Glasgow

[jj_j]

The rich scent of wild blackberry breezing over gentle rosy heather.

Sniffing the bottle, I was worried about the possibility of one of those gel-cone-things on the back of my grandmother's toilet being the result, but her bathroom should smell so good. It's hard to write this review from the floor, where I'm busy twitching in complete ecstasy.

For Easter last year, I bought potted heather plants and gave them to my then in-laws. My mother grew up in eastern Oklahoma, and we often go pick blackberries when we visit my grandmother. This is the perfect combinaton of fields of what that heather, along with baskets of not-too-ripe blackberries and a few of their crushed leaves, would smell like.

[sirensongsouth]

To me this is a slightly sweet heather. Beth provides the perfect name and description for this! Based on sniffing my wrist alone, you can just envision a bunch of heather blooming near some craggy hills in Scotland. I like this a lot, its a really nice casual Sunday relaxed fragrance perfect for lounging around, reading the paper and of course smelling really really nice.

[Donnababe]

This one is an ideal pick me up scent for me. A lively scent, not a lazy one. I love it's freshness and the slightly sharp not sweet fruitiness (it's not at all cloying, like I find orange and pear scents to be.)

 

Personally, I wouldn't call the heather rosy, to me it's more of a herb/floral but I like it a lot.

 

It doesn't have great staying power with me but I would consider buying it.

[JazzieCazzie]

I was a tiny bit concerned when I saw that one of the notes was blackberry, since generally I don't get along well with fruity scents, but this is my first official keeper ...

 

At first, I kept getting this evocative and pleasant sensory memory of something I couldn't quite place from childhood ... though since I grew up in a city, it certainly wouldn't be that of fields of heather ... maybe a child's cologne or one of those Liddle Kiddle dolls that came in its own bottle of perfume???

 

The heather is the overriding scent on me, though I definitely keep getting whiffs of something rosy ... It isn't strong but six hours after putting dabs on each wrist it is still faint and lovely ...

 

Both my daughter and my husband like it on me as well, which is very rare ... I don't think it's something I'd wear everyday, but definitely something that makes me feel good, doesn't get cloying, and everyone likes.

 

REVISITED AND RE-REVIEWED MAY 2013:

 

This may have been the first BPAL scent I ever reviewed because I can't find anything earlier offhand, though based on my first sentence it wasn't the first one I tried. And while I know now that it's not something I would order (again, based on the notes) I was interested in trying it again so ordered an imp in a recent big purchase.

 

IN THE IMP: A lovely scent of spring, slightly moist as if a light rain had fallen.

 

Dabbed on wrist and in crook of arm.

 

WET: So very delicious when wet. I feel like if it were stronger it would be too perfumey for me, but it's very light upon application so I can see why I liken it to some of my early childhood smellies.

 

DRYDOWN: Sadly, now, the drydown is just too strong and, indeed, department-store perfumey.

 

OVERALL: I think this would be a great bath oil, the assessment I often make of scents that are wonderful when wet but not so much on me when dry.

 

On a scale of 1-5, about a 3.

Edited May 10, 2013 by JazzieCazzie

[darkling]

This is a very gentle scent on me. The heather and blackberry mix evenly with neither one drowning out the other. It would be a perfect blend for sunny days in the spring or summer.

 

The only negative is that it doesn't last long on me. A couple of hours and I am in need of a touch-up.

[Dispatcherbert]

JazzieCazzie wrote:

 

At first, I kept getting this evocative and pleasant sensory memory of something I couldn't quite place from childhood ... though since I grew up in a city, it certainly wouldn't be that of fields of heather ... maybe a child's cologne or one of those Liddle Kiddle dolls that came in its own bottle of perfume???

 

I think what you were smelling was the scent of Mr. Bubble (if you ever bathed with that as a child). When I initially put this on, that was the overwhelming scent (to both me and my husband). On dry down, however, it thankfully mellowed into a cloverish-blackberry smell that was sensational! This was worth the 5ml purchase.

[magpiedee]

Oh, but I *adore* Old Glasgow, as I knew I would!

 

This oil is my first taste of the Venerable Cities, and I can see that these scents are not just a one-stop-shop, but an entire city experience, moving through the area with different layers of meaning. Old Glasgow does not last as long as I would like on my skin, but pleasant travels never last long enough, do they? Just as I return again and again to the places I love, I can apply Old Glasgow again and again to enjoy its subtle nuances and delicious dry-down.

 

The first smell rolls in from the sea, sparkling and bubbly and sharp, with the tang of salt on the air and gray, billowing skies. Next, the scent moves into the city, with a twist of alcohol, manliness and a metallic zing. Lastly, it saunters down a dirt road onto the moors, with the heather spread pinkish beneath a billowy sky. I enjoy the three separate moods I feel in Old Glasgow-- it reminds me of reading Hound of the Baskervilles in middle school and imagining the lonely, endless, sad, mysterious beauty of the moors. OG is all soft and blurry, the color of a rainy day in between spatterings, the dusty gray of heather and artemesia, the softness that only comes when plants are pelted with water. An evocative new favorite.

[MilkAndSugar]

Old Glasgow is definately blackberry when sniffed from the vial. The heather is there too, very clearly. This is a light purple scent, uplifting and calming.

 

From the vial, it's an aquatic and fruity scent. It's light, breezy and the kind you get a hankering for after you've been smelling like Snake Oil for too long.

There's something in it that reminds me of how rain smells. You can't really smell it when you sniff the oil closely, but it will reveal itself when you 'step back' a bit.

Also, when I inhale the scent and then breathe out through the nose, I strangely get a scent of black tea. Not brewed tea, but the scent you get when you smell a dry teabag.

Lovely.

 

If this scent was a book it would be a magickally illustrated book about the faery folk. I get Froud when I smell Old Glasgow.

 

And if this scent was a song, it would have to be "Cloudbusting" by Kate Bush.

 

 

The scent doesn't really morph much, at least not on me, and the drydown is just aquatic blackberry-heather goodness reduced to a whisper.

It lasts longer than I expected, being such a transparent and ethereal scent. Still, it needs a touch up later if I want to keep the scent going.

 

Now if you'll excuse me, I'll just continue to sniff my heavenly scented wrists. *melts into chair*

 

To me, this is a perfect summer scent. I must get a bigger bottle of Old Glasgow, definately.

 

-Milk

[Northernminx]

I bought this, as I bought a few other scents, purely because of the name.

I'm pleased to say that it lived up to the risk quite admirably and definitly adding this to my "small bottle" list.

 

In the bottle: crisply floral, a little strong.

 

On me: Mellowed to a beautiful, crisp heathery scent very much invocative of heather blooming on hills with a gorgeous breeze on a clear day. I never picked up much of the fruit but the blackberry came out a bit later on though this scent predominantly remained a clean, fresh flowery one. I adored it, a good pick me up that wasn't over-powering.

 

Wear test: Lasted most of the day on me! Yay! (I'm finding that this is a big thing with perfumes on me, I tend to just wear through them)

[Shollin]

First sniff: A rich cool berry scent, much more restrained than Bordello and cooler than Bewitched, with a whisper of green and craggy stone and an undertone of the sea.

 

Wearing: Chilly… it’s reminiscent of the deeper-than-physical chill I felt at Culloden. A cold, remote winter-evening purple. It’s somehow not fruity even though the core is berry – what I call fruity scents are much sunnier than this, and Old Glasgow is all low-hanging clouds and wind-shredded wisps of mist around the mountains. This is not, at all, a bad thing. I LOVE the brooding Highland chill.

[rainbow]

This is the scent I've been most looking forward to, and I must say, I'm not disappointed, not in the least. In the bottle and wet on my skin it smells predominantly of heather- a beautiful floral. As it dries the blackberry really comes through, and the scents combine beautifully. This is a favorite, it makes me think of all the beautiful cool colors of the rainbow- greens, blues, and violets. It also inspires images of hiking across windswept moorsi n the summer, surrounded by wild grasses, with the occasional wild flower or fruit. The scent remains fairly constant for the duration of its life (about 4 hours). Towards the dry down the sweetness of the blackberry intensifies.

[Ishtar]

I am utterly in love with this oil and I don't even know how to describe it. I wish I could find words to explain how wonderful it makes me feel.

 

Let's just say that this is the perfect balance between fresh and fruity, between crisp and juicy. It is a fairly straigthforward kind of scent that somehow manages to be truly out of the ordinary. Unobtrusive yet full of personality. It is uplifting and grounding at the same time. This oil has been of invaluable help in keeping my sanity during a pretty rough month of June.

 

I am probably influenced by the name and my love of all things Celtic, but every time I put Old Glasgow on, I think of the old traditional song "The wind that shakes the barley": airy, poignant and beautiful.

 

Beth, this is downright wonderful

Edited June 26, 2004 by Ishtar

[Ina Garten Davita]

First Impression: Sharp and thorny. No berries here.

 

Second Impression: All heather and no berries or sweetness.

 

Final Analysis: I'm having a bad day today. This one isn't working for me either. I wish I could, but can't win them all.

[VelvetSky]

Out of the imp, this is dark fat sweet blackberries and some sort of sweet floral under-note. I don't think I've ever smelled heather, but it's a strong powdery kind of dry sweetness under the berries. This goes on fairly strong.

 

After a short while, the sweetness calms down and I definitely get that aquatic tang, just a hint of salt air.

 

I absolutely adore the drydown of this blend. The first blast of sweet berry when wet was just a bit too much for me, but it does calm down very quickly and morphs into something wonderful. I'm going to enjoy wearing this in the dead of winter when I need to escape to a wonderful summery place in my mind.

[pekeana]

Let me preface this by saying that I love blackberries and I love heather. They apparently, however, don't love me together. Separately, they do, but together? Not at all.

 

In the bottle, Old Glasgow is big, ripe blackberries that are getting ready to fall onto the heather-covered ground. There's a slightly acidic note like the berries are just a touch overripe, but it's not unpleasant.

 

On me, for the first five minutes, it was nothing but heather -- no sweet, no berries, just strong heather. I loved it!

 

And then, at minute six, it all turned bad on me, and I had to go scrub my arm with dishsoap and rinse it with vinegar to get rid of the scent that was nothing if not Old Dirty Diaper.

 

I really wanted to love this one, and on my mother, it's nothing but sweet, sweet ripe blackberries. But on me, it's just... indescribably heinous. I don't even want to try it again because of the evil smell that came off of my forearm.

[any_old_actress]

FIRST SNIFF: heather

 

WEARING IT: i knew i wouldn't like this scent but tried it anyhow! i don't like the way heather smells on me and this is a whole lot of heather! i do catch a faint whiff of the blackberries which is nice but not enough for a larger bottle. as it wears on, it turns soapy to my nose as well - so this really didn't work out on me.

 

VERDICT: not for me.

[vitawash24]

I was really looking forward to trying this one, and I loved the way it smelled in the bottle, sort of fresh and green and sweet and sharp all at once. I could really detect the blackberry scent and it was delicious.

 

Unfortunately, my skin does not like green things. At all. Poor Old Glasgow turned vile on my skin. The blackberry disappeared and this icky flowery scent kicked in instead. Just awful. I may be forced to figure out a way to use it without actually putting it on me, though.

[TygherRayn]

What is it with me and not reviewing the good stuff!

 

In the bottle: This is the blackberry from darkswan's blackberry apple soap! It's sweet, and dark, if that makes any sense whatsoever. I don't know anything about Glasgow, but I know this scent makes me think of something cool, and kinda twilighty-purple.

 

Wet: This is powdery on me, but .. it's not the 'oh god, how much baby-powder are you wearing!' but more of an 'Mmm .. that's a lovely scent' powder. And there's a fruity smell lingering, hovering, just out of reach, which only reinforces the twilight imagery for me.

 

Wearing: Mm. Soft. This is a sleepy scent for me. It's dusk, not dawn, and it's just sweet enough to be wearable all day. I've not been disappointed with many of the Wanderlust scents .. and this one doesn't disappoint either. There's rose in it too, which only makes me even more pleased!

[Alice Aforethought]

This makes me smile, because it reminds me a bit of home. I come from the North Yorkshire Moors, with bilberries and then the moor top less than five minutes (very steep) walk away from my old house. But this scent isn't my moor, with its rugged, fierce, bleak beauty, but a gentler, tamed, rolling moor sleepy in the hazy evening sunlight.

 

It is a sweet scent with a lovely deep, rounded quality to it which calms that tendency into something slightly wistful.

 

Every time I think the scent has disappeared from my skin, another faint waft emerges - it has a subtle staying power that surprises.

[Falathwen]

This is one of the scents which astonished me by changing completely as it dried down. Wet, it was strong and green with a tinge of floral (probably the heather.) It reminded me of a blackthorn oil I once used.

When it dries on me it changes abruptly to a soft blackberry, which was absolutely lovely. Sadly, after the blackberry note came out it faded rather quickly on me. This scent seemed more suited to my husbands nature than to mine. Interestingly, he is of partly Scottish heritage.

[malanna]

I'm not sure if this is right, as I don't think I've smelled a blackberry scent before, but to me, the heather was more prominent. This is a warm breeze blowing through the heather. Actually, it reminds me a bit of Queen Mab (less orchid with kick and not mischievious).

 

ETA: I just saw Bewitched, which made me realize that it smells a bit like Bewitched, too. I guess it has a similar berry smell (but not bright) over the heather.

Edited August 16, 2004 by malanna

[Vicious Mistress]

I love Old Glasgow! It starts out as a smooth flash of dusty warm blackberries and mellows out into lovely, unobtrusive heather.

 

Definitely a big bottle of this one.

[Anita_Blake]

I wanted to love this, as I love the idea of the descripition. I love all the smells that are supposed to be in it. Unfortunately...

 

In the bottle, first sniff: Air freshener. The spray stuff from hotel bathrooms.

 

Wet, first application: Strong air freshener. But at least it was berry-ish-scented.

 

Dry : Johnsons Baby Powder. Loads of it!

 

Only two hours later: practically gone. But can still smell Baby Powder.

 

*sob* and I so wanted it to be lovely...

[sarahjay]

tried this yesterday & I love it! even more than old venice, which I liked a lot.

 

I'm going to have to think a lot harder about describing scents before I can post coherent reviews......

 

(am a bit worried I will love all 17 imps that arrived - how will I chose a big bottle?)

 

 

eta - march 9th - well, I then went on to ignore this lovely little imp in favour of morocco & venice from that batch of imps. today however, after a series of unsucessful trials of various blends containing either plum/pear/peach (all yukky on me) I tried glasgow again. the blackberries are soft and gorgeous and the heather stops it being too yukky sweet/cloying on me. I really like this all over again & feel the need for a bottle in time for summer. I'm off to drink some more blackberry tea now...

 

I've had such luck with the wanderlust oils

Edited March 9, 2005 by sarahjay

[Miggins]

Wet, Old Glasgow smells *exactly* like a bowl of freshly picked blackberries - very green, earthy, wet and fresh. On the drydown, it sweetens up considerably, but is fairly understated on my skin. Very sweet and innocent scent - ruddy cheeks and flowing hair on a windswept Scottish isle is the image that springs to mind - but not really me.