Violet Ray

[JazzieCazzie]

White mint, purple musk, violet, lilac, ylang ylang, lavender moss, and sandalwood.

With all the people who mention how much they love Violet Ray (not to mention how massively I was just outbid for a 5ML bottle on eBay!) I was surprised to have to dig this deep into the coffers to pull up the thread for a review of the lovely imp I received in a swap!

Despite the fact that I had a feeling it would be hard to get more if I loved it, the combination of notes was too much for me to not take a chance and put it on my wish list!

IN THE IMP: Candied flowers yet, despite the use of the word "candied," not cloyingly sweet. Makes a great first impression!

Dabbed on wrist and in crook of arm.

WET: Candied violets, yes, but also so much more. My precious notes of lilac and ylang ylang, two BIG favorites, as well as the sandalwood doing its usual job of keeping the blend balanced. I am not getting any mint and that's a good thing -- much as I LOVE mint in real life as a flavor and the scent of the leaf, it tends to be a note of doom for me in BPAL blends. Not sure why.

DRYDOWN: This is just spectacular. SO unique and different. Floral and purple and woodsy and resin/incensey and wonderful. It stays very true upon drydown to the wet scent. The perfect marriage, to my nose, of every note listed except the mint.

OVERALL: This is wonderful and I would definitely love to track down more, though I realize that may be tough on my budget. Fortunately, to me, it is reminiscent enough of my two first-ever BPAL blends, Veil and Twilight, both still available in GC, that I don't feel quite as bereft. I am curious, though, what component caused its early demise. Still, while so many of my favorite blends tend to have many others that are similar (not surprising, since when you have favorite note combos, you'll be faithful to them), there are not many blends like this ... which is too bad since Beth is a genius with violet and ylang ylang. I would think this would be really appealing to a huge audience so I have to assume there was SOMETHING no longer available. I'd love for a reboot.

On a scale of 1-5. a 4.8.

[mistri]

Violet, mint, and on my skin there's a strange sweetness too - maybe the ylang ylang.

 

Five minutes later and it turns into Playdoh.

 

Ten minutes later and I'm turning into an old lady.

 

I quite liked the sound of this one, but my skin clearly hates it. Bah!

[Aviatrix]

The mint and violet are the strongest on me. It's a very sweet, almost sugared violet. The mint is not very powerful, so if you're afraid of the mint going BAM on you, you don't need to be. It's very well-behaved.

It is pleasant and light and a little snuggly (purple musk?). I am very glad that I'm not getting very much lavender, because that has a tendency to go headachey on me, which isn't happening here.

 

I am very happy I got this as a frimp in a swap recently, because I might not have chosen it by myself based on the description. But it's a very feminine and pretty scent that isn't too in-your-face, but not too faint either.

I will definitely treasure my imp!

[Kanra]

This was a must buy for me because of some personal attachment to the name and the notes here. I am glad I was able to track down a bottle.

 

Admittedly, my review is biased. (Then again, what review isn't biased towards their tastes?) This scent has some elements to it that are very special to me on a personal level so I knew there was a high chance I'd love it. But even without this personal bias, I think it's a great scent.

I can see how some might find the dry down to be powdery, but personally I don't carry an aversion to powdery fragrances. Powdery, I daresay, even works on me as long as it is a flavor of powder with other aromas than just clean powdery notes. I love florals, and the types of florals that tend to go "powdery" are some of my favorites.

 

Like previous reviews say, this is a candied floral. It isn't sugary or gourmand at all, but there is a sweetness to the floral aroma. Violet is, of course, the main floral. If violet works well on you and your skin, this is such a beautiful example of it. It's sweet and ethereal and magical. There is some lilac and ylang ylang to give it depth, and some mint which really makes this blend quite unique amongst other violet scents. There's a sort of musky, misty coolness to it, but it never loses its sweet aroma.

 

I love this and think this is my favorite purple flower scent ever.