Black Lace

[alicia_stardust]

The embodiment of Victorian funereal elegance. A delicate sugar-spun vanilla cream cotton, stained by tobacco and incense, Indian musk, and drops of cognac.

Black Lace is divine! It has a border of elegance and refinement that surrounds it. It starts out as a strong, edgy vanilla with a touch of cotton spurring it on. This gives it a feminine, funereal quality. There is a hint of creaminess and the cotton casts a wide but diffuse aura around the other notes. The cotton aspect remains ever-present even as the other notes shift and settle into my skin.

As time passes, Black Lace softens up into more of a dusky, smoky vanilla scent with the barest hints of tobacco and cognac. There is a slight sharpness. The cotton is still there, but softer. The best part about Black Lace for me? It's the Indian musk! It brings the sultry to the scene and sullies the polished Victorian edge. The musk really, really completes the picture.

Overall I get the sense of a dark, aged and worn tinge to a ladylike treasure. This is gorgeous and heady, with a strong throw and long wear length. Love!!

[sookster]

straight sniff from bottle is old fashioned incense and cream...

 

once applied this gets very bold and beautiful; the musk comes dancing about

with the other notes very elegantly...while this is perfumey it is perfectly done

and does not disappoint...the vanilla tempers the blend exquisitely

 

this has wonderful sillage and i can see myself reaching for it again and again...magnificent!

[hkhm]

bottle: a very sweet, musky incense.

 

wet: i know i amp musk but whoa! this is musky. it's quite sweet though, a very sweet, very strong musk.

 

dry: this has a dusty, faint vanilla scent that is extremely lovely. the musk is still the most dominant note on me but the way it's mixing with the vanilla is swoon-worthy. lovely.

[schackjj]

In the bottle: a delicate incense.

 

Wet: much, much stronger incense, to the exclusion of pretty much everything else in the blend.

 

Drydown: It settles down and the other notes start to come out. It feels a little like a cousin of Crowley to me. At first I didn't think this one would be a keeper, as incense and I are not best friends, but it became absolutely lovely when the notes came into their own. I think it's a candidate to stash for a while, because it's likely to age wonderfully well

[Laurel the Woodfairy]

I couldn't believe it when I saw that my Black Lace bottle had already arrived!!! I rarely buy bottles unsniffed, but this was a must-have. What kind of lousy Victorianist would I be to miss out on this?

 

I opened it and went "oo! aah! oo" for several seconds before putting it on. The opening notes were a touch sharp (almost like violets, oddly enough, but I think that's the cotton) and my boy said it smelled more like 'traditional' perfume than most BPALs. However, that was just while wet--Black Lace immediately began to settle into the most *gorgeous* combination of vanilla-musk-cognac-tobacco all perfectly swirled together! This is the scent that pops into my mind when I hear the words "Bourbon vanilla"-- it sounds like vanilla with a boozy edge to it to tone down the sweet. It is *crazy* to me that Beth was able to capture the vintage-y quality of a classic perfume AND, at the same time, this delicately-foody aspect. It honestly smells *old* but in a completely great way--as though the notes have melded together perfectly over time.

 

Black Lace will hold a place of honor next to Havisham in my BPAL chest, for she is the foody sister of my girl Miss H. Two very fine Victorian ladies indeed.

[heathercaley]

In the bottle i smell cotton and the drowning of sorrows in booze.

 

Wet, it's more sharp.. so far on my skin its a floral clean smelling cotton with a hint of something underneath. Kind of like when you wash a shirt and bring it out of the dryer and it still has the smell from the perfume you were wearing previously (I LOVE it when that happens.. Please.. stain my cloths with a yummy scent.. I don't mind!) <~~ That is me begging oils to mark their territory.

 

When it drys down I get babypowder. Not bad. I smell nice. Its like the mix of cotton and incense makes it babypowder like. Very soft though. I smell very clean.

 

A bit later its wayyyy more sharp. The cotton has amped up big time. Its very bright and warm though. Not Physically warm.. just very warm reminensent. Mmmm the incense is finally coming out of shy-ville.

 

Just lovely!!!

[GypsyRoseRed]

Huh. I've only tested one of my bottles, but on my wrist, Black Lace is mostly tobacco - read cigarette smoke - with a touch of musk. For about thirty minutes, it was pretty weird-smelling until it softened up which I think was the vanilla and cotton coming through and actually ended up smelling quite vanilla-booze-incensey. Very nice!

[TrailerTrashPrincess]

ok, so i got the first of my two DD orders today, and had to open and sniff everything. i figured i'd review this one first because so many people are waiting on reviews before they order.

 

sniffed from the bottle: i can barely smell anything...maybe a lineny/cotton scent with faint whiffs of tobacco (dry and quite stale at that)

on skin it doesn't get any stronger. if anything it gets more faint (and i put so much oil on that the top of my hand is still shiny from it)...i do get a new scent showing up now, though, i guess it is the Indian musk -- is it related at all to red musk or one of the musks in Smut? because it has that kind of feel. a smutty musk with a rubber-ish note to it. i don't think my bottle has any drops of cognac in it...and i really don't get any vanilla. or vanilla cream. maybe "vanilla cream" is the colour of the cotton?

it does really smell like a more traditional fragrance, or like the ancient dregs of dusting powder in a century-old powderpuff.

i'm glad i have a bottle, and i'll put it away to see if it does anything interesting as it ages... but i don't see myself wearing it again.

 

edited because i can't spell tonight.

Edited November 30, 2007 by TrailerTrashPrincess

[porcelina]

black lace sounded so perfect for me but ultimately it's a little disappointing. the creamy cotton reminds me very much of white rabbit. the incense reminds me very much of the incense in the lurid library is smokey and spicy over a delicious layer of musk. in theory, these are all things that i should like, but i think it is a little too bitter for me. it tickles my nose and it's not entirely pleasant. as it dries down it smells *exactly* like the lurid library which is great but since i already own four bottles of that... yeeeeah. so i'm glad i tried this and i may test it a little more, but otherwise, i'll swap or sell it.

[Iceblink]

Total musk WHOA on first application--very Smut-like on me. But then you get the vanilla, and the tobacco, and I can barely barely barely get a hint of cotton in there. This is lovely--very delicate and ladylike after that initial blast of musk. As it sits on my skin I'm getting a faintly liquor-y scent in there which I guess is the cognac. A really pretty blend and I think it'll be even better after some aging! I don't regret my panic purchase of it.

[AliBabble]

whoa - smells intense, dark and delicious in the bottle - very heavy on the cognac and tobacco. on my skin: even more cognac and a lot of tobacco - almost catches in the back of my throat, but i like the intensity and dark brown quality of this. this is more masculine than i was envisioning...though when the musk, incense and sugar vanilla cotton (or whatever it is) appear, it sweetens up to a really great balanced scent. this is really unusual - i love when an oil is unusual. verrry smoky. the vanilla is very subdued, a "smoked" vanilla, is what it feels like, and the cognac is incredible. this is not a bright scent at all, but very muted, smoothed over, almost murky, yet quite distinct. great sepia-toned scent.

[Rheliwen]

This starts off sharp and woody...fairly masculine actually. It reminds me of another BPAL that I can't quite place. Maybe it's Intrigue but I'm not entirely positive. The incense also smells somewhat like Midnight Mass.

 

This is mostly musky, smokey woods on me with a grounded base of vanilla in the background. It's different than I imagined, more hefty and less like Antique Lace. The vanilla and musk really come out in the drydown.

 

This is totally my kind of scent. More so as the surprise than what I thought it was going to be. This is totally wearable for a man who doesn't amp sweets.

[Dymphna]

Okay, Black Lace smelled very different on me the first day I tried it than it did the second day, so I'm posting all my notes from both days. I don't think I underwent any major hormonal/body chemistry changes from one day to the next, so I can't really explain this. I'm just going to hope it doesn't keep changing.

 

Black Lace 11/29/07

 

In the bottle: Sharp and incense-y. I can smell the cotton, which reminds me of shampoo (in a good way, very fresh and clean) and the cognac, which is what's adding the sharp, smoky note, and warm incense. No vanilla, though. I hope it comes out once it's on my skin. On the whole, though, this is reminding me of some other BPAL, and I don't want to say that it's Spanked because I don't want to get myself all excited prematurely, but...it smells good. It doesn't actually smell much like Spanked, but the cognac in this (and, incidentally, in The Forbidding Foyer) has the same scratchy, smoky sexiness as the bourbon in Spanked. Yum.

 

Wet: Ooh, it does remind me of Spanked! Oh. For, like, a minute and then the cotton comes out and it's like drowning in cotton balls. I didn't even realize that cotton balls had a smell, and it's probably not the actual smell of cotton balls, but that's what it reminds me of. And I can smell the vanilla, but it's the powdery vanilla that I remember from Antique Lace, which is not my favorite.

 

Dry: No incense, no cognac, nothing but the same vanilla that was in The Perilous Parlour. And that smelled like scented toilet paper on me. And this? Yep, this smells like scented toilet paper, too. Not fair!

 

11/30/07: Trying again a day later. Yesterday, I tried this on my left wrist, so today I'm trying it on my left forearm. I don't know if it's the placement or a day's difference in skin chemistry, but it smells so much better. First, there's the clean, fresh cotton note. Then, sweet--but not sickly or toilet papery--vanilla and delicious smoky cognac. There's also a hint of soft musk (almost like the musk in The Lurid Library but it doesn't go stinky on me) deepening the vanilla. So then I put it on my right wrist, and it's still smelling good. There's the same progression from clean cotton to light vanilla and smoky cognac and soft-but-sexy musk, and maybe the barest hint of incense. The vanilla in the spot on my forearm is starting to get creamy and custardy now, about twenty or thirty minutes in. It's still slightly flowery/powdery like the vanilla in Antique Lace, but it also has more of the creamy quality of Underpants. They sort of switch back and forth. This is SO MUCH BETTER than it was last night. I'm so happy!

[blacklacestatic]

In the bottle: I'm not sure about this, it's not exactly what I was expecting. It smells more typically perfumey than most bpal I've tried. It's a little unsettling and mysterious.

 

Wet: The moment it touches my skin, i'm worried. It's a bit extravagant. I don't get vanilla, or tobacco or any of the things I was hoping for. I do smell cognac strongly. However it instantly starts warming to my skin chemistry. It feels so sexy, mesmerizing, maybe a tad bit wicked. The vanilla starts crawling forward.

 

Dry:Holy cow! THIS is exactly what I was hoping for. A bewitching combination of creamy vanilla and musk, with sweet tobacco and incense slightly coming through. I love how the lab description states that the vanilla cotton is "stained" by the other notes. That's a perfect description. My boyfriend loves it. This is, simply put, the scent of my dreams.

 

Overall: This scent is a friggin magic potion! I am completely enchanted by Black Lace, and I am so happy about that because I wanted this to work so badly. It has exceeded my expectations of it. I wanted to curl up with the bottle at bedtime and cuddle with it. I know that's just plain weird but this is the effect this had on me!

My hands down favorite scent so far. This would be a tough one to beat.

5 out of 5.

[slave1]

BLACK LACE

 

In Bottle: Vanilla floral

 

On Skin: I don’t see florals listed as a note here, but this scent is very helivly floral on me. The vanilla is second in line, really sweetening the scent and making it smooth and creamy. The florals are sharp, making me think there must be some form of rose in here, but then they quickly fade and I am left with beautiful smokey and resinous vanilla love. The funeral description fits perfectly. I picture an antique black lace hanky… scented with this. The smokey incense is beautiful, maybe that’s where the florals were coming from, a floral incense. The musk is dark and exotic and the cognac is a nice rich boozey note that lies at the bottom of the scent. This scent is very perfumey and very feminine… and perfectly Victorian. I have a bunch of Victorian inspired clothing and this scent is begging to be worn with those outfits. The cotton and sweetness of the scent reminds me of Monsterbait Underpants. This is totally “Black Lace Underpants”. The scent finally mellows out to mostly vanilla and musk… a perfect scent for me. So happy I ordered 2 bottles. This is a huge favorite for me. Light to moderate throw. Average to long wearlength.

[The_Merf]

Oh musk, I thought we had reached An Agreement. This is a reeeeeallllly musky blend, as the other reviewers have stated. When I first put it on, the tobacco combines with the musk to create something really sharp and almost headache-inducing. There's no softness from the vanilla or any sign of the cognac. As the scent dries down, there is more of a vanilla edge, but I don't find the combination of tobacco and vanilla pleasing at first. I will say that after about ten minutes this blend really becomes much more vanilla (a more tonka-like vanilla, really, which might be the influence of the cognac) and it mixes with the musk. This actually reminds me of a less intense version of Lysander. In fact, I would say that this is lighter Lysander + sharper musk. I definitely like this after it calms down, but it does not have a lot of throw on me and the scent does not have a long life (hard to detect except for a generic 'vanilla' after about 45 minutes). Still, this is a really lovely and refined scent that certainly seems very Victorian!

[fountaingrl]

Oh boy! This is one of the finest oils I have smelled yet! On me, Black Lace has the same sweetness of Snake Oil, but it is more refined somehow. It has the vanilla and the spice, but the smoke and cotton give this a greater depth and roundness if that makes any sense.

 

Wet on the skin this is MUSK VANILLA omg! And I love it even at this stage although it could be a *wee* less sweet. I don't know if I can do something this sweet all day.

 

On drydown the smoke aspect (incense?) warms the scent way up, and instead of crazy sweet I get smouldering deep sweet. Cognac comes on board, but not in an I-spilled-booze way. Wow, I am starting to go from "hm this is nice" to "oh YES!"

 

After about 20 minutes, this wonder finishes its major changes, and it takes on a skin musk aspect to the sweet smokiness and cognac. It is clean but dark, sweet but deep and tangy, and I am in major love. This may jump to my top ten after a few more wears.

[dawndie]

In bottle: piercing alcohol

 

On skin: lots of sharp white notes from the clean cotton, not much else appearing

 

Half-hour later: the tobacco and musk took a while to warm up, but thank goodness they're here now. It's much more mellow and smooth

 

In conclusion: Black Lace is a perfect example of the "give it time" blends, as it starts out very high-pitched but rewards me later with a darker, dreamier blend that has tremendous staying power -- 8 hours later I could still smell creamy vanilla and dusty tobacco. This is beautifully blended too, none of the individual ingredients are too dramatic and overpower the others. Very pretty!

[ForeverLastcXs]

This smells like a combination of Faiza the Black Mamba and Antique Lace. Since these are two of my favorite scents, I'm in heaven right now. This scent is absolutely gorgeous.

[Czarina]

In the bottle: vanilla cream

Wet: vanilla, musk, and incense, with a hint of cream

Drydown: incense with a hint of vanilla musk.

 

This is an extremely well-blended scent. It is actually fairly hard to pick out the individual notes. I usually just think "mmmmmm" when I smell it.

 

Above-average throw and wearlength. I'm so glad I took a chance on this one.

 

ETA: tried this in my scent locket. The linen and tobacco notes are more prominent (in the bottle, I can smell what seems like cigarette ash) in the locket, making this even more divine.

Edited September 3, 2008 by Czarina

[Pookstrell]

A rare event for me- I ordered two bottles of this because it sparkled with promise!

 

In the bottle this is a clean sweet-tinged scent, and it reminds me of another BPAL that I can't place. Then...

Boom- it's a cross between Antique Lace and Dorian! It has the sweet linen topnotes of AL, and the sugary base of Dorian. Fleetlingly I can detect slightly darker notes, particularly if I slather... yum. This is lovely, lovely stuff.

[Nightgaunt]

This is definately a bad-girl scent. It smells like Antique Lace after a really wild party. I love it.

[voodoobaby]

Black Lace is a very clean, sweet scent. To me, it smells almost floral, but not quite. I think that's the cotton. The musk is fairly prominent, and it mixes with the vanilla scent very nicely. I only catch the tobacco very lightly, and only if I sniff really deeply. I do get an incensey smell, but again, it's mixing with the cotton/vanilla/musk combo fairly seamlessly. Oddly enough, this strikes me as very exotic, and also quite comforting for some reason. It's not typically something I would really like because it's so clean-smelling, but I definitely do anyway. Mmm.

[olympia301]

Black Lace is one of the most beautiful BPAL's I have ever smelled. I do smell the cotton and a haunting vanilla which is strong and uncharacteristically long lasting (which is a good thing). The booze is there in the beginning, but it lightly fritters away. The whole thing is lashed with musk and lasts for hours as a good strong fragrance. I really love Black Lace and am glad I hunted it down and was able to buy it.

[theseagrows]

this is a musky vanilla-floral, though no floral notes are listed, this definitely smells "floral-oriental" to me. i LOVE this. easily shot up to the top of my favorites list. something here is reminiscent of carnation or chrysanthemum, but is neither one. the tobacco is warming and lovely, and perhaps combined with the vanilla gives me the floral feeling? i'd love to hoard many bottles of this one