Norman's Grandma

[Leopard403]

A soft, ethereal scent suffused with gentle comfort. A remembrance of tea roses, lilacs, and soothing hugs.

Norman's Grandma reminds me of another BPAL blend...but due to the revamping of the search function on the main site I cannot figure out which one! London maybe, because of the tea rose. But whereas London has a "wicked" vibe, this is all comfort and hugs just as described. It really does smell like a kindly ol' grandmother who smells of cold cream and sachets and soft wrinkled skin, and while a lot of people say things like that as a borderline-slur ("poo, it smells like my grandma!") I mean this as the greatest compliment. I mean, the lab does it again in capturing exactly what the scent is supposed to be. It is evocative of simple love.

On me, it is mostly soft rose with the tiniest peek of lilac underneath. It does not turn powdery, and it is a fresh and clean skin scent without being indentifiably soaplike. Very unassuming, though: More like the scented lotion I would wear under another, "louder" perfume blend. It doesn't wear long, either, which I guess is to be expected with something this gentle.

[cfrancesca]

Omg, this is nearly exactly how my grandma smells (when she's not wearing perfume). I think it smells like Camay soap. Tea roses usually turn to (really pretty) soap on my skin and this is no exception. I like it though, it's a pretty and comforting tea rose blend but kind of creepy how close it smells to my grandma, I will have to have her smell it.

 

eta: The lilacs amped on me after a little while.

Edited September 13, 2012 by cfrancesca

[ljaylh]

Yeah... this smells like grandma. Roses, baby powder, and lilacs. That is all.

[zankoku_zen]

Oooh goodness, this definitely smells like Camay soap. Which was the soap that my grandma used to use!

 

It's an utterly nostalgic blend to me. My grandmother passed away when I was thirteen, and this just brings back vivid memories of grandma hugs, washing my hands in her soap. It's a happy, cheery, lilac/rose floral. Very comforting.

 

Would never really wear it as a perfume, but definitely a 'grandma' blend in the best way possible.

[countessmouse]

On me, tea rose = soap. I can smell a little of the lilac, but it's mostly just soap.

 

Meh.

[puck_nc]

Origin: decant circle

 

Initial Thoughts: Rose and I aren't 100% comfortable with one another, but I like lilac and the rest of the description made me think along the lines of our deeply mourned Antique Lace.

 

In the Vial: A gentle and slightly soapy floral. It's a little sweet, a little green, and completely beautiful. I hope the rose likes me...

 

Wet: There's a hint of the rose skank that I usually get, but whatever the sweetness is, it seems to be holding it in check. The soapiness is a bit stronger, but not a problem yet.

 

Drydown: Darn it. The rose has skanked up just enough and the soapiness has gone just a little stronger. Plus it has faded really, really fast on me.

 

Verdict: My skin really doesn't like this and I am hurt. It's SO pretty in the bottle. I'll definitely try my decant in a scent locket so I can keep enjoying it in its most beautiful state, but I'm not sure a scent locket will use up a bottle.

[Monday]

This is an extremely soothing scent.

 

On my skin wet: It's well blended, the lilac is there but at the same time some rose they balance each other out.

Dry on my skin: It has gone quite sharp and soapy. Too bad because I really like the wet stage, maybe it will mellow out when it ages?

[Blood onmy hands]

In the bottle and on my skin, this has a persistent smell that reminds me of sharp/ musky/ perfumey 80s cologne and chemical-y, soapy smelling hairspray. I was really expecting and hoping for this to be a sweet scent. I usually love tea rose, and rose is usually super-strong on me, but I can't smell any roses here at all. I also usually love lilac, and can't smell any in this blend. I get a drydown of cheap hairspray, sweet powder and a hint of generic soap very disappointing.

[milo]

I'm getting soft comforting soap, kind of sweet. This is a very nice smelling Gramma, though it is soapy. more of a sweet soap, not really strong.