June Gloom 2004

[Aredhel]

Teddy's gloriously dismal creation. As a lover of rainy days, grey skies and chill air, summer is his antithesis. A spell of June Gloom is always welcome in our household. A bouquet of bright summer flowers dampened by the scent of morning mist and rain.

Rating (on skin): 0/5
Summarised in a word or two: Lemon.

In the imp/bottle: Lemon. Fresh, tart lemon.

On skin, wet: Floral lemon. This strikes me as that Lemon Fresh Pinesol stuff.

On skin, dry: This doesn't change much as it dries; it now reminds me of lemon dish soap, the very strong sort that seems to permeate everything it touches.

Conclusion: This is probably the strongest scent I've tried yet; twelve hours after applying it, it's still going strong. Definitely not my thing, as I'm not a lemon fan, but anyone who *is* would adore this. Edited November 18, 2007 by Shollin

[Jessica]

In the bottle, it's lemony and fresh and sweet. Very refreshing, it reminds me of my favorite sheets which always seem to come out smelling like they were air dried on the clothes line.

 

On my skin, the smell is very much the same. Not overpowering, just kind of lingering and fresh.

 

There is something underneath it all that is a little darker, but it isn't very prominent at all.

 

Overall, it's a beautiful blend.

[~AmusedMuse~]

Ok I get the lemon pledge thing too, but I find it both clean and refreshing, maybe not a scent I would wear but I would definitely make a linen spray or room freshener out of it. I get the "just rained cleanness of it as well." Truly an interesting and lovely blend

[malanna]

Okay, I don't actually say all lemon scents smell like Lemon Pledge. Some lemon scents are sweet, like in an iced lemonade. Other lemon scents might be fresh and sour, like a just cut lemon. June Gloom is neither. It's a bit acrid and very strong, so Lemon Pledge. Maybe this smells like some sort of lemon bush or something, but I never grew up with one, so that's not what I associate it with. Anyway, after a while, I get the wet smell. This is the smell of a lemon bush (or a Lemon Pledge coated bush) after it's rained on a humid summer day, but it's no longer so hot because it's rained. The rainy smell makes the Lemon Pledge less strong. Sometimes, the Lemon Pledge becomes less acrid and becomes a pleasant lemon and floral rain smell. Other times, this just stays Lemon Pledge + rain - floral (i.e. no floral).

[gingersnapp]

I wish that consumer products hadn't gotten so carried away with making everything lemon scented back in the day, because I think that I would have enjoyed this blend much more had I not been overwhelmed by lemon dish soap, floor cleaner, wood cleaner, etc. in the past.

 

It has a LOT of throw, and it's all lemon. There is a slight soapy note to it that I imagine must be the rain. So it's as if I smeared lemon-scented Dawn dish soap on my wrist.

 

Very strong, and with an unpleasant association, so I can't really enjoy this one as much as I'd hoped.

[QueenFae]

Wow, so much brighter than I expected. At first whiff, bright, yellow, lemon; sharp and direct. A glorious undertone of an array of florals wafting up between the cracks. There's also a faint ozoney scent there; a creeping, just rained in the midwest type smell. I love it, but I was definitely expecting something gloomier. I find it a bit uplifting and enchanting. Yeah!

[magdalene]

in the bottle: lemon cookies on a rainy afternoon.

 

wet on skin: I'm not getting the Pledge thing everyone else talks about. This is sugared lemon, with a small hint of floral.

 

dry: lots of throw, from me. And the lemon intensified as time went on, until it seemed almost candy-ish. Very sweet. Very tart. Very juicy.

[baygirl]

In the imp it smells like lemongrass to me (almost exactly like Lush's Avobath bath bomb). As soon as I apply though it smells *just* like Lemon Pledge. Not so fun memories of cleaning the living room furniture. But after it dries down it gets sweeter, herbier & greener.... It reminds me of the scent I would get when I would crush leaves from our lemon tree that we had when I was a child, which IMO smells wonderful! There's a tang of ozone too, which I think gave me the "lemon pledge" association at first. It's not what i expected from the description, but it is a nice blend.

[quikslvr]

Very cleaning product-esque at first. Dish soap springiness. Very lemon-tart, then goes sweet and sugared. Dries to a light, springy, but still cleaning product-tinged scent. Since I can't shake that association, out to swaps it goes.

[anmorata]

June Gloom:

Wet: Lemony goodness. Surprisingly, this one didn't turn to Lemon Pledge on me.

Drydown: lemony,-spicy, yummyness.

Longterm wear: June Gloom stayed with me for most of the day. It faded into a nice lemony softness, much unlike the Lemon Pledge experiences I've had with lemon scents. This scent is a great one. I don't know that I'd wear it often, but I love it.

[Medici]

Lemon! Freshly squeezed lemon juice. Straight up. No sugar - but rather than being a sour-puss, it's actually quite sweet. I don't get anything else from this blend, I'm afraid. No florals, no greenery, just the overwhelming smack of lemony-goodness. Very refreshing.

 

Would I get a big bottle if I could? Probably not.

 

I'm reminded strongly of the 6teen show - in which one character works at a lemonade stand and is forced to wear a huge lemon hat as part of her uniform. Wearing June Gloom regularly would most likely lodge that impression of myself in my head permanently.

 

(I look wretched in yellow)

[imaginepageant]

In the vial: Lemon so bright and sharp it smacks me right in the face. Not quite the lemon Pledge scent others have remarked on... this is, to me, quite an authentic lemon scent, very sour and juicy. If there are other flowers in this but the obvious lemon verbena, they're lost on me.

 

Wet: The lemon darkens and sweetens immediately. I can also smell something like rain in this, but it might just be that the description is playing tricks on my mind; more accurately, I feel rain in this, because it's so deliciously wet and steamy.

 

Dry: It's softening very slowly as the minutes pass. The lemon is growing less bold and sharp, and more warm and husky, and the slightest bit sweeter. But overall, this blend is still completely lemon. Fifteen minutes or so later, it's even sweeter, and smells almost candyish or like lemon sherbert. Mmmmm! I'm really starting to like this!

 

An hour later: Ugh. What happened to that lovely sweetness? It disappeared completely and was replaced by the floral, finally, very green and weedy. It's also gotten powdery.

 

Overall: I'm so disappointed. It was pretty nice in the initial strong lemon stage, and it was beautiful for a brief while when it picked up that candy sweetness. But the end result is... unpleasant. Lemon floral is much better left to Empyreal Mist, if you ask me.

[korshka]

Ok - at first, in the bottle and on the skin it is very lemon windex/cleaner. So much that I almost didn't want to put it on. But - I made myself and waited like the other said you needed to.

 

After a while, the lemon did calm down and settle out. The florals did also come out better. However, there is still too much lemon for me. This isn't a winner for me.

[Little Bird]

First on, this is really sharp lemon. It reminds of the wood polish that I used to use all of the time when I was little (yes, my childhood fun activities included enthusiastically polishing our furniture, as a budding Stepford Wife).

 

After a while though, the lemon gets much sweeter and actually reminds me of Fresh's Lemon Sugar fragrance, which I love. There are also some perfumey white florals, but they aren't strong enough to give me a headache.

 

After wearing June Gloom for an hour, it smells like freshly washed clothes, if you used a lemony detergent. Taking the clothes out of the washing machine when they are still damp. It's actually rather wet, cool, and pleasant.

 

I'll cherish my decant, but it's not something that I need a full bottle of.

[zillah37]

I was really intrigued by this scent. I love the description and the idea behind it. So I was happy to get an imp of this.

 

In the vial: Lemon pledge. Or dishsoap. Something very fake and unpleasantly lemon.

 

On my skin: Ugh. No change. Still lemon and antiseptic. No sweetness to this at all. Just antiseptic lemons.

 

Verdict: This will be passed on to someone who'll hopefully appreciate it more than I do. I'm glad I got to try it though.

[Laurel the Woodfairy]

Very pleased to sample this one at last; thanks for letting me try yours, Eoywin!

 

June Gloom is *almost* all lemon on me, but different from Beth's Lemon Single Note, which I've had. The SN had a faint breath of sugar, like a freshly squeezed lemonade. June Gloom is not sweet on me; it's a clean lemon--I can see how the epithet "rain-washed" could apply. A leafy lemon-tree in the spring rain right before you pick it to make lemonade. Very nice although not very complex on me--an understated, clean summer scent.

[Voleuse]

Huh. On first application, I get a sharp flowering note, almost pure citrus in its sweetness. After a minute, however, it's quickly overlaid by a murky, muddling note that's very much like damp earth, and a little like a garden sidewalk during a drizzle. I can't discern the different floral notes in the blend, though they're definitely there. This is really well blended.

 

This is much brighter than I expected it to be, given the description. It's the scent equivalent of an impressionist painting of a lush garden, or staring through a window as rain pours down, even as the sun shines through the clouds. This is pretty and fascinating. I'm impressed--even more than usual.

[Em-]

Lemon, with a damp, herbal grassy edge...like I can imagine walking through a lemon grove might be after (or even during) a summer rain. I really like this blend and am thrilled to have acquired a decant so long after it was released.

[jarvenpa]

A generous forumite gifted me with an imp of June Gloom.

 

(I am feeling ever so exclusive, since she gifted me with a few LC's and I am such a newbie)

 

This one was unique in my limited experience of BPAL in that it smelled in the imp, on first slash, and for as long as it lasted (a couple hours) quite unchanging and one note-ish.

 

And that note is lemon geranium.

 

I happen to be very fond of the scented-leaf geraniums, which bloom with tiny flowers but whose leaves, when pressed or stroked, release sharp, pure fragrance. Rose geranium is my favorite, but lemon geranium is a close second.

 

Since lemon geranium has a faint citronella scent (or is kind of like those candles one burns to keep the bugs away) there is a summery note/association.

 

But really, lemon geranium. Very bright, very hot day in the garden. And remarkably nice.

[slave1]

In Bottle: Tart citrus

 

On Skin: Very lemon Pledge at first. Sweet yet also tart but sadly quite artificial smelling... Now it’s more like LemonDrops, not chemically like Pledge (yay, happy that phase passed quickly). If I inhale too long it does give me a headache though. The throw is very strong at first. This is so very NOT gloomy, I find that quite fun. It’s one of my favorite descriptions ever. I don’t really get mist or rain from it, I don’t smell anything wet or ozoney at all. There is a light floral in the background as well. It’s pretty, but not me at all. The throw is strong and wear length is pretty good.

[moon_lemming]

edenssixthday sent me a sniffer of June Gloom because she is the sweetest lady in the world. There is no way I would have gotten to sniff this otherwise.

 

In the imp: Mmmm, lemon. A little edge of Pledge, but mostly just lemon drops.

 

Once it's dry, the florals in June Gloom pop up behind the lemon drops. Dew-kissed flowers, though, not dry or oversweet.

 

God, I love this blend. I hope (most likely in vain, I know) that it's resurrected at some point, even if it's just for a day, so I can have some without chopping off a limb to get it.

[edenssixthday]

June Gloom - I just love my imp of June Gloom! I don’t wear it nearly as often as I would if I knew I could get it any time I pleased. But since I can’t, I use it sparingly. The scent reminds me exactly of Southern California “June Gloom” weather. It’s bright like lemon verbena and crisp like the scent you get when you snap a piece of ice plant in half, and it’s full of damp, foggy air. I love it! This is one of my most favorite BPAL scents, and as soon as I can get more, I will. It has an incredible amount of throw, but only a moderate amount of staying power. After about the 90 minute point, it loses all of the lemon/ice plant tartness and smells like soft, light, summertime florals.

[absinthetics]

Definitely very strong lemon in the imp, but there is a floral note.. if you look for it.

 

On the wrist it is still very lemon, and sometimes it is harsh, but I do sense the aquatics and the light florals in the background. For me, it's not as drastic as everyone describes, at least not after an hour of wear. It's a weird wrist-sniffing scent, and I was very intrigued by the way the aquatics were hard to catch. For me, it reminds me of Cerberus. Save instead of the chocolate wafts (very very subtle) it has aquatic wafts.

[Summerpixy]

Very strong lemon, it's the single dominating scent in the entire collection, and I love it. This was the first BPAL bottle I ever bought and I'm so happy I did. Eventually the florals peek their heads out from under the rush of lemon. Lovely and not gloomy at all.

[sofiaviolet]

Lemon.

 

Still lemon.

 

Ooh, now it's lemon dish soap!

 

 

It doesn't suit me as a perfume but I'll keep my imp for sniffing.