La Belle Dame Sans Merci

[faded_stranger]

The name translates to “the beautiful woman without mercy”, and is the title of an old French court poem that was later revamped by John Keats. A bewitching, seductive scent, rife with mystery and foreboding.

La Belle Dame Sans Merci is very floral, very strong, very green, and very forceful. It has a lot of throw and a lot of staying power--almost too much. I put it on when I first got up in the morning, and sixteen hours and several hundred miles later, my boyfriend mentioned that he liked my perfume. Normally I'd appreciate that, but unfortunately something in this scent carries the connotation of headaches for me.

[melrose]

In imp, and on, wet: Sweet orange and some extremely sweet white flower.

 

Near drydown: Oh, no, there's a salty aquatic note underneath that doesn't mix with the sweet florals and my skin chemistry AT ALL.

 

Far drydown: Aquatic note, overwhelming sweet florals and chemicals. I waited it out and have a raging headache as a result.

 

My worst BPAL experience - sure do wish the notes were listed.

[maribouquet]

When wet this is an unapologetically green floral with a strongly powdery undertone.

 

On me it dries down to a clean, slightly rounder/warmer floral. I like it, but have to cut it with almond oil and use it as a moisturizer after showering - that way it's not too strong and can envelop me in a gentler fashion.

 

The name is perfect - this scent is very bright, clean and definitely without mercy. It's like sunlight coming through from behind a crisply opened window shade when you first wake up - it's gorgeous, but can hit you right between the eyes if you're not prepared for it.

[supremegoddessofall]

Vanilla with a hint of spice and a hint of floral.

[Keslynn]

In the bottle, this is a floral with something sharp.

 

On my skin, SOAP! As someone else mentioned, it smells just like Ivory soap. I'm getting taken back to bathtimes at my grandparents' house when I was a kid. They only ever used Ivory, and then they only ever used Irish Spring. I missed the Ivory. Anyway, I'm liking the walk down memory lane, but this soapy smell isn't something I really want to wear as perfume.

 

Later, the soap smell tones down significantly, slowly being overcome by a rosy rich floral. I like this smell. It's grownup without being old lady.

 

Verdict: Not sure how much I'll wear it. I like the floral but I could do without the initial soap explosion.

[sophie-au]

I have a special fondness for "the beautiful lady without mercy" even though she doesn't suit me at all, because LBDSM was the very first BPAL scent I tried. At the time, almost three years ago, I received it in a swap from a fellow fragrance aficionado at MakeUpAlley.

 

People at MUA had "discovered" BPAL around 2004-2005 and like many other MUAers, I was curious to try BPAL for myself, but the long delay in international shipping time (at that point in time) put me off. So I was delighted when I received LBDSM as an extra. My initial impression was "meh - white floral" and I put it aside, not particularly impressed. (A few months later, the person who was to become my BPAL enabler sold me a bottle of Whitechapel, which is still my first love, and I became totally hooked, but that's another story...)

 

I'm trying to push myself to review scents rather than just lurking like I have for the past two years, so La Belle was revisited this evening.

 

On reflection, my initial impression of a white floral is correct, but it's so much more than that. It's a white floral bouquet on a bed of greenery with maybe more beyond that. I'm guessing there's neroli in here, tea roses and perhaps linden blossom and maybe even galbanum. I wish I was more experienced in identifying individual notes to be sure.

 

In theory, I love green fragrances like LBDSM, Vent Vert, Ivoire, Ma Griffe and Chanel No. 19. But in practise, they don't seem to mesh well with my chemistry (usually too soapy or powdery) or my personality (they're way too formal). I guess La Belle Dame Sans Merci is for the elegant woman I wish I was, but clearly am not. The idealised me, as it were.

 

But no matter, I can still enjoy the poem, and the imp can return to my collection as a fond reminder of how I came to discover the joys of BPAL and all you wonderful folks too.

[LadyMedb]

For this one, I get roses, a lot of greenery, and just general sharpness. This is one of those classical Victorian scents that Beth does that smell really well-composed, but often go very sharp on me. Although the notes are all well-defined and interesting, it is just a little much.

 

I prefer the slight variations on these ingredients in the Illyria line.

Edited March 1, 2007 by LadyMedb

[dreadeddragon]

In the bottle: A very green floral. I can't distinguish anything in particular

 

First on: Definite rose and it smells like a hint of fresh lemon rind as well. I can smell what people have said is the soapy scent too.

 

Drydown: It's definitely still rose & lemony, but it's slightly soapy on top.

 

Overall: I'll keep the imp, but definitely won't need a bottle. Too bad, it started out so nicely.

[Teggy]

Huh....for a scent designed for a "belle dame" this is rather masculine on me. I find it to be more on a musky/woody side. Then again, Juliet smelled like wintergreen life savers on me so go figure!

[Limelight]

It's the magical scent of pissed-on wildflowers! Jeebus, this is bad. At least I don't have a headache.

 

The strange-ass aquatic/powdery note that I find here and in a couple other scents has just never worked on me. BTW, for the sake of posterity, a group of guys in high school dedicated this poem to moi.

[tinyvulture]

sharp greenery blended with powdery florals. i believe i smell rose and orchid. i do find it a little soapy. a serious, even haughty scent… there’s nothing playful about it. but the bitter herbal green quality softens and there’s a gentle sweetness. pretty but not my cup of tea.

[Vampire Sass]

In the Bottle: Sharp, bitter, chemical.

 

Wet on Skin: Less bitter, but still sharp.

 

Dry on Skin: Much sweeter, green but with an edge of sharpness. Floral notes like white lilac.

 

Longterm: The very strong initial scent fades to a beautiful green with white. Plant notes mix with floral and are soft, feminine with an edge of steel.

 

This one really surprised me. Initially it was awful, but once it has a little time on my skin it's absolutely wonderful. I'm not sure it's one I would wear every day, but I think there are certain occasions that it would be perfect for. When I want to feel pretty, but ready to kick some ass.

[Miseraya]

In the imp: This must have musk in it, because my initial reaction to it is "80's".

 

On the wrist: Ivy. Ivy and must be musk, has to be.

 

Drydown: Roses and ivy and musk. More obviously "perfume" than most BPAL scents. It has quite a bit of herbal to it, but not enough to drown out the scent of roses and musk.

 

Not me, worked with my chemistry, surprisingly, but not me.

[Ajila]

In the bottle – Lush, wet roses and something green

 

Wet on me – Soft sweet roses

 

Dry on me – Old fashioned roses, with and almost treacle-like sweetness

 

Overall – Nice enough, but not something that I’d wear

[lilirose]

I really, really wanted this one to work for me.

 

But it didn't.

 

On me, it smelled exactly like pipe tobacco. It was very, very strong and masculine. My husband even said "That smells like it should be on an old man". I mentioned that it reminded me of pipe tobacco and he said "Yes, that's it exactly!"

 

I tried to leave it on for a while to see if it would fade to something more tolerable. I lasted about an hour before I had to go wash it off because I was getting nauseated. It wouldn't wash off entirely, even with scrubbing- I was stuck with it until I showered the next morning.

 

I must have very odd body chemistry- I'm surprised that nobody else got "tobacco" from it at all. I guess this will be my first swap.

[aquazoo]

Starts as a subtle floral. Definitely roses coming up. Violets, too. Very pretty.

[pugmom]

Interesting that there is quite a lot of variation in the descriptions.

This one doesn't really morph on me at all - starts extremely strong soapy floral (I am guessing lily, because thats what it does on me), and over 3 hours later, I am still getting the same thing. Unfortunately I am not getting much of anything besides lily.

 

Into the swap box.

[Sistinas]

vial~ floral, green herbal. The scent is very remniscient of some voodoo blends I have tried.

 

wet~ On my skin, after initial application, the scent has not changed much yet. I think the mystery for me in this fragrance is trying to figure out the seperate notes. I am not doing a good job determining this. The scent is still floral, very light, with the herbal scent fading it is not as biting as it was earlier in the vial. There is rose and it is starting to bloom more, but it refuses to take dominance of this fragrance.

 

drying~ Twenty minutes later , the scent is still there, still floral with that touch of herbal and it does not seem to have much throw.

 

dry~ The scent does not change much, but on my skin it is long lasting. Unfortunately it is a scent that does not call out to me. On a scale of 1 to 5, I would give it a 2.

[smillaraaq]

I had really high hopes for this one because I love the Keats poem...but alas, on my skin there's nothing remotely beautiful or seductive about it! It is pretty merciless, though...

 

In the bottle: sharp, bitter citrus. Wet: that same sharp citrus note, maybe a hint of a very crisp lavender or some other sharp green herbal scent around the edges, but absolutely nothing sweet to round and soften the sharp edges. I'm not getting any of the roses or softer floral notes other reviewers have mentioned. Drydown: the green/crisp notes fade, the citrus starts to lose the harshest of its edges...but then it begins to turn to soap. It's not quite as horrible as what Embalming Fluid or to a lesser extent Shanghai turned to on my skin, but it's still not very nice, either. Something in these citrusy blends doesn't like me very much, and that feeling is mutual. This one had a fair bit of staying power on my skin, too -- the next morning there was still a hint of citrusy-soapiness clinging to my wrist. Such a shame that a scent that lingers so well isn't anything I actually want to have lingering. Oh well, off to the swap pile with this one.

[Salsa Shark]

In the imp this was a sharp, sweet floral smell which blossomed into a beautiful mix of citrus and green plants when first applied. There was a strong powdery undertone which made my nose tickle a bit if I inhaled too deeply, but thats the risk one runs if you keep your wrist glued to your nose when testing BPALs

 

Then the floral notes start to come out more, and there's a suspicious hint of rose, although at this point it adds to the blend rather than stands out as a rose scent, and a creeping of Lily. Unfortunately the lily note starts to turn loud and soapy, which generally means Lily of the Valley which does't like me as other lillies do. But hey, it drowns out the sour powder that the rose has morphed into.

 

This would be an absolute favourite if only I could keep that first quarter of an hour. Definitely can't wear it, but it's certainly worth holding onto the imp for scent locket testing.

[dorothy humbird]

I do think it's interesting that we have such varied descriptions in our reviews... if only we had a notes list, we could all prove how good we are at detecting musk! (Or tobacco, or oude, or champaca... etc.)

 

 

Anyway, on me, La Belle Dame Sans Merci smells much like a particular line (Camille's?) of lotions and scented bodycare products, particularly their Rose scent. Having worked in a flower shop for four years, and having dethorned approximately thousands of roses during that time, I can say that there are definitely some varieties of roses that smell exactly like this. Particularly the candy-striped ones come to mind.

 

Aside from "tea rose" and "green" I will say that this smells clean, heady, and fresh. It's sweet, and not at all dry to my nose, at least on my skin. I wasn't expecting to like this blend at all (got it as a frimp from the lab - thanks guys!) but I will be holding on to my imp for a while... this may make a delightful spring scent.

[Delirium1009]

In bottle/imp: Powdery, bitter, dry floral with strong herbs.

 

Immediately on skin: This is very powdery and dry. The scent is bitter and not sweet in the slightest. It’s a green scent with a sharp edge.

 

After a few minutes: This is very cool, powdery, and dry. There’s this hint of something in it that reminds me of uncooked peeled potatoes… it’s a little earthy and starchy. The herbal/green feel is still there, but it’s lightened up a little.

 

Overall Impressions: I really don’t like this… it’s light and has that weird raw potato note. It’s hard to know exactly what it is that’s doing it, since the notes aren’t listed. The green or herbal notes might be nice on some people, but not on me.

[SarahScent44]

In the imp, this is light, almost sharp - there aren't any recognizable notes that I can pick up.

 

On, it expands and gets a touch warmer - I feel like there are some light florals here, maybe?

 

Once it dries, it's very strong - very much like what I associate "traditional" perfume with.

 

The wet stage was the nicest; but there wasn't anything that special for me in this one; I'll be passing it along to someone else.

[hkhm]

imp: a crisp, green floral with a hint of earthiness.

 

wet: this must have rose in it beacuse it's turning soapy almost instantly.

 

dry: soapy rose disaster. oh well.

[Apple]

I received La Belle Dame Sans Merci as a generous extra in a swap. I didn't find this to be a green scent, nor did I detect any rose (which is good, because the other two rose scents I've tried both turned into ammonia on me). To me, this was a soapy white floral: Lily of the Valley and/or gardenia. It started out very floral, became herbal briefly, and then returned to floral and stayed there for hours. Very long-lasting and not unpleasant, but not my thing.