Dawn: Mother

[izile]

Red roses, saffron, honey, and frankincense.

I had really thought this one might rival Dawn: Maiden for my attention, but the frankincense pushed it out of the running.

In the bottle, it was a rich, complex rose, the honey was definitely deeper and more distinct in this blend.

Wet, the thing I noticed most was it was very sharp, piercing, it bordered on acrid, but I do have a skin chemistry problem with almost all resins, so that could be my skin making the frankincense go rancid.

Dry, it was much less "rosey" than Maiden, more robust, more developed in a kind of "mature" way that's probably appropriate. But it stayed very sharp and, sorry, the only word that ever came to mind was "acrid." Was never aware of the saffron.

The boy sniffer was definitely unimpressed by the wet and dry versions of this one on me.

[bheansidhe]

Caveat: this blend has the honey that goes sharp and acrid on me. Here's what I can get from around the edges:

 

Wet: assertive and voluptuous, but just short of heavy. This is full-blown unashamed rose sprawled on a spicy Turkish carpet of frankincense, wearing nothing but a garter belt and a fur coat. I get the saffron as a kind of dusty warmth in the middle, especially after the blend has settled on my skin for a while.

 

Dry: much spicier and woodsier than I anticipated. It's warm, matte, and Oriental. The rose is drier, almost smoky at this stage (though this may be the honey effect). Good throw, but not overbearing.

 

Verdict: seductive and complex. Going to be a winner on the right skin.

Edited September 8, 2010 by bheansidhe

[edenssixthday]

Dawn: Mother - This is a stunning scent. It's very rich, deep, dark, and mature. It's a "floriental" in nature, and that frankincense really gives much depth to the rose while the saffron warms it up and the honey sweetens it. The honey is very light -- just enough to add a hint of sweetness to a deep, smoky, rich rose scent. I really love this. It's very grown-up, beautiful, and verging on sexy.

[zankoku_zen]

This one is definitely voluptuous. Lush red roses, touch of frankincense that definitely grounds this and a swirl of honey. Rich, deep, womanly.

 

From the 3 Dawn female scents I've tried, this one would be the winner in my book. I don't do roses but hell if this one isn't sexy.

[Dark Alice]

Lush Red Roses and honey with the barest hints of frankincense and saffron. This is not for me...but it is definitely sexy.

[Molls]

Sweet honeyed rose... if the frankincense wasn't in here, I would love this. But it is, and I'm just not a fan.

[greenranger]

Oooooooh.

 

Rich, spicy, resiny, golden roses. I know it says red roses, but, the scent is golden and spicy to me. Peppery frankincense, golden saffron, fragrant roses and rich sweet honey.

 

Yummy!

[plainjean]

On me, it's lush, velvety red roses and saffron, with frankincense floating around in the background. There's a touch of honey to sweeten it. The honey in this reminds me of Door and Deadly Nightshade Honey (both of which contain my favorite BPAL honey). In a way, it smells like Turkish delight, but, well, I'm odd and I adore the scent of Turkish delight.

Edited November 14, 2010 by plainjean

[reconditarmonia]

Goes on smelling like hair spray (I know people say rose does this to them, but BPAL roses tend to love me so I blame the frankincense). That impression fades away after a bit, but it's still a lot more frankincense (+ saffron? I don't know what saffron smells like) and a lot less rose and honey than I hoped.

[Blood onmy hands]

Much like Dawn: Maiden, this is mostly a perfumey rose soap smell on my skin . I was hoping that the honey would sweeten up the rose and the frankincense would give it some depth, but I can't really pick out either of those notes. This is sharper and more perfumey smelling than Maiden. As it dries down, I get a hint of something like old potpourri spice underneath the rose soap. It goes all sharp and smells cheap on my skin...

Edited November 20, 2010 by Little Bird

[grrrlennyl]

Dawn: Mother

 

On: Sigh. I love Beth's red rose. This has a touch of sweetness to it, along with some frankincense.

1 hour in: Rose and frankincense. It's lost its sweetness.

1.5 hours in: Oh, the frankincense is going kinda gross on me. It has an odd wood scent to it.

2 hours in: An odd wood scent still.

3 hours in: Some sweet honey, but mostly a dusty, odd wood scent.

Overall: I really like red rose with stuff that is sweet, but this goes weird on me.

[angelicruin]

Dusty, rich rose incense blend on me. Actually, quite lovely smelling.

[crebbsgirl]

Alright, I should preface this review by stating that I dislike rose and frankincense on my skin.

 

That being said, this was beautiful on me! It was a rich, and dusty scent as the previous reviewer stated. The frankincense didn't go to play-doh as it usually does, nor did the rose go to ammonia. Instead, this turned into a really nice incense-y kind of blend, with the saffron lending a hint of spice. I think the honey helps to keep things from getting too bitter.

[alterosen]

Skin chemistry is a strange thing!

 

This is very nice on me: a creamy berry-ish rose with a background of woods.

 

I didn't realize it had frankincense - I was thinking sandalwood & maybe a hint of cedar (but only a hint or it would be pencil-shavings city ) The slight tangy spiciness that's contributing to the wood feel is probably coming from the honey.

 

Delicious!

Edited February 13, 2011 by alterosen

[Belladonnastrap]

I keep sniffing myself.

 

Most of the time rose scents on a whole just don't work on me. The only exception previously was Psyche, something about her rose hits all the right notes (it may help that I usually wear it with Hades together). Dawn: Mother however is blooming beautiful. The rose is not all up in your face but the frankincense really is what launches this into OMGYES territory. It gives it a rich edge and makes it just downright sexy. Resins normally don't work on me ither but this is just perfect. I'm already predisposed to love this scent considering I love the source material & have Dawn tattooed on me but even if this was called Rick Sanatorum perfume I'd still buy it. If you're iffy on rose scents I'd suggest to give Dawn: Mother a try anyway, the other notes balance it out perfectly.

[stellamaris]

This is very beautiful, softer than Priestess to me but similar. Love this.

Dawn has become another favorite hang out for me here.

[dawndie]

In bottle: sweet light roses

 

On skin: roses with bitter resins

 

Half-hour later: sweetened roses with a bitter incensey tinge

 

In conclusion: I love the BPAL Rose blends for the most part -- such a snooty flower, but so pretty. I like the resiny incense base on this one, like what I wanted Parlement of Foules to be.

[brineydeep]

I bought this because I absolute adore Rose Cross (rose and frankincense). While this blend has some of the same notes, it's very different but still pleasant.

 

Dawn: Mother is a really sharp, slightly sour rose with an almost wine-like quality to it. Very rich and pungent, not lush. The frankincense, honey, and saffron lend a richness to this blend but are more support players. I can tell there is a resin in this blend, but it's not strong enough to detect that spiciness I always associate with frankincense.

 

Overall, this is a great rose blend though it's slightly more tart/sharper that what I was expecting.

[sprout]

It could be that I received a decant from an unshaken or unrolled bottle or it could be my skin amps the holy heck out of all rose, (so please take my review with a grain of salt) but this is single note rose on me. Granted it is the lovely, not quite lemony but almost pure red rose I get from Whip, but I was anticipating some frankincense at least.

 

I'll retest to be sure and try to get a different decant but I am sad this lacked complexity on my skin. Granted, my skin ate the leather in Whip and amped the rose there too, so that is something to consider. YMMV of course. I'll edit if aging my decant helps but I am blaming my rose amping skin chemistry for this experiment gone wrong. I wanted to love this because the label is adorbs. I would have thunk to smell some honey or frankincense. I'm considering a bottle for layering purposes as is as it is quite difficult for me to find a rose that doesn't evoke soap association, granny tendencies or become sour on me. In essence, it may be that the notes are so well blended it is just a perfect rose from wet to dry down on me, with modest sillage (throw).

Edited April 19, 2015 by sprout

[d0gbones]

In the bottle: Syrupy roses

Wet: Roses and a tint bit of frankincense

Dry: Like a sweeter version of Ruined Roses, which is one of my favourites.

[Teamama]

I got a partial bottle via a swap; don't know the age of the bottle.

 

The saffron is unexpectedly dominant, in all stages. I like the sweetness from the honey, and the rose is very good. I don't get much resin from it at all.

 

On me, the saffron was a little odd. I don't know if it will grow on me over time. This may be one I layer with something spicy, to harmonize with the saffron.

[LizziesLuck]

Wet: I think these are white roses, and they're lovely. Girlie and sweet. The honey adds to that, and the saffron gives it a really interesting, perfumey quality separate from the rose. So far Frank hasn't stomped all over everything, so that's good. Something in this wants to go a weeee bit plastic though. Darn.

 

 

Dry: There is something sickly sweet, fake and plastic about this on my skin. I have no idea how three notes (I never smell the Frank) that I love to much can combine to smell so horrid on me. This is simply not for me. Glad I got to try it though!