Our Lady of Pain 2024

[Jenjin]

Sumatran patchouli, blood musk, white lavender, opium tar, and black orchid.

 

 

Cold eyelids that hide like a jewel

Hard eyes that grow soft for an hour;

The heavy white limbs, and the cruel

Red mouth like a venomous flower;

When these are gone by with their glories,

What shall rest of thee then, what remain,

O mystic and sombre Dolores,

Our Lady of Pain?

 

 

[HerbGirl]

I wrote this review under the original and copied and pasted it here.

 

My bottles arrived two days ago. The original became my favorite, tied with The Mysterious Warning, from the first moment I tried it, fresh out of the mail, in 2013. I was so excited to be able to wear it again! 

 

This isn't it. 😪 This is nice, but only vaguely similar to the original because of the notes. The original slaps me in the face with patchouli and opium tar, some lavender and black orchid and dried down to a strong, beautifully blended version of those notes: it was a virtuoso. This? The notes are there, but in a different formula. The patchouli is barely there, there's a hint of lavender and maybe orchid if I try really hard to find it. The dry down is a hint of patchouli with a really light, but beautiful opium tar note. I would love any combination of these notes (and do), but for the folks who remember, loved and were hoping for the original: this is not even close to the same. I will compare this to the disappointment of the Dorian reformulation- it's very nice, but a completely different scent.

 

Eta April 15- there's a mildly honeyed soapy quality to this now. I don't like where this is going. Nothing like the original and yes, I remember what it smelled like the day I first put it on, and many wears after that. The aging has nothing to do with the differences here, this is just a completely different scent.

Edited April 16 by HerbGirl

[ladyjc]

I sadly have to agree with Herbgirl. I put OG Lady of Pain on one wrist this morning with the 24 version on the other. Completely different scents to me. And I’m not sure aging will help. I’m not getting patchouli at all from the new. I feel like several notes are just…missing? I *think* what I’m getting is just the lavender & perhaps a little orchid? It’s very faint and is nothing like the original to me. 💔💔

Very sad.

Edited March 15 by ladyjc

[BetteNoire]

Gonna have to disagree with the above. I still have a decant of OLOP and this new patchouli is much smoother and less hippie smelling but definitely present. The OG decant patchouli got gnarly in its old age so if you're hoping for that I'd set this aside for, I dunno, a decade.

 

To review the scent actually in front of me, all the listed notes are balanced and shockingly this is one scent that I enjoy the blood musk accord in. The opium and orchid hit similar to Event Horizon but the patchouli base and almost mentholic white lavender take it in a "colder" direction. Very much the scent of the somber, sensual, cold Dolores - this is high goth in a way that doesn't feel done to death. Dark but still airy and atmospheric.

[Weirdgirlpilled]

This is really really lovely. It’s definitely A sheer purple and black perfume- perhaps a dash of red like a bruise. The lavender is present but very docile on me. She bats her eyelashes coyly and slinks around her partners- an ephemeral glimmering opium tar, the strong sensual blood musk, patchouli that may only be described as smelling “expensive” and the black orchid- who lends a much needed floral lilt on the trail end of things. These 5 are all key players in bed. I want to Do me. 

 

I’d say I’m speechless, but clearly I’m not as I’ve waxed poetic here. This is an almost penitent sexy. Something reserved and very designer- refined, but also so sexy and vampish. Heart eyes, Swoon, Sigh. 

[ghoulnextdoor]

Aloof and alluring, a cool, bitter metallic shiver, like poison painting the tip of a small curved blade; musk and throbbing darkness, like psychic muscles cramped around the remembrance of a wound. The scent of duels lost, blood on the ground, moonlight elegies–all impressively tragic stuff, outrageous melodramas played out on the stage of one’s own mind…as is the wont of those of us who are really good at hurting our own feelings. Our Lady Of Pain is the most beautiful, most diabolical of Mean Girls…but as they say, the calls are coming from inside the house. 

[Llanval]

Classic vintage glam; a 1930's starlet that collapses into a heart of powdery purple candy above a sharp, musky base.  Not what I was expecting, hoped for or needed. The patchouli runs away and I'm left with what I consider a classic musk and a powdery heart (a distant distant cousin to Coriandre).  My chic, always fashion-conscious grandmother would have bought this from the Simpson's (Sears Roebuck) perfume counter in 1955.  That's not a bad thing, but it's not a thing I need to add to my collection.

 

I would SLAY to smell the original, as clearly this isn't it.

[Jenjin]

Holding its own, apart from the original, I adore this modern version and it's incredibly smooth notes. Seriously wonderful patchouli that does not overpower, and blends in perfectly. Has that "Age of Aquarius" vibe, vintage floral with the silvery lavender making it unisex overall. Very wearable, I can see this being both sexy yet causal at the same time. The end product is captivating, mystical and haunting. 

[twilighteyes]

Maybe my nose is broken because this smells very similar to the original to me, but not aged into lovely deep richness that I remember my last bottle of OLoP being.   I am thinking it will age wonderfully.

[Little Bird]

I don't remember trying the original Our Lady of Pain, so I don't have any useful comparisons to the OG.  I didn't really enjoy the 2013, according to my review, and I do like this one, though.  So perhaps the blend has changed and/or my tastes & interpretation of the scent have changed and matured.  I am much more into floral blends than I was back in 2013.

The 2024 version, in the drydown, strongly reminds me of Tom Ford's Black Orchid, but not as complex, smooth, or rich in feel.  It has a similar juicy (fruity leaning), musky, dark orchid and earthy, raunchy patchouli thing going on.  Perhaps the blood musk is adding some of the incensey spiciness that's reminiscent of Black Orchid as well.  If I smelled Our Lady of Pain '24 without knowing what it was, I wouldn't guess that it was Tom Ford's Black Orchid exactly, but I would guess that it's a dupe of that popular scent.  It comes very close to hitting most of the main notes of Black Orchid.  

For about the first hour, the patchouli in this is quite funky and animalic, but it settles into a dark, earthy, slightly chocolatey patchouli (also reminiscent of Black Orchid) that's very sexy, and it's mixed with the juicy, musky, shadowy, femme fatale orchid and undertones of metallic yet spicy and slightly incensey blood musk.  I don't really smell the lavender or opium tar, and those were the two notes that my review mentions as bothersome in the OG.

It feels like a mature, sensual, gothic, dark floral that's confident and expensive.  I like it a lot and I can see myself wearing this blend on days when Tom Ford's Black Orchid is too strong for me and I want a similar feel, but with softer throw (I find that all of my favorite Tom Ford fragrances will last for days on my skin and months on fabrics, so I have to be ready to commit, lol).

[doomsday_disco]

So... I have tried the original, but not when it was new. A kind forumite sent me a decant from their bottle back in 2018, so the decant I received was of an oil that had already aged for five years, and of course, decants themselves age quicker than bottles do, so any comparisons I make to the original release aren't from when the original was fresh. Here's my review of the aged original release.

 

So the main notes I get from both versions are the patchouli, lavender, and opium, but the aged decant of the original I have is far stronger (I deathmatched them). That is not abnormal for an aged oil, though. The red, Sumatran patchouli in it is particularly bold in the aged version, so the lavender and opium aren't as prominent in the aged version. Although I still get a lot of patchouli from this one, it's much lighter than the patchouli from the aged decant, so I get more lavender and opium from the new release (with the opium being longer lasting), which is fine with me. I just wish it had the oomph of my decant, but maybe it will with age? The blood musk in here is not like the Lab's usual red musk note at all, so I would still give this a try if the other notes appeal.

 

Right now, I like this, but I don't love it, and I'm wondering if that will change with age, so I'm going to hang onto it and see how it develops. I thought this would for sure be my pick from the Our Lady of Pain re-release, but Hair Loosened and Soiled in Mid-Orgies is my favorite from that collection.

Edited May 10 by doomsday_disco

[sudenmorsian]

I have never tried the original but I really like the new one. 

 

At first, when wet, patchouli is the strongest note leaving everything else behind. It's elegant, dry patchouli, not the "dirty" and hippie one. After a while the perfume balances and other notes appears. Along with the patchouli I get mostly black orchid and opium tar, blood musk is apparent when fully dry. Lavender is noticeable but not strong. 

 

Beautiful and mystical, moderately strong with nice throw.

[RoseThornAndOak]

I haven't tried the original, but the 24 version is interesting. This is one of the only fragrances where the patchouli hits hardly at all upon first sniff, but wait a few seconds, there it is. I'm getting something musty, not bad per se, but definitely in a vintage things kind of way, like I just visited an old record shop. No lavender. Sexy blood musk (kinda metallic, kinda red musk) and incensey opium on the waft. Okay, more vampire vibes.

 

So a record store run by vampires.