Lady Luck Blues

[Epiphany]

Lady Luck, please smile down on me. A melancholy scent, aching with longing, created to appease Fickle Fortune. Honeyed Bulgarian rose, vanilla flower, benzoin, tonka, black plum, peony, and iris.

I was really, really amazingly excited about this one. I LOVE all of the notes. Honey, I've been discovering, is one of my favorite things. Wet, this is gorgeous. SO beautiful. A honey rose with peony and iris--pure magic. It is round and sweet, but not cloying. The rose is soft and fresh!

Then. It dried. And the rose went to potpourri rose--dry rose. I've been discovering that my body chemistry does this to rose. Which is SO sad, because I adore rose. It is still quite a nice scent--not the balls on potpourri of Erato (which I still love, probably because it is so intense and uncompromising and I appreciate that). I cannot, however, get over this transformation. It was so, so, SO lovely. Perfect. Agh! Okay, I'm really going to have to try out this scent locket thing, because this one is far too awesome to just set aside as a 'use sometimes'.

[Pika]

As noted, a very, very rose-y scent! The honey does it a favor (I LOVE honey!) as do the other florals. Maybe iris is darkening it a bit? I wish the tonka was stronger.

 

As it dried, did go a little "old-lady" wispy rose on me, but it was still a lovely scent.

 

ETA: I've been trying to wear this scent more, but discovering it has a habit of going powdery on me now. It's getting less and less love due to that.

Edited May 20, 2008 by Pika

[theal8r]

This smelled sort of plastic in the imp (a decant, so I cant vouch for the age)

 

On me, the rose amped and and didn't really fade to the background at all -- this is bad, as rose goes old lady on me. I wish the woody/incense had come forward a bit more as it may have toned the rose down.

 

Dry down: plasticy and powdery. *sad face* This imp will have to find a new home.

[djsiberia]

in the bottle: roses and soft florals and a touch of plum.

 

wet: very much rose and nothing else.

 

dry: still rose, but vanilla and rose.

 

30 minutes later, the rose has faded quite a bit and now i'm getting the plum, iris, and peony and it's a bit smokey.

[LadyLuckDoubt]

In the Bottle

This is dark, gorgeous and complex-- I'm not getting so much of the rose but there's a warm honey and a handful of classy florals. Everything seems perfectly balanced, and is blended so well that other than the honey and a warm, syrupy dark plum (and it's a DRY dark plum, not a super-sweet deal), I'm unsure exactly what's in it. I think there may be spices-- weirdly enough, I'm thinking of Yerevan...

 

On Me

My skin amps the rose something chronic, though I'm getting the glistening sticky warmth of the honey and the florals playing a very quiet-- but very good supporting cast. And YES-- there is a distinct smokiness which I'm loving a LOT.

Edited April 23, 2008 by LadyLuckDoubt

[edenssixthday]

Lady Luck Blues – This is a highly floral scent, very high-pitched and almost ethereal – if it’s possible to be both simultaneously! The vanilla flower and peony are the dominant notes, and when I first apply, the plum gives it a wonderfully ripe, juicy scent, but that fades very quickly on me. After about 30 minutes on my skin, the florals begin to blend into one another so well that aside from the peony, they are completely indistinguishable. It’s a pretty scent, but kind of generic in my experience. The throw is light and the staying power is well below average.

[fairnymph]

In the bottle: Very pale gold oil. Sweet and floral. Rose! Honey! Delicately sweet vanilla flower, a bit of resiny benzoin and a bite of powdery iris.

 

Wet: More herbal, less sweet. Rose really the strongest, vanilla flower is lovely too though - both extremely refined and feminine. The benzoin really grounds this. I'm not getting any tonka or plum, and the iris is so far faint enough to be tolerable. Sadly, the peony is also faint.

 

Dry: Really not morphing much! The honeyed rose here reminds me of Kali, and the vanilla flower of Harikata...but it's gotten a bit sweeter, perhaps TOO sweet, and the rose is a bully as often on my skin. That iris nags away in the background, like an unpleasant hangnail.

 

Later: It's still very sweet and rosy but going a bit powdery - the damned iris, I presume. However, I think the plum has finally emerged - it's super ripe and deep and sweet. And peony has blossomed a bit more.

 

Summary: Very sweet, slightly powdery, herbal-resiny and fruity floral. In order of potency, rose and honey first, then vanilla flower and benzoin, then delicate peony and rich sticky plum, and lastly some powdery iris. I never get any distinct tonka. Good throw and lasting power.

 

Quite nice, but a bit too sweet, and I have other blends with these notes I prefer.

[herbhealer]

I absolutely love rose, and this is a sweet one blended with other flowers and some plum for depth. Gorgeous! ah - and the honey is coming out now, it's all good!

Edited June 10, 2008 by herbhealer

[heathercaley]

Mmm.. I love rose. This is a big fat red rose with a slight amount sweetness curling up and around its petals. This is a very full rose scent.. full of depth. As it dries down it gets softer...less sharp. I don't smell any plum (unless it's more of a plum flower rather than a piece of fruit) But there's a definite juice quality about it...even as it dries down.

 

Ok NOW I'm getting plum after the sharpness of the rose dries down. Oh YUM!!! rosey plum. I've noticed that a lot of Beths scents have this puzzle about it all.. she's a scientist and can alter the chemical breakdown of her oils so you can never tell where one note ends, and the other begins. It's just a pure shot of roslumsweet.

[sadtomato]

rose, plum and honey!

this is a very pretty scent.

the honey is thick and sweet, but somehow, the honey and rose temper each other and keep each other from becoming too sweet and overpowering.

i'd call this scent warm, summery.

my only complaint is my skin eats it up and it doesn't last long.

maybe others can smell it on me, but two hours after applying it, nose to skin i can barely sniff it at all:(

it's a frequent reapplication oil for sure...good thing i got the whole bottle!

[jewelbug]

Bottle: A really gentle, light sweet rose with a hint of fruit. Not the type of rose that is strong and usually sends me running. Hopefully this won't amp on my skin like others do.

 

Wet: Instantly more "rosey" when it hits my skin. Its supported ever so lightly by a very sweet, almost fruity peony.

 

Drying: I steadily lose all but the rose. In its defense, its not the "rose soap" that I get out of a lot of amping rose notes, but its still not my cup of tea.

 

Dry: Rose, but a nice rice--sweet and light and demure, rather than heady and in your face. There are slight hints of sweeter notes on me (honey? tonka? plum?), but this is predominantly a light rose blend. That's not surprising since I amp rose.

 

Overall: A pretty, light rose scent, but not me.

Edited August 26, 2008 by jewelbug

[zankoku_zen]

Wow. This is a plummy rose. So at the beginning, this is a very rose and peony scent, and then the plum comes through, and it's a complete menage a trois.

 

This is very luxurious, and opulent, and riotous.

 

The woman that wears this is TROUBLE.

[Shollin]

First sniff: Heavy, powdery, “old lady” floral.

 

Wearing: Rose is always hit-or-miss, and I can’t wear iris at all. The result? Heavy, powdery, “old lady” floral. The other notes sounded fascinating, but they’re hiding behind the ones that don’t work.

[hlinspjalda]

In the vial: Rose and honey, with a hint of vanilla. This smells deliciously edible, with the "jammy" note.

 

Wet: Darker and more complex now. The florals are more evident, but it's still principally rose. No longer so jammy. I like it.

 

Half an hour: Still rose and honey, but there's fruit and something rather spicy. I don't get the peony or iris notes as such, but there's something complex about this floral that isn't accounted for by rose and vanilla flower, so there you are. This is powerful and a bit dark; it's beautiful.

 

One hour: Much more completely blended now. I quite like this; it's gone from being another rose scent to having its own rosy fruity dark identity.

 

Three hours; Spicy fruity floral now, with a touch of something almost smokelike. I like this a lot; it will be a struggle not to pursue more of it!

 

Four and a half hours: This has gone a little sour now, like sour roses with honey. But the middle game of this one is fantastic.

 

[donnatron]

Bottle: A sweeter, almost tropical Blood Countess. I love Blood Countess so this is not a problem. Like BC, it has a beautiful, sweet floral tinged with a sharp, almost bloody plum.

 

Wet: PLUM! SO MUCH PLUM! OMG! The plum amps up to almost untolerable proportions. It's sharp, slightly acrid and just stomps all over all the other notes. I can smell the rose and honey making a valiant effort to subdue the plum.

 

Dry: Once the really high notes on the plum burn off this is really beautiful. The tonka and benzoin have an almost coconut feeling to them. It's a very rich, creamy scent and the base notes definitely remind me of Ashlultum and Kubla Khan. The florals blend together into a perfect bouquet, none of them overpowering the other. I do get a very clear sense of the vanilla orchid and the rose. The honey adds this dripping, sultry sweetness to the whole thing. It's a very film noire type of scent--this is the type of scent the woman slinking into the Private Eye's office wears.

 

Throw: I thought it was mild but then I started moving around a bit. It's not the strongest throw in the world but it is pretty noticeable.

 

Overall: I always forget that I have this. It's a beautiful, indulgent, sexy scent and it definitely makes me feel like one hell of a dame. A really good introductory scent for those who fear florals but want to try them.

[jencallisto]

In the imp: Mostly rose, a little sweet, a little sharp

Fresh on the skin: What a lovely, sweet, light rose. The honey, vanilla, plum, and tonka are mellowing this out beautifully.

15 minutes later: What an incredibly gorgeous rose -- light and sweet and almost floaty.

2.5 hours later; Such a pretty rose!

4 hours later: Fading and going a little sour, but overall still nice.

 

Verdict: I like this a _lot_.

 

One word: Rose.

 

[twofoxes]

This blend is absolutely gorgeous.

 

Mostly rose, with a bit of vanilla, tonka, and a touch of honey. I can definitely smell the plum and iris in here.

Over time it softens and gets a bit more powdery, but its totally lovely. Unfortunately it fades rather quickly.

 

I'm not typically one for really feminine florals, but this is just stunning. Its got a very melancholy air to it; these roses are dripping with sorrow. If the essence of the blues could be captured in a bottle, this is it right here. Bessie Smith would be proud!!!

 

:love!:

[greenforrest]

Imp: Sweet cloying dark creamy floral.

 

Initial: dark rose with sweet honey and peony

 

After Initial: the rose keeps deepening, the honey and peony stay sweet on top almost like caramel on the tounge, the plum and iris add depth and sultryness. Far throw and seems to last.

 

Impressons: THIS is what I wanted Wanda to smell like. This is a hoodoo thrown to ensnare a helpless lover slave on a hot late summer day abuzz with insect drone and wind in the treetops that never seems to reach the ground. The forbidden scent of the lady's dressing table glimpsed behind gauzy veils. The scent rising above lazy sweating bodies in the juke joint. The Matron scent of Grand Dames, Trannies and gorgeous cross-dressers. And.. OMG.. the incomperable Bessis Smith just to top it all off. *THUD*

[reynardine]

When I first tried this one on, it was HEAVY ROSE. Very heavy. Too much for me and I like rose! But upon giving this time to dry down, it morphed. The rose backed off (although still very dominant) and the other florals came into play, making this a really beautiful scent. And I was about to put it on the swaps pile! Nope, this little lady is a keeper!

[Gin]

Rose, vanilla, sweet plum, and peony. I start to think that maybe this is a floral I can wear and then it turns sharper and powdery--I'm wondering if it's the iris, we've never gotten along. I might try some sort of locket/non-skin application because I do like it, but my chemistry seems not to.