Veil

[Pamlwell]

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.

This scent is full of lavender and violet for me on first application. As It dries, the sandalwood begins to show up and ground the flowers a bit, which is good because they were a little bit heady and over the top for my tastes at first. About ten minutes in this goes through a lovely phase on me that is the perfect balance of flower and sandalwood. Not too sandalwood-dry and not to rich-flowery-wet, if that makes any sense. It's a very feminine scent for sure and it seems vaguely Victorian to me for some reason. Perhaps because it seems delicate and proper. Unfortunately, the best part of the scent doesn't last very long on me. Not too long after the ten minute mark, my skin eats all of the scent except for a powdery, vaguely lavender-y scent that reminds me of my grandmother's bathroom. Even this grandma-bathroom smell fades after only about an hour. Ahh, well. Perhaps this will have more staying power on the rest of you...

[donnatron]

Bottle: Gorgeous! I get violet first and foremost with some soothing lavender and a beautiful, soft, sweet almost candylike scent.

 

Wet: The sweetness amps up and this is freakin' EDIBLE. It smells like those candied flowers you get in import shops. The sandalwood is behaving itself and just sort of lends a nice grounding note to all the sweet violet and lavender on my skin.

 

Dry: It stays a sweet violet candy scent. It's not totally a candy scent, although it smells edible it also smells very regal and ladylike. I understand why Pamlwell said it smelled Victorian. It smells very old fashioned and very much like something a "proper lady" would smell like. I, of course, am not going to let that get in my way.

 

Throw: Intense. I can smell it wafting off me like crazy. But it's absolutely amazing, so I don't mind.

 

Overall: I have hedged so much on buying Veil. I can't believe I've been missing out on this. It might have to have a full on cage match with my current favourite GC, Kabuki.

[innocent]

On my skin Veil was a somewhat sharp, whitish floral, more redolent of gardenia than violet (the scent I got it for). I tend to amp sharpness and turn white florals soapy, so this was alright, but not great on my skin. Nocturne (which I'm testing on my other arm) is closer to the soft violet scent I was looking for.

 

Still, if your skin doesn't turn white florals nasty, I'd definitely give Veil a try. I can tell there's all sorts of niceness there - my skin just won't let me smell it.

[lunaticana]

I guess I really like White Sandelwood..

all the other florals in this one are gorgeous, all favorites, Gardenia, Orris and even Ylang Ylang omg

it s so soft, and yes, a bit soapu on the skin but I don t mind that at all

it s a different floral for me for a change, more special than the ones that I normally ware in a way!

[Lamia]

This is a thin sharp floral, there is a harsh shrill note here. Dare I say...piercing? (HAHASOFUNNY!)

 

This reminds me of a cruel Schlafende Baigneuse. Trade Bag.

[vikitty]

Veil is an interesting scent in the bottle, and wet on the skin -- I can really smell the violet and the lavendar.

 

However, once it dries down, it's gone! No stay or throw at all, even less than Midway.

[Lycanthrope]

I love this!

 

On me it goes to mostly gardenia-violet, sharp but good, has power on the way home while driving.

 

On my scarf, it's woodsier and the white sandalwood remains longer, gardenia amps less, and it is a magnificently regal and complex floral mix. I will dub this my fabric scenter.

[annerqm]

I love Veil because it's a little bit different each time I smell my wrist. Sometimes I get a beautiful single note and sometimes there's a blend of two or three (or more).

 

To me, the violet is most prevalent, but it’s not just one violet. Sometimes it’s fresh-picked, wilting violets like the ones my little boys bring me, sometimes it’s the powdery violet of the sachets my grandmothers always bought for me, and sometimes it’s sweet violet candies.

 

Blended beautifully with the violet is an edge of sharper Orris and ylang-ylang (but don’t worry, the y-y is very subtle), sometimes there’s the springtime scent of lilac, and sometimes I pick out a creamy, dew-dropped gardenia blossom.

 

The only note I don’t smell individually is the sandalwood, but I think it’s holding everything together and adding a bit of warmth and depth.

 

The only note I don’t smell specifically is the lavender. However, this smells like the color lavender – a very pale, grayish-blue lavender. When I smell Veil, I see china teacups with painted pansies and violets and vintage women’s pillbox hats with spotted veils and tiny flowers attached.

 

This is a beautiful scent, but I’ll have to save it for late winter and early spring…it does not fit well with the current season. I’ll also have to wear this on days when I’m feeling delicate and mysterious. So although this won’t be an everyday, signature scent for me, it’s something special to wear for certain occasions and moods.

[milo]

Gad's my nose must be broke. This is all violet, violet, and more violet to me. I get no other notes. This is probably the 2nd most favourite bpal violet oil to me, with Faith being first. The only difference I get between the two is that Faith is sweeter. If Faith is too sweet for you, this little gem will do very nicely.

[Iceblink]

How pretty--I thought this would be floral soap mishmash but I can smell the violet, lilac, and gardenia very nicely--dainty and delicate! A nice surprise, and I do love me some BPAL violet.

[jehrichardson]

Lovely! Smells a bit boozy and soapy.

 

On the grand scale of things, I like.

[mooncityminx]

In the vial: lavendar and violet liquor.

 

Wet: Strong violet, this smells strikingly similar to a toy I had in the 80's. I think it was from a brand called 'Charmkins.' It was a little plastic train consisting of a beehive and a flower and things like that, tiny. I'm pretty sure it was the first thing the tooth fairy ever gave me. This smells an awful lot like that toy.

 

Drydown: I just can't pick out any other individual notes. The lavendar and violet combo is slightly medicinal but sort of ethereal and lady-like too. I'm picturing a ghost lady in some elaborate dress with a veil draped over her down to her toes and trailing behind. Very distinctive.

Edited January 5, 2009 by Tempest

[voodoocatwoman]

Veil has many of my favorite notes. It starts out a little sharp- the orris, lilac and gardenia are powerful. As it dries, they all calm down and allow the lavender, violet and sandalwood to shine. The combination is soft and wispy.

 

Many thanks to my Winter Switch Witch for sending me an imp of this marvelous blend. I love it.

[Coldfire]

 

 

 

 

Imp: tart floral with barest traces of the sandalwood

Wet on me: Tart almost sour floral and green on me.

Drying Down: okay the tart is receding but the heavy lilac is moving hard and fast.

Dry: okay another not for me scent. Heavy air freshener lilac is how

this ended up reacting on my skin. There were other notes I adored on

the list but they never came out to play with me.

 

[Bluestocking]

In the imp: A pale lilac scent, surprisingly sharp—flowery perfumes don't usually strike me that way, but this one does. First sniff is lavender and ylang-ylang, but behind the sharpness there's more mellow sweetness from gardenia. Smells like a fresh-picked bouquet of flowers.

On, wet: Still a bit sharp, with a big burst of ylang-ylang and lavender again, but it begins mellowing almost instantly as the orris, lilacs and gardenias rise up. The wafts of this are already turning quite beautiful—sweeter, softer and mellower. I agree with previous reviewers who called this a Victorian perfume, because it has that feel.

On, dry: Oh! Now this is gorgeous—soft and ethereal, like a spring wind bringing you the scent of the blooming flowers from the garden. I don't know quite how to describe it, but the lilac and gardenia have melded into this sweet, heady scent that combines the best of both of them, with touches of violet and orris and a very, very subtle sandalwood beneath--very gentle, very serene and ladylike. As always, the ylang-ylang disappeared on me after putting in a memorable early appearance, but I don't miss it.

Later: Lilac and sandalwood, with faint wisps of the violet and gardenia. It's powdery now, but in a good way—not baby powder, but just that natural powdery quality that fresh lilacs have. It's already faint, so it's the sort of smell people have to be close to you to notice.

Overall: In the imp and wet, it's not my favorite floral, even though I expected to love this based solely on the notes. It's really quite sharp before it dries down, with that one-two punch of lavender and ylang-ylang. Still, once the gardenias and lilacs bloom and the lavender blends in, this is beautiful, delicate and very feminine, and the lilacs in particular are so good that I'll want to keep this imp. Unfortunately, it calls for frequent reapplying, because it's a light scent and not especially long-lived, but frequent reapplication is worth it.

 

 

[awesomeoverlord]

Imp: wow...floral soap!

 

Wet: sharp florals -- thankfully the soapiness is receding and some of the individual notes are starting to emerge.

 

Drydown: this appears to mellow out to mostly lilac and gardenia. The sandalwood is hanging around in the background, but gardenia seems to stick to me like glue and this is definitely what's happening here. Where, oh where are my violets? Oh well. Overall, and lovely floral.

[asciident]

Wet: Spicy violet and lilac.

 

First on: Smoky? Is that orris?

 

Dry: Creamy gardenia finally makes an appearance, but it's almost totally overwhelmed by the smoke and spice.

[aquazoo]

Flowers with a nice base holding it all together. I think that's the sandalwood. Nice!

 

 

[Seismogenic]

This was a Lab frimp, and I see that white sandalwood is one of the listed notes. That means that, from an allergy standpoint, I really shouldn't test this one, but I'm stubborn and am on meds for seasonal allergy reasons, so why the heck not?

 

In the imp: White sandalwood (uh oh, tingly nose!) and soft indistinct flowers.

 

Wet on skin: Definitely picking up the gardenia and ylang ylang specifically now, and fortunately a little less of the sandalwood.

 

Drydown: Freshly dry, this is a sweet soft whitish floral. The sandalwood continues to retreat, which saves me from sneezing. At one hour in, this has gone quite powdery, though it's still a very floral powder.

 

Five hours later: Already gone. This happened around the three hour mark or so.

 

End of the day: Still gone.

 

Overall: White florals are not my thing, nor is powder, and I think the allergy meds are the only reason I didn't react more seriously to the sandalwood. This one is getting swapped.

[pseedie]

Veil

 

In the Imp: very strong floral mix...something that i recognize as "not so good for me" in there....(no, not like cigarettes...like a note that really don't like)

 

Wet: OH NO!! IT"S GARDENIA!! My skin completely amps gardenia and it overpowers anything else for ages....i feel doomed.

 

Dry: Still a whole field of bloomin' gardenias...there is a wee touch of lilac and lavender appearing...then violet...so there is a nice little morph going on under the dreaded gardenia, but that gardenia won't leave my nose alone...

 

Time Lapse 1 hour: gardenia

 

Time Lapse 2 hours: gardenia

 

Verdict: Well, gardenia just wouldn't leave the party....overstayed her welcome and was obnoxious in the process....this one goes in the swaps....

 

 

[tinyvulture]

Lavender is the strongest note in this bouquet. For some reason I’ve never cared for the lab’s lavender note. It’s too powdery and sweet on my skin. It’s weird here in combination with the ylang-ylang, which is quite heavy. The lilac, gardenia and orris are harder to pick out. The overall effect is an extremely powdery, sickly sweet, old-ladyish floral blend. It’s just not for me.

Edited June 7, 2009 by tinyvulture

[silvertarna]

At first, this is beautiful - a gorgeous, light floral, and for just a moment I think I've found my perfect floral. Alas, ten minutes in and violet's 'Note of Death' qualities kick in, and the whole thing morphs into the scent of something you'd find going mouldy in a shed. Off to swaps, sadly.

[Balame]

In the Imp: A pretty gardenia, with lilac and violet wavering in and out of my smell detection abilities. A “garden fresh” scent.

 

Wet: My gosh, what is it about my chemistry that amps up certain florals to such an insane level? It’s not as horribly overpowering as Danube was, I would say greener and more breathable. But, I still think it’s going to be an overload for me. Note to self – I believe violet is the main culprit that has issues cooperating, it sometimes gets a bit rotten on my skin and this is no exception. It’s sort of wavering between understated and a kick in the behind. Mainly it’s a delicate scent, but I’m not the person to appreciate this combo.

 

Dry: Became more powdery, and no less sweet. I’m mostly left with lilac, which is too foofy for my taste. This does sort of have a “baby” vibe, haha, and now I’m going to sound even more terrible for not liking it, but this is definitely for people into sweeter scents.

 

Verdict: Strong florals don’t do anything for me, and the only possible savior in this was sandalwood, which I never picked up. Lovers of innocent and small child smells should enjoy.

 

Rating: 1/5

 

(^--- Another BPALer that violet dislikes! As they say, the enemy of my enemy is my friend... we should unite against it! )

[topazphoenix]

I don't like how the violet in this dominates. I would have preferred to smell some of the sandlewood, lavendar, and other notes. Sadly my skin ate them straightaway.

[surlygurl]

This was a frimp from somewhere - one of those "Oh, interesting. *shrug*. I'll test it more later". Now, many months later, I threw it on hoping to beat the heat.

 

In the vial - empty flowers. Kind of hollow. But also kind of high pitched.

 

On skin, the "hollow" feel came forth. I suddenly know what it must be - white sandalwood. The same stuff that makes Scales of Deprivation (one of my faves) hollow smelling. That's the only thing I could place. Everything else was High Pitched Florals. At first I thought "jasmine", but I don't see it listed.

 

As it dries, the white sandalwood departs and the flowers come together. I can smell gardenia. There must be others, but I can't identify them. A touch of violet. Nothing else.

 

Overall, a strong sweet floral. Pretty, but not really my cup of tea.