The King's Daughter

[cfrancesca]

THE KING'S DAUGHTER
There were a prince and a princess sitting by a stream in a wooded valley. Their seven servants had set up a scarlet canopy beneath a tree, and the royal young couple ate a box lunch to the accompaniment of lutes and theorbos. They hardly spoke a word to one another until they had finished the meal, and then the princess sighed and said, "Well, I suppose I'd best get the silly business over with." The prince began to read a magazine.

"You might at least –" said the princess, but the prince kept on reading. The princess made a sign to two of the servants, who began to play an older music on their lutes. Then she took a few steps on the grass, held up a bridle bright as butter, and called, "Here, unicorn, here! Here, my pretty, here to me! Comecomecomecomecome!"

The prince snickered. "It's not your chickens you're calling, you know," he remarked without looking up. "Why don't you sing something, instead of clucking like that?"

"Well, I'm doing the best I can," the princess cried. "I've never called one of these things before." But after a little silence, she began to sing.

I am a king's daughter,
And if I cared to care,
The moon that has no mistress
Would flutter in my hair.
No one dares to cherish
What I choose to crave.
Never have I hungered,
That I did not have.

I am a king's daughter,
And I grow old within
The prison of my person,
The shackles of my skin.
And I would run away
And beg from door to door,
Just to see your shadow
Once, and never more.

So she sang, and sang again, and then she called, "Nice unicorn, pretty, pretty, pretty," for a little longer, and then she said angrily, "Well, I've done as much as I'll do. I'm going home."

The prince yawned and folded his magazine. "You satisfied custom well enough," he told her, "and no one expected more than that. It was just a formality. Now we can be married."

"Yes," the princess said, "now we can be married." The servants began to pack everything away again, while the two with the lutes played joyous wedding music. The princess's voice was a little sad and defiant as she said, "If there really were such things as unicorns, one would have come to me. I called as sweetly as anyone could, and I had the golden bridle. And of course I am pure and untouched."

"For all of me, you are," the prince answered indifferently. "As I say, you satisfy custom. You don't satisfy my father, but then neither do I. That would take a unicorn." He was tall, and his face was as soft and pleasant as a marshmallow.

When they and their retinue were gone, the unicorn came out of the wood, followed by Molly and the magician, and took up her journey again. A long time later, wandering in another country where there were no streams and nothing green, Molly asked her why she had not gone to the princess's song. Schmendrick drew near to listen to the answer, though he stayed on his side of the unicorn. He never walked on Molly's side.

The unicorn said, "That king's daughter would never have run away to see my shadow. If I had shown myself, and she had known me, she would have been more frightened than if she had seen a dragon, for no one makes promises to a dragon. I remember that once it never mattered to me whether or not princesses meant what they sang. I went to them all and laid my head in their laps, and a few of them rode on my back, though most were afraid. But I have no time for them now, princesses or kitchenmaids. I have no time."


A matter of formality: lilac musk, sandalwood, sweet pea, watermelon accord, pale woods, elemi, and oakmoss.

On my skin, this starts off as a cool, sweet, juicy (almost watery) pink watermelon musk with a bit of moss, sweet pea and lilac in the background, it's really pretty! As it dries, the other notes start to amp and I start getting more oakmoss, lilac, very soft hints of woods and a little bit of the elemi is coming through now. At this stage the blend it starting to become a little earthier, the notes blend and create a background of soft mossiness with the barest tinges of citrus and herbs, and soft pretty sweet florals backing up the stronger watermelon note. This finally settles into a less sweet watermelon musk with softly earthy oakmoss and soft florals in the background, similar to how it started but not quite the same scent.

The King's Daughter took me on a beautiful ride. It started off sweet and youthful, struggled to gain ground in the middle and ended with a beautiful more mature, wiser scent still baring a resemblance of how it started but with a few changes and added elements it gathered in the journey along the way.

[absinthetics]

This scent caught me in the bottle. It's a lovely watermelon and sweet pea scent. It's hard for me to pick out the lilac but the oakmoss and sandalwood add a depth to the scent for the entirety of its wear. The scent is young and playful with an earthy tempering that is almost out of place. Cfrancesca says it well, that this scent ends similar to how she started, but somehow not the same. The sweet, watery top notes settle down. But this scent remains bright for as long as it's there.

[edenssixthday]

The King's Daughter - On my skin, all I get is sandalwood, elemi, and oakmoss, with the faintest hint of sweet pea. It's warm, woody, sweet from the florals (but not cloying), and very pretty. It's a really nice scent, but doesn't have much throw on me.

[lilyliza]

You know when you have sweet pea and watermelon notes in a scent, it's going to be sweet. Luckily, it's tempered a lot on me by the lilac musk, oakmoss, and later the pale woods. It really does remind me of a sweet, naive, somewhat spoiled princess. The earthier notes give it a little bit of a fairytale air. As it dries, the lilac musk is what I smell most, with the other notes playing nice in the background. That's just fine with me, as I'm realizing lilac is one of my favorite floral notes.

[astarinel]

A pretty, sweet, delicate scent.

 

I mostly get the watermelon and sweet pea with a bit of a watery feeling. As it dries, the warmer notes come out a little bit more and the cool watermelon fades. This is really lovely, sweet without being cloying, and a bit fruity without being overwhelming, and extremely wearable.

 

I don't have many other watermelon scents, and the one I do have (Treat #1) is a very strong hard candy type scent. This one is more realistic and juicy, with the watery side of the watermelon keeping it cool and airy. I'll definitely have to track down more of this one!

[angelamaria]

In tester: whoa. Watermelon, sweet and fruity, very true to scent. Yum. I'm getting a bit of the sweet pea and the woods as well.

 

Wet on skin: watermelon, and...uhhh. Powder. This looks like lilac's fault. Otherwise, aside from the fabulous watermelon and the powder, I'm getting the bright, white floral, which should be the elemi. I'm not feeling very hopeful of this lilac powder...

 

Dry: lilac powder and watermelon, and nothing else. Which is sad--the watermelon and the elemi and the soft woods were really pretty--take out the powder tramping all over the place and this would be absolutely fabulous for me. I'd love to see the watermelon accord here used in other blends, because it is simply AMAZING and really unique.

 

Verdict: well, there we go, I can pretty much say now that lilac is another death note. Sigh.

[Blood onmy hands]

This is such a pretty fragrance. I get tons of pink watermelon (which starts off like watermelon jolly ranchers and is a bit more subdued as it dries down, but still definitely sweet and heavy on the watermelon) with hints of delicate, perfumey musk and oakmoss. The oakmoss keeps making me think of dried leaves.

It smells simple and a bit on the innocent and girly side of things, but I really like this. My husband loves this on me as well.

[Doc M]

I was lucky enough to get a decant of this from a forumite really wanted to try it out based on the notes.

 

Watermelon is very present in the imp and on my skin. I detect minimal woods. Some sweetness from, what else, the sweet pea. As it dries down I get faint watermelon and musky, citrusy elemi. Maybe a bit of sandalwood. Pleasant at first but too musky/cloying later on... Almost what I'd call a "greasy" scent, if that makes sense. Would be good layered with something to cut the musk/elemi.

[zankoku_zen]

Watermelon, lilac and dirty sandalwood, watery oakmoss. It kinda smells like watermelon + b.o. on me.

 

EPIC FAIL.

[ajansuz]

This is such a pretty, summery blend.

 

In the imp: Sweet and fruity without being cloying. It's like bright, sparkling watermelon punch, a little bit watery and light.

 

Wet: I was a little afraid of what watermelon might do, since a lot of fruit scents amp to sickly sweetness on me. I needn't have worried. It stayed light, and oakmoss helped to bring it down to earth and give it a little more presence. Particularly in the crook of my arm I could pick out the lilac. It's more complex than I expected and still very cool and refreshing.

 

Dry: It seems even more sophisticated. I wouldn't call it girly anymore, although I would say it's very feminine. The woods do such a good job of keeping the sweeter components from going high and taking this over. So does the oakmoss, which I've always had very good luck with.

 

Overall, I liked this very much. It's a nice, fresh, informal summer blend. I wouldn't wear it to work or for a job interview, but it's perfect for a day out with friends. Medium to low throw. It lasted several hours. Toward the end, all that remained was a hint of lilac and fairly strong oakmoss. It always does outlast everything else if it's in anything I wear.

[midnight_aeval]

I was so excited to see a blend with watermelon in it! In the decant, it does smell like watermelon jolly ranchers, but luckily on my skin it is less like candy and more like a nice watermelon spritzer. Sweet pea generally turns to a sunblock smell (yes, Aeval, I'm talking about you), but in The King's Daughter it must be working really well with the other notes because I don't detect sunblock. The sandalwood/pale woods/oakmoss combo must be tempering this blend from being overly sweet, but it is very innocent and feminine in feel. Definitely one that is meant to be light in throw so that only those who you invite to come closer would smell it.

[Leopard403]

The LU scents really are so evocative! It's scent is juicy to the nose, but yet it is still sad somehow. The watermelon and sweet pea sparkle and the rest of the notes sit really close to the skin. Lovely.

[BoneBone24]

Wet: Musky Bubblicious gum.

 

Drydown: A pale, melon-infused musk supported by touches of cantaloupe and sweet pea. Beneath that is ...peanuts?

 

Dry: Pink musk and bright, citrussy elemi layered over faded melon (more in the cantaloupe/honeydew direction than watermelon) and smooth sandalwood. Very light.

 

 

 

 

6 out of 10 bones

Edited June 21, 2013 by BoneBone24

[Alethia]

Thoughts before testing: I've never tried a perfume with watermelon before, so when an imp of this came my way I had to try it!

 

Wet: Watermelon bubble gum, the super sugary stuff that makes your teeth ache.

 

Dry down: What a morpher! The sweet pea comes to the fore and is grounded by the sandalwood and pale woods, leaving only a breath of the watermelon. This is really nice. I love sweet pea, and the woods are keeping it from being too sweet. It's a pretty woodsy floral that reminds me of late spring mornings.

 

Dry: The lilac musk starts to edge out the sweet pea around two hours in, and the woods become slightly more dominant. It winds up being a musky woodsy scent with a hint of floral on my skin. This is quite beautiful and lasts for hours.

 

Final thoughts: I'm so glad I tested this. It's very different from anything I currently have and it's just beautiful. I'm not sure if it's worthy of being upgraded to a bottle however. I love Aeval for my sweet pea needs, so I'll need to try this one a few more times before committing to a bottle.

 

Verdict: Keeping the imp, possible bottle.

[quintessentially]

I tried the King's Daughter today and she is SO PRETTY. When I first put it on, I could smell the florals and watermelon and then the lilac musk peeped out but there was this soft wooded undertone to it, so very complex. Then once the florals and the lilac and the watermelon have burned off, it's just that gentle wood scent with the slightest shiver of sandalwood to it.

 

EDIT: Something about it reminded me, very faintly, of Tiki Princess. I'm not sure what, because I compared the notes in each and nothing seemed similar, but I still smell the similarities.

Edited February 19, 2014 by quintessentially

[Teaker]

Something in this does not work on me at all- I think either the lilac musk or watermelon accord. It's kind of indescribable. A bitter/sour/plastic smell. If there's anything sweet or ethereal in here, it's completely masked by the nasty bullying note, whatever it is! Too bad.

[DiesMali]

In the imp: Juicy watermelon. Pink!

 

Wet on my skin: Juicy watermelon and sweet pea, with a hint of the lilac starting to come out.

 

Dry: I wasn't expecting to like this as much as I did, as my skin sometimes does odd things with sweet florals. The lilac musk and sandalwood temper the sweetness of the watermelon and sweet pea into something a little more lavender than bright pink. I'm not getting much of the oakmoss, but that's alright. The overall feel of this is innocent, pretty, and naive as to the darker ways of the world. I think it's the lilac musk making this smell amazing on my skin, but whatever it is, I'm definitely going to use the imp. This is a perfect springtime scent, like what you'd wear to brunch or maybe a spring wedding reception. Very pretty.

[Nicnivin]

If Lady Amalthea is my winter musk, then The King's Daughter is her summery cousin.

 

In the bottle, and wet on skin, the notes that jump out the most are watermelon and sweet pea, though I get more of the melon's rind than the fruit itself.

 

After a very short time, the melon and sweet pea take a step back so the elemi and lilac can take centre stage, with the sandalwood and oakmoss grounding the higher-pitched notes beautifully.

 

An hour later, it's all pale wood, sandalwood, and oakmoss, with just the tiniest hint of lilac and melon rind.

 

As others have mentioned, it starts off very "young" and sweet, but dries down to a very regal scent. I'd love to wear this to a spring or summer wedding, where I could swathe myself in silk and chiffon and just float around the place like an elder faerie.

Edited July 28, 2015 by Nicnivin

[Winterbelle]

The King's Daughter was very lovely and gentle. I got mostly watermelon and sweet pea with a touch of powder, a delicate and effervescent scent. I wish I had experienced the more regal dry down that others have mentioned, but on me it was very light and then gone in about an hour. Shame

[savage_rose]

Watermelon! Fresh, wet watermelon, not a watermelon candy smell. It smells like watermelon, flowers, herbs...like a Summer picnic on a gentle day. Really pretty.

[LizziesLuck]

I love lilac, love sweet pea, and am super curious about the watermelon, so I had to try this!

 

 

Wet: Cucumber. Which is kind of like watermelon, without any of the sweetness, so I guess it's actually the melon that I am smelling. Very very bitter. Not at all pleasant, currently.

 

 

Dry: Not nearly as unpleasant now, very faint and light. There's something salty in there, something kind of smoky and earthy. Hints of lilac, a fair bit of wood. I can't detect the watermelon, but there is something fresh and watery about this, but none of the sweetness I had expected. There is something off-putting to me about how the woods and the florals mix in this. Unfortunately, this one is not a winner for me.

[freyasfae]

With the sweet pea and watermelon accord with the woods and green elements, this reminds of Give Me Thy Breath, My Sister, which surprised me because I thought it would be too sweet, but the green cut it, so it has this girly, pink sweetness to it, cut with beautiful, soft greens, and in the case of this scent, soft bark browns. I continue to be surprised by how scents like sweet pea (which Bath and Body Works made me hate for being too sweet) show up in BPAL scents, and I find a new love. And this is the second I have tried with elemi listed as a note, and I am finding I really like this strangely salty note.

[renfair]

I got this scent as part of the Unicorn Horn III pack about three years ago, as my first purchase from BPAL!, so this more recent review is on a three-year-old imp.

First Sniff Impression: Very pleasant, sweet floral and fruity. I thought this would be a good scent for summer, and have since worn it most summers.

Wet in Vial: This one has always been pretty much straight watermelon and sweet pea for me, almost like a Bath and Bodyworks scent, but less "chemical" smelling. There's a bit of something woodsy that keeps it from being too sweet and making me sick.

 

Drying Down on Skin: Drying down, it might be the lilac musk, but it smells creamier, like a watermelon ice cream float.

Dry on Skin: A little bit of the woodsiness is still present, making the scent mellow and more subtle after time. It has a decent strength to it as far as how long it lasts..

 

Conclusion: This is one of my favorites from The Last Unicorn, since it's one I feel I can actually use as a perfume and not just a "scent experience" like some of the others. It's not overly sweet and very fresh. Great for hot summer days when you don't want a heavy, musky scent.

[Aveya]

Imp was from a lab imp pack back in... 2012? So, aged imp.

 

Imp: Light, herbal sweet.

Skin Initial: Herbal green with these amazing wafts of watermelon. Faint.

Skin Drydown: Smells like early summer on the edge of a forest. Green, wet mossy, light. A faint sweetness throughout the scent - but sadly the unique watermelon note doesn't come back.

 

Not a scent that feels right on me, I would try this in the diffuser but since this is DC now, I'll swap it off to someone who'll love it more.

[dementia_divine]

In the imp: Watermelon, white sandalwood, sweet pea, and lilac musk with the pale woods and a bit of oakmoss in the background.

 

Wet: I am getting the watermelon, sandalwood, and lilac musk, with some oakmoss in the background. The oakmoss and woods become more prominent as the scent begins to dry, but the watermelon, sandalwood, and lilac musk are still the main players.

 

Dry: The watermelon (which reminds me more of Jolly Ranchers than the real thing), lilac musk, oakmoss, and pale woods are the notes I am smelling now. Then, I am able to detect the sweet pea, but it’s not a main player on me.

 

After several hours, I’m left with some moss, pale woods (there’s a lot of white sandalwood now), lilac musk, and a much fainter watermelon note.

 

Verdict: The floral, wood, and moss notes kept the watermelon in check, fortunately. This is more pleasant than I thought it would be, but ultimately, it’s not something I’d reach for. I’m glad I was able to try it, though!

Edited July 4, 2018 by dementia_divine