Touched Twice

[milo]

As delicate as life, as gentle as death, and as powerful as love: sheer, luminescent vanilla musk with frangipani, red sandalwood, frankincense, champaca flower, coconut, rose absolute, white cyclamen, Himalayan mogra, angelica, and white oud.

In the bottle, I'm getting a pink rose. I tried again later, and it was vanilla musk with a touch of pink rose. On, it's a tropical vanilla musk, quite pretty actually. Then, the rose pretty much takes over. Granted, it is a pretty pink rose, and it's not alone which is good. I'm still getting some vanilla musk here. A bit later, the rose is fading on me, which is odd, (and I slathered!)as rose will usually stay to the bitter end. It's sweet, kind of tropical vanilla musk with a touch of pink rose and the sandalwood making this not overly sweet, with a bit of 'bite' to it. I like this, but probably don't need a back-up.

[Blood onmy hands]

This doesn't smell at all like how I was hoping it would. I'm really sad that, out of all of the lovely listed notes, all I can smell is rose and baby powder. I don't smell even a hint of resins, coconut, vanilla, or red sandalwood in this blend. Vanilla musk sometimes has a powdery edge to it, but this is like tons of powder and none of the vanilla-y goodness.

 

Touched Twice isn't so bad on me for the first fifteen minutes (sort of a cool, pale pink smelling rose with hints of green stem and something spicy, and a touch of baby powder), but the drydown really amps up and just smells overwhelmingly baby powdery. Tons of powder and the rose note turns dry and sort of old fashioned, sharp, and lackluster on my skin.

 

I'm really letdown by this one . I gave in to the hype of it only being available for a couple hours and ordered two bottles, but I probably won't use up even 1ml of this, unless it somehow ages into something less powdery...

Edited August 23, 2011 by Little Bird

[AmyO'Shields]

I didn't like this much at first...but after about 20 minutes it was really nice. Very sharp, strong Rose, some Frangipani and a hint of coconut after I first put it on. Rose calmed down in the first 5 minutes and the Frankincense started to show up...coconut still present (soft and dry, not suntan lotiony or pina colada-ish at all). Then - after 20 minutes or so, the Rose and Coconut have morphed into Roconut or Cocorose, because they are so well melded...I don't know how else to say that. There is a nice (not powdery or sharp) Frankincense underneath and I'm finally smelling a bit of Vanilla. This oil is very strong at first, but it seems to disappear after about 2 hours. I will keep my fingers crossed that the Champaca flower shows up with some age. All in all, not bad - not a favorite, but I will definitely wear this. 8/10

[theseagrows]

oh damn, damn, damn. i was 90% sure this would work on me, but it's not completely working. in the bottle it smells like very soft roses, white musk and coconut. on my skin, there is a sour floral note, which i guess is rose. some rose smells amazing on me, and others go sour, and i don't know why, but it often ruins scents that would be otherwise good with my skin chemistry. unless it's the cyclamen? it's hard to identify. the sour note doesn't come out right away though. at first this is a gorgeous pale floral. then comes the sour note, and now that it's been on my skin for about an hour, my skin has eaten up most of the scent, but i can smell a lingering vanilla-rose-musk.

 

i think i will re-try this again later before completely giving up on it.

[angelamaria]

In bottle: first off, the label art is fantastic. Also, I've been sooo looking forward to this. Sniffing from the bottle, though...noooo! Rose A pretty rose, but...rose all the same. Sigh. I was worried when I saw the reviews that mentioned all roses... :s well, anwyay. Creamy floral, with rose at the forefront. Very "present" and almost insistent. Not quite heady, but getting there.

 

Wet on skin: rose and florals--angelica and frangipani, I guess. There's a rather spicy feel to the florals here, but I'm not sure where that's coming from. And...yes, there you are: this is slowly turning into sneeze-inducing powder. Sandalwood is also coming to the fore.

 

Dry: huh. Amazingly, the sneezy feeling is gone o_O or it's not grown stronger, at least. I can still smell the rose, but maybe now it's more of a heady floral mix than just rose--but it's certainly a rosy scent. This doesn't change from the wet stage as much, it's still very, very, very floral--almost overpowering. I'd probably end up with a headache if I wore this and much later it's kind of evolved (devolved?) into slightly-sour florals and a dash of powder.

 

Verdict: I'll probably keep a bottle to see how this ages, and hopefully the notes smooth out and...well, I don't know. Get better on my skin?

[malibusunny]

in the bottle, I loved this -- very well blended scent, sweet vanilla, rose, sandalwood. tested, my first impression was that this was light, a little powdery, nothing special with my skin chemistry. I did not get strong rose at all, though. I'm hoping that as it ages it will be more vanilla floral. I'm also v. stressed right now so my body is just eating perfume. Maybe next week will be a truer test.

[angelicruin]

Coconut and creamy rose on my skin. I really like the way the rose is subdued on my skin. Just a light soft throw.

[edenssixthday]

Touched Twice - This is a super strong rose scent. Tons and tons of rose rose rose, with a bit of frankincense dryness and coconut creaminess far, far beneath the rose. It's pretty much all rose all the time, and while I tend to really like a lot of BPAL rose scents, this one's just a tad too cloying for my taste. It was almost a wearable scent, but in the end, I realized I'd never reach for it over other favorite rose scents.

[zankoku_zen]

Touched Twice ended up as rose powder for me. It was all rose, all the time, and the musk dried down to a vanilla powder.

 

EPIC FAILURE for my skin chemistry.

[portalkat]

This has really changed in the month since I first got it. A month ago it was strong rose and about 30 minutes after that a bit of the sandalwood would start to peek out. Now that it has done some aging, the rose is only strong while it is wet. When it dries, it starts to resemble Saint Foutin de Varailles which I love. I actually love rose scents, but I didn't think that I would be wearing this one a lot. With the aging, it has become more complex, the rose has deepened and even though I can't separate the notes, the whole thing has come together and developed into a beautiful blend. I'm glad to have taken a chance so that I could grab this beauty.

[evanesce]

If I could sit down, with Beth, and work out what a "signature" perfume for me would be.... It would be Touched Twice (Thank the Universe! Saved me some money!).

 

I adore classic scents with rose, lavender, vanilla, etc. And that's what I got. It is very strongly rose in the bottle, but once on my skin it smooths out with a creamy coconut-vanilla musk, a hint of the sandalwood, and of course, the rose absolute. And yes, it becomes powdery -- but I like powder. It's a soft, feminine, comforting scent. I don't get much of a tropical feel, despite the coconut and frangipani.

 

In the end, I adore this scent and have been wearing it constantly.

[AnyseLawsBray]

In vial: Lightly creamy floral. Not shrill, though very 'white'.

On skin: Totally unexpected, but as I discovered- mogra is a type of jasmine, which in this case goes a bit unpleasant on me. I can sense rose, but it is quite faint. The bit of coconut I get is lovely.

Dry: Tangy, white freshness. I can't really describe it any better. Reminds me a bit of laundry soap, in a mostly good way but for the jasmine. I am usually pretty neutral towards jasmine, but here it just slaps me across the face and walks off. Ah well.

[Alia Kaitan]

I seem to be one of the lucky ones when it comes to skin chemistry for this blend..

 

My bottle was bought off the forum here, and so is already aged & settled. Despite not being a huge fan of most florals, I HAD to get this because LAST UNICORN OMG and also that passage for some reason always makes me teary. (why yes, I am a sappy romantic )

 

In the bottle I got mainly coconut with a lining of vanilla and a waft of florals.

 

Wet, this went on as tropical-coco-flowers; not bad but high on the florals for my taste. I was hoping it would be like Nuit is on me, that the florals would settle down and let the other notes come forward. I could definitely smell some rose, but it was not dominating.

 

Ok, there's this little phase that was kind of scary where I was getting the 'sour' note that some others mentioned. Fortunately that was short lived and the vanilla started coming through. Yaaaay vanilla to the rescue.

 

After about 20 mins on, this had settled to a very romantic, complex scent. The frankinillamusk () really rounded it out and saturated the florals, and the coconut lended more it's creamy, soft texture than a distinct scent.

 

I definitely got the white imagery from this one; a natural and fleeting white, like a meadow of white flowers or a white morning mist, or falling snow. Breathtaking in its beauty, and yet touched with the sorrow of impermanence. Maybe that is just my association with the passage accompanying this, but all the same... I love the scent. It is one of my new favourites.

[crebbsgirl]

Rose and flowers with vanilla musk and light resins. This is actually very pretty, and while I can't usually wear rose as a note, this one seems to be behaving. It is predominantly rose on my skin for several hours before eventually ending up as a sweet, creamy floral. I like it, but I'm not sure how often I would reach for it.

[Gateau]

So so pretty in the bottle, those lovely listed notes that attracted me to it in the first place. On me, however, count me among the "single note rose" contingent. Very sad.

[Vega]

I bought a bottle direct from Lab when it was initially released, and this is my review after 7 months of aging.

 

Sniffed: A soft, full, enfolding scent, deep and dark with a touch of brightness. I can make out something musky, and a dash of coconut.

 

On skin: When I first tested Touched Twice right upon receiving it from the Lab, the florals were somewhat shrill and chaotic. Now after half a year, they have subsided, and the scent has become much more blended and complex. The scent comprises of a full-bodied, "matte" base of musk and deep resinous notes, overlaid with a brighter floral sheen. I can pick out hints of coconut, musk, frankincense, and generally "white florals" that are bright but not screaming, but everything has combined and harmonized together into one unified note.

 

Touched Twice is sweet, soft and gentle: a scent landscape sunk in a deep gloom, profoundly melancholy and sorrowful. The contrast between deep base and luminous florals clearly evoke the softly radiant magic of the Unicorn resurrecting Prince Lir, in the wake of the ruin and hopelessness wreaked by the Red Bull. Colour impression is dusky royal purple, more blue than red, the colour of the dusk sky in the moments before nightfall.

 

Verdict: Touched Twice is a masterpiece, the most powerfully evocative scent I've smelled from the Lab. It completely embodies the scene of its namesake: the exquisite sorrow, the heart-aching melancholy, the determined and desperate hope in the face of despair. How moving it is! So it pains me greatly to say that it's not a scent I can see myself wearing regularly. Nevertheless, I'm so glad I got to try this. Bravo, BPAL, bravo -- this is the epitome of scent artistry.

Edited March 26, 2012 by Vega

[Magycmyste]

In the bottle: A little bit of heaven. I'm definitely getting the hit of rose off of this, but there's also the sandalwood and something else tempering it, making it almost powdery. I'm thinking the vanilla musk?

 

Wet on skin: Soft, powdery floral - that might be getting tempered by the coconut and vanilla. I'm still in heaven.

 

Dried down: the sandalwood's coming out to play again, and overtaking the floral notes. I can also pick out the coconut note if I sniff my wrist.

 

Throw: light, but present. And pleasant. I ended up putting a wand cap in this one because a couple of dabs on my wrist weren't enough for me.

 

Verdict: ********** I WANT ALL THE PERFUME!!!!! Ok, granted, I really, really wanted to like this because it was The Last Unicorn, and a limited edition. It did not disappoint. I will be hunting down more bottles of this for backups. It makes me SOOOO happy!

[brilliantcat]

Aging has greatly improved this, to my delight! I adore The Last Unicorn so I had to have it and it's signed by Peter S. Beagle so there was no way I was giving up on this one without a fight. And it WAS a fight. I remember it being too floral and not at all to my taste. Now it has rich coconut swirled with rose in the bottle and wet on my skin but thus far the rose is playing kindly with the coconut. Feminine, innocent, lovely. It remains a pretty CocoRosaNut I very very rarely like rose, but it works here. I am amazed what aging has done to this blend

[Alaeidrel]

Sweet, powdery rose with no coconuts or other florals. I tested right after it came so hopefully it'll change with settling..

[EphemeralFey]

In the bottle: I get a sweet floral blend that is heavier on the rose and coconut with a hint of sandalwood and frankincense at the end. I can also pick out a little bit of the vanilla musk. A very pretty feminine scent, but I am slightly scared of the sweetness (I don't do foodie/very sweet scents) and the noticeable coconut note. So far all other blends that I have tried with coconut in it become single note suntan lotion coconut on me, unless there is some vetiver in it to knock the coconut down a couple of notches.

 

On me: For the first 5 seconds I have the coconut and rose battling for top note, with the coconut winning to my disappointment. However, the sandalwood and frankincense are keeping the coconut in check and preventing it from going super sweet single note on me! Sadly I am not getting any florals at this stage.

 

After a while: This settled into a sweet coconut with hints of rose, sandalwood vanilla musk and florals blend on me. Low throw and sticks very close to the skin. It's a very pretty, soft and gentle scent.

 

Thought: This is the first coconut minus vetiver scent that I have been able to wear!! Though this blend has proven that I amp coconut. I would have preferred to get closer to the other reviewers with the rose note being more prominent, but hopefully layering this with either Rose Red, Peacock Queen or The Rose will help with that.

[DiesMali]

In the bottle: Mostly rose and sandalwood.

 

Wet on my skin: Soft, wet roses with vanilla and other flowers.

 

Dry: I've been hoping to get my hands on this, as it finishes off the Last Unicorn collection (imps/bottles), and it's full of notes I adore. It does not disappoint! I happen to love softer rose scents, and this is a soft, coconut-creamy rose with vanilla, frankincense, sandalwood, and ethereal florals floating around the edges. The coconut isn't so much a note in and of itself, but rather gives everything that white, creamy feel. This scent is beautiful and feminine, and somehow a little sad. It's pale pink in colour, and oh so pretty. I'm so glad I was able to find a bottle of this!

[MischiefofRats]

This blend is so weird. It really, really is. I've got two bottles of this and wear it fairly regularly because I love it, but no one else's reviews seem to really line up with my experience. There's rose to it, yes, quite a bit, but it doesn't smell dusty nor exactly fresh, and it's decidedly a bit green, but take all that and bundle it up into incense and THAT'S what this smells like to me. I keep buying church incense blends hoping to find that 'holy' feeling incense smoke scent, but none exactly hit that button for me. This one does. This one smells like a reverent, quiet moment, roses and incense burning and clean sweet candles. There's no wax in this, but I still think about it--glossy cream colored unscented tapers burning cleanly. This isn't a heavy, resin-dark blend. I get zero coconut. It isn't acridly smokey. This is kneeling in a patch of morning sunlight in a huge empty cathedral, doors open and a clean breeze coming in from the garden, wearing a crown of roses, burning rose incense and white tapers.

[LizziesLuck]

Wet: Mmm, creamy, musky coconut, and soft "clean" smelling florals. Lovely. It is a bit powdery, but in the nostalgic, clean way that I quite like. It smells classic. Wow, this is complex and gorgeous. Like, stunning. Utterly beautiful on me.

 

 

Dry: This is such a soft, innocent scent on me. It's lovely. Timeless. I feel like I could wear it anywhere. It's a keeper for sure. Very light on dry down, hard to describe or pick out notes. I do wish it was stronger on dry down. Creamy, powdery, clean classic floral is all I can think of to describe it, but that doesn't nearly do it justice.