Goneril

[cassandrakfreaq]

White geranium, calla lily, cedarwood and black orchid. A gentle floral bouquet masks a sinister and black-hearted core.

In the bottle it was very sweet. which I like.

At first sniff on my wrist it was to floral for me and I didn't pick up any woodsy smell.

half an hour later its a nice pleasant sweet floral but its so light I barely detect it unless I put my wrist up to my nose.

An hour later I have to work at it to barely smell it at all.

[euterpe414]

I would have never thought to try this one had I not gotten a frimp of it...it is definitely a lovely scent that gets sweeter the longer it stays on my skin. At first it is strongly all woods and then the orchid, geranium and lily come out and bloom. It doesn't go at all soapy on me, either. This is a very sophisticated floral blend to me, definitely one for a confident and refined woman (haha, which is not really me!). I do like it, but it does not fit my personality at all. Glad I tried it, though.

[Neely]

In the bottle: I suck at telling individual notes with BPAL because Beth is a blending genius, and I am a doofus. To me this smells like a perfume for a sophisticated and refined woman. Not perfume counter perfume, but well made expensive perfume.

 

Wet: this is sophisticated perfume that is just "old lady" waiting to happend with my stupid chemistry.

 

Dry down: musty soapy rose smell. Dammit! I wanted to have a heart of cruelty. Cedarwood where are you?

 

30 minutes: tea rose, a very nice tea rose. Sometimes I dispair of my chemistry.

 

Conclusion: I may try it again just to make sure it isn't hormones making this funky. But I cry. I like Goneril in King Lear.

 

Rating 1-5: on my skin this is a 3.

[Emera]

IN THE IMP – All calla lily, which for me is very astringent and commercial perfume-y.

ON MY SKIN – Sort of a poof of cold-sweet herbal-floral, which hangs on for about five minutes before going completely cedar, with a tiny, wet herbal touch. It’s not a cold scent, but it’s steely somehow, foreboding and almost arrogant.

LATER – Still going strong about 6 hours later, which is the longest a scent has lasted on me. Too strong for me, but definitely in-character!

[JennyGardener]

Okay, this is a crazy morphing scent on me. The first thing I notice when I put it on is GERANIUM! I'm not particularly fond of the scent of geranium. Then it shifts into something green and wet, getting soapier. The cedarwood starts humming, which makes it smell even cleaner. It's kindof sporty at this stage. Finally, a mysterious floral residue is left on my skin. It's a clean, soapy, sweet smell. At this point, I'm not really sure what to think. It's not an immediate favorite, but it is certainly an interesting experience. I do like this last scent, which has remained a little while. But it's crazy. I think that's the final verdict. Goneril makes me feel crazy. It's a healthful sort of crazy, though. Perhaps this is the right perfume for a sports nut.

 

(Faerygirl's review)

 

This is a perfume to wear when you go to the bathroom, 'cause it smells like SOAP!

[willowtreeling]

beautiful in the imp--i love geranium...very pretty, sort of woodsy and different.

 

 

On me: Oh Dear God. Under the prettiness, there is this horrible smell that is a combination of rampant body odor and a Taco Bell bean and cheese burrito with onions. combined with a glandular odor and pencil shavings. I think it's the cedar and it is horrific on me. This is the first scent that has smelled downright WRONG on me. it reminds me of this origins cedar lip pencil that i had that my male friend said smelled....funky, we'll put it that way. Shudder.

 

 

It's a pity, in the imp I thought this would smell nicely but sigh....such is life. At least I am pretty certain that cedar is a scent for me to avoid!

[JenM]

In the bottle: undifferentiated floral with the kick of cedarwood.

 

On the wrist: CEDARWOOD! Cedarwood, cedarwood, cedarwood. Moths, fear me. No, wait, the flowers are starting to come through a tiny bit. Off to exercise class. That’ll set it, one way or another.

 

Driving to class: Tantalising bouquets reach me every time I turn the wheel, but I can’t stop to sniff. When I arrive, I sniff my wrists. They have nothing to do with the tantalising, and are definitely sourer. That must be the cedarwood, probably reacting with the meds. Who else’s wrists were in my car?

 

After 3 hours: Nobody lynched me in class, so it must be reasonably subtle. It’s…oo. It’s all a bit Laura Ashley and Oxford in late springtime, with just a hint of cedarwood closet keeping it from being too soppy. Or it might be the orchid. I wouldn’t recognise black orchid scent if it bit me.

 

Sorry if this is formatted wrongly--never done this before.

[neuilly]

At first this came off as terrible...cedar in the back but mostly a bitter almost rotting note. But it's as if Goneril suddenly realizes she was showing her true evil nature and swooped in to shower the place in flowers and hide what lies beneath. A complete floral bath over woodsy dark roses.

Edited July 24, 2007 by neuilly

[filigree_shadow]

Goneril smells like a clean floral to me. Not heady or dewy or green or cloying, just... clean. I think the scent is just fine but I'm glad it doesn't suit me because I couldn't stand the character Goneril. I disliked her enough that I wouldn't have bought a bottle of this even if I liked it due to the name. (It's bad enough that I like BPAL's Regan!)

[alicia_stardust]

GONERIL

 

This is predominantly cedarwood, softened by mutable flowers. Even though I know there isn't pepper in here, there is an almost peppery quality to the way that the cedarwood and florals mingle. The florals are simultaneously sweet, yet dusky. I think the lilies add the sweetness and the orchid adds the duskiness. This has a tendency to go a bit soapy, but not overly so. It's really a good one for anyone that likes woods and especially cedar. The cedar in this reminds me of Red Queen.

[catrinella]

Imp: Calla lily warmed by cedar. It's gentler and more floral than I'd expect from the description.

 

Wet: Cedar and black orchid, warm and blended with a hint of lily. It's austere without being unfriendly.

 

Drydown: Mmm, it's shifted to lemon grounded by the wood. I can see how this lemon could turn artificial or soapy on some, but it's (lucky for me) clean and juicy here.

 

1 hour: Mostly cedar with a subtle hint of lemon. Lovely.

 

3 hours: Gentle cedar/citrus. It's softened quite a bit although it's definitely not girly.

 

Verdict: LOVE. All the shifts in scent worked for me, and the final cedar is comforting and energizing. I got a lot done while wearing this, even with the breaks to sniff my wrists! Will use up the imp and probably buy a bottle.

[hkhm]

imp: orchids and cedar.

 

wet: i'm not a fan of geranium but i have to admit it's not too bad in this scent. it takes center stage and the other notes are all hovering behind.

 

dry: what a change, the orchid and lily have overpowered the geranium! this is a beautiful floral scent. i don't even catch a hint of the cedar.

[Pyrebi]

In the bottle: Geranium and lily all the way through. It's rather nice, it kind of reminds me of a hothouse.

 

Wet: Powerfully floral, in a dried-flowers sort of way. There's not a lot of juiciness to this scent, and I think it's the cedar doing that--drying it out, toning it down.

 

Dry: Grr. As I feared, this is nothing but liquid soap on me now. Granted, liquid soap with a hint of cedar, but that's not enough to save it. I guess my chemistry's tendency to convert of soft florals into soap has struck again. Too bad.

[CrazyPretzel]

This is pure geranium at first, rose-like but more bitter and astringent. The cedar is pretty mellow and the lily softens the bouquet a little bit. I wouldn't mind wearing this as I like the scent of geranium, but unfortunately when it's completely dry it takes on a musty funk that indicates chemistry mismatch. Sorry, Goneril! (You were a bitch anyway.)

[Wwindy]

Florals and I, we are not usually so much with the happy together, you know? But I had a frimp of Goneril, and was in the mood to try something completely different this morning.

 

In the imp and on initial application I kept getting whiffs of something angry, strong and sharp. My brain is telling me my nose was picking up pear, only with those harsh, almost acetone-ish overtones like you get from pear schnapps, maybe? Whatever that note was, it mellowed out fairly quickly. I never got the cedar standing out on its own particularly strongly; it's definitely in there grounding the flowery bits, though, because otherwise I'd be going "ew old lady perfume!" right along with some of the other reviewers. The orchid and lily combination does hover right on the edge of department-store perfume insipid, but the geranium and cedar are there to yank the overall impression back into BPAL interesting.

 

I do rather like this, despite my general floral antipathy. I would definitely pull Goneril out when my usual spicy/woodsy range isn't quite the thing.

[girlygirl]

WET: Yup, this is a dark scent. I can smell the cedar.

 

As it dries: the florals come out a bit but the cedar is still prominent.

 

Dry: Evenly balanced between woody and floral, this is a dark, mysterious scent. A scent for women who like nearly black nailpolish and don't like to blend into the background. In short, for BPALers.

[Limelight]

Well, the best I can say is at least I'm not missing anything. That geranium/black orchid thing doesn't do it for me. Something rather oldlady-ish for sure, but like one of those old ladies who thinks she's still the ultimate seductress, and just won't quit till she dies. Like that.

[VioletChaos]

florals are not my total thing, but i like *some* of them, so lessee what we can do here:

 

in the imp: fetid. like stinky socks and grandma perfume. :shudder:

 

wet on skin: a slightly musty rose element comes out.

 

dry down: the sweat-sock thing goes away, leaving the dusty rose thing behind more strongly.

 

in all: SO not for me.

[MeiLin]

Smells very masculine on me. The cedarwood and geranium are really strong, and while eventually the other florals come out, it's just not for me. Could be really interesting on the right guy. Into the "trade" section of the squee box it goes.

[GoldenRubee]

I was really surprised as I read some of the reviews and it seemed that Goneril is more disliked than liked. I happen to love it and just ordered a bottle from Shelldoo. When I first applied it, it smelled good, but after 15 minutes, it started to smell sweet and a little spicy on me. That's when I decided I had to have a bottle. Geranium and orchid with a touch of lily, how can you go wrong?

I could not find any cedar at all in it. I guess it all comes down to body chemistry and this works well with mine.

[Suu4LC]

I'm not skilled enough in sniffing to know what all of the notes are in this, but I do think I can notice the geranium and definitely the cedarwood when I give this imp a good ole sniff. I'm pretty sure that Goneril and I are not going to get along...

 

Nope. Nope this is not going to work on me. It's kinda soapy. It wouldn't be terrible, except that...I can't identify what note it is, but that "black-hearted core" is getting to me. Glad I didn't get attached to a discon! Off to the swaps you go!

[heathercaley]

I smell like a giant green forest. Total cedar..with some spice thrown in. As it dries I get a touch of floral. This doesn't morph on me really.. it's just a cedar with dark florals growing around the trunk.

 

I'll give this one a new home.

[fairnymph]

In the bottle: Sweet, floral, citrusy woods. Definitely getting the orchid, geranium, and cedarwood.

 

Wet: Fainter, a little soapy. Heavy on the orchid, which is heavy. The lily and geranium are lovely but distant.

 

Dry: Strong, sickly sweet, overwhelmingly heady orchid. It's the same orchid that it's in Blue Moon 07, but unchecked by any other notes. Must wash off.

 

Summary: Soapy, heady, sweet black orchid.

[donnatron]

Imp: Heavy geranium. Geranium has the tendency to arbitrarily decide it doesn't like me, so let's see!

 

Wet: Dude, geranium. So much 'tude.

 

Dry: Still a lot of geranium. It smells like going to to the nursery to buy herbs and tomato plants (not that it smells like herbs and tomato plants, it just that that's what I personally buy when I go to the nursery). It's pleasant in a "Hey, smell all this geranium!" sort of way, but I'm not married to it.

 

Throw: Okay.

 

Overall: It's discontinued and the name makes me think of a STD. I'm mostly relieved that I can live without it.

[savage_rose]

I was looking back at old reviews to see if anyone else had gotten the notes that I did, and I feel like paperrose sums it up so well:

 

"It's discontinued and the name makes me think of a STD. I'm mostly relieved that I can live without it."

 

Yes, exactly. On me it starts out as smelling like a floral bouquet with the bad jasmine leading the charge, and a shot of lemon? It's too sweet and too sour at the same time. And as it dries more of the wood comes out, and it smells like I'm trying to wear a cheap perfume to cover up body odor. And I'm totally not!

 

It dries further, and smells like jasmine rose powder lemon. It's better, but still not something I would love and choose to wear on a regular basis.