Shelley, Byron, and Keats

[kashmira]

Uncompromising idealism, haunted romanticism, fatal ennui, and a heady amount of scandal and vice: red roses and pale carnation with a draught of laudanum, smears of opium tar, a hint of absinthe, and mercury ointment.

Wet, this starts out with a medicinal, almost bitter smell that quickly morphs into red rose and laudanum. As it dries on my skin, the carnation takes a front seat and tends to be very assertive. It pretty much stays all carnation all the time, though eventually a bit of the opium tar peeks through. To my nose, overall this has a "high pitched" floral scent which isn't necessarily to my taste. On the plus side, it has a ton of throw and lasts for hours. Interestingly enough, I tend to get a lot of compliments from women on this scent, but my husband and guy friends all find it somewhat 'meh.'

[theseagrows]

sorry my notes on this scent aren't too detailed, but i will give it a whirl with a review. it starts off all floral, mostly rose and opium. my skin tends to amp opium and not in a way i am a fan of, so i wasn't too sure about this. opium gets really strong and a bit harsh on my skin unfortunately. i love rose, but it can be fickle too. rose works amazingly on me in some blends and smells sour in other blends. anyway, next the carnation peeks out, which is one of my favorite notes. but then i get something souring the florals, which i have to guess is the mercury ointment, but i'm not sure. i so hoped this would work on me because i love resiny rose blends as well as rose-carnation blends, but alas my skin just doesn't seem to like the opium and mercury in this.

[zankoku_zen]

Shelly, Byron and Keats was roses and carnations that dried down to a carnation and geranium blend. Where the geraniums come from, I have no idea but I suspect that may be the mercury ointment mixed with absinthe.

 

I happen to like both carnations and geraniums, so I liked this floral combination.

[tinyvulture]

Florals, mostly rose. Stuffy florals...stuffy, like a vase of flowers in a warm, poorly ventilated library. With the chemical tang of...laudanum? Mercury ointment? I don't know what those smell like. Pass on this one.

[milo]

Weird kind of blend. I'm getting something like vetiver and bright fruits with a touch of mint, but it's probably the geranium. Too odd.

[Balame]

There's a well-defined silvery, chemical aspect to this scent... with a hint of herbs. No doubt the laudanum and "mercury." It's very interesting.

It makes me think of being inside an art studio where people are painting but there are also fresh vases of flowers scattered around.

Really heady and hazy, yet the "silver" aspect makes it sharp as well. While I'm not usually a floral lover, the rose and carnation are pretty here.

They're muted in a way that I'm not picking out one over the other, so it's like someone smeared a bunch of red petals around and this was the resulting mix.

 

Definitely not for me, but as it dries it becomes less sharp and more... almost cozy. The opium makes a bigger appearance and turns the flowers almost fruity.

I think it suits its namesake very well. Romantic but a little dangerous and unsettling.

Edited September 22, 2014 by Balame

[annemathematics]

this is one of my favorites of the OLLAs. on me it's a beautiful rose/absinthe cologne. the rose is bright and rich, the carnation spicy in the background, the absinthe giving a vibrant energy, the other notes giving a deep and delicious foundation. everything about this-the balance of the different scents, the throw, the wear length is a delight. one of my favorite rose bpals. beautiful and slightly bizarre.

[Atrous]

At first I get hit with a oily chemical/medicinal smell which I'm guessing is the Laudanum & Mercury.

During the dry down Absinthe and Opium start to come out and temper the chemical aspect.

And finally, Rose and Carnation come and round SB&K out. Once dry, the chemical/medicine translates as herbal to my nose.

All the notes are present but muted. I don't think I've smelled anything quite like this. Its a comfortable and restive scent and I'm liking it a lot.

[claudia6913]

This is a very languid scent, as though you are draping yourself across furniture while a haze of opium smoke drifts about you. This feels a lot like Langour in that way. But the carnation gives it a bit of a spicy edge that does not detract from the scent, rather it heightens it and gives it depth. Very floaty and flowing.

[satinworship]

Florals and I, particularly roses and carnations, don't get along. I tend to amp these parts of a scent until I'm nauseous and have a headache. Shelley, Byron, and Keats (also know as Those French Assholes) goes on wet like a sharp punch to the face, no individual notes just intense perfume power. After a couple hours of drydown I get a very well-behaved rose scent, like garden roses cut and placed inside a lady's bed chamber. I'm picking up some laudanum/opium not so much smokey as resiny, perhaps the way a chunk of opium would smell as it's set out on the table. I don't get any anise or other absinthe notes.

If I wanted to wear a very grown-up, ladylike, sophisticated floral perfume, this would be the winner!

[RubyV]

I don't really get the florals. Instead, on me, it's all opium and absinthe and laudanum, and other naughty things. I also get a slight whiff of skin musk, oddly.

[LizziesLuck]

Wet: Wow, what IS that? Maybe the "mercury ointment"? It's like nothing I've ever smelled before. Really interesting, but not something I would want to wear. I was hoping the florals would lend some familiarity to it....but this is way way different. It actually smells like a pile of unfamiliar chemicals. Like a laboratory or something. It's a bit ozoney. Makes my nose tingle.

 

 

Dry: This is truly unpleasant on me. It just smells like chemicals. I'm having to wash it off. I am so glad I got a tester instead of buying a blind bottle like I had planned to....

[Jenkins]

On me, this is a lovely spicy floral with a hint of bitterness. Unfortunately, it doesn't seem to last long. It definitely changes from the smell in the bottle, which is quite harsh, into a much more wearable scent as soon as it touches skin.

[Blood onmy hands]

I hate the lab's opium/poppy note. It smells sharp and chemical, sort of like hairspray chemicals, with a white, sharp smokiness. I get lots of opium here, with hints of sour rose and maybe a sharp spiciness from the carnation. I had to scrub this one off.