Lucretia

[jakey]

Iris, black amber, sage, Kashmir wood, vanilla musk, mandarin and violet.

At first all I could smell was mandarin and violets. Now the wood note is coming on strong and it's leaving me a little headache-y. Too bad.

[urraca]

I have tried this half a dozen times or so since I received it and I'm having a hard time getting a handle on it. I do know that I'd like it. It goes on smelling a little like cocoa (the kashmir wood?) and then the three most distinctive notes are the violet, vanilla musk, and the mandarin. I love the way the mandarin is used here. It is very subtle, just enough to add some brightness to the scent. The violet is also lovely and I'd recommend this to all the violet lovers out there. It may be my favourite violet blend --- most leave me wishing they were single note violet scents, but not this. It does fade quite quickly though.

[Emma2403]

In the bottle: iris and violet. Especially violet.

 

On my skin: I'm a fan of violet, and I really smell it here, but I'm afraid it's the old lady's violet. Some citrus too, I guess it's the mandarin.

 

After a couple of hours: it gets nearly sour... I couldn't say what it is.

 

Verdict: I'm not sure. It's very complex and morphes quite a lot. It also depends on my chemistry: I tried it several times and it was always different. It's fascinating but I'm not sure I like it.

[steffanina]

Lucretia-

 

In Bottle: Ooh, grape-sweet, and a little amber.

 

Wet: Strongly perfumey--I have no idea what will happen with this!

 

Dry: Okay, it dries down to something softer and amberish. It's a nice scent though it doesn't seem to have a lot of lasting power on me.

 

Overall: Actually pretty nice.

[myoubi]

This is the second Salon blend I've tried, and it's two for two. They are, so far, stunning -- on a different level than the rest of the catalogue, and that is no mean feat.

 

I can't pick out individual notes in Lucretia, but it just makes me want to stick my nose to my wrist and inhale. It's a woman's perfume, and (being eighteen) I don't have many of those -- it smells rich and sophisticated and a little haughty, it's not sweet or wispy at all. It would be quite at home on a neck dripping with diamonds. I wouldn't call it sexy, per se, but docile and demure it isn't.

 

I wouldn't wear this every day -- it would rather be like wearing a mink coat to go buy groceries -- but it's so beautiful that I'm tempted to get hold of a bottle for those (very) few occasions when I would wear it. Lovely.

[slave1]

LUCRETIA

 

In Bottle: Violet Pledge

 

On Skin: I get violet and wood cleaner. Strong cleaner, like Pledge but not lemon scented Pledge. The Pledge feeling fades quickly thankfully and becomes just a woody note, but then there is the overwhelming violet. I’m note sure I like it, because while I don’t mind violet, I like it to be soft. This is anything but soft, it screams violet. The vanilla musk finally starts to come out… if this was the dominant note I’d be in love, but sadly the violet drowns it. I also get a nice sweet spice and a gorgeous peek of amber. The scent does fade rather quickly so it only remains overpowering for the first 15 minutes. I’m left with a violet, woody sweet scent that is quite nice. So if I can get over the initial shocl of the scent, I’m sure to wear it again. A very pretty drydown. String throw at first but fades nicely… the wearlength is fairly long but faint.

[SevenSins]

What a gorgeous scent!

 

Unfortunately, my skin doesn't like it much. It's beautiful, until I put it on. I can't even describe what it does on my skin, but it's not nice. So, off to the swaps, there are too many other lovely scents for me to keep one I can't wear.

[supremegoddessofall]

Very woody. It has a mildly herbal feel to it, and I get a bit of sage behind the wood, but mostly this is violet and iris growing in the woods. Not getting vanilla, musk, or mandarin. Fairly light, limited throw.

[Voleuse]

I can't quite pin this scent down, it's so well blended. The wood is definitely there, but the other notes are perfectly balanced. It has amber's warmth, and after a while I can detect the vanilla and the florals. Actually, this reminds me of Clio, the way it's almost brittle in its dryness, but sustained by the other notes.

 

This strikes me as a very sophisticated, very learned sort of scent. The violet emerges after a while, and lends this a feminine note. Beautiful. Complex.

[phedre]

Ah Lucretia. Perhaps the biggest BPAL failure I've ever had. I couldn't get past the scent wet from the bottle. For some absolutely bizarre reason, all I could smell was vomit and I have no idea why. Horrible, horrible imagery I know, and the ingredient list was so lovely. I wanted to like this, as the story of Lucretia is one of my absolute favourites, but alas, it wasn't to be.

[forspecial_plate]

I don't know from iris, but aside from that and violet, every other note here sounded good to me. There was a little bit of what may have been mandarin at the beginning, but going on an hour now it has been mostly violet. I'm starting to get the barest hint of some of the other notes struggling to come forward but I have a feeling violet on my skin is just a disaster. I really wanted to smell Kashmir wood and vanilla musk!

[indicolite]

On my skin, at once the vanilla musk went wildly sweet - so I decided to wear Lucretia in the locket, since the other notes sounded so good, although I am still hoping for her to show her dark side on my skin like she did in the bottle. In the locket, she IS a dark lady; Kashmir wood smells beautiful, and I am getting the black amber too, although neither sage nor violet. This will be a keeper, though, just from the way she smells in the locket.

[jasmine]

Before anything else, I have to say that this painting doesn't appeal to me in the slightest. I recognize that it's a work by a great master, but Lucretia is badly proportioned to the extent of being malformed, and the symbolism, while perfectly visible, strikes me as overly obvious and graceless. However, I am not a student of German painters, and perhaps I fail to appreciate Lucretia properly. (I would much have preferred to smell a Lab interpretation of his Adam and Eve or his Praying Hands.)

 

The reason why I mention this is that, if this is a valid interpretation of the painting, it's perfectly possible that I won't like it anyway. Moving along....

 

There's something antiseptic about this oil. It's a hint of thin, faint citrus above the rest of the scent. Beneath the citrus, given a few seconds to settle, Lucretia is a melange of scent, a complex combination of various notes in which it is difficult to pick out any given element. Everything in the lab's note list seems to be present save the musk, which I can't find at all at this early point.

 

With my disclaimer at the top, it is unsurprising that this scent doesn't strike a chord with me. However, as time passes, the resulting scent doesn't seem to fit the painting. Like the picture, the scent isn't pretty, but the picture still possesses a fleshly aspect -- it is, after all, the scene of a suicide. This scent is far too frail and narrow to suffice. It needs a recognition of physicality and a sense of surrounding darkness. The one part that seems right: like Lucretia's expression, this scent seems wary and withdrawn. It isn't subtle -- it has a medium throw -- but the scent is not welcoming in the slightest, just as the painted figure is not.

 

While the scent Lucretia isn't actively repellent, it doesn't have any appeal to me, either. I don't plan to wear this again.

[moon_lemming]

In the imp, Lucretia smells like a soft, feminine, powdery perfume. Like an expensive perfume. It smells the same wet. I honestly cannot pick out any notes aside from a general "amber" scent.

 

Dry, the vanilla pops a little, and I can smell the familiar soapy scent of the violet; I think I smell the wood, too, but it's not an overpowering note like most woods are on me. Something -- I think it's the iris -- is doing that floral/detergent thing, which puts Lucretia just over the edge of being too sharp for me.

 

If it wasn't for that, this would be the perfect "feminine" perfume. It's lovely underneath the hint of detergent.

 

eta: Yes, that's definitely the Kashmir wood peeking through. Wow, the wood mixed with the vanilla musk is gorgeous. If only it weren't for that darn meddling iris! *shakes fist*

Edited January 5, 2007 by karen

[theseagrows]

this one is sweet and has a teaish-floral quality mixed with incense. the juxtaposition of the violet and mandarin is really interesting, as the mandarin has a slight sharpness. the vanilla musk seems to temper these two notes which i think would be a bit discordant. i quite like this! it's very different than any bpal ive smelled before, yet at the same time, the scent is very familiar. there is something slightly off about this (in a good way). this may have to be a big bottle purchase.

[Em-]

How can I not have reviewed the lovely Lucretia yet? Lucretia, which I adore, despite the violet and iris? Lucretia, the dark, musky beauty, so alluring, so mysterious, such a red red potion of fruit and sage and musk and vanilla. Ah, Lucretia...

[The_Merf]

In the imp: This is violet, iris, black amber and the slightest touch of mandarin.

 

Wet: This scent is black amber, vanilla and creamy floral (which leads me to say Iris, but this could also be the combo of violet and vanilla). There's not a lot of depth here and the scent is very, very light.

 

Drydown and wear: This is such a pretty scent, but it doesn't really seem to have much throw. Iris is a dominant note on DD, and I've had problems with other iris scents (esp. Florence) being too weak. I would say this is iris, black amber and vanilla are the strongest notes. It's a clean, yet feminine scent, and as I said, extremely beautiful. I'll have to get opinions on throw before I decide what to do about the decant.

[jiggahava]

Lucretia is very similar in smell and feel to Orpheus, another Salon scent. Lucretia doesn't have much throw, but up close it comes on loud and strong. The florals here are rich and deep. The Kashmir wood gives it a woody feel, like the smell of flowers deep in the woods. The iris and amber are very strong as well. This is so well blended that I am having trouble picking out all the individual notes. I like it, but I'm going to wait to see if I like it enough to get a bottle.

[zankoku_zen]

In the imp: violet

 

On Skin: I get iris, violet and a touch of juicy mandarin. There is a soft musk underneath. Very feminine.

 

On Drydown: It gets mildly soapy, which I think it's the violets. It's bright, pleasant, violet-dominated and slightly sweet.

 

After about an hour, I get a slightly woody undertone.

 

Verdict: I would like this if it were slightly sweeter... or if it wasn't so violet heavy. I was hoping more for iris and vanilla musk with a woody undertone. This is still a pretty floral, simply not what I was expecting.

[Nia]

The blend in the imp is too complex to pick up any distinct note. It's strong, perfumey, and original. It is definitely a deep, woman's perfume -not a light floral or anything of the sort.

 

My skin doesn't like this. the odd thing is that to me it smells "French" -I associate with French commercial perfumes. Something floral, sweet and heavy by Guerlain or YSL. I agree with the powdery note others feel.

[hackess]

Imp: Sweet and woody, slightly floral

Wet: Hmm. Black amber and vanilla. The amber amps a lot and turns out too much like drugstore perfume.

Dry: Violet and sage. It's powdery and very not my thing.

[Shollin]

I’ll admit it – Lucretia freaks me right the hell out, and I’m actually hoping I don’t like her.

 

First sniff: Simultaneously sharp-edged and powdery; I’m trying to figure out how that works. Powdery flowers, sharp resins and a weird high note that reminds me of chlorine.

 

Wearing: It’s all just powder. I suppose with iris and violet it had no chance at all on my skin. At least I got my wish?

[LadyCrow]

This would have pleased the vain streak in my grandmother, whose name was Iris.

 

In the imp: Perfumey as all heck. There's got to be benzoin involved in this someplace.

 

Wet: Iris and VIOLET! I'm reminded of that passage from The Color Purple where Celie explains that creation makes things like purple flowers because it wants to be loved.

 

Drydown: It takes the VIOLET! ages to fade away, but as this warms, I get the musk, which is always good for helping florals hang around longer; the pungent Kashmir wood; and the really assertive black amber. My skin is notorious for eating citrus alive, and this is no exception -- sadly, I'm really getting little or none of the mandarin. This does start to go powdery toward the later part of its wear -- not surprising, with iris, musk, and amber in it.

 

Verdict: Beautiful blend with a distinct retro feel; the individual notes, as with all the Salons I've tried, are very well blended, so that it takes some effort to pull them apart. There's almost a sugared-violet component in all of this -- Faith with friends? Classy, full of hauteur.

[Delirium1009]

In bottle/imp: I get a very sharp floral, muted slightly by the amber. This isn’t sweet at all in the imp.

 

Immediately on skin: The iris is very evident, as is the vanilla musk (in a powdery sort of way) and the black amber. It’s not a heavy scent… but it is a little cloying.

 

After a few minutes: I can smell what I think is a combination of the vanilla musk, black amber, and iris or violet now, and it makes a very powdery, dry floral scent. It’s turning quite generic on me.

 

Later on: This has turned into a very soft, sweet, musky scent. The vanilla musk is very evident, and everything else seems to blend together to make this blend more complex. I can’t pick out any other notes, but they’re definitely lurking underneath the vanilla musk.

[hipslike___cinderella]

Dear Lucretia! You re-awaken the violet lover within me.

 

For whatever reason, I withheld all preconceived notions before diving into this oil. Something about the list of notes left me a big question mark, so I expected and hoped nothing in particular, even though interestingly violet is one of my top favorite notes, the "mandarin" scared me a tiny bit, and traditional "vanilla" is the horrible kiss of death for me- even though I'm not sure what vanilla MUSK has to offer.

 

That being said, by no means simplifying this work of art, I can still comfortably call Lucretia a "(glorious) violet blend". On me, anyhow. Violet soars on me usually and Lucretia was a happy surprise. Out of the bottle it's a mysterious floral, edging toward herbaceous or woodsy (sage/kashmir wood), with a backdrop of dusty amber. Not sticky, glowing amber, but almost resinous amber. The vanilla musk, much to my relief, is there to act as milky veil to smooth out to possible rowdy notes. The mandarin is so nuanced on my skin, I couldn't even tell you it was there. The end result is a musky, smoky violet, a dark one, feminine and a little sad.. a sort of "end" scent. Maybe a little off-kilter, a little twisted like poor Lucretia's facial expression.

 

Average throw, but up close this is very prominent and towards the "heavy" side, just like a like my florals. This is my second favorite violet oil I've found so far (heh... only after the masterful punch of mint-eucalyptus-violet in Ultraviolet) and I've done my fair share of violet-scouting through the general catalogue. A bottle in my future!