Ave Maria Gratia Plena

[Ajila]

A pale, delicate, truly angelic blend. A scent created to emulate Adonis' halo of beauty: fragile, distant, and radiant. Rosewood with Sicilian lemon peel, red Mysore sandalwood, pale musks, sweet mountain sage and a dusting of lily, night-blooming jasmine and orris.

In the bottle – All I get is jasmine

Wet on me – Jasmine is the main note, with possibly a hint of the orris

Dry on me – A soft, powdery, dry floral

Overall – The dry down is inoffensive, although not my thing, but I really don’t get on with jasmine Edited March 28, 2009 by Shollin

[asciident]

Wet: A very soft floral. None of the notes are particularly strong in this blend.

 

First on: A fainter version of the in-the-bottle scent. I suspect this one will fade off me fast.

 

Dry: As I predicted, it's completely gone.

[aquazoo]

Blast of flowers!!!! It's a little powdery, but that works with this scent. It's really beautiful, blended in a way that is balanced and has no one note or other coming up.

 

[CynicalPink]

Imp: Slightly musty flowers

 

Wet: Still musty flowers.

 

Drydown: Floral Meh

[catatonic1242]

In the imp: The predominant smell that I get from this is sandalwood.

 

On, wet: Still sandalwood and maybe just a hint of sage underneath.

 

On, dry: Flowers. So many flowers. I'm not that great with floral notes, so I can't really discern between them, but all I'm getting is florals without anything woody underneath.

[Kikkervisje]

Wet: Lily. A bit spicy and very warm, though, which I think must be a combination of the rosewood and pale musk. Not getting the lemon peel at all, but I think my skin more or less negates citrus scents.

 

Dry: A touch of sweetness and the incense/powder smell of sandalwood. But *not* the baby powder scent that most sandalwood seems to dry down to on me. Red Mysore sandalwood may prevent my giving up on sandalwood bases.

 

Wear Time: 11+ hours on the collarbone

 

Fits Description?: Hmm… Well, I wouldn’t describe this as pale, delicate, or angelic. If the lemon, jasmine, and pale musk had been the major players on me, I could imagine it might be, though.

 

Overall: A warm, masculine floral. Quite liking this. Goes into my “short list.”

[WidgetAlley]

Frimp from the lovely Bain.

 

Imp: A pleasant, soothing herbal floral, with definite touches of lemon. Kinda reminds me of Chiroptera, but not richly herbal.

 

Wet: Ugh! Something floral in this goes straight to baby-diaper hell on me... clean diapers, but still! Is there violet in here? *suspicious* I don't see any listed, but this smells just like violets do on me.

 

I ended up washing this one off-- overpoweringly powdery and headache-inducing. Oh well, too bad, I was really looking forward to a Chiroptera knockoff!

[liquidtrance]

Wet: Initial sniff is reminiscent of Moms' trademark perfume-- There are distinctly different notes behind that, though.

Dry: Did not last long. Barely apparent after 3 hours.

SUNFLOWERS, that was the name of mom's perfume I'm smelling here! Funny enough, though, I had my mom try this scent out and her skin chemistry warped this no where NEAR Sunflowers.

[erendirascent]

In the vial: reminds me of a baby cologne my mother used to put on me as a child...not a bad thing at all...on further whiff, I can spot the rosewood and the lily and I like it.

 

Wet: Very bright, if this scent were a color it would be a transparent yellow. It is very bright in my nose -- must be the lemon

 

Drydown: The lily and the sandalwood really come out on my skin. This was perfect for my confirmation, which is what I wrote it for. Reminds me a little bit of something oldfashioned and European but also of lighter church incense. I REALLY like this. Can't smell jasmine at all, which is weird because jasmine usually really reacts powerfully to my skin.

 

Final verdict: Definitely want to get this in a 5 ml. Fiance said, "MMMMM!!" so it has his approval, lol.

[blacklacestatic]

In the imp: Highly floral, mainly jasmine. Very unpleasant to me because of the noticeable amount of jasmine.

 

Wet on skin: Jasmine, slightly sweetened. I can sense the inclusion of lemon, sandalwood and sage trying to poke out. Where is the lily? It's at least kind of faint, which is good because I'm mostly getting jasmine scented baby wipes. Damn skin chemistry. This certainly does not work as a love potion for me. Actually, I get the exact opposite response. I'm starting to get uncomfortable enough that I want to wash it off.

 

Drydown: Dry, drab floral. The amped jasmine is gone (thank goodness) but there is really nothing left for me here. A ghost of plain woodsy white floral.

 

Overall: Not for me. After I get through the initial jasmine phase, it's not bad, but it's not doing anything for me either. I was hoping for more pretty white floral and less jasmine. Can't wear this one.

[Aldercy]

Seriously, no jasmine for me? Ave Maria is definitely rosewood and red sandalwood, lots of both. Not bad, but I don't think I care that much for the supporting notes. It has a very soft, cloudy feel to it somehow. It's dreamy and unfocused. Maybe that's the orris, because I get the same pillowy, misty, drugged feeling from this that I get from Cancer 07. The lily is a little funky.

 

Wearable, but not really not me.

[topazphoenix]

This smells like a soapy, sandalwoody jasmine with lemon. I don't like it as much as I thought I was going to

[biocarolyn]

I think its just the Lily I smell. Something is similar to Water of Notre Dame, but heavier in Ave Maria Gratia Plena. Wet it's generic white floral, with a little of the woods behind it. Much later, the lily has gone away (hooray!) but it doesn't have much throw or honestly, much personality on me. Vaguely pleasant, but nothing special. Given the number of other light scents I've actively liked, I doubt I'll wear this.

[redderz]

In the imp I can smell sandalwood. Seems quite nice!

 

On my skin, there's the rosewood making an appearanc along with the sandalwood, and ooh -- the jasmine is poking through now!

 

I think this is a bit too woody for me though. The sandalwood seems to have taken over everything else! It's still a nice musky scent though.

[cleske]

I get some lemon peel and the tiniest suggestion of sage, but then it happens: Jasmine and Orris and their boots of scent ruination arrive and stomp all over everything. They are not my friends. I think I just personally dislike them and it's not a chemistry issue. Sigh. They are very sharp to my nose and I'm starting to consider that they might be my first 'death notes'...

[theandorran]

In bottle: Herbal notes are always strongest to my nose, no matter how prevalent they seem to be to everyone else, and what else is in the blend. That's why the Conjure Bag is a huge no for me even though I want to love it. But anyway. In the bottle, this is a green, herbal smell. It conjures up the image of a fuzzy sage leaf. Definitely the sage is most prominent, and I'm not getting much else.

 

Wet: Still herbal, though not distinctly sagey. A lot of the time, when I put an oil on my skin, all of the notes get muddled as they morph, I've noticed, and I can't pinpoint any notes, just feelings. And the feeling I'm getting is green, mountainous, and airy.

 

Dry: Ahhh, here comes the jasmine. Unlike a lot of others I've seen on the forum, jasmine is a floral I like. Rose and lily I can take or leave, but jasmine has personality to me. Heavy, heady jasmine, with a kind of woody base note. It's a very warm, distinctive smell. This isn't what I would have expected from something called Ave Maria Gratia Plena (I would have thought... rose, and incense, but that's me). It's a nice blend on my skin, if not in the bottle, so I'm going to keep the imp, though I don't think it's bottle-worthy.

[SophieCedar]

In the bottle this is a complex scent to me. I can't pick out any dominant notes. It truly is beautiful and glowingly white and silver.

 

This deepens BIG TIME on the skin as the jasmine comes out of hiding. However, it doesn't loose it's dignity. A sweet tinge develops as well. maybe the lemon peel.

 

I really like this one!

[neverything]

For me, this has a strong "department store perfume" smell. It exudes wealth and class, but the main reason I got into BPAL was because I don't like department store perfumes! (I'm also neither wealthy nor classy. ) So this one's definitely not for me.

[number6number5]

I got this as an imp and immediately after sniffing thought I was going to hate it. I'm not a big fan of florals. However....I got bored yesterday and put it on. Its just lovely. Just a light, pretty floral. Its soft but wears forever. The smell turns sort of creamy on me. I'm wearing it again today. I'm still not sure if a bottle is in my future, but I'll be using this imp up.

 

 

I've figured out where I've smelled this before. I used to own a scent where the proceeds went to Amma (I think it was marketed as "her" scent, several yoga related websites sell it). It was sandlewood and rose. Ave Maria Gratia Plena really reminds me of that, on my skin, not in the bottle. I really liked that oil and got tons of compliments on it. No wonder I'm enjoying Ave Maria Gratia Plena.

Edited February 1, 2010 by number6umber5

[Venneh]

In the imp, I'm getting wood, herbs, and citrus. Not an initially good start. On my skin, the wood and herbs are definitely amping. We'll see what happens here. Straight forward woods and herbs, ends up fading quickly on my skin. Not for me.

Edited March 29, 2010 by Venneh

[Amaranthus]

I received this as an extra in a recent order. Sniffing it, I fumbled and poured half the imp all over my dress. I hung the dress up and for days my room was suffused with the warm glow of this scent.

 

As a room scent the rosewood and lemon peel stand out in a haze of sweet nondescript florals. It is more complex on skin.

 

Fresh on the skin, the dominant note is red sandalwood, with lemon zest and rosewood rounding out the scent.

 

The jasmine, lily, and orris blend into a single delicate floral note. The lily rises above the others occasionally. I get the impression of white roses. The sage smooths the sharp edge of the florals.

 

Ava Maria Gratia Plena dries down to the smell of soft incense.

 

Something about this scent reminds me of clean, warm skin.

[hkhm]

imp: faint, fruity musk. very pretty.

 

wet: this is nicer than i was expecting, it has a luminous quality that i'm having a hard time describing. the florals are tame and the scent is so well-blended that i'm having a hard time pinning down any specific note.

 

dry: this is very delicate, fading very quickly, but it has a nice shimmery quality that makes me feel clean and fresh.

[impolight]

:::AVE MARIA GRATIA PLENA:::

 

A BPAL blend representing POP (Power Of Prayer...nyuk-nyuk)?

The prediction, based on the list of notes, is that this one is going to be a cousin of Seraphim...

The Lab's Lily note tends to stand out...

From the Imp: Yup! CLOSE cousins with Seraphim.

The Lily is definitely the featured player in this blend... Cleverly enough, this does remind me of an Easter Service at church.

On the Skin: ACK! Something has gone horribly awry with the skin chemistry.

For approximately six seconds, there is mega flower power (must shower) with severe ampage and then... GREEN OLIVES???

Extraordinarily difficult to hang...

After a while, this turns into Rose-scented room-spray... To mask the smell of the gallon jar of green olives that was tipped onto the carpeting by the cat.

The only discernable note at all was the Lily.

Shucks and stuff.

Maybe the Imp was dregs? Contaminated by a martini?Doubtful.

Ave Maria Gratia Plena just can't be recommended from this experience.

Sorry.

2 out of 5.

[TastyMischief]

Thank you for the freebie!

 

I decided to test this one first because hormones are kicking my sense of smell into high gear, so I'll save the spicier ones for another day.

 

Ooooooooh this is pretty. But the name only applies to the topnotes. On me it's mostly jasmine, lily, and musk, with a slight woodsy backdrop. Delicate, innocent, fragile, at first. The drydown brings out an unexpected naughtiness, very subtle but definitely there. I have no idea what is causing this but I'll take it!

I'm seriously wanting this with my next order.

[Gateau]

In the imp -- lily, some wood, some citrus, mostly blended.

 

Wet -- lily, a touch of jasmine, touch of lemon, sandalwood. Promising. I like that touch of lemon peel.

 

Dry -- uh oh, here we go again, the jasmine/lily/sandalwood soapy suntan lotion notes of death. Slightly mitigated by the presence of lemon peel but it's not enough to salvage this. And I had high hopes.

 

Sigh. Swap.