Veil

[KakashiMorph]

A quiet scent, soft, calm and enigmatic. A perfume of mystery, of whispers, and of secrets behind secrets. White sandalwood, lilac, gardenia, violet, orris, lavender and ylang ylang.

 

A frimp from my recent lab order. I'm not usually a light floral person so let's see how this goes.

In the bottle: Lavender, violet, possibly gardenia...A pleasant floral surprise.

On my skin: As soon as it lands on me I can smell the spicy bite of the gardenia. I am not entirely sure what orris smells like but I think I can also make out some of the violet and lilac? There is a faint note of the sandalwood grounding it in the background but it really starts with a pleasant floral explosion. It takes about 15 minutes for me to recognize the orris as it makes itself more known and I can actually pick it out - the scent is more orris and sandalwood at this stage, with the florals fainter in the background, if at all. Half an hour later or so, all I can smell is sandalwood and orris. It is pleasant and the sandalwood is more substantial so it has a bit of a wholesome biting quality to it - I can never explain that well, I just feel like it almost has a body I could sink my teeth in.

Drydown: Orris with some sandalwood. Wholesome and nice.

[Veronica]

Lavender dominates this for me. Similar to Ode on Melancholy, at least in the same family. After a few minutes it becomes a shrieking white floral.

Edited March 10, 2015 by delighted

[theseagrows]

i can't believe i've never tried this one. i got a frimp of it in a swap. it's starts off with lavender, ylang ylang and lilac, then the sandalwood and orris become more apparent as they ground the florals some. i smell maybe a tiny hint of gardenia but no violet. i love florals, and most of the florals in this, but i tend to like them mixed with something more musky/heavy/spicy and this is very very pure floral and more ethereal like the name implies. i am liking this though because the lilac isn't really bothering me. it can be hit or miss for me but here it's behaving. ah, there is the violet, after a minute or two on the skin, i sense it mixed in. i am liking it more with the violet and gardenia coming through, and now that the lavender is calming a bit. i would probably not wear this much, but occasionally, it makes me think of a rainy spring day, and i think that'd be the perfect day to wear it.

[puck_nc]

Origin: Frimp from the Lab

 

Initial Thoughts: Violet is usually very problematic on my skin, turning acridly unpleasant. But I love gardenia, lilac, and lavender with a passion. I will cross my fingers and hope.

 

In the Vial: A light and pretty crush of florals grounded by either the sandalwood or the orris. It's like one of the first warm spring days of the year.

 

Wet: A rush of gardeina and floral with the sandalwood amping up a touch the way sandalwood sometimes does.

 

Drydown: The violet is playing its stink card, but perhaps because of the numerous other notes it's not as strong as it has been in other blends. The gardenia is sort of taking everything over and that's not a bad thing.

 

Verdict: Well, it's nice to have found at least one blend where the violet doesn't overload and go icky. We'll see how often I reach for it.

[JuliskaMarie]

In the imp: The lavender & the ylang ylang are the dominant notes here, I can barely even pick out anything else! This might be too much for me.

Wet on skin: Lavender. Lots of it. I love real lavender, but I'm not a huge fan of lavender perfumes because they always tend to be sickeningly strong & this is definitely being too strong so far. I can't really smell anything else except a tiny bit of ylang ylang.

Dry on skin: The lavender has faded a lot & the other notes have come out. This is much prettier now, but I'm still not loving it. I think it might be the orris & the ylang ylang blending together & taking over on my skin. I don't hate it, but I don't think this one is really something I'm going to love wearing.

After a few hours: Much, much, much nicer now! The lilac & the violet are finally showing themselves & this is really quite pretty!

Verdict: I like it, but it's not great on me for the first couple of hours of wear & I don't think I'd really ever end up wearing it because of how long it takes to get to the notes I really like. I'll probably swap this one.

[sprout]

In the bottle: Predominantly lavender with a floral backdrop (I purchased a well aged bottle on teh forum, which is why I think the lavender is not sharp and the florals are mellowed out)

 

Wet: Floral (not herbal, not camphorous) lavender with sweet lilacs and a bit of shy violet. These are soft and purple lilacs, like the early spring blooms.

 

Drying: Early on, prominant lavender, lilac and violet--purple flowers, no high pitched screaming or soapiness, the orris (or perhaps the sandalwood or both) provides a dusky quality, soft and diaphanous. The sandalwood is snuggly and grounding but not woody or overpowering. Gardenia and ylang ylang are either present in such small amounts or are so well blended with the other floral notes that I don't detect them. The violets are almost spicy and quite velvety. This blend is close to the skin with moderate sillage and a bit of sweetness from the lilacs but it is not a young girl's blend, more mature (not necessarily grandmotherly but I could see that scent association with the violets being old fashioned). Veil is calming and sweet without being overpowering floral or powdery. If orris becomes powdery on you, I guess this could be an issue, I usually find it soft and billowy. The florals are well blended and soft with the whole being meditative and somewhat soporific. The sandalwood grounds the floral notes well, and isn't as woody as it can be, it is like a nest in which the florals are held. I see the suggestion of a veil, as the impression is soft, tranparent cloth with the sandalwood weaving a tapestry for the soft floral notes.

 

Late dry: Predominantly orris which on me is a sweet, violaceous powder. The lavender burns off and there is mainly orris and violet with a little sweet left over by the lilacs.

 

Final thoughts: This is a well blended floral which is soft and slightly sweet. I like to use it for my sleep scent or on days where I just want to mellow out and calm myself. I am keeping this bottle. If your imp or bottle is sharp or too herbal, let it age a bit and it will become soft and mellow over time. I can usually wear lilac and gardenia, white florals are hit or miss, gardenia is often waxy or buttery, and violet is one of my favorite notes. If you are a violet lover or love purple florals, I recommend trying Veil.

[freyasfae]

Very purple flowers like many others have said, but I am starting to think that I may not like violets though I like most florals. The violet is pretty prominent in this which yay if you are a violet person, but otherwise not for me.

[Naomi Kelsey]

This reminds me a bit of L'Interdit, the fragrance created for Audrey Hepburn. It has a fresh, floral, refined character with soapy, green edges. The lilac, lavender, and violet, as well as orris are here, all playing well together. It's a very lovely, soft, and gentle fragrance that would do well in offices or as a "plane BPAL" A bit old fashioned and with zero sex appeal, but I like it nonetheless!

[Sio Bhan]

I received this as a frimp in the mail in the first bundle I ever purchased. At first it had no perceivable scent, almost invisible, only a faint sandalwood. As I do with most perfumes, I sat it aside for about three months to mature. When I next sampled this wee one I said to myself, "I am taking the veil." and it was beautiful! Veil is pure as fresh linen. It is a quite a sacred, virginal scent, but there is a tinge of darkness to it; a ghostliness. Almost like a suppressed hate growing in the heart of all that holy beauty. The seed of evil!! My partner enlightened me to this part of Veil, as I had previously interpreted it as a nice one. I'm not sure what makes it slightly bitter, maybe the Gardenia? It seems to last a long time on me, 6-8 hours. Veil loses its bitter quality on dry down and becomes a rounded sandalwood. I highly recommend this as an everyday perfume, as it is unobtrusive enough for polite society but sinister enough for you to be unique.

[PeculiarHeroine]

Veil is perfectly named, as this perfume is a sheer layer of soft floral and sandalwood. Its very fresh and clean, but so subtle, with a very delicate throw.

I wasn't sure when I got it, but now I am well convinced. Its a good un.

[Mermaid-on-Land]

This is very, very floral. It reminds me of some notes in The Night-Raven (without the fruit and musk) and Ouija (without the rosewood), especially Ouija. I mostly wanted to try this one because I was looking at different recommendations threads for ideas of what to try, and saw this thread:

http://www.bpal.org/topic/29756-the-absolute-darkest-scents-dark-ghostly-haunting-scary/?hl=darkest

which said it was kind of dark and spooky but I didn't really get that feeling (I tend to like the dark ghosty haunting scents). It was perhaps a bit too purely floral for my taste :/ Gardenia for once didn't take over entirely on me. That was really the only note I was able to pick out, I'm slowly getting better at detecting florals by trying different bpals but honestly I never could differentiate floral scents before this, and they often still blend together in my mind until I try something that basically has the floral by itself standing out. Didn't notice sandalwood at all which surprised me. This was soft but not entirely without throw. Someone in a previous review said it smells like what accidentally getting soap in your mouth tastes like, and that's a good comparison for the underlying sharp soapy/dusty note. Color association is very very pale lilac-y purple. I liked it but am not desperate to get a big bottle. Was kinda meh ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ I think I'm just not a pure floral person. It smelled nice but wasn't *me*

[KezzieZ]

This was one of the frimps I got from my first Trading Post order (and the only frimp of the bunch that wasn't a Mad Tea Party perfume). I tend to be a bit wary of heavy florals, but I was willing to give it a shot.

 

In Bottle: It sort of smells like soap and violets, I think. At least, I think those are violets; it smells like dirt and green, in a way.

 

Wet on Skin: I'm getting the gardenia (definitely) and ylang-ylang in there, I think. The sandalwood is getting less soapy as well. It's becoming very floral, but that sandalwood grounds it.

 

Approx. 1 Hour Later: It's lightened up a bit, but still fairly strong floral with sandalwood.

 

------

 

Like the others that haven't been my cup of tea, it's inoffensive enough to me that I can still wear it. It's just not exactly my style, but it can be very promising if you enjoy strong (especially white) florals and/or sandalwood. At the very least, the gardenia doesn't overpower the whole thing (something I was curious of since that's a strong-scented flower). I got a comment that it smells like "an old lady perfume" when asking for an opinion, so that didn't help it.

Edited November 17, 2016 by KezzieZ

[lizabelle]

Not sure my skin likes this one; might be the gardenia. It smells exactly like one of the hard candies of mysterious origin some people give out around Halloween. Sort of fruit punch-y. I guess I could see it as candied violets...however, there are no other notes on my skin. If I really smush my nose into my arm there's some powderiness.

 

In the imp it's sort of dark and green and has a lot of orris/violet present. I'm sad I'm not getting the soft floral aspect on my skin.

[gloame]

Laaaaavenderrrr.

When still wet, this is quite tangy, actually! But it dries down to a very soft floral. Very feminine and pretty.

[LizziesLuck]

Violet and lavender. The violet makes the lavender smell sickly. No matter how many times I try, I just cannot like violet. In anything. Unless you literally can't smell it at all. *sigh*

[achildoftime]

Lavender, violet, and orris. All of the soft sigh type flowers. It's very dainty and makes me think of a delicate, swooning maiden. The lavender is the note with the biggest throw, with the other two softly supporting it. It's a little powdery and a bit too gentle for me.

[Lucchesa]

White sandalwood may be the primary listed note, but it is utterly defeated by the florals. Lavender and gardenia are strongest on me wet, then the lilac and violet come out to play, reminding me that violet rarely works with my chemistry. After 30 minutes it starts to calm down, but these are some pretty potent white and purple flowers. Lovely if that's your thing. Not for the florally faint of heart.

[RobberBaroness]

Why does this smell like lemon on me? I'm reminded of a less intense Embalming Fluid. I can sense some of the floral notes, but no sandalwood at all. It's not bad, but I doubt I'd get a bottle of it.

[VetchVesper]

Ah. Lovely. The violet is what hits me first, but it's backed by a dry, herbal, almost evergreen scent that I think comes from the combo of lavender and sandalwood. Then the gardenia comes forward with a creamy whiteness. The ylang ylang I just smell as an added sweetness to the whole, and the orris leaves a softly powdery finish. The whole thing smells very purple to me, and I would certainly recommend floral lovers give Veil a try. It might be a nice GC stand in if you loved CP's Lullaby as well.

[dementia_divine]

I do not have high hopes for this one with the presence of orris and violet, but I want to try all of the GCs with lavender in them.

 

In the imp: Soft and sweet. I can smell the lilac, gardenia, violet, orris, lavender, and ylang ylang with some sandalwood in the background.

 

Wet: The lavender and lilac are the first notes that jump out at me. Then I get the gardenia, ylang ylang, and violet. I am testing a fresh imp of this I just got in my Lab order against one that is maybe a little more aged, and the sandalwood is a lot more prominent in the aged imp.

 

Dry: The orris and violet have united to create a floral powder party, but the lilac is the most prominent note. The fresh imp is soft, sweet, and powdery. The aged imp has the warmth of the sandalwood and is stronger on the lavender and gardenia.

 

After a few hours, the fresh imp is pretty much the same: soft, sweet, and powdery. The violet, orris, and lilac are the main players, but the lilac has calmed down significantly. The main players in the aged imp are the sandalwood, gardenia, and lavender. It’s a much brighter scent.

 

Verdict: Veil is more pleasant than I thought it would be despite the violet and orris. It’s still not something I’d likely reach for, but if you’re looking for a soft, sweet, purple floral scent, give this one a try.