Julia Stone

[forspecial_plate]

JULIA STONE
(The Room in the Tower, E.F. Benson.)
And then, with a sudden start of unexplained dismay, I saw that there were two rather conspicuous objects which I had not seen before in my dreams: one a life-sized oil painting of Mrs. Stone, the other a black-and-white sketch of Jack Stone, representing him as he had appeared to me only a week before in the last of the series of these repeated dreams, a rather secret and evil-looking man of about thirty. His picture hung between the windows, looking straight across the room to the other portrait, which hung at the side of the bed. At that I looked next, and as I looked I felt once more the horror of nightmare seize me.

It represented Mrs. Stone as I had seen her last in my dreams: old and withered and white-haired. But in spite of the evident feebleness of body, a dreadful exuberance and vitality shone through the envelope of flesh, an exuberance wholly malign, a vitality that foamed and frothed with unimaginable evil. Evil beamed from the narrow, leering eyes; it laughed in the demon-like mouth. The whole face was instinct with some secret and appalling mirth; the hands, clasped together on the knee, seemed shaking with suppressed and nameless glee. Then I saw also that it was signed in the left-hand bottom corner, and wondering who the artist could be, I looked more closely, and read the inscription, "Julia Stone by Julia Stone."

Rotting once-white fabric, spotted with mold.

I just had to try this, because it seemed not many other peolpe wanted to, and I have a thing for the underdog sometimes. : )

The first thoughts I had were "green" and "fresh", not mildew-y or rotted at all. It reminds me of an aquatic scent that has been dried out. And by aquatic I mean one of the sweeter ones, a little fruity, not cologney in my opinion. But.....the 'fabric' note adds a dry element to this scent, so that it ends up not really being aquatic, just reminiscent of aquatic. As it dries, it strikes me that this is a complex scent. Here and there I get hints of plant-like greenness, sort of a freshly cut stem note, just hints of that though. I also start to smell little 'flashes' of something dark, but that could be the power of suggestion. After all, I was expecting to smell something moldy, so I was actually surprised at how sweet this is. For the record, my nose tends to pick out sweeter notes more than usual, for example, I get a lot of 'sweetness' out of Oblivion. And I should add, there is nearly a powdery element to this scent, almost powdery but not quite. It's actually really nice and I think it will be more popular once people get 'wind' of it.

If you like the green quality of Velvet Cthulhu, you may like this as well. I think it's similar to that but softer and sweeter, without the zippy bite that V.C. has.

Edit to add.....after a while, this becomes even more dry and more powdery. At this point it reminds me of 51, with the addition of linen or fabric. It still has that sweetness.

[ami226]

On the skin: This is supposed to smell like rotting fabric and mold? It smells very... green to me. Kinda smokey as well. I don't really like green scents, but this actually doesn't smell anything like the description. I agree with Forspecial Plate!

[topazphoenix]

To me Julia Stone smells exactly like Dirty with a banana note in it.

[Heavenlyrabbit]

I get a clean, green and somewhat juicy experience from Julia Stone. She clears my head too.

 

My first stab at finding something similar in the BPAL lexicon is THAT! THE TERROR FROM OVER THERE!

 

Seeing other reviews mentioning Velvet Cthulhu certainly works with that observation. I think there's a citric Fruit note. And Wasabi?

Edited September 15, 2009 by Heavenlyrabbit

[edenssixthday]

Julie Stone - Hey, wait! There's no rotting mold in here! This is linen and cucumber...or something green and squishy. It's actually kind of nice! Not at all what I was expecting.

[Upstart Crow]

The description the Lab provided is really unfortunate, I think, in the same way that its description of The Chilling Cellar in 2007's Halloween line was unfortunate. Julia Stone is a beautiful scent -- impeccably blended and rich, and it's one of the best scents I've tried all year.

 

In bottle: very green and earthy. Think of working in the garden on a day when you have to tear out a bunch of weeds and you pretty much have the idea.

 

On me: When wet, I get a very strong 'papery' note that reminds me very much of the papery note in Lurid Library. As it dries, the green comes out prominently, but not overwhelmingly. I get a *lot* of garden smells here, but nothing I can identify (no cucumber, though). I really think that fans of Planting Moon, Lurid Library and more vegetably scents like Squirting Cucumber will love this. For people who don't like greenery so much, this blend will also work for you. It's very subtle, and very sophisticated.

 

Verdict: An enthusiastic 5/5!!! And I'm getting a back up bottle, I think.

[angelicruin]

Wet on my skin, cucumber and linen on me as well. I am also getting a slight metallic note with this one as well. Definitely no rotting, decaying note as I had feared. It's actually kind of the opposite on my skin.

 

Goes a bit smoky as it dries on my skin, but then that fades and I once again get cucumbers and linen.

 

I'll keep my decant, but I don't need a full bottle.

[Suusje]

I detect something green in the decant as well, but on the skin there I don't really smell anything green, it's just smells clean. There's nothing rotting or moldy in there, it's clean. It turns a bit powdery in the end. This is actually quite nice and I'm thinking about getting a bottle.

[Lethran]

In bottle: It smells like fruity candy, possibly jolly ranchers. Somewhere between their watermelon and strawberry, but closer to watermelon. Who knew that’s what winding sheets smell like? Learn something new every day. Wet: almost completely different. O.o It is still sweet and vaguely fruity, but now it’s more incense perfume like. Very feminine in an unusual and striking sort of way. This would be wonderful on a quirky and fun 20-something woman; it is outright weird on me. Dry: clothes fresh out of the drier. O.o I mean, that’s definitely linen. I have no idea where the rest went. Talk about deceptive and morphing on the skin.

[fairnymph]

Sniffed: Deep golden oil. Clean and light, almost grassy in its freshness, almost but not quite cologney. I don't really get a linen note, but there is a definite greenness, a slight sappiness like crushed new green leaves, as well as an underlying 'whiteness' that strikes me as pure and innocent.

 

Wet: A little more sharply green, with a slightly spicy/bright floral note that I'm almost positive is daisy. It feels brighter, whiter, maybe a little more 'yellow' as well as white and green. I'm still not getting any sort of distinct linen note or other 'fabric'-evoking aspect, but this does smells clean and fresh and like laundry drying in the sun - without being soapy or generic in the least.

 

Dry: Wow, it's almost completely gone. I was busy for 30 minutes and now it's fully dry and faded tremendously. However, all the sharpness has worn off and the notes have melded - it's a very soft, light, clean scent. It does remind me of linen and laundry now but not in a way that's like any other BPAL or other brands' attempt at a clean/linen/laundry scent. It's delicate, feminine, and very subtle and I adore it, and am so thrilled that something with my first name is so very lovely.

 

Later: Now in the final later drydown I get a crushed stone note; literally, like someone took granite and smashed it. It's a beautiful mineral element, to me very reminiscent of the finest stone/mineral notes in crisp white wines, so it evokes both that association and a feeling of being in an old granite quarry. Clean, outdoorsy, a sense of purity (for me, always associated with nature) but also a sense of age, of the ancient. This scent expresses perfectly the paradox of ancient, immortal youth. I also get a sweet muskiness now, extremely light, perhaps a faint vanilla musk? It evokes that white girliness, and the feel at this point is one of grey-white pearlescence, or maybe moonstone, or age-polished, worn grey granite or marble.

 

Summary: Very low throw and it fades tremendously at first, but after the initial fade it has good longevity on my skin, and thus slathering should be ideal.

 

I need an infinite supply of this one.

Edited September 27, 2009 by fairnymph

[TrailerTrashPrincess]

cucumber slices on a paper plate. hunh. interesting. i think Redken makes a shampoo that smells something like this. it isn't anything at all even remotely like what i was expecting. i like it, but i'm not sure if i need more than just the decant.

 

eta: i sniffed it again, after ignoring it for awhile, and now it smells like the old B&BW "cotton blossom" scent. no more cucumbers or soggy paper plate. so very, very odd!

Edited September 26, 2009 by TrailerTrashPrincess

[Blood onmy hands]

In the bottle, this smells clean, sweet, watery, kinda fruity and kinda green.

 

On my skin, this morphs into a perfumey white floral smell with hints of green and sweetness at first (like cucumber and a peel of some sort of fruit that I cannot place). It doesn't smell moldy or dirty at all.

 

As Julia Stone dries down, this is an intensely perfumey, sharp, cheap white floral smell with a background of soapy dryer sheet freshness. It makes me feel like my throat is closing up when I smell it :/. It's better in the bottle and goes all sharp and dry on my skin. It's also very heavy and has lots of throw on me. Not good.

 

This is definitely not a favorite for me. I had to scrub it off after an hour.

[Katherynne]

It smells like Dial antibacterial soap. I don't know what else to say. I'm so shocked.

[thekittenkat]

In the imp: A sweet aquatic.

 

Wet: Now I'm getting a linen note, and something that is sort of like dirt, but not exactly, so that must be the mold note. Something sharp is also present as a bottom note. No water notes.

 

The dry-down: I didn't know what to expect with this. In RL, I have a problems with anything moldy, so was hesitant to try this. I did a little testing of it at the last moment at the DSWC, and it didn't seem anything like the notes listed. It's a morpher on me, to be sure. It still feels wet and now it feels cool from the water note. I like this okay, but not sure that I like it enough to spring for a bottle. There's the linen, the "dirt", and the aquatic notes, and whatever that sharp note is. This would probably be better as a summertime scent on me. Somewhat cool and somewhat faintly sweet. Not at all as expected.

[ellebelle]

Bottle: In the bottle, this smells a little like honey suckle and cucmber. It does have a "green" feeling to it and I would classify it as a sweet aquatic. It kind of reminds me of Olokun, or something like that.

 

Wet: The smell of it wet really does smell just like it does in the bottle. I like the wet smell very much.

 

Drydown: For me, it dries into something kind of powdery - it smells almost like talcum powder on me. I think there must be some kind of floral in this, like rose or lavender as those always do that to my skin. It's also making my nose itch, which makes me think it might be lavender. Disappointing. The more it dries down, the worse it is. I'm going to have to scrub it off. Disappointing.

 

Verdict: Swap.

Edited September 30, 2009 by Ellebelle

[MeiLin]

In the imp: Violets! That's all.

 

Wet: Violets! That's all. But a good violet, soft, not overpowering.

 

Dry: Violets! But there's a sinister undercurrent--a fading, dusty smell, as if something had once been perfumed with violets and then put away in a linen cabinet for a very long time. Perhaps an elegant lady's handkerchief.

 

Verdict: Sir likes it, which is unusual for a floral. I like it; it's the first BPAL violet that hasn't been ZOMG! VIOLETS! on me. Perhaps a partial. It's funny that I picked up a note no one else did! Either I'm confused, or my nose is, especially because y'all have been reporting aquatics and I'm not smelling it. (I hate aquatics.)

[lunaticana]

the first time I saw the description of this scent I was intrugued but not there yet..

the moment I put it on my skin out of the decant from a friend, I was in love! :love:

it is the most beautifull smell I was looking for for a long long long time

so cleaan and like fresh washed cotton but then dried in the warm and yellow sunshine..

[hkhm]

bottle: almost exactly like dirty, which is to say: soft florals over fresh greenery. the way line-dried laundry is supposed to smell.

 

wet: there's a sort of crumbly, dry, dirt feel here. not anything like the lab's dirt note but something which smells like dried, caked mud that's cracking apart. still with the soft linen scent. very pretty.

 

dry: nearly identical to dirty. honestly. i've got a dab of dirty on my other wrist and i can barely tell the difference.

[medvssa]

Well, I was surprised too although on drydown the description doesn't seem so wildly off anymore.

 

Soft, green and a bit sweet, damp when wet. Linen, and, perhaps cucumber, or lettuce? Wet it is like a cross between Frenum and Berenice (I love both).

 

When it dries out it becomes more floral, in fact something in it smells like Abbaye de Flavigny violet drops so I do get a quite dry, a bit powdery violet too.

 

The general effect does smell kind of like old haberdashery shops. The combination of damp and dry is perhaps what is intended to evoke mold. And definitely old fabric.

 

It is very faint on me though, and has virtually no throw but I really like it, maybe I must slather. I will wear it a few more times to see if it does really agree with my skin enough to buy a bottle, I am not sure yet.

[Schmoozy]

 

Overall a clean, fresh, crisp scent with hints of green and sweetness. I immediately think of Green Phoenix, one of my all time favorites. It is definitely aquatic, and pretty sweet.

[zankoku_zen]

Clean white floral - on me, it kinda smells like soap. I get hints of grass/grenness, but it pretty much smells like fresh linen. I think given the semi-aquatic fresh feel of this, that it has cucumber as a component.

 

I don't do well with BPAL's linen note, so I'll have to pass.

[Invidiana]

Not moldy at all, but more of an "antique" white fabric scent that isn't your great-aunt's mothball-filled closet. Julia Stone is delicate but still manages to be eerie (eerieness being my personal prerequisite for florals as without that element they just get way too girly) just like, say, a rotting once-white antique wedding dress that has been exposed to the elements for a long stretch of time. This isn't the stench of rotting fabric, but rather the evocation of such an image, and definitely deserves some attention!

[voodoocatwoman]

deodorant soap

[yeahbutnobut]

Julia Stone

 

In the imp: crisp wet lettuce, cucumber and a white flower of some kind.

Wet on skin: a sweet blossom with wet cucumber or melon.

Dry on skin: so this is supposed to smell like rotting cloth? That’s not at all what it smells like-and that’s what makes this so lovely. The only thing that reminds me of cloth is a scent of laundered cotton, this smells like a very pleasant laundry detergent-a little too clean and soapy, but very pleasant. But no mould! What I do smell are things like lettuce, cucumber, sweet spring blossoms (linden?) and something that could be lily of the valley. I smell cotton blossom too.

After a while: this turns into a white floral. A pure white floral with slightly waxy petals, dappled with dew, a hint of green. Not soapy, and not as cloth-like as I expected. Other than what could be a bit of moss, there is nothing at all mouldy here-this smells fresh, and almost innocent, a very pure white flower, like some kind of lily.

Verdict: not what the description implies. This is cleaner, prettier and more pleasant than what the rotting cloth notes suggest. There’s certainly a hint of linen or cotton to it, and maybe some moss for the mould and mildew, but the overwhelming scent I get is delicate white flowers, green watery notes like cucumber and leaves with dew. To me it’s more of a ghostly scent than a vampiric one. The floral notes gradually turn to soap, which means this is not a keeper, but it’s a lot nicer than I expected.

Emoticon rating:

Is it a keeper? Not really.

If you like this, try: Wensleydale, Rapunzel, Dirty, The Ghost, Faeu Boulanger

[filigree_shadow]

Unexpectedly delightful. It doesn't smell rotting or moldy to me. Clean, and something green and kinda squishy, like cucumber, not like grass. Faintly floral and faintly aquatic, but mostly bright green. I thought this would smell like a musty old attic or something, but it doesn't at all.

 

Very nice spring scent!