Dublin

[Magda]

The scent of misty forests, damp alder leaf, and the gentlest touch of white rose.

 

I got this as a frimp with my last order and put off trying it because I assumed I wouldn't like it. I'm not that into green, leafy scents, and when I sniffed the imp it smelled like Pine-Sol. However, I try every single imp on my skin, just in case, and I'm soooo glad I did.

 

I don't know if I even have words for how much I love Dublin. It smells like a forest. Not like a perfume that's trying to recreate the scent of a forest, but like an actual wet, sunlit forest. It's definitely a unisex scent, even if there is a hint of rose now and again sweetening it up. It doesn't smell quite like pine to me. I can't put my finger on the exact tree it reminds me of, but it's sweeter than pine. I don't know what alder smells like, so it could easily be that.

 

Whatever it is, it's wonderful. I put it on 4 hours ago and it's dried down into a subtle green outdoorsy scent that's not at all overpowering like a lot of greens (especially pine) turn on me. I'm so glad the lab sent me this one to sample because otherwise I never would have known how fantastic it was. I've already put it on my list of big bottles for my next order.

 

edited to add description

Edited February 25, 2006 by Magda

[batsy]

It smells just like the description says: woods with soft rose and a morning mist. Reminds me of walking through the woods on the beaches of the Oregon coast in the late morning after a night of stormy weather. Earthy, like damp trees drying out in the weak sunlight. The white rose is sweet, off-setting the dampness of the alder. Almost like wet meets warm. It's a soft scent, very feminine to me. A keeper!

[Rhowan]

I had tested this once then swapped it, when I was new to oils and couldn't pick out the notes, therefore I missed 1/2 the joy. Luckily, thanks to the lab!, I have another chance at it.

 

In the vial and wet on my skin- no wonder I have been hearing that this is a good Christmas scent. This smells like a forest but different that a pine tree smell.

 

As this dries, it's scent becomes a bit more complex but is so very good! The imagery I get from this is walking through a misty woodland forest (not just pine trees, but a mixture of trees) with fresh white wild roses dripping water off their petals. Like I said, I don't get overpowering pine tree but Fir trees with maybe a hint of eucalyptus? I think the Alder mellows out what ever Pine-y scent there is and the white rose just sweetens the whole thing up.

 

I am so glad I got a second chance at this. It truly is a beautiful scent and would be a great alternative to an LE at Christmas time. This is definitely going on my big bottles wish list.

[ariansdreams]

This is my first Wanderlust scent review.

 

First Sniff (in the imp): Minty and sweet. For some reason, everything I've tried today smells like gummi bears to me. No idea why.

 

Wet: This is the first BPAL I've tried that seems to smell a little like alcohol...hmm. I also almost think I smell cinnamon, but from the description I don't think that's it either. Well, there's definitely something spicy there. *looks at description* Yeah I have no idea what I'm smelling. Maybe the "alder leaf." I have no idea what that smells like, maybe it's somewhat spicy.

 

Dry: Sweet/spicey. It reminds me of...the smell of someone's house I know. Like they've been burning some sort of spicy thing in their tart burner. I dunno. This didn't smell anything like I thought it would.

 

Overall: I think this would be really nice as a room scent. It definitely is not something I'd wear. It's a nice smell though. Not off-putting, just not..."me."

[amberlox]

vial ~ Rose and mist.

 

wet ~ Candied-roses and powdery mist.

 

dry ~ Softer roses sweet to the taste, fairy-roses surrounded by stronger mist. This is a hint of a rose, the mere suggestion of a rose rather than a full scale garden.

 

EDIT: Later it actually warped into (what smelled like to me)a sandalwood and cinnamon mixture. Very pleasant. My fiance asked me to buy a big bottle of it and he generally hates my BPAL obsession.

Edited March 13, 2006 by amberlox

[Nekomata]

Wet this is very green and mossy with a light hint of rose. When it dries it only seems to become more mossy and green. This is a nice, masculine scent. It smells really good on my husband.

[poisonapple]

This is one of the imps I got that was on my wishlist.

 

In the imp- this had such a clean fresh scent...It did have an evergreen floral kind of smell to it. I loved it.

 

Wet: Smells a bit like witchhazel...the kind you get with some wintergreen added. Oh my god. I can't stop sneezing. And my wrists are actually turning pink!!

 

Yes I have had my first bpal alergic reaction. I had to go wash it off before my wrists got any redder.

 

But before the fit..it smelled so good. Maybe not how I would expect Dublin to smell...but the scent brought to mind a crisp breezy over cast day. (My favorite kind of days) I could only imagine how wonderful those kind of days are in Dublin.

[abberlaine]

Dublin starts out the perfect scent to wear on a rainy day. Within the minute, however, it morphs into sharp, bitter weeds. It gradually mists out and the white rose starts to rise, but then it falls straight back into weed territory and stays there right through until the end. It's not a bad scent, but it's not what I expected.

 

I'm gonna try it on a piece of cotton and see how it fares. If it gives a repeat performance, it's off to the sales/swaps.

[aedes]

Starts off smelling just like Snow Moon - wonderful, snowy sort of ozone, fresh flowers. But then, after about an hour, it morphs into a powdery note. Not bad, but meh.

[Merlu]

In the imp: Hmm, wonderful. Sweet white rose, with fresh green notes. It's like standing in the woods in the winter in a warm and cozy coat, your cheeks flushed from the cold, and sniffing a bouquet of white roses.

 

Wet, on my skin: Same as in the imp, with pine.

 

Drydown: My skin amps up the pine to the point where it overpowers everything else in the blend. It was so pretty in the imp, though!

 

ETA: I have come to realize that my skin always amps up pine that way.

Edited November 19, 2006 by Merlu

[angharad]

Oooh, I'm in love. A friend had gotten this as a frimp a while back; she let me sniff it because I love just about anything related to Ireland, but I wasn't too impressed with Dublin at the time. The Labbies just sent me Dublin with my last order, and I'm so very happy they did.

 

In the imp I'm still not too impressed -- it seems more floral than I usually like, but onto the skin it goes. Wow. Dublin turns into walking through the Irish forests on a beautiful misty morning. Reading the above reviews, I'm glad I'm not the only one who smells something spicy. The spice is what wins me over. It's so subtle, yet it gives the misty forest and sweet white rose the extra depth needed to make this scent work for me. Dublin is very light, and it has average lasting power. This goes on my bottle wishlist for my girly days.

[xith]

Story time! When I first found BPAL (with no experience in perfume at all beforehand), I figured I would like earthy/forresty/naturey type scents, because I love the smell of the real thing. But I tried a few and never found a good match. I figured that the trees-y scents just weren't for me, wrote them off as such, and never bothered ordering any more. Then, on one magical misty morning (well, I don't remember if it was misty or not and it definitely wasn't a morning, but shhh, it sounds better that way), I got an order in from the lab, and lo and behold, in it was a frimp of Dublin. It was love at first sniff. This is the forrest scent I was looking for all along. The misty forrest description is spot on. Dublin is perfect.

[feline.by.design]

Whoa! This is sharp!

 

At first, the swab of skin is revealing a pine forest. It's incredibly evergreen, with an astrigent tang to it, kind of like the witch-hazel mentioned in an earlier post. As the scent mingles with the skin chemistry, it loses some of its sharpness, but it's still an incredibly crisp scent.

 

Dublin's actually quite boozy; this smells like a potent drink with gin in it! Or is that just me...

 

I can see this being very refreshing on a hot day. I saw aedes' comparison to Snow Moon, and I'm getting that, too. The same bright, cold florals are in this as well. I can see why this was called a good Christmas/Yule scent. It's as if snow has fallen on the evergreen.

 

All in all: Dublin's not great, but not bad, either. I'll keep my imp for days when the Florida sun gets to me, but for now, unless I sell or trade my bottle of Snow Moon, I think I'll hold off on getting a bigger bottle of Dublin.

 

-doreen

[eviltemptressdq]

hmm... i smell spices here. with forest... even a bit masculine. It is light, though... not too strong. i LIKE it, but don't LOVE it... wonder if my boyfriend would like it?

[dtp]

In the bottle: This is sharp and green--it's a lot more masculine than I was expecting. It reminds me of my dad's old aftershave that he used when I was a child. It's clean and a bit spicy, too.

 

Wet: Wet forest, definitely. I'm really liking the smell--it's a lot more subtle than I thought it was going to be. It's a lot less masculine on.

 

Dry: Soft, green, foresty, still a little spicy, but slightly sweet, too. It still registers as masculine to my nose, but I'm not sure if that's me being swayed by how it smelled in the bottle. It's definitely a soft and misty scent which reminds me less of Dublin itself and more of tramping through outlying woods.

 

Later: Soft and delicate--but still masculine.

 

I like this very much--it's the most evocative scent I've tried thus far. I'm not sure if it's one I'd wear, though, as it feels more inspirational than something I'd wear as perfume. It makes me want to get out my wellies and go for long forest walks, so I might just keep it for days on which I'm feeling a bit stuck in, to give me that 'oomph' needed to get myself out and about. It's a shame my boyfriend doesn't like this sort of thing, as I suspect it would be gorgeous on him.

[valentina]

In the imp, Dublin smelled sweet and green to me, very green, very foresty. I was expecting it to be a less milky version of Dana O'Shee, judging from my reaction to the the way it sniffed.

 

Once I tested it, I thought it smelled a lot like Dorian -- very spicy with a green undertone. Since Dorian has a "fougere" element, which is normally defined as smelling of lavender and moss, this makes sense. Within a half-hour, the foresty-green smell in Dublin took over, but not overwhelmingly. I could smell a tiny whiff of rose, but the rose in Dublin must be a milder rose than in some of the other blends, or it truly is teensy little hint, because it doesn't push its way to the front, the way rose normally responds on my skin. But Dublin then keeps getting spicer and richer, and it is a wonderful scent.

 

I've very surprised at how much I love Dublin, because I normally don't do especially well with green scents. But I find it rich, spicy and refreshing, and worthy of purchasing a bottle!

[mirutai]

Artificially sweet fruity rose candy.

 

I am wildly confused. Where are my damp leaves and misty forests? Wheeeere?

 

I love green scents, but this isn't even remotely green to me. Maybe something weird has happened with the aging of this oil - this imp comes from swaps and may have had an extensive peregrination before reaching my eager hands!

 

So sad... this sounded lovely. Maybe I should risk ordering a fresh imp...

[Mystic Moon]

Later it actually warped into (what smelled like to me)a sandalwood and cinnamon mixture.

 

I have to agree with Amberlox - once this dries down I get mainly sandwalwood! I thought I was just crazy, but I feel better now that someone else picks that up as well.

 

I was really excited to try this one, & I do like it after I finally put it on & tried it out. I was scared at first when I sniffed the imp because it smelled really strong & (don't laugh!) "Irish Spring" soap-y. It was very sharp & pungent, & not in a good way. Even just a tad of the tangy lemon that others have described. Certainly no florals at all jump out at me from this one - and I LOVE rose. This one just screams bathroom cleaner & Irish Spring soap at me from inside the imp.

 

Well, after two days of sniffing the imp, I built up the courage to try it this morning. At first, I got the same sharp soapy smelly on my skin. Then, about an hour later I was on the couch with my husband watching a movie & I kept catching a whiff of this most heavenly smell & I couldn't figure out what it was until I reached up to brush my bangs off my forehead & caught a whiff of my wrist - it was Dublin! Wow!

 

I don't get ANY floral here - no greenery either. And I was so looking forward to this smelling like Beth's description....the thought of a misty forest with rose was very appealing to me. But it I just smell sandalwood, & something sweeter - almost a very sweet incensy/smoky kind of smell, certainly not anything I'd label as rose or even floral. I have no idea what alder smells like, so maybe that's what I'm picking up.

 

This isn't what I expected at all, but it is still lovely & I will certainly wear it. It will probably grow on me enough that I'll add it to the big bottle list. Will probably try it on the hubby too as it comes across with almost a masculine edge on me.

[Galatea]

In the Imp: Sharp, greeness. Somewhat herbal smelling, mostly woodsy and wet.

 

Wet: This is a very simple blend; white roses and mellow-misty green forest smell. I do tend to smell a bit of something I would think is berries, but that just might be the combination of sweet rose scent and the misty wet scent. (berries = sweet and wet)

 

Dry: This stays fairly true to when you first put it on. The only major change I can detect is a slight increase in powdery notes, and a bit of a decrease in the wet smell. I do so wish the wet smell had stuck around a bit longer, I love that part.

 

Throw: Not a high amount of throw kind of perfume. It's subtle and beautiful.

 

Overall: A lovely perfume that is very true to the description. No funky odd smells your not expecting.

The only unfortunate thing about the blend is that it gets fairly weak fairly quick. It lasts for awhile after dry down, but it's not a sit next to someone and notice it scent.

[PurringPulsar]

Dublin

 

In the imp: yes, I can see why some people compare this to Skadi, because it smells very similar, with it's frosty pine scent.

Wet on skin: yup, still that Skadi-esque winter forest scent, with a hint of citrus and lots of evergreen.

Dry on skin: this is very nice! Although, as I said, it has a real similarity to some winter LE scents like Snow Moon and Skadi, this one is a bit warmer…definitely a citrus aquatic note to it but not as cold, this one is, as the description says, a misty forest scent, of damp pine and other evergreens-it is very green. I think I can just about detect some floral at the back but it's not too showy just yet.

After a while: the soft green winter pine scent still hangs around, but now the rose is more prominent. Which is a good thing-I love Beth's white rose note, it's beautiful and rich and full, and I love the way it adds a different dimension to this otherwise evergreen scent. it's a sweeter rose than usual, and has a very pretty powdery feel to it.

Verdict: I am so glad that I have found a GC scent with that same winter/snowy pine/fir note that I loved in Skadi, Snow Bunny and Snow Moon, although this one is more like Snow Moon thanks to the rose. This definitely has a citrus-evergreen-aquatic feel to it, a real 'winter forest' though it's not as icy as the winter LE's but there is a definite resemblance to them. I love what the rose does to it upon drydown-it's wonderful white rose, the richest and most gorgeous rose of all, and it is very evident after a few hours, like a rose nestled under pine and fir needles, and it's quite sweet and softly powdery in here. I don't think I need a bottle yet because of it's similarity to Snow Moon which I have a bottle of, but I really like it enough to keep the imp.

Emoticon rating:

[Trish]

I got this in a swap with reservations, because I generally don't like green scents or rose. However I'm half Irish so I couldn't resist the name.

 

In the imp: Wet, slightly green, sweet floral.

 

Wet: Ack! Sharp green!

 

Dry: It barely changes, except the almost pine green note softens and there's the barest hint of something softer underneath. I daresay that's the rose, but my nose can't get past the green. Pity, I get the feeling this is a rose I would like.

 

Verdict: Off to the swap pile with you Dublin!

[noumenon]

I have to join other reviewers who say this is the perfect Christmas scent. I've never smelled alder, so the green smell hits me as true, natural pine. But there's something softer and sweeter about this scent, and I bet that's the difference between alder and pine. As it dries it gets sweeter and sweeter, until I'm fully imagining myself walking through one of those seasonal Christmas stores at the mall. It's the smell of candy canes and everygreens. I envy the people who can pick up the rose note in here...with it, I might think of this as a more feminine scent...but this strikes me as a playful, masculine scent instead.

[Mollywogger]

Dublin did some wacky things on me. Not bad, just not expected.

 

It was lovely and spicy floral-green when I put it on. Then, after about five minutes, I was utterly overwhelmed with CINNAMON. A sweet, Christmas candle cinnamon, with a bit of pine tree behind it. I truly smelled like the holidays when you walk through the home scent section of a department store. Then I started smelling a bit of apple, and smelled like mulled cider for a bit. Mmmm.

 

The cinnamon faded after a while, and now (three hours later), the scent is a warm, spicy green floral. I like it, but it wasn't at all what I was expecting from Dublin.

[ND¢]

In the bottle: Herby.

 

On me: It is woody, but also spicy. A lot of the reviews make it sound like this is exactly what it's like walking through a dewy forest, but on me it's not a natural enough smell to really get there. Forests are more muted, subtle and complex (I'm surrounded by them and smell them when I walk out my door.) I also didn't think it smelled like a cleaning solution. It's the sort of holiday herb-spice scent I like. Come to think of it, I wonder if I could wear it with a bit of Hearth 2005 as a holiday smell.

[edenssixthday]

Dublin is one of those evergreen scents that makes me feel like a car freshener that's just been taken out of its packaging. It's bright, crisp, and pungent. I don't smell the rose in this blend at all -- the evergreen notes completely overpower anything floral. If someone likes pine/evergreen blends, they'd probably love this. However, I feel like everyone around me is sniffing and wondering where I'm keeping the little green tree-shaped air freshener.