Venustas

[AmyO'Shields]

Sometimes when I look at my daughter, I feel like I can see the woman that shell become someday. This is a perfume for that woman, forever my daughter: frankincense, sweet myrrh, bourbon vanilla, and a hint of willowy, pale fougere.

It must be my decant but all i get from this is tea. :-(

Edited to add that it is a very beautiful tea and i would have bought a bottle if i had my decant in time. :-/

ETA: I managed to acquire a bottle after falling head over heels with my decant recently. This is not just tea. This is indescribable. Utterly beautiful and I don't even know what I'm smelling. Top 10. Edited August 7, 2016 by Herb Girl

[ModderRhu]

this smelled just like severin to me. I didn't skin test, just smelled out of the bottle.

[strahlend]

Goes on smelling like Mariposita and ends up smelling like Dorian that has been slightly softened with the addition of gentle resins.

[joyfulgirl]

when i smelled this in the bottle, it smelled too perfume-y. i was sure i wouldn't like it. i almost threw it in the swap pile. but i dabbed a bit on anyway, and i am SO GLAD i did. it just absolutely blossomed on my skin to something warm, sweet and very comforting. it's a little bit outside my normal "love" zone, which i'm attributing to the fougere, but i'm actually enjoying the slight changeup. the rest of the notes are right in line with what i usually go for, so it's been a lovely way to try something a little different.

 

i have a suspicion that this will age AMAZINGLY and i kind of wish i had bought two bottles, as i'll definitely love the one i have!

[kahmiel]

I got this in a leaky imp, and had a hard time discerning it in the bottle, so that part of this review is really muddy for me, but when I put it on I was really very confused. It was.... green? I was actually wondering if I had the right scent. It was young and green like fresh cut grass in spring. As it began to dry, it got sweeter and something floral came through, the fougere, the resins...and then bam, it became perfumey on my skin. It became this womanly perfume heady with frankinsense and myrrh. It is too heavy for me to imagine wearing much, and I don't think I would invest in a bottle of it, the undertones of the womanly perfume remind me of my grandmothers home in new york and her Chanel #5, its a beautiful memory, but i dont think i can wear it much. I may see if i can find another imp of it at some point, but not a whole bottle, thats for sure.

[Minh Scent]

Wow, I love this, but it smells so different, yes a bit perfumery. Trying to pick out the listed notes, but not doing so well. There is definitely something green in here.It smells womanly, sensual...a woman in a Chanel suit walking down a Parisian street.

[Coldfire]

Decant: white floral with a bare hint of green

Wet on me: more greenish now teeny tiny hints of sweet (the bourbon vanilla must be)

Drying Down: sweet and something I think is the fougere. Really kinda nice!

Dry: sweet fougere with faint resin-y whispers

[milo]

Fresh and light. Great for a hot day. After a bit, more resinous. I wish it had stayed the way it was in the early stages. It just seems utterly mismatched somehow now.

[claudia6913]

I'm glad I waited until this blend had sat before reviewing it. 7 months aged and Venustas has really started to come into it's own. The frankincense and myrrh are nothing like Midnight Mass, but softer and sweeter, flowing and gentle in the breeze. There is a hint of the lemon tea others have mentioned when wet, and I'm sure there is a bit of lavender in the fougere but it's nothing like the lavender in TKO which doesn't play well with me. This is a softly sophisticated blend, very grown up ... but with a hint of child-like glee under it all. There's more bourbon than vanilla. But overall this is a very gossamer like scent - very pretty.

[LizziesLuck]

Wet: There's a green note in the fougere that is immediately familiar and haunting. It's a green floral I like it a lot. What the heck is it though? It's not lavender, at least not that particular note I'm smelling. Not getting any of the incense, this is all greenery on me right now, but I like it. It's very light, so I applied a touch more, and now I think I'm getting some of the Frank.

 

Dry: This is just kind of vaguely perfumey on me. The floral is slightly peppery. It's nice. I'm not getting any of the Myrrh or Frank though. I do like it, it's just not wowing me. I'm not sure it'll stay in my collection, but I am glad I got to try it!

[mymymai]

ITB: Greenish fougere and powdery frankincense with a touch of bourbon vanilla as a bottom note.
Wet: The fougere is certainly a strong top note, but I can't help but think that instead of pale, it should be labeled as herb, like freshly muddled basil clothed in vetiver. The bourbon vanilla is much less prevalent now, but the myrrh note sweetly supports the much more dominant fougere.
Dry: Long lasting and beautiful dry down to pale vanilla sunscreen, a hint of sweet myrrh, and a touch of lavender from the fougere.

[Lambent]

Venustas reminds me so much of Kumiho (and also Dorian). The tea note is the strongest, along with a green, slightly earthy fougere. It's really lovely, crisp, and I feel so comfortable wearing it.

[sailthetethys]

Oh my god. This is why I don't resell, you guys.

 

I hated Venustas when I first blind bottled it. Instant headache. It was super perfume-y and sharp; not at all the creamy, sexy, incensce-y Dorian I'd been hoping for. I held onto it because it seemed like the forumites were going mad for it, so I figured I'd sell it or trade it down the line. Naturally, this didn't happen, because packing and mailing a thing is a task that apparently takes too much effort. But every now and then, I'd come across a thread where someone was raving about it, and so I'd dig it out to retest. It always resulted in immediate regret. This wasn't just an issue of letting settle from the post. Venustas just hated me.

 

Until today. Today, three years after the fact, Venustas has decided to emerge from exile in the back of my drawer and reveal itself as a delicate, creamy, sweet fougere with a waft of incense in the background. It's a sexy witch nibbling on a lemon cookie in a tea shop. She's not Dorian, but I'm pretty sure she snogged him in an alley earlier in the day. It dries down a bit powdery - not a baby powder but more of a powdered sugar that seems to temper that cologne-y edge that has always made my head pound.

 

So THANKS Venustas. You've pretty much guaranteed that I'll never be able to part with any one of my BPALs now in the hopes that somewhere down the line they'll decide to act right. Good thing you're so pretty, or I'd be really mad at you.

Edited February 25, 2017 by sailthetethys

[renfair]

First Sniff Impression: Fresh, light, ever so slightly incense floral

Wet in Vial: Florals hit me first, which must be the fougere. Then I was able to get the bourbon vanilla, and a hint of something that was frankincense or myrrh.

Drying Down on Skin: This has almost a fresh, new green leaves smell drying down. The fougere must be a different blend than others I've tried because it's much lighter and fresher, not so heavy sweet. It's very pretty, but I'm not sure how long it will last on me. It feels too delicate in strength.

Dry on Skin: The frankincense and myrrh are getting stronger, coming out over the fougere. I haven't been able to pick out the bourbon vanilla outside of the vial yet. This is definitely getting more "womanly" than fresh little girl, as it started. If that morph was intentional, then it's genius.

Conclusion: There was no musk in this, but it felt like it got a little musky near the end. It definitely turns into a warmer scent the longer it sits. It has a similar morph to Faun, which I tried the other day. I'd love to try this one again. The ones that really morph are fun.

[Cassandra Dudum]

I adore fougeres, however this scent has a green note that my skin is amping. Maybe it is the "willowy" note that my skin is amping. I don't get any frankincense, myrrh, or vanilla. It is almost like a tea tree fougere on my skin. Interesting, but not what I was hoping for.

[Missy_killer]

In the decant: Pale lavender-purple, if that was a smell. Slightly floral, sweet and pleasant.

 

On me: Florals, soft and purple. Reminds me of Prunella after the plum has settled to me. I can't really smell any of the other notes. When it starts to dry down the florals are dry like potpurri. The myrrh comes out to play, it often has a metallic twang to it and this is no exception. I get no vanilla whatsoever.

 

After it's been sitting on my skin for about 30 minutes it's all potpurri and myrrh. Meh.

[Lucchesa]

I'm not sure if I smelled lavender on first application because I knew this scent was supposed to describe a full-grown Lilith and I associate Lilith with lavender or if it's actually in there. For me there was a kind of lavender-tinged cloud floating above the deeper notes. I'm going to need to retry this when I'm not freshly showered because even though I did apply a base of unscented lotion, this disappeared on me right away. Still, it is deeply beautiful, and I could sense the love and care that went into this creation.