Gwyneth

[grrrlennyl]

Rose otto, tonka, orchid, Calla lily, skin musk, coconut, and Spanish sage.

I just wanted to take a minute to thank the Lab for letting me take part in this. I adore the portrait Jenn did (Yes, that is my hair, but not my boobs.) and the scent that Beth cooked up is just lovely.

At first: A fresh, springtime floral. Rose is dominant, but I can catch a bit of sweet tonka, too.
On: Mostly rose. Very pretty.
5 minutes later: This smells light and sweet on me now. Lovely.
Half an hour later: A gorgeous floral. This is more fo a green, Spring floral than anything heady or even potpourri-ish. Very nice.
3 hours later: A nice combination of lily and sage, with a base of rose.
4 hours later: A smooth, slightly powdery rose scent. I'm getting a tiny bit of coconut and a nice hint of musk.
Overall: Just lovely. If Spring would decide to come and actually stay this year, this would be the perfect scent for it. I guess I'll just have to keep wearing it until that happens.

[shriekingviolet]

Initial Impression:

Floral. Very floral. With just the slightest mossy undercurrent.

 

After Wearing It:

First applied all I smelled is rose, lots of rose with a green undercurrent that I'm guessing was the sage. After a few seconds, the calla lily rode up and then it's all rose and lily. Which smells really heinous on me. Like a combination of the guest soap from my grandmother's house and hair spray. It's so awful that I was tempted to wash it off immediately, but I always try to give every blend a fair shake because you never know how a fragrance will develop until you give it time, so I persevered.

 

Unfortunately things didn't get any better for me. Even after two hours, I couldn't pick up any of the other notes in this blend and what I could smell didn't get any more pleasant. After hour three, I finally gave up and washed it off as the smell was started to give me a headache.

 

Final Thoughts:

Definitely not for me. Not a big surprise as I don't do well with rose and lily, but this was particularly bad on me. None of the other notes were strong enough to overcome their presence. I'm sure this could be lovely on someone who does better with florals, but on me it was a disaster.

[savage_rose]

In the bottle, there's something gently electric about this. Soft, floral, but there's almost a charge to it. On, it starts smelling like soapy mint on me (but I think the mint must some combination of the sage and musk on me). As it dries, I can detect the coconut, and it smells like a sweet, clean rose blend with a hint of other flowers, the coconut, and that electric sagey mint. Very pretty, and one I can't stop sniffing. It's an unusual combination on my skin, but it's lovely and very compelling.

[neuilly]

Lovely rose!!

 

In the beginning I catch a hint of sage but it disappears pretty quickly on me. Instead a soft, spring rose takes over. Pink rose with a hint of freshly cut stem.

 

I'm not a huge rose fan but this is very pretty - on the other hand my mother adores rose scents. I sense a birthday present in her future!

[slave1]

GWYNETH

 

In Bottle: Rose

 

On Skin: It seems almost 90% of scents with rose in them turn to completely rose on me. I had high hopes for this one since I LOVE coconut, skin musk, tonka, orchid, and calla lily. But nope… it is completely amped rose on me. Very sour, very sharp and very making me tear up. Darn it! The sage gives a bit of a green note, it’s herbal feel adding more sharpness. As the scent develops, the rose stays in the front, but I can smell some sweetness behind it, the tonka I think. I don’t smell the coconut at all, not even a hint of it. The skin musk is there, velvety and adding that beautiful “come hitherness” that it always does on me. The other florals are very light and overpowered by the rose on me. It’s pretty, but not me since rose is my mortal enemy. Strong throw and long wearlength.

[ForeverLastcXs]

I seem to have had much the same reaction as slave1. Most scents with rose in them tend to amp the rose like crazy. This one isn't TOO bad, but the rose dominates the other notes here and, unfortunately, this one just isn't for me. It is a very pretty floral in the bottle, however.

[sadtomato]

overpowering rose at first, but it fades after a few minutes and the other notes start to come out more.

there is a nice green scent (sage, i am guessing) and a sweetness that must come from the cocunut.

also the ever intoxicating lilly of the valley makes and appearance and the nice mossy note keeps it all from getting too perfumey and floral.

mmm.

[Nia]

I can't believe that this combination of amazing, unusual ingredients turns into a simple, nice, generic fresh. no coconut, tonka, or sage, just lilly-orchid-rose, more or less in that order. It's nice, but not worth buying.

 

Thanks a lot to ahania for the partial!

[Ina Garten Davita]

Gwyneth hits me with a heady scent memory, she's a melange of all the grown-up lady scents I remember from my childhood, Pond's cold cream, Camay soap, Rose Milk body cream all floating around my head on a rose-colored powder puff. In BPAL-land she reminds me very much of the now discontinued voodoo blend Crucible of Courage.

 

Rose scents that I actually can wear are few and very far between and there is a whole lot of rose going on up in here. Very pretty, quite sophisticated, tons of throw and very long lasting. The tonka is almost as prominent as the rose, the lily and skin musk don't show up until hours later. The coconut and sage don't show up at all.

[LunaLovegood]

Gwyneth: In the bottle it was "yuck" On the skin, well its actually nice. Floraly and powedery at the same time. Great throw the first few hours but after that it fades like crazy.

[ladyver]

in bottle: rose otto, musk and sage

wet on skin: same, though the rose otto is most dominant (it reminds me of RENs rose otto body cream at this stage)

later: the tonka, coconut and musk play a greater role bringing out a yumminess

 

on the one hand it's like you've been a bit naughty out in the garden. on the other, its sophisticated too - i have been happily wearing it to work (in an office)

[filigree_shadow]

Rose otto tends to be good for me, and it's good in this. That combination of rose and calla lily smells particularly sophisticated to me. I think maybe that's partially due to the sage as well. I like the musk with it, and it seems like I can smell the barest hint of coconut.

 

So, mostly rose, but an elegant, musky rose.

[LadyLuckDoubt]

In the Imp

Hmm... what's this? I thought I was going to adore this-- it's just a smudge of dirt and some moss. Mayeb a HINT of florals, but I expected more.

 

On Me

Hey, roses! Roses with a sharpness of something else-- I'm guessing it's that mossy note. And there's a soft, sweet coconut coming through a little-- though the roses, doing what it always does on me-- is amped so high you've really gotta look for other notes.

 

That said, this isn't the same as other rose blends: there's a dark sweetness to this blend-- it's definitely not innocent.

[tarotgirl99]

The sage note on initial application made me almost nauseated...then it pretty much disappeared.

 

All that was left was a new rose. A green, Red-Rosy kinda rose. I'm more of a Peacock Queen Rose kinda girl.

 

Within 10 minutes, everything had disappeared from sniff except the hintiest hint of rose, and I was actually relieved.

[alicia_stardust]

This is definitely rose, but it's not high-pitched or in my face. I think it's because there's a sort of mossy undertone and a hint of the sage that peeks through. Of course, the lily adds its mark and there is a bare hint of skin musk. The tonka, which tends to smell like a deeper and richer vanilla to me, adds a creaminess that combines *so well* with the coconut.

 

I think the rose is most prominent but the tonka-coconut just barely sits behind that while the other notes add some subtle background noise. Sophisticated, feminine.

[Delirium1009]

In bottle/imp: Very strong rose and lily, but mostly lily.

 

Immediately on skin: This is strong, assertive, soapy lily with a little rose. There are hints of a little bit of the musk and coconut, but they’re far in the background of this scent

 

After a little while: The rose seems to come forward a bit more and blends into the lily. This is very perfumey and feminine with the skin musk and coconut barely peeking through. But now there’s also a bit of sage, and it blends in very nicely with the perfumey rose and lily.

 

Overall Impressions: This blend didn’t have nearly as much complexity on my skin as I was expecting from the notes. It’s mostly lily on me, then lily and rose. The other notes barely peek through, but I can lightly smell the skin musk, coconut, and then Spanish sage in the drydown. This is pretty, but not memorable on me.

[tativa]

A nice rose... I didn't get soap out of this one, just a coconut rose.

Elegant and beautiful, but not overly complicated. Its not me though I'm going to try and enable my rose adoring sister with this.

[nekogrrl]

I'm.. shocked.

 

This is the first time I've tried a scent with lily in it and not had it amp up on me to be all LILYLILYLILY.

 

This is a lovely scent. The lily and rose stay in the background and the green scents are what come to the fore. I like this.

[Epiphany]

Ah, lovely.

 

In the imp: A lovely sagey rose

 

Wet: The rose amps up and goes a bit to the dry side of things. Some musk is involved here, and perhaps a bit of the lily.

 

Drying: Aggressive rose with a bit of lily. I'm not impressed at this point, but...

 

After it's been on for...about ten minutes, something shifts. The rose becomes much less aggressive, the coconut, tonka and sage are fleshed out, giving this something of a deliciously sweet herbal quality. The lily softens up the mix. No idea about the orchid, though.

 

In any case...I had dismissed this when I put it on as another one of those old-lady rose scents...and then I found myself sniffing my wrist in wonder. I wore it to work the next day to be sure it wasn't a fluke...and sure enough...Lovely. I especially enjoy the bit of coconut with the rose (and that's not generally a note that I gravitate towards).

[lilirose]

This is an interesting one on me. When I first applied it, I could barely smell it, then it crept up on me and amped and amped and amped, and now I feel like I put on too much.

 

I think it's extremely well-blended. I can smell rose, but it's not overwhelmingly rosy. It's a very, very creamy rose- it reminds me of a solid rose perfume I had as a child. I can also pick out the coconut note quite clearly, and think it's an excellent foil for this particular flavour of rose. The lily is there in a generic walking-through-a-summer-garden kind of way. The musk is also just-about-there. The other notes, I'm not feeling at all.

 

This is very, very summery, and elegant, and again, incredibly well-blended. It smells like it ought to be someone's signature scent. I don't know that I'd wear it often enough to need a 5ml, but I like it enough to keep my decant.

[gchris]

In Vial: Sweet and fresh, soapy

 

Wet: Lemon/lime beverage and roses.

 

Dry: Greenery and roses.

[sookster]

straight sniff from bottle is that lovely creamy coconut from milk moon 2007...

 

oooh! once applied the musk, coconut and sage are insanely gorgeous!!! after a few

minutes rose amps up but gently fades...this is such a beauty....love it!!!!

[hepkitten]

I'm getting ROSE on initial application, and then rose and lily with some sharp greenery. Nice, but definitely not me.

[Saya]

In the Bottle

This smells like straight rose in the bottle. Now I’m worried, some roses turn into the dreaded old lady smell on me.

 

On My Skin

Still getting quite a bit of the rose, the other scents just aren’t coming out. I was excited to see how the tonka, coconut and calla lily would blend with Gwyneth, but they just aren’t there.

 

After a Bit

Rose has mellowed a bit, but I’m still not getting any of the other notes. It’s a very sweet, almost powdery which actually doesn’t smell too bad on me.

Rating 1-5 (5 being the best)

Scent – 2.5 Throw – 3 Longevity - 4

Overall (not an average of above scores) – 2.5

 

Final Thoughts

I really wish the other notes would have come out and play. Why, oh why, must my skin amp rose?!? I liked the way the Gwyneth smells, but it’s pretty boring without something to help balance out the floral. I’ll age the imp to see if aging it will help any, but so far this is not bottle worthy.

[Little Bird]

I've been loving coconut scents lately, so I was super-excited to try Gwyneth. I like bpal's rose, tonka, orchid, and skin musk as well. Unfortunately, I amp the rose in this enough that it overwhelms most of the other notes, and it goes a little powdery on me. Calla lily is one of the lily notes that I can't pull off, because it just goes soapy-fresh on me. The combination of amped up rose and soapy lily just makes me smell like an expensive bar of rose soap, and I'm not really a fan of soapy or clean blends. I can never smell anything like tonka or coconut with this blend, though it's a faint rose soap and smoky sage after several hours.