Two-Barred Flasher

[absinthetics]

Orris root, lilac, galbanum, white tea, Italian bergamot, and blueberry.

This one is a surprise.

I was afraid the bergamot would be too much, but I don't get any citrus at all. There is a sharpness, just a bit, but I believe it is the blueberry. This is quite more blueberry than I expected. I do not get any lilac from this yet either.

[Invidiana]

Blueberry and lilac seems like such an odd pairing of notes at first, but it's actually a winning combo. This scent is such a departure from the norm but so dreamy and relaxing. Blueberry is obviously the first thing to jump out at me wet, but then the soft florals of lilac and orris put it on fluffy clouds that make think of a blue sky in June. Love it.

[Lycanthrope]

Weirdness express shuttlecraft, prepare to depart from the U.S.S. Lycanthrope.

 

The scent from the bottle is blueberry skin and a few sharper flowers / cologne notes. On my skin... a frightening mix of cologne sharpness (bergamot?) that makes me concerned that this is going to fail, and fail hard. Patience, my shapeshifting lunatic, patience. Over time the orris root asserts and in a way grounds this scent with a dry rooty violet-esque tone, the lilac definitely increases in strength and the blueberry continues to exist as an interesting fruity back note. The overall effect is a creamy iris with juicy blue fruit.

 

I really like this a lot!

[Mellifluous]

I'm glad I wasnt the only one that got a cologne vibe. It is very much so a crisp cologne scent with a decent dose of fruity blueberry. After a while, I do get the lilac, and the scent settles into a more feminine perfume. This scent is actually quite perfume-y overall, but the blueberry stays present enough throughout, to keep it from smelling too commercial. The crisp tea, along with the other bright notes make me think of a classy Sunday brunch on the beach. This is a really nice summer scent, especially if you like more traditional perfumes.

[orata]

So gorgeous. Starts with a huge wash of delicious, flowery blueberry. The orangey bergamot and lemony white tea get stronger as it dries, and the blueberry fades back a bit so it starts to smell less like BLUEBERRY! and more like a pretty blended perfume. The lilac and orris provide a soft, fluffy floral background to the brighter, fruity notes of the citrus, tea, and blueberry. It smells like a creamy floral watercolor in pastel colors. Light and clean.

[livingdead71]

I had high hopes for this scent, because the blueberry note in the bottle is absolutely gorgeous! However, the moment it touched my skin, it went straight to powder, and not in a good way. I'm guessing the orris root is to blame...so it's off to the swaps with this one!

[elfnwitch]

Straight out of the bottle and wet on the skin, I get a whiff of blueberry and a light floral that I can't put my finger upon...

 

Drydown--I now understand why this is for a blue butterfly! It has a soft, powdery scent, floral, a little sweet, but sad. It reminds me a lot of Guerlain's "L'Heure Bleue", but softer, sweeter, and smoother. And, IMHO, much better!

[zankoku_zen]

Flowery blueberry, hint of bergamot and iris. On wet, there's an almost sharp cologne edge to it, but it dries to a slightly softer, kinda powdery blend. Sweet, and a little sad.

 

It's not the type of blend that I'm usually attracted to, but I find it oddly compelling. I might have mr. zee_zee throw the deciding vote on this one, because I can't stop sniffing my own wrist. It isn't instant love... but I'm not sure that I wouldn't mind having a bottle.

 

Ah, decisions, decisions.

[AnyseLawsBray]

In bottle: Iris and blueberry tea, dusky and sweet.

 

Wet: The barest brush of soft lilac, and a burst of warm blueberries and tangy, subdued bergamot.

 

Dry: It doesn't change much from wet to dry, just fades to a soft, creamy haze - and seems almost fleeting, like the condensed sun rays of a late summer afternoon.

 

Verdict: Black Pearl has been my go-to iris blend thus far in my BPAL journey, but Two-Barred Flasher goes positively leagues above and beyond! Supremely satisfying, bright and refreshing without being sharp, lazy and gauzy without being dry or too light. For me, this is the ultimate warm weather blend, an embodiment of ripe blueberries and creamy tea - perfection.

[ModderRhu]

Nice! A little boozy and not quite tart enough to balance the sweetness of the blueberry. It's nice though.

[sunlitgarden]

In the decant: Mm... this is sweet, fresh, and lightly fruity. The blueberry smells very true. Even though white musk isn't a listed note, the blend has the white musk "feel", if that makes sense.

 

On my skin, I'm still getting the blueberry, yay! With the blueberry, white tea and bergamot, this actually smells drinkable - like a yummy tea blend. The orris gives it a soft, almost "fuzzy" edge -- I love it in blends like this. As it dries more, it's a bit like Silver Phoenix with the orris note. I'm a big Silver Phoenix fan though, so no complaints here! It starts to smell a little violet-y, but orris works far better than actual violet notes on my skin.

 

This is my favorite of this year's Metamorphosis so far.

Edited June 2, 2012 by sunlitgarden

[calivianya]

Oh! This is a pleasant surprise. Wet in the vial, I get juicy sugared blueberry with lilac and white tea. It gets even more citrusy/blueberry as the bergamot comes out. In the first few minutes, this is LOVELY! However, as it dries down, the blueberry note goes almost plasticky or stale to my nose. I think the orris is overpowering it and that's what the fake edge is coming from. I'm going to have to give this another test to determine if it's a keeper or not. Right now, I'm on the fence.

[angelamaria]

In decant: ...what is this?? Sour, like something spoiling. UGH.

 

Wet on skin: ugh, that sour spoiling fruits note is still there. I hope this disappears soon! Past the sourness I can get a bit of lilac. I can't really smell anything else, it's making my stomach turn a bit.

 

Dry: thank goodness--that spoiling smell does go away when dry. What's left is lilac, white tea, and a dash of citrus. Amazingly, the lilac doesn't go to powder on my skin! This is a good lilac. Lovely and light.

 

Verdict: sadly, no matter how lovely that dry phase is, the wet phase is just horrible for me. Pass.

[aphrodite]

Meh. First it's a sort of weird blueberry on me that isn't entirely unpleasant but isn't really something I want to smell like. It eventually morphs into all lilac, maybe with some white tea, and it's just floral and powdery. At no point did it give me a headache or make me want to shower, but it's not my style at all.

[Monday]

Meh indeed. Starts out a gorgeous blueberry, then quickly degenerates into a sweet blueish powder.

I usually don't mind powdery scents but this is somehow not a nice powder. Not for me.

[Zorra]

I had decided not to try any decants until they had rested for at least 24 hours after arriving, but this one leaked after I sniffed it. The spillage smelled almost soapy, not good at all. But I gathered what I had spilled on my skin and there it changed.

 

It's different, that was the first thing I thought. Then: OMG I smell cologne. And it can't be, but... tobacco? I detest both so that wasn't good, but both were faint so there was hope.

 

And then it smoothed out and now it's different in a very good way. I smell the tea now and the orris root and I think the lilac, but it's much more complicated than the notes that I can identify. It's also very summer-butterfly-like, I can almost feel the soft butterfly wings.

[Blood onmy hands]

Two-Barred Flasher smells pretty much exactly like I was hoping it would. It's a great mix of sweet notes and sharper, more perfumey notes that keep it from being too sweet on me. The orris root has that cool, powdery, sugar-dusted-floral sweetness, the lilac is a bit more sharp and perfumey than sweet (but still noticeably lilac), and the mix of blueberry and citrussy bergamot & tea smells like real berries on me rather than candy. It's sort of a dusky, sugared fruity-floral. Like a sexy date night floral with sweet berry and dark cotton candy, if that makes any sense.

 

I have good luck with bpal's orris and lilac notes, and this works out beautifully for me. I feel like it's been a while since I really fell in love with a bpal scent, but this one is a love for me <3

[Dark Alice]

Little Bird has it dead on. This is just lovely. Blueberry, (that actually works) Lilac that is non-intrusive and orris just makes this gorgeous. Two bottle purchase for sure.

[Antoinette]

Orris root, lilac, galbanum, white tea, Italian bergamot, and blueberry.

 

In the vial it's mostly blueberry but on my skin it shows all it's beauty!

 

The blueberry is forefront at first but the orris grows stronger on the dry down with all the other notes playing support in a lovely way. This blend has a unique way of feeling both dry/powdery and juicy at the same time. Hard to describe but I love it!

 

Definitely want a bottle.

[Gateau]

Decant and Wet--Tons of blueberry, almost fake in the intensity of it's blueberry-ness.

 

Drydown--The blueberry tones down and the florals and white tea pick up. I don't pick put lilac specifically, but its sweetness is there. I get a powdery and sharp cologne smell that makes me a little fearful. that often comes from white tea in my experience. No real citrus hit.

 

Dry--The orris keeps asserting itself, and that's a note I love that can really hold a scent together for me. The longer it's on my skin the more I like it, and the more I think a bottle of this would become a much-loved summer floral.

[stellamaris]

This was the first Metamorphosis that I bought this year, and it is the Blueberry Goodness of Good. That's all I have to say, it's just good, unique, does not smell like any other BPAL, and you should buy it. OK?

Really, I love this one, it's sweet but not cloying, very rich and satisfying.

[MCS4096]

I decided to buy only one metamorphosis blend, and it would be unsniffed since I missed the decant rounds. After reading all the reviews I decided on Two-Barred Flasher. I owned Irrelevant and Disturbing Surreal Crawdad Dream for awhile as my token blueberry scent, but I eventually let that one go as it never quite worked on me..

 

This is much better! I don't really like the taste of blueberries, but I love the smell. And in this blend, which is soft, rather than sharp/sour/realistically fruity, the inherent juiciness of the berries is balanced by the dry orris and powdery lilac. There is enough tea and bergamot (although, I love bergamot and there could be more here in my opinion..) to keep the blend smelling fresh. The end effect to me smells almost like grape flavored candy

 

It's not totally my usual kind of blend, but it's slightly off-beat feminine vibe is something I do desire occasionally. I think I made a good choice!

[milo]

Fresh blueberry and tea at first, kind of reminds me of a fruity, herbal tea (duh). I'm getting something musky after a bit, and an earthy spice, which is not meshing well for me, it doesn't belong, whatever it is, or isn't reacting favourably to my chemistry. There are so many things I like about this blend, and at one point, it was soooo delicious on me, musky blueberry with a touch of tea, but there's that odd earthy spice that pops up out of the blue every once in awhile. It kind of smells like oregano to me. So spaghetti sauce and blueberry alternating with delicious blueberry musk. I hate my skin.

[becca_s]

This is a very light and refreshing scent. I love it when it's first applied and I can smell all the bergamot, tea and blueberry - they make such a nice combination. As it dries I can smell the Orris more - which isn't my favorite thing, it's ok here though, it adds something slightly powdery on the dry down. Overall though, very nice. I took a bit of a risk by ordering it because I generally dislike Orris but it doesn't seem to amp on my skin as much as it does in other blends.

Edited July 17, 2012 by becca_s

[ami226]

On the skin: Blueberry!! There might be some tiny hints of floral notes hanging around, but for the most part I smell the tart yet slightly sweet blueberries! A perfect scent for summer. This blend never turns sharp or headachy (yay!), but sadly the florals do take over my skin really quickly. I wish the blueberry would have stuck around.

 

Not a scent for me, but it is quite lovely!