Bess

[Kitrona]

Inspired by the tragic, ill-fated love of Queen Elizabeth I and the Earl of Leicester. This is our modernization of a 17th-century perfume blend favored by British aristocracy: rosemary, orange flower, grape spirit, five rose variants, lemon peel, and mint.

No idea where I got this; I just cataloged all my imps and started testing those I don't remember, and Bess was among them.

In imp: definitely smell the orange and the rose, but it's mild and sweet. Very British, yes.

Wet on skin: Hello, rose, would you like to let the other notes come out and play?

Drydown: Now the mint comes out stronger, and the roses hang back. It's pretty, but very light and almost floral-y.

Verdict: I like it, but not enough to get a bottle. Summer scent, definitely, or when I have to pretend to be respectable.

Later: Oops. There goes the rose again. Nope, this is gonna have to go.

My husband's verdict: "Mellow, I like it. Fruity, almost peachy." Edited May 8, 2008 by Shollin

[donnatron]

Imp: Rosemary and orange dominate with a touch of grape sweetness and rose in the background.

 

Wet: This goes almost candy sweet in the initial phases. It actually reminds me of a sort of laid-back Blood Countess. The rose sweetens the orange and the grape goes juicy-sweet. The rosemary is not as present as I anticipated it being, but it adds a subtle hint of freshness.

 

Dry: This is a really soft, sweet, somewhere between fruity-and-floral blend. For some reason it reminds me of standing in the Rijksmuseum staring at the Night Watch. It's very classic and soft, and the notes blend together very elegantly. The roses and orange and now the dominant note, with the rest of the notes weaving in sweetly.

 

Throw: Enough.

 

Overall: It's a gorgeous scent. It's such a lush, rich, classical scent that it's completely unusual by modern standards. It should definitely be a standard in an starter imp pack.

[coldandsleepy]

In the imp: lots of lemon, a little rosemary, a little mint.

 

On me, wet: same as in the imp.

 

On me, dry: This changes a LOT over time on me. At first, I get nothing but lemon and rosemary and a little mint. Then the rose comes up and is strong for a few hours. Finally, this ends up being gentle grape and rosemary. Very nice, though it morphs an awful lot.

 

Throw and duration: good throw and excellent duration. This lasts forever.

 

Overall: it's kind of all over the place, but I like all of the phases. I just kinda wish it'd pick one and stay there! And I could probably do without the final grape phase.

[Kippy]

I don't quite get a real rosemary scent here, but there is a slightly herbal background to the roses and orange blossoms. It's a sweet and lovely perfume though.

 

I like, but this one only sticks around on my skin for about an hour.

[Brighid]

I love this, largely because rosemary is one of my favorite scents. It dries to a sort of rosemary-apple smell on me. The only downside is it doesn't last long enough.

[savage_rose]

At first it smells like olives (?). Then it becomes a light citrus-floral, a bit stronger than Alice. It's not bad, but it's not really my thing.

[DARKBEAUTY28]

A very lovely scent. Wet it makes me think that it is the grape version of Rose Red. It is very crisp in it's opening and smells leafy. Drydown is a tart grape scent on me. I really like it.

[Tilby]

Elegance in a bottle. The perfect blend of sharp herbals, softened by grape and light rose. Rose is usually awful on me, but I think the rosemary and mint have it tamed well enough. The prominent note to me is the grape. Love this one, I could wear it every day.

[XShear]

A very soft, very floral perfume. Imagine a little girl running through the flowers all day, this is that perfume. Too floral-y for me though. But really lovely otherwise.

[darharper]

I tried my imp of Bess this morning. I have been looking forward to trying it as I am rather intrigued by Elizabeth I (she is the subject of my masters dissertation).

 

In the vial: Rosemary and oranges but there is something else slightly warm under there. I can't quite tell what it is.

 

Wet: Wow! All citrus! Hmmm, not so sure because I smell like I bathed in orange juice.

 

Dry: The rosemary has reappeared as well as that warm smell that I can't identify.

 

Dry after 15 minutes: This is utterly gorgeous! It is the perfect mix of citrus and herbs. I just get slight hints of a grape note, which tempers the entire scent just a wee bit. It has blended perfectly on my skin and I feel really confident, but, feminine wearing this scent. Yet, I don't feel overly girly (which is important as I am not much of a girly girl).

 

Throw: Pretty good. Not overpowering. Just a nice amount.

 

Staying power: This has stayed on me for quite some time. I put it on at 8 this morning and now that it is nearly 2 in the afternoon, it is still quite noticeably there. You don't need much of it. I just did a swipe on one wrist and then rubbed my wrists together and one swipe on my neck. While at the store, I had someone ask me what I was wearing because I smelled so unique and lovely. My first BPAL compliment!

 

This does have a bit of a commanding sense to it that you associate more with an older woman. Despite not being an older woman, I still love this enough to wear it. I think that the freshness of it allows people of all ages to pull it off.

 

This is a definite big bottle buy!

Edited June 10, 2008 by smallpaws

[Argentwolf]

Definitely mint and lemon...those two scents predominated. Also a very faint hint of orange, and the rosemary gave it a peppery kick. Unfortunately, as strong as these elements sound, it really did not linger long at all. I can't say that this one did much for me. I would recommend it to mint-lovers.

[sprocket21]

After reading over reviews, it seems like different people experience different dominant notes, so it's quite a mystery scent!

 

In the imp: Very faint, but I think I get some oranges and...wine? O_o

 

Man, this scent is almost invisible on me, I have to huff my arm to smell anything. What I do smell is a very light citrus, I think orange. No sign of any other note, not even the dreaded rose. Apparently the British aristocracy preferred a VERY light throw so as to not offend anybody's sensibilities!

[ErinZ]

Wet in imp:

light, sweet, pretty, fruity

 

Wet on skin:

herbal… very herbal

 

Drydown:

very green and sweet

 

Wearlength:

fades until it's almost undetectable hours later except for a very faint sweetness

 

Final impression:

It gets sweeter and sweeter as time goes on. A little too sweet on its own, in fact. It could work if I layered it with something heavy and earthy so they could balance each other out.

[thelaurenator]

This is delicious. Astringent herbals tamed by robust florals and sweet grape. On me, it's mostly full-bodied rose, fresh lemon peel, and sugary grape, with a breath of rosemary. I *always* get compliments when I wear this. It's just lovely. Definitely a big-bottle scent.

 

I also love this scent because I feel such an affinity for the red-haired queen. I admire her so much, and I'm glad I can smell like her!

[Enferdame]

Got a sniffie of this one, so these impressions are pretty fleeting.

 

In the bottle it's super fruity to my nose, but after a bit that rosemary comes on really strong as well. I like it.

On me, it's all rose. The fruity notes keep it the rose from getting too musty, but to my nose it's still mostly rose. This is the first blend with roses I've ever worn, so it's interesting to know that my skin will amp the rose up so much. I don't know that I'd ever want a full bottle of this, but I definitely want an imp so I can play around with it more.

 

Doesn't hurt that she's a fellow redhead

[Suusje]

This basically smells like an herbal citrus on my skin. Not really my thing. And it doesn't seem to linger on me at all. One minute it's there, and the next it's almost gone

[smokey188]

in the bottle: grape and mint are fighting for supremacy

on my skin: i was a little hesitant to try this because i'm not a big fan of rose but this is amazing the grape and mint stop the rose from turning into evil old lady powder. This has a sweetness and a bite at first but then it settles done to become a beautiful floral fit for a queen!

[Ohmaude]

Rosemary, citrus and rose. Mainly rosemary. This makes me think of a well-tended herb garden, with gravel paths and large rosemary shrubs and the smell of flowers. This is not particularly feminine, and it reminds me of Aveda shampoo, which must be the rosemary.

 

I like it, it's subtle, different and unique. I could see wearing this in a situation where you don't want to seduce everyone in the room (always a risk with BPAL) but you want to smell lovely and fresh.

 

Ohmaude rating: Oh!

[marared]

I got this as a freebie. When I popped the cap, I wrinkled my nose at the sour smell, which almost reminded me of the unpleasantness of Queen Alice, and wondered if it had wine in it. Went to look up the notes, and yep, it's got booze. I bravely tried it on my arm, prepared to wash it off in a hurry and ...

 

Rose and mint. A very well behaved rose and mint, come to that. It's almost like one of those after-dinner mints you get in some restaurants, at least on fresh application. It gets a little more orange-blossom as it dries, but the mint lingers.

 

Oddly, I never smell the rosemary in any of the blends that contain them. Which is probably not a bad thing, since I can only tolerate rosemary the herb in very small quantities.

[gchris]

In Vial: Smells weird, like mint chocolate.

 

Wet: Sharp. I don't even know what this smells like. I think it's floral but not typical

 

Dry: Now it has mellowed to something recognizable. Definitely roses.

[jehrichardson]

In the Imp: Orange and grape and roses - complex, sweet and pretty.

 

On the Skin: Grape Kool-Aid with some musty back notes - the rosemary and orange flower I think.

 

After a While: The grape kool-aid is fading, and there is a lovely, complex sweet floral herby mixture. Very well blended. Very nice! I'm not really getting lemon and mint, but my allergies are bad today so I can't smell terribly well, and this is really well blended.

 

Verdict: I'm surprised to find any deliberate grape notes in this - as far as I know, grape spirit is like grappa, highly alcoholic and not at all grapey. To find literal grape fruit notes in here is weird, but they pass very quickly. This, after two minutes, turns into a delightful and sophisticated scent. I really like it!! Mmm!

[Allumina]

I was really hoping for the rosemary on this one, but on me it was all roses, a hint of citrus and a bit of herbs. It's pretty and soft, but I'm not really a floral person, so I'm swapping it.

[skepticism]

Vial: lemon peel and grape with mint on the tail end

 

Wet: orange peel and grape, kind of a sweet citrusy aroma

 

Dry: didn't expect the rosemary to pop up. I always thought that rosemary was such a submissive note, especially coupled with strong sweet/citrus notes.

 

Eh, Bess was a little too sweet for me. It made me feel like I had just spilled juice all over myself.

[le fey]

In the bottle:

Clean and fruity... I can pick out the orange, something grapey, the mint and the rose.

 

Wet:

Rose and herbs.

 

Drydown:

The orange comes up - still primarily rose, but the orange and herbs keep it well behaved. I'm hoping the grape will return, but this is all very nicely blended, bright and sweet and clean.

 

As time passes, I do get hints of grape but more significantly, all of the notes come together in a very harmonious way - this scent is sunny, regal and civilized with no oddities that would keep it from being wearale every day. I can see why this is a classic scent.

 

Two hours later, it's growing softer - I have to put my nose right up to my wrist to smell it. But it remains lovely right to the end, without losing its character. I'm willing to reapply as needed, and I am very happy with this scent.

[voodoocatwoman]

The first time I tried Bess, I thought it was just a rose scent. Wrong wrong wrong. It is so much more complex!

 

In the imp: I smell herbs, sharp and pungeant.

 

Wet: Orange peel and grape-- there's a bit of mint as an afterthought.

 

Dry: The rose comes out as the other notes fade. However, they do not allow the rose to run rampant. They encourage her with their scents.