Lorelei

[heathercaley]

A tragic heroine from German lore. In despair over a faithless lover, she threw herself into the Rhine. In death, she has become a siren that haunts that river to this day, luring sailors to their doom. Neroli, sandalwood, ylang ylang.

Soft and lovely. Wisps of smokey delicate florals just kinda swirling around. It's a gentle scent, but with a decent throw. It's a touch floral, a touch airy, and just a soft lift of sandalwood. Very pretty, but not bottle worthy. I'll keep my imp though! It would be a great layering scent too. Edited December 10, 2009 by Purrsnikety

[Lorelai1945]

This smells extremely "wet" to me. I immediately start thinking of the sea, and especially the sea on a cool, cloudy day. This is a very gray-blue scent. It is very clean. I can kind of tell something floral is helping to create the "sea" feeling, but it's very blended and I can't pull out individual notes. I don't get any sweetness from this. When very dry it is just too aquatic for my taste. This is interesting, but it's not something I would wear.

[aquazoo]

It's got the soft sandalwood tones, with fruity flowers.

 

[melrose]

It's official: ylang-ylang hates me. I suspected as much, but now I know. This smelled nice in the bottle, but, on me, it was a nausea-inducing aquatic in a vase of rotting flowers. It reminded me quite a bit of Ysatis, only not quite as bad because it doesn't have the strong department-store-cologne component.

 

Editing my profile now to add ylang-ylang to my List of Doom.

[summertimecrime]

In the imp: sharp and citrusy, it kind of reminds me of alka seltzer?

 

On the skin: Mmm, the first time I tried this, I did not like it at all-but second time around isn't quit as bad! I can smell the ylang ylang, but it's not overpowering...a little bit of watery floral, muted citrus

 

Drydown: what a melancholy scent! Completely matches the name, it's hopelessly aquatic and full of longing, with just a hint of flowers & delicate citrus strands. A very wistful scent with very little throw.

[lunchboxmonkey]

Very light and clean, as previous reviewers have said. Its pretty and effervescent, but very light, at least on me. It fades very quickly, but its a pretty, sweet scent while it lasts. I don't know about all the luring and bringing doom to sailors, but its.... nice. Unfortunately, for me, its not anything more than that.

[SophieCedar]

A bit sharp on my nose in imp and wet. The neroli mixed w/ ylang ylang wet gives a feeling of lovelorn anguish in the form of a piercing cry...

Drydown: This sharp combo burns off a bit to allow the sandalwood's sensuality to surface. Rounds out quite nicely. It is a bit more surrounding than direct. The notes are unique and distinguishable enough that I can get recognizable whiffs after it settled however never overpowers.

[furiana]

My imp is labelled "Loralei" so I'm thinking I have a fairly old imp. It's older than the name change, anyways!

 

Imp: A non-descript smell. Maybe a bit like cleaning liquid?

Wet: A generic cologne, maybe?

Dry: A sweet floral. I like it more now that I can smell the ylang-ylang.

 

Verdict: This is a light, sweet floral without much throw.

 

[moon_lemming]

I mostly smell sandalwood in the imp, but on my skin Lorelei becomes the salty peanut noodle smell that I associate with some aquatics -- like Jolly Roger, IIRC.

 

A floral pops as it dries; I guess it's the ylang-ylang? It's got that unlikeable floral edge but it's not too bad. The saltiness is much more subdued after a bit. Once it's completely dry, it reminds me of a pretty shampoo.

 

It's okay but nothing I'd seek out.

Edited May 30, 2010 by karen

[kikithepirate]

Oh, wow. I never would have tried this on my own accord, but WOW. It's so beautiful! Soft and pretty and airy. It reminds me of something my mom used to wear, but I have no idea what. I wish I could give a better review than that, but all I can say is that this is lovely.

[surlygurl]

This is pretty! It's soft, slightly sweet, slightly floral. I get no sandalwood - or any wood - but something is grounding it in an innocently sexy way. To my nose it smells buttercup yellow with blue-gray around the edges. Definitely holding on to the imp.

[Vega]

Sniffed: A high, pungent floral -- must be the ylang ylang -- laced with neroli.

 

On skin: Hot, piercing, pungent ylang ylang that can only be described as "smelly": it really is quite overwhelming. Neroli adds an orangey flavour to the smelliness; can't really find the sandalwood. Overall, Lorelei is high-pitched ylang ylang darkened and glowing with neroli. The smelly floral eventually softens into something gentler and creamy-sweet -- now it's actually pleasant. But I really can't abide the beginning.

 

Verdict: Not pleasant. Truly, this is a screaming siren of a scent. I was hoping to get more sandalwood here, but instead discover that I may have to avoid ylang ylang in future.

[Celune]

In Imp: nice floral, slightly sweet and fruity

 

On wet: light musk, strong floral, sweet woods, candy

 

Dry: waxy floral (candle wax), hints of sandalwood and menthol

 

I don't like how the oil develops on my skin. At first the florals are quite nice, but then it fades into sweet woods and sweet something I can't describe. Then it becomes a waxy floral smell, similar to the block of melted mixed candle wax I made years ago. Which is not exactly a bad smell, but after a few minutes it starts to make me a little nauseous.

[Incendiare]

This is a wet, sweet floral. My nose is trying to pick this one apart, note by note, but can't seem to separate the notes from each other. I can smell the slight bitterness of neroli, and maybe some soft sandalwood in the background, but no ylang ylang, which usually has a very twangy scent. None here, though. Lorelei is light, pleasant, and feminine. Innocent seeming, yet lures you in.

[Altaira]

Fresh and clean smelling. A bit too floral for my tastes.

[Victory]

My imp is also labeled "Loralei" and I got mine around the time furiana posted, so the lab must have found a batch of old imps. I agree with previous assessments- this is a light, clean floral. Ylang ylang can go really wrong on me, but it hasn't here. Sandalwood can take over blends, but it doesn't here. It's a good balance. There is absolutely an aquatic sense to the blend, maybe like flowers under the surface of clear water that you dive into to retrieve (and then meet your doom, perhaps). This perfume isn't really my style, but I like it anyways. It would be a good choice for those screaming hot summer days when almost everything seems to heavy.

[Aleah]

This is from my very first BPAL order. I love Ylang ylang, and I was so happy to find this! To me it's truly lovely, and I plan on buying a 5ml bottle just as soon as I possibly can. I know my imps are going to disappear very quickly! I LOVE LOVE LOVE this scent!!

[Gateau]

This was a frimp from the Lab. I wouldn't have ordered it because sometimes ylang ylang goes soapy on me and while I love sandalwood I sometimes amp the hell out of it to the exclusion of all else. Boy, am I glad I tested this, because it's lovely.

 

In the imp -- sweet and delicately floral. But will there be Notes of Death?

 

Wet -- lovely burst of pale flower and honeyed neroli, plus the soft warmth of the sandalwood just peeking out.

 

Drydown -- staying very nice. Love the mixture of the hint of powdery dryness in the ylang ylang with the heady flowers and the creamy richness of the neroli. With sandalwood rounding it out, I get almost a Creamsicle scent. If I don't start amping sandalwood this will be a nice one to have, a good everyday floral scent that isn't too unassertive or too rich.

 

Dry -- lovely. Lots of springy blossom florals, but grounded by the sandalwood, which I didn't amp. Decent lasting power considering it's a light floral. I could see wearing this a lot, it's easy. Definitely adding a bottle to my next order.

[KittyHawk]

For some reason, Lorelei turned to a dominant aquatic on my skin, and while I don't generally like aquatics on me, this blend is GORGEOUS. The neroli and ylang ylang are very briny. I haven't had the pleasure to smell Thalassa, but I imagine this to be her German cousin. This is so unexpectedly lovely. It's been 8 hours since I applied it and I still get whiffs of it. To the bottle list you go, Lorelei!

 

(Aside: my imp is also mislabeled as Loralei!)

[Honey]

I have been at the Loreley rock many times - beautiful place, beautiful landscape!

 

 

Imp: Ylang ylang (which always smells floral AND fruity to me) and juicy orange.

 

Wet: A nice mix of floral and fruity notes. Very bright and sunny but with an aquatic hint.

 

Dry: It is a nice semi-sweet blend that doesn't really develop as I had hoped it would. My skin eats it all up. I guess maybe the sandalwood will show up after a while.

[a_llb]

In vial: A vibrant swell of neroli. Quite overpowering.

Wet: The ylang ylang makes an appearance, clamoring for precedence over the already intimidating neroli. Usually I get along well with both these notes, but apparently not this time!

Dry: It becomes rather aquatic after a time, which is generally the death knell for my skin chemistry.

 

Verdict: I am going to keep finding aquatics to test even though they keep bombing on me; there must be ONE that will work!

[TinaWillsieWhite]

In a word, ACHOO! At least it has helped me to narrow down my "sneezy" notes to either neroli or ylang ylang...

Off to a better home for this one.

[mermaidinjeans]

Lorelei breaks my heart. It's so deliciously beautiful, but it only lasts about 10 minutes on my skin.

 

I don't know how neroli, sandalwood, and ylang ylang combine to make such a perfect aquatic, but they do. Lorelei smells like cold sea spray and melancholy. It makes me think not as much of mountains by a river (as in the Lorelei legend) but rather of a rocky sea coast on a winter's day. I love, love, love aquatic/marine scents, and this is definitely one of the best I've smelled.

 

Sadly, Lorelei (my imp says "Loralei") has zero staying power for me. It starts fading after just a few minutes, and it's completely nonexistent by the 15-minute mark. It's enough to make a girl want to jump into the Rhine in despair.

[MtMoonKitty]

This came as a frimp from the lab. It seems to me in a relatively recent order and I too have a label that says Loralei.

 

I first tried this without reading the description and my first thought was of a sweet honeysuckle perfume I had as a kid.

 

In the bottle it is sticky sweet floral (thus honeysuckle association, I suppose). On the sticky sweet tones down and it reminds me of the smell of a flower shop, maybe a little less green. The floral really stays and I didn't get any sandalwood until well after dry down and it is very faint. It gives it a slightly smokey vibe, but only a little.

 

Its a very pretty scent. It doesn't seem to have much throw and I suspect it won't last very long on my skin. I like it... definitely not a bottle for me though.

[madscientistdh]

Purchased from Babypopje!

 

In bottle: sweet light musk underneath a clean orangey floral. Not orange as in the juice, but orange as in the essence of the peel, the oil that comes off onto your fingers as you peel.

 

On skin: Orange soap. I get a faint whiff of musky cat pee. T_T

 

Drydown: Marquise de Merteuil, is that you? Smells like you.

 

Verdict: I feel like I already have this scent. It's nice, but everything up until the drydown I'm not a big fan of. May need to retry before sending off to the swap corner of no love.