The Raven

[TessaGi]

Sleek, dark, and ominous. Violet and neroli mingled with iris, white sandalwood and dark musk.

(this is my first review, so please be kind!)

In the Bottle: First sniff - hippie shop! Cue panic over, 'Oh god, is this BPAL thing gonna work out for me after all?!' But on second sniff, the Raven morphs into a dark, lightly sweet violet floral that manages to be both strange and pleasant at the same time.

On Wrist/Wet: Same as in bottle, only the floral's toned down a bit. That's all I get - a sweetly dark, mellow floral. I can't keep my nose away from my wrist.

On Wrist/Drying: The violet kicks the iris out of the picture, only letting the neroli peep onstage every so often. No word from the sandalwood or musk. It smells like generic violet candy or perfume, with a twist. Also, this sticks really closely to my skin - I have to jam my nose right up to my wrist to smell it.

Later: Powdery violet. Nothing else, just violetvioletviolet. Also, it's started to fade - it only lasted about an hour on me.

Final Verdict: It's lovely, but probably not for me. My mum's probably going to love it, though; she's a fiend for violet and neroli.

(edited to add Lab description) Edited September 10, 2008 by DorianGrace

[Hawke]

Violet. Interesting. Violet doesn't usually work. I can smell it in the imp, but I think the neroli sweetens it up and keeps it from being instantly powdery to my nose.

 

Wet on skin, though, there's the powder, even if it is sweet. It's sort of like a powdered SweetTart to me, and I'm not at all sure why this scent should invoke anything about The Raven or *any* raven. It is, however, the first scent that I can honestly say smacked me with a color association. It is very purple.

 

This gets muskier by the second, which cuts down the almost-painful violetness of the scent, but dark musk is one of those that usually goes off on me. It's not terribly long-lasting either, another plus in a scent that doesn't work well for me. It fades down to a very light, powdery floral that's difficult to smell even with my nose pressed against skin. Definitely not a keeper.

[KyrieArashi]

Imp: Motor oil. x.x At least that's what it smells like to me. There is something creeping beneath the surface, I just can't figure out what.

 

Wet: This brings back memories of being a little girl in the bath tub with pouffes of powder, apothecary jars of decorative soaps, and wooden walls surrounding me (we had a very unique bathroom). I think this must be the violet, but with a soapy undertone that... isn't bad.

 

Dry down: The sandalwood is peaking out now. I seem to remember some sandalwood soap in that bathroom of the past!

 

Later: Within an hour or so, it is gone. Sad... ;-; It is a nice trip down memory lane and I may get a bottle just for that reason.

 

Very light throw, like it is meant to be very personal.

[gchris]

In Vial: Floral perfume

 

Wet: Getting stronger, still floral

 

Dry: Still smells floral but now has an aged note.

[Coldfire]

Imp: mostly the violet, and I do get a dark vibe from it

Wet on Me: On the skin it gets darker and the iris shows up over the musk.

Drying Down: the floral disappears now….and it’s the sandalwood and musk now. Not bad it is still giving me a dark vibe

Dry: mostly the musk now. Not bad. Glad I got to try this one.

[voodoocatwoman]

VIOLET!

 

That is all.

[Suu4LC]

Violet, neroli and sandalwood in the imp. Not getting too much musk. This is nice, but nothing too exciting, and I have the feeling that on my skin the sandalwood will amp and drown out everything else.

 

Ok, on my skin the dark musk comes out a lot more...kind of a musky neroli scent now...with a touch of sandalwood. Lost the violet, which is too bad, because that was my favorite note out of this list. I am going to let this sit for a bit and see how it settles.

 

Ok, my fear did not come true-I lose the sandalwood in this almost completely-and the musk! Pretty much just neroli and violet. Meh. Not really sleek or dark or ominous. If you are a huge violet fan, try this out, but it was nothing special for me.

[Pika]

I got a lot of straight-up violet too, with the dirty musky scent that doesn't really play well with my skin. As it faded, it got sweeter and kept reminding me of Parma violets, and not much else.

[suki]

in the imp:straight violet

 

wet on skin: same.

 

dry down: same!

 

in all: i get no other notes from this, which suits me fine, as violet is my favorite floral. i was hoping to see what a dark amber would be like with such a bracing flower note, but i'll be content with this being what it is.

 

 

[tajana]

Smells pretty in the imp... nothing attention-grabbing, but many scents smell innocuous in the imp and fabulous once applied. Unfortunately, on the skin it was unimpressive. I like violets, and neroli can be nice, but the florals turn out feeling very soapy. Perhaps iris (the only unfamiliar note for me here) is doing this, perhaps it's just the way that this is interacting with the white sandalwood. After it's dried down and spent a while on my skin, it's... floral soap with a bit of wood. The musk is not prominent at any stage and I don't get anything dark or ominous from this... actually, it's quite clean and harmless smelling. A relatively quick fader that stays close to the skin.

[missrini]

This is quite a nice scent for me, but nothing extra special. It's all violets and musk and I don't get any neroli at all (wet or dry). Perhaps my nose is not good enough to detect it? Anyway, I do love floral scents, so the violet is quite agreeable initially. On drydown however, it becomes baby-powderish and soapy. Not such a terrible smell, but not really what I was hoping for. Also, The Raven flies away very quickly! I only get about 1 or 2 hours before it's faded so much that I really have to press my nose to the spot and sniff realllllly hard

[asciident]

Wet: Watery cologne.

 

First on: Still cologne. Ick.

 

Dry: Unchanged. Too manly for me.

[rayvn1]

This should have been awesome Somewhere along the way though, the lovely darkness turned to powder-city on me.

[Bluestocking]

In the imp: Slightly sweet floral, but definitely ominous, as promised, with just a tinge of something like decay. This is mostly violets with a touch of iris, with the dark, shadowy musk underneath. I don't really get neroli here, and I expect the sandalwood will come out later.

On, wet: This is somewhat deeper on the skin. The neroli comes out with a slightly bitter tang, with the iris and violet just behind, just slightly powdery. The musk is strong and dark and a little sinister underneath it all, grounding the flowers.

On, dry: Musky violets with some biting neroli and a haze of sandalwood. It's sweetening up a bit, but still a very shadowy scent thanks to the musk. Really surprisingly faint and pale.

Later: Very light, mostly crumbly violets and pale sandalwood with a shadow of deep musk, as the iris and neroli have all but vanished. That makes this a much lighter, drier perfume, sweet and fleeting. By now, it's very much like Veil.

Overall: In the imp, this is a grassy-sweet, almost green sort of violet--almost, almost a little bit vetiver-ish, as in the lighter, cucumber-like vetiver in Bluebeard. It deepens on the skin a bit as the musk and neroli come out to play, but it never had enough presence for me; I love violets, but I like round, full, profoundly purple violets, which this is definitely not. It's suitably shadowy to start, but it dries down to a very light, dry, almost ghostly violet perfume with just a little bit of musk and not nearly enough sandalwood. Maybe it's because my imp is of indeterminate age, but I definitely didn't get the deep, dark exotic floral that others have mentioned. If anything, this is high and shallow and sharp for my tastes, even though I like florals a lot—exactly like Veil.

 

 

[ladypyrate]

Wet, I can't describe ths smell. I am not getting the floral that everyone seems to smell. Once applied, some of the aniseptic smell dissipates, and I do get a bit of the violet smell. After a while though, all I get are the musks and sandalwoods. I guess my skin chemistry encourages that! I may get another Imp to decide if I *really* like it, or if I just want to try another scent...

 

[reina]

There's a reason I'm wary of scents wit violet in them. This blend is a good example. on me, it's just violet. Nothing there to temper that dusky, dusty, unpleasant quality that violet has to my nose. I don't think I get any neroli in this. I smell some of the Iris in it, but honestly I prefer Iris to violet any day.

off to swaps.

 

[fairnymph]

Sniffed in imp: Light yellow oil. Violet and iris, classically floral, feminine, and velvety. There's a bit of clean, bright, citrusy neroli and fresh sandalwood. Overall very light, but there's a slightly rotten edge, and a hint of powder.

[magikalbrownies]

violet and sandalwood .....WHY DO YOU HATE ME?? seriously, i wanna hit you in the face.

 

i wanted to like this one. but the sandalwood just isnt good for me...

[liquidtrance]

The Neroli seems familiar. The other florals are soft, not quite soapy, warm. Not a total love, but no strong distaste. Unremarkable. Almost just a bath&body smell to me. Unobtrusively benign. Gets musky towards the dry down. You can definitely tell it's dark musk, vs normal. Overall, swappable.

[donnatron]

Imp: Thin violets and neroli over dark musk.

 

Wet: VIOLETS! Lots and lots of violets. As a violet nut I can assure you that this is no problem. The neroli is a secondary note and dries down a bit dusty. I can smell the sandalwood and dark musk lingering.

 

Dry: Hot damn, man. Orange blossom never disappoints and this winds up being a beautiful violet/neroli over soft sandalwood with the barest, clinging hint of dark musk. I don't know why I haven't bothered with this imp for so long because it is drop dead gorgeous.

 

Throw: Moderate.

 

Overall: Just send the bottle my way. This is a masterpiece.

Edited June 22, 2009 by paperrose

[topazphoenix]

The notes in The Raven are very straightforward - violet, balsamy sandlewood, and a slight whiff of sour neroli peeking around the edges. It's somehow dark purple and mysterious and yet playful. Very evocative. I'm glad I have a bottle.

[skylarkza]

In imp: I smell violets and purple. Don't ask. I just do.

 

Wet: ZING! PURPLE and violets. I think the neroli may be adding the zing.

 

Dry: Oh wow. There is something woody adding depth to the scent now. Still violets and still a bit zingy. But with a rich wood backing it up and bringing out its best qualities, beautifully contrasting them. Very delicate and perfectly balanced. Dark without being dangerous, just delicate. I am loving this at the moment.

 

A while later: This is a curious scent - it does not seem to have stayed well on my wrists (where if I huff them I get a vague scent of watery violets), but every now and again it (the beautiful scent from the dry stage) seems to waft up from my collarbone and catch me unaware. Hmmm... will have to try again at a different point in my cycle and check if hormones are making this one act oddly. Otherwise its like a bird flying past every so often just to make itself known - but very pretty.

[symphonyinsilence]

After having been won over by Ulalume, I wanted to try another Poe-inspired scent. I love violets and I was hoping this would work for me. Unfortunately, I can't even remember the top notes. Only thing that stood out was the talcum powder (can't be sure if that was the sandalwood or the musk). But I hope there'll be more of his writings as scent inspirations/names!

[sarandipitee]

Play-Doh (really STRONG play-doh) and sour baby powder is all I get from this one. And I had such high hopes!! Definately going to the swap pile.

[angelicruin]

Violets and musk are mainly what I am getting with this scent. Very nice. Delicate, but dark at the same time.