Two Loves

[edenssixthday]

TWO LOVES
I dreamed I stood upon a little hill,
And at my feet there lay a ground, that seemed
Like a waste garden, flowering at its will
With buds and blossoms. There were pools that dreamed
Black and unruffled; there were white lilies
A few, and crocuses, and violets
Purple or pale, snake-like fritillaries
Scarce seen for the rank grass, and through green nets
Blue eyes of shy peryenche winked in the sun.
And there were curious flowers, before unknown,
Flowers that were stained with moonlight, or with shades
Of Nature's willful moods; and here a one
That had drunk in the transitory tone
Of one brief moment in a sunset; blades
Of grass that in an hundred springs had been
Slowly but exquisitely nurtured by the stars,
And watered with the scented dew long cupped
In lilies, that for rays of sun had seen
Only God's glory, for never a sunrise mars
The luminous air of Heaven. Beyond, abrupt,
A grey stone wall. o'ergrown with velvet moss
Uprose; and gazing I stood long, all mazed
To see a place so strange, so sweet, so fair.
And as I stood and marvelled, lo! across
The garden came a youth; one hand he raised
To shield him from the sun, his wind-tossed hair
Was twined with flowers, and in his hand he bore
A purple bunch of bursting grapes, his eyes
Were clear as crystal, naked all was he,
White as the snow on pathless mountains frore,
Red were his lips as red wine-spilith that dyes
A marble floor, his brow chalcedony.
And he came near me, with his lips uncurled
And kind, and caught my hand and kissed my mouth,
And gave me grapes to eat, and said, 'Sweet friend,
Come I will show thee shadows of the world
And images of life. See from the South
Comes the pale pageant that hath never an end.'
And lo! within the garden of my dream
I saw two walking on a shining plain
Of golden light. The one did joyous seem
And fair and blooming, and a sweet refrain
Came from his lips; he sang of pretty maids
And joyous love of comely girl and boy,
His eyes were bright, and 'mid the dancing blades
Of golden grass his feet did trip for joy;
And in his hand he held an ivory lute
With strings of gold that were as maidens' hair,
And sang with voice as tuneful as a flute,
And round his neck three chains of roses were.
But he that was his comrade walked aside;
He was full sad and sweet, and his large eyes
Were strange with wondrous brightness, staring wide
With gazing; and he sighed with many sighs
That moved me, and his cheeks were wan and white
Like pallid lilies, and his lips were red
Like poppies, and his hands he clenched tight,
And yet again unclenched, and his head
Was wreathed with moon-flowers pale as lips of death.
A purple robe he wore, o'erwrought in gold
With the device of a great snake, whose breath
Was fiery flame: which when I did behold
I fell a-weeping, and I cried, 'Sweet youth,
Tell me why, sad and sighing, thou dost rove
These pleasent realms? I pray thee speak me sooth
What is thy name?' He said, 'My name is Love.'
Then straight the first did turn himself to me
And cried, 'He lieth, for his name is Shame,
But I am Love, and I was wont to be
Alone in this fair garden, till he came
Unasked by night; I am true Love, I fill
The hearts of boy and girl with mutual flame.'
Then sighing, said the other, 'Have thy will,
I am the love that dare not speak its name.'

Love beyond reach: sunset tones of amber, red musk, and blood orange with three chains of roses, velvet moss, white lilies, crocuses, violets, poppies, blue musk, neroli, angel's trumpet, frankincense, benzoin, and night-blooming flowers.

Two Loves - With the exception of angel's trumpet, which I've never smelled, and possibly the white lilies, everything in this list of ingredients should have been a total and complete WIN!!! for me. Sadly, this scent was a huge, giant F.A.I.L. from beginning to end. It went on floral and soapy, and then the blue musk and violets and rose tried really, really hard to come out, but the soapiness won and in the end, for several hours, it was nothing but icky old lady floral soap on my skin. So sad, because it had so much potential!

[DeltaCat]

Florals with red musk!!! This scent is so much for the win on me! Wet it is mainly florals, but on drydown the musks come out and the blend of the two is so good. I can't distinguish between the florals, it smells like a flower shop!

[Lorelai1945]

This is a very nice, soft floral. I don't get a lot of musk, but I can feel it's there underneath the florals. It reminds me a little of something- Lady Lilith maybe? Very feminine and pretty.

[musichappens]

A beautiful soft low-key sweet floral. Just like Saint Foutin, this is blended so well that I can't pick out each note individually! Amazing.

 

It's very faint on my skin, so I think this will work better in my scent locket.

[FathomBelow]

I got this bottle free (long story) so I wouldn't normally wear something like this, but here it goes:

 

In the bottle: Smells like incense, strangely. No incense listed, so I'm guessing it's just a scent I associate with incense. Maybe the poppy?

Wet on skin: Still heavy and incense-y.

Dry: Mellows out to a thick, not too sweet floral scent. Doesn't smell like incense any more. Kind of nice.

As others have noted, this is quite a faint scent and it clings to your skin (at least, mine).

 

Overall impression: For some reason, this makes me think of fortune tellers. It's definitely too heavy for me, but tolerable and could be nice on some people.

[Saya]

The florals really are dominant here. I'm not getting any of the other notes. I was really excited for this one, but from beginning to end this is pretty 'meh'.

[penemuel]

I had a little mishap and ended up juggling my decant and ending up with much more of this on than I'd usually wear to test. I'm kind of amazed I didn't spill more! I was very worried it would end up being way too floral and try to choke me, or overwhelmingly red musk and freak out my coworkers, but it's actually fairly light and very, very nice.

 

It's blended incredibly well, and the citrus is actually hanging on a lot longer than they usually do -- wondering if the red musk is helping that or if it's just the amount I'm wearing.

 

The resins, musks, and moss ground the flowers very nicely. I can't really smell any one note above the others, although the flowers do tend to blend together into a general 'floral' mix (which is kind of a pity because I wanted to smell the violet more strongly).

 

I'm very, very glad that this blend works on me, because I really had to buy a bottle of it based on the fact that it's Two Loves!

[Blood onmy hands]

In the bottle, this smells like sharp, perfumey, chemical florals.

 

On my skin, it's much the same. It smells like the cheap, department store, floral-heavy concoctions that I try to stay away from. It's the sort of scent that makes my nose burn and my throat feel tight. I get a lot of chemicals, metallic hairspray, and fakey sharp floral.

 

My skin has a tendency to amp up red musk and rose notes, and I don't smell either of them here. It's a mess of perfumey, sharp, dry, chemical floral notes on me. This does get a bit sweeter & slightly incensey in the drydown, but not enough to make this wearable for me at all.

 

Two Loves is just too intensely perfumey-floral. It gives me a headache

[thekittenkat]

One of those amazing blends where it's difficult to pick out all the notes. It's pretty flowers on me, tempered by the musks and the orange and the amber. The violets (a scent I love but it doesn't love me) and the lilies seemingly behaved themselves. After more testing, I'll add to this review later on.

 

ETA:

 

Testing this again.

 

In the bottle: Sharp and powdery florals. Betting the sharpness is from the lilies.

 

Wet: Well, shoot, that amber has gone all powdery on me already. The rest of the flowers are coming back into play, very pretty and spring-into-summer scents. The orange is also making its presence known.

 

Dry: The musk is centering the florals, but the amber's gone to powder. I really like the orange note, though. However, this is heading in the direction of soapy flowers. Disappointing result. ETA: The frank and the benzoin finally showed up, but not enough to save this for me. I wanted to be able to like this so much because of my beloved blood orange. Now, I'm dreaming of blood orange, red musk, benzoin, frankincense, roses, and something for sweetening.

Edited March 29, 2010 by thekittenkat

[Leopard403]

I know, I know, amber and musk tend to fare poorly on my skin. But I had such high hopes for all the other notes!

 

Unfortunately I should've stuck with what I know, because all I get from this is that incense-y, drugstore perfume-y-slash-hairspraylike scent I usually get. No sign at all of roses, or lilies, or anything else. Bummer.

[theseagrows]

wow, this is beautiful. it's musky but floral, but not overwhelming on either side. i am a sucker for musky florals, but this one outdid itself! i can't even really pick out notes, except maybe the neroli and musk...everything else is blended so expertly, that the separate notes don't really stand out, but make for a beautiful blend. it's dark, musky, and sexy-my favorite type of scent. i must get a big bottle of this one!

 

 

 

[wl552]

Starts off beautifully, but then goes sort of weird after drying. Very perfume-y heavy florals. I'm not sure if I like it or not. I think I'll have to let it settle a bit more.

[fairestrocza]

In the Bottle: soft… can't quite place this scent, but it is familiar

 

Wet on Skin: soft floral with a blue musk character

 

While Drying: nothing is really jumping out at me, just a general floral impression

 

After a Little While: A bit of the blood orange or neroli is expressing itself. The majority of the flowers are still sticking together in a melange that I associate with other 'night-blooming' blends. It seems like I should be smelling this in a different body product… maybe shampoo or soap (it does not smell soapy on me, but seems like a scent that would be added to soap). A hint of the blue musk is still there, but no red musk to speak of.

 

Later: This gets less floral with time (in fact, Just in Time to prevent me from getting sick of it and renew my interest in wrist-sniffing). Oh… yes, now we're talking… red musk and amber, with just a hint of neroli slip in like a lover surprising you with an early return from a voyage. Late drydown is warm, slightly spicy, and absolutely gorgeous.

 

Final Thoughts: I was hesitant about this one - quite a few flowers listed - that generally doesn't bode well - but red musk is fantastic on me, and there were enough non-floral notes that I figured it was worth a shot. This started out ok, but nothing special, and just when I was about to write it off, it had this amazing transformation that knocked my socks off. I wish the late stage had a bit more throw, but the close scent seems to be lasting. (Apparently the throw is greater than I thought. Three of us were testing various blends and after a few hours I kept smelling something gorgeous. I didn't realize until I was in bed that it was ME).

Two Loves earns a 4/5 on my skin.

 

Two Loves: Bachelor number one is the nice guy who always calls to thank you after a date, is polite (if slightly socially awkward), and brings you flowers from time to time... but is missing that *spark*... Bachelor number two, on the other hand, is the unreliable commitment-phobe... you never know when he will show up, but you keep going back, because when he kisses you, you can feel it down to your toes...

[milo]

From wet to dry, this is cloying floral on me, that eventually turns powdery. I think it's rose and jasmine that are amping on my skin, and drowing out anything pleasant in this blend that might be here.

[Venneh]

In teh decant, this smells like citrus, florals, and frankincense. Hrm. We'll see how this goes. On my skin, it's a sharper floral and incense. Not promising so far... Ends up fading to a powdery citrus incense. Ehh.

Edited March 6, 2010 by Venneh

[Dark Alice]

Wet: Barest hints of red musk with florals.

 

Drydown: Freakin florals man! No frankincense, my loving red musk has been killed dead by the freaking florals of doom. *sigh*

 

 

[papermaker]

This is a mix of florals. I can't pick one out from another. There is the barest hint of blood orange. Once dry the frankincense and florals blend to create a floral incense that isn't too incensy. I like it. Potentially a bottle as I continue to test my decants

[Iceblink]

A bit of incense, a lot of blue musk, and FLOWERS. There are really way too many floral notes here to pick out but the overall effect is pretty and light. Some of the flowers here are the ones that turn to Powder of Doom on me after a few hours, though, so I'm not too hopeful that this will stay so nice...but it's a nice, safe floral blend in the meantime.

[impolight]

:::TWO LOVES:::

 

Two loves is very much like a tumultuous exercise in poetry.

Two Loves is overextended idealism, diturbing vividity and passion enflamed.

Two Loves warps time and space; quickly bringing the wearer to the bittersweet realization of having the slightest control or influence over the splendors that surround every day in infinities; but instead succinctly at the mercies of powers beyond brash tongues... And with only a bemused sort of hope that we can survive it.

There is a spectrum of great breadth as to the notes making up the fragrance that is Two Loves, which makes it notoriously difficult to remark on single notes... Just about the time a scent draws near to specification, it merges, nay, homogenizes with another note creating an effect that is ever renewing itsself! This is the confusion and constant state of arousal engendered by, not one, but two obsessions... Two Loves!

After swaying back and forth over the opened bottle for several moments ( winning an eye-roll from spectators, it was decided to see where the skin would take this fragrance.

Two loves comes a ripping off of the skin; bounding, blending, uncurling, unfurling!Fragrantly, it is difficult to describe... Visualize one of those (blue) coloured smoke-bombs used for guiding in parachutists, placed under a half-dome of glass, and it's quasi-close...

Two Loves is a double-fisted wake up call of olfactory goodness! There are so many good qualities about this formula that it might just be near the top of that proverbial list.

Spectrally, Two Loves is the whole package.

It is all colors.

With extras.

That makes your head hurt.

In HD...

Two Loves is decadently, deliciously unisex; beguling and salivary on her, posh and über-swoony on him...

Purrversion!

Quick! Find approximately 3 bottles of this one before it runs away!

Bravo, BPAL, bravo!

5/5!

[anomie]

Imp: Flowers. Lots of flowers. And the barest hint of blood orange.

 

Wet: Soapy flowers. Like, the really fancy expensive soap.

 

Dry: Yeah, this just really does not do it for me. I was more excited about my prototype of The Flower Girl, which is more lush and alive on me; this is just powdery and soapy.

[fairnymph]

Deep slightly greenish-brownish golden oil. Red musk first and foremost, followed by some delicious blood orange, sharp neroli, rose, perfumey amber, and some soft springlike florals...and some spicy poppy, cat pee ish soapy jasmine, other soapy florals - there's a LOT going on, too much.

 

Better on on my skin - brighter and juicier with much less red musk and a lot of more blood orange, lily and crocus - the violets are very true, and the roses are pink and gentle - the neroli's softened but still too chemically for me, and while lighter, I really can't handle red musk or this jasmine note, or the amber which isn't any softer and is going a bit more powdery - it reminds me of one of the ambers from the dreaded O. The soapiness as least is bearable, so far.

 

FLORAL FLORAL FLORAL - the flowers have totally exploded on my skin, heady and heavy and bright and sharp and soapy - some are nice, like the crocus, lily and violet and at least one of the roses - others are really not working, like the poppies, angel's trumpet (HELLO SOAP), some of the roses (HELLO POWDER) and the jasmine (HELLO FAIL). Also, the amber has gone to really perfumey powder. I don't know how amber can be floral, but it often is to my nose. And always the BAD kind of floral. The blue musk is kind of dusty, and I get the heavy frankincense, and these two along with the amber and benzoin make for a dark, cloying sweet powder - blech. Blood orange has gone to faint Pez candy.

 

This fades a lot and the florals, all 30 bajillion of them, do actually coalesce into something that's not too bad. Yes, there's powder and soap but it's not that strong - then again, this scent has faded dramatically overall. I think somehow the good florals have cancelled out the bad florals making this a 'neutral' floral blend for me. The blood orange here holds better than it ever has on my skin before, and has lovely raspberry overtones - alas, it is a bit powdery Pez like. The benzoin has amped into disctinction and adds honeyed depth. Frankincense and amber are light, but there if I seek them out, and the red musk remains constant throughout on my skin as the final dealbreaker.

 

Interesting and quite a morpher, but not for me at all. Good throw initially but fades rapidly. Meh. Not for me but not dreadful, as I rather expected.

[angelicruin]

I definitely can pick out the blood orange, rose, and other floral notes in this blend. I'm sort of on the fence as to whether or not I like it though. It's pretty strongly floral on my skin, but I love blood orange and it's in here enough to really make me consider wearing this more often. I think I will stick with the decant though and see how it goes.

[ami226]

 

On the skin: Orange! A lovely, floral, feminine orange! Soooooo wonderful! I don't know if I would actually wear this too often, but it is truly a beautiful scent! So keeping this one!! The amber doesn't turn to powder at all, which is amazingly wonderful! Might have to actually stock up on this one. A real surprise!

[zankoku_zen]

No orange or lilies. Just a giant blast of frankincense and musks. Sexy, because it's got the red musk going on, but it had so many promising notes.

 

Damn you skin chemistry. Damn you.

[crebbsgirl]

Yup, this went pretty heavily floral on me! The amber comes out much later in the drydown. Surprisingly enough the roses behave and don't dominate the blend like I was expecting. This is still pretty "perfume-y" but beautiful. I'm getting just a hint of citrus. But still predominantly flowers. Nothing screeching or high-pitched though. This is a very classic kind of scent. And the musk here is just gorgeous!