Antique Lace

[monkey1123]

Nostalgia encapsulated. A soft, wistful blend of dry flowers, aged linens, and the faint breath of long-faded perfumes.

This is a really unique vanilla--the florals are in there somewhere, but blended in really well. Lovely.

[Eemia]

I had tried this several months ago when i was visiting my mom and I didn't like it at all. It smelled awful on me. But for one reason or another I tried it again a week ago while at will call and I loved it and had to have a bottle of it.

 

This is one of those GC blends that I will always need to have a bottle of. It is creamy, and gorgeously soft....a perfect vanilla. Actually it sort of smells like a vanilla malt when wet. Almost completely foody.

 

As it dries I smell the florals. They are beautiful and indescribable---I can't pick them out other than to say that this seems to have a definite perfume quality at this point. The vanilla is still present and adds so much softness. I'm not sure if the aged linens are there or not, but there is a kind of comfortable quality. I feel like I have had this for years and it is very in tune with the rest of me. How could I not adore this one?

[hushmesilent]

I like antique lace - but I had expected so much more of it. To me my very first impression was of the 'warm vanilla sugar' perfume that they have in plastic bottles at Meijers' for around 5.00. (Not trying to be mean, but I can't remember the brand.)

 

In the imp: Horrible memories of that wretched perfume and how much of it teenagers are prone to douse themselves with. I can distinctly pick out the vanilla, and if I check more carefully the light florals under it.

 

Wet: Still strong, almost overpowering warm vanilla sugar. It's not a BAD scent, but the connotations are too strong for me to fully enjoy Antique Lace.

 

Dry: I can pick out the kind of crisp linen smell and florals more easily now, and it is a bit more attractive. It's beautiful and suprisingly long-lasting, but all in all Antique Lace isn't for me.

[evilbee]

It took me a while to order this one just because the idea of old-lady perfume and linen didn't appeal to me, but everyone's love for it gradually wore me down and I added it to an order. Man am I glad I did.

 

Yes, this is creamy, not fake vanilla, but what really draws me to this perfume is this bewitching nose-tickling spice-ish scent. It's not precisely a spice like cinnamon or clove, both of which tend to turn to pickles on me, but more just a feel. It makes me feel confident and comfortable. Someone said I smell like pancakes... in a good way.

 

It's very similar to Mama-Ji on me, except with vanilla. This one is definitely a big bottle purchase.

[ladybird]

I almost couldn't tell what notes were in Antique Lace when I tried it. "It smells...sweet and warm. Like vanilla? Except vanilla doesn't work on me, so it can't be that."

 

Except it does! Antique Lace is the first vanilla scent I've tried that doesn't instantly go sour-sweet and wrong! It dries into a delicate sweet vanilla overlaid with faint flowers, very light and pretty. I think this one's a keeper!

[stasha]

This definitely isn't something I'd pick up if I hadn't read the reviews. The name alone evokes images of old ladies and powder rooms. Luckily I gave it a go because Incredible!

 

In the imp I'm immediately struck by the florals. It's light and dreamy like antique linens hanging out in the sun to dry as opposed to antique linens hidden in a chest.

 

After putting it on the warm vanilla mixes with the florals to create a sultry, nostalgic scent. It's certainly sweeter than I would have imagined but the vanilla never becomes foody. It's an elegant, warm scent as opposed to the vanilla associated with junior high locker rooms as someone mentioned on the first page.

 

After the immediate dry down the linen comes into play and it's obvious why this has the name Antique Lace. You can smell the aged linens and distant perfumes mingling in an antique shop but without the old lady scent I feared.

 

Overall it's extremely beautiful and haunting. I'll definitely need a big bottle of this.

[Veronica]

A gorgeous warm vanilla scent that subtly changes as it dries down, while still retaining its vanilla scent. A bit musky on me though, which was an odd experience combined with the vanilla. Very pretty, comforting scent!

[spidersinmyhair]

Antique lace is sweet,warm and creamy.Yummy,but not in a foody way.I am horrible at picking out notes,but after reading other reviews I must agree that there is vanilla in there.The vanilla happily comingles with all the other notes and together they have formed a beautiful perfume.The throw is good and it lasts a respectable amount of time.I love it!

[parasolfringe]

This is the most beautiful musky vanilla scent; I love it. It's a mixture of fluffy marshmellow clouds and sentimental bronze heart-shaped lockets on top of high collared dresses. There's a tinge of mustiness to it that is surprisingly pleasant. It smells mauve colored, off-white vanilla mixed with dusty pink flowers. It's gorgeous, girly and old-fashioned, I just wish it were stronger and lasted longer.

I might have got 2 compliments on this scent today--a girl who came over to my desk at work asked if I was wearing lotion and that it "smelled really good over here". Before that a lady asked if someone was wearing pineapple bath and body works lotion? What? But she seemed to like the smell. I love Antique Lace!

[ForeverSweet]

I first just want to mention that this is one of my favorite scents in my collection and one I use fairly often. Especially when I am having a particularly feminine, demure or elegant day and need something to compliment that feeling. It's also a scent I use on my sheets when I need to be relaxed or comforted, as it really calms the senses for me.

 

In the bottle this scent is sweet and musky for me. Like mentioned it is a very strong vanilla but one I take to so nicely. Its sweet and lovely and doesn't at all scream cheap dollar-store vanilla to me. It has this hint of muskyness or even spiceyness in the bottle.

 

On wet this isn't quite as sweet and I can smell the aged-linen and florals a bit more. It says white curtains in a breeze or the fabric of a womans dress in older-times as she walks past. Absolutely lovely.

 

This goes on fairly faint when wet but strengthens on dry down. The vanilla and florals mix here for a heady and nostalgic scent. I agree that this is like visting old memories. A stunning scent that lasts for a decent amount of time. Just beautiful.

[steelfaerie]

I was resistant to even trying Antique Lace because the foody smells are not one with me. I don't fancy smelling like vanilla; I avoid the note as a rule.

 

I finally decided that I needed to see what all the fuss was about. Today is the first day I'm wearing it, a rainy awful day, and I'm sitting at my desk and I can't stop smelling my hands. Oh my lord. The linen is coming out in full force, the vanilla is completely unoffensive, smooth and lovely, and the florals are floating dreamily in the background. This may be the most "girly" BPAL scent that I have become attached to thus far. I feel extremely feminine wearing it and very sophisticated.

 

I'm going to buy a bottle at the will-call.

[modernsaints]

Creamy, sweet vanilla, and it smells JUST LIKE SOMETHING but I have no idea what that something is. Delicious, though. No floral, no linen, just straight-up vanilla with something that smells like cream soda, almost. Most likely will end up with a bottle.

[MaidenGenevive]

Antique Lace

 

Soft and feminine. It's very warm, and the florals are light. Beneath the perfumes (which to me are not long-faded) is linen. At first, I loved this scent, but when I picked up the linen, it instantly reminded me of an old job I had where the woman dosed her house in Yankee Candle's linen scent. It was overkill, head-ache inducing, and now whenever I smell a linen perfume, I start to develop a migraine. Which is what I have now. Unfortunate, since this started off so promising. That being said, the linen is light in this, it's mostly perfume-y. It has a mature feel to it.

 

[1 - Hate] .. [2 - Dislike] .. [3 - Like] .. [4 - Really Like] .. [5 - Love]

 

2 : This doesn't work on me. It really is lovely, but it gives me a headache.

[Catmint]

Not only would I have never ordered this based on the Lab's description, I probably wouldn't have ordered it if I had seen all the reviews saying it's a vanilla floral, since I'm not really a fan of vanilla scents or florals. I was ordering some imps from a forumite and saw this on their sale list and I thought, hmmm, pretty name, I'll throw that one in too.

 

IMP: Definitely vanilla and flowers, but it's really soft and well-blended. It smells like a vanilla-scented flower, the same way that orange blossom smells like an orange-scented flower, rather than smelling like a mixture of vanilla extract and floral perfume. I have no idea what the flower of the vanilla vine smells like (it's actually a type of orchid), but I could believe it smells like this.

 

WET: The linen starts to emerge, and works really well here. I'm not a fan of linen scents, either, yet somehow the vanilla and linen and faint floral all blend beautifully. It is very sweet, though.

 

DRY: Wow. This smells like snuggling in bed on a Sunday morning, under clean linen sheets and a big down comforter, drinking vanilla chai with morning sunlight streaming through the window. Comfort in a bottle!

 

I'm amazed at how much I like this, considering how much I dislike vanilla, floral, and linen scents! I've never bought a candle, a room scent, a body lotion, or a perfume with any of those notes, I always go for citrusy, green, or fruity/spicy blends, yet Antique Lace really works for me. I will definitely order a bottle of this and use it as a linen/room spray in the bedroom, and as a perfume for those lazy winter weekends when I pad around the house in yoga pants and a sweatshirt drinking chai. Yum!

 

ETA: I think this would also be a great scent on a child, and I can totally see my 5-yr-old daughter wearing this.

Edited September 11, 2007 by Catmint

[KaliVerra]

Even though I tend to get a mild headache from this scent, I CANNOT RESIST IT... there is something WRONG with me... a masochistic streak or something. Generally, when I get a bad sensation of any kind from a scent, I back off entirely - but there is something about A.L. that has me around its dainty little finger... Oh you nasty vanilla-laden beast...

[Victory]

When Antique Lace was resurrected, I bought my mother a bottle because I was curious about it and I could justify buying her a gift but not buying myself one, and so every time I visit her, I apply AL liberally and walk around smelling gorgeous. I don't know what I find so beautiful- I'm the world's worst nose, so if people say there's linen, vanilla and florals in there, then there probably are and I just can't separate the notes- but I just do. When I was working as a TA, I'd put a swipe from my imp behind each ear and breathing AL in would keep me sane during those tortuous hours. It's soothing, it's comforting, it's soft and fluffy, it's wonderful. I really need to buy myself a bottle. Really.

[Maia]

Oh, this is gorgeous! Once dry Antique Lace is almost entirely vanilla on me, but it's a dry, soft vanilla with a hint of something that could be white musk in the background. As for the flowers – I'm not even sure I can smell them at all, they are very, very faint. Lovely.

Edited September 22, 2007 by Maia

[zephyloquy]

When I first opened the bottle I got a whiff of creamy vanilla. YUM. I was disappointed when I first applied it to my skin because it became a musky flowery "old lady" perfume. I decided to wait it out a bit and I am glad I did! It transformed into a beautiful creamy vanilla with a hint of musk. It has a little bit of a cotton candy note to it, but it is very grown-up and subtle. Absolutely lovely. This is one of my favorites! I like layering it with Tval Pink Cotton Candy body wash.

[4492]

OK, I don't really have a well laid out review for this one. Just thoughts and feelings!

 

Immediate reaction when I recieved it. "Yay - this was on the 'possibly' list." *Open, sniff* - "ARGH! Carnations! NAAAOOO!" Threw it back into the box and glared at it every so often when I was trying to find something else - how dare it be so evil?!

 

Tried it on today through just trying random imps. Opened the imp, sniffed...vanilla?

 

Swiped wrists. Sniffed. Yup, vanilla. Huh? After a few minutes - vanilla and linen-eyness. And a few minutes after that the florals join the party. Carnation is there, but she's floating round the back of the room and not flirting with anyone that I like at the moment.

 

This is something I would wear to visit the grandparents, thats definate. Maybe to work as well, if I was feeling in a benevolent mood and not a fighty one. This is a dress made from soft, periwinkle blue cotton and laced cuffs and collar. Airing out the attic during the summer. Lovely! Not as old-ladyish as I thought it would be and not as much carnation as I was fearing. I can imaging there's some neroli in this because I usually get vanilla-flower from neroli and there isnt any actual vanilla listed. And oh GOD It smells so lovely! All creamy and sweet and flowery and ooooooh!

 

ETA: I've actually started wearing my hair in plaits to bed so that when I put this in the ends I WILL actually smell it as I go to sleep. Will be getting a bottle in my next order!

Edited October 14, 2007 by minimal23

[Niobeeh]

A wonderful, soft vanilla scent. It makes me feel so feminine!

Like everybody else, I'm in love!

[Elizabethm]

This is based on a fresh imp from the lab.

 

In the vial: straight up baby powder with a touch of vanilla.

 

wet: straight up baby vanilla baby powder.

 

dry: straight up vanilla baby powder mixed with the irish spring I am trying to wash it off with.

 

Must be my body chemistry since Antique Lace is a bpal favorite. Bummer.

[greymatter]

I like this well enough, but I really have to be in the right mood to wear it. It's very formal and heavy and in general, I'm just not. It's sweet, but not cloying. It's pretty. I can understand its popularity. I wouldn't have sought it like mad, but I'm glad t have an imp.

[erraticprophet]

Borrowed from a fellow addict and coworker. She was kind enough to let me test a bunch of imps.

 

Initial Impression: linen, floral (very blended, nothing stands out), softly sweet

 

On Wet: amping sweet (as I always do), stronger linen, smells like an old-fashion powder puff

 

On Dry: now the vanilla is coming out, the linen is softer, and the floral is making a reappearance

 

Final Impression: Very lovely! I get the antique lace from this.

 

Rating (on a scale of 1-5): 4, quite sure I'll be buying this in the future

[Moryssa]

I smell like vanilla candles.

 

The scent really hasn't morphed that much throughout the day, although it's very faint now, after (looks at clock) 8.5 hours.

 

I like the smell when it's candles, but I'm not quite sure I like it when it's me.

 

--M

[CrazyPretzel]

Imp: strong, warm vanilla; sandalwood? Creamy.

Wet: Foody vanilla. Almost cake-like.

5min: Still strong, cakey vanilla. It’s pretty simple but I dig it.

Drydown: Dreamy and creamy vanilla and, I think, sandalwood. Very pretty.