The Fox Sisters

[Ashmedai]

For the sake of continuity the subsequent history of the Fox sisters will now be given after the events at Hydesville. It is a remarkable, and to Spiritualists a painful, story, but it bears its own lesson and should be faithfully recorded. When men have an honest and whole-hearted aspiration for truth there is no development which can ever leave them abashed or find no place in their scheme.

 

For some years the two younger sisters, Kate and Margaret, gave séances at New York and other places, successfully meeting every test which was applied to them. Horace Greeley, afterwards a candidate for the United States presidency, was, as already shown, deeply interested in them and convinced of their entire honesty. He is said to have furnished the funds by which the younger girl completed her very imperfect education.

 

During these years of public mediumship, when the girls were all the rage among those who had no conception of the religious significance of this new revelation, and who concerned themselves with it purely in the hope of worldly advantage, the sisters exposed themselves to the enervating influences of promiscuous séances in a way which no earnest Spiritualist could justify. The dangers of such practices were not then so clearly realized as now, nor had it occurred to people that it is unlikely that high spirits would descend to earth in order to advise as to the state of railway stocks or the issue of love affairs. The ignorance was universal, and there was no wise mentor at the elbow of these poor pioneers to point the higher and the safer path. Worst of all, their jaded energies were renewed by the offer of wine at a time when one at least of them was hardly more than a child. It is said that there was some family predisposition towards alcoholism, but even without such a taint their whole procedure and mode of life were rash to the last degree. Against their moral character there has never been a breath of suspicion, but they had taken a road which leads to degeneration of mind and character, though it was many years before the more serious effects were manifest.

 

Some idea of the pressure upon the Fox girls at this time may be gathered from Mrs. Hardinge Britten's* description from her own observation. She talks of “pausing on the first floor to hear poor patient Kate Fox, in the midst of a captious, grumbling crowd of investigators, repeating hour after hour the letters of the alphabet, while the no less poor, patient spirits rapped out names, ages and dates to suit all comers.” Can one wonder that the girls, with vitality sapped, the beautiful, watchful influence of the mother removed, and harassed by enemies, succumbed to a gradually increasing temptation in the direction of stimulants?

 

—Arthur Conan Doyle

 

Deception and despair: rose geranium and tea roses with mahogany wood, bourbon vanilla, and apple peel.

 

I can definitely smell the apple peel, but it's not that meekly-fruity apple note that I disliked in many BPALs - this is red, blood-red, juicy-blood-red apple that's almost aggressive in its boldness. Man, finally an apple scent I like! It settles back after a while, letting the geranium and mahogany have a chance, and what a perfect combination of notes this is! I smell almost no rose and vanilla is hiding back there somewhere, apparent but subtle. The main notes remain red apple, mahogany and geranium, and it's a brilliant blend. Polished, red and mouth-wateringly juicy. Very glad I got a bottle!

[poofie]

In the bottle and wet this is mostly apple with a bit of rose. Drying down it's pretty rosy, and edging towards soap as rose tries to do for me. After it's dried, it's a sweet roseapple, with maybe some vanilla and nothing from the wood or geranium. I'm honestly having a hard time separating the rose from the apple, they pair very nicely. Throw is pretty low, and I applied fairly heavy for me (although heavy for me still might not be all that much). I would have liked to detect more geranium and wood, but it could be it just needs to settle. Overall I like it very much, it's light and feminine and a bit sweet, but it's not a knock-my-socks off LOVE scent.

[unxolve]

First application is all rose. Maybe too much rose.

 

Then the apple starts to pick up, and its a nice, blended, pleasant surprise. A soft, pretty, friendly apple. When the apple shines through, the smell is perfect.

 

A lot of hours in, it's a beautiful rose. When I search, I can find maybe a hint of apple cider and wood. I could use some more apple, but I really like it.

[lady_pandora]

Fox Sisters starts out with a juicy, lemony rose that I think might actually be the rose geranium, and then morphs gradually into a different rosy scent that I think is tea rose because it reminds me of my old bottle of Body Shop tea rose oil. (I really need to deathmatch the two.) In the drydown, the throw remains mostly tea rose while the skin scent is wood/vanilla. I usually amp apple more than this, but I don't really smell it here.

 

This is really beautiful. I'd been thinking, I have so many rose scents, do I really have a niche for this? And then I realized, I don't think I have one that plays it this straight. I've got incensey roses and fruity roses, but this is rose shining as its own thing, and I might need a bottle of this after all. It's kind of old-fashioned and Victorian, appropriately, and is ladylike enough to wear to work or church or your grandma's house, but I really love it. It makes me happy smelling this all day, and after all, isn't that one of the things we look for in a perfume?

 

ETA: After wearing this regularly for a while, I can finally pick out the apple peel. It doesn't really come to the fore, but instead is kind of an undertone to the rose, like if you bit into a rose petal and it tasted like apple. It gives it a nice tartness that helps to balance out the other notes.

Edited March 26, 2015 by lady_pandora

[izile]

Well, this one is a bit surprising...

 

In the bottle: very faint, most a slightly fruity (apple) and maybe something slightly herbacious/green.

 

Wet: all rose geranium, if there's bourbon vanilla, it is completely absent, if there's wood, I can't smell it, even the apple is gone away, it's not even very rose-y, just rose geranium

 

Dry: kind of green/herby barely rosey powder - no vanilla, no wood, not enough rose to make it distinctly rose - maybe I amp rose geranium? because that just dominated everything in a kind of unpleasant way.

 

 

Sigh - to the swap pile.

[Aviatrix]

The rose and the apple are the strongest notes here, and they work really well together. I'm not usually a fan of the apple note, but in this one it's held neatly in check by the tea roses.

I am not getting any of the vanilla or mahogany per se, but I'm sure they are the notes grounding the whole scent.

 

Overall I quite like it, but maybe not enough to get a full bottle. It has a juicy freshness about it that surprised me! It seems fitting to wear at a tea party or something like that.

[Haltija]

Definitely a apple-rose. The apple is what jumps out in the decant and actually what dominates on my skin for a good while. When it begins to dry the rose from Rose Red emerges but less "florists fridge" not super cooling. Just bright and airy. When it's fully dry some mahogany wood comes out but not a whole bunch to where it changes the scent entirely. It's just feminine, delicate and very stunning. A nice Victorian lady could wear this scent with a beautiful red dress as she is going to a tea house.

 

It's a really beautiful scent and different from straight rose which is what I usually have in my collection unless it has a incense note with it. I keep going back and forth debating on if I need a bottle or not. Until I fully decide I will greatly enjoy my decant. (:

[dementia_divine]

In the bottle: I'm getting a lot of rose from this, as well as some of the apple peel and mahogany wood. I'm not smelling any vanilla in the bottle.

Wet: The rose geranium dominates, followed by the apple peel. The mahogany wood is present, but isn't as strong as the other notes.

Dry: More rose geranium than tea rose. The apple peel is still present, but the mahogany note is rather faint now. I can only smell a hint of the bourbon vanilla if I press my nose against my wrist, but it is very faint.

Verdict: I ended up going for a decant of this (in the original bottle) instead of springing for a blind bottle, and I am glad that I did, because I was hoping for more vanilla with the rose notes. It isn't bad, but there are other rose scents that I enjoy more, so I won't be needing more of this one.

[Magycmyste]

In the imp: Roses with a touch of sweetness, like honey and wine. I suspect the "wine" I'm getting is the fruitiness of the apple, and the honey is the bourbon vanilla.

 

Wet on skin: Apple and rose, mostly. Only swiped on my left wrist because I have Practical Occultism on my right.

 

Dried down: Rosy apple.

 

Throw: Tiny bit of throw, with the rose and apple blended beautifully.

 

Verdict: **** I almost love it. And I kind of want a bottle. It's definitely a contender for a bottle purchase, especially since I want to see how it ages. This could definitely grow into love.

[theseagrows]

this is mostly apple peel on me. i think maybe there is some rose geranium and wood with a hint of vanilla but it's mostly sweet woody apple peel. not a big apple fan here, but i was intrigued by the other notes. oh well. the apple certainly doesn't smell bad, it's just not my thing. this is one of those scents that has a candle/potpourri vibe...not my favorite, but probably wonderful on the right person.

[zankoku_zen]

Apple, roses, hint of geranium and wood. I'm surprised at how much apple I get from this. Good throw, good wear length.

 

Polished, apple, feminine.

[poisondove]

I was quite keen to meet the Fox Sisters, but sadly the feelings were not quite mutual.

 

At every point of our meeting, it was all tea rose, tea rose, tea rose. Which I love, but I had hoped to find that apple-ness as well. As it dries, the scent get woody and rich but that apple never arrived

[Veronica]

Oh gosh. I first smelled a prototype of this at the November Will Call and was soooooo bummed I would have to wait until December to order. I missed the December and January Will Calls and finally managed to pick up a bottle earlier this month (I was so sure I didn't even do a skin test!), after obsessively thinking about it for the past 3 months. This is my first new BPAL purchase in years and oh boy, is it worth it.

 

In the bottle, this is primarily tart apple peel--different from the Lab's typical apple note, greener and...more tart--with a hint of rose, not getting any vanilla at all and maybe just a bit of mahongany wood (not sure what this smells like). As it dries, the apple is still the core of the scent, but the roses definitely come out more and it's lush and pretty and very green floral (compared to Poisoned Apple which is more...floral-floral in full bloom), with the mahongany poking out to warm and spice up the scent. After a few minutes, the notes have melded into this wonderful almost musk-y floral with a bright hint of apple at the end and a warm, mahogany base. One of my absolute favorites.

Edited February 12, 2015 by delighted

[milo]

Hmmm, I thought there'd be white musk in here, it just has that 'feel' of it. A bit sharp, cologne, citrusy with a touch of wood. Amazingly, not getting rose here. This may be OK for summer on the right person, but it's not working for me.

[Fury]

Freshly applied this is a mash up of Rose fighting for dominance with the apple. It feels like red apple, no differentiation to me peel or no peel, very pretty and feminine. If the description had roses and apple as the only notes I would have believed it, or perhaps I am too much of a perfume simpleton to distinguish. Too feminine and pretty for my taste but I suspect it will be perfect for Spring for someone else.

[cherrycherry]

This is all vanilla and apple on me at first, but then I get wood and roses on the drydown. An elegant, sophisticated scent. Mature and beautiful.

[tealeaves]

In the bottle, it smells like bitter green apple. Wet on my skin, it's an astringent floral, tinged with tangy green apple and a light woodiness, no rose or vanilla to speak of. As it dries, the apple fades and it turns into a woody floral, with maybe a hint of bourbon vanilla if I huff really hard. It's a sort of floral incense scent, reminds me of an occult shop a bit, which is appropriate considering the name and theme of this collection. No throw on this one to speak of. I'm not sure about this one - I don't dislike it but I'm not passionately in love with it, either.

[RasAlgethi]

Very green and clean right out of the bottle. Not picking up on anything but geranium.

 

Deeper scents coming out on the skin of course. On me at least, worryingly beginning to smell like powder (that must be the rose). I'm not sure about the apple everyone else seems to be getting.

 

On the dry down, not getting any better. Sadly the rose seems to be dominant on me. There is a little of the incense-y smell underneath that I really like but it's just a tad too faint.

 

I am trying to go a little more feminine with my style but this one just isn't working for me.

Edited January 5, 2016 by RasAlgethi

[Blood onmy hands]

This is a simple, pretty blend of lightly sweet tea rose and tart green apple on my skin. The apple makes the rose feel more fresh and natural to me. As it dries down, I can smell the dry wood and herbal rose geranium. It smells like wild roses growing through a fallen tree trunk, surrounded by herbal greens. I enjoy this blend; it's like finding a rose bush in a forest clearing.

[achildoftime]

I thought I'd look at this one with it appearing once again to see if I need more than my imp.

 

It opens with a fairly potent whiff of rose geranium and apples. It's kind of interesting because it smells like a demure scent that isn't actually shy. It's outspoken, but ladylike, until it dries anyway. After it fully dries, I still get the sweetness of the fruit and the geranium, but I also get an undercurrent of something bitter. These notes all historically play nice, so I'm not sure what it is. It makes the whole thing smell off. Not bad, just slightly dubious which I suppose is fitting.

 

I'm kind of on the fence because it is quite pretty, and is an interesting take on rosy apples. I don't think it'd get much wear, though, if the 2017 one is like the older version.

[Cali]

I was expecting something warm from the notes but of course the description is on the nose; this is very melancholy and grey. The bubbly bourbon vanilla and wood give this a wonderful base of softness, but the roses and apple peel give it a sharp edge, nearly dangerous. These go harsher on me by the minute. Very interesting, don't think I've smelled anything like it before!

[ramblingrambler]

I was certainly intrigued by the name of this scent and took a chance despite knowing rose geranium stinks to high heavens on me. Alas, that's all I get with this one...loads and loads of rose geranium with a tart, bitter background.

[roseus]

This one is largely bright crisp apple and geranium on me. Very fresh and springlike. After it wears awhile it gets a little deeper with some polished woods.

[Minh Scent]

YES! Rose geranium! I got a decant at the last minute on a whim. It is mostly a strong rose geranium on me, with tea rose peeking out. On dry dowm I get the beautiful, natural apple. Unexpectedly wonderful!

 

I am curious if the 2017 version is different than the previous one, as the rose geranium was less talked about in earlier reviews. Or perhaps it nicely aged in the lab.

[starfish327]

In the imp-I get apple and something woody

 

Wet-all apple

 

Dry-apple and vanilla with something like a wood, but may not be a wood, in the background.

 

It's not terribly complex on me, but I've bought three or four blends like this since Yule so this is definitely the type of oil in into right now. It's actually very pretty.