Bayou

[donnatron]

A lazy, warm deep green scent with a thick aquatic undertone: Spanish moss, evergreen and cypress with watery blue-green notes and an eddy of hothouse flowers and swamp blooms.

Imp: Sharp, green and a little sour. I get a hint of what I think is magnolia.

Wet: Right off the bat this is not pleasant on my skin. The cypress seems to be dominating the scent and one of the florals is really not jibing with my chemistry.

Dry: After about 15-20 minutes this calms down into a pretty, warm floral (magnolia, honeysuckle and jasmine? Lily?) over a touch of aquatic and greenery. The cypress is still a little weird and sour but it's died down considerably. I definitely get that humid, swampy feeling from this. It feels sensual and languid and doesn't necessarily feel cloying but definitely evokes hot, muggy weather for me. I don't know whether this would be something I wear in summer because it's appropriate for the season or something that I wear in winter because the headiness reminds me of summer.

Throw: Average.

Overall: An interesting, offbeat, southern floral. Very feminine and somewhat sultry. Still work/day appropriate and I could easily see it becoming someone's signature scent. It's really beautiful and accessible without being generic and just a lovely blend overall. I don't think it strikes my fancy enough to purchase a bottle but I'm glad to have tried it and think it's truly a wonderful, unique perfume. Edited April 6, 2009 by paperrose

[theatrically]

This one certainly "blooms" on me! Mostly I'm getting jasmine, with a little sharpness underneath. It seems a bit more generic-perfume-y than the other BPAL scents I've tried, but its very wearable and pleasant. It is STRONG, though--I ended up washing some of it off because I felt enveloped in a cloud of flowers--which I didn't mind, but I thought mght be offputting to some of my classmates.

 

I dont know if I'll buy a whole bottle but I'll definitely use the whole imp and might even buy another!

[anna1850]

It's got that same damp blooms note from Pele I think but also with a hint of woodiness and aquatics. None of the notes are really working for me though unfortunately.

 

2.5/5 Whilst it's not your average floral, it's just not my cup of tea.

 

 

[ImperatrixMundi]

There is a damp floral bouquet here that I have smelled before, but I dont remember where. It has something wet and swampy. The moss/evergreen/cypress notes dont play well with it at all, it gets very sharp and unpleasant, I'll spare you my exact associations.

[Schmoozy]

 

Heedy, lush greens and sweet aquatics. On initial application Bayou is very overwhelming. You can smell the moss and flowers and swamp blooms, and together all three create a very powerful scent. As it dries down the sweetness of the aquatics mingles with spanish moss, evergreen and cypress and becomes a sweet green herbal scent that I adore. Thankfully for my skin chemistry the flowers and swamp blooms move to the background, otherwise Bayou would be a little bit too much for my liking.

[djsiberia]

florals, greens and ozone. interestingly all of these blend together to form a sour band-aid smell.

 

[Victory]

Wow, I don't get anything swampy at all. Bayou is actually very much like Nuit and Blue Moon to my nose. I amp moonflower, which makes Nuit and Blue Moon (actually, anything with moonflower) variations on each other, and Bayou seems like another variation. I swiped on a smidge to test the oil and then tossed the imp into my sister's bag (her horse is named Bayou) and then realized I liked it, but since it's so similar to some other scents I own, I won't mourn the loss.

[batakbeatrix]

This is a very heady, floral scent right out of the imp. I tested it like I normally would, and was immediately bowled over by a rush of FLOWERS. It then proceeded to turn directly to bug spray on me. A subdued, heavily floral bug spray, but insect repellent nonetheless.

 

Upon drying it became a much nicer, rounder floral, but it's still not something that I'd see myself wearing.

[NightingaleRB]

Last Christmas, I ordered Pepper for my mom and the labbies included a frimp of Bayou (long overdue "thank you," labbies!). I managed to sneak a dab.

 

Crocodile flowers. That's what it smells like wet. As it dries, more crocodile, less flowers. But no, the flowers are coming back again. It's a "deeper" kind of flower than, for example, Delirum. My nose isn't mistaking it for fruit, no way. Now that I've looked up the notes I can sort of detect the evergreen on the edge of it. It does like to stick to the flowers though. Maybe there's a bit of water in there too. I've never been to a bayou or marsh but this is exactly what I imagine it would smell like. "Deep thick blue-green" is exactly right, but it is in no way overpowering. A few months of aging has blended the flowers more seamlessly into the aquatics, so now it smells more like... well if mermaids had flowers, they would smell like this.

 

I use this when I want: a pure delicious aquatic floral. I could even see this as a signature scent... perhaps?

[bubblefish]

Right out of the bottle it's a really nice floral scent... but then bam! Something goes bad and it's like the Bayou's all full of trash suddenly. Something just smells rotten and ucky on my skin, which is sad because I was hoping for a rich green scent.

[femmefatale]

At first it's a sweet floral aquatic. Very feminine and definitely southern feeling.

As it dries the green notes come out more, along with something that's slightly bitter. Sounds gross, I know, but it really works. It's balanced out by the sweetness of the flowers and it does have a hot, humid feel to it.

Very pretty, unique, distinctive, but completely wearable.

[loubric]

Bayou – WOW!!!

It’s not at all what I expected … it’s very SPICY (in a good way). Smells a bit “old” on me and I don’t really get the lemony smells (which usually do show up on me very well). I must admit that it stays on me forever. I put it on early this morning and I still get hints of it and it’s been *counts on fingers* ..........8 hours already.

 

Overall, I like it, not my favorite, but still near the top of my list.

 

I feel like an Exotic Indian Princess when I wear this scent

 

Edited September 16, 2009 by Lilly

[ralenth]

Source: Lab imp

 

In the imp: Sharp, green with magnolia. Oh, how I love magnolia!

 

Wet: Very aquatic, with little tendrils of greenery wrapping themselves around my ankles?

 

Drydown: Green aquatic. Reminds me of Danube, but more humid and lush.

 

Dry: Beautiful, heady aquatic. Very green, but not overly floral.

 

Overall: This may have just knocked Danube out of my go to aquatic spot. I love it!

[voodoocatwoman]

Within 5 minutes of application, Bayou made my nose start running. It took me another 20 minutes to hunt the damned thing down and catch it.

 

Bayou is in-your-face-and-down-your-throat heady flowers. I picked up jasmine, magnolia and gardenia (and the combination is enough to cross your eyes permanently). After it dried down, I got moss and slimy algae creeping into the mix of flowers. At that point, I washed it off as best I could.

 

The Bayou is not for me.

[theandorran]

I was really interested to compare this to New Orleans, because I really wanted a scent that worked for me and had that damp Southern feel. In general, I found Bayou a lot more agreeable to me.

 

In the bottle: Very heavy florals, with just a hint of sharpness. I'm getting lots of magnolia, but a damp, wilted kind of magnolia. Lazy magnolias that no one has bothered to prune.

 

Wet: Whoa florals. The sharpness is mostly gone, replaced by very, very heavy magnolia. Like a wafting southern breeze. Right next to a magnolia bush. Almost too much floral, for my taste.

 

Dry: Okay, the florals are dying down some now. Which, for me, is good. The magnolia was very overpowering to my nose. Now it's slightly sharper, with the cypress coming through, but still mostly damp, lazy magnolia. It's just a little better balanced.

 

I'm not getting any of the green or aquatic from the description in any stages. Not sure why. It's probably good because green and aquatic usually don't work for me. As for what I've got, I'm not 100% sure how I feel about it yet. I like the way that it smells, but I'm not sure I can picture wearing it. I'm not sure if it's my scent 'personality,' but this is how I feel about most florals.

 

 

Edited to add: On me, at least, this stuff is STRONG. Most bpals and I'm lucky if the scent lasts until the end of the day without reapping. It's been 24 hours and a shower since I put Bayou on and I STILL get magnolias when I put my wrist to my nose. Wow.

Edited October 11, 2009 by theandorran

[melrose]

I'm in love with Bayou.

 

I lived in the Deep South for most of my life, and, while this does NOT smell like any bayou I've been around (they mostly smell like rot), it perfectly captures the Deep South in the afternoon after a heavy rain. I'm standing under a magnolia tree in ful bloom, rain drops slowly dripping off the leaves, the air heavy and humid.

 

Beth nailed a specific memory for me.

[Invidiana]

Though I've never been to New Orleans, this is truly evocative of that area; I can totally imagine the sinsiter-looking marshes and bayous with gnarly tendrils of things hanging everywhere, bringing up visions of the kinds of places Lestat de Lioncourt haunts. It starts out really green wet but quickly dries down into a smooth and sweet dark floral in the same family as Roux-ga-Roux (though they're not the same).

Edited March 16, 2010 by Invidiana

[DeltaCat]

A very heavy scent. Strong magnolia. Undertone of aquatics. This is an awesome scent and it will be on my 5mL list.

[hairfall]

ugh. powder. just powder on me and the rest is insignificant.

such a disappointment.

[hkhm]

imp: very rich florals. magnolia, honeysuckle perhaps?

 

wet: this went a touch soapy/powdery as i applied it. the florals are beautiful though, rich and strong with a fresh aquatic feel.

 

dry: the soapiness fades and what remains is a deeply beautiful scent, full of rich heady floarls. this is not the sort of perfume i would have normally selected for myself so i am very impressed by how much i like it.

[angelicruin]

I'm getting something very close to jasmine and an aquatic note with this blend. Goes soapy shortly after application. Not for me.

[moosue]

Oh HELL no.

This is very close to my despised New Orleans, except with a bit less jasmine. The same scent of hot rotting is there, and while it smells impressively like a swamp surrounded by jasmine, it's SO not something I want to put on my skin.

[superpopkid]

Hello, color associations of deep, dark green water! Wet, I get a thick, hazy green aquatic with an almost fruity floral that make me think, oddly enough, of 51. I'm lousy at identifying most floral notes, and I'm comparing deserts to aquatics, so take this with a giant grain of salt: it's similar to me in its murky green tone to 51, but waterlogged instead of dry. I've never been to an actual bayou, so I can't say if this scent accurately captures one, but it definitely evokes a humid summer night.

 

Drydown: I almost wish it were the custom to put bad associations behind a spoiler bar, because I don't think I would have made the bayou-bandaid connection on my own - the instant I saw it in a review though, it fit! It's still not an unpleasant smell though. Overall: this is a really interesting, evocative blend. I was very pleased that the moss didn't turn to bug spray as it so often does. Throw was strong at first, but settled down an hour or two in.

 

[crebbsgirl]

I'm getting jasmine, magnolia and gardenia with a heavy aquatic vibe. This is screaming soapy flowers on my skin, which does not agree with me at all. I can barely sniff out the moss underneath all of the flowers. I know it's trying to come out, but it's just not happening for me.

[SophieCedar]

This scent doesn't pull any tricks. Exactly how it's described. Slightly salty however? Kinda calico jack-ish aquatic. I've been trying to break out of my scent constraints (aka violet, aquatics, and rose hatred therapy). I can't decide if Bayou is my boundary or if I can't stick with it. This may go up for swaps but I want to see how it goes wearing this in slightly warmer weather...