Lulu

[Yvaine]

LULU
The Diamond Queen. An expert showman and entrepreneur, the eccentric Miss Lulu was the Mistress of Mahogany Hall until 1917. She invested heavily, but not always successfully, and at the end of her career as a madam, wanted to fund production houses for the budding movie industry in California.

The 1934 Mae West film, "the Belle of the Nineties", was loosely based on Lulu's exploits.

Tobacco flower, white gardenia, bergamot, and bourbon geranium.

In the bottle, this is very bergamot and tobacco flower. It reminds me of Tabella minus fig.

On application, it's fairly sharp and reminds me of a good hotel soap. Think Waldorf Towers.

During drydown, it's mellowing and the bergamot softens. The floral notes are mingling more obviously with the bergamot, though it remains a sharp scent.

After about 10 minutes, the bergamot has turned into a soft citrus and no longer dominates. There's a nice blend of sweet white florals to temper it and it's a spicy floral.

Overall: She comes on strong and stays there, but stick with her and she settles down to a strong and sultry southern citrus floral that's never a background scent.

[het4377]

In the Imp: O HAI GARDENIA! Pretty, but really only getting a singular floral from this.

 

Wet: bitter, very nice, expensive floral soap. That is all.

 

Dry: okay, the soapyness subsides, but not entirely. The florals are blending together into a homogenous generic blend of dry bitter florals. It's not too strong, nor is there much throw to the blend.

 

Overall: 3 out of 5

On my skin, this is really an unfortunate blend, but I've got a history of similar experiences with other heavilly floral (and specifically, gardenia) blends, so I tried this in a scent locket as well. The result? Gorgeous sweet gardenia awesomness.

 

If You Like This, Try: Tissue, Marae, The Gaoler's Daughter, Eternal, The Hanging Garden,

[angelicruin]

Very sharp gardenia to start. This one turns to soap scent on my skin in less than 2 minutes and remains that way through dry down.

[zankoku_zen]

I was most excited about the geranium, but I get mostly gardenia. The geranium makes an appearance in the drydown, but way later.

 

Like way way way later.

 

Pass.

 

ETA: The Lulu prototype does not have gardenia. It has tobacco flower, a touch of bergamot or lemon perhaps and something else. It goes a little soapy on me but VASTLY better than the released version for me.

Edited September 23, 2010 by zankoku_zen

[ami226]

On the skin: Wow, this is strong floral.

 

Drydown: Ugh, it is so strong and I only put on a dab. The florals are giving me a headache. On the very end of the drydown phase I can definitely smell the tobacco flower. Icky. I think it is the gardenia though that started the headache. Ouch.

[papermaker]

In the decant this is bergamot and tobacco flower. Once on there is a general soapiness that takes over. As thye bergamot dries, and more of a soft citrus the gardenia makes its appearance.There is no identifyable tobacco flower. Once dry there is a mix of florals. Not bad but nit my style under noral circumstances.

[gwynethr]

I don't know what to think of this one. I love gardenia and don't mind it being in my face, but this one isn't rounded, it feels very sharp and strident. Possibly it's the geranium note making it that way, I'm so terrible with picking things out. Or maybe it's the bergamot, not a death note but definitely not a favorite. I think I will let this one sit for a while and see what it's like a bit later. I feel like it should be wonderful, and when I catch the gentler whiff of gardenia after it's been on for a while, I can almost smell something I like, but it's not right there yet.

[TrailerTrashPrincess]

oh, without the gardenia this would be beautiful!

[Little Bird]

Lulu is a very clean, dry, sharp smelling floral on me. I get lots of tobacco flower, and so it reminds me of The Lady on the Grey at first. As it dries down, it just gets sharper and soapier on me. I'll have to agree with what a lot of reviewers have already said - Lulu is like a fancy, sharp, expensive floral hotel soap. It's a headache in a bottle for me. It's too sharp, too perfumey, and too soapy for me to handle.

[milo]

Oh, Lulu, your promise of Tobacco Flower lured me to your charms, but all I get is damn gardenia. Gardenia really does love me, and drowns anything else that may have come out. Oh well.

[Schmoozy]

 

 

Clean crisp gardenia with a little spiciness from the tobacco flower and bergamot. It is a very loud blend, and honestly a small dab will do. Anything more and you'll be drowning in LuLu's scent.

[tarotgirl99]

In the imp, Lulu smelt wonderful but on me, it seemed like she had some Ylang Ylang up her sleeve. On me, BPAL's Ylang Ylang = stagnant flower water stench. I am thinking it's the tobacco flower (the one I love in Dia), but this just does not work a little. The time has come for short last looks, my friend.

[filigree_shadow]

Very perfumey. Like something my mom used to wear in the 70s. Before I checked the notes I thought maybe it had opium poppy in it or something -- that's how perfumey it smells on me. It kind of smells like a metallic floral. The gardenia comes out when it's dry, but for me that's not really a plus.

[musichappens]

Oh gardenia, how I love thee! This seems to be the only floral scent that I am getting from this blend, but that's I'm totally cool with that. It's starts out very sharp and heady, but it calms down considerably as it dries. Just like Flora, this is going to be perfect for springtime ... *adds bottle to list*

Edited December 23, 2009 by musichappens

[Eucatastrophe]

I wanted so much to love this, but alas. While wet I just get a floral punch, but within a few minutes it morphs into a very strong aquatic soap. Oh, well.

[Leopard403]

Oooh, Lulu is bright and fresh (and yes, quite soapy), just like my beloved Dia. Lots of that sparkly tobacco flower up front, but nicely grounded by the other notes on the drydown.

[Thursdae]

Lulu started out brash, and I suspected rose, which can sometimes be soapy on me. In a short time (about ten minutes), the blend mellowed into sweet white florals gently brushed by bergamot's uplifting citrus fruit. Lulu caught me all unsuspecting and converted me!

[theseagrows]

in the vial this is a white, soapy floral, but i kind of like that. what can i say, i am a sometimes-floral gal. on my skin i get tobacco, gardenia and something fresh-almost herbal-minty (but not as sweet as mint)...maybe the geranium? i like this-it's not like anything i've tried by bpal, however i don't think i could really wear it on a day to day basis. i guess i wish it was more tobacco flower-gardenia on me-like a rich, sensual floral, but that's not really how it turns out on my skin at all.

 

[Tanya]

The District is becoming one of my favorite collections. I previously ordered Emma and tried the others today at the will-call. This scent is really lovely. It does smell like expensive soap; underline expensive and clean. I love it.

[laslibres]

Gardenia and geranium! I wasn't expecting anything this fresh and clean from The District, and I dig it. On me, the bergamot comes out, and something that might be tobacco flower, but I haven't tried that before so I'm not sure...it's kinda like white flowers with a bit more smokiness and woodsiness to it. Okay, so tobacco _flower_ I can handle, just not tobacco itself. The scent goes through a brief phase of AMPED BERGAMOT on me, and that's a little disturbing, but the bergamot settles down and the florals come back.

 

This is very fresh and dewy and floral, and I sometimes really like scents like that when I'm in the mood for them. And then there's the tobacco flower makes it a bit deeper and more complex. This scent is very interesting! I like it a lot, I don't know if I like it enough for a bottle, but it's quite good.

[crebbsgirl]

Ok, in the wet and early drying stages, this totally reminded me of walking into the Lush store at the mall. It's the smell of the whole Lush store, condensed and on my wrists. The gardenia is of course totally dominating the blend, and the bergamot is underneath, adding some citrussy depth. As it continues to dry, the tobacco flower comes out a little more as does the geranium. This has a surprisingly clean smell to it. The end result after about two hours is rather soapy on me though. So that's unfortunate.

[Dark Alice]

What the hell? This is not supposed to work on me. Gardenia and I are not friends. We hate each other with a passion that won't die. But in this..with the bergamot and geranium and tobacco flower...it turns it a juicy, luscious floral. A little definitely goes a long way and it is beautiful. I am so glad I got this imp! It's a keeper!

[Jammies]

On me, this is just a gorgeous floral, and smells exactly like Lush's The Olive Branch without the orange. I'm definitely getting the tobacco flower and the gardenia, but no noticeable geranium.

 

It is very strong, so I'm really debating whether I need a bottle, because I have a feeling my decant will last a lonnnnnnnnnng time.

[mymymai]

In the bottle: Heavy gardenia with a hint of bergamot - a little overly flower, but I'm eager to apply it.

Wet: I'm smelling more bergamot with with gardenia following right behind, perhaps tempered by some geranium + a little soapiness.

Dry (1 hour): Heavy gardenia, tempered by tobacco flower and bergamot. I'm not smelling bourbon or geranium though.

Edited January 29, 2011 by Shollin
Removed Lab description

[moon_lemming]

I got a decant of Lulu from a very generous seller, as a freebie. I would never have picked it out myself because of the gardenia, which usually amps to an unholy level on me.

 

In the imp, Lulu is evenly gardenia and bergamot to my nose; on my skin, however, the gardenia amps and takes over the blend. As it dries the gardenia monster backs off and I can smell a tiny bit of a citrus in there, but it's mostly a blend of a few different florals that I can't pick out, and it has a weird edge to it (thanks to chemistry, I'm sure) that I don't like. Not for me.