Libertine

[Aldercy]

Rosewood and chamomile with bergamot, violet, red sandalwood, primrose and Arabian musk.

Spiced rose, in a nutshell (not literally; nothing nutty about Libertine).

Every once in awhile I convince myself to try a blend with a note I hate just to make sure I haven't stopped hating it. So Libertine was an experiment in rose and rosewood. Sadly, rose still has the potential to be my nemesis, but this oil is not particularly heinous. Libertine is a honeyed, slightly peppery, almost sandy rose scent, and I like the roughness of the red sandalwood.

At first it was a little masculine (in an ornate, foppish way), stale (like musty velvet), and old-people-esque, but it lost almost all of that within ten minutes. Still old-fashioned and shamelessly opulent, but in a graceful, more aristocratic way. It's definitely 18th century and it's definitely well-off. It's powdered wigs and mahogany divans. I feel like I should be sitting (statuesquely coiffed and straight-laced) in Sir What's-His-Face Dalrymple-Thimblethorpe's grand parlour, playing whist and yawning because the Archduke's card parties are always sooo much more interesting and fashionable. Yeah, like that.

So... not an automatic reject! That's somewhat of a victory in the rose department. I'll play around with it when I'm in the appropriate mood. Edited June 1, 2009 by Aldercy

[erendirascent]

In the bottle: Very, very floral, almost like "old lady" perfume

Wet: Pretty much the same, not sure if I like this at all.

Dry down: (after about 5-10 minutes) WOW. This is complex. I can start to smell the chamomile and the sandalwood now. I am totally putting a little more on because I am liking it.

 

Dry: (after about half an hour): Has dried into a very tinkling, pretty thing with a hint of the herbal. Totally chamomiley and sandalwoody. The heavy floral takes a background (thank goodness)

 

Did not smell the bergamot AT ALL unfortunately. I might buy a 5 ml of this but it is definitely not a signature. There is something about it that I can't place, maybe it is TOO complex? :-( . Don't know what I would wear this to, the smell when wet is too heavy for work. I will have to wait for the FIANCE seal of approval.

 

[Suu4LC]

This is pretty soft woods, flowers, and chamomile. Very pleasant. I tend to amp woods, I'm hoping they stay well behaved on my skin.

 

Doesn't change too much on my skin. Rosewood and chamomile...actually starting to go a little weird and sour though. Hrmm. I blame chamomile, I think this happened to me with another blend.

 

Thankfully the sourness goes away on full drydown, but all I am left with is a powdery woody scent. Meh. Woods continue to hate me ]:

[Gaidig]

In the bottle: To me, this is "perfumy".

 

On me: On me, the bad perfume smell goes away immediately, and I get a rich dark musky floral. I don't know which flower does it, but I get a Victorian feel from this. It is plush velvets, a roll-top rosewood desk, and a man writing with a nibbed pen.

Edited July 11, 2009 by Gaidig

[angelicruin]

Inside the imp, chamomile and musk.

 

Wet on the skin, heavy florals and spicy musk. I agree it smells like old lady perfume.

 

After this dries down, it kind of reminds me of the Dove soap my grandma always uses. Maybe it's the "old lady perfume scent" making me think of this, but that's what's caught in my mind right now.

 

 

[rayvn1]

Rich but slightly cloying rose. A deep red scent. I'd be really curious to try this on my husband - on me it's a nice rose scent with a bit of bergamot but nothing to write home about so far.

[Sawasdee]

On initial application, this frimp has a very crisp astringent herbal with rosewood. Getting lots of chamomile and bergamot, for a an uplift. After a few minutes, I'm amping the primrose, so now it's an herbal floral mix which is getting softer by the minute. The dry down gets powdery(from the sandalwood?) and floral, and some of the violet is peeking through to turn it somewhat soapy smelling as well. Not usually into herbal scents, and was hoping for more rosewood and musk, and while the dry down is a nice soft scent, it's a bit too generic rose soap for me.

[Invidiana]

Libertine definitely made me think of a Victorian dandy. Most of these ingredients were popular during that time, so the blend makes a lot of sense. I wouldn't say it's masucline--more like unisex. It's not really a "me" fragrance, a bit too perfumey/cologney for my personal taste, but I can appreciate the authenticity, because it really does bring to mind velvet smoking jackets and gold-tipped canes a la The Importance of Being Earnest.

[Unicorncupcake]

Ok, first review, here it goes:

 

I received Libertine as a freebie with my first bpal purchase. In the imp it smells like an almost fruity gentleman's light cologne. I suppose it is more unisex, but it does have a masculine element ot it, which might be the rosewood? There is also a faint undertone of a lotion type scent. On my skin it begins t smell citrusy and a twinge antiseptic. Soon after is quietly morphs into a lovely soft bright sweetness, heavy on the bergamont and violet.

[impolight]

Libertine is delightfully wicked. This is the haughty, smirking, dashing sybarite; dusting of frock and arched of brow.

Libertine possesses that bright, clean kiss of Chamomile that is indepensible when it comes to making a men's fragrance that commands attention and monopolizes the spirit of inquisitiveness in the room... The combination of Violet and rosewodd make this incredulously gorgeous! A woman could wear this scent, surely, and smell rather... Fetching. Libertine is ideally suited, however, for a man.

On the skin, Libertine sweetens and sharpens simultaneously. What a twitching, lickable fragrance!

Libertine says, "you're welcome" to an aspiring sycophant whilst enjoying the unspeakably pleasurable things they are doing for and to you...

Libertine is black, blue, purple, and gold. It is the giggling into the glass of whine you really can't afford; the ludicrously gaudy confection.

Guys? Wear this when you're bored, but still want to wow.

This one's a fave; effortlessly earning a spot in the top 5.

BPAL, you're bad! Let's do lunch

[aquazoo]

Roses at first. The roses are tempered nicely, I think that's the bergamot or musk helping it along. I get the aromatic woods, too. Mostly a steady, rich rose.

 

[milo]

Hmm, I get jasmine and citrus here. It dries to a powdery, slightly sour floral, which makes me think even more that there is jasmine here, though it's not listed. I suppose it could be the violet, but that *usually* behaves on me. At any rate, it's pretty powdery, sour, with floral. Not a good combination. I get no woods whatsoever. This one is off to swaps.

[AnnieB]

For my nose, this is a one note symphony. If any of you have ever smelt rose-scented geranium (Pelargonia graveolens)... this is -absolutely- it. In liquid form.

 

Every single nuance, every bit of rose-spiciness ... exactly a dead ringer.

 

I love it. Gotta get a bottle.

 

Definitely.

 

 

[calivianya]

This is the most wearable scent with rose and violet that I have come across. Either of those is usually enough to make me turn my nose up at a blend. What I'm picking out the strongest in Libertine is the chamomile, the bergamot, sandalwood, and something else woody - the rosewood I guess - which is a combination I do like. The rose and the violet are both behaving themselves and stick nicely in the background.

 

The rose becomes stronger and stronger as it dries down, until rose is the predominant scent. It's a shame it couldn't have stayed in its original form; I quite liked that, but this rose-heavy blend is too much for me after all.

Edited December 26, 2010 by calivianya

[SophieCedar]

Wet: what a great blend. The strongest are chamomile, rosewood, primrose with a slight arabian musk and bergamont. The red sandalwood and violet are noticable but take the background. This has a wonderful duality to it. Sensual, mind-stirring, soothing, and uplifting.

 

Drydown: mostly rosewood, sandalwood, slight violet and musk. Chamomile has a tendency to go a little wine-like on me after a while. This combines well with the rosewood and arabian musk. my hubby loves dousing himself in chamomile oil, so he really liked this when I offered a sniff. Sure he'll be asking for some soon! (oh that sounded bad..)

[lunaticana]

yay 4 chamomile I love that on my skin..

bergamot makes it no 2 flowery or heady (but if it was jasmine this would be!)

rosewood makes it all so very princessy-like and violet in combination with Arabian musk a little bit mysterious too

love! never thought of a bottle myself but maybe, just maybe, 1 day I WILL get me 1

[Vega]

Sniffed: Light woods and florals, namely rose.

 

On skin: A beautiful mix of light woods and sweet florals too blended for me to pick out individual notes, although my beloved rose/rosewood is definitely present and playing a major role. Over time the wood diminishes while the other notes emerge (although they still remain blended) -- now the florals are more prominent, as is the musk taking over as the main base note. A full scent but "light" in feel, and can be worn by both sexes, although it certainly is masculine in a foppish manner. Indeed, this would be a fitting scent for a dandy, rake or flâneur. Colour impression is a pale wood-brown with a pale pink blush.

 

Verdict: Libertine is a fine blend of my favourite notes (musk, woods and rose), and the only masculine rose blend in my collection which contains many feminine/unisex roses. Yes, I fall in love with the Libertine every time I wear it! A sleeper hit and a definite keeper.

[frecklestars]

In the bottle: oh goody, pretty much all of the things I don't like! blergh. rosewood, in a cedar sort of way, and the shy sweetness of chamomile, combined with violets and powdery rotting sandalwood. everything about it makes my nose curl and flee. something kind of dry and mint-like, similar to eucalyptus. also a little sour, like someone's gym shirt.

 

On my skin: it does not get better, only worse! rotting forests, violets growing in trash piles, powder that causes severe sneezing and nausea. maybe some cat pee? there is nothing ok about this scent on me.

 

Last thoughts: not so strong as to be completely repugnant, but definitely not wearable for me, not even a little bit.

[sleepyhead]

Please forgive my noob nose. It's not yet refined enough to pick out specific notes. However, I wanted to add my initial thoughts, or rather, how it made me feel.

 

initial reaction: fresh out of the bottle, on the skin, my first thought was a memory of my grandmother's old trunks, where she kept many of her old keepsakes and old clothes. Powdery, slightly musty, and of another time. I wasn't happy with it at first. It made me feel as though I were wearing a very old dress that had been stored away for decades.

 

dry down: it has grown on me a little. The powdery quality has relaxed a bit. After a few hours I could smell the sensuality that many people have talked about, it is still very faint for me, but it's there. My final impression is that of a centuries-old beauty. Something that once was glorious. Very much a scent that would be connected with one of Anne Rice's vampires. (is that corny??)

 

I want to like this scent, but the musty, powdery hints are keeping me from really appreciating it. I think I'll let it sit for a few months and come back to it. By then I may have another review.

[meredevachon]

Frimp from the Lab

 

In the imp: Slightly bitter citrus.

 

Wet: I know this is supposed to be chamomile, but when I put this on, I'm reminded of a steaming cup of Lady Grey tea with honey (when given the choice, I drink it more often than Earl Grey). Definitely tea and bergamot though.

 

Dry down: The rosewood starts to come out after 15-20 minutes, along with a soapiness. Love the rosewood, the tea, and the bergamot. Hate the soap.

 

Dry: What happened? By the time I can't see a glisten of oil any more (I'd only used a light swipe), I can't smell anything either. I'm starting to wonder if my skin is eating pretty much everything these days, because a lot of what I've tested lately hasn't lasted very long on me.

 

Overall: Liked it in the beginning. And I was really hoping the soapiness wouldn't last long; a lot of blends go through a soapy phase for a bit. Unfortunately, on me, it wasn't just the soapy that disappeared it was Libertine entirely.

[countessmouse]

I have to agree with meredevachon on this - it's Lady Grey tea, but with flowers. There is a sweet note there, but it's not what honey does on my skin (overly sticky sweet). I am in love!

 

This one had been on my want list for a while before I finally threw a bottle in with another order. I wish I hadn't waited!

[lilyliza]

In the bottle: Rosewood, bergamot and chamomile. It's a very pleasant combination.

 

Wet: Rose blooms and becomes the main part of the scent almost immediately. Bergamot and chamomile give it a warm, herbal base. I agree that it reminds me a lot of Lady Grey tea. After a while, the rose is deepened and sweetened by an emerging violet note and the sandalwood comes out to make a beautifully full but not too sweet overall scent.

 

Drydown: After a few hours, it's much less complex and mostly rose, but it's still slightly sweetened by the violets and calmed down a little by the chamomile, so it's a beautiful scent.

 

I'd definitely recommend this if you like rose and woodsy florals. This'll probably become my signature scent, I like it so much!

[invisible iris]

A complimentary imp from the generous Lab. (I have stopped seeking out rose blends for myself, so I don't really expect to like this one.)

 

In the imp this has a tart smell. I detect bergamot, violet, and rose.

 

Freshly applied, rosewood immediately appears to dry out the primrose somewhat. Bergamot and chamomile add an herbal twinge, and violet is still a player. Red sandalwood and Arabian musk emerge as it begins to dry. Oh, there goes the primrose, beginning to amp...

 

Dry, this is Rose, mostly. Rosewood is there too, dominating the red sandalwood and Arabian musk in the fight for biggest base note. Bergamot is gone, chamomile is really faint, and violet has altogether fallen to the indomitable rose. The whole thing reminds me of an old-fashioned powder room soap.

 

Verdict: On my skin it’s obviously a rose-dominant blend, so Libertine is not for me. However, it is not the most horrid rose blend ever. It would be good for a person who likes rose and is looking for a more warm and somewhat dry, unisex-verging Victorian rose.

[OctoberGwen]

Roses are hit or miss on me, and this one is unfortunately a big miss. I quite like bergamot, and sandlewood & musk are nice in general, but...all I get is rose with an unlying twinge that gives me a headache.

Edited January 31, 2012 by OctoberGwen

[tdgnika]

This scent proves what I already know to be true - I am AWFUL at identifying individual notes. I've been trying imps given to me from my wishlist without looking at the description to remind myself why they were on my wishlist, and I wouldn't have guessed any of these scents.

 

In the imp, a bit of that chemical, fake perfume-y smell I don't like.

 

Wet on the skin, it smelled like a pleasant, light flower, perhaps a bit of Lily of the Valley - maybe that's the rosewood?? Or the violet?? Who knows.

 

On dry down, it went to the generic incense smell (must be some of the musks or the sandalwood that make it do that) and then my skin ate it.