Dorian

[teacrumb]

Inspired by and created for my beloved Tedwin: my eternal, beautiful, wicked Dorian Gray. Refined, elegant, and lovely, with a noble bearing and seemingly gentle air. This blend is an artful deception: a sweet gilded blossom lying over a twisted and corrupted core. A Victorian fougere with three pale musks and dark, sugared vanilla tea.

Oh my GODS yes. :DDD This is exactly as the description says. Yum yum yum. Sweet tea, creamy vanilla, a teensy touch of floralness, and musky goodness. I could eat this stuff. (Not to say that it's foody.) PERFECT. And I'm not sure if the slinky, devious feeling I get when I wear it is from Beth's obviously magical awesomeness or the connotations with Dorian himself. Need. Bottle.

[Dianora]

Another 5ml I ordered unsniffed. In the bottle, this is very, very sweet vanilla with the barest musky tang. There is almost a hint of anise, making Dorian smell very much like my beloved Haunted's sweet younger brother. I'd never experienced what others call "amping" a note before, but my skin seems to love vanilla. In a very short time Dorian began to smell of vanilla cream with only the barest hint of ivory musk lurking in the sweetness. After a dry down period, Dorian continues to be extremely sweet, in some moods I'd even say a bit insipid. It almost smells of a very nice baby powder, but the slightest lingering hint of musk tempers it into something indescribably innocent and girly.

 

If I'd read a description of Dorian that reflects how it smells on my skin, I never would have ordered it. However, it is so fresh, sweet and light that I can't help but love it. It isn't a scent for prowling the night, but makes me feel pretty and understated for the day.

Edited October 26, 2008 by Dianora

[mayze]

What a change ageing makes. When I first got it, Dorian was nothing but sugar and vanilla on me. Now that it's been sitting in my drawer for more than a year, that tooth-rotting sweetness has let up, and Dorian is now gorgeous musk and vanilla. Much more appropriate, and wonderfully wearable. Being a pack rat pays off.

[kawaiiferreto]

 

I really have wanted to love this. I've tried it again and again since 2006, and there's still something about it that throws off my nose and is quite unpleasant. It's not the tea, sugar, or vanilla. I have a feelings it's one or more of the musks, or maybe the fougere since musks usually behave on me. Whatever it is it is strangely cloying, but not necessarily in a dessert-y overly sweet sort of way, sickly, and just generally yucky. Oh well! Give me my White Rabbit over this any day!

[GalaxyLei]

I get a warm, comforting tea smell--my friend says it smells like baking. In any case, this is one of my favorites.

[lothien]

Too bad. I wanted this to be lovely.

 

Instead, I got sugared tea at first, for about 10 minutes, then everything turned to root-beer-barrels. I think I'll pass it along to my daughter and see what she thinks, since her skin is totally different than mine...

[donnatron]

Bottle: Creamy lavender. I love lavender and love BPAL's lavender but Dorian's lavender is a lavender all its own. It's underscored by a bit of citrus-vanilla sweetness.

 

Wet: The musks amp up and the whole scent sweetens up considerably. The dominant scent is lavender followed by vanilla and tea. The musks are in the background. They're noticable but not dominant.

 

Dry: Dorian dries down to a sweet lavender scent tinged with a strange bakery smell. I say strange but it's not unpleasant. Just a sweet, creamy, vanilla-tinged loveliness. Not necessarily foody but bordering on it.

 

Throw: Strong.

 

Overall: Dorian is one of those scents that I love every time I remember I have it. It's a little wicked, a little gentle and very, very sexy. I like the gourmand quality of it but the musks and lavender reign it in enough that I feel comfortable wearing it at work or in situations where I have to project that I am an adult woman but I can still smell damn good. With 22 pages of reviews and counting this probably isn't going to tilt anyone's opinion in the yes direction but Dorian is more than worth a try.

[Veronica]

I love this scent! At first, it's a very sweet, warm vanilla with just a hint of tea. After a while, the musks come out, but not much, they lurk under the vanilla, but definitely make the scent much richer and deep

 

edit: I am still loving Dorian! It smells exactly like a cup of black tea with lots and lots of sugar cubes.

Edited May 3, 2009 by delighted

[stefrand]

ITI: Very, very sweet. I can smell the sugared tea well, and the musks make it smell quite delicious.

 

Wet: Wow, yes that is sweet. The tea adds an interesting note...it is stronger in this scent than it has been in the other BPALs I have tried. The musks add a lot of depth. Hopefully they will cut the sweetness and keep it from being too foody or too one-note.

 

Dry: I smell like sexy tea. How is that possible? Do I want to smell like sexy tea? Yes. Yes I do.

 

Drydown: The musks are coming out to play now. The vanilla is threatening to go plastic on me. I am picking up a light floral. It smells less like straight up tea now...it is mellowing wonderfully. After four hours, faint & musky vanilla

 

Final Thoughts: Good to layer with, but too foody and simple for me to wear on its own.

 

Later: I ended up pairing this with Severin, and wow! Perfect! It's a sexy Victorian tea party!

[Caerphilly]

In the imp: Vanilla tea with a touch of lemon. This isn't the plastic vanilla that's in Antique Lace or Regan or even Snow White. And it's not the foody vanilla in Snake Oil or Drink Me. It's a sweet citrus vanilla, French vanilla, but not for baking. I'm rambling without describing. All I can say is that it's a vanilla I like.

 

Wet: Less citrus, more vanilla tea, but it's so...lovely. Unisex, I'd say. It's very light and delicate and has little throw.

 

Dry: The musk comes out. I don't really like musky scents because they tend to ground lighter scents, until the lighter scents fade, and then it's a base of musk without really any scent to it.

 

Overall: Lovely, lovely, lovely. A vanilla I can stand! Yet, it's a bit too faint on me, turns a bit too musky, and has barely any throw. I will definitely use my imp, but I doubt I'll get a bottle. (Sorry if this isn't the best description, but I've tried and reviewed too many scents today in my excitement of getting my order! )

[MCS4096]

So excited about this one!

 

In the Imp: Pale pale pale musk and florals with vanilla and the faintest nip of tea.. effing amazing. I can almost see this as one of those "fresh linen" scents that are so popular those chain stores these days.. the base is very clean and crisp.. but sweet.. Clean linens you accidentally got buttercream frosting on haha! I will cry if this doesn't work on my skin.

 

Wet: The tea comes out a bit more.. biting and a bit astringent. Wow.. so light.. it's so so faint on my skin..

 

Dry: This is pretty faint and close to the skin (which of course could be soo sexy) I really love this! It's light clean musk, with just enough vanilla foodie goodness to inspire salivation. It really is a refined tea party.. but one where you're dining with your heart's desire and it would just be so easy to clear the table off and go at it I'm going to have to try it with Severin as mentioned above.. that sounds fantastic

 

seriously though.. a bottle WILL be in my next order!

[sharybaby]

Oy. What can I add about Dorian that hasn't already been said? Before I made my very first lab order (3 imp packs), I read a review of Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab on some perfume website. The reviewer said that a BPAL virgin absolutely MUST try Dorian, so I did. It ended up being my first 5 ml bottle, and it eventually ended up being the first 5 ml I used up completely and had to reorder.

 

Dorian is sexy, dangerous, and sophisticated at the same time. It's proper and ladylike, but with a slight masculinity. Sometimes it's more sugared tea on me, sometimes it's more citrus. EVERYONE must try this scent.

[unlaced]

The first thing I smell out of the bottle is sweet, sweet vanilla. On my skin it pretty much stays that way, but with a bit of the musk and just a teeny touch of floral creeping in.

 

I think this is one of those I'm gonna have to try once or twice before I can decide if I love it or not...

[Andrea912]

Imp: yum; I don't normally like musk, but the dark sugared vanilla tea is prevalent and it's great...

 

Wet: mmm...its get sweeter...

[revinn]

Oh my goodness. This might be one of the best-smelling things I've ever had the pleasure of coming across.

 

In the Imp: Citronella! That scared me off a little, as I hate the smell of lemon.

 

Wet: Oh, no more citrus. Just an indescribable, delicate scent.

 

Dry: This evolves into a scent that I would describe as haughty and sexual. It smells like cool vanilla, sugared tea, and musky sex. I don't see how this is considered a masculine scent; on me, it is slightly androgynous, but mostly feminine. I absolutely love it. The throw is average, and the staying power is good.

 

Out of 10: 10+

[LizzyLies]

On me, Dorian smells like I've been baking spiced sugar cookies and while I am normally not a foody scent person, there may very well be a bottle of Dorian in my next order as so far it's the one I can put up with.

[Kakokoritsi]

This smells very good. It's very nice, proper, sophisticated. There's an essence of elegance with this smell. It's delicious. I wouldn't mind sleeping next to my boyfriend and smelling this on him. [= In no way is this forcefully aggressive masculinity, but it's a subtle, cuddle-with-his-sweater feeling. It's delightful.

[odalisque]

In the vial: milky vanilla?

 

On skin: ... clean milk? The "clean" part reminds me of Dirty, a little. There is the faintest hint of something tangy or sharp. It's pleasant, but really the oddest damn smell.

 

Dry: the vanilla emerges and overall I get the impression of clean lemony vanilla tea. Maybe the musk was in there grounding things in the background, but I didn't pick any musk up specifically. I'm not a fan of wearing "clean" scents, but this is unusual and interesting.

Edited January 13, 2009 by odalisque

[Coldfire]

 

 

 

 

Bottle: musk and tea

Wet On me: now I get the vanilla and the sweetness

of the sugar with the tang of tea all over the musk

Drying Down: mostly vanilla sugar over musk now.

Kinda sweet.

Dry: very vanilla sugar over musk. This is nice

and might be good for when I want to wear something sweet

but not smell like food.

 

[tajana]

I'm on a quest for the perfect tea scent. Dorian isn't it, but I think I may still hold onto my imp... that may just be because this is my first experience with BPAL vanilla in anything, though. Wet, it smells like nice vanilla with a splash of black tea. As it dries down I sense a tiny bit of light musk, hardly any lavender, and lots of vanilla. Strikes me as feminine, but that's probably because the creamy vanilla is amping way up over the other notes on my skin. It has good throw and loads of lasting power, which are definite pluses. Hour after hour of delicious vanilla, made lovely as opposed to overly cookie-like by the soft hints of musk at the edges. Pretty despite its simplicity, but I wish there was more tea!

[TheOneTheyCallLuna]

I sniffed Dorian twice out of the imp, my eyes rolled back in my head, and then I RAN to my computer and entered it as the number two spot on my top ten GC list! Then I put it on and it GOT EVEN YUMMIER!!!! Oh god, this blend is sexy! It's sexy in all of the ways previous reviewers have already described here, but you really have to smell it for yourself to understand. I want to smell like this all the time! Sugared tea with lemon and musky vanilla = Victorian liquid sex. 5 ml, please and thank you!

[kyaajte]

Can't really say yet whether I like it or not.

First impression was of a very soft nice smell, a bit flowery but also sweet and comforting and then all of a sudden I get the smell of a man with sex on his mind

You know how the way somebody smells changes when they get in the mood ... well that is it ! It is not overpowering but soft in the background I feel his presence

 

 

[crebbsgirl]

So after about a year and a half into my adventures with BPAL, I finally got around to trying Dorian. And I don't know why I waited so long. I think I have been scared of tea notes because they tend to go sharp and herbaceous on my skin. This was a sugared tea, creamy and warm. The vanilla wasn't over-sweet here. The musks were pure gorgeousness. Overall the effect was really warm and comforting with just a hint of sex appeal. Yum!

[Spork]

Another yummy scent! Rather strong when first applied, very vanilla and a bit of musk. On dry down, the vanilla backs off a bit, the tea shows up and the musk settles to a grounding note. Lasts quite a while, it's been almost 5 hours and still going strong! Definitely a bottle of this in my future

[MotherKat]

This one is very sweet on me, all vanilla and sugar! With maybe a hint of tea. Loving it, even though I don't usually go for vanilla.

 

Heh, hubby thought it smelled of candy.