Ave Maria Gratia Plena

[HennaFairy]

A pale, delicate, truly angelic blend. A scent created to emulate Adonis' halo of beauty: fragile, distant, and radiant. Rosewood with Sicilian lemon peel, red Mysore sandalwood, pale musks, sweet mountain sage and a dusting of lily, night-blooming jasmine and orris.

bottle:
musky floral and incense

wet:
incense, some citrus, a little floral…

dry:
the citrus came out strong just as it dried, but now it's backed off. A really nice blend, incensey mostly, but a little fresh/sweet from the fruit/floral notes. Not long after, starts to get a little soapy… and then almost disappears. huh? Strange one…

overall:
moments of pleasantness, but not meant for my skin.

rating: 4/10

[Eunice]

In the bottle this is all sandalwood, musks and lemon peel. A surprisingly nice combination so far! On my skin the musk comes out first, followed by the sandalwood to make this a headier oil. No lemon peel now. The sage is so very subtle but a lovely addition. The jasmin shows up last to make this a more ladylike scent. And oh! There's the lemon peel! I can't believe how much I am loving Ave Maria Gratia Plena. Another large bottle to add to my wishlist!

[batsy]

In the vial: rose/sandalwood. Strong.

 

On the skin: Again the jasmine strikes! The roses were strong along with the musk but as it dried down the jasmine ran in and destroyed me. I just can't win with anything jasmine.

[kakiphony]

In the imp:

Bug spray. I shuddered as I put this one on.

 

Wet:

The bug spray smell was still there, but I could get a little sandalwood with it.

 

Early Dry Down:

After less than five minutes the jasmine in this had begun to amp itself and all I could smell was jasmine with a sharp, dry undertone. About five more minutes and the other florals had begun to come through and sweeten the blend. Unfortunately, they also made me sneeze uncontrollably.

 

Late dry down:

I will admit that this late dry down description is not quite as late in the process as most of my reviews. After about 45 minutes I had to wash the oil off or risk a vision-clouding migraine. This seriously had me seeing a halo around my vision and it totally filled my sinuses.

 

Logically, I know it did not smell bad. It didn't smell like rot, or garbage, or cat piss. It smelled like flowers. Perfectly lovely, perfectly evil flowers. The jasmine was the dominant note and it was paired with other florals. This gave me the same sort of reaction that traditional perfumes have always given me. It was like being stuck in an unventilated elevator with Mimi from Drew Carey.

 

Conclusion:

Thank god this is going out in the mail in the circular swap. I don't think I could even stand to have it in the house. Seriously.

 

Horrible.

[filigree_shadow]

At first this smells mainly like lemon, but that fades into a strong floral. I can't really smell any sandalwood, which is too bad. I think there's some musk under there, but the florals are so strong I can't really tell much.

 

I do think this is pretty, but it's not my style. Too floral for me.

[Ryvre]

In the imp: Lemon and something herbal. I like this a whole lot, but my boyfriend practically recoiled from the imp.

 

Wet: Green and herbal. A bit of floral, too. I still like this a lot, but my boyfriend won't come near me.

 

I ended up washing this off before it dried down. My boyfriend wouldn't come within 5 feet of me, and I only put on a dab. I liked it a lot, but not enough to make the raction from my boyfriend worth it.

[darkitysnark]

This was a generous frimp from The Perfumed Ferret.

 

I'd put my standard jasmine disclaimer on here, but over time and through various circumstances (mostly frimps from the lab, but also other generous forumites) my jasmine prejudice has been worn down to a tender little nub. I'm just not getting the "meat flower" scent I used to. Strange how that all works.

 

Having said all that AMGP starts out all jasmine, as all jasmine blends do on my skin. Perhaps sensing that this would happen, I backed off on my application... or maybe it's just the nature of this blend, but AMGP is extremely subtle and gentle. I'm getting almost no throw on it now (about four hours later)

 

I do get the slightest hint of the lemon peel and sage wafting up from my neck, a very slight tinge. This is just about the most lovely lemon of the lab's I've ever had. Most lemon comes off as Pledge for me, so this is a huge accomplishment. Maybe "peel" is the way to go for me.

 

Close to the skin the jasmine is all but gone. In its place is a creamy, summery scent that I'm guessing is the sandalwood and musk (which are always lovely on my skin, but usually not this... diaphonous?).

 

This is not at all anything I would have picked for myself, but I'm very glad it found its way to me (thanks again, PF!). The "aftertaste" is very similar to another BPAL blend I tried very early in my BPALing, but I can't quite remember which one. Possibly Sudha Segara (less Pledgy) or Queen of Sheba (less sultry).

[purrbox]

eh? men's blend? really? i don't see anything even remotely masculine about this.

 

it is VERY powdery. in fact, on me it turns unfortunately to nothing but baby powder. with maybe a *tiny* smidgen of lily. like baby powder dusted lily, with the powder dwarfing the lily's scent.

 

in the bottle it smelled mainly herbal- green but in an incensey kind of way. totally morphed on me. i'm disappointed.

[edenssixthday]

Ave Maria Gratia Plena – The Lab description says this is a “men’s blend” and then at the end it says “gender neutral.” So which is it? All I know is it isn’t a blend for me. But for some reason, the frimp gods seem to think it is, as I keep getting frimped with it over and over and over! Anytime jasmine, musk or sandalwood are in a BPAL blend, it’s bad news. Throw all three in together, and it’s headache city. The Lab description notes that this is “pale” and “delicate”, but on me, it’s really strong and heady. Not only that, but it’s sad. It’s the olfactory equivalent of a funeral dirge played in a minor key throughout. I keep swapping or frimping my frimps of this away, but there seems to be a never-ending supply coming my way from the frimp gods. Maybe that’s a sign that someday I will enjoy it more than I do at this point in time.

[BronteJD]

Generous Frimp from the BPALers...thanks!!!!

 

Bottle: Very light-scented floral blend.

 

Wet: Goes strong and floral very fast. Incredibly feminine and elegant, old-fashioned, but in a good way. Not musty or stuffy at all. Reminds me alot of Jean Patou's old scents, like Amour Amour and 1000.

 

Drydown: Hmmm....got a bit stronger than I was ready for, but seems to be muting down into something softer. Not getting anything other than floral scents, though. No lemon or anything else.

 

Not sure about this one. It's definitely not "pale and delicate" on me. It's strong stuff. I do like it; again, there's something very elegant and refined about it, but not sure if I'm going to be ordering a 5ml of this or not.

 

BronteJD

[forspecial_plate]

It's a pretty scent....smells floral, and I really (still) don't know my florals all that well, but this smells on the powdery side of floral to me. Surprised me to see all the notes because I don't detect jasmine, lemon peel, or even sandalwood really, unless it's all just blending so well I can't pick them out. But I should be able to pick up the jasmine because that usually stands out for me. I get powdery floral with a slight herbal green background, which is nice and pretty but not for me. Another one that I think my mom might like.

[yellowrose]

This imp is traveling as part of the General Catalogue swap.

 

This particular batch of imps -- Ava Maria Gratia Plena, Hymn to Propserine, Jazz Funeral, Jolly Roger, Juke Joint – consists almost exclusively of notes that give me trouble. These include booze, jasmine and … well Here it's the jasmine.

 

Because I’m way, way behind and want to get the imps circulating, I’m sending it on its way having sniffed it in the bottle and determining that, well, for all the BPAL scents I love, I just don’t want to risk not loving it.

 

Safe travels little imp!

[Jerre]

Ava Maria Gratia Plena

 

A soft, multi-flowered scent attracts us with a subtle hint scent of chocolate baking, somewhere not-too-far away.

 

Summary: A comely, subtly-exotic floral aroma with chocolate undertones.

I doubt few could resist this imp!

[kuanyin]

I love every single note listed, except for orris. And it seems to have the capacity to ruin a blend for me, even as the last item listed. Actually, it doesn't ruin this, it is nice enough. It would be more accurate to say that it keeps me from loving it. It just never catches on for me, although I was impressed that it smelled best hours later. I caught just a hint of throw late in the day and loved how my wrists smelled at that stage. And I only applied a speck since I'm not supposed to wear scent to work for now....

[sofiaviolet]

White white white floral. I'm mostly smelling jasmine, and that makes me happy. I'm surprised the lemon isn't stronger, because that kind of note usually is. Not complaining, though. This smells a lot like New Orleans.

[cranberry]

In the imp: light smelling, herbal

 

On the skin: this oil is still light smelling. It has a bit of a bite, a touch of bitterness. There are flowers here but they are subdued, light, almost translucent. Yes– this is a scent that is light, airy, translucent.

 

There’s an underlying base of wood and a touch of clear musk. Nice. It smells like a crystalline, nighttime scent. With a clear sky. Flowers in the background.

[fiddledragon]

When first applied to my skin, this has a waft of soft woods, herbal notes, and lemon peel. My first reaction is that the scent is very sad. I wonder what association I have to something here to give that kind of immediate reaction? As it dries, it becomes a powdery rosewood-lemon with some jasmine and musk. It's still so...melancholy and full of longing. I like this "lemon peel" much better than the typical "lemon" note -- it's a bitter lemon smell rather than the juicy lemon that tends to stomp all over everything as soon as it hits my skin. But I'm not sure I can wear this one very often if I keep getting this strange emotional reaction to it.

[mmmitchell]

This was a lab frimp.....THANKS!

 

In the vial: Soft, pale, creamy white flowers....I don't get a big citrus thang on this, nor do I really get any of the woodsy notes or musks.

 

Wet: ......OK......waiting for any bottom notes to develop on this.....hmmm....still all white flowers. Don't get me wrong. I LIKE white flowers, I like jasmine for that matter, but this blend could use some grounding on me, and that's not happening.

 

Dry: This stays lightly floral on me for quite a while. After about 45 minutes, I get a HINT of the sandalwood, but by that time, my scent-eating skin makes that somewhat superfluous, as I'd have to get my nose directly into the crook of my arm and seriously snuff away. Darn it. This just doesn't do it for me.....it's a nice smelly, just not something I crave a big bottle of. My impie will probably get some luvvin' as a linen spray, however.

 

I'm trying to imagine this as a guy's scent, and can't.....at least not as it presented itself on MY skin. Almost too pretty to be masculine. However, not all the notes came out to play on me....I think I'd like (VERYMUCH) the scent on a man if all the woody notes were there, too. Could be quite yum.

[supremegoddessofall]

Mostly jasmine, alas. Lightly musky. Not really getting much lemon peel or sandalwood at all, and the other florals are pretty subsumed in the jasmine.

[oh_the_horror]

In bottle: It's hard to say since it hurts my nose. Jasmine mostly, something floral and sharp, very mild and gentle lemon, some soft woods, I think I smell the lily.

 

Wet and drying down: Jasmine and lily combined and it smells just awful on me. This reminds of a really cheap air freshener. I think the lab's jasmine is the worst note I've smelled on myself yet. It hurts my nose and turns my stomach. Ech, it just gets worse and worse. The lily kind of smells like a burp. I don't smell any of the woods. It's all jasmine and lily.

 

Dry: Sour florals and dollar store air freshener.

[Brianne]

In the vial:

Shit, it's jasmine.

 

On me:

I always hope that jasmine will stay away from me in blends where it is not a major player. Those hopes are usually crushed though when I discover that in almost all blends with jasmine, jasmine will come and stink me up whether there are a million other notes in there or not.

 

Soo..... yeah, diapery jasmine.

 

Final note:

Jasmine is bad to me, it just makes everything stink on me. If you don't have that problem with jasmine don't take my review to heart.

[Voleuse]

This is, yes, a pale blend. Very light, very sweet, very airy. It strikes me as a floral blend, but I can't detect the floral notes in it. Instead, I smell the lemon, the musk, the sage, the wood. And yet, I think floral. This is a pretty, wild blend, and extremely complex. I wish it lasted longer, and had more throw--it disappears quickly on me. While it's around, though, it's gorgeous.

[being_brianne]

I am so glad that I gave Ave Maria Gratia Plena a second chance. The first time that I tried the scent it was perplexing to me. Do I really want to smell like incense? Is this going to annoy me?

 

I told myself that I'd give it another try and if I still wasn't sure about it I could always trade.

 

No need! I love the complexity of the scent. It makes me feel smart and grounded. I'm going to hold off on ordering a 5ml bottle of this until I've worn it a few more times, but it's certainly a possibility!

[little_galaxie]

BLAARRRRGH super strong, heady florals and incense.

 

As of yet, I think this is the only BPAL I've actually had to scrub off

[Righthandimp]

I like this one. It's sweet (others have said "like honey", and I can definitely see the connection to a darker, more exotic flower honey), but not too demandingly so.

 

I can't really pick out single notes. I've been wearing it for about 3 hours, and it's been good the whole time.

 

I've been having a problem with the deeper musks like Fire of Love (and, to a lesser degree, Scherezade), and with the heavy florals like Shadow Witch Orchid - but this is lighter and more blended, and it's very nice!