[Damask Rose]

An olfactory serenede. A somber, contemplative scent -- dreamy and subdued. Deepest violet touched with lilac and tuberose.

I quite like this one but it was a bit light and flowery for me. It smells mainly of a quite powdery violet. It doesn't last long at all and after a few hours I can barely smell it any more. It's a really "pretty" scent but it's too light and doesn't last long enough for me. I will try it again and put more on this time but I doubt I will buy a bottle

PLEASE NOTE: This review topic is for the BPAL catalog scent named Nocturne. If you're looking for the Twilight Alchemy Lab oil of the same name, those reviews are here. --Shollin

[any_old_actress]

this really is, like the description says, a sombre scent in my opinion and it definitely belongs in the funereal oils category. i have to agree with the comment above that it is a bit like a powdery violet. pretty and sad.

[astrid]

I just got my 5ml of Nocturne and love it! It is soft and very clean. Gorgeous and dreamy!

[quantum spice]

soft and dreamy indeed!

i like it enough to keep the imp, but i don't think i'll buy a bottle.

[jj_j]

We all know what a great job Beth does with rose scents, but I think she deserves kudos for what she does with violets, too. I have yet to meet one that I actively dislike, and most I absolutely love.

Nocturne is a soft, smoky violet made pliant and creamy by the tuberose; lilac casts a pale, ethereal light on the blend and offers up a waft of delicate springtime.

Softer (but not lighter in intensity) than Veil, heavy-lidded and peaceful.

[JazzieCazzie]

I absolutely adore this ... yes, definitely similarities to Veil (which is my favorite BPAL scent so far), a little lighter but also, somehow, a little more tropical and passion-flowery. Not only a keeper, but definitely one I will buy a 5 or 10 ML of on my next order (along with more Veil and Twilight) ...

My daughter, who tends to either be critical or not say anything, was leaning over my shoulder and commented "You smell great!" Ding ding ding ding ding!!!

[MissAnthropy]

First whiff:

Mmmm. The scent from the bottle reminds me of those little "Violet" candies, by Chowards. I can smell the lilac and rose, but the violet is more prominent. It's not crisp, and heavy, either. It's dry, powdery. Very pleasing, because I was concerned the rose was going to over-power this particular blend. But so far, it's not.

On my skin:

Downright dreamy (just like in the site description). My chemistry REALLY brought out the violet. Violet, wrapped in a soft, gentle, soothing blanket of other floral notes that enhance the violet, not subtract from it.

A few hours later:

Talk about lasting power! The scent has toned down, but not to an un-noticeable level. I received SEVERAL compliments later in the day. One person told me I smelled like "Springtime" - another person told me I the scent fit me perfectly. I don't know about any of that, I just know for me, Nocturne is a very mood enhancing scent. It really made me feel GOOD to have on.


-Leslie

[Ishtar]

I don't think I can add too much to the reviews already posted. Dreamy is indeed the perfect description for this blend. Soft, comforting and calming. I put it on just before bed and I slept like a baby. This goes straight into my Keeper list, in the "Cosy night at home" scent category.

[renaissancerouge]

'Member that old Smurfs Scratch n' Sniff board book from the eighties, and on that one page has cook Smurf (Munchy? Bakey?) making sugared violets (that smell kind of like melted plastic and rose water), presumably to ease the village's shakes as they all came out of their her-opi-juana dreamtime?

Yeah, Nocturne doesn't smell like that at all.

Nocturne is a gorgeous thicket of inky violets under a night sky pulsing with stars. If it were a song it would be "Walking on Air" by King Crimson. It's the blue highlights in truly black hair. It's a deeply peaceful constitutional on a summer evening in the woods when the insects aren't too loud and no one argued at the dinner table. It's that dark, luscious sleep that comes so easily after a long day of swimming in cold water.

It's damn wistful and reminds me of the one that got away, but so beautiful and limpid that I don't mind all that much if I'm sniffing my wrists...

[TygherRayn]

Midnight was a happy scent. This one .. this one is sombre. Morose even. Where midnight might be a moonlit stroll through a lovely garden .. this one there are clouds, and the garden's unkempt.


In the bottle: Violet. So incredibly violet. And I like violets, truly, so it's not a bad thing. This smells purple to me .. soft, twilighty violet, dusk, with night fast approaching. And you're all alone.

Wet: The violets let the lilac out once I put this on, and it's even more lovely than before. A keeper, certainly .. as near any lilac scent is bound to be. I imagine a girl wandering forlornly through an overgrown orchard, or a garden. There are flowers there, but not tended to, and their scents all mingle. She curls up beneath a tree, crying herself to sleep to dream of happier days.

Wearing: Lilac and violet seem to be a good combination. I imagine this would be a lovely scent to sleep with, and I loko forward to trying that out soon enough.

[Witch's Dagger]

I got this as a gift from renaissancerouge for liking Pablo Neruda poetry. Thanks so much!

Preconceived notions:
This was on my wishlist mainly because of a couple of words I'd hastily written down from the reviews: "blue in black hair". Imagine my surprise to discover that that concept came from renaissancerouge's review! Anyway, I'm glad I kept it on my list even after the powdery disappointment of The Raven and the earlier reviews saying that Nocturne was a really powdery violet...

In the vial:
Yep, violet. Hmm... Although I didn't like The Raven on me, I really liked Chypre. I think I like violet!

On me:
I can't distinguish any notes besides the violet, but this is a very calm, cool, and mysterious scent. It definitely conjures up night for me - a night with a deep blue blanket covering the sky, with an ineffable immensity about it. I imagine a woman in a long white dress with black hair standing on a hill overlooking a lake, and gazing into the reflection of the moon in the indigo waters. This isn't a *dark* night, it's a soft and elegant night.

Final impressions: This is "lovely, dark, and deep", a deep midnight blue, and very elegant. Though it seems to fade sooner than the Absinthe I tried at the same time, it's wonderful, and I'm keeping it. And, I should note - this is what I was hoping for in The Raven. Thanks again, renaissancerouge!

Edited to add: I tried to change the color of my font to Indigo, but it isn't working. *sigh* It would have been so appropriate for this review.

This post has been edited by Witch's Dagger: 08 September 2004 - 01:46 AM

[Fulltiltredhead]

The reviews above sum this scent up perfectly. Unfortunately, I don't like the smell of violets. But if you do, this, I believe, is the quintessence of violet scents, a very dark lavender/blue.

[lavinia]

Ahhh violets :P
This is so mystically lovely. I wore this tonight- a rainy Sunday evening- and was flitting about town for dinner and coffee and also ran a few errands. Every now and again, I would catch a whiff of myself and smile.
I got a few compliments as well.
This one smells of wet violets in the garden that are muted a bit by the proximity of the lavender bush and the wafting of the lilacs and the tuberose across the path...heavenly...so relaxing and quiet in tone with flashes or hits of brightness...not a loud fragrance at all.
Rather, it makes me think of that quiet girl off to the side who is a bit enchanted and mysterious and the more you look, the more you are drawn in.
I think that Laura in "The Glass Menagerie" would've thought this blend dreamy and if there is ever a thing as "blue roses", this is what they would smell like :D


eta: spell check

This post has been edited by lavinia: 18 October 2004 - 09:12 AM

[FireInCairo]

Nocturne is for quiet night spent contemplating the woes of the world. It is a very dark floral- sort of reminds me of Black Rose in a way. Very sombre. It goes very soft/feminine on my skin...

[t3andcrumpets]

In the vial: floral, floral, floral.

On me: all I get is violet and rose, and it burns. :P Time to wash it away.

[Penance]

I have to admit that I got this one for the name, but it was a wise choice apparently. :P

First sniff:

Lilac and some other floral I don't recognize. Lilac is one fo the few flowers I love the smell of and this is really quite beautiful even though it's not my usual kind of scent. It reminds me of climbing our lilac trees when I was little and spying on people from behind the clumps of flowers. :D

Wet on skin:

The violet is coming out now that it's hit my skin and it's competing with the lilac. It smells very familiar to me for some reason. I don't know what tuberose smells like, but maybe that's what's reminding me of something I can't quite put my finger on. I feel like I know this scent from somewhere. I'm mainly getting soft lilac and powdery violet. This blend smells almost like violet pastilles dipped in lilac.

Dry down:

As Nocturne dries, the violet becomes more prominent, drowning out the lilac, which makes me sad because I actually really like the smell of lilac. I don't normally wear it, but I do love the smell of it. I can also smell something almost rosey smelling int he background which must be the tuberose.

The bottom line:

I'll be keeping this blend for when I feel particularly girly. I don't normally wear florals, but this is nice. :D

[starrykitten]

This is one of the dreamiest scents I've tried. The violets are ethereal.

For those of you who ever played with Charmkins when you were little, this smell reminds me of the way the scented Charmkins would smell. There's something fairy-like about it.

[Charmkin]

starrykitten, on Dec 1 2004, 12:06 AM, said:

This is one of the dreamiest scents I've tried.  The violets are ethereal.  

For those of you who ever played with Charmkins when you were little, this smell reminds me of the way the scented Charmkins would smell.  There's something fairy-like about it.
<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Yes! YESSSSS!!! :P That's exactly what I've been trying to tell people! (Well, my mother, mostly)

The Charmkin named Brown-Eyed Susan, to be precise. :D

Sorry this isn't exactly a detailed review, but starrykitten put it so perfectly that I have nothing else left to say! :D

Love,
Charmkin

This post has been edited by Charmkin: 01 December 2004 - 05:16 AM

[ismene]

I can't really tell what this one smells like because it sends me into sneezing fits. I know it's floral but...*achoo*!

[TheDarkMother]

In the Bottle: Thick violets! Especially since I spilled some of it on the keyboard. Oops;)

On Me: Violets and Tuberose make an excellent combination! This is thick and somber, sorrowful, and depressing! WooHoo! My kind of oil! This reminds me of a large mausoleum with multiple violet pots in front of coffins. Totally lovely!

Must get a larger bottle. This is too lovely for words.

[tsarina]

I smell the rose first off. Strong flowerly whirl in my brain that is hard for me to seperate. It's akin to being thwapped in the head with a bouquet.

On my skin, the blend softens. The violet appears, and fades into the lilac.

It's a gracious, gentle scent. I think I should like to wear it to bed. It would soothe my sleep.

ADDED April 27:

The first whiff is sweet, like rose. Then it is lilac and violet mingling beautifully. I enjoy this simple floral combination. It is comforting, soothing and dreamy.

[scourgeotheseas]

Nocturne - I bought this mainly for the tuberose...my mom's a fan.

In the bottle: Mostly lilac. Very soft.

On me/wet: Dreamy. How many people already said that? It is, though. It is a gorgeous, well blended, soft floral. :P

Drydown: The violet is coming to the foreground - funny, I didn't think I'd be able to pick it out. A hint of sweetess I think may be tuberose is also in the mix.

Whoa, this one gets sweeter and sweeter on me. And very strong, even though I applied sparingly. I'm no longer thinking of this as soporific, but rather bright and loud. Weird.

[bellhopbob]

I have only ordered 12 imps so far and out of all of those this one was my favorite.
It smells sweet like candy but not in an obnoxious way.

[Northernminx]

Lots of florals, pretty feminine and very very very flowery on me. Lots of lilac and tuberose, I didn’t get much violet in this. This has been one of the few BPAL florals I didn’t immediately adore and I think it’s because something in it kicks up my allergies. Oh well, maybe next time.

[shelldoo]

after discovering sybaris, i went hnting for violets, so of course had to add nocturne to my wishlist, but alas no one had oen to swap, but beth gifted me w/ this gorgeous imp in my last order *yeep*

in the vial, yeah baby that's what i'm talkin about! violets!

wet: oh hell yeah violets, this differs from sybaris cause it isn't as sweet, but man that violet is AWESOME!

dry: sigh, this is almost as gorgeous as sex! and may actually take over sybaris' spot, it is more grownup, and a bit darker then sybaris. i am drooling in the beauty!