The Raven

[ami226]

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

On the skin: kind of herbal and bitter. With a slight hint of floral.

Definitely not one of my favorites.

[HamletsKeeper]

Well all the notes listed are known to work with me so it's little surprise that I like this scent. It doesn't smell how I imagined. One would think from the notes it would be sharper and fresher, it's actually a very fuzzy and cuddly scent tending towards sweet and powdery. Violet is definately dominant here and as this is my first experience of violet I realise now it's another love note. Very similar to orris it's just fabulous on my skin. Strong with great throw and longevity.

 

This is a dominantly violet and black musk scent. If neither or those notes appeal to you then best to skip this one. I'm not ordinarily a black musk lover finding it too sweet and nauseating at times but the violet cuts that aspect of it and I find it works in this one. Not an everyday scent that's for sure this one is definately an evening scent. It's strong, sweet and lasting. A violet version of Black Rose and an almost exact dupe on my skin for Dragon's Bone. Dragon's Bone I adore but it doesn't last on my skin, yay for The Raven being to me what Dragon's Bone isn't.

 

I cannot smell the neroli in this one which isn't a surprise to me as neroli is a note that disappears fast off my skin, as much as I do adore it. Similarly the sandalwood plays a minor supporting role. This scent is overtly feminine and quite traditional in feel. If you're after something fresh and modern then The Raven is not it. I'm encouraged to seek out more violet now.

Edited December 15, 2009 by HamletsKeeper

[vampirerevenant]

"Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered, weak and weary,

Over many a quaint and curious volume of forgotten lore..."

 

These lines come to mind while wearing this. It's like being in an old library of the kind you see in older times, musty and filled with the scent of flowers and paper. It's a little strange, as I'm not sure if it's too masculine for me, but I can imagine wearing this while working at the bookstore.

 

I can almost see the baby powder scent mentioned in this one. It's close to it at times, but not quite. And I will agree that it is definitely not an every day scent at all, but oh do I like it. :3

 

[Venneh]

Getting violet, iris, and dark musk in the imp, vaguely reminiscent of the Velvets for me. On my skin, it's more violet and iris than it is the dark musk like in Velvets, we'll see what it does.

[voorishsign]

I got an imp of this mostly to compare and contrast with Raven Moon, which I love I'm a bit worried about the florals here, but sandalwood and musk sounds good.

 

Yikes. Florals, florals, and more florals. No musk, maybe only a very light dusting of sandalwood. On drydown - bleh. No thanks. Dry, faint florals and just a bit of soapy musk. Raven Moon all the way

[mxtine]

I love neroli but I can't smell it in this blend. I'm on the fence about violet. I'm getting a cucumber smell from this and it morphs from musk and violet to musk and cucumber and back. It's giving me a headache.

[SophieCedar]

Wet: violet and white sandalwood with a touch of iris. Smells dark and feathery!

Drydown: I can smell a bit more neroli here. Surprising as I was expecting the neroli to shoot out at me when wet, instead..the violet has turned much sweeter and the musk is notable now. Iris took over for a brief second but passed. Very accurate picture! I really like this after it's burned off a bit as the violet keeps creeping into the background and musk continues to push through. Just gets darker and darker but retains that glossy polish.

[lahdeedah]

I picked up an imp of this a while back when I was in the midst of a violet-collecting phase. I've found that violet is a nice note with my skin chemistry, but one that I have to be in the right mood for, as it's such a distinct and rather old-fashioned note. I think the combination of notes here in The Raven suits the demure violet very well, and certainly evokes a feathery, melancholy darkness. On my skin I can detect every note except the sandalwood, with the dark musk, iris and violet being the main players. The neroli adds a hint of brightness, evoking iridescent feathers; the musk and iris lend a powdery sweetness that surround the violet and create what I can only call a purple haze.

 

All in all, it's a pretty, evocative, wistful sort of scent. It's honestly a bit too powdery for me to want to wear very much, and it has quite a lot of throw--one little dot of scent on my wrist and it's wafting all around. But I'll hang on to my imp as I have a weakness for all things E.A. Poe, as well as a strong connection with the bird itself.

[owlfeathers]

I tried this for an hour or two a while back and liked the scent, though I'm not familiar with the floral components so I can't say what was stronger for me. I tried wearing it again today, though, and after a few hours realized that it had morphed into a perfect imitation of fresh, just opened Play-Doh with no trace of the earlier florals. Something about my skin chemistry must not work well with this scent.

[angelamaria]

In imp: this is an interesting scent! Light floral--possibly the iris. It's already slightly powdery/dry, but the bright notes are uplifting enough that it's a nice base. There's a feeling of getting drunk in the sweetness, too.

 

Wet on skin: faint on my skin, but I'm really liking the bright floral note here. This is totally not the dark and ominous scent from the description--I'm liking it a LOT, it's a bright and airy white floral scent. I can get a little of the musk, but not so much. Very clean smelling, very delicate and almost ethereal.

 

Dry: this seems like quite a morpher. Newly dry, it stays true to the sample/wet on skin scent: light, sweet, delicate, bright, white, you get the idea. I wrote down, "bottle". It was that good. The powdery note underneath, however, gains more and more prominence as the scent ages on my skin--at first it was a really nice base for the bright floral, but after an hour it's just...baby powder. I get the violets now, and the darker notes, although it's difficult to think "dark and ominous" when you're smelling baby powder...

 

Verdict: started out really well for me, but ultimately a no.

[Alchemist]

Dark and ominous, in my opinion these words really fit the name of the scent.

 

I'm getting mostly the violet, iris and black musk. This a dark violet scent to me, and it smells gothic. It is not a happy scent. There is a sadness about it. This makes me think white skinned, black haired, black dressed girls... I find violet scents extremely seductive in a different, unusual way. On the right person this scent can be perfect.

Perhaps I can purchase a bottle.

[tkannon]

This is so powdery in the vial and even more powdery on my wrists. I cannot pick out a single note in this.

[sparkleyturtle]

This is a dark musky, floral on me. It is a bit too dark and heavy for my liking though. Not bad, just heavy.

[Honey]

It has violet in it, so I already know I cannot keep it.. but, I want to write a review anyhow.

 

Imp: Violet!! And another floral note. Plus.. mint and cucumber?

 

Wet: Soapy-creamy violet (must be the sandalwood). A bit musky and, still, fresh and greenish as if there was mint and cucumber in it as well.

 

Dry: Oh, yes, a minty floral over spicy/woodsy sandalwood. Creamy and spicy. The floral notes come closer to mushroom somehow (thinking of Destroying Angel). My luck: violet is not too strong in this one, and I must not gag! Hmm.. spicy and creamy mushroom soup? But not really suitable as a perfume.

[DeCuvieri]

This is harsh on application, but the drydown evens out into a whorl of soft florals dusted by musty sandalwood. It's very faint with no throw whatsoever, and it's not me at all.

[MagentaLuna]

When wet this was threatening to give me a headache, but it seems to have calmed down a bit. A much cleaner smelling scent than I was expecting. Sitting at the computer I can smell it wafting up from my arm, so I'd say it has pretty good throw.

I can't pick out the single notes, largely because I'm not familiar with the floral components of it, though it is floral. It reminds me of a warm-cool summer evening, and the iridescent sheen on soap bubbles.

[milo]

From wet to dry, this is pretty much sweet violet to me. Not at all different from Faith. I don't get any black musk, which I love, but it is just slightly powdery, which could be coming from the orris or the violet. Violet it probably my fave out of florals (from a non-floral person!), but this is too similar to Faith, and I really don't find this scent to be forboding at all. I wish the black musk came out more. Maybe with aging?

[Ghost of a Rose]

Thanks for the frimp, labbies!

 

In the imp: A clear, bright yellow oil.

 

Both in the imp and on my skin, this is 100% pure unadulterated baby powder to my nose, and the scent remains consistent as long as I can smell it on my skin. I happen to really like the fragrance of baby powder. In the late 70's or early 80's, there was a cologne (Love's Baby Soft) that was supposed to duplicate the scent of baby powder. I loved the idea, and wore it often. But it was always disappointing, because it didn't really smell all that much like baby powder. It was an inexpensive cologne marketed for teens and young girls, and it mostly just smelled like perfumer's alcohol.

 

Well, this one gets it right (whether that was the intent or not.) So of course I like this a lot, never mind if it isn't the most unique or exciting of BPAL's scents. It's very light, dry, feminine, and pretty. It would be great for a hot sweaty day, or for a young girl.

 

I never did pick up the neroli at all, nor did any of the other notes stand out. I just immediately thought "baby powder" and from then on, that's all I could smell.

 

I couldn't make any connection with the name except for this: The song "The Crow on The Cradle" - large black bird plus baby powder, get it? LOL

 

My rating: 4 stars

Edited October 6, 2011 by Ghost of a Rose

[AnyseLawsBray]

In vial: Citrus-tinged violet, peaky and thin.

Wet on skin: A swift bloom of fresh, brilliantly glossy iris. I think it's the same iris that I like so much in Black Pearl. Mmmm.

Dry: I can't detect much sandalwood, maybe a bit of dryness but that's it. A slight musky quality drifts past, still mostly iris. Sheens of neroli slide by every so often.

 

Verdict: Curious, lovely blend. On the very verge of being powdery, it just barely avoids it. It doesn't seem dark to me at all- I envision a raven gliding on an updraft in a brilliantly blue, cloudless sky.

[impolight]

::: THE RAVEN :::

 

No wintry storm,

A Yuletide, warm,

A radiance gold and mocking!

Delight commands,

My trembling hands,

To search about my stocking!

When what surprise,

Should light my eyes,

And leave me reeling, limp?

The best of Yules,

They gleam like jewels,

Especially the frimp!

My lips went numb,

My heart a drum!

I blushed just like Lenore,

One I’ve been cravin’

Behold, The Raven,

A mystery nevermore…

A newfound vice,

This should be nice,

I’ll dab it by the Gallon!

Good times ahead,

Delicious dread,

For me and Edgar Allen…

 

Thank you, Sissy! Thank you, Beth!

 

From the Imp: Violin music fills the world. There is darkly varnished wood. A train whistle echoes mournfully in the distance somewhere beyond the fog outdoors. From behind a barrier of cool, cruel glass the face of your beloved seizes you by the heart, squeezing it like warm soft clay in a blacksmith’s grasp. Rain is silhouetted on violet-tinged Victorian Wallpaper. It would be mausoleum silent were in not for your disconsolate sigh. Awake equates Hell. Sleep carries you off on iridescent black wings…

The Raven is positively exquisite. Those of you who adore the Violet’s magnificently melancholy perfume, yield to this. Perhaps there is no better bloom to pair it with than Neroli in her twirling and blindingly white skirts. Iris is also at the dance, certainly, yet she watches from a shadowy doorway, her eyes aglitter, as Violet and Neroli spin towards a silkient and saturated kind of ecstacy.

The Sandalwood is glossy, smooth, and round; the perfect surface to resonate those quick, quivering, and hot little breaths. The Dark Musk is a diamond-dust sheen on the nape of Her neck. A single trickle moves hypnotically slow alongside a dark ringlet pasted there.

The front of Her indigo dress has opened to Her navel. Her hand, quick as an albino barn swallow, covers Her Cupid’s Bow mouth, stifling a giggle. Quick enough that you can’t quite focus on the jagged scar on the inside of Her delicate wrists… Ah, now you’ve remembered to breathe.

Illinition: Heaven help us all. He watches Her float up the spiral staircase; a progeny of serpents and smoke. Whether this is the tug of the pear-handled, nickel-plated revolver in the stiff leather holster, or his blood; a roaring red lion on the verge of beastly boil that makes his skin voracious to breathe the gloom, to drink Her in it is impossible to tell.

Every time his eyes close, a heart-breaking trumpet sounds. When he opens them again, nary an angel appears to abate his shame, to feign glory. There is only Her. Swallowing dryly, his eyes can almost slip past the small of her back. Almost.

He can hardly stand it. He crosses the threshold, all thunder and lust, vibrating in response to Her wan smile from behind the bed’s gossamer canopy. Again, he closes his eyes to the sound of that trumpet, that damned trumpet. A single, salty track slips down his cheek. He can feel Her warmth radiating upon his lips. When he opens his eyes, nothing remains but a concavity in the pillow and two Violets where Her eyes should have been.

He folds, half the man he used to be. When he can see again, he walks outside and into the citrus groves where they used to picnic in summer and She would wave to friendly faces on the train from beneath Her favourite purple parasol.

Her lips locked away beneath engraved stone, he fancies a nickel-plated kiss. He cannot wait to see Her again.

 

The Raven is an impossibly beautiful scent. Its glory deserves the ubiquitousness of His and Her skin with equal measure. The Raven is easily worth a 5 ml. bottle. It would be worth 10 ml. if the legends are true.

Positively stellar. A 5 out of 5.

[curlsandpearls]

Bottle: I’m getting something syrup-sweet from the bottle. Odd.

 

Wet: A “high,” sweet violet. It’s got that musky base but it’s much lighter than I was expecting. Maybe the iris and white sandalwood? It’s definitely got a gritty-grainy texture to it.

 

Dry: A few minutes into the dry-down, it starts to blend in a lovely way. It’s the violet at the forefront with dark musk in the background and a “high” pitch that can only be the iris. I’m not sure how much I like this scent, personally, as it’s not as dark/smoky as I like my scents to be, even though it’s advertised as dark. Also, the iris—I think it’s the iris?—is starting to remind me of Dove soap. Like it’s violet, dark musk, and Dove soap. Eep. Swap pile.

[Vega]

Sniffed: Pale, spectral florals hovering over something dark and soft. I can make out iris, maybe sandalwood.

 

On skin: The pale florals are the stars of this show. Iris, violet and neroli have historically been well-behaved on my skin, and here they are harmonizing wonderfully, blending into a floral note that is fragrant, bright, and rich yet pale. Beneath the singing florals is a dusky, velvety background that must be the discreet musk. The calm musk and shining florals evoke a raven, silent, quiet and dignified, nonchalantly sitting on a branch but keeping a keen eye on you. My colour impression is a visual of glossy, shining black feathers tinged with the darkest of purple.

 

Verdict: The Raven is an evocative blend, elegant in simplicity. A fine specimen for the Black Phoenix catalogue, and I'm glad I got to test it... but I just don't see myself wearing it much.

[KatharinaNordh]

Delicious - smells strongly of something like candy and rain and too many a night of my childhood (not the happy, innocent times, but the dark and still today fascinating ones)

 

I need this.

 

I could totally see myself using this to feel sexy or when in the mood to be a bit Special - lovely, and yummy and even the musk is ok with me (doesn't happen too often, so worth celebrating)

[OctoberGwen]

Sigh. I love ravens, and I love Poe's The Raven, but alas...I do not love this one.

 

It smells very bitter on me, which may be the "dark" musk; black musk turns to yuck on my skin so perhaps this one is similar or the same. Normally violets and neroli are good but here they are combining with the musk and my chemistry to make something really unpleasant.

 

I really need to wash this off.

[mymymai]

In the Imp (ITI): Powerful violet with the slightest dash of sandalwood.

 

Wet: Violet all over the pllace. I think there is a little sandalwood and musk, but I’m having trouble picking out the other notes.

 

Dry: Soapy violet, but in a good way, like one of Lush’s bubble bars. I do smell slight bits of neroli, which adds a little complexity. It’s somewhat dark, but I’d imagine a little more myrrh to really make me thing of the raven.