Carnation

[olympia301]

Smells just like a carnation but better. I smell the clove like fragrance without interference from anything green in the background, no aquatic part, no dirt, nothing to distract your nose from the fillet mignon of a highly scented carnation. Magnificent, not too strong to become unpleasant, not too weak so you don't know what it is. Unmistakable and gorgeous.

[Little Bird]

I fell in love with the carnation note in Maiden, so I'm so happy to have finally gotten an imp of this one. It's perfect. Spicy carnation petals and the lush green stems. It's like getting a fresh bouquet of them for Valentine's Day.

 

Lovely.

[PurringPulsar]

Carnation SN

 

In the imp: what the? This doesn’t smell like carnation…I’m getting a sharp, alcohol like scent here, smells like dry flower petals soaked in some really strong, dark alcoholic spirit.

Wet on skin: I think this is improving…when wet it still smells a bit like something boozy, but there’s something spicy there as well…maybe a bit floral?

Dry: it smells a bit more floral, but it’s not the carnation scent I was expecting…that familiar sweet floral clove scent that I get in things like Potion. The scent here is interesting though. It’s spicy, that’s for sure, and yet, it’s also quite dark, as a scent, but trimmed with frilly edges of red and pink, something flowery is in here. I like it, but it’s not really carnation yet. I’ll wait a bit to see if this becomes the carnation scent I know and love.

After a while: well, now that’s much more like it! This is a carnation scent-a really intense one. It’s spicy and fiery, clovey and peppery, with a red-pink floral-ness to it…to me, it smells like very concentrated carnation essence…it has a piercing scent to it which is partly spicy, partly boozy, partly green…there is now something slightly green to this scent-like the stem of the flower. It’s also very rich and deep, this isn’t a fluffy light flower scent in the least.

Verdict: ever since trying out Lush’s Potion, I’ve become hooked on the spicy-floral scent of carnation with its clove like scent. I also happen to love a lot of BPAL scents with carnation (Morocco, Alice, Brisingamen etc) however I did notice that the carnation note in those wasn’t very strong or recognisable but you could just about smell them there (which is no bad thing either)…I was a bit taken aback by the single note though. In the imp, it was so strong, so intense, so dark and almost booze like, like an uber-concentrated carnation essence, instead of ‘the Potion carnation’ scent I was expecting. It does improve on the skin though, but it’s so different to other carnation scents I have tried. It also makes me wonder if Beth uses different carnation notes in her blends…that note smells much softer in blends than in the SN. I will keep the decant I have, I think this will be great for layering.

I really wish I got what the reviewers got…everyone else loves this…maybe it will grow on me?

 

edited to add: the drydown of this after about 30 mins-1 hour is lovely...NOW it smells like a proper carnation! No longer intensely spicy and fiery, now this is soft, sweet, floral and genuine, with that hint of clove-like spice, and a little greenness. Yay!

Edited November 26, 2005 by yeahbutnobut

[Shollin]

Carnation is one of the most well-traveled single notes out there (third behind Honey and Vanilla Bean, according to review numbers), and somehow I’ve never managed to get my hands on it. Until cupide430 sent me hers to try.

 

First sniff: Oh, I was right. I don’t remember ever smelling an actual carnation, but there’s a spicy floral note in all the carnation blends (Alice, Love in the Asylum, etc.) and I always figured that’s what it was. And here it is, a little greener. It’s strong, too.

 

Wearing: Spicy awesomeness. I adore this.

[GemmaCat]

I recently had to swap away a bottle of The Masque because the carnation note was giving me a headache. Now, I'm a little mystified; what was strong, heady carnation in a mixture is soft and gentle as a single note.

 

This is a very delicate scent, with all the sweet floral of carnation and none of the headache.

[dawndie]

At first, very spicy and almost foody like hard cinnamon candy. It eventually softens a bit, but lots of spice remains. It even feels a little burny on my skin.

 

Carnivale and Kunstkammer were plasticky versions of this single note to me. Not a favorite, but I'm glad I got to try it.

[blueroses]

Carnation is spicy!

 

It's a powdery floral that reminds me muchly of Alice, with a hot spicy center. This is the note that I like in the few floral BPALs I can tolerate.

[slave1]

In Bottle: Spicy carnation

 

On Skin: This smells exactly like a carnation. I am transported back to grade school where we would have an event that was a party of some sort, and the only flowers they would have on the tables were carnations. Of course we took them home afterwards and the flowers would last forever. They were always dyed silly colors like green for St Patricks Day. This is a dead on scent, wow. It also reminds me of the carnation scratch and sniff stickers I had when I collected them. Remember the round scratch n’ sniff stickers? I remember clearly having one in my piano book because I got them for good lessons. Anyway, back to the point… this has the clove sweet and spicy carnation trademark. Carnations are probably one of my least favorite flowers and I’m not fond of anything spicy, so this scent doesn’t do much for me, but again I like to collect SN’s to use as reference when I review other blends. The throw on this is strong at first but fades lightning quickly. Wear length is fairly short.

[edenssixthday]

Single Note: Carnation smells exactly like I hoped it would – it’s spicy and floral and a simply wonderful scent. The spiciness is strongest when I first apply it, and it mellows over the time I wear the oil. It remains spicy, just not as much as when I first apply. The lovely spicy-floral scent of carnation is one of my favorite BPAL notes, so I’m just thrilled to have the chance to try the single note on its own. I was really bummed out the first time I thought I tried it, because someone sent me a fake that smelled entirely like strong soap, but since carnation notes in the blends works so well on me, I was sure it had to be a fake. Two lovely BPALers came to my rescue, each of them sending me a couple drops of real Carnation SN so I could compare and both of theirs smelled exactly like I expected them to, while the soapy one was determined to most definitely be a fake. I’m now waiting on my very own full imp of real Carnation SN to arrive, and I’m very excited about it!

[sofiaviolet]

While this doesn't have much throw, it smells exactly like a real carnation. Mmm.

[supremegoddessofall]

So that's what pure carnation smells like. It's actually a lot sharper and tangier than I would have imagined. Kind of has an old bubble gum feel. Not something I would wear by itself.

[theseagrows]

carnation is my absolute favorite floral. i was THRILLED beyond belief when moonarcana frimped me some of this in a swap! it's a beautiful soft but spicy carnation with a very, very slight woodiness in the background. now i'll take on the impossible task of hunting down a big bottle!

[wikkidraven]

another single note that evokes a lush parallel for me (can you tell i've jumped on the Lush bandwagon lately?!)...this is Potion in all it's glory but stronger, and spicier as only a pure form of carnation could be. i doubt i could say anything that hasn't already been said, yet another brilliant single note.

[myoubi]

got a testable sniffie from the generous djnevermore in a swap. Thank you!

 

Yes, this is carnation, spot-on. I feel like I've actually got my nose stuck in the flower itself. Slightly spicy, just a little green, and with very good throw -- I only applied a teensy bit and I can smell it from a foot away. I'm always amazed at how accurate single notes are, and this one is no exception.

[500ml]

I adore carnation, it's one of my most favourite notes and basically my Holy Grail of the single notes. This was a very generous gift to me, a testable sniffie! Naturally I was a little worried, I had been trying carnation SNs from other etailers with no succes whatsoever. Every time the oil immediately smelled far too soapy with no spice. I was therefore incredibly relieved to find that BPAL's carnation is completely spot on (I had noticed the high quality of the note in certain blends, such as Pink Moon '07), wonderfully spicy and just plain fantastic. Happy that it works, sad that I don't have more Still, I'm incredibly pleased I finally got to try it out!

[The_Merf]

Lord, Carnation is just such a lovely scent--it anchors personal favorites of mine like Morocco and Gypsy Queen. On its own this is just a beautiful singular floral, capturing the spiciness and the softness of carnation without being too "soapy" as some pure floral notes tend to do (there's even a bit of the watery-ness one might hope to find on the flower as it naturally grows). It's got beautiful throw and strength--I notice that it's even prettier smelled from a distance (when I shove my nose right in there it does get a bit soapy/floral). A fantastic note--I'm pretty sure I'll hang on to my decant.

[ladybird]

I've finally gotten my hands on one of the mythical Single Notes, and now I see what all the fuss is about

 

 

SN Carnation is amazing. Sweet and spicy and flowery, with staying power even in a dainty little drop. This is the scent that made me fall in love with Pink Moon 07, but the SN version is purer and stronger. I want more!

[zankoku_zen]

Carnation SN on wet to me is very different as opposed to the drydown. On wet, it is spicy carnations along with the sappy green stem. As it dries, I get a slight powdery funk from it. About two hours later though, I get a tiny floral whiff of carnation, non spicy, and just very demure.