Val Sans Retour

[QueenFae]

I was lucky to get a free imp of this in my last lab order. At first sniff, it's quite pine grove-y with a strong slathering of citrus underneath. After it's been on my skin for awhile it smells more like orange, with a lemony undertone and a smattering of pine. The new Disney ride, Soaring, which is at Epcot center (it's a smell interaction/simulator ride), shoots this exact smell at you when you are soaring over the orange grove. It's nice and fresh, cheery, and invigorating. I don't think this is one I will wear a lot, but i'm definitely holding on to the imp for now.

[herongale]

official description: none

 

unofficial description (from a website I googled, first hit): translated "the valley of no return," this is "a lush valley that, according to the Vulgate Cycle, Morgan (le Fay) sealed off by an enchantment. This established invisible prison walls in which she imprisoned her lovers. Legend places this valley in Brittany's Forest of Paimpont, the Brocéliande of romance, and a valley in the forest still bears that name."

 

in the bottle: clear. It's a very strong pine scent, but somehow also strongly citrus... for some reason I really get fresh grapefruit out of this. Juicy and bright.

 

wet: initially I was very ambivalent about how this scent worked with my body chemistry, but I've tried it several times now, using different shampoos and body soaps as the "base," and can say that it does work on me... even if it doesn't exactly work with me. This is a scent that absolutely wants to do it's own thing. The pine scent deepens, becoming almost spicy, and gives me the impression of a deep and shadowy forest. In general it's a calming and quiet scent, with little projection... I can only smell it if I put my nose right up to my wrist. This is like an evergreen forest in summer: spindly needles warmed by the sun, with a hint of moss and marshes.

 

drydown: The citrus notes become more prominent, but never can quite overcome the piney resin. Seems to work better on me when the weather is cool... when I first tried it, the days were really hot, and the scent struck me as somehow unpleasant. But now, with fall undeniably in the air, the scent is becoming more and more agreeable to me. I think this will be a good scent to keep around in the middle of the winter; I expect it to smell best in January.

 

verdict: I'm not going to go out of my way to horde more of this, but I will use up what I've got.

[lookingglass]

Fresh citrus...lemon...grapefruit...yuzu? On the drydown it is needley:pine or fir balsam? It is gone in an instant...no base to speak of.

[perclexed]

My nose is rather uneducated, but here are my thoughts on this scent. It reminds me of that first, barely detectable shift from winter into spring. Crisp air, snow-dampened evergreen tress, but citrusy too. Like the smell of a clove-studded orange in a holiday stocking.

 

It's cold but with a promise of warmth. It's a scent I would use during January or February here in the Pacific Northwest - the times when you appreciate the season of rest and contemplation, but are filled with hope, knowing that the sun will return and disperse the mists and grey that linger.

 

I'd happily buy a 5ml of it if it makes it to the GC.

[wingedcorset]

In the vial this is pine and a little bit of citrus. PINE!

 

It goes through a crazy change on my skin, down to a vaguely piney vaguely citrusy smell that has a totally unidentifiable note that reminds me of swimming pools in a good way. Someone else described this as airy, and I think I agree with this. A fresh winter day in the snow.

 

Disappears fast. Really fast. That's sad.

[Aredhel]

Rating (on skin): 2/5

Summarised in a word or two: Lemon!

 

In the imp/bottle: Fresh and green and slightly citrusy. Bright and cold and very nice!

 

On skin, wet: Something green (I can't figure what!), and lemon. It reminds me of some kind of candle scent, with a name like 'Forest Morning' or 'Country Fresh' or something silly -- which isn't to say the scent's silly. I quite like it, but the lemon keeps getting stronger...

 

On skin, dry: Lemon. Lemon cleaner, specifically.

 

Conclusion: I can't figure out what that green herbal scent is. If the lemon could be kept at bay, I'd definitely want a bottle of this (if it were ever released).

Edited August 13, 2006 by Aredhel

[undergroundwoman]

If you like deserts, try to get your hands on some of this.

 

This isn't a dry desert sage smell like Corazon. This is like hiking along and then ending up in a cool damp canyon with greenery, out of the blazing sun and stifling heat. Damp sandstone walls with little happy mosses growing on them. It smells like my early morning hike in the Chisos Mountains of Big Bend National Park. Or investigating petroglyphs along the banks of the Rio Grande. I don't know what plants are there that are also in here, but that's what this smells like. I actually have a hard time identifying notes in this... I would agree there's some sort of piney-ness. When, when, when will this ever be released? My only complaint is that it fades pretty fast (and evaporates out of the imps I have pretty quickly).

 

This is what it smells like.

(yes that's a photo from my hike)

 

Oh this is green scent heaven. 10mL, instantly, were it possible.

[Scarlettfish]

Wow, this is a strong one! I received this as a frimp in my latest order and I was excited to get a sneak preview, so to speak. However, I can't say I'd buy this again because this is a little much for me? It's a very bright, almost overwhelmingly so, citrus-herb-pine scent and it reminds me a little of pine furniture cleaner. It has lots of throw, though, and I think if you like pine scents, you should like this one. Just not for me.

[hangingfire]

In the imp: Cold, grassy, green. Very fresh.

 

On, wet: Is it my imagination, or is it having a slight cooling effect on my skin? Feels like it. There's a faint citrusy note to it, in addition to the green grass note.

 

Drydown: Crisp, green, foresty, grassy -- with a faint citrus sweet note.

 

This is lovely. A great springtime scent.

[zenvodunista]

this scent is a gentle citron, a light sweetness lingers at the back that i cannot identify. it makes me think of a bright pale spring green.

 

if your skin supports the lighter tea type scents, i think this will work well for you.

 

it's quite lovely, but very imperceptible on me, and even to just my nose.

 

n.

[SeaMonkey]

In the vial, its all grapefruit.

 

on my skin, it smells like christmas trees when you've just bought it and you are string ing up the lights. I still get the grapefruit too. This is a very light citrusy green

[harmonyfb]

This was a generous freebie from Babykitty!

 

In the imp: A sweet, faint pine smell that reminds me my hometown.

 

Wet: A burst of citrus smell, sharp and pleasant.

 

Dry: The pine fades and softens, and there's a gingery citrusy, spicy smell that I adore. And woe! It hasn't been released!

 

Verdict: Hurry up, BPAL, and release this so I can buy a bottle!

 

ETA: I discovered that when I first tried it, there was still a bit of White Rabbit clinging to my skin - without the layering, I don't like it nearly as much. Go figure.

Edited January 5, 2006 by harmonyfb

[sarada]

Swapped for this one -- I've been reading about it for ages!

 

I know right away that I'm going to like it -- I like fresh, green, grassy scents even though there's little point in my wearing them since my skin eats them. Still, I like to try them out.

 

There's a sharp bust of citrus peel in the beginning. I'm tending toward thinking it could be something like yuzu or grapefruit as it reminds me a little of Aizen-Myoo in the imp, combined with...juniper? I'm going to resist the temptation to call it pine, as I've smelled the lab's juniper berry single note and that is more what this reminds me of....but there could be some other evergreen note in there as well.

 

And then there's a delightful green grassy warm note, like the grasses in Coyote. Gorgeous stuff. I would buy a bottle if it was available because I think this would be an almost perfect spring scent. Stuff like this vanishes on me very quickly but I'd like to sniff it and maybe mix some into an unscented shampoo or bath splash.

 

If you amp up citrus or don't like citrus scents the early stages might be a bit much for you...but it's a great fresh/green/herbal scent and it combines my favorite aspects of a lot of other scents, very nicely!

[couscous]

OOOH!! labbies, thank you thank you THANK YOU for your extreme generosity in including this with my last order! I LOVE lemon, and I LOVE Val Sans Retour.

 

It is rare that I find a bpal with sharp citrus. I found it in Kuang Shi and Whitechapel and Severin, and a bit in Shanghai, too, and now I've found it here. Wet and immediately on the skin, I get sharp, clean, gorgeous lemon. I have a small need to defend my beloved lemon here, because so many people link it with cleaning products. Even if you DO get that feeling from some lemons, you won't with this one, so please do not write this off! It's too fresh, too "just juiced", and too bright to evoke anything but the actual fruit.

 

I'd also bet that there might be a bit of grapefruit in here, because the citrus has several layers and lasts through much of the drydown, mixing with what i thought was fresh grass but many people felt was pine. I don't know whether or not there is pine in this one- I suppose anything is possible- but i didn't get christmas tree from this at all. In fact, I don't think you could find a scent more evocative of sun and fields and lush green if you tried.

 

There's also a flower in here, which I will try to guess at the next time I put it on. I find it hard to wear right now, because I want to save it for warmer days.

 

Beth, I don't know how you feel about this, or whether or not you're happy enough to call this "ready", but, as a fan, I don't think you could make it much better. It's feminine and bright and cheerful, with maximum throw and lasting power.

 

I love it.

[Mistral]

I got this as a freebie from the lab, and it's love at first sniff! I think I might have finally found my "grassy meadow" scent - it's grass and dandelion, with the barest hint of citrus, which just adds to the pleasure. I love Rosalind, but it's still a bit too flowery on me, and this doesn't do that flower thing at all.

 

My only complaint is that it faded really, really fast. I see the reviews that said it was really strong...maybe Beth is trying to get the throwing power right? (Just guessing, since I know nothing about anything about perfume. Maybe it's just that I loved it so much, I wanted it to smell more.) Anyway, I know that as soon as this is truly available, I'll be ordering a bottle!

[Neely]

I got this as a frimp, from the lab I believe (sorry if not, I have so many wonderful frimps from so many wonderful BPALers! )

 

In the Bottle: green, grassy, herbal, with a light citrus and floral note floating on top. Very clean.

 

Wet: I don't get pine at all. I get the citrus amping up on top of the grassy herbal note. The herbal is going to the background. This is very nice! not much throw, but I like sniffing my own wrists thank you, and I didn't slather it on (am trying a different scent on the other wrist for review, I will definitely give this one a slather test). I wear these scents for my own aromatherapy.

 

Dry down: Clean fresh, citrus with an herbal base. This is wonderful. The more I wear it, the more I am in love with it. This is a great Spring/Summer scent. Oh Beth, please release it as is. I would love a big bottle of this! I love the name too, Valley of No Return. Please, please, pretty please, with sugar on top! May I have some more?

 

Rating 1-5: this is a 5

Edited January 8, 2006 by atropos

[The_Merf]

In the imp: This has an orange note. I'm not exactly in love with this as I smell it, but my recent experiences with some lemon scents have given me a more open mind in re: citrus.

 

Wet: Oh Lord this is sharp! I'm not getting a headache, but I do feel a little queasy when I smell the test spot on my skin. There is something in addition to the citrus notes that does not agree with me.

 

Drydown and wear: This lasts for quite some time, and has good throw. However, the citrus combination is not for me. I love the name though!

[divergenow]

On me, this is some unidentifiable tropical fruit, definitely citrus, although on me it is neither lemon nor orange. It is light, sweet, and fresh. It's like catching the scent of this fruit on a breeze.

 

I really hope this gets released! This could definitely be my everyday summer scent.

[sookster]

eep! turpentiney orange.....that is straight from

the imp applied to my wrist....however, almost

immediately the turpentine sharpness goes away

and it is a nice creamy orange that lasts only

a very short time with my chemistry...

[this machine]

I was interested in this one because it's very different from the other scents i have, but ultimately i think i'm disappointed in it. It's very sharp pine to me, but it dries down extremely quickly to something like bathroom scrubby stuff - i think it's ajax is the one. It's like pine with chemicals. After ten minutes or less it's completely disappeared from my skin. Yet i'm not ready to give it away yet - i keep wanting it to work. I'll try it again in a few weeks and see what happens, but i'm afraid it may end up on my swap list.

[LittleGreyKitten]

Definitely a cleaning product scent happening here. I honestly didn't leave it on long enough to see if it lasted well- I simply didn't enjoy the PINELEMONPINEPINELEMONPINEPINE thing going on. Sharp and astringent. Anyway, perhaps this won't be the final release version.

 

I'd give it a 1 out of 5.

[WidgetAlley]

Frimp in a swap with the fabulous roxann_ireland. An unreleased! I'm so excited. *bounce*

 

In the Imp: The piniest pine that ever pined, with a citrus chaser... no, wait. That's not right. It's not citrus, it's pineapple! It smells just like the dried stuff I have in the kitchen. Mmmm. The pine is nice, too, violently green, just like when you take those big round waxy pine needles (not the little thin ones) and bend them. This is dazzlingly bright, sunny and sharp. I can see the comparisons to cleaning fluid, although (for me anyway) that's by no means a bad thing. Woo! I feel way more awake already.

 

Wet: Pine and pineapple and..... something fuzzy. White musk? Maybe amber? I have the feeling there's a bit more foliage in here than what I'm picking up on. There's lavender too, unless I'm terribly mistaken, and maybe some grass-- I get a tickly green spice scent that reminds me of the smell of a fresh-cut lawn. This is lovely and crisp, the transition from winter into spring wrapped up into a little glass vial. Perfect for a day like today, when the sky is sunny and blue and the clouds are fluffy, and there's a feather-light dusting of snow on the ground. I think this may be the most straight-up old-school out-of-doors blend I've sniffed yet. I'm diggin' it.

 

Dry: Noooooo! It's already fading. The pine has mostly burnt off and what's left is bright, sunny pineapple, that fuzzy whatever (musk? Amber? Peach?), lavender, grass, and whatever's giving that impression of wide-open spaces without being ozoney. It's beautiful, but it's leeeeaaaving meeeeeee..... *clings* It can't do this to me!

 

If this lasted longer, and was available, I'd buy a BIG bottle. It's gorgeous. I'd use it in my oil burner, on my hair, my sheets... wearing it is like having a crisp, cool spring day on your skin.

[Meg]

In the bottle: Grass! Citrusy grass. So sharp I nearly have a headache.

 

Wet: Exactly as in the bottle, and becoming greener, less citrusy.

 

Drydown: Slightly plasticky grass, very green, with a bit of a weedy side. There might be some bamboo in there, it vaguely reminds me of Holiday Moon.

 

Overall: Very one-dimensional, green and fresh... it's very much a good representation of that grassy vale where Morgana locked the warriors in... but it's a bit too simple, and not my kind of scent. Very natural, though. And unfortunately it has absolutely no staying power - hardly 30 minutes.

Edited February 18, 2006 by Meg

[cranberry]

Part of the Unreleased sniffing circle...

 

In the Imp: light, clean, fresh, lemony

 

On the Skin, Initial impression: On the skin, it's as in the imp - lovely, lemony fresh, light smelling. Very clean smelling and crisp. When I first put it on, I thought that I got whiffs of something wild and grassy, but that could have been suggestion...

Dry: As it dries, a piney, juniper scent emerges. It also changes into more of an herbal, green scent instead of citrusy, as would be expected by the emergence of evergreen.

 

Overall: It's a nice scent, but not really what I would ever reach for and it has no lasting power on me at all. After about a ½ hr, it’s gone. But, I'm glad that I got an opportunity to try it.

[aidenraine]

Nobody has reviewed this in a while, so what the heck. Just to let the world know imps are still hopping around out in the world.

 

My first impression is "oh, pine!"

It really smells like the sort of cleaning product used to polish wood. You know what it reminds me of? Have you ever taken a tour of an historic house? (Especially a colonial-era house). There's antique furniture in the rooms, the ceilings are low, the house is dim..

 

it smells like that. Lemon, mixed with a dry wood and the pine smell. There's that "pencil shavings" aroma. It's a pleasant smell, but not necessarily one I'd wear as a perfume.

 

I almost think "Pile-Sol", but it's better than that.

 

It reminds me of the way dust particles look in a sunbeam, in a room with a lot of wooden furniture.

 

 

ETA - My imp says "Van SAN Retour", so I am not sure what the proper name is. Sans, as in the French word for "without" seems more correct.

Edited March 11, 2006 by aidenraine