Dorian

[Undine]

Inspired by and created for my beloved Tedwin: my eternal, beautiful, wicked Dorian Gray. Refined, elegant, and lovely, with a noble bearing and seemingly gentle air. This blend is an artful deception: a sweet gilded blossom lying over a twisted and corrupted core. A Victorian fougere with three pale musks and dark, sugared vanilla tea.

 

Sweet, sugary vanilla tea, and eventually musk. I think it's white musk, because it reminds me of Oisin, and like Oisin, it's too masculine and strong on me. I don't think this would be for me anyway; I like my vanilla very low-key and I'm generally not a big fan of very sweet scents. Oh well--not EVERYONE can like Dorian!

 

It stays well and has fairly good throw. I can also see why someone else would really like this, if that makes any sense. The smoky sweetness is a just little close to stomach-turning for me. I think I might like it a lot better, though, if it weren't for that overly strong musk.

 

On my scale, 2.5 out of 5.

[Monster]

Wow. I can see why so many people love this one!

 

Out of the bottle I smell a very sweet, vanilla tea. There's even something a bit fruity in there.

 

On my skin the sweet, vanilla tea is still prominent and the musk really begins to come out.

Eventually it dries down to a sweet, sugared musk with possibly a hint of something gingery??

 

I'm in love this scent, it's absolutly gorgeous!

[Maladict]

wow, I didnt know this had vanilla in it, I hate vanilla! on me this is all spun sugar and cologne, it smells sooo good! its sweet and then sharp and shaving creme-y That dosnt sound good but believe me, it is!

[lohengrin]

In the vial: Sweet, but with some depth.

 

On, wet: Mm. Just what the description says -- sugared vanilla tea! Three of my favourite things.

 

Later: This has a lot of staying power, on me, and stays pretty consistent. It's a nice, not-too-foody sweet smell, with an underlying maturity, somehow. I like it. A lot.

[magic_tree]

I had heard so many good things about Dorian that I was really looking forward to trying it. Got my wish fairly quickly in my imp gathering, so I was psyched.

 

In the imp: A smokey sweet vanilla

 

Wet: Warm on the skin and creamy smelling

 

Dry down: More musk now over the vanilla and already becoming faint--white and powdery sweet. Not long before I began to itch and the headache kicked in. Washed it off and put into the future swap pile.

 

[HoneyHoneyNY]

I've been waiting to try this scent. I've had it recommended to me because I love musk, and I'm looking for a wearable BPAL musk.

 

In the imp, this smells very manly, and herbal. Something here reminds me of lavender for some reason. There's also a musky note that reminds me of Oisin.

 

On my skin, the vanilla develops, not a creamy buttery vanilla, but a sweet sugary vanilla. It's very nice, and takes some of the edge off this scent. As it dries the vanilla sugar softens, and the musk comes to the forefront. It's soft, still sweet and very sexy. I like the way it smells on me, and I'd love to smell it on a man. It's biteable, dusky, sexy, sweet and warm.

 

At first I thought it was too masculine for me, but I can't stop sniffing my wrist. This is the kind of scent that I might wear when I need some confidence. It's definitely a grown up fragrance.

[pranashakti]

I can't believe I haven't reviewed this yet. I grabbed Dorian at the last minute for my trip with the Red Cross on the same level that I packed my teddy bear - sheer comfort.

 

This is a gorgeous, warming scent that envelops like a hug. It starts out rather refreshing, because of the herbal touch of the fougere, but that stage fades on me very quickly. Sweet tea is next in the transition, with just a splash of milk, but mostly rather "clean". But what comes next is what I live for...complete drydown is a warm, lusty, second-skin type scent, sweet musky vanilla with just a touch of bite left over from the first two stages lingering. I feel like I smell like me with Dorian on, and mercy am I delicious!

 

As an aside, I feel I'd be remiss without mentioning my recent "Dorian Effect" experience. Working in the kitchen in Baton Rouge, I became great pals with some of the Kentucy MPs stationed there. The first day I wore Dorian, there was a larger number of them than usual stopping by to say hi and get a hug. Turns out that my buddy JP I brought coffee to every morning at his post caught a whiff and spread the word...they all came down to smell me! Visualize, if you will, large uniformed men with M16's looking dazed and staring at the little bottle I procured from my fanny pack...

 

Thank you, Beth and Ted, for this true stunner of a scent. It really spread the joy in a hard place.

[bodegaselkie]

I finally got around to trying Dorian. It didn't appeal for a long time because 1. the hype, 2. the musks and 3. tea scents have for the most part not worked on me. But I figured I should give it a whirl, given how popular it is.

 

I like it on some levels, but Dorian is honestly too sweet for me (which is odd, given my fondness for Milk Moon, O, Alice and Dragon's Milk). I wish it had *more* tea and less vanilla, and before very long it fades to just the musks, which are nice enough but not what I want to smell like.

[LyndaM]

Hmmm...the first time I tried Dorian, I liked it so much that I put it on the bottle list. I've had great luck with tea and musk notes, not to mention my true love, vanilla, is present here.

 

I put it on again a while ago to refresh my memory for the review, and it's turned into lemon furniture polish. Strong and medicinal lemon furniture polish. With extra super double lemon, for that 'just polished' shine. I'm not getting any of the sweetness this time, and the tea seems to be MIA. The lemon mucked it up right through drydown.

 

Hopefully I'm just having a wonky skin day, I'll try it again in a few days and update. But I'm beginning to think I was having the wonky day the first time, when I loved it, which would be a shame.

[kakiphony]

In the imp: This smells like my grandpa standing in a kitchen where my grandma has been baking sugar cookies. In other words, I smell musky aftershave overlaid with the scent of vanilla. There's no tea in what I'm smelling at all, which is somewhat disappointing. (I'm still looking for a good earl grey tea smell that lasts longer than the Demeter spray.)

 

Wet: Hrm. The musk is definitely potent in this one. It reminds me of cheap after-shave and some kind of odd floral. The over all effect is of those old fashioned solid air fresheners that people used to put in their closets. I'm still not getting any tea.

 

Dry down: In the usual bpal fashion this has utterly changed on me from wet to dry. After about an hour the musk has simmered down and become more lady like than grandpa like and been overlaid with a sweet and citrusy bloom. The citrus comes in because there is a sharp, lemony tang at the first sniff of the wrist. I suspect that the citrus is, in fact, the tea as it develops on my skin. As usual, my two wrists have developed the scent in subtly different ways. On my left wrist the scent is much sweeter with less of musk and more of vanilla, while on the right it is all the tang of the tea vibrating through musk. It reminds me just a bit of Comptoir Sud Pacifique's Cristal de Musc.

 

Conclusion: Although I can see why others swoon over this scent, I must admit that as nicely as it has developed, I still don't think it's particularly me. The tea is a bit too sharp and the musk is still a bit too powerful for me to feel comfortable in it. When I smell it I want to look around for the source of the scent instead of feeling that it's me only better the way my beloved Vixen makes me feel. Back into the Christmas box for which it was intended it goes.

[PurringPulsar]

Dorian

 

In the imp: ohhh. I can see why people love this. It smells so nice! Vanilla tea and sweet musk!

Wet on skin: yummy! The tea's coming out more…still sweet musk and vanilla in there. I think I can also smell lavender?

Dry on skin: this is delicious. So wonderful…I love the white musk in this, it's velvety soft, and ever so delectable, and the vanilla enhances that and adds a gorgeous sweetness. The tea in here is noticeable but not too sharp, it adds a nice twist without being too tangy. I can also smell other things in here like lavender and moss, but I'm not sure if that's my nose being weird or what. Nevertheless, I really adore this.

After a while: whoa, this smells like pure vanilla tea with milk now! Vanilla tea is one of my favourite hot drinks and this smells just like the real deal, but there's that beautiful musk scent just making it even better.

Verdict: now I see the reason behind the fanaticism surrounding this scent-it really does live up to the hype. This is a magnificent mix of soft musk and vanilla with a hint of tea. It's soft and smooth, and the vanilla in here is just perfect-it's sweet and warm, and the musk is just amazing. And the drydown is the truly delectable scent of a cup of real vanilla tea with sugar and milk, with the musk hanging in there. I now know why people go wild over this-it's definitely one of the classic BPAL vanilla-musk blends that Beth does so well, and deservedly so. I see a big bottle of this on the horizon!

[Loligo]

Okay, I have to wonder whether this imp (which came fresh from the lab) is really Dorian or not? Because I get spiced apples. Spiced apples like WHOA. There is some vanilla and musk lurking far in the background, and maybe a hint of lemon, but for hours (till I fell asleep, and can't report any further) the prominent note was crisp, sweet, gently spiced apples. (A friend who got an imp around the same time had the same reaction -- natural batch variation? Or a mislabeled batch?)

[Sistinas]

a review of Dorian

 

Vial ~ very sweet tea and vanilla boldy waft up my nostrils, it is almost

a bit overwhelming at first

 

Wet ~ on my skin, I can pick up traces of lemon now, which is toning down

the overly sweetness of the scent I smelled in the vial. While I am typically

not a fan of really sweet scents, this one is intriguing me.

 

Drying ~ Definitely still sugared tea with lemon, but the vanilla is starting

peak out more.

 

Dry ~ This is one of those scents that stays true to the scent that I

found when I first applied it to my wrists. It is indeed very nice

 

Fade ~ It is fading nicely , yet another scent that would work for spring/

summertime..

 

Final thoughts ~ This is still a really sweet scent for me, but I think

I can live with it, because I love the tea/lemon combo. I might trying

layering it with two of my other favorite lemon scents, Phobos and Oberon.

On a scale of 1 to 5, I give it a 4

Edited October 20, 2005 by Sistinas

[Stumbeline]

Oh sweet lord...I think I need to BATHE in this. This is seriously a gorgeous, sexy, slightly-on-the-kinky-side everyday scent. Let me state from the very start that when I make my Yule order next week that I'm snagging a 10 ml of this. I want to smell like this ALL THE TIME.

 

In the imp it's all sugared lemons. I don't get much vanilla or tea yet, but it smells like delicious lemonade so I jump right in. I slathered Dorian on. I knew from the start this was going to be true love. The tea and musks amplify on my skin, and I do get a hint of creamy vanilla. The whole time this retains its sweetness. The musks to make it slightly masculine to me, but not masculine enough that I can't wear it. In fact, the masculinity makes it even hotter imho. On the drydown it's soft, deep, creamy vanilla tea and I want to ravish myself.

 

I shudder to think what would happen if I put this on a man. I hope when the time comes the guy has a lot of energy.

[Wench457]

In the imp: Sweet and light, though I get no tea hit as yet.

 

On: Oh my goodness - now I see what all the raves are about! This is delicious vanilla tea on me. Definitely need a bottle of this one!

[em_h]

Wet: Oddly like mulled cider. Spicy sweet apple and a bit of lemon. No idea where the apple is coming from. Pleasant, anyway, though I seem to be having a different experience than everyone else on the forums.

 

Drying: Still with the mulled cider, or maybe baked apple, though it's getting softer and muskier now. I can't smell any vanilla at all.

 

Dry: I don't understand why, but it stays very apple-scented, with mulling spice. Fades fairly quickly. This is just quite unlike what others report.

 

After some discussion with Loligo and someone else who had a similar experience recently, we're starting to think that there was one odd apple-scented batch, so I may need to try it again someday, from a different batch, to know what everyone else is talking about. Not that I dislike this, but I don't think it's what most people experience with Dorian.

[RainyDayGrey]

Ahhh, Dorian is lovely. It is exactly what it says it is, sweet vanilla tea and musk. It's not screaming, "I'm too manly for you!" at me, but there is something very masculine about Dorian to my nose. The vanilla isn't as rich as I was hoping it would be, it's very light and almost watery. The musk is very clean and light, and like I said, very masculine. Overall a very clean sweet and sexy scent. I don't think I love it as much as some folks, but Dorian is a gorgeous blend.

[DarcyPennell]

I have been ordering sets of imps as Christmas gifts, and have included Dorian in each set. Today I tested the 2 imps I've received so far, as well as my 5 ml bottle (a few months old) to compare.

 

One of the imps smelled like fresh Dorian: a bit less mellow than the bottle, but still recognizably Dorian. The other imp smelled like spiced apple cider. It wasn't the same scent at all.

 

The two imps arrived about 2 weeks apart, in the past few weeks, and were not opened until today. I hope this is just an off batch, not a permanent change in the formula. I wrote to the lab today, hope to hear back from them soon.

[Fefferbella]

Oh Dorian- I love this scent. A 10 ml bottle is on my x-mas list.

 

Vanilla, sweet tea and musk. It's so simple and clean. Suprisingly it lasts FOREVER on my skin before fading to a nice vanilla note.

 

I wear this one on a daily basis, it's one of the first things I put on when getting dressed in the morning.

[herongale]

I'll try to do this before the alcohol hits!

 

Dorian (Sin and Salvation)

 

preconceived notion: This is one of the more popular BPAL scents. It's supposed to be extremely manly and yummy. The description is promising, and with my success with Saint-Germain (another scent based on an Immortal) I have serious hopes. I got this one as a freebie imp from the lab, but have been meaning to try it anyway. Mmm!

 

in the imp: The musk gives this a substantial cologne feel, but there is a strong undercurrent of lemon that adds a vivacious feel. The scent is very masculine but also very NATURAL... this reminds me of Michaelangelo's David, kind of... a sort of purity and idealism of manhood in the flower of eternal youth.

 

wet: ooh. I almost think I can smell the tea here. Vanilla, a note I usually do not like, is here, but it is very subtle and deliciously supportive instead of taking the main stage. The main impression remains that of the lemon and the musk intertwining together. I get this vision of illicit swimming in a private pool in the middle of a lemon grove, somewhere in Greece. There is also a kind of spiciness to this scent, vaguely peppery and dark. Crushed, dried bitter olive leaves... not QUITE tea, but almost.

 

drydown: the man who would wear this is very mysterious, arch, and sexy. It goes without saying that this is a man's scent, although a woman could definitely wear it too if she was wanting to get in touch with her inner Apollo.

 

verdict: YES. I'd say more, but I'm drunk now. So YESSSSS.

 

post-conceived notion: YESSSSS.

[perfumediva]

 

 

This is the only bpal scent from all the ones I have tested that has FLOORED me!! from the first whiff in the bottle till the second it hit my skin...Dorian looooooooves me--all the unloved imps and wasted dough and bottles that didn't do it for me are worth it since I finally found a scent that is "ME" .. this is my signature scent--it turns into magic the second it hits my skin and i don't want to try or wear anything else...its fresh without being sterile and yet comforting with its muskiness--i wore a coral cashmere sweater today and the scent permeated the soft cashmere and was glorious..oddly it makes me think of sugary fluggly vanilla clouds with a fresh breeze going through them...I have never been SOOO excited about a scent in all my perfume addicted 27 years of sampling!!!!

 

 

it makes me want to curl up in soooooofffft cashmere and eat lots of vanilla ice cream--its so soothing. I cannot wax poetic enough over this.. Hallelulah!!

[sideviewhotel]

Ohmy. I think I love this. It's musky but the vanilla makes it slightly sweeter. There's a hint of sharp lemon, but only if you inhale too deep. Guh. I like this a lot. This is going to be worn quite a bit, probably.

[Kaerusatori]

I. love. Dorian And I love Beth for creating it!

 

There's only so much I can say. The vanilla is just gorgeous, with just a hint of tea lurking behind it. I'm not a fan of white musk, but I love it here. Dorian's just a nice scent, comforting but sexy. Just do yourself a favor and get your grubby mits on an imp by whatever means possible.

[harmonyfb]

In the bottle, Dorian smelled of vanilla. Yum, I love vanilla!

 

Wet, it was strong black tea with vanilla syrup. Oh, wow! I swanned around the house insisting that all and sundry smell me, for I smelled delicious. "This one is a keeper!" I happily exclaimed. "I thought this was supposed to be a men's fragrance, but it smells great on me."

 

Dry, it was little less sweet, but that was ok.

 

Dry, 20 minutes later? I didn't know there was musk in this. Whoa. Big musk, with a hint of vanilla. The tea disappeared completely. It was...um...nice, but I wanted the first stage back. This smelled like I was wearing the husband's cologne. Wah!

[Leda]

Add me to the masses of Dorian worshippers.

 

This is the sexiest second-skin vanilla musk with a twist of sweetened lemon. This is the scent that changed my mind about vanilla, and was the first scent I promptly reordered. Lazy and languid, sipping on sweet vanilla tea and licking the sugar off the lemon and nuzzling your nose into your man (or woman's) warm neck. Yum!!!