Black Rose

[lmaunu]

Exquisitely melancholy. The background scent to an ancient exequies. Heavy, dark and floral: a blend of roses, with a touch of amber and musk.

The musk and amber aren't coming through as much on me, but the scent of heavy, dark, gothic roses definitely is! This is a rich, deep scent, and it has wonderful throw and staying power. It's one of the best rose scents I've tried from BPAL! Edited March 3, 2008 by BookGirl

[persephanise]

Wow, was this ever rosey. But not just rosey--it's almost like heavy, rotting roses. The smells is really heavy and strong and deep.

 

Not only was the actual rose scent just too much for me (too perfumey, I suppose, rather than too rosey. PEacock Queen, for example, is all rose all the time, and I love that.) But the musk also doesn't work on me in this blend, though admittedly I Seem to have trouble with a lot of the Lab's musks.

 

In the end, instead of making me feel beautiful or lifting my mood, black rose made me feel old and deathly and too overly serious about the world. Very emo, actually. Certainly not for me.

[lilirose]

Oh no, another “OMG I love this with all my heart” BPAL rose. Soon I may end up being “all rose, all the time”.

 

In the imp, this is dark, sultry rose.

 

On skin, wet: Another incredibly real rose scent, with a musky darkness and a deepness I have not found in any other.

 

Drydown: Oh gods, this is incredibly, amazingly sexy on my skin. The level of musk is just perfect, weighing the rose down just enough to make it both mournful and sexy (kind of like me ).

 

It’s longer-lasting than any other BPAL rose I’ve tried, even my beloved Rose Red. The throw is stronger than most roses, too- not strong enough to be “in your face”, but at the same time I feel surrounded by a cloud of dark, amazing beauty.

 

Verdict: Love. Love. A million times love. I have too many rose scents as it is but I must have a 5ml of this.

[aestien]

Bottle: heavy rose

Wet: rose, I can definitely smell the roundness of the amber, not a lot of musk

Dry: a lot of rose, hit you over the head rose

 

I tend to like a lighter rose, my favorite being Crabtree & Evelyn’s Evelyn or Lush’s Amandopondo, so this very heavy moody rose is definitely not my thing.

[butcherbaby]

i am a huge fan of rose scent, so i have been trying as many of the BPAL rose blends as i can. most i have been a little disappointed in, as the rose scent tends to a sharpness that is almost too pungent. or, they don't last.

 

but not this one~!

 

this is the PERFECT rose scent. the amber & musk temper the sharpness of the rose and leave it dark, velvety, yet still strong and steadily *rose*. the scent settles in quickly and stays strong for hours without being overwhelming. it's exactly what i had hoped for!

 

it's going to the top of my 'big bottle' list and i actually think i'm going to order it right NOW :-)

[VioletChaos]

in the imp: a deep. dark. musky rose. it's very dark- makes me think of dried roses or sitting in a room full of antique black lace dresses

 

wet on skin: the rose lightens up slightly, and a musk becomes more apparent.

 

dry down: a beautiful, full, heavy rose.

 

in all: if you are a rose lover, this is one to add to your repetoire!

 

[Ajila]

In the bottle – Sweet heady florals, oddly enough I wouldn’t have said rose, which shows what I know really doesn’t it?

 

Wet on me – A very clean, sweet rose, with a slightly soapy undertone

 

Dry on me – It retained a sweet headiness that I found pleasing, although some of those I worked with complained of it being too strong

 

Overall – This isn’t really something I would wear, but it was pleasant enough

[sadtomato]

i almost gave this away because in the imp, i could barely smell anything...

when i first put it on my skin...i could barely smell anything.

i thought i'd gotten a bad batch or it was just a very weak scent or something.

but in a few minutes...wow...the rose, amber, musks and whatever other dark, luscious goodness is in there really started to come out...slowly.

this one is a creeper.

it went on almost scentless and slowly came to life on me.

it's lovely, dark, and dramatic.

i adore this!

[jparrack]

Wet: A strong, sharp rose competing with an incensey sandalwood type smell. I know the description says amber and musk. I smell like sandalwood incense.

Dry: The rose fades after a while and I am left smell like incense.

Verdict: On my skin, this doesn't hold a candle to Blood Rose or Whip. Swap.

[goth_huntress]

This is one of my favorite Rose scents. The closest there is to Peacock Queen.

[Miss Lynx]

As I've mentioned in other reviews, rose tends to amp dreadfully on my skin, so I'm always a little wary of rose-based scents. And yet, I do actually like the scent of rose, so I keep trying them anyway. And every now and then I find one that's not too bad... Most recently, the Parlement of Foules.

 

But anyway: I got this one as a frimp in my latest Lab order, and of course I had to try it despite the rose-induced sense of impending doom. And indeed, the rose in it has been amped up by my skin... But it's not all that bad. More rosey than I'd wear voluntarily, other than maybe in extreme moderation, but it's a very interesting sort of rose.

 

I do definitely get the darkness from the description - don't know if it's a specific type of rose giving it that sense, or if there's a bit of myrrh or something added. And tere is something that smells sort of old and dusty in it, and slight resinous undertones. Very evocative...

 

If my skin didn't crank the rose up so much, I'd love this. A lot. As it is, I can smell just enough of the other notes to get a sense of what this could be like on someone else. But even so, for a rose scent, it's not that bad, even on me. And as it wears over time and the rose overkill diminishes, it starts getting positively pleasant... I may actually hang onto this one. I found with Spellbound that aging it helped balance the notes, maybe it will with this one too.

 

Grade: B

[fairnymph]

Sniffed in imp: A light golden brown oil. Cucumber (?!?), amber, and a faint whisp of rose. Aquatic, but also sort of dusty with incense and dried flowers. Sweetly musky. Definitely some beloved tea rose in there, but there are too many scary notes and sniffed it's too unappealing for me to test further. Amber and I really do not get along.

Edited May 10, 2008 by fairnymph

[maribouquet]

Lovely, dark rose. Sadly, between the rose and amber it ends up like a powdery soap. Sad, because I generally like and can wear rose and amber.

[cyphersushi]

This is STRONG rose on me. Both in the imp and around the imp and in the same room as the imp it is strong. And this should have been a warning to me but foolishly I put on my usual amount which is not very much. Either I amp this like crazy or my nose is very sensitive or I got an aged imp or a very new one (it was from a forum sale) but this is way too loud for me. Right now I have washed it off with unsented oil and soap and I can STILL smell it strong enough for it to tickle my nose.

 

I kind of like how it smells but to wear this I would have to use a miniscule amount. It is roses with baseball bats aiming for my poor nose...

[TeaLeaf]

In the bottle this is the most amazing rose scent I have ever smelled but when it dries on me I smell exactly like my Grandmother which just isn't for me. So I will just continue to sniff it in the bottle

[athirat]

Amber and I tend not to get along, and as a result this was unfortunately nothing more than a soapy, powdery rose. In the imp, the rose was warm and lovely, but the moment it hit my skin, the amber turned it into a powdery mess that attacked my nose. Off to the swap box.

[thelaurenator]

This is very pretty, but when I smell the imp in the bottle... I get 100% patchouli, and patchouli isn't even listed as a note. What???

 

Anyway, luckily this does not smell like patchouli on. It is very deep, heavy roses with musk. I don't get any amber.

[Delirium1009]

In bottle/imp: Dark, resinous, warm rose.

 

Immediately on skin: This smells of roses, but it’s overpowered by something almost green; very crisp, but dry. The musk is evident.

 

After a few minutes: This rose is very crisp and powdery, with the dry feel of musk under it. The amber isn’t showing through as much as I would have hoped, but it’s not a plain old rose blend for sure.

 

Overall Impressions: This rose blend is very surprising… it’s very refreshing and not overly cloying at all. The musk adds a chill to it, and a dark feel. It has some depth and isn’t “just rose.” If you enjoy bpal’s rose blends and want something a little different, try this one.

[hlinspjalda]

In the vial: Two or three different types of rose, not nearly as heavy as I expected. A touch of something else, a little spicier.

 

Wet: Very strong tea-rose and a bit of damask rose, again over some spicy base. If it's amber, it's lighter than amber has ever been on me. No evidence of the musk either. Definitely lighter than I expected, although intensely rose-y.

 

Fifteen minutes: I didn't think it was possible after those first few moments, but this is no longer principally a rose scent. Still lighter than expected, but it's definitely amber-rose now.

 

Four hours: I'm madly in love. This is the least rose-flavored rose scent I think I've ever worn. That's not why I like it, though. I like it because it's also the best-balanced amber scent I've ever worn. I could wish for it to be a little sweeter; it's almost as dry as myrrh (that's probably the musk). And on me, at least, it's not overpowering, or dark, or even particularly floral. I'm not sure it's the everyday scent I'm looking for, but it's great.

[Jia_Mekare]

In the imp: It smells a lot like Black Lotus to me- Very resin-y, with an undernote of florals. But this time, I didn't like the underlying florals as much. That's odd- I usually like roses.

 

Wet: "Hah! I make you smell like you were burning Amber incense in your dorm room in secret!" Gee, thanks. Not what I was aiming for though.

 

Dry: Well, I can smell the rose now, but it's yelling "Help! Am being squisherd by Amber" and the combination makes it smell almost like a rose-scented crayon.

 

I would like it if my skin chemistry didn't do STRANGE things to it.

[galahad]

In The Bottle

Definitely rose and musk

 

On Application

Strong rose with dusty musk

Dry Down

Reminiscent of Othello which I love but this doesn't stack up. I like this at the stage just before it fades - all musky rose.

Rating (0-5)

3

[tativa]

At first this reminded me alot of spellbound, then it was really rosey, a complex blend of quite a few types of rose. Quite a bit darker and rosey... then it turned into saffron (guessing. its the note I get from bastet that isn't amber) and anise with musk.

 

I still really like it, boy liked it too Its a very empowering scent.

[djsiberia]

i don't like the roses in this one as much as i like the roses in spellbound. i was disappointed the roses started to fade and the amber and musk were barely there.

[themerrybaker]

Rose is nice in small doses, but usually overpowers everything else when I wear it. Black Rose smells like rose on me, and I'd be unable to state how Black Rose is different from London, Two, Five, Seven or other rose blends. A good one for rose lovers, and worth inclusion for a Great Rose Sniff-Off.

[krystyn]

Right out of the imp I am getting a gorgeous dark rose scent. It's like red roses who've gone wilted and dead, but have that strong, sad scent still coming from the blackened petals.

 

However, the amber note is coming up baby powdery without even hitting my skin, and as my body chemistry (and nose) do not play well with musk, I am going to pass on actually applying it. It's clear, though, even with notes that don't agree with me, that BPAL's floral blends are really well-balanced and lovely.

 

It's odd, too, as amber normally is one of my favorite things to wear - it usually goes all cocoa-chocolatey-shea buttery-resiny on me. But this particular amber note is powdery and has a heavy lotion or moisturizer sort of tone.