Versailles

[Honeygirl]

Grand, courtly and robust: a glittering, golden scent that would do Louis XIV proud. Gilded red and gold citrus with amber, ruby roses, jasmine and orris.

Bottle: Ugh, floral!

Wet: The amber has already almost disappeared on me, and the floral has amped. The rose and jasmine are overwhelming.

Drydown: Yep, amber's gone and the florals insanely amped!
2.0 outta 5

[VioletChaos]

in the imp: the kind of floral that is in old-lady perfume. meh.

 

wet on skin: the same, but even more.

 

dry down: the perfumy-ness is died down a bit, but it's basically everything i don't like about most florals.

 

in all: cloying, too sweet. powdery and it doesn't smell real at all.

 

NEXT!

 

 

[pinkstardust420]

Ick. Didn't like this one at all. Too herbal and floral. Was thinking it was going to be sweeter. I will have to pass on this one!

[tziporra]

This was a frimp from the lab. Thank you Labbies!!!!!

 

I open the imp and I smell ROSE. Which breaks my heart, because I don't know how I'm going to do another review about a perfectly lovely floral oil which just goes all potpourri Rose on me without sounding like a broken record. Or how to explain ONE MORE TIME that it's not that I don't like rose, because I do, but I want a perfume oil to smell complex and layered and not like a single note.

 

But that's what I have to do.

 

Because while there may be some other notes in Versaille, all I get are roses. Which is sad because I really like amber, and I would love to get some of those oranges other people talk about. Even Jasmine, which I also amp, is no match for the big rose in this blend once it dries down.

 

Sorry

 

Tzi

[DEMONDAHLIA]

I was'nt quite sure what to expect upon opening my bottle . I ordered this strictly on reviews and the "idea" of wanting to smell like French Aristrocracy in a time of excess and debauchery.

In the bottle .. a bit like lemon furniture polish

On the skin.. the lemon is still there but in a fading powdery way .. someting slightly creamy emerges and lemon had all but morphed into a sweet orange blossom scent.

The dry down is simply beautiful .. I still get brief whifs of orange blossom but something definatly "red" is in the forefront and I cant quite put my finger on what it is. Definatly a winner in my book . Throw is moderate and scent length is average . I did try this in my scent locket and In my oppinion this is more beautiful worn on the skin.

[SarahScent44]

In the bottle, this is very sweet, very subtle - there's a hint of citrus, overlaying the amber.

 

On my skin, it's very sophisticated, very courtly - there's the brightness of the citrus, the warmth and sensuality of the jasmine, and a dryness that I always get from the orris.

 

When it dries, it's very *rich* - very, very well-blended, nothing really sticks out, although I get a spike of orris toward the end - very sophisticated, but subtly sexual.

[wavechaser]

Preface: I LOVE floral, I don't mind smelling like an old lady sometimes.

HOWEVER,

wet: sweet cutesy floral, like pink floral wallpaper with candy sitting in a dish nearby

 

dry: Versailles is a good name, its old golden gilded floral. No more candy, no wallpaper just lots of pretension. I want my candy back.

 

Conclusion: Not eww get it off me NOW, I suppose if I was on a deserted island and this was the only bpal that survived I'd wear it. Maybe I'd wear it to visit my grandma.

[Czarina]

Wishlist frimp from a decant circle.

 

I had high hopes for this. I love the commercial perfume Bal a Versailles.

 

Alas! Within two minutes this turned into baby powder on me. Sophisticated baby powder, mind you, but baby powder nonetheless.

 

Might be the orris.

[sadtomato]

got a sample imp of this as an extra when i bought a bottle from a fellow forumite and was delighted because i'm a versailles history fan, especially marie antionette.

this wasn't what i was expecting from the description of the scent.

to me, it's not grand and robust at all, but rather a mild and meek scent which doesn't last long.

i've only been wearing it four hours now and there's barely a trace of the scent left on my skin.

i got no rose scent out of this at all.

wet on my skin it was overpoweringly citrus, of the lemony pledge variety which at first made me sorry i'd slathered it on.

but i've learned with many a bpal you have to wait for the dry down for the gorgeousness to come out, so i didn't panick and off to work i went.

the dry down is MUCH better than the wet application.

the lemon pledge smell dies down dramatically and out comes a lovely, warm amber.

those are the predominant notes on me...lemony citrus and amber.

no rose, no orris, nothing red about this scent at all.

maybe a tiny hint of jasmine in the background.

overall i'd say it's a warm, gold scent.

mild, meek, yet comforting and warm.

[megank4]

Love this scent. Got it from lovely Shollin as a total surprise.

I put it on when I was watching Dangerous Liasons in French with Uma Thurman and John Malkovich.

Felt very Versaillish.

[Suu4LC]

Wow, I just took a good whiff of this in the imp and it was way better than I expected. I was kind of expecting a floral disaster, but this is a creamy amber scent with hints of flowers and citrus. Lovely! I don't know how it will mesh with my skin, but this is gorgeous in the imp!

 

Ok, the citrus jumps out way more when this is on my skin-almost a bit too much for this blend in my opinion. Hmm..and one of the notes, not sure which, is getting to be kind of a wet towel smell (this has happened to me with a few other blends-I've got to try to remember which ones so maybe I can identify the note!). Also, the rose is going funky on me for sure...rose is just always a fail not for me! Damn! I love the smell of rose, but the lab's rose just does not get along with my skin!!!

 

Bleh, yeah, this just total fail on me. I imagine this would be absolutely gorgeous and glittering on the right person, but it just ends up being stinky powdery rose-mess on me

[isisonearth]

This one really delivers. I first notice the extravagant bouquets of roses and iris, jasmine and amber from the perfumes out the courtiers mingle in the air. Then I notice golden bowls heaped with costly lemons and oranges from far away lands. It feel like everything that is rich and desirable rolled into one.

 

Amber really lasts on me and helps the other notes to linger but it does become more resinous as time goes on with a single rose tucked into my hair.

[lunaticana]

I can smell the amber and jasmin very well in this one

I love it

but it s aboluteley not my style to wear

still use my little imp when I stay at home!

it s better than what I was expecting! it sgenerous and really does give me that King Louis feeling hahaha

so rich and well fed

I watch my beloved film from Marie Antoinette every week and this is nice to have

love it, I really do

Edited July 22, 2008 by lunaticana

[zankoku_zen]

This was a very citrusy rose on wet, and now it's rose powder.

 

Nope, not for me.

[vikitty]

Too much cloying floral. Fail!

[WickedQueen918]

Bought an imp of this because I'm mad about the historical Versailles. Wanted to see if this captured the essence of it for me. Concept-wise, it definitely smells like what it's described as...but scent-wise it's kind of mediocre on me.

 

In the vial: Amber...potent amber with a hint of sweet orange.

 

Wet: That amber sure is strong. Very thick...and very "gold." Almost like wrapping a luxurious gold wrap around your shoulders. That had been your grandmother's at some point.

 

Drydown: The amber note is particularly strong, and I can still detect its presence. The rest just smells like a bouquet of random flowers which have swallowed the citrus note whole.

 

Conclusion: It does remind one of the courtly Versailles and how it might have smelled...but it's far too matronly for my tastes...perhaps I'll let my grandmother try it out.

Edited August 21, 2008 by WickedQueen918

[Delirium1009]

In bottle/imp: Jasmine and rose… very perfume-y.

 

Immediately on skin: This is a very golden, amber-filled jasmine and rose scent. It smells almost like traditional perfume. The jasmine gives this a heavy smokiness, almost like opium. The rose lingers behind that, and the amber gives the whole blend a nice glowing feel.

 

After a little while: The jasmine has let up quite a bit and is very balanced with the rose and amber now. This is a warm and smoky jasmine and rose blend with a base of golden amber.

 

Overall Impressions: This blend smells very wearable and traditional on me. The notes are well balanced and nicely blended. The jasmine starts out a bit strong, but calms down after a little while. This really feels gilded and golden, but unfortunately I get no citrus in this at all.

[hlinspjalda]

In the vial: Orange, grapefruit, amber, and jasmine, in that order. A very stimulating scent.

 

Wet: Jasmine intensifies, grapefruit vanishes, orange recedes. And is that rose I smell? It's much more floral than before, and the amber takes on a bigger role than I expected in a scent including jasmine and roses.

 

20 minutes: Jasmine receded. Rose, amber, but not nearly as intense as earlier rose-amber combinations I've tried. The citrus makes a difference I like.

 

One hour: Amber, rose, orange is how this reads now. It's a bit more spicy than I had hoped, but it smells great, good enough to eat but with just enough floral undertones (jasmine?) to make it complex. I'd be willing to wear this on a regular basis.

 

Four hours: My husband expressed a (rare) unsolicited opinion. He said it was nice, but he preferred the one I was wearing yesterday, which was "Iambe." I like "Iambe" better too, but this one is yummy, if a little traditional.

[tacey]

Versailles

 

This was so complex on everyone else... On me, rose. There was a brief (like, several seconds) flash of lemon on application, followed by jasmine (nice jasmine -- not the screechy Queen Jasmine I've seen before), but then...rose powder. Not amber, which I love. Nothing like the evocative blends elsewhere. I'm sure it's gorgeous on the right person, but, sadly, not on me.

[maika]

In the imp, I smell mandarin, but it's only just there. and yet, it's still the note I first identify. On second sniff though, it's all about the amber.

Wet, now it's citrus! But I like this citrus, when citrus normally makes me go meh. This has potential. Maybe the amber has something to do with it, because it's sweetened and being very firmly held in check rather than it going all sharp on me. Oh! The jasmine is here too...and it's being held in place too...which is not a bad thing. I love jasmine, but I also love the chance to be able to appreciate it in a blend, without it amping all over the place as it is wont to do.

Dry, I'm getting lots of sweet, powdery amber - but it's not going old lady on me, so that's always an advantage. I can finally smell the orris now, it's darkening everything just enough to make me go mmmmm...and of course, I smell my jasmine. Definitely a keeper = even if the citrus appears to have disappeared altogether.

[Iceblink]

Versailles has a bright, happy citrus top note--very pretty--and then I get lots and LOTS of rose. I like rose so it's all good. The amber is sweet, and the jasmine isn't taking over the blend as it tends to. The citrus is starting to smell a bit of cleaning fluids, though. I do love the rose note!

[Aninael]

In both smelling it out of the imp, and putting it on my skin, I got almost nothing but lemon. And not a very good one, a strong lemony smell almost to the point of cleaning solution.

 

While it was drying though, the lemon scent started to fade away, only to be replaced with an extremely strong, overpowering floral. Not my thing, washed it off right away.

[charshark]

In the imp: Citrus and jasmine.

Wet: Very citrusy. That's really about all I get out of it at this point.

Dry: Roses and jasmine with lots of lemon. Soapy.

Overall: I got this as a frimp and it isn't really something I would choose for myself because citrus + rose + jasmine didn't sound like it would make a great combination on me and it turns out that it doesn't. Oh well, you can't always win.

[ianastar]

At first this was very floral with a spicy kick of some sort. It dried down to a smell similar to Play-doh (which must be the amber). Amber always has this kind of Play-doh smell to me. It's not bad, but defintely not one of my favorite scents to wear very often.

[Gwydion]

In bottle: So much citrus. Which my skin massively amps and orris, which never works on me. My hopes aren’t high. Wet: I can actually just smell the florals over the extremely intense citrus. The orris is relatively mild, adding an appropriate sense of decay under all that scent. Dry: Mostly rose and amber once the citrus finally fades.