La Belle Dame Sans Merci

[grrrlennyl]

The name translates to “the beautiful woman without mercy”, and is the title of an old French court poem that was later revamped by John Keats. A bewitching, seductive scent, rife with mystery and foreboding.

at first: the lab tossed this in as a freebie in my last order. it's a bit to heavily floral for me, i think.
on: a slightly odd floral / herbal blend.
3 hours later: this is...ok. it's just a vague scent. it's strong, but i can't pick the notes out. there's something sort of tangy to it, but it's mostly flowers and herbs.
overall: this just isn't me. one for the swap pile.

[Sara]

Initial sniff: Hmm... there is a dry woody type smell mostly.

 

Swipe: The dry woody smell pops out a little more and something sweet is lingering in the background.

 

Drydown: Hmm, this went pretty "mature woman" on me pretty quick. It's sort of powdery and floral (rose, is that you?) and sooo not me.

 

Off to the swaps wit' ye.

[Brianne]

In the bottle:

sharp and green, with a floral undercurrent

 

On me:

There is lily in this :/ That's about all I can say for it, because the beast known as lily is always the predominant note on me, and now it just smells like soapy floral.

 

Final note:

Whereas I didn't get anything from this scent, I will say one good thing about it. This scent LASTS. I applied this yesterday afternoon, and well into the wee hours of the morning, every time I would move, I would catch a big whiff of this. By the time I went to bed, I could still smell it. When I woke up today - it's STILL HERE.

[pensive]

Imp: Maybe floral, maybe not.

Wet on me: It smells like rose.

Drydown: Herbal, green, odd mixed floral.

Verdict: Swap pile.

[Dark Seraphim]

bottle: I found it very addictive. A very crisp, clean citrus scent. Other reviews described it as 'cold'. I agree.

 

Worn: Pretty much the same thing, only the scent seems to intensify once worn. Floral notes appear here too. I think this one works quite well with me.

 

I'd certainly consider getting a larger bottle, but it wouldn't be on top of my list. 7/10.

[~AmusedMuse~]

My Impression: Clean, crisp, green and lovely. However, I can't warrant keeping it when I dint think I would wear it often enough. Off to swaps it goes to find a better home. It really is lovely though.

[Reinier]

I wasn't sure what to think of this in the bottle, none of the notes really jumped out and grabbed me. On my skin though its a beautiful crisp green and rose scent. It makes me think of a cool, crisp morning in the garden with fresh roses that are just starting to hit full bloom and lush greens dripping with dew.

[sixthsentinel]

Alright, after all this procrastination, I think I've finally gotten up the guts to do my first review. Rather intimidating, though, as I have nowhere near the knowledge of individual notes, nor the beautiful writing style of so many of the lovlies on this board....but I'll do my best.

 

This was the first BPAL scent I tried, & thus far, I believe the most complex, in that it morphed several times during its wear. Upon opening the imp, it was a VERY strong green scent, & for the first 10-15 minutes after I put it on, it was indeed merciless with me, as I am one of those who sometimes gets headaches from floral blends. It quickly morphed from that into the Dial soap scent that I had seen someone else describe. Not altogether unpleasant, just...well, not what I was hoping for. Yet 2-3 hours later, the lady demonstrates her fickleness as she morphs again, into a soft sweet powdery floral. Oh, yeah, that's the stuff. Liked this stage quite a bit actually. Alas, she did not stop here, for about 6-8 hours into the wear, she changes back into Dial soap. Pooh. After giving this imp another whirl, I decided to pack her up & ship her off to my aunt's house (already enabling!), where I am certain she will be better loved.

 

*sigh* Ah, well, dem's da breaks.

[roesmoker]

Source: frimp from the Lab. I'd long wanted to try this one (like others before me, I see) because of my love for the poem and the Waterhouse painting.

 

In the imp: green. It smells familiar but I can't tell what it is.

 

Wet: I know - cucumber! Or some other green vegetable. It smells foody and not in a good way.

 

Drying: A cross between Dial™ soap (that's probably the rose - if there is any - since 99% of the time rose turns into soap on me) and generic air freshener. Oh, I'm sad. I wanted to love the lady, but she showed me no mercy.

 

Unless she magically morphs into spicy/sweet/resiny yum, there's no way I'm keeping her now.

Edited August 2, 2005 by roesmoker

[olympia301]

A pretty white flower type of scent with a bit of something harsh and with great staying power hiding underneath the white flowers. It may be a hard white musk, and I suspect it is as this blend sticks around for an unusually long time. I also think I smell lemongrass, which has a bit of an artificial scent to me but it amps rose pretty well.

 

It is a nice one but it doesn't have the character I would like to see. I can't say it's very original but I can say that for all it's vagary, it is pleasant in a soapy kind of a way. It could be a good choice for a sporty blend where you want to sweat but smell like a woman while you do.

[jessamynit]

this one's very confusing!

 

in the bottle: kind of incensey, muddle, herbally green

 

wet: still that green herbally thing that's in wolfsbane and water of notre dame (both of which didn't agree with me). getting ready to swap it.

 

dry down: hold on! up close, I still get that mysterious note that screams water of notre dame to me which makes me feel a little sick. buuuut when I'm moving around I keep catching whiffs of something beautiful and familiar. finally I was like, "hold on, this smells like christian dior's DUNE!" one of my favorite perfumes ever. mmm!

but reading these reviews I can smell all the stuff people are smelling. yes it's still a bit green, herbally, powdery, floral, etc etc. the best I can describe it is that at a distance, it's a slightly more floral/ "nicer" (personality-wise) scent than Dune, but very similar. up close on my wrist, I'm turned off by it. weird... but I'm keeping it!

[Blood onmy hands]

I've wanted to try La Belle Dame Sans Merci based on the descriptions of it being a cold green scent. Unfortunately, that's not what it smells like when mixed with my cursed skin chemistry.

 

On me this is soapy. Soapy in the way that roses sometimes turn on my skin. And it stays strongly rose soap for hours, never changing.

 

...off to the swap piles we go...

[aidenraine]

The first wiff I took of this reminded me exactly of Delceor's Aromessence in "Ylang Ylang". You don't know it? Well, it's the combination of many crushed flower and plant essences plus it's namesake, ylang ylang.

 

A heady, floral smell, almost too strong, but with a slightly musky backdrop. On me it remains the same as it smelled in the bottle.

[lohengrin]

In the imp: Sharp, herbal.

 

On, wet: Still quite herbal.

 

Later: Never mellows out, really, though it does fade some -- it just becomes faint, sharp herbal, instead of strong, sharp herbal.

[maewitch]

I'm wondering if I got a mis-labelled imp (this was a frimp) or what, because I'm getting nothing herbal from this. This is like honeysuckle or jasmine - floral and very sweet, with maybe something a little green in the background.

 

Maybe my nose is wonky, but I tested this twice to me sure and yup - sweet, almost syrupy floral.

 

Nice enough, but not for me.

 

ADDED March 9:

 

Strong, sharp, powdery floral with an aquatic undertone. I can't identify the florals, but then again florals rarely work well on me. This one smells too much like air freshener to me.

 

Not my sort of scent at all.

[Shollin]

First sniff: Meh. Powdery floral.

 

Wearing: Doing little to dispel the “meh” impression. There’s a hint of spice in here, but mostly it’s powdery floral.

[AlaskaSnows]

In the Bottle: Heavy white floral with herb and soap.

 

Dry: I smell rose, and maybe a waxy thick gardenia? This IS very soapy This scent barely gets to my nose, it's very heavy and languid and only goes somewhere if I move and then kind of like sediment being roiled up from the bottom of a lake. I guess I'd wear this if I was feeling humid and hot and sensual... or on a summer night.

[zenvodunista]

a lovely herbally green floral mix, reminicent of the Apothecary or High John the Conqueror. not really sure why i'd get it since i have those two already.

 

nice enough, but not blowing me away. and not that merciless, either.

 

n.

[LyndaM]

I enjoyed the rose and aquatic feel of this overall, but it was a bit too green and light and soapy for me to wear. Herbal scents just don't tend to work well on me unless they are combined with strong roses.

 

Nice, but not my style.

[arabella]

First Impression: A sharp floral.

 

Dries down to: A hint of rose with greenery in the background. Then, the rose really amplifies and turns to soap.

 

Additional Comments: Definitely not one for me - way too soapy.

 

Lasted: Several hours.

 

Rating: 2 out of 5

[Fefferbella]

I was really hoping to like this scent, but sadly rose notes smell terrible on me.

 

This turns to powder and rose petals on my skin. Very pretty, but not for me.

[northatlantic]

In the vial - sharply green. very, very sharp, and whoever said about the voodoo blends, I agree, there's something here that reminds me of Water of Notre Dame--not the whole scent, but something about the greenness...

 

Wet - Soap. Not nice sweet Palmolive either, full-on industrial-strength dishwashing-detergent soap. Immediately headache-inducing. But, in the interests of science, I perservere. Sometimes you have to suffer through wet to get to the good stuff...

 

Dry - Rose. 100% rose. Not nice rose either, very rose-perfume rose, thin and sharp. This is everything I disliked about WoND to the nth degree. Whatever my skin hated in that and the rose that my skin loves too, too much combined to make thise absolutely unwearable for me. off to someone who'll love you better, pet.

[Miss Lynx]

Got this as a freebie from the Lab. It wasn't one I'd been looking for, but in the imp it smelled equal parts floral and herbal, and interesting enough for me to try it at least once before consigning it to the swaps.

 

But on me -- yikes! The herbal note disappeared, and the florals went into full-on screaming attack mode, as it turned into exactly the kind of piercingly high, sweet, nose-burning floral that I truly hate. I was really glad I'd put it on before showering, as I was more than ready for it to come off again right away.

 

Even so, I let it settle in for a bit to see if it would change, but no -- at least not within the hour or so I was willing to allow it. So off it came, and off to the swaps it goes. No mercy, indeed.

 

Grade: D

[k00kaburra]

In bottle: Blood orange, and green. Yet floral. There is the sweetness of rose blooms and oranges, yet the sharpness, almost vetiver-note that I think comes with blood orange. (I always remember it most distinctly in Akuma.)

 

On me: Beautiful rose blend. It's green, like the roses in Rose Red, but it isn't purely rose - there's definitely an assortment of other green leaves and stems surrounding the flower buds. It's gorgeous; crisp and green with a creamy rose.

[coulrophobe]

In the imp: Kind of sharp-smelling, almost like neroli.

 

On: Vaguely floral. Vaguely soapy. In general, just kind of vague - I was expecting something much more assertive. Eventually, it just turns into a soft soapy rose.

 

Doesn't smell very merciless to me!