Three Brides

[cfrancesca]

Moroccan rose, king mandarin, red sandalwood, Egyptian amber, orchid, carnation, benzoin, tonka, calla lily, vanilla flower.

Slightly creamy, spicy florals, with some sweetness, slight tartness and almost "foodiness" from the mandarin. The florals here are well-blended, but I'm getting slightly more rose and carnation. The amber stays in the background and works really well here.

A nice floral blend, and thankfully the flowers are not turning soapy on me!

[tacey]

Three Brides is a favorite of mine, but I've found it difficult to review. This is very well blended, so even when I can pick out a note, it doesn't do justice to say 'rose is present'. Yes, there is rose and mandarin at the front of this scent - but there's so much more! It's elegant and beautiful, gently skin-hugging but garnered the strongest compliment I've ever gotten on BPAL. It's delicate and feminine with a mysterious darkness underlying. It's creamy roses and sparkling citrus and swirling spices. I love it and am amazed by it and I don't care that the description of the parts is so much less than the full experience.

[Vega]

Sniffed: Rose and resins are the most obvious notes. Deep, full-bodied and sweet, with a luxurious feel.

 

On skin: Three Brides is too complex to pick out individual notes, but I can generally smell sweet fruits and rich red florals grounded in full-bodied resins. A blend that I can imagine an Oriental woman wearing on her wedding day: wholly feminine, sensual, with an exotic, Oriental feel. It also puts me in mind of a royal bride: opulent, yet graceful and noble amidst her resplendence. The scent doesn't morph much, just becomes gentler and milder over time. Overall, a sensual, deep, exotic blend that captures the Salon image.

 

Verdict: Another beautiful, complex Salon blend that I enjoyed wearing!

[Gin]

Three Brides goes on all sharp and pointy florals but smooths out to a sandalwood-powdery floral.

[yakiguri]

I don't know what it is about Three Brides, but for some bizarro reason I can barely smell this. I get a vague idea of florals, but that's it. I have to push my wrist right into my nose to smell it, and even then I get very faint roses and nothing else. I've tried it several times over a series of weeks and I simply can't smell this. I wish I knew which of the notes I'm apparently anosmic to, as the description of Three Brides led me to believe it would be nothing but win on my skin. Pity. I'm glad I didn't buy it blindly and got a decant instead. I might wait a few months and retry to see if it's any different.

[JasminDreams2010]

I bought a full bottle of this without testing, because one of my friends likes it and I was curious. In the bottle, it's almost difficult to smell anything at all.

Then, when I put it on, it morphs into a gigantic orchid bloom. I'm not getting any of the rose, lily or mandarin whatsoever- on me this is orchid, amber and a little spicy carnation and sandalwoodin the background.

 

This is one of those curious blends that isn't "me" at all, but I consider it to be so well-crafted that I'm keeping the bottle anyway to wear on certain days. I think if I could smell the lily note it would be more of a me thing, or if there were honey in it. But, it is very nice as it is. I could see wearing this to a nice restaurant or an upscale bar- or for a girls night out. It's very skin-like and while it has a pretty potent throw, it is somehow almost like not wearing a perfume at all. The vanilla and tonka make it feel like a sweet skin scent. It smells a lot more expensive than it is.

the one downside is that the amber seems to mess with my sinuses sometimes.

[Lucchesa]

I wanted to try this because I love the painting so much. The notes are mostly reliable on me, except that Moroccan seems to be one of the roses that goes sour when it hits my skin, overpowering all the other loveliness.

 

ETA image: Jan Toorop, The Three Brides, 1893. Kroller Muller Museum

Edited June 16, 2018 by Lucchesa