Bearded Lady

[savage_rose]

A seductive and flowing exaltation of femininity: Turkish rose, stargazer lily, violet, honeysuckle, amber, star jasmine and vanilla.

In the bottle: Old lady in a funeral parlor. Florals fighting all over the place. And something also from Le Serpent Qui Danse that does not like me, nay, is openly hostile toward me.

Wet: Florals starting to calm down a bit...

Dry: Nice, actually. Whew! Floral, but with an almost fruity note...the yucky note from LSQD is a mere powdery hint, providing an interesting counter note. Not something I'd wear every day, but it's not something people will stone me for wearing, either

[Emma2403]

I ordered this one on a whim, really… and I was quite sure I'd ended up feeling sorry (as often when I don't think a long time before ordering), but no, I'm so totally in love.

 

In the bottle: rose and honeysuckle with maybe some amber.

 

On my skin: rose, lily and honeysuckle. It's such a beautiful floral. Rich but not cloying or too heady.

 

After a couple of hours: vanilla and tons of flowers. Very beautiful.

 

Verdict: I'm really surprised to like all that much a scent containing jasmine (my nemesis!), lily and rose (both can be killers combined with my skin chemistry)… it's lovely, really!

[cinderfallen]

On drydown, it's a floral floral floral. I get mostly violet, with a sweeter note that's probably the jasmine.

[moon_lemming]

I sort of dreaded reviewing Bearded Lily because of the star jasmine. Turns out, it's not so bad. As a matter of fact, it's not so ANYTHING. I can barely smell it after it hits my skin. If I concentrate, I can make out a teensy bit of honeysuckle and something detergenty that I think is the lily.

 

Oh, wait, there we go. It's strengthening as it's drying. Yep, powdered detergent. Oh florals.

[GoldenRubee]

I was hesitant about purchasing Bearded Lady since rose frangrances and I usually do not get along but this is not overpoweringly rose, just a hint of it. There are traces of amber and a touch of lily. This is a scent I would invision a Victorian woman wearing to a Tea Party. Overall, extremely

wearable and lovely!

[stellans]

Imp: I first tried this blend quite a while back, and it was too much vanilla for me then. At the behest of a friend, I gave the Lady another chance. This time, in a decant from my aged bottle, the vanilla wasn't quite as pronounced as the first time I tried it -- the florals were more in the forefront! Yay!

 

Wet: Just as rosy-creamy as I hoped this blend would be. I am having to really slather it on though, because it doesn't seem to have a lot of throw.

 

Dry: Even less throw dry than wet, but the scent is still good. I'm enjoying my Sunday scent.

 

Verdict: I'm glad I listened to my inner voice which told me not to give up on this 10ml just yet; it was definitely worth the wait. Even if I have to use more than I do with some other blends, at least it smells good now. I honestly don't know if it was even the oil's fault, but was really my body chemistry playing tricks with me again.

Edited February 28, 2008 by stellans

[Sunshine the Werewolf]

Crikey, that's tooo much floral! I love rose, vanilla and violet but I can't cope with this one, it is way to sharp on my skin, even after it has dried down. I was really hoping for that lovely Antique Lace effect but it was not to be.

 

And it makes me sneeze (must be the lillies)

[Tulliver]

This was my first ever venture into the grown-up world of 5ml bottles, courtesy of Nomie.

 

In the bottle: This is a wonderful blend of florals. The lilac and honeysuckle are definitely noticeable along with a hint of the lily. No rose yet, which is strange since I can generally pick it out very quickly. It's a strong but not overpowering scent.

 

On the skin: Wet - Beautiful. Strikingly floral, although I'm finding it difficult to pick out individual notes, even knowing what's in here. It's just all swirly and lovely and floral. I don't get the vanilla yet, though the florals DO have a very slight creamy hint to them which could be that. It also has a really good throw from my wrist (at keyboard height) to my nose.

 

Dry - Ooooh... florals. MAD florals. Not over-sweet though, which is lovely and somewhat surprising given the presence of the vanilla. I think I have the rose. I definitely have the honeysuckle and amber. The rest is just an incredibly lovely blend. I hope this one has some staying power.

 

After 1 hour: Beautiful creamy floral. The vanilla and amber are doing their work now and are the strongest notes with the florals just taking the edge off them a little. It's not possible to pick out separate florals at this stage. They've blended incredibly well into a gloriously-scented bouquet. This is fairly faint on the skin, but has a wonderful throw. I can smell it pretty much all the time.

 

After 3 hours: Still definitely there but naturally faded now. In fact, I could be imagining it, but I think it still has a throw. It's like a creamy vanilla with just a hint of "more" at the edges. It's a lovely scent on its own and this could just have made it into my top 10 so far.

 

Scent: Wet - 3.5/5, Dry - 4/5

Durability: 4/5

 

I'm delighted that my first foray into 5ml bottles got me such a truly lovely scent. This WILL be used and loved.

[shadesong]

In bottle: Lots of battling florals, but the amber grounds them and vanilla sweetens them.

On me: Huh. This is actually a nice subtle floral. I'm not sure that's holding all of these flowers in check, but I'm grateful for it.

[Limelight]

Cannot believe that I've never gotten around to reviewing this. It's one of my top ten LE's. On me, this is not a light, powdery, girly-girl scent, nor is it an old lady scent. It's the fragrance of a mature woman, classy and sophisticated, thanks largely to the amber note. Everybody else is pretty much second fiddle, tho the lily and jasmine are somewhat perceptible. Just a fab amalgam on my skin. And no allergic reaction! If amber is a winner on you, try and pick some up.

[mspixieears]

A gentle, soothing floral scent, reminds me of subtly scented floral toilet water. I can pick up the rose which is not at all overpowering and perhaps the floral nature of this composition is smoothed down by the vanilla – I really love it when vanilla is in floral perfumes for this reason. As it starts to dry I detect the jasmine and honeysuckle which give it an old world elegance. Reminds me a little of Victoria. The amber gives it a slightly powdery edge.

[pinkstardust420]

Ooooooh! Purty! Honeysuckle, jasmine, light rose, calmed by vanilla and amber. Very pretty, and I am not usually a fan of a ton of florals. Soft, feminine and VERY wearable!

[heathercaley]

I was so excited when I was able to finally get's me a bottle of this. I have been oogling it forever and became the lucky owner of a lovely bottle of Bearded Lady. Well.. not so lucky.

 

It's all powder. Nothin' else.. I am very dissapointed. I put her on early in the morning and it was powder. I gave it several hours (maybe she's a morpher? who knows..) And I smell now.. 3 hours later.. and it's still powder. It's not a nasty powder, but it smells like those cardboard boxes of powder with the powder puff that old ladys pat on their chests.

 

I was so excited..and now I am so so sad.

[phantasmmysteria]

I'm afraid my experience with the Bearded Lady was similar to Purrsnikety's, only instead of powder I got soap! Lots and lots of sharp, floral bath soap. It's a real shame, because most of the notes in this blend are beautiful on my skin, so I imagine it's the rose (or the rose/lily in combination) that ruins this blend for me.

[alicia_stardust]

I find this to be a highly sweet, voluptuous floral with an edge. The edge is the amber and vanilla, which sort of ground this out and deepen it. The vanilla really seems to dominate the blend but it keeps a sharpness to it. This seems to really fit the concept well.

[arcadelane]

i couldn't smell much in the bottle so I just slathered this on my wrists. took a few minutes for anything to surface but now im smelling it. a base of slightly sweet vanilla and amber which is getting stronger by the minute. i can also smell a little bit of honeysuckle and violet popping out here and there. i don't smell any lily which is great for me, but i think im getting a bit of a headache which usually happens with it. after a few more minutes the rose is coming out (but not too sharp thankfully) and the jasmine is just barely noticeable underneath. still no lily, honeysuckle is getting stronger. awesome. i'm not a HUGE fan of florals but i'm warming up to them more because of blends like this. this one really morphs a lot and gets stronger over time, really cool. it doesn't have a very strong throw but this is wonderful and very wearable, glad i have a whole big bottle of it.

[zankoku_zen]

This is a soft, feminine scent. The base is definitely a powdery amber and sweet vanilla, but really its the cornucopia of floral loveliness that takes center stage. Very feminine, very pretty.

[Stareena]

In the Bottle: S W E E T! Stargazers are here, the Turkish Rose, Jasmine, Violets and a hint of Honeysuckle. I can TASTE it. Makes my teeth itch.

 

On me, Wet: B O L D !!!!! Really sweet, very feminine, but almost sickenly sweet. I am immediately thinking of Grandma's gag-me-sweet perfume, but it's not quite there. Really floral. The Stargazers’ and jasmine are having a field day. It's as if she is aggressively trying to remind you she is a woman. A little scary, but I'm still interested.

 

Dry: The floral is getting sleepy now. Honeysuckle is emerging, emphasized with Amber. Vanilla is in support but is really shy, very subdued. Very enchanting. You are seeing past her beard and are now seeing her for the first time. The person she is. Lady-like with still an edge, like she is NOT part of the pack and is her own woman.

 

Feelings: LOVE this and am so glad I found it on ebay (I am a late comer to a lot of the Limited Editions)! A great spring scent, that I can see working well into the summer. It is floral and warm all over, especially when she calms down. I can't stop smelling myself!

 

Rating: 4.5

1-5

1 being "Never again"

5 being "I am buying in bulk!"

[ouch!]

Pretty pretty pretty.

 

This lady certianly isn't bearded, she's wafting soft delicateness and vanilla.

There's alot goinG on at once in here so it's hard to pick out a stand out note. The vanilla is the base though and keeping everything together..

 

This is the same type of floral as, white phoenix or The Unicorn. It almost doesn't smell floral at all sometimes. It's just very feminine and innocent and sweet.

 

It's very hard to describe except I can say it's YUMMY!

 

Bit of a bad review sorry, some things really are hard to describe though..

[rayvn1]

Hm, I like this much more than I thought I would! My skin is pretty anti-floral, but the mix of vanilla and amber is combining with a surprisingly easygoing jasmine and honeysuckle. I would never need a whole bottle, but I'm so glad I got to try this!

[Venneh]

Just recently got a bottle of this in a swap; thanks again so much, naughteblonde! In the bottle, this is a very gentle, delicate floral, almost a bit powdery. Once on my skin, it's the same sort of delicate floral, deepening a bit as well, and a bit powdery, but not as much as it was in the bottle. A very feminine scent. Dries down to an even more delicate powdery floral, with each note more pronounced. Probably not going to be wearing this as much because it's not something I'd wear on a regular basis, and this is crazy rare, so once it's gone, it's gone.

Edited November 28, 2009 by Venneh

[fieryredhead]

After much seeking I finally got my hands on a bottle of this. In the bottle it's really floral to me; not smelling any of the vanilla I was expecting but still very pretty. On my skin the florals REALLY come out, I imagine sticking my face in a really lush white bouquet. After an hour or so the scent has really smoothed out. Florals blending nicely and there's that creaminess.

 

LOVE THIS!

[countessmouse]

In the bottle and wet on my skin: creamy, musky vanilla. On drydown -- WHAM! -- I get hit with a floral bouquet that has just a hint of the creamy vanilla left. Definitely smelling the lily, violet and honeysuckle, but not so much the tuberose and jasmine. Glad I found a bottle of this because it's a keeper.

[Gold Dust Kitten]

I didn't skin test this because it's late and I don't feel like scrubbing jasmine off my skin. This is honeysuckle and vanilla, with a bit of jasmine. The jasmine smells just like the star jasmine bushes I walk by every day.

[n3m3sis42]

Would you believe that I've had a half bottle of this since 2007 or so and never, ever tested it? Um, me neither. There is something wrong with me. :-p

 

In the bottle: A riot of florals with a touch of vanilla.

 

Wet: For some reason, I am only smelling the amber. I fear this is going to be yet another BPAL blend that goes "generic headshop" (as my husband is fond of saying) on me.

 

Drydown: As this starts to dry down a bit, the florals are coming out to play a lot more. I tend to be frightened of blends that have many floral notes (maybe that's why I never tried this one before?) but so far, this is nice. Violet, rose, and honeysuckle are all florals that have worked well on me in the past, and in this case, they are mostly what I smell and they're playing well together.

 

Dry: This is a really nice, gentle floral. I am mostly smelling creamy violets and honeysuckle, with maybe a hint of the amber underneath. I'll hold onto this for now, as it seems like it will be a nice spring scent.