Allegory of Chastity

[TheIceMaiden]

Blushing rosehips, pink rose petals, and vanilla cream with white jasmine and a drop of bergamot.

This unicorn starts off as a naturally sweet & juicy rose with just a hint of bergamot. Eventually the jasmine shows up in the background. The white jasmine is different from the typical jasmine notes, it is smoother, less perfumey, and quite lovely. The drydown is a sugary rosey-vanilla.

[Casablanca]

In the bottle, Allegory smells like creamy pink roses, with the barest touch of vanilla. Once it's on my skin, though, I can pick out most of its parts: creamy pink roses and rose hips (with their little bit of herbal almost-tartness) dominate, with jasmine and bergamot alongside. The jasmine and bergamot are blended but strong enough to pick out, giving the blend a lift out of the relative weight of cream. I'm not smelling much vanilla. It's a hushed voice compared with the roses, jasmine, cream, and bergamot.

As Allegory dries, her vanilla warms up and peeks out, but is still barely a presence behind the more potent creamy rose and jasmine.

I was anticipating a stronger creamy vanilla note, but this is still lovely and I'll much enjoy the bottle. It should layer wonderfully with Frau Bei Der Selbstbefriedigung bath oil.

[Aviatrix]

This is mainly pink roses and rosehips on me! So if you are scared of the jasmine note, at least on me I am not getting any jasmine

I was expecting it to be in the same family as Alice, but to me it reads more like a sweeter incarnation of Rose Red, so if you like that one, be sure to give this a try as well!

The rosehips lend a tartness to the rose-dominant scent that makes it a bit more interesting than straight-up rose, and there is an underlying sweetness from the vanilla cream as well. I am also not getting any bergamot, but I never got bergamot from Alice either, so maybe my skin just eats it

 

Overall, it is a tart-sweet rose-dominant blend in the fresh and dewy rose family of scents.

[Antoinette]

Such a fresh/sweet scent! I get fresh pink roses and vanilla cream with a bright hint of bergamot. The jasmine is super low key on me. Dries down to vanilla cream roses. I love it!

[whitewhale]

This scent was the easiest blind buy of the series for me. Every single note is a winner for me, and it does NOT disappoint. Where roses can be a bit sharp (and this does indeed start out all rose, which I do love), the pink petals come in about 10-15 minutes later to smooth it all down along with the vanilla cream. Make no mistake - the rose is THE star of this scent so if you don't like roses, this isn't for you. For those who do, the white jasmine mixed with those creamy flower petals and just a drop of bergamot is rather incredibly beautiful. It reminded me a lot of Two, Five and Seven when I first applied, but this is a serious morpher as that vanilla and jasmine get a chance to come out to play. This one packs a bit more throw than some of the others, though it's not offensive about it.

[aphrodite]

I'm glad I only got a decant of this one, because I definitely don't think I would ever need to own both this and De Vos. if, however, you collect every sweet, pink scent you can find, then you do need them both. Whereas De Vos had the mysterious, crackling kind of sweet fluff I described earlier, this one has pure, fluffy, bountiful clouds of sweet cream. And the rose definitely makes itself known. In fact, for the wet and early dry phases, all I could smell was aggressive pink rose. But then it settled into a beautiful, creamy rose scent. Ultimately, I don't need to own this - I loved Pink Snowballs and Love, but ended up passing both along because I just didn't reach for them enough and didn't quite feel like ME when wearing them - but it's a great one. I didn't notice the jasmine *at all,* and it's my favorite note and stands out to me greatly, so I think you're safe to try it if you're not into that, but I probably wouldn't recommend a blind bottle if you're only here for the jasmine.
I recommend for fans of Love, Pink Snowballs, Vasillissa, Volcano in Springtime, and all pink rose scents.

[roseus]

A beautiful, sweet, vanilla-rose. The pink rose/rosehips is a nice combination because the rosehips add a bit of a dry/dusty feel to make it more interesting. It was very sweet at the beginning but it tones down a little and the rose becomes fresher in the dry down. I feel like I get a little boost of the headiness of jasmine without ever actually smelling it. Unless you really amp jasmine, I think this is a safe blend for people who just don't care for it. Overall it's a bright, innocent rose scent.

[Teamama]

Blind bottle, no regrets!

 

I was hoping for a close relative to Love 2013 http://www.bpal.org/topic/80430-love/. Allegory of Chastity does not disappoint!

 

On application, the throw is STRONG. The bergamot's bitterness is noticeable in all the creamy, floral, vanilla sweetness. Teapapa asked if there was vetiver in it (!) That phase dies down pretty rapidly.

 

Once dry, I have an impression of rosiness, and of jasminniness (we need a word for this in English,) and tartness from hips and bergamot, but they're subordinate to the vanilla cream, like flavorings. The vanilla cream is impressionistic; a strong sweetness that reminds me of the smell of vanilla fondant.

 

After about an hour, A of C has medium-low throw, and moderate wear length. The rose hip & bergamot are a little more noticeable at this point.

 

I love it, and bought a backup bottle.

[Blood onmy hands]

Thick, creamy, pink vanilla rose with a powdery edge that's like powdered sugar, not baby powder. The bergamot and rosehip add a tart, lemony sharpness that I don't love, but that part settles down a bit in the drydown. I was worried about the jasmine, but can't really pick it out in this blend. Sweet, lemony, vanilla-y rose. Fresh, but very sweet on my skin.

[zankoku_zen]

Thick, creamy pink rose cream. Powdery roses and a touch of jasmine. Vanilla cream. This was pinkier and rosier than I expected. Good throw and wear length.

[LiberAmoris]

Allegory of Chastity is pure sweet pink roses and cream. I get just enough jasmine and rosehip to make things interesting and impart a slightly tart, indolic edge—but if I didn't know it was in here, I'm not sure I could pick it out. Dry, this is similar on my skin to Venus Libitina, if you subtracted the cherry note from VL.

 

Very pretty, and chaste as f*ck.

[PeculiarHeroine]

So my significant other loves rose scents. Everything I've ever worn that has rose as a strong gets a "ooh, you smell good" from him. So the following conversation was super funny-

Him: "What are you wearing? You smell so sexy."

Me: "Its called Allegory of Chastity."

Him: "Ha, well, they got the name wrong."

 

Ha indeed. I smell a lightly vanilla touched rose, very soft and pink. The jasmine flirts in and out, as does the bergamot, and the rosehips give it a lovely powdered quality, which keeps it from going too twee.

So I find this innocent in and old fashioned and charming way, but be warned if you have any rose loving gents in your life, for they will not agree with the name.

[Haltija]

Powdery, gorgeous blushing pink roses and a heavy dollop of vanilla cream. I get no bergamot and no jasmine and this is most pleasing to me. But it smells very similar to De Vos' Unicorn on me, I don't need a bottle but this decant will be used up for sure.

[VetchVesper]

I just became aquainted with "Hope" about a week ago, and that's just what this smells like with a dollop of lemony white floral on top. Pretty, sweet, light rose with lemon blossom. Bright and feminine.

[Kay Torres]

Crystalline pink rose. The jasmine doesn't particularly smell like jasmine, it seems to just amplify the rosiness of the rose note. The rose hips and bergamot add a pleasant sharpness that's softened just slightly by the vanilla cream. This lasts for about 4 hours on my skin. After that the scent starts to fade into a rosy, vanilla cream. Less floral, more foodie. This has been compared to De Vos quite a few times. To me, and on me, it's less "floofy" and it has more substance.

[elka_knits]

reminds me of Katrina or Virgins Blood.

 

not lasting long on my skin.

 

Will end up buying a bottle nonetheless

[Elspethdixon]

In the imp/wet - Rose with something cool and sharp

Five-fifteen minutes in - Strong rose note, with the bergamot adding a cool/sharp/fresh note and the jasmine probably contributing to the strength of the floral character. No detectable vanilla. Unlike most pf the other unicorns so far, Allegory has a couple inches worth of throw - probably the jasmine amping up the floral notes.

Drydown/Hour-and-a-half in - Still a fresh, floral rose, but it's gotten softer and more gentle as it begins to fade. Any sharpness from the bergamot is gone now, and I get a sort of rose-dominant floral haze surrounding my forearm (but with about half the throw it had when freshly applied). Allegory of Chastity is more complex than a single note rose, but it's definitely rose-dominant, with no noticeable vanilla and with the jasmine largely a background/supporting player for the rose rather than the white floral blast I'd feared (and I say this as a jasmine hater for whom almost any jasmine is too much jasmine).

Overall, it's a fresh, creamy rose with a hint of white floral, similar to sweet sugared/creamy rose blends like Love and Hope and very different from De Vos on my skin. I'm going to need to test it against my other rose BPALS to see if I need can justify a bottle.

[Pyretta]

Bottle: Creamy rose petals - very classically feminine. It has a sugared quality that reminds me a lot of Hope from this year's Carnaval Diabolique release, but more "pink".

 

Wet: So gorgeous! I'm getting some bergamot which is very welcome, since I have a ton of rose scents and I was worried that this wouldn't be different enough from the others to justify keeping a bottle of! The bergamot also brightens it a little and keeps it from going too powdery.

 

Dry: It's very rare that I try a rose scent from BPAL that I don't fall in love with, and this is no exception! It's just sweet and creamy enough to be feminine but not at all girly. I started to notice the jasmine around half an hour in, and it's balanced out by a hint of vanilla. This is incredibly long-lasting on me - I can still smell it 10 hours after applying (and taking a shower), too!

 

Verdict: Instantly in love! It definitely has a different feel than my other rose scents, and my boyfriend (who is usually sadly oblivious to these things) noticed it right away, saying that I smelled gorgeous. I'll take that as a win I also bought De Vos' Unicorn, and this one is different enough on my to justify keeping both!

[freyasfae]

This was a lot like Love from the Pickman Gallery in 2014 on me, which several people mentioned, but I expected it to be more perfumey with the jasmine and bergamot, as opposed to the playdoh quality of Love on me, but it's barely distinguishable on me. It definitely smells more sophisticated, but more often it felt like the more sophisticated jasmine and bergamot were competing with the pink rose and cream innoncence - which perhaps is an apt metaphor for chastity come to think of it...

[Rouge]

In the vial, this is surpassingly lovely. it's totally a scent for a pretty pink princess, with fresh, dewy roses with just a little zing from the rosehips.

 

Wet on the skin there's a sharp soapiness to the rose, which takes some time to mellow. Drydown sees jasmine peeping shyly out from behind the other notes, and eventually the vanilla cream emerges to warm the blend. It's almost a journey of seduction. ;-)

 

If you like this blend but are feeling less modest and more openly seductive, try Marguerite.

[lunaticana]

This IS my FAVORITE BPAL of the last 2 years 💕💕💕

This is sooo goos on me omg the pink roses 🌹🌹🌹

In combination with that vanilla cream & all of the jasmiiiin lovely scent !!!

So creamy with flowersssssss the best one ever for me

And I already looooved all of my Unicorns so much 😊

[mishi-bear]

I managed to get my hands on a bottle of this beauty, and I am thrilled.

 

This is a beautiful rose scent. Sort of like a sweet cousin to Rose Red, or Snow White without the foody snow notes.

 

A mix of dusty rosey rosehips and sweet girlish pink rose wrapped in a creamy but fluffy vanilla cloud. The jasmine isn't strong at all so jasmine haters have nothing to worry about here. It feels necessary to the blend in its own quiet way. Same goes for the bergamot, which really only is a drop, but provides a little something to this blend that keeps it unique and interesting.

 

Overall a very gorgeous blend. Rose lovers, this is a must have if you can find it secondhand.

[dementia_divine]

I bought a bottle of this when it came out, but I never got a chance to review it before heading to Germany in August of 2016. So here’s my belated review!

 

In the bottle: Vanilla cream-covered pink roses with a bit of bergamot in the background.

 

Wet: The rose is a lot stronger on me, with the vanilla cream right behind it, followed by the bergamot. Then, the bergamot gains some strength so that the pink rose and bergamot are the main players, backed by the vanilla cream. It’s somewhat tart, but the vanilla cream in the background keeps it from being too tart.

 

Dry: The pink rose continues to reign, although it becomes less tart over time, especially as the bergamot fades. After a few hours, it ends up being a light vanilla cream on my wrists with just a hint of rose, but the pink rose continues to hold strong in the crooks of my elbows until it becomes a creamy, fresh pink rose scent after a full day of wear.

 

Verdict: I like this, but I think I liked it more when it first came out than I do now… possibly because I am being more particular with my perfume nowadays and I have too many sugared or vanilla-ed rose perfumes. But I wore Love yesterday, and I do not like this nearly as much, and I have other sweet rose scents that I’d likely reach for more than this one as well. So I might end up making myself let this one go at some point in the future, just because I don’t feel like I really need it… but it is nice.