London

[aiko]

Venerable Victorian Tea Rose... twisted, blackened and emboldened with wickedness.

This blend reminds of some powder I used to use. An overwhelming rose powder smell
The image that comes into mind is an elderly victorian lady, refined and sophisticated. However, this scent is giving me a headache. Edited July 11, 2007 by Shollin

[neuilly]

Tea rose indeed!! All though I get nothign twisted or wicked out of it unless you simply count it being very strong.

[funkmoppet]

Yes, this is tea rose.

 

Tea rose wet and dry. That very vintage rose that can turn potpourri on me - which mercifully doesn't happen with London.

 

This tea rose is lovely. The throw almost has a light vanilla tinge to it, which is surprising, as there's no vanilla at my wrist. I thought I did detect something else lurking underneath during the dry-down, but whatever it is, it's not enough to really push through the rose - particulary once it's been on for a while.

 

Had the wickedness been stronger, this would have been a big bottle want, but as it is, the imp is all I need. Definitely a pretty, nostalgic scent.

Edited July 6, 2007 by funkmoppet

[eloiseattheplaza]

On me and in the imp, this is very pure, simple rose. It's lovely, and I think I prefer it to Two, Five & Seven (the only other BPAL rose I've tried)--I don't get any wickedness, but it's a beautiful, not-too-cloying, not-too-pink, completely wearable rose. I have a 5mL of Two, Five & Seven, so I probably won't spring for a big bottle of this as well, but I'd swap for one--maybe one day.

[LittleMissAspie]

 

That is what this perfume smells like. Pure rose, a big bright fresh pink rose. I think it's very true to the flower and quite cloying at first and too sickly for me. After some drydown it turns a little more subtle and powdery. But still pure, pure rose.

[Miseraya]

In the imp: Rose, rose and rose. I am not sure why I have this one, rose hates me. But I promised to try everything that comes to me so here goes nothing....

 

On the wrist: Uber rose. Rose, rose and a bit of rose. I suspect this review is possibly pointless.

 

Drydown: Rose talcum powder. Yep, rose hates me.

 

Overall: I suppose I could have skipped trying this, but I like to try everything that comes my way. Swaps.

[darkblade]

Hooray! This starts out with ROOOOOOOSE! ROSE ROSE ROSE! But then it tames down a little bit to smell just like the Rose Tea I like so much.

[TereFaerie]

Yup, it's rose! And I love it!

This is the first imp I've had that really syncs with my body chemistry.

My skin seems to be eating up bpal oils, but this one lasted for a couple of hours.

 

I love the very "proper" rose scent it has, but it doesn't smell very wicked to me. Instead, it manages to come out as a very pure dry rose that isn't too cloying or powdery.

 

***.5 out of *****

[Rheliwen]

This is as close to a Rose Red clone as I've found. It's lighter and less green but it's definitely a watery, sweet, livid rose. There's a slight pencil shaving undertone but it's slight. I love rose on its own and here it is lovely.

[ravenfeathers]

i had a great opportunity to try this out shortly after i got it as a frimp: it leaked half an imp's worth of oil on the inside of the package and leaks more all the time. i tipped it over accidently and a huge dollop leaked out. yikes! anyway...

 

in the bottle ROSE!

wet on skin rose, but sweeter, almost sugared.

dry on skin sticky rose petals, sweet sweet sweet.

 

this is an excellent rose scent. i'm not particularly a florals fan, but i do enjoy rose and this is a really good one.

Edited October 11, 2007 by ravenfeathers

[RosaLinda]

This is just rose at it's best. I think I might might try enabling my rose-loving friend by giving her the imp.

 

ETA: Tried this again today and my bf loves it. I may have to hang onto the imp, because he is so hard to please, scent-wise.

Edited October 27, 2007 by RosaLinda

[tuesdaynexxt]

I love this one! The lab does some phenomenal roses, but tea rose has always been my favorite. This one nails it! Just super! Not overpowering, not cloying, just rosey-rose-rose!!

[YoakeNoKami]

Eeeeeek! Roses, at first--wet roses! I LOVE roses…

On, though… straight to soap and not loving me…and it stays soapy.

A gray, sad kind of day in the imp, though, and the roses are abandoned on the doorstep.

[alianthe]

In the bottle - exactly what it says: tea rose, twisted.

 

On me - still tea rose, but the darker, more incensy notes start peeking out. Is that... sandalwood? patchouli? cedar? (Those notes aren't even similar, but I can't quite seem to distinguish). Whatever it is, it's somewhat sad, somewhat sleepy, somewhat decadent, absolutely lovely... but not something I'd wear often.

[azurefire]

Wow, my first review - this is a lovely rose, I worried it might smell like old lady rose perfume - but it was needless worrying - it was lush, yet delicate. I was absolutely thrilled when I tried it, and more importantly, my boyfriend loved it.

I'm not always good with heavy florals, but this one agrees with my body chemistry and I'm extremely pleased.

[TrailerTrashPrincess]

this is a very well-aged decant... i know i've had it for over a year and hadn't opened it until yesterday.

impsniff: oo, pretty soft roses! not expensive-rose-soap smell, and not Hi I Am A Rose smell, either. but pretty and soft - a different sort of rose than i usually get from the Lab.

on skin: oh, wait. there's something else in here besides roses because this is turning funky on me, like blood and perm solution...but mostly blood.

[voodoocatwoman]

Imp, wet and dry are all the same for this scent for me- I am in the middle of the biggest rose garden ever created. Every single bush is dripping with pink blossoms. It's hot and humid and the air is ripe with heavy rose scent.

 

Rose Rose Rose and Rose. Nothing more, nothing less.

[DARKBEAUTY28]

On me London is a very light tea rose scent. Very linear. Not overwhelming at all and can be worn during day or night. It just doesn't last long on my skin and is barely detectable after a few minutes. Not something I would purchase but I will enjoy my imp.

[filigree_shadow]

A lovely, light tea rose. Bright and not green. It's the same sort of pure, clean rose scent that I get from Peacock Queen or even Moon Rose. Not artificial-smelling or soapy at all. Very pretty. I don't usually go for the rose scents, but this is the sort that I like.

 

For the visual, see LittleMissAspie's review. I totally agree.

[alexandra]

In the imp: simple, bright rose

 

Wet: There's the rose - blooming and wet and pot-pourri pink. Feels rather one-dimensional at the moment.

 

Dry: The rose has calmed down and is much nicer to the nose. Wait a sec, what is that? I smell green thai curry underneath fresh rose petals! Yup, definite whiff of coconut and the spices that would have been piled in sacks on the streets of the old east india docks in London.

 

And?: Rose then crazy Thai restaurant sprayed with rose. I can't see me wearing it very much.

[jaeyne]

Misty rose. Lasted at least 8 hrs. Good stuff.

[VioletChaos]

in the imp: rose. straight up.

 

wet on skin: ROSE. a very accurate tea rose. lovely!

 

dry down: rosey rosey rose rose rose. this is the real deal, straight shooting, 100% rose.

 

in all: if you are a rose fan, you must NOT be without this one. i don't usually car for many florals because they always smell fake to me. but this, this is a *perfect* rose.

 

 

 

[Christine Daae]

In the imp, this is somewhere between Rose Red's tart (bitter, to me) freshness and Peacock Queen's lushness.

 

On my skin, this doesn't change much - it's slightly sweeter, very rosey. I don't get much of the twisted, blackened wickedness unless I stick my nose to my wrist and inhale deeply, and even then it's just on the very end of a sniff - something dark underneath the pretty tea rose.

 

This is a bit like Lucy's Kiss only without the spices - a clean, watery rose with just a hint of darkness underneath. It dries down pretty much exactly the same as it goes on. Pretty, but probably not a keeper when I have a couple of backup bottles of Peacock Queen.

[eatingthesea]

i think this is a very near-perfect rose scent -- not destined to take the place of my beloved rose red, but on those days when i feel too meek to handle the I'M HERE LOVE ME 'tude of the latter, london is a very good substitute. it lacks the greenness of rose red and definitely speaks of tea rose, but it's not cloying, as i normally find most tea rose scents. this is what a nicely scented rose in the garden really smells like...as opposed to say, again, rose red, which is what a rose in a florist's fridge smells like, only amplified by about 100. i interpret london as a fresh yellow rose tinged with pink. i'm so glad bpal's roses work on me. it makes me kinda giddy and feel girly and such.

[SilverSerenity]

Oh, I do like this. It dries down to a lovely, sweet yet dry rose, which makes me think of an old-fashioned tea party in a Victorian garden. It also makes me want to hop on the next plane back to England. I feel I'm definitely going to go through this imp!