The Unicorn

[kjirstiben]

A misty, almost luminous perfume: wispy linden blossoms, white flowers, and a touch of sweet herbs.

This scent goes on flowery, but a light, clean, airy kind of flowers. It doesn't scream floral and it doesn't turn soapy, which is what most florals do on me. Instead this is noticeably white, luminous flowers. After a while, it develops an herbal tone--all the while it's a subtle, lightweight scent. Over the hours, the scent quiets down to a sweet, slightly lotus-like floral (meaning sweet in tone rather than sharp), mixed with a lily-like quality. It's a ladylike, ethereal scent, something I would feel proper wearing to church or high tea.

[FallDaze]

In the imp -> fresh and clean with just a small hint of light florals. Reminds me of freshly washed clothes hung out to dry with a slight plastic undertone.

 

Wet -> It's a very light and pleasant floral. Not overly strong and heavy like most florals turn out on me. I believe it's the linden blossoms that I'm smelling.

 

After a bit -> The sweet herbs have come out of hiding and blend quite nicely. Oddly enough this is slightly reminiscent of...coconut? to me. Overall, very light and sweet and ethereal, and I quite like it.

[TheOneTheyCallLuna]

This here is everything that is right in the world! Fairy dust, sunbeams, dew drops, and rainbows galore! This smells to my nose somewhere in between Queen Mab and Bewitched with an extra little sparkle for good measure. I am won over times a million and I must acquire more! With all the stress lately and this *&%$# economy, this blend is a nice little refuge of unbridled joy. I'll be getting tons of wear out of this come springtime!

[RedRoseMaze]

In the bottle: A clean, fresh, and clear floral smell. It’s soft and light.

 

Wet: I get a sweet floral scent. I’m not accustomed to linden blossoms, so my first impression was something similar to lily of the valley, but I could be wrong.

 

Dry: It’s soft and faint. The herbs blend well together into a light, feminine scent. Unfortunately, it fades away very quickly.

 

Verdict: It’s lovely, but it doesn’t have much impact, which I think is really too bad because, otherwise, it would be the perfect blend for spring. On the other hand, someone who rarely ever wears perfume and wants to stay away from strong scents, would probably adore this.

[Ceri]

In the vial: Crisp, floral and citrus.

 

Wet: A light, sweet floral - it's not overly strong or cloying like most floral on me.

 

Dry: A gorgeous light, sweet floral. There's a hint of fruitiness that gives the scent a bit of depth, juicy and not all flowery.

 

Overall: A very gorgeous scent, the only con is that it fades fast - I can barely smell it after 10 minutes. I love it and will consider a bottle.

[Bluestocking]

In the imp: Glowing, bright white flowers—sweet and slightly sharp, very serene and gentle, with a little tinge of honey. It's cool and has a touch of watery green from the herbs, so that I'm picturing this elegant, silvery unicorn in a forest, standing near a clear stream.

On, wet: Elegant, white/pale green and floral, with green herbs adding some dimension. The linden is strongest, which gives this some sweetness and a bit of almost citrusy crispness, but overall this is just very light and pretty. It's a very soft perfume, not at all soapy or overbearing, and it has the refreshing coolness of a spring morning.

On, dry: Most of the herbs have faded, but a variety of other white flowers came out on the dry down, and they've blended beautifully with the linden blossoms. Joy! It's very clean, ethereal and luminescent, exactly as it should be. I'd almost swear this had some white musk blended in, because it has that same shimmery, pure quality that I usually get from it.

Later: Fainter, but essentially unchanged.

Overall: Lovely. This really is the essence of a Unicorn, innocence in a bottle. It's sweet (but not TOO sweet) and fresh and slightly cool, perfect for the warmer months. I love white florals anyway, but the linden and herbs make this one unique, very graceful and delicate. My only complaint is that is fades fast, but it's not really a hardship to reapply.

Edited February 26, 2009 by Bluestocking

[melrose]

In bottle: Wow, ethereal, beautiful glittering light - absolutely the essence of a unicorn.

 

On, wet: Mostly fruit, a few herbs underneath - but the fruit smells plastic, not fresh. Boo.

 

Near drydown: Spicy & fruity. Now it's getting interesting.

 

Far drydown: Have to bury my nose in my skin to smell anything - faint fruit, a whiff of something green.

 

Verdict: Not on my skin, but would be beautiful in a scent locket.

[Kimbernunk]

This started out its journey on my skin by instantly turning to soap. I was not amused. However, after about 20 minutes it turned softly white floral - not piercing headache white floral thank goodness - and developed a touch of herb.

 

Despite the soap start, this has really gotten lovely - it's almost too light for everyday, but would be lovely for formal occasions. I quite like this.

 

ETA a few hours later: This really is fantastic - it's grown on me quite a bit. It's close to the skin and a nice white/green mixture, slightly sweet, clear, and clean. Really wonderful stuff!

Edited April 3, 2009 by Kimbernunk

[crebbsgirl]

This is beautiful! I'm not one for florals usually, but this is really light and serene. Not overpowering the way some florals can get on my skin. The linden blossom is a standout here, and the herbs give it a green hint, preventing the flowers from going cloying or headache-y. Overall, this is pretty and soothing. Not one I ever would have picked for myself but really really nice.

[catattack]

wet: Very faint powdery floral. The scent becomes a little stronger after a few minutes, and then it becomes slightly sweet.

drydown: This scent is non-descript and boring. My skin chemistry does nothing for this blend.

[Caerphilly]

In the imp: I immediately fell in love with this one. It's gentile, light, white, and very clean. Very delicate. Slightly sweet. Exactly as I'd picture a unicorn. It's lovely! Almost ethereal.

 

Wet: This is light, but it's not fading immediately. Yay! It's one of those scents that seems like it would fade right away, or have a hidden soapy note that just makes me want to wash it off. It doesn't. This one might be a keeper.

 

Dry: Still light, but didn't fade at all. Has a slight cologne scent. I don't know if it's the linden blossom, but it's a masculine floral. Yet, it's not so masculine that I wouldn't wear it. It's still very white feeling. (White floral perhaps)

 

Overall: I really like this. A light clean scent that doesn't immediately fade on me is always good. But a lot of the light scents with staying power have white musk, and I'm not a fan. This has something else that stays on my skin for a couple of hours. Don't know about a bottle, but I'll definitely use my imp.

[caitilarkin]

In the imp: Light white florals

 

Wet on skin: The same florals, which are thankfully not amping into soap as some floral notes do

 

Dry on skin: This lovely wisp of a scent only lasts about 3 hours on me, but will be good for muggy days when I want something flowery rather than clean.

[sylvanusurban]

Welcome to my very first review! I dabbed on some Unicorn this morning, and here are my observations.

 

In the bottle: Bleah, Powerful Perfume Assault. I don't think my poor sniffer can deal with smelling these things straight from the bottle.

On Me: Once this warms on my skin for a moment, the scent is soft, gentle, and fresh. Pleasant. The "worst" I could say about it is that it smells like a very nice dryer sheet.

On Me, later: ...This really does smell like a very nice dryer sheet. This is not necessarily a bad thing, but it may keep The Unicorn out of the upper echelons of Scent Heaven.

[sweetpessimism]

In the bottle: A pale, pale yellow color. Scent - light, feminine. White flowers.

 

Wet on skin: I'm burying my nose in a unicorn's mane.. Warm, light floral.

 

Upon re-reading lab description: Don't think I'm getting much of the herbs, but otherwise, spot on!

 

On the drydown: Fades quite quickly on me, sadly. Still a very soft, subtle floral, though. My friend Emily said it smells like she imagines a unicorn would smell, and I agree! Wish it lasted longer, but hey - unicorns are elusive creatures!

[JLostein]

Ok, I have no idea whatsoever when it comes to notes, so bear with me here

 

In imp: Sweet, airy, ethereal... makes me think of the colour light grey. I'll admit I immediately thought of bubble solution (?!) but strangely, that doesn't make it bad whatsoever. It's like a nice, sweet, classy, fancy... bubble solution. And I love it.

 

Wet on skin: Aha! No more bubble solution! More florals come out to play, there's this very sweet, almost cold, light note. Lovely!

 

Drying: Getting a bit faint. Aww. There's that elusive unicorn. I could bury my nose in this all day.

 

Dry: It ends up very cold and sweet on me, but wow, it's running away fast. Misty is the perfect word for this!

 

It's absolute love, except it disappears so fast

[Suusje]

It starts out quite soapy on me so I was a tad disappointed. But it quickly disappers and turns into something soft and pretty and slightly sweet and just excellent! I just wish it was a little bit stronger so it would actually last on the skin. But nontheless, I love it

[Muppetk]

Starts out pretty when wet, with the linden pretty evenly mixed into the other floral notes and no worryingly sharp herbals. Within 5 minutes, it seems to have 80-90% disappeared. This is nice enough, but destined for someone else. TO THE SWAP PILE, ROBIN!

[lucy]

Gorrrrrjuss!!

light feminine fresh greeny floral and def not powdery and old ladyish on me. smells like my best friend used to smell like when she used the old oil of ulay...really pretty and fresh. definitely be getting a bottle of this one

[London]

Wet on me: Sweet grass..and mint?

 

 

The grassy smell stayed as it dried, then went to powder. Arm kind of smells like wet meadow baby powder..odd.

 

[childdoll]

In the imp: This is a very earthy scent with a hint of aquatics and faint florals, which I am assuming are the linden blossoms. Very light and delicate. The earthen notes are more moss and damp foliage draped in morning dew, and not really that grassy earth.

 

Wet: Very much the same as in the bottle, but the floral notes are starting to fade away. Moss notes more prominent.

 

Dry: I can no longer detect any florals. It fades very quickly on me. It lays very light, like a thin layer of mist. A hint of that ethereal forest smell, but very elusive.

 

Overall impression: I like it, but to be honest I am disappointed that the floral linden notes are not stronger on me and just leave as soon as they touch my skin. I am also sad with how quickly this fragrance fades. It is like a unicorn indeed. There for a brief, beautiful moment, and gone the next. There is something very enchanting about this scent with the way it hangs on these soft green notes. It's a interesting scent. Clean and gentle. Makes you feel like you are a dryad walking barefoot on a mossy bank next to a stream.

 

[Ruffian]

This is a very nice white floral. Wispy and clean is right, and in an extremely good way. It's clean without smelling like dryer sheets or air fresheners. It's a sweet floral without being perfumey sweet or sugary sweet. I think the sweet herbs are helping in those two areas. I also get the imagery of a unicorn in a fairy forest. Loved this perfume so much that I ordered a bottle.

[Katherynne]

I'm re-reviewing this years after I first tried it. This was one of the first BPALs I tried, and I sadly didn't like it back then.

Well, my tastes have changed over the years -- because now I love it.

The Unicorn is a softly herbal, clean scent that is perfect to wear to work. It smells very calming to me, and very white. It has that ethereal quality to it that I had hoped it would so many years ago. I love it.

[TPOD]

Thanks to the lab for a frimp of The Unicorn

 

It's a clean, white floral that starts off with an effervescent bit of gin and tonic. It's not soapy at all.

 

During the drydown it reminds me a bit of Manhattan, without the wood and leather - it might be the more feminine version of that scent. It quickly fades to a light skin scent and then disappears entirely. It's as elusive as the mythical beast it portrays.

 

Lovely, but too fleeting.

Edited October 27, 2009 by Hoyden

[childdoll]

Imp: Light, fresh, clean florals.

 

Wet: The florals faded away and was replaced by a more citrus smell, which had me a bit worried.

 

Dry: As it dried, I was happy that the citrus notes dissolved and the florals returned. It's a very clean, faint scent. Like powdered dew. Soft, gentle, ethereal. Very lovely.

 

Overall Impression: I love this scent on me. It's very light though, but stayed with me longer than I imagined it would, which made me happy. I am definately considering getting a full vial.

Edited November 4, 2009 by childdoll

[Leopard403]

The two words that comes to mind when sniffing The Unicorn are "dainty" and "ethereal." It's very hard to describe because it is feminine, but not in a powdery way; and clean, but not in a dryer sheet way. Unfortunately, this makes for a very mild, light scent; and while I like it, it is a little too delicate for me. I'm tall and zaftig and feel like I need something with more oomph. Plus, it doesn't last at all on my skin.