Lady MacBeth

[seashell]

The essence of ambition, covetousness and manipulation: sweet Bordeaux wine, blood red currant, thyme and wild berries.

Ack. Not for moi.

This is the second BPAL I have disliked intensely- the first being Akuma, another berry scent.
Apparently, my skin does not like berries at all. Smells like cheap, artificially flavored cherry candy on me.

Nooooo thanks. I'll go back to my spicy scents. I've learned my lesson!

[Laurel the Woodfairy]

Lady MacBeth has been on my wishlist for awhile, but with no particular urgency--I love the currant in Bewitched and like to wear it for autumn, so perhaps Lady M. will be a fall scent as well. However, an imp just came my way, so I'll go ahead and test it now. Hm, this is actually really nice! There's a green herbal note--the thyme, although I wouldn't have pegged it--that keeps the currant and berries fresh. It actually "feels" a lot like Bewitched to me. It doesn't have the crazed over-the-top drama I associate with Lady MacBeth, but honestly I wouldn't want to wear it if it did! No "out, damned imp" here; I like this one.

[donnatron]

Imp: Berries and herbal. It smells a bit like a sauce you'd put on chicken breast or something.

 

Wet: A beautiful, sweet, lush juicy berry... and plastic. I panic...

 

Dry: ...For no good reason because this is AWESOME!!! The berries stay lush and juicy, I can smell the wine note without smelling like a boozer and the thyme runs through the whole thing lending this nicely adult air to it.

 

Throw: Tons.

 

Overall: I really wanted to order this from the lab based on name alone. Then I picked it up in an ebay lot and was so excited. I remembered it smelling good when I first tried the order, but I thought that memory might just be because I so love the dragon lady character that is Lady Macbeth. Then I forgot about it, then wine in other notes started going gross on me and then I came back to this with trepidation. I was proven wrong, thankfully, and love this. It's a fresh, clean, beautiful adult berry scent. I smell delicious, but I am a grown ass woman and I can hold my own. LOVE IT!

[voodoocatwoman]

Alicia Stardust said it best. This DOES smell purple!!!

 

In the bottle and wet: grape kool-aid and purple candy.

 

Dry: Berries with a bit of incense in the background. LOVE.

[faded_stranger]

Let me begin by saying that this imp is at least four years old, but I really don't know what to make of it. All the reviews say wine and berries, all the notes are fruity and herbal, but on me this was floral. Distinctly rose, in fact. I'll agree with people who said that this was a red scent, but I got flowers, not berries. Perhaps this was mislabeled somewhere along the line?

[thatpirategirl]

Definitely a red/purple scent! On me it was mostly cherries and red wine. At first it seemed it was becoming too candylike, but the wine has a distinctness that keeps it in check. This was my first wine note, and I was paranoid it would make me smell like I'd been drinking or something. But no, it was just very rich and deeply sweet.

 

Even so, it wasn't really my thing. It's kind of an overtly sexy scent, which made me feel silly wandering around the bookstore. Not that bookstores aren't sexy places.

Edited May 10, 2008 by thatpirategirl

[savage_rose]

Oooh, it's a softer but evil Wanda: wine, berries, and something biting and herbal (the thyme). I love this! This is such a sexy, lovely scent!

[Aldercy]

I got this particular imp from Caspian Gray, and I do have to agree that its more floral than fruity in general. Yet I hesitate to definitely say it's a mislabeled sample, because I can see where it might be interpretted as the original description... maybe this one's just blended a little differently than most, or the change is a function of age. *shrug*

 

This is pleasant, though kind of traditionally perfumy in the vial. I've had it on for awhile now, and when I get whiffs of it, it reminds me of something very old fashioned and rose-based-- as a kid, I had a little perfume locket thing that I believe belonged to my grandmother, and it smelled just like this inside. But if I really smell my skin, I do sense the wine and berries much more.

 

I was just about to say that despite the rather womanly, adult-sounding notes, this felt very weirdly like a lighthearted, childlike scent to me... and then I realized that's only because of the nostalgia of playing with that locket.

 

Anyway, I'm confused by this scent, as you can probably tell. But I'm enjoying it.

[Salendire]

From the imp Lady MacBeth smelt sharp to me, i highly suspect this was the currant and the thyme. I was tempted not to test it at all but i did get a small hint of fruit somewhere under there.

 

Once this hit my skin the sharpness stayed and i was starting to regret putting it on after all. I typically like thyme and current but something about the two was just not appealing to my nosey!

 

As it dried that sharpness totally vanished and all i was left with was beautiful, juicy berries immersed in a rich wine. It morphed into the most beautiful, fruity scent but still very grown up. I didn't get a candy feel like some others have though.

 

This beauty also had tonnes of throw with me and i loved getting hints of the berries every few minutes. This has gone onto my bottle want, grabby hands list!

Edited June 10, 2008 by Salendire

[brsis]

Initial Thoughts: Lady Macbeth. Need I say more?

 

Actually, I really liked that list of notes - REALLY liked it - but after my reactions to The East and Libra, I'm not sure on the currants anymore. And alcohol can have mixed results on me.

 

In the imp: RASPBERRY PANDA POP??? Well, it's sweet, it's fruity, and I think I can just pick up on the thyme.

 

On the wrist, wet: RASPBERRY PANDA POP!!!! It's very sweet, it's very fruity... that's pretty much all I've got to say for it at the moment! Lets see how it behaves on the dry down...

 

Twenty minutes later: ... RASPBERRY PANDA POP. The sweetness had calmed down a bit but there's a boozy kick instead, a weird herbal undertone and... yeah, I'm still not so sure currants agree with me. It's not exactly unpleasant, I'm just not sure that I'm going to want to wear this often. Or ever.

 

Verdict: Unsure. May be a swap.

 

Tl;Dr: Sweet berries, with a thyme undertone. May work if currants don't usually agree with you.

[taramarie]

On me, Lady MacBeth is currant and berries, very juicy. I don't seem to get the wine or thyme, but this is still a great summer scent.

[greenranger]

Wine...wine and berries.

I can maybe smell a little bit of the thyme, but, only because I am looking for it.

 

Even just wine can be fruity on me, so this is Very very rich and fruity on me.

 

It smells a little bit like Bordello did on me...but, richer and rounder? There's also a slightly smoother base to it, I think, and it is less sparkly than Bordello. Less playful.

 

As it gets dryer, it is also smoothing out more. It is becoming less complex...at least one berry note isn't staying on my skin, possibly more.

 

It is still nice, but, simpler. It's becoming a single berry sweet scent on my skin.

Edited July 3, 2008 by Aerinha

[ouch!]

This is really nice even though it has hardly any throw on me.

 

The wine note is only there when it's first applied and literally dissapears within minutes. What it leaves behind is a very sweet soft berry smell. Light berries. It doesn't change much from there it just gets softer and softer and then fades. It's very very pretty though and I love berry scents!

 

I'm still to find an Illyria scent that I don't like...(don't think that's gonna happen )

[galahad]

In The Bottle

Smells like bubblegum

 

On Application

Bubblegum and wine

 

Dry Down

I really like this one so far. It's sweetish and fruity but mature as well. The berries really start to show their best after about a couple of minutes into the drydown. The wine is a little more subtle. This gets sweeter as it warms and becomes very similar to Eat Me for me (but a little less cakey). Nice

 

Rating (0-5)

3.5

[Enferdame]

In the bottle- A cherry/raspberry candy smell. Very sweet.

 

On me- Stays really fruity with a nice little tang to it. Just enough wine note to feel a little more dangerous than the cherry candy smell leads me to believe. The fruit notes themselves stay pretty consistent. I’m not going to go into how this is like the Lady Macbeth I know, since this very very red scent is perfect. It’s not really my taste though. I’m really sad that I don’t like the Illyria women more. I want to, given that I’m a Shakespeare buff, but most of the ones that I’ve tried are just too fruity for me to want to wear them on a regular basis. I like Bordello better.

[badseed1980]

Got this one as a frimp in my last order. In the bottle, it was all juicy red fruit. When I first applied it, it got something of the weird cherry cough drop note that Wanda has on me. Unlike Wanda, though, Lady Macbeth didn't hang onto that note very long. Almost immediately, it vanished, and the lush fruitiness I smelled in the bottle took center stage. It was tempered by something less sweet, though: probably the thyme. Considering I often blend a tea that has thyme and berries in it, I think this was a great combo. I realized within a few minutes of applying it that I like it a lot more than I thought I did at first. I'm not usually much for fruity scents, but once in a while, they're ok. Lampades is a fruity scent that's not overly sweet or sticky-smelling on me. Lady Macbeth is clearly another. It's refreshing and pleasant. Not a scent I'd wear often, but definitely enjoyable when I'm in the right mood. I probably wouldn't order a big bottle of it (whereas I might consider it with the crisper, darker Lampades), but I think the imp will last me a good while.

[Brighid]

I am madly in love with this scent, and have been from the beginning. It was one of the first I got when I discovered BPAL. Every time I put it on, like today, I'm reminded why I love it... the gorgeous, deep wine & berries scent, great throw, lasts forever... and I'm almost out. I was going to order more last night, but damn it, Snow, Glass, Apples thwarted my intentions. Next order -- Lady M.

 

This one and Tintagel are similar...and of course, I adore both.

[gingiemay]

Wet in imp - Fruity and sweet. Mostly blood currant and wild berries. Faint undercurrent of wine.

 

Wet on skin - Still fruity, but I can sense more of the wine.

 

Dry on skin. - Blood currant and wild berries very strong, but the wine does temper it a little bit. I do smell a little licorice, not sure how that snuck in there. I think it's still too fruity for me.

[Delirium1009]

In bottle/imp: Sweet berries, wine, and herbs.

 

Immediately on skin: This is a sweet wine, currant, and berry scent mostly, but there is a hint of thyme that keeps the scent a little toned down like the Fool’s Parsley in April Fool does with the huckleberry. It isn’t toned down too much though and is still very syrupy and rich smelling.

 

After a little while: The hint of thyme really fades fast and leaves this scent rather sweet and tart. It’s still restrained a bit on the sweetness, but the wine/currant/berry blend is stronger now and creates a fruity wine scent. It’s more of a ruby red type of scent than deep dark red, if that makes any sense.

 

Overall Impressions: Lady Macbeth is a perfect scent for people who want to smell like fruity wine. For me, it’s too sweet. I enjoyed the light thyme that was there at first but it faded pretty quickly. This is sweet and thick with a nice bit of tartness. Those who enjoy Bordello may like this, though this one is much more restrained.

[angelicruin]

Mmmm, love this scent. Sweet without being too sweet. My skin really amps the wine and berries both wet and dry. I've already ordered a bottle of this scent because I know it will be favorite of mine for some time.

[megank4]

Very sweet smelling, too sweet, like a cherry lollipop.

Don't think wine scents like me.

[icecreamcone]

It smells so good in the imp. I was sure I'd love it but it kind of went medicinal on my skin.

I might try it once more though.

Edited December 26, 2022 by icecreamcone

[naeelah]

This scent is all sweet, voluptuous berries, with a hint of smoke and red grape.

 

It starts out very strong on the berry and currant, but they balance out as they dry and let the thyme through. The berries are slightly tart, so they balance well with the jammy currant. The wine seems to be the same rich, grapey red wine that's used in Madrid, but it adds a note of dryness. The thyme adds an almost incense-like quality and it's a beautiful contrast to the rich redness of the other components. For me, the longer I wear the scent, the stronger the thyme gets and the more the sweetness fades. This is a good thing.

 

Although I love berry scents and black currant, as a whole, this is a bit too thick and sweet for me, even with the thyme.

 

Try it if you like: Lampades, Madrid, Blood Countess, Blood Rose, Bewitched

[vegasblueblood]

My imp has aged for over a year and it has become a grape-y somewhat floral blend. It's very sweet and I'm assuming it's the thyme that is giving it its green edge. I get more berries than wine and I don't find it overpowering or too sweet. I like the fruity blends that come out of the Lab and the thyme keeps this one from getting too candy bubblegum-ish.

[stillalive]

JUICY!!! makes me crave juice. Oh yeah... I love it! so berrylicious.