Parlement of Foules

[Sheila]

Medieval romance and courtly love. White rose and soft resins.

Yes, yes, YES! This is so lovely! I'm glad I ordered it--I wasn't sure I needed another rose scent, since I have and love Maiden, Love in the Asylum, London, and Seance already. But they're all different, and all lovely.

This is exactly as described--rose, and the softest, prettiest resins you can imagine. They're spicy, but in a gentle way--almost sweet and faintly chocolatey. The rose is very soft, too, and not at all sharp.

It doesn't last long on my skin, but it's so perfect with my skin chemistry that I'm going to keep re-slathering. It's nice in my scent locket too--but not as sweet.

Love it!

[VenusFlyTrap]

From the description of the components (white rose and resins), I thought that I would really like this.

 

Unfortunately, that was not the case.

 

It did nothing for me sniffing the bottle and even less on the skin.

 

PoF was pleasant but not outstanding.

[roesmoker]

98% of rose scents seem to turn instantly to soap on me, but I had a feeling PoF would be different. (Maybe it was the resins - resins and I get along excellently.) And I was right - yay! On me it's a deep, sweet rose, a true rose that must be kind of like what other people get from Rose Red, Peacock Queen or 2, 5, and 7 (all of which are pure soap on me). The resins add a lovely almost incensey, altar-candle-like note. Love it - so glad I took a chance on this one.

Edited February 26, 2006 by roesmoker

[theshapeshifter]

Wow! From almost the moment I ordered Parlement of Foules, I wondered 'what was I thinking?' Because really, rose and I are usually real enemies. I was just sucked in by the medieval concept.

 

But what a surprise!

 

In the bottle: Hmm, pretty, but that's DEFINITELY rose. Worrisome.

 

Wet on skin: Suddenly it starts to turn promising. The rose is definitely a 'white' scent, and rather... sharp and spiky, somehow. Like a few roses amongst a lot of thorns. The resins are just perceptible underneath it (although I'd be hard-pressed to identify which resins), and seem to keep the rose in check so it actually keeps smelling like a rose - instead of 'old lady rose dusting powder' or 'rose soap', which is what my skin usually does with rose scents.

 

Drydown: Eventually, the rose fades waaaaay into the background, letting the resins take centre stage. It winds up as a mellow, incensey scent with just a hint of rose.

 

I'm reeling in delighted surprise - this is definitely a keeper! And beautiful label, too.

[azhure]

I really had high hopes for this one, seeing as I generally adore rose scents.

 

In the bottle: There's rose in this? I get a very perfumy resin.

 

On the skin: Very perfumy (read as: very floral but with no intense notes). Also very faint on me, with very little throw.

 

Drying down: All resin. It's nice, but not me. Fneh.

 

Verdict: Not for me, unfortunately. I suspect if I actually got a rose note out of it I'd like it, but alas, my chemistry doesn't want to let the rose out to play. Off to the swap pile.

 

ADDED Oct. 10:

 

In the imp: Pale, soft rose. Oooh, lovely.

 

Wet: The rose comes out, but all too briefly. For the time that it's there, I get the gorgeous white rose, mellowed and turned almost dusty by the resins.

 

Drydown: My skin eats this If I press my nose to my wrist, I can still get a faint whiff of resins and nothing else.

[ancilla_morte]

I smell red wine. But in a sickly sweet way. Strong, old lady rose.

But it isn't THAT bad, really. Actually, there is a innocent sweetness to it that I can't exactly place, that counters all the stuff I didn't like.

but unfortunately, its not me.

[rhubarbbear]

this smelled fabulous in the imp- rosey and soft, and so clearly a WHITE rose! really cool. the first 30 seconds or so it was on my skin it just got better- soft resins made the rose deeper and sweeter and more mysterious. then it got a little soapy...but nothing to worry about...and then it turned to pickles. roses and pickles.

 

naughty skin chemistry....

[Meg]

In the bottle: Thick resin which only just lets some rose through.

 

Wet: It's very dim, oily more than anything else.

 

Drydown: Eh? Where's the rose?! All I can smell is resin, and it's not particularly interesting. Finally a bit of rose comes out, but it's drowned in thick resinous and musky scents. It's very perfumy and thick, and quite difficult to describe, really.

 

Overall: Well, it does smell medieval, it's true, the resins and the rose would probably be used as a perfume in those days. But the rose that comes out is really elusive, and the resins are really too strong for me for at least the first hour - then they finally let up and some rose comes through. Great for resin lovers, I guess, and pretty light on the rose.

[Nekomata]

This is a very different rose scent for me, deep and almost honeyed. Not that light grandmother scent that rose perfume always makes me think of. This smells just like my rose beds after a warm rain. The resins are very light for me, almost barely there. Mmm, this scent makes me happy.

[k00kaburra]

In bottle: Love it. The soft purity of a white rose is just gorgeous, and this one is amplified and crafted to perfection by the addition of little background notes. There's a heavy innocence in this.

On me: This is just getting better and better. The rose is crisp and blooming bright - fresh and new as a first impression. The innocence I associate to this fragrance is so strong that I immediately think of arranged marriages, of two children meeting their betrothed for the first time and not really knowing what to do with each other. It's just gorgeous. (I said that already.) *****

[angharad]

I...don't know about this. It's definitely got rose, a very strong rose with something that smells like a heavy, bitter, dark red wine. Assuming that's actually the "soft resins," well...they're not very soft starting out. The longer I wear it, however, the more the rose tempers the bitterness of the wineresins until it's a pretty, ultra-feminine floral scent. I like it all right, but it doesn't really suit me.

[QueenFae]

Gorgeous! This is right up there with Venus as one of the best BPAL rose blends of all time. It's such a pure, unbelievably tantalizing rose note. It's like the equivalent of the Rose Red red note in white. I only wish it lasted longer, it fades pretty quickly on me, but I still love it. I will definitely be keeping this lovely, romantic, feminine scent.

[Em-]

The amazingly wonderful heartbeast gifted me with a bottle of this, and I simply cannot thank her enough - this is a simply gorgeous blend. The rose is soft and alluring, but not so much as to be overpowering and the resins are spicy and sweet and almost edible. I would never have pinned this as "floral" from the bottle or on my skin, which is what steered me away from ordering it off the bat.

 

Absolutely delightful!

[dragonryder]

This is one of the better rose scents I've tried so far. Not too rosy, but a blend that shows a little complication, like love itself.

[klio]

I received a 5ml of this today. Gorgeous label. A bit tart-smelling in the bottle. I put it on and decided I love, love, love it. Then it dawned on me... it's exactly the same as Rose Cross: Musty, mature roses and the scent of incense settled into the pages of a sacred book. If there's anything different about it, I can't detect it on first try.

 

Overall: profuse, soft roses, tempered with mild, soft incense

Throw: extensive

Lasts: forever (overnight, in any case)

 

I gave it another try the next day:

 

Me: Good morning, bpal box. Good morning, Parlement of Foules.

 

Parlement of Foules: I am not Rose Cross.

 

Rose Cross: But I am.

 

(Parlement of Foules applied to left wrist, Rose Cross to right.)

 

My left wrist: A little sweeter than Rose Cross, a little soapier.

 

My right wrist: Much more incense-y. But everything is turning a bit soapy on me this morning for some reason.

 

Wet: Not the same when compared wrist to wrist, but too similar for me to worry about hoarding the hard-to-find one when I can easily get the GC.

 

Dry: Getting very similar. The main difference must be the strength of the resin notes. Rose Cross evokes strong memories of my grandmother's home, Parlement does not.

 

For some reason I'm wondering if Parlement would complement something fruity like Jester--maybe it needs a bit of added sparkle. Now if I can just find Jester in my disorganised imp box....

Edited April 30, 2006 by klio

[chapatti]

First whiff: right on the spot, this is rosey rose, and clearly white rose, at that.

 

Drydown: for a couple of hours, the rose overwhelms everything. This is strong rose, and it's extremely different from the rose note in, say, Rose Red. It's hard to describe exactly how different it is, though - this here rose is absolutely not luscious, or juicy the way it was in my beloved Haunted Palace, it's... cleaner, in a way. It's the kind of rose you'd find in older perfumes. Come to think of it, I could totally see my grandmother wear this

The resins do come up eventually, mixing with the now-softer rose, creating a very soft, mellow blend.

 

Verdict: it's nice, but a bit too bland and... dare I say, boring, for my tastes. Of course, rose fans will probably love this!

 

6.5/10

[Melantha]

I'm not a floral girl, really, but the idea behind it was intriguing, so I tried it.

 

It's almost pure rose, with just a hint of something underneath it. I tested off the rim, very lightly, and it's *still* too much! It's rather overpowering right now, but I suspect that if I am very careful with it next time, I will love this one on the rare occasions when roses are just the thing.

[Ryvre]

In the bottle: Roses. Oh my, is this rosey.

 

On my skin: A very perfumey rose. Smells like something my grandmother would wear.

 

Overall, this one is a bit too bland for my tastes.

[storme]

In the imp: Ooooh, this smells like a rose-based liqueur of some kind. I'm intrigued.

 

On me, wet: hmm, this really does have a sour alcoholic tang to me. possibly I don't want my skin to smell like drunken flowers. It's a bit cloying.

 

On me, dry: Ah, there's some resin, sticky and spicy and the roses. The whole scent has faded really swiftly on me, though.

 

Verdict: No, this ends up a sticky fug of sweet resin to me - and rose is a note that usually amps up clear and pure on my skin. Alas.

[kunoichi]

Roses, roses and more roses! That's what I smell in the vial, pure roses. So wearing it give a very floral rose scent for most of the time I wore it.

 

Eventually, as another said when I asked him to smell it, it became more complex (after a few hours) with the 'resins' showing through. It reminded me of the smell of the sandlewood in Khajuraho after that had been on my skin for a few hours. A sort of wooden scent came through the roses. Quite nice.

[juniperus]

Bottle: soft, gentle white rose.

Wet: same, deepening. lovely.

Dry: hints of resins but they are, yes, very soft and subtle. The light rose has depth. This is the haunting and tragic love of Elaine...

Later: soft and lovely and subtle without fading away completely - I love it (loving another LE is now a smart thing for me, either.) This invokes, at the last, for me, images of the unicorn tapestry. I admit it - I most wanted to try this not because of the rose, although I do wear rose particularly well, but because I'm a medievalist. Yes, that does make me a class-A nerdblossom. It's a darn shame I was still such a n00b in January and missed this - it's wonderful and I would dearly love a large bottle.

[falcon in the dive]

In the bottle: This is lovely, the resin makes it a little sharp and the rose makes it beautiful.

 

Wet: I'm still getting that but the resins are eclipsing the rose. It's sharper than I really would like it to be.

 

Dry: It faded pretty quickly and I overall wasn't moved by it. It wasn't an unpleasant scent, but it didn't really seem that memorable. The rose was light, but it was a little peaked. I may have been expecting more than was there.

 

Overall: I love the concept of this scent, it's a very romantic ideal, but, like chivalry, it works more on paper than in practice. Especially on me. I adore this scent in principle, but can't actually wear it. It's for the swap.

[mountainwitch]

As soon as I opened the bottle, I caught the fragrance of fresh roses, delicate and alive. On my skin the resins came out immediately, but the scent remained very delicate and very pure. After a few moments the resins seemed to take over completely, but ghosts of white rose seemed to return throughout the day, like catching a glimpse of something from the corner of your eye. Overall I'm very pleased; this is a clean, pure scent for when I want something fresh and light.

[spidersinmyhair]

I love rose.It is one of my favorite scents.I also love everything medieval,so i was really excited about this one.It definitely smells of roses,but the resins balance it out very nicely.This is perfect when I don't want to smell so obviously of roses.It is soft and subtle,but not neccesarily light.I love it!

[absinthetics]

Baby powder and roses.. that's pretty much it, in my opinion.