Alice, the Reaper of Cruelty

[Balame]

ALICE, The Reaper of Cruelty

 

Bourbon geranium emboldened by the rich scent of aged patchouli, the sweetness of peach, raspberry leaf, and bourbon vanilla, surrounded by a butterfly swarm of spicy carnation and Italian bergamot.

From the bottle Alice is a lovely, juicy mixture of fruits with red florals in the background. When I put it on, though, the florals quickly become dominant. The geranium and carnation make for a spicy, almost musky combo while the fruits sweeten things up further.

The bourbon geranium is sharp, verging on boozy and rose-like. The patchouli is pretty subdued, though there's a definite woodsiness in the background. It's essentially a fruity, alcoholic musk on me. This scent is definitely on the stronger side and would be good if you feel like making a statement!

[Monday]

Bah overripe pears, pulpy overripe pears that have begun to ferment. After a while it has changed to chocolate covered raspberries with the pear still in the background. This one definitely takes you on an olfactory ride.

The pear has revealed itself as sweet peach combined with geranium but it still hints of overripe pears. Together with the patchouli it’s a weiiird scent. It’s the opposite of Sarah here the notes sound good but the combined result is just odd.

One of the weirdest things I’ve smelled but not exactly bad. I like the chocolate and raspberry stage.

[ReallyZeb]

First blast smells like a spicy rich fortified spirit on me, I guess a combination of the bourbon geranium/vanilla and spicy carnation. As it dries the fruit emerges, the peach seems really juicy but there's also some raspberry in there. After it has sat for a while I get the bergamot cutting through the sweetness and really freshening the whole thing up. This is a lush, rich and rounded scent, with really good staying power.

[kakiphony]

In the imp: High, sweet and light. I don't get individual notes, but this seems very traditional perfume to me -- and a lighter, sweeter one for younger girls at that. These are not usually my things, but since this has a heart of patchouli, it may surprise me.

Wet on skin: Very sweet and very light. I'm getting something I suspect is mainly peach and raspberry leaf -- it's a sort of indistinct sweet fruit with a bit of herbal bite behind it. The vanilla is adding to the sweet characteristic just a bit.

Early dry down (10 minutes): My first impression is that this is a very nice choice for a summer night. It's very light and pleasant, not at all cloying or overwhelming. The carnation has come out a bit more, giving this a slightly green and peppery note in addition to the sweet fruit. It's nice, but very not me -- too high floral/sharp fruit without enough base. It strikes me as young, juicy, overtly feminine and very pastel.

Late dry down (30 minutes +): This stays very true to the early dry down. The patchouli never really announces itself, but it allows this to develop into a close to the skin, slightly warm scent as it fades. It stays sweet, with some subtle fruit, but the carnation and bergamot help balance it so that it turns out not quite so sweet.

Final Verdict: This very, very well balanced. I'm not a huge fruit/floral person, but this I can wear. It's the best kind of traditional scent -- it makes you smell good without smelling particularly like anything. By that I mean, it's unobtrusive and elegant. I'll use the imp, but have no need for a bottle.

Reminds me of: Fae, Imp, Tamora

Edited July 31, 2014 by kakiphony

[astarinel]

Some note in here does not like my skin chemistry, I think.

 

I get the nice, lovely fruity peach with carnation spices, topped with something awful and soapy. I guess it might be the bourbon geranium, because it's not a note I'm terribly familiar with, and the others are generally fine as far as I'm aware. I get a little bit of a green edge, which is probably the raspberry leaf, and not much patchouli at all.

 

As it dries the soapy aspect turns into something closer to baby powder. I really wish I knew specifically what went so terribly wrong in this scent so that I could avoid it forever, because the majority of the note list sounded so promising!

[milo]

I'm getting mostly the geranium, which I love. It reminds me of summer, very refreshing for a hot day. Very similar to the Aura Suavis shower gel that lush put out a couple of years ago.

[ralenth]

In the imp: Juicy, slightly spicy floral.

 

On my skin, at all stages: Geranium SN.

 

Verdict: Sigh, skin chemistry fail.

[zankoku_zen]

Carnation, geranium and hints of vanilla and tobacco. I really get the geranium on wet, and as it dries I get the carnation with hints of vanilla with a swirl of smoky patch.

 

This ended up smokier and darker than I wanted it to. I was hoping the vanilla would sweeten the geranium more than this.

 

But on the other hand, it smells pretty and deadly. So apropos?

[GlowJob]

Alice, to me, is just one of those Lab oils that smells NOTHING like what I would imagine from the notes listed. It's incredibly soapy, very feminine and the only thing I can pick up on specifically is the geranium and maybe a tiny bit of carnation. I'm getting zero earthiness from the patchouli and no warmth or creaminess in the form of vanilla. The soapiness subsides a bit as it wears on my skin but it's still not very pleasant to me at all.

Edited October 25, 2014 by GlowJob

[Monster]

Out of the vial this is somewhat medicinal smelling. It's sweet and sharp at the same time.

 

On my skin, still medicinal geranium with the sweetness of peach. I think the combination of geranium, raspberry leaf and bergamot is making this smell like cough syrup on me. It's somewhat stomach turning unfortunately

 

Dry, the spicy carnation comes out but it's still not enough to tame the Robitussn accord the other notes are making.

 

This one isn't for me. I think geranium may be a bad note on my skin. :/

[sarandipitee]

Goes on all rich, ripe peach when wet and becomes a heady and sexy geranium. Which is odd for me because I loathe geranium, since like most florals I amp it like crazy. It even overpowers the patch which is unheard of with my skin chem.

 

The raspberry leaf makes an appearance as an edge of green and the carnation comes through as a bit of spice but this is pretty much a fruity geranium.

 

It's very lush and dead sexy and completely not my style.

 

I may need a bottle.

[LizziesLuck]

I'm not sure how I feel about this. It's much more floral than I expected. Eventually I get some fruit. I think I need to wear again before I decide anything. Certainly not awful.

[dementia_divine]

In the imp [Con imp w/ card]: Bourbon geranium and peach are the first notes to jump out to my nose, followed by the raspberry leaf and a bit of the spicy carnation note.

 

Wet: A blast of peach, and then an even stronger blast of herby bourbon geranium greets my nose. The raspberry leaf note has also appeared, and it is quite prominent as well. The carnation note, while present, hasn't stomped all over the other notes yet, and I don't think it will in this one, because the bourbon geranium in this is so strong. The bourbon vanilla note isn't a main player here, but it is helping to soften the other notes. The bergamot note adds a little extra zing to the scent, but the peach, bourbon geranium, and raspberry leaf are the stars of this show.

 

Dry: The fruit notes begin to lose their prominence during this stage, but the bourbon geranium reigns supreme. Without less sweetness from the fruit, it is herbier than ever and decidedly more tart now.

 

Verdict: Bourbon geranium is not mah jam. The wet stage of the scent was okay, but the dry one is one I would never want to smell on my skin again.

[Blood onmy hands]

I like geranium to be more spicy and herbal, where it's green and sharply rosy here, and has a definite soapiness in the drydown. I can also pick out the sweet peach, lemony-sour bergamot, and carnation spice. It all melds together into this sweet, perfumey fruity-floral, though, with an edge of soapiness and sour, sharp rose. I'm not getting any patchouli.

[lizabelle]

This is one of those scents that really makes me marvel at the lab. Looking at the list of notes I didn't get how they could represent "cruelty," but at least on my skin they're sharp and borderline-metallic. Nothing in here "smells like" blood dripping off a knife, but the scent is definitely reminiscent of that for me. I could almost swear there's an iron note in here, but I think it's just the geranium/bergamot combo. My first impression was "maybe I'll swap it," but actually the more I smell it the more I like it. Since it's so green on me I think it would work well in hot weather, and if nothing else it could function well as a "leave me alone" scent! I think this could also work well on someone with more masculine tastes.

[Aveya]

Source: Extra decant from my circle

Preconception: SUPER STOKED! I love peach. I love carnation. I love patchoul. Vanilla. Bergamot. This is going to be awesome.

 

Sniff: AWESOME. Fruity, zesty, spicy.

Skin: Hm. Notable GREEN edge pops out. I'm not familiar with geranium, but I'm thinking it acts a bit like white rose?

Drydown: Pretty disappointed. This turned into what my nose just considers rose. And after a small google of "what does geranium smell like" the answer is apparently "Rose". And Geranium doesn't care, it's gonna amp just like rose too. Everything else is lost in the spread.

 

Verdict; Rose SN due to ampage. Small dusting behind that of a lovely fruity scent. So sad!

[Darkersolstice]

I don't know what geranium smells like, specifically, but right now I feel way too floral for my own good. No edge of bourbon, no earthy vanilla and patch. I had hopes while walking to the train, but now that I'm at the office, this is so very flowery it's landed next to New Orleans in my "gift to someone who likes smelling womanly" bin.

 

(That said, if one of my datemates wore this, I'd probably nuzzle into them like a kitten, and I agree with everyone who called it a summer scent.)