Versailles

[PurringPulsar]

Versailles

Grand, courtly and robust: a glittering, golden scent that would do Louis XIV proud. Gilded red and gold citrus with amber, ruby roses, jasmine and orris.

 

In the imp: light, sweet, candied citrus peel. Very pleasant, golden and shiny in scent.

Wet on skin: the scent strengthens, becomes fuller. This smells like sugar coated fruits, it’s gorgeous! I also get a bit of jasmine.

Dry: mmm, this is wonderful! It’s a truly gilded scent, glowing and glorious, with the bittersweet tang of citrus peel sweetened nicely by amber. I also get rose now, rising up from underneath, soft red fragrant petals of rose with a little bit of jasmine adding a sense of ‘sweet white floral’ to the scent. This is lovely, a lush, rich, full scent, which really does seem apt for representing the luxury and decadence of French royalty. It’s gold and red velvet in a scent.

After a while: all the notes balance out to make a lovely, rich red velvety scent of fruits and florals. It’s brash yet smooth, sweet yet tangy, bright and shining yet also faded and powdery (it has a dustiness to it, almost old fashioned, reminiscent of stately homes and palaces of old…that may be the orris) but with deeper undertones. That’s a good thing though…this is a delightful fragrance, and at this point, it’s very well blended and the notes are all playing together nicely. This is very sophisticated.

Verdict: this is a wonderful fragrance. A very pleasant mixture of candied citrus, sweet amber, smooth rose, a bit of jasmine and a base of powdery orris. All these notes go so nicely together to make a luxurious scent with a sense of grandeur about it, gilded and lavishly decorated, unashamedly decadent, and yet with a slight dustiness or powderiness which brings to mind royal residences and historical palaces (and powdered wigs of the 18th century French aristocracy?), it all adds to the character and theme of the scent. This scent smells posh without smelling frumpy, which is always a good thing. I may need to get a bottle!

[Nepthys]

Yes, this is gold and glittering. It visually evokes images of women I know who choke me with their clouds of perfume - and they often drip with gold jewelry. This is a potent, strident scent, one that is all rose and jasmine on me with just a smidgen of amber to save me from despising it completely. I can see where this would smell gorgeous on someone else (lightly applied - this is intense) but my chemistry just can't abide rose or jasmine. Which I really should have thought of before ordering.

[Shollin]

First sniff: Big flowers and sweetness. Versailles reminds me of Venice, with an added punch of sweet citrus.

 

Wearing: YAY. Citrus and amber and a soft burst of flowers. Oh, I like this a lot. It’s bright and showy and flashy and fantastic.

[QueenFae]

What a glorious, romantic scent! This reminds me so much of another bpal that I've tried, but I just cannot put my finger on which one. It's a gorgeous golden amber scent, but the jasmine turns it into a feminine, scrumptious floral. There is a hint of milky-ness underneath it all, that sort of makes it all run together into loveliness. I love the combination of amber and jasmine, two of my favorite notes. Definitely a pinkish/golden scent for me, very sexy yet elegant. Love it

[ScrimHazard]

In the bottle: Jasmine!!!

 

Wet: Jasmine and...I think that's orris. This smells southern and formal to me.

 

Dry-down: Now I smell that citrus others have mentioned. It's citrusy jasmine with a warm note...amber?

 

After 2 hours: Feminine floral, warm but not overpowering. It's so gorgeous I may need a bottle of this. One more wear to determine that...

[Sheila]

This smells like oranges, jasmine, and a touch of amber.

Unfortunately, I'm one of those people that amps jasmine, so after an hour or so, the floral scent takes over. Then it smells like single-note jasmine. Too bad, because when wet, this was beautiful and soft. I wish the orange and amber would stay around longer.

[jarvenpa]

Oh, Versailles, I did want to love you.

I ordered an imp of this, because the scent notes all seemed like mine, and because I read everyone's reviews, and I thought "yes, yes, this is my scent, it is".

 

So, this morning, I happily took out the imp. Opened it. Sniffed it.

 

Constant Comment tea, brewed too long: orange and tannins.

 

My yellow lab, meanwhile, started barking at me. Does he have an aversion to oranges? Never noticed this. Maybe he just wanted another cookie.

 

Swabbed it on wrists. Dotted it on hair part for good measure: let's be boldly Versailles and see what happens.

 

Lots of flowers, and some orange. Okay, this is alright. And for a moment, this is strong.

 

But within about ten minutes I can't really smell it. Maybe there is a note in this that my nose is really used to, and just gives up on? I like to smell my perfumed goodness, whatever it is.

 

Also a bit of a headache, which is odd for me.

 

Damn, I wanted golden flowery goodness, but it doesn't seem my personal chemistry is gonna give it. I'll try again another day and update if different, but for now I think my daughter will be the beneficiary of Versailles. (and I never smelled roses. Was I promised a rose garden, Versailles? You heartbreaker.)

[arabella]

First Impression: Citrus rose.

 

Dries down to: The rose stayed tempered much longer than usual but, eventually, amped up and drowned everything else out.

 

Additional Comments: I'm not surprised there's amber in here. It held the rose in check as long as it could, along with the jasmine, which also tends to amp up on me. I don't know orris so I can't judge its contribution. All in all it was okay, until the rose amped up, but nothing special.

 

Lasted: Several hours.

 

Rating: 2.5 out of 5

[mermaidrage]

I received this as a frimp, which thrilled me as it was on my want list.

 

All I could tell from my in-the-imp sniff was that it smelled expensive. I know, that's not very technical but my nose is still learning. It smelled expensive and a little bit old-ladyish, something I'd expect to smell on Upper East Side widows or something like that.

 

I dotted it on the inside of my wrists, patted them together, waited a moment, sniffed and DEARSWEETJESUS BABYPOWDER. Must be the amber. I tried to focus on something else. Made a cup of coffee. Sniffed the grounds. Forgot about the amber.

 

Half an hour later, I tried again. Took a quick, cautious sniff. It's gold! Sniffed again. It's rich and sumptuous gold! It's still a little bit powdery, but it's acceptable, especially mixed with the citrus which makes me think of blood oranges and the faintest hint of florals.

 

It's sweetened up a little bit, the roses and jasmine coming out a bit more, but it's still lush and full and heady.

 

I think I like this, but it's a special scent, not an every-day one.

[storme]

In the imp: sharp citrus atop powdery florals. Also, I think this is the fullest imp I've ever had - almost overflowing.

 

On me, wet: lemony citrus over rose for a little while, but then the jasmine does what it does on my skin, and goes to powder.

 

On me, dry: lemony baby-powder. I can just about smell the rose underneath but it's not enough to soften the powder to something bearable. It's making me cough when I smell it, so I think I'll have to scrub it off.

 

Verdict: this was a frimp - I was tempted to just stick it straight into my swap pile untested but I thought I'd give it the benefit of the doubt. But, no, jasmine still hates me.

[sarahj]

Versailles

 

in vial: jasmine soap

 

wet: same, with a hint of amber

 

dry: jasmine soap and/or powder, no citrus, no rose

 

verdict: not for me...off to swaps

[yellowrose]

A frimp from the lab. Thanks! This is a scent I've been wanting to try for the citrus, amber and orris. The jasmine makes it iffy. My skin typically amps jasmine and allows no other notes through.

 

In the bottle: floral melange

 

Wet: jasmine and a touch of amber. Within minutes, as usual, jasmine trumps everything else.

 

Drying: Not a hint of citrus or orris. And the jasmine gets cloying and artificial. Bah! What is it with my skin chemistry??!

[lizardling]

Frimp from the lab with my first order -- whee!

 

On me: Turns into some really nice French perfume -- complex and floral that sweetens down very nicely without tripping over the edge into cloying baby powder, which was what annoyed me about so many commercial perfumes. "Gah! The flowers, they are killing me!" I suspect this is because the amber and citrus do their part to ground and balance out the roses, jasmine, and orris.

 

Anyway, this one is really nice, but as I might have mentioned, strongly floral perfumes aren't my thing. I feel like I need to be wearing a suit and heels to work with this. And given that I go to work in jeans and flipflops... yes.

 

Score: 4.0 for being really nice perfume that isn't my thing.

[tinyvulture]

the sparkling brightness of the citrus is tempered by soft, powdery amber and hints of spicy jasmine and fresh rose, and the result is a warm, sophisticated, regal scent. my only complaint is that the orris comes along later and kind of dries everything out. so, while i love how this blend starts out, the dusty note means that it will go in the swaps pile.

[slave1]

In Bottle: Soft amber

 

On Skin: MMmm! So velvety and soft! This is the amber I love… completely lush and cozy. The roses are actually tame here and more in the background. The orris and jasmine are slightly more strong, but this is truly an amber scent, not a floral. The citrus provides a light tart note that is also blanketed by the amber. I also get a honey note from this… seriously I swear I smell a bit of honey single note in there… I think this scent is very different from the description… it’s doesn’t seem showy or grand, it seems more decadent and comforting with a nice slice of sexiness. I love this scent which is a nice surprise since I usually hate rose scents, luckily the rose in this is almost non-existant. As the scent develops, the jasmine comes out stronger and is slightly powdery. It’s actually very pretty and I can see myself wearing this often.

[anomie]

In Imp: Perfumed fountains in a rose garden. Very warm and glittering scent.

 

Wet: The jasmine is coming out now, tempered with something darker.

 

Dry: Rose has staged a cunning comeback! It blends with the jasmine and the darker scent - could be the amber or the orris, I'm unfamiliar with those - into a complex whole. It's very grown up, which leaves me feeling like I've gone from training wheels to a giant black Harley.

[this machine]

For starters: Not too shabby, i'm smelling what i think is the orris, and the amber, and it's definitely gilded and glowy.

 

Dried down/fading: This gets more floral on me the more it dries, and it ultimately becomes a floral i don't like (admittedly, most florals i don't like). Rose is probably the ultimate culprit.

[theseagrows]

this smells like creamy jasmine on me with a bit of golden warmth (amber?) this one is just ok to me. it smells like a lot of other bpal scents 've tried, and nothing really stands out to me. i think it is because a) i am not really a fan of jasmine and scents with prominent jasmine tend to all smell similar on me, hence the generic quality i get.

[misfitroxy]

Versailles smells a little soapy in the imp. Very squeaky clean and zest-y.

 

There's certainly a lot of citrus in this, which leaps forward immediately. It's a deep red, sunny kind of scent, though, like rich, ripe grapefruit.

 

The florals take a while longer to present themselves, but I'm gradually picking them up more and more. Not a whole lot of rose (though I will say that I can detect it mingling with the citrus, and that's a divine, if unexpected, combination!). I think the jasmine is the most obvious out of the bunch.

 

After sitting with it for a while, it turns more floral on me than I would like. I can't say I'm sensing the amber at all, which would probably help balance it for me. But the scent is dead-on to its description, and is a beautiful melange of elements that is certainly worth a try if you prefer bright and bold scents.

 

(I'll add that with my last couple of whiffs, it's developed a muted note that reminds me of sun tea, brewed on a Southern porch in the middle of summer. Very relaxing and decadent, in a comforting kind of way.)

[ladymissspyder]

In imp: sharp floral over a powdery citrus base.

 

Wet: The citrus-amber combination amps up and takes over. Note: this is not a complaint.

 

Drydown: The jasmine comes out, although I can still smell the citrus/amber.

 

Top notes: sweet citrus, powdery amber and some tangy jasmine.

 

Middle notes: Jasmine (which doesn't do well on me), heavily masking some luscious powdery sweetness.

 

Base notes: Amber.

 

Throw: medium

 

Rating: 4 out of 5

[edenssixthday]

Versailles changes on me from day to day. The first time I wore it, the jasmine in it just about knocked my socks off when wet. As it dried down, it became a gorgeous, light jasmine scent -- the first BPAL jasmine I've wanted to slather myself in. Another time I wore it, I smelled no jasmine at all at any point, but the scent was so sickly sweet that I got nauseated and found myself wretching from it! The other times I've worn it, the jasmine has been evident only when first applied, but as it dried down, the jasmine disappeared, and the blend took on a scent that reminded me distinctly of Fae -- despite not sharing any of the notes of Fae. In general, as long as I continue to have no more physical reactions to Versailles, I will keep wearing it. It's a gorgeous, light floral blend that is bright and springtimey. It's got a nice level of throw where I catch wafts of it as I move about, and the staying power is pretty good and lasts for a good 4-5 hours before I have to reapply.

[neuilly]

In the bottle: Very strong! Mostly floral...though I can't pick out the individual notes. It's the most like a "normal" perfume that I've ever smelled at BPAL. Much like a very wealthy woman. Fits the name.

 

On: At first there's a fairly strong citrus base to the floral scent, but it fades away after a little while. Strong on the jasmine, a little less strong on the rose but still definitely there.

 

 

So very not me but it's a strong and powerful scent, and I definitely could see it working for a lot of people.

[Phaedra]

Wet this is sweet berries mixed with orange citrus. When first on it's a soft, powdery orange, very light. After about a half hour it warms up with a nice amber note. This stays mostly a soft amber on me. Very pretty but probably don't need to keep since Bastet is my favorite amber blend.

[spark]

So glorious in the imp! Sangria perhaps -- a rich round fruitness with something sparkling and lovely coming through. And it lasts on my skin that way for about 15 minutes... beautiful golden fruit.

 

And then it fades to little more than a generic sweetness. Miraculously, the jasmine never arrives, but neither does much else. My skin has a tendency to swallow scent nuances, and Versailles is another victim.

[AliBabble]

this was a frimp from the generous lab. it is indeed a "glittering" scent, regal and royal, and i've been going back and forth about whether i like it. it's an odd one, becuase it smells differently to me at different times - sometimes i think it's too rosy - a very intense, sweet rose. but the golden citrus definitely gives the rose an interesting, elegant spin that's very lovely, and almost "honeyed", in its golden feeling. eventually, the jasmine arrives and i quite like this phase. part of me thinks this scent is beautiful, and part of me feels it is too formal and old-ladyish. something also is a bit plasticky on me. so i'm on the fence about it. i'd say though, if you like roses, this one is really nice.