Versailles

[kjirstiben]

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.

This is a sweet, warm, gilded citrus-floral scent. In its wet phase, Versailles is all heady florals (perhaps too much so for my tastes), but when applied with a light touch it does tone down into a lovely scent. The amber in it is not prominent, except for hours (and hours--more like the next day) after application, as a fuzzy warm scent. I was surprised by how well the citrus stuck around in the scent; as soon as the florals had calmed down (took an hour or so), the blend was very much red-gold citrus-floral. And very sweet.

Reminiscent of sunlight streaming in windows from high above, illuminating hazy floating dust in the palace corridors. Very evocative and very nice.

[SophieCedar]

Wet: warm citrus and amber. Feel like I'm basking in the sun on a perfect day. The jasmine provides a stirring sexy touch and the orris a light lucidity. I like this more than I thought I would!

 

Drydown: odd.. but having read the other reviews, expected. The amber is the one sticking around! The gilded citrus continues to amp it like a well kept, slow burning fire. The jasmine mellowed into the mix. I would compare it to a nice mulled drink or stew that warms the cockles simply by the memory of it's soothing and comforting effects. Awesome.

[zebracakes]

Age: Unknown

Imp: Smells strongly of rose with candied citrus.

Wet on skin: Rose, powder, hints of citrus: very sickly sweet. The scent is soapy and stuffy, like being cooped up in an Americana/victoriana gift shop that sells tea accessories, jewelry, dolls, scarves, purses, and Christmas ornaments.

After 10 minute dry down: The scent doesn’t change much for me, just becomes subdued.

Overall: Rose, it appears, is one of the more stereotyped scents. It screams old lady and soap and that is not my imagined olfaction of how the Palace at Versailles would smell.

 

2.5 out of 5 stars.

[yakiguri]

I should've known Versailles wouldn't work due to the inclusion of doom note citrus (and two types!) but I wanted to give it a shot anyway due to reviews of it being perfumey like a classic parfum. Unfortunately the citrus (of course) goes sour and rancid the second it hits my skin, orris is funky like decayed flowers, and amber is nowhere to be seen. Jasmine is the only note behaving here, but it takes A LOT for jasmine to go bad on me. Every once in a while the citrus and orris scale back and I get a whiff of something exquisitely expensive, but then it's gone in a flash. It's like instead of a gilded palace full of luxury and decadence I got a dirty old washed-up has-been claiming to be from some long-forgotten noble house. But, as he waxes nostalgic, you see the quality of stitching beneath the grime in his tattered clothing and see he's sadly speaking the truth.

Edited August 8, 2011 by thatbrownelf

[Incendiare]

This is so neat in the imp. Oranges and roses. Interesting combination. On me, as expected, the rose takes over. Up close, I can't detect any jasmine, yet jasmine is definitely wafting in the air. Ugh. Yeah, this isn't going anywhere. Up close, this reminds me of Seraglio, which makes sense since it has rose and orange peel. Versailles makes me feel a bit nauseated, unfortunately.

[Soniadevi]

I can smell all the notes listed in equal measure, as they all bloom on my skin in a perfectly balanced way. My skin chemistry must be in perfect harmony with this scent, because it does exactly what I assume it was meant to do! I love this scent, it makes me feel regal. I want to visit the palace of Versailles NOW!!! I smell this and images of polished marble columns, silk covered walls and heavy red velvet curtains flash before my eyes. It's a very positive scent, like an affirmation of ones inner beauty, inner gloriousness...

[Maleficium]

Imp: immediately reminds me of a dimming fire and an ornate plush chair. I find it hard to distinguish the different notes, but I may be getting a hint of orange peel.

 

wet: amber! Oh! And rose! There is a wee bit of jasmine, but it's faint. Not jasmine-y enough to make me hate it. This scent is rich, and lives up to its name so far. I feel aristocratic already!

 

dry: The jasmine gives way to amber and something wonderful. Just a hint of rose is left, but not something that one would immediately sniff and think "rose".

 

bottom line: Fades to a scent that is soft but commanding at the same time. Golden and regal, this warm scent makes me feel like royalty. I am not usually a fan of rose or florals but this concoction is so rich and enticing that I might even entertain the idea of buying a bottle. Just the right amount of throw, and long lasting.

[Lady Midnight]

In the bottle Versailles smelled pleasant but too mild. On my skin, initially, it smelled like candy - in a good way - but still too faint. However after half an hour it grew stronger and smelled beautiful. Seriously, if the word "pretty" had a scent, it would be this one. It brought to mind morning sunshine and the freshly blooming flowers of springtime. I'm definitely going to order a bottle.

[Mechanical Death]

Hmm...

 

It starts out quite nice, light and lemony, slight floral undertone, nice and powdery. Very fresh light, but still a strong scent-- strong in it's freshness.

 

God, then it turns to this rank awful stank. It starts smelling like rotting flowers, and soap and... something else quite stinky.Maneure? No, seriously, it smells like the fertilizer from the garden grounds it turned that bad.

 

Thankfully the STANK stage passes and it turns to citrus again. Grapefruit, tangerine?? lemon. Almost lemon icing--it smells sugary like lemon frosted sugar cookies or cakes. There's tuberose-- I know that scent well, it turns a little soapy, but not in a bad way. It's deep and perfumey, and clean at the same time. The rest of the flowers though still smell like they have been sitting just a little bit too long... too bad. This scent had some promise as a nice complex flowered perfume.

 

overall it's a complex scent, but slightly off. It unfortunately doesn't turn back all the way.

 

Perhaps I still have some perfume from the day before hanging around. I'll have to give it another try.

Edited August 14, 2012 by Mechanical Death

[Fuhrankie]

I love the idea of this scent. I went mad on a Wanderlust purchasing spree last order, so of course this had to be in it.

 

In the imp: Sharp citrus with a sweet powdery floral background.

 

Wet on skin: Still that gorgeous sharp scent, but that powder is racing to the fore.

 

Drydown: Holy crap that powder has a lot of throw. The citrus tones are fading away (nnooooo!), leaving me with candy-sweet powdery florals.

 

Dry: Powdery florals. It's a nice powdery floral, I'll give it that, but I wish the citrus had stayed longer.

 

Verdict: Très féminin. J'imagine rideaux blancs et une chambre lumineuse. Je suis allongée sur le lit, attendant mon amant. <3

 

When my imp runs out I'll likely order another, but I probably won't bottle this.

[theredshoes]

In the imp: Mildly flowery citrus. I don't smell any rose or amber.

 

Wet: WHAM! Citrus. A very strong orange/lemon/grapefruit bright smell on me. I kinda love it, as I love citrus smells, but not something I'd want to put on right before stepping into a crowded elevator.

Drydown: The citrus backs off a couple miles and a pretty, warm sort of creamy floral comes out. Still rather tart, but I like it (then again I used to suck on lemons as a kid. I can't get enough of tart citrus). It stays juicy, not getting either too soapy or powdery. I think I'm getting more jasmine-and-amber, not the rose or orris (whatever orris is). The citrus comes back out every once in a while, like the sun peeking through heavy velvet perfumed drapes (or something).

 

Verdict: I really like it. It's a very bright cheerful scent, and reminds me of a bowl of oranges in the sunshine scenting my kitchen. Unfortunately the pretty subtle drydown stage -- it does smell a lot like orange blossoms -- fades out on my skin. However, this is a very strong, long-lasting perfume with decent throw. It'd be great for summertime. I have to say that while Venice smells the way I think of Venice -- bright, aquatic, a bit sharp -- this doesn't smell anything like powdered decadant aristocrats. Unless they're sitting in L'Orangerie de Jussieu.

[Magycmyste]

In imp: I'm getting a light, fruity note first and foremost. It actually reminds me a little of Flintstones vitamins. Maybe peaches.

 

Wet on skin: I'm getting a little more floral out of this now. Not sure if it's the rose or jasmine (not sure what orris smells like), maybe a hint of amber.

 

Dried down: This is getting a bit traditional sharp perfume on me, but it's not unpleasant. I still get a fruit note,but only if I sniff my wrists really hard. It does seem to be softening a bit over time

 

Throw: This has a very subtle throw to it - I'm not really getting more than a hint of it unless I raise up my wrists

 

Verdict: **** I actually really like this, which is a little surprising considering the traditional scent I get from it during the drydown. It seems like that's just the early drydown, though. I like it more as it gets softer.

[Miss Despair]

Mostly jasmine and amber on me, some rose, and a hint of orange peel that gives it some sweetness. It does veer just a little powdery/potpourri-y after drydown. A ladylike, late spring/early summer spent indoors next to a window by the garden kind of scent. I like it, but it's very traditional and not the sort of thing I usually associate with BPAL.

[Jangzonrice]

Got this as a frimp from another forum member. It's aged, but I'm not sure how old it is. Wet: citrus, rose, and other floral...jasmine? Dry: citrus dies down, more rose and jasmine and sweetened by Amber. I also have a lab fresh imp and will see how that differs. It's pretty, but the throw is weak and I don't think staying power is going to be great either. I will have to reapply before I go out tonight definitely.

 

Tried out the lab fresh frimp. Wet: bright, sweet citrus. Dry: amber citrus with a little jasmine. I like this much better than the aged version, so I probably will not get a bottle of this since it will age into the description above. Too bad, because it is beautiful fresh.

Edited February 21, 2014 by Jangzonrice

[lucycat]

In the imp: Citrus and fresh-cut roses, with a bitter edge.

 

Wet: This gets much sweeter; it smells like a dessert containing orange juice and rosewater.

 

Dry: Hello, jasmine.

 

Later: Rose. Still later, the orris emerges.

 

I had hoped that the citrus and amber, notes I like, would predominate in this blend. Instead, as has happened before in other blends, (see my review of Namaste) the rose and jasmine overpower the notes I like. To be fair, Versailles is a pretty blend, and I think it suits its inspiration; I just don’t like blends in which rose and jasmine predominate on my skin.

[mymymai]

• ITI: The scent is bright and golden. The citrus reminds me of kumquat, but the harshness of it is tampered by the fragrant roses and jasmine. The amber and orris both add a sumptuous and powdery tone to the scent as a whole, which reminds me of the quaffed wigs indicative of the era.

Wet: It reminds me of sipping rose-infused lemonade on a warm spring afternoon in a blooming garden. Very nice.

Dry: It's like orris and amber-dusted roses. The citrus has completely faded, but the scent is still gorgeous.

[LizziesLuck]

Wet: Very citrus

 

Dry: The citrus fades and it becomes quite floral. very nice actually, the jasmine isn't in-your-face like it usually is on me. I'm not getting a lot of rose, or any single note really, just a bright, pretty floral. I like it, but I don't think I'll need to hunt down a bottle.

[Lucchesa]

I was frimped Versailles by a generous forumite, and it hits a lot of my high notes: citrus, rose, golden amber. The jasmine stays respectfully in the background. This is exactly as gorgeous as I would have expected. And of course, it's discontinued. Sigh.

[achildoftime]

I get grapefruit and orange from this. It's a very lively citrus while it lasts. It's bright and glittering for a second, but then it nearly disappears. It could have been lovely, but I'll never know as my chemistry doesn't agree with it.

[doomsday_disco]

This is an aged imp, so I suspect the citrus notes were more noticeable when this was fresh. As it is, it is mostly a powdery orris and amber on me backed by some jasmine and a little bit of rose. I only get the barest hint of citrus, which I think lifts the scent a little and makes my powdery fate a little more interesting.

 

Versailles is too powdery for me, but I am glad I got a chance to try it!

Edited September 21, 2022 by doomsday_disco

[MolyH]

I'm starting to think that jasmine just doesn't work for me--this smells strongly like playdough the second it hits my skin. I can get a little bit of rose now and then, and a little hint of citrus occasionally, and for one or two seconds, I can see how beautiful this scent could've been. If it weren't for the near constant plastic playdough scent smothering everything else.