Elizabeth of Bohemia

[wishingwell]

You meaner beauties of the night,
That poorly satisfy our eyes
More by your number than your light,
You common people of the skies;
What are you when the moon shall rise?

You curious chanters of the wood,
That warble forth Dame Nature’s lays,
Thinking your passions understood
By your weak accents; what’s your praise
When Philomel her voice shall raise?

You violets that first appear,
By your purple mantles known
Like the proud virgins of the year,
As if the spring were all your own;
What are you when the rose is blown?

So, when my mistress shall be seen
In form and beauty of her mind,
By virtue first, then choice, a Queen,
Tell me, if she were not design’d
Th’eclipse and glory of her kind?

- Sir Henry Wotton

Incomparable loveliness: the perfect rose oude.

Elizabeth of Bohemia is kind of what I was wanting out of The Rose -- it's a little dark, a little playful, and pure rose beauty. It stays close to the skin (at least on me) and smells so amazingly like both dried and fresh roses at the same time. Wet is where it's really a playful, dewy scent, and as it dries the more mature, slightly dark air emerges. Three hours and it's still just as gorgeous as when I first put it on. I really adore this and could see it being worn any time of the year. While I still like The Rose very much, this one makes me think of red and white roses all woven into Elizabeth's hair like a queen's crown.

If you're a rose lover, this one really delivers.

[ResinManiac]

Lovely red red rose backed up by an obscure, tangy, dignified resin. I have to moderate how much I apply (when first I apply) to placate some of that resin's strength. I'm sure as I clock up the hours wearing this, it will morph into even greater beauty. The mental pic I'm left with is a bouquet of roses gilded with shimmering gold, perhaps some golden leaves on the stems, carried in the arms of a regal High Queen of the Realm. A scent that boldly proclaims, "I'm here to run the show and be gorgeous while doing it." :wub2:

[Leopard403]

I gravitate toward rose scents, so I was really looking forward to Elizabeth of Bohemia. It turns out, I think, that I love rose, but don't love oude.

 

The resinous scent under this rose is very cloying, and in fact this smells exactly like the time I had a brilliant but short-lived idea to make my own rose-scented gel candles. Elizabeth smells exactly like that, very much an in-your-face I AM A FAKE THING BUT I SMELL LIKE ROSE! scent. So though the rose is deep and lush and lovely there is a sort of chemical undertone that just ruins it.

[VioletChaos]

Rose is one of the few floral notes I usually favor, so I was very interested in getting to try this out. Let's see how it's done, shall we?

 

In The Bottle: I'm getting the dried rose scent that came up so strongly for me in Crypt Queen, but without the black under note of musk that ruined that scent for me. so already, I'm liking this.

 

Wet On Skin: I can see what was meant by this scent having the remarkable ability to smell like fresh and dried roses at the same time. It's seems to be traipsing back and forth between the two states of being every few second- I'm curious to see which side it lands on!

 

Dry Down: A deep, fresh red rose is the winner!

 

In All: Solid medium throw, this rose has the freshness of a Real Live Plant but with a depth to it. I can easily picture being in a stuff drawing room in the late 1890's, one where the lace curtains are never pulled back, let alone windows being opened- and the only thing to freshen the air is an enormous bouquet of freshly cut very deeply red roses. That's this scent.

 

Glad to have a bottle.

 

[HerbGirl]

I got my decant of this the other day and let it sit for a bit...

 

This is all dark deep "purple/black" rose...but I don't smell any oude and I was hoping to smell it. I'm glad to have a decant of this, but it isn't what I was hoping for. Oh well!

[Lycanthrope]

Welp, this is definitely a rose.

 

Since I take any small dabs of rose and turn myself into a giant, pirouetting, lush, petal emanating naked rose singularity, radiating beams of rose directly into the cribriform plates of all passerby, this has achieved its purpose.

 

It's frankly quite stunningly a pure, lush, rose, similar to Yvaine's rose but without the snappy sharp clove. I don't really detect oude, but oude is probably providing some kind of thrumming that my roseevent horizon has enveloped in its thorny embrace.

 

Please stay at least 16 feet away from me while I have this on, or you too may end up part of the petal collective.

 

ROSISTANCE IS FUTILE.

[stellamaris]

This is gentle, but long lasting. It's the perfect dry rose of Spellbound for me, with out the ambery powder factor. Just lovely, a unique scent with a lot of lasting power.

 

Note to Rose lovers : Buy this immediately. This is the best rose ever. Not lying.

Edited February 28, 2012 by stellamaris

[MadameGorgon]

Homigod- lycanthrope, you made me snort. It was a rose-luscious snort.

 

Aaaaanyway- my decant arrived today. I was a little meh on the lupers, but gave some a try.

 

What a surprise! Liz of Bohemia is NOT the dark, resinous rose I was anticipating. The rose portion is light, almost lemony. It is very intensely rose, don't get me wrong. But it is more of the white/yellow/pink variety or a very innocent red. Not a deep burgandy/purple that looks like it could drip blood.

 

The oude gives it a slightly incense smoke background. I keep imagining the incense smoke twining to the heavens in wispy little tendrils rather than fogging up a closed room.

 

It doesn't seem possible that an intense rose with a sticky black resin could meld into a clean, light, uplifting, feminine fragrance, but they do.

 

Now before I remembered that my skin is quite sensitive to BPAL rose, I slathered this all over my wrists and neck. The next 24 hours will tell if I break out in itchy bumps. ETA: NO RASH!?!?!!!! Awesome, but why do i get rashy with the other rose scents I have?

 

If it stays nice through the dry-down, this is worth a full bottle purchase. I don't like to have lots of similar scents, so two or three versions of rose are what I am looking for. Considering how many beautiful rose themes Beth makes, it says a lot that I choose this to be among my purchases.

Edited February 24, 2012 by ih8perfume

[Iceblink]

I loved this while it was still wet--it's the most luscious, velvety red rose, deep and dark. However the oude really jumps out and goes crazy once it dries and the rose nearly vanishes. What's left is far too strong and overpowering for me.

[Incendiare]

This is definitely rosy in the vial. Like a deep red, confident rose. On me, it's the exact same, although after a few minutes, an smoky incense emerges but remains in the background. It adds depth to the rose, however, this is still mostly red rose.

 

I found that just after a few minutes, this turns into a very strong, hostile, pungent rose. Burnt rose actually. It has crossed the line, damnit.

[surf-tormented]

It's rose oud. Either you love it or you hate it.

 

I love it. It starts out a full voluminous red rose, heavy with dew then it develops a darker scent like a good oud should. Slightly dark and smokey, yet woody and almost lemony. That's the thing with ouds, depending on where the source oil is from, or what it is trying to mimic, it can smell smoky and dark or bright and uplifting. This is sort of in the middle of both of those feelings.

 

The rose is all-natural smelling on my skin too, a bit loud and brassy, but better that than a shy violet. I even smell some of the rose greenery, but maybe that is the uplifting oud.

[theseagrows]

i love this scent in theory! and i want to love it more than i do....i used to really love rose scents, and i still do sometimes, but no longer can i really wear bold, strong rose-resin scents like these. i need my rose to be softer and creamy these days, but still, this is lovely and exotic, even if i don't want to wear it. this sounds weird, but i would love to have a box that smells like this. i guess that's what this reminds me of-an imported box of rose petals- woody-resiny and rosy at the same time.

[Amaranthus]

I love the straightforward rose oil scent of this, but the underlying resinous woods make it gorgeous. This is one of the better rose oils in my collection. It wears beautifully.

[thekittenkat]

In the decant: A pink rose and the agarwood.

 

Wet: Mostly the agarwood, with whiffs of the pink rose.

 

The dry-down: The rose, and it's still a pink rose on me, is trying to break through the agarwood's resins, but not really succeeding. This is interesting, because I usually amp rose.

 

Later: Slowly, this has come together as a rose oude scent, but it's not a dark rich or red rose, but a lighter rose, like a pink rose (not a tea rose, though). It's nice now, but takes a while to get there. A decant is plenty.

[Monday]

This smells like straight up hair removal cream in the vial.

On my skin it's still hair removal cream with lots of sour rose. Do not want.

[elfnwitch]

ROFLMAO! I almost bust a gut at Lycanthrope's description! So perfect, too!

 

It is such a lovely rose from bottle through dry-down and beyond. Not too strong or overbearing, not too light, just a nice, rich rose. The Obsidian Widow is rose and incense, and London is more like a tea rose--lighter and crisp. But this reminds me of a Mr. Lincoln rosebush (rich, blood red grandiflora, longer stem, with a lush fragrance with a hint of lemon to it) that I had 14 years ago. The second year I had it, it had a perfect, single bloom at Halloween. It was truely magical. And Elizabeth of Bohemia is what it smelled like.

 

Many thanks to Beth and the BPAL staff for another wonderful memory in a bottle!

[Viridian]

Finally a rose that I don't amp to the heavens! I like rose and keep ending up with more rose-dominant scents even in my attempts to narrow it down to one, max two, roses.

 

This may need to be one of those roses. It's a quieter rose on me, kept in check by the oud. By the second hour it's very woody with a hint of resin and a non-overwhelming amount of rose. Very well balanced, and I think it'll only get better with age as the oud note deepens.

[ami226]

This is definitely a lovely rose! One of the best rose scents I have ever smelled! It's beautiful without being headachy. I may need to acquire a bottle of this.

 

This isn't quite what I would think of as a true to life rose. It is definitely more of a perfume rose since it is missing that slight hint of greenness that I associate with roses straight from the garden

[Ghost of a Rose]

My imp is a decant from the lovely and generous spiresinthesnow.

 

In the imp: The oil is clear and a light yellow color. The fragrance is heavenly - a beautiful rose note with a hint of woodiness.

 

On me, wet: The same. The woodiness gives the rose a musty, almost mildewy aspect. That sounds bad, but it isn't. It's like finding your grandmother's dried wedding bouquet in a wooden chest in a basement. Beautiful, antique, full of memories.

 

After 10 minutes: Mostly rose. I'm not getting much of the oude at the moment.

 

After 20 minutes: Back to the woody/musty rose.

 

After 30 minutes: No change.

 

Just as we might expect from a blend that contains only two ingredients, the fragrance remains rather consistent. It is long-lasting and stays the same for many hours after the initial drydown.

 

After 11 hours, I can still smell the perfume on my wrist. The oude has evaporated first, and the scent is now a soft but clear single-note rose.

 

Verdict: A beautiful and long-lasting perfume for rose lovers. I don't like the old-rose fragrance quite as much as I do other, fresh-cut, rose blends, but only slightly less. I do love this and will purchase a full vial.

 

My rating: 5 stars

[zankoku_zen]

Pink rose, red rose, yellow rose, and maybe some white rose.

 

Well, really, does it matter what color it is? This is ROSE, and something that smells almost like a jasmine overlay.

 

PASS.

[milo]

I don't know how a rose can be sweet and sour at the same time, but this one is. After a bit, it is more sweet, sickeningly so, I don't think I've smelled a rose this sweet before. Something fake like vanilla extract (not the real kind) is coming through. This is like rose candy, something I definitely don't want to smell like. I can imagine a bratty child smelling like this. A little goes a long way. Not for me.

[Little Bird]

This is a really intense, strong, soured rose perfume (the stuff that smells distinctly of perfume and not like real roses). It has a little sweetness to it at first, but mostly is a musky/perfumey, sharp sort of rose. I catch small hints of a darker note every once in a while, like smoky black vetiver or black leather, but mostly it's a loud rose perfume.

Like 98% harsh, chemical-y rose and 2% something dark and smoky.

And it gets worse and worse the longer it sits on my skin, turning sharper and more harsh smelling. It starts to give me a headache and that weird nosebleed feeling after a while. And it has tons of throw and vicious staying power on me, unfortunately.

I find Peacock Queen to be softer, smoother and easier to wear for a simple rose perfume (and The Rose for more of a fresh rose scent). This might be my least favorite of bpal's roses, actually. Sharp, intensely sour, and harsh...

[Narcisse]

The scent reminds me of the late 80's and early 90's Martha crafty Victorian rose pomanders. It's has the dry dusty smell of dried rose, but it's been doused with rose oil. Then the rose subsides a bit and you get the acrid smell of burnt incense, but it's stick incense that has a wood center. It has the sour note that follows burning green wood or paper. I certainly get the feel of a Victorian drawing room. I love the scent but I certainly get how it could be seen as tart and matriarchial.

[The Planet Queen]

I have to say that this oil brought back one of my best memories and nearly made me cry. I explained that memory in the welcome forum actually. This imp will not be enough for sure. Straight from the bottle it truly smells like REAL ROSES. That is something you don't get any more when you buy them due to breeding and crossbreeding roses. My next door neighbor ran a huge rose growing company. He used to bring home all types of roses to his wife and me ( he is like a dad to me. ) They were always beautiful , but no scent. He explained why. I gave him a pink rose that grows wild near my childhood home. I know they are more than 80 years old and don't bloom like a regular rose more like if you crossed a rose with a carnation with very short stems. Anyway, he said because they are a very old type of rose and fairly rare. They haven't been messed with so they retain the smell. Well, this oil is dead on! The perfect ode. Simply beautiful !

[Foodie]

Elizabeth of Bohemia is awesome!

To me, it smells just like a mix of Peacock Queen and Rose Red. It has a bit of that green stem that Rose Red has a lot of, and it has that lush dark Peacock Queen rose. It's gorgeous and it lasted quite a few hours on me! I only have a decant and will definitely be on the lookout for a bottle!