Lucy's Kiss

[Veronica]

Created to represent the essence of Bram Stoker’s tragic heroine, Lucy Westenra. Seductive, wanton and deadly, but underscored with a soft, wistful innocense. The gentle scent of rose and a blend of Victorian spices.

A clean, slightly aquatic rose with just a hint of spice. I love rose scents, but at this point in my BPAL life, I've experienced too many of the Lab's roses for this to be outstanding for me. I would say it's most similar to London. This one is very pretty and well balanced, not too heady or wet.

[KosmikFade]

Another beautiful BPAL rose blend. Lucy’s kiss is exactly as described. A lovely Victorian rose based scent.

 

Wet it’s bright yet soft and fresh, and I even get a slight hint of citrus.

 

On dry down it mellows and the spices and other notes come out to play while still maintaining the the fact that the star of this show is rose. This is a perfect period scent! I will definitely be ordering a full size bottle of this lovely lady.

[freyasfae]

This is lighter than I thought it would be, but it does have that element of innocence of Lucy that is then matured by Victorian spices. Overall, this is very well blended and hard to determine any specific notes other than rose and Victorian spices, and it mostly stays the same on me. Nice, but not a keeper for me.

[PrinceofcatS]

I'm trying to decide which ~gently spiced Gothic Heroine rose~ blend I want to buy a bottle of: Lucy's Kiss, London, or Maiden - or if I should try more rose blends out and see if any of them tops these. I will say, if you have London or Maiden, you might not particularly need Lucy's Kiss too.

 

This feels like a different rose from either of them - London's definitely the lab's watery, pink tea rose, for one thing - but that might be the gentle spices making it feel almost dry and prim. This also reminds me a bit of the lab's white rose note, which is less sweet and less watery, not super bold, even a little tart. Initially I wasn't able to detect white rose very well in the scents that had it (like The Waltz), but it's both subtle and strong on me now, and I'm starting to find that I prefer it. Like those blends, when I first started comparing these scents, I got less rose out of Lucy's Kiss than the other two. But the more I wear it, the stronger and purer the rose comes out to me.

 

I picture this scent as an elegant but simple vase of white roses surrounded by crisp autumn leaves. It doesn't evoke wantonness or corruption to me, but it's not a fresh, lively rose, either. It works perfectly for a radiant and beautiful woman adored by all who know her who is wan and fading now, the metaphorical petals falling. It lacks the sweetness of the other two, but is still more rose than spice.

 

I'm torn because the white rose is probably my favorite of the lab's roses but I also, as a result, already have more of them, so I guess I need to test this against The Reaper and the Flowers or something. This is really lovely, though. My one caveat is that I have two imps of this: one is a decant from an unknown year I got from the sales board here and the other could be as old as ten years, and the other one is mostly soap on me.

[Missa_Moth]

Imp: Tea Rose, watery, Victorian.

Wet: Tea Rose but slightly soapy, like the after scent of a rose soap or my rose and witch-hazel toner.

Dry: Clean tea rose, with a touch of sweet. I'm still getting the rose soap scent. Good throw.

 

I love roses, but this scent isn't something I want to wear. It reminds me of my rose toner (which I like to use before bed, but don't really want to wear.) I think it goes a bit too soapy on my skin for my taste, but I may turn this into a linen/room spray.

[ShannonElisabethJones]

In the imp, this is a damp, soapy rose. Maybe something sharp lurking in and out.

 

After application, it's turning green. Not herbal green, but leafy green. Still damp smelling, like it's been raining all day. I like it, but it's not at all spicy or seductive on me. Just greeny-rose.

 

The only other rose scent I have is Zombi, and that's more dried rose and earth. This is a fresh rose, but not a young one. Maybe a little sad.

 

I'll keep this one as another "work appropriate" blend.

[LizziesLuck]

I'm not really sure how I missed reviewing this. My notes say I absolutely loved it, thought it was my perfect rose for a moment, and then it disappeared, poof! So it got swapped. I have a ton of rose blends at this point anyway. I vaguely remembering wishing that the spices had shown up to the party, as this was straight up rose on me. It never went soapy, but maybe it just didn't have a chance to since it disappeared.

[roseus]

Not getting anything but dark rose. Deep, velvety, and like it's almost overbloomed. It's pleasant but not my favorite rose.

Edited October 6, 2016 by roseus

[maudlinrose]

As the above reviewer said, not my favourite rose. But does remind me of Lucy.

Its a delicate, pretty, innocent rose. I wish the spices were around to add that corruption and depth to it, but I would try it again, to see if it's batch variation.

[WinterSong]

Rose has a tendency to fade on me very quickly, so it's no surprise that this one does too. However, this particular rose doesn't completely disappear. The spices seem to hold it all together on me, so it lasts a bit longer. It's a soft scent; there is minimal throw on me and it's very close to the skin. It's also very pretty. A spicy, soft rose. I recommend this one to rose fans!

[lizabelle]

Man, BPAL is really good at these rose blends. In the imp this is quite sharp, almost like rose petals floating in vinegar. No idea what "spices" are involved in this, but luckily they mostly disappear on my skin. Instead the rose takes over, as expected; it's a true floral rose that slowly gets more powdery until it smells like candied rose petals.

 

The most fascinating part of this scent is the subtle bite of something almost sour, like the maybe-vinegar I smell in the imp. Instead of being obvious it hits far at the back of the nose, almost like I'm tasting it. I'm continually amazed by BPAL's ability to do downright weird things with scent. I have so many rose scents, but yet again I'm tempted to get a bottle.

[Miss Landau]

I could have SWORN that when I read the BPAL page for Lucy's Kiss sometime last year, it listed this as a violet scent, not a rose one. Anyway, this is lovely. I'm not a huge fan of rose scents per se as they tend to give me a headache, but this is light enough for that not to be an issue. The "Victorian spices" add a sweetness that is delicate as opposed to sickly.

[marilyn eyre]

It started out a lightly spiced rose, but then faded far too fast for more notes.

[doomsday_disco]

In the imp: Fresh rose... perhaps tea rose? I'm not really getting any spice from the imp.

Wet: Fresh rose (with that citrus-y element that Rose Red has) is all I'm getting from this thus far. After a few minutes, I do begin to smell the Victorian spices, but they are very soft, adding a little bite to the fresh rose.

Dry: Still a fresh rose, which is somewhat sour on me, because that is what this type of rose does on my skin, with just a breath of the Victorian spices.

Verdict: This rose note just does not cooperate with my skin chemistry.

[Pardona]

Got this Imp from friend of mine, because I was intrigued by the idea of 'Victorian spices'

 

In the bottle: spicy! It tickles my nose! Slightly floral also.
Just on: the spicy almost immediately changes into something that is still spicy, but also a lot sweeter than I was expecting - Mulled wine perhaps?
5 minutes: Okay this is definitely a *rose* scent. Like, not slightly 'hey I think I smell a rose', but heavy, sweet rose hitting you in the face. And totally natural too - it's like pushing your face in a bush full of sweet roses. I love it.
10 minutes (35): The roses have settled down some, and the spicy is showing itself again. I love both the spicy and the sweet roses, but I wish they would stop fighting each other.
15 minutes: Spice here, spice there, spice everywhere, laid out on a gentle, sweet background. I love it!
20 minutes: This could be a wonderful incense - still sweet but with enough spice in there to make itself noticeable.
25 minutes: I really wish the rose smell would come back some, but for now, it seems to have blended into a heavy sweetness (that is not floral) peppered with an incense-like spice. Despit missing the roses, I still *really* like this.
30 minutes: Could it be the roses are just *that* sweet I hardly smell the floral? The spices have been lessening and are now barely there, and the rose smell I smelled at first is making a return. Ever so slightly, for now, but it's there.
40 minutes: Okay, spicy roses, very definitely!
50 minutes: And now the spice is entirely gone, and it's floral roses take two. These aren't the heavy sweet roses I smelled earlier, but it's walking through a rose garden where and being completely surrounded on all sides by roses - not with your face pushed into them, but it'll all around you in the air.
An hour: I think it's toying with me: Sure, I'm still sitting in a rose garden, but now the spices are dancing around again, as if someone wearing a spicy perfume is walking up to sit beside me. Decide already!
An hour and twenty minutes: Dusk seems to have fallen in my rose garden. The rose scent is now gently wafting through the air, while somewhere close by, someone lighted a spicy scented candle.
An hour and forty minutes: it's mixed up again, but not in a way that I seem to remember it doing - spicy floral that is less specifically roses and more generally 'floral'. Still delicious though.
2 hours: Yeah, general floral-spicy that *still* can't decide what to settle on.
2 & 1/2 hours: Yeah, I don't think this is going to change much anymore. A light scent that tickles me with its spiciness but has enough floral in there to make it something you don't feel a burden wearing all the same - very interesting.

Final verdict: Lucy's Kiss is a simple scent on me, and I mean that in a good way. The two elements it's composed of are roses in various degrees of sweetness, and spices (never really specific spices, just like... fancy incense spices) that either prickle your nose or decide they're happy sitting it out in the background for a bit. The two never *do* seem able to decide which one of them is taking the lead in their continual dance, but that's not a bad thing - it's like, you *know* what you're gonna get, but you *don't* know in what ways what you're getting is gonna behave itself. This was a great experience!

[garbagewitch]

A very straightforward, unadorned rose scent. Not especially green or earthy, and not at all showy. It's not roses on a bush in a garden or out in the wild, and it's not a huge, bursting bouquet either. This is just a few roses, pale pink and freshly cut, wrapped in a white handkerchief. If there's a spot or two of blood from a pricked finger, then it's been tucked neatly out of sight.

 

It feels demure and soft-spoken, but artlessly so; it doesn't play at being coy or wilting. Very clean and fresh, but not in a soapy or sterile way. It's like catching a young woman just halfway into dressing, her hair loose and a little damp, her white shift clinging to skin still dewy from bathing; it's like the massive clawfoot tub she just climbed out of, clouded with steaming water and scented oils.

 

Simple, but very lovely.

Edited June 23, 2018 by conflagrantThief

[VetchVesper]

A fruity, tart rose, with a pleasant soapy quality.  This smells very prim, and yes - Victorian.  This smells like those little hand soaps your mom lays out when guest are coming that you are never allowed to use.    Unfortunately, the rose in this goes sour on my skin.  Not for me, but probably very appropriate to the time period.  

[VictorianLass]

Starts off with a pungent rose and spice mix for me, like a vampire's bite! Sort of an innocence lost feel, as there is almost a sultry scent to it, which is unusual with roses, but works quite nicely with this scent.

  

Dries down on the skin softer, slowly fading over time, to a very Victorian Rose, and disappears elegantly once the sun rises....

[hhelix]

I am a big fan of the Lab's roses. To my nose, Lucy's Kiss is a fresh type of rose, youthful and joyful, like the rose in Maiden or Alice. It could be the spice also that reminds me of the carnation in both of those blends. Lucy's Kiss is clean, a little soapy, but there is also a fresh-cut stem and watery greenness when wet. The spices darken and warm it just slightly. To compare it to other rose blends I've tried, Lucy's Kiss seems like a fresh bouquet of pink, coral, and yellow roses, while something like Blood Rose or Black Rose would be blackish red and purple dried rose petals. This would be full bottle worthy if there weren't so many other beautiful roses in BPAL's garden. 

[dancingchair]

A pretty rose with a hint of something indolic. I also get a bite from something peppery and spicy, but that component isn't very strong. It's nice but not really for me.

[Lucchesa]

I'm pretty sure Lucy's Kiss is tea rose because tea rose is generally a disaster on my skin.  If rose works for you, I imagine this is delightful.  

[Poenari]

I thought I reviewed this years ago but apparently not. I recently received a new imp of this and wanted to compare to my original thoughts. 

 

Once upon a time, when I was a wee bpal noob, I tried many varieties of rose scents. I found that they always turned to soap in my nose and on my skin. Rose Moon (2007) was my birthday moon and was happily the first rose that I could wear. I later found Zombi and fell in love - the dirt note kept the rose in check from turning to soap. Clermont became another favorite because the opium works so well on my skin with the rose.

 

Fast forward 15 years, and my skin chemistry hasn't changed but my nose certainly has! I have finally learned to discern that tea roses and pink roses are best on me when they are the main notes; darker roses when matched with strong spice and incense notes; thus leading me to a new understanding of Beth's lovely rose blends and how I can now wear a wider variety of them!

 

This is pink and sweet and innocent until fully dried down. Then it slowly blooms with a slightly powdery finish as the spices rise. Lucy's Kiss is another win for me! I'm so happy to find another lovely rose blend that I can wear.

[Weirdgirlpilled]

On me this is funeral rose. Somber, mourning, silent widow rose. It's apropos for how I'm feeling atm. I usually don't super love rose and this does lean a little soapy and dry, but that's nice. It stirs sad, wistful feelings. I like it, but not enough to acquire a full bottle right now. 

[Laughing Seagull]

I found an imp of this in a box that I don't think I ever tested which is at least a year or 2 old.

 

I put it on without reading the notes first and my immediate thought was "I bet this is tea rose." It is, as others have said, a "watery" rose.

 

There is something very gentle and sweet accompanying the rose that I want to say is just a teeny touch of anise or licorice root.

 

It's pretty, but I prefer a darker hussy of a rose, like Blood Rose.

 

ETA: Lucy's Kiss is quite long lasting! About 12 hours later I can still smell it.

Edited March 22 by Laughing Seagull

[LacedDoll]

I got this as a frimp in my last order and was very excited because of the subject matter. Sadly this one was a little disappointing to me, I was expecting something more flirty or edgy but it's a vintage rose. It's still a lovely, fresh vintage rose but I think this Lucy is less "Lucy Westenra, the flirty young woman who loves gossiping with her bestie and fighting off suitors" and more "Lucy Westenra trying to fit into Victorian society's idea of how a woman should behave (or smell)".