Faith

[Heretic]

A huge crowd mills in front of the next stage. You hear the din of their voices, chattering in a Babel's fall of languages, laughing and buzzing with a strange anticipation. As you get closer, you notice that they are wearing a motley mix of clothing from ages past... all rotting, all in shreds. In the sea of faces, all bearing a similar chalky pallor, some stand out: there is a woman in a threadbare Burgundian gown, a young man in torn breeches and sagging slops, a maiden in a dagged-sleeve houppelande that is splattered with cruor, a snarling Victorian rogue with a battered silk top hat, and a vacant-eyed man in a shredded Confederate uniform. As you make your way through the crowd, you feel cold fingers pluck at your clothing, and the hard, almost glassy skin that you brush against radiates an unnatural cold. You hear tittering sighs as you push through the gathering, and your skin prickles as you feel icy breath upon your neck. Abruptly, someone cries out, and the strange congregation begins clapping a steady rhythm. Their voices rise in a tintamar of ghastly cheers as torches flare to life on the stage. The firelight illuminates a gargantuan, shining black stake in the center of the stage. It is festooned with black ribbons, drooping moss, and viciously-colored poisonous blooms in a playful, grotesque mockery of a Maypole. Two women, clutched tightly in a brutal embrace, spin onto the stage, shaking a tambourine and clacking a hembra in time with the clapping. One is clad in violet, with violet tresses to match; the other is a vision of swirling rose. Their long, waving hair whips in manic arcs as they twirl, stomp, and pirouette around the onyx shaft. The crowd becomes more and more frenzied as the dance reaches a mad crescendo, and suddenly you realize that the two are one: they are conjoined, identical twins, bound eternally at the ribs. The violet sister, caught in the throes of the ritual's passion, throws her head back and moans. She bares a set of gleaming white fangs and bites deeply into her sister's neck. The rose maiden screams in joy, and returns her sister's violent kiss as the crowd explodes into Corybantic mayhem.

Simplicity and innocence, gleefully despoiled! Hope is sugared rose, Faith is sugared violet. The sisters are inseparable, and may only be purchased together.

In the bottle: Softly sweet violets and something vaguely musky.
On my wrist, wet: Lightly sugared violet. There is no sharpness to this scent, no cloying sweetness. Just a soft, candied violet.
After 20 minutes: This is just beautiful. If you aren't a fan of violet, don't bother with Hope, because there's no getting away from the scent of violet. In drydown, there's a creamy quality that begins to emerge that smells somewhat familiar-- perhaps it's the musk I smelled directly from the bottle.
After 40 minutes: I will die of pleasure. It smells like a violet Antique Lace. What an utterly gorgeous, feminine scent. It's subtle, creamy, deeply floral. I seem to be unable to stop smelling my wrist. If you like violet at all, you need Faith. She's divine.

PLEASE NOTE: When they were first posted to the Lab's Web site, the twins' descriptions were accidentally switched. I've fixed the description here, but there may still be some reviews that reflect the incorrect description. --Shollin

Edited to change Hope to Faith, Faith to Hope.

[blueskiesinside]

In the bottle: Candied violets or a violet gum type smell. Pure violet sweetness.

Wet: Violet, violet, violet. Pure and simple.

Dry: Still smells like sweet violets.

 

Not overpowering on me, and it tends to fade out after an hour or two. Good throw though.

 

Switched --Shollin

[Iceblink]

Sweet candied violets! I love most of BPAL's violet scents and this one is lovely. Simple, sweet, light...it'll be so perfect for spring.

 

Switched --Shollin

[bettybaker]

Wearing Faith makes me feel like a pretty, pretty princess. It's a very girly scent. I experience it as a candied blue scent. Faith only has a medium throw, and it subsides quickly. My friend Kerowyn could still smell it after an hour, but I couldn't. Two hours later, I couldn't smell it anymore, and neither could she.

 

Warning: Faith may bring skillful flirting and diabolically feminine cunning to the fore.

Edited January 31, 2007 by Betty Baker

[blueroses]

I have been looking forward for Hope and Faith since they were described as "sugary florals" at a long-ago Will-Call. I love sugary scents, and even though I'm not really a floral person, I love both rose and violet.

 

In the bottle (which was labeled Faith, by the way): Sugar! I'm not even sure I could have identified the violet if I didn't know what it was.

 

On: Soft, powdery violets heaped with masses of sugar. So much sugar that it overtakes the violet a bit and makes it simply a very sweet violet scent, almost creamy.

 

Later: Hope has medium longevity and throw on me. The scent stays pretty true the entire time.

 

Can you tell that I love this? I prefer rose over violet, but the sugar is so intense in Hope compared with Faith that it evens the playing field. I adore this. Several bottles are required - and I just don't buy multiple bottles of scents (I've only done it once).

 

This review is really for Faith, as you can tell from the bottle label. Moved from Hope's review thread. --Shollin

[minnalavender]

I want to bathe in Hope. She smells that good! Sweet, soft, sugary, creamy vanilla violets... like sugar frosted violet petals on a white wedding cake. It's not fair that my stupid skin eats her whole! Good thing there are scent lockets.

 

I'm going to buy another set and keep those bottles to age, as I hope she'll grow stronger, with more throw. PERFECT scent. I her.

 

Switched --Shollin

[theseagrows]

i absolutely love this. it's a beautiful, soft vanilla-violet scent, what i would imagine violet cake frosting tasting like. i think this may be a multiple bottle purchase.

 

Switched --Shollin

[olympia301]

 

I love the smell of violets and Faith is all beautiful candied violets.At first I was worried that it was going to be fleeting but faith grew in intensity and encased me in a cloud of sugary violet lovliness. I don't think she will have to be imprisoned in a scent locket, she will last on your skin but I think a scent locket would make it an all day and into the night affair. Faith is a thing to make you yearn for spring, a perfect Black Phoenix scent appearing at the right time.

[sookster]

sraight sniff from imp is sugary, sweet, violet indulgence!!

 

i have a particular love affair with mme. moriarty's violet blends...no one

can do them as exquitely as she and this, my dears, is no exception...

 

it is almost a violet single note to my schnoz...

 

then the sweetness kicks in and makes this so insanely gorgeous...

phenomenal throw as well

 

i will definitely be buying a big bottle...i need it

[PilotKitten]

This is a very powdery violet... I like powdery violets but this is just blech on me. It's kinda sour.... and I have no idea why. O_o I don't get any extra sugar note... at least not a sweet one. Maybe that's what this sour note is on me, Sugar Skull was a horrible burned note on me, maybe that's how the sugar notes BPAL uses go with my skin chemistry.... dammit. I was so hoping to love these two.

[bombus]

I am in Love! I love the smell of violets but so many of the perfumes I have tried tend to smell like an old lady, this is not your grandmothers perfume. It is so beautiful, it is a perfect sugared violet scent.

[edenssixthday]

Faith - I adore violet, so I had high hopes for this one and yet I was completely unprepared for just how stunning and amazing it turned out to be. It's such an incredibly pretty violet and the sugar notes blend beautifully with it, just like it's a violet pastille, or C. Howard's Violet Mints. I am in love with this! It's so incredibly simple and yet so very pretty. It lasts for a long time and the level of throw is really nice. Even better is the result when I layer Faith with her sister, Hope. I love these twins!

[Little Bird]

Hope & Faith just aren't really standout blends for me. I was hoping for a strong candied violet and a strong sugared rose. They're both incredibly light fragrances though, clinging close to my skin and only sticking around for about an hour tops.

 

I think that I like Faith more than Hope. Hope has a soured edge on my skin where Faith just goes powdery. Violet powder with an added sweetness that reminds me a bit of vanilla cream. Creamy vanilla-violet powder. Not so bad, but probably not something I'd find myself wearing a lot. I might keep my decant of this girl though.

 

I haven't had great luck with the lab's violet scents thus far, they usually go either powdery or soapy on my skin. The only violet blend that I've really loved was Marie... which started out actually smelling like candied violets and dried down to sweet, candied roses & violets on me. I like Marie more than Hope or Faith.

[shelldoo]

this is soft, sweet, quiet.

 

this reminds me of the violet in sybaris, but softly coated w/ sweet confectioners sugar, a dusty white coating reminecent of snowy blankets coating early blossoming spring flowers. soft sweetly powder sugar and violets so fragile you are almost afraid to breathe deeply near them, for fear of injuring their petals. glorious!

[prettypinkkitty]

In the bottle: it smells exactly like Violet Mints taste. It really made me want some, and I haven't had those in a year.

Wet: It smells quite a lot like blue cotton candy. The violet is sadly tending towards rubber on me. Oh, drat.

Drydown: On one arm, it stays more violet-y, and on the other, it is rapidly turning into rubbery old chewing gum. Actually, it fluctuates between violet and that. Not for me.

[QueenFae]

I'm honestly just not a fan of violet, but as far as violet blends go, even I have to admit that this is very pretty. Th violet note is not overwhelmingly dark or strong, but delicate and feminine. The sugared note smells a little different in this one than in Hope, it's not quite as overly sweet and cavity inducing. This doesn't have quite as much throw as Hope, and is more of a skin - clinging scent. Not one of my favorites, but lovely just the same.

[savage_rose]

Violet blends and I tend to not get along. It's one of the few notes I have to be really careful with: it might smell lovely and floral on me, or it might smell like the olfactory equivalent of a cacophony.

 

But the sugar note, it really softens the violet. If you're looking for something strong and intense, this is not your blend. But if you're looking for something soft and sweet, a light floral--it's perfect. A really nice, shy violet.

[Ajila]

In the bottle - Parma violets, sweet and fruity.

 

Wet on me - The violets become more vibrant, but they are still encrusted in sugar.

 

Dry on me - Sweet and clean, like Antique Lace sprinkled with violets

 

Overall - Absolutely gorgeous, I may attempt to eke this out with AL as it is a tad faint, but otherwise this is outstanding

[sofaking6]

WOW....that is all I can say.

 

Perfectly sweet, perfect violets. The throw is odd..the scent doesn't travel far, but up close it is very strong and stays that way. This blend does not morph on me even one bit, and it lasts for several hours before fading enough for a re-slather. I'm so head over heels, I can't look my bottles of Darkling Thrush in the face right now.

 

The description tells you everything you need to know about this blend...sugared violets. The floral is so strong and pure and the sweetness is so...SWEET!

 

GOD THIS IS SO GOOD.

 

*plotz*

[ktesedale]

Like shelldoo said, this violet is very similar to Sybaris on me at first, but slowly the sugar starts to come out and takes it the scent in a different direction.

 

Faith is light, sweet, and girly, and I think I might have to get a bottle, despite not normally loving florals - there's something about this scent that makes me happy and wistful. I highly recommend it, if you like sweet scents or violets.

[dnipbhsw]

I might not have bought this if it were available separately because violets just never did anything for me, but boy, am I glad I did. This is a lovely sweet floral that smells exactly like these violet candies I once had. It smells exactly how it sounds. This is sweet, pretty and girly with a surprisingly good throw, and it lasts forever.

[janelle_hell]

This scent is just...wow. i'm going to agree with everyone that made comparisons to Antique Lace and violet pastilles/violet mints. Faith is just...gorgeous. PERFECT.

[Em-]

Violet is not a real winner of a note for me, so I did not have huge hopes for Faith. I am revising my initial review of this, because on further wearings, I have started to fall in love with Faith's soft candy pastille scent. Maybe this is one of the few scents that will have a time of the month chemistry thing going on, but Faith is really a beautiful, sweet sugar, with just a touch of purple flavor.

Edited February 27, 2007 by emzebel

[The_Witching_Hour]

I have to agree with Embezel on her like or 'eh' feel on violets. The sugared part somehow makes the violet note somewhat easier for me to wear and I may end up trying to layer this with another blend.

[lushlovely]

I am not usually a floral person so I was very iffy on whether Faith would work for me and my skin chemistry or not. But when you throw in 'sugar' to any description, I'm usually hooked.

 

In the bottle Faith smells just like it's description, lovely sugared violets. When I put it on, it smells like the nose-cringing bathroom freshener from an old lady's house in a powdery floral scent. I'm so disappointed during this stage but I keep sniffing for the next few hours to hope it will change.

 

12 hours later, when I wake up and take a whiff of my arm.....wow. It finally smells the way I had hoped it would initially. It's creamy sugared violets. I love it!! But I can't smell it unless I stick my nose to my arm. I just wish it could smell this good in the wet stages because even while it smells gorgeous now, I'm not sure I can go through the scent of the wet stage everytime.