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The Oval Portrait

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"She was a maiden of rarest beauty, and not more lovely than full of glee. And evil was the hour when she saw, and loved, and wedded the painter. He, passionate, studious, austere, and having already a bride in his Art; she a maiden of rarest beauty, and not more lovely than full of glee; all light and smiles, and frolicsome as the young fawn; loving and cherishing all things; hating only the Art which was her rival; dreading only the pallet and brushes and other untoward instruments which deprived her of the countenance of her lover. It was thus a terrible thing for this lady to hear the painter speak of his desire to pourtray even his young bride. But she was humble and obedient, and sat meekly for many weeks in the dark, high turret-chamber where the light dripped upon the pale canvas only from overhead. But he, the painter, took glory in his work, which went on from hour to hour, and from day to day. And be was a passionate, and wild, and moody man, who became lost in reveries; so that he would not see that the light which fell so ghastly in that lone turret withered the health and the spirits of his bride, who pined visibly to all but him. Yet she smiled on and still on, uncomplainingly, because she saw that the painter (who had high renown) took a fervid and burning pleasure in his task, and wrought day and night to depict her who so loved him, yet who grew daily more dispirited and weak. And in sooth some who beheld the portrait spoke of its resemblance in low words, as of a mighty marvel, and a proof not less of the power of the painter than of his deep love for her whom he depicted so surpassingly well. But at length, as the labor drew nearer to its conclusion, there were admitted none into the turret; for the painter had grown wild with the ardor of his work, and turned his eyes from canvas merely, even to regard the countenance of his wife. And he would not see that the tints which he spread upon the canvas were drawn from the cheeks of her who sate beside him. And when many weeks bad passed, and but little remained to do, save one brush upon the mouth and one tint upon the eye, the spirit of the lady again flickered up as the flame within the socket of the lamp. And then the brush was given, and then the tint was placed; and, for one moment, the painter stood entranced before the work which he had wrought; but in the next, while he yet gazed, he grew tremulous and very pallid, and aghast, and crying with a loud voice, 'This is indeed Life itself!' turned suddenly to regard his beloved: -- She was dead!

Evil was the hour that she saw, and loved, the painter. Gentle beauty and innocent devotion: honeysuckle, carnation, stargazer lily, bluebonnet, vanilla musk, and rice flower.


Eek, I've never posted the first review before and I'm not as eloquent as some. Ah well. The first sniff was just a hint of floral. Upon application, all 5 florals came out in strength. As it dried, the scent stayed true, but I never did get a whiff of the vanilla musk, unfortunately. It may not go this way for everyone, as my skin amps florals, and this one has a lot :P

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I agree with the previous reviewer, but my skin amped the vanilla musk and the florals equally until the dried scent was very reminiscent of Pink Moon 2007 plus a hefty shot of Tiger Lily. For about thirty minutes, this is really soft, smooth, warm and pretty but further into the drydown, a soapy note appears. Still, it's worth it for that awesome thirty minutes!

Edited by GypsyRoseRed

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sniffed from the bottle: smells like Captain Crunch...or the milk leftover after you've eaten all the cereal. (yeah. i know, it doesn't make any sense to me, either.)

 

on skin: ah, no more breakfast cereal. this quickly becomes a lovely soft floral - none of the notes really try to take over and the vanilla musk gives them all a nice solid base to build on.

the carnation isn't bitter or peppery, the rice flower isn't overpowering, the lily is soft but not at all powdery and the honeysuckle gives just the right amount of sweet.

 

i can see why this is sold out, but it makes me sad because i think there are a lot of BPAL addicts that might really like this one. including me.

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this is a very bright floral; girly, sunny and innocent. it's got the bright cheeriness of et lux fuit, though i don't know if they share any notes. i'm not sure which flower is prominent, but i know it is not the carnation - it's actually a little soapy, which i think could be the lily. i think honeysuckle, lily and bluebonnet are what i'm smelling, and maybe a hint of the vanilla musk which makes it just a little sexy and luscious. the carnation is hiding, and the rice flower is blended right in there. this isn't a particularly mysterious scent, it seems full of brightness and light and is ultra-feminine. there's something "juicy" about this floral, and i don't find it overwhelming. i like it a lot!

 

eta: i kept thinking this smells a lot like "berenice". when i went to look at berenice's notes, i see they both have stargazer lily - this, to me, is the prominent note in oval portrait, and berenice - especially on the drydown. and it lasts!

Edited by AliBabble

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In bottle/imp: Sweet musk with florals and an aquatic undertone.

 

Immediately on skin: Right out of the bottle and wet on my skin, this smells like the air in a museum I used to go to as a child. It’s a very lofty scent with cool floral notes and sweet vanilla musk. It has an aquatic feel to it as well.

 

After a few minutes: So pretty and cool! This has a lot of floral notes in it, but they are very distinctive. The carnation and bluebonnet are the main flowers, with the honeysuckle and lily coming in behind. The florals are STRONG, but the vanilla musk blends in nicely. It is slightly powdery, but in a very fresh way.

 

Overall Impressions: This is a very pretty, feminine floral scent. The flowers are very strong in this, and almost sharp and powdery. But the vanilla musk blends in nicely and sweetens it just enough to make it very intoxicating. This blend is gorgeous… no wonder it sold out first!

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Wet: Lilies, strong lily.

 

Dry: as it dries, I can smell the vanilla musk. This is just gorgeous; the vanilla musk mixes wonderfully with the florals. I think AliBabble nailed it – this also reminds me of Berenice, but sweeter and more floral, and I think it’s the stargazer lily. I love that note and it is strong here. On me, this oil is a mix between the vanilla musk and the stargazer lily. I can’t really smell any of the other notes.

In sum: Absolutely gorgeous, I’m so glad that I have a bottle.

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If I could, I would give GRR a hug and buy her a beer (or her drink of choice :P) for doing a Will-Call pick up of this bottle for me. This is beautiful and everything I hoped it would be.

 

It's a sweet and beautiful floral on me. Wet, I get vanilla, carnation, lilies, honeysuckle . . . the Oval Portrait is girly floral, without going overboard. Without making me go WHOAH!, it settles in quite beautifully and as it dries, all of the notes just blend, blend, blend so that I can no longer pick out a single one. In some ways, it reminds me of a mellow combination of Pink Moon 2007 and Tamamo-No-Mae (I suspect it's the carnation and rice flower doing lovely things together) - which is a very good association and combination as I adore both of those blends.

 

I am SO glad I have a bottle of this. Floral's aren't really my thing in the winter, but I can't wait to pull this out in the warmer months. I suspect it will be a new favorite once the sun comes back . . .

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Well, my BPAL education must be teaching me something, because my first thought was "rice powder". Close enough :P. My second thought was, "wait, rice milk? And cereal?" In the bottle it has that wholesome starchy smell of dry goods and breakfast pantries in days of yore. On, the flowers start emerging, and it's really lovely. It's almost like a concert, each flower taking equal time and attention, playing in harmony together. This smells very elegant to me, and just a little cold. Not wintry cold, but haughty. Something dried and forgotten, but proud.

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When I first put this on, it smells powerfully of honeysuckle--this flower does tend to overwhelm other notes in a blend. But the honeysuckle dies away in a minute or two and makes way for a lighter, more subtle floral. Ths is a very feminine scent, and gives a feeling of velvet draperies and gilt candleabra. It's like Swan Maiden's more sophisticated sister.

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in the bottle it smells like a mish-mash of florals with a hint of something foody (maybe rice flower?) on my skin it blossoms into a beautifully blended floral. i enjoy the scent for about 20-30 minutes, as a nice, sweet, feminine floral. soon however, the scent fades and all i am left with is a generic white floral scent...probably honeysuckle and lily? i wish the mid-phase lasted on my skin, but alas it does not.

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Fragile, pale lily, sweetened by the warm vanilla musk (which luckly is not overly sweet), and surrounded by a chorus of delicate flowers: it is certainly a fair young lady of transparent fingers and soft, clear voice. Slightly melancholic: this is not the girl when she was still full of glee.

 

It reminds me of the honeyed lilies of Al-Araaf, but it is softer, somehow "milkier", and dreamier. So adorable, it is a pity this is a LE, because I bet so much people would love it.

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My first reaction to this is rice...milk...vanilla? It certainly smells like a combination of vanilla and milk, which sounds nauseating to me, but this does smell lovely on my skin. There's a bit of honeysuckle in the back, and honeysuckle is one of my favorite florals. This is a golden scent to me, and actually strikes me as being very happy in a serene sense. Honestly, this reminds me a ton of Morocco, so perhaps the carnation in this blend is stronger than I'm giving it credit for. I'm actually happy that I figured out what this reminds me of, and that this is lighter on my skin that Morocco, because that means I don't have to find a bottle. However, I agree with many of the other reviewers; this one is probably going to be very popular. It is a slightly milkier/creamier floral than Morocco.

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The Oval Portrait – This is just gorgeous! The honeysuckle and stargazer lily are the strongest notes on me. I don’t really detect the vanilla musk, and I don’t know what bluebonnet smells like, but something’s going soapy on me, and I think it’s the carnation. I used to really enjoy carnation, but for the past year or so, it doesn’t work so well with my skin. If it weren’t for that hint of soapiness, this would be a gorgeous floral. I really can’t wear it, which is quite sad because it opens up so pretty before the soapy drydown.

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Origin: decant from eviltemptressdq's circle

 

Initial Thoughts: I love honeysuckle with a passion. I like how stargazer lily often plays on my skin. I love vanilla musk. Had to try this.

 

Caveat: I'm doing this with a decant that had a frimp of Bastet leak a bit on it and with a badly stuffed nose. Because I just can't wait.

 

In the Bottle: I'm getting clobbered with the vanilla musk at first, then I can pick out others. I can definitely notice the rice flower.

 

Wet: I'm getting heavy carnation and something that I think is the rice flower...I hope it's not the stargazer lily doing that strange airy almost ozone-y thing.

 

Drydown: I get a bit more of the honeysuckle now, but there's still that persistent waft of ozone every once in a while.

 

Verdict: Again, I need to try this again when I'm not dealing with a handicapped nose.

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At the beginning, it was very much like Faery Market, a little less foody, and slightly softer.

 

It retains the same sort of 'ethereal' and otherworld character of Faery Market with the gentle swirling of smells, but it is slightly more powdery.

 

Very lovely.

 

ETA: Def. less foody, and I can smell the vanilla flower in this alot more. It's a nice soft and pleasant vanilla, so I think I'll keep my decant. And maybe think about getting more...

Edited by zankoku_zen

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In imp, this is just sickly sweet.

 

On my skin, there's the brightness of the honeysuckle, and the lily lends a strange powder-y ness to it.

 

When it's dry, it's sharp, traditional - not quite what I like.

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This was almost too stuffy when I first applied it. It reminded me of something dusty and clouded. I assume it is the honeysuckle because it can sometimes do that to me. None of the notes in particular were standing out.

 

After about thirty minutes it finally settled down and the dry dustiness disappeared. The vanilla musk began to show, but it wasn't a strong or overwhelming vanilla. More of a pale sweetness with something powdery. The florals stayed very subdued. Even the carnation, which really amps on my skin, has stayed soft. It only adds a little of that peppery fragrance that I associate with carnations.

 

I did like this better when it faded, but it still wasn't as great or as memorable on me as I was hoping. I'm going to put this one aside and age it for awhile and hopefully that will make a difference.

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In the bottle: sugary sweet. I can definitely tell there's honeysuckle in this, but the other notes lend it heft and depth.

 

Wet: I may or may not be noticing a pattern here - my skin tends to amp musk notes when they first go on.

 

Dry: Okay, the muskiness and the sugariness have decided to play nice now. Every so often I get a whiff of perfume when I'm moving my arms around - this scent has a deceptively light throw.

 

Fadeout: I'm definitely getting more and more vanilla as time goes on. The scent is sweetening and mellowing. Very, very nice!

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My first impression is HELLO FLOWERS! Heh. It's almost overwhelmingly floral. There's an undernote of something tangy that makes the corners of my mouth pucker, something sharp and almost citrus-y. That fades out at about the same time the flowers begin to be tempered by the musk. I don't get much vanilla out of it, though I normally amp vanilla; it smells more like a skin musk on me. This is very feminine and adult, not like my normal foody inclinations but very wearable and pretty. I'm not sure I could use an entire bottle of this, but I might get another imp or two of it.

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Thanks to quikslvr, I got to sniff this lovely oil! I didn't buy The Oval Portrait because I'm not a floral girl, but oh oh, I should have. It is just so nice. The florals remind me strongly of those in Et Lux Fuit, except without that really strong, sharp one. These are beautiful, wearable florals, not sweet, not spicy, not strong, just... delicate and gentle. As the oil dries, they linger and then the vanilla musk appears and gradually takes over. Really, really nice.

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When my bottle of The Oval Portrait originally arrived from Dark Delicacies, I wasn't sure if I was going to like it (and that disappointed me a little bit - I had :P with delight when I saw the description for this one).

 

So today I was going through my bottles, culling a few, and tried it again to decide if it was going to stay or go. And within 30 seconds :D a resounding "YES!" was heard throughout the land.

 

There are many bottles that arrive from their travels, still fresh and new from the Lab, that really need to sit in a dark place for a few weeks or more and just calm down. The Oval Portrait was definitely one of them for me. Not a hint of the sharpness that I got when I first tried it - this is a sweet, rich vanilla with layers of flowers on top, most noticeably honeysuckle (which is a fantastic companion for vanilla! I love this combination.)

 

The Oval Portrait reminds me a bit of Victoria - on me, it's Victoria Leaves Wall and Visits New Orleans. She leaves her tea roses behind and wraps herself in honeysuckle and the result is just delightful. I love it.

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This has a traditional floral scent on me, without smelling cheap or insanely sharp. It's still a bit sharp going on, but it doesn't give me that overwhelming department store perfoom feeling. The Oval Portrait is a bit musky on me, in a cool and powdery sort of way. Sweet florals, a touch of almost citrussy sharpness from somewhere, and a base of powdery musk. This strikes me as a very dry smelling blend. I'm especially bad at describing floral scents, and the best my mind can come up with here is that this smells like a very adult blend of powdery, musk-touched florals. It's not as sweet or natural smelling as I like my flowery blends to be. It loses it's odd citrus twang and some sharpness after a while, which I appreciate. I don't love this, but I also don't hate it...

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A lovely, floral vanilla musk! The vanilla musk is the most prominant note; the most prominant floral notes are the honeysuckle and stargazer lily.

 

This is a very soft, pretty, innocent, yet "traditional" scent. Beautiful =)

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The first time I wore this, I put it down as a like and went on with all my testings. I noted next to it "strong floral", and just left it at that.

now I've decided to give it another go, and on my first sniff I can't tell you how wrong I was. this is a beautiful floral. When it dried down the honeysuckle and lilly come out most predominately on me, but the other florals are in the background somewhere, smoothing everything together. I must say I do LOVE this scent now. I hope I'm not too late to get another bottle!

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Mmm, this does it for me :D I get honeysuckle, stargazer lily and vanilla musk predominately. It is a sensuous, sexy floral, which is one of the very best things in the world to me. I agree with an impression of Fairy Market for its ephemeral factor. Gotta get a bottle.

 

ADDED Dec. 22:

 

This scent is a thing apart. I think it's the vanilla musk and honeysuckle playing fantastically together on my skin, with just a touch of that stargazer lily. It's quite reminiscent of The Atrocious Attic, as some have mentioned, but there is an extra dimension to it. An expansion on the mansion, yo. Back when I was trying to decide which I wanted more, I tried out this and the Attic on my boss, one on the left hand and one on the right, in an effort to secure an uninformed opinion. He picked the Portrait. Like I said, it has that something. Femininity at The Ritz. :P

 

Edited to add that this is the new NEW review, ten months later. Apparently, I've already reviewed this. Mods, please take the time to merge this post with the other one.

Edited by Shollin

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