIES! I amp them to high heaven, and this blend is no exception! And then overwhelming leafy dirt, as if someone had thrown big handful of it at me! Then back to lilies, then dirt, lilies, dirt...

 

Couldn't wash it off fast enough! The dirt note was very interesting, but the lilies just killed me. Sorry, not for me!

[skepticism]

One whiff from the imp and all I thought was, "Whoa, white lilies inc." I thought the other notes would surface while it was wet, but no. I'm trying to figure out whether my problem lies with the aquatic or earthy notes blended with the lilies, or maybe it's just the lilies themselves that are boycotting my olfactory sense. Oh well, not for me.

[Iceblink]

Loads of lily here! And lily is usually a complete failure on me. It's staying more true to an actual floral scent in Ulalume than usual--I wonder if the woods in here are rooting it a bit, so to speak, and keeping it from turning into soap. This is very light and delicate and watery. Perfect for someone who really loves lilies!

[TessaGi]

Finally dragged my tin of imps back out to give them another shot. Hopefully this won't be ruined by associating the scents with the nausea I had last time

 

In the Imp: I get an oddly fruity scent, tempered with a greenish mossy scent and a hint of wood. Odd, but not unpleasant.

 

On Wrist/Wet: More moss than that fruity scent, and the wood is getting stronger. The aquatic notes are starting to emerge as well, but very faintly. This smells like standing in a forest on a rainy day - very evocative.

 

On Wrist/Drying: Ohh, hello lillies! Where did you come from? The green notes have warped from moss to florals, and there's still the woodsy scent in the background to keep it from being old lady perfume. This is also really faint on me, which is a good thing, I think.

 

Later: .....ack, the nausea's back. brb, scrubbing my wrist and getting some coffee to sniff.

 

Final Verdict: I'm really starting to think that my skin just doesn't like BPAL - either that, or Ulalume is the main culprit in my horrible reactions to BPAL.

[teacrumb]

Flowers and water and sweet herbs! Oooooh so lovely. This is the closest I've come to being able to wear something floral/herbal! But then it turns to powder. WOE IS I.

[melrose]

In imp: clear, bright mint.

 

On, wet: MINT! I am the clearest and sharpest of mints, and I am IN YOUR FACE!

 

Near drydown: Here we go again. There's a whiff of sewer water under the mint, and it's getting stronger.

 

Far drydown: The previous 2 notes are still there, plus butter - don't know where that came from, but it's evil.

 

No fair! I'm a Pisces, and I'm longing for a gorgeous aquatic scent. Uh, this ain't it.

[undream]

pre-application, this is sharp-green and herbal, but without a bite; it is more the sweet herbal scent of freshly mown grass. i am also getting a faint aquatic note, and oh my, this is altogether lovely . . .

 

as soon as it hits my skin, it blooms. it is the scent of wandering past the blooming florals tucked alongside that freshly mown lawn in a light spring rain. perfumed and fresh and clean, sweetened lilies and lush, cool rain. it is absolutely gorgeous.

 

after some time, i'm noticing that up close on the skin it has turned into the scent of maturely bloomed flowers set into an old haunted house; all lilies and a mouthful of choking dust, very floral and very very dry. the throw has remained that typical clean, almost soapy lily scent that i just adore, but it remains yet to be seen whether or not i can take this up-close antiquated dustiness along with it. time will tell! in the meantime =

[Sushiflower]

First review ahhck hope it's alright.

 

 

In the bottle very very green. Like the inside of a greenhouse

 

On me fresh cut flowers still get the green house smell. It really does smell like I just walked into a florist shop all the different flowers and the green plant smell.

 

Dry it fades a bit not a booming green, but very sophisticated.

[hkhm]

imp: this smells just like bark and leaves.

 

wet: very soft dirt note with varied woods (nothing too strong to mention) and greenery.

 

dry: the aquatic note comes out a bit as this dries, but just a bit. the dirt note fades to be replaced with a more grassy note. very nice.

[Caerphilly]

In the imp: Sweet sawdust (the oak and cypress), and something crisp and clean (the leaves and aquatic).

 

Wet: The wood fades very quickly and the lilies become more pronounced. I'm a bit worried that this will turn to soap on me, as some lilies do. But it's not a completely heavy floral. It's lighter, the leaves and the aquatic really mellow down the sweetness. This is pretty.

 

Dry: No soap! Not amazing throw, but decent. The lilies have dies down even more and it's mostly clean leaves. Very pretty!!!

 

Overall: I was worried, but this is lovely! Sweet without being cloying. Reminds me of Davidoff Cool Water (I think that's what it's called). Could be masculine or feminine. I will use my imp!

[rayvn1]

I've tried this out a couple times and am always pleasantly surprised I keep expecting a basic aquatic (which is hit or miss on my skin) and maybe some flowers, but the sweet freshness like breezes off a freshwater lake is so pleasant and smile-inducing I immedieately moved it to my keeper box. Not great for throw or lasting power, but a keeper nonetheless.

 

Edit because I just read the description and that is nothing at all like what I got That faint hint of aquatic is the dominant note for me, no lily, and not really any wood either. Crazy.

Edited January 14, 2009 by rayvn1

[Ravenclaw79]

In the imp: Dry, woody.

 

Wet: Oh, hello, lillies! It went from "wood" to "florist's" in about half a second.

 

Drying: LILLIES! It screams it, so much that I can move my arm totally away from my body, as far from my nose as I can get it, and I still smell it quite clearly. It smells like the inside of a florist's, all lillies and flower stems and little bits of twigs and such. If you love that flower-shop smell, stock up on this one. Me, I don't think I'll think to reach for this one enough to keep it. It's not bad, though, not at all.

[iamblackbird]

To me, this was sharp and green. Once on me, it went more green, and the sharpness mellowed out a bit. The green of it downplayed the floral, which is nice for me, who amps florals like no tomorrow.

 

While it's nice, it's not one I'd invest in a bottle of.

[Coldfire]

 

 

 

 

 

Imp: aquatic lilies with wood haunting the background

Wet on me: More wet lilies and now that slight off note

of the dried leaves

Drying Down: wow…this fades out SUPER fast. Just this

light ghostly blend teasing my nose.

Dry: very faint. Your nose has to wrok at it to catch the

scent. Pale while lilies floating on the water is what I get.

No woods at all and the crushed leaves are gone. Quite nice. Keeping

 

[Banyangirl]

This was an emotional scent for me. It came as a frimp and I'd never heard of it before, so I looked up the note list. Lilies were used at my mom's funeral a month ago, so I sort of cringed, but steeled myself to try it on. And I'm glad I did! Instead of being "WHOA LILIES" this was extremely reminiscent of turning the soil in the garden with my mom during the late spring, with the sun on my back and a hint of rain in the air. It's a fresh, light scent, and although I liked it, I don't know how much I'll wear it. But it's good for those times that I'll be really missing her. Thank you Beth, for bringing back those memories.

[magikalbrownies]

lillies..Like a yard full of them and wood.

 

dunno, it comes and goes...sort of fleeting scent. very feminine and definately something that i'd try to wear year round IF ITD LAST...the lillies fade out and leave wet wood in its wake.

 

overall: probably not

[Seismogenic]

I've seen Ulalume mentioned on the forum as a great forest scent, matching decaying leaves with their live counterparts and wood stems. That was definitely intriguing, particularly since I like the dead leaves note in October. A sniff at Will Call also suggested the presence of wintergreen, which is a note that I love and have only encountered in one place before. That adds up to a definite try; I'm willing to risk the lilies for it.

 

In the imp: Cypress, less distinct foliage, and something that really reminds me of wintergreen, though wintergreen isn't a listed note.

 

Wet on skin: The cypress is still the most distinct note, though it's blending in pretty well with the more homogeneous foresty-leafy smell overall. I am still being reminded of wintergreen by something, though I don't think it's actual wintergreen.

 

Drydown: Freshly dry, the cypress has melded in with the rest of the woodsy scent even further. This is a very thick leafy forest, dark but also a little sweet. I suspect the lilies are responsible for the sweetness, though it doesn't smell overtly floral. By one hour in, the lilies have shown up, and their clean scent is a definite contrast with all the darker combination of leaves and wood.

 

Five hours later: Lilies! All lilies! No more wonderful dark trees! The lilies have been completely in charge from about the two hour mark, in fact.

 

End of the day: Still with the lilies! Pretty faint, though.

 

Overall: Darn you, lilies, for completely overtaking what was shaping up to be a gorgeous dark deciduous forest scent! I was particularly excited about finding something that included wintergreen and leaves and woods, and if that initial stage of the drydown had lasted longer, I'd be totally gushing about this one. As it is, though, it goes entirely to flowers early enough on that I doubt I'll pick it up very often. Sigh.

[angelicruin]

Inside the imp, aquatic and wood notes.

 

Wet on the skin, cypress & aquatic notes are strong. As it dries, the oak note emerges and the lily.

 

Cypress disappears the more it dries. Fully dry it's aquatic lily and oak.