London

[impolight]

Venerable Victorian Tea Rose… twisted, blackened and emboldened with wickedness.

 

Having recently spent a semester abroad in London, this one comes with a bountiful measure of almost pure adrenaline riding the frothy crests in the swirling Sea of Supposition. Surely this is meant to be allegorical; while there is much about London that is absolutely black, twisted, and simultaneously elegant, the resplendent raunch of the real world is ever at the ready to shatter your reverie. Anyone who has ever pressed up against the steaming throng whilst riding the Picadilly Line can attest to this... Digression!
Beth's genius is sure to shine through any nastiness. Rose may not go over so well with some of the assorted populus, but She will always get a warm reception here.
From the Imp: Roses. Clean, clear, crisp, crystalline. Dotted with dewdrops or diamond dust. This is a pleasant surprise. From past experience, a good deal of the Rose-based formulas yield an oil that is ghostly, greenish-golden in color. This oil could have dripped from a glacier. The Rose in London is luminous and stately, graceful and poised. This is a stroll through an immaculate garden in the mists of morning. London is beautiful, shining, and tastefully subdued thus far. There has been absolutely no muddling of the spice cupboard or the char mentioned in some of the other reviews. Perhaps the best Imp fortunately found a loving home here.
On the Skin: London remains refreshing and light. The subtlest succulence has developed here; the dewpoint has magnified and the only comparison that comes to mind is that bite of the perfect watermelon. This in NO way smells like watermelon itself, it is simply remniscent of the same refreshing quality. London is the proverbial Rose that annoints those lenses that enables a soul to see the world as it should be. London is THE hub, THE haven, THE pinnacle of evolution and enlightenment. This is about as gorgeous a fragrance as anyone could expect for pure, unadulterated notes.
On Her, London is shining eyes, moist, glowing skin, and a kiss like like a basketful of berries. On Him, London is unruly hair and a smile that quiety thrills on a countenance that is inexplicably, inappropriately cherubic.
Another masterpiece from The Lab.
5 out of 5.

[undream]

A full & beautiful singing rose. What else is there to say? A keeper for this girl!

[ajodasso]

When I want absolute rose overkill, this is what I wear. I swear I can smell resonances of just about any rose varietal that I can recognize by scent alone, and that's at least five or six. This is a marvel of layering within a single type of floral note(s). I'll always keep it in stock!

Edited August 19, 2012 by ajodasso

[Quillifer]

On me this is just rose, plain and simple. I'm very disappointed, but at least it's only an imp. I'll keep it - I like it as it is, but where is the blackened, twisted, wickedness in this? I love BPAL's way of working and I'm determined to hunt down something more here - I'm not great at detecting notes so I will persist.

 

I would say that this is more the idea of a rose, rather than the reality. A city person's rose, not as they buy it from a florist but as they think of it; a person you think of as a Fair Rose perhaps. I put a lot on but it's blending in with me very quickly.

[theredshoes]

In the imp: Very very sweet, and slightly chemical. A little more "perfumy" than most BPALs, to me.

 

Wet: Immediately less sweet and less strong -- there was a slight soapy edge at first, which had me worried, but this fades into a quiet, simple, quite pretty scent. It might be good for someone who's not sure if they like rose scents, or a delicate office scent for a woman. I don't get any dust, blackness, wickedness, or boldness at all, sadly. There does seem to be a note which is suppressing the rose a little bit and keeping it from going either powdery or soapy, which is nice, but I can't tell what it is.

 

Drydown: This doesn't change on me much, except it continues getting ever fainter. Someone said "translucent" earlier and that sounds right -- it's more essence of rose, or preserved rose, rather than a strong fresh flowery smell.

 

Dry: My skin ate this pretty fast, so almost no throw, but it had good staying power for such a delicate femme scent. I'll keep the imp, and maybe get another one, but I'm not that interested in a bottle, mainly because on me it is pretty much just one note and it fades very quickly.

 

The verdict: I agree this is maybe more English countryside than London, unless it's a shady little corner of Queen Mary's Rose Garden. Sweet, quiet, maybe easily overlooked -- this is more of an Anne than an Emily or Charlotte perfume, Cassandra rather than Jane. -- Actually now that I think on it this is really kind of a Jane Bennet scent. Sweet, steady, classy, delicate. It's sort of a young pretty perfume, rather "girly" -- which isn't bad, just really, really not my thing. I tend to prefer the more complex "storytelling" BPALs too, and this is definitely not one of those. It's maybe the closest I've seen BPAL come to a more simple "regular" perfume. Which isn't to say it's bad at all, it's very sweet and pretty. I wouldn't include it in a BPAL starter imp pack, but I might suggest it to someone who's put off by the stronger scents and more elaborate descriptions. I also might put it in a BPAL rose imp pack as a contrast with the more complex and strong rose blends, some of which do turn to powder or soap.

[vanillabean]

In the imp: Rose. Real rose, like when I go outside and stick my nose in the flowers growing there. Occasionally I get a waft of something sweet, and sometimes something powdery.

 

Wet: Rose and lychee soap.

 

Dry: Rose and lychee soap.

 

Verdict: I like rose. It is one of the florals that doesn't give me a headache, so while this is not something I would a) slather or grabbyhands for a bottle of... it is a wearable scent. It might also be fun to try layering it with others, since this is pretty much single note rose on me.

[Aromantism]

There is such a thing as too rosy. It smells incomplete and overbearing at the same time. Not my personal scent.

[Foodie]

London, on me, smells exactly like The Peacock Queen. I mean identical. I LOVE Peacock Queen, so this is a good thing. I'm overjoyed to have a GC equivalent that I can turn to when/if I run out of Peacock Queen. So happy to have a bottle of this beautiful scent!

 

:love!:

[sonderland]

In the imp:

 

Sweet, smoky rose.

 

First time on:

 

I’m still mostly smelling the rose, but there’s something drier, almost chalky in the background…it smells a little soapy to me, but I tend to associate flowery smells with soap. I’m also getting a little of what might be lemon.

 

After a while:

 

Yeah, that was definitely lemon. For a while, it turned into…not quite lemonade, but definitely a subdued lemon-in-a-drink smell, with some rosewater in there. The rose eventually came back out again, but the lemon stuck around. I was told that it kind of smelled like tea with lemon in it.

 

Overall review:

 

I’m kind of ambivalent about this one. It’s a nice scent, but I already have Lemon Scented Sticky Bat for when I want to smell like lemon, and I’m not all that crazy about perfumes that have a mainly flowery smell. I’m glad that the smoke I smelled in the bottle never made itself apparent on my skin, because I have a bad history with smoke bases. I’m trying to be choosier about what I keep, so I’ll probably be giving this away. It was nice to try out, though.

[kaberett]

Rose. Just... rose. Gently dewy, lightly polleny rose. And it's not turning to powder on me. And it's lovely. Ros all the way down.

[zewtsuit]

I don't know, to me as it's my hometown, I feel London should have had a bit more depth to it- maybe some smokey, leathery notes instead of just plain rose. Was a little disappointed. I wanted more wickedness, damnit.

[ObliqueRed]

In bottle: a powdery, slightly sharp rose

 

Wet: Rose with something sharp/spicy underneath

 

Dry: Stays rosy with an elusive hint of the sharp/spicy note- I'm guessing this is the "wickedness"- for a few hours, then becomes a powdery rose. Throws fairly well for a while and then lingers close to the skin; at the end of the day I can still catch whiffs of this on my wrists.

 

Verdict: I like this a lot, but I'm not sure it's my One True Rose. I have a lot of other rose blends to try first.

[Teaker]

A very old fashioned rose perfume. That's it, just rose. I think it would make a nice room scent, reminds me a bit of my grandma. I know there is supposed to be some kind of evil, twisted core of this scent, but I sure can't find it.

[brilliantcat]

This is one of those I fear is just going to be bad because of my track record with rose notes, but I am determined to try all GC imps when they come my way, sooo... In the imp, yep, that's rose. I think tea rose as that is one of the varieties that *can* sometimes not be awful on me, but it's the only note I can find. Where is the twisted wickedness? This is so clean and light it verges on soapy. In fact, it reminds me of a bubble bath I used as a teen/tween that was heavily rose-scented. Oh ergh, it dries down to bitter, soapy rose. Nopenopenope.

[JuliskaMarie]

In the imp: Exactly as described! How do you make an evil-smelling tea rose? I have no idea, but they've done it!

Wet on skin: The rose is very faint on me & whatever it is that's causing the smell that I can honestly only describe as "wickedness" is much stronger. This is very strange.

Dry on skin: The wickedness-note has faded back down & the tea rose has come out a little. It's like a very faint & slightly more wicked version of what it smelled like in the imp.

After a few hours: It's almost not there now! An even more faded version of what it was when dry.

Verdict: This is a very cool scent in the imp, but on me it pretty much just disappears. Another one for the "someday when I have a scent locket" pile!

[dementia_divine]

In the imp: Tea rose, yes... with something not quite right.

 

Wet: Same. First, I get tea rose, and then the 'blackened' aspect mentioned in the description, which is becoming more prominent over time. I was trying to pinpoint what it was, and then I realized that it is a black tea note. I wouldn't expect anything else from London!

 

Dry: Rose and the Lab's black tea note. The black tea note had a black licorice vibe at one point, but it never veered into complete black licorice territory (thankfully).

 

Verdict: This one isn't for me (as I prefer my floral notes paired with something sweet), but I do think this one really fits its description!

Edited January 11, 2015 by dementia_divine

[Minh Scent]

Hmm. First wiff wet-overpoweing tea rose that quickly settles into a softer version. It is almost a dead ringer for Perfumers Workshop Tea Rose, but not as long lasting. I am not getting any of the darkness mentioned in description or what others in above reviews have pointed out. I love rose, so my only whinge is it dissipates quickly.

[d0gbones]

In the imp: Sweet tea and rose

Wet: Something's gone wrong... chemical and a little like the aerosol in spray deodorant

Dry: This one's weird on me. Some days it smells a bit like wet tea leaves, others, a light rose. Today is a rose day.

[Anita]

I like roses. I do. They are my favorite flower. But I have yet to find a rose scent on here that hasn't morphed into something headache inducing, or that makes me think of sweet little old ladies. I was hesitant to put this one on to be honest as rose has stabbed me in the back a few times. Maybe that will be the "wicked" part of it?

 

In the imp: straight up rose, but it reminds me of the minature roses, not big velvety ones.

 

Wet: Yes there is something in this that has me saying these are cute little pink roses, all clustered together. Dainty. Nothing that I would construe as wicked has shown up.

 

Dry: Not much throw and it appears to be struggling to stay on my skin. Almost as though it's afraid of overstaying it's welcome. It has been tempted to turn soapy on me, but hasn't yet, so that's a good thing. Still no wickedness.

 

Overall, I think I like it. I definitely like more than other rose scents I have tried, but I think my imp is enough, no bottle necessary.

Edited June 16, 2015 by Anita

[Soupy Twist]

Perfectly captures the essence of rose from bottle to wrist. If you like rose perfume, this is the one for you. (If you think rose perfume smells dated and sickly sweet, skip it.)

[themeaningofV]

When I first put this on, it borders on doing the weird funky/sour/rotting thing that quite a few other roses tend to do on me, but it never fully reaches that point. However, once it's dried down, it's a really lovely mix of tea rose and black tea leaves! I'll have to hold onto the imp and test it a few more times before deciding whether this stays or goes.

[andabri]

This is a very perfumey, sweet rosy scent. A deeper smelling floral, but I wouldn't call it blackened or twisted exactly. I agree with the reviewer above that it has a very old fashioned vibe to it. Stays the same way from beginning to dry down.

[LizziesLuck]

I love Rose. I am systematically testing all the Bpal Rose blends, looking for my perfect Rose.

 

 

Turns out Tea Rose is lovely on me. It's very pure and sweet. I'm not getting anything "blackened" or particularly wicked out of this, though there is an undercurrent of something darker, just faintly detectable, and it's entirely possible I'm imagining it.

 

What I look or in a Rose blend is one that doesn't go powdery or soapy on me. I like sweet Rose rather than a Rose with a lot of green in it.

 

This is a win on all accounts for me. Sweet without being sickly, and not a hint of soap or powder. Lovely.

[SimplySyra]

I'm very hesitant about rose as I often find that my skin amps it into something sharp,sour,and shrieking. So I was hesitant when I got this as an imp.

 

Not here! London was a pleasant surprise. In the imp it was a bit sharp but on my skin it instantly transformed into a soft sweet rose powder. And this is not a bad thing. Delicate, elegant,and traditional in the best way possible. I do not get anything dark or blackened about it, to be honest, which is a little sad. Still a lovely scent, though!

[aquazoo]

Ring around the rosie. It comes up as a sweet, pure rose.