The Sick Rose

[Heretic]

A perfect red rose darkened by vetiver, opium tar, labdanum, and red benzoin.

In the bottle: Well hi there, vetiver!
On my wrist, wet: Vetiver! And yet a little something spicy and soft blooming underneath.
After 20 minutes: At this point, I can't identify the vetiver as vetiver (and I LOVE vetiver). It has blended perfectly into a softly spiced rose. This is not the "straight from the florist's cooler" rose of Rose Red, but more of the slightly soapy Rose Cross rose. The vetiver holds the soapiness back as the rose note develops.
After 40 minutes: Now a soft, powdered rose. The vetiver at this point is not really perceptible. The drydown process for The Sick Rose is very interesting. The wet scent is really nothing like the mature, dried bloom on the wrist. If you don't care for vetiver, I don't think its use here is a deal-breaker because it compliments the other components so well. Vetiver tends to amp on my body, and I found that it was beautifully muted and balanced after the initial drydown period. No note in this blend is overpowering-- in fact, I find it to be one of those scents that draws people closer because it's such a soft, unusual scent. I will wear this all spring.

[Miss Despair]

This is Glade air freshener spray and burnt rubber on me. After about an hour of drydown time, the burnt rubber does calm down a bit and I get some vetiver, but overall it's headache-inducing.

[theseagrows]

this smells like pure vetiver in the vial. on my skin it starts out all vetiver too, with maybe a hint of opium to back it up. after a minute or two, the rose and benzoin (i think) start coming through, which improves the scent quite a bit. in not much time, and unexpectedly, this becomes beautiful on me-like a resiny sophisticated rose scent, with the labdanum, benzoin and rose front and center. i wasn't sure about the strong vetiver at first, but it fades quickly on me and now it is a beautiful, dark, resiny scent. i think i may need a bottle.

Edited June 10, 2017 by theseagrows

[Sangria2]

In the vial: I smell mostly rose, with something green and slightly spicy behind it.

 

Wet: The vetiver really pops at first, lending an earthy green note to the floral sweetness of the rose. It isn't the tangy, smokey sort of vetiver, it's definitely mellow. The rose reminds me a bit of the rose from Two Five and Seven, actually.

 

Dry: After about half an hour, the vetiver is (disappointingly) mostly gone. The labdanum is coming out, and my nose usually reads labdanum as Coca-Cola. So it's sort of coke and sweet roses, with a lovely incense backbone. I've had it on for two hours and it's staying true.

 

As for throw it's keeping pretty close to the skin, but every once in a while I will get a bit of it wafting up from my wrists. It's one of those that sort of compels you to keep searching it out though. I think it's a beautiful take on the usual rose.

[zankoku_zen]

Vetiver, opium and red rose.

 

On wet, the entire blend smells a little sour and 'off', but that burns off after about 90 seconds as the vetiver and rose notes calm down.

 

And then it just goes haughty. Think of the Peacock Queen's voluptous red rose note merged with opium and smoke. And its mad at you because its your fault for making it smell unpleasant.

 

Obviously you're just a common peasant fool that cannot handle the unending grandeur of this blend. And thus, you must be rejected, into the corner. Because HOW DARE YOU. (It's all obviously YOUR fault).

 

I'm not sure I need a blend that gives me an inferiority complex.

[mymymai]

ITI: Red rose (but a deep red) and benzoin. It's resinous and earthy while still having that deeply romantic floral from the rose.

 

Wet: Deep, dark, but still having a pinch of light from the rose - lovely. I'd in love with how the smoky vetiver and opium curl like the caterpillar's smoke around the rose while benzoin pulsates underneath. Wow!

 

Dry: It's a light, powdery rose now that it's had time to dry. Faint benzoin wafts gently underneath with a hint of opium tar, but the strong smoky quality of vetiver is gone. This is a keeper for me.

[tinyvulture]

As a lover of Blake I was excited for this one, and it does not disappoint. Lush, vibrant red rose (to me, like Rose Red) and dark, earthy vetiver are the only notes I'm getting, and what a dramatic pair they are. I can't really put into words how well it captures the poem. Life and death. My favorite rose blend of this year's Lupers.

[milo]

Rose and vetiver at first. I *just* about washed it off right then, and thought I was going to throw-up, but didn't, thankfully. Maybe it was just the word association and the fact that vetiver rarely works on me. After a bit, just a sour rose with a touch of grass. Still not my thing, I like roses with resins the odd time, but this is a BIG miss.

[alyelle]

I don't usually like BPAL's rose. I amp it, but I don't wear it well, and all too often I find myself smelling of migraine-inducing potpourri after ten minutes. I *do* love vetiver, but had I not bought a Lupercalia decant set, I would probably never have tried this.

 

Bottle: vetiver and labdanum. A dark, smokey scent that I wouldn't have guessed contained rose at all if I'd not known it was there.

Wet: Ah, and here's the rose now. Wet, red and dewy, the sort I absolutely love to smell in public gardens. It's followed by a smash of tar and vetiver. Judging by the reviews I've read, I must wear vetiver better than most. I'm profoundly glad for it in this case. Instead of sickly powder, I've got a deep, smokey, woodsy scent, like log cabins burning in a pine forest, and a faint waft of dewy rose underneath it, more memory than scent.

 

Dry: This remains all spice and smoke after the initial drydown, with a very gentle undercurrent of rose that - shock of shocks - stays rose. No potpourri. No headaches. No washing my wrists twice or three times to remove the trace of nanna talc and drawer liners. This is a gorgeous blend, and if it returns next year (or in the future), I'll buy a bottle.

 

Medium throw, but a shorter lifespan than I'd have expected, given how strong it is for the first couple of hours.

 

Stars: ★★★★

[annemathematics]

this is beautiful. much like the poem it starts off with heady bright proud rose, which is then overtaken by rich and chewy resins, the vetiver very much in charge.

 

alas. the whole event unfolds within twenty minutes and then fades away completely after an hour. rose and worm reduced to a memory.

[Little Bird]

The Sick Rose is too much vetiver for me, and it's the dark, smoky, harsh, ashy variety. I smell a hint of perfumey rose when this is first applied, but the drydown is all vetiver and a hint of sharpness from the opium.

[ralenth]

Wet: Deliciously, dark vetiver.

 

Drydown: Vetiver is still dominant, but as it dries, red roses burgeon underneath, swelling into the dark crevices. There is a brief flash of a powdery note, but it dissipates quickly.

 

Dry: A lovely blend of vetiver and rose. Normally, red rose and I aren't friendly, but this is quite lovely.