Alice

[Michele my belle]

Curiouser and curiouser. Milk and honey with rose, carnation and bergamot.

I was super excited that Alice was one I chose for my first imp pack.
In the imp it smells like milk with something a little spicy but girly (carnation?)

Wet, its all milk and honey.
Then, as it dries the spiciness starts to come out, and as its getting better baby powder. like sour baby powder, if that is even possible. whyyyyy!

I'm guessing this is an instance of bad skin chemistry. I wanted to love it.

ETA: Tried it a few more times, and each I liked it more. Maybe I needed to let it settle (this happened with a few others as well)

[nightchild80]

In the Imp (wet): Syrupy sweet milk and honey, with a hint of bergamot that brings to mind a child's tea party with over-sweetened Earl Grey tea.

 

On me: The rose and carnation are the predominant notes for me in the long push, but mellows out to make way for the honey after about 20 mins. Initially the scent is so girlishly sweet and artifical, but if you wait out that little bit, Alice turns out to be quite a pretty scent that is graceful.

[Icekitten]

From the imp: cant really place my finger on it, hint of sweet, light cookie scent, but fresh

 

Wet: very faint on me i do smell a tiny sweetnes and tiny flowers.

 

Dry: i smell almost nothing, could have been a soap i washed with.

 

Overal: Think my skin doesnt really hold a tiny scents, for me it's way to faint.

[daintydina]

This was the first BPAL scent I ever tried! Got an imp of it from a friend and tested it out on Friday. I don't think I'm going to be buying a bottle of this one as there's something in it that makes me feel slightly nauseous, but I'm not sure exactly what it is, being so uneducated.

 

I do like it, but it was a bit too baby powdery for me. It reminded me of some bubble bath I had when I was a little girl. I don't think I'd wear it very often (can't think of a time when I would wear it, anyway) but it is a pretty scent.

 

It's hard for me to describe really, especially being so new to this, but I can definitely see where the Alice inspiration comes in. Alice would DEFINITELY wear this scent!

[ih8perfume]

I bought an imp of this from the lab.

 

Obviously, I wanted to like this, since I bought it, but it didn't work for me. Unbeknownst (is that a word?) to me, BPAL's honey note goes kind of weird on my skin. A scratchy, bitter, body odor smell. Not good.

 

Once the initial blast of unfortunate honey was gone, I got what I can only describe as something like a child's drawing of a rose. Vibrant crayon colors. A bright spring green for the foliage with screaming hot pink roses scribbled on top, plunked in some dark brown dirt. No thorns on these roses.

 

I didn't get any cream or milk and no tea. I'll keep it around and try it again. Maybe make some room spray because I do like the kind of child-like quality, but it does not work on my skin.

[Prissypants]

Gentle, romantic and utterly beautiful. I want to wear this on my wedding day. It is light and lovely during the hot summer months but rich enough to relish during winter. I adore it! Rose usually goes rancid on my skin, but this hint of it was perfect.

[girlcalledmoment]

Oh Alice, the more I wear you, the more I like you. I was one person who loved LUSH's Potion Lotion, but the solid perfume version was way too clovey and harsh for me. Alice takes the good parts of Potion Lotion, softens them, and adds her very own brilliance to the mix.

I have a soft spot for the name Alice, so I was geared up to like this. However, I'd had a bad run of experience with random imps I'd bought from Ebay, and so when my beautiful BPAL box came in the post I was rather tentative, wondering if I'd made a mistake in coveting the lab. Luckily the imps in my own order are more suited to my tastes, and Alice is quite beautiful to me.

I am a fan of roses (my absolute favourite is Juliette has a Gun's Lady Vengeance), and like them even more when they have a creamy, warm aspect to them. Here the mix between rose and carnation makes a gloriously good floral marriage, and it's very muted indeed, amid a milky, creamy musk and the ghost of tea cakes (no butter, no toastedness, and yet, the ghost of them is there).

Alice is soft and contemplative; thoughtful and not too sweet. A real grower.

4.4/5

[Gin]

Alice! Why don't I give you more attention? Alice goes on really sour--the milk and bergamot smell spoiled. But after that, it's sweet and powdery and innocent. The carnation really stands out, and I love carnation, so that's a plus. It's not as clovey as I would normally like, but it's unmistakably carnation. Very light and pretty.

[reconditarmonia]

Unsurprisingly this is somewhat similar to Dawn: Maiden and to Katrina van Tassel, but I like it less; it's more citrusy and, argh I can't describe it, feels "smaller" somehow.

[angelamaria]

In imp: milk is the first thing I smell here. It's not always pleasant--sometimes it's sweet and nice, sometimes it's sour. Otherwise, it's a clean, bright, young scent.

 

Wet on skin: oh no. Ugh, sour milk. Sometimes it's a slightly pleasing spicy-sweet blend, but I wished the milk was always the faintly sweet note instead of just plain sour and old. And of course... there is the rose. We shall see how the rose takes it.

 

Dry: UGH. The rose goes powdery, as I was afraid it would--pretty quickly powdery. Powdery sour milk, UGH MUST GET THIS OFF.

 

Verdict: Definitely not for me. It's making my stomach churn and I feel rather ill from sniffing it again and again.

[JunkieCosmonaut]

In imp: soapy

 

On me: I can't exactly pinpoint the notes. I want to say I smell something like licorice or lollipop. It's sweet and floral with a hint of spice. It reminds me a bit of Ophelia without the headache and overwhelming floral notes

 

3/5

 

Obviously wanted to adore it (look at avatar ), but it's really not me.

[raisin]

Holy cow I think this might be a rose I actually like.

 

I was absolutely prepared to dislike this one, but gave this a test, because I love carnation and bergamot and the imp didn't smell too offensive.

 

The result is very clean, slightly sweet, and more green than I would have expected. I can totally see where people are getting soap, but I don't mind that in a fragrance at all.

 

Something is balancing the rose here really nicely, and I think I may end up going through my imp. Absolutely not what I would have expected.

[venusinfurs]

In the imp: Sweet floral. I can't really pick out any single notes. Maybe carnation?

Wet on skin: Very floral, almost soapy! I can detect a hint of something I like a lot in the background, but that soapy floral persisted for an hour or so.

Dry on skin: It kept the soapy floral with a background of sweetness for about an hour, then that faded away to a lovely tea with milk and honey smell. It actually smells like how I wanted O to smell, but was a fail on me due to the amber. I wish I didn't have to endure the soapy floral for an hour to get to this! The floral wasn't bad, very clean smelling, and I usually love BPAL rose, but the dry smell is so gorgeous. I will test this imp a bit more and see if I like it enough for a 5 mL.

[calivianya]

I'm so glad I received this as a frimp from the TP; I never would have tried it otherwise.

 

Alice reminds me of a slightly spicy citrus tea with milk and honey added. Or should I say sweet milk with a little bit of citrusy tea added? This is very good. The rose begins to come out more on the drydown as the milk note recedes to the back, leaving the scent with a sweet, spicy, citrus rose. I like this very much. I didn't know what to expect from the milk note and I don't usually like rose, but Alice is quite delicious.

[Circaea]

I must be bad at smelling tea. I didn't detect any citrus, milk or tea in this. On me, Alice was like a peppery exotic floral, a lot like I remember Shalimar smelling. Not unpleasant, but certainly not me.

[Honey]

Nivea cream!

 

Imp: Bergamot and rose. Very much like nivea cream. Lovely. With the slightest hint of honey.

 

Wet: Rose and honey. With a creamy milkiness.

 

Dry: Still rose and honey as dominant notes. Creamy and so yummy! Really captures the essence of Alice as a figure: blond, innocent and smelling like rose soap and a honeyed body lotion. I LOVE honey, but rose is just.. not for me. Too sweet and innocent.

[KittyHawk]

Oh, Alice, why do you hate my skin so? This turned to rancid baby powder the moment I applied it. It must be the carnation, because I've tried other blends with milk that have been great successes (Dragon's Milk, for one), but this is no good. Or might it be the bergamot? Hmmmm... the list of potential culprits grows.

 

It seems as if others have this issue too, so I'm willing to give it another shot, or maybe try it in a locket instead. Hmph, I was really hoping this would work.

[zebracakes]

Age: 2011

Bottle: Smells of milk, honey and bergamot.

Wet on skin: Member girlcalledmoment mentioned that this perfume smelled like Lush’s Potion Lotion and I definitely agree. Starts off with a lot of milk, honey and bergamot but then mellows to spicy carnation and the nicest rose I’ve ever smelled. Most roses smell like old ladies and soap but this one doesn’t.

After 10 minute dry down: Becomes more spicy, cakey, and softly floral. Slightly powdery, but the bakery tea cake scent prevents the powder from getting soapy.

Overall: Tea, cakes, carnations, and rose. This and High-Strung Daisies are my favorite BPAL perfumes. If you like Lush’s Potion Lotion, you will probably like this scent.

5 out of 5 stars.

[biocarolyn]

So pretty and so far the only milk I can wear without it going just fowl on me. Really soft and gentle, sweetened creaminess with equal parts carnation and rose. But this the softest rose, never going sharp or stab-y ammonia rose. Whisper light and feminine pretty. Really nice...

[Alethia]

Wet: Beautiful blast of honey and milk.

 

Dry down: The rose comes out and tempers the sweetness of the milk and honey, but it doesn't turn powdery which is awesome!

 

Dry: I can smell just the faintest hint of carnation and bergamot, which grounds the scent beautifully.

 

Verdict: I have a decant of Katrina van Tassel, which is strikingly similar (on me at least, YMMV) to Alice. I death matched the two this afternoon, hoping against hope that Alice would be at least comparable. And to my surprise, I prefer Alice. They're almost indistinguishable on my skin except that Alice is a little spicier, which I assume comes from the carnation and/or bergamot, and thus seems more well rounded and full bodied to my nose. KvT is beautiful, but Alice is the winner and all around champion of this round. I'm really, really happy about this because despite my love for Katrina, Alice is prettier and more easily available. General catalogue for the win!

[Klolly]

I ordered an imp of this with my bottle of Morocco because I've been wanting to try it forever.

 

In imp: Faint and sweet. Kind of smells like almond biscotti.

 

On wet: I get the cream with a smear of honey. This is the exact same cream as in Prunella which I love. It smells exactly like those pastel colored mini marshmallows, specifically the orange and pink ones. I don't really smell much else.

 

Dry: Still getting cream but it's much fainter and milky now than creamy. The rose is saying hello and getting louder and louder. Now I'm just getting rose with the faintest trace of cream and something that smells just like almond. I hate almond because it reminds me of public restroom soap so I hope it goes away. Right now I'm really not liking this much. The only note I like is the cream and that's almost gone now because rose is so loud and annoying. I am learning that I hate rose, which is odd, cuz I always thought I liked it, but it just becomes a sour rose in a garage bin on me. I'll probably give this to my daughter.

 

Little bit later: The rose had settled down a lot and the milk and honey seem well blended now, like the milk has been heated and the honey stirred in until they become a well combined sweet milk with some pleasant dry spices mixed in from the carnation. I don't know what bergamont smells like so I couldn't say how prevalent it is. It's funny, I thought I didn't like this but I love it. I'd love to know how an aged bottle of this would smell. Basically, it's a soft, creamy, innocent pink scent. I think of a clean blushing face of a smiling little girl with blonde ringlets that is slightly mischevious. This might be bottle worthy for me.

 

Days later: This has fast become a favorite for me. Morocco is my number one and I was starting to think I wouldn't find another scent I liked as much but Alice can compete for the top spot now actually. I no longer think this smells like a little girl. To me it smells like the quintessential victorian housewife of antique advertisements. Pale skin, rosy cheeks, crisp, simple, feminine clothing. It's the scent of the beautiful milk maid or shepardess of romantic paintings and poetry. It's Tess of D'urbervilles before she lost the man she loved. I can't wait to get a bottle of this.

Edited September 22, 2011 by Klolly

[rorygory]

I love this! I just got a sample as an extra in a MUA swap. Unfortunately there was only a little left (I think it leaked in transit, sad) but enough to wear for a day. To me, Alice smells like warm, sweet milk with honey... baby powder... it would be cloying, but the tang of bergamot makes it feel precocious and fun. The floral note, carnation, adds a freshness to it that makes it just delightful. Just a perfect scent for Alice

 

As to the reviewers who have noted a restroom smell (hahah!) I think it's because there is phenylacetic acid in it, used to create the honey note? I know that phenylacetic acid smells like honey in dilution and urine in concentration, and that some people are more sensitive to it than others. Serge Lutens "Miel de Bois" has been noted by some to be a story of honey gone horribly wrong, lol. Does anyone know if BPAL uses this in their formulation?

 

Btw, I am new to this BPAL forum, just joined

[punkinpie]

In the imp it smelled like flowers and cream. I was prepared to love it...and the moment it came in contact with my skin it became baby powder. Extremely strong baby powder. I waited about half an hour for it to reconsider but it didn't budge. Once I've tried more scents I'll hopefully figure out what elements cause that on me!

[becca_s]

Alice was one of my first imps and it is a very pretty and soft scent.

 

In the imp it smells like lollies combined with flowers and almond essence. When first applied it has a sweet but spicy scent, I don't get any milk from it ... but definately the bergamot and tea. When it dried down it became even softer and the rose came through more. It is a pretty and innocent scent - exactly the way that I would imagine Alice to have smelt.

ETA: Alice has become one of my favorites and gets worn regularly. Over time, I don't consider it to smell as young and innocent as I used too - it smells more womanly to me now.

Edited March 24, 2012 by becca_s

[KatharinaNordh]

So...uhm.

 

I just got this in a swap and decided to try it first.

 

It...I'm really not sure how to say this, but it smells almost Nothing.

And I don't mean that it is faint or as no lasting-power - it just seems to almost disappear when it hits my skin.

 

In the Imp, it was sweet and smooth and had the Lovely honeytone I so adore.

On my skin - when wet, when dry and now when cooling down it smells almost nothing.

 

I will admit it's just "almost nothing" rather than actual nothing; it adds a bit of honey-cream-feel with something possibly bergamott'y (and that is one of the best smells I know of) to it, but even when I rub my nose in it, I can just barely tell it apart from my own skin. Note that I am a smoker though, and a lot of people have said it is fairly discreet, so..what do I know - maybe my nose is just broken - but it usually works fine. I also don't get Any babypowder - it's a bit like Dana O'shee to me - not in smell but in how it smells almost nothing at all on me, but what it does smell is very pleasant.

 

I like the smell - if I used body lotions, this is what I'd want them to smell like; apparently just an enhancer to my own smell. But as a perfume, no.

I see a few people have mentioned likenesses to Lush’s Potion Lotion - so I'll head down to Lush and check that out today - maybe I'm onto something here

 

---

 

Edited because...you should always give things a second chance and I have today found that Alice and Two, Five and Seven (two scents I liked, but not enough for bottles ) are Fantastic when layered. I'm adding this edit to both my reviews, in case someone would like it as much as me but never actually did test

 

So now, i't going to have to be bottles of both.

Edited March 7, 2012 by Asinya