Venice

[Browneyes]

A complex, voluptuous scent that captures the robust beauty and of the Italian Renaissance: lemon, red currant, wisteria, red rose petals, heady jasmine, Florentine orris root, waterlily, red sandalwood, violet plum, and violet leaf.

love the previous review!

I'm trying out an imp labelled "Old Venice"

Imp: Without having checked the notes, I was expecting aquatic for this one, but nope, it's FLORAL!
Wet: OW! Why does it sting me??? I've never ever had allergy problems with BPAL before, but this one stings and has made a big red welt on my arm!
Dry: So I waited a bit and the redness is less angry now. It actually smells very lovely, I get soft luxurious florals backed by some fruitiness, mainly red currant. - The floral is extremely well-blended on me, I do not get "jasmine from hell" at all. If anything, I seem to detect the violet more.

Unfortunately I'm now getting slightly headachey and dizzy, and the large red welt has become a small red welt, but not yet disappeared. So I really don't know what was up with that, I'm actually kind of shocked at this allergic reaction, since I've tried so many other things by now that did not have any bad effects on me (I've tried both extreme spice as well as other heady florals) - and I'm not an allergy-prone person at all. So... it seems safe to say that this didn't agree with me, which is a shame since it smelled nice.

[Nia]

in the imp: lemony.

 

Wet: lemons amplified!

 

Later: This is odd for a floral. The lab's description mentions no less than ten ingredients, out of which I know the smell of eight. But on me, there isn't a lot to pick up, just something like lemon-scented jasmine and a vague floral haze behind that. I would like it more if it was more intense or long-lasting on my skin. Since Eos is also jasminey and gentle, I think they'd be good, layered together.

[Naamah_Darling]

They are not kidding. This is a very, very complicated scent. Lemon and rose front this, with a rich draft of lily, orris, and a little violet underneath. It smells at once soapy and perfumey, but there is still an overripeness to it. This is a kaleidoscope of scents, predominantly white, pink, and purple. It's bright, intense, and slightly standoffish; this isn't a soft or cuddly scent, nor is it earthy. It's strongly floral.

 

It goes on even more floral; the lily really comes out, and, yes, wow, the wisteria, which smells like my father's backyard. It's all washed with a trace of lemon, like sunshine. It's a little softer here, and very feminine. Romantic. I can see a beautiful girl wearing this in her ringleted hair. It's really quite lovely, even if it's absolutely not for me.

 

Venice has respectable throw, be careful of this one in company. This is one I'd recommend diluting to get the full effect, and also to lessen its potency.

 

This is the scent of something at its height, the woman who will never be any more beautiful than she is today. I like it very much, and would love to smell it on someone else.

[dixiehellcat]

I got a frimp of this from the Lab last night. Opened it up & was knocked flat by the citrusy-ness of it all. But I summoned up my courage & dabbed a bit on. After a few minutes, the citrus has tamed down considerably & the florals are coming out. I think the particularly pleasing note to my nose must be the jasmine. I guess my contrary nature is coming out now...I see that it doesn't work on quite a few folks, but on me it's very very nice! Most of the scents I've fallen for so far have been heavier, and the lighter stuff often doesn't last on me. I think this one will though! Not sure yet if I'll want a bottle, but I'll spend some quality time with this little frimp & see where things lead.

[purplemoonshoes]

In the imp: the lemon is dominant, but there's florals too.

 

Wet: to quote canpake, "OMG lemon!" It does smell like furniture polish!

 

Drydown: a pretty lemon, but still lemon

 

Later: Fades really fasts, as in ten minutes, but the lemon leaves first and reveals very light florals

 

Eh, I don't like the smell. Or the fact that it fades quicker than a jackrabbit. Too bad, I like the wanderlust series.

 

ADDED Oct. 10:

 

The lemon is very prominent in the imp, but it's an undernote on my skin. I get more rose and sandalwood. Not really my cuppa tea, but could make a good subtle scent for someone else.

[willowtreeling]

imp--super flowery in that sickly sweet way I can't wear--I think I am getting the jasmine and water lily smell...I though gardenias maybe, but they weren't in there (still learning!)

wet--thankfully, I smell lemony goodness, toning down the flowers

dry down---the soap smell I have heard so much about..a nice soap, but soap nonetheless. This one is moving into my share with friends and family pile.

 

edited for neff's input****my niece, who I am dragging into my new addiction with me, was wearing it this morning. It smelled nice on her, but she thought it smelled like cleaning supplies.

Edited May 28, 2007 by willowtreeling

[oakmoss]

I've been searching for the perfect lemon for summer, so was happy to receive a frimp of Venice in my Blue Moon order. I had it once but frimped it away myself without much interest. In the vial, it's strongly lemony, just what I wanted. On my skin, it starts to morph into a lemony-floral immediately, as my skin does it's usual uber-amp of jasmine, dragging the rose along kicking and screaming (to continue the jasmine/rose crime scene depicted above ). Lemon is corrupted by jasmine's evil influence, and the whole thing turns to dry laundry detergent faster than you can say "Tide gets your whites whiter." I'm going to try this in a scent locket to see if it's any better, but my quest for the Holy Lemon Grail still continues.

[Phaedra]

Wet this is lemon, berries and violet. Fresh and elegant. When first on this is a mix of lemon, currants and violets. Very pretty and sophisticated. After a couple of minutes there's something fruity- raspberry or melon maybe? This has a similar feel to Black Moon- fruity, floral, watery, ethereal. Overall this is a soft, wispy blend. It's fairly long lasting too. I really like this one and will enjoy using my imp.

[kwsix]

In the imp: Jasmine and a hint of lemon. It's very fresh and feminine.

 

Wet on my skin: Jasmine that actually smells good on me, which is a rare find. It's behaving much like the jasmine in Euphrosyne. But I'm getting odd wafts of cheap beer, and no, I haven't been drinking. I sniff my wrist to be sure, and yes, it's the Venice. That's a first for me - cheap beer from a fragrance.

 

Drydown: Poof - gone! As soon as the scent starts to dry, it starts to disappear. In just a few minutes I can barely detect a trace of it with my wrist right up against my nose. Even the cheap beer scent is gone, which saddens me. I wanted to see how that worked out.

 

Overall, Venice isn't terrible, but it doesn't exactly work well on me either. The jasmine stays nice and non-evil, but it all fades away before I can really grasp what it's doing on my skin. I imagine this scent works really well on some people, goes horribly wrong on others, and leaves some, like me, confused and unfulfilled.

[CrazyPretzel]

Wet, this is as complex as it sounds, voluptous, elegant and somehow moist -- just a hint of aquatics. Strangely, although I don't get too much lemon from the imp, I get quite a lot of lemon from this when I try to wear it! It's basically very lovely, but my skin chemistry just grabs on to the lemon and it overpowers everything else. Too bad.

 

ETA: And this is why it sometimes pays to test things twice! I've had it on my swaps list forever and everyone's been ignoring it, so today I decided to give it another go. The lemon vanished quickly this time and now it's almost pure waterlily - so beautiful! - with awesome fruity red currant and plum. Love it! Now to go and yank it from the swaps list

Edited October 4, 2007 by Baitu

[lilirose]

Wet: Citrusy floral. I quite liked it and had high hopes for it.

Dry: Soap, and nothing else. And faded totally within three hours.

I'm starting to hate my body chemistry.

(edited to add lab description)

[ceiswyn]

In the imp: My first impression is sweet. My second impression is flowers. I'm not sure which ones, they're all twined together; rose? honeysuckle? orange blossom? And a hint of spiced fruit (citrus?) behind.

 

On the wrist: On the wrist it instantly becomes a darker, spicier scent (which is impressive given that there are no spices in it). The lemon is much stronger, with everything else fading into the background a little as an accompaniment. The left wrist is slightly herbal, presumably from the orris root and violet leaf, whereas the rose and jasmine come through on the right.

 

One hour later: And now it smells... vaguely perfumey. Bah. There's still traces of lemon, and sweet flowers, and spices, but the first thing that hits my nose is solidly perfume. In another hour it's faded to soap. Bah again.

[euterpe414]

My first impression of Venice was citrus + jasmine, very golden and glittering. I can detect a hint of currant, but the other notes are really in the background in comparison to the two 'main highlights'. I think the other notes are somehow keeping the jasmine in check b/c it does not go rotten or metallic on me. Somehow in the drydown there is a tiny hint of soapiness and I can smell a little itty bit of violet and orris, which is nice.

 

This is a lovely blend and really appropriate for representing Venice and the renaissance, but it is really not my style, so off to swaps it goes...

[Nimthiriel]

Initial impression:

Sweet plum mixed with citrus and a light-yet-fresh floral. Oddly pleasing, really!

 

First on:

Currant and jasmine and lemon-that-goes-toilet-cleaner. Hmm.

 

Dry:

After about 10 mins, it's wet plum, with a slight touch of jasmine, but I'm not really getting anything else. Wait, maybe the slightest whisper of roses.

 

20-30 mins after application, it's turned mostly into dried roses and other dry potpourri.

 

Finally:

A nice scent, lovely to try, but it went a bit ”old lady” on me during the dry-down. Maybe it'll work better for someone else. Swapping.

[MaidenGenevive]

Venice

 

First impression in vial, complex and mature. It reminds me of something, a perfume from the past, though I can't place what or where. First thought wet, lemon. A bouquet of florals immediately rush in and take charge. There are so many notes, it has a dizzying effect. This is mature and classy. I can picture a well dressed Venician woman in her 30's wearing this. This is predominately a floral, although the fruits are mixing things up, giving it a fresh edge.

 

[1 - Hate] .. [2 - Dislike] .. [3 - Like] .. [4 - Really Like] .. [5 - Love]

 

3 : The florals were a bit too much for me, although they do become more subtle as it wears.

[aquazoo]

Hairspray beginning. Hirspray middle. Some floral is trying to break free, but it's stuck. Someone else will love it more.

[FallDaze]

In the imp the lemon is completely predominant. Not in a bad way though, just kinda strong. Underneath I get a little something floral, and I think the sandalwood...

 

On my skin the scents mix gorgeously. It's still mainly lemon though, but I really like it.

 

Overall it's like a lemony potpourri, that's what I'm getting. Very clean and lively. Definitely a keeper, but probably as an imp only.

[The_Merf]

This is a strong, strong lily on me when it is wet. Unlike many others, I don't get a lot of citrus right away, though there is a bit of a tang as this one dries down. The first time I tried it, the redcurrant was strong, but I don't really pick up much on that this time around. As others have noted, this is a soft one. It fades away very quickly and only really leaves a bit of lemon behind.

[VioletChaos]

in the imp: strongly lemon verbena, with a bit of sage just at the end.

 

wet on skin: more of the same, but now the lemon mellows slightly to smell more like lemon drop candy.

 

dry down: the sage disappears entirely, and it's just the sweet/tart smell of lemon verbena.

 

in all: if you like citrus scents, this is a keeper. me personally, it's not really my thing.

[aleciarivas]

Spicy citrus, which sounds odd I suppose, but is an apt description to me. The Jasmine takes over with just a hint of ANYTHING else hiding beneath it, lurking. Not a great scent for me. May as well go with a straight Jasmine single note.

[tziporra]

Well, yet another complex blend that dries down to ROSE (and some other stuff) on my skin.

 

Venice reminds me of a very nice, expensive rose potpourri oil. I have nothing against potpourri -- in fact I have great scent memories of making rose potpourri with my mother. But I don't really want to smell like rose potpourri, so this isn't going to work on me. Sounds like there other skin chemistries out there for whom this is amazing. Maybe I'll try it on my daughter and see if I can get a better idea of what it's supposed to smell like.

 

Best,

 

Tzi

[MaeKitty]

In the Bottle: Lemon drops with a faint floral background

On Me: You know, people say this is a red scent, but I disagree. I see yellow and gold. The lemon is on the forefront with the rose. It is kept from smelling like a cleaner by the lovely flowers and the sandalwood. This is a very "Sun" scent to me. I see this being lovely in the summer.

[jaeyne]

Lemon, lemon, super lemon and when it died I kept smelling something like a dead animal from far away. It went everywhere I went so I think it was me. And Venice.

No big bottle of this one for me.

[Jheya]

In the imp: Citrus.

 

On skin: The citrus softens once applied to skin, and it is no longer as sharp as it was in the imp. It becomes rounder and warmer, but also takes on a rather soap-like tone.

 

~1 hour: A soft, warm citrus with a gently musky undertone and a touch of floral. Which sounds nice, and would be, if not for the fact that it's soft, warm, musky citrus SOAP on me.

 

It's still a pleasant scent, and quite elegant in feel, but the rather soapy tone means that it seems more like a scent to enjoy whilst bathing than one enjoy on a romantic evening out.

 

~2.5 hours: The citrus has died away completely, leaving behind soft floral tones. The rose is the only one I can easily identify, and is likely the culprit that turned this to soap on me. The blend morphs interestingly, but isn't my kind of scent, so off to the swaps pile it goes.

[AEris]

Rose, citrus, and jasmine.

 

This is very pretty and super-feminine. An interesting rose blend.

 

Soapy.

 

I still like it, though.

 

3.8 out of 5