Venice

[Winterbelle]

A complex, voluptuous scent that captures the robust beauty and of the Italian Renaissance: lemon, red currant, wisteria, red rose petals, heady jasmine, Florentine orris root, waterlily, red sandalwood, violet plum, and violet leaf.

 

When I first tried this one, I was not expecting it to become one of my new favorites. I tend to not do well with lemon, and worried a bit about that, but I don't smell any lemon at all. I can smell the jasmine the strongest, with a touch of rose, but the Rose isn't overpowering or going old lady on me, as it tends to do. As it dries, it turns into a perfectly blended fruity/woodsy/floral. The sandalwood grounds it and gives it some depth and the currant/plum adds a tanginess that keeps the florals from going too heady. It makes me think of the Venecian courtesans as many others have mentioned. The way BPAL captures images in scents will never cease to amaze me. I adore this and will be buying a bottle.

[Myrrha]

From the moment I apply this it is very powdery. Underneath the powder I can smell that the lemon, red currant and rose make a nice blend together so I don't think any of those are the problem. When I sniff my wrist directly it is pretty awful: powdery and "broken" smelling. Time to admit that violet really does not work on me (although Street Festival has violet leaf and that works.) this has two violets plus orris root. Doomy powder.

[doomsday_disco]

In the imp: This one has a lot of notes! The ones that jump out to my nose are the lemon, red currant, rose, jasmine, and violet.

 

Wet: Oh hai, lemon! I'm getting lemon and florals. I'm not familiar with wisteria, but I can smell the rose, jasmine, orris, and violet. I'm also getting the red currant and a bit of the sandalwood. Alas, it isn't long before the heady jasmine note declares dominion over the other florals, making the scent primarily lemon and jasmine (and not the good kind) on me.

 

Dry: Mostly lemon and jasmine, followed by violet.

 

Verdict: Not mah jam.

[joopjoop]

My imp of Venice only has a few drops left, and I am for sure going to have to get a big bottle in my next order.

 

In the imp it smells strongly of jasmine, but once on the lemon and red currant come to play with the jasmine, lily and violet (and perhaps wisteria? I'm not familiar with it). The dry-down is a tart bright floral with just the barest hint of the rose and red sandalwood - I love it - it really is evocative of southern Italy.

 

Once dry Venice is a remarkably complex and sophisticated floral blend that smells slightly old-fashioned, but not in an old-lady way, more like something that a noble woman during the Renaissance would wear on a special occasion.

 

I particularly enjoy wearing Venice in the evening a few hours before bed. It makes me feel elegant and very feminine, but not in a froufrou way. I imagine lavishly costumed and masked figures moving through Venice at dusk on their way to celebrate Carnival.

Edited April 5, 2016 by joopjoop

[Cali]

In the imp: violet/jasmine toilet cleaner!
thank goodness, once applied the red currant comes out straight away and makes it more playful and warm.

It's a good mix, while I'm still able to tell apart all the notes. Unfortunately I'm not a fan of all of them, but the currant and rose petals are just lovely and it's pretty evocative all the same.

 

I should go to Venice someday.

[Coldfire]

Imp: ooof Rose and waterlily
Wet on Me: the rose is wasting no time in amping to high heaven on me.
Drying Down: heady rose air freshener. Not letting any of the other notes come out and play under my nose.
Dry: rose. sigh.

 

[Wench457]

Retesting rose scents!

 

Unfortunately, while my skin chemistry has changed enough to allow me to wear rose now, it has NOT changed enough to allow me to wear jasmine.

 

Alas.

 

It's really lovely in the the imp though.

[Lucchesa]

Venice is my favorite city on earth, so I wanted to love this oil. But it's much too floral for me, which is odd given how few flowers are growing in Venice. I was really hoping the citrus, red currant and sandalwood would be more assertive, but instead I amped rose and jasmine to the exclusion of all else. Peccato.

[roseus]

In the imp: water lily, orris, and a touch of lemon. Bright and watery, but orris has a odd sweetness that I don't like.

 

Wet: More florals. Damp rose and waterlily at the front, with the others swirling around.

 

Dry: Mingling soft florals. Water lily and wisteria are most noticeable. Soft and watery. A touch of lemon brightens it. I think the sandalwood and plum sweeten a bit, and the violet leaf adds to the aquatic feel. Lovely!

[Casablanca]

On the wand, oh, gosh. Lemon, flowers, and pee? Is that an indolic jasmine doing that? I have never smelled pee in jasmine before. I always just read about that reaction. So this is my first time! I try another sniff – yes, there’s something toilet about this.

 

On my skin, though, it's mostly lemon jasmine. Only slightly indolic now – I barely notice it. I get purpled whiffs of violet and wisteria, and a blended undercurrent of other notes, but lemon jasmine is strongest.

 

As it begins to settle, the whole blend goes quite soft on me.

[whisperstilled]

Reading about the Medici has put me in a bit of a rennaissance mood, so let's give this one a try.

In Imp: Jasmine, lemon, something floral that must be the wisteria, and definitely bright red currant.

Wet: The rose is coming out pretty strong on my skin. There's violet, too, which I'm not much of a fan of.

Dry: I get the floral components pretty distinctly. Jasmine is not front and center in this one. There's a real red fruits and floral thing happening here - unfortunately, violet is center stage. Something is also making my skin tingle. I get really no sandalwood at all. Into the swaps!

[achildoftime]

With this, I mostly get lemony jasmine. I can't pick out any of the other notes specifically, but it smells very rich to me. I think that it works really well as a cohesive scent. Even though I can't pick out many of the listed notes, I can tell there is a complex base supporting the lemon and jasmine. This is for a ritzy garden party in the late spring.