Dublin

[shadow]

The scent of misty forests, damp alder leaf, and the gentlest touch of white rose.

 

I thought I'd reviewed this one already! When I do finally get around to ordering bottles of the regular scents, this will be on my list. I find myself reaching for this imp more than most, and I actually slather. Well, what I consider slathering, which is one dip in the imp, maybe two, then rolling on my wrists and neck/chest.

 

On me it starts out lightly piney, green and clean and fresh, and then a little sweetness, I'm assuming the rose, comes out. It's near perfect there, but then it deepens a little bit and there's spiciness. Not food spice, more like a planty spice (ala carnation), though I didn't see any of that in the description. All three notes blend until it becomes this perfect scent - fresh, pretty, not too girly, but not actually masculine.

 

My 4 year old son said I smelled like a forest with pretty things in it and my husband said it was an elfin scent, but he really doesn't know anything about that. Either way, I love it and it's very inoffensive, so I can wear it to work without feeling paranoid about the fragrance police.

[Lit Chick]

This is my very first review!

 

I was so excited to get this. Besides loving the smells of damp forest, I met my husband in Ireland.

 

Wet - Instant powder. There's a nice note of pine in the back, though. Hello, pine.

Initial dry - Where did the forest go? The powder is fading, and there's the rose...

Full dry. ACK! Rose, back off! Overpowering rose, and the powder came back. I smell old.

 

I might try an imp of "New" Dublin.... maybe that would work. I so want to have this smell nice on me!

[Penance]

I got an imp of the prototype of this from cluna.

 

First sniff:

 

Green and slightly aquatic with a hint of rose. It smells like a walk in the forest early in the morning when the dew is still clinging to the leaves. This isn't your typical woodsy scent, it's much lighter and more feminine smelling, not aggressive the way most forest scents are.

 

Wet on skin:

 

This smells almost like Bayou with less floral notes, it's green and aquatic and has the barest hint of rose in the background. This smells exactly that I imagine Ireland would smell like. I wish I had more than just an imp of the prototype version of this, it's gorgeous.

 

Dry down:

 

The rose seems to have disappeared, leaving the faint scent of green leaves and early morning dew. This is a very light scent on me and while I wish it was stronger, I love it enough to not mind having to reapply it every couple of hours. I really love this one, it's beautiful and not too feminine for me to be turned away by it.

 

The bottom line:

 

Gorgeous; woodsy and dewy and ever so slightly floral. I wish I had more of the prototype version of this; it's beautiful.

[k00kaburra]

In bottle: Whoa, I've never encountered anything quite like this before. It is almost wine-y at first whiff, and then a mighty tree scent wafts up. I smell crushed evergreen swirled in fog.

 

On me: I cannot stand wood scents as a general rule, but there is something very different about this one. I believe the rose is sweetening the fir/spruce/pine (I can't tell which it is) and making this a youthful forest of energy, rather than an old forest that has grown dark and damp with rotting logs scattered under thick branches. The sunshine still shines through the leaves and there is growth and life in this bright fragrance.

[TrinitySydney]

Is it me, or does anyone else smell Christmas trees with this one? NOT that it's a bad thing--I like the smell!

[antimony]

This isn't fresh greens on me... it's herbal, but wilted. Not like cut grass, but like weeds that have been pulled out, then spent half a day laying out. Kind-of a muddy-shoes welcome-mat smell.

 

It's home-like, pleasant, but it's not my kind of perfume.

[larkredblade]

I ran around all day saying, "I smell like the forest!"

 

This scent is lovely on me. It smells like walking through the forest collecting pine cones. The rose scent did not appear until much later in the day, kind of like an afterthought. The description of the scent is exactly what it smelled like on me.

 

I didn't think I would be a fan of green or florals, and it seems that these are the ones I like the most lately.

 

I even recieved a, "Oh, I really like that perfume" compliment from a fellow BPAL fan at work.

 

I'm flagging this for a bigger bottle.

[cookie]

I smelled a scrumptious blackberry when i first put this on. Then right after that - this is totally forest! Not a sharp pine, mind you. This is hiking after the rain - sweet and mossy. The rose doesn't appear. Maybe its blending into the greenery and I don't notice. Every few whiffs I get the blackberry again. I really like this. Its perfect for the rainy day we're having today.

[ashtonrose]

Ireland here I come! I think I could smell the mists from the forests and the green of the grass. I fell in love instantly. I have made melting tarts, perfume solids and lotions from the scent. I wear it almost daily.

[fallow deer]

To me, Dublin smells exactly like putting your nose up to a silver birch covered in moss and lichen.

 

Dublin smells much more fresh and almost-piney wet than during the dry down, which is softer.

 

I can't really make out the white rose note which is a shame, but this is still one calm, fresh fragrance.

 

It's a toss up between Dublin and Vinland for a 5ml spring scent. Hmm...

[rhubarbbear]

i think that mostly-green scents just don't work on me. i hardly get any rose out of this at all, and what i do get is a very old lady-ish rose. and rose and i are usually friends! otherwise its a lot of green- moss, damp forest, maybe a little decay. i can see how this would be very pretty on someone else, but it just doesn't work for me.

[Julilla Regina]

On me, this is super steroid pine. I'm usually a big rose buff, but it never quite cleared on me. Ah well, que sera. It would make a fantastic room scent though, I do know that.

 

Once again, I envy the body chemistry of others on this one.

[jj_j]

How could I have missed reviewing Old Dublin? I've had this scent for ages, as I ordered it as soon as Beth sent me an imp to try, and it's just gorgeous.

 

When I went to put a drop on for review purposes, Old Dublin chastised me for leaving it to sit for so long. Even though I didn't tip the bottle, I had oil running down my wrist - it just jumped out of the bottle and onto my arm. I had intended to get a little spot of scent to work with, but so much came off the top of the bottle that it ran from the left side of my wrist all the way to right side. I'm sitting in a small cloud of Old Dublin, feeling for all the world like I'm deep in a morning light-filled forest.

 

It's amazing what the forest greenery does to the white rose in this scent. Rather than smelling green and flowery, I smell crisp and winter berry-ish. The rose gets morphed into an underlying floral sweetness, and it's very much a background scent, but it combines in such a an interesting, alluring way.

 

How Beth managed to work the scent of fog into Old Dublin, I have no idea. I'm suitably impressed, though, and there's no denying the damp, misty feel of the fragrance. God, but she's maestro (does that include the feminine?)!

 

If you like Mistletoe, Yuletide, or even Skadi, you should give this a try. In fact, if you like the crisp spicy greenness of the outdoors even the tiniest bit, Old Dublin should be on your list of scents to experience.

[Penance]

The last time I reviewed this, I had tried the prototype, this time I'm reviewing the current version.

 

Origin:

 

I got an imp of this from Evil Kitten.

 

Preconceived notions:

 

This has been low on my list of imps I still needed to test (since I'd already tried the prototype) until people started comparing this to Skadi and Mistletoe. Since I absolutely adore both of those, this immediately jumped to the top of my list. If this really does smell like Skadi or Mistletoe, I'll be a very happy girl.

 

First sniff:

 

Amazing! If I didn't know better, I'd swear I was smelling Skadi! Maybe it's because I was expecting it, but Dublin smells almost exactly like Skadi does in the bottle, right down to the slushy snow and berries. I have absolutely no clue what in Dublin could possibly be replicating those notes, but I'll be damned if this isn't almost identical to my beloved Skadi!

 

Wet on skin:

 

I smell pine, but it's a slightly musky smelling pine and much darker than the prototype was. I don't get any rose out of Dublin now, just a faint powderiness in the background that lets me know it's there. Mainly, I get damp pine trees and a hint of something vaguely musky/sweet that I can't place. Wet, this isn't quite identical to Skadi (it's a tiny bit more powdery), but it's close enough to be an extremely good replacement.

 

Dry down:

 

Misty pine forests with the slightest hint of something snowy smelling and a bit of musky sweetness. I think I like this better than the prototype, but only because I like a stronger, bolder scent to something more subdued and feminine. I can see this being the perfect replacement for Skadi once I run out of it.

 

The bottom line:

 

Skadi's long-lost twin. The two aren't quite identical, but they're extremely similar and Dublin is every bit as gorgeous as Skadi is.

[DiamondHeart]

It's WONDERFUL! It smells so cozy for me... definitely buying a bottle of THIS stuff!

 

It smells, oddly enought, like SAWDUST to me. But I had just been thinking the day I tried it, after spending some time with my dad when he was sawing stuff, "Hmm, I really like how sawdust smells..." But it is much prettier sawdust! Very nice!

 

~Diamond~

[Sheila]

At first, this was a very sharp pine scent. I don't want to smell like pine!

 

Then it mellows into a soft, spicy, powdery forest scent. I live in WA, and this reminds me of hiking in the Olympic Peninsula rainforest. I don't get any rose scent (or any individual scent for that matter), but rather the refreshing, ancient, mysterious feel of a misty forest. This is beautiful. Onto the big-bottle list it goes!

 

ETA: The longer I wear this, the more it grows into something similar to my Lush favorite scent, Jungle/Flower Tub! Yay! It's not an exact copy, but still lovely.

Edited January 7, 2005 by Sheila

[Macha]

What with the recent forum thread discussing the similarities between Dublin and Skadi, I could resist snapping up a bottle from another forum member when I had the chance.

 

In the bottle: Oh. My. God. The first thought that flashes through my mind is: this isn't Skadi! The second thought is: who cares? This is glorious! In the bottle this smells exactly like walking through wet woods, woods that have just seen rain. This smells like trees and bark and lush decaying leaves. In short, it smells exactly the way it's described. My boyfriend and I huddled around the bottle and took turns inhaling. When we paused, my boyfriend said, "We may need more of this one." Indeed we may, my love. Indeed, we may.

 

Wet, on skin: On me, this scent stays true, and there's no weird metamorphosis, for which I am profoundly grateful. I can see how people might make comparisons with Skadi, because this is definitely a woods scent, but I can't for the life of me picture pine. This is the smell of deciduous forests, of old growth forests thick with undergrowth and wet from the rains. The rain is warm, and the forest floor covered with leaves. This is walking through that forest, and going right up to a tree still wet and damp, and inhaling next to the bark.

 

Dry, on skin: As the spell fades, err...I mean, as the scent fades, it grows a little sharper, almost as if it is moving from the trees down closer to the underbrush and the forest floor. It becomes a little peppery, the way geranium sometimes gets. It's still gloriously evocative of forests and mists. Men don't GO to this forest. It's a magical, fey place, but in no way dark. Oh, whose woods these are I think I know. Just extraordinary.

 

Conclusion: I went back afterwards and saw that Dublin contains white rose, but I never noticed any rose scent, so it's subtle. Due to my own particular body chemistry, I can't use this as a substitute for Skadi the way Penance can (lucky girl!) but I love it enough so it doesn't matter. My singular complaint with this fragrance is that I wish it had lasted a little longer on me, but I have no problem with slathering more on. This may be one of the single most perfect scents I have ever encountered: an absolute work of art.

Edited January 15, 2005 by Macha

[LupaWulf]

I'm agreeing with Macha -

Deciding to try Old Dublin was mostly to satisfy my curiousity to find out if Skadi smells similar....

 

Well, I don't really think it does.

 

However,

Dublin stands GORGEOUS in scent!!!!!

 

It's sweet, but not too sweet... Sort of a forest, but not the cold high pines of Skadi- Like a late spring walk in some hardwood forest. When wearing Dublin, the most noticable notes smelled something like either Chestnut trees or dogwood. Very green yet sweet notes.

 

I enjoyed wearing Old Dublin alot. =) Scadi is not similar on me at all to this, but either way a wonderful scent!

[Hikaru]

This was perfect for Imbolc...it evokes the goddess Brighid and all things Irish. Woodsy and fresh, earthy and strong, not fluffy but not too masculine. A nice, balanced daytime scent that's dark enough to carry over into the evening.

[siriusstar]

This is the scent of a lovely warm forest, very greeen and herby. This was the first BPAL scent I had compliments on. It didn't have the staying power of some of the others, but was beautiful while it lasted.

[vitawash24]

I finally gave Dublin a proper try last night, in the hopes of lifting my spirits on a rainy night. And I am in *love* with it now. It's green, very green, yes, but with an edge and a spark, something almost fireplace-like. It feels like home, which makes no sense when you consider that I live in Philadelphia, but for whatever reason, it is that comforting and soothing. Dublin also has amazing throw on my skin, a very rare thing. It's totally going on the big bottle list.

[Pixie-elf]

In the Vial:Nice. No clue what's in it but it's nice ^^;;

 

On my skin: Once it's on first I smell the rose mixed with something else.... I'm not sure what but it's vaguely rosey-sweet, and spicy. And something Green too!

 

Dry: It smells rosey, and spicy, and has either Mint or Cinnimon in it or SOMETHING familiar that's very similar to it It's spicy and just very nice! It's also got something very green in it... Something Herby.

 

Summary: It's nice, but not me, sadly. If you want a Herby/spicy rose, you could find it here!

[Jessica]

I was really excited about Dublin not only because the description sounded beautiful, but also because I really love Ireland and anything to do with it (being half Irish and all ).

 

Anyway, in the bottle it smelled crisp and fresh and clean. It smelled divine. When I first put it on it was a little sharp to the nose. Almost offensive at first, which was really upsetting but luckily....

 

... on the dry down and throughout the rest of the day it came back to that fresh and clean smell I loved on first sniff. It smells faintly green and cool, and is an all around pleasant scent.

 

It has a looooong staying power with me, which is excellent.

[everstar]

Dublin has ensnared me. At first when I sniffed it and tried it on, I was like, "Ew! No! Not ever!"

 

And then....

 

When I sniff it on me, I don't know what I'm smelling. It's... kinda floral, kinda musky, kinda woodsy, and kinda aquatic. And then I'll sniff it again and think, "No, it's not like any of those." I keep sniffing my wrists every few hours through the day to see if I know yet, and I still don't. It even lingers on the cuffs of my shirts and my winter coat so I'll go to put them on and -- Dublin. So I'll stop with my coat half on and sniff my cuffs.

 

I do know that I need a bottle of it so I can pursue the question of what exactly it smells like. Maybe a big bottle. Yeah.

 

It's funny; I never would have thought I was a rose person, but my first two bottles look to be Persephone and Dublin. Go figure.

[TheMuses]

Let me begin with, I'm not a green person. I don’t particularly care for woodsy and herbaly, or what those words might imply scent wise. I thought I had it all figured out with the honey and vanilla blends. Well I got a frimp of this in my last order and decided to try it before I gave it away.

 

OMG! Clean and crisp. The white rose adds a touch of femininity to the green. Yes, it’s a forest, but an enchanted forest. I don’t get the pine or winter berry vibe, but rather a summer forest, with the sunlight breaking through the lush density of the green in full bloom. The sun is burning away a little of the mist and dew, and as the rose scent wafts through, the butterflies and other creatures of the forest come out to play.

 

I am shocked at how much I liked this!!! I will definitely buy a big bottle when I make my next purchase. Ok, I'm cuddling my wrist, I need to stop that.