Nocturne

[Veronica]

An olfactory serenede. A somber, contemplative scent -- dreamy and subdued. Deepest violet touched with lilac and tuberose.

Nocturne is a soft, understated floral. It's very sophisticated and classy because of its subtlety and complexity. Sadly, it has little staying power and faded after a few hours. Nice enough to keep the imp, but not special enough to warrant a bottle. Edited December 1, 2008 by delighted

[milo]

This is a very fresh floral, just the kind that I like. I thought it was a sleep blend, so I tried it before I went to bed. It kind of reminded me of sleeping with your window open, and the scent of flowers wafts into your room. I find this scent very comforting, with mild violets and lilac. It does disappear quite quickly though.

[thelaurenator]

This is all violet to my nose, and something dark lurking beneath... mrryh perhaps? However, it is a very faint scent. Nice, but I don't love it.

[Dark Alice]

For some reason my skin loves violets and lilacs...and well this is what it is smells like. However, as strong as it is...it is subdued as well....I see how this could be a subdued quiet scent...I am really curious to try and lather this with some TKO....and see if it works....

[masquedbunny]

In the imp: This is all violet to me and sort of sharp in the vial.

 

Wet on skin: Much as it was in the imp, but the tuberose opens up. Still a bit sharp (I sneezed).

 

Drying: Ooh, it does get deeper and softer.

 

Completely dry: It does go a little powdery on my skin, but still lovely. The very gentle throw I'm getting is mainly tuberose. I think the downside might be it's strength and longevity--but, overall, very nice.

[smokey188]

this scent was a bit sour when it first hit my skin but then it settled down into the most beautiful soft floral scent. This scent is everything I loved about blood rose softened and minus the sneeze factor. This will certainly be a big bottle purchase for me.

[ImperatrixMundi]

Hello violet. This is the usual GC violet note surrounded by more typical florals. While I can pick out the lilac too I have never smelled tuberose alone so I have no idea what it is like.

 

This is an other very dominant violet blend and where Ultraviolet is cold violets and The Raven is sweet and dark this is a floral variation. But not my favorite I have to say. I love violets and a few other floral notes like citrus blossoms or apricot blossom or iris but this is too typically floral and sort of sharp to my nose.

[isisonearth]

Spring like lilac, somber violet and tuberose. The tuberose is going to be a problem. Ever since B&BW came out with Velvet Tuberose it has nauseated me. I think that the hate may have spilled over into BPAL Ugh...the tuberose did me in. Gotta wash it of. On me it overpowers the other notes.

[WidgetAlley]

Imp: Dark, powdery, woody violet with touches of sweetness from the lilac and tuberose. Pretty but a bit horrendously floral.

 

Wet: Sharp, medicinal violet at first, rather unpleasant-- I think I'm learning that violet just doesn't work on me, at least certainly without some strong sweet element accompanying it. Under it is strong, bathroom-cleaner lilac and a bit of tuberose.

 

Dry: Ugh. Soap and (clean) baby diapers. The violet here is tempered by the sweeter tuberose and lilac, but it still isn't enough to overcome that slight bitterness. I'll take a pass, thanks.

[claudia6913]

I bought a bottle of this before ever testing it out of impulse (love tuberose), but ended up with an imp as a freebie! I'm not disappointed I bought the bottle.

 

In the imp, it's very strong, sharp floral. Almost too much. On the skin, it's still very strong, but it takes on a wet smell, like flowers floating in water. The tuberose is very strong on me, but it's not so overpowering that I can't smell the other florals beneath it. Dry it is like a sweet breeze through flowers just after a rain. I'm not getting the 'powdery' scent at all, mine is a very wet floral - deep, and sweet, and lovely. I may have to get another bottle of this, just to have for a long while.

Edited July 24, 2009 by claudia6913

[Venneh]

I can definitely smell the lilac and what's either the violet or the tuberose. It's almost a fruity floral, if that makes sense. I definitely get the lilac and the violet on my skin, though, and it's a bit of a sharp, but nice floral. Remains pretty much the same throughout, and not anything I need a bottle of, but will be nice as an imp here and there.

Edited October 10, 2009 by Venneh

[Sawasdee]

Oh dear, straight from the vial all I got was green Palmolive dish soap. On, it stayed very soapy. I'm not sure which note is the culprit, probably the lilac or violet. Such a shame, as I love floral scents, some just don't agree with my chemistry.

[Acushla]

There's a note in here that's been bothering me in Veil and Eternal as well, and I'm almost positive it's the violet. The drydown is nice (a little faint, but my skin just seems to eat perfume/I build up a scent tolerance quickly) but I just can't handle the violets. They have this sort of odd, generic bubble bath scent on me that isn't so pleasant. I wish I didn't have to say goodbye to these, but off to the swap pile they go. I'm glad I did try them though, because now at least I'm learning which scents I can wear and which I can't!

[impolight]

:::NOCTURNE:::

 

After coming to be rabidly, fanatically fond of scents like Saturnalia and Bluebeard, Nocturne was chalked up to be a sure thing

what with the pretty violets...

The Lab's notes also indicated the pleasures of Lilac and Tuberose, so there was no way this could go any way other than supoib...

Violets do work really well with body chemistry so far, and Lilac has been pure gold as far as the reactions it has evoked from most.

Tuberose is just plain incredible...

 

Locally, there is a Farmer's Market that sets up on one of the Downtown Historic streets on Thursdays. In Summer, competition can be fierce

among the flower vendorsl each selling a varity of bloom more impressive than the next, the Tuberoses there are almost fictitiously potent.

A smaller bunch was picked out for a modest vase found at a yard sale and the Tuberoseswere left in water to brighten a corner while there was dithering to be had.

Opening the door upon returning home, the Tuberoses cocked back an olfactory fist and let everyone have it, right between the eyes as soon

as the threshhold was crossed... Life hasn't quite been the same since!

 

All of these elements combined were anticipated with delicious shivers and relish... What fun! A gleefully macabre perfume of corvid lustre to dab with abandon and wax eerie...

Nope. Way too pretty.

This is not such a bad thing really. This would make an unparalelled room fragrance. Magnificently floral... just not conspicuously for boys. *sniff*

Nocturne is aromatic bliss, however. While it does have an overcast, dimly wintry, rainy-day melancholia theme to it, Nocturne could also be easily associated with an older woman of experience who could teach some silly boy just how much he doesn't know.

An enchanting perfume.

A true delight.

5 out of 5.

[milica]

Strong violet, almost single note on me, I get a bit of lilac in the background. It dries down to a nice and very soft mix of violet and lilac, and gets a bit powdery, but I like that, it keeps it hanging on to my skin.

 

I think I can wear this from time to time, since I like violets and lilac, and this is really nice and well behaved floral for me.

[musichappens]

The lilac seemed to jump out at me the minute I applied this to my wrist. The violet and tuberose, on the other hand, seemed to creep in quietly as the blend began to dry. During the dry down process, the throw was absolutely amazing! It perhaps has the strongest throw of any floral blend I've tried thus far; which is totally awesome except for the fact that it ultimately turned into expensive hotel soap on my skin.

Edited March 14, 2010 by musichappens

[Saya]

This is mostly violet on my skin. Slightly floral, not super strong, but it lasts for quite awhile. I was hoping for more lilac, but it just wasn't meant to be.

 

This is nice in a generic perfume sort of way. Not something I'd go for often, but it isn't terrible either.

[ModderRhu]

Nocturne

I love violets. I really, really do. And I love tuberose. And lilac. I love flowers! I love these flowers very much.
This oil is a sexy woman. Not only that, it's a naked sexy woman. A curvy, naked, sexy as hell woman. At night. Yeah...

[cherrycherry]

Sweet, powdery violets with an underscore of lilacs. I can't pick up on the tuberose, but then the bottle I have is an an aged one... I like this. Sombre florals are definitely my sort of thing. Glad I bought a big bottle

[tajana]

Wet: Mmmm, after trying like 300 BPALs, how is it that I can STILL stumble across jewels of frimps? Freshly applied this is mostly violets, with just a sprig of cool lilac and a high note of tuberose.

 

Dry: There's a brush of soft greeness to it, reminding me of soft, fuzzy violet leaves. The scent has gotten more delicate, slightly powdery. It's very feminine and smells pale purple, appropriately enough. After some time, the tuberose goes from an accent to a star player, regal and strong. If I inhale too deeply I get a little woozy for a moment. This stuff is heady, but not headache inducing. There's a light anchor to it, maybe a trace of some light musky accord, but it's mainly all flowers, all the time, fading with the passage of time.

 

Overall: Elegant in its simplicity. Thinking of the name and breathing in the scent, I picture a graceful woman in a silky purple slip sitting on her wrought-iron balcony and gazing up at the night sky.

[ajansuz]

I love violet, and this is the first violet blend I've tried from BPAL. In the imp, it smells almost exactly like violet candy, very sweet and sugary, but not in a cloying way. I thought I detected just a hint of lilac, but I couldn't pick out the tuberose at all.

 

Wet, violet amped up high with something almost bitter and medicinal. I wondered for a few moments if I was going to have to wash it off, because that medicinal scent was threatening a headache.

 

On the dry down, it settled down a lot. It was back to violet candy. The lilac disappeared, and the tuberose made an appearance.

 

Unfortunately, within 2 hours, it was mostly gone, nothing but a tiny trace of scent left behind. I'll try some more violet blends, as this one doesn't have the staying power I'd like and has that funky stage.

 

2/5 with my body chemistry. I'm betting it will make an awesome room scent, though.

 

EDIT: OK, this is really weird, and it has never happened to me before with any perfume oil. After my skin seemed to have eaten the scent entirely, it came back with a floral vengeance. I did not reapply or do anything to my skin like add lotion or whatnot. Now it's primarily violet laced with lilac, very feminine, very lovely. I'll be trying it several times more to see if this happens again. If it does, I would up my rating to 3.5/5. I still don't like that medicinal phase it went through. I love how it smells now, though.

Edited June 29, 2010 by DarkSinestra

[Amaranthus]

I love the scent of violets, but they often turn dull and powdery on my skin. In this scent the violets stay true.

 

In Nocturne violet is the main note, enhanced by equal amounts of lilac and tuberose.

 

The lilac takes the powdery edge off the violet.

 

Tuberose often smells like very nice soap on me, but in this blend tuberose smells like jasmine without the sharpness jasmine sometimes has.

 

As the scent wears off it leaves a sugary sweetness behind.

 

The overall effect is a tranquil blue floral.

 

When I have worn Nocturne, I have noticed faint traces of it in the air, but it is not a heavy or overpowering floral.

 

I tried this along with other violet blends- Le Serpent Qui Danse, Queen Gertrude, The Raven, Sybaris, and Violet Ray. Of these Nocturne is the one that best maintains a fresh, true violet scent. If you want to smell like violet flowers then of all these Nocturne is the one I would recommend.

[curlygrrl]

When I first put it on, I got the most lovely lilac - not sickly sweet lilac like I've smelt before, but the scent that makes me so happy every May. So dreamy and serene - like floating down a river at twilight in the spring - the magical kind of river with no mosquitoes or algae.

 

Then it faded a little, and I started to get the violet and tuberose. And the Palmolive. It's so funny - I never thought of Palmolive as particularly floral, and when I sniff my wrists it doesn't smell anything like soap, but still - I smell like I've coated myself with dish soap.

Edited February 13, 2011 by curlygrrl

[Tamalee]

After my fiasco with Haunted (see the review for more details), I decided to put on Nocturne today instead of waiting until tomorrow which is what I was going to do.

 

I smelled it in the imp and smelled vague flowery powder.

 

On me it smelled exactly like Haunted did at first. I was being haunted by Haunted! But thankfully the weird powdery soapy scent changed into actual flowers. Really pretty flowers that I wouldn't mind having in my house or giving to someone.

 

I could smell lilacs but couldn't distinguish other flowers. Maybe the powderyness was from the violets and tuberose?

 

Not a 5 ml for me but I'll definitely use up the imp.

[melrose]

Absolutely horrid flowers starting to rot.