The Unsteady Governess

[Dark Alice]

THE UNSTEADY GOVERNESS
It made me, the sound of the words, in which it seemed to me that I caught for the very first time a small faint quaver of consenting consciousness—it made me drop on my knees beside the bed and seize once more the chance of possessing him. "Dear little Miles, dear little Miles, if you KNEW how I want to help you! It's only that, it's nothing but that, and I'd rather die than give you a pain or do you a wrong—I'd rather die than hurt a hair of you. Dear little Miles"—oh, I brought it out now even if I SHOULD go too far—"I just want you to help me to save you!" But I knew in a moment after this that I had gone too far. The answer to my appeal was instantaneous, but it came in the form of an extraordinary blast and chill, a gust of frozen air, and a shake of the room as great as if, in the wild wind, the casement had crashed in. The boy gave a loud, high shriek, which, lost in the rest of the shock of sound, might have seemed, indistinctly, though I was so close to him, a note either of jubilation or of terror. I jumped to my feet again and was conscious of darkness. So for a moment we remained, while I stared about me and saw that the drawn curtains were unstirred and the window tight. "Why, the candle's out!" I then cried.
"It was I who blew it, dear!" said Miles.
—The Turn of the Screw, Henry James

White tea and violet leaf.

I have always said that some of Beth's best creations come with the simplest notes. I was right then...and I am right now! This is just gorgeous! White tea with hints of fresh almost juicy violet. The smells like fresh wet white tea with violet. I just love it. I want to drink this blend and wear it all at the same time. It's just amazing. Beth has outdone herself once again!

[Amaranthus]

This is really good!

 

In the bottle it smells exactly like white tea and violet leaf. The violet leaf note smells green and herbal with a hint of violet flower. The white tea is the same as in last year's Peach Moon, clean and refreshing.

 

On the skin the bergamot of the tea develops. I love the smell of bergamot, it is comforting. At this stage the perfume smells like a hot cup of weak Earl Grey.

 

The overall fragrance is clean and lovely, with a touch of mystery.

 

I love The Turn of the Screw, and this scent certainly does evoke the mood of a ghost story.

[edenssixthday]

The Unsteady Governess - I really like this scent. It's the same white tea found in Yurei, and the violet is soft and sweet without being powdery and smelling like your old Great-Aunt Edna. I was so glad to read the previous reviewer's comments about the bergamot and Earl Grey tea, because that was my experience, as well. As the scent warmed up on my skin, it took a distinctly bergamot/Earl Grey flavor, and smelled even prettier than it did initially. It's very simple and very pretty.

[spiresinthesnow]

This reminds me strongly of Embalming Fluid with the exception of the violet leaf, and no white musk. Astringent, yet still sweet, with a subtle yet noticeable "green" violet vibe to it.

[Sultaana]

This is a really nice scent, and it's just a simple tea and leafy violet smell. A must buy if you are a violet fan or enjoy sweet, uncomplicated tea smelling perfume. Sadly not for me! Incredibly clean smelling to the point that I'd almost call this a scent for the spring and not for the fall.

[hazakaza]

Very weird--I'm not getting the same experience anyone else is with this blend. On me, and in the decant, this is a soft green / grassy lemon scent. I suppose the lemonyness of it is coming from the white tea--that's not a stretch at all. But green / grassiness? I guess that's really the leafy part of the violet. It's very warm and gentle, with stronger throw at the beginning but after a half-hour it's just a few inches of throw. After even longer, it does open up and have a breath of lovely tiny violets breeze through the scent as the lemon fades completely. Nice enough, but very strange, not what I was expecting, and not a must-have for me.

Edited September 11, 2010 by hazakaza

[LRogera]

All I get from this blend is violet. The tea is totally lost. I don't get tea, any greenness, anything herbal, or clean/astringent at all. All I get is straight up in your face floral. I have serious issues with florals though and I'm realizing that I amp them like crazy. I put on a tiny dab of it on and I was in the bathroom scrubbing my arm raw after a few hours because the scent was making me so sick. It looks like this one is definitely a no for me.

[Mountaingrrl00]

This is so clean, fresh and elegant. It's like a scented tea -- I get the Earl Grey association too. There's a gentle green zing when it's wet. When it dries down I get a little bit more soft violet, but it's not at all sweet or cloying. The tea still predominates and blends with the violet for an overall refreshing effect. The throw is medium to low (seems to die down as it dries down) and the wear length is fairly short. I anticipate carrying this around for reapplication, especially in the summer.

[inurbanus]

I'm a huge fan of The Turn of the Screw so as soon as I saw that there was a Halloween scent dedicated to it I knew that I had to try it. Tea notes usually work pretty well on me but they're not something I regularly seek out, so I was curious to see how much I would like this. I got my decant today and the answer is...a lot. Probably not enough for me to a buy a bottle of it, but TUG (heh) is perfectly pleasant. The tea is light with a little bit of humid citrus and bordered with just the teensiest bit of violet. I am disappointed about that - I like violet leaf and wish there was more of it in here. This doesn't really scream "Halloween" to me - I think if it had been released at the beginning of summer I would be much more receptive to it, but it is a good representation of all the outdoor scenes that take place in Screw, so I guess it's thematically appropriate.

 

3.5 / 5

Edited January 9, 2011 by Shollin
Removed Lab description

[cfrancesca]

I get lots of fresh, crisp, white tea and soft violets.

[Laurel the Woodfairy]

I had to have this one; I remember writing a seminar paper on Turn of the Screw and whether or not there were ghosts...of course I believe there are! This is pure, lovely white tea on me--it's a single note for at least the first hour. The violet is very soft and registers just as a little extra sweetness, but really this is almost pure white tea, a note I love. Clean, fresh, bracing, delightful! Good for steadying those nerves.

[Wolfie79]

The white tea is really crisp and clean smelling, and the violet scent is definitely violet leaf, not the more purple-smelling violet flower.

 

I do detect a sort of lemony note that I am 'blaming' on the white tea.

 

Over all I like this scent, but I agree with an earlier poster who suggested it smelled more 'springy' to her than like a fall scent. I think I'll age mine til spring and try again.

[zankoku_zen]

This is the strongest white tea note scent I've found in BPAL. It's white tea - slightly floral, slightly citrusy.

 

I personally find this delicious - but I'm drawn to clean, fresh scents alot of times.

[reynardine]

Just as the description says: white tea and violet leaf. It goes on very green and then the tea takes over. There’s a touch of lemon in this. Simple and very clean smelling. However, I already have a ton of tea scents, so I’ll pass on getting a bottle of this.

[Suu4LC]

I tend to love the lab's white tea scents, and I adore violet (though this is leaf, which isn't quite the same) so I knew I had to try this one. It sounds so lovely! Ooh, very pretty in the imp-bright white tea, maybe a squeeze of citrus, a waft of violet and a touch of greenery. It's a tad bit astringent, but I can't wait to see how this goes on my skin. Not the kind of scent I would expect from the Weenies!

 

Hmm...a bit astringenty on my skin and a bit perfumey. Sort of hard to describe. It's a bit sharper than I would have liked. On my skin it is mostly sharp white tea with a bit of a lemony/astringent/green kick. Very very fresh and clean smelling.

 

Overall, I like this blend-i'm not sure I have anything quite like it. Most of the bpal "clean" smells haven't really worked on me, and I think this is a really refreshing spring/summer scent. This might be my favorite of the bpal white tea blends. The more I sniff it, the more it grows on me.

 

One thing to note-this doesn't have the best staying power. After a few hours it was completely gone, so it would definitely need to be reapplied on a semi-frequent basis.

[animalcule]

Also my favorite white tea scent so far. Super-fresh and with a citrus kick. Not sure if I need a bottle yet.

[LadyMedb]

Rather than weak, I find this tea to be a bit over-steeped, just like the unhinged nameless governess in my FAVORITE BOOK EVER. I went in wanting to love this, but quite unsure of the notes; however, I ACTUALLY LOVE IT. The dark tea keeps the violet from going to powder on me, and the violet keeps the tea from going to citrus up-your-nose madness.

 

Well, it's madness, but it puts on a good show. Just like our "heroine".

 

LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE.

Edited September 18, 2010 by LadyMedb

[Iceblink]

I love the Lab's white tea note but have never really found a blend that I truly like with it--but this just might be it! White tea sweetened with light violet--it's simple and beautiful, and has nice throw and staying power for such an ethereal scent. Love!

[loubric]

In the IMP it’s lovely strong milky tea. On me it’s strong milky tea with a herby hint of violet leaf! Sweet, clean, refreshing and simply divine.

This is simply

[angelicruin]

Lots of white tea in this one, with just a dash of violet. Very clean & refreshing scent.

[Blood onmy hands]

In the bottle, this reminds me of Kumiho, which must be the white tea at play. The white tea isn't as smooth or sweet as I find the green tea to be, and it's not as herbal as the black tea. It's more of a sharp, citrussy, perfumey-clean tea note. It has a sharp, sour quality that reminds me of cutting into a lemon.

 

On my skin, thankfully, The Unsteady Governess sweetens up a bit and the sharpness fades away to a sweet, vanilla-y sort of floral swimming in a clean, bright, citrussy tea note. It's still mostly white tea/citrus, but not quite as sharp. I think that previous reviews summed it up nicely for me with "sweet, clean, and refreshing." It smells youthful, girly, innocent, and charming to me. I'm not sure that I would identify the floral in this as violet, exactly, and I don't get a leaf scent from it.

 

I don't know if I need a full bottle of this, but I'm happy to have a partial bottle.

[Suusje]

Very fresh, clean, airy and pretty. I agree with the posters above that it has more of a spring feel to it than a fall feel.

[heywilma]

This is clean and gorgeous, and the violet leaf blends something wonderful with the tea (the resulting floral is probably not everyone's cuppa – no pun intended), but overall it's verry close to Kumiho on me, and I prefer that scent over this.

[Heavenlyrabbit]

The Violet Leaf and White Tea just go together so well. Like two best friends that are inseparable.

 

In fact, this pairing makes so much sense, I wonder why I haven't come across it before.

[ami226]

Yep. White tea and a floral scent. Gets quite sharp after a bit.

 

Not for me at all!