London

[jj_j]

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

I found this one to be lightly rosy, but in a crumbling, dried rose sort of way. Add in a sputtering fire from the alleyway; a bit of wet wood. Not too sweet, with an musty earth smell under it.

Wore well throughout the day, but without turning into an overpowering or cloying tea rose scent. Nice!

[viciousviolet]

I love this scent. For me, it was the perfected tea rose. Normally I find rose perfumes to be too cloying and almost sickly. Old London was a dry, light, crisp rose. Subtle and sophisticated, and very feminine.

[Damask Rose]

I LOVE this one!! But then I am a huge fan of rose. I usually don't like tea rose at all as I find it too insipid but this one is anything but insipid. It is a really clear rose smell, almost like a single note of rose, but there is something in it that is making tea rose stronger than usual and adding some depth. Will definitely be buying a bottle of this.

[divajen]

With the tea, this one made me think of an ancient rose. Delicate but beautiful. I bet Elizabeth just nailed the smell of Old London with this one! (I'll have to ask my Mom-I know she liked it a lot).

 

Jenny

[Paintsnked]

Another Favorite for me!!! It was just wonderful and Rosey. Not too sweet like some Rose fragrences it reminded me of a rose in full bloom or the old fashioned climbing roses before they were made to look pretty instead of smell wonderful...

[Sarah]

Very rosey, but I kind of associate it with Maiden. Very light and elegant in its own way. It doesn't smell too "wicked" to me, but then again, I'm new to this perfume stuff

[paperdoll]

Initial Sniff: I was apprehensive as I don't wear rose particularly well, and this scent is ROSE. I like it very much in the bottle.

 

Wearing: Oh my god! I finally found a rose I can wear! I wish I knew what it is about this that makes it so wearable on me! The roses are dry, not juicy, which makes an impact.

 

Final Impressions: A beautiful scent. Unfortunately, it fades quickly.

[Ms. MSGirl]

I agree that this smells like a very crisp, dry tea rose on me -- more akin to the innocent spiciness of Maiden than to anything black or twisted, which is just *wonderful* by me. It has something in addition to the rose that is making it just a touch deeper, a bit of wood maybe, or even a touch of fresh lemon?

 

I can take or leave pure rose scents and don't really consider myself to be too moved by them. But a few minutes after I had this on, I noticed that I was humming "The Rain in Spain" and "On the Street Where You Live" and basically the whole score of My Fair Lady absentmindedly to myself... Elizabeth works in strange and subtle ways, I tell you! This is, indeed, the Covent Garden flower market at dawn, on an English spring day like today where it could be sun or rain, there is absolutely no telling!!

Edited April 7, 2004 by Ms. MSGirl

[tafkap4d]

Not a rose fan at all but it is something in this that just SET ME OFF!!! I loved it. Almost transforming, as their scents are. I plan on ordering a full size of this.

[amberbella]

I was hoping I'd love it, but it just smelled like bug spray to me. A nice rosy bug spray, but bug spray none the less.

 

My hunt for the perfect rose scent continues.

[Absinthe]

I love rose--it's my signature scent. I must have ten bottles of rose oil, each of which has its own scent.

 

Old London did not smell remotely like roses to me, either in the bottle or on me. I'm actually wearing it today, but I'm regretting that I didn't bring another imp with me today. I'm sad to say that one of my first trials of BPAL doesn't work for me.

 

As Amberbella and I seem to be the only ones who didn't love this one, and I received mine in a swap from her, maybe it's just this particular sample. I can't pick out any particular single note--it just smells like generic dept. store perfume.

[savage_carrot]

Love, love this scent....reminds me of yardley's tearose which was quite popular when i was a kid...only way more refined and sophisticated...it has a certain maturity about it...it's not wet or juicy but when you put it on it can smell a bit raw...after than it changes into a dry powdery kinda tearose...amazing...I'm a big fan of rose and this one is perfect. Lasts quite some time if you layer it.

[Belleshazar]

I can not stand rose scents. That being said, I love this one.

When I first opened the bottle my first reactions was....ewww rose. But I put it on, as you must to get a true 'taste' of the scents, and I fell in love. This is one of my favorites.

[Jenmaha]

I LOVE this!!!!!! Normally, I like rose, but no big deal...this, however, is absolutely gorgeous. It's rosy without being powdery or wet....just beautiful.

[darestodream]

My friend used to wear Attar, by Aveda, and it was the only rose scent I could even stand to be in the same room with. It was sweet and womanly at the same time, and though I knew I wasn't much of a rose person, whenever I smelled her perfume, I almost wished I was.

 

Well, this scent has given me reason to think I might be a rose person after all. It has only the hint of sweetness, and mainly offers up a slightly warm, dusty smell, as if roses have been drying in a sunbeam in the attic, pressed between some good books. When I sampled it, I could not stop smellling my wrists and smiling. I do try to find a perfume that affects my mood a bit, makes me feel stronger or sexier or kinder or more interesting, etc., and this did none of that. It just smelled really, really good, and gave me reason to include a different rose scent in my next order. I have to see if Old London was a fluke!

 

Sadly, I dumped the entire imp into a diffuser while filling out job applications for England (I needed ambience and good luck, of course). Not only did I not get the jobs, I used up all my imp! I may have to pick up another one at some point.

[octopusgrrl]

In the bottle: a sweet light rose.

 

Wet: this reminds me so much of “4711” eau de cologne! Very lemony, with a layer of tea rose underneath.

 

Dry: the rose comes out more, and develops into a beautifully gentle rose scent.

 

Verdict: I liked this much more once it dried off, and I'll probably wear it again.

[Scylla]

I don't normally like rose scents, but I liked this one very much! It was included with my most recent order and I didn't look at the description before trying it yesterday.

 

In the vial, it is a very strong floral. But it didn't strike me as being entirely rosey. Couldn't pick out the other floral notes, though.

 

Wet, it was still very floral, but "rose" wasn't the first thing to come to mind.

 

On drydown, the roses became more prominent. I'm not usually a rose fan, but I like the rose in this.

 

This was a very long lasting scent on me--I put it on at 8:00 in the morning and could still smell it wafting after 5:00 pm.

 

It is a beautiful, complex floral scent. It strikes me as something that a very proper English lady would wear to a polo match. It's just not me--I'm not English (or proper, for that matter!)

Edited August 25, 2004 by Scylla

[lixolux]

i normally can't wear rose scents but this one - Old London is so *dry* it reminds me of ballet classes when i was a younger and specifically a recital piece in which we tossed rose petals up in the air and danced upon them, this scent has that fresh petal scent, and also a little of dirty pink leather shoes and musty backstages. a real memory scent for me.

[Lady Ravenglass]

Light and pale roses, not insipid rose, more foggy and covered in mist, like an autumn evening in an old city. There's a wistful undertone that obscures all the skyscrapers and neon signs and floats you down cobbled sidestreets and past iron railings to the Thames.

 

Sadly, it doesn't last long on me, and requires topping up a lot. It's also a bit too autumn-y for this indian summer of ours. I shall wait for the new term to start and the leaves to fall.

[Miggins]

The first thing that sprung to mind with Old London was "Harlot-Lite".

 

Much drier - more a tea rose on a summer's afternoon - but doesn't really have enough weight to it for me.

[ChupaChup]

This was included in an order as a freebie, thank you, I'm so glad I got to try it. I was a little leery due to the rose in this as rose tends to go somewhat sharp and sour on me. But Old London is such a soft rose, I guess that's the tea rose, that it smelled quite lovely. I think this is a beautiful scent for someone who is really into florals but as I prefer a little more depth I decided to swap it. Still, a lovely oil.

[Ina Garten Davita]

First Impression: Roses blooming in a cold rain.

 

Second Impression: Old London is roses with a touch of hazel. It's very old fashioned...white gloves and bustles, hansom cabs and a posh accent.

 

Final Analysis: Good staying power. Not my favorite rose blend, but lovely. I will enjoy using the imp.

[Astarte]

This is a very nice rose, although it goes a little powdery on myself. Definitely one to add to my rose collection however, as the civilised rose.

[stardreamer]

This was a freebie, and one I never would have ordered -- I'm not at all fond of rose smell. But I decided to give it a chance; after all, Roadhouse worked out much better than I'd expected.

 

In the bottle: Ew, I don't think I'm going to like this, it's all rose. Applying *very* lightly. After 15 minutes: Still rose, rose, and more rose. I'll see if I can hold out for an hour or so; maybe it'll settle, or something else will come to the fore. After 30 minutes: Ew, ew, multiple ew. I can't deal with this, I smell exactly like the secretary at my old job who *bathed* in cheap, stinky rose-scented stuff!

 

Scrubbed it off and slathered on some Bliss to cover, and tossed the shirt I'd been wearing into the laundry. There's still a detectable rose tinge under the chocolate, but at least now I can stand myself. No need to even ask R. about this one -- away to the swap pile it goes! Someone who likes smelling roses would probably love this, but it's not for me.

[scourgeotheseas]

I love "Old" London! It's a perfect tea rose scent, old-fashioned and beautiful. While I don't think it's one of the more adventerous BPAL oils, it is certainly one of my favorites.

 

In the bottle: Lightly rose scented.

On/wet: Mmmm...reminds me of walking in the Rose Quarter in Portland.

As it drys: The notes don't seem to change too much on me. It starts as tea rose, ends as tea rose, and the only difference I notice is the intensity.

 

If you don't like rose, I certainly wouldn't try it. However, after a day of Zombi (yesterday) and Spellbound (day before that), it is at the top of my current heap of gorgeous rose scents.