L'Heure Verte

[edenssixthday]

Recoiling, you back away from the dicing. A large tent striped in many shades of green grabs your attention, and you walk towards it. You peer inside the open tent flap and see a room crowded with people in various stages of profound intoxication. Tables are littered with glasses filled with thick, cloudy emerald liquid, and candlelight glints on discarded silver spoons. The scent of spilled absinthe, opium smoke, lilac blossoms, and rose water permeates the stifling air of the tent. As you close the tent flap and turn to leave, you see a scantily clad server bend close to a rugged laborer that is sitting slumped in a sagging chair. A low velvety voice voice asks, "Another drink for you, Monsieur Lanfray?"

Spilled absinthe, scorched sugar cubes, opium smoke, lilac blossoms, and rose water.

L'Heure Verte - I was expecting a scent similar to Absinthe or La Fee Verte, but this one is really different. The absinthe note and the sugar note are distinct from one another and the absinthe is definitely not sweet, but does remind me of the scent of real absinthe. The sugar sweetens it up a lot. The rose water adds a subtle hint of floral to the scent and I don't smell the other notes listed in the scent description. On my skin, this is very subtle and doesn't have much throw, but the staying power is quite strong. It loses its sweetness the longer it's on my skin and after a few hours, it's mostly a faintly floral absinthe scent. It's great and I'm really, really looking forward to my CD Act IV & Act V scents to arrive at my door!

[kikithepirate]

Um, this scent is awesome in ways that I didn't expect. I've been craving some good rose scents lately, and I didn't expect it to come from L'Heure Verte! My skin generally amps rose, so when this dries down I get a light, slightly sugary rose smell. I don't smell much alcohol (which generally turns extremely spicy on my skin) or lilac, but I can tell that there are other things blended in there with the rose, making it smell slightly complex. This scent is not overpowering, though when I initially put it on, I was afraid that it smelled soapy, which is a common problem for me. Luckily, the dry-down calmed my fears, and now I have an interesting new rose perfume to curb my cravings! The only problem I detect is that it doesn't seem to have a ton of staying power on my skin.

[Honeygirl]

Bottle: Opium and absinthe, a den of iniquity

 

Wet: Mmm, I like this one so much better than I ever thought I could! This is the first time I've liked any scent with the word rose in it.

 

Drydown: It's sort of languidly naughty. It makes me want to misbehave.

3.5 outta 5

[Heavenlyrabbit]

the sugar comes out a bit later on me, so the initial impression was the absinthe.

 

What I noticed, without scent description around, was a slightly smoky quality and though tobacco? After logging on and finding "opium smoke" so maybe the usual BPAL opium note might be modified somehow, someway to include 'smoke'.

 

Rose is really far in the background.

[CordeliaSeduced]

It took me much longer than usual to smell this in the bottle: it was a light, clean, barely-there waft of wet sugar and absinthe, with a far-off hint of smoke. I was expecting the absinthe to come to the foreground on my skin, since alcohol seems to love me, but it almost immediately went to rose. Luckily, it wasn't the cloying, powdery rose I usually get, but a soft, wet rose over something like sugared licorice. The effect rather reminded me of someone trying to cover their illicit activities with a fine perfume.

While this didn't have remarkable throw, it did have some staying power: I applied at about 8AM and could still get whiffs of this well into the evening without reapplying.

[savage_rose]

This is incredibly sweet on me. It smells like sugary rose syrup...green syrup, what "Latka Gravas" used to drink on Taxi. The sweetness is tempered a bit by the green herbalness and a bit of the absinthe, but this still maxes out the Glycemic Index. I like it, but the sweetness is almost radioactively strong.

[AliBabble]

this is both lighter and sweeter than i expected...not so absinthe-y in the bottle, it reminds me slightly of litha - alcoholic, but more like a good beer. on my skin, the sugared quality blooms immediately, and i like this much better...i'm also getting a lot of the lilacs, which is great. this is a beautiful, delicate refined scent...old fashioned, evocative...definitely gives the woozy slightly psychedelic feeling of absinthe. it needs to be on the skin to really develop. i love this.

[oceandreamer001]

Wet: Absinthe and maybe the opium smoke.

 

On skin: Absinthe, scorched sugar and florals.

 

And then.............

 

The rosewater bitch-slaps everyone else to the back. The absinthe makes many valiant attempts to come back to the forefront, but is unceremoniously slapped down by the rose.

 

My skin amps rose horribly. We have a love/hate relationship. It loves my skin, I hate how it amps and takes over every blend. I was hoping that rosewater wouldn't be so aggressive, but no luck.

 

It's a really great fragrance, and I love it in the bottle. It's just my bad skin chemistry won't let it work.

 

Rats.

[Sushi-n-Sake]

In bottle: Sugar, green notes, and rose...uh oh. I thought rosewater would be less obvious than regular rose.

Wet: ROSE!! and sugar with a hint of opium

Dry: Rosy floral mishmash with a tiny bit of alcohol. Sigh.

 

Verdict: Like the previous reviewer, I have a horrible time with rose but thought the rosewater would make this wearable for me. Alas, it is not to be.

[Brianne]

Gah I was hoping that rose would be nice here and not drown out everything else. Unfortunately, it is very very very strong me and after wearing it for half an hour, I still mostly get rose and a tiny touch of absinthe. You'd think I'd learn my lesson about rose, but I just keep trying lol.

[maribouquet]

At first, it's as though the sugar and the rosewater came together adn had a pale, sickly honey-baby. The kind of baby that sits next to you on the airplane and screams for eight hours straight. Or in this case, 20 minutes of olfactory ick.

 

That blessedly backs off and I start to get bits of lilac and a slick of absinthe beneath that. I think it must be the opium smoke giving this a tar-like tang...argh, just as LHV started to get interesting, it faded into burning rubber baby buggy bumpers.

 

I had high hopes for this, but my skin says otherwise.

[trollgirl]

In vial: Sweet and green. Smells like a spiked rose tea. Very interesting.

 

Wet: Sugar, absinthe and rosewater. Delicate, but with a sinister edge to it. Smells like a Victorian slumber party gone horribly wrong (or horribly right, depending on your point of view). Has a very green, herbal and almost minty quality that I can feel in my nostrils and at the back of the throat. Mmm... I like it.

 

10 minutes later: Sniffing this is making my head spin. The minty coolness I felt at the back of my throat has turned on me. I feel like I've down one too many tequila shots. Am I getting drunk off the absinthe and opium fumes? I feel like I've had a night of hard drinking and partying. Judging from the description, this was the intent, and L'Heure Verte is a roaring success. I like it but I have to wash it off right now. Good grief, my head is killing me.

 

Overall: A beautiful scent, but potent and deadly. To me anyway. Something in this really doesn't agree with me. This is the first fragrance I've had to sleep off.

 

Edited June 19, 2008 by trollgirl

[Josh]

Don't ask why, but smelling this makes me think of old Victorian houses. It's somewhat of a ghostly smell.. somewhat phantom like. Maybe this is because of the rose... which by the way, this is the first rose scent I actually enjoy... so rose haters shouldn't dismiss L'Heure Verte right away.

 

I think rose + opium sums this one up nice. I'm not getting anything absinthe/anise/licorice here... but I'm not worried about that because the rose is actually really nice here. I saw a thread on this forum about what oils people wear before going to bed... they should consider this a prime candidate. Very quiet/ghostly/silent/whitepink/ethereal to me.

[alicia_stardust]

I thought I would like this, but not love. I was so wrong. I adore this one. It's a lot more subtle than I expected yet it's deep and languid and sexy. It sits close to my skin but seems to have a strong presence nevertheless.

 

I get mostly a light absinthe scent which tends to remind me of bright green liquid, a touch of anise, a touch of wormwood, and a touch of lemon. The light absinthe scent is sweetened by the sugar cubes to take away any herbal bitterness, yet it's not too sweet because the opium smoke whisks in and adds an element of dryness and sophistication. I can only barely detect the lilac and rose water, but I can tell they do add in some subtle floral nuances. As time passes, this settles into a semi-smoky, semi-herbal absinthe blend. It's really quite remarkable and while it doesn't smell like La Fee Verte or Absinthe it is a must-try if you like either of those.

[ForeverLastcXs]

I had high hopes for this one but the blasted rose comes in and ruins things for me AGAIN! I should have known better than to order three of the new CD scents with rose in them, but I never learn. This smells sweet and sugary in the bottle, not overpoweringly so, but in a nicely subtle way. On my skin, everything but the rose water disappears. Woe is me. This one will have to find a new home.

[neuilly]

Mostly rosewater with scorched sugar cubes. It's not achingly sweet on me like others have described but I'm aware of it. I also get a dash of opium in the background. Not what I was expecting but it's rather nice.

[oakmoss]

I wasn't crazy about this either on first try -- it was nice, but not fabulous on me. But then I layered with with a little Absinthe, on the theory that what was lacking was just one more drink. The roses linger in the background, but the anise and lemony notes come forward. It stays soft, doesn't go sharp or overly herbal, just a lightly smoky freshness, if that makes any sense. Great for hot summer days. If you are unsure whether to keep your bottle of L'Heure Verte, get yourself an imp of Absinthe first and experiment!

[slave1]

L'HEURE VERTE

 

In Bottle: Sweet and… pickles?

 

On Skin: La Fee Verte is one of my favorite scents so I was very excited for this. It’s beautiful… it’s much more … um… naughty than La Fee. La Fee to me is elegant and refined, where as L’Heure is a bit sour and up to no good. The sour is from the rose water… very tart. I smell the absinthe (pour me a glass?) and the opium smoke creates even more of a feel of debauchery… a smoky and thick haze. The lilac and sugar cubes sweeten the scent slightly, but the rose water dominates. Overall, the rose is a tad too strong on me. So I will stick with La Fee Verte as my absinthe scent of choice. Strong throw and long wearlength.

[sookster]

straight sniff from bottle is rose, lilac and a touch of absinthe...delightful!

 

once applied this remains tried and true...so beautiful...

 

this has terrific throw and undeniable sweetness...

[puck_nc]

Origin: decant from eviltemptressdq's circle

 

Initial Thoughts: Mainly I was curious about the absinthe. I like lilac but I don't tend to care for smoke scents. This was a shot in the dark.

 

In the Bottle: Boozy and smoky and very green from the florals. It has a medicinal edge that almost smells like Nyquil to me.

 

Wet: Well darn you, rose! That green-stem stink that I often get with rose notes is there and strong, with the sweet smoke of the opium trying very hard to compensate. But the absinthe is on the rose's side. I can't pick out the sugar at all unless that's what I'm identifying as the opium.

 

Drydown: Alas, this just turns sour on me. It's frustrating, because under the sourness of the rose I can detect some really beautiful notes. But I am defeated by my skin chemistry.

 

Verdict: This will go to someone else.

[iiinterstate]

I couldn't help trying this one even though rose+me=always bad.

 

It smells almost tart. I definitely get the opium smoke and absinthe. I can't pick out any scorched sugar which is a little disappointing, because I LOVE that smell. Lilac comes out after a few minutes, and weirdly, for the first time in the history of my BPAL addiction, the rose is nowhere to be found.

 

I do like this quite a bit. It smells a little more perfumey than the average blend I go for, but it might be high time I added something of this caliber to my collection. The longer I wear it, the more I like it.

[gecko]

This one started off as boozy sour rose in the vial. As it dried, the rose, opium, and absinthe were fighting for control. I never got any sugar or lilac. Eventually they settled down and blended, and surprisingly the rose didn't dominate. I didn't like the scent though. My husband calls it soap from the underworld.

[filigree_shadow]

This one smelled quite boozey to me at first, and then later like sweet lemon and a little bit of anise. It's a bit on the sour/tart side -- it's so sweet I think I'd lean towards tart over sour.

 

If you had asked me what rose water smelled like, I wouldn't have been able to describe it to you. However, I'm quite sure I can smell it in this. Although I don't smell lilacs, I do smell rose, and the scent also seems to be slightly dewy. So I bet that's the rose water.

 

It took me several months to decide that I liked La Fee Verte, and I think it would take a while for this one to grow on me too. I probably won't be that patient this time, though, since I already have plenty of LFV.

[mothglitter]

Wow, everybody else gets rose out of this...what's wrong with me? LOL

 

A small, gaslit Victorian parlor. Sprigs of lilac & mint bundled into a thin emerald vase, in which is tucked a stick of slowly-burning incense, beside a crystal flute of pale green absinthe.

 

It's like lilac-mint in 2 forms: burned as incense, or misted with absinthe. Green, pale lilac, & cool brown.

 

Beautiful, which is probably why I bought 4 bottles

 

Decent throw, too, and lasts a long time.

 

ADDED July 8:

 

Angelfish, don't envy my sniffer; sometimes it likes to play tricks on me Seriously! I mean, I may get a smidgeony hint of rose in this one, but only as a mild floral backdrop. Mostly minty lilac on me. And yet other blends may smell entirely different than what they really are. Weird LOL

 

L'Heure Verte was just one of those rare surprises for me that I was like, "okay, open this bottle, not really looking forward to it, ordered it on a whim, WOW, AMAZING!" Wish you got better results with it; everybody's different though. I personally hate when absolutely lovely stuff just goes moronic on my skin

Edited July 9, 2008 by Shollin

[angelfish323]

Alright, I took a chance. Sure, I saw the rose water at the end there, but . . . it's water, right? I mean, rose water, but . . . diluted rose? Maybe?

 

I thought - mmm, sugared absinth. Sounds lovely.

 

Rose. All I'm really getting is ROSE.

 

And, well . . . that is not a good thing for me. Because most BPAL rose, on me, goes to powdery play-dough.

 

So, mothglitter, I envy your inability to get rose out of this blend.