The Horrors of My Secret Toil

[tailoredshirt]

Who shall conceive the horrors of my secret toil as I dabbled among the unhallowed damps of the grave or tortured the living animal to animate the lifeless clay?

The horrors of my secret toil: vetiver and rose.

(I tried this right out of the mailbox so I'm not sure if it will smell different in a few days, but it's been cold so I think it's okay.)

I was torn on getting a bottle of this because I was afraid the vetiver would be too strong for me, but I am really pleasantly surprised. I have to admit that I can't tell the difference between the different kinds of roses, but to me this smells like a lush, wet rose. I don't find it sharp or bitter; in the drydown it actually gets sweeter on me. There's not too much vetiver at all. In fact, I hardly detect any. I feel like the vetiver comes through more in the drydown but it's still very subtle, just darkening the whole thing by a few shades. It's primarily a rose scent to me. I like it!

[Altaira]

In the decant this is all sharp herbs and light rose.

 

On the skin, the rose is more prominent. It has a medium throw, most rose BPALs I've tried have a much stronger ROSE presence. The vetiver is light and grassy, giving the blend a rose + hay quality. On me, it just ends up going dusty. I have so many rose blends, this one just doesn't make the cut.

[Iceblink]

I tried this purely out of curiosity--such simple notes but vetiver can do so many different things on my skin. The vetiver here is very herb-y and sharp to my nose. The rose is a wet, rich rose but it fades into a soapy floral quickly. I'm left with soapiness and grassy herbs. Not nearly as scary as it could have been but not successful on my skin, either.

[blktauna]

I just received this so it may be different when it calms but:

 

in the bottle: Thick, wet red rose. sort of like Peacock Queen but THICK

wet: Thick, wet, rose with a tiny bit of something underneath that gives richness

Dry: Thick, ROSE

 

It's like Peacock Queen on steroids. I love it. I was hoping for more vetiver but that may come when the bottle calms.

[milo]

Wet, mostly a soft pink rose. After a bit, the vetiver pokes through only slightly. Though I'm not a rose fan, vetiver really does nice things to the rose, and adds a bit of a 'bite', tempering the rose's innocent quality. This is nice to try, but I don't need anymore.

[mistressfizz]

Sniff: Sharp heady rose, with something scratchy and thorny underneath.

 

Wet: The vetiver adds an ozone element, making this like a rose cologne. It's spikey and rich.

 

Dry: This lightens over time, the rose becomes sweeter but still retains a grassy sharpness. Reminds me of an herbal, less sophisticated London. A tad soapy and generally pleasant blend.

[maika]

In the decant: A lush red rose, with a smokey undertone.

 

Wet: Still rose, but the vetiver is more obvious than in the decant.

 

Dry: The vetiver is now the dominant note, which is like the way the vetiver behaves on me in Saturnalia - this is not really a surprise to me, given that both a single floral notes paired with vetiver. Unlike Saturnalia though, which turned into scary screaming over the top vetiver with no violet at all, this still has the rose underneath, but it's gone from rose with a hint of vetiver to vetiver with a hint of rose. I'm not sure about this. I'm keeping this to age and retry, but at this point, I think the decant I have will be enough.

 

Further note, a couple of hours after this...the vetiver inched back, and the rose crept forward...and I wound up with a gorgeous lush smokey rose. Just beautiful. After that, I might just be needing more after all.

Edited January 14, 2012 by maikastar

[Lethran]

In bottle: Rose dominant. Vetiver provides a very understated hint of corruption. As this is all death notes to me, I’m not skin testing.

[caseys]

This blend reminds me a bit of Zombi. Rose is definitely the dominant note, but the vetiver provides just enough dark earthiness to smooth those sharp edges. I actually like this one, which is surprising since vetiver is a death note for me, but it's probably not bottle-worthy.

[zankoku_zen]

Sharp, heady red rose with a hint of smoke. It puts me in mind to Whip. A rose blend with an edge.

[Blood onmy hands]

The rose in this is sharp and turns slightly soapy on me, with the vetiver smelling like smoky, charred wood in the background. Doesn't work for me at all.

[thekittenkat]

In the decant: Mostly vetiver, but not as loud as in Yule Cat.

 

Wet: The vetiver has calmed down, but the rose is going sharp, powdery and sour. Not a good surprise, mind you.

 

The dry-down: Well, that's different! This has morphed into a pleasant tea rose scent, but with vetiver lurking in the depths. It's as though I had dabbed The Rose on top of Yule Cat. Strange. Will see what ages does with this.

[Incendiare]

The rose in here reminds me of the rose in Peacock Queen. It's full and deep red. It's pretty much all I can smell in the vial, although there is an indescribable depth to this as well. Probably the smoky vetiver but at this point it's not obviously vetiver. As a side note, I normally despise the lab's vetiver note as it's much too smoky and burnt for my personal liking. Wet, the rose goes a bit sour on me and this reminds me more of blends like Pride and Rose Cross. I like rose but this is too overly rosy for me.

[84trillion]

To me, this feels like the same soapy rose in La Belle Dame Sans Merci, which I love. It's a pretty scent, but a dark one. 7/10.

 

Revised: after a while, this became upsettingly soapy and I had to wash it off! Definitely not something I want to own. Given away.

Edited July 17, 2012 by 84trillion

[samanare]

The rose definitely dominates the scent, with the vetiver being noticeable, but very much in the supportive role of this scent. The rose is more of a red, heady rose as opposed to a sweeter rose.

 

As a rose lover, I was worried about the vetiver as I have found it tends to dominate in other scents, and I am happy that my worries were proved wrong and I'm very happy I was able to get a bottle.