The Lady of Shalott

[charshark]

In the imp: Aquatic and floral, mostly gardenia.

 

Wet: Very strong gardenia with aquatic notes and a hint of musk.

 

Dry: White ginger and ocean florals with a hint of something I can't quite figure out (must be the muguet). The gardenia scent is still there, but luckily, it isn't so dominant now.

 

Overall: A complex scent that I enjoy, but probably wouldn't wear on everyday occasions.

Edited August 5, 2008 by Charzie

[kawaiiferreto]

Oh my . . . This stuff is AMAZING.

 

Apparently I'm a fan of gardenia, and will need to add that to my "notes I love" list.

 

Wet: Bright gardenia and aquatic loveliness.

 

Dry it's still very strong on the gardenia. It doesn't smell as wet and watery as it did at first. I can smell just a hint of spice and musk and other blossoms. Lovely! This is so sophisticated and bright and happy; the throw is pretty light, which is perfect for my tastes. MUST HAVE MORE!

[jehrichardson]

In the Imp: Aquatic soft florals! Wow, I like it. I really didn't expect to.

 

On the Skin: Aquatic and strong florals. That must be the gardenia and lily of the valley. Yep, it's strong! I'm getting some wintergreen on the deep inhales.

 

After a While: Flowers and wintergreen. Bleah. I can still get the aquatic tones a bit, but I suspect that that's what is turning into wintergreen. Looks like my skin does weird things with aquatics (also for me vetiver = bug spray)

 

Verdict: Too floral, too much wintergreen, so a nope on this one.

[undream]

mild and watery in the imp, it's very nice, like a light autumn rain.

 

a pleasant floral once on the skin, beautiful throw, but it has a dry, prickly scent up close.

 

uh-oh. this turns into all hairspray on me before long. and not the nice kind of hairspray, either, this is all aqua net! blech! what IS it with gorgeous oils turning to hairspray on me?

 

i wanted to love this one for the name alone, but alas.

 

EDIT (April 2010); having just tried this again (&having forgotten i ever tried it in the first place!), i am getting similar results, but not quite as intense on the hairspray. it is, at first, a beautiful, &very aquatic, floral; watery & sweet, innocent, a gorgeous summer evening next to a calm & blooming pond. on drydown, i do get a bit of "hair product" misbehavior, and i am wondering if it isn't from the gardenia? i get the same result from BPAL's jasmine note and have noticed it in at least one other Bpal perfume oil containing gardenia. that said, i could wail over it! my two favourite flowers!!

 

still, this one is lovely enough to want to keep besides! perhaps as a scent locket? or as a perfume in the hair . . .

Edited April 6, 2010 by undream

[mylogicsaysburnsendmeaway]

On me, this is all Lily of the valley (Muguet)/ soft florals (water blossoms) with nothing aquatic, and no white musk.

 

This is an ultra feminine floral thats pretty, but just not me. After 1 hour a dry woody/ peppery smell which must be the white ginger emerges to chill lily out some, but this stays primarily jasmine- esque sweet lily/ soft floral with maybe a hint of gardenia that is baking soda- esque. (Dried gardenias do kinda have a baking soda- esque smell to them.) I was hoping this would turn out fresh blooming gardenias with white musk and the tart aquatic note.

 

I might try this again eventually, to see if anything aquatic comes out. Maybe it needs more age with my skin chemistry.

[LadyLuckless]

This just about broke my heart! I've always been in love with the imagery of the poem, and the poem itself- I love the paintings, the Loreena McKennitt song, heck I even had a couch-sized Waterhouse print in my living room until it pretty much disintegrated from moving from house to house!

 

I was so hoping this would work on me, and it almost did! The initial wet stage was a gorgeous watery sweet white floral: I squee-d a bit! Then it all went horribly, horribly wrong... I smelled like a dentist's office!!!!! You know that sickly sterile smell when you walk past a dentist's office in a mall? Yeah, that's what was on my wrists. Oh the humanity.

[Iceblink]

I'm not one for gardenia most of the time but it's so watery and cool here--quite pretty! The ginger is far, far in the background but makes a nice little spicy addition. This is ultra girly! If by some fluke I ever did want to wear gardenia, this would be a great candidate.

[Lyrical]

In bottle: pale, floral and watery, with a touch of ginger.

 

Wet on skin: quite a sharp, aquatic floral, a little fruity, with a touch of ginger.

 

Dry on skin: a strong floral, with a powerful throw. Perfumy - the sort of perfume that makes you gag if someone has too much on - not because it smells bad - it's actually lovely - but because it's kind of overpowering!

 

After a while the floral elements fade into the background and ginger comes to the fore. It's still pale and pretty, but no longer offensively strong.

[mgrazulis]

Intriguing scent notes...aquatics are always a big fav of mine, along with crystalline musk. I love the poem and Lorena McKennitt's wonderful song by the same name. Unfortunately, the gardenia slams full force and drowns out the remaining notes immediately. There it stays after several hours, with nary a trace of musk, aquatics or ginger. This would be wonderful for someone who adores gardenia...just not for me!

 

[blacklacestatic]

In the imp: Strong, fresh floral, slight sharpness.

 

Wet on skin: This is a floral that I can get used to. It's so very close to a perfume I used to love long ago that is no longer made. It's sexy in a clean, wet skin kinda way.

 

Drydown: The perfume that I thought I could get back is gone, but it is still very pretty. I definitely get the water blossom notes from this. It's just lovely. It's a very, very pale blue to me. It reminds me of a water nymph.

 

Overall: A beautiful , different kind of floral that is perfect for me. I don't normally like typical florals but this is very unique.

 

ADDED May 31:

 

In the imp: Fresh, clear gardenia and lily. A very "wet" scent. Beautiful bright white floral.

 

Wet on skin: Very light, gorgeous floral. I'm not a big floral person, but this is divine. It's still got that wet feel, like a calm, crystal-clear lake with water lilies all across it. It's exactly as the lab's description implies.

 

Drydown: This fades fast. Sweet trace of gardenia lily on my wrist. A ghost of a water lily.

 

Overall: This is a perfect summer scent, not too heavy, lovely, clean and fresh. A wonderful floral for those who don't enjoy heavy florals. Magnificent.

[rayvn1]

Oy. Plastic ahoy This isn't going over so well on my skin. I get the lily of the valley I liked in my baby BPAL days with High John the Conqueror, but it's very strong in a powdery, overwhelming lily kind of way. I usually love musk so hopefully it will pop up soon, but right now it's strong flowers heaving themselves at my nose and that's about it.

[Monique]

In the bottle: I love this stuff! Thove the gardenia and aquatic notes! I don't smell any musk which is wonderful because I am not a fan of musk! Just beautiful soft fragrance!

 

Wet: Still gorgeous! Gardenia shines! Just love it, I keep sniffing my wrist, it is wonderful!

 

Dry: Ugh! I am really unhappy! All the wonderful gardenia and aquatic notes have been squashed by the musk and the musk wafts around my head, I can't wear this:(

 

I adore this scent wet and really wish is stayed the same, not sure if it is my chemistry or what but it becomes way too musky for me once dry, I am VERY sad!

[binkin]

In the bottle: It smells really floral to me, with a little bit of aquatic something hiding behind. Good enough that it's one of the first scents I'm trying!

 

Wet: Mmm. This smells mostly like lily of the valley to me, which is my birth-month flower and which I happen to love (those nodding white bells in the dim light of the forest). It took me a long time to place it but it smells like a lily of the valley perfume I had when I was little (like, under 10).

 

Dry (1-3 hours): Arrrgh. Something in it is obnoxiously floral and is making me sneeze and giving me a slight headache. This sucks, because there's something coming out that I really like...

 

Dry (4+ hours): Oh, huh. It smells like... shampoo. In the best possible way. The muguet is still there in the background but mostly it just smells full and clean.

 

After about 8 hours I couldn't smell it anymore. Overall I really like the scent but that 2 hour timeframe of ow ow achoo might kill it for me. I'll have to give it another shot.

[TheOneTheyCallLuna]

Got this one as a frimp, and I am very glad that I did, as it's one I would probably have never tried otherwise! MMmmm, wow! This is really gorgeous, and it IS both cold and warm at the same time! It's aquatic, and there is a lot of melancholy to it, but there's something really warm and blooming, too. I can pick out gardenia, but it is rolled into a host of other floral notes...and yet I don't find this blend to be too flowery for me...probably cuz it's those hothouse blooms that I like! I can picture myself wearing this one for a walk next to the lake on a summer night. I'm gonna keep this one around for hot summer nights and walks on the waterfront!

[frecklestars]

In the bottle: juicy-sweet, gardenia and a floral that reminds me of jasmine, but maybe that's the muguet or the "water blossoms"? it is a bit icy in the bottle, as they say, and also strongly floral. I personally adore gardenia, but I'm also wary of smelling like someone who was caught in a department store and beaten with perfume testers.

 

On my skin: on my skin it immediately turns to a light musk and a gardenia dusted with ginger. lovely! unfortunately it dries to baby powder, which is _not_ what I'm looking for! I assume the musk just doesn't like my skin, as usual. but why can't it stay watery florals?

 

Last thoughts: I SO wanted to like this one! I <3 the poem, the description of the scent, but my skin just turns it to ick. it smells wonderful in the bottle, but then my particular chemistry gets a hold of it and beats the beauty out of it. *le sigh*

Edited April 5, 2011 by frecklestars

[awesomeoverlord]

Yup, there's that gardenia! I should have known -- gardenia seems to have a habit of jumping out at me whenever it's present in the blend and here it's definitely a major player. There's definitely something vaguely watery going on here and I can distinguish other notes complicating the bland -- the ginger definitely pokes its head through, for instance -- but the gardenia rather overpowers the character of the blend. Pity, since it's not really my favorite floral, but the scent totally lives up to its description.

[femmefatale]

So this should have been a major fail for me. White flowers=soap and aquatics usually=bathroom air freshener or men's cologne.

 

This though doesn't do either. It's actually very pretty. It's not a straight up aquatic and the ginger helps to keep the florals in check. I like this far more than I expected to and I will definitely keep the imp. I think this will make a wonderful spring/summer scent.

[anna1850]

A bit watery and I think I'm not really into muguet. There's something that smells like bananas that aren't quite ripe yet.

 

2.5/5 It's not bad but I'm putting it in the swap pile.

[CynicalPink]

Imp: I Gardenia

 

Wet: Very sweet and flowery. Right up my alley.

 

Drydown: Sweet aquatic notes and bright florals. I'm really fond of it

 

Overall: I could wear gardenia perfume all the time. It's such a lovely white flower and it blends well with the aquatics in here without turning to dryer sheets. I'm definitely keeping the imp, and I could see wanting a bottle.

[sirensea]

In the imp: I'm no good at picking out florals, but this one is soft and sweet.

 

On my skin: Like a watery gardenia. Overall, Lady of Shalott is cool, clear and reminds me of Torture Queen without the overwhelming chrome tint.

 

Haha. Chrome tint. Don't worry, I'll provide my own rim shot.

[liquidtrance]

Very florally to begin with. Definitely not lily, haha. A soft, pale blue sort of floral scent. Familiar.. Maybe the gardenia is the prominent floral? After a bit the "aquatic" note that lingers in the beginning burns off, and what might have been the ginger too-- whats left is sort of funny. Not bad.. not quite melon, but ... funny. Swappable.

[Ceri]

In the vial: Watery floral

Wet: Green, watery floral & musk

Dry: Soapy, watery floral

Overall: This is a beautiful scent, but unfortunately not for me.

[Magpie]

Wow, I can't believe I haven't reviewed this already! I got this as a frimp with my very first order of BPAL, and still love it so very much. The poem is one of my favourites, and this scent is (along with Crowley and Mr Jacquel) pretty much precisely 'me'. I wear it when I want to feel inspired and melancholy, because this perfume to me is the most wonderful summation of the Romantic concept of melancholy: bittersweet beauty and sadness.

 

In the imp, this is a staggeringly lovely sweet aquatic, like Water of Notre Dame, but with a bit more kick and personality due to the ginger. It makes me think of deep green river weeds and willows creating a green lagoon, like Monet's painting of the 'Bridge Over a Pond of Water Lilies'. That may just be the semantic link, but that's fine by me.

 

On, it doesn't change much. It does feel less wet and more floral, but in a spicy way. Mmmmm. There is a risk of a slight soapiness on the drydown, especially on my right wrist (yey, uneven skin chemistry!) but I usually find that melds into a lovely muted sweetness.

 

This, for me, has been the ultimate keeper, and will continue to be. This is top of my bottles wishlist for GC scents (the only one I've bought is Crowley, as a present to myself for my 21st, and that only won because I wear it slightly more).

[sarajane]

Oh god. This is GORGEOUS. Gardenia and I are known bff's. The lily is behaving (!!!). I love the watery feel to this. This is kind of what I though Ophelia would be like.

 

This is very traditional "perfume-y" because of the gardenia, but I love it so.

[tragedy]

I just reviewed something a bit ago where I said lab aquatics never work on me...

This is aquatic and I love it.

I love gardenia and I'm getting a water logged gardenia at first,

On drydown it goes a little spicy, still watery, the gardenia is a little more tempered.

As far as florals go, it either has to be evil rose or hella light whites... this fits into the latter perfectly!

 

ADDED Nov. 14:

 

It makes me happy to see all the references to the Waterhouse painting here, thats one of my favorite artworks

 

This is exactly what itr should be ... water flowers and aquatics.. but where sometimes aquatics go soap or bitter on me this is more of a "sweet" aquatic. The gardenia is surprisingly tame.. which sometimes isnt on my skin.. I tend to amp it, and it blends well into the other notes to be just a floral backdrop. The musk is apparent on the last stages of drydown... close to the skin.

 

Nice, and I have to add that I put this on overtop of Yorick, which I had on earlier on in the day (yorick has some STAYING power!) and the dirt adds well to this.