Saturnalia

[eviltemptressdq]

Unrestrained revelry, unchained licentiousness! Violet deepened with vetiver.

I'm not sure what vetiver is... but if it smells weirdly like a can of green beans or something, that is about all I get from this scent! It is pretty WEIRD, really, on me. I smell vegetables. Gross ones. Not an ounce of violet or flower at all in this one for me!

*swap pile*

[jarvenpa]

a gift from urbanruralferal.

 

Preconceptions: (without reading the Lab's description) "I'm up for a scent orgy, sure! Sounds great"

 

Slathered on wrists: Okay, the orgy ended sometime ago. I smell...a fireplace where the ashes have lain cold and dank for a while, and..licorice? But that's all right, I'll be patient. Very medicinal smell, and odd.

 

something burnt. Ah, it is reminding me of that strange head shop incense you can get that's black and maleable and you tear off little bits and light it.

 

And...maybe cedar? And maybe a dark vetiver (later when I read the notes this is the only moment at which I come vaguely close to what's really in the fragrance).

 

Also, an unmistakeable whiff of Band-aids. And ashes.

 

Well, that must have been some orgy!

 

Not for me. I am wondering if violets hate me? This is a fragrance note--violet--that I would have sworn worked for me before BPAL, but I am finding most of the violet blends turn strange. (except Faustus. Faustus is wonderful, but smells nothing like violets on my skin)

[karengypsy]

In the vial: Violets & vetiver.

 

On me: I can't decide if this scent is pleasant or not. I can smell both notes easily.

 

Verdict: Well, my husband thinks it smells like an old lady, so that settles it. Not for me.

 

Rating: 2/5

[edenssixthday]

Saturnalia - due to the old-style tarted label, I’m pretty sure the imp I received was old and had aged a bit. I had really hoped that I would like the scent, because I’m the biggest fan of violets. However, the vetiver completely overwhelmed anything else in this blend, and it was dark, bitter, and highly unpleasant. I was hesitant to touch the oil to my skin, and when I did, I regretted it. There’s no nice way to say it: simply put, it stunk. However, I can’t help but think that the vetiver gained potency as the blend aged, and I still think I’d like to try a fresher imp of Saturnalia sometime. I am so drawn to violets it’s hard for me to believe that if this were a bit fresher and if the violet note was evident and strong, it could be really pretty.

[imabarbedoll]

Saturnalia- Unrestrained revelry, unchained licentiousness! Violet deepened with vetiver.

 

Got this as a frimp some time ago, its been stting in mybox unopened.

This is one I would never have bought, since I didn't feel any pull towards it. For some reason today-it felt right to put it on.

 

From the bottle-odd,sharp green notes-like fresh cute flower stems. A bit astringent. Put it on, it mellowed a bit to a pale flower scent-not sweet or cloying.Within about it an hour, it completely morphed into a rich/dark musky smell. A bit like high ritual incense and deep sexual musk....Very empowering and strong smell.

5 hours later, its mellowed but still very much there. This has probably been the longest lasting BPAL scent I've tried. I like this. I will incorporate it into an appropriate ritual at some point. Astrologically Saturn "rules responsibilities, restrictions and limitations of life, and the lessons you must learn in life. It does not deny or diminish imagination, inspiration, spirituality, and good fortune but it does demand that these things be given structure and meaning."

[cranberry]

In the imp, this smells strongly of violets. Once applied, the scent of violets remain, a soft purple sort of scent. After its been on a minutes or two, it deepens and there’s an underlying grounding force. Vetivert yes, but it feels like more too, a touch of wood of some kind. This is really nice. I would have never guessed that I’d enjoy a scent like this. There’s an interplay between the sweet violet and the smoky vetivert, moving back and forth. At is wears the vetivert get stronger and almost overpowers the violet. Overall, I’ve enjoyed trying this. I’ll keep the imp.

[TrailerTrashPrincess]

fireplace ashes and violets.

 

um. this can go live with someone else and i'm going to go scrub my hands with lemons and salt, and i don't care that its gonna hurt (papercuts and such)

[fairy]

Out of all the oils I've smelled so far this one hates me the most. Very sharp and pungent on my skin. Ive never smelled violets and thought I'd love the way they smelled. Apparently not. I know now to stay away from those rascally flowers.

[margravine]

I just received a bunch of imps yesterday and Saturnalia is the first BPAL I've ever tried. It has temporarily wiped away my curiosity about the other scents and I've now worn it twice in a row.

 

It smelled incredibly strange in the bottle. I thought there was a very good chance I'd hate it. Wet it smelled like moist, slightly rotted vegetation briefly. After drying a little is started getting spicy in an almost cedar-y way and gradually seduced me.

 

Past reviewers termed it "vegitatively feral" and "furry." So true. I smell like some sort of fierce, green and purple flowered topiary animal come to life. It's sweet and spicy and green and a little bit musky. Very lively. After a few hours it became sweeter and the violet came into its own. I woke up still smelling wonderful this morning and just had to wear it again.

 

One caveat: Saturnalia is very strong and more than a little would be too much of a good thing. I expect the imp will last for ages as a result, but when it gets low I'm buying a bottle.

[nsomniak6]

I don't really pick out individual scents here, but it burnt my nostril hairs (& not in a good way!) It was headache inducing instantly and I definitely know that I need to stay far away from these types of scents.

[LiberAmoris]

Eeek! This is violets and vetiver, alright. Wow. It's some powerful strong stuff. If you like violets and vetiver, this is for you. I am not a vetiver fan, so this is not for me.

 

However, I'm really glad to have tried this because it shows me how restrained the vetiver actually is in most BPAL blends.

[supremegoddessofall]

I smell the violet, but there's something bitter about this one. Sharp, sort of. Almost a turpentine-like quality. Not liking this one.

 

Score: 2 out of 5

[buzz23666]

First off - I am a sucker for anything violet.

 

Wet - a handful of water drenched violets.

 

dry - the violets soften up and here comes the dirt. Damn the vetivert!!!!

[PilotKitten]

More evidence that vetiver just simply does not like me. < sigh > I can't even smell the violets, just heady, dusty vetiver. Not at all good.

[hologhost]

The violets are very faint. I guessing what I smell is vetivert. It smells like - plant. Not green plants. More like a marsh or a pond. There's no aquatic smell, but the plants are a bit rotten in places. Not in a foul way, but just like a live ecosystem. It smells the way it should. But it's not something I want to wear.

[mtlaise]

Received in a trade - This was my first scent with vetiver, so I have no clue what it's supposed to smell like. I know flowery scents tend to become overpowering on me, so I hope the vetiver is a good note for me and can reign in the florals for me in this and other scents.

 

Wet: hmm... is vetiver woodsy? musky?

 

Drydown: still a musky, woodsy scent... this seems to have definitely reigned in the violet - I can't even find it.

 

Dry: the scent remains unchanged. I actually really like this one, but would prefer the scent on a guy. I'm guessing that my chemistry did something weird with the vetiver, because none of the other reviews mention this.

 

All in all, I'm glad I tried it, and may now actually try some of the other floral scents that contain vetiver. I'm thinking maybe with a different pairing this could work for me, as I tend to like woodsy smells.

[SeaLady]

Frimp from the lab, thanks lab!

 

I get: CUCUMBER. Delicious, watery, clean cucumber. No idea where the violet or vetiver are, but this is wooonderful!

 

As someone who is often deprived of fresh food of any kind while at school: I love this! Yum!

[White Falcon]

I LOVE violets, to the point of unsuccessfully trying to find and grow the fragrant ones.

In any case, this smells like rubber on me! Gah! I smell like I am walking through a used tire lot instead of a field of violets...lol!

Goes into the swap bin!

[zankoku_zen]

I am beginning to think that vetivert doesn't like me.

 

On me: dark, feral, a bit dank. I do smell a bit of the violets but there is something lurking the in background.

 

I had to try this on the husband since it is such a 'masculine' scent in my mind.

 

And here is the transcript of his opinion because it was so funny when it happened:

Him: "*sniff*

I smell like a combination of old man and old woman.

*sniff*

It's like walking into a nursing home. Only a nursing home of rich people. Where they all buy fragrances.

Not like a poor people nursing home... which just smells like formaldehyde."

 

Verdict: A no-win in both cases. Too dark and feral on me... and 'too nursing home' on him. I think it really disturbed him to smell like old man & old woman at the same time -- I really think he thinks old woman smells like violets.

[Browneyes]

Received in a swap!

 

Imp: aha, being new to these scents, I now undrestand the the "eek VETIVER!" reaction.

Wet: still heavy on the vetiver. It's a sharp, sort of woody smell. My swapper had warned me, so I applied very lightly.

Dry: oh my. the violet blooms in this. the vetiver fades softly into the background, and wow... It's what makes the blend actually, if it works on you. I think that without the vetiver, this could become quite bland. But with the vetiver in the background of the floral, what's incredible is how real this smells.

It really is evocative of grubbing on your hands and knees in a forest to pick some sweet smelling flowers - only probably amplified by 100

This throws and lasts a long time <3

 

I really like this, so who knows - maybe more in the future! of course I still need to try +500 GC scents, but I'll remember Saturnalia.

[The_Merf]

In the imp: The vetiver is not overwhelming, but it seems like the violet and the vetiver are in their own separate streams and not really blending.

 

Wet: The vetiver is really strong for a few minutes, and then it smells like it did in the imp except for the fact that the notes blend together better.

 

Drydown and wear: The vetiver is not bad in this at all--it's not nearly as green, earthy and dominant as it can be. Oddly enough, my biggest problem with this blend is from the violet. This is one of the highest, sharpest violets I can recall from a BPAL blend. It almost smells like a flower that's been grown in "drowned" soil (so maybe the vetiver is contributing a little bit). The drydown gets better on this, but the floral remains really sharp.

[jasmine]

This is acrid and sharp on the wand, but once it reaches my wrist, it goes all prickly. There’s some floral in this, but I can’t place it off the top of my head. Checking the notes informs me that it’s violet, but it doesn’t smell the way I expect of violet.

 

After a few minutes, the violet becomes prominent and rounds out in a voluptuous fashion. The vetiver remains prickly underneath. This doesn’t have the unpleasantness that I usually associate with BPAL violet on my skin, but it hardly seems licentious to me -- it strikes me as a haughty, distanced scent. There’s no sexuality to this at all when I wear it, and it isn’t a pretty scent, either. It’s sort of antiseptic, even if it doesn’t smell outright like toilet cleaner.

 

I don’t actively dislike Saturnalia, but it’s definitely not for me.

[roenim]

Got this as a frimp from the lab. Whoo!

 

Wet on skin: A little bit smoky and woodsy. It smelled confusing if that makes sense. I couldn't really identify anything. Even the vetiver didn't quite smell like vetiver.

 

Dry: Vetiver! With a smidge of violet. This smelled really green and mossy. I feel like I'm in a forest or is that jungle? It takes me back to when I used to go to the provinces in the Philippines every summer. Smells green and earthy and wild. I can smell the violet, but barely. I don't really love violet anyway. Smells a bit masculine. The sillage was average to above average on me, but it lasted forever! I don't know if I'd want to wear this, but I definitely want to smell it! I may use this as a room scent. I love this scent probably because of the memories it brings up. Otherwise, the vetiver kinda dominates the whole thing.

[Iceblink]

Vinegar poured over a rotting compost heap. Yeeeeow!

[pastrydeity]

This one and my skin chemistry just don't get along at all. I get the scent of walking into an air-conditioned office supply warehouse on a hot summer evening, maybe with a whiff of smoked meats. Or the rubber of brand new flip-flops. Either way, not something I really want to smell like, which is a shame, because I do like violets, but I don't get any from this.