Love-In-Idleness

[SeaLady]

Yet mark'd I where the bolt of Cupid fell:
It fell upon a little western flower,
Before, milk-white, now purple with love's wound,
And maidens call it love-in-idleness.

I got this as a frimp in one of my recent orders, thanks lab!!!

I hesitate to describe this as floral because most of the time I hate them, passionately.

But this is a lovely warm, soft, feminine floral that gives a little of a reminder of baby powder on me, without just flat out smelling like it. When I sniff up close to my wrists I'm undecided about it, but as I get wafts while I'm out and about doing other things it's a beautiful scent. It makes me want to wear lace and carry a parasol, and as far as I'm concerned, that's a lovely feeling to have.

[SarahScent44]

In this imp, this is a very sweet, innocent floral - sort of lily-of-the-valley-ish.

 

It gets sort of woody on my skin, but when it dries, it's ultimately a sweet-ish traditional floral; it's light and lovely, but not quite my thing.

[hkhm]

imp: lilacs? hyacinth? bluebells? what is this... it smells like a sweet bouquet of flowers.

 

wet: there's a spicy feel once this is applied, a sweet, spicy floral. absolutely beautiful.

 

dry: i'm not a big floral person but this is incredibly sweet, playful and beautiful.

[Lyrical]

In vial: a soft, sweet garden flower, which is unsurprising because love-in-idleness is a pansy.

 

Wet on skin: leafy and a bit earthy, as well as floral. It's the smell of weeding the garden!

 

Dry on skin: ew. No. There's a jasminy note here I don't like. Or at least, it's an off note I associate with jasmine. Not for me, although other people might well enjoy it.

[savage_rose]

You know that pink soap they used to have stocked in your school bathroom when you were growing up? Want to smell it again? That's predominantly what this smells like, although there's a sharper perfume undercurrent that makes it less soapy.

[galahad]

In The Bottle

A nice bouquet of wild flowers

 

On Application

As above. Jasmine, lily, stephanotis, narcissus. Quite beautiful

 

Dry Down

After the initial floral blast this really softens out to an airy floral scent. This blend goes through stages of almost going to air freshener floral but pulls back. Nice but not me

 

Rating (0-5)

3

[fairnymph]

In the bottle: Light bright yellow oil. Fresh, white flowers and wet planty greenery. Lily of the valley and lilac like; a bit heady, a bit clean-soapy.

 

Wet: More floral, a bit less on the crushed green leaves. Immensely feminine, rather classic, traditional perfumey white floral. Delicately sweet.

 

Dry: A bit sharper; a touch of bitterness has emerged, which seems linked to green planty note. Still clean-soapy, but no more so than before - it's bearable. A touch more powdery. Overall, still FLORAL.

 

Later: Fairly heady white flowers. This reminds me of lilies now too, and wildflowers. Still touches of soap, powder, and that bitter green note, but they remain light and the flowers overwhelm them.

 

Summary: This lightens into a straight-up, classic, moderately heady , feminine white floral. Soft hints of powder and soap and a very faint sharp/bitter green note at close range. Clean and fresh, yet a bit creamy as well. Moderate throw and lasting power.

 

Similar to Black Lily (a bottleworthy scent for me) but without the musky sweetness, and a sharper, greener edge and hint of soap/powder. Even more similar to Asphodel, but less soapy/powdery. It's definitely got a distinct floral note, but it reminds me of lilies, lilac, lily of the valley, lilac, and a touch of pikaki.

 

I like this alot; it's a very unique yet classic floral; single-note, like smelling a single flower, but not boring in the least. Just sort of elegantly simple. The lilac, lily, and pikaki notes are lovely, but I don't know if I can handle even the mild soapy/powdery and heady facets. One to retry!

[Raqassah]

Wet: Strong floral (pansy ?) note. Very sweet and a bit one dimensional. Husband said “Soapy”.

 

Dry down: Sweet, innocuous – a bit soapy.

 

Final impressions: A good scent for a lazy late spring Sunday afternoon. Frimp.

[Laurel the Woodfairy]

Oh here it is--I was looking for this in Illyria. I have no idea what to expect, as no notes are listed, but A Midsummer Night's Dream is my favorite play and I wanted to try the famous flower!

 

Love-In-Idleness...contains jasmine. Ugh. If you shot me with a bolt of this, believe me, you would get the opposite of love. *snarl* There's also a hint of something sweet enough to be gardenia, perhaps, or even lotus, but jasmine just spoils everything for me. If it works on you, though, this appears to be a light, sweet floral that probably would be nice with different chemistry.

[steelxrose]

Love in Idleness...I'm not quite sure how to describe it other than heavy floral. It's not terrible on me, but not z0mg, love! either. Certainly feminine, certainly sweet. I'll have to give it another few tries before I decide whether I like it.

[jehrichardson]

In the Imp: Strong soapy general floral note. Does not have that warm honey smell of pansies.

 

On the skin: WOW.. Helluva throw on this one - put a tiny drop on my thumb and it's so strong it's leaving a soapy taste in my mouth. Very intense floral with green notes.

 

After a while: Strong persisent floral. Quite nice smelling, but too strong for my tastes.

 

Verdict: Lovely, but too floral.

[mhickle]

This isn't what I expected!

 

In the imp, it sort of smells....like spit. Yes, weird, I know. Luckily, this doesn't last.

 

But I'm definitely not getting the sweet floral others have talked about here. This is almost masculine, a deep green floral. It's wild and otherworldy, almost like this is what it smells like after Puck has pulled it from the ground - woods and green and feral-mischevious Puck's scent rubbed on the leaves and petals of the bloom as he grips it in his hand.

 

Yes, I like this very much!

[Rovylern]

This smells like flowery toilet bowl cleaner on me. Thankfully it faded very, very quickly.

This definitely does NOT love my skin.

[suki]

in the imp: sweet and powdery floral.

 

wet on skin: same.

 

dry down: same!

 

in all: a soft scent with less than average throw, this is one for the little ones in your life. or i suppose an adult that felt really childlike- though it seems a bit creepy to me personally.

[lioness]

So I've read a few of the reviews and noticed that this is a pansy scent.

 

In the bottle: not getting much from this, sorta sweet with a little spice.

 

Wet on skin: oOoh this is kinda nice! Soft, and slightly spicy at the same time, I can smell a lot more with it on my skin then in the bottle.

 

Dry on skin: A very clean, almost watery floral, nice, but not something I'd wear too often.

[Iceblink]

Pretty light floral that smells oddly familiar--aha! It's Fairy Market that this reminds me of. Is this bluebells? It's like Fairy Market minus the incense. Slightly green and not soapy or powdery.

[Caerphilly]

In the imp: Sweet with a soapy edge. Many flowers ...many many...a bouquet is right. I can't pick out one flower in this.

 

Wet: It's sweet, but not overpowering or cloying. It's pretty. There is a soapiness to it, but it's not out completely. So far I like it.

 

Dry: There's the soapiness, possibly gardenia. Add it was going so well!

 

Overall: Very pretty floral...until the dry down. If anything has a tendency to turn soapy on you, don't try this. Otherwise, it's sweet and lovely.

[jencallisto]

In the imp: Wow, that's some serious lilac and honeysuckle, there.

Fresh on the skin: Yeah. It has a bit of a commercial floral perfume sharp alcoholic base, but I have hope that that'll fade away soon. I think there's probably jasmine in this, too. It's like a burst of Asian garden, lush but also delicate. Bit strong for me at the moment, but I'm not a huge floral person, so.

5 minutes later: This is reminding of something specific, but I can't for the life of me think of what. Maybe some bath salts my mom used to have.

15 minutes later: No, no, it's something from my childhood. Something pleasant. But what? It's turned into a rather lovely scent, in any case. A really delicate, sweet, soft floral that nonetheless retains a distinctive bite to it, probably the jasmine. I'm actually starting to really like it.

1 hour later: Still haven't thought of what it's reminding me of, but the scent is really quite lovely.

2 hours later: I keep thinking it's going to go all laundry on me, but it hasn't happened yet. It's powdered down some, but is still sweet and light and the tiniest bit spicy. This is just _pretty_, in a classic yet unusual and wonderfully delicate way.

3 hours later: Still absolutely lovely, soft and powdery.

4 hours later: Fading out.

5 hours later: But not yet gone.

6 hours later: Still there, very faint and dry, almost papery.

7 hours later: Soft and warm, but still there, and still lovely.

8 hours later: Lighter and lighter.

9 hours later: Gone. I miss it already!

 

Verdict: Wow! I actually really liked this a whole lot. It's a double joy to get a frimp that you never would've picked yourself but that turns to be lovely. I don't know how often I'd actually wear it (light spring and summer florals are not exactly me), but I do quite like it and am definitely keeping the imp.

 

One word: nostalgia.

[crebbsgirl]

This was a very purple floral. I could detect lilac and maybe violet in this blend. It was an ultra feminine scent, light but with definite presence. As it dried, a creamy dimension came out. Overall, on my skin this was a little soapy for my tastes, and there was a powdery tinge to it. Nice, but not for me.

[isisonearth]

A delightful Victorian nosegay. Pansies, lilacs, violets and some lavender rosebuds. Pretty and delicate but a little too sweet for my tastes.

[othelloperrello]

 

Definitely a fresh boquet of light, what I'd describe as 'white' spring flowers.

I get some honeysuckle, lilies, and jasmine in the background. I never managed to get a smell from a pansy, but this could approximate that: delicate, soft and fresh.

I get no powderiness or artificiality here - only the essence of fresh flowers on stems.

[EdenIris]

Is this really only pansy? It seems much more complex and changing than a single note.

 

Bright (but not strong) flowers in the bottle and wet, drying down to what, for me, is the perfect floral: a little sweet, a little creamy, not cloying or soapy. Beautiful. Throughout the day it changed subtly, always new and interesting. Long wear for a floral.

 

This is not an OMG, cannot stop sniffing self scent, but a gorgeous, wear anywhere, daytime perfume. I could definitely use a bottle of this.

[Prism]

In the imp- floral chemical powdery scent.

Wet - it's floral, but there's a much stronger scent on me that's non -floral. it reminds me of something i smell at a chinese food store (this is not a good thing)

I'm just downright shocked what this is on me as. Thankfully, there's almost no throw or the throw is a much lighter floral that's kinda pretty if that's what i'm smelling.

 

Drydown - this is one of those smells eh at first, and then settles into something nice ( a trend i've noticed with a lot of BPAL for me).

not much throw (but i also test lightly), but it's like smelling a handful of wildflowers now, with a lot of pansies in the mix. It's soft but not super soft, and I'll probably wear it some other time to see if the initial wet scent isn't a bit better.

 

 

In short: The drydown is suprizingly nice, but definately worth putting on in time to dry before going out.

Edited February 17, 2009 by Prism

[asciident]

Wet: Bright, in-your-face rosy scent.

 

First on: Big creamy flower blooms.

 

Dry: On drydown, it's sort of a nondescript floral scent. Not a big fan.

[puck_nc]

Origin: Straight from the Lab

 

Initial Thoughts: I'm a serious florals fan. Reading these reviews, I see that this is supposed to be pansy, though I can't remember ever detecting a scent from one.

 

In the Vial: A very sweet floral, with hints of spice. I think there's some carnation in there and maybe some hyacinth and honeysuckle. It's a very pretty spring-almost-summer floral.

 

Wet: The spice is there, the soft florals are there. There's also a creaminess developing in the sweet notes.

 

Drydown: Dammit. There's either rose or violet or both in this because the whole thing turns greener (rose) and develops a hard sour edge (violet). Rose and violet are two of my BPAL nemeses.

 

Verdict: I think I'll use up the imp in a scent locket, but no bottle for me.