London

[Meg]

Venerable Victorian Tea Rose… twisted, blackened and emboldened with wickedness.

In the bottle: White tea rose, very sweet.

Wet: The rose goes a bit greener, nearly with a hint of apple.

Drydown: There's a dark, slightly gritty scent alongside the rose that I can't really pinpoint. It smells a bit musty and woody, perhaps like an old spice cabinet.

Overall: The scent of a perfect tea rose, with a crisp apple-like scent and a slightly spicy, mysterious undertone - possibly a hint of myrrh or even tea? It's a relatively straightforward rose scent, rather warmer than other pale rose blends (such as "Lucy's Kiss"), and with a good staying power.

[gingersnapp]

Whoosh!!! Tea rose, tea rose, tea rose.

 

It's only slightly dusty smelling, as though the roses are partially dried. This is strong and has a considerable throw. It's a good thing I like rose.

[klio]

Quick sniffy impressions:

 

Another pretty rose. A bit light and distant--flowers from the cold-case at a florist, wrapped in paper to carry to some pleasant event. A little artificial, as if I can smell the twist-ties and countertop of the florist's. But somehow, kind. If I found this as guests soaps when staying at a friend's I would feel loved and welcome.

[ayelienne]

I'm not a big fan of roses, but this is a very pretty rose. This would make a nice room smell.

[Eunice]

Yay for roses! This isn't a heavy rose. London is very light and dainty. Refined. Another rose scent that confirms my love for rose.

[eviltemptressdq]

umm... hmmm... Not sure WHAT it is that is weird in this blend, but it is NOT smelling great on me. I smelled floral in the bottle! but it got all "twisted", just like the description says, on my arm. Ew... not a fan of this one

[brownbear]

Oooh If you like rose, try this. It is a light, old rose. I really like this tea rose. It's not juicy or sweet, but tea rose is one of my favorites.

[Nekomata]

All tea rose! Smells like my rose garden. Fresh, green and floral!

[lohengrin]

Alas, this rose note does exactly what every other BPAL rose note does on my skin: HI! I'm a Big Red Rose! Watch Me Glisten With Dew!

 

No darkness, no corruption, nothing but fresh garden rose.

[edenssixthday]

London is one of the few BPAL rose scents I don't care for too much. I normally love tea rose. For years it was my #1 favorite scent. However, BPAL's Old London tea rose scent is kind of subtle, and smells a little too fresh-pink-rosey for me. I hate to say it, but I have a Tea Rose perfume that has been my favorite for 16 years now, and when I want the Tea Rose scent, I'll use that perfume, not this BPAL oil.

[Seanan]

First, tea roses. Flowery and frothy, and very strong.

 

Then, as the dry-down began, the scent of black tea and moss began to emerge from under the rose, making it seem aged and somehow mysterious; every time it started to fade back to simple, the other scents would rise up again.

 

Finally, in full dry-down, I got an under-note very much like what I got off Zombi -- clean, loamy earth. Yes, it's yet another perfume that wants to smell like dirt and flowers on me.

 

This was a fantastically complex perfume, and one of the best rose mixes I've encountered yet.

[yellowrose]

Another imp that's touring as part of the General Catalogue swap.

 

Preconceptions: LOVE Beth's roses!

 

In the bottle: plastic and green-y rose. Hmmmm.

 

Wet: Rose.

 

Drying: Rose with a hint of plastic and some green-y component. Not at all like the green of Black Cat, but a green nonetheless.

 

Lovely, as are all of Beth's rose scents, but I've too many at this point to add another. And even they get short shrift for trying to use them all and the other BPAL scents I love.

 

Happy travels imp! Please rest assured that you can come back and hang your plastic cap here anytime.

[cranberry]

Inspired to try my imp by the GC swap.

 

In the imp: artificial rose

 

On the skin, wet: artificial rose, something a little deeper? I can't put my finger on it.

 

On the skin, dry: it’s drying down to a standard tea rose scent. It reminds me of when I was a child and smelling different sprays/perfumes in stores, especially this one where it had all sorts of British products. It seems fairly authentic and singular.

 

Overall: I love the smell of real roses, but other than that, I generally don’t care for rose scents, with Rose Red the exception. This was good, but not for me.

[fairy]

The first 5 minutes of London had me shaking my head thinking it was a "off to the swap pile" imp. But then it transformed into a lovely rosy garden. I'm glad I gave London a chance and didn't wash it off. It needs time to settle.

[urbanruralferal]

I just found this review I had written in October '05, of this my very first BPAL:

 

"Well, this one is not going to work in my house with a man sensitive to overbearing rose. Becasue that is what it is for me: I am back in the suburban phase of my childhood with rose potpourris and cheap perfume. I can find no wickedness in it, unless you count the harsh smell as evil. Giving this away immediately. Other people seem to love it."

 

 

There you have it. FWIW

Edited August 11, 2006 by urbanruralferal

[sofiaviolet]

I wanted so badly to love this. I'm a big fan of roses, and a bigger fan of London. It's my home, no matter where I live.

 

But London's rose is the kind that makes me sneeze. So disappointing.

[minnalavender]

I wanted a rose blend to wear with my new Lush Ring of Roses, so I took all of my GC imps out and sniffed each one. I wanted a strong, assertive rose, not too sweet, with lots of depth to it. The only one that jumped out of the bottle and declared "ROSE" to me was London.

 

On my skin it still retains the full bloom of of a dried rose bouquet, but there's some subtle, deeper floral note underneath that's entirely complimentary. Is that the wickedness? No wonder I love it.

 

Every one of Beth's rose scents is different, and all are amazing! London goes on faint but has good throw, and when layered with other, not as subtle, rose stuff, hangs around for a while. Several of the LE rose blends will always be my favorites, Rose Red and Parlement of Foules being the top two, but I should have purchased a 10 ml of London while they were still available.

 

Maybe I'll just get two 5ml instead.

[Luhtarian]

Like so many roses, London smells of soap as soon as it goes on me, and stays that way. If roses don't do this to you, try it! It smells lovely on my friend's sister.

[thecaitycat]

In the bottle: One word - ROSES

 

Wet on skin: Still roses, but a bit different than when in the bottle. I hesitate to say it's greener, as many other reviewers have said, but it is different.

 

Dry on skin: Still roses! Lovely white tea roses are what come to mind.

 

Verdict: This is something I could wear any day. I adore rose-based scents and this is certainly one of the better ones to me.

[maijasu]

On me, this is soapy, powdery, old-lady rose, simple as that. There are very few rose scents that I can wear, but since this one was frimped to me, I thought I'd give it a try anyway. No luck, so it will be going to a new and more appreciative home.

[Melantha]

That underlying wickedness just didn't do it for me. I don't know what it is, but I couldn't pull any rose out of it at all; just a not terribly pleasant smell.

 

I'll pass.

[gloom bear]

Update: I tried this on again, and wow, I'm blown away. It is very different than the last time I tried it on. It doesn't have the dry dead-rose quality to it at all. It's a really nice rose soliflore. It's nothing like the Perfumers Workshop Tea Rose perfume in case anyone is wondering about that. In fact, it smells a lot like the Mrs. Meyers line of cleaning products in Geranium. Now before you take this as an insult...know that I've just called half the stores on the island looking for anything in this line and came to the conclusion that I was going to have to suck up shipping to Hawaii. I'm definitely getting a bottle of this one in my next order! Hmm...better be safe and get two. I can't say how glad I am that this is GC!

 

Original post: London is all rose alright. It's slightly sweet, and has an element of shadow and dried roses, (as opposed to Rose Red's freshness) but not as dead-rose smelling as Les Fleurs Du Mal. It's nice, and the most rosey of the GC scents. It could be nice on it's own but also as a compliment to some other scents.

Edited September 6, 2007 by gloom & doom bear

[buzz23666]

this is rose. Full stop.

 

wet - dry rose

 

dry - dry rose

 

I can get nothing else here but a true, what I consider to be a "dry" rose. I have some absolutely gorgeous Thai incense that are called Summer Damask Rose and this is exactly what it smells like.

 

There are other rose BPAL scents that I like much better but if you are looking for something that is about as rose as rose is gonna get - this one's for you.

[kwsix]

London was a frimp from the lab, and a very well-timed frimp. The lab frimped me with Euphrosyne in my last order, and I love it so much that I decided to work my way through all of the tea rose blends.

I should also mention that I am a reformed floral-phobe. BPAL florals have broken all of the rules for me.

 

In the imp: Glorious tea rose

 

Wet on my skin: On first application, this smells just like nail polish remover. Which, oddly enough, isn't a bad thing. Keep in mind I also enjoy the smell of gasoline, permanent markers, and hot tar.

 

Drydown: The nail polish remover scent is gone, and London is back to the lovely tea rose I smelled in the imp. But there's still something acidic beneath the tea rose, something sinister and almost poisonous-smelling. Again, that isn't a bad thing. It's like tea rose with intent. I picture a beautiful, delicate lady with a perfect pink and white complexion sitting in a sunny room. She asks you what you think of her rose garden, and as you gaze out the open window she silently slips something evil and deadly into your drink. But then again, I have one heck of a wild imagination.

 

This one stays true throughout the drydown, and has surprisingly more throw and longevity than I expected such a soft floral to have. I really like it, much to my surprise, and my husband likes it too. I won't be wearing this one every day, but I don't think I'll have any problem using the imp and then some.

Edited September 21, 2006 by evilmistressoftoast

[supremegoddessofall]

This is a very faint scent. Rose-ish, but I smell other flowers, too. It's fine, but nothing special, and way too subtle.

 

Score: 2 out of 5