The Girl

[saralaughs]

A seductive, serpentine white scent, elusive, crystalline, and spellbinding: white amber, silver birch, immortelle, davana, pale musk, star jasmine, and ylang ylang.

I had to try this as I saw many references to The Girl and Antique Lace being alike.

The only thing I see as a similarity would be the feel of "old". The Girl doesn't smell anything like Antique Lace to me. They do share a "feel" though.

The Girl is very soft and light, yet there is a mysteriousness about her. I get the amber and florals and they go well together in this. It has a very "cold" quality to it. Where as Antique Lace is "warm and old", The Girl is "cold and old". And I don't mean "old" here as in "That is so damn old" but as in an ancient thing that has knowledge that would scare your underware into riding your ass.

Lovely. Edited October 13, 2009 by saralaughs

[Ohmaude]

I've been having the hardest time trying to figure out how to review this scent. The only thing I can say about this is it is sweet, powdery and a touch sinister. The ylang ylang and jasmine play nice, and are tempred by the birch. The amber, as always, is glorious. Everyone should try this at least once.

[veronicafranco]

i was so jonesing for this decant!! EVERYONE likes the girl.

 

i pop it open, apply and... eh. mailboxitis? The Most Wonderful Week of the Month? it smells like wintergreen marshmallows (which should never be marketed), and the kind of commercial sweetsweetgirly perfume i never like. please let this change in a week or two.

 

though there should be an actual law of olfactory physics (which should be an actual branch of physics) stating that the number of people who are insane for a blend (with overall hype being some kind of coefficient) is inversely proportional to how good it will smell on me. we can call it "the girl's law."

[parrot_suspect]

The white musk/vanilla musk in this is strong, and the florals, not so much. For the sake of comparison...at first I thought this smelled kind of like Body Shop's Moonlit Path. But now, I'm sitting here sniffing it, and it smells a *lot* like Dior's Hypnotic Poison. It's a thick, murky, slightly Oriental vanilla musk. Very femimine. It has amazing staying power. It's not quite my thing, but I can see this becoming incredibly popular.

[Invidiana]

AmandaKay is right--The Girl really is a way more sinister version of Bath&Body Works' Warm Vanilla Sugar, and am I ever drawn to sinister scents like flies to Log Cabin syrup. The vanilla sugar is evident on top, but there is something deeper and darker lying beneath, like the sweetness is really only a veil shrouding fathomless shadows. Deceptively delicious!

[lainevierge]

In the imp this reminded me of Torture Queen, one of my absolute favorites.

 

However, on my skin it started out smelling like the dollar store plumeria hand cream I had as a kid. Then it morphed into star anise.

 

Not a fan.

Edited October 18, 2009 by lainevierge

[batakbeatrix]

I've had multiple compliments on the Girl so far, including from my BPAL cranky boyfriend, which frankly makes her bottle-worthy right there!

 

That being said, I get a lot of birch from this, with a touch of floral in the background making it a bit sweet. It sounds slightly weird, but this is kind of what I would imagine Galadriel from LotR to smell like, walking through Lothlorien. It's a very evocative scent for me, which does not happen very often.

 

Overall, a very nice blend.

[revinn]

Oh my goodness.

 

This smells like the incredible vanilla musk drydown of Dorian on me. I can have that sweet, sensual smell without having to wait hours! It's a tiny bit "perfumey," but it's so amazing anyway. It IS a serpentine, white scent. Sweet and innocent, with something dark lurking underneath.

 

I'm going to need at least another bottle of this one. (And I got the gorgeous color label, yay!)

 

Out of 10: 10+

[MeiLin]

In the imp: Cool amber, musk, ylang ylang. lurve!

 

Wet: Huh. Something sour and acrid spoils my delight, but it fades and is back to the musk-amber-ylang ylang trio.

 

Dry: This is a lovely, white scent, floating and ethereal, though that sour off-note pops up now and again.

 

Verdict: It's fading quickly and just isn't distinguished enough for me to want a whole bottle.

 

ETA: Well, Sir nearly nommed my wrist off, so I may be getting this after all..

Edited October 25, 2009 by MeiLin

[kohimame]

Well, I went through a bit of effort getting a decant of this, but I did it anyway, because I just knew that I'd love this scent. But now that I have it and I'm wearing it, I'm feeling a slight bit of disappointment. I feel guilty, since the scent smells great, but I think I was expecting something different.

 

The Girl is one of those scents that smells the same in the bottle, wet, AND dry. I didn't get any of the elusive, wispy scents that other people got. On me, it was predominantly .. vanilla musk? Yeah, vanilla musk. A nice scent, and absolutely nothing wrong with it, but I thought there would be more. I really thought this would be THE ONE

 

The staying power on this is amazing; I slathered some on my wrist, and it has lasted 5 hours, and through me washing dishes.

 

Overall, a lovely scent that my skin decided to mess with. Sigh.

 

Edit: Ok, I've had a few days to get used to it, and it's really grown on me. I ordered a bottle!

Edited October 30, 2009 by Kohimame

[verbranden]

In the bottle, it did smell very crystalline and ethereal, though I couldn't for the life of me pick out any singular notes I smelled. It was just cold and beautiful.

 

I'm one of the one of the "similar to Antique Lace" people. It's touch colder and gives me a more "distant" feel, if that makes any sense. I am picking up other notes in with the cold vanilla, I'm just having a hard time identifying them though it's not anything floral.

 

Overall, I like it and I'm glad I bought a bottle just because other people raved.

[hazakaza]

Oh The Girl, you are so weird.

 

In the bottle, The Girl doesn't smell like much. But on! It's . . . interesting. I get this dominating pine resin note. Most BPAL scents tend to go sweet on my skin (so foods love me) but this scent is bone-dry on me. There a faint herbal note in here for me as well. No flowers to speak of (jasmine in particular goes sickly sweet on me) and amber normally stays pleasantly sweet as well--but this is bone-dry amber. On me, this goes a lot like a chilly, sophisticated cologne. Normally I don't like masculine scents (bring on the sweet foodies!) but this one is a real winner on me. Bottle!

[Tracelina]

Wow, am I ever glad I got my hands on this before the 'Weenies came down! I think I'm getting a lot of birch, which I hadn't noticed in any other blends before but which smells delicious on my skin. It reminds me both of Dior's Hypnotic Poison and Givenchy's Indecente, both of which I came *this* close to buying when I was sniffing my way through commercial perfume stores several years ago. Unlike those commercial scents, it doesn't overwhelm my nose--it has good throw, but not overwhelmingly so. I'd been wary of the musk at first (some lighter musks can amp to high heaven and give me monster headaches), but here it stays completely in the background and just adds to the complexity and beauty of the blend. Ditto the star jasmine.

 

What can I say? I bought two bottles unsniffed (one for my mom, one for me) based on the notes and reviews, and I'm glad I did. Now I have to find the funds to buy more before the 'Weenies come down for good!

 

If you're afraid to try this because one or two notes worry you, don't be. It's amazing!

 

eta a p.s.: The Girl smells almost identical on me in the bottle, wet, and dry. Don't know if that has ever happened to me before with BPAL. Yum!

Edited October 28, 2009 by Tracelina

[cinderfallen]

The Girl shares the same "opaline" white amber/vanilla note from To Helen, sweet and almost a little ozone-y vanilla--may it have the lightest, *lightest* touch of anise?, and it spins off into very subtle florals. On the crooks of my elbows, it stays mostly like this. However, on my wrists, where it evaporates faster, I get a lot more birch, and the delicate notes settle themselves into a warm aura of vanilla musk with a pale pink tinge, which reminds me of Bath and Body Works' "exotic amber" blends. I get no floral notes.

 

It kind of reminds me of a cross between Morocco and To Helen.

 

Very mainstream scent, nice--gentle, soothing, and calming. Lasts all day and then some on the crooks of my elbows.

Edited November 3, 2009 by cinderfallen

[RachelElizabeth]

The Girl stays the same on me through my entire wear time as it is in the bottle - a musky vanilla-tinged floral (I think the vanilla comes from the amber?). It's slightly powdery, but I think it's a time-of-the-month issue, rather than a scent issue.

 

It isn't an in-your-face dark scent, but rather it's seductive, cold, and ethereal. It is chilling and unsettling, even though it's a fairly mainstream scent. Absolutely beautiful!

[kerikeri]

I'm very surprised not to see licorice/anise listed as a note for The Girl, because that's the predominant scent I get on drydown. This feels a little similar to Glowing Vulva to me, with that vanilla/amber/wood combo, but sharpened by anise or whatever is reading as anise to my nose (maybe davana?). I don't know if I love it, but it is an evocative scent, really nailing the whole seductive-but-sinister vibe.

[papermaker]

This is really good. It is cold and beautiful. On my skin it is vanilla musk and floral, without any one floral taking over. It has minimal throw on me, but is a good scent, for flying under the radar.

[Phikli]

Utterly amazing!

 

I would have never tried this one had it not been for the reviews, so thank you all. None of the notes called to me, and jasmine is normally a note of death (this has now given me hope that some jasmine variants will work). I bought a decant which arrived today and I am completely in love. It's utterly unlike any bpal I've tried, which is a bit silly to say given the diversity of the catalogue, but still. I can't pick out any notes - most of them are unfamiliar to me. But I can say that it smells breathtakingly beautiful. I do get a vanilla-vibe off it, and a coolness. I'm so glad my decant arrived in time for me to leap in for a couple of bottles.

[Lorelai1945]

I just got my bottle of The Girl, and it smells EXACTLY like my bottle of Under the Harvest Moon. It's nice, it's just smelling like the same scent to me. It's warm (not cold and crystalline like I've seen it reviewed) and has what I took to be the blue musk in UTHM. If I had smelled this without looking at the bottle, that's what I would have said it was.

 

ETA: I keep sniffing back and forth between the two (TG and UTHM), and I can barely tell a little bit of a difference. The Girl seems to have a little bit more of a vanilla feel, and UTHM is a little more floral. Very, very similar, though.

 

The Girl is definitely vanilla musk to my nose, and it is pretty light..I kind of have to really get it up next to my nose. I think it has some lasting power, though. It lasts a few hours on me, which is good for my skin chemistry (which tends to eat scents).

 

Update: Oh. my. gatos. I sold my original bottle, but recently regretted it, so I bought one from the forums. It is amazing! Musky vanilla/amber goodness. I need more. A little aging made this so much better!

Edited January 31, 2010 by VioletFemme

[KesHiro]

Initially, I was scared off by the reviews comparing The Girl to Bath and Body Works' Vanilla Brown Sugar scent. I'm not fond of their fragrances, as their strength often hits the back of my brain like a brick to the head or scorch out my nose and sinus area. After getting a sniff of The Girl, however, I could see why it has such a following.

 

It the bottle, I get vanilla, some kind of light musk, and possibly the florals. Once I'm wearing it, The Girl turns into a lovely vanilla, brown sugar crystal scent, much more subtle and sophisticated than the Bath and Body Work take on that combo. Eventually, the amber comes out, adding a soft "something" to The Girl. I don't smell the florals or the birch, although the birch might be keeping this from turning into a sugar overload scent. I can see why some people say there's something sinister about this -- while it has a sweetish aspect, there is something lurking beneath that keeps it from being sweet and innocent.

 

This is quite pretty and I'm glad I bought a bottle.

[biocarolyn]

The Girl was something I only tried because of all the glowing reviews. None of the notes are particular favorites of mine, and I don't love florals, so I didn't really have high hopes. This just proves Beth is amazing.

 

I don't get any of the vanilla that other reviewers mention (thankfully). The most prominent note on my skin is the pale (white?) musk that I also smell in Fae. In fact, I think The Girl is a similar mood to Fae, just the fall version rather than mid-summer, as Fae feels to me. I also have a tendency to make all florals screamingly loud, so I was really nervous about the jasmine in this scent but it is all incredibly blended. Other than the white musk, I can't pick out an individual note. It's just a smooth, hazy blend of white fall notes. This is really nice- I'm glad I bought a bottle.

[heathercaley]

I simply adore The Girl. It's an ethereal scent...it's soft and fuzzy and the best part is that it isn't severely floral at all. This is what I wanted Snow White to smell like. You can definitely smell the amber, but it's such a soft radiant amber that It just sweetens everything up. I smell the likeness to vanilla.. but not food at all. More like a vanilla orchid. This is the perfect scent to wear when you want to enable somebody.

Edited November 19, 2009 by Purrsnikety

[Violaine]

I really wish there was a way for me to describe to you what The Girl smells like to me. It is unlike anything I have ever worn and it instantly became my most favorite fragrance of all time.

 

The Girl is a very grey scent to me. Silvery and sparse, soft yet... pointed. It enraptures me from the moment I put it on, it has a tremendous throw, and it lasts for hours. There's licorice in it, at least to my nose, and while I truly wouldn't tell you what any note in this blend smelled exactly like, there is indeed a powdery, musky quality to it. It's vanilla-ish, yes, but not in a foody way.

 

Beth nailed this on the head when she described it as "elusive". There's no possible way to describe it - you just have to try it. It's stunning.

[jtb2008]

Finally got mah bottles in the mail today. I was so excited to smell this, and then I did, and the excitement was gone. The most dominate scent I get is, I believe, the musk, which does not work on me. Its been in the warm house now for 7+ hours, but I'm going to let it acclimate some more before I pass it off as a bad job. And I wanted it to work so much, too.

 

ETA: A day later, and not much better.

Edited November 28, 2009 by jtb2008

[puck_nc]

Origin: Straight from the Lab

 

Initial Thoughts: I usually avoid ambers as they amp on me, but since I can usually wear white/light musks, I wondered if the same would hold for amber. And I'm a sucker for star jasmine.

 

In the Bottle: Bright, white, ethereal, cold moonlit florals. They do combine to give an impression of vanilla for me, though I know there's none in the mix.

 

Wet: Hello, amber! Are you going to behave for me? There's a lovely undertone of jasmine that I'd like to have a fighting chance.

 

Drydown: Amber and musk with just that hint of florals. Still light and feminine, but no longer a cool scent on my skin.

 

Verdict: I'll try it once or twice more to be sure, but I don't think my skin does this one justice.

Edited November 28, 2009 by puck_nc