Ulalume

[Gateau]

Starry white lilies lend an eerie brightness to the deep black wooded scents of cypress and oak, layered with a touch of crushed dried leaves and the faintest aquatic note.

In the imp -- sweet flowers and the smell of leaves on the forest floor

Wet on me -- powdery sweet aquatic flowers, with a strong smell of rotting leaves and wood (a smell I love) and the aquatic notes of a pond. The pond water is still but not stagnant -- it's a very organic smell like taking a walk in the woods in the spring before the old leaves have been cleaned up, wet from the melted snow. Might be a better room spray than personal perfume.

Dry -- I love this now. It's turned to soft and mostly sweet flowers (not the sharp powder I sometimes get with lilies) with the woods and pond in the background. I get a daytime but cool and shady feeling -- no starry darkness for me. It fades pretty fast, but lingered more faintly for a long time. I think this needs slahering, and hopefully that more intense wet phase won't bother me when I do so.

Considering a bottle.

[karykeion]

In the imp: Immediate thought was "Leaves and sadness". It's trees, dry leaves, faint lilies, and sadness. I'm not getting any aquatic.

 

On me, wet: Leaves and trees and awwwwwww. This might be pretentious, but since the leaves make me think of autumn, this smells to me like someone who misses the summer. The lilies have come out a lot more, and it's now this really gorgeous blend of lilies and leaves and forest and water.

 

On me, dry: If I had to pick one girly perfume that I liked the most of everything I've tried, this would be it. I'm not so much of a fan of the lilies on their own, and they come out dominant in the end, but the trees give this beautiful sad depth to the blend and the leaves make it earthier and contrast the lilies with a kind of autumn dryness. I...I can't believe I'm saying this, but...I think I might need an imp of Arkham to death-match them.

 

Oh my god, I know what it reminds me of! Lothlorien in winter!! Trees, leaves, white flowers, and the faintest sense of a water note from Nenya.

Edited February 24, 2012 by karykeion

[mymymai]

ITI: Damp and drying leaves with the spiciness of cypress, a floral sweetness that is both pungent and soft, and a very clear aquatic tinge.

 

Wet: The floral aspect, the lilies specifically, smell so nice, but the combination of wood , moldering leaves, and the aquatic note makes it smell like toilet water to me.

 

Dry: The aquatic has calmed down, but I still get eau de toilet directly following the soft floral that the lily has become.

[Quillifer]

I absolutely love this, but I'm not sure I can wear it. I picture the ideal wearer of this as very pale blonde, waif-like, rather withdrawn. Since I tend to feel myself rather a gallumhping lump of a person, you can see there's rather a gap there!

 

This also feel like rather a winter scent to me. Or possibly something to wear in autumn/fall when looking forward to winter. On me it is incredibly, exactly like the description (though BPAL fans hardly need to find that incredible).

 

I won't be parting with this I think, even if I wear it only rarely.

[rhubarb3point14]

"Eerie" is exactly the right word for this. It is melancholy and quiet and starry. Cold and humid at the same time. It smells (my friends and I decided) like Savannah, Ga.

 

I'm not a floral person, but I absolutely had to have a bottle of this because there is nothing else remotely like it, and it's hauntingly gorgeous.

[Drae]

Frimp!

In the imp:

First sniff: Wow! Very strong, I smell the lilies instantly, along with an astringent cologne smell, and something almost along the lines of scotch tape. I physically threw my head back as the scent sort of smacked me in the face. I also got a passing whiff of lotus (which is for me) but this is very masculine and not all that pleasant so far

Second sniff (in the imp): It's funny how quickly your olfactory senses get used to a scent. This was not at all as scary upon second sniffing.

On skin: Dried flowers and leaves, and wood. This is a pretty straightforward scent. My skin likes to turn most things to sugar, so this being a non-sweet scent is mellowing out quite nicely

Drying: Straight up powdery white floral, with a hint of saltiness to keep it unisex. A touch soapy. That hint of lotus is back, just a drop of it (I can sniff it out like a hound) and I'm starting to get a bit of a headache.

15 mins later: This is super pretty, and has changed into a completely different scent than what it was in the imp. The astringency, the woods, the scotch tape are all gone. I smell clean skin after a hot shower with a lovely soap. Another review mentioned tuberose, and I am starting to pick it up too, how lovely! What a super-morphing power ranger of a scent, I'm liking it more and more as time goes on.

 

It's funny how this goes from a downright gross scent wet in the imp, to a lovely pleasant floral. It also had a sex change from quite masculine to soft and feminine, at least on my skin. Ulalume reminds me of one of my old non-BPAL loves, Ralph Lauren Blue, and I will definitely keep it around for when I'm in the mood for an aquatic-yet-powdery floral.

 

BOTTLE PURCHASE

Edited October 11, 2012 by Drae

[DJ Sin]

a frimp for the lab (thank you!)

 

straight out of the bottle it smelled like smoke on me (ozone?).

 

and then the lilies came in! Which was a nice surprise and it balanced out the smoke. Unfortunately it has faded rather fast on me.

I would have never picked this out for myself and it was a nice to try it.

[bergamot_bliss]

In imp: Lovely dark woods and crushed leaves. Not getting the lilies, though.

Wet on skin: Hello, lilies! Ordinarily my skin loves lilies, so hopefully this is no exception. The woods are still lurking nicely in the background.

Drydown: I’m getting all of the notes except the aquatic now, and they are blending more evenly. The lily adds sweetness to the dark woods, just like in the description.

Dry: The woodiness is very nicely balanced by the lily, and the leafy scent has faded into the background, but it is still there. The aquatic is present too, and reminds me of Y’ha Nthlei, which I also like. This isn’t my all-time favorite scent, but I think a bottle is in order.

[Gwydion]

In bottle: Dried leaves dominant with strong cypress and oak support. The aquatic blends beautifully with the leaves and dirt. The lilies are indeed a bright strong note floating above the woody darkness of the autumn ground. This is absolutely lovely. Wet: The Leaves and the lily blend surprisingly well on the skin. It’s still leaves dominant, but the lilies raise the register the scent equivalent of at least an octave. It’s still a beautiful woody autumnal scent, but the lilies give it a will o’ the wisp feel. It’s a little odd on me, but that’s my skin chemistry. Wet: Damp leaves and loam.

[Ajila]

In the bottle - Sharp green, bright lilies and soap

 

Wet on me - Green, high pitched lilies

 

Dry on me - Lilies, lilies and more lilies

 

Overall - Lilies aren't really my cup of tea so I didn't really get on with this blend

[Alphakitty]

Oh my, this is a strange scent. I was expecting something soft and mysterious, but on first sniff it's acrid and... minty? It does not really *smell* like mint but it has the same effect on my nose as sniffing a very sharp mint blend. Almost eye-watering. I do wonder if it is the lilies, since the lab's usual lily note does NOT play well with me. There are a few blends where it's lovely (Dragon's Eye), but most smell like soap and floor cleaner.

 

It's not much better on my skin. The aquatic note comes into play but it's tangy and astringent. Ugh, this smells like cleaning supplies. The very first BPAL scent I've had to scrub off. Alas, it seems that lilies and I are just not meant to be. But I'd rather not fall in love with too many soon-to-be-DC'd scents anyway!

[thekittenkat]

In the imp: Lilies in water, dried leaves near-by.

 

Wet: Sweet water, bitter lilies, or bitter oak, or bitter cypress.

 

The dry-down: The bitterness is fading away, leaving a slightly sweet aquatic note, with the white lilies now out of the water, but still near-by. It's a Poe scent, but would I wear it enough? I don't know, and time is running out.

[White Raven]

Wet: Something sour and slightly bitter. It's hard to describe, but it's somewhat like fermenting lilies under a canopy of swamp trees.

 

Dry: The sourness finally leaves and a very faint smell of fresh lilies and sweeter aquatics. Wish it could've started off like this instead of the musty sourness from before.

[freyasfae]

I got this as a frimp with a lab purchase and never would have guessed these were the notes when I tried it. This smelled all anise on me with a touch of sweet florals in the background, but the anise was so overpowering, and as I hate anise, I washed it off long before it even dried.

[Cali]

Minty, dark. Can pick each note apart individually with ease, which is fun! It's odd how these would work together but they do! This is not something I want to smell like, but it's very interesting!

[Lucchesa]

Ulalume is kind of an oddball. I love lilies and hate aquatics, so I wasn't sure which way this would fall. Wet, it is strong -- white lilies, forest and something minty. I knew there was no mint in the notes, so it's gratifying that other reviewers have identified a minty sensation as well; it might also be what they mean when they say it is wintry or snow-like. An hour in, the lilies have faded to the background, behind the cypress and oak and whatever is the minty note. Not my usual sort of scent, but it's very interesting and I'm pleased I had the chance to try it.