Regan

[cinderfallen]

A deceptively sweet orchid vanille with a faint trace of stephanotis.

It was interesting--warm vanilla and floral, but when it dried down, the vanilla faded away to a mere sweetness, leaving the flowers bulging. Eventually smelled like dryer sheets and soap. Sadness.

[Brianne]

In the vial:

soft vanilla

 

On me:

If you've ever tried a vanilla orchid scent, you pretty well know what to expect here. It's a beautiful vanilla orchid. If you haven't - it's a very soft "fluffy" vanilla and the orchid is also quite soft. It definitely doesn't leave you with a strong floral smell and it always makes me think of babies in that baby bath gel kind of way. It's soft, pretty and inoffensive. Sort of powdery and mildly sweet.

 

Final note:

I find this to be a very mild scent - the sort of thing I might want to smell like when I'm sick or after a late night bath.

[Electra]

Regan still hates me, apparently.

 

I tried Regan about two years ago, and I got vanilla with an undernote of funk. At the time, I thought that the note that disagreed with me was the stephanotis.

 

I got a frimp of Regan in my most recent lab order, and I decided to try it again. I also got a frimp of Eternal, which also contains stephanotis.

 

Eternal is fine on me. So maybe it's the orchid, and not the stephanotis after all?

 

At any rate, this is still not fantastic on me. It's not funky like it was the first time, but it's just kind of "eh." Very candy-like and one-dimensional. It's not offensive, but I have so many other wonderful and complex BPALs that smell great on me that I would never reach for this.

[filigree_shadow]

I originally tried Regan when I was first trying all the BPAL oils I could get my hands on. I was in a phase where I ONLY wanted the ones that smelled like Vixen or Lust, and I turned up my nose at florals. The only comments about Regan that I typed into my spreadsheet were: "Too girlie."

 

Apparently my tastes have changed since then, because now I like this. At first it's mostly vanilla with a little bit of a floral scent I can't identify. As it dries the vanilla moves closer to the background, and something strangely similar to anise starts to appear. Nothing overwhelming like Kabuki or anything, just a slight undertone.

 

I'm very picky about floral scents, but I really like the orchid and vanilla combination. I'm glad I gave this one another try!

[little_galaxie]

Powdery orchid and vanilla. Pleasant, but nothing special.

[abejita]

This is a really understated scent. I love the complex blends, but there is something to be said for something straightforward. This is pure, clear, and genteel. It's a very creamy white scent, delicate and sweet. I can see why this one tends to be popular. It's very accessible. I think it could be a great scent to introduce someone to BPAL.

[LadyMedb]

This is a simple and pretty vanilla with the quality of vanilla pipe smoke, or maybe yogurt. There's a nice floral touch to it to prevent it from being too overwhelmingly foody and make it wearable in the summer as well as the winter. I definitely need a full bottle of this one.

[black_and_bloom]

Simple and sweet, Regan is an enchanting scent. It's a genteel, creamy, powdery floral that seems like it has a light touch, but really is a bit more persuasive than that. The vanilla is not foody at all on me, and is perfectly complemented by the orchid. It's saved from being too sweet by (what I imagine is) the stephanotis. It doesn't morph much at all - it smelled very similar to me when it was both wet and after dry-down.

[kat15lee]

I love how the vanilla comes on strong! The flowers seem to accentuate the Vanilla and I love that.

But, if you step away from the genius behind the combination, and just smell it; it smells like Johnson and Johnson baby lotion/powder.

Blech.

Unfortunately that reminds me of baby's bottoms and dirty diapers.

No thanks.

Glad it was a freebie half imp.

[Meg]

In the bottle: A sticky sweet vanilla floral, not so far from O.

 

Wet: Sweet vanilla musk like O, veiled with a fresh floral that smells nearly herbal.

 

Drydown: Very rich orchid with vanilla. There's something slightly plasticky about it, but dies down fast. A perfumy floral, certainly the stefanotis, appears. It's a little sharp and slightly powdery.

 

Overall: It's an interesting, regal but slightly girlish blend, fit for a princess. The orchid is definitely powerful, but the vanilla musk is rich and warm and the stefanotis is light, girly and nearly aquatic. On me that's what dominates the blend, and it smells too sweet and girlish for me. However, it fits its description perfectly, deceptively sweet, princess like, everything fits Regan.

[Musamea]

in imp and wet: sweet vanilla overlaid with orchid

 

dry: the orchid grows stronger and stronger… it's very creamy, which I suspect is the vanilla's doing… about an hour in, the stephanotis shows up and calms down the creaminess a bit

 

overall: a pleasant sort of second skin scent -- I like what it eventually dries down to, but my skin tends to be fickle with the Lab's creamy scents. I'll hang onto the imp and test a few more times before making a final verdict.

[Archaic Smile]

Woops! Duplicate post.

 

ADDED April 9:

 

Regan is a very pretty scent and I love vanilla orchid, but the stephanotis makes this blend is little too sharp for my nose. Even after four hours it still makes me sneeze - that said it has quite a throw and good staying power.

 

I'm not ready to give up, though. Maybe I'll try this again with a single note vanilla or amber.

Edited April 16, 2007 by Archaic Smile

[Ghost_Light]

I should have known better, but my heart got in the way.

 

King Lear is my very favorite play. Regan is my favorite character.

 

I amp both vanilla and florals.

 

From wet through a few hours in, this scent is like being stuck in a BPAL remake of Chinatown

 

It's vanilla! It's orchid! It's vanilla! It's orchid!

 

Eventually it turns into the candle scent that vanilla always does on my skin. My husband proclaimed it "Old lady smell".

 

I should have know better, but I really wanted it to work.

 

 

 

Keeping the imp? Already sent her off to a better home.

 

Bottle? No thank you.

Edited March 17, 2007 by Ghost Light

[mspixieears]

I had no idea initially what notes were in this when I jotted down my initial thoughts on this fragrance but there was a definite vanilla or even rum/whiskey note. It's a slight gourmand fragrance with powdery and calming florals. Wasn't exactly sure what the floral was but this reminds me a lot of Psyche, albeit a girlier version. Several hours later this dies down to a hint of powdery florals. It's a very soft, lingering fragrance.

[shellyshells]

Regan, .

 

It is the most gorgeous powdery vanilla and floral scent on my skin. I don't usually like it when notes go powdery on me but in Regan, it is the best powder smell I've ever smelled. It's very comforting, like vanilla pillows. I will probably get a 5ml of this sometime very soon.

Edited March 12, 2007 by shellyshells

[The Perfumed Ferret]

This is far too sweet for me.

 

 

In the imp it's sweet vanilla and pale blossums.

 

 

On: Capet freshener, quick get it away!

 

 

Verdict: Well done, but not for me.

 

1/10

[Phaedra]

This was a frimp from the Lab in a recent order. Wet this is honey, cream and buttery too. It's cozy, warm, sweet and foody. When first on it's a creamy floral vanilla, thick and sweet. It develops a slight plastic undertone- not too bad though. It doesn't change much more on me. This is a pretty, feminine blend with a bit of an edge to it. It's nice but I think I'll stick with Antique Lace for my vanilla fix.

[brit_brat100]

Imp: spicy sweet floral, very nice.

 

Wet: FLOWERS…please no…

 

Dry: I think I was seduced by the “vanille” in the description…I’m just getting pungent flowers.

 

Final Thoughts: Bummer! I love love love vanilla and many foody lovers rejoyced over this scent, so I thought it might work out. It's strange, because I have an orchid lotion that I love, but for some reason Regan didn't get along the same way. I might try him again, for good measure.

[wikkidraven]

just repeating what i see everywhere else--this was a very nice vanilla while wet, but dried down into a powdery floral. sweet and girlish, but unremarkable for me. it smells very SPRING though, i might try this at another time.

[alliekat13]

This is a wonderful sweet, powdery girly scent. The orchid vanille smells very tropical and rich. The stephanotis is a little funky at first, but after fifteen minutes or so it just adds a beautiful floral scent to the vanille. This scent reminds me of Follow Me Boy, which I guessed had some vanilla in it. All in all, I love this, and I already have a bottle coming!

[Carmencita]

in the vial: penny candy, stick candy, tutti fruitti candy

 

on me: reminds me of something... a candle? A bath product? Mmm almond.

 

later: I just figured out that this is reminiscent of Sweet Melissa's "snow"

 

much later: vanilla yogurt and flowers

[zankoku_zen]

In the imp: graham cracker?

 

On Skin: Vanilla, slightly woody

 

On Drydown: Warm vanilla, slightly spicy? There's an element I don't know what it is... and it's probably the stephanotis.

 

After like four hours: Very warm vanilla.

 

Verdict: This is pretty much vanilla on me. I'm not a huge fan of how vanilla smells but this was pretty. Not for me, but still pretty.

[The_Merf]

Much like I did with Tamora, I get a slightly different result from trying Regan fresh/slightly aged (about five months). Again, the difference is in the sweetness of the vanilla. While the scent follows roughly the same progression each time I try it: the vanilla gives way first to an orchid floral and then to the softer stephanotis. However, with a little bit of aging, the vanilla does not come on so strong and shrill at first, and the orchid is easier to perceive even when the scent is wet. Now the scent has really taken on the status of a lighter version of Shadow Witch Orchid. I believe that this one is less floral and sweet than Queen Mab or a lot of the other orchid scents.

[CiCi]

Regan reminds me of bathroom spray or a room deoderizer. The vanilla and orchid floral just amp too much on me to make this a pleasant experience. It would be great on my daughter though, so I will send it to her.

[sedona]

In the imp - a sweet, light floral with maybe a hint of mint?

 

I try not to look at other reviews before I post mine to try and train my nose so I'm not sure if anyone else got mint!

 

Wet - it's the same but with an undercurrent of wood.

 

After ten minutes or so I'm getting a warmth along with the floral and possibly a smidge of vanilla. pouts as I wanted the vanilla to amp more

 

After an hour or so it's not changing.

 

This is pretty but with a hidden strength. Would be good for a feminine day or after a late night bath.